Spark 2021 Issue 2

N TA EW KE S C O HO FF IC OL E B IN OA JA RD N UA ME RY M B Lakota East High School lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021 $5 Newstand

DRESS CODE: BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD 1 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

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NOVEMBER 2021 INSIDE THE ISSUE

56 25

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06 GIFTED SERVICES

26 AARON WADE

54 COLERAIN FOOTBALL

10 SCHOOL BOARD

28 DRESS CODE

56 EAST D1 COMMITS

As the definition of gifted expands, teachers adapt to working with gifted and non-gifted students in an integrated classroom setting.

After months of controversy, new board members will take office in January 2022.

The first of a five-part series featuring four East alumni quadruplet brothers whom all recently graduated from Yale University, following first-born Aaron.

East running back Nick Rabin’s uncle played for East last time the team won against Colerain.

This fall, members of the East community started initiatives to reform the school dress code.

Seven East senior student athletes commited to seven different Division 1 (DI) colleges to pursue their sport at a collegiate level.

16 VETERANS DAY

40 90’s FASHION

63 SECOND LANGUAGES

25 CHLOE KORNAU

42 “YOU” SEASON 3

65 MUSIC PROPERTIES

Lakota East Veterans Club hosted their annual Veteran’s Day event on Nov. 9

East senior Chloe Kornau finds joy in expressing her personality through her award-winning artwork in AP Art.

Fashion from the 90’s is making a comeback in 2021. Check out the latest looks and styles.

The third season of original Netflix drama “You,” takes a look into Joe’s old stalker habits and the Goldberg family’s new bakery.

Column- The need for foreign language education in lower grades is necessary.

Column- Taylor’s Swift is inspiring artists to reclaim their music and ditch powerful lables.

Spark

2021-2022 STAFF

Editors-in-Chief:

Business Manager: Asst. Business Manager: News Editors:

Feature Editor: Package Editors:

Culture Editors:

Sports Editors:

Opinion Editors:

Riley Higgins Mia Hilkowitz Riley Higgins Caleb Vanatta Natalie Mazey Megan Miranda Marleigh Winterbottom Abbey Bahan Zach Shultz Ianni Acapulco Andie Madding

--- Ava Huelskamp, Spark Package Editor 2020-21

Rehab Jarabah Olivia Rigney

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.

Audrey Allen

Art Director:

Mary Barone

Graphics Editor:

Mary Barone

Webmasters:

Mary Barone Mia Hilkowitz

Creative Directors

Dear Spark, When I submitted my portfolio to the National Scholastic Press Association’s (NSPA) Writer of the Year competition, I didn’t think anyone had received it. I had spent hours upon hours perfecting every detail of my WordPress website down to the “About Me” page, and when I never got a confirmation email or any indication that my materials would be considered, I was disappointed, to say the least.

Oh well, I thought to myself. At least I have a nice portfolio on hand for college, in case I ever need it. My shock level went through the roof the moment I got a call from my former co-editor and current close friend and Chief of Spark, Mia Hilkowitz.

I had won. Fifth place. Writer of the year. For NSPA. The Black Lives Matter package Mia and I had pioneered also won; fifth place in the social justice reporting category.

Recognition is never the reason I chose to join Spark and be a student journalist. If I was looking for recognition, I was far from the right place.

But receiving that affirmation-especially when I least expected it-that other people had not only read my work, but truly seen it and been impacted by it makes the lack of recognition worth it.

My time in Spark is one of the most influential chapters in my story.

College is a lot harder than adults tell you it is, and I often find myself missing the familiar feeling of the Spark staff. At the end of my senior year there was a shared photo album made with Spark photos over the last couple years. One of my favorite things to do when I’m missing the comfort of home and the stability of good friends is to flip through that album and remember.

I would do all of the work I did for Spark a million times over again. At the end of the day the awards-however nice-are not the most important.

Student media was a catalyst in developing my sense of self and setting me on the path to a future career. I wouldn’t be who I am without it. •

Evie Colpi Ben Stowe

Photography Editor:

Copyeditors:

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Riley Higgins Mia Hilkowitz Natalie Mazey

ON THE COVER

designed by mia hilkowitz N TA EW KE S C O HO FF IC OL E B IN OA JA RD N UA ME RY M B Lakota East High School lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021 $5 Newstand

Ianni Acapulco Marleigh Winterbottom

Social Media Manager:

Frankie Stull

Advisor:

Dean Hume

4 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

DRESS CODE: BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD

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This issue, Spark is covering the dress code and its impact on the school environment. In the design, we decided to use a chalkboard motif, which is seen throughout the issue, to connect the topic of dress code back to the setting of the classroom.

Editorial Column | Opinion

STAFF EDITORIAL

LAKOTA FIRST

Following the recent Board of Education election, Spark emphasizes the importance of nonpartisan decisions as winning candidates enter the role.

Editorial Board Vote 16-0 in support of non-partisan Board decisions.

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column editorial board | photography ianni acapulco, mary barone, and marleigh winterbottom

very two years when citizens in the Lakota district go to the polls to elect members of the Board of Education, Spark’s editorial board is interested to see the outcome. This election’s results are no less thought-provoking than previous years. With eight candidates running for three open seats, the community elected Board President and Incumbent Kelly Casper, as well as newcomers Isaac Adi and Darbi Boddy.

This October, Spark hosted all eight candidates during “Candidate Panel Night” to answer questions on policies and to inform the community preceding Election Day. When asked about the role of politics in the school board, every candidate answered that they believed that the position should remain nonpartisan. It’s important that they maintain the position as they take office.

Nationwide, school board membership has become a hot button issue, with politicians

attempting to use school boards as launching pads. In the past four months, Lakota Board of Education meetings have been overrun by campaigns and politicians that have drawn people away from the main goal of the Board: educating the children.

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chool boards at their core are governed by the philosophy of local control, the governing and management of public schools by elected or appointed representatives from the community serving on governing bodies. Unlike Capitol Hill, Lakota is run by the members of the community who experience the effects of the school board first hand, rather than National Party Committee leaders.

Board of Education members must maintain the non-partisan outlook that they promised the community at “Candidate Panel Night” and not let political agendas interfere with decisions.

5 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

The time to campaign is over— party affiliations may have helped win the vote, but can’t aid in decision making in the interest of all students. As leading educators in the community, Board members need to be wellinformed on all topics and make informed decisions using research. Decisions made by the Board need to be made for the good of the entire district, not just those of the same political party. Spark urges members of the Board to maintain this non-partisan perspective in its decisions, even when under pressure.

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park, along with the rest of the Lakota community, will be looking towards the Board this year more than ever.

Maintaining the ideal that the school community comes first— not campaigns or financial contributors— is the only way that the Board of Education can continue to produce results that benefit Lakota Schools. •

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 5

News | Gifted Education Changes Pt. 2

A TURN IN TEACHING As the definition of gifted expands, teachers adapt to working with gifted and non-gifted students in an integrated classroom setting. story megan miranda | photography marleigh winterbottom | infographic zachary klaassen

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tephanie Pare walks over to a group of gifted students. They are curious about the rigorous workload in front of them. After, Pare joins a different cluster of students who are waiting to further debrief that day’s lesson. Since the establishment of a new gifted program at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, her classroom has shifted to suit a greater mix of learning levels.

The gifted program changes in Lakota have been revamped in an effort to redirect gifted teaching onto the teachers. Lakota previously had eight Gifted Intervention Specialists (GIS)s going to the eight elementary school buildings. Now, the number of GISs has been cut to four. Each specialist serves at two elementary schools working with students and teachers so they can instruct gifted students in an environment integrated with non-gifted students. The number of classified gifted students has increased as teachers can access more students who are “gifted” but in different ways.

“We went from serving 355 students to 1400,” Assistant Director of Gifted Services Lauren Webb said. “All those kids have been in those classes this whole time. Now, we’re just recognizing that they are gifted and we need to make sure they’re growing as well. We’ve gotten better at how we look at our gifted kids in our classrooms and provide them enrichment opportunities.”

GIFTED PROGRAM PART 2 Part two ackowledges the experience for teachers during first semester following the gifted services changes.

This will be followed by a part three covering gifted students in high school.

Pare teaches fourth grade math at Woodland Elementary. She notes that at the fourth grade level the biggest difference between gifted and non-gifted students is the accelerated pace and different projects. Pare says that the biggest change this year is the mix of learners.

“I have more differences between my three periods that I teach [than last year]. All of my groups are very heterogeneous. The block with the math plus kids may be a little more homogeneous just because you push 10 kids in, but there’s still 28 kids in that room,” Pare said. “This is the first year I really have bigger gaps between my groups.

And therefore my lessons are at different spots.”

Sixth grade Cherokee Elementary teacher Dave Sabourin works with multiple levels of students in his math classes.

“I have two math classes with kids who are gifted in certain things. There’s a student who is learning maybe at a second grade level, and

6 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

there are some who are learning at like a 10th grade level,” said Sabourin who believes they are having success at that level. “They’re making great connections and building perseverance and are one step closer to struggling instead of being correct all the time.”

GIS Debora Roberts sees the increase of students as a challenge, but tries to work with the teachers to best meet their teaching styles.

“The classroom teacher has so many students and each student has their own individual needs,” Roberts said. “I think the coaching piece is a lot of just brainstorming, each teacher has their own style and already is doing great things. So I try to help support that, because I know they need to do what works for them and their students this year.”

One way Pare is able to balance teaching a variety of students in her class is by breaking up her teaching time.

“I have a math talk time, and I have a mini lesson time where I do some whole class teaching,” Pare told Spark. “Then I have some breakout time where [students are] working independently or they’re working in level [based] small groups, which allows me time to touch base with students and check in on what they need specifically.”

Teachers are instructed to evaluate the levels of all students in their classrooms beyond standard state tests and IQ based evaluations. Pare said that about every 14-20 days, her and her teaching

Gifted Education Changes Pt. 2 | News Fourth grade Woodland teacher Stephanie Pare works with students in her integrated classroom.

partner are doing common assessments. Sabourin tries to evaluate his students in a variety of ways including pretests.

“We use pretests and I think the biggest indicator is eyeballing it,” Sabourin said. “We see where kids are as they work in the classroom and who is struggling with what. Then we figure out how they learn best.”

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abourin has seen the change in the gifted curriculum as something new, and is grateful to his GIS for her expertise.

“I don’t think [the change in curriculum] has been either positive or negative,” Sabourin told Spark. “I know my GIS, Amy Alexander, is a rockstar and has been really amazing at pushing the kids.”

As an experienced educator, Pare doesn’t view the new program as a large change, but can understand how it would be helpful for a younger teacher.

“This is [my] 31 year [of teaching] and I’ve heard some of this before. Has it drastically changed? No. Has it been a great refresher and given me some extra resources to use? Absolutely,” Pare said. “It has changed the way I prepare, but I always throw in a little extra challenge. I’m a little more conscious of it this year.”

Even with her experience, Pare appreciates help from her GIS to challenge her and her students.

“Our GIS gives me a lot of support activities and I’m incorporating some of those activities that she had done within the classroom standards,” Pare said. “The priority always is to make sure that the state standards are taught, then taking them and letting them do some deeper thinking on a concept or a project that connects to the content.”

GIS Christy Knopp has seen teachers trying to push students even though it can come with new challenges.

“I think the teachers are really excited about it. We used to take those kiddos in math [out of

the classroom] and they were [put] in my class.

That’s been a little bit of a mind shift for some teachers [because] they’re going to have those kids now,” Knopp told Spark. “Some kids can be really hard to challenge because they’re fast learners, but I know that every teacher I’ve worked with has been ready to take it on and is learning new skills and [so am I].”

Pare says that she has found a good routine for the GIS and teachers.

“At the beginning some of the gifted kids were asking, ‘why don’t we get to go to our own classroom?’” Pare said. “I think they were missing that experience of having a separate teacher all the time. But I think we bridge that gap pretty well.”

While advanced math courses have previously been taught in Lakota, the advanced language arts program is facing the most changes.

“With every new thing, there’s a lot of learning curve. The teachers have done an amazing job of enriching,” GIS Debra Roberts said. “I learn things from the teachers every time I go into classrooms. So I love seeing the wonderful educational pedagogy and relationships with the students, and how the teachers are really looking out for each individual student and their needs.”

Sixth grade teacher at Vangorden Elementary Kelly Collett says she is fortunate enough to have all her advanced students in one classroom because it is structured differently in sixth grade.

Now the biggest difference is new expectations for her students.

“Not all of my advanced kids are gifted. But at least I have them all in one class,” Collett said.

“Expectations have been set forth as far as meeting every kid where they are. Each year that seems to get just a little more challenging with class sizes and different student needs.”

With a GIS in her building twice a week, Collett has appreciated the extra help.

“This is the first time [the Language Arts department] has ever had anything like this,” Collett said. “I do really value having someone there, whether it’s a gifted teacher or just any teacher, [it’s beneficial to] meet and get ideas from

them.”

Roberts acknowledged that new activities get the kids to “think and stretch their brains.”

“This has definitely provided more access to more students,” Roberts said. “Before we didn’t really have anything other than maybe a half hour dedicated to language arts enrichment.”

The biggest challenge Knopp has faced as a GIS is time, as well as adjusting to the difference between schools.

“I can only spend half the time at each school.

I would love to have five days a week at a school because I could make an even bigger impact,” Knopp said. “Every school has its own culture.

I have to figure out what works for each school individually.”

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ollett shares that while her experience as a language arts teacher has been smooth it may be different for students facing changes in math.

“I do feel kind of bad for those kids that would have normally been pulled out to get a little more enrichment,” Collett said. “Especially in math where I feel like the enrichment probably looks a little bit different than it does an ELA.” Webb says that because of the stress of the school year, challenges are expected.

“This year is just a challenging period with COVID-19 changes and I think there’s also a component of the emotional piece for our students and we’ve seen a rise in those needs as well,” Webb said. “So I think it’ll continue to be a challenge, but our teachers are amazing and they do great things with our kids.”

Knopp believes that the new gifted education program will stay for next year.

“When we get all of our ducks in a row, other people will look at us and say ‘oh, that’s how you do it,’” Knopp said. “We’ll figure out what it’s supposed to look like and that may be different than what we’re doing right now. So this year will be good and next year will be even better.”•

STAY TUNED FOR PART 3

Instructing in Gifted The flow of responsibilities from administrators to students that make up Lakota’s gifted program.

Ohio Administrators Mandate public schools follow a gifted identification model

Gifted Intervention Specialists Provide teachers with a framework gifted curriculum

Teachers Receive specific professional learning around gifted students

Students Clustered with peers who have a similar ability level to discuss and solve problems source lakotaonline.com

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 7

News | Township Trustees Election

TRUSTEES OF 2022

infographic mary barone On Nov. 2, 2021, two trustee positions for Liberty Twp. and West Chester Twp. were up for election.

Here is a breakdown of their role in township government:

WHAT IS A TRUSTEE? TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION

4

Serves four year terms with an unlimited number of terms

Voters

Every two years, one trustee and one fiscal officer or two trustees are up for election

Trustees take office January 1 Clerks take office April 1

3,924 trustees serve across 1,308 townships in Ohio

source ohiotownships.org

Fiscal Officer

Board of Trustees

Township Administrator

Township Attorney

TRUSTEE RESPONSIBILITIES

FIRE PROTECTION

APPOINT OFFICIALS

EXPENDITURE TAX FOR POLICE OF FUNDS RECREATION PROTECTION

8 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

MAINTAIN ROADS

ZONING

WASTE DISPOSAL

source ohio township association

Township Trustee Election | News

With three candidates running to fill each township’s two trustee spots, here are the results:

WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP 27.1%

35.7%

37.2%

34.2%

37.3%

28.6%

Todd Minniear Republican First-time Trustee

Lee Wong Republican Trustee 2006 - Present

= Todd Minniear 4,785 votes = Tom Farrell

4,404 votes = Buck Rumpke

3,675 votes *Minniear and Farrell won the two trustee seats for Liberty Township

= Lee Wong 6,371 votes = Mark Welch

6,100 votes = Trent Emeneker

4,631 votes *Wong and Welch won the two trustee seats for West Chester Township

Tom Farrell Republican Trustee 2013 - Present

Mark Welch Republican Trustee 2014 - Present

TOWNSHIP TOPICS CONSTRUCTION: The Millikin Way interchange has been a top priority for Liberty Trustees since 2009.

According to trustee officials, it will open up 700 acres in the township for commercial development. The interchange will aid in the estimated population growth of approximately 20,000 to 40,000 over the next 10 years. Currently, the township is considering four alternatives that range from $33.8 to $27.1 million.

N Millikin Way Millikin Way

Teardrop Cost: $28.9 million

Millikin Way Millikin Way

Partial Cloverleaf Divergent Diamond Cost: $33.8 million Cost: $27.1 million source ohio department of transportation

Diamond Cost: $30.4 million

TOWNSHIP POPULATION GROWTH

60,958 54,895

37,894

37,259

23,553

22,819

1980

1990

43,999

west chester township liberty township

9,249

6,506

65,247

2000

2010 2020 source 2020 US census December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 9

News | School Board Changes

SCHOOL BOARD RESHAPED After months of controversy, new board members will take office in January 2022.• story and

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infographic natalie mazey | photography marleigh winterbottom | additional photography caleb vanatta

he November 2021 election saw an unprecedented eight candidates vying for the three open positions on the Lakota Board of Education. Darbi Boddy and Issac Adi won two of the open school board positions with 17.32% and 17.01% of the vote respectively. Incumbent Kelley Casper won the third seat with 16.15% of the vote. Casper currently serves as the board president, and this marks her second term as a school board member.

The election followed months of public stories about local school board meetings turning into shouting matches as participants wanted public participation sessions lengthened beyond the Board meeting policies; community members wanted legal findings, and one meeting was canceled in late October. Issues such as the mask mandate and critical race theory were at the center of the conversation.

Community Engagement

Board members serve four-year terms and can serve unlimited consecutive terms, earning no more than $5000 per year in total compensation according to the Ohio School Board Association (Ohio Revised Code Section

(RC) 3313.12). Lynda O’Connor has served on the board since 2008, and during that time, the most noticeable change she has seen at board meetings is an increase in community engagement.

“What I see is a lot more passionate engagement from families, parents, guardians, and our students too,” O’Connor said. “We always have our spotlight sessions, but we’re having students come to the microphone and they actually talk during the thirty-minute [public comment] section and I love that.

I think it’s terrific that we’re getting more comments and people being very transparent and open about what their concerns are.”

This increased community engagement has led to heightened disruptive and disrespectful behavior at board meetings, according to board member Brad Lovell. At the Sept. 27 meeting, a community member was removed for abusive language and unruly behavior which caused the meeting to be paused for ten minutes. At that same meeting, a deputy sheriff whose student attends Lakota caused a disruption during Superintendent Matt Miller’s presentation as well as during the 30-minute public comment period, where community members are permitted to speak for three minutes. This limit

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on public comment is imposed on all Ohio School Boards, according to the Ohio School Board Association (RC 3313.20) Lovell decided not to run for a second term in order to focus on his family and career.

During his time on the board, Lovell has seen national political debates take center stage within our community.

“I would also like to see respect return to the microphone,” Lovell said. “Unfortunately, some that attend the meetings have used the public comment as a political microphone and done so with very little respect.”

Casper also noted increased disrespectful behavior.

“I would just like to see more civility and more kindness, and more empathy for everyone involved. It’s not an easy job,” Casper said. “It’s basically a volunteer job, not really paid. And it’s not easy with where we are as a nation. I would just like people to be more civil.”

Controversies

Over the past few years, the board has been sued multiple times, including by a deputy sheriff at the Sept. 27 meeting who claimed the board violated his freedom of speech rights. In

School Board Changes | News March 2020, Vanessa Wells, who ran for school board during the 2021 election cycle, filed an Open Meetings Act lawsuit, winning the settlement in August. Wells said she filed the lawsuit because the Lakota school board was having committee meetings in private which she saw as a violation of the Sunshine Law. Now, committee meetings must be announced to the public.

“I felt like there was a lack of transparency with our current school board and I think it’s really important for our elected officials to be held accountable to the community,” Wells said. “I didn’t want to criticize and point out all of the things wrong without also trying myself to be in that role.”

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uring her campaign, Wells cited the most difficult part was seeing the disrespect exhibited by adults.

“When I say [adults] need to be role models, I mean respecting each other’s differences,” Wells said. “A lot of the disrespect that came from the adults is sad to me because that’s not being a role model for our students.”

In August 2020, a former board member resigned after emails of him saying “they should have shot them” surfaced in regards to two students being arrested at Lakota West.

Douglas Horton cited this instance as to why he chose to run for school board this past election cycle, in which he finished fourth with 15.42% of the vote.

“I remember reacting like most of the parents in the district, just outraged that somebody like that could represent the district,” Horton said. “Going into this election cycle, I was concerned that there might be other people like that individual who would not be the right representation for our district. Outside of the desire to keep on the track that I’ve always been on as part of the District Parent Council, I really wanted to make sure that the voters had a choice to represent the district in ways that were consistent with what our district stands for.”

Micheal Pearl, who finished in fifth with 15.4% of the vote, was unanimously appointed to the board on Sept. 14, 2020 to replace the resigned member and will finish his term in December 2021.

Role of the Board

Julie Shaffer has served on the board since 2012 and believes part of the controversy surrounding the board stems from a lack of understanding from the community about the role of the school board. The duties of a school board member include hiring and evaluating the superintendent and treasurer as well as setting policy.

“I think many people believe that we’re far more involved in the day-to-day decisions than we are and they often try to pull school board

members into those day-to-day decisions, which is not the appropriate role of the school board,” Shaffer said. “That’s why we have our administrators in their roles, to do the day-today decision making. The school board is to be in that higher-level governance role. We’re there to be an ear for the community and that’s why they elect us.”

Despite not being involved in day-today decision-making, Casper attests that it’s important for board members to stay involved whether that be attending Lakota sporting events or getting involved in organizations within the community; Casper and Shaffer both served on the District Parent Council and Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTOs) within the district. Currently, Casper does fundraising for the Boys and Girls Club and works with the Lakota Optimist Club.

“It’s important that we are seen in the community at school events,” Casper said. “I think it’s important that the students and the staff see us being involved [which] humanizes us. We’re not just sitting up there passing policies, we actually are invested in the students and the staff in the district.”

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’Connor agrees with this sentiment.

She serves as the president and board chair for C3: Caring Community Collaborative and is involved in the Butler County Family First Council and the Butler County Suicide Prevention Coalition among many others.

“You have to be present. It makes you accessible to people who want to talk to you,” O’Connor said. “It lets them all know as our students that we’re concerned about them and we’re caring about them and we’re there cheering them on.”

Shaffer explains that being involved in the schools is part of being an effective board member.

“I think giving back within the schools is important,” Shaffer said. “Even once being on the board, still being able to be in touch with the day to day operations is critically important because you may implement something on the board and it has one intent, but to be able to see how that’s working within the schools is important to actually understand what’s happening on a day to day basis.”

In an email interview with Spark, Adi said he plans on being involved in the Lakota community during his term.

“As a board member, I represent everybody in the community, which includes parents, students, teachers, staff & taxpayers in the school district,” Adi said. “In view of that, I will be visible and interact with the members of the public as much as possible.”

Membership Retention and Engagement Consultant for the Ohio School Boards Association Mark Bobo told Spark that there are three tenets that make an effective school

O’CONNOR WINS ALL-OHIO SCHOOL BOARD AWARD

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story ella huelskamp

urrent Lakota Board of Education member Lynda O’Connor was one out of the five Ohio board members recognized as a member of the All-Ohio state school board.

O’Connor said her motivation has always been the same.

“I don’t feel that I ever really moved away from what I originally started for, which was to make sure that there was transparency and accountability and fiscal responsibility,” O’Connor said. “I feel like I’ve carried through on those principles the entire time I’ve been on the board.”

This award is directed by the Ohio School Board Association (OSBA) over the five regions of Ohio.

Each board member is recognized for their work in their community of education and represents the dedication of board members.

“There are so many good people truly dedicated to helping kids and making sure that we’re providing a great education,” O’Connor said. “[Helping kids] is the motivation that hasn’t changed for me.”

O’Connor states how it’s difficult to point out certain people across the state, when several board members are working to make a difference.

“How can you single out people from across the state with so many great board members that really want to make a difference for the kids?” O’Connor said.

Current board member Julie Shaffer, has been on the Lakota Board of Education since 2012, and feels that O’Connor is a valuable member of the board and community.

“She spends a tremendous amount of time and effort on state and local school board committees,” Shaffer said. “I believe this was a well-deserved recognition.”

A former teacher and current Lakota School Board member Kelly Casper also felt the work achieved by O’Connor was well deserving of this award.

“She has put over the years a lot of time and effort into school board activities,” Casper said.

“For her to be recognized on a state level is an accomplishment for her.”

In O’Connor’s speech when accepting the award, she said that preparing students for their future is a major priority of hers. O’Connor strongly enforced the importance of daily decisions made by the board, and being careful in what choices are made regarding the curriculum.

“It’s about daily decisions that are made on expenditures that we make to make sure that we are using our assets and our resources appropriately for you,” O’Connor said.

Overall, O’Connor, now leading her fourteenth year on the board, is humbled with the outcome of this award, and is honored to work with so many “dedicated” people to get the kids what they need.

“It kind of took my breath away to be honest,” O’Connor said. •

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 11

News | School Board Changes

“[An effective school board member] sees the importance of public education. They believe in the potential of each student. They are solely focused on making sure that their district leadership has the resources and support needed to be effective in their role.” - Membership Retention and Engagement Consultant for the Ohio School Boards Association Mark Bobo board member. “[An effective school board member] sees the importance of public education. They believe in the potential of each student.

They are solely focused on making sure that their district leadership has the resources and support needed to be effective in their role,” Bobo said. “You have to believe that public education makes a difference in our society.”

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obo works to ensure board members have all the resources and support they need. The biggest issue members have faced in the past year has been how to respond and bounce back from the pandemic.

“Some [districts] were reopening their buildings, some were doing hybrid, some were totally remote,” Bobo said. “Really the biggest issue that we’re facing right now is dealing with the pandemic and what is the best way to make sure our students are still on track for successful high school completion and graduation.”

Miller told Spark that there has to be balance in being a school board member, but students should always be the priority.

“One of the things to remember now is that the focus for all of us in education should be on our students, but there is also a community piece to that they are the elected body elected from our community,” Miller said. “But when you look at the priority of an education institution, students should be at the top of that list.”

Despite finishing sixth with 10.3% of the vote in the election, Wells contends she will continue to be a presence within the district in order to ensure kids are put first.

“I want to make sure that whoever is on the board is remembering that the kids are the number one priority,” Wells said. “We need to put them at the forefront of every decision that’s made.”

Political Discourse

Alongside struggles regarding bouncing back from COVID-19, the board has also faced increased discourse regarding political issues.

“Now you have all this national pressure and schools have become a political hot button. I think it’s very challenging for all of our teachers and administrators to manage all of that currently,” Shaffer said. “There’s a lot that our schools and our staff are dealing with currently and it’s hard to take anything off the plate because the expectations just keep going up and up all at the same time.”

One national issue that has found a prominent place at school board meetings is Critical Race Theory (CRT). Ballotpedia, a political tracking website, found that in 76 school districts in 22 states school board candidates took a stance on race in education or CRT. Superintendent Matt Miller told Spark critical race theory is not taught in Lakota. “[Teaching CRT] has not been the intent and it’s not been something that we’ve been able to put our finger on in terms of where that’s coming from,” Miller said. “I know that other districts are dealing with that too. But again, if there’s something that’s an issue or a problem that someone can give us something to point towards, we can certainly take a look at that.”

East teachers echo that in a Spark survey.

85% of 31 East teachers surveyed by Spark said CRT should not be a point of debate.

Winners of the Lakota School Board Election

Kelly Casper 16.15%

Issac Adi 17.32%

Darbi Boddy 17.01%

source Butler County Board of Elections

12 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

“I think [CRT] is an issue we have to continue to look at when parents bring concerns,” O’Connor said. “We need to really investigate that and make sure that we’re keeping things that our community wants us to be teaching.”

One anonymous teacher said CRT should not be a point of debate because “we don’t teach it so it is a non-issue.”

Casper said CRT is a graduate-level course and is not taught in the district.

“I think this comes from a national place of fear. People that think that we’re teaching critical race theory are referring to diversity, equity, and inclusion activities as CRT. I think that it’s hard for people to understand that that’s not what CRT is and it is important that we teach diversity, equity, inclusion, and socialemotional learning,” Casper said. “Kids are under a lot of pressure. The more as a school district we can do to help them before it gets to a crisis standpoint, the better off we are. All of those things are important, and I don’t think any of them are CRT.”

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ne anonymous teacher agrees that some people do not understand what CRT is.

“Most people don’t even understand what it is, because it is a graduatelevel college theory based around institutional racism,” an anonymous teacher said. “Should we allow people who don’t understand it to shut down appropriate conversation about the history of race and discrimination in this country? Absolutely not.”

Another anonymous teacher said it is not necessary to agree or disagree 100% in the debate about CRT with zero nuance.

“One over-reaction tends to beget another overreaction in the opposite direction,” another anonymous teacher said. “It’s messy and sometimes ugly but that’s how our democratic republic was intended to function. Hopefully, cooler heads prevail.”

According to criticalrace.org, a website that tracks where CRT is taught, found that 18 higher education institutions in Ohio teach CRT, but they have not found any K-12 institutions that do.

“I ran a campaign that was very focused on celebrating the diversity of our district. Some of the winners [of the election] were talking about eliminating the Lakota Office of Diversity Inclusion (LODI),” said Horton, who worried that monitoring teacher discussion shouldn’t be

Continued on page 18

SECURITY SAVVY

CyberAcademy | News

Cyber Academy gives students the opportunity to compete in competitions, intern with companies, and learn valuable information about security. story and photography audrey allen | infographic ezri colpi

H

e smells the donuts before he even sees them. His six teammates gather around the box filled with cream sticks and glazed favorites, in preparation for the competition. East junior Aiden Ethier sits down at his computer in East Cyber Academy and computer science teacher Dave McKain’s room at nine a.m. on a Saturday. The team is currently competing in the “CyberPatriot”’ where they have to work together for six hours to fix a virtual machine. The timer counts down, and they anxiously wait to start. The buzzer sounds and Ethier quickly assesses what they need to do. This is the first round out of three but they came to end up on top.

The Lakota Cyber Academy was created in 2019 to provide students the resources and training necessary to fight cyber crime. It is the first of its kind and has been designed alongside 60 to 70 industry partners like Belcan, Kroger, and Procter & Gamble to develop a local pool of talent in the lucrative field of cyber security.

With a wide range of industry-recognized cyber-focused courses, its curriculum is filled with highly valued certification opportunities and includes labs and a digital library.

“The industry that we have worked with the whole way through is Belcan. Belcan is an engineering firm in IT staffing and cybersecurity.

They founded the Cyber Academy idea and tried to start it at another school and it didn’t really get off the ground,”Executive Director, Curriculum, and Instruction Keith Koehne told Spark. “They financially supported the program [at East] and have been a big supporter

of it. We probably have an advisory board of about 20 people.”

East Director, Curriculum, and Instruction 7-12, Andrew Wheatley worked with some local colleges like Sinclar and University of Cincinnati to shape Cyber Academy.

“There are not many schools who are doing cybersecurity. There is not a state curriculum for cybersecurity. In fact, when we started this project, there was no national curriculum,” Wheatley told Spark. “We started to talk about what some college’s sequence of courses look like for cyber security and we had to make that work for a high school.”

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oehne said there are a million unfilled jobs in cybersecurity today, and there will be 3.5 million by the end of 2023 and if students are able to get their certifications through the program they can walk out of high school making $60,000 to $70,000 in their first year.

“It took the vision of somebody in our curriculum department looking at it saying, this is a growing and expanding field. We would make it very unique for us in Lakota to be able to offer to our students looking around not only the state, but the country,” East principal Rob Burnside told Spark. “This is not a program that most high schools are able to offer. We are blessed to have Mr. McKain here who has done a great job and is certainly wellrespected in the industry.”

This is his McKain’s third year teaching Cyber Academy. He is a big advocate of

cybersecurity and was thrilled to be able to help to build the curriculum. He works very closely with his students to establish a connection throughout their three years in the program.

“The story goes that four years ago, Matt Miller was talking with a friend of his, and they started talking about this idea of creating a cyber academy because cybersecurity is such a huge deal. It’s not going away,” McKain told Spark. “We don’t have enough people to fill all the jobs and they had this dream of creating this thing and managed to make things work pretty quickly.”

Classes

Cyber courses One, Two, and Three are designed to partner hands-on in-class challenges with online preparation for industry certifications in cyber security.

“The first year is a lot about system administration and understanding how things work,” McKain said. “They get under the surface a bit, because most people just live right on the surface and don’t really understand what’s going on beneath the surface with a lot of cybersecurity sprinkled in along with some competitions.”

East students valued the approach, including East junior and Cyber One student Adam Faglie.

“I’ve learned how to utilize a computer to do more tasks and how to increase personal security,” Faglie told Spark. “Being able to compete in the Cyberstart competition was

Junior Camden Frazier (left) and senior Jaiden Palmore-Lett work on an assignment in fifth bell Cyber One.

13 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 13

News | Cyber Academy

What is Cyber Academy?

Cyber 1

Cyber 2

-students start with in-class challenges that are solved with support from industry partners -each student is matched with a mentor in the cyber security field

Lakota Local Schools partnered with Belcan to form a three year Cyber Academy class for the highschools.

Because of the modern advances in technology, cyber attacks are on the rise and the demand for cyber security experts are growing. The Lakota Cyber Security classes allow students to get ahead in one of the fastest growing job fields in the world.

-students experience job shadowing with industry partners to see cyber security in action -students continue to work with their mentors to solve in-class challanges

Cyber 3

-students design and build a career path that interests them -students get the oppurtunity to work a paid internship during the spring or summer of their senior year. source lakotaonline.com

my favorite thing because I was able to get a lot of exposure to what it’s like to work in cybersecurity.”

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yber Two is a College Credit Plus (CCP) course through Sinclair University. The goal is to prepare students so that they can earn their security plus certification before they even graduate. They will experience job shadowing with industry partners to see the world of cybersecurity in action.

“The CCP course that we are taking through Sinclair is going to take all year and at the end of the year we are going to take the security plus certification test,” East junior and Cyber Two student George Kolks told Spark. “The security plus certification is something that not many people in the cybersecurity field have.”

Cyber Three will be culminating a “build your own challenge” experience through which students can define the path and certifications that most interest them. This all ends with a paid internship in either the spring or summer of the student’s senior year.

“All of the 24 kids who are in Cyber Three are promised to get paid internships when they

come through the program,” Koehne said. “ We work with INTERalliance and they are able to provide six to 10 kids a year with an internship.

We hope to grow our class to 50 to 70 kids in the next couple of years. So having that number of kids getting internships, we will probably have to start looking outside of this area.”

East senior and Cyber Three student Zoey Chappell received an internship at a company that she will go to after school for a few days.

“I did get an internship at Standex Electronics. I started on Nov. 8. One of the employees at Standex is a Lakota parent and heard about the program. He reached out to Mr. McKain to set it up,” Chappell told Spark.

“I interviewed with them, and I’ll essentially be addressing cyber vulnerabilities found through an application Standex uses.”

Competitions All three classes compete in many different types of competitions throughout the year including CyberPatriot, National Cyber League, and Cyberstart America.CyberPatriot

14 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

is a group competition run by the AirForce and defense giant corporation Northrop Gruman.

It is typically held in the fall and there are three different rounds.

“For the CyberPatriot competition we are given a virtual machine, and it is vulnerable in a lot of different ways. We have to change things to make it less vulnerable and make it more secure. As a team, we work for six hours straight from nine to three on a Saturday,” Ethier told Spark. “We finished the first round a couple of weeks ago, and in November we had our second round. The state round is in December. My group is 13th in Ohio for that competition as of now.”

National Cyber League (NCL) competition happens once in the fall and once in the spring. It enables students to prepare and test themselves against practical cybersecurity challenges that they will likely face in the workforce, such as identifying hackers from forensic data, pentesting and auditing vulnerable websites, and recovering from ransomware attacks.

Some of the puzzles are based on forensics, cryptography, web exploration, reverse engineering, and binary exploitation.

CyberAcademy | News “One of the categories in the NCL is open source intelligence, which is just, they give you something you have to look up and find a flag.

One example would be, they give you an image and you have to figure out when the image was taken, where it was taken, and what camera was used. Or something could be encoded and you’d have to decode it,” Ethier said. “Just this past NCL I got to the gold bracket, which is in the top 15% in America, which is especially cool since most of them are college age and older.”

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yberstart America, created in 2020, starts in October and runs all the way through April. It is available to students all year so they can go in and tackle problems when they have time. There is scholarship money attached to this competition that makes it an exciting opportunity for students.

“I did well enough in Cyberstart America to qualify as a finalist. I was given a free certification course, and I did that over the summer which would have been $30,000,” Ethier said. “I got it for free and I now have a certification in the cybersecurity world.”

Mentorships In Cyber One, each student in the Academy will be matched with a mentor in the field that they meet once a month to serve as a resource and help guide students through the program and beyond.

“We have a strategic partnership coordinator, Katie Bauer, who makes connections with all of our industry partners. It is really word of mouth,” Koehne said. “I think it is one of those things where one person gets involved and then they go back and tell their friends. They enjoy working with the kids and are excited to bring people in.”

The mentors give them advice, talk to them about what they do, and guide them throughout the Cyber Academy course.

“Having a mentor is really cool because you get to talk to people who are in the cyber field. My mentor right now is Justin Hall and he works for Cincinnati Bell,” Ethier said. “It’s super cool to hear about the issues he runs into.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 16,300 openings for information security analysts on average have been projected each year over the past decade.

Many of those openings are expected to result

In fifth bell Cyber One, (left to right) Darian Porter, Saadvik Kotagiri, and Michael Jones work on their coursework for the Cyberstart America competition.

from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

“The first thing [McKain] told us when we got into the room was that if we finished this plan all throughout high school, we could probably not go to college and get a job that paid 30K a year. Apparently there’s 30% of jobs that need to be filled,” Kolks said. “Companies love that we’re doing this and the companies will come to our school and they’ll pay for our competition tickets. P&G last year paid for some of our tickets.”

have specific programs and tools that they need to use and open to complete their assignments.

“We use the computers a ton, especially for Cyberstart America. As I’m going through these challenges I’m like ‘I can’t do that’ because I can’t access the inspect tool’. The whole point of the inspect tool is it is only on your browser at that moment,” said Ethier. “There is probably a good reason why Lakota has it restricted but it’d just be great if we could use that tool.”

Issues

Despite the disadvantages, there are many reasons cyber students reccomend this program even if someone does not know anything about the cyber field.

“Mr. McKain is really good at walking you through everything. I started out having no computer knowledge. I wanted to do something with computers but not coding.

You have no need for entrance level knowledge and basically all of Cyber One is basics,” Ethier said. “You learn so much so quickly so don’t worry about not knowing enough going in. Just apply yourself and take the time to learn the commands.”

These students not only learn about cybersecurity and how to hack into things, but they learn important life lessons that are becoming more prominent in society as technology advances.

“Everything that we touch in our hands that is electronic, can be hacked at any time. [This class] really taught me to be careful with my stuff,” Kolks said. “Before Cyber One, I had my social security number in my notes on my phone, but when I started this course I took it immediately off. I just learned to be more careful with my passwords and to be smarter online.”•

Due to restrictions on the school-issued Chromebooks, students are having a hard time trying to work on competitions and programs.

“I wish we had more machines and programs and being able to work more on the Chromebooks would really help us in competitions,” Kolks said. “We’ve had so many competitions reach out to us because we’re such a big program saying that they would sponsor us, but it’s just so hard to get across with all the blocked stuff on the Chromebooks. I understand, but it is a little frustrating.”

Everyday the students use their Chromebooks to do their work for the class and

“This is not a program that most high schools are able to offer. We are blessed to have Mr. McKain here who has done a great job and is certainly wellrespected in the industry.” – East principal Rob Burnside 15 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

Impact

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 15

News | Veterans Day Assembly

CELEBRATING VETERANS Veterans stand in the Main Street hall during the Veteran’s Day parade.

Lakota East Veterans Club hosted their annual Veteran’s Day event on Nov. 9 for students and staff to celebrate veterans in their community.

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story maddie behrmann | photography caleb vanatta tudents crowded Mainstreet at 10 a.m. on Nov. 9 and watched as the parade of veterans. Veterans and their families walked down the hall, including veteran Ron Dzikowski. Dzikowski served in the U.S. Navy and had four years active duty and four years active reserves. Dzikowski said he was inspired by his family to serve.

“My father was in the Navy during World War II, and my one brother was in the army,” Dzikowski said. “One [other] brother went into the Navy.”

The event was organized by the Lakota East Veterans Club, hosting around 25 veterans like Dzikowski. President of Veterans Club and East senior LeAnn Niederman said that the event is important because it is able to teach the students about the sacrifices veterans have made.

“I know some [veterans] did not get the welcome that they deserved when they came home from war,” Niederman said. “So it’s great to be able to show them appreciation and show them that even though we’re a younger generation, we still care because it is mostly a student-led program.”

Veterans were greeted at 8:30 a.m. with breakfast in the cafeteria. Then, Lakota students and staff cheered on the veterans and their families as they walked down Main Street. After the pledge of allegiance, juniors and seniors attended the rest of the program.

The band and choir performed a multitude of patriotic songs throughout the program, directed by the band directors Kevin Engel and Robert

Tanis and the choir director Rebecca Huddliston.

A video was played of compiled clips of students, staff, and East alumni thanking Veterans for their service. Six members of the Veterans Club gave speeches including Niederman.

“The speeches were open to any students, but it was all Veterans Club students who ended up doing it,” Niederman said. “We had to write the speech and the audition for it.”

ESL teacher and advisor of the Veterans Club Sally Barker played a big part in organizing the program. “[The Veterans Club] started talking about the event at the beginning of September with hopes we could still have the program this year due to COVID-19 concerns,” Barker said. “Many staff members were involved in planning the event to make sure everything was ready for that day.”

In 2020, the program was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. Niederman and the Veterans Club looked to the program from 2019 to plan this year’s event.

“We modified it so we changed the speakers,” Niederman said. “Ms. Barker had a meeting with [principal Burnside] and had that all approved

16 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

before we could do anything. For the most part, it’s just following the same thing that we do the year before, getting the choir to sing, and getting the band to play.”

Lakota East teacher Clinton Adkins was accompanied by his father, who was a military policeman in the Army, to the event. Adkins’ uncle also served in the army, while his Grandfather served in WWII in North Africa, Italy, and Southern France “Selflessness is one of the most important attributes a person can have. Those individuals we honored in the assembly embody selflessness,” Adkins said. “For myself, it was simply an honor to be in the presence of people who are willing to make sacrifices so we can have the freedoms in our lives that we take for granted in many cases.

Obviously, it makes it even more special that I got to spend the day with my father.”

Niederman has multiple family members in the military and wanted to thank all Veterans for their service.

“For the students, I would hope that they learned to be a little more self-aware of the world and be aware that their everyday freedoms came at a price,” Niederman said.• A U.S. Veteran Jack Birdsong watches the Lakota East ceremony.

Mask Requirement Changes | News Oct. 25 and Friday Oct. 29 when the decision was announced, but the district has been working closely with local health experts and organizations to make their protocols.

“As with every decision that we’ve made regarding COVID, Mr. Miller consults the guidance from ODH,” Fuller said. “He looked at the medical experts, he reached out to local hospitals and looked at the numbers. It’s all about the safety of our students.”

For close contact students that refuse to wear a mask, the district has developed a protocol to limit the spread of the virus.

“At the building level, they will know who should be wearing a mask,” Fuller said. “If a [close contact] student or staff member does not wear a mask, they are quarantined and will not be allowed to stay [in person]. They need to stay home for 10 days and follow the guidelines.”

Student throws away a mask on Main Street.

MASKS IN LAKOTA Lakota changes its mask policy to “optional for students and staff.” • story and photography mia hilkowitz

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info graphic riley grosnickle | additional interviews wudie amsalu alking to her fifth bell class, East senior Olivia Lockett was shocked when she saw the email on her phone from Lakota. After wearing masks for almost two years while at school, Lockett was concerned to see the phrase “Important COVID Update” in bold letters, telling her and her peers that masks would no longer be required in the school building.

“Kids don’t even follow the rules as it is.

Most of these kids aren’t vaccinated,” Lockett told Spark. “I think [the decision is] just causing more danger, especially for the people that have autoimmune diseases but still have to come to school.”

The change in COVID-19 protocols came to students, teachers and community members on Friday Oct. 29, when Superintendent Matt Miller announced to Lakota community members by email that masks will no longer be required for in-person learners, but highly recommended. The decision follows a recent change in Ohio Department of Health (ODH) quarantine guidance for close contacts in school settings.

“As we have done since the start of the pandemic, in addition to reviewing the guidance from ODH, we consulted with local medical experts before making this decision,” Miller said via email to community members. “We have not received any feedback from the Butler County General Health District that opposes these new

protocols.”

Before the change in protocol, all students and staff were required to wear masks while in the building. The new ODH guidance states that direct contacts to positive cases, regardless of vaccination or masking status, may remain in the classroom. However, close contacts must wear a mask for 14 days after their last date of exposure and self-monitor or parent monitor for COVID-19 symptoms. Contacts must isolate and get tested if they begin to experience COVID-19 symptoms. While parents and students are responsible for symptom monitoring, nurses and school staff with a close contact student in their class are expected to pay attention to symptoms. “[Lakota] has been talking about [removing the mandate] since ODH announced their new quarantine guidance,” Lakota Spokesperson Betsy Fuller told Spark. “Every single week, we are looking at our numbers and talking about what we think about masks and if we should stick with the requirements. When ODH came through with their announcement, the conversation started again.”

In his email, Miller stated that the district consulted local medical experts before making the decision and that the district has not received any feedback from the Butler County General Health District that opposes the protocol. According to Fuller, teachers and students were not consulted between Monday,

A

ccording to ODH protocol, close contact students that participate in extracurricular activities must get tested within 24 hours of being notified as a close contact. That student must then wear a mask to participate.

On the fifth, sixth, or seventh day of being notified, students should be tested again.

East senior Jenny Mateo said that she will feel pressure from peers about whether or not to wear a mask at school.

“There [is pressure] either way,” Mateo told Spark. “Because if you don’t wear [a mask], it’s bad. But if you do wear one, it’s bad. It depends on who you are around.”

East junior Veronica Geiger believes that the decision to wear a mask should be up to the discretion of the students. According to a recent Spark survey, 55.1% of surveyed students do not support the decision to no longer require masks for staff and students.

“I feel as if it should be up to the student to decide if they want to wear masks,” Geiger told Spark. “Personally, I’m still going to wear mine just because I want to protect myself and others.”

East senior Daniel Mulumba says that the new policy is more complicated for students.

“I understand that people don’t really like the masks or wearing masks during school, but I feel like the policy is just a little too complicated,” Mulumba told Spark. “Especially the part about if you’re near someone that tests positive, then don’t show symptoms. You have to come back and wear a mask for two weeks. But then if you go get tested and you’re negative, then it’s only one week; just a ton of different twists and turns.”

The same Spark survey also reported that 69.4% of students believe that vaccination status should be taken into the decision whether people are required to wear masks. On the other hand, 45.2% of teachers believe that vaccination status should be taken into the decision.

“I’m fully vaxed and had a breakthrough case in summer, so I’m low risk to others and myself,” one East teacher said in a recent Spark survey.

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 17

News | Mask Requirement Changes “I don’t wear a mask anywhere else. Masks are basically theater and make teaching harder and more tiring. Anyone wanting to mandate them should have to teach all day every day in one.”

While some support the new protocol change, according to a Spark survey, 48% of East teachers do not support the decision. “[The decision] seems early and poorly timed going into winter,” another teacher noted in their survey. “But Lakota has consistently gotten things right with the pandemic so I am going to trust them.”

For one East teacher, the decision raises concerns for family members.

“My father is immunosuppressed,” an anonymous teacher answered. “I worry I will now not be able to visit home.”

of the 115 students that replied to a Spark survey, report that they do not feel safe attending school without the mandate in place. While this change was implemented Monday Nov. 1, Fuller believes that it is important to emphasize that the decision will continue to be evaluated throughout the remainder of the school year.

COVID-19 Transmission Risk

The likelihood of receiving and spreading the COVID-19 virus depends on who is wearing a mask at the point of contact.

Transmission probability 70%

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COVID 19 Carrier (without mask)

ith this decision, Lakota joins other local school districts including Edgewood, Fairfield, Madison, Monroe, New Miami, and Ross to recommend masks or go mask optional for in-person learners and staff. According to the Lakota COVID-19 dashboard, a total of 536 students and 83 staff members district-wide have tested positive. The week of Oct. 25-29, 18 students and 6 staff members tested positive for COVID-19. The New York Times COVID-19 Case and Risk Tracker reported that Butler County had experienced an average of 88 new positive COVID-19 cases a day.

Following the initial announcement, 43.5%

SCHOOL BOARD RESHAPED

Continued from Page 12 the focus of the school board. “So I’d hate to see very valued services like LODI or some of our great teachers be scapegoats for a political agenda. Instead, I really want to make sure that the district stays on track to continue to grow Student Services.”

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asper, Pearl, and Horton were endorsed by the Lakota Educator’s Association (LEA). The LEA declined to comment at this time.

“School teachers are our number one expense as a school district, but they’re also the number one determinant of student outcome and student achievement as well,” Horton said. “I took their endorsement as a badge of honor that they saw that the vision that I was laying out for the district was one that they understood as educators would benefit our students, but also that they would see me as a fair partner across the table when it comes time to negotiating contracts, compensation and salary with them overall.”

All of this unrest as well as the national media coverage of School Board unrest worry local teachers.

61% of East teachers are concerned for the future of the board, according to the Spark survey.

“It’s really important to stress that we will continue to watch our numbers,” Fuller said.

“Our numbers have been declining. If you look at our COVID-19 dashboard, we will continue to watch the numbers and if we start to see a spike, we may choose to go back and make masks required again.” •

Healthy Person (with mask)

Transmission probability 5%

Healthy Person (without mask)

COVID 19 Carrier (with mask)

Transmission probability 1.5%

COVID 19 Carrier (with mask)

Boddy and Adi were endorsed by the Butler County Republican Party. Boddy declined to answer the questions for this interview.

Wells, who received 10.3% of the vote, dropped her Republican endorsement after members of the Republican Party told her what to say at a rally.

“There are members of the Republican Party that believe that politics should be at the forefront, and I just don’t believe that,” Wells said. “I didn’t want to stand for something that I didn’t believe suits the needs of all the kids.”

Horton said he saw this nonpartisan school board election become politicized. The Butler County Democrats did not endorse a school board candidate. According to records filed with the Butler County Board of Elections, Boddy’s top donors include the campaign committee of state Sen. George Lang, R-West Chester, Butler County Commissioner T.C. Rogers, and the Northeast (Hamilton County) Republican Women’s Club.

“This election cycle showed that there was definitely a strategy to politicize the election,” Horton said. “Whether it’s right or wrong, there was a concentrated effort to influx money from outside sources into something that has been really local and something that I believe shouldn’t be partisan. It should be really reflective of the parents and the community

18 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

Healthy Person (with mask) source roselandnj.org

members, speaking up and deciding what’s right for their school district. It’s hard when there’s a lot of money flooding in that really skews the results.”

O’Connor, who has run for the board four times, told Spark that endorsements have always been a part of the Lakota school board elections “I don’t think there are any political races that don’t involve different endorsements and parties and organizations,” O’Connor said. “It’s not anything new or different. I think there are many, many people in our community regardless of what their party is, that are concerned about education and want the best for our students.”

Casper, O’Connor, and Shaffer all agree students should be at the forefront. They all voiced that they are excited to see the Cybersecurity program in Lakota grow in the future alongside internship opportunities that were put on pause due to COVID-19.

Shaffer said that the board needs to focus on the students.

“We don’t let the national political issues become too distracting from our day-to-day operations,” Shaffer said. “We continue to focus on what our students need, fulfilling the curriculum objectives that the state has set forward for us, and moving forward on a local level without the noise that’s happening nationally.”•

Briefs | News

LIGHT THE NIGHT

The East Student Government raised more than $2000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society through their “Light the Night” campaign.• story and photography natalie mazey

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ast Student Government hosted a “Light the Night” fundraiser to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), raising $2482.13 during the week of Nov. 8-12. The money raised goes to fulfill LLS’s mission of “curing leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improving the quality of life of patients and their families.”

East Student Government President Keoni Salvador said the fundraiser was a resounding success as fourth-period classes competed to raise the most money to help cover patients’ medical bills, transportation costs, and finance research regarding the fight to cure cancer.

Rich Schmaltz’s fourth-period class raised the most money and received a pizza party as their reward.

“We have boxes in each fourth-period class so they can donate, and then we also have a table at lunch,” Salvador said. “We also did a chuck your change event in the student pick up lane after school so the parents can just throw the change that’s in their car into bins. That way

it’s more money and it’s getting change out of people’s cars.”

Typically, Student Government organizes the “Pennies for Patients” fundraiser, but this year they shifted to “Light the Night.” This new fundraiser fulfills the same mission but includes an event in October for Blood Cancer patients and their families.

“It still goes to the same cause, and it goes to the same organization,” Salvador said. “It really isn’t that different, especially for what we do. Most of the time, it’s just fundraising and raising money from our school, just to help and support.”

In addition, Student Government had a booth at East’s Craft Show to collect donations, raising $982.13 over the two days the Craft Show was open. East Student Government member Dania Hantush said she was shocked and grateful when one woman donated $500 at the craft show.

“It was so heartwarming to see people donate and express their gratitude about the cause,” Hantush said. “I wasn’t expecting to raise that much money either. It blew me away.”• East Student Government members Gabby Jones (left) and Martha Makabu (right) collect donations from classrooms.

MANAGING MALFUNCTIONS The East fire alarm panel has repeatedly started to beep, causing issues for the custodial staff.• story ria malhi | photography mia hilkowitz

L

iberty Township fire fighters arrived at East when the building’s alarm panel sent out a false signal, which alerted the fire department and caused a delay in the schedule of East students and teachers.

Liberty Township Fire Department responded and investigated once they arrived at the building, and discovered that it was an alarm issue. East students were held in class longer than normal in case an evacuation from the building was necessary although an evacuation did not occur.

Christoper Oakes, Liberty Township Fire Department Captain, was on duty the day the alarm picked up a false detection.

“We try to treat everything like it’s the real deal until we get inside and prove otherwise,” Oakes told Spark regarding false detections and alarms. “We don’t want to get caught unaware.”

The fire department works closely with local businesses, stores, and schools. Oakes spoke about the great partnership between Lakota and the Liberty Township Fire Department. “[Some students] are super excited to see

us but they’re also super helpful,” Oakes said, speaking about Lakota Students. “They’re very courteous and understanding. They’re not running around and acting inappropriately.”

The recent malfunction of the alarm has been taking longer than expected to be fixed.

East’s head custodian of four years, Josh Crouch, is closely involved with the situation. Crouch mentioned a great relationship between East and the Liberty Township Fire department.

“It’s great,” Crouch said. “They know we have some issues with the panel. A lot of times I just talk to them and they don’t have to come out and take their time away from the community.”

Although this is a recent situation at East , it has happened previously.

“The [panel malfunction] occurred before, it just used to be easier to fix,” Crouch said.

“We were able to get those parts a lot easier than what we can now because we have an older system that’s harder to get parts for.”

The alarm will be fixed over the Lakota winter break, according to Crouch.

Many students were not aware of the

19 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

malfunction until it started to progress.

Beeping noises and delays in lunch schedules drew awareness to the malfunctioning of the alarm and became noticeable to students and staff.

“I think at first everybody was kind of unaware,” Crouch said. “But I’m pretty sure most people know when they hear the panel exactly what it is.”

Beeping noises can be heard coming from the panel on main street. East Principal Rob Burnside explained why the beeping noise is frequently heard.

“There’s a trouble signal,” Burnside said.

“The sensor was causing the lowest level of alert to take place and that’s what caused the beeping in the back-ordered parts.”• (Above) Fire extinguishers must be routinely checked by fire officials.

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 19

News | Photocaptions

LAKOTA BULLETIN Monster Mash

photography natalie mazey National Honor Society (NHS) hosted its annual Monster Mash fundraiser to raise money for their EcoClassroom. Lakota parents brought their children, who could come in their Halloween costumes, to enjoy activities ranging from pumpkin painting to “Pin the Spider on the Web” to face painting (see above). The event was briefly interrupted at 2 p.m. when a smoke machine triggered the fire alarm. However, the situation was handled and the fundraiser was deemed successful by Communications Officer Maaz Khruman.

“The event was an overall success,” Khruman said.

“We had a great turn out from the community and NHS raised over $400 for future projects.”

— Rehman Khalid

Lakota Listens

Lakota has recently launched a new community question forum for parents in the district. Lakota Listens is available on the homepage of lakotaonline. com, allowing parents to contact specific departments with questions if teachers or administrators do not have the answer.

Its purpose is to improve art mary barone response time and get information to parents faster.

“We are always looking for ways to help our community and our parents get more information,” Lakota Director of School and Community Relations Betsy Fuller told Spark. “We have over 17,000 students and we know that it can be difficult to navigate, so we want to open that line of communication and constantly improve.”

—Marleigh Winterbottom

East Craft Show

DON’T MISS THIS ONLINE STORY: photography audrey allen

TRedE THEraA ERHAheWn K THUolNivD | photog phy us er tomtis story

with permission

20 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

Lakota East’s annual craft show took place the weekend of Nov. 13-14. Multiple days of preparation were needed for the event. More than 225 booths were set up throughout the building. East students made up a majority of the volunteers. 168 high school students signed up to volunteer. Vendors enjoyed the large crowds and the amount of buyers on both days. Craft show vendors Melissa Rutter and Melissa Mosteller ran a booth, The Lollipop Ladies, selling lollipop yard stakes.

“We’ve been here for 16 years,’’ Rutter said. “It’s always very crowded and most people like buying.”

–Ria Malhi

SPEAKING OF THE PAPER...

Important Quotes | News

Excerpts from Spark’s most prominent stories give readers a taste of professional and community takes on this issue. • art mary barone Cyberacademy pg. 13

“Everything that we touch in our hands that is electronic, can be hacked at any time. [Cyber academy] really taught me to be careful with my stuff.

Before Cyber One, I had my social security number in my notes on my phone, but when I started this course I took it immediately off.”

- East junior George Kolks Crop-Tops and Miniskirts? pg. 66 “All of [Brandy Melville’s] clothes are one size but one size does not fit most. According to the Los Angeles Times, the average American woman is a size 14. The crop-tops and miniskirts that litter the shelves of stores like Brandy Melville, would barely cover the average American.”

- Photo editor Audrey Allen

85%

School Board Reshaped pg. 10 61% of East teachers are concerned for the future of the school board

of East teachers think CRT should not be a point of debate on the school board

- Spark teacher survey of 27 Rabins for the Win pg. 54

“When Lakota split into East and West, the entire Lakota [football] staff came to East except one coach. I was the new guy on the Lakota High School staff that came to East.”

- East principal Rob Burnside

Four Corners of the Wade World pg. 26 “I just like collecting skills. It’s like a new door that opens for me to connect with somebody. Every new thing you learned is another possible avenue through which you can relate to somebody else.

- Aaron Wade

Back to the Drawing Board pg. 28 71.1% of students think dress code should be amended - Spark survey of 81

91%

of East teachers believe dress code is ineffective December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 21

Feature | Palestine Narrative

RETURNING TO MY ROOTS

Cities Visited Cities Visited Spark Opinion in Editor Palestine Rehab Jarabah recounts in Palestine graphic by mary her barone experiences during her barone trip graphic by mary to Palestine this summer.

narrative rehab jarabah | photography nasma jarabah | infographics mary barone and ella huelskamp

NablusCities Nablus

Vi in Pales

graphic by mar

Ramallah Jericho Ramallah Jericho Jerusalem Jerusalem Bethlehem Bethlehem Khalil Khalil (Hebron) (Hebron)

W

Ramall

Jerusalem

hile wind rushes into the room and creates a cool atmosphere in the house, I quickly take in the scene from the windows in the large villa my great-grandparents built decades ago. The aroma of fresh falafel quickly disperses in the small village of Beitin (bait-een). The locals of the village begin to open their stores, ready for a day of selling, and the cars begin piling up into the morning traffic I became accustomed to, ready for a long day of work.

This was my life for the next 45 days – simple enough, right? Not in the lively culture of Palestine.

I could do without the simple. But the exciting, adrenaline-filled rush that I could only get from being in Palestine was a must. However, let’s start at the beginning.

On the last day of my junior year, my family had no plans to do

Continent Crossing Crossing

Bethlehem anything during the summer break. As we gathered in the comfort of our living room, my dad sprung the idea of going to Palestine on our family.

Before our trip this summer, we hadn’t been back to Palestine sinceKhalil the summer of 2014. My parents always reminded the six of us (Hebron) (me and my five siblings) of our roots and refused to allow us to conform completely to American norms. Although they tried their hardest, the best way to remember your roots is to revisit them. With that idea in mind, my parents decided that we would go back this summer.

After weeks of gift shopping and packing, my family was more than ready to tackle the long trip ahead of us. After the five hour drive to Chicago, the long 13-hour flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates with a two-hour layover, followed by another flight to Amman, Jordan, waiting eight hours in the airport for the Jisr to open, the frightening trip through

graphic by mary mary barone barone Traveling by car, plane, plane, and and bus, bus,Rehab’s Rehab’sfamily familyleft leftOhio OhioJune June 13 and arrived at at her her grandparent’s grandparent’svilla villaininPalestine PalestineJune June15.

15.

Continent Crossing 5 5 hour hour car car ride ride

graphic by mary barone Traveling by car, plane, and bus, Rehab’s family left Ohio June 13 and arrived at her grandparent’s villa in Palestine June 15.

5 hour car ride

2 hour 2 hour plane ride plane ride

3030 min min bus ride bus ride 2 hou 1313hour hour plane planeride ride

plane ri

22 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021 13 hour

in Palestine

Palestine Narrative graphic by mary barone| Feature (left) The view from Masjid Al-Aqsa, overlooking a village.

Also located in Al-Aqsa compound, Jerusalem.

“Many of these people only knew the bare minimum about me; who my grandparents were, who my parents were, and that we lived in America. While the people who have lived next to me for the last five years don’t know how many siblings I have, these people did.” the Jisr, the four different checkpoints where we were forced to wait for the permission of Israel’s government to allow us into our country, and the hour-long drive to my grandparents’ villa, we were finally reunited with our family.

Slowly, family members began trickling in, welcoming us and getting to know me and my siblings. The last time we had been to Palestine, my oldest sister was ten and my youngest sister was three, so there was a lot of getting to reknow each other.

Although I was only in Palestine for 45 days, some of the connections I had built with my cousin, Hams’, friends became lifelong friendships. I’m not a big public crier, but saying goodbye to them really brought it out of me.

Every second I relished in the beauty of the community Palestine had to offer, I became more upset that I didn’t get to grow up here.

The fields of trees bursting with fresh fruit and olives, the late-night walks with my older sister, Nasma, Hams, and her– and now my–friends e were in luck though; here, family to the small convenience stores to buy ice cream is everything. Every Friday, my for a shekel, or the early morning runs for fresh grandmother would round up the falafel and bread were all things I didn’t get to whole family for lunch after everyone experience the way Hams or any of my other came back from Jummah, followed by family cousins got to experience. time in the living room. It was no surprise that Each new city we got to go to like Ramallah, we fell into the quick rhythm of their routine Khalil, Jericho, Nablus, Bethlehem, and just as well.

Jerusalem, made me envious that, instead of What was almost a culture shock was the exploring the beauty of cities like that, I lived in graphic by mary barone way everyone in the village knew and cared the middle of nowhere suburbs of Ohio. There’s for each other. wasplane, used toand the bus, occasional something about June walking through these Traveling

by Icar, Rehab’s familyspecial left Ohio quick wave from aatneighbor, sometimes thevilla cities, hand-in-hand 13 and arrived her grandparent’s in Palestine Junewith 15. my family, and quick conversation at the bus stop. I’ve lived learning the history of the country that you in the same neighborhood for five years, and promised yourself you would make proud. my neighbors don’t even know my name. So Each city gave us something new to explore; imagine my surprise when the people who only Jericho gave us Masjid Nabi-Musa where all my 5 hour knew me by my family name welcomed me other cousins and siblings and I got to go on a car ride into their lives. camel ride and go to Ein Fawar. Ramallah gave Many of these people only knew the bare us endless markets to explore and get thobes minimum about me; who my grandparents and the freshest fruit from merchant’s gardens were, who my parents were, and that we lived like grapes, tin, and cucumbers, the Khalil gave in America. While the people who have lived us beautiful views and delicious foods. Nablus hour next to me for the last five years don’t know gave us delicious knafeh13and beautiful handplane ride how many siblings I have, these people did. sewn tatriz on thobes and purses, and

W

Continent Crossing

Glossary Jummah: Friday prayer Qubbat al-Sakrah: Dome of the Rock Nablus Jisr: a checkpoint for travellers to go through when they enter Palestine

Ramallah Jericho

Thobes: Traditional Palestinian dress

Jerusalem Ein Fawar: A spring with historic significance Bethlehem

Bethlehem: Biggest Christian church Khalil

(Hebron)

Tin: Figs

Jerusalem: Capital of Palestine, third holiest site of Islam located in Jerusalem Shekel: Palestine’s currency. One shekel is equivalent to about 33 cents.

Nablus: Oldest city in Palestine, the birthplace for knafeh (Palestinian dessert) Knafeh: A Middle Eastern dessert made with spun pastry, sugar-based syrup, and topped with cheese Ramallah: A large city that is known for its merchants and the streets of stores and restaurants2 hour

plane ride

Tatriz: Embroidery that symbolizes strength

30 min bus ride

source pluralism.org

4 hour wait 45 min bus ride 8 hour wait

s

45 min bus ride

1 hour car ride

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 23

Feature | Palestine Narrative Bethlehem was a city full of history. demolish my home, and not to have to cope The most memorable, however, was our trip with the scary images of war. to Al-Quds (Jerusalem). There are no words The long nights of watching the sunset on to describe the relief I felt when Qubbat al- the garage with Hams and Nasma, along with Sakhra came into view. Any and all tension my other cousins, Toleen, Lana, and Nada, melted as I squinted to watch the magical would always end with a story of the images view of the courtyard of some of the holiest of war that the people in my grandparent’s villa sites in Palestine. Sitting in the middle of the were accustomed to. Everyone down to my courtyard, surrounded by my siblings and my seven-year-old cousins could recount at least mom with at least three one experience of aggression Cities Visited mosques in proximity, the that they had seen with their only word to describe what own eyes. I didn’t even live in in Palestine I felt in that moment is Palestine and I could recount graphic by mary barone peace. Although I knew my own experiences.

Israeli soldiers surrounded I’ve always been an the perimeter, having just outspoken advocate for had an encounter with them Palestine, knowing the minutes before entering images of war and destruction the courtyard for Al-Aqsa that the people who live in Nablus mosque, there was nowhere Palestine have just become so else in the world I wanted desensitized to. The longer to be. you stay in Palestine, the more you learn to cope that these Ramallah Jericho inutes before even scary images can be a constant getting to enter the reality.

Jerusalem courtyard of AlHowever, the images that Aqsa compound, run through most Americans’ Bethlehem soldiers had stopped us to minds, the images of death question us, demanding and destruction, of bombed Khalil (Hebron) to see our Palestinian buildings and ravaged cities, passports. It was almost like are not at all what the entirety a random security check, of the Middle East looks like. except the results could have A lot of times when Palestine been a lot more fatal; each is even mentioned, people’s of the six guards there had minds go to a warzone, an automatic rifle strapped ravaged by the conflict. But to their chests. Had it not it’s so much more; it’s historic, been for the fact that they it’s beautiful, and arguably, it’s realized we were American like a piece of heaven put on citizens after my mom spoke Earth.

English to us, we could have Regardless, nothing will been denied entrance into tear me away from revisiting one of our holiest cities. my roots whenever I can. The graphic by mary barone Traveling by car, plane, and bus, Rehab’s family left Ohiothough June I knew I Even beauty of Palestinian culture, 13 and arrived at her grandparent’s villa in Palestine June 15. was wholeheartedly in love the beauty of Palestine itself, with the country that’s has me drawn like a moth blood ran through my veins, to a flame. The feeling of 5 hour I realize that even with the envy I felt of not complete and utter acceptance and of not being 2 hour car ride being able to grow up in Palestine, I was lucky the constant minority was like a weight off my plane ride I didn’t live here. chest.

30 min Even with all of Palestine’s beauty, there The fresh fruit right off the tree, being able to were some things that I had that my cousins wake upbus andride go to my grandmother’s backyard 13 hour didn’t. I was fortunate enough to have water to pick tin right off the vine for breakfast, and plane ride that wasn’t controlled by a military, to live in the warmth and welcoming nature of Beitin a place that is safe enough that I didn’t have remind me that while I live in America, I’ll to watch people with bulldozers threaten to always have my roots in Palestine.•

M

Continent Crossing

4 hour wait

(top) Qubbat al-Sakrah, the central image of resistance within Palestine. Easily distinguishable due to 45 min its golden dome. Located in Al-Aqsa compound, Jerusalem. bus ride

8 hour wait

(middle) A staple in Palestinian gardens, marawi/hamdani 1 hourgrapes can be found in just about anyone’s backyard. car ride 45 min bus ride

(bottom) Rehab’s grandparents’ villa, the first home in the village of Beitin. The wall is one of many that has works of Palestinian art, this one welcoming anyone who’s passing through the village. The sign reads: Beitin, Canaanite (historical, ancient Palestine, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon) region.

24 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

A FREE SPIRIT

East senior Chloe Kornau finds joy in expressing her personality through her award-winning artwork in AP Art.

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story and photography jaclynn mosley itting down at the table, spent the rest of the class, colored dart feature she places her canvas pencils in hand, narrowed in on her senior on the easel. She dips illustrations. her paintbrush into the Before her time at East, water before hovering it over Kornau participated in Spark picks the blue. The feeling was almost additional artistic activities such a random student overwhelming looking at all of the as an art class at the Hamilton to feature. colors ranging anywhere from the Fitton Center. One of her darkest red to the most vibrant assignments included sketching a purple. She glanced back at her old artwork cabin outside of the facility. Her youth and hanging up on the wall. She couldn’t believe inexperience proved the task of drawing for how far she had come. Smiling, she looked accuracy difficult. However, Kornau did not back to her white canvas, it was time to start. let herself get discouraged and continued her Kornau likes to have fun and include art journey. creativity in everyday life through fashion, “[In AP Art] we had to do a landmark art, or spontaneous endeavors. She sketches project,” Kornau says. “I used [that cabin] as my whenever she can whether that be at home or at landmark and I redid it. work when things are slow.

[It was a moment] to one up myself and be A large contributor to Kornau’s character like, ‘look at you now.’” is her creative drive. Kornau is an AP Art Kornau accredits much of her growth to student, who has won three Scholastic Art Augutis’ help. and Writing awards during her time at East: “She helps me one district silver key, one national silver key, when I don’t and one honorable mention. She has also had know what art shown in the State of the Arts Mentor to do,” Mentee Art Show and designed the logo for the Cincinnati Zoo’s podcast, “Cincinnati Zoo Tales.”

Kornau and her AP Art teacher Linda Augutis were accepted into the Mentor Mentee Gallery this fall where their art was featured side by side. Augutis learned of her acceptance into the gallery and was extended the opportunity to pick one of her student’s art to show alongside her own. Augutis noticed Kornau’s hard work and dedication and knew she was the perfect choice.

“I noticed her interest in art and her desire to do better with her artwork,” Augutis says. “[I also noticed] her ability to sustain a project for a long period of time and really push it beyond the ordinary.”

Kornau’s interest in art started from a young age. In Kindergarten, she can recall the pitter-patter of little footsteps running into the classroom, ready to start writing and illustrating their next stories. After a few minutes, Kornau quickly scribbled out a few words, but she couldn’t contain her excitement for the art and

25 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

Chloe Kornau DART | Feature Kornau says. “[For example,] if I need some creative help on a project.”

Alongside Augutis, Kornau is also appreciative of the constant support she has received from her friends and family. “[My parents] have always been very supportive about everything,” Kornau says.

“They’re very encouraging about me pursuing a career in art, which I know some parents might be a little scared of, but they definitely think I can do it since it is graphic design.”

K

ornau’s parents recognize that art careers can sometimes lack stability; however, they have confidence that she has the motivation to push through anything she sets her mind to.

“She wasn’t always an outstanding artist, but she had the desire to be that,” Chloe’s mom Jill Kornau says. “She spent many hours drawing and redrawing sketches to improve upon them.”

In time, Chloe has worked towards improvement since her days in the Hamilton art class. However, the log cabin painting still remains her dad’s favorite. “My favorite [project] was the India ink painting of a log cabin in Hamilton,” Chloe’s dad Matt Kornau says. “It really brought out the beauty in something I’ve never paid much attention to.”

Through her journey of art, Chloe has always preached one thing: practice makes perfect.

“I think a lot of people think that drawing is only for certain people, but I think anyone can draw,” Chloe says. “It’s just a matter of how much you practice it.”• *To see more of Kornau’s artwork, go to www.lakotaeastsparkonline.com Kornau begins painting her next project in her AP Art class.

Feature | Aaron Wade

FOUR CORNERS OF THE

WADE WORLD

A five-part series featuring four East alumni quadruplet brothers whom all recently graduated from Yale University. Aaron, the eldest of the brothers, found his passion in music as he collects and plays instuments and got involved in the Shades of Yale acapella group.

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story ianni acapulco | photography used with permission | infographic mia hilkowitz

omewhere in the Wade family home, in the space where an old piano frequents, upon the percussion instrument’s 88 monochrome keys, Aaron Wade, the oldest of his quadruplet brothers by three minutes, will begin teaching himself how to play at threeyears-old. His mix of innate talent and self-led practice would render his piano teacher pleasantly surprisedenough to approach his mother, Kim Wade (current Lakota Plains Principal and former Lakota East Assistant Principal), inquiring how long her son had been receiving lessons beforehand. But Aaron had never received formal training before that point.

“He teaches himself,” Kim says. “I think that’s the biggest takeaway: that if there was something out there that he wanted to do, he did it.”

By the age of seven, Aaron will have begun composing his own pieces and writing his own arrangements. Although it was his first exposure to a vast field of music, piano would only be one instrument in a large repertoire of 30 that he’ll own and play by the time he’s finished college. Aaron’s menagerie includes a spew of interesting and less well-known instruments such as the autoharp, Irish whistles, and an Appalachian dulcimer.

In college, Aaron would continue exploring his adoration for music by joining the premier acapella group Shades of Yale. During sophomore year, he would be elected by the group to become the year’s musical director, which placed him responsible for a range of activities such as

26 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

conducting rehearsals, teaching music, and planning all performances.

Cami Arboles, who was another Shades of Yale member and also a previous musical director, hadn’t known Aaron before the moment he’d walked in to audition. But she knew right away that Aaron was special.

“He displayed so much raw talent and character,” Arboles says. “I knew immediately that he would contribute great things to the group.”

Attending the vocal group’s concerts in support of him would prove to be some of the few times that all four brothers would unite; a moment for the brothers to come together even as they continued taking separate paths.

B

ut Aaron hasn’t always had many instruments on hand, and in a home with four boys to pay for, a purchase with a price tag as high as new instruments can be difficult to obtain. Undeterred, Aaron never stopped trying to learn about the subject he’d always had a knack for. When his family had moved homes while the brothers were still toddlers, their new house hadn’t included a piano, and Aaron had adapted by learning and practicing how to play inside his head.

With his schedule often busy with the year-round sports the four boys all took part in, Aaron didn’t necessarily have the chance to formally pursue music. What he’d done instead was indulge in related literature,

Aaron Wade | Feature (left) Aaron Wade stands with his brothers (left to right) Nick, Zach, and Nigel at Yale. (right) Aaron sings with Shades of Yale.

reading books on how to play instruments or regarding the topic of music theory to keep the information on retainer in his mind. That way, when he was older and better able to afford the hobby, he’d already have the basic knowledge on how to play.

photo of aaron

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he years-long habit is what he believes helped him develop his Perfect Pitch, an ability to re-create and identify a given musical note without the benefit of a reference tone. The talent is a rare capability that, according to the University of Chicago, is estimated to be possessed by less than one in 10,000 individuals.

“I think that how I discovered it or developed it was because I had no other way than to practice in my head, so I had to know what all the notes sounded like,” Aaron says. “I was composing symphonies in my head.”

In high school, before he had the monetary means to buy brand-new instruments, Aaron refurbished an old autoharp that he’d found on eBay and bought for a few hundred dollars—-a fraction of the several thousand that comprised the price tag of a new instrument.

The instrument belongs to the zither family, and would only be one of the many Chinese instruments that Aaron likes to collect.

His interest in Chinese culture isn’t limited to its instruments, either. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Aaron hadn’t originally intended on learning the language when he began attending Yale. But on the first day of classes, he’d walked into the wrong building, caught sight of the sign for Chinese 110 directing him to the basement, and went for it. Four years later, Aaron has taken the language each year of college and even skipped a few levels in terms of the difficulty. It would only be one of the six languages he holds under his belt at the age of

22 and only one of the ten that he hopes to be able to speak by the time he hits 30. Aaron’s first language is English, but he took Latin during his time in high school and excelled at Chinese during college. He also learns Spanish, Greek, and Hindi on his own time.

Aaron is a collector in many aspects of his life– not merely just in instruments and languages.

“I just like collecting skills,” Aaron says. “It’s like a new door that opens for me to connect with somebody. Every new thing you learned is another possible avenue through which you can relate to somebody else.”

Although Aaron experienced a ceremonial graduation with his three brothers, he extended his studies another semester after feeling the need to take some extra time to focus on his job with Google. Working with them, he’s been able to combine his interests in computer science (which he double-majored in during college along with psychology) and music, working on a project called Shared Piano with the Google Creative Lab, a program that allows users to collaborate with other musicians remotely and with zero latency.

Ekene Azuka, close family friend of many years and unofficial fifth Wade sibling, would agree that Aaron is “artsy”, but would point out

MUSIC AND THE BRAIN Playing, listening and interacting with music works many different parts of the brain.

Sensory Cortex: Controls tactile feedback while playing an instrument.

Motor Cortex: Involved in movement while playing instruments.

Prefrontal Cortex: Controls behavior and music decision-making.

Auditory Cortex: Involved in listening to sounds and analyzing tones.

Hippocampus: Involved in music memories, experiences and context.

Visual Cortext: Involved in reading music.

Cerebellum: Involved in movement of playing an instrument.

Nucleus Accumbens and Amygdala: Involved with the emotional reactions to music. source kennedy center

27 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

that Aaron is also stubborn.

“He’s stubborn and strong-headed and knows what he wants,” Azuka says. “And that’s not a bad thing, you know. He’s going to get what he wants, knows exactly how to get what he wants. Things usually work out for him because of that.”

O

ut of the four brothers, Azuka remembers meeting Aaron first; she recalls that almost every first-grader in Independence Elementary knew who they were when she did not. She’d accosted him in the hallway one day and told him simply, “We are going to be friends now,” and Aaron hadn’t disagreed.

Independence Elementary School principal Greg Finke remembers all four of the Wade brothers as being hard working students.

“They were all collectively smart, handsome young men who were able to push each other to achieve,” Finke told Spark. “Their story is a great example of what loving parents and hard work can do for a young person.”

Kim notes how Aaron has always exhibited these traits of achievement.

“They’re all smart young men,” Kim says of her sons. “But Aaron seems to be the one that things just came naturally to him. He didn’t do a whole lot of studying; he kind of just knew everything. He had that firstborn syndrome in that he knew everything that was his personality.

You really couldn’t tell him that what he was thinking and what he said was wrong.”

Many people who have Aaron in their lives can remark on this special intrinsic quality.

“Aaron has the spark that you don’t see in regular people,” says Nigel, the youngest of the four Wade boys. “He’s a gifted creative person who is always looking higher.”

Arboles would be more than inclined to agree.

“He was—and still is—so genuinely curious about anything and everything life has to offer,” Arboles says. “That’s one of the things that inspires me most about Aaron: he is infinitely curious. He is always learning a new skill, whether it’s a musical instrument, a language, or a recipe.”•

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 27

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD

Package | Dress Code

Members of the East studet community started initiatives to reform the school dress code. story mia hilkowitz, abbey bahan, and marleigh winterbottom | art mia hilkowitz

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Dress Code at East

he room was brimming. There wasn’t much room in the second-floor classroom that doubled as the Junior State Alliance (JSA) meeting room. Students were animated. Students were engaged. Students were debating.

One student took out a pair of scissors and snipped off the bottom of their shirt. The student wanted to make a point about dress code –the most debated topic at East as the school year started.

The topic of dress code was fresh in students’ minds that week. Since the beginning of the 2021-22 school year in August, announcements regarding appropriate coverage of shirts and undergarments found their way to students through intercom speeches and blurbs in the weekly T-Hawk Newsletter.

One person leading the discussion surrounding the dress code at East is senior Kay Kay Baloyi. The president of the East Black Student Union (BSU) and Women’s Empowerment Club, Baloyi has led efforts to reform the East dress code this year and to get the community talking about how the policy can change. She says that in her experience, the push around the dress codes is not about clothing–it’s about respect for students.

“It’s not like the dress code [verbatim] tells people that you get treated differently based on your appearance,” Baloyi told Spark.

“But if [people think] your appearance is not appropriate, you’re not allowed to be in

a certain space and allowed to have the same rights as everybody else to have an education.”

A Spark dress code survey of 81 students reported that 87.7% of East students have seen another student be dress coded. Changing the impacts of dress codes on students is a goal that Bayoli used to spur action at East through her leadership positions. This year, Baloyi started a petition through the BSU to “unban do-rags” from the school dress attire. East BSU’s petition earned 607 student signatures in the first two days.

“It happened in front of me where a

“But if [people think] your appearance is not appropriate you’re not allowed to be in a certain space and allowed to have the same rights as everybody else to have an education.”

-East senior Kay Kay Baloyi

black guy was wearing a do-rag, and [an administrator] said ‘take that off, you’re not allowed to wear it.’ I remember seeing him have to take his do-rag off,” Baloyi says, who notes that in her experience, white students have worn do-rags at school without being dress coded. “Black students wear do-rags to protect our hair, to restore the natural curvature of our hair, or to create a hairstyle. So him taking it off is exposing the process of our hair.”

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BS affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma News On 6 says that there are a multitude of benefits that come from wearing a dorag including maintenance of hairstyles, enhancement of moisturizing products in hair, protection from sun damage, and absorption of sweat. The do-rag was first recognized as beneficial for hair during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s and has gained popularity since then.

The Lakota Code of Conduct states that head coverings should not be worn inside any buildings, except for head coverings worn for religious reasons.

“We want to make sure that there’s nothing that is racially slanted in [the dress code],” East principal Rob Burnside told Spark. “But I also know that from a standpoint of do-rags, bandanas, and headbands, [administration has] addressed [zero students] related to that this year. I can’t say that a teacher or somebody hasn’t said something to someone about that, but I know from an office standpoint, we’ve not dealt with a single student and asked them to remove a headband, do-rag, or hat.”

History of American Dress Code infographic mary barone

1920 Girls are required to wear a corset to flatten their chests 28 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

1920 Boys are required to wear hats as a part of school uniforms

Dress Code | Package

Impact of Dress Codes Outside of the Classroom According to the Columbia Law School Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies, disciplinary dress codes have historically had skewed effects on minority groups. Baloyi has experienced the emotional effects of these dress code policies.

“Dress code is directly tied to rape culture,” Baloyi says. “If we’re telling a girl in front of a class that her shoulders are distracting, you’re basically telling all the men in the class that you are allowed to look at them differently based on what she’s wearing. This leads to men feeling

like a woman is wearing something that’s suggestive to their definition and that they can do whatever they want because it gives them permission to treat her differently.”

According to a Spark survey, 58.3% of East teachers feel that clothing distracts from the learning environment. East junior Julisa Muñoz is in support of the school dress code and believes that students should be conscientious about what they wear in order to maintain professionalism.

“This is a learning environment. So there’s bodily freedom in the sense that if you’re at home you can dress however you like,” Muñoz told Spark. “But once you get into a public area where other people can see, you have to be professional in the sense that you know the way you dress is affecting other people in some way or another.”

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ast junior Jay Baker disagrees. She thinks that bodily freedom shouldn’t be limited to just at home.

“Yes, [the dress code infringes upon my freedom] because we are at school learning how to become adults,” Baker told Spark. “[Adults] are not told they can’t wear certain things so, in school, me wanting to wear certain things shouldn’t affect anybody else.”

According to a recent Spark survey, 24.7% of East students say they have been dress coded at East. 15% of students say they have been dress coded one time, 6.3% of students say they have been dress coded two times, and 5% of students say they have been dress coded more than three times.

Students reported several reasons behind the violation including wearing a tank top, shoulders showing, crop tops, and wearing a beanie.

Brock University Child and Youth Studies Professor Shuana Pomerantz says that historically dress codes, even outside of the school setting, have had similar effects on a range of minority groups.

“Regulating students’ bodies is also another way of perpetuating white, heterosexual, middle-class values, as most dress codes conform to a certain kind of femininity and masculinity that does not take into account cultural, racial, religious, gender, and sexual differences among students,” Pomerantz says. “It’s a form of conformity rather than diversity. While school administrators often feel that dress

1930 Schools allow girls to wear ankle socks instead of stockings 29 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

East Student Dress Code infographic marleigh winterbottom A. Tops must cover all undergarments and cleavage.

Strapless, crop, and see-through tops are not acceptable.

B. Lower garments should not drag on the floor or expose undergarments when sitting, standing, raising his/her hand, or bending over. Form-fitting lower garments must be worn under a shirt, skirt or dress that extends to the thighs.

C. No skin should be visible between a student’s top and bottom garment when sitting, standing, raising his/her hand or bending over.

D. Clothing or accessories that include obscene, violent, gang, tobacco, drug or alcohol related writing or images are not acceptable. Items of clothing that belittle others may not be worn (i.e., race, religion, gender, etc.).

E. Coats and jackets meant for outdoor wear, book bags and oversized bags must be kept in the school locker or other designated area during the school day.

F. Facial hair must be kept neat and clean.

G. Head coverings and sunglasses should not be worn inside. Head coverings worn for religious reasons and face masks/shields worn for health/safety shall be permitted.

H. Appropriate footwear must be worn to provide for safe and sanitary conditions. source lakota student code of conduct

1930 Schools stop insisting on boys wearing shorts year-round source moms.com December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 29

Package | Dress Code or alcohol-related writing or images are not acceptable. Items of clothing that belittle others may not be worn.”

Burnside says that the dress code also serves to prevent school violence or offense to other staff and students at East.

“You can’t have a shirt that promotes drug, alcohol or tobacco use, things of that nature,” Burnside says. “[Students] can’t wear anything which is offensive, bigoted or slanderous.”

What is a Do-Rag? infographic kaitlin dwomoh

Do-rags are a necessity in the AfricanAmerican community in up-keeping hairstyles for long periods of time.

Benefits: • prevent frizz • protect hair and ends from damage • protect hair and scalp from the sun • maintain braids, waves, and keep hair flat

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Do-rag protected styles:

dreadlocks

braids

codes create a safe environment in schools, it can actually have the opposite effect of making minority students, and those who see themselves outside of middle-class culture feel unsafe.”

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n the last several years, nationwide cases surrounding head coverings and hairstyles in dress codes have gained widespread attention. For instance, in May 2020, Everett De’Andre Arnold and Kaden Bradford filed a lawsuit against the Barbers Hill Independent School District in Texas to challenge its hair policy. De’Andre and Bradford had to cut their natural locs or else they would no longer be able to participate in regular classes and school activities, which included De’ Andre’s graduation ceremony. The petitioners gained the support of the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for their ongoing legal battle.

Even with changes in legal precedent, Baloyi says that in her experience, underlying messages enforced by these types of dress codes have negative effects on students.

“I feel like a lot of the times that dress code kind of perpetuates these European standards

waves

source durag US

of beauty, and a lot of the times, black culture is excluded from that or black people are forced into fitting that standard and what society thinks is appropriate,” Baloyi says. “When you’re telling me that I have to take off my do-rag, you’re telling me that my culture is not appropriate or that it is not as important as your culture.”

East junior Lucy Carlin says that she has seen disproportionate effects of dress code for students during her academic career, specifically when it comes to body size.

“It seems that girls who have bigger boobs or larger stomachs who wear crop tops get dress coded more than girls who have smaller boobs and smaller stomachs [who wear the same things],” Carlin told Spark. “It’s not fair.”

However, Carlin says that she still views the dress code as important for some aspects of the school environment. “[The dress code] is there to make sure that people don’t wear things that are discriminatory or offensive or things like that,” Carlin says.

“It is to make sure that people don’t come to school naked.”

The Lakota Student Code of Conduct states that “Clothing or accessories that include obscene, violent, gang, tobacco, drug

1940 Girls are required to wear Mary Jane black leather shoes 30 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

hio American Civil Liberties Union Representative Elena Thompson agrees that dress codes can still benefit students in the school setting.

“There are good things the dress code serves,” Thompson says. “One of those things is making sure that students can feel safe to express themselves within reason and making sure that students don’t feel threatened while they’re at school.

Those are effective strategies for dress codes.”

The connection between school safety and dress code is relatively new. Hamline University Education Professor Letitia Basford has spent several years studying a phenomenon known as the “school-to-prison pipeline.” This pipeline is a trend in which

“[Dress code] can actually have the opposite effect of making minority students and those who see themselves outside of middle-class culture feel unsafe.” - Brock University Child and Youth Studies Professor Shuana Pomerantz 1940

Shirts are considered too casual so boys must wear sweaters

children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

Basford says that oftentimes zero tolerance policies, including dress code, are a strong contributor to the school to prison pipeline.

“Sometimes [zero tolerance] behaviors are important because they must address something that’s life threatening,” Basford says. “However, sometimes they’re very misunderstood like a dress code or a butter knife that was accidentally left in a lunchbox.”

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hompson says that dress codes are one of the strongest contributors to the phenomenon. “[Dress code] is actually one of the strongest contributors to the school to prison pipeline, mostly because the dress codes and grooming codes are one of the more frequent ways that students are singled out and referred to discipline in schools,” Thompson says.

“Many dress codes, whether its intended or not, tend to have a disproportionate negative effect on students of color, women, and generally minority students because dress codes at their center tend to be catered to white cisgender male students, primarily because those are the people who wrote most of the dress code.”

Still, many people argue that school dress codes and uniforms instill important principles such as discipline that students can use outside of the school doors. Bishop Fenwick High School Principal Blane Collison says that the uniform attire is an important aspect of school culture at the southwestern Ohio private high school.

“Students don’t have to worry about what they are going to wear. Also, [uniforms] eliminate the awkwardness for some students who would not be able to afford ‘stylish or fashionable’ clothes and creates disparity among the student body,” Collison says. “There is solidarity and a sense of belonging since everyone is in a uniform.”

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the percentage of public schools nationwide requiring students to wear school uniforms increased from 12% during the 1999-2000 school year to 21% during the 2015-16 school year.

“I’ve been in schools where uniforms are required and others where they are not,” Collison says. “So long as there are many various styles of uniforms, I think uniforms create a more disciplined atmosphere, and research shows [students that wear uniforms] tend to perform better academically.”

Dress Code | Package

SPEAKING OUT

A Spark survey of 81 students reflected that students believe the East dress code is more strict on women than it is for men.

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sidebar kaleb flood | infographic mia hilkowitz he results of a recent survey sent to students of East showed that students believe the dress code should be amended and be equally enforced for all genders. Out of the 81 surveyed, 54 people agreed the dress code should be amended. Of the 54, 26 believed that the dress code should be equally enforced for all genders.

The most common reason students have been dress coded is for showing too much skin. Female students specifically have been dress coded for wearing spaghetti straps, having their shoulders out, and wearing tank tops. This style of dress is popular among female students.

The main reason why the dress code bans showing too much skin is that it can be a distraction. According to an article by Bonneville Academy, a K-8th grade S.T.E.M. school, a school uniform solves this issue.

“When all the students wear the same style of dress, then there will be the same kind of atmosphere across the school campus.” The same atmospheric environment Bonneville Academy talks about makes students focus on the academic side of school.

When students were asked in the survey if the answer to the dress code is uniforms, 90.1% said no to uniforms. Instead of creating a uniform, students want the enforcement of the dress code to be more uniform.

An anonymous student stated, “Some teachers don’t [enforce the dress code] and

1950 Girls’ tops must cover their necks

31 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

some do [enforce] way too much. I’ve even seen a teacher go after specific students in class on a weekly basis and completely ignore other students breaking the dress code.”

Based on the survey results, many feel that this code is out of date. One student noted: “It feels kind of outdated. It focuses a lot more on what females usually wear, so it can feel sexist.”

The Lakota Student Code of Conduct says, “The Board believes that student dress should enhance a positive image of students and the District. The standards of dress and grooming outlined are necessary to promote discipline, maintain order, secure student safety, and provide a healthy environment that is conducive to learning.”

Out of the 20 reasons people stated they were dress coded, 12 had to do with showing too much of their shoulders, wearing a tank top, and wearing spaghetti straps. One survey response believes the dress code should be “more focused on things that actually inhibit learning, not silly things that don’t bother anyone.”

According to the dress code survey results, 60% of the students believe the dress code is more strict on females than males.

Skin, the display of undergarments, formfitting clothes, and accessories apply more to females. Students are not looking for the dress code to be abolished; rather, they would like to see the dress code brought up to date to level the playing field in regards to gender. •

1950 Hats are not required for boys as schools become more relaxed source moms.com December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 31

Package | Dress Code

FROM THE START

As grade level increases, students’ attire changes despite the dress code branching from the same board policy.

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sidebar emily henderson

hile high school students are commonly dress coded for “inappropriate” or “revealing” clothes, elementary and middle school dress codes are geared towards protecting the safety of the students.

Independence Elementary School Principal Dr. Greg Finke says that while it is more common to dress code students for inappropriate clothing in middle school, it is almost nonexistent in elementary school.

“For my kids, I remind them that they need to have their armpits covered. They need to have their butts covered and the straps on the bottom of their shoes,” Finke told Spark. “We do a simple dress code like that because it’s easy for the kids to remember.”

He notes that Independence’s policies are mostly in place to maintain the safety of the students.

“The straps are more for going out on the playground,” Finke says. “If they have tennis shoes on, they're less likely to get tripped than if they have sandals on or something like that.”

While Elementary school students are less likely to be dress coded for “inappropriate” or “revealing” clothing, that does not mean it never happens. For instance, Finke recalls one instance when a group of sixth-grade girls at Independence were dress coded. “[They] just needed a little more up top than what they were wearing,” Finke says. “It wasn’t really that big of a deal,” He also explained how he had to dress code a group of boys for wearing their jeans below their underwear.

Finke and Assistant Principal Julie Nichols have a system in place for how they navigate the dress code and what penalties are given to students who are dress coded.

The teacher who gives the warning calls the office, asking them to evaluate a student’s outfit to see if it aligns with the dress code guidelines.

Finke checks the boys’ outfits, and Nichols checks the girls’ outfits. If the outfit violates the dress code, a call is sent home to the parents asking to bring some extra clothes for the student to wear.

“The student is not in trouble,” Finke said, “Never in the 18 years I've been here have I had to do an after-school DT or anything like that for dress code at the elementary level.”

Elementary school students are still too

young for inappropriate clothing to be common, but middle school students are reaching their teenage years and tend to dress more maturely compared to the younger elementary students.

Ridge Jr. Principal Stacey Cahill says that her school adheres to the district wide Board dress code policy which states that “the standards of dress and grooming outlined in this policy are necessary to promote discipline, maintain order, secure student safety, and provide a healthy environment that is conducive to learning.”

The Lakota School Board enforced this dress code policy to be followed across all Lakota schools. However, it is up to the building administrator’s own judgment on whether or not a students’ outfit aligns with the dress code policy. This is why middle school and high school administrators may be more lenient with certain items of clothing compared to elementary administrators and vice versa.

Cahill says that the most common violation of dress code in her school is crop tops.

“It is usually a handful of people that try to see if they can get away with it,” Cahill told Spark. “We enforce a lot at the beginning of the year so that students know it is not an option.”

When students are dress coded, the Ridge Jr. staff will either call home to bring extra clothes to school, have the student grab a shirt or sweatshirt from their locker, or have the student borrow an item of clothing for the day.

Liberty Junior High School student Hannah Huening noticed a change in dress code policy from elementary to middle school. She feels that middle school dress codes are too strict – especially on female students.

“They focus a lot more on crop tops and spaghetti straps instead of things like sandals, hoodies, hats and the stuff that they used to focus on in elementary school,” Huening says.

Higher grade levels in middle school and high school tend to enforce stricter dress code policies compared to younger grade levels.

Finke believes this is because elementary kids tend to follow the guidelines with ease, while middle and high schoolers are beginning to navigate who they are and what clothing they choose to express themselves with.

“You start dressing in a way that makes you feel comfortable,” Finke says. “And sometimes the way that makes you feel comfortable is not up to dress code.” •

A 2016 study titled “School Discipline, School Uniforms and Academic Performance” by the International Journal of Education Management found that the highestperforming students tended to be the most disciplined in schools. Additionally, countries where students wore school uniforms found that students listened significantly better, there were lower noise levels, and lower teaching waiting times with classes starting on time. A Spark survey reported that 90.1% of students do not think East should adopt a school uniform policy.

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n the other hand, East junior Johannes Fernholz says that the implementation of dress codes can hinder students’ individuality.

“Being able to wear the clothing you want is a form of showing who you are,” Fernholz told Spark. “It’s part of your personality. I think mandating uniforms takes away from your personality and your ability to be who you want to be.”

Reflection of Dress Code in the Workplace Like Collison, Burnside believes that the implementation of a school dress code can prepare students for life and the workforce past graduation.

“To me, the purpose of the dress code is helping students be future ready. The reality is that most [students] are going to enter the workforce in fields where there’s a certain level of expectation placed upon you for your appearance,” Burnside told Spark. “Number one is, if we’re going to help our students be future ready, then it’s a good idea for us to reinforce that idea that the world does have expectations of you.”

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ssistant Manager of the Liberty Center Old Navy store Destiny Pelfrey says that, although she does not necessarily agree with what a lot of the school dress codes are, she does think that it could be helpful to prepare students for the future. Her stance is due to her experience as a manager of different environments.

“I just transferred stores. At my old store, the dress code was taken very seriously, and at my new store, it wasn’t. So when I got there, my mind was blown at the amount of kids that I saw in sweatpants and sweatshirts coming into work,” Pelfrey told Spark. “When they

1960

1960

Skirt lengths are not allowed to pass the mid-calf

Schools ban boys from wearing jeans

32 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

Dress Code | Package

infographic natalie mazey

show up in sweatpants and a sweatshirt and hair in a messy bun, they just mope around.

They don’t want to be here, and they don’t feel productive. They don’t look like they’re at work.

They don’t want to do their job. I feel like when you get ready and you show up to work, then you are more productive.”

Part Time Manager at the Liberty Center Build-A-Bear Store Marie Hickman says that, although dress codes play a positive role in the workplace environment, it can limit individuality.

“I feel like [dress codes] create a sense of uniformity, and it kind of sets the standard for

“The best way to handle an issue of dress is by talking and asking the student why they wanted to dress that way, listening to them, and trying to see their side of it.”

Brock University Child and Youth Studies Professor Shuana Pomerantz the business,” Hickman told Spark. “When I worked in places where I didn’t have to [follow] dress codes, there was a lot more individuality, and you can really see more of the people that you work with. As far as workplace dress codes, they’re always probably going to be guidelines.

So I feel like allowing young adults to express their individuality is important.”

Manager at the Liberty Center Graeter’s Scott Aggel disagrees.

“I wouldn’t say that [dress code] has a significant effect on the workplace environment,” Aggel told Spark.

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owever, Baloyi says that the term “workplace appropriate” is too subjective to apply to a school dress code.

“Workplace appropriate, what does that mean exactly?” Baloyi says. “People work at Hooters and that’s a workplace. The tight clothing and the short-shorts, that is considered as workplace attire at hooters. Even working at a strip club, that’s a workplace and what they wear is workplace attire. So what exactly does it mean to be workplace appropriate?”

While not all workplaces require the same attire, Collision says that wearing a school uniform during one’s academic career can also instill a sense of discipline that he views as helpful for life after graduation.

“While our students don’t always like the uniform, I think they would tell you that it helps them to build self-discipline in the long run,’’ Collison says. “They tend to think about what they wear in public when they don’t have to be in uniform. Realizing how you look has a lot to do with how you act and how you perform at a job.”

Muñoz agrees that school uniforms are a better option because it is overall easier. She says that with uniforms, she wouldn’t have to spend time picking out clothes that go along with the dress code. However, East student

1970 Girls are allowed to wear pants with a coordinated pantsuit 33 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

Olivia Lockett thinks that instead of defaulting to uniforms, the administration should revise the dress code.

“I think [administration] should honestly ask students about it and see their own opinion on what we should have [for a dress code],” Lockett told Spark. “The students are the ones that have to follow the dress code so it’s best to get their opinion on it.”

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ason City Schools Public Information Officer Tracey Carson notes that the Mason dress code was revised in 2019 to allow more student freedom and expression. Now, instead of restricting specific clothing such as jackets and hats, the dress code has been modified to require students to wear a shirt that covers the front, back, sides under the arms, and the midriff when standing as well as bottoms and shoes. Under this dress code, Mason students are restricted from wearing violent language or images, images or language depicting or suggesting drugs, alcohol, vaping, or paraphernalia, clothing that reveals visible undergarments, shoes with wheels, swimsuits, and accessories that could be considered dangerous. “[Dress code] is a place where we wanted to make sure that we were being as inclusive as possible,” Carson told Spark. “We want all of our [students] to know that they’re an important part of the Comet community. We also understand that the way we choose to dress and present ourselves is an important part of our identity and development in general.”

Another aspect of Mason’s broad dress code is learning to accept differences.

“The biggest thing is that we want kids to

1970 Boys’ hair cannot be longer than the bottom of the ear source moms.com December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 33

Package | Dress Code

HOW DOES LAKOTA COMPARE? This infographic compares Lakota’s policy to other local school district dress codes.

These drawings reflect outfits that would be considered “dress code violations” based on each corresponding school district’s policy. infographic mia hilkowitz

LAKOTA

MASON

3

MIDDLETOWN

HAMILTON

1

1

1

2 1 4

2 2&3

2

3 3

4 1. Strapless, crop, and see-through tops are prohibited.

2. Clothing or accessories that include obscene, violent, gang, tobacco, drug or alcohol related writing or images are not acceptable.

3. Head coverings and sunglasses should not be worn inside any building.

4. Book bags and oversized bags must be kept in the school locker.

1. Students and staff should not wear swimsuits during the school day.

2. Students and staff should not wear shoes with wheels, such as rollerskates.

3. Students and staff should not wear accessories that could be considered dangerous in the school environment.

1. Students are expected to wear a shirt with sleeves or a sleeveless shirt that comes to the edge of the shoulder.

2. When students wear shorts,skirts, dresses or jumpers, they are expected to be at least fingertip in length when the student is standing.

3. Students are expected to wear shoes that enable them to safely participate in school activities.

1. Sleepwear attire is not permitted.

2. Gloves are not to be carried or worn during school hours.

3. Lower garments are to be worn at waist level and must be properly fastened.

4. No clothing, jewelry, tattoos, body piercing adornments or other personal items may be worn or displayed which is contrary to the school’s mission. source school district websites

1970 Tank top straps must be wider than two fingers’ width 34 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

1980 Clothng must not display profanity

Dress Code | Package feel like they’re ready and prepared to learn,” Carson says. “Sometimes that means getting used to what someone else is wearing, but in a way that can also be a learning experience to promote discussion.”

Can/Should the Dress Code Change Pomerantz says that many school districts have had success reforming their dress codes by communicating with the local community.

For instance, the Toronto District Schools in Canada adopted a new dress code policy for the 2019-20 school year following concerns around racist and sexist wording within the dress code policy.

“I think teachers and administrators need to talk to male and female students and ask them what’s comfortable, what makes sense, what fits with youth culture, what isn’t discriminatory based on gender, race, or sexuality, and what works best given the specific school environment,” Pomerantz says. “What one student body votes for may be different than another student body at another school. But the main thing is not to assume young people don’t know anything by keeping them out of the conversation.”

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n addition to changing any potential discriminatory wording within the policy itself, Pomerantz says that changing how dress code is enforced is another major step to reform. “[The best way to handle a situation when a student is dressing inappropriately] is not to shame or embarrass them, call them out in public, or punish them,” Pomerantz says.

“The best way to handle an issue of dress code is by talking and asking the student why they wanted to dress that way, listening to them, and trying to see their side of it.”

A Spark survey found that 71.1% of students feel that the dress code should be amended, and 59.5% feel that the dress code should be abolished. Bayoli agrees that changing the enforcement aspect of the dress code would benefit students.

“I think that’s the problem, when you do it in front of everyone,” Baloyi says.

“If teachers see something wrong with the student’s dress code, we would have preferred for them to go and handle the matter privately instead of saying it in front of everyone, and basically embarrassing them and still perpetuating this idea that

you can address somebody differently based on what they are wearing.”

According to a Spark survey of 24 East teachers, 70% of East teachers surveyed have not had to discipline a student for a dress code violation. Additionally, 91.6% feel that the dress code is not effective and 60% believe that

“I think that the narrative as a whole, like how you are addressed and whether or not it’s appropriate, or whether or not it’s workplace appropriate, needs to change. And as soon as the narrative changes, the way that students are dress-coded changes.” - East Senior Kay Kay Baloyi

the dress code should be amended.

One anonymous teacher who feels that the dress code is not effective describes the current student attire situation as “absolutely out of control.”

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nother anonymous teacher noted that, while they have had to previously discipline a student for a dress code violation, that “I should [enforce the dress code]. I don’t address it.”

In the same Spark survey another anonymous teacher said that, in regards to disciplining students for dress code, “I won’t be backed up, so I don’t [discipline students for dress code].”

Basford says that updating bias training for teachers can also help minimize the impact of the school to prison pipeline.

“Families need more support and these kids need more support. We need to do more to keep kids in school and support their families,” Basford says. “We need incredible training for our teachers. We need to become aware of our hidden or sometimes not so hidden bias. We need to know when we’re hyper disciplining one student for something that’s exactly the same as what some other kid is doing, but we’re not treating it the same way.”

What is Workplace?

infographic mary barone East principal Rob Burnside explains that dress code prepares students to dress professionally for future occupations. However, work environments are evolving from the classic 9-to-5 office structure, making clothing style no longer “one size fits all” in the workplace.

Construction

1980 Girls’ necklines are allowed to show their collarbones 35 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

Business

Retail

Business Casual

Zoom

source balancecareers.com

1980 Ripped clothing is banned, it is considered too informal for school December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 35

Package | Dress Code

School-toPrison Pipeline

infographic isha malhi The school to prison pipeline is the process of criminalizing youth within schools that put students at higher risk to end up in the prison system.

Dress code is often the first disciplinary action that kids deal with in school, leading to a variety of behaviors that could indicate a future in crime.

impairment unmanageability a child is everyday funtion is a disobedient and does not follow problem directions

harm children tend to lash out when they are upset

the crime rate for youth ages 12 through 17 is 92 per 1,000 source us department of justice

DEVELOPING THE EAST DRESS CODE

Burnside notes that the best way to bring issues regarding dress code to light is by notifying administration.

“If you see something, if you send it to the office, we are going to support you as an administrative team with the messaging. We’ll have those hard conversations,” Burnside says.

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or Lakota, changing the dress code at East is not only a building decision, but also one that concerns the entire district, Burnside says.

“At Lakota, we have one code of conduct so that we’re consistent between our multiple high schools, so we would really have to pull the team together to have a discussion,” Burnside says. “We couldn’t make a change that they didn’t make at [Lakota] West.”

Additionally, Burnside says that changes to the dress code policy take time due to the process for code of conduct approval.

“For us to be making changes to the code of conduct, things of that nature [including] dress code, generally you have those discussions in March and April,” Burnside says. “The code of conduct goes to the Board for Board approval in May. We wouldn’t be changing the code of conduct now because it’s been board approved for this year, we would have to make those changes for next year.”

Thompson says that including students and community members in the conversation surrounding dress code reform can be beneficial.

“While dress codes are protected by the First Amendment, they are specifically crafted by local governments or school boards,” Thompson says. “Oftentimes teachers or teacher’s unions have power to negotiate dress code. Parent Teacher Associations and students themselves have power to actually influence what goes into their dress codes.”

In her efforts with East BSU and Women’s Empowerment club, Bayoli feels that in order to achieve appropriate reform within the school, more than just policy wording needs to change.

“I think the narrative has to change,” Bayoli says. “I think that the narrative as a whole, like how you are addressed and whether or not it’s appropriate, or whether or not it’s workplace appropriate, needs to change. And as soon as the narrative changes, the way that students are dress coded changes.”

1990 Undergarments cannot show over the waistline 36 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

Spark takes a deeper look into the current version of the dress code and how it is evaluated. sidebar isha malhi

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pproved in 2013 by the Lakota School Board, the Lakota Student Code of Conduct policyparticularly the Dress Code that governs both East and West high schools -has become a topic of discussion among students who think the dress code is not inclusive of different minorities and cultures. Reviewed every year by the superintendent, School Board, and legal team, the code is thoroughly reviewed by the administration.

Rob Vogelmann, the assistant superintendent of Lakota, participates in reviewing the Code of Conduct each year.

Vogelmann says that there are often many factors that play into this evaluation.

“Are there grey areas or areas that are struggling [in the dress code] that need a further look?” Vogelmann told Spark.

“Those are some of the questions we ask.”

According to Vogelmann, if the administration receives no negative feedback from principals, faculty, and community members, the previous evaluation of the Code of Conduct from the year before rolls over and is in place for the next. Vogelmann says that the most recent major re-evaluations of the Lakota dress code were in 2003 and 2013.

The rising number of students dying their hair was the reason for the board taking a deeper look into the dress code

1990 Schools rule shirts must cover the midriff

Dress Code | Package in 2003. Vogelmann says that it was considered a distraction by teachers, and students were sent down continuously to the office. To solve the issue, the Board arranged subcommittees that involved students, teachers, and parents to gauge perspectives.

“It’s a five-member board,” School Board member Brad Lovell says. “We all love and engage with different people in the community. That is how the vote ultimately ends on those policies and how they are driven to be the standards in the district.”

After hearing from each subcommittee, the board concluded that hair color was not a problem and the provision was dropped from the Code of Conduct.

“What rises to the top and what needs to be addressed, changes as the years go on and that is what we focus on,” Vogelmann says.

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he next major change came in 2013 regarding female students wearing spaghetti straps. This review, however, had more of a deeper and detailed look into it as it dealt with everyone in the district. To combat this, more subcommittees were made by teachers, students, families, and administrators involved with each grade level in the district.

“This was to ensure every grade had a say; because what may be appropriate for one student to wear may not be appropriate for a student in a grade below or above them,” Vogelmann says.

Throughout all of this, the school board has made it clear that the goal of the dress code is not to be oppressive but to ensure that there is respect and safety. As the years have passed and clothing of all styles has become accepted, the big thing the evaluators would like for students to remember is that their well-being is the board’s top priority.

“There might be things that students haven’t considered and don’t understand the safety implications,” School Board Member Julie Shaffer says. “There are reasons why there are requirements regarding clothing and that is why the code is here.”•

History and Legal Aspects of Dress Code The debate surrounding dress code has long been discussed in American culture. According to research institution ProCon, an institution based in pro and con format to demonstrate both sides to arguments, the origin of the modern school uniform can be traced to 16th Century England when impoverished students, referred to as “charity children”, attended the Christ’s Hospital Boarding School.

Their uniforms consisted of blue cloaks that were reminiscent of cassocks worn by clergy members. However, the implementation of dress code was strengthened through the use of government-run boarding schools for Native American Children in the 1800s where children were removed from their families and dressed in military-style uniforms in an effort to “christianize” the youth.

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omerantz says the cultural impacts of these origins have been maintained in modern American society.

“The issue of dress code is political because we treat people’s bodies as political,” Pomerantz told Spark. “The body is always bound up in other socio-cultural issues.”

In 1987, the first U.S. public school implemented a voluntary uniform policy as a response to a 1986 Baltimore shooting, in which a local public school student was wounded during a fight over a pair of $95

“The issue of dress code is political because we treat people’s bodies as political,” - Brock University Child and Youth Studies Professor Shuana Pomerantz 2000

Skirts must reach past the tip of the fingers 37 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

sunglasses. As more schools across the nation adopted uniform or stricter dress code policies, Seattle University Law Professor Deborah Ahrens says that the topic of regulating student attire became more politicized. For instance, in 1996, former President Bill Clinton told Congress during his State of the Union speech that, “If it means that teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms.” By publicly supporting this policy for his presidential reelection campaign, Clinton helped politicize the topic of dress code policies in the U.S. and draw attention to the subject.

“We would have thought of [the Clinton administration] as Republican or more conservative,” Ahrens told Spark. “[Clinton’s administration] made [dress code] a centrist mainstream position that both Democrats, Republicans, and Independents agree on.”

As regulation of student attire increased nationwide, legal cases challenging restrictions followed suit. According to Thompson, one of the most significant cases used to set precedent for dress code legal cases is Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969).

“Essentially, the court held [in Tinker v.

Des Moines Independent Community School District] that students still have a right to free speech at school, and they have a right to free expression at school,” Thompson told Spark.

“Obviously, this right isn’t completely expansive.

It can be limited in some circumstances. But when there is no threat to actually disrupting the classroom atmosphere, students should have a right to express themselves.”

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n the case Tinker v. Des Moines, a group of students in Des Moines, IA, planned a public showing of their support for a truce in the Vietnam War by wearing armbands to school. Upon hearing of the meeting, the principals of the Des Moines schools met to create a policy that states that any student wearing an armband would be asked to remove it and that refusal would result in suspension.

That same week, siblings Mary Beth and John Tinker, along with classmate Christopher Eckhardt, wore their armbands and were sent home. The students, through their parents, sued the district for violating their right of expression. The court found that the restriction did violate the students’ rights under the first amendment and that students did not lose these rights when they entered “the schoolhouse

2000 Hair colors and styles must not be extreme source moms.com December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 37

TINKER V. DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT infographic mia hilkowitz

Package | Dress Code

A group of students in Des Moines, IA, planned a public showing of their support for a truce in the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands. Upon hearing of the meeting, the principals of the Des Moines schools created a policy that stated that any student wearing an armband would be asked to remove it and that refusal would result in suspension. That week Mary Beth Tinker, John Tinker, and Christopher Eckhardt were sent home for wearing armbands.

The students sued the school district for violating students’ right of expression.

Petitioner: Tinker Decided by: Warren Court Argued: Nov. 12 ,1968 Decided: Feb. 24, 1969 Lower Court appeal: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Decision: prevented the wearing of the armbands in a public school as a form of symbolic protest violated the students’ freedom of speech protections guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Significance: Tinker was the first major dress code and student expression case on the SCOTUS. source oyez cornell legal information institute photography fair use

gates.”

However, the precedent set in this case more than 51 years ago can still be limited in certain cases within the school setting.

“Even if students do have some first amendment rights, they are not the robust version of rights that adults enjoy,” Ahrens says. “In theory, [schools] have these other things that they need to balance against those constitutional rights.”

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ne key aspect that school officials consider while developing their dress code is balancing student expression with safety on campus. Basford says that this concern has often resulted in “zero tolerance policies” at schools, or school discipline policies and practices that mandate predetermined consequences in response to specific types of student behavior.

“Zero tolerance policies were a reaction to Columbine and other school shootings,” Basford told Spark. “We became really hyper

“There has to be one cohesive dress code that applies to all students.”

-Ohio American Civil Liberties Union Representative Elena Thompson

2000 Backpacks must stay in lockers to prevent weapons in school

38 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

militant about certain actions in schools and zero tolerance policies which have expanded to include a lot of things, not just guns. That was when we really started to see a lot more kids being expelled and suspended without any kind of humanity involved in that decision.”

Zero tolerance policies often include dress code or uniform policies. Currently, East does not maintain a zero tolerance policy towards dress code. For many school districts across the nation, Thompson says that developing a dress code that balances student rights with key aspects such as safety and professionalism has left room for discrimination within the policy.

“One of the major forms [of discrimination] that we tend to see is sex discrimination in dress code. There is pretty solid guidance and court cases that suggest that schools cannot have dress codes that are segregated by sex,” Thompson says. “There has to be one cohesive dress code that applies to all students.”

In August 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled that a North Carolina

2010 Some schools ban trench coats in response to the Columbine shooting

Dress Code | Package charter school’s dress code, which requires girls to wear skirts and bars them from wearing pants or shorts, is a violation of Title IX. While Title IX can prohibit discrimination within the specific wording of a school’s dress code, Ahrens says that dress codes have still been able to discriminate based on gender.

“Title IX protections against sex discrimination ought to protect you against gender based dress codes and a lot of these dress

codes do indeed have gender specific language,” Ahrens says. “You can have restrictions on rights that are not specifically targeted at boys or girls in their language that nevertheless are only going to affect one gender.”

In addition to gender discrimination, Thompson says that dress codes have also been discriminatory by race throughout history.

“One thing that we frequently see is dress codes that are discriminatory by race,” Thompson says. “One example of this is a dress code that says that hair cannot be braided, kept in a protective style, or be less than an afro. Obviously, that discriminates most prevalently against students of color. While those sorts of dress codes on their face aren’t calling out students of color specifically, they have a really specific impact on students of color.”

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dditionally, Thompson says that schools have to balance regulating content among attire.

“Schools generally have a pretty broad right to prohibit students from wearing whatever they want, but they can’t prohibit things based on content or viewpoint alone,” Thompson says. “So a school can say you can’t wear any hat and that would be okay. But a school specifically can’t say you can wear a hat [because] your hat says MAGA or is an LGBT ally hat.”

Thompson says that the subjectivity surrounding discrimination in dress code has made it difficult to legislate.

“There is not currently any legislation about dress code specifically, but there’s a ton of legislation about students and student rights,” Thompson says. “Dress code specifically is generally not really looked at in Ohio, and this is mostly because the state tends to avoid legislating issues of student expression.”

While the specific laws

2010 Girls cannot wear leggings unless their bottom is covered

39 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

“Things that might have been considered acceptable when I started teaching 27 years ago are different from what they are today.” East principal Rob Burnside regulating dress code have not changed, East principal Rob Burnside says that the way that dress codes in schools are enforced has still adapted over the last several decades.

“Things that might have been considered acceptable when I started teaching 27 years ago, are different from what they are today,” Burnside told Spark. “Society’s changed and evolved, and expectations have changed with it.”

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akota East student Gigi Pisano is also in support of East’s dress code to a certain degree, but she thinks that its major fault is how it’s enforced. “[The dress code] is unreasonable and a little bit flawed,” Pisano told Spark. “That’s because of how they enforce it. It’s either super extreme or they don’t do anything at all.”

Burnside adds that the enforcement of dress code was much stricter in past decades than it is with the current East administration.

“20 years ago when I was teaching here, I remember our administrators standing out front of Main Street and if a kid walked in wearing a hat, they would take their hat right there,” Burnside told Spark. “We don’t do that anymore. Could we? Yeah, because the [Code of Conduct] says we could, but ultimately it comes back to is it a disruption to the instructional process. And in this day and age is it really a disruption to a class if a person wears a hat?” •

2020 Some schools require masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 source moms.com December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 39

Culture | 90’s Fashion

Revisiting Retro - Windows File Edit View Image Options Help

System Message

REVISITING RETRO Aspects of Cheyenne’s outfit that are coming back from the 90’s according to Cosmopolitan: • cardigans • high-waisted mom jeans

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Chokers rose back to popularity along with the resurgence of 90’s trends according to Vice, starting with a popularity on runways such as Dior’s Spring 2016 collection.

While the shape of the jeans was unpopular for many years, the nostalgia for 90’s fashion helped place the mom jean back into fashion, according to GLAMOUR.

The shoe brand Converse was one of several shoe brands largely popular in the 90’s and still trending today according to POPSUGAR.

details

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Fashion | Culture

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Bubble rings, or chunky rings, have made a comeback according to InStyle, a trend with followers like celebrities such as Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa.

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Bustle suggests switching up the 90’s over-sized flannel outfit by pairing it with bike shorts or a denim skirt.

details Cargo pants had their moment of “cool” in the 90’s, according to The Trend Spotter, partly due to the garment’s practical ability to carry multiple items.

Aspects of Cheyenne’s outfit that are coming back from the 90s according to Cosmopolitan: • flannels • cargo pants • thick head bands

System Message As 90s fashion comes back into style, Spark takes a look into some of the clothes that make up the revived fashion era. photography ianni acapulco | model cheyenne hardiman

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 41

Culture | Reviews

The third season of the original Netflix drama “You,” takes a look into Joe’s old stalker habits and the Goldberg family’s new bakery. review olivia rigney | art ianni acapulco

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ouples counseling might not be enough to help this seemingly normal, newlywed Los Angeles pair: Love Quinn and Joe Goldberg. Played by Victoria Pedretti and Penn Badgley, this couple has been through a lot in the past year, from getting married to having a baby. This season’s premise sets up the idea that, while a couple might look typical from the outside, there are secrets not visible to outsiders. Joe and Love look like they’re living the dream when in reality they murder innocent people who get in the way of their desires.

The third season of “You” premiered on Netflix on Oct. 15 2021, when viewers tuned in during its first week of being released, it immediately hit the top of the charts on Netflix, scoring an approval rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Both Joe and Love are at fault for the deaths they accumulated under their watch. In this season, Love has adopted Joe’s previous role of taking unhealthy jealousy to the extremes.

The clear box, that was used to house their kidnapped victims in the first two seasons, has moved from Joe’s basement to their new bakery.

The cupcakes and muffins entice hungry customers, but some unlucky people are welcomed in against their will. The Goldbergs start off with the intention of not using their new space for villainous purposes and disguise the basement and glass box by storing cooking ingredients. However, their evil urges are unmatched. Badgley and Pedretti give tremendous performances because they are able to switch from their caring parental personas for the public, to their cold and nefarious killer identities.

In the end, Love’s side should be favored. Joe had finally found his perfect match: someone who looks past every fault. Love lives for her

husband’s attention, which is commandeered by a little craziness, but is unsuccessful with her unhealthy obessions. She is constantly making an effort to work on their marriage and try new things to keep things interesting.

Although this part of the plot is carried out well on screen, it is disappointing to see Joe constantly looking for desire from other women. This season shows that this cycle of jealousy and murder is a pattern that works out for no one.

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r. and Mrs. Goldberg are joined with a new supporting cast of neighbors and new friends, most of which survive.

There are dynamics that follow the coteries of people in the L.A. suburbs. Out of all the fake friends that are encountered this season, the best character to come out of this

EPISODES: 10 VIEWERS: 111 MILLION CREATORS: SERA GAMBLE, GREG BERLANTI 42 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

was Theo, the kid next door. Theo, played by Dylan Arnold, was a breath of fresh air in between the brutal and uncalled-for murders.

He also revived the hope for Love’s life, giving her the attention she deserved. Although their entanglement might be a little controversial, he shows Love that she is worth more than what Joe is giving her. Theo’s spectacular visuals were also a plus, as he gave a more serious performance compared to his last feature in the “After” movie series.

The wild ride is not yet over for The Goldbergs. “You” was renewed for a fourth season on Oct. 13, before the third season even hit the screens. Based on the last few minutes of season three’s cliffhanger finale episode, the next season will take place in Paris and will follow whatever trouble Joe gets himself into this time. •

Liar, Liar

Reviews | Culture

A new spin on a favorite book of many, the new show, “One of Us is Lying,” attempts to execute the intense ideas of author Karen M. McManus. review and art andie madding

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or four of Bayview High’s students, detention takes a sinister turn when classmate and school gossip, Simon, dies from a fatal allergy, leaving only the four students as possible suspects. Based on the book written in 2017 by Karen M. McManus, the recent TV series, “One of Us is Lying,” has attracted attention from teens across the country with a rating of 6.8 of 10 on IMDb. Released in October 2021 on Peacock TV, the show tells the story of four students suspected

for the murder of one of their own classmates and the action that unfolds over the span of the subsequent weeks.

The four suspects fall under the classic stereotypes of modern-day high school. This includes Cooper Clay, the jock, who is played

by Chibuikem Uche. Cooper is well-known within the school and one of the best baseball players around. One of his friends, Addy Prentiss, is the popular girl with a seemingly perfect life who is portrayed by Annalisa Cochrane. Joining the group is Marianly Tejada playing Bronwyn Rojas, the brainiac who plans to go to Yale. Finally Cooper van Grootel is casted as Nate the bad-boy with a troubled past. Their intense character development in the face of their unveiled secrets allows them to seem relatable and more authentic as the story progresses.

Each of these actors are new faces in the industry and are able to do well with lead roles. The show was created by Erica Saleh and directed by a team of four people that were able to make the transition between episodes seamless.

The pacing of the show is on-point and never lets the plot drag out. There are eight

episodes that are around 45 minutes long and contain fulfilling cliff-hangers that persuade the viewer to continue watching. The flashbacks are well done and clearly explain the background behind some of the characters, including Simon who was the victim. Each plot-twist is unexpected and adds a lot of depth to the story.

Unfortunately, the acting falls short throughout the series. The writing and delivery of the lines fall flat and were occasionally unauthentic. Like many depictions of teenagers in cinema, it seems as if the actors and writers were trying too hard to connect to a younger audience. Much of the slang and dialogue came off as cheesy and forced, and was disappointing.

Many of the actors’ ages ranged from 25-29 and they seemed much too old to be playing these roles. It is hard to relate to them and understand their emotions when they looked and acted as adults.

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here the choppy dialogue and aged actors failed, the costumes are perfect representations of teenagers today.

Each outfit could have been plucked from the hallways of any high school, and most of the music is straight out of the AirPods of a teen. Featuring artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles, and Lil Nas X, the soundtrack was mainstream, but much better than most TV shows today. The costumes can be credited to Jaindra Watson and Kimberly A. Tillman, and the music selection to Ian Hultquist.

Even with the show’s disappointing writing, it is still able to maintain overall interest and action within the story, using flashbacks and well-developed characters. The accumulating suspense that eventually overflows at the end is well thought-out and developed nicely, and the music and wardrobe racked up a few brownie points. Altogether this show was worth the binge watch.•

EPISODES: 8 PLATFORM: PEACOCK TV CREATORS: ERICA SALEH lakotaeastsparkonline.com 43

Culture | Pic 6

PIC SIX: SHIRLEY TEMPLES reviews and photography ezri colpi

9 Longhorn 9 .

2 $

0

$2.5

Steakhouse

Rusty Bucket

7711 Voice of America Centre 7524 B a l e s S t , L i b e r t y Dr, West Chester Township, Tow n s h i p , OH 45069 OH 45069

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his is THE shirley temple. The equal ratio of grenadine to soda gaves the drink flavor, but didn’t make it too sweet. It was mixed to the perfect consistency that didn’t make it too thick but also didn’t make it too watery. The bartender added three cherries, which is a rarity considering I only received one for the other 5 places I ordered from.

Longhorn had a low price considering the fantastic outcome and great service. The environment was great and the employees were very efficient and friendly. From the first sip, I knew there was no way of topping this drink. It was everything I could have asked for. If you want a perfect shirley, Longhorn is the place to go.

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came into the Rusty Bucket with high expectations, and I was not let down.

Despite the busy environment, the restaurant was very welcoming and made sure to make the shirley as quickly as possible.

I wouldn’t come here if you are in a rush due to the regular average wait time of almost an hour, but the outcome was well worth the wait.

My only real issue was that it could’ve used a little bit less grenadine to make it less sweet and syrup tasting. Overall not bad, I would definitely have it again.

44 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

9 Buffalo 7 .

2 $

Wild Wings

6050 Snider Rd, Mason, OH 45040

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n theory, this was a good shirley. Not great, just good. There was a little too much soda and not enough grenadine, which gave it an alarmingly mediocre flavor similar to carbonated water. I didn’t dislike it, but it didn’t stand out to me, it neither exceeded nor failed to meet my expectations.

It came in a styrofoam cup which didn’t help its already very ordinary presentation and it wasn’t mixed perfectly so it tasted a little watery and thin, but it was efficiently made and would work in a pinch, though there is room for improvement.

Pic 6 | Culture

PIC SIX: SHIRLEY TEMPLES 5 2 . $2

Putter’s

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Pies and Pints

Northstar

6575 Cincinnati Dayton Rd, 7610 Sloan Way, Liberty Liberty Township, OH 45044 Township, OH 45069

ormally I don’t have a problem with Putter’s, but this time I was let down. This was probably the most bare-minimum shirley temple I have ever encountered in an establishment. There was barely any grenadine or cherries, resulting in what tasted like pure Sprite. It wasn’t bad, but it was boring and didn’t meet my expectations.

My only positive feedback would be that what it lacked in flavor, it made up for in consistency. The soda had a solid fizzy taste that was contributing the only flavoring to the drink. to it that I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant for a shirley if you have other options.

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5 $

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orthstar Cafe is well-known for having quality food and natural ingredients.

I had high hopes, however I found myself to be let down. To start things off, they didn’t have any grenadine so it was made with black cherry syrup and what tasted like an entire squeezed lemon which caused an extremely unpleasant aftertaste and bitter flavor.

Out of all the drinks, this was the most expensive and the least deserving of my money.

The only reason this was not ranked last was because it came with the best appearance and the employees tried their best. I think Northstar is a great restaurant, but I would not recommend ordering this specific drink. Ever.

7621 Gibson St, Liberty Township, OH 45044

I

was not expecting to be disappointed by Pies and Pints, however I knew something was wrong upon first sight of the drink.

My first issue was that it came in a bottle, which caused it to taste flat and unsatisfying.

There were no cherries, too much grenadine, bad consistency, and dismissive employees. Not to mention it was considerably overpriced even with the bottle.

Pies and Pints’ usually has delicious food, but this drink let me down. It took a long time to receive and probably had the most utterly disappointing results. I would recommend the establishment for its food, but if you go I would skip the shirley temple.

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 45

Culture | Asian Food Festival

Facebook: Red sesame korean BBQ/Taco food truck | price: $$

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Red Sesame

ed Sesame’s dishes have had the soul of Korea with a Mexican flair ever since they opened their food truck in 2012.

Every dish begins by taking the highest quality and freshest ingredients and combines them with their homemade Korean marinades.

It all started in a home kitchen where several months were spent perfecting their signature homemade sauces and marinades.

Facebook: Angie Tee’s Kitchen LLC | price: $$

Facebook: China Gourmet price: $$

Angie Tee’s Kitchen

China Gourmet

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ngie Tee’s Kitchen creates authentic Malaysian chicken, beef satay spice mix, and satay peanut sauce made from scratch. Tee uses organic ingredients such as raw fermented kimchi, power bowls, soups, and salads focusing on “Food as Medicine” and probiotics to nourish the body.

The unique line of healthy superfoods are mostly vegan, gluten free, and dairy free.

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hina Gourmet was created in 1977 and has served upscale Cantonese-Asian fusion in a relaxed environment for over 40 years.

Every Tuesday they serve 1.75lb Hard Shell Maine Lobsters as an addition to their normal seafood dishes. Other dishes include, soups, salads, fried rice, noodles, and vegetarian options.

CULTURE & CUISINE Instagram: roll_on_in price: $$

Facebook: Bridges Nepali Cuisine | price: $$

Facebook: Kung Fu Tea price: $

Roll On In

Bridges Nepali Cuisine

Kung Fu Tea

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oll On In food truck is home of the unique sushi burritos, sushi tacos, and sushi donuts. It is Asian food with a tex-mex twist. They are proud to bring a new spin on the classic cuisine people love. At Roll On In, it is a fully customizable food experience. You choose your base or wrap,then the meat, and lastly, the vegetables and sauces. They are committed to making a refreshing experience, using the freshest quality ingredients.

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ridges Nepali Cuisine opened up their Cincinnati location in 2019 and their Northside location in 2017. Bridges’ primary mission is to serve a completely different Nepali Cuisine in a simple, approachable set-up in a fastpaced environment. Although Nepal is on the other side of the world with its own unique food, culture, and lifestyle, Bridges wishes to bridge the gap through food, spices, and art.

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ung Fu Tea was founded in 2010 and is currently America’s largest bubble tea brand. Made with the art of ‘3T’ Kung Fu (selecting the best tea leaves, brewing the tea at the right temperature, and steeping the tea for the perfect amount of time), Kung Fu, in its purest essence, is the desire for selfimprovement and to expand one’s capabilities beyond all limitations. They want to elevate the world of made-to-order beverages with a “Fresh- Innovative- Fearless’ approach.

Asian Food Festival | Culture

Facebook: SEA Cuisine Foodtruck | price: $$

SEA Cuisine

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EA: Southeast Asian Cuisine is a food truck that offers Southeast Asian-style food such as tacos, bahn mi, and pho.

Their tacos are offered in shrimp, chicken, and steak, all topped with a tangy mango pico de gallo. The owner Cham Penn opened SEA Cuisine just a couple years ago.

He won second place for “Best Taco” in 2017’s first annual Cincinnati Taco Festival.

Facebook: Blesame International Catering price: $$

Blesame International

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t the festival, Blesame International Catering fed more than 2,000 people and ran out of food frequently. The recipes come from the owner of Blesame, Kris Wirtjes’ mom and dad who own their own native restaurant. Open since 1994, they cater appetizers, main dishes, and desserts from all over the world but Wirtjes is mostly at home cooking the foods she grew up eating in the Philippines.

Facebook: Tea ‘n’ Bowl price: $

Tea ‘n’ Bowl

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stablished in 2006, Tea ‘n’ Bowl offers a variety of Asian entrees including Cantonese, Sze Chuan, and Southeast Asian. They work to provide quality food with a good value and emphasize on providing healthy food with quality ingredients and service. They were named “Best Bubble Tea” by Cincinnati Magazine. They specialize in making the best Bubble Tea with a variety of flavors to choose from.

The Asian Food Festival, whose purpose is to raise cultural awareness and diversity in the region, held its 10th anniversary event, bringing in thousands of people who came to eat from 26 businesses, selling food on Court Street in downtown Cincinnati. story and photography audrey allen

Facebook: Mahope price: $

Facebook: Streetpops price: $

Facebook: BobaCha price: $

Mahope Cambodian Cuisine

Streetpops

Boba Cha

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ahope operates a food cart as well as a food trailer and catering service.

They serve fresh, authentic, and fusion Cambodian Cuisine. Chef Vy Sok has had a long-held goal of bringing Cambodian Cuisine to Cincinnati, the city her family had settled in after fleeing the genocidal Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.

Mahope, which means “food” in Khmer, became the first Cambodian restaurant in the city in late 2018.

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treetpops prepared 2500 servings and fed 2000 people at the festival. They opened in 2011 and serve ice pops with flavors running from raspberry lemonade, chocolate sea salt, avocado, to rootbeer float.

Owner Sara Bornick attended culinary school in hopes of opening an ice cream shop. She wanted to do something other than working in a typical restaurant kitchen. One of her favorite pops that she has made is the mango chili streetpop.

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oba Cha is a family owned business.

Their goal is to bring Bubble Tea to everyone. It is not just your run-ofthe-mill black milk tea with tapioca bubbles. They offer flavours like mixes of peach, raspberry, and lychee in a tea or smoothie. Everything is handmade and they can alter each flavour to fit everyone’s tastes. They offer a tea that cleanses the liver and bladder as well as helps with weight loss.•

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 47

Sports | Marching Band Narrative The Lakota East Marching Thunderhawks performs at Lucas Oil Stadium.

RETAKING THE FIELD After returning from the 2021 Bands of America Grand Nationals Championships, package editor Zach Shultz reflects on this year’s marching band season. • narrative zach shultz | photography used with permission | infographic mary barone

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he first time I walked into Lucas Oil Stadium to perform was the afternoon of Oct. 25, 2019. I will never forget the feeling of performing on that field for the first time. Lucas Oil Stadium is a very important and well-respected venue in the marching band community, with it being the home of both the Drum Corps International (DCI) World Championships and the Bands of America (BOA) Grand Nationals Championships. Being able to perform here is the crowning achievement of any marching band, and thousands of musicians and performers had once performed here, showing all of their hard work to massive audiences.

On that day, I got to join that large number of people when the Lakota East Marching Thunderhawks performed our 2019 show, “To the Heavens,” at the BOA Indianapolis Super Regional Championships.

In 2019, East was up against 83 other high school marching bands from various Midwest states. We ended up placing 18th, just barely missing the fourteen bands that made finals.

The band received an overall score of 80.675.

Two years, two weeks and four days later, on Nov. 11, 2021, I walked onto the same field for the second time, along with the rest of the band to perform our 2021 program: “Horoscope.”

The only real difference from 2019 was that I was older, and the competition was tougher. With it being the Grand Nationals Championships, we were facing 98 other high school marching bands from 18 states across the country. Some of these bands were previous Grand Nationals winners such as Avon High School and Carmel

High School from Indiana, as well as Broken Arrow High School, Oklahoma.

Despite the difference in competition, the feeling of performing on that field was no different. There’s just something about it that fills you with pride just from being there.

After the show, you can hardly remember what it was like. The entire adrenaline rush from performing clouds your mind. Knowing that you just poured all of your hard work and dedication, all the hours you had spent into a year’s season --daily practices, nightly sectionals, marching in the parking lot for five months.

All of that blood, sweat, and tears, delivered into a ten minute show in front of hundreds of people. It’s an indescribable feeling of pride.

For a lot of high school bands, the whole marching season leads up to this moment, this performance, this huge show. As a member of the

Score Breakdown

40% music effect

20% music performance

20% visual effect

20% visual performance

Scores are averaged for a total 100 points. Penalties are then deducted to calculate final score.

48 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

source musicforall.org

Lakota East drumline, my journey started this past February, practicing rudimental fingering exercises and early parts of the show music until we joined the rest of the band in July for band camp. During band camp the band worked out in the blacktop parking lot under the sun for at least eight hours a day, putting everything we had into learning our music and positions on the field during the show. The days are hot, extensive, painful, and tiresome, but I knew that later in the season, it will be worth it.

The Thunderhawks had our first performances of the show at East football games when we played during halftime for any students and families interested enough to watch. These early performances were great ways to see how our progress was developing, and it helped us to improve aspects of the show.

However, the season really picks up when we start attending competitions.

East takes part in both BOA and Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) competitions. That means transporting nearly 200 people, their instruments and flags, and all the show props via buses and semi trucks. Band parents drive the trucks, haul the equipment, and generally carry the bands. Throughout September and October, the band went to various OMEA shows at Wilmington, Ohio State, and Turpin-- in addition to a weekend trip to Toledo where we performed at the BOA Northwest Ohio Regional Championship at the University of Toledo. There, the band placed second overall with a score of 77, beating sixteen other bands and losing only to Brownsburg High School, Indiana. We also

Marching Band Narrative | Sports attended the OMEA State Finals in Dayton, where we received a one out of five rating, also known as a “Superior” rating, for the 24th consecutive year.

During the 2020 season, the Marching Thunderhawks were absent from competition due to COVID-19 restrictions. Returning to the competition season after a year was a little rocky at first, but students in the junior and senior classes who were vets of competition travel easily got into the feel of things again, and the underclassmen who had never been before did amazing for their first time. After each event, the band received feedback that allowed us to improve and become a better ensemble. Once we had learned the entirety of the show, the rehearsals in the last few weeks leading up to Grand Nationals were focusing around fixing miniscule things. These included taking musical parts out to see how it sounded, adding choreography, making small changes to positions, just anything we could do to make our show better.

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inally, we made it to Grand Nationals.

After a week of rehearsing as hard as I could, everybody woke up around 5 a.m. on Thursday the 11th to take the charter bus to Indianapolis where we first rehearsed inside of the Indianapolis Convention Center.

I checked in at my hotel, enjoyed some free time, and got dressed in uniform before taking off for Lucas Oil Stadium. Arriving at Lucas Oil is nothing short of intimidating because of how large the building is at first glance, as well as seeing all the buses and trucks belonging to other bands parked in front. The band unloaded our East-owned Atlas Van Lines moving truck which transported all of our instruments during the trip, and headed inside.

The drumline broke off from the majority of the band for our own private warm-up in an empty meeting room, where we practiced our normal exercises and sections of the show.

Our small team of percussion directors, John Espy, Bill Pendleton, and Scott Brown, gave us a few small pep talks, which we always get before shows. However, these speeches were different just because of the circumstances of Grand Nationals. To add on to any stress or anxiety I was feeling, the block the band had been scheduled for was filled with some of the most famous and critically acclaimed bands attending, such as Avon and Carmel, which meant that our audience would naturally be bigger than usual.

The drumline joined the rest of the band in the tunnels leading out onto the field, waiting for the Fishers High School band from Fishers, Indiana to finish performing. As I walked onto the field, I felt something that alto saxophone section leader and leadership team president Alex Reffner described as “incredible and unreplicable”, and I couldn’t agree more.

I have lost track of the number of times

we have played through and performed “Horoscope”, and in the end, the performance that night was just another runthrough, not much different than the one at the end of practice that morning or the last competition.

Something I think everyone in the band can agree on is that it was a great show, and we all played and marched just like we always do.

After we performed, we left the field, exited the stadium, and left Lucas Oil for the night. Some relief had been lifted off of my shoulders now that the performance was over, but now the wait for awards, taking place the next day, began.

As the band sat high up in the Lucas Oil stands, awards began. Drum majors representing all 99 bands attending marched onto the field, receiving participation awards.

We cheered when our five drum majors (East students Jack Nomina, Lina Miesse, Hailey Bowden, Maria Hudepohl, and Emma Laude) reached the podium and accepted ours. Then everyone sat and listened as they announced the 34 semi-finalists. It was a very tense moment as they called off the bands who had performed well enough to move on.

At the beginning, none of us were that worried, but as the numbers went on, we all got less hopeful and more quiet, as everybody intensely listened, not daring to make a sound that might obscure the announcer’s voice.

When they reached 34th, it confirmed the thought we were all thinking but didn’t want to be true: Lakota East didn’t make it. It was a very emotional moment for everyone in the band, as we all felt confident with the show we had put on the day before. But regardless, it still stung at least a little bit.

We ended up placing 36th, just two spots off of semis. Our final score was 81.700. We were all a little upset that night, but I was still proud of everyone and how far we had come this year as a band.

“I am very proud of our show [this year],” Nomina, who is also an Oboe soloist in the

show, told Spark. “I think that no matter how we do [in competitions], we have a show that’s good enough to be proud of.”

Nomina isn’t the only one to feel this way.

Many other members of the band expressed their satisfaction with how this season went, including Miesse.

“I think that the band has made a ton of progress, especially considering where we were at last year,” Miesse says. “With all the uncertainty, I don’t think we all really had any expectations, but everyone has been doing amazingly and they all have just grown so much.”

Now that the season has ended, all of the members of the band, including myself, prepare for some time off until next spring. The directors of the East Bands program, Robert Tanis and Kevin Engel, however, are reflecting on the season and have already started planning for next year.

“Thinking back to what we sounded like in May, I was like, wow, we have a long way to go,” Tanis told Spark. “Now watching us perform in Indy, I was completely mesmerized by the growth of this ensemble from what it had sounded like back then, and what we were able to create together is truly remarkable. In many respects, probably the most growth in any season of any group that I’ve ever worked with, and [on top of that], everybody had a good time doing it.”

I, along with many other band members, are very satisfied with how this season went, even though we didn’t get exactly what we wanted at Grand Nationals. Close friendships and bonds were still made, together with tons of memories everybody will remember forever. I can say for sure that a lot of us are really looking forward to next year’s season, especially us in the junior class who will be seniors.

A lot of work goes into a season, but when I look at all of the fun times I had, I know that it was all worth it, and that is what is important in my eyes. •

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 49

Sports | Preseason Outlooks

A LOOK INTO THE BASKETBALL

photocaption blake furnish photography maggie huss

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akota East varsity basketball head coach Clint Adkins says that last year's shortened pre-season made a difference in the season’s dynamic. "[COVID-19] definitely impacted us,”

WRESTLING

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s practices begin for the East wrestling team; returning district qualifiers Kevin Kornau and Nick Brady as well as varsity starters Andrew Wanke and Jalen Ashford look to lead their team.

Alongside them, juniors Wyatt Childress, Ethan Evans, Sam Pennix, Brayden Reip, and Josiah Wood, and returning sophomore Tyler Epstein are all prepared for varsity time and are excited to help lead the incoming freshman and new players in a successful season.

The team plans to build from last year’s 19-11 dual record. East varsity wrestling head coach Scott Fetzer is preparing for a challenging season playing teams like Mason who in the 2020 season had a dual record of 11-0.•

Adkins told Spark. “We had guys who missed almost a month of basketball because of COVID-19 but at the end of the day we just didn't get it done."

Last season, East finished second in the Greater Miami Conference (GMC) with an overall record of 16-6 and 12-4 in interconference play. Lakota East had a chance to win three consecutive GMC titles, something that hasn't been done since 2010 when Princeton completed their threepete (2008, 2009, 2010).

Adkins says that the preseason allows for teams to try new things, experiment with different systems and develop players.

"It's a belief of ours that the best teams are player led teams and not coach led teams.

I would say our best leader currently is Kobe Peck.” Adkins says. “Kobe is a kid who leads by example every single day and works really, really hard."

Kobe Peck is a guard for Lakota East and was an important cog in last year's team averaging 9.2 points, 2.4 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and a steal a game.•

photocaption celina blount photography riley higgins

50 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

Preseason Outlooks | Sports

PRESEASON...

QUIZ TEAM Josh Reigle (left) and Will Price practice for a competition.

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photocaption and photography mia hilkowitz

hen the East Academic Quiz team (AQT) began practices this October, the group knew that the cards would be stacked against them. After a year of COVID-19 restrictions and only three returning members for the 2021-22 season,

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t the start of November, East senior Jillian Simon dipped her toes in the water of the pool she’s practiced at for the past three years, getting ready for her final season.

This year, East’s boys and girls swim teams have two new coaches Cathy Prebles and Dennis Beck following the maternity leave of former coach Stephanie Hewitt.

According to Simon the teams are feeling excited about the upcoming season ahead now that they can be supported at meets.

“Last year, we didn’t have any spectators.

We were pretty much on our own but we’re hoping that this year we can have more support [with] families and friends there.

We’re really looking forward to just having an opportunity to go to meets and be supported,” Simon says. “I’m just excited to see what we’re going to do this year, we don’t have as many seniors as we have had in the past, but I’m sure that we will make something happen.”•

East senior Sean Carlin was worried about the number of players on the team.

However, when 12 new members attended the informational meeting, Carlin was excited to see how the new team develops this winter.

“In 2021, [I am looking forward to] seeing how this new generation of AQ team members step up and just see how they do,” Carlin says. “I didn’t see that many seniors so I’m wondering if any juniors or even sophomores are going to have to step up [to varsity] just to see how they do.”

At the first meeting, Carlin, along with coaches Brandon Bright and Richard Schmaltz, reviewed the basics of the sport and how to use signaling devices to “buzz in” to answer a question. The team then played a few practice rounds to simulate a real match situation. The team will go up against Fairfield on Jan. 5, 2022 for their first match of the season. •

SWIMMING

photocaption and photography megan miranda

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 51

Sports | Dance Team

DANCING ON THE

DAILEY

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hile practicing dance motions in her head for their upcoming dance competition East senior Anna Dailey sits in class and reflects, reminiscing on her past four years on the Lakota East Dance Team (LEDT). Dailey realizes that the upcoming competition is her last on the LEDT. As she progressed with her skills, her bonds with her teammates grew stronger.

Ever since she was a kid, Dailey had always dreamed of being on the LEDT-- it was all she could think about as she danced competitively at Star Performance Center. As the older dancers on her team got to high school and tried out and made the dance team, it inspired her to do the same.

“I decided to try out for the dance team

East senior Anna Dailey and her teammates prepare for their final season on the Lakota East dance team after years of hardwork and memories.

story kalla saineghi | photography riley higgins

because I had always been so impressed by their performances and wanted to be a part of that,” Dailey told Spark. “Also, many members of LEDT are also dancers at my competition studio, Star Performance, so it seemed like a great opportunity for me.”

In 2018 Dailey officially made the LEDT and says that she has never regretted it. Four years later, She is continuing her passion for dance and at school she loves.

On Oct. 24, LEDT won first place in the Hiphop division and was awarded the overall dance category at their Greater Midwest Cheer Expo (GMCE) dance competition. Being able to perform in front of people she loves, like she did at this competition, is one of the reasons Dailey loves being a part of the LEDT.

52 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

“My favorite thing about being on the dance team is being able to perform in front of my friends and family at basketball games,” Dailey says. “The atmosphere is awesome and it is still so exciting for me, even after four seasons.”

LEDT head coach Amy Goldberg along with assistant dance coach Lindsay Razete started LEDT when Razete attended Lakota East. Razete enjoys coaching because she loves seeing her dancers grow.

“I love being able to watch our dancers do what they love doing,” Razete told Spark. “It is so rewarding. I also love representing Lakota East.”

Dailey still gets nervous before she performs either at games or competitions.

“Even though I have been able to experience

Dance Team | Sports Dailey (front and center) waiting alongside her teammates for the music to begin at her “first last” competition of her high school career

Right: Dailey preforming during the competitioin showing off her iconic facials that she is known for.

lots of competitions in my time as a dancer, the start of each season still makes me a little bit nervous right before we go on stage,” Dailey says.

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ance team athlete East sophomore Sam Birdsong expressed how grateful he is to have a teammate like Dailey, who he says has been a great role model and friend. According to Birdsong, she always strives to make everybody, including herself, be the best that they can possibly be even if that means stepping out of their comfort zone.

“In my eyes Anna is not only a great friend, but a strong leader,” Birdsong told Spark. “She is always pushing herself and the people around her to do their best. Anna has inspired me so much to step out of my comfort zone and try new things when it comes to dancing.”

The LEDT has practices once a week on Wednesdays and additional practices as needed.

The team added two four hour practices in order to learn choreography and work on the details of the routine to prepare for their first competition.

At the GMCE competition, 20 LEDT

athletes took the stage at Fairfield High School.

They entered in the hiphop division as well as the gameday division. They competed against three teams in the Hiphop Division and six teams in the Gameday division. The Gameday division includes a band dance, cheer, chant, and fight song. This was LEDT’s first time doing Gameday Division.

“Dance has a Gameday division at the state level, which we intended to compete in and we’ve never done before,” Goldberg told Spark.

“So we wanted to get practice and experience in that way.”

At the competition, Dailey ran onto the stage with a bright smile illuminating her face. She waved to the hundreds of screaming fans in the stands. She looked over at her teammates and laughed. This was her “first last” competition and she came to win.

“Dancing on stage makes me feel so confident and it’s just so much fun. My teammates and I cheer each other on while we’re dancing and that is such a big motivator for me,” Dailey says.

“Walking off of the stage is always a moment where I’m finally able to catch my breath and see how everyone else felt about the performance. I think that we all left the stage feeling super proud of what we had done and that was an awesome feeling.”

Universal Cheer Association (UCA) and Universal Dance Association (UDA) judge Carla O’Keefe was one of the many judges present at the GMCE competition.

“As a judge, my goal is to provide helpful feedback so that teams can work on improving their routines throughout the competition season,” O’Keefe told Spark. “I also love seeing the unique choreography teams come up with year after year.”

The teams are scored on multiple factors that either make or break the routine. One of the many things the dance team took their time on was making sure every box would be completed to perfection “Although scoresheets will vary at each competition, there are several key components that go into scoring a performance,” O’Keefe says. “This includes the execution, synchronization, routine staging, choreography,

creativity, difficulty of skills, communication or projection and overall impression.”

Dailey felt so much joy and relief winning first place with some of her bestfriends. All the hard work and dedication paid off and they were able to take home a victory.

“Finding out that we had won first place was such a fun feeling to get to experience together,’’ Dailey says. “I think that we all felt so much relief knowing that all our hard work paid off and we could take home the win for Lakota East.”

Like Daily, Birdsong was filled with excitement when he heard they got first place.

Knowing that the late night practices and hours of choreography paid off made the moment so special for him.

“When we were announced as first place, I felt so relieved that all of our hard work had paid off,” Birdsong says.

Goldberg was proud of the team and how hard they worked to achieve first place.

“They did a great job. It’s been great to be able to see them actually get out there and do the things that they love,”

Goldberg says. “We love that we were able to do [school] peprallies and that we’re now able to compete again and I think it’s going to be a really great year for them.”

Daliey was so ecstatic and overjoyed when she heard the announcer announce they had won not only one but also two awards, she was more excited about spending the rest of the season with her team.

“I felt that personally, I did a good job at our competition,” Dailey says.

“There is always room for improvement though, so I’m excited to see how I can get better in the next few months.

I think that the team did a great job and we all had so much fun, which is more important than anything else. Senior year is so fun in itself and it’s awesome that I get to spend it with other members of the team.” •

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 53

Sports | East v. Colerain

RABINS FOR THE WIN The East football team beat Colerain for the first time in 22 years. East running back Nick Rabin’s uncle, Mike Rabin, was on the team the last time East won in 1999. story ben stowe | photography riley higgins and used with permission | infographic kaitlin dwomoh and mary barone

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irst-team All-Butler County defensive back, second-team Greater Miami Conference (GMC) running back, and a punt returner who averages 40 yards per punt. You may think this sounds like the foundation of a competitive football team.

In reality, this all describes one player: Mike Rabin.

A former East football player, Rabin played his senior season in 1999 and graduated in the class of 2000. He was known by many as one of the most versatile players to ever come through Lakota East. Although he played defensive back his sophomore and junior years, he ended up playing both offense and defense his senior year.

In a 2017 Journal-News article by Lauren Pfahler, he was named one of the seven best players to ever come through Lakota East High School.

One of his biggest punt returns his senior season was against Colerain in which he returned the ball down to the two-yard line and set up a score. This turned out to be crucial by the end of the game when East won by a narrow margin of 28-25.

When Rabin’s team beat Colerain in 1999, he did not think it would be another 22 years before it was done again. He would be especially amazed to hear that his future nephew, Nick Rabin, would play a role on the team that finally won decades later. Just like his uncle, Nick, a member of graduating class of 2022, was also a running back and punt returner.

Although the elder Rabin was a star in football, he ultimately went on to play baseball for Ohio State University. This opportunity can be partly credited to a high school coach of his, Rob Burnside, who talked Rabin into sticking with baseball his junior year when he was considering quitting to instead lift weights in the offseason to improve his strength for football.

“Mike was a really talented player,” says now East principal Burnside, who served as a special teams and running backs coach during Rabin’s time at the school. “Great speed, but more than that Mike was just an awesome kid. I just loved the way [he] competed.”.

Burnside began coaching at East when the school opened in 1997.

“When Lakota split into East and West, the entire Lakota [football] staff came to East except one coach,” says Burnside. “I was the new guy on the Lakota High School staff that came to East.”

Burnside started as the receivers coach and became the special teams coordinator further down the line. According to Rabin, it was Burnside’s schemes that allowed him to return punts so well.

“We had the best punt return scheme that he drew up,” says Rabin. “We broke long punt returns in four or five games.”

Burnside saw plenty of success in his time coaching at East including the win against Colerain and East’s best regular season record

54 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

to date: 9-1 in 2004. That year, East shared the GMC Champion title with Colerain who would go on to win state. As of 2021, this was East’s best ever finish in GMC standings.

Although Burnside left in 2005 to accept a job as an assistant principal at New Richmond High School, this would not be the end of his time at East.

Current East head coach Rick Haynes was also involved in the 1999 East vs. Colerain game, but on the opposing sideline. Haynes coached Colerain’s offense from 1991 to 2006.

This included the year when Colerain won a state championship. Of all Colerain’s 22 starters that year, 12 ended up with Division I offers from schools including Ohio State University and University of Michigan.

Haynes took a break from coaching high school football and began coaching at Thomas More University in 2006. During this time, he still taught at Colerain High School but was able to watch his son, Jared Haynes, play for Lakota East on Friday nights.

Haynes returned to high school football as Lakota East’s head coach in the year 2010. The team had been on a streak of losing seasons which began in 2006 and ended in 2012 -- just two years after Haynes arrived. That year, the team went 7-3 in the regular season, qualified for playoffs, and finished with a record of 8-4.

The 2014 season had another close East vs.

Colerain game. In the final seconds of the game,

East v. Colerain | Sports Mike Rabin carries the ball in a game in 1999 (left). Nick Rabin carries the ball into the endzone in a game in 2021 (right).

“I remember thinking that class had the opportunity to be something special,” -East principal Rob Burnside

East’s failed 2-point conversion in overtime resulted in a heartbreaking Thunderhawk loss and Cardinal victory with a final score of 4948. East’s losing streak vs. Colerain lived on.

time our teams have success, I take great joy in it.”

East Freshman football head coach and Math teacher Mike Buckenmeyer says he was confident the class had the potential to beat iven Haynes’ history with Colerain, one Colerain at the varsity level, especially since might expect that this season’s victory they had beaten them at the freshman level. He would have some personal meaning to added that the class who followed was able to him. strengthen weaknesses of the senior class, such “There’s only one guy left on the staff that as the offensive line.

I coached with that’s still there,” Haynes says.

Buckenmyer says that although the senior class “It had been 12 years since I’d been there. had skill players such as Caleb Vanhooser, Charlie Obviously it was exciting to win over there and Kenrich, and TJ Kathman, they lacked size on the it was exciting for the players, but personally I offensive line. This year’s junior class was able to fill don’t know that it was any more big of a deal those gaps with players such as Austin Siereveld, than beating Mason or beating [Lakota] West.” Aiden Siereveld, and Harrison Clute.

In 2018, the class of 2022 arrived at the East After years of anticipation and flashes of Freshman Campus where Burnside had made potential, the 2021 football season had arrived. his comeback to East as the associate principal This would be the year that both the class of the year prior. Word had gotten around about 2022 and class of 2023 could play together as the Liberty Junior eighth grade football team developed juniors and seniors. having an undefeated season and winning the The team debuted week 1 at home against GMC the year before, so expectations were high. Moeller on Aug. 20. Although the game “I remember thinking that class had the ended in a 42-27 loss, the team was able to opportunity to be something special,” Burnside showcase the dynamic offense they’d use to says. dominate the next few weeks. An example Although he was no longer coaching of this was on the team’s second drive of football, he still made an impact on the the game in which quarterback TJ Kathman freshman team by sharing his competitive threw a 81 yard touchdown pass to receiver attitude and mentality with the school. The Caleb Vanhooser. team finished with an 8-1 record, losing only East’s offense scored a total of 138 points to Fairfield. over the next three games while their defense Burnside says that he had such a deep held opposing teams to a total of 28 points. connection with East that even when he left to These games put East into conversation with become the principal at New Richmond high the best teams of the conference, including the school in 2020, he would still keep tabs on how GMC titans-- the Colerain Cardinals. The the students were doing in athletics and other anticipation of the Week 7 matchup between extracurricular activities. the two teams continued to build as East “The first thing I would do when I got home continued its win-streak through Weeks 5 and on Friday nights was check and see Lakota 6 against Mason and Sycamore.

East’s scores,” says Burnside. “That’s always The Thunderhawks walked into the going to be something Cardinals’ stadium on a five game winthat is just in streak. According to Nick, the my heart. team walked with confidence Any despite the nerves.

Between 1999 and 2021, these “We had nerves are East’s closest games against just like every Colerain: game,” Nick says.

East Colerain “But we were prepared and 13 2017 38 knew what we 48 2014 49 needed to do to source GMC Sports win so we carried 24 2009 48 ourselves with 10 2007 27 confidence.”

The first half of

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Close Calls

2021

7

28

1999

6

25

the game was scoreless. Colerain started with the ball but was forced to punt after five plays.

East then got the ball, but also punted shortly after. This cycle continued until the second half.

East got the ball at the start of the half and scored on the first drive. Afterward the punt cycle continued until the fourth quarter.

With less than four minutes left in the 7-0 game against East, Colerain had the ball and was looking to score to tie the game.

They marched down the field and into the red zone. With three minutes and 42 seconds left in the game, the Cardinals scored on a seven yard run.

As East’s offense huddled on the sideline, preparing to score with the little time they had left, Colerain’s point after touchdown (PAT) unit took the field.

The crowd roared as the kicker took his steps before the snap.

As the ball was kicked, East senior Jaiden PalmoreLett broke loose through the line. He charged toward the ball, reached out, and blocked the kick. The Thunderhawks and their crowd go wild as Defensive lineman the scoreboard reads Jaiden Palmore-Lett 7-6. celebrates the blocked Not all pressure has extra point which been relieved of the sealed the victory. offense just yet. They still needed to run out the remaining three minutes on the clock.

East kept the ball on the ground and successfully ran down the clock. After two hard fought first downs, they had made history. The Thunderhawks had finally put an end to their 22-year-long losing streak to Colerain.

“There were a lot of good players in this group,” says Burnside. “More importantly, there were guys in this class who really had a good mindset. I really thought they had the chance to be special because they never looked at anybody else and thought they couldn’t beat them. They looked at it like, ‘if you’re that good, show us.’” •

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 55

Sports | Division 1 Commits

Seven East senior student athletes commited to seven different Division 1 (DI) colleges to pursue their sport at a collegiate level.

COMM

Nati Morales

Azariyah Bryant

Q: What made this specific college stand out from the others?

A: “This college stood out to me because they are in the process of rebuilding their soccer program which gives me the opportunity to make a difference and help to build something special. It also gave me the opportunity to play Division I soccer while still being able to be challenged in my academics.”

Q: What made this specific college stand out from the others?

A: “A welcoming atmosphere is everything to me. Illinois is filled with generous people and a big supportive base.

It’s imperative to not only be around people who are proud of me but it’s even better to know that I have great people in my corner to help me at my lowest when I’m not at my highest.”

Q: What are you most excited for about your first season with your college?

A: “I am excited about getting to meet new people and just grow and change as a person as I go through all the challenges that will come with being a college student athlete.”

Q: What are you most excited for about your first season with your college?

A: “I’m mostly excited to travel with my team for competitions and most importantly having the opportunity to meet new people from different upbringings on campus because Illinois is very diverse.”

Q: What would your younger self say to you if they knew you had accomplished committing at a collegiate level?

A: “I think my younger self would be very pleasantly surprised to see that something that used to just be a game and a place for me to make friends has turned into very much a part of my lifestyle.”•

Q: What would your younger self say to you if they knew you had accomplished committing at a collegiate level?

A: “My younger self would say that although fear makes life harder, faith from God really does make anything possible. I’ve dealt with many episodes of self doubt in my life as kid but through prayer and petition God has made a way every time.”•

Committed for: Soccer at University of Wisconsin-Greenbay Date Committed: September 14, 2021 Planning on Majoring in: Political Science

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Committed for: Track and Field at University of Illinois Date Committed: November 10, 2021 Planning on Majoring in: Biology

East v. Colerain | Sports interviews evie colpi | photography ianni acapulco, audrey allen, and used with permission

ITTED Evan Whiteaker

Committed for: Baseball at Indiana University

Date Committed: July 15, 2020 Planning on Majoring in: Kinesiology

Q: What made this specific college stand out from the others?

A: “The biggest thing that stood out to me was the coaching staff. They began talking to me in April of that year which ultimately led to my commitment. Indiana has one of the best coaching staffs in all of college baseball and they have a great track record of developing players to become the best student athletes they can. The campus was the perfect fit for what I was looking for and that really sealed the deal for me.”

Q: What are you most excited for about your first season with your college?

A: “Getting the opportunity to play against some of the best amateur baseball players in the world and to develop my skills as a player.”

Q: What would your younger self say to you if they knew you had accomplished committing at a collegiate level?

A: “If my younger self saw me today he would probably say that he is very proud and excited for us. Then, he would probably ask a million questions about what led up to us getting to this level.”•

Joe Wilson IV

Committed for: Golf at Ohio State University Date Committed: June 28, 2020 Planning on Majoring in: Finance Q: What made this specific college stand out from the others?

A: “Being an Ohio state athlete, that has always been something I have dreamed of. The team atmosphere is amazing, I’m good buddies with most of the guys in the team and they are great dudes. OSU’s golf team is a pretty highly ranked team and I’m excited to compete with them. I’ve wanted to be a buckeye my whole life and now I get to accomplish that goal.”

Q: What are you most excited for about your first season with your college?

A: “Learning. Learning from the players, coaches, and trainers on how to advance my golf game and become a world class golfer.”

Q: What would your younger self say to you if they knew you had accomplished committing at a collegiate level?

A: “Keep working. There will be plenty of good rounds and plenty of bad rounds along the way but stay the course. Keep your nose to grind stone and never stop grinding.”•

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 57

100%

Sports | Division 1 Commits

Isabelle Gomez Charlie Kenrich Adam McDonald Committed for: Swimming at Liberty University Date Committed: May 31, 2021 Planning on Majoring in: Elementary Education

Committed for: Football at Purdue University Date Committed: June 19, 2021 Planning on Majoring in: Exercise Science

Committed for: Swimming at West Virginia University Date Committed: July 20, 2021 Planning on Majoring in: Business

Q: What made this specific college stand out from the others?

A: “They valued me as a person just as much as what I could achieve for them in swimming. They have a beautiful campus, and they were an amazing fit for my major and my beliefs.”

Q: What made this specific college stand out from the others?

A: “Purdue stood out to me because I loved the campus and the coaching staff that recruited me and the great education I will get while at Purdue.”

Q: What made this specific college stand out from the others?

A: “West Virginia University has the best facilities and has a really great team atmosphere.”

Q: What are you most excited for about your first season with your college?

A: “I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter, beginning my life, making amazing relationships with my teammates and classmates, and increasing my knowledge.”

Q: What would your younger self say to you if they knew you had accomplished committing at a collegiate level?

A: “They would tell me that they never would have thought it was possible and would know that hard work truly does pay off.”•

Q: What are you most excited for about your first season with your college?

A: “I’m really looking forward to get better and learn a lot of things to help me improve in my first year at Purdue. ” Q: What would your younger self say to you if they knew you had accomplished committing at a collegiate level?

A: “I would probably tell myself it was pretty cool and to keep working towards future goals ahead.and a place for me to make friends has turned into very much a part of my lifestyle.”•

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Q: What are you most excited for about your first season with your college?

A: “I’m excited to represent the WVU Mountaineers in my first meet and show what I can do.”

Q: What would your younger self say to you if they knew you had accomplished committing at a collegiate level?

A: “My younger self would tell me how amazing the opportunity is and he’d be proud I fulfilled my life long dream.”•

FALL SEASON IN REVIEW

Fall Season Review | Sports

graphic kaleb flood | photography caleb vanatta, audrey allen, riley higgins, and used with permission

pictured above: senior Ashton Gibbs

Lakota East finished third in the Greater Miami Conference (GMC) for boys cross country and fifth in the GMC for girls cross country.

The girls cross country team had one representative from East on the all GMC first team, junior Jocelyn Willis.

The boys cross country team had two representatives, junior Marshall Novean and senior Will Tenoever. •

The Lakota East Girls tennis team finished third in the GMC with a record of 12-4. Some standouts from the season is Kelsey Retzsch with an individual record of 9-1 and doubles team Kristen Kusel and Mary Claire Schadek with an overall record of 8-3. • pictured above: junior Kelsey Retzsch

The Lakota East Girls volleyball team finished seventh in the GMC with a 5-18 record. The standouts from this season are Natalie Dieball with 164 kills, Eryn Rose with 215 digs, and Celeste Harker with 292 assists. • pictured above: East and West football teams

The Lakota East football team finished third in the GMC with a 7-4 record. East defeated Colerain for the first time since 1999. The team unfortunately lost in the first round of the postseason against Sycamore. Some honorable mentions from this season are quarterback TJ Kathman with 867 passing yards, running back Charlie Kenrich (pictured) with 7 touchdowns, and outside linebacker Nathan Rosario with 72 tackles.•

pictured above: sophomore Addyson Johnson

The Lakota East Girls soccer team ended the season second in the GMC. They finished with a record of 9-6-2. Their season ended in the first game of the postseason against Hamilton with a 1-0 loss. Standouts from this season are offender Erica Cox with 9 goals, offender Mia Kamphuis with 7 assists, and goalie pictured above: senior Mia Kamphuis Lucy Carlin with 23 saves. •

pictured above: senior Connor Pletikapich

The Lakota East Boys soccer team finished second this year in the GMC. The team lost to West in the postseason ending their season with a record of 12-5-2. East’s longest winning record was 5 wins. The people that stood out this season are offender Connor Pletikapich (pictured) with 11 goals, goalie Kobe Foster with 77 saves, and offender Jacob Nguyen with 5 assists. •

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pictured above: senior Joe Wilson

The Boys Golf team finished fifth in state and second in GMC. Ohio State commit and senior Joe Wilson (pictured) finished first in the individual state tournament. Seniors Jake Curry, Joe Wilson, Ty Sylla, and Cameron Uhl, as well as junior Bobby Horseman all were representatives for the GMC first team. Sophomore Walker Wood made the all GMC second team. •

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 59

Sports | Farrah Miles East senior Farrah Miles performing the East cheer team’s sideline pregame during the 2021 basketball season

GOING THE EXTRA ““MILES MILES””

East senior Farrah Miles leads the cheer team as the only two-year, double-squad varsity cheerleader • story maggie huss | photography used with permission | infographic evie colpi

A

fter eight years of cheering, East senior Farrah Miles entered her final season with a bittersweet feeling. She was very excited to cheer and lead her school with her teammates.

“I remember the entire squad buzzing with excitement before the first game of our senior year,” Miles says. The cheerleaders were optimistic because they wanted a football season.

The East JV cheerleading coach, Susanne Linder, saw how excited the girls were for the new year.

“They were very excited about the season starting.” Linder says.

Miles’ senior year was very different from her junior year because covid restrictions. Her junior year, there was not a huge crowd to cheer for. The restriction was that students were not allowed to attend games and there was a limited number of family members that were permitted to go. This caused there to be an absence of energy in the crowd.

“While we did our best to cheer our team on, last year’s lack of crowd was certainly an adjustment,” Miles says. “The added energy from the students makes the games so much better.”

Senior Courtney Henson agreed that it was very difficult to cheer for such a small crowd and it was the season’s largest disruption during the 2020-2021 school year.

“I think the biggest change was during the peak of covid last school year when we weren’t allowed to have visitors other than immediate family,” Henson says. “As a cheerleader, you’re supposed to get the crowd excited for the team, but when there wasn’t really a crowd for us to cheer for, it made things difficult for us.”

As one of only eight members on the varsity basketball team last year, Miles was constantly struggling with quarantines taking over her team.

“Where we stand on the sidelines or in specific routines is very important, it’s always a bit of a stressor when we have to rework

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formations,” Miles says. “This was obviously a bit of a challenge last year with all of the frequent quarantines, but it certainly nothing that we couldn’t handle as a team. Really that’s how we solve all of our issues, as a team.”

Linder has had a front row seat watching the cheerleaders go through struggles and challenges because of COVID. “The cheerleaders wore masks and went through the motions like it was any other season,” Linder says. “The main challenge was the absence of the other cheerleaders due to quarantine. When that occurred, lines and dances had to be adjusted.”

There were many differences that affected the season last year due to COVID but the cheerleaders kept a positive attitude and moved forward with the season even with the difficulties.

Now that COVID restrictions are being loosened, the cheer squad is able to do their job as a cheerleader much better, since there will be a big crowd.

Farrah Miles | Sports

“I will forever be grateful for the opportunity I have had to be a varsity cheerleader. I can’t imagine that I would’ve enjoyed high school half as much without cheer and the relationships I’ve gained because of it,”-East senior Farrah Miles During try-outs the three cheerleading coaches look for ability, sharpness and technique. The girls are given a dance and a cheer that they need to perform in groups of three in front of the coaches. The coaches then rate each of their jumps and their tumbling skills. They also look for other important things such as a “positive attitude and a cheerful disposition.”

“Farrah is strong and sharp in her cheering ability. Her dance skills are energetic. She is enthusiastic, confident, always smiling, and her spirit is contagious,” says Linder.

A CHEERLEADER’S GUIDE TO LEADING A CROWD The cheerleading squad’s job of leading the hawk’s nest involves engaging with the fans and keeping the crowd’s spirit high during events and games. • infographic evie colpi

M

iles was the only junior who made both the varsity football and varsity basketball cheerleading teams last year.

She is now a double varsity cheerleader again her senior year, and is also the only one on the varsity basketball cheer roster who was cheering in varsity games last year which puts her in a leadership role on the squad.

“If we had team captains, Farrah would definitely be ours. She exhibits everything a leader is, and she’s been that way from the very first day I met her.” Henson says. “She just naturally stepped into the position as a leader. People just tend to follow her, and I think that’s why she makes such a great leader for our team.”

“Farrah is instrumental in assisting with the younger squad. We have over a hundred chants and she teaches the freshman and JV squads.”

Linder says.

“Football and basketball season] are both great in their own way, but what really motivates me to keep cheering, other than cheering itself, is my team and my coaches. When it comes down to it, I know I can count on each and every one of these people that I spend so much time with,” Miles says. “I will forever be grateful for the opportunity I have had to be a varsity cheerleader. I can’t imagine that I would’ve enjoyed high school half as much without cheer and the relationships I’ve gained because of it.” •

BAND CHANTS

source varsity.com

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 61

Spark 200th Issue Coming January, 2022

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Column | Opinion

IT STARTS YOUNG

The need for foreign language education in lower grades is necessary, as research shows it leads to more well-rounded students. column riley higgins photography audrey allen

“U

no, dos, tres!” The popular children’s TV show, “Dora The Explorer” was more than a fixation to my 5-year-old self: it was my introduction to the Spanish language. Learning a second language takes time and is more than just academically beneficial.

That is why Lakota needs to implement foreign language teachings earlier than our freshman year of high school.

No one could not have imagined the phenomenon that the show would become and the impact it would have on millions of children and families during its 15 years of production. However, schools did not take advantage of the show’s potential to inspire language learning at a young age.

“WE are Future Ready.” It is the Lakota mission statement that I have heard more than any other.

Incorporating curriculum to learn a second language in elementary and middle schools would benefit our students’ preparedness for interacting with the increasingly global world. Personally, being able to converse semi-fluidly in Spanish has opened up a new world in person and on social media. Customers at work smile when I am able to help their order go more fluidly, and the algorithms of Tik-Tok have shown me a new world of Hispanic content creators.

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) has conducted research showing that learning a second language boosts problem-solving, critical-thinking, and listening skills, in addition to improving memory, concentration, and the ability to multitask. Children proficient in other languages also show signs of enhanced creativity and mental flexibility.

This phenomenon is something I experienced firsthand at the start of Spanish one my freshman year. Key grammar rules like sentence structures and the relationship of words began to make a lot more sense the more I learned about individual words in Spanish. It was like starting over with

English, but giving the concepts another pathway of understanding.

Compared to my earlier standardized tests like the Measure of Academic Performance (MAP) test, the ACT grammar concepts were a breeze after learning Spanish.

The ACTFL published a series of studies citing that language learning correlates with higher academic achievement on standardized test measures. A study of 13,200 third and fifth graders in Louisiana public schools revealed that, regardless of race, gender, or academic level, children taking foreign language classes did better on the English section of the Louisiana Basic Skills Test than those who did not.

Lakota elementary students currently have five core classes including math, reading, social studies, science, in addition to some sort of special (music, art, or gym). Dedicating a time throughout the day to focus on developing the skills to understand how to read, write, and speak a foreign language like Spanish is imperative. Doing so through the “specials” track would cost less than implementing full year foreign language education programs at the elementary level.

Students who started kindergarten in the first Kansas City foreign language magnet schools in 1988 had surpassed national averages in all subjects by the time they reached fifth grade. These foreign language students performed especially well in mathematics.

Being future-ready inevitably means looking for what modern employers are seeking. The ability to speak a second language increases hiring desirability.

This would also provide students more time to become fluent, while including that as a facet of their resume while applying to colleges and for jobs would be beneficial.

Lakota East used to offer courses in German, but now students are limited to taking Spanish, French,

American Sign Language, or Latin.

Starting earlier would provide students the flexibility to explore other languages before beginning the high school courses.

Learning a second language earlier in life also benefits a child’s ability to understand and empathize with other students’ cultures. For example, a kindergartner may have no conceptual understanding of another student’s background until they learn more about it in a classroom setting.

This is not an activity that can be expected to be completed outside of the school, and needs to be prioritized by teachers and administrators who want to see the best for the students. Early foreign language study is less dependent on previous verbal learning than most other elements of the elementary school curriculum, and this allows some students to succeed who have otherwise experienced repeated failure in school.

Y

oung people are adaptable and willing to learn. As a toddler, my interest in “Dora” allowed for an immersive language learning experience that has yet to cease. Through catchy songs and engrossing telenovelas, my knowledge of the Spanish language has quickly expanded. Language learning is fun and would be an enthralling activity for Lakota students.

We can not afford to wait. Children who learn another language before age five use the same part of the brain to acquire that second language that they use to learn their mother tongue. Younger learners are also uninhibited by the fear of making mistakes, which is sometimes an obstacle for older beginners.

Despite any financial obstacles, schools across the country, including Lakota, need to prioritize the implementation of foreign language education at the elementary and middle schools.•

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 63

Opinion | Column

NEW BILL MISSES MARK Ohio House Bill 227 proposes a relaxation on gun restrictions, and doesn’t requiring a license to carry a firearm. column natalie mazey photography audrey allen

W

hen Alec Baldwin, while performing a scene with a prop gun, accidentally shot and killed a woman on the set of his movie “Rust”, I wondered how this could have happened. In the age of ComputerGenerated Imagery, why should a gun need to be on the set of a movie in the first place? Why weren’t there practices in place to make sure a horrific accident such as this would not happen and why was there ammo in a gun being used as a prop? This isn’t the first time something like this has happened on a television or movie set; an Associated Press report found that at least 43 people had died on sets between 1990 and 2016.

This instance proved the United States as a whole needs to make gun safety a priority, passing legislation regarding common-sense gun laws. The power that can be held in the palm of one’s hand is not something that should be taken lightly, yet legislation in Ohio’s House believes the opposite. House Bill 227 states Ohioans do not have to have a concealed handgun license to carry a gun, meaning anyone 21 or older could obtain and carry a weapon as long as they do not have past run-ins with the law. This bill would make Ohio the 22nd state to not require a license.

Requiring this certification is a small step to ensure those wielding this weapon are equipped with the knowledge to handle it safely. That’s preferable to the government blindly allowing the arming of people whose motivations and knowledge are both uncertain. Those who want to obtain a license still can, but the concern lies with those who choose not to. Owning a gun requires responsibility, but failing to require a license puts up a facade that carrying a gun is something that doesn’t involve thorough understanding and respect of the decision.

HB 227 goes further to erase Ohio’s “duty to inform” law, meaning Ohioans do not need to inform an officer if they are carrying a gun when encountering law enforcement. Under current law, when a concealed handgun licensee encounters an officer, they must immediately inform the officer if they are carrying a concealed handgun. Under the proposed law, they would only need to disclose this information if explicitly asked. The legislation also clarifies people can carry guns in places of worship.

This bill is telling Ohioans to just trust in the people around them, having faith that people who choose to wield a gun not only know how to safely use it, but also will

carry it responsibly. This trust that House Government Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Shane Wilkin, R-Hillsboro claims to have is rooted in naivety. Gun violence is not going away.

In 2021 alone, there were 37,828 gun violence deaths, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) which collects data on shootings. Mass shootings are steadily rising; GVA reported 269 in 2014, and that number rose to 611 in 2020. The problems guns cause are far from vanishing, yet this new legislation strips away what little safety measures Ohio maintains. How will shootings decrease when more people can have a gun in their hands? How can we expect the harm guns can cause to disappear when nothing is being done to regulate the use of this deadly weapon?

T

o curb gun violence, it only makes sense to put restrictions on who carries one, not to open the floodgates so virtually anyone who so chooses can command a weapon capable of taking lives. Requiring background checks and banning assault rifles are simple ways to maintain both the rights of the Second Amendment and the safety of the general public. Ohio should be moving towards common-sense gun safety reform, not passing legislation that retrogresses.•

“How can we expect the harm guns can cause to disappear when nothing is being done to regulate the use of this deadly weapon?”

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Column | Opinion

(TAYLOR’S VERSION)

After Taylor’s Swift’s recent re-release of her “Red” album, she is inspiring artists to reclaim their music and ditch powerful lables. column megan miranda photography audrey allen

“L

ove Story,” “Shake it Off,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” and “Me!” can be classified as a few of Taylor Swift’s most popular radio hits; however, only one of the songs is technically owned

by Swift. While most artists may not own the master to their music —the master recording of an artist’s song—Taylor Swift’s recent fight back to earn the rights to her music have separated her from the rest.

In an effort to reclaim her music in 2019, Swift announced she had begun the process of re-recording, and successfully released the rerecordings of her second album “Fearless” in 2021 and fourth album “Red” in November.

Now Swift’s fans can listen to her own music without giving money to other corporations every time a song is streamed. This powermove is intended to show other artists they can own their work in the music industry and to be cautious when signing contracts. But, let’s start at the beginning.

In 2005 Swift, who was 15 at the time, signed a deal with the label Big Machine Records (BMR) which stated that they owned the rights of recordings for her first six albums.

This deal allowed BMR to make money from her music, and a significant amount considering the trajectory of her career. After both parties failed to agree on new terms following the end of the contract in 2018, Swift sought out a new label with Republic Records so she could own the rights to her music.

Unfortunately because BMR still owned

her previous six albums, they were able to continue making profits off those albums. Even after prohibiting the use of any of her previous songs from commercials and films, because she owns the copyrights as the songwriter, Swift couldn’t stop it all. In 2019, BMR sold her music (without her knowledge) to Ithaca Holdings LLC. Then after the release of her 7th and first self owned album, “Lover” in 2019, her music was sold again to a new company for $300 million in 2020.

This entire situation is a prime example as to why it is important for artists to own their own music. Although artists may initially agree with a contract, the label may not have the best interests at heart which may not be clear to a new artist- furthermore a 15 year old one. Prince also struggled with his label with Warner Bros and warned “Record contracts are just like — I’m gonna say the word – slavery. I would tell any young artist… don’t sign.”

Her response with the effort to re-record her previous albums counters the claim of “lazy” by critics. Re-recording is not as easy as one may think. It is a significant amount of pressure on the artist to produce music that is equal to her albums that have been adored for years. To live up to the same standard more than a decade later after having matured vocally, they won’t be identical.

Another significant bonus of the rereleasings is that she is technically releasing new music. Swift has classified these songs

as “from the vault” meaning she actually wrote them at the time of the albums initial recording but they weren’t released with the album.

In “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” she released six bonus songs resulting in 26 tracks, and for “Red (Taylor’s Version)” released on Nov. 12 includes nine bonus tracks totalling the album at 30 tracks. Both of the album’s re-recordings thus far include previous collaborations with artists like Ed Sheeran as well as new ones for the ‘from the vault’ songs with Phoebe Bridgers.

E

ven if it is simpler to just produce older music for her fans, judging by Swift’s past, it doesn’t mean she is taking a pause on newer work. Just last year in July of 2020 Swift released a surprise album “Folklore”, with 16 tracks and released the ‘sister album’ “Evermore” in December with 15 tracks. While many took quarantine time to watch Netflix or walk around their neighborhood, Swift didn’t put her pen down.

Clearly, talent and determination are two qualities Swift has used to navigate the music industry for the past 15 years, so I trust her upcoming re-releases to be up to her topnotch quality that is displayed in her nine albums. Despite my excitement I believe her battle with BMR could have been avoided if there were better options for her as a young artist to own her own music.•

“Clearly, talent and determination are two qualities Swift has used to navigate the music industry for the past 15 years, so I trust her upcoming re-releases to be up to her top-notch quality.”

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Opinion | Column

CROP-TOPS AND MINISKIRTS? As fashion trends portrayed by social media become more popular among teens, they can cause confidence, self-esteem, and body-image issues. column audrey allen photography riley higgins

A

12-yearold girl scrolls on her TikTok for you page. She watches a “What I Eat in a Day” video, a trendy clothing try on haul, and a workout video. She wonders to herself, “why do I eat so much”, “those clothes won’t look good on me,” and “why don’t I look like her.”

Having those types of thoughts everyday when she goes on social media causes her self-esteem, confidence, and body image to dwindle.

A 2018 Pew Research Center survey of 750 13 to 17-year-olds found that 45% are online almost constantly and 97% use a social media platform, such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat. A bombshell study conducted by the Florida House Experience, found that 87% of women and 65% of men compare their bodies to images they consume on social and traditional media. An estimated 3.6 billion people use a form of social media leading to constant comparison with unrealistic standards.

Frances Haugen, a former data scientist at Facebook, testified before a Senate subcommittee and provided a detailed glimpse inside Facebook. Haugen copied thousands of pages of internal documents that she says showed Facebook lied to the public about its efforts to root out hate speech, misinformation, and violence. The documents showed Facebook had conducted research assessing the mental health impact of its Instagram app on adolescents and found the app worsened body image issues for one in three teenage girls but they did nothing to combat it. Facebook doesn’t care about protecting kids on social media, they are just a big business that wants to earn money even if that means harming children.

TikTok is the latest social media craze that features short video clips on a variety of topics. There are thousands of videos on the platform that perpetuate dangerous body weight stigma and promote diet culture.

These videos are especially problematic for individuals struggling with eating disorders or body image issues.

With the resurgence in low rise jeans, baby tees, and skin-tight tracksuits being promoted on social media by skinny models, many people are upset and discouraged because the clothes on the racks don’t fit them the way they do on the model. Many people see “pro-ana” (pro-anorexia), “pro-mia” (pro-bulimia), and “thinspo” (thinspiration) videos on TikTok, encouraging people to lose weight. About 41% of TikTok’s users are younger than 25, which makes them easily impressionable. They may think these influencers and creators are “perfect” and therefore follow advice about how to look a certain way, even if it is unrealistic, unhealthy, or dangerous.

Thinspo embraces excessive thinness and maintains intensely unrealistic body image standards for people of all ages. In more extreme forms, it reinforces low self-esteem by shaming people who try to break their unhealthy patterns and recover. The goal is to inspire like-minded people to validate their struggles.

Unfortunately, rather than promote recovery resources, most members rely on sharing and consuming thinspo content as a means of staying dedicated to their disorders. While many social media platforms attempt to block triggering comments, these well-intentioned efforts don’t always work. It simply takes a different hashtag, website, or motivational quote to start a new thinspo trend. When

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Instagram banned “thinspiration” content, users began spelling it as “thynspiration.”

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, more than 50% of teenage girls use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives.

C

lothing brand Brandy Melville has earned quite the reputation as a trendy Italian brand with California flair. All of their clothes are one size but one size does not fit most. According to the Los Angeles Times, the average American woman is a size 14. The crop-tops and miniskirts that litter the shelves of stores like Brandy Melville, would barely cover the average American. Brandy Melville embarrasses girls of different sizes by insinuating that “most” women are petite. Social media is filled to the brim with models promoting Brandy Melville because it is a cool and trendy brand to wear for teens, even if most teens can’t fit in the clothes causing body image issues.

Social media is the leading cause in eating disorders among teens and needs to be addressed.

In the Facebook case, Congress intensified bipartisan calls for federal action. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which some lawmakers are pushing to reform, gives broad immunity to Internet companies for content that users post on their platforms.

That is a barrier to some kinds of legal scrutiny but not necessarily to an investigation. Social media companies need to monitor and remove harmful videos and triggering comments even if it results in losing money. There is no reason why a twelve year old should be comparing themselves to the models and influencers and wonder why they aren’t good enough.•

East Speaks Out | Opinion

EAST SPEAKS OUT Spark reads the pulse of the school by asking various students their opinions on a prominet issue.

Thoughts on the school dress code? interviews and photography ava huening

KYLE SMITH

SOPHOMORE

“The schools should emphasize creativity and freedom in all areas, including clothes.

Our clothes shouldn’t be regulated unless they cause problems.

Students and faculty and the type of clothes being dress-coded at present are not harmful in the least.”

KUDRAT SANDHAWALIA

SOPHOMORE MIA HINKLE

EVAN HANSBAUR

“Clothing is a great way to express who you are and I think the dress code shouldn’t prohibit that from happening. I think everyone should get to wear what they want and feel the most comfortable in.”

“It’s important to have regulations, but some of them are pretty old-fashioned.

Anything about showing shoulders or wearing a hat, those things do not distract from learning so there is no valid reason not to wear them.”

JUNIOR

JUNIOR

TANNER PENCEK

HAI LAN KLEI

SENIOR

“I feel that our school’s dress code is sexist towards women. It’s not fair that a guy can wear a muscle shirt to school and not be told anything but if a girl shows a portion of her shoulder in a tank top it’s claimed as ‘distracting’.”

“I think of our school as a work environment.

Self-expression through clothing is great, but it must be appropriate.

In my eyes, the dress code should be relaxed because I believe individuals know what is and what is not appropriate to wear to school.”

“I think our dress code is kind of sexist and more biased towards women. There are more rules aimed against women, like spaghetti straps and making sure midriff and cleavage is covered.”

SENIOR December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 67

Opinion | Head to Head

HEAD TO HEAD “I

can see your shoulders.”

“Your shirt is too short.”

“There are too many holes in your jeans.”

“Cover up.”

The previous quotes are all derogatory phrases directed at students who have broken a set of rules which outlines a traditional “dress code.” While dress codes are absolutely needed to ensure appropriate attire in a professional environment, there are times when a parameter of rules should not dictate what is and is not appropriate.

YES

The restrictions that have been put on what is allowed and prohibited, have evolved over my 12 years at public school. In early childhood school: shoes have to have a backstrap to ensure safety on the playground, which makes sense. In elementary school: shorts have to go past the fingertips, it makes sense I guess. In high school: cover up your shoulders, cleavage, and all undergarments.

What was once a rule to enforce safety and function in clothes, became a sexualized regulation.

There is a gray area surrounding the school’s dress code. Some teachers care, some teachers care way too much. In the Lakota East Student Code of Conduct, there are even outlined exceptions to the dress code, “Exceptions to these standards may be considered based on personal circumstance, cultural beliefs and to promote school spirit.” So if you want to wear a crop top make sure it has the East logo on it or at least a thunderhawk.

High school dress codes enable the belief that the clothes individuals wear actively represent their thoughts and feelings. Victims of sexual assault or harassment are told all the time in response to speaking out, “Well what were you wearing?” as if wearing a party dress is asking for an attack. Most high school students do not wear party and club attire during school hours; yet, female students are made to change what they’re wearing because their outfit may distract the male students. This objectifies the female students putting their education behind those of male classmates.

As fashion adapts and changes over time, the trend of more “conservative” clothing goes out of style. Students are told to wear clothes that would be acceptable for an entry-level job but this phrase doesn’t include every job that a young adult might have. In retail, many jobs encourage their

68 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

DOES LAKOTA’S DRESS CODE NEED REFORMED? employees to wear clothes that come from the brand or resemble the fashion styles in trend.

A shorter shirt where an undergarment strap is visible wouldn’t be questioned at a trendy outlet, but be forced to be covered up at school.

There is nothing in the student code of conduct that addresses clothes that provide suitable coverage but would not be appropriate for a job or professional setting. There are students that would rather wear pajamas to school, which although comfortable, are not suitable for the “workplace-ready” environment East uses to prepare students.

Allowing PJs and not some everyday attire, completely contradicts the expectations in place.

H

igh schools are not the only organizations at fault for putting expectations on what women should be wearing. All over the world, there are dress codes and uniforms that have a reason behind the rules. But in some instances, there is no purpose for a dress code. Recently in the news, Norway’s women’s Beach Handball made headlines as they protested the uniform that required women to wear bikinis. Earlier this summer in July, the team protested these rules by wearing shorts to a match and were later fined $1,728 for the stunt. But, on Nov. 1, the International Handball Federation updated the dress code to allow the women players to wear tight-fitting tank tops and shorts. When playing a vigorous sport that requires active and energetic movement, the players are more comfortable wearing shorts that provide coverage.

While school consists more of sitting at a desk, it is still up to each individual to decide what is and is not deemed comfortable or appropriate. There will always be hesitation regarding any dress code because there is always room for reform. People are more than what they wear.•

Head to Head | Opinion

Spark editors Olivia Rigney and Riley Higgins debate the current dress code policy after 607 students signed a petition for change. photography audrey allen and marleigh winterbottom

I

don’t actively look for dress code violations, it is not one of my favorite pastimes; however, the lack of clothing seems to jump off the blank canvas of the white-tiled walls and speckled brick floors at East. While the “fits” are often stunning and make me reevaluate my own closet, they do not reflect the sophisticated standard expected from all Lakota students.

It is just not worth it. There are not enough violations that are flagged by teachers and administrators to warrant the process of reforming the dress code. Even when teachers inevitably notice violations of the Lakota Student Code of Conduct, they often will not reprimand a student. According to a Spark survey of 27 teachers, 70% of East teachers reported that they have not had to discipline a student for a dress code violation. Reforming the policy would entail getting the student body, administrators from both high schools, and the board to agree on what should and should not be put into a dress code.

At its core, the current dress code aims to inspire professionalism in the students of Lakota.

While the current dress code may not apply for all future endeavors, it does accomplish the task of having students form the habit of dressing appropriately. It is no secret that we do not have students wear fast-food uniforms, business suits, or camouflage; it is unrealistic to expect a dress code to encompass millions of job criteria.

Lakota’s lack of an official uniform as seen in parochial schools demonstrates its lack of urgency to stifle student expression. In my own attire, I am a supporter of freedom of expression.

The brands I get to choose to wear, the cuts of certain garments, and their material all together afford me a lot of expression. All of this can still be accomplished without jeopardizing the integrity of the classroom.

With the opportunity to dress freely, many people of both genders will wear clothing that will be distracting. Often, we generalize by saying that it is the female students distracting the male students; however, I believe that in this day and age school-inappropriate clothing is a distraction to everyone. No matter your gender or sexual identity, wearing revealing clothing turns more heads than just the male students.

When I ask my peers what is in the dress

NO

code, I find that most have not even read the Student Code of Conduct. If anyone wanted to know the dress code and to what standards they are being held, it is but a mere google search away. People are not affected by it enough to take the few seconds it takes to get to the website and check the district’s expectations. If someone were to endeavor into the depths of Lakota’s website they would find that the expectations are not unreasonable.

According to the digital Student Code of Conduct found on Lakota’s website, “The Board believes that student dress should enhance a positive image of students and the District. The standards of dress and grooming outlined are necessary to promote discipline, maintain order, secure student safety, and provide a healthy environment that is conducive to learning.”

Just as it is with masks, it is a matter of courtesy and respect. If someone at the school, be it a teacher, administrator, or peer, asks a student to flip their sweatshirt, clad with obscene images, inside out, they should realize that is a very reasonable ask. There are some obvious infractions, like spiky collars and weaponconcealing items, that can be distracting or dangerous to the learning environment that shouldn’t go unchecked.

until it impedes upon someone else—something I do not see changing if the current dress code were to be reformed.

There is no need to reform a code that is in place to prepare Lakota’s students for the realities of professional life. With our own freedom of expression intact, and our safety prioritized, we should be focusing on other pressing matters in the school before coordinating an effort to change a decent policy.•

H

ow do we ensure that in the reformation of the dress code, valuable clauses like offensive materials or potential security threats are not compromised? It is not a good decision to risk the integrity of a policy put in place by people experienced in making decisions with the well-being of the students in mind.

Students already don’t listen to many of the rules set in place and many teachers do not deem their attire as inappropriate.

Many teachers don’t care when someone expresses themself

December 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 69

Opinion | Editorial Cartoon

Why don’t I look like that?

“SOCIAL DISTORTION”

“THE MODERN ELEMENTARY TEACHER”

editorial cartoon mary barone

editorial cartoon olivia rigney

“BROKEN CODE” editorial cartoon vi dao

70 lakotaeastsparkonline.com December 2021

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