A new program allows students to anonymously text teachers for aid and suicide prevention

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About It

The administration is introducing a are willing to help." new program that will allow students Teachers can offer support, resources, and to anonymously text teachers to aid in student wellness. build a conversation with students according to McDonough. Students can choose to share their identity with teachers if they wish. Students can BY ANA PENDERGAST ask for help, resource numbers, or just have a WEB MANAGING EDITOR conversation. “Hopefully it opens a conversation and that

The administration is introducing a new eventually would feel comfortable. But they don’t wellness and communication tool called txt- necessarily have to,” McDonough said. “Maybe about-it. The new program will allow students to it’s just a conversation they want to keep going anonymously text selected teachers and to talk anonymously. Maybe they just need somebody to when they are feeling stressed or overwhelmed. listen every now and then.”

“It’s an anonymous way for students who If a student makes a threat to themselves, are feeling stressed, or maybe they want to report others, or the school, the program can identify the abuse, maybe they just are feeling down or maybe student, which students agree to when they log somebody’s bullying them or maybe somebody in. The school will not be able to see the names harassing them,” High School of students unless these Principal Natalie McDonough circumstances are met. said. “They can anonymously However, Campbell text somebody at the school.” worries that students may Along with counselors and administrators, students can text four teachers that 10:40 not adopt the program or believe that they will stay anonymous, but hopes they have been selected. The Tuesday, October 23 will learn to trust it. student can choose which Some students are teacher, counselor or faculty member to text and will MESSAGES All students will be hesitant to share with the teachers over text and remain anonymous. There anonymous worry about the anonymity are 13 total faculty and staff of the program. members they can choose MESSAGES “I think one of the from. Selected staff members Students can text from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. biggest challenges will be attended a training for the new getting students to adopt program. MESSAGES it as an outlet,” Campbell

“He trained us on the 13 faculty members will said. “I think once students interface of the website and be available understand that it is how to set up our accounts.” anonymous it will be a great Librarian Jennifer Campbell resource for them,” said. “Then he sent us some The new program will extra stuff on how to be a be explained to students resource.” during class meetings Oct.

Administrators 23. It will allow students to McDonough, Ellen Carmody (Illustration by Ana Pendergast) have better access to help and Fran Koehler, counselors Erika Ellwanger, and give them a way to express their problems in a Karen Phillips, Laura King, Erin Stein and Heather new way, according to senior Hope Locke. Henning, Athletic Director Kate Pilgreen, Campus “It’ll make the counselors so much more Minister Stephanie Pino-Dressman, Biology available,” Locke said. “It will be more comfortable teacher Erin Paterson, Campbell, and journalism because sometimes it’s hard to say it in person teacher Alison Long have been selected to be because your emotions get the best of you.” available to students. According to McDonough, the school

“I think it will be a phenomenal asset of received federal money for a wellness program for getting students who may be struggling with any grades 6-12. Both grade school principal Dr. Paola number of things,” Campbell said, “even if it's just Clark and McDonough decided this tool would anxiety for a test, and having them reach out and be a great program to help with wellness and know that the adults in this community care and communication.

Women’s Wellness Week November 6-15

Wellness Peer Education and Women’s Awareness Clubs will be partnering to sponsor a week devoted to promoting women’s wellness. Activities will include self-defense, yoga, and compliment cookies.

Following is the tentative schedule and topics.

MONDAY

COMBATING JEALOUSY

Shout Outs at Lunch Writing Kind Notes

TUESDAY

SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS

Self-Defense at Lunch

WEDNESDAY

POSITIVE BODY IMAGE

White Board Wednesday, Compliment Cookies and Cuties

THURSDAY

TO BE DETERMINED...

Shout Outs at Lunch Writing Kind Notes

FRIDAY

MINDFULNESS

Yoga

(Photo by Ava Rawson)

Her Majesty’s Theatre

Choir and poetry performances bring together the audience through theme of community.

BY AVA STOLTZ NEWS & SPORTS EDITOR

Petit and Grand Choeur performed Monday night Oct. 15 in the gym, along with other artistic performances, for the sixth annual Her Majesty’s Theatre with the theme of 'A Community of Dreamers, Voices and Believers.'

Visual and Performing Arts teacher Elizabeth Mulkey decided on the community theme to help bring the audience and the performers together. The theme included different sections within community including a community of dreamers, community of voices and community of believers.

“I felt like in our world right now we are so divided,” Mulkey said. “I wanted to show how tied together we are, and so that was my concept for the theme this year.”

The performance consisted of both choirs performing pieces that fit into the different sections of the themes of community. These pieces included “Dreams,” “Run Away” and "I Thank You God.” In between the sections there were five minute breaks so the audience could participate in various activities. The activities included a community zentangle quilt and a community feast of cookies. The zentangle quilt was made up of small squares of paper that were decorated by the audience and pinned to a board next to each other so they made a collective art piece.

“I really liked the flow of it,” junior Peyton Wade said. “The community based activities were really unique and added a cool part to the show.”

For the final song, the choirs invited the audience to form a circle with them to sing together. Mulkey said she chose the sing along to help further promote the theme of community and really get the audience involved.

“I wanted to do something that we could all sing along with something that would be easy to learn,” Mulkey siad. “So that was that piece of that community. We had the community art, community meal and then that community music.”

The show also included poetry read by students to fit with the themes. These poems included “Note to Self: What it Means to Be a Woman,” “Eating Poetry” and “To My Sister.” Junior Inaya Khan performed 2 pieces in the show.

“I think [poetry] shares more emotion because it’s another person standing up there talking about whatever she chooses,” Khan said. “It conveys what’s probably most important with her voice.”

SYMPHONIE DE SION

What makes you want to be involved in music?

“I just really like it,” junior Ana Switzer said. “Mrs. Mulkey is really nice and it is just a good group of girls to be around. Yeah I like it a lot.” (Photo by Ava Rawson)

GRANDE CHOEUR

What makes you want to sing? “ I want to sing because I like how music affects people and how it just positively impacts everyone and I want to share that,” senior Jordan Harrison said. “I love the whole process and just growing as a musician.” (Photo by Ava Rawson)

POETRY

What excites you about poetry?

“ There are so many different forms of it, that you can use whatever character voice you want,” junior Inaya Khan said. “There are so many different issues so it is really easy to find what you are wanting to talk about.” (Photo by Ava Rawson)

From high school, to the Air Force, to now. To put it simply... BY GRACE PARROTT REPORTER

Mac McGory: Mac McGory: more

MATH than MATH than

Math teacher Mac McGory settles himself into his desk and sets up himself for the day. He places his black backpack onto a nearby chair, he plops his polka dotted sock covered feet on the wood top of his desk and then does his customary Justin Bieber-like hair flip. He begins by grading countless papers and waiting for the swarms of girls to come in with math questions. Story continued on page 9 Algebra II teacher and robotics coach Mac McGory fosters a love of learning in students, while incorporating his own life experiences.

Photo by: GraceParrott

Once the bell rings, McGory starts class the way he always does. With a joke:

“I used to work in a fire hydrant factory,” McGory said. “And I hated that job because you couldn’t park anywhere near the place.”

Whether it’s his daily joke, his plethora of ties or the 3D printer he uses for Robotics, this second year math teacher is a jack of all trades. He even has a side eBay business. But maybe it’s all that came before his stint as a teacher that shaped who he is today.

Before teaching, McGory had spent time working at Lakeland Engineering, supervising the building of the control panels for Fresh Start Bakery, the main producer of McDonald’s hamburger buns. Despite McGory’s passion for the job, he felt as though he needed to do more.

“It has always been important to my husband to be of maximum service to God and others,” his wife, Candice McGory, said. “He had a love for math and wanted to contribute more to society. So he told me one day that he wanted to go back to school to become a math teacher, just as his father had done.”

But even before his engineering job at Lakeland, McGory spent 10 years in the Air Force, which is where McGory’s experience with technology began.

While serving in the Air Force, McGory spent time working on B-52 airplanes, or more plainly, ‘spy planes’. He worked on electronic countermeasures, which uses an electrical device to detect or trick radar or sonar systems. "I was stationed in Blytheville, Arkansas when I worked on B-52’s and I did not like it at all,"McGory said. "A very bad place to be stationed as a single guy. Nothing to do, and no girls. Just soybeans, cotton and B-52’s."

He was later switched to military reconnaissance, serving on missions to gather intel for the Air Force. This often involved fixing plane and spy equipment during 24 hour flights. While flying on these missions, McGory did temporary duty in England, Sudan and Japan. "I probably got most of my appreciation of how good my life is from my time in Sudan, McGory said. "After seeing how hard it was for people to live there I could see how blessed I was to be born where I was. We often forget much of what we have is not from what we have done or how hard we have worked,

“It is really fun to buy and sell stuff. Like a game, when ever I make money on something I win."

-Mac McGory Math Teacher

though those are important, but much of what we have is just from the society we are born into."

Traveling to different places was nothing new as McGory grew up in a military family. His dad also served in the Air Force and their family was constantly moving from state to state.

“So we were always moving," McGory said. "We lived in Ohio, New York, Texas, Mississippi, Germany and Florida. But [my dad] retired in Florida.”

McGory finally landed in St. Petersburg, Florida attending Dixie Hollins High School in 1969. But because of desegregation that began in the 1970s, McGory got transferred to Gibbs Senior High School in 1970 and graduated from Gibbs in 1973, a predominantly African American school.

Though his transition to Gibbs was relatively peaceful, it was drastically different from his experience at Dixie Hollins.

“Many schools in my city were having riots and other troubles over racial issues,” McGory said. “Add to that the usual concern about grades and girlfriend/boyfriend issues. It was a confusing time."

Twenty years ago, McGory began teaching at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He incorporated a flipped classroom during his 2012-2013 school year at Archbishop O’Hara High School. He joined Sion in 2017.

Former O’Hara principal John O’Connor had the opportunity to watch the original implementation.

“He is a teacher who truly cares about the success of the students and about introducing his students to the most up to date ideas and concepts in the teaching field,” O'Connor said.

Senior Savannah Friedebach said that he doesn't just teach math, but he truly cares about all the students. "He cares so much about the students," Friedebach said. "I’m not even in his class anymore and he came up to me to ask if I was doing okay after the Senior Class Mass dedicated to Matthew Bloskey."

Beyond teaching, about 10 years ago McGory and his wife were at an auction. They bought a box full of little bottles. Each were going for $10 on eBay. "I sold [the bottles] and made some money and was hooked," McGory said. "It is really fun to buy and sell stuff. Like a game, when ever I make money on something I win."

To date, the biggest thing he has sold is an electric grand piano which sold for around $15,000. Currently he is working on selling eight pallets of model airplane and train items. "I'm trying to get that all sold since it is filling my garage," McGory said. "I sell so much different stuff, it's hard to say the craziest [thing I have sold]. But the girls think it's funny that I sold a bunch of hypodermic needles."

The one that got away was a buffalo taxidermy. Bass Pro outbid him at an auction. "This is not a huge part of my life," McGory said. "It is my main hobby. Like any hobby, sometimes I spend a bunch of time at it, other times not so much."

left: Mac McGory stands in front of the ocean with wife Candy McGory while on vacation right after getting married. middle: Mac McGory stands next to his truck packed with everything he owned while moving from the army base in Nebraska to Kansas City in 1984. right: Mac McGory and Candy McGory take a family picture with son Derrick McGory outside their house in Kansas City in 1988. (All photos submitted by Mac McGory)