April 27, 2018 by Lafayette High School

April 27, 2018 | Vol. 49, No. 8

P ROM then and now

19 9

On Saturday, April 28, Lafayette’s 53rd Annual Prom will take place at the Ritz- Carlton Hotel in St. Louis. The event is hosted by the Junior Class. Prom has changed quite a bit throughout the years— just take a look at these photos from past editions of The Legend. Before the first Prom in 1965, Lafayette hosted an annual sock hop. To read more about this year’s event, and how some Lancer staff members celebrated their own high school Proms, turn to pages 8-9.

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1963

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Cover by Marlo May | Graphic Designer

April 27, 2018 |OPINIONS| Leaving your health completely to physicians is not very healthy Clare Mulherin | Reporter

Staff Editorial Snowflake generation must step up and face the real world Think back to just a few decades earlier. The staff editorial Social interaction was vastly different. Avoiding represents a majority words, phrases and gestures that would offend the person you were conversing with would have opinion of the been the least of your worries. Image Editorial Board. Now, it seems that we do the opposite. As the “Snowflake Generation”, we now emphasize an unrealistic and obsessive focus on the petty details in everyday conversation. The pendulum started at one end and swung completely to the other. The 50-something-year-old man writing a Facebook status about the constant complaining of the younger generation makes a valid point. We expect aspects of our lives to be catered to our need, whether they be the way we speak to each other or the accessibility to certain privileges. It’s obvious that slurs and other derogatory language should be monitored and discouraged with the same ferocity that they are currently. However, we restrict ourselves from speaking our minds, voicing our opinions and sharing valuable information for the purpose of keeping the peace and preventing anyone from becoming offended. Keeping the conversation “safe” may seem like a solution to any sort of social disparity, but, in reality, all it does is ignore and shun the problem. If solutions to a problem or disparity are being discussed, then ideas from a variety of people with drastically different ways of thinking are bound to come forth. These thoughts and ideas may not always be universally accepted, but trying to avoid the beliefs that clash with our own is a waste of time and energy. Offending your peers in this day and age is essentially taboo, but not doing so is almost impossible. Every person has different values and beliefs, which means that one person’s reaction to something that is said can be vastly different than another’s. Constantly policing what other people say is just one example of how our generation needs to toughen up. Another instance of this is the criticism the younger generation receives from our elders about expecting “hand-outs”, or being entitled to opportunities and items that were once thought of as privileges. We see this sort of behavior in our own school, particularly when students complain of the price of parking passes, school dance tickets and lunch prices. Although it may not seem like it, taking these things for granted is undeniable proof that our generation is desensitized to what it takes to make it in the real world. The “Snowflake Generation” can no longer deny the world is not going to cater to our every need. People will say things that defy what we believe in and offend us, and everything won’t work out in our favor from time to time. We have to learn to be content with what is in front of us, and not overanalyze the petty to details of every interaction or conversation.

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For most in the digital age, relying on harsh chemical supplements and prescription drugs is the norm. Other options, like holistics, are either overlooked or laughed off. Most people go to their family physician at the first sign of illness and get prescribed fairly counter intuitive pharmaceutical remedies. Prescription drugs are a toss-up in regard to actual effectiveness and harmful side-effects For example, some medications seem to treat depression, but cause headaches, irritability and suicidal thoughts onto the patient. Some migraine medications cause severe nausea and vomiting. That’s not ideal. I don’t scoff at modern medicine or traditional doctors. I just condemn the ill-informed patient. A lazy patient who doesn’t do their research or consider their lifestyle before popping pills leaves themself vulnerable.

Life lessons learned in crowded living quarters Grace Kirtley | Reporter I have four siblings. There’s a lot of people in my house. We live in a moderately-sized house, but for how many people we have, sharing a room is inevitable. There was one point I had to move in with all three of my sisters in one room. That was quite the challenge because everywhere I turned, it seemed like a little girl was there, playing dress up with my clothes or stealing my money. It just wouldn’t end. Eventually we added a room onto the house, so I only had to share with one person. I was so glad to finally have room to put my stuff, but I wouldn’t change my previous situation. Through it, I learned patience and how to be thankful for what I have. Each personality of my siblings has different preferences of cleanliness and such, and the most important thing I’ve come to understand is courtesy to other people. With the different school times, I’ve had to wake up and get dressed in the dark. Although that was difficult, and many days I wore mismatching socks because of it, I’m glad I learned how to be innovative with limited light. To be completely honest, I haven’t always been a good roommate. When my life gets busy, I forget to make time to clean my room and my sisters definitely suffer because of that. However, I’ve come to understand that they don’t like clutter, and I make time every once in a while to clean extra well. My brother taught me patience, one sister taught me how to be friendly, the other sister taught me how to be calm and the youngest taught me how to be fearless. When I tell people how many siblings I have, they always freak out and ask me how I can live that way. But my house would be utterly boring if I had just one less sibling. Each of their personalities have taught me something about myself. I’m thankful for each and every one of my siblings.

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The newspaper’s primary obligation is to inform its readers about events in the school and community and of issues of national or international importance which directly or indirectly affect the school population. The newspaper, while serving as a training ground for future journalists as part of the school curriculum, recognizes all rights and responsibilities under the First Amendment. Operating as a public forum, student editors will apply professional standards and ethics for decision making as they take on the responsibility for content and production of the newspaper. The Rockwood School District Policies and Regulations concerning official student publications and the specific policies and procedures used by student publications can be found at lancerfeed.press under the About Us tab.

Some drugs can be habit-forming, and you leave yourself open to being ripped off. I understand it’s easier to go to the doctor, they are the experts, but they’re also businessmen and women. Instead of finding more natural or cheaper ways to heal you, doctors suggest drugs. It’s understandable. They know medicine and chemicals. They have to earn a living, and swindling you might be the avenue they are forced to take. Remember to take your health into your own hands, as well as leaving it in the hands of your doctor. If the treatment they prescribe bankrupts you or just doesn’t work, don’t blame your quack. Your health is also your responsibility. As the patient, you have a responsibility to watch your health and learn what you can about what you put in your body. Yes, the doctors are the experts, but it is your health. Take that into consideration before filling your prescriptions and slandering your doctors if the treatment doesn’t work.

STARS & GRIPES Stars:

• EOCs are over! Now it’s time for ACTs, SATs, GPAs and other frightening three-letter acronyms. • Avengers: Infinity War is hitting theaters today. Spoiler alert: The good guys win again. • Anyone still need a Prom date for tomorrow? Please?

Gripes:

• The annual epidemic known as senioritis has begun. And, we hear there is a nasty 24-hour bug going around. • Khloé Kardashian recently named her baby daughter True. Sources say the name choice was down to True or False. • Good thing I don’t use Facebook… wait, what? They own Instagram?

Image Staff

Digital Media Staff

Editor in Chief | Jessica Cargill Asst. Editor | Amisha Paul Web Editor | Delaney Stulce Asst. Web Editor | Natalie Karlsson News Editor | Ty Prozorowski Opinions Editor | Travis Bodell Feature Editor | Gehrig Prozorowski Sports Editor | Kayla Carpenter Artists | Charlotte Komrosky-Licata, Ty Prozorowski Graphic Designer | Marlo May Adviser | Nancy Y. Smith, MJE Staff: Chloe Baker, Shelby Darnell, Abby Karandjeff, Jasmin Kim, Grace Kirtley, Carson Luther, Clare Mulherin, Alex Rozar, Naomi Saegusa, Shwetha Sundarrajan, Addie Watson

Digital Media Editor | Jack Weaver Special Projects Editor | Jimmy Bowman Video Package Editor | Kiley Black Staff: Emma Grant, Nick Koester, Clay Komor, Jonah Nickerson, Lucas Nickerson, Annika Renganathan, Shwetha Sundarrajan, Jacob Ward

|OPINIONS|

April 27, 2018

The Monthly Strawman by Charlotte Komrosky-Licata

Deliberate health care denial suppresses children’s rights

CINCO de MAYO

Americans use about 87 million pounds of avocados in their Cinco de Mayo meals.

The largest Cinco de Mayo celebration is held in Los Angeles, CA.

In Mexico, the holiday is not widely commemorated outside of the state of Puebla.

The popular holiday celebrates the Mexican army’s victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

There are 54,000 Mexican restaurants in the United States.

*information from Forbes and ChicagoNow

Chloe Baker | Reporter

rincipia College, 1985, 125 students, 121 staff and 11 people in the area were all affected by the measles. Two students died during the outbreak and one 16-year-old daughter of a staff member died. Due to the outbreak, the college had to issue a quarantine, not letting anyone enter or leave the college campus without proof of immunization. My mom was one of the many students affected by the outbreak. She was stuck on campus with the measles for five weeks, missing half a quarter and was left with permanent hearing damage. Measles is a very preventable disease, but my mom did not receive immunization or medical care because of her beliefs as a Christian Scientist. Christian Science is one of many religions that prohibit members from receiving medical care and immunizations. Everyone has the free will to deny himself or herself medical care, but children are also denied the care. Not receiving treatment and immunization is irresponsible. There are some people that medically can not receive certain immunizations and are then put at risk. Children that are deprived of medical care die from easily treatable diseases. It's undeniably irrational to take away a child’s right to be healthy and live without pain. As a parent, it is your job to take care of your child and to keep him or her alive. Only four years after the 1985 measles outbreak, there was another one on the Principia Upper School campus, only 10 miles away from Lafayette on Clayton

Road. How can you be healed from something you were never actually diagnosed with? How do you know the difference between being healed and a sickness simply running its course? Not treating yourself and making sure you are healthy is putting others at risk, and as parents you want to be there for your child. Had my parents not left Christian Science, I would have been a child denied medical care. Even though my parents have left the religion, I still know so many people who have medical issues due to lack of medical care. Sadly, many states allow religious based medical neglect. According to Missouri law, “any child who does not receive specified medical treatment by reason of the legitimate practice of the religious belief of the child’s parents, guardian, or others legally responsible for the child, for that reason alone, shall not be found to be an abused or neglected child.” Coming from a family full of Christian Scientists, I have seen the effects it can have on people, mentally and physically. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate people that don’t treat their children. They are doing what they believe is best. Despite good intention, they are ultimately hurting their children. Sadly, I know people who have died from easily treatable diseases. Because the Christian Science Principia schools are located both in and near the St. Louis area, this issue is much more close to home than expected. It is morally inacceptable to deprive children of treatment.

Photo

Opinion by Alex Rozar Reporter

What song do you want to hear at Prom?

| Evan Stewart, 9 |

“Probably none, at least of the current songs. If I were to listen to anything, it’d have to be rock.”

| Sricharan Manchikalapudi,10 |

“I’m not going to prom, but my favorite song right now is Paramedic! by SOB x RBE from the Black Panther album.”

| Ryan Luedloff, 11 | “The Cha Cha Slide. It always gets me going.”

| Keke White, 12 |

“Maybe Lemon by Rihanna and N.E.R.D.”

| Karen Calcaterra, Principal | “Firework by Katy Perry.”

|NEWS |

April 27, 2018

photo by Marlo May

Counterfeit cash shows its face in school store Naomi Saegusa | Reporter On Feb. 14, 2018, volunteers at Lancers Landing were going through their cash box when they found a suspicious-looking $20 bill. Concerned the bill could be a counterfeit, they separated it from the rest of the money in order to look at the $20 in more detail. The bill had an odd assortment of Chinese characters running down the left side of Andrew Jackson’s portrait and was waxy and thin to the touch. The Lancers Landing staff confirmed their suspicions that the bill was, in fact, counterfeit by using one of their counterfeit banknote detection pens. Once they were sure the bill was a fake, School Resource Officer Jim McDonald was called down so they could report the crime to him. In the United States producing or using counterfeit money is a form of fraud or forgery, and counterfeiters can get up to 20 years in prison and/or up to a $250,000 fine. With that in mind, one would think individuals would be more wary of trying to pass counterfeit bills at gas stations, local shops and even their own high schools. However, counterfeit bills have recently seemed to be circulating more frequently within the United States, with cases in Illinois,

Missouri, New York, Wisconsin and Michigan popping up throughout the past few months alone. Some of the growth can be attributed to the recent advancements in printing technology, that has allowed for counterfeiters to make more realistic bills in less time, for less money. Secret Service Special Agent David Thompson said, “Higher resolution, better color duplication and lower prices for printing have made it easier for counterfeiters to make passable fakes.” Even high-schoolers are getting in on the counterfeit trend. Teenagers who are in possession of counterfeit bills have usually acquired the bills by ordering them online and having them shipped directly to their doorsteps. Kids who are looking for an even cheaper method will sometimes just print them off their home computers and hope for the best. However, being cheap with counterfeit bills is that they are less likely to pass as real money. McDonald said, “Most of the bills we recover, homemade or ordered online, don’t look real. I don’t know what the purpose of

trying to pass them is. You’re going to be caught every time.” Lafayette itself doesn’t deal with counterfeit bills on a regular basis. The February incident at Lancers Landing was a rare one. Occasionally someone, either a student or staff member, will find a stray bill in the hallway and decide to turn it in, but the large-scale scandals are few and far between. “Counterfeit money is not something we deal with a whole lot at Lafayette or surrounding areas. Usually, when we get a call, it’s a couple of kids trying to pass counterfeit bills at some place where a lot of old folks work,” McDonald said. Every once in a while, a big case will come through. One such case happened in 1998 when US Secret Service Senior Special Agent Rob McKenzie was called into an investigation involving multiple Lafayette students passing counterfeit bills through the cafeteria. “My investigation identified five or six students responsible for passing $10, $15 and $20 counterfeit notes in the Cafeteria.

“Most of the bills we recover, homeade or ordered online, don’t look real. I dont know what the purpose of trying to pass them is. You’re going to be caught every time.” | Student Resource Officer Jim McDonald |

The investigation itself involved numerous interviews with school personnel, as well as the suspects. As a result of the suspect interviews, I was able to identify and conduct a forensic analysis of one of the suspect’s computers responsible for the production of the counterfeit notes,” McKenzie said. Making and/or using counterfeit money is a federal offense, and the government takes counterfeit charges very seriously. This means juvenile offenders with counterfeit charges can be tried and charged as adults. “The Lafayette investigation was successfully concluded with confessions from the suspects, a seizure of additional counterfeit notes not yet passed and a referral to juvenile authorities for judicial action against the suspects,” McKenzie said. Generally, the Secret Service isn’t needed for every instance of counterfeit money. Roughly once a month, the Secret Service will call each police precinct individually to ask them if they have any counterfeit bills that had been turned in and/or confiscated. If there are any, agents will come to the stations to pick the counterfeit bills up and take them to be destroyed. “It’s not a major issue unless the counterfeit bills are good quality and there’s a lot of them,” McDonald said.

|NEWS |

April 27, 2018

Assembly promotes safe driving habits

STL Youth Drive for Tomorrow kicks off national distracted driving awareness month at Lafayette Grace Kirtley | Reporter

photo courtesy of Marlo May

Juniors Drew Wenger and Luke Frederick participate in a demonstration of first responders reacting to a fatal car crash. St. Louis Youth Drive for Tomorrow presented to Lafayette students on the dangers of distracted driving.

April is National Distracted Driver Awareness Month, and Lafayette began it with an assembly that showed the dangers drivers face when driving in problematic situations. St. Louis Youth Drive for Tomorrow visited Lafayette to show the dangers of distracted driving in a school-wide presentation and then smaller simulations. The organization has traveled to 10 different schools in the 2017-2018 school year and seven schools the previous year. School Resource Officer Jim McDonald said a drivers education teacher who previously worked at LHS, put a request in for the assembly a few years ago. The assembly had a two year waiting list at the time, and this year, LHS reached the top of the list. Missouri Department of Transportation donated money for 10 schools to have this assembly, one of them being LHS. Teresa A. Krenning, P.E. Traffic Operations Engineer Missouri Department of Transportation and Anna Musial of East West Gateway Council of Governments said, “Our program intends to raise awareness of these three focus areas and hopes to encourage simple driver behavior changes — changes that could increase the chances of avoiding and/ or surviving a fatal or serious injury crash.”

The presentation on March 29 began with a demonstration of how paramedics would respond to a crash with two teenage boys involved. Following that demonstration, there was a presentation showing images and videos of fatal car crashes. McDonald said, “It’s very informative and it gives you a real life idea of what may happen if you’re not paying attention when you’re driving. It’s graphic, but it’s supposed to be graphic, so you can remember it forever.” According to the Missouri Department of Insurance, distracted driving is a problem new and experienced drivers face daily. Teens and inattentive drivers consistently rank in the top percentage of fatalities and accidents in Missouri. For drivers under the age of 21, texting and driving is against the law, and the driver could be fined $200 and two points would be added to their driving record. Certain types of convictions can be permanently kept on driving records. Phone use is the main contributor to distracted driving, but other factors such as music, loud passengers and lack of sleep also contribute to the issue. However, smallest distraction can lead to disabling accidents. “The average person takes five seconds to text. At 55 mph, that means your eyes leave the road for the length of a football field,” Missouri Department of Insurance’s

website said. After the assembly, health and drier ed classes participated in a simulation of driving and texting at the same time to show the difficulty of multi-tasking and how long each student would last taking their eyes off the road. The simulation sent a text message to a phone approximately every 20 seconds, and the students had to reply while steering a car. Sophomore Cassie Gammill said, “There was just so many things going on. Even in this simulation, we wouldn’t last more than a minute when our eyes were on the phone. In real life, when’s there are other factors in it as well, it’ll be much harder.” Many students crashed in the driving simulation within the first minute. There were also other activities to raise awareness of drunk and other types of distracted driving. Gammill said she learned a lot, and after that class, she is going to avoid driving distracted to keep safe. Krenning and Musial said the results of last year’s surveys over what was learned after the assembly, indicated students would make an effort to not drive distracted or impaired and will wear seat belts everyday. With cell phone usage and distracted driving on the rise, LHS students face the possibility of an accident everyday.

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“Every kid is one caring adult away from being a success story.”

|NEWS |

April 27, 2018

1. Senior Sammy Lawson plays the electric guitar during the performances in order to incorporate the show’s “Rockstar” theme. 2. Junior Megan Haynes preforms with a rifle at the circuit championships. 3. Junior Sneha Reddy uses a color guard flag in her performance at the circuit championships. 4. Freshman Alexis Gibson twirls her flag at the circuit championships. The team competed this month in the World Championships in Iowa. 5. Teams are judged in four areas: general effect, design analysis, equipment and movement. The choreography of the show is judged as well as the use of sabres, rifles, flags and other props. (photos courtesy of Ethan Davis and Lindsay Armstrong)

Guard Rocks It Out at Nationals First time in Lafayette history Winter Guard team competes at World Championships

Chloe Baker | Reporter

ompetition can become very heated among popular sports like baseball, soccer and volleyball. The same holds true for lesser-known sports, especially for Winter Guard. Winter Guard is an indoor, coed color guard sport that involves both dance and flag, rifle and sabres spinning. The sport is inspired by military color guard. The Winter Guard season begins mid-October, right as marching band ends, and continues through mid-April. The team competes locally with the Mid-Continent Color Guard Association (MCCGA), and nationally through Winter Guard International (WGI). This year, Lafayette’s Winter Guard’s theme is “Rockstar,” combining elements of rock and roll and space. In their performance, senior Sammy Lawson plays the electric guitar, and the mat they perform on has a galaxy print. This season, Winter Guard made semi-finals at the Indianapolis Regional. They received first in the qualifying

competition at the St. Louis regional where they placed third in the finals and achieved second with silver medal at Lafayette’s Circuit Championships. Due to their success this season, the team attended the WGI World Championships in Dayton, Ohio. At that event, 350 color guard teams were represented from 20 states and 5 countries at the event. While competing in the Scholastic A Division, they qualified for semi-finals. Lafayette placed 31st out of 133 teams in their Division. They set a new school record with a score of 86.97, ranking the team among the top 20 teams in the world. “We were hoping to get into semi-finals, and I think if we have the right confidence and motivation we can get there,” freshman Ayman Rahman said. Rahman joined Winter Guard for the first time this year. He joined in order to meet new people and because of the uniqueness of the sport. He has come to appreciate the team and family aspects. Since the team spends hours training, practicing and

competing together, they have become close throughout the season. “We have a lot of new people. It has been an adventure getting to know everyone and everyone’s personalities and coming together as one team,” junior Lindsay Armstrong said. Director Evan Coonrod has taught Winter Guard since 2001, but has only been at Lafayette’s program for nine years. Through all of Lafayette’s history, this is the first year the team has medalled and gone to WGI Championships. “This season the team took on every goal we set as a design team and achieved every single one. The growth and maturity of the group was incredible and definitely showed with the amount of success they achieved,” Coonrod said. Coonrod participated in Winter Guard in high school, college and professionally for several years. As the director, it is Coonrod’s job to plan out the whole season. He chooses the costumes, music, choreography, type of show and everything involving the performance. “Teaching the color guard at Lafayette has been the most rewarding teaching job I have

ever had. The support that I get from our administration, parents, and band directors is incredible,” Coonrod said. As for Armstrong, the crowd at every performance always provides support. She wants people to know that Winter Guard isn’t as easy as it seems to be. Just like any other sport it takes practice and dedication in order to perfect. “My favorite part are the performances is the feeling of an audience; people are clapping for you, and they enjoy what you are doing. It gives a fulfilling emotion to have. It’s all a lot harder than it looks. It’s not simple. Its extremely hard to do but really fun,” Armstrong said. Winter Guard encompasses two Divisions, the Scholastic Division and the Independent Division. The Scholastic Division is associated with schools and the Independent Division does not associate themselves with a school and are often more selective. Junior Ethan Davis wants to pursue the Independent Division

in college. “In Independent, you can compete at a world-class level, and I love challenging myself and getting better. To be able to do something that I love at that level would be amazing,” Davis said. Lafayette’s Winter Guard is hosting a clinic in the spring for anyone interested in trying out. Davis believes that Winter Guard has helped him a lot since he joined the team his freshman year. “I am definitely a very different person than from before I did Winter Guard. I’ve come a long way to becoming outgoing and expressing myself,” Davis said. This season, the Winter Guard has done better than any previous year. The team hopes to continue their success into next year. “I have the most talent on this team that I have ever had in 9 years of teaching the Guard at Lafayette. We had several different goals this season and we achieved every single goal,” Coonrod said.

The growth and maturity of the group was incredible and definitely showed with the amount of success they achieved. | Evan Coonrod, director |

April 27, 2018

|PHOTO |

#NEVERAGAIN On Feb. 14, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida lost 17 students and staff members in an on-campus shooting. In response to this tragedy, the #NeverAgain movement was organized by its students and has swept the nation. To support this movement, students at many area high schoolk, including Lafayette, walked out of class at 8:50 a.m. on Friday, April 20.

photos by Travis Bodell, Natalie Karlsson and Jack Weaver

We all think it’s not going to happen to us. I’m sure that’s what the people in Parkland thought. | Emily Blackstone, 11 |

Holding hands during a 17-minute moment of silence, walk out participants honor the victims of the Feb. 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Freshman Erin Thorley stands with other participants while listening to one of the event’s student speakers. Assigned speakers spoke to the participants following the moment of silence. Junior Emily Blackstone brandishes a T-shirt and homemade sign to express her disapproval of current gun legislation. Senior Kane Carpenter speaks to the other participants about gun violence and laws. Speakers like Carpenter who were not scheduled beforehand were permitted to present at the end of the walk out.

April 27, 2018

May I Have this Dance? 1

|COVER STORY|

Staff shares stories from their Prom nights

Junior Class officers taste-test Prom menu, offer suggestions beforehand Ty Prozorowski| News Editor

rom is a long-standing high school tradition for teens. For many Lafayette teachers, their high school Prom was a memorable night. Makeup, hair, outfits and dates vary from school to school, person to person. From eating Burger King to dressing like a Madonna lookalike, these staff members each shared their special Prom stories.

1. Traci Bolton, Guitar Cape Central High School (Cape Girardeau, MO) 1993 Prom “My Prom didn’t serve a formal dinner, so as part of the evening you went out for a meal. My best friend wasn’t going to Prom, but we still wanted to see her so we crashed her place of employment, Burger King. We still had a very fancy Whopper meal complete with lace table cloth and candelabra. My mom snuck in and took a picture when we weren’t expecting it. The other fun story of my Prom doesn’t show up very well in the pictures. Since my dress was black and tuxes at that time were black, we wanted to add color. We figured the best way to do this was for him to get ruffles sewn on his tux shirt and I had a purple butterfly temporary tattoo (over my heart). At the time, tattoos were not a common thing and everyone thought I had a real one. The conservative town that I lived in couldn’t believe that I had done such a scandalous thing. I was still answering questions about my fake tattoo clear up to graduation.”

2. Megan Eisenhour, Language Arts teacher Duchesne High School, 2003 Prom “For me, Prom was about just being with my closest friends. I still have a close friendship with some of the people from my pictures.”

3. April Ehrhardt, Flex teacher Lafayette High School, 2010 Prom “Every year at Prom I could never walk in my heels. I would put them on for two seconds for pictures and take them right off. Thank goodness for friends like Evy Swoboda who would carry me around because I couldn't walk.”

On average, Midwest families will spend about $733 on prom night. The breakdown of expenditures for the event is as follows:

27%

$100-$400

Prom Attire (dresses, tuxedos, shoes, jewelery)

While students are getting dressed and taking pictures before Prom, the Ritz Carlton, St. Louis is also preparing for the evening. Manager of Meetings and Special Events at the Ritz Katie Zvorack said, “In terms of what we do at the Ritz, we send out what we call an event order two weeks before the event and it details out the time, the menu, the setup, etc.” The chef is given her initial order, and the hotel staffs two weeks out as well. “Three days out, we collect the final counts, and we adjust the food order and the staffing to reflect the accurate amount of people that you’re going to have at your event,” Zvorack said. Tables and chairs are set up about 4-5 hours before Prom. Staff typically arrives two hours before dinner to set the tables. “We usually staff one per 25, so for an event for Lafayette, we’re going to have approximately 30 ladies and gentlemen that are working the event,” Zvorack said. The hotel staff run through the event multiple times to ensure Prom goes smoothly. “We have an internal meeting at the hotel, and we cover the event three days in-a-row building up to the day of the event,” Zvorack said. On the Wednesday before Prom, staff at the hotel begin covering the event. The chef’s meet, the event team meets, the setup team meets and the serving team meets. The team at the Ritz goes over the event again on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. “We go over the event three days in a row just to make sure we’ve got everything covered so we don’t miss anything,” Zvorack said. Security levels are also adjusted to prepare for Prom. “For instance, if we’re normally operating with two security officers, knowing that we’re having 800 kids under the age of 18, we may staff a couple extra from a security perspective,” Zvorack said. Parking is not much of a concern. “We only have about 700 spaces here at the hotel, so

4. Brittany Trott, Social Studies Salem County High School (Salem, MO) 2000 Prom “It was a long-standing tradition (and still is today) for my rural high school to wear eight-hoop dresses. The seniors had to wear all white and the juniors wore colors. Since there weren’t many fancy restaurants in this small town, we ate at Subway for dinner with our group!”

5. Denise Meyer, Physical Education Sierra High school (Colorado Springs, CO) 1989 Prom

“As you can see, I was “Living in a Material World.” Between Michael Jackson and Madonna, I wasn’t going to go to any formal without gloves.”

6. Libby Overcash, Science Parkway North, 2007 Prom “This photo was from my junior year at Prom. This picture is the perfect representation of my group of friends. We all brought something different. I had the SAT the morning of Prom ,so I was super tired, but I managed to have fun with my friends. We all had dates, but we danced mostly with each other. Prom is about having fun with your friends, so we didn’t get to hung up on who was going with who.”

7. Nicole Buesse, Counselor DeSoto High School (Jefferson County, MO) 2001 Prom

if it is for an event like a breakfast event before a business day, we would assume we would need all the spaces, but since you guys usually travel in packs, we are usually covered in terms of the number of parking spaces we have,” Zvorack said. However, staff is informed when students will arrive at the Ritz and when they will leave. “We do communicate to the entire building what time you guys are all coming, what time we can put that arm up for the parking and approximately what time you all leave that night,” Zvorack said. The Ritz also includes a select few students from Lafayette to plan the evening. About a month out from Prom, a tasting committee, consisting of the junior class officers, visits the Ritz Carlton to finalize a menu for that evening’s meal. “We taste in the season that the event is so we can taste what the seasonal vegetables and fruits are,” Zvorack said. The tasting committee chose between two salads, two entrees and three deserts to include in the menu. Junior Class Secretary Pranav Vasishta said, “We got to speak to the chefs, and we got to talk to them about what we liked and what we think our student body would like." The committee was able to pick and choose what was on each plate. “Chef presents two meals, and we pick our favorites off of each one and create a special meal, whatever they like the most,” Zvorack said. The junior class officers decided to push back the time that dinner is served at Prom. “This year we decided to push dinner back to 7:30 p.m. so the food will still be fresh and good and hot because people usually show up a little later,” Vasishta said. They also chose to vary the distribution of the two desserts. “This year it would have been alternating [the dessert] where six people get caramel macchiato cake and six people get chocolate cheesecake but we decided to go with nine people get chocolate cheesecake and three people get caramel macchiato cake,” Vasishta said.

“My photo is a candid shot of me and my high school best friend. We were celebrating me being crowned Prom queen. I was never a “popular” kid, but I was always really involved in school activities and tried to always treat people with kindness. So the win was surprising to say the least. My only funny story is that I didn't have a date, so some friends set me up with a boy who went to another school. He could not have been less interested in being there with me and refused to get a formal picture taken with me. But then after I was announced as queen, he wanted to hang out at the dance. However, I kindly told him that I was just going to keep dancing with my friends.”

5% $20-75

Beauty Services (hair, makeup, nails and tanning)

Transportation (limos, party buses)

34%

$175-$500

*facts from Better Business Bureau and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Other Expenses (flowers, corsages, etc.) photo courtesy of Pranav Vasishta

34%

Students attending Prom will be able to select their salad and entreé from the options listed in the menu (to the right). Vasishta was accompanied by Junior Class president Tyler Hagan, vice president Sydney Kim and treasurer Nina Lamar.

$200-$500

Abby Karandjeff | Reporter Shelby Darnell | Reporter Amisha Paul | Asst. Editor-in-Chief

|FEATURE S |

April 27, 2018

Gran of the Dead

Grandmother of sophomore marches in parades, participates with local flash-mob group Addie Watson | Reporter When someone thinks of grandmas, maybe they imagine milk and cookies, or the way she always knits a sweater every year. But for sophomore Allison Horstmann, that’s not the case. Kathy Boyko, Horstmann’s grandmother, does not busy herself in the art of knitting, but she does like to dance. Boyko is part of a group called STL Flash Mob. She also marches in parades with the Gateway Precision Lawn Chair Krewe. She got involved with the Gateway Precision Lawn Chair Krewe because her best friend found out that a friend of hers was in the group. Boyko and her friend wanted to join the fun and decided to join the group. “My friend Sherri and I have been having fun and acting crazy for over 30 years,” Boyko said. They march carrying webbed, aluminum lawn chairs that they open and close as part of a routine. The group also dresses up in crazy outfits to match the theme of the parade. Boyko’s first parade was the Mardi Gras parade in downtown St. Louis. She also enjoys the St. Patrick’s Day parade, where she once met a man who told her and her best friend they should join STL Flash Mob. When Boyko heard that one of the routines she would have to dance to was Thriller by Michael Jackson, she didn’t know if she could do it. “I was the middle child of six kids, in a small town and never took dance lessons,” Boyko said. In order to look the part, Boyko used to take an hour getting her Thriller makeup on, but now, she has shortened it to half an hour. Boyko said it took a couple months worth of practice, once or twice a week to master the dance to Thriller. “Now, after five years, I could do it in my sleep. It seems the more routines you learn, the easier it is to learn the next one,” Boyko said. Back when Boyko had just joined STL Flash Mob, she remembers being pretty nervous at her first event. It was at a wedding reception, and despite her nerves, she had a great time. “I still get butterflies right before I go to an event!” Boyko said. In return for performing at an event, the person who hired STL Flash Mob writes a check, for the amount the group has set, to a charity of their choice. STL Flash Mob performs at lots of local places and also does private events like birthday parties and weddings. Usually, only a couple people know the group is performing, so it is a surprise to everyone else attending. Once, the group performed at the Family Arena for the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Fights.

photo courtesy of Kathy Boyko

Kathy Boyko (left) dresses as a zombie with other members of STL Flash Mob. The group does surprise dances at events, such as weddings, birthdays and Halloween parties. “I still get butterflies right before I go to an event,” Boyko said. “We were on a raised walkway, about five feet wide, performing Thriller by Michael Jackson with a fog machine running, to a full house. My grandson, Nick (Class of 2017), did that one with me. I’m sure he won’t forget it either,” Boyko said. Thriller isn’t the only song that STL Flash Mob dances to. According to Boyko, they are practicing a routine to Dancing Queen by Abba right now for a special birthday surprise in May. “We will have about six, two-hour practices,” Boyko said. How much the group practices depends on the complexity of the dance. “Smooth Criminal was a tough one. We did that for a charity event and dressed as gangsters,” Boyko said. She said it usually takes at least two months of practice, once a week to learn a routine. They also make a practice video so that everyone can practice individually at home. STL Flash Mob also does a performance called Money Tree, where they “crash” a benefit

that is being held to raise funds to pay expenses for someone who is terminally ill. They do a routine to the song Money Tree by Phat Cat Swinger and attach money to a tree and leave it at the event, covered in bills. “It really gives you a good feeling inside but also humbled and overwhelmed. I relive the event for days, in my mind,” Boyko said. Boyko’s loved when her grandkids learned Thriller and came with her to some of the flash mobs. “I feel so fortunate to have that amazing memory with my grandkids,” Boyko said. Horstmann was about 10-11 years old when she did her first flash mob. “When I first found out my grandma was doing flash mobs, I had no idea what it meant, but was also like, ‘oh my gosh, what has she gotten herself into?’” Horstmann said. Horstmann’s favorite part about being involved in the flash mobs are seeing the reactions of the people watching, even though she struggles to keep a straight face. “Weddings are fun because after the dance,

you get a group picture with the bride and groom,” Horstmann said. Horstmann and her brother started going to practices every Saturday around Halloween and then surprised groups by performing Thriller. “After a couple times [performing Thriller], I was getting tired of dressing up as zombies and doing hair and makeup all the time, but it was definitely a good experience,” Horstmann said. Horstmann also did a Christmas routine and a fundraiser flash mob. “The steps in the dances are easy to learn, so I’m not too worried about my grandma getting hurt,” Horstmann said. Boyko said the Lawn Chair Krewe and STL Flash Mob are two very crazy, fun groups.

To read about Siena Meyrers’ cool grandma, visit lancerfeed.press.

|FEATURES|

April 27, 2018

Special Delivery

Henning family embraces diverse family backgrounds Jasmin Kim | Reporter There is more than one avenue that leads to family. For the Hennings, it was adoption. Mary Lynne Henning’s experience caring for her brother inspired her to adopt. Mary Lynne said, “I cared for my ill brother until he died. He told me I would be an excellent mom, and that’s when I decided to adopt when I was 40 years old. [We were] too old to adopt domestically, so we went international.” In 1995, Mary Lynne and her husband adopted their first daughter, Annie, a 4-monthold from China. The process involved lots of paperwork and home study. Mary Lynne said, “We waited only two months until she was assigned to us, and then we traveled [to China]. It was less than nine months that it all happened. Now, it takes seven years. I feel so bad for people who are trying to [adopt children now].” After adopting Annie, Mary Lynne and George Henning adopted more children to guarantee Annie would have siblings to grow up with. Next, they flew to Vietnam to adopt their second daughter, Laynie. However, due to complications with the immigration rules, they were not able to adopt Laynie’s birth sisters. Then, they adopted another daughter, Tina, from Vietnam who was 13 when she came to the family. The following year, Mary Lynne and George returned to Vietnam to complete their family. They were specifically looking for twin boys born on Valentine’s Day and news from the adoption agency made their dream come true with those boys — seniors Clayton and Colton.

“I love Valentine’s Day, and it was just divine intervention the boys were born on that day,” Mary Lynne said. The boys were only 5 months old when they first met their parents. “It was the happiest moment of my life because the girls were all daddy’s girls. It was very special,” Mary Lynne said. Clayton and Colton observed many positive aspects to such a large and diverse family. “Different backgrounds mean we tackle the same problem differently,” Colton said. “We are all going to college for different things—one’s getting a PhD in physics, one wants to work in college and career counseling, one wants to be a government psychologist, my brother wants to be a teacher and I want to be a pilot. It’s just never the same, which I like.” However, growing up in a big family is not without its challenges. Clayton said, “When there is a small fight, it tends to grow, and you cannot stop until somebody gives way. [Still], we’ve always looked after each other in general.” Along the way, the family had some shifts, but adjusted quickly to them. “It changed, but all for the better. I wouldn’t change anything about it because, as we were at each child, they just became a part of the whole family system,” Mary Lynne said. For the Hennings, adoption was not a hard subject to share with their children. “They have known from the day they were old enough to understand where they came from,” Mary Lynne said. “In our house, we have always openly talked about adoptions. We joke about me being the minority. We embrace it.”

photo courtesy of Mary Lynne Henning

On July 24, 2000, Mary Lynne (holding Colton) and George (holding Clayton) meet their baby boys for the first time. Colton and Clayton were born on Valentine’s Day and were adopted by the Hennings. The Henning children also accepted adoption as a natural part of their lives. “I would say my family is obviously different because we are not biologically the same like most families are since we are all adopted, so we all have different personalities thrown into the family,” Clayton said. Mary Lynne and George explore their childrens’ Vietnamese and Chinese backgrounds. They learn and celebrate together what makes their family unique. Mary Lynne said, “We share their culture. We celebrate Chinese New Year.” Clayton is cautious to return to Vietnam. “I would love to go back, but I don’t think I will because for me, it’s kind of scary,” he said. “When you are adopted from there, technically, you are still a Vietnamese citizen, so they can do whatever they want to do with me. They will not recognize me as an U.S. citizen.” Colton doesn’t want to visit Vietnam. “As cool as it would be to travel to where I was born, I have no interest,” Colton said. The Hennings also reached out to other

families who wanted to adopt children from other countries. Mary Lynne established an agency called Adoption Assistant to help families to adopt children from abroad. “When we went to Vietnam to adopt Laynie, the agency we went with was not really good with paperwork. It’s stressful enough going to a foreign country and to go through all that. I said ‘No parent should ever have to do what we had to do,’” Mary Lynne said. Through Mary Lynne, 48 Vietnamese children found their American families in a span of three years. She still keeps in touch with some of the kids after the kids have grown up. She said, “Actually, the very first kids that I placed recently got married and had a baby. I’m friends with probably 15 of them on Facebook. It’s very neat that I’m still in their lives.” Looking back, Mary Lynne and George are proud being the parents of their five children. Mary Lynne said, “I’m a very proud mom. I was very blessed with amazing kids. All of the kids were healthy and good kids, students and role models for their peers.”

|FEATURE S |

April 27, 2018

Pope pursues teaching career post-injury Shwetha Sundarrajan | Reporter Student teacher and Lancer pole vaulting coach John Pope has come a long way. Before pursuing a career in teaching, he served in the Army for six years where he suffered a lifechanging injury. However, Pope wasn’t in any average military unit. He was part of an experimental military program for the Army’s Special Forces. The two-year training program, initially had 100 participants, but by the end, only 10 made it through successfully. “After basic training, I was part of an experimental program to see if someone could come in enlisting off the street with no special training or previous experience and could go into the Army Special Forces program,” Pope said. Upon first glance, Pope looks like an average language arts teacher. However, during his years of military service, Pope was involved in an incident which cost him his left leg. “We were going on our routine mission, and I was in our lead vehicle. There was an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the road that we missed, and when it went off, I was thrown clear of the vehicle. I did not initially lose my leg, but the heel was really damaged and they couldn’t rebuild it. It was a decision to either have a prosthetic or walk with a cane,” Pope said. Pope decided to have an amputation on his left leg, halfway between the knee and the bottom of the foot. “I had the surgery in February 2005, and I didn’t start therapy until March. I took to the prosthesis pretty naturally, and I was back with my unit in Fort Lewis, Washington by July,” Pope said. However, it took some time for Pope to get adjusted to wearing a prosthesis. “Initially, [my biggest obstacle] was

probably [wearing the prosthetic], but it wasn’t something I reflected on. I didn’t wear shorts as often and I couldn’t wear sandals. These are small things, but they’re small things that had to change about me,” Pope said. After his combat service, Pope completed an additional five years as a contracted instructor for the Army and the Navy. “Having been in the military, especially in a specialized unit in the military, people wonder why that would lead to teaching, but a lot of my job was teaching,” Pope said. “Whether it was teaching foreign troops or our own. I just really loved getting to see the students and when they finally understand how to do something.” After returning to St. Louis, he decided to become a high school teacher. “I’ve always had a passion for reading and writing. I also think language arts ties into each subject matter. Even a math word problem needs reading comprehension to understand that, and so does history,” Pope said. Pope started student teaching at Lafayette as part of his teaching certification from St. Louis University. In January of this year, he began teaching for Jennifer Ingram’s and Meghan Landwehr’s classes. Ingram said, “Mr. Pope cares about students. He cares about their well-being. And I think that, in time, he will continue to learn different strategies for engaging students. But he really cares about his students, and I think that’s really important.” As a teacher, Pope doesn’t necessarily talk about his injury, although some of his students know he served in the military. “Some students know about my prosthetic, but I typically wait for them to notice. I think it’s a good talking point, and it might be something that I should get out there instead of waiting for the slow reveal, but I think once a student is comfortable asking questions, it can help build that relationship,” Pope said.

John Pope served in the military for 11 years. Here he is pictured with his unit when he was deployed in Afghanistan. “I was in northeastern Afghanistan and we had been there for five months. We had just celebrated New Year’s.” Other than being a language arts teacher, Pope also coaches the freshman football team and girls pole vaulting team. “For pole vaulting, I rely a lot on my upperclassmen who have been doing it awhile for those visual demonstrations to help my athletes,” Pope said. And this helps his athletes do better during practices and meets. Senior Shruti Natarajan said,“He understands the moods of athletes and helps us get over mental hurdles as much as the physical hurdles of pole vaulting.”

photo courtesy of John Pope

photo by Shwetha Sundarrajan

Coach John Pope gives some advice to sophomore Anne Marie Covert during the April 19 meet at Lindbergh. “For pole vaulting, I rely a lot on my upperclassmen who have been doing it awhile for those visual demonstrations,” Pope said.

$5 OFF or $10 OFF of $30 service

of $50 service

April 27, 2018

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|SPORT S |

April 27, 2018

Right on Target

Chelikavada competes and excels in freestyle bowhunting archery Kayla Carpenter | Sports Editor Three years ago, sophomore Aksheytha Chelikavada first witnessed Bilbo Baggins’ epic quest to reclaim the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor in the famous fantasy adventure movie series The Hobbit. In addition to becoming a fan of the movie franchise, Chelikavada was also inspired to become more like the characters. To do this, she decided to pick up the sport of archery. Archery is a sport in which the archer uses a bow and arrow to hit a target with ten different rings as close to the center four-centimeter ring as possible. The closer to the center ring an archer hits, the more points she’ll earn. There are several different types of archery that archers compete in, including target, field, 3D, traditional and bowhunting. For each type of archery, different kinds of bows are used. Chelikavada competes in target archery using the freestyle bowhunter bow. “[The freestyle bowhunter] is a little smaller than other bows, but it’s very complex and intricate,” Chelikavada said. Target archery requires tremendous accuracy and precision to get the bow as close to the center ring as possible. Chelikavada knows that to be this precise, archers must be not only physically strong, but mentally tough too. “I think patience is key in archery because if one shot goes off, you get stressed a little, but you have to remember that each shot is new, and you have to focus on the next one,” she said. Although being mentally strong can be tiresome, Chelikavada enjoys the challenge, and it’s one of her most-liked aspects of the sport. “My favorite part of archery is the focus,” Chelikavada said. “Sometimes I forget about

everything, and I just shoot. That’s all that’s in my mind, and I really like that. It kind of removes the stress and the hard stuff going on in my life.” Chelikavada knows from experience that being mentally strong is required for success in the sport. In March, Chelikavada competed in the Missouri Bowhunter State Indoor Championship for the second time with her archery club, Summit Archery Center. Last year, Chelikavada didn’t place as an individual, but after she practiced up to four times a week throughout the year, she was able to improve immensely. Chelikavada placed second in State as an individual with 518 points, and she helped her club place first as a team. The Missouri Bowhunter State Indoor Championship is held in Linn, Missouri, and the competition usually lasts for a few days. “Team competitions last a day while individual competitions last two days,” Chelikavada said. “In individual competitions, there are 12 rounds. The first day is open shoot by yourself and the second day is when you shoot with your competitors. In team, two shooters from the same team shoot five arrows at a target with a time limit.” Competitions can put the archers under great pressure, but Chelikavada has learned to deal with it while competing. Chelikavada’s mother, Lakshmi Ambekar, admires the way she deals with the pressure. “[I’m proud of] the way Aksheytha handles the stress and keeps her calm throughout the tournaments and in front of such large crowds. She never gives up and isn’t afraid of failing,” Ambekar said. Chelikavada competes and practices with

My favorite part of archery is the focus. Sometimes I forget about everything, and I just shoot. That’s all that’s in my mind, and I really like that. It kind of removes the stress and the hard stuff going on in my life. | Aksheytha Chelikavada, 10 | Summit Archery Center which is based in Labadie. At the center, Chelikavada learns from other experienced archers. Throughout her three years practicing at the center, Chelikavada has greatly improved as an archer. Chelikavada has progressed from shooting at the target from 10 yards away to shooting from 20 yards away. Chelikavada did this by intensely training at the center, but she doesn’t forget to enjoy the process too. “Sometimes, we make it a little fun, and we’ll have balloons or little stuff to shoot at,” she said. Not only has Chelikavada improved as an athlete throughout the past three years, but she has also improved as a person. “I think archery has made me a more patient person. I don’t get frustrated as easily anymore,” she said. Chelikavada’s parents are also proud of the way she has improved from 7th Grade to now. “We are proud of Aksheytha’s dedication, commitment and the progress she has made

in this short time,” Ambekar said. “Archery has taught her to focus better by avoiding distractions. Her controls have improved with constant practice and has built her self esteem.” Archery isn’t a popular sport in St. Louis or even the country. Chelikavada has to drive long distances to practice and compete due to the lack of archery clubs. Additionally, there are only a handful of colleges that have competing archery teams, but Chelikvada is uncertain if she would want to be a member of one of those teams. She said, “I’m not quite sure if I want to compete in college. It’s up to fate where I go.” Archery is a difficult sport to learn and perfect. It requires great physical and mental strength. Chelikavada knows those skills are required in archery, and because of this, she respects everyone who tries the sport, and she hopes more people will attempt it too. “Even if [an archer is] not as good, at least they’re trying. That’s what I really admire about many archers.”

April 27, 2018

|SPORTS|

High school sports have an official problem MSHSAA struggles to recover from major shortage of available referees, umpires for all levels Carson Luther | Reporter A job that would gives back to the community and helps student-athletes with their sport may seem appealing to many people, but the lack of Missouri referees shows that this is not the case. Sports officials are leaving the job without being replaced by new officials joining the ranks. Due to the decreasing numbers of officials, high school sports are at risk for upcoming seasons. A lack of officials for sports under the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) will have major implications for student athletes and their respected sports now and in the future. Jason West, MSHSAA Communications Director, said “We have gotten reports of shortages this spring, especially right now with the number of baseball and softball games that have been rescheduled.” In any sport, it is not possible for a game where all the players, fans and coaches are in total agreement with all the calls by the officials. This can create tension or worse, which is leading to some officials calling it quits. Officials are forced to deal with and address the tension if it grows out of control. According to MSHSAA’s website, “It is the duty of all officials to report any unsportsmanlike conduct on the part of coaches, players and fans within 48 hours of the incident to the MSHSAA and the schools involved.” To counter the lack of officials, MSHSAA has implemented a variety of new programs. One of those programs is the 4-to-1 Challenge, which encourages coaches to recruit one new official for every four years they have a team. “We are talking with both sides, officials and schools, on how to communicate with each other, not just during the contest, but also before and after the contest. Building a professional rapport between coaches and officials can carry over to players and eventually fans in the stands,” West said. Additionally, MSHSAA has added a new position to focus on the recruitment and

retention of officials. This person goes to colleges and job fairs in order to bring in more officials, and younger ones who can hopefully work for multiple years. On April 5, MSHSAA hosted a recruitment night and approximately 40 new referees for every sport attended. For soccer alone, as many as 30 new referees may be needed to cover the deficit from this season. In the past, there was a brief period in which there was a concern for the number of officials for future seasons. Although others were concerned, West was never bothered. He thought that the problem was too far in the future to matter now. Activities Director Todd Zell, who is the former MSHSAA Assistant Executive Director, said, “In the near future we will have a grave concern about our current officials becoming older and the number of them decreasing.” Upperclassmen officiating the freshman and junior varsity games is another solution that may be looked into if the number of officials continues to decrease. “Currently, we are looking anywhere we can to get refs and young people who are interested in it as well,” Zell said. Kenny Seifert, MSHSAA Assistant Executive Director, said they must continue to inform people of all ages of the benefits and rewards individuals can receive from officiating. In Missouri, the average age of referees is 52.4 years old, and there aren’t enough younger people seeking the job. The new family structures and disrespect from those at games are also discouraging to these officials. “There are a couple of reasons why there is a lack of refs. One is the new family structure where both mom and dad are working outside the home, so they have less disposable time to try and earn extra money,” Zell said. “The other reason is fan and athlete behavior that we see so prevalent. A lot of times I just ask the question, ‘Who wants to go out there for two hours and get yelled at to make $50?’” In fact, most people who start officiating

The Dance Bag

Umpire Joe Puglisi gives junior Jack Schmitt, pitcher, a new ball at the start of an inning during the April 19 game against Eureka. The Wildcats won 7-6. photo by Marlo May

games don’t stay with the job for long. “If 10 new officials start, seven will end up quitting within the next three years,” Zell said. In fact, 40 percent of those officials quit within their first year. However, those who were committed at the three year mark are typically on the job after five years. One action being taken to combat poor behavior at sporting events are sportsmanship initiatives, which expected to help the referees with the fan behavior. “Today, there are a lot more teams and opportunities for students to participate in than there were in the past. More schools have transitioned from fall softball to spring softball. More schools have added or have access to artificial turf fields, so they can play more games than in the past,” West said. Although fan and coach to referee behavior is a large problem throughout the state and country, Zell sad it isn’t a big problem at Lafayette. “We have been pretty fortunate that we haven’t had too many complaints.” Zell said “The coach might not like a call, but they will just go on and drop it.” When examining options as to what a field

could end up looking like with fewer available officials, there are some things that will not change. “We are bound by rules of MSHSAA and the National Federation on how many officials we have to have on the field at a time. We have to follow that rule for insurance purposes. What you’ll see [as athletes] will be some adjusted game times, and an end to the 4-4:30 p.m. start times,” Zell said. Athletes everywhere are seeing this problem. For example, students from Houston are impacted by the fewer than 50 percent return rate of their officials. “This is not only a Missouri problem, or a St. Louis problem, but it’s a nationwide problem of a shortage of officials. We are trying to copy what other places are doing, and in the St. Louis area, we’re also trying things that other places have not,” Zell said. Referees were once in the profession for the long run, but as times and lives change, they change as well. “My dad did it for 25 years. He did football, basketball and volleyball, but those types of guys aren’t there. There aren’t many left who are willing to stick around and do it,” Zell said.

April 27, 2018 | Page 16

|E N C O R E|

The backpacks that don’t have your back Natalie Karlsson | Asst. Web Editor Gehrig Prozorowski | Feature Editor

While they make carrying school supplies easier, hauling extra pounds through the halls presents a greater health risk than students consider

hen using an excessively-heavy backpack, health issues can result. Dr. John Smith, chiropractor from Smith Chiropractic in Ellisville said, “What we see as short-term is you just get back pain and back spasms.” Chronic pain can also develop. “Long-term, which means from a kid who wears [a backpack] wrong from let’s say middle school up through college, is they can get into chronic pain syndromes which means herniated discs in the back,” Smith said. You can get radicular pain which means pain radiating down your legs or into your arms.” The individual’s weight determines his or her likelihood of back-related pain Smith said. “Actually even more than [weight], it’s really how much musculature they have in their spine. Clearly athletes or people who are more athletically prone are much less likely to have trouble than, let’s say, overweight kids or kids that just don’t have much muscle,’’ Smith said. To avoid putting unnecessary strain on one’s back, Smith recommends two-strap backpacks. “Most kids, when they wear their backpack, my kids included, will only wear it with one [strap]. Or the most prevalent thing that I see is they have the backpack, but they actually don’t have it fitted right, so the weight is distributed down lower towards the low part of their back instead of being up on the upper back and shoulders,” Smith said.

Pencil Pouch: 1.1 pounds

Three Notebooks: 4.2 pounds

Lab Book & Textbook: 3.8 pounds

Number of Students

101 students weighed their backpacks

40 30

20 10 0

6-10

TO PREVENT BACKPACK-RELATED BACK INJURY • Bag shouldn’t hang more than four inches below waist. • Backpack should be no more than 10% of body weight.

5 0-5

Binder: 0.5 pounds

Full Water Bottle: 1.6 pounds Miscellaneous: 9 pounds

Distribution of Backpack Weights 50

Backpack Total: 20.2 pounds

• Get a fitted backpack like hikers wear. • No cross-body or messenger bags. Use both straps.

5 11-15 16-20 21-25 Backpack Weight (lbs)

26-30

35+

• Visit a chiropractor if experiencing back pain.

“It’s pretty fine to have the heaviest backpack in my class. I have binders, books, a computer, stuff like that.”

“I have all my classwork and stuff so I don’t have to go back to my locker. I only use my locker for sports gear.”

“I have a lot of books and textbooks in my bag. I don’t use my locker, or even know where it is.”

“I just don’t like using my locker. It’s a lot simpler to carry all my stuff because my classes are far away.”

| Jacob Slater, 9 |

| Abhi Ganesh, 10 |

| Connor Fitzgerald, 11 |

| Joseph Lu, 12 |

Backpack weight: 23 lbs.

Backpack weight: 26.2 lbs.

Backpack weight: 29.2 lbs.

Backpack weight: 21.8 lbs.