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Vol. 45, No. 5
lhsimage.com
Dec. 13, 2013 Lafayette High School – 17050 Clayton Rd. – Wildwood, MO 63011
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A look at the amount of food wasted by students
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Oxford Dictionary announces Selfie as its Word of the Year
On The Web Publication staffs visit Boston, attend national conference and explore the city
Video: Students, alum and even staff perform at Rockwood Rocks for substance awareness
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02misc. In This Issue
page 12 Even non-athletes can get into some spirited competition through intramurals
Dec. 13, 2013
page 16
The Image staff rates hot chocolate sold in the area
Club Spotlight: Racquetball Club flies under the radar to state-level competition
For breaking news, check out lhsimage. com and follow @lhsimage on Twitter
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Information —
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CAN DO Students and staff collected a record number of canned goods this year with the total coming in at 26,373. The top five can collectors included Jean Peters 4,702, Ryan Bixby 3,819, Christine Oswald 1,306, Scott Beaver 1,084 and Ken Willis 1,060. Items were donated to Circle of Concern on Dec. 9 and it took two trucks to hold all of the items. — photo by Hannah Martin
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The Image is published 10 times a year by the Newspaper Production Class. Subscriptions are $30. Free issues are distributed on campus. The 2012-2013 Image received a rating of First Class with two marks of distinction from the National Scholastic Press Association and was a Pacemaker Finalist. lhsimage.com received a rating of All-American with four marks of distinction. The 20122013 Image was awarded the George H. Gallup Award from Quill and Scroll.
You Name It
With an endless number of possibilities, parents have a daunting task when deciding on a name for their child. A look into the unique stories behind students’ names and some of the difficulties that come with them.
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Dec. 13, 2013
Cafeteria Conundrums
TOO MANY TOTS- This is just a small portion of the waste in the cafeteria. Wasted items such as these cannot be sold if they are left out in the line. — photo courtesy of Kim Moore, child nutritionist
DOWN THE DRAIN- Despite its popularity, Papa John’s pizza often gets wasted, along with numerous other items. Child nutrition workers said this can be avoided if students make more thoughtful food choices. — photo courtesy of Kim Moore, child nutritionist
Student food waste has unintended consequences meganrigabar –reporter–
Students often complain of the high prices and low supplies of food that seem to constantly plague the lunch line. However, most fail to realize that the roots of these problems actually lie within the student body itself.
Complaint #1: Lunch is too expensive. High prices for food items are constantly criticized. However, the reason for rising prices actually results from the extreme waste in the cafeteria, rather than a need for profit. “We come through inbetween shifts to straighten up for the next shift and we find two pizzas here, tater tots here, soup over there and then we have to throw that away. We can’t put it back out since somebody has already touched it,” Wendie Bening, Cafeteria Manager, said. When students leave unenclosed items sitting out, the cafeteria staff has no choice but to throw the items out in order to maintain sanitation. In addition, the food must be discarded because it is no longer at the right temperature to be served. “I don’t think the kids realize how much waste there is in the kitchen and then they want to know why prices are so high. On the Papa John’s day they ask, ‘Why is this $2.25 a slice?’ Well yes [it is $2.25], but I couldn’t tell you how many pizzas we waste in that day,” Kim Moore, child nutritionist, said. The cafeteria staff kept track of the waste for a period of a couple of days and found that they had at least 10-15 meals leftover every day that had to be thrown out. Waste also results from kids realizing too late that they don’t have enough money to pay for their meal. “Kids come in the line and they get their lunch and they come to the register and they don’t have enough money, so then we have to take [their lunch] away and if it’s not prepackaged, we have to throw it away,” Bening said. Students can prevent unnecessary waste by checking their balances before entering the line.
“We would prefer, and it’s not a hindrance for us, if they come to the register on their way in and say ‘Hey, can I check my money?’ which some of them do, but not enough,” Bening said. Theft in the cafeteria is yet another contributor to the problem of high food prices. “It’s like a store: when you have so much theft going on, that’s when your prices go up. If somebody is that hungry, I would gladly give them the money for it, and I have. I do it all the time,” Moore said. Theft often increases in the winter because stolen items are easier to conceal under heavy coats. As a result, the combination of backpacks and coats makes it even harder for staff to catch theft. “It’s hard to detect most of the time because there really is not enough space [in the kitchen] to have this many kids, but we can’t do anything about that. We try to watch and the administrators help. Sometimes we catch the kids and sometimes we don’t. That also makes the prices go up for the other kids,” Bening said. Despite this, Bening believes the number of trustworthy students has been increasing over the years. “There are a lot of honest kids in this school. This year, there are more polite kids than ever. The kids seem to come up from the lower grades and they’re more polite than the kids in the past,” Bening said. Students can help combat food waste in the cafeteria by exercising honesty and awareness when it comes to their account balances and food choices.
Complaint #2: Food always runs out by the third lunch. Students often dread being assigned to third lunch because of its reputation as the shift that always runs out of food. Like high prices, low supplies during third lunch also result from student waste. “I feel bad because the shifts sometimes run out, and we wouldn’t have run out, but we waste so much the first two shifts. That’s why we run out at the end of the shifts,” Moore said. Often times, the cafeteria starts out with more than enough food to serve, but by third lunch, the waste from the past two shifts takes away
the extra supplies, leaving the shelves empty. “When they come in, they say ‘Well, you don’t have any more chicken strips!’ Well the one day we had chicken strips that week, I know we must’ve thrown away at least 20 servings that day alone,” Bening said. Therefore, the excess waste accumulates during lunch rather than after lunch is over. “I don’t think they realize how much waste we have and it’s not so much waste at the end of the third shift that we have on our lines, it’s the waste that they dump. They dump it in the lines, leave it on the soup bar, on the salad bar, they leave it in the racks,” Moore said. Whether or not the cafeteria runs out of food depends on the amount of waste on any given day. “If we run out, then we get in trouble. We keep notes every week of how much we cook and it’s like, ‘Well, last week we had this and we didn’t run out’, but then we had so much waste,” Moore said.
Complaint #3: I only owe five cents, what’s the big deal? Students often become frustrated when they have to pay fines so small they appear insignificant. However, these seemingly minor debts add up to a lot of money when the whole school is taken into account. “When kids come through the line sometimes they say ‘I only owe a nickel!’ But if every kid in the line said ‘Oh, I only owe a nickel’, do you know how much that would add up to at the end of the day?” Moore said. By insisting that students pay the small fines now, students are provided with a taste of the real world. “I know they get kind of mad at us sometimes. They’re like ‘Well, it’s only ten cents!’ Okay, but if you go to McDonalds, and you don’t have the whole amount, do they let you go? They don’t. It’s basically the same thing; this is a business,” Moore said. Besides the small fines, students who come to the lunch line without enough money also impact the efficiency of the cafeteria. “The kids forget to tell their parents [about fines] and that holds up the lines, so that’s hard on the kids too,” Bening said.
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04opinions
Dec. 13, 2013
Students need a voice in grading practices staff ed
Opinions expressed on the editorial pages do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints or official policies of the school administration. All editorials (unsigned) represent a majority opinion of the Editorial Board. Signed columns, blogs, editorial cartoons and reviews reflect the views of the author and not necessarily those of the Image Editorial Board.
In the wake of a recent incident between Language Arts teacher Melissa Schumacher and the Rockwood School District about grading practices, a few specific areas regarding grading and schoolwork have been opened up for discussion once again. Complications arose when Schumacher, who was concerned that some grading practices were lowering student expectations, wrote a letter to the editor of the St. Louis Post Dispatch about new practices being discussed for schools in the district. There have been many changes in district practices in recent years, but the letter from Schumacher brought up some areas currently being addressed by a district-wide committee and Professional Learning Communities (PLC). At the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year, teachers were given the Secondary Best Grading Practice Guidebook for Rockwood School District. This 32page document discusses grading practices that the district highly encourages teachers implement in their classrooms. One of the practices mentioned in the guidebook is to accept all late work for full credit because the key is to see what student can do, not punish them for lateness. As their rationale for the practice, the book quotes Rick Wormeil in the “research” section of the page. Wormeli says, “Adults turn things in late all the time, as do workers in every profession. The idea that, you can’t get away with turning work in late in the real world, mister isn’t true.” The guidebook also states there will be implemented deadlines as to when late work will no longer be accepted. The amount of time allotted before
these deadlines is not defined, so they could end up being anywhere between the end of the unit or the end of the semester. Either way, late work is still late work. In our opinion, it does not matter whether it is turned in a day late or at the end of the unit; teaching students that it is perfectly fine to turn in work past their deadline and not expect any consequence does nothing to prepare us for the real world. On top of that, the rationalization that professions in the real world will all accept things late is completely untrue. It’s common knowledge that people in the real world who have a habit of turning work in late get fired. Also, teachers have been telling us for the past several years that district policy has changed and they are unable to count homework for a grade. The guidebook states, “Formative assessment/practice work will not be a part of a student’s grade.” We disagree. Teachers should have the ability to assign homework for a grade. Not only does this more accurately represent how much information a student is learning as the unit progresses, but a lot of students’ grades used to rely heavily on receiving points for class work done out of school. And, the reality is, most students won’t do the work if it is not for points and we need to do the work to be prepared for class discussion and assessments. Two other ideas being tossed around by the grading practices committee is the practice of counting all “zeroes” as a 50 percent and treating academic dishonesty as only a behavioral issue. This means if a student were to turn in a plagiarized essay, he or she would be given consequences
Two Minute Doodle
such as detentions and suspensions, but would be allowed to resubmit the assignment for full credit. Though these two topics are not mentioned in the guidebook, they are still being considered and we think that is ridiculous. Not only is 50 percent a complete misrepresentation of the amount of work a student has done, it also means a student would have the ability to neglect all class work for the semester and still pass the course with a “D” if he or she were to get a high “A” on the final. It’s an extremely hypothetical scenario, but possible nonetheless. If a worker does not complete his or her task in the real world, they do not receive 50 percent of their salary. They lose their job. Rockwood’s mission is to “do whatever it takes to ensure all students realize their potential,” but these grading practices already being implemented and those being discussed come off as though the district only cares about our performance as long as we are in their schools. We get that the district wants its students to succeed scholastically, but what’s the point of doing well in high school if we are held to standards that do not coincide with what is next to come? Some of these practices aren’t just bad ideas, they’re borderline laughable. While it is good Rockwood focuses on helping its students stay above water in the school system, these practices are training students for a dismal future. Students will not only be ill-prepared for the expectations of college professors, but also be inadequately prepared for work in the work place.
stars & gripes
Christmas
Stars To:
• Snow day possibilities. Don’t forget to put an orange in the toilet and flush the freezer three times! • A new iPhone app, Jetpac City Guides, analyzed the number of smiling people in millions of photos from notable attractions on social media across America and named St. Louis as the happiest city in the U.S. You know what else we’re number one in? Meth labs, puppy mills and gonorrhea! • The Monty Python crew reforming. They’re not dead yet! • Infamous former NBA player Dennis Rodman returns to North Korea after years of controversy over his support of the country. At least they like one of us. • Cyber Monday for making it possible to save tons of money on holiday deals without making us have to wait in line at Walmart, get in a fist fight and pull out someone’s weave for a Playstation 4.
Gripes To:
-Daniel Martinez
• On Dec. 3, two men from Detroit led Wildwood, Ellisville and Chesterfield police in a car chase down Clarkson Road after attempting to make away with a Rolex watch from Clarkson Jewelers. The two were caught near Chesterfield Mall. We apologize for the pun, but we can assume that the suspects will be doing time soon. • Coming back to school on Jan. 2 for a two-day week after break. Great idea because so much stuff gets done during a two-day school week. • Amazon is currently looking into sending unmanned air drones to make product deliveries. We didn’t know President Obama was in the online shopping industry. • Paul Walker, star of the Fast and Furious franchise died in a car accident recently. No celebrity death has ever been so tragically ironic. • Finals. No explanation needed.
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Dec. 13, 2013
Communities need to change approach towards sexual assaults While on a college visit, some other students and I were asked where we were from and what major we were interested in. Everyone went around the circle and gave their information, but there was one that stood out; Steubenville. The first thing I associated with this remark was the Steubenville rape case that occurred in August of 2012. The case involved a 16-year-old girl being sexually assaulted by two high school football players. The controversy occurred when officials found school officials hindered the investigation, most likely as an attempt to help their star players from being punished. The superintendent of Steubenville is now facing felony charges after it was revealed that he had possibly covered up the rape. Maybe this discussion wouldn’t even be happening if law enforcement properly followed procedure. Forever in my mind, Steubenville will be known as the town that covered up a rape in order to not risk damaging their high school football team’s success. Another incident similar to this occurred in Maryville, MO, where a rape victim’s family was harassed repeatedly after news of the incident became public. The most recent and possibly
Let Me Tell You
gabbymcdaris –editor in chief–
most covered incident of sexual assault was between Heisman frontrunner Jameis Winston, the quarterback for Florida State. Although Winston was never charged for the assault, there were still many issues with the investigation. It was reported that it took 11 months for the police department to give information on the case to prosecutors. Whether Jameis is innocent or guilty, it is clear that the community felt the need to try and quiet the case in hopes of keeping their star player on the field. These towns are more worried about how successful their athletic programs are than the well being of their citizens. Why is it we have to ask the question of whether a winning record is more important than the safety of the citizens? These “small town” police de-
partments need to change their ways and how they handle things, so the perpetrators are always held accountable for the heinous acts they perform. One of the arguments defense attorneys often make against victims is that the case was reported so late. What are authorities supposed to figure when victims are made to be the enemy in these instances? For anyone to build up the courage to come forward and report a rape is a brave and noble act, no matter the timeline. The good news is that many of these victims now have the possibility of getting closure. Two boys have since been found guilty of the Steubenville rape case, and will be serving time in the state juvenile system. A special prosecutor has been appointed to the Maryville case, hopefully leading to the eventual charging of the accused. Although there is occasionally a dim light at the end of the tunnel for these cases, the fact that sexual assaults still occur and are handled so poorly is inexcusable. These girls must see that people in their community are not going to be victim blamers when these instances occur. They must see that people will stand up and fight for them.
Around the country, across the web and all over the school we find things that intrigue us. Here are a few things that are on our radar this month:
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- Snowdaycalculator.com proved itself completely accurate last week when an over 90 percent confidence level prediction for a snow day on Friday, Dec. 6 came true at the last second.
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- For last year’s holiday season, Hasbro revived Furby, the talking, blinking owl/cat toy that was all the rage back in the late 90s and early 2000s. Here are some other toys from our childhood we would like to see make a comeback. • Lite-Brite • Rescue Heroes • FurReal Friends • LEGO Bionicle • Tekno Dog - Time magazine was considering Miley Cyrus for its Person of the Year. It’s a perfect spiritual follow-up to 2011’s choice, the “anonymous protester,” because it’s equally as stupid.
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- After Mizzou’s loss to Auburn last Saturday night, Dec. 7, the FSU Seminoles will face off against the Auburn Tigers in the BCS National Championship on Jan. 6. At least the Jayhawks didn’t make it either.
Current policy on final exam exemptions gives off mixed signals It feels like every year the same thing happens. I’ve spent the past few months multitasking, cramming and generally losing my mind, but it’s all going to be over soon enough. Trying to juggle seven classes at once is enough to make some people like me, tear out their own hair trying to stay above water, but the pain and the hard work has given me a handful of A’s to show for it. But in the end, I can only choose one. The Rockwood School District’s policy on final exam exemption is that “a student may choose to exempt from only one final exam per semester if the student is earning an ‘A’ (90 perent) in the course at the time of the exam.” This rule only excludes seniors in their second semester, when they are allowed to exempt any course in which
they have earned a 90 percent or higher. This is common knowledge and undoubtedly a major source of critical fuel for students. I know since I am a senior, most of my personal complaints will not be logical come next semester, but a majority of my altercations with the current exemption policy do not center on the fact that I have been unable to exempt all my finals up until this point. My main problem is the rule is ill designed and sends a mixed signal to the students. What really rubs me the wrong way about the practice of only allowing second semester seniors to be the only ones able to exempt most of their finals is that it’s counterintuitive. I’ve heard the argument that students are obligated to take a majority of their fi-
nals most years of their high school career in order to prepare us for college, so why do the rules change when students are in their final semester of high school? Surely that is when it would be most important to teach us the importance of final exams and the prevalence they will have in coming years to students who will be attending college. Exams that make up 20 percent of a semester grade pale in comparison to the all-encompassing finals in most colleges that can account for over 50 percent of the final grade, but they still give graduates a general feeling of what they can expect in college. That being said, I can definitely count myself amongst those who would have wanted to be able to exempt more than one final earlier in my high school career. Exempting a final is not just an excuse
to be lazy, it’s an opportunity to lock in grades that students have worked hard to maintain and do not want to take a chance of tarnishing in a single two-hour sitting. I’ve heard a fair share of horror stories about students keeping their grades up all semester, then bombing the final and end up barely scraping by. It goes without saying, but final exams have a massive effect on final grades. Anyway, what I’m saying is that Rockwood needs to go “all or nothing.” If the consensus is that it is important for students to sit for a majority of their exams, then that should apply to all students. I wholly agree finals are essential in preparation for college courses, but removing them at the last minute totally defeats that purpose. On the other hand, if Rockwood is
I’m Just Sayin’ alexlamar
–opinions editor– truly in the spirit of letting kids opt out of their exams in their final days at school, then that should be an opportunity extended to everyone else as well. If the district does not conform to one of these two options, it will continue to give off mixed signals about the importance of final exams.
Your Turn What do you think was the most memorable event of 2013?
Anna Strode, 9
Charlie Wefelmeyer, 10
Sydney Lintner, 11
Luke Bowerman, 12
“I’m basically obsessed with the Cardinals. When they made it to the World Series, I actually cried. When they lost, I cried!”
“My favorite part of 2013 was on my birthday in August when I got my drivers license.”
“I went to Scotland with my friend’s family this summer and had a ton of fun there.”
“I had my third heart surgery. It wasn’t open heart surgery; it went through my leg. They put in a new pulmonary valve.”
Dianne Metzger, Child Nutritionist “The most memorable moment of 2013 for me was when Miley Cyrus did her thing at the VMAs.”
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Dec. 13, 2013
Letter questions grading practices, opens more discussion jackrogan
lucasmeyrer
–asst. news editor–
–webmaster–
Tensions rose recently in Rockwood after a Letter to The Editor was published on stltoday.com. Melissa Schumacher, language arts teacher, wrote the piece expressing her concern about Rockwood’s grading practices. In her letter, Schumacher spoke out against practices like “due dates for class work cannot be enforced; homework cannot be counted for a grade; tests, quizzes, and projects may be redone until the desired grade is achieved.” Schumacher said she thought it was necessary to speak her mind as she believes these practices might not be preparing students for life after high school. “If you don’t show up to work on time and you don’t turn your work in on time [later in life], and you expect to be able to redo your work until you get it right, you’re not going to keep your job,” she said. The letter yielded a response from district officials who said Schumacher’s allegations were inaccurate. In an interview with KMOV, Katie Nease, Social Studies K-12 Content Facilitator, said teachers “can still enforce due dates and assignments taken home are still graded.” Also, the district posted a video on its website defending a “rigorous curriculum” and its ongoing work
on “best grading practices.” However, there is a clear sense of confusion between what district and building-level administrators and teachers believe concerning those grading practices. Since 2011, teachers have made changes in grading policies to reflect what they said they were told to do by the district concerning assesments. In addition, at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year every teacher received a copy of the Secondary Best Grading Practice Guidebook for Rockwood School District Teachers and Staff, which outlines the work of a district-wide grading practices committee. Principal John Shaughnessy said the guidebook was given to Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), a group of course-alike teachers who work together to evaluate student progress and create curricular materials and assessments and was not intended as a mandate for teachers. “The expectation here is that the PLCs operate in a way that supports the practices that were mentioned in the guidebook,” Shaughnessy said. He explained the guidebook is meant to aid teachers in operating under Regulation 6450, which establishes guidelines about certain grading policies, like academic and non-academic indicators. “The guidebook is just a resource, and kind of a common ground for PLCs to use as they work togeth-
er on grading practices,” Shaughnessy said. Schumacher, and others, however, felt differently about how closely the guidebook was to be followed. “We had building-level administrators who were over our departments come into meetings, saying, ‘yes you may do that, no, you may not do that,’” Schumacher said. One specific example from Schumacher’s letter was the practice of grading homework. Despite Nease’s statement that “assignments taken home are still graded,” Schumacher said, “Mr. Shaughnessy quoted to me that homework is formative and may not be counted for a grade.” The guidebook states: “Formative/practice work (including homework) is an essential part of the learning process. It should not have an impact on student’s academic grade within a Standards-Based Grading and Reporting system because it is aimed at increasing the student’s capacity to meet the standard.” It appears teachers across the building are under the impression that the guidebook statement is a directive. Junior Ariana Catalano said, “Before everything was graded. Now, I don’t get grades for homework in any of my classes. The tests are everything.” Social studies teacher Lori Zang also agrees the practices outlined in the guidebook were not presented as a work in progress.
Best Grading Practices: Then to Now
Aug. 3, 2000
District adopts original grading and reporting practices in Policy 6450.
Feb. 19, 2013
The mission of Rockwood School District is to ensure that ALL students realize their full potential. Regulation 6450 provides the structure to support educators in fulfilling this mission. While educating the students of RSD and preparing them for future success, we must have a clear understanding of what our students know and are able to do. The academic indicators outlined in Regulation 6450 address the need to attend to this work. Equally important, students of RSD must learn and possess skills that prepare them for college, career and citizenship, thus the emphasis on non-academic indicators in Regulation 6450.
For more details of the Regulation:
www.rockwood.k12.mo.us/boardofeducation/policiesandregulations/Pages/Regulation6450-GradingandReporting.aspx
Visit lhsimage.com for more opinions and updates on the district’s grading practices
Dec. 5, 2013
Schumacher writes letter to St. Louis Post Dispatch expressing concern regarding new practices.
District Secondary Education staff members given Secondary Best Grading Practice Guidebook.
Regulation 6450 revised to implement academic and non-academic indicators
Regulation 6450 Rationale Statement
Dec. 1, 2013
Aug. 7, 2013
April 2012
District holds discussions in committees about a standardsbased grading system.
“I was told by a principal I needed to have a retake policy. I don’t agree with that, but I was told I needed to do something.” Dr. Jim Wipke, Executive Director of Secondary Education, helped draft the guidebook and said the district has been researching best grading practices and making changes for over 10 years. He said, “[the guidebook] is a living document. We’re taking feedback on it and are hearing what teachers, staff and parents are saying and making adjustments along the way.”
District releases video explaining grading and reporting practices.
Dec. 4, 2013
Aug. 13, 2013
Rockwood refutes Schumacher’s claims in interview with KMOV.
Grades K-2 switched to standardsbased grading system.
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Learn more at stlcc.edu/GetStarted
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Dec. 13, 2013
selfie (n.)
Eleven years after its first use, “Selfie” is proclaimed a real English-language word when the Oxford Dictionary names “selfie” the 2013 Word of the Year.
Syllabification: (sel·fie) Pronunciation: /selfē/ Noun (plural selfies) Informal Photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website
The Evolution of the Selfie Back-facing Camera
C. 1500 Painted Portrait
Selfies in the News Selfies are no longer for young social media inhabitants only. Political and religious figures, celebrities and even birds of prey are hopping on the selfie bandwagon. Sarah Palin grins to herself in the camera alongside Meryl Streep; A group of kids cram in for a selfie with Pope Francis; Kim Kardashian turns toward a mirror for her close-up; Even an astronaut in space took advantage of the front-camera option. And yes, a wild eagle snags a camera and makes headlines with its own personal headshot. With the explosion of selfies in today’s society, an explosion of criticism followed suit. Roy Peter Clark writes to CNN on the topic of the emergence of selfies as a regular occurrence today. “Maybe the connotation of selfie should be selfish: self-absorbed, narcissistic, the center of our own universe, a hall of mirrors in which each reflection is our own,” Clark said.
Social Media & Selfies
Social media helped the selfie grow and expand into full-blown front-camera madness. Social media sites such as Twitter, MySpace and Facebook encouraged the selfie, but didn’t make the selfie what it is today. Though Twitter, Myspace and Facebook facilitated posting of selfies, Instagram, Snapchat and Vine dominated the selfie scene. With the creation of Instagram, taking pictures of yourself became entertaining and easy with many contrasting filters to toy with as well as hashtags to boost your like count. At first, Vine didn’t allow a front camera option, but after a few updates, vines with selfies took control. Above all other social media sites, Snapchat has made the selfie grow exponentially, with its removal of all pictures sent within a selected time frame and fun drawing tools. Without social media and it’s prominence in society, the art of the selfie would have no medium.
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Computer Webcam
Mirror Pictures
C. 2010 Front Camera
A User’s Guide To Selfies:
The Duck Face
The “Bro” Pic
The Peace Sign
The Weird Angle
Girl Mirror Pic
Coffee
A picture taken of yourself that is planned to be uploaded to a social media website. You can usually see the person’s arm holding out the camera in which case you can clearly tell that this person does not have any friends to take pictures of them so they resort to Myspace to find internet friends. A selfie is usually accompanied by a kissy face or the individual looking in a direction that is not towards the camera.
urbandictionary
monicapiccinni –reporter–
alainastrollo –reporter–
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What’s in a
And I don’t even know her last name/ “I promise you, I didn’t get married since last time I saw you,” senior Erika Natera-Heckemeyer said regarding her name change. Having two names is already out of the ordinary, but Erika was also born with a different name: Erika Natera-Pride. When she started her schooling in Illinois she simply went by Erika Pride; easy to spell, easy to say. However after her parents divorced, she moved to Missouri with her mother when she was nine. And, when her mom remarried, to match her mother’s name she had it legally changed to Erika Natera-Heckemeyer.
Senior Katherine Kelly’s real name is Mary. She and all of her siblings are named after saints.
With nearly 2,000 students, it’s no surprise names range from repetitive to extremely unique. Whether your parents simply liked your name, or have an interesting story behind it, it’s the person who makes the name. mckinzieduesenberg –reporter–
Imagine not being able to pronounce or spell your last name when you were younger. That is the difficulty senior Pranav Sangameswaren faced due to having a last name consisting of 13 letters. This was primarily caused by the way the mind works and how people were taught to read and decipher words. “The thing with Americans is that they try to say [my last name] the way that it looks,” Sangameswaren said. Instead of being pronounced Sangamesh-wear-en it is pronounced Sunguh-may-sh-wear-en. The name Sangameswaren comes from Sanskrit. Like how English is primarily based off of Latin roots, all
1,992 total students
Last: Lukas Zuroweste Shortest Name: Yi Xu
The siblings of sophomore Devyn McDaniels have names that begin with letters B and C, so her mom decided to continue this pattern and name Devyn, her third child, with a name starting with D.
averycantor
–features editor–
Longest Name: Hugolino Valencia-Garcia
Sophomore True Morse’s name honors the past generations of Trues in his family. He is the Third. Senior Danielle Christian has the same name that her mom took in her high school French class.
Most popular boy names 1. Matthew (30) 2. Andrew (29) 3. Jacob (27) 3. Nicholas (27) 5. Austin (20) 5. Christopher (20) 5. Ryan (20)
Indian language is derived from Sanskrit. “It’s fun to see how teachers and substitutes try to pronounce my name, it tends to differ every time,” Sangameswaren said. To make it easier for teachers and classmates alike, Sangameswaren commonly goes by Sang or P-Sang. Pranav Sangameswaren is one of the few seniors whose name actually take up more than one line on
to go to PLAN testing, but just ignored it. I was going to use his pass to leave class, but I had too much stuff going on,” Jake said. Upon discovering someone with the same name, both Jacobs were not very surprised considering how common the name “Jacob Smith” is. Jacob said, “Although it is such a common name, it’s weird having someone with the same name as you at your school.” To top it all off, neither Jake nor Jacob know or have ever met each other. “I have no idea what the guy looks like. I bet we pass each other in the hallway a lot and don’t even realize that we have the same name,” Jake said.
Fourth time’s the charm/ Like families who hold an ancient heirloom close to their hearts, the Pettinellis treasure their family name. The origin of Louis Renald Pettinelli IV came from Pettinelli’s great grandfather on his father’s side in Italy. To keep from confusion, most children with the same name as one their parents tend to take their middle name and make it their first. Senior Louis Pettinelli IV is commonly referred to as Rennie, as opposed to his full, royal-sounding name. He has always been called Rennie since he was born, however in every document his name still reads Louis. When teachers at
the beginning of the year or substitute teachers come in and read through the roster he will always be the kid correcting the teacher on not only the name itself but also the pronunciation of his last name. One would think that as a little kid, having such a long, particularly complex name would get aggravating, but Pettinelli made the most of it. “In 3rd grade boys could make a competition out of anything. So we decided to brag and compete about who had the longest name,” Pettinelli said. When thinking about the future, if blessed with a son, Pettinelli hopes to keep their “heirloom” in the family and have it passed down for generations to come.
Senior Rob Highbloom’s middle name is Solomon, which references both the Old Testament and his grandfather, Saul. Senior Keena Patel’s name is a combination of both of her parents name - Ketan and Naimisha.
Claim to Fame
Some students have names that reflect prominent figures in our culture.
Annie get your gun/ Junior Annie Oakeley shares her name with the famous female sharpshooter, Annie Oakley. Oakeley first discovered the name duplicate when she was assigned a biography project in elementary school. One of her research options was Annie Oakley, so she chose her because of her identical name. “When I was younger, I thought [my name] was kind of cool because it made me stand out, but now I’m just kind of annoyed with it because everyone is like ‘Annie Oakley—do you know who that is?’” Oakeley said. Oakeley said she often gets comments about her name, even from people she has never met before. “A lot of older people make comments because they get the reference, and I feel like a lot of younger people know, too, but I definitely have a few friends [that] do not get it,” Oakeley said. However, Oakeley is unsure if she was named after the famous exhibition shooter and is pretty confident that her parents just liked the name “Annie.” Oakeley said “I’ve never really asked my parents. I think they just like joking around and decided to make my life a joke, or at least my name.”
Smith
That’s sketch/
Miller Williams
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It is often said that our names are what make us unique, but unless you have an extremely complicated name, chances are, somewhere in the world, there are multiple people with your name. Senior Jacob Smith and sophomore Jacob Smith are one set of students who share the same name. However, senior Jacob prefers to go by Jake. “I first found out about it my freshman year when I went to the nurse’s office and she asked for my name. Then, she saw that there were two ‘Jacob Smiths’ and had to ask me which one I was,” Jacob said. Jake is often reminded of his duplicate classmate, as he often receives his paperwork by mistake. “I got his pass
Senior Emily Altic is named after Emily Elizabeth from Clifford the Big Red Dog.
Johnson & Jones
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Senior Layla Husen’s name was inspired by Eric Clapton’s song, Layla.
Senior Satchel Orion Perry was named after his father’s favorite band and a constellation.
Brown
* at Lafayette
*numbers indicate number of students with name
Senior Bobby Boxerman was named after sports announcer Bob Costas.
Junior Rachael Krajewski was named after Rachel from the popular TV show, Friends.
Most popular surnames * at Lafayette
To avoid confusion, Erika went by her full name throughout middle school until now, where she goes by just Erika Heckemeyer. As confusing as it may be Erika has gone by four different names: Natera-Pride, Pride, Natera-Heckemeyer and Heckemeyer. Her name changes can leave anyone tonguetied, it has even left Erika confused at times. “I was at a bowling alley and I ran into some friends from grade school. They knew me by Erika Pride. I hadn’t seen them in a while so I had no idea how to reintroduce myself.” Despite the awkward encounters, to all her close friends and family she is simply Erika.
Double trouble/
Tongue twister/
First: Naimo Aaden
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Dec. 13, 2013
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Most popular girl names 1. Sarah (24) 2. Emily (19) 3. Hannah (18) 4. Lauren (16) 4. Madison (16) 5. Megan (14) 6. Anna (13)
* at Lafayette
Junior Keenan Peel’s name sounds very similar to the name of the popular Comedy Central sketch show starring comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, Key & Peele. “I remember about a year ago, my dad told me about the show, and I didn’t really think about it too much. Now, I get comments all the time about my name,” Peel said. The comments mostly consist of people realizing that Peel’s name sounds like “Key & Peele” and then laughing about it. “It was funny the first couple of times, but then you hear it so much. It got really annoying really quickly and lost its originality,” Peel said. Peel said it’s difficult to avoid someone laugh ing at his name when he first introduces himself because most people reference the show. “It’s a funny show. Though, I don’t watch it religiously, it’s still kind of funny that it’s so close to my name,” Peel said.
DIY Holiday emilyaltic –reporter–
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Gifts the
10features
Dec. 13, 2013
The holiday season is all about giving, however with the end of the semester approaching it can be difficult to find a thoughtful gift. Here is a variety of inexpensive gifts that can be created between study sessions so you aren’t left scrambling for last minute ideas.
Braided Earphones
Materials: string, scissors, earphones, beads (optional) 1. Tie a double knot underneath the top of the earphone 2. Take the end of the string and cross it behind the earphone wire 3. Pull the end of the string upward through the loop created while holding the wire in place. 4. Repeat these knots down the length of the wire to the desired location 5. To add beads into the braid, slide up at the desired location then tie a knot while keeping the bead in place 6. To add different sections of color cut the string off where you wish one color to end then begin a new series of knots of another color where the first ended.
Quick Cookies
Materials: mason jar, ribbon, 2 ¼ cup flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, ¾ cup brown sugar, ¾ cup sugar, 1 cup chocolate chips 1. Scoop the flour into a large mason jar, slightly shaking it to make sure it spreads evenly 2. Mix in the baking soda and salt, allowing it to blend with the flour 3. Layer the brown sugar, using a spoon to pat it down and create a slight indent 4. Pour the sugar into the indent and smooth it at the top 5. Place the chocolate chips into a bag and attach a card that lists the wet ingredients to be used
Snow Globe
Materials: mason jar, glitter, water, water-resistant glue 1. Place a large dot of glue on the bottom of the item you want inside your snow globe and attach firmly to the inside of the disk 2. Secure the disk of the mason jar to the outer part of the lid with glue 3. Pour the desired amount of glitter into the jar 4. Fill the jar with water and mix the glitter so it doesn’t clump 5. With the item attached, screw the lid on tightly 6. Flip over and shake
www.lettyloucafe.com
505 Strecker Rd. Wildwood, MO 63011 (636) 273-9317
Chemistry/Physics Tutor Available Retired Teacher
High School Level/Advanced Classes
636-532-4648
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Dec. 13, 2013
You Won’t Believe Your
Phone
In these innovative times, the release of new apps is nothing new. These apps typically revolve around social media, creating super candies and viral videos. Many interesting and useful apps, however, fly under the radar and aren’t recognized for their practical functions.
Duolingo
Technology is rapidly advancing, and smartphone apps have become increasingly amazing. Smartphones can act as teachers, personal trainers and even a magical wand, which can transform a still picture into film. katieblackstone
–digital media editor–
jalynhenderson
–digital media staffer–
As a news source, the Image is constantly trying to keep up with the latest technology. With this next step, we just might get ahead. By creating a channel on the app Aurasma, the Image will be able to feature the videos made by the digital media staff almost directly from the print paper. Aurasma, a free app for iOS and Android users, is an augmented reality platform. In layman’s terms, the platform takes physical reality that everyone can view and interact with and adds to it with computer-generated images, sounds, and general data. To break it down more, Aurasma allows users to upload images, videos or use an animation from their library, and overlay it on an image. Then, whenever the image is scanned (simply by holding the device over the image), the content uploaded appears. “[Aurasma] will help a lot because we have heard feedback from competitions that we need to utilize more technology in our paper,” Gabby McDaris, Image editor, said. So what does this mean for the Image? Instead of only being viewed on lhsimage.com, anyone with a copy of the paper can access the latest news videos on anyone’s iPhone or Android. “I’m excited for this app because I think it could really change the way we look at newspapers,” McDaris said. Auras that the Image creates can only be viewed by following our channel. This is quite simple to do, after downloading the app, which can be found in the Apple App Store, Google Play, and various other app stores, just search for “LHSImage.” Click “follow” and after a few moments, LHSImage auras can be viewed, but only with internet access.
Our Favorite Apps Duolingo is a rising fad in the foreign language world. Similar to Rosetta Stone, Android and iPhone users alike can learn English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian or even Brazilian. The app is composed of games and word recognition that allows users to easily regurgitate over 2,000 foreign vocab words. With “skill points” and “lives” the fun and casual atmosphere increases the ability to learn and retain information. This free app is incredibly useful and can even give you the skills to impress your teachers.
Evernote Evernote is another overlooked app that helps with organization skills, so organization freaks, this one’s for you! Cool features of Evernote are its abilities to sync notes across all of your electronic devices, organize notes by notebooks and tags and also save and share files. Although Evernote comes off as a run-of-the-mill organizing app, it has clear and vivid picture quality in addition to easy-to-use technology.
Llama Llama, which stands for location aware mobile app, is an app that saves you in the most awkward times. This app uses a tracking system to determine where you are, for example school or work, and silences your phone automatically. Now during your midterm or that random awkward silence in class, your obnoxiously loud Miley Cyrus ringtone won’t cause a distraction.
My Fitness Pal
CHECK US OUT After following the channel LHSImage, open the app to the viewfinder and hover your phone over this image of the 2013 Digital Media Staff
The title says enough; this exercise and diet oriented app is perfect for busy teens preparing for their summer bodies. This app has great features like monitoring food intake and physical activity. Unlike other calorie counters available on most smart phone, My Fitness Pal provides explicit charts and diagrams of your food intake, in comparison to your exercise levels, making it more convenient and easier to shed those pounds.
Your Turn What mobile app do you use most for school?
Ashley Kneemueller, 9
Christopher Roggenburg, 10
Joslyn Miller, 11
Jeffrey Lu, 12
Betsy Rivas, Business Teacher
“I like the Infinite Campus app because it helps me keep track of grades.”
“The Sparknotes app; it helps me understand the book better.”
“I like Quizlet because it allows me to study outside of school and on the road.”
“I use the camera to take pictures of my homework assignments to do later.”
“Remind101 is an excellent app that teachers can use to communicate with their students via texting.”
Student Publications Wants You For Our Newspaper/ Yearbook/Digital Media Staffs If you want to be a member of our team, visit lhsimage.com and select the Tab Join Us or come to Room 137A for more info!
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Dec. 13, 2013
Hoop there it is: Senior boys amped up to battle it out this winter on St. Alban Roe courts in the CYC league as they put their skills to the test
kellypanzitta
–sports reporter– Let the games begin. Coming in as the leaders and champions of the St. Albans league, senior Tim Slocum and his teammates are ready to dominate. Slocum’s team consists of motivated athletes including seniors Austin Davis, Jack Fladda, Jake Leifeld and Grey Wilson. Playing together for three years, the team has been through it all. After losing several players to injuries, the team has had to add and drop members throughout the years. But without a doubt, they are as strong as ever. According to Slocum, with the talent the team has, strategizing isn’t an option. He said, “We never had to strategize before, so why start now? All we’re gonna do this season is win.” With this attitude in mind, nothing should stop these players, not even the rival St. Albans team led by senior Logan Conrad. But Slocum and the rest of the team want to send a message out to Conrad, “His team has never come close to beating us and we really can’t see it happening this year either.” Conrad and his team believe they have the heart and soul it will take to face off against Slocum. Starting for Conrad will be seniors Henry Liscio, Ryan Mueller, Trey Perez, Tyler Woodsmall. They are coached by Rachel Peipert and Evan Scales. Conrad is hopeful that coaches Peipert and Scales can share their Lafayette basketball skills with the St. Albans intramural squad. Playing together since sophomore year, they had a rough season last
year as they went through a transitional stage. Coming back as strong as ever, the team just wants to go out and win, like everyone else. The goal according to Conrad is to “make teams embarrassed and disgrace their families, simple as that.” As for the practicing schedule, this team full of hopeful athletes practices every chance they can get. When asked about the game of basketball, Conrad simply replied, “It’s more than just a game to us, it’s a lifestyle. Intense mental and physical prep is needed.” Although Slocum’s and Conrad’s teams have two separate practice strategies, they have a common goal to beat each other. Conrad said, “We’re not concerned about the competition because at the end of the day, we are going to win and they will lose.” But Conrad also wants to give a shoutout to Slocum and Joey Morando’s squads, “I think you guys are trash and will wipe the floor with you.” The final St. Albans team looking for a good time playing basketball will be Joey Morando and his team of “dedicated natural athletes.” On Morando’s squad will be seniors Brendan Duarte, Drew Ellis, Mikey Kanan, Tommy Moorkamp, Nick Oliff and Austin Platts. “We have a love for the game, but we don’t have the lungs for the game,” Morando said of their rec league status. With the competition getting intense and many teams with quality athletes, the team is trying to stay positive. Morando said, “We shoot like snipers and play dirty.” With this mentality, you can expect this team to be a force to be reckoned with. Although the teams love to talk dirty, the guys who have been playing over the years agreed they have made many memories over the years. All games this season will begin on Sunday, Dec. 15.
READY FOR WAR. Seniors Tim Slocum (left) and Grey Wilson (right) show off their basketball skills in preparation for their highly-anticipated St. Albans Rec League season. — photo by Kelly Panzitta
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Dec. 13, 2013
Something To Prove After devastating loss to Eureka in District championship last year, boys basketball team looks to turn things around this season hannahmartin
Q&A Evan Scales Q: What game are you looking forward to most? A: “To be honest, I’m most excited for the Eureka game.”
–sports reporter–
It didn’t come down to seconds. Not even minutes. There wasn’t a final shot at the buzzer that would decide the game. The sea of students dressed in neon became quiet over the course of the four quarters. They were down by 18 and quite frankly, basketball season was over for the Lancers. For Shacquille Holley and other seniors, it would be their last time stepping onto the basketball court in a jersey that sported “Lafayette” across the front. It’s a matchup that is always highly anticipated. The intense “Battle of 109” always has that little extra something to it. Long time rival Eureka claimed the District title, leaving Lafayette in the dust. This season, it will be a different story. With six returning seniors, the boys basketball team is looking to dominate the courts this year. Leaders from last year such as Nate Messer and Evan Scales are expected to come back better than ever while the newcomers have to find their way in and contribute as much as they can. Messer, who was named to First Team All-Conference last year and was the only player last year to average double figures, is a player to watch this season. His ability to drive to the basket along with his jumper makes him key to a successful offense. “With the great group of guys that get along together as a team I believe we can make it really far this year,” Messer said. Messer hopes to take the team to Districts and bring home the title. According to stlhighschoolsports.com, Lafayette is one of the favorites for a Conference crown because of the returning roster and amount of experience. Two newcomers, juniors Brian Boyd and Will McIntyre are ready to prove what they have by contributing on both ends of the court and fitting in to what the team is trying to accomplish. The boys worked hard over the summer and in the weight room, ensuring that this season they will be a major competitor and take their postseason play even farther. Returning player, junior Cameron Scales, knows his job for this season is to lead the other players with his experience and to contribute on offense. The number one thing Cameron is focused on is improving his defense this season, then shooting second. Cameron led the team last year in assists. His passing skills and ability to see the game as a whole are what take Cameron’s game to the next level. A big factor of how this season turns out lies in the confidence of the players. Playing the right way at the right time will be key. They will play a tough schedule this year against schools like SLUH, Oakville, Marquette and Eureka.
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Q: What are any pregame rituals that you have? A: “I sleep for about 20 minutes and gather my thoughts. I really just try and ready myself.” Q: What is the transition like from football to basketball? A: “Really hard. It’s difficult, I’m not going to lie. Football is hard to replace, but I move on and try to fine tune myself again for basketball.” Q: Being a senior, how will you step up and be a leader? A: “Well I was a leader last year, so I’ll do everything I did last year plus a little more.” Q: How will you make your senior season a memorable one? A: “The season will end one night, win or lose. I have to make the most of every opportunity I’m given.” HOT SHOTS juniors Brian Boyd (4) and Cameron Scales (5) pose side by side on team picture day. The dynamic duo have been playing sports together for many years now and are excited for what this season has in store. — photo by Hannah Martin As always, the boys will take part in three tournaments this season. Last year, they finally found their stride by the time the last tournament came around. The first tournament the boys compete in is the 14th Annual Webster Classic, taking place from Dec. 12-14 where the Lancers will first take on Lee’s Summit North first. The Lancers were defeated by St. Charles West High 47-54 in their first game of the regular season. Although it ended in a loss, the boys have a better idea of what to work on to get the season going. “Because it’s the beginning of the year, I think our main fix should be continuing to work on execution,”
Messer said. The most anticipated games of the season will be against rivals Eureka and Marquette. But most of the players agree that it will be the rematch against Eureka, on the Wildcats home court. “Because of the way it ended last year, I’m ready for the rematch,” Scales said. Messer added that everyone loves rivalry games and there is always a packed house, which makes the games that much more exciting It’s still early and there is a lot of basketball to play. The Lancers have plenty of time to prove just what kind of team they are.
Q: What advice do you have to leave with the younger players? A: “Give everything you have, because one day, you won’t be able to play anymore.” Q: What is your favorite memory from playing for Lafayette? A: “Probably playing with my brother [Cameron]. I can’t pick one moment, but I love going out there and working together. He’s a special player and every once in a while I’ll get caught watching him play and not paying attention.”
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Dec. 13, 2013
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14sports
Lancers Look For Answers
Hockey to explore potentional after slow start benrachell
–sports reporter– With the absence of many essential and decisive seniors from last season, younger skaters are persevering and have hopes of obtaining the success that was found the previous few years. After winning their first five competitions last year, the Lancers finally ran out of gas when they lost a close game to DeSmet. It certainly was a difficult loss, but Lafayette got back on the right track and continued to produce wins and be successful. After composing a solid record, they managed to attain a postseason worthy record and secured their spot in the playoff picture. Unfortunately, their season came to an unexpected halt, tying the Kirkwood Pioneers and losing to CBC and Oakville in the playoffs. With the loss of nine of their seniors at the end of the season, compiling a concrete strong record of 12-2-7 will be difficult to recapture, although far from unattainable. “This season, the coach didn’t name any captains. Leadership was an issue from the start since we lost our seniors,” senior Jake Robbe said. Assistant Coach Joseph Nahm said, “At this point, we are seeing leadership out of many different players. A lot of times people gravitate to the players that score the most points as leaders. But this season with limited players in this program, we are seeing other individuals step up in leadership roles. Losing nine seniors will impact any program, that being said, it is a common issue to deal with and it provides younger players to have the opportunity to step up and make a difference.” Even with the large departing members of the senior class, it doesn’t necessarily mean the Lancers are on thin ice.
With many younger players who have risen through the ranks, the upcoming varsity Lancers will be tough competition. Younger members of the team such as sophomores Justin Neuse and Curtis Oliff will be called upon to play crucial minutes and will give the veterans time to rest. So far this season, the Lancers are 1-6-2. It’s not a playoff-worthy record, but it’s certainly not a record that’s unrecoverable. “This season, we have a lot of younger players and only a handful of seniors. It’s apparent we aren’t where we need to be so far this year. However, our goal is to win the Wickenheiser Cup,” Senior goalie Jacob Bierschenk said. The Wickenheiser Cup, the “Stanley Cup” of local hockey, represents the championship game for local teams in this area. In 2000, the Mid-States Club Hockey Association, the organizer and governing body of hockey in St. Louis, named it after former Blues player Doug Wickenheiser. Wickenheiser was a local icon, who played a key role in the Blues “Monday Night Miracle” when they came back from a four goal deficit to defeat the Calgary Flames in the 1986 Conference Finals. Wickenheiser passed away in 1999 and the local community has honored him by naming the championship game after him ever since. If they want a shot at the cup, or postseason play at all, the Lancers will need to find the twine with their scorers. “Jacob Lownsdale and Andrew Schweitz have been our offensive anchors so far this year. Kyle Estes is also a good scorer,” Bierschenk In regards to offensive production, Nahm said, “This season we have put a lot of expectation on our juniors and seniors that have been playing at the varsity level for the past couple of years. Veterans like Jacob Lownsdale, Kyle Estes,
“
Jake Robbe and Andrew Schweitz are the offensive leaders of this team and their gameplay will help determine the outcomes of our This league is a “night-to-night” league, schedule.” Scoring is important, because you can’t meaning on any given night we can take win if don’t score, but the defensive side of the puck is more important than anything home a win, there is still a lot of hockey to be played.” when it comes to winning. The coaching staff will need to include a tough defensive strategy in order to improve their game. Because of the lack of defensive pressure, their goals against average this season has been staggeringly high. “Defensively this year it has been a chalmore motivation to win. lenge. Having lost quite a few senior defenseThompson continued, “We’ve left Bierschenk men from last year’s team and having one move out to dry plenty of times this season. He’s a terout of town, we were challenged at the beginning of the season to find a solid set of defense that rific goalie but we just need to put in better effort could keep us competitive all season. Luckily our if we want a chance to play in the postseason.” Even though they’ve had a difficult start, the young players have stepped up and the goaltending of Jacob Bierschenk has been fantastic. The season is far from over. The team isn’t lacking confidence, but need defensive core gives us a chance to win every to regroup and get back on the right track. night,” Nahm said. “Our strategy will continue to be to provide Last Saturday, the Lancers matched up against the Kirkwood Pioneers and were defeat- a platform for the Lafayette hockey players to develop and learn the benefits of being a hockey ed by a score of 7-0. It appeared to be a step in the wrong direc- player,” Nahm said. With 12 games remaining, their season is still tion. The skill and potential are there, but comyoung and stacked with competition like Chamimunication was lacking. Hockey, like any team sport, represents suc- nade and CBC on their schedule. On senior night, Lafayette will battle Marcess by the pairing of both skill and communicaquette for the prestigious “Silver Skate” trophy. tion. The trophy is awarded to the annual winner In order to have success, both must be there; and the Lancers will be fired up for the game. Last you can’t have one without the other. November, they tied Marquette 3-3, so the game Senior Garrett Thompson said, “We need to play with more intensity. We need to get to the should be a tense one. The Lancers’ next matchup will be Dec. 13 puck better. So far, other teams have been outsagainst the Vianney Golden Griffins at the Hardkating us.” ee’s Iceplex in Chesterfield Valley. The puck They can begin to turn around and recover drops at 7:20 p.m. their season early by hustling more and having
Coach Joseph Nahm
”
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Entry Deadline: January 22, 2014
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Students, share your talents by creating a public service announcement or poster about preventing substance abuse!
Visitentries www.RockwoodCoalition.org for rules, Winning will be featured at Six Flags, schools, city halls, fitness centers, and on TV channels including MTV, MTV2 and Nick! eligibility, prizes and submission forms. First, second and third place prizes and People’s Choice Awards will be awarded for the best high school and middle school PSAs and posters.
Attention Rules
Entries must include at least one statistic related to alcohol or other drugs Entries cannot include copyrighted material A submission form must accompany your entry Only one entry per student Posters and PSAs must meet requirements specified on submission forms
Seniors-Juniors Prizes ACT/SAT Tutoring
Gift cards, sporting tickets, movie passes, catered school lunches and other great prizes will be awarded to all winners! To be eligible, you must attend school or live in the Rockwood School District.
Call Dr. Jack Arnold 314-805-4561 Dates Appointments Tuesday/Thursday Evenings Entry Deadline: January 22, 2014 afternoons Judging andSaturday/Sunday Awards Ceremony: February 19, 2014 B&B Theatre in Wildwood, 7:00 p.m. www.JackArnold.org Submission forms and more information: www.RockwoodCoalition.org or Renee Heney, 636-733-2136
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Dec. 13, 2013
Picks of the Month
TV Show: Doctor Who
On Nov. 23, 1963, one of the biggest and most loved characters of all time made his way onto the small screen and started a television series that would last for decades. With 50 years past, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) decided to honor their heritage with The Day of the Doctor, a 75 minute long special to honor the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. Beginning as a children’s TV show built to teach kids about science and history, Doctor Who slowly evolved over the years, becoming more and more of a drama until it became the show that it is today.The show’s title character, The Doctor, now travels about time with his companions in his time machine, defeating monsters and saving worlds. To extend the lifespan of the show, the producers also gave The Doctor the ability to regenerate into a new body if needed, so that the show could live on if it’s lead actor left. The Day of the Doctor centers around the many different reincarnations of the Doctor who have appeared over the years, including the two most recent Doctors, David Tennant and Matt Smith. After accidental encounter, the two Doctors have to team up to stop a growing threat, with help from other older Doctor reincarnations along the way.—Garrett McBay
The Image staffers give their entertainment picks for the month of December.
Video Game: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Holiday Activity: Winter Wonderland at Tilles Park Putting up Christmas lights at home can be tiring and may not turn out as well as planned. Because of this, lights are set up in Tilles Park to provide holiday entertainment in the form of a drive thru called Winter Wonderland. The lights create beautiful scenery that is sure to get anyone in the holiday spirit. Perfect for a family activity, a date, or even a night out with friends, Winter Wonderland is a must when it comes to festive related plans for the end of 2013. The drive thru is about 20 minutes, plus or minus depending on traffic. The entrance fee is $10 per car.—Emily Pascoe
For many, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is considered one of the greatest video games ever made. Now, 22 years later, it has received the long-awaited sequel it deserves. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds takes place six generations after the events of A Link to the Past and released on Nov. 22 for Nintendo 3DS. This sequel to the Super Nintendo classic brings back a lot of what made the first game so popular such as the top-down gameplay and Light World/ Dark World setup, while also bringing a plethora of new mechanics to the table. It’s well put-together and wholly deserving of the Zelda title.—Alex LaMar
Movie: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Album: Let’s Be Still The Head and the Heart
Some people think that Peter Jackson was only out for money in the wake of his incredibly successful Lord of the Rings trilogy when he decided to turn The Hobbit, roughly a 300 page novel, into a film trilogy and they are probably right. That being said, the first Hobbit movie, An Unexpected Journey, was fantastic and I expect part two, The Desolation of Smaug, to be the same. Martin Freeman is still Bilbo Baggins, a role that he performs perfectly, Sir Ian Mckellen still plays a flawless Gandalf the Grey and now the brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch is thrown into the mix, providing the voice acting for the dragon Smaug. It premiers Dec. 13.—Alex LaMar
Four years after the release of their self-titled album, The Head and the Heart recorded their sophomore album, Let’s Be Still. Each musician from this Indie folkrock band possesses a different level of instrumental and vocal talent which contribute to their overall unique sound. Although they do not lose their folkrock roots, there are a few songs on the album, like Shake, that branch out from their traditional sound to a more upbeat, rock sound. As if the harmonious combination of acoustic guitar, piano, drums and violin were not enough, many of the songs are lyrically powerful, such as 10,000 Weight in Gold and Fire/ Fear.—Avery Cantor
December Lit Link Crossword
December Lit Link Crossword
*turn in on the stage for prizes
*Turn in on the stage during lunch for a chance at prizes!* Word Bank: inauspicious, indolent, ingenuous, iniquitious, innocuous, jaunty, jocular, jovial, judicious, laconic, languid, loiter, lugubrious, malevolent, malign, mendacious, morose, mundane, mutable, nepotism Across 2. showing an inclination to laziness 3. to remain in an area for no obvious reason or to lag behind 5. evil in nature, influence or effect; injurious 6. having, showing or arising from intense ill will, spite or hatred 8. ordinary; everyday 9. concise statement of truth; using few words 11. having a sullen and gloomy disposition 13. playful 15. exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful or dismal 17. favoritism (as in appointment to a job) based on kinship or family Down 1. good-humored; full of happiness or joy 4. not likely to give offense or to arouse strong feelings or hostility 6. prone to change; inconsistent 7. given to or characterized by deception or falsehood or divergence from the absolute truth 9. weak; listless 10. lacking craft or subtlety; candid; naïve 12. sprightly in manner or appearance; lively 14. prudent; having, exercising or characterized by sound judgment; discreet 16. very unfair or evil 18. not showing or suggesting that future success is likely
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Hot Chocolate Hullabaloo
Dec. 13, 2013
Four staff members research and complete extensive testing to find the best spots to get hot cocoa this winter season jenniferbutler
Dunkin’ Donuts
–opinions / entertainment editor–
Unfortunately, Dunkin’ Donuts’ hot chocolate was not as memorable as I’d hoped. It was really hot and I burnt my mouth even after I let it sit for five minutes. However, it was refreshing and it did cool down as I continued to drink it. It was also fairly priced for a decent sized small cup. I thought it tasted the same as the packets of powdered hot chocolate that you add to a cup of hot water, which is sad because I feel like a place famous for coffee and donuts should have decent-tasting hot chocolate as well.
It’s a little sad when the first stop is the best of the list, but how could this not be? It was pretty basic, but that’s how hot chocolate should be. It was rich, creamy and a pretty decent size for the price. The only reason I don’t give it a full A is because it’s not the cheapest on the list. I did burn my tongue on this one, but I digress.
Grade: B Kaldi’s
Panera Bread
Grade: A-
I honestly expected Kaldi’s to have the best hot chocolate out of all of them. I was preparing to give an A+ to Kaldi’s, but that was not the case. First, it was too expensive. Second, the size was too small, so it was a huge rip-off for a microscopic medium hot chocolate. The large cup was about the same size as the small cups from our other taste-testings. And it didn’t even taste like hot chocolate! It was like warm chocolate milk with a bunch of foam on top. I wish I did like it, but I didn’t. A C- is the highest rating I can possibly give for this drink.
Not as expensive as Bread Co. but still lacking in similar ways. It was notably diluted. I don’t know if they just put too much milk in ours or if the watered-down taste was normal, but either way, I wasn’t too happy. I know that hipsters will go out of their way to find a drink that’s way too expensive for the quality they paid for and those are the only people that I could recommend this to.
Grade: C-
Grade: C-
A for effort. Although it was the nicestlooking hot chocolate, I didn’t enjoy it. It was too bitter to be hot chocolate; it was more like a latte. I did try a chocolate-chip cookie marshmallow that was on top of the hot chocolate, but despite the uniquely delicious flavor, it didn’t make up for the drink itself. I tried very hard to enjoy it, because it’s Panera, and I love Panera, but I could not for the life of me drink this without cringing. However, the whipped cream and marshmallows saved this drink from an outright F. D+ is the best I can give.
Just awful. Panera’s hot chocolate suffers from what I call the “Starbucks effect.” They think just because they load up an average cup of hot chocolate with fancy trimmings we’ll be okay with spending a fortune on it regardless of the fact that it tasted like a pool of chocolate syrup that had been sitting on the back burner since Christmas 2009. It was presented with caramel chocolate chip marshmallows, but all they did was distract me from the actual drink. Considering the amount I paid and the time it took to come out, I was about ready to make a scene.
Grade: D+ QuikTrip
alexlamar
–reporter–
Surprisingly, I thought this hot chocolate was the best. It wasn’t too hot, so it didn’t burn my mouth like some of the others. It was definitely sugary, but it wasn’t overly sweet or rich. Also, this was the cheapest hot chocolate that we tried. Plus, there’s a whipped cream dispenser. And it’s free. Not only do you get whipped cream and you don’t pay extra for it, but you also don’t have to get a predetermined size that’s not enough for your preferential whipped cream needs. A for QuikTrip’s inexpensive, whipped creamed hot chocolate.
Grade: A
Grade: F This was actually pleasantly surprising. I wouldn’t think that the self-serve hot chocolate machine at a gas station would beat out two legitimate coffee shops, but it did in every way imaginable. It was simply good all around and didn’t take very long to cool to an appropriate drinking temperature either. Considering the fact that it was the cheapest choice by a fairly large margin, I was pretty happy with this one. It is from a gas station, however, so I would not recommend this for a romantic hot chocolate date. If those even exist.
Grade: B
hannahmarshall –asst. webmaster–
lucasmeyrer –webmaster–
Dunkin’ Donuts was our first stop on this escapade and at first I was very impressed. I thought the price was fair, the taste was nice and rich and you can get a delicious donut as a side. What’s not to like? Upon further investigation, I now believe the price is slightly high for the amount of product you receive but overall it was good. Dunkin’ Donuts also has multiple flavor options to add a little variety, including white chocolate, mint and caramel. Dunkin’ Donuts would have been a solid B if their drink didn’t come into my hands scalding hot. It took a while for it to cool down.
Wildwood’s newest coffee shop did live up to its fairly lofty national standards. The best part of Dunkin’s cocoa, for me, was the plethora of options. There are a bevy of different flavors including mint and salted caramel, so most taste buds can be sufficiently satisfied. Other than that, their original flavor was very average. There was nothing special about it, other than it being warm, fairly rich and rather good. Dunkin’ can best be described as “solid,” given its reasonable price, variety and proximity to school.
Kaldi’s surprised me. I have never been into their shop and I was immediately impressed by the decor and atmosphere. Unfortunately, their hot chocolate fell short. The taste was unique and had a different twang than the rest but it didn’t work for me. Another dissatisfying factor was the price. The large was almost four times the cost of a large at QuikTrip and the cup was probably as big as a medium QuikTrip hot beverage. It was average hot chocolate for an outrageous price.
While I really enjoy Kaldi’s and its ambience, the hot chocolate was the worst of the group. Its super expensive price could only really be justified by an out-ofthe-park drink, which it absolutely wasn’t. Kaldi’s beverage was super frothy, which some like, but I wasn’t a fan of. It also left a chalky aftertaste that wasn’t all that awful, but too strong and too noticeable. As the only establishment in our review that isn’t a chain, the drive out to the Chesterfield Valley just isn’t worth it.
Grade: B-
Grade: C+ I was extremely disappointed. With their salads and soups and sandwiches being out of this world, I expected better from their hot chocolate. It was arranged very nicely with the caramel drizzle on the whipped cream and the unique chocolate chip marshmallows but the taste was revolting. I stomached it but I never got the feeling of melted, semi-sweet chocolate out of my mouth. It was bitter and extremely strong. I would have given it an F if not for the presentation.
Grade: D-
Grade: B
Grade: C My thoughts on Bread Co.’s hot chocolate clearly make me the black sheep of the review group. I personally really liked its bitterness, but that’s only because of my selective pallet and love of dark, European chocolate. This was easily the fanciest drink of the bunch, and its marshmallow garnishes added a great finish. Considering how close a Panera location is to school, my only negative critique is its aboveaverage price. Why not treat yourself a little sometimes?
Grade: A-
QuikTrip’s hot chocolate was absolutely delicious! I could seriously get addicted to the rich, creamy hot chocolate. Not only was it the best hot chocolate I tasted, the price is extremely cheap. In addition to having great hot chocolate for a great value, there is a free whipped topping machine! None of the other places had this delectable option. A+ for sure.
The underrated QuikTrip was easily the surprise of the trip. However, my excitement doesn’t necessarily even come from the hot chocolate’s taste (which, like Dunkin,’ was very basic and unoriginal). No, QuikTrip stole my heart because of its price. My wallet takes a severe beating during the winter, what with all my food and drink purchases and QT is a stellar bargain. This gas station is the best choice for the student on a budget.
Grade: A+
Grade: B+