Oct 16, 2015

image

October 16, 2015 • Vol. 47, No. 2

L You guessed it.

It’s the cheesy Halloween edition.

See pages 8-9 for all the scary details.

Lafayette High School • 17050 Clayton Rd. • Wildwood, MO 63011 • lhsimage.com • @LHSimage

image

page two • opinions

Oct. 16, 2015

Outrage, discussion must lead to action

staff editorial 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.

Staff • Policies

You’re watching the news, and a headline flashes across the screen. “SCHOOL SHOOTING” is what it reads. You spend the next few minutes looking further into the story.

How many people were hurt? What’s the shooters name? Where did this happen?

After that, you take a few moments to feel sorry for the victims along with the school and the community, and then you move on with your life, not thinking too much about the subject unless you see something about it on social media.

It’s October 2015 and there have been over 45 school shootings. Most of which are not getting half of the attention like an incident like Columbine shooting did due to the fact that mass shootings have sadly become normality when it comes to breaking news .

One of the most recent school shooting took place on Oct. 1 at Umpqua Community College in Rosesburg, OR. The shooter executed nine before committing suicide. Just like all devastating events, the question of how it could’ve been prevented comes into play, and what comes hand-in-hand with all mass shootings is the popular debate on gun control.

For a long time, improved gun control laws have been suggested in order to prevent things like school and other mass shootings from taking place. But with this also comes the belief that gun laws that are too strict strip America of its rights, and will force people to give up

More dead as an active shooter has hit a school campus again . . .

something that is in our Constitution.

Despite debate, someone who wants their hands on a gun will achieve that one way or another. Even with strict gun laws, other weapons can be used to cause damage and to take innocent lives. There will always be weapons available.

There have been many cases where the criminal stole weapons or possessed them illegally, which led to multiple injuries and fatalities.

The issue isn’t loosely laid out gun laws, but is in fact the person controlling the gun.

As school and mass shootings started to become more and more frequent over the past few years, the gun debate slowly shifted from a gun debate to a mental health issue debate.

It isn’t about how easy they’re able to get the weapons they desire, it’s the fact that they desire weapons in the first place.

Mental health issues are some of the many topics that America has sadly brushed under the rug in the past, and it’s time that we now make a change.

We agree there is no one perfect solution to gun violence. If there was one, it would’ve been discovered by now, and the amount of school shooting wouldn’t be as big as they are now.

Our parents have continuously made it a political debate. Sides are taken up, and politicians use these horrible events as a way to get people to support them instead of

Something has to be done!

concentrating on the fact that it’s a real issue.

So, what can we do right now.

First, this year, all Rockwood staff participated in special intruder training to get better educated on what to do if someone came to school with a gun with the intention of hurting others. The question is, why weren’t the students trained as well? Why wasn’t it discussed with us?

We participate in regular drills for fires, tornados and earthquakes. As soon as the alarm goes off, we know exactly what to do because we’ve been doing it since kindergarten. Yes, we participate in intruder drills, but let’s face the facts: hiding away in the corner of a dark room isn’t going to protect us.

Next, we need to be proactive, and try to prevent the violence from happening in the first place.

Stop being afraid to talk about this subject with teachers and classmates. Don’t be afraid to report unusual activity or people who are acting strangely or posting disturbing things on social media.

Accept that this is happening all around us, and even though we don’t know the perfect solution, taking some kind of action and trying to understand how to deal with the situation is better than getting all fired up when a incident occurs and then going back to life as usual a few weeks later or until the next attack takes place. Next time it could be here.

Gun Control Now!

An active shooter has hit a school campus again . . .

Editors

Seth Boester • Editor in Chief Anna James • News Editor Jessica Collins • Lifestyle Editor Ben Rachell• Opinion Editor Kayley Allen • Sports Editor Kaitlyn Wylie • Feed Editor Suzy Blalock • Webmaster Garrett McBay • Asst. Webmaster Nancy Y. Smith, MJE • Adviser

Staff Members

by Josie Sigwart

Image:

Tyler Burnett, Erin Coogan, Arpan Das, Jack Deubner, Brinlee Frazier, Elly Levy, Alex Kessler, Dominic Scaglione, Josh Waitsman

Digital Media:

Logan Jordan • Editor in Chief Julianne Beffa • Editor in Chief Malcolm Beattie-Hauser, Jimmy Bowman, Kevin Chang, Nathan Hinton, Olivia Jaeger, Ben Laves, Karina Patel, Shelby Robbe, Mason Smith, Laura Stewart, Cameron Wolk

Information

Image is published nine times a year by the News Production class. Subscriptions are $30. Free issues are distributed on campus. The 2014-2015 Image received an All-American rating with five marks of distinction from the National Scholastic Press Association. The 2013-2014 website received a rating of All-American with five marks of distinction. The 2013-2014 Image was awarded the George H. Gallup Award from Quill and Scroll.

Philosophy Statement

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.

Contact Us

Located in Room 137A at Lafayette High School, 17050 Clayton Rd., Wildwood, MO 63011. Our phone number is (636) 7334118 and our e-mail address is lhsimage@gmail.com or visit on the web at: www.lhsimage.com

Policies

A complete explanation of the Rockwood School District Policies and Regulations concerning official student publications and the policies and procedures used by the Image staff can be found on the website www.lhsimage.com under the About Us tab.

Understanding, targeting what you want out of high school is most important Living your life and becoming okay with your identity is more important than agreeing with everybody else’s standards of how life should be lived.

Numbers such as academic success, size and money don’t always show the truly meaningful and positive characteristics of a person. People have more power to change things than a score.

None of those numbers can define someone’s personality and how much their family and friends care for them. The fact is that they have the power to be happy in the end.

But I am competent enough to understand that that doesn’t mean that those qualities aren’t meaningless. Everyone can make lifestyle changes to get to the point to where they can be comfortable with themselves.

At the end of the day, someone’s weight is crucial to their health, their ACT can be important in opening up windows and opportunities that would be more difficult without that score and can be a key indicator in how people judge that person off the bat.

And sometimes life isn’t fair; some people have different metabolism rates, some people can’t obtain information as quickly as others.

Some aren’t as capable at performing well on standardized testing, despite practicing daily and giving it all they have.

But everyone can make some sort of change to benefit themselves and that should absolutely not be discouraged.

When professionals look at a resume, when admissions office administrators review a college application, then proceed to define someone solely based off a single ACT score,

many times misconceptions are made.

And there isn’t much that be done about changing somebody’s mind that’s in that position to make that decision. Trust me, if there was a way, it would have been found out a long time ago.

Like it or not, it’s human tendency to make inferences without seeing the full situation.

What does need to be realized is that everybody is their own most important person.

When this person looks at those numbers and tosses your resume aside, it isn’t because that person doesn’t like you, it’s because they are assuming you aren’t the right fit.

Take their advice and alter those numbers and get them to where they need to be to impress the person that needs to be impressed.

Their decision does not define who you are as a person and your happiness does not need to change by what they say. What might need to change is a work ethic and a positive winning attitude.

This also means that you shouldn’t strive to be as successful as someone else wants you to be. It’s the simplest philosophy but often one that is lost amongst the drama of everything else that is going on in life.

Be okay with your choices, go by with what you think will provide you the longest tenured happiness and find the best choice for you.

Sometimes someone else might not approve of your decision to do what you want with your life. But if somebody else intervenes your decision with no other purpose than to push their own agenda, is it really worth conceding to them and letting them write the script to your life?

Ben There, Done That

ben rachell opinions editor

That isn’t an excuse to be rude to somebody who questions your decisions, but it means that it’s okay to be your own person and make your own decisions.

How you want those numbers to look is up to you for the most part and you have the power to make a change. Not your mom and dad, not your best friend, not your brother or sister, not your teacher, no one but you can decide what you want those numbers to look like.

Everything should be done to make your success the biggest priority in your life. Take others who support you and use it as your fuel to do what you want to do with your life.

If you’re okay with settling and just being content at where you are, then that’s okay also.

But if those numbers aren’t letting you get to where you need to be, then they can be altered.

Oct. 16, 2015

image

page three • opinions

Respect other cultures, but don’t be afraid to lose your own voice It seems that nowadays, people are too concerned with being as politically correct as possible.

Gone are the times where a man, sorry, a person, could get through a sentence without having to fix the wording of it to appease everybody.

No, instead, I find myself having to basically go through a checklist in my head of words I can and cannot say, just to make sure somebody doesn’t get upset about whatever I’m talking about.

Now, lower your pitchforks, let me explain myself.

Do I believe that being on the politically correct side of things is better than living your life as a raging bigot?

Of course I do. Everyone on this is earth is human; we are all equal and we deserve to be treated equally.

It’s not that I have an objection with human decency, it’s that in this day and age, one could get chastised, called a racist, and shunned by his/her peers, solely because he/ she accidentally forgot something as miniscule as including the term “gender-fluid” in a list of gender types.

Don’t believe me? Let’s take to the internet for just a second.

The social networking platform Tumblr was founded in 2007, and since then it has become host to over 250 million blogs.

But like any website, there are some bad eggs in the carton, several million to be exact.

While it might just be a vocal minority, Tumblr has a particularly loud group of social justice warriors (SJW), people who spend their time perusing through the blogs, scanning for every single word or phrase that goes against their perfect world agenda.

Some even go as far as to take a “reverse bigotry” approach to their hobby, commenting with sentences like “white people can’t be oppressed”, as well as other absurd statements.

They make you go insane, right? I’m not the only one?

Believe me, if I could embed a hyperlink into a physical newspaper, I would. Spotting these comments out in the wild is truly a sight to behold.

And these statements don’t just stop at Tumblr. These SJWs have become an issue across the comment sections of all mainstream websites, like Facebook and Youtube.

No topic is safe anymore.

Post a status update claiming that your favorite football player is Colin Kaepernick?

You will be scolded by various strangers for liking him due to his fairly recent involvement in allegations of rape, which were proven to be 100 percent false.

Upload a gameplay video of the new Halo coming out this month? Be prepared to see your inbox be filled with comments claiming that it’s sexist that Master Chief is a buff white guy instead of a girl.

Again, I understand that this is just a vocal minority, a small crowd of people who coincidentally have the loudest voices on the internet.

But if this is the group that will be leading the charge for what we as a collective society want to change in the coming years, then I’ll start to rethink my views on who can and can’t voice their opinion.

You see that, Tumblr? You’re making me question freedom of speech, a natural right according to the US Constitution. Shame on you.

It’s one thing to have to change the wording of my sentences when participating in a serious discussion, but it’s another thing when people just don’t know how to take a joke.

There’s no group that has come under fire about things that they’ve said more than comedians.

Of course, there are the obvious incidents, such as Gilbert Gottfried’s uncalled for plane joke spoken not even two weeks after the September 11 attacks, as well as pretty much anything Daniel Tosh posts on Twitter.

These are, at most, done in bad taste.

The jokes may be unwarranted, or at least

Real Talk

stars & gripes

Stars: - The Toronto Blue Jays baseball team secured their first playoff appearance since 1993. The entire country of Canada will be watching intensely, rooting on their team—oh hey look, Hockey’s back on!

- NASA confirmed that flowing water has been discovered on the surface of Mars. You know the California drought is becoming a problem when a planet 34 million miles away seems like it has better real estate.

- Halloween is just around the corner. Girls, why don’t you try to dress up as something original this year, like a black cat.

seth boester editor in chief said in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s understandable if one takes offense to them.

Then, you have jokes/routines that aren’t meant to draw attention, ones that were only created as a harmless act of comedy, but are instead taken the wrong way by the ever growing politically correct crowd of people.

Cases like this have stopped comedian Jerry Seinfeld from performing at universities.

“I don’t play colleges, but I hear a lot of people tell me, ‘Don’t go near colleges. They’re so PC (politically correct),” he said.

If comedians can’t do their job to entertain anymore because somebody might take offense to the things they say, then art as we know it could eventually collapse, and I don’t want that to happen.

It’s apparent that this trend of being “PC” is growing in my age demographic, and so I make a sort of call to arms to my fellow classmates.

If someone says something that could potentially be offensive, whether it’s a joke in bad taste or a serious statement, talk to him/her about it, be understanding, and have them elaborate on their point so as to avoid any needless confrontation, especially on the internet.

- The 2016 Presidential election season is kicking into full gear. Analysts are picking Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush as early frontrunners for the candidacy, but don’t rule out that guy “Write In” who keeps making his way onto the ballot every year.

Gripes: - Oct. 16 is National Department Store Day, so celebrate by doing your weekend shopping at K Mart, because we don’t think there’s been a customer in one of their stores in at least 15 years.

- Hurricane Joaquin has been making its way through the Atlantic Coast of the United States. Let’s hope the storm doesn’t travel up north and combine with the already active Hoboken, New Jersey supervolcano.

- “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy,” Pope Francis said, referring to his recent trip to Philadelphia, or was that a line from Star Wars?

- What was up with the song choices at Homecoming?

If we wanted to dance to the Cupid Shuffle, we’d go to a 6th grade mixer.

Good Vibes: Youth Lagoon releases long awaited third full-length project ben rachell• opinions editor Boise Idaho based dream-pop, one man orchestra, Youth Lagoon (Trevor Powers), dropped his junior album on Sept. 25.

The new album is called Savage Hills Ballroom, and it’s very emotionally and thematically complete; but I also feel that much is still missing.

I originally got into Power’s music accidently while stumbling around on the internet like I’ve done with many artists. I did some research and found out his first album released several years back titled The Year of Hibernation, and the cover art looked appealing, so I decided to give him a chance.

At first, I thought it was trash because I couldn’t get past the muddled vocals and lack of hooks

and initial inconsistency, but I found that the music relaxed me a lot so I kept it in my catalog just in case I ever felt like it might go good with how I’m feeling.

I find that a lot of times the biggest treasures in music and art as whole can be found through giving the artist your concentration and putting yourself in the artist’s shoes and just listening to what they have to offer you.

This requires the listener or observer to put forward effort into giving someone a chance to impress you.

Back when I heard this album I wasn’t really into lo-fi or dream pop music because it was so different than my favorite genre, which is hip hop.

But this album helped me hop outside of what I was traditionally comfortable with and helped me find more stuff that I really like.

Many listens later I find it’s one of my favorite records because it’s so unique and its vibe is very lush and outdoorsy, which is a sound that I always felt like I gravitated towards internally.

I felt the same about his sophomore album, Wondrous Bughouse, so I was pretty excited

going into this third album.

The opening track, Officer Telephone, caught me so off-guard.

Power’s voice sounded so full and I felt like I was in the Wild West traveling on horse-back.

It started off slow and dream poppy and was interrupted midway by this punk-electronic drum break that was pretty dense. I had never heard Powers voice so full and lively and that made me even more curious to see what he had in store.

It ended up looping into the next track Highway Patrol Stun Gun sort of awkwardly I felt. The song, although good, felt incomplete and kept building up so much to the point that it never really reached its full potential.

But the third song The Knower worked perfectly, although it was kind of lyrically silly and basic.

But musically it was a style I’ve never heard, mixing elements of so many different genres and it worked very well.

The next two or three songs were all unique in the same sense as The Knower in regards to genre fusing, but I feel that this uniqueness kind of took away the cohesiveness of the album.

Although each song would have

been good as a single, when he put all of them together for this album, the album just kind of sounds directionless and disjointed.

Not only that, but I miss the unprofessional sound that he had; back when he was recording in his house in Idaho everything sounded less professional and it sounded more organic.

Then, the production on the closing tracks sounded like something huge was coming to an end; but I never really felt like I was in the album to begin with, so it just made the songs that already felt like filler songs stand out even more.

Usually in a genre like hip hop or pop music, cheap production sounds bad, but in Power’s genre, sometimes it can go well. And it did for his first pair of projects.

I’m all for an artist improving his situation and trying new things, but in this case, I didn’t like it.

And that’s really the story of this album. Good songs, not a great body of work.

If you want to hear his best and most honest work, I’d definitely recommend listening to the The Year of Hibernation, as it has a more unique sound.

image

page four • news

Working Toward Social Justice

Oct. 16, 2015

Staff members take tour of St. Louis to better understand their students brinlee frazier • reporter During the summer administrators and other met to discuss ways to help the staff increase its awareness of the entire student body and social equality.

That idea grew and now every staff member is being required to take part in a social justice developmental project.

“As part of our professional development this year, one aspect of it is studying social justice and how it impacts us as people and as teachers,” Principal John Shaughnessy said.

Shaughnessy is the coordinator of this project.

The idea originated in last spring’s Health Summit, an event where students, staff and parents discuss concerns about the school and community.

Participants felt that after last year’s events with students struggling with some mental health issues and the events surrounding race and Ferguson, MO, there needed to be a better student-staff relationship.

DUring their back-to-school meetings staff members heard speakers about the topic of social justice. As an extension of that, staff members are now taking part in what is being called a social justice bus tour.

Lafayette is the only high school in the district taking part in this experience.

The purpose of the tour is to allow teachers to get a feel about how long the bus rides are from the city to the school, and to see the neighborhoods where the students who are part of the voluntary transfer program live.

The staff has been split into five groups for the tours, each group going on a different date.

The first two groups went on Aug. 25 and Sept. 17. The next tours are on Oct. 20, Nov. 12 and Dec. 9.

Since each tour takes the whole day, substitute teachers fill in the place of the participant, at a cost of about $90 a day.

The tour covers different zones of St. Louis.

Many teachers have gone so far including John Becker, world language teacher.

“Our students come from an area in St. Louis that I am not familiar with. Seeing the lack of restaurants to go to, things we have a lot for access to in central or south St. Louis is just a reminder of what their lives might be like,” Becker said.

To begin the day, participants have a kickoff at LHS, where they learn about how to get to know the students better and concurrently

be able to understand and help them, no matter their financial background or race.

Afterwards, the staff travels to the Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corporation office (VICC).

There, they meet with VICC representatives who share the history of VICC, its current status and its goals for the future.

From there, the staffers board the bus to tour the three zones of the city.

“We really look at the differences the northern part of the city, the central city and the southern part of the city, where the three zones divide our students,” Shaughnessy said.

The tour is lead by Dr. Terry Harris, Director of Support Services in the Rockwood School District and a Lafayette grad from the VICC program. Harris gives the history of the areas visited by the staff members and talks about the community.

The first area in which the tour passes through is Ferguson. Coordinators of the tour felt that it was important to pass through this city due to the vocal demonstrations by the students about the unrest last year.

They continue through the city, passing locations of residence of the students and hear about the history and current status of those areas.

From there, they eat lunch, catered by Sweetie Pies, at various locations, such as Urban League and Third Baptist Church.

As they eat, participants hear from Dr. Terry Jones from the University of Saint Louis about segregation and race relations in St. Louis.

Jones talks to the staff about the history of race relations and social equality of St. Louis.

He also discusses the process of desegregation and how race currently affects every day life and interactions.

Reactions to the tour have been mixed.

Senior Donte Charles, who resides in the city, said, “I think it’s a good idea because they get to understand where students come from and their living styles.”

However, senior James Daily, who lives in the city, said, “They don’t experience the same thing. They’re just looking at stuff.” Daily said he doesn’t believe it is worth the cost.

“There is no way to truly recreate the experience of living in a neighborhood. The purpose is to allow teachers to experience the length of the bus ride, get a realistic perspective of where our students reside and a view our what their communities look like,” Brittany Hogan, VICC coordinator, said.

Your Halloween costume will look better with a tan!

Don’t miss out on these special offers! $

10 Mystic Tans ! *Valid for teens ages 14-19.

See salon for more details.

$

2 0 Unlimited

Week of Tanning in ANY Bed ! *Valid for teens ages 14-19.

See salon for more details.

LHS Student Exclusive Offer!

15933 Manchester Rd. • Ellisville, MO 63011 • (636) 230-9989

gotanco.com

VICC representatives have decided not to share the cost of the trips with the public.

Hogan said the money is funded through a three-way partnership between the Department of Educational Equity and Diversity, the Department of Professional Learning and Lafayette.

While some have raised concerns about teachers kissing school and the money being spent for the five tours, other have been positive about the experience.

Math Department Chair Danna Philips said, “If it just changes one person’s dayto-day interaction with another person, then it’s been worth it. If it makes us a little more compassionate, then it is definitely worth it.”

Oct. 16, 2015

image

page f ive • news

Parking lot, pass system still have flaws seth boester • editor in chief With a new school year came changes in the way the administration deals with its annual housework.

One of these is the way that they now handle the distribution of parking passes.

On July 22, the Lafayette website had an announcement that, students would be able to pre-purchase their parking passes before orientation using a brand new online system.

A Google Form was sent out with questions regarding the applicant’s basic information, model of car, etc.

The applicant would then sign and fill out the standard physical form as well, taking it with them to orientation.

In theory, students who completed the pre-purchase form would wait in a separate, faster line, where they would then be able to choose the general section of the parking lot where they wanted their spots.

“We allowed students to pick from the east, west, choir hall and CCE lots,” Assistant Principal Kirti Mehrotra said.

However, things did not go according to original plans.

The new system brought on some confusion with applicants, as well as various issues that complicated the whole process of obtaining the passes.

Student accounts of their experiences with the new system have varied greatly.

Some, like senior Olivia Jaeger, filled out the online form and expected to go through the process of obtaining their passes in a smooth manner.

“When I got to the front of the [pre-paid] line, they couldn’t find my name on their list, and so I had to go back to the end of the second line and wait in it for about 45 minutes,” Jaeger said.

Others, such as junior Alex Walker, had a decent experience with the lines, but ran into other issues.

“They gave me my pass in an envelope, and it was completely random. I wish that they would’ve let me at least pick an area of the parking lot,” he said.

Some students were lucky enough to pick the exact spot that they wanted, not being limited to just a general area.

“This was definitely not supposed to happen,” Mehrotra said.

She noted that it was partially miscommunication between some of the parent volunteers and the administration that caused the trouble with distributing spots.

This also led some students to believe that every spot was allowed

The west end of the parking lot is just one of several sections that is filled with cracks. Rockwood Director of Facilities Chris Freund said, “Once [maintenance] needs are established the work goes out to bid and is performed over the upcoming summer. (photo by Seth Boester) to be hand-picked.

Junior Courtney Klohmann said, “I felt like it was sort of implied that I could choose my spot.”

Regardless, there are many students and parents looking for changes to be made in the way parking pass assignments are handled moving forward.

“A lot of things could be improved for next year,” Mehrotra said.

Students also seem to be on board with keeping the system next year, as long as there are no hiccups.

“They can still do the online thing next year; they just need to make sure it works this time,” Jaeger said.

Another concern of students is the cost of parking and where that money goes.

The district was able to make a hefty profit from selling the parking spots. It is estimated that the school collected somewhere around $115,000 all together for parking revenue.

One of the more obvious questions among the student body is, where exactly does all the money go?

All of the funds collected from sales are sent directly to Rockwood’s Facilities Services Department.

The department handles all

finances and maintenance pertaining to all Rockwood schools, and, more specifically in this case, the upkeep of the parking lots at all four high schools in the district.

Rockwood’s Director of Facilities Chris Freund said, “The purpose of the funds are to support the expenses associated with maintaining and overseeing the parking lots at the schools.

Expenses would include parking lot repair, resurfacing, restriping, beautification, signage and parking lot attendants.”

While the department does not have an exact schedule of maintenance, the school administration will send them a list of the specific requirements for parking lot upkeep each year.

“This time of year we start collaboration with facilities staff and building staff at the four high schools to determine the needs for the upcoming year. Once those needs are established the work goes out to bid and is performed over the upcoming summer,” Freund said.

Concerns have been raised by students concerning the condition of the parking lot and the fact that little to no maintenance was completed over the summer.

Attention Seniors-Juniors ACT/SAT Tutoring

Call Dr. Jack Arnold 314-805-4561 Appointments Tuesday/Thursday Evenings Saturday/Sunday afternoons www.JackArnold.org

Spot number 227 is one of many in the parking lot with faded numbers. The district has allocated around $115,000 to be used for renovations next year. (photo by Seth Boester) Cracks and potholes appear throughout the lot. Also, the space numbers are varying degrees of faded, and some are completely unreadable.

Even the order of the numbers is off in some places.

Senior Kelsey Baich said, “I’m in

spot 234, and the one to my left is 232. Spot 233 doesn’t exist.”

The question now becomes whether or not the district will follow through with their promise of renovating the parking lot for next school year and whether the online system will work more efficiently.

image

page six • news

Sept. 18, 2015

Canned Food Drive kicks off on Halloween Students asked to bring non-perishable items to 1st Hour classes for competition erin coogan • reporter Another Battle of 109 will be kicking off soon, but this one will not take place between athletic teams.

Eureka High School is notorious throughout the community for the huge amount of cans it collects each year through the canned food drive.

In fact, they were the first Rockwood school to implement the annual drive.

Assistant Principal Kirti Mehrotra is working to make Lafayette a contender for the top provider of canned food to local pantries.

According to Eureka’s online newspaper, EHS-Hub, the school collected 36,288 cans last year.

Over the past 20 years, the Wildcats have racked up a grand total of over 600,000 cans.

EHS-Hub said the items go to a variety of charities around the St. Louis area, but the largest portion goes to Circle of Concern.

Circle of Concern is a food pantry for West County. They provide food for families in need.

Last year, they fed 25,472 people with 41,363 bags of groceries, but they do not stop there.

Circle of Concern also gives financial support, job mentoring and scholarships.

“It is important for people to to donate because we do not get any government funding. Donations are our primary source of food products. Our neighbors are the ones who donate, so it is important for the donations to go back to the neighborhood,” Senior Director of Resource Development Juliet Holden said.

Some of the highly requested products are peanut butter and jelly, chili, cereal, canned fish, canned pasta, pasta sauce and macaroni and cheese.

Another charity EHS donates its cans to is the Eureka Food Pantry which is run out of the Eureka United Methodist Church. Their food bank serves 100-115 families per month.

Last year, Lafayette students collected over 30,000 cans.

Mehrotra, who oversees the canned food drive, said, “I hope that one day we would raise enough cans to cover an entire football field. I think that would be a very cool visual.”

Unlike Eureka’s canned food drive, where the food goes to a variety of charities, Lafayette’s canned food drive only donates to Circle of Concern.

“We found that Circle of Concern caters to almost all of Rockwood. They take care of families that are coming to Lafayette,” Mehrotra said.

Kick off for this years canned food drive starts on Halloween. Rather than collecting candy, students are encouraged to collect cans of food instead. The school will continue to collect throughout November in hopes of reaching the goal of 30,000 cans.

Teachers will collect cans in their 1st Hour classes.

“If every teacher collects 300 cans, we will reach our goal of 30,000 and much more,” Mehrotra said.

“When I took over the drive, America was having a recession at the time. A lot of families were embarrassed to come and report that they wanted their kids to have the free or reduced lunch, and we would tell them that it is confidential. They would still be embarrassed.

I thought if I could provide a resource to the pantries, they could go to the pantries and get the food if they didn’t want to do it here,” Mehrotra said.

All of the cans that were collected from the drive two years ago are lined up in the Back Gym. The total amount of cans collected has raised every year. (Courtesy of Legend staff)

Oct. 16, 2015

page seven • news

image

Lafayette goes green with new addition Ribbon-cutting for new greenhouse slated for Nov. 10 after months of development anna james • news editor New things come with new school years, development is coming among Lafayette High with a growing opportunity.

Principal John Shaughnessy has been working for over two years to develop the plans for a greenhouse to be built on the Lafayette campus. After being approved by the school board, he developed plans with architects and constructors to begin this project.

“The intention is for Lafayette to have an experiential hands on learning center for Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS), science, engineering, Special School District (SSD), early childhood and many more classes,” Shaughnessy said.

The greenhouse is expected to open up opportunities for all faculty and students.

Shaughnessy says he hopes this opens up the door for many other classes to find projects revolving around the greenhouse, and not only just growing produce.

With the hope that it will be sustainable enough one day to grow fresh produce for the salad bar in the lunch line, foods classes should be able to grow herbs and vegetables to cook with.

Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Becky Lawrence and the team of foods teachers have been awaiting an opportunity like this and are very excited to have the greenhouse be built in their “back yard.”

“We have many plans to start a unit on sustainability and begin learning new concepts of produce growth which we have already lightly touched on,” Lawrence said. “It will be very convenient for us to have the greenhouse right outside of the door to where we can check the growth and collect for cooking.”

While learning the skill of cooking with the produce, students also are able to obtain the skill and knowledge of where their food comes from and just how much of a chore it is.

“The FACS teachers have discussed many exciting things such as the growth of herbs, fresh produce such as vegetables to cook with and even spices,” Lawrence said.

It also is being held up as a standard showing that in a school environment it is just as important to learn curriculum as it is to apply it to your daily life.

After looking into all the funding, approximately $180,000-200,000, that would be needed for the greenhouse Shaughnessy decided he would make this a personal project for Lafayette and not take out numerous grants.

Instead, he looked back into student activity accounts and found majority of the funding for the greenhouse there. These activity accounts are all of the funds that run activities or clubs and not provided to the school in the yearly budget to Shaughnessy for the school itself.

Following meetings with sponsors and coaches of many of the activities, Shaughnessy was able to locate enough money to place into a large greenhouse fund.

The Student Activity accounts from now

Architectural plans on display in Principal John Shaughnessy’s office show the future of Lafayette’s education for all students and staff. The project will cost an estimated $180,000 by the time it is completed. The goal is for several different curricular areas to make use of the greenhouse. (photo by Anna James) defunct clubs or groups with extra funds they could donate had enough money to start the project as of now, which was $80,000, and the rest of the money came from other sources.

“Donations have been received, anonymous and known. The Lafayette Parent Organization (LPO) has also been a helpful source for funding along with a few smaller grants,” Shaughnessy said.

The greenhouse will be computerized on a system that controls the climate, temperature, lighting, water being brought to the plant life and the opening and closing of vents.

It will be monitored at all times by this system and is even so complex that when a simple temperature change that effects the climate too much, a call will be placed to the emergency number registered in the system.

Shaughnessy hopes this draws in students that have a love for technology to be able to sustain and use the system to benefit the school.

The architect overseeing the project, Paul Baden, is excited to see the greenhouse opened up to all students.

“In my opinion the technology in this greenhouse will be great for engineering students to study and try to understand,”

Chemistry/Physics Tutor Available Retired Teacher

High School Level/Advanced Classes

636-532-4648

doloresfvermont@gmail.com

Baden said, “they may not be able to alter the way it works, but they can surely figure out what makes the system tick and exactly how to change and tweak the little things that arise as the school figures out how to work the whole greenhouse.”

This will also be a space for Project Lead the Way engineering students to implement their curriculum objectives associated with designing cost efficient/environmentally friendly spaces.

“I’m very excited to be working with Lafayette again and I think this will be an interesting and beneficial project for the school,” Baden said.

Digging for the foundation is slated to start while the architects wait for the greenhouse parts to ship from South Carolina, and as soon as they arrive it should be time to start construction.

Since the pre-school students in the building are a part of the Lafayette community, they will also have the opportunity to develop their skills with gardening and growing flowers.

Another great opportunity will exist for collaboration with Special School District. Now Lafayette can show it has the ability to do some on-site job training instead of the program

having to spend the money to go off campus to teach students some hands-on skills they might need in the working world.

“I think the greenhouse will bring a venue that shows inclusiveness in our school by having a common learning space where many content areas can come together. It also shines the light on our community that our school can give back after it gets put into with a project like the greenhouse,” Shaughnessy said.

The greenhouse will open up all spectrums of activity for students. Shaughnessy says he sees the greenhouse being a venue for possible fundraising projects along the way, such as selling plants and produce for some of the clubs that invested into this project.

“This will be our first greenhouse to build for a school and I’m very excited to see what venues of education it will open up so we can see the benefits of the work that we do,” Baden said.

Students are also interested in seeing where the project goes.

“I think it might be a little much and that we could be spending the money on for something else, but overall it’s a good project that would benefit the school. So I think it’s a great idea,” Jenna Killips, junior, said.

image

pages eight and nine • cover story

For big kids, Halloween is more than Trick or Treating and wearing a cheap costume. It requires stepping out of your comfort zone and seeking a good old-fashioned scare.

Things That Go Bump In The Night

Students share scariest moments of their lives through various fears, events jessica collins • lifestyles editor A fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by a conclusion that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

No matter how much someone reassures a person that the said thing isn’t going to harm them, they continue to run miles away from it.

Fear is closely related to emotional anxiety which occurs as the result of threats perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable. People can’t control what they are afraid of, and that is what makes some of them odd or eccentric.

Senior Kinley Sweeten has placed a distasteful stigma on cotton balls.

“I just don’t like the feel and the screechy sound they make when you squish them,” Sweeten said.

Depending on the phobia, fears can cause conflict in everyday life for that person.

“If I want to take my nail polish off, I use Q-Tips so I can avoid touching the cotton balls. The nail salon is always an uncomfortable place for me because I know what’s coming,” Sweeten said.

Just thinking about the feared object or situation can make people anxious. When a person is actually exposed to the thing that they fear, the terror is automatic and overwhelming.

“One time at my friend’s house, a bunch of the girls threw a of cotton balls at me to be funny. I can handle cotton shirts, in fact I love them, I just do not like raw cotton balls because the feeling and sound freaks me out. It gives me the chills even

when I see other people using them.”

Fears can consist of many things, most of them are bound to be untrue but that doesn’t stop a person from being completely and utterly terrified. Fears can be learned by experiencing or watching a frightening traumatic accident.

“When I was little, my older sister told me a scary story about a camel. Shortly after, I went to a petting zoo and decided to conquer my fear. The camel bit my hand so ever since I have been scared of them,” senior Gina Yu said.

“I just think their humps look weird and the concept of them freaks me out. Their odd looking faces add to their creepiness.”

When fears appear to be different, many people believe they are illegitimate. People don’t seem to take phobias seriously when they peculiar or odd.

“Sometimes throughout the day my friends will shove pictures of camels in my face. When I start to cry they realize I’m serious, but it shouldn’t have gotten to that point,” Yu said.

Other odd phobias involve various food items.

“I guess I'm afraid of pudding! I absolutely hate it and I always have, the texture is just weird to me and the way it jiggles makes me want to puke,” junior Anna Strode said.

Things from a person’s past also can cause current, rational fears. Traumatizing experiences can affect people’s daily lives.

Senior Josh Clark stopped eating foods he was allergic to after a traumatic incident.

“The most scared I have ever been was when I choked on a piece of turkey for two hours. I had eaten a bunch of food that I was allergic to on Thanksgiving without knowing so my throat

completely swelled up. The next day I tried to have leftover turkey and it got stuck in my throat. I went to the hospital and found out I had a lot of food allergies. They had to knock me out and surgically remove the piece of turkey.”

Senior Kelsey Baich is just short of having Cyclophobia, which is a response to intense and persistent fear of being around bicycles or riding a bicycle.

“When I was little I fell off a bike and rolled down a concrete driveway. I hit my head and passed out. I've been scared of them ever since,” Baich said.

“It's embarrassing because I’m almost 18 and I can’t ride a bike, which is a skill most 5-year-old children have mastered.”

If a person has a phobia, they probably realize that their fear is unreasonable, yet they still can’t control their feelings which can lead to conflict.

Getting lost can also be a fear various people experience.

Anxiety levels increase when looking for the missing person and the longer it takes to find them the more panicked the person appears.

“When I was younger, I was at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and lost my mom. I was supposed to follow her but I lost her in the midst of the large beds. I climbed into one of the trash cans out of fear and I got stuck. I ended up knocking it over and the workers had to help me out. They called for my mom on the intercom; it was pretty terrifying.”

Getting over a fear is very difficult. Most people learn to avoid certain situations that could potentially put them in a dangerous situation. “I definitely learned the importance of following directions,” junior Ryan Brown said.

Beauty Meets The Beast Naeger puts unique make up skills to use by creating gruesome looks for area haunts erin coogan • reporter Haunted houses are known for blood, gore and making nightmares become reality; however, that is just the finished product. There is a lot more to it than meets the eye.

Hanna Naeger From decorating to actually scaring people, workers put an extreme amount of effort into what they do.

There job provides them with the opportunity to transform a normal face into a terrifying monster through the use of makeup.

Senior Hanna Naeger has Hanna Na eg worked behind the scenes for grown into er started doing m ak m some hau ore than a hobby. eup a few years ag multiple haunted houses. Her nte S o, Fright Fest d houses and is w he currently does m and it has hard work and dedication has orking at akeup for . She also S C ix w o o F mpany. Ab rk helped her career of being a ove is one s on the makeup lags doing makeup cre fo of her grisl special effects makeup artist, y creation w for Lafayette The r s. ater which she even earned a scholarship for.

Darkness, “I don’t really know what got me started. One has reached out to her to day, I found a picture of a cut on someone’s arm. work for them.

I thought it would be really cool to recreate it. I Her job can be very difficult at times. guess I just found the world of special effects The process of applying the makeup is rapid. makeup through that. Anything horror is right up She has 15-20 minutes to transform a person my alley,” Naeger said. into a creature.

Her aunt is a makeup artist for movies, so she Not only that, but she has to apply makeup to helps Naeger with her skills. about 45-50 people in an hour and a half.

At first, she began with shadowing more “I normally do the more complicated ones experienced artists at smaller, not so popular first. The really nasty and gnarly ones take the houses. Soon she moved up to working at Six most time, so I do them in the beginning to Flags at night for the seasonal event, Fright Fest. spend more time on them. Then it’s on to the “I learned so much my first year. Everyone is next one,” Naeger said. so nice. If you don’t know how to do something, Some of the easier looks only take from two they will be there to help 100 percent,” Naeger to three minutes to do. said.

“Sometimes I wish I could go scare people, She thinks her two years of working at Fright but I am just behind the scenes,” Naeger said.

Fest has helped her develop new skills. One Naeger is extremely dedicated to her work of the biggest haunted houses in the area, The and really seems to enjoy it.

Scariest.

Movie. Lines.

Ever.

“It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.” — Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs “I see dead people.” — Cole in The Sixth Sense “They’re heeere.” — Carol Anne in Poltergeist “I took a souvenir: her pretty head.” — John Doe in Se7en “I like to dissect girls. Did you know I’m utterly insane?” — Patrick Bateman in American Psycho “A boy’s best friend is his mother.” — Norman Bates in Psycho According to: http://www.mtv.com/news/2036548/ creepy-movie-quotes-eye-candy/

What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever watched?

“The scariest movie I have ever seen is Sinister. The movie shows children sitting in rows the attic watching videos of other kids killing their parents. That got to me.”

-Tim Bogar, 12

“My favorite scary movie is The Last Exorcism because it took place in Missouri. It is styled like a documentary film so when the characters die, the screen still shows it being recorded.”

-Brendan McKenna, 12

“The scariest movie I have seen recently is The Conjuring It is deeply disturbing not only because it’s a true story, but because it shows an infection of the human soul.”

-Nathan Willard, staff

Which Witch?

Scariest Can you name these St. Louis area Lafayette staff members?

Haunted Houses The Darkness

1525 South Eighth St. $23 to $25 Open Friday-Saturday 7 p.m.-midnight and Sunday 7-9:30 p.m.

Six Flags Fright Fest

Interstate 44 and Six Flags Rd., Eureka $39.99 to 54.99 plus parking and a $20 admission fee for all four haunted houses 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday nights

Creepyworld

1400 South Old Highway 141, Fenton $23 to $25 Open Friday-Saturday 7 p.m.-12am and Sunday 7-9:30 p.m.

Crystal City Underground 700 Crystal Ave., Crystal City $15 to $30 for haunted maze, $15 to $30 for haunted barge Open 7 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

The Haunting of Lemp Brewery

3500 Lemp Ave. $20 to $28 Open Friday-Saturday 7 p.m.-12 a.m. and Sunday 7-9:30 p.m.

www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/ spooky-truth-a-horror-rankingof-st-louis-best-haunted-houses/ Content?oid=2504540

1. Emily Benner 2. Karen Calcaterra 3. Erin Hagglund 4. Katrina Clark 5. Meg Bargeon 6. Gretchen Whelan

Spook Season

Oct. 16, 2015

image

page ten • lifestyles

October Lit Link Crossword Return to the stage at lunch completed to win a prize!

Sponsored

by Renaissance

Oct. 16, 2015 Across

4. possible to do 5. behaving like one is superior to others 7. briefly or clearly expressed 9. caustic, liable to lead to negative change 10. the highest point reached by an object 11. a feeling of fear that something may happen 13. suave, courteous, refined 14. reserved or uncomminicative 15. leaving no doubt 16. excessive confidence 17. experiencing things through the actions of others 18. alternate between opinions, indecisive

Down

1. wanting to eat a large amount of food 2. filled with malice 3. regard with great respect 5. kept secret 6. being obedient in hope of gaining favor 8. to have a strong desire for revenge 12. using more words than needed 15. difficult or impossible to defend

Word Bank

succinct/supercilious/surreptitious/sycophant/taciturn/temerity/trepidation/unequivocal/untenable/ urbane/vacillate/venerate/verbose/viable/vindictive/vicarious/vitriolic/volatile/voracious/zenith

Oct. 16, 2015

image

page eleven • lifestyles

3.

1.

2.

1. Alex Wier poses with his dog, Coco, who was adopted from the Humane Society five years ago. (photo courtesy of Alex Wier) 2. Noah Robinson and his dog Brenna, who was going to be put down, but was adopted three years ago from a shelter in Illinois. (photo courtesy of Noah Robinson) 3. Megan Armstrong and her dog Saami, who was adopted from St. Louis Samoyed Rescue. (photo courtesy of Lindsay Armstrong)

Fighting for the Fur Dog lovers open hearts, give lonely pups a forever home elly levy • reporter It’s easy to fall in love with an adorable puppy; moreover, when you learn where they’ve been, or how they were treated, it’s like you can’t possibly adopt them fast enough.

As October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, it’s a perfect time to consider helping out a furry friend or two by giving them a permanent home, or even just a place to recover.

Since 1870, The Humane Society has been dedicated to second chances for all animals.

They’ve provided a safe and caring home to animals in need - no matter the size - that have been abused, neglected or abandoned.

Their mission? To end the cycle of abuse and pet overpopulation through their rescue and investigation efforts.

However, there are other organizations that help pair an animal with its perfect home.

Freshman Lindsay Armstrong is very familiar with one in particular called St. Louis Samoyed Rescue.

“My family wanted to get a dog but we didn’t know all of the responsibilities so we wanted to try out fostering,” Armstrong said. “So

we started fostering a dog from St. Louis Samoyed Rescue. We’ve been fostering dogs for about four years now.”

During their 20 years of rescue, St. Louis Samoyed Rescue has placed over 200 dogs, whether it be into foster homes or permanent families.

Armstrong added, “One dog that we fostered came from a puppy mill and they were going to be euthanized the next day, so we saved one of the puppies from that. Bad things do happen and we can save them from that by just giving a little love.

It’s a lot of work. I mean, the usual, feed them, pick up after them, groom them, love them. I do plan on getting a dog of my own one day, but I would love to always foster dogs.”

A large percentage of the puppies rescued by the Humane Society and other organizations come from puppy mills.

A puppy mill is a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given priority over the well-being of dogs.

Unlike most breeders, who place the utmost respect towards protecting every puppy, breeding at puppy mills is performed without

consideration of genetic quality, which results in generations of dogs with unchecked hereditary defects.

Animals from puppy mills are housed in shockingly poor conditions with improper medical care. They are often very sick and behaviorly troubled as a result.

The most important thing anyone can do to help shut down puppy mills is refuse to shop at a store that sells puppies.

Another organization is the Animal Protective Organization (APA).

Known for their excessive accomplishments for the animal world, the APA was originally formed to help prevent cruelty to working animals and stray animals in St. Louis County.

They now assist and advocate for companion animals in St. Louis and surrounding areas.

Although fostering is a very popular topic, a more permanent suggestion would be adoption.

Not only do animals give unconditional love, but they have been shown to be psychologically, emotionally and physically beneficial.

Caring for a companion animal can provide a sense of purpose and fulfillment and lessen feelings

of loneliness and isolation in all age groups.

And when a person adopts, they can feel proud about helping an animal in need.

One of the most rewarding aspects of adopting a shelter dog is the fact that it’s saving a life and giving an animal a new home.

But that’s not all—the adoption fee will benefit other animals, too.

By adopting a dog, it’s supporting the shelter’s good work in the community and help care for many homeless pets.

The fee also goes toward the shelter’s education and spay/neuter programs, which help prevent more unwanted litters.

In addition, when adopting from a shelter, a person becomes part of the solution to the overpopulation crisis.

A deserving animal is getting a new home. It’s freeing up cage space for another animal needing to be adopted.

Sophomore Jackie Boyd expressed her love for shelter dogs.

“Dogs are good companions and they all deserve a good home; it gives them a second chance,” she said.

Some Pet Adoption Stats • About 25 percent of shelter animals are purebreds.

•Mutts are America’s dog of choice, accounting for nearly 60 percent of all pet dogs.

• Approximately 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.9 million are dogs and 3.4 million are cats.

•Approximately 2.6 animals are euthanized each year.

•About 649,000 animals who enter shelters as strays are returned to their owners.

•About twice as many animals enter shelters as strays compared to the number that are relinquished by their owners.

•There are over 164 million pet dogs and cats in the United States. Of these, 1 in every 20 will end up in a shelter by the end of the year.

•The #1 reason dogs are relinquished to shelters is moving.

Top Five Things to Know When Adopting a Puppy:

1.

2.

3.

Who is going to be doing the dog walking, feeding him and taking him to the vet? Make sure you have the right intentions when searching for your perfect pup.

How are the dogs that live near you?

Is there a park or hiking trails nearby?

Make sure your dog is properly socialized before taking he or she out by the neighbors.

Never adopt a dog with a higher energy level than yourself. Consider your age and their own.

Consider your needs before adopting a furry friend

Check out how dog friendly your neighborhood is

Choose a dog with an equal energy level to your own

4.

5.

Don’t generalize when deciding on a breed. Consider the characteristics

Don’t make an emotional decision when choosing your pet

Just because you enjoy big dogs, doesn’t mean you are at the place to care for a dog of that size.

Leave your emotions at the door. Going into a shelter is a very devastating and sad experience. You need to be in the right mindset to adopt a dog that is right for you and your family.

image

page twelve • lifestlyes

Oct. 16, 2015

Students, schools working to minimize allergy risks jack deubner • reporter Typically occurring at a younger age, anyone’s first allergic reaction is normally a surprise. Maybe it’s a rash from eating some nuts, getting hives from a latex glove from the doctor’s office, or even having a throat swell up from just eating out one night with the family, any allergic reaction can be a scary situation.

Allergies, with nothing to cure them, rely on the person with the allergen to know and master just how to avoid a reaction, and in the situation if they do have a reaction, handle it properly or have the people around them handle the reaction appropriately.

Whether it’s seasonal allergies, being allergic to some foods, insects or something a bit more strange, allergies can be a major setback in anyone’s life.

With food, avoiding the allergen typically revolves how well someone can notice if the allergen is found in whatever food someone would want to eat, which sounds easy enough, but in retrospect can take a little more analysis.

With an allergen to an insect, avoiding the sting is the main way to avoid a reaction, but once more, an easy task may not be as simple as it sounds.

Around the world and walking the halls of Lafayette, allergies have become more common over the years.

With the most common allergies being peanuts and tree nuts, it’s not uncommon to come across someone being a little hesitant around these foods.

Molly Bozada, Lafayette’s school nurse, explained the action plan for dealing with allergies at school.

“We would first simply ask the student what they’re allergic to and if there is any possibility if they came into close contact with it recently, then we would listen to their lungs and heart, take their blood pressure, then we would inspect their skin and throat to check for anything unusual like bumps or rashes,” Bozada said.

With the nurses having a pretty set plan with what to exactly do with a student who has had an allergic reaction, it’s nice to know that there’s always a safe place to rely on.

“I’ve only been here for a year, but we’ve only had to call an ambulance once for an allergic reaction, every other time when someone has come in with a reported reaction we’ve been able to assess the situation pretty simply,” Bozada said.

Being that everyone isn’t allergic to some things, it’s mostly up to the person themselves to avoid their allergen and always be ready for a reaction to occur.

Whether it’s sitting at the “peanut free table” in the Commons, or when dining out, telling the kitchen what exactly to avoid, being someone with allergies isn’t the easiest task.

Over time, managing what allergens to take note of and avoid becomes pretty simple after doing it for a great majority of one’s life.

Senior Nick Lavanchy who is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, milk, eggs, shellfish and seafood describes how he lives with and avoids his allergens daily and when he goes out to eat.

“Whenever I’m eating out I have to let the server know about my allergies and tell them

Allergy Statistics Percentage of the U.S. population that tests positive to one or more allergens: 55 percent.

Odds that a child with two allergic parents will develop allergies: 70 percent.

One estimate of the annual cost of allergies to the health care system and businesses in the U.S.: $7.9 billion.

Rank of allergies among other leading chronic diseases in the U.S.: 5th. *data from WebMD

With allergies on the rise every year affecting nearly two children in every classroom, Lafayette provides a peanut-free table in the Commons for those who bring their own lunch and need to be a little more careful whenever it comes to avoiding peanuts. (photo by Jack Deubner) to inform the kitchen, because if they make anything even closely related to any of my allergens, for example using tongs with butter on it or handling my food with a pair of gloves that have even touched cheese previously, I’ll immediately have a reaction from that, so when it comes to eating out I have to be super careful” Lavanchy said.

Having allergies such as peanuts or tree nuts are pretty common among everyone, but even though this allergy may be common, taking some precautions to avoid this allergen still have to be taken.

With the allergy becoming more and more common over the years, having this allergy wouldn’t come as a shocker to anyone.

Luckily, as the most common allergy, many places around many communities and at Lafayette have adapted to benefit those with this allergy.

Labeling foods to show they have peanuts in them, have an aisle dedicated to “peanut free foods” at the grocery store and having a peanut free table at school are all ways people with allergies to peanuts and tree nuts can avoid their allergen.

A sophomore student has the common allergen of just peanuts and tree nuts, having the allergen ever since she was in the second grade, taking a few precautionary steps to avoiding ingesting peanuts or tree nuts has become pretty common to her.

“It’s pretty simple, I always carry around my epipen, take my own lunch to school and sit at the peanut-free table in the Commons.

I’ve only had one reaction in my life when I was younger, I got hives from eating a pecan, I’ve just avoided some certain foods like some deserts and obviously anything with nuts in it,” she said.

When it comes to Lafayette as a school taking its stance on keeping the students protected from their allergens, the teachers are taught by the nurses about who exactly has what allergy and how to assess the situation if any student has a reaction.

Every teacher has been trained by the nurse’s office at the beginning of the year to make them aware to what a reaction would look like and how to handle the situation, whether it’s in the classroom or even on the field trips, teachers have been prepared. As long as the family of the student has provided the school with the information of what exactly they are allergic to, the school will keep track and inform their teachers and the lunch system of their allergies so they can be avoided.

Even other Rockwood high schools have taken some big precautionary steps to avoid reactions within their student body.

One student attending Eureka High School has a severe latex allergy to latex.

Latex can typically be found in gloves, balloons and even band-aids, so Eureka banned all latex products from their campus.

If balloons are to be used for an event at the school, Eureka asks that the balloons be made out of mylar instead.

Even at Lafayette, some allergic reactions happen thanks to latex.

Junior Allie Dillon who has been allergic since she was 9 had an almost scary situation on Sept. 30, when she walked through some of the halls decorated for Homecoming.

With balloons lining the halls in the junior and freshman hallways, Dillion had a shock that morning when she arrived at school.

“The only decorations that were latex were the balloons thankfully enough, the gloves hanging from the ceiling in the freshman hallways were latex-free, but those balloons were just close enough to cause a small reaction,” Dillon said.

She ended up visiting the Nurse’s Office with a rash where everything was quickly dealt with.

“Some people with latex allergies can have a reaction from touching latex or even being around it, I’m allergic to both touching it and being around it, so my first reaction to seeing those balloons was to hold my breath,” Dillon said.

As a precaution, Student Council returned the balloons they had purchased for dance decorations this year.

Growing up and living with allergies is always scary, because no one can ever be sure just what exactly they’re allergic to, but recognizing allergens and learning how to handle them is critical when living with allergies.

Whether it’s carrying around an epipen, informing someone about your allergy at a restaurant, and avoiding some specific foods, living with allergies takes a great amount of attention at every turn.

Oct. 16, 2015

page thirteen • photo page

image

Homecoming 2015 Game On

Lancers celebrate school spirit during Homecoming Week

1.

6.

2.

3.

5.

4.

7.

1. A huge number of students hit the dance floor at the start of the Homecoming Dance. TKO DJs provided the music for the night. (photo by Megan Greenstein) 2. Junior Victoria Sorrentino runs the ball down the field in the Powder Puff game. The seniors won 42-6. Didn’t see that coming. (photo by Nick Horstmann).

3. Lafayette Superfans brave the elements and cheer on the Lancers during the homecoming football game against Parkway South High School. The final score was 48-0. (photo by Nick Horstmann).

4. The whole lunchroom holds its breath as junior Aubree Hardesty pulls a block in the Jenga lunch game. The seniors won the lunch games which also included jousting and an egg roulette competition. (photo by Nick Horstmann).

5. Homecoming Court members included seniors Katie Hansen, Patrick Carney, Annalise Alvarez, Charlie Wefelmeyer, Hayley Ockerhausen, Vlad Barbulica, Queen Allison Hallums, King Alec Haines, juniors Kendall Goedeke, Peyton Boyd, sophomores Alyssa Hahn, Jacob Hewlett, freshmen Leeta Joslyn and Dayton Feltz. (photo courtesy of Inter-State Studios) 6. Senior Riley Katzev blows a kiss to the Senior Women during the male Escadrille performance.

The pep assembly had a variety of performances including cheerleading, marching band, color guard and Escadrille. (photo by Lauren Kirtser).

7. On the varsity field hockey float, junior Paige Miller tosses candy to the kids watching the parade. The parade preceded the Homecoming Game. (photo by Nick Horstmann).

image

page fourteen • sports

Oct. 16, 2015

The Sparkle Effect Lancer cheerleaders working to include special needs students in cheer squad kayley allen • sports editor According to TheSparkleEffect.org, “More than five million students with disabilities attend public schools in the United States; yet, most school sports and activities fail to accommodate these students.”

For senior Kaitlyn Wylie, this fact became evident to her, and she decided to make a change.

“My cousin goes to Fort Zumwalt West and there’s a Sparkle Squad there. I started looking into it more and it really interested me. I knew right away we had to bring it to Lafayette,” Wylie said.

The Sparkle Effect is an organization that helps students and their schools create cheerleading and dance teams that bring together students both with and without disabilities.

This organization has supported over 150 teams that directly affect over 3,000 students across the nation.

“I volunteer at the children’s hospital and I work with a lot of kids with special needs and I really enjoy it. I also do a camp with kids with cerebral palsy where we play games like basketball, do yoga or dance. Just seeing what a positive impact it has on them, I wanted to start something here at Lafayette,” Wylie said.

She has been attempting to put together the Sparkle Squad at Lafayette for about a year. Finding support and getting the right connections has been the biggest struggle so far.

“It was really difficult at first to get things going because getting the word out is hard.

Also, I don’t work with kids at our school that have disabilities, so I don’t have those kinds of connections. At the first parent meeting, only one person came, but now that I’ve had a few people willing to work with me, it’s been a lot easier,” Wylie said.

One person that has been supportive of Wylie’s idea and has been there to help get things started is head cheerleading coach Peggy Levine.

“When Kaitlyn came to me with the idea to start the Sparkle Squad, I knew she would be the perfect person to lead this because of her can-do attitude and how she always thinks of others first. We very quickly had a group of junior varsity and varsity cheerleaders that wanted to help out with the squad because they see the importance of including all of their friends and classmates in school spirit at Lafayette,” Levine said.

During the Homecoming Parade, a few girls who have already committed to the Sparkle Squad walked with the cheerleaders and their float in the parade.

“We really wanted to showcase what we’re doing and get people’s attention so that they’ll know what’s going on. In November, we’re going to have a training session for the cheerleaders to learn how to work the kids.

Then, we’ll have the new members come in and we’ll practice with them,” Wylie said.

The Sparkle Squad will be cheering at three boys basketball games and three girls basketball games. They will also perform at the winter Pep Assembly.

“We’re also having a buddy system so that if the new members have any questions, they can call or ask whoever their buddy is. Also, if the parent has questions or concerns, or if they know their child his having a bad day, they can let their buddy know,” Wylie said.

Someone else who has helped Wylie construct the sparkle squad, is sophomore Olivia Stebner, junior varsity cheer captain.

“We’re just trying to get them all involved to make up for all of the school activities that they can’t really participate in. We want all of them to have a voice at Lafayette. A lot of kids don’t get to voice their opinion and it’s really important to have them here because they’re people too, so they should be able to do what everyone else does even if they have a disability,” Stebner said.

With Wylie being a senior, Stebner plans to take over the Sparkle Squad next year. Stebner not only has ideas for the squad, but also the passion needed to lead it.

“My brother has special needs, and he can’t participate in a lot of things because of it, so I think that if they get an opportunity to voice their opinion and be a part of something great like cheer, they should definitely get that. I really want to keep it going and get a lot more people involved because I think it’s super important to have something like this open for them to be a part of,” Stebner said.

Stebner hopes that the squad will not only affect the cheerleaders, but also everyone around them.

“I think that it’ll make people realize how bullying is really an issue and how people with special needs aren’t even different and that they’re still people. I hope it opens their eyes up to other people and that it’ll make everyone be nicer to each other because we all really need that,” Stebner said.

Top: Kaitlyn Wylie, Kate Voitd, Gracie Strobel and Kasey Pyatt wait for the Homecoming Parade to get underway through the Green Pines subdivision. The cheerleaders shared their float with their Sparkle Squad, and will share mat space with them in the upcoming months.

Middle: Kate Wilson, Olivia Stebner, Gracie Strobel, Kaitlyn Wylie, Emily Alvarez and Rene Ruppert enjoy their time at their tailgate before the Homecoming Game on Oct 2. The Sparkle Squad were guests at the game and got to cheer along from the stands.

Bottom: Members of the cheer squad stand on their Homecoming Parade float as they wait for it to start. The cheerleaders created the float themselves, using the game Twister as their theme. (photos provided by Kaitlyn Wylie)

Oct. 16, 2015

page f ifteen • sports

The Pink Games:

image

Teams raise awareness, obtain funds for breast cancer; games especially meaningful for Lancers with family members facing impact of disease tyler burnett • sports reporter arpan das • sports reporter

1.

2.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and Lafayette sports participated in multiple breast cancer awareness games (pink games) to raise money for cancer research.

In 1985, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month was founded by the American Cancer Society and the pharmaceutical division of Imperial Chemical Industries, maker of several anti-breast cancer drugs.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths among women and the most common cancer among women according to a 2015 survey by the American Cancer Society.

Each year pink games are held to raise money for breast cancer. The annual pink game between Lafayette and Marquette, played at the Ellisville Athletic Association, raised $682.

Lafayette lost the game 12-2, but there was a much bigger significance, especially for Brittany Rissman, junior.

“The pink game means a lot to me because my grandma passed away from breast cancer and my mom is a survivor,” Brittany said.

Brittany is an outfielder and second baseman for the varsity softball team. Although she isn’t a starter she can fill in at crucial moments.

“Brittany is fast around those bases and we are so glad we have her, especially when we need a run to win,” Coach Ashley Lewis said.

She has eight stolen bases so far this season and is second on the team behind outfielder Addie Balderston, who has 30.

Breast cancer awareness is recognized by people around the world and many show their spirit by wearing pink clothing to raise

3.

4.

1. Outfielder and second baseman Brittany Rissman caught a fly ball and laid down a bunt for an RBI in the pink game against Marquette. The game took place on Sept. 17. Lafayette lost this game 12-2. (photo by Nicholas Horstmann) 2. Fullback and linebacker Brett Rissman had three tackles and two assisted tackles in the Lancer’s 48-0 win over Parkway South. He was one of the Lancers leading tacklers and was part of a stop-unit that held Parkway South to no points. (photo by Nicholas Horstmann) 3. The varsity softball team huddles up before the pink game against rival Marquette. The team wore special pink jerseys during the pink game to commemorate breast cancer awareness month.

4. Varsity football gets pumped up before the pink game against Parkway South. They wore pink socks and wrist tape to raise awareness for breast cancer. The team dominated on both sides of the ball and shutout shut out Parkway South.

awareness for the disease.

“I think it is important for the pink game to be held every year because it honors people who have survived, those who have passed away from breast cancer, and those who are currently fighting it,” Brittany said.

Softball isn’t the only sport that plays a game to raise awareness for breast cancer.

Football teams of all levels participate in these pink games as well.

Brittany’s twin brother, Brett Rissman, plays fullback and linebacker for the Lancers varsity football team. Brett doesn’t usually start, but still has a big impact on games. The fullback position, Brett’s primary position, doesn’t usually show up in the stat sheet, but provides important blocking in both the running and passing game.

Varsity football played its pink game against Parkway South on Oct. 2 and won the contest 48-0.

“I think it’s important because both my mom had cancer and my great aunt passed away to cancer about a year ago, and it’s important to get the awareness out,” Brett said.

Starting in 1989, thanks to early screening, increased awareness and better treatment, more women can detect symptoms of breast cancer and start treating it, therefore the number of women who get breast cancer has been steadily decreasing. At this time there are more than 2.8 million survivors and counting in the United States from breast cancer.

“I think it’s important for people to know that breast cancer is a serious problem and we should do whatever we can to raise money for it,” Brett said.

To help people who are affected by breast cancer go to http://ww5.komen.org to donate and help people fight against breast cancer.

the feed

Oct. 16, 2015 • page sixteen

kaitlyn wylie • feed editor

Missouri Baking Company, located in the heart St. Louis City offers more unique alternatives to the everyday bakery items. They have anything from danishes to cakes and macaroons, but their real St. Louis delicacy is their gooey butter cake. This distinctively St. Louis dessert, is baked fresh daily and comes in several different flavors. The classic gooey butter cake, chocolate, and caramel are all available to be bought as whole cakes not individual pieces. The Missouri Baking Company is open 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Tuesday through Friday, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday 7:30 a.m.-noon.

Gooey Butter Cake

St. Louis Original Eats

Believed to have originated in The Hill, the deep fried appetizer offers an American twist to the classic Italian meal.

The Hill continues to serve up Toasted Ravioli at places like Mama’s Tascano’s Ravioli and Charlie Gitto’s. The appetizer is believed to have been made on accident, when a chef from Mama’s on The Hill accidentally put ravioli in hot oil instead water, from then on, a St. Louis classic was born. Whether or not this story is completely true, is still in question, but it is certain that this St. Louis food is here to stay.

Popular in St. Louis and in the surrounding midwestern states, is the classic St. Louis style pizza. Differing widely from the deep-dish pizza of Chicago, the cracker crust of St. Louis style pizza is crispy and thin, easily eaten with hands and not with a knife, fork, and about 100 napkins like Chicago style pizza. Another aspect that sets this pizza apart from other types is the use of provel cheese instead of mozzarella. Provel is a combination of cheddar, swiss and provolone; although, it was created in the Hill it is now made in Wisconsin. This style has become popular with Imo’s, a local chain, and while outsiders may not consider this real pizza, it’s the pizza most people from St. Louis were raised eating.

Thin Crust Pizza

Toasted Ravioli

Ted Drewes is the founder and owner of one of the most famous landmarks in St. Louis, Ted Drewes Frozen Custard.

As most Missourians would assume, Ted Drewes is a St. Louis born and raised frozen custard. Drew actually opened his first frozen custard store in Florida in 1929. In 1930, he opened another store on Natural Bridge Road in St. Louis and the South Grand store in 1931. As business improved, Drew’s stores expanded and his staff and customers rapidly increased.

By using the motto, “Our Business Is Service”, Ted Drewes has inspired four generations of family members and employees to work hard and pay close attention to the details of the business.

Ted Drewes is a must-see pit-stop when visiting St. Louis, to try its famous frozen concretes and hot fudge sundaes.

Ted Drewes

Eating on the run?

Gourmet food might just be lurking in the gas station While some gas stations feature a decent amount of drinks and packaged snacks, others are starting to implement a wider variety of cooked foods. Mobil’s On the Run stations have a variety of cooked hot dogs, taquitos, bratwursts and Bosco sticks. Quiktrip has begun introducing “QT Kitchens” in many of their stores.

Customers can order from a menu of various foods including toasted sandwiches and personal pizzas.

1.

1. Who doesn’t love a slushie? And, when On The Run offers 50 cent drinks there’s no way to resist.

2. Although there’s no way to compete with a freshly baked Krispy Kreme donut, On the Run gives them a run for their money. The easy access that comes with these donuts is much nicer than driving all over town to find a Krispy Kreme.

3. Americans need their coffee, and now it’s available not only in just black. Fall brought with it the addition of pumpkin spice lattes to coffee shops and even gas stations.

4. A step up from the normal gas station snacks, these treats offer a change in pace.

5. Now whole meals are available at gas stations. Seen here are healthier alternatives to their food.

3.

4.

2.

5.