Volume 92 issue 2

The Bell

October 23, 2015 Volume 92, Issue 2

Table of Contents Lights, Camera, Field Trip.........................................06

Musicians Audition......................................................07 Filtering Education.................................................08-09 Seurat on the Spot....................................................10-11 Find Your Own Shovel.............................................12-13 Witness Proctection......................................................14 Fiesta Like There’s No Mañana...................................15 Evolution of the Blue Jay.........................................16-17 Women’s Issues Now...................................................18 Senior Xavier Hinkle....................................................20 Junior Berit Nuetzmann...............................................21 Sophomore Hollis Hagenbugh...................................22 Freshman Makana Brooks...........................................23 Teacher Chuck Zavos .................................................24 Administrator Tricia Middleton..................................25 Facing Your Fears this Halloween.........................26-27

Not the Whole Story...............................................28-29 Niki’s Corner.................................................................30 Staff Editorial................................................................31 Games............................................................................33 Columns...................................................................34-35 Athlete of the Month................................................36-37 Sports........................................................................38-39

TOC 02

Photo by Brieann Wynn

Page: 25

Photo by Jessi Foster

Page:29

Photo by Mikayla Hill

Page: 18 Photo courtesy PhotoJ

Page: 07

Page: 14

Photo by Katie Lamb

TOC 03

On the cover: The LHS volleyball team at their Dig for the Cure game against Truman High School on October 1.

Photo by Morgan McNea Congratulations!

Pumpkin Decorating Competition KC Metro All-District Mixed Choir Students and staff members have Molly Day Lily Bogue decorated pumpkins as their favorite Kaeli Helmich Claire Davis literary characters. Vote October 30 Alex Palzkill Soliana Kahassai to see who will win a pumpkin full of Carlie Ross Peyton Nolan candy and two free drinks from The Lacy Williams Tarsus Arciga Nest.

Jay Butler Michael Barecca Truman Butler Sam Browning Ben Tervort Zac Pitts Ian Whitsitt Jeremy Untch

Staff

Adviser --> Lori Oyler Editor-in-Chief --> Tara Prindle Design Editor --> Alex Wilson Opinion and A&E Editor --> Emily Johannes InDepth Editor --> Teresa Parra Features Editor --> Lacy Williams News Editor --> Hannah Leonard Sports Editor --> Kati Benhardt Ads Manager --> Daryl Gichui Online Manager --> Erica Schmitz Reporters --> Alec Augustine Sol Kim Niki Benhardt Kamden Bernard Jackson PeĂąa Hope Scobee Teegan Saunders Jenna Spence McKenzie Greenwood Riley Kelly

Caleb Lautenschlager Katie Moon Joey O’Kelly Tommy Roseman Haley Stephenson Delaney Tarpley Paige Twenter Meg Whipple

TOC 04

Mission

Our mission for the 2015-2016 school year is to unite a diverse group of people and ideas to compose an informative and entertaining magazine using articles, photographs, and commercial messages. As journalists in training we endeavor to give the best representation of the community of Liberty High School. The Bell student newspaper is a public forum for student expression.

Contact

Address --> 200 Blue Jay Drive Liberty, MO Phone --> (816)-736-5353 Email --> loyler@liberty.k12.mo.us Twitter --> @TheLHSBell

“My mom just told me I need to start putting together a Christmas list..

I don’t even know what I’m wearing tomorrow.” @vancey_49

Jabber

“MOM just because it’s fall, does not mean you get to call everyone pumpkin” @hannahdooord

@carsch_ “And just like that, it’s over. Thank you

for the memories, fun times, and great stories to tell.

Grateful to be apart of something bigger than a high school softball team.”

@AbbyonaHill who do I have to bribe on newspaper staff to be one of those featured tweets?

@_noosh “I posted a pic on Facebook of me getting attacked by a goat & my grandma commented “you look pretty” like do u not see whats going on”

@bbalsdon “Go fight win! for everyone affected by cancer.”

@megan_dolsky “District Champs”

Jabber 05

Lights, Camera, Field Trip Story by McKenzie Greenwood

Photos by Hannah Leonard

Every year, excitement in the theatre classes swell with news of field trips. This semester, Advanced Theatre, Competitive Theatre and Stagecraft, saw The Miracle Worker by William Gibson, at the Coterie Theatre on October 6.

Before the show, students were allowed to go into McDonalds to buy food and drinks.

The Miracle Worker is a dramatic play about the story of Helen Keller. The play included Helen’s family and how she overcame her disabilities with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan. The audience experienced a very intense and emotional show, many students in the audience left in tears.

Theatre teacher, Don Johnson, gave some insight on the show.

“The cool thing about it is they have worked it so the hearing and vision impaired can come and understand what’s going on. They have shadow acting above and behind the action and for the hearing impaired they narrated the actions of the characters,” Johnson said.

Not only did theatre classes get to see an amazing show, but after the day students

got to shop around and eat lunch for an hour at Crown Center.

Senior Shelby Werner is always excited about theatre class field trips.

“I love them, they’re a great experience.

Especially if you want to pursue theatre, you get to see professional productions,” Werner said. “My sophomore year at LHS, we saw The Foreigner at the KC Rep. Now we are doing The Foreigner as our comedic play.”

Werner and junior Cameron Prater will never forget their favorite field trips.

“My previous favorite field trip was ‘Hair Retrospection.” Werner said. “We went and saw that at the KC Rep and it wasn’t the actual musical Hair it was more of an explanation of it. It was really funny and awesome and the songs were just fantastic.”

“My previous favorite field trip was The Foreigner,” Prater said. “We went to go see that my freshman year, in the fall and it was the funniest show I’ve ever seen.”

This is the first theatre class field trip for the freshmen, and Weston Brown is happy to experience the fun of the theatre class field trips.

The theatre department takes a trip to Crown Center to see The Miracle Worker.

News 06

“I love field trips. You have fun, you get food, they always give you food,” Brown said.

The Miracle Worker was a dramatic show, but many students enjoy other kinds of shows.

“I like funny shows that are very showy, with lots of singing and dancing because that’s my personality,” Brown said.

Many students tend to like shows that express their personality.

“I really enjoy comedic plays and musicals,” Werner said. “Dramatic plays lose my attention, but also I’m more of a comedic person myself, so I enjoy comedic stuff more. I love to sing, so I definitely enjoy musicals.”

The upperclassmen recommended shows they would love to see the underclassmen go on. Prater said he would like to see the underclassmen see Anne Frank.

“I really would’ve liked to see our underclassmen go on the Hair Retrospection trip,” Werner said. “I’m really excited for them to go to the Coterie Theater.”

Students eat lunch and shop at Crown Center after seeing The Coterie’s production of ‘The Miracle Worker.’

The Musician’s Audition Story by Joey O’Kelly

Photo by Morgan BcNea and Erin Manis

Choir, Band and Orchestra kids prepare for upcoming All-District auditions.

There are many ways to gain points towards lettering here at LHS, especially within the music and fine arts department.

One of those ways is to audition for the All-District orchestras, bands and choirs.

Aside from the lettering benefits, students auditioning will also benefit from the audition experience.

To make it into All-District a student has to prepare the audition material given to them by their teachers and then proceed to audition. Students from many schools in the district are also auditioning. The judges pick a handful of students from each school and instrument/vocal style to be a part of the All-District choir, band or orchestra. After All-District, certain students also have the opportunity to audition for All-State.

The orchestra will have their All District auditions on Saturday, November 7. The different instruments have been preparing scales and excerpts from composers such as Brahms, Smetana, Mendelssohn and Beethoven.

“The audition is blind, but not all auditions are blind. It’s two judges in a classroom and it’s people from your district, obviously, auditioning for one orchestra,” sophomore Zoe Moody said.

The orchestra will have a mock audition prior to the real audition on Saturday, October 31 from the University of Missouri Kansas City at Grant Hall. The mock audition will consist of a practice audition with practice judges and a 30 minute lesson.

The band’s All District audition date is also Saturday, November 7. Each student has an audition packet that contains all of the audition material from excerpts, to scales. A reminder to students that All District auditions, no matter what instrument a student plays, are not just for students with private teachers. Students don’t need to have a private teacher to audition.

“I don’t really care if I make it or not because I’m doing it to improve, not so much as getting the attention of being in All Districts,” Junior Josh Hannsz said.

“That’s what I’m excited about, just improving and getting to say that I’ve done it.”

Choir’s round of All District auditions was back on Saturday, October 3, at Oak Park High School. Eight students made the mixed choir, five made the women’s choir and five made the men’s choir. The performances of the All District choirs

will be held on January 17, 2016.

“The hardest part would probably be getting your nerves under control, staying calm, not freaking out, just doing your best,” senior Ethan Julien said.

The choir students have been working on the preparation of their audition for over a month. They’ve worked with their private teachers and with Dr. Rika Heruth, the choir teacher.

“One of the big things that we worked on was performance anxiety and how to control their nerves before they went into the audition room,” Heruth said. “Most of our kids have phenomenal voices, they’re really prepared on their solo and they are amazing sight-readers, which is another part of the audition. Sometimes their nerves get the best of them, so we did spend some time working on that and just trying to keep a cool head so you can do your best.”

Any of the juniors and seniors that made the All-District mixed choir are also eligible to audition for the Missouri All State choir. Those auditions will be on Saturday, October 31. There will be six students from any section, so six basses, six tenors, six altos and six sopranos.

Left Chamber Choir talks after school about their previous performance. Right band warms up before a football game.

News 07

Filtering Education Story by Tommy Roseman

Photo by Hailey Smith

There’s a cyber struggle at LHS. Somewhere in the LHS building, a math class tunes into the daily KLHS news video. After a short moment of buffering a frowny face pops up on the video. “This video is restricted. Try signing in with a Google Apps account. Sorry about that.”

The general consensus of the student body is that the web filter is affecting learning.

While the LHS filter has always been a tad restrictive, just recently a new initiative has been underway to only allow watching “educational” videos on YouTube. “[The filter] is blocking teachers from teaching with videos,” junior Jackson Sterling said.

Not only have many teachers ran into problems trying to teach with YouTube, but the KLHS news team had a problem when their daily video was blocked by the new filter. It’s very difficult for YouTube

News 08

to distinguish what videos are educational and which ones aren’t.

The filter as a whole has always been a hot topic between students and the staff.

“Websites I need for research papers are blocked all the time,” sophomore Josie Wilkerson said.

The filter is especially obvious when doing school research.

“I’ll be doing a project,” freshman Brandon Barksdale said, “like in one of my classes I’m doing a project based on Rubik’s cubes and there’s some websites that I want to go to, to get information, but they’re blocked.”

But not everyone is on the same page.

“I honestly think it should be more restrictive,” building tech Jacob Smith said. “In this day and age it can be a great tool, but it can also be a big distraction.”

The teachers on the other hand, haven’t had much trouble going to the websites

they want to visit.

“None of the sites are blocked for teachers,” Mr. Moree said. “This is actually less restrictive than the one I was at, the school previously. We’re actually more open to students than anyone I’ve ever seen, so, I think [the filter] is pretty good.”

Despite what many students may think, the local tech department doesn’t have much jurisdiction over what is blocked and unblocked.

“We have Norman Ralph, our network administrator up at the district Administration Center, he approves websites and what not,” Smith said. “What it comes down to is each website has a categorization, and the larger websites have that built in so it’s categorized as adults which is 18 plus for content.

There’s not an easy way to look at it one by one and just approve.”

However, many sites have been unblocked if they are needed for a school project and sometimes even a club.

“The way you can get [a website] approved is to go through a teacher closely involved with the activity or class you need it for and your teacher should be putting in a technology work order to make sure the site is appropriate for students.”

There are definitely ways of getting certain sites approved. Teachers no doubt know this from the last few weeks.

But this begs the question: could it get worse?

Currently there are no announced plans to get rid of any particular websites.

However, almost all social media sites are blocked aside from Twitter. Two years

ago, the leading argument for Twitter was that teachers use it to remind their students about upcoming tests, quizzes and to turn in homework. Is that still the case?

“Yeah, I occasionally use Twitter to remind students for tests,” Mr. Moree said, “but a lot of them like Remind101.”

Remind101 is a tool that allows teachers to remind their students in the fastest way possible: through their phones. A student gives the teacher their phone number and whenever the teacher needs to remind their students, the site sends out a text to everyone saying something like, “Test Friday.”

Again, while there are no plans to block Twitter, could the students’ general love for Twitter be enough to keep it unblocked? It wasn’t enough for YouTube.

There is a district wide filter to keep students on task.

Students shouldn’t get too worried because the tech department has made no announcements about blocking Twitter.

“Teachers are texting us now, which is cool, but Twitter is just so much easier.”

Wilkerson said.

For the foreseeable future, it’s here to stay. That’s a good thing too because students are always using it.

“I use Twitter for a lot of things,” Barksdale said, “like for clubs and teachers post things about tests or have us post things for class.”

As much as the filter does affect students on a daily basis, it’s important to remember that it is in place to help the learning process. “[The filter] is frustrating,” Smith said. “but it’s understandable.”

News 09

Seurat on the Spot Story and Photos by Lacy Williams

College World Lit. classes see Sunday in the Park with George at the Nelson.

The College World Literature classes had a field trip at the Nelson Atkins Art Museum on October 1. The show lasted about two and a half hours with a 15 minute intermission between the two acts.

This was a Kansas City Repertory Theatre show that was held at the Nelson because of the renovations going on at UMKC. This was the first time a show of the KC Rep. was held there.

Being able to attend this was a really special opportunity because students could not have recreated something like this at school.

“Our principals support us doing this because it’s a really good opportunity to get something outside of the classroom environment that we can’t replace in the building,” English teacher Karla Schaeffer said.

Sunday in the Park with George is a musical about the painter George Seurat.

It tells the story of how he created the painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.”

The beginning of the play starts with

News 10

George in the park telling his mistress, Dot, to hold still so he could sketch her.

“I noticed because I was sitting in house left, I got to see the inside of his sketchbook that he was actually sketching,” senior Nate Ewbank said.

Act Two was confusing to most because it started off with the characters telling that George had died. Compared to the cliché of every struggling artist committing suicide, George died of an unknown illness at age 31.

“I was confused to what would happen next because I thought that would be the ending,” junior Sydney McBee said.

As Act Two continued, it showed how George Seurat’s great grandson had followed in his footsteps and was an artist as well as an inventor. The great grandson had new ideas of adding electronic lights instead of paintings. The play ends in Paris, where he is told to try new ideas and create his own style.

There are many what if’s still unknown to the story.

The first one includes the grammar book.

The grammar book showed that Dot was learning how to read and write. The book ended up actually showing how Dot had been telling her story like a diary and gave the audience clues of how the relationship between her and George played out.

The second one includes the painting that Dot had asked for. She asked George to give her the painting of her in the park but he would not. If he had, he may not have created the painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.” It could have changed the way he painted and the way he would have continued his career as an artist.

The way the characters were portrayed contrasted the way they truly might have been during the late 1800’s. They also gave background to the painting.

“George is shown as the tortured genius/ artist that no one understands,” Schaeffer said.

Dot is shown as being kind of dumb because she cannot read or write but she understands human interaction, whereas George does not.

College World Lit students wait in the lobby at the Nelson Atkins before the show.

The Americans were portrayed as very Southern rich folks. They were very consumed with themselves and just cared for the pastries rather than the art.

Before going to the show the students had a project they were doing in class. It was a Gallery Walk of impressionist and post-impressionist artists. There were multiple similarities of the artists. The students noticed that most painters during the impressionism and postimpressionism era were very self-oriented and kind of acted like jerks towards others. For example, the artist, Paul Gauguin left his family just because that is what he wanted to do. George was portrayed that way as well in the play.

“He wasn’t being a jerk on purpose, it’s just how he was,” Ewbank said.

The painting was projected on the stage to create the background on the set. There were easels with white canvases that showed a multitude of Seurat’s actual paintings. The projector zoomed in and out of different paintings consisting of the main painting as the background.

“The entire second act was zooming in on a painting so you’d see the entire thing and throughout the whole entire act it eventually went all the way until it was white and I thought that was so cool,” McBee said.

Towards the end, the painting of “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La

Grande Jatte” lit up in all the places where Dot was shown. There were four to six places where she was shown in the painting. It gave a completely different perspective on the painting after that.

The costumes even matched the original painting.

“I’ve seen the real painting multiple times in person before and I’ve looked at prints millions of times and I still noticed

things I’ve never seen before,” Schaeffer said.

Some of the interpretations of the play compared to seeing the painting was often similar, but not exact.

“When they were going to have a child, I expected the two center people in the painting to be Dot and the baby but it turned out that she was actually on the side,” junior Nathan Moody said.

A lot of the show was real and a lot of the characters were truly inspiring pieces to the painting.

“I thought it was neat the characters they chose to highlight from the painting, most the people they chose were in the very front of the painting but the soldiers were all the way in the back,” sophomore Lily Bogue said.

When they recreated the paintings with the actors the audience would look back and forth between the painting and the characters to see how they portrayed it.

“It was kind of cool how at the end of the first act right before everyone started walking off stage they had recreated the painting with the actors they had on stage,” senior Sam Browning said.

All the elements were put together for a concluding purpose.

“When I read or see a play, I like them to come around to the full circle and they did that in the play with ending with the blank canvas,” junior Katherine Shaffer said.

College World Literature students traveled by bus back to school after the show.

News 11

Find Your Shovel Story by Sol Kim

Photo by Kelsey Baldwin, Hanna Davidson and Mikayla Hill

Davey Muise visits LHS to share his story and inspire others.

On October 13, Davey Muise, the lead singer of renowned Boston hardcore band, Vanna, visited Liberty High School. He encouraged students to find a positive outlet when they feel like they’re struggling — a “shovel” to dig themselves out of negative times.

In collaboration with Jostens, Muise, a former pre-school teacher, tours non-stop with Vanna, who have played in front of audiences in over 20 countries and sold nearly 100,000 records worldwide. Muise lives his life by following his heart and pursuing his passions without fear of judgment “Over the summer, Jostens who does some great work with our graduates, indicated that they knew of some pretty great speakers that could come and talk to our students,” Assistant Principal Bridget Herrman said. “We as an administrator staff, combined with the counseling staff wanted to make sure our students had an opportunity to hear some positive messages about keeping your fellow friend safe, mentally and socially because we get

News 12

some things that come down here like with social media that we thought you know what—we maybe need to take a bigger approach.”

Herrman, along with the counseling staff came in agreement that students should be supported academically, but also supported in wellness.

“Our thoughts were, ‘Let’s bring in someone who is going to be relevant,” Herrman said. “Someone who has a story to tell that will guide our students in dealing with today’s issues and promote a positive well-being.”

The school day was separated into two separate assemblies—freshmen and sophomores for the first session and juniors and seniors the second session.

Counselors sent out reflection questions for advisors to go over with students after listening to Muise’s words.

Muise harnessed the lessons he has learned from living through depression, divorce, abandonment and failure and used them to help inspire future generations to do better.

“In my early 20’s, I began struggling with depression and feeling super alone,” Muise said. “I began doing a lot of drugs and drinking; I knew I had to dig myself out of a grave I was already in.”

Music was one thing that Muise worked very hard on.

“I realized that music is my shovel in my life,” Muise said. “I found a way to dig myself out through that, I wanted to help others dig themselves out.”

During the assembly Muise challenged everyone to “find their shovel”.

“Find the thing that you love, start digging out your school because I have met some of these kids and they’re buried and need help,” Muise said. “Let’s make this year the year that we dig out.”

Muise’s message is sure to resonate with today’s youth well after his visit.

“I thought the speaker was very inspiring,” junior McKenna Still said. “He showed that people from any background could reach their goals. He motivated me to reach out to people that may be in need and to be a better light in my community.”

Davey Muise of Vanna gives a motivational speech to students and takes pictures with them afterwards.

News 13

Witness Protection Story by Teegan Saunders

Photo by Katie Lamb

This new club has a passion for government.

The FBI, the President and Congress all walk into a room. It’s the Witness Protection Club.

This year there is a whole new club, held every other Friday in room 906, that was started by Ronald Ludwig, the AP Government teacher.

“We explore all things federal court for people that are interested in the federal court system and how it works,” Ludwig said.

The Witness Protection Club works toward furthering the knowledge of government.

“This is mainly a group of juniors since they are in my class,” Ludwig said. “Last spring I was interested in it and I just put it out there to see if any kids were interested in that idea too.”

The club it not restricted to just juniors though. Students of any grade can join, just so long they come with a thirst for knowledge and a willingness to learn. There is no need to bring any base knowledge since the club was created solely to introduce students to the government and its importance in our daily lives.

“You learn about something that can be applied to everyday life, unlike some subjects you learn in school,” junior Annika Fuller said. “I think it is extremely

Features 14

important to have a base understanding of the government that we live with and to know our rights.”

The club may inspire students for future careers dealing with the American government.

“The objective is to learn about the federal government and just talk about any possible careers there, and to just to about how the government. works and stuff like that,” junior Natalie Schaller said.

Fuller agrees.

“I joined because I want to join the FBI and that is a part of the federal government and I think that the topic is going to be really interesting and the name is really cool, like Witness Protection Club just sounds like a really cool thing, and its really intriguing,” she said.

The club is made up of mostly juniors who are in Ludwig’s government class, but none of the club members feel as though the club is an extension of the class itself.

They see it as more of an opportunity to go in-depth about the Federal Judicial System without the stress of being graded or getting an answer wrong.

“I hope a lot of students won’t see it as an addition of the class, but see it as more the interesting facts about government and the

chance to talk more about how it influences our lives everyday,” Fuller said.

On October 7 the club attended a field trip to the Federal Courthouse and Municipal Court. They also got to talk with a Federal Judge, US Marshal and a KC Prosecutor The club plans to get even more experience about government by going on several other field trips to different courthouses and offices throughout Kansas City.

“We are planning on visiting the courthouse downtown,” junior Alison Potter said. “We hope to do more things like that, with court systems and maybe visiting other governmental offices.”

The club members discuss governmental issues of any kind. With so many different branches to look at, the options seem never-ending. The topic of conversation in the club right now is the different positions in the judicial system.

“It could be important for us to discuss other branches of government because they are all very intertwined together and it’s not just the judicial system standing on its own,” Potter said. “It has reactions with the other branches and I feel like I would like it to get to the point where we are discussing the interconnectedness of all the governmental programs.”

The group went to the Municipal Court and the Federal Court in KCMO.

Fiesta Like There’s No Mañana Story by Meg Whipple

Photo by Tara Prindle

Spanish club prepares for Day of the Dead and a trip to Spain.

Spanish Club is the perfect place for students who have a love of Latin cultures and enjoy having fun.

In its second year here at LHS, Spanish Club has expanded quite a bit, but still has more room to grow.

“We are planning on having fiestas and we’re going to do fundraisers this year,” president of Spanish Club junior Sydney Scholes said.

There are a lot of big plans for Spanish Club, like a fundraiser selling lollipops and donating the money earned.

“Our charity is going to be collecting socks for the closet at school,” Spanish Teacher Astrid Ruiz said.

Many trips have also been planned for this year.

“We plan on going to some festivals like an ethnic food festival,” Scholes said.

While the club plans on attending cultural festivals, there are also plans to visit a local and popular sport amongst Latin cultures.

“We are trying to go to a Sporting

Kansas City game,” Ruiz said.

The club meets every other Friday on the first and third weeks of the month in room 406. New members are welcome to join each week.

“I just joined this year,” senior Sadie Jess said. “I am really excited to learn more about the Spanish and Latin cultures.

I am really excited for the celebrations, especially Day of the Dead.”

Among some of the Latin and Spanish holidays, the club will be recognizing is Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead.

Day of the Dead is a very large celebration in Mexico. It begins on Halloween every year, Spanish Club and Spanish classes usually have fiestas or parties to celebrate the holiday and this year will be no different.

“It used to be a pagan holiday that the Catholic church tried to abolish, but they were unable to, so that’s why there is All Saints Day the next day,” Ruiz said. “It celebrates the spirits of the dark, that come to visit the earth that day, the tradition has

Spanish 5 discusses plans for Day of the Dead.

changed with time, its now a celebration of loved ones who have died and their families go to the cemetery to celebrate them. In Mexico, they celebrate by giving sugar skulls and special candy.

“We are going to either decorate sugar skulls or exchange candy [in Spanish club],” Ruiz said.

The Spanish Club will also be discussing about the trip to Spain and Morocco some of the students will be going on. The trip will be next June and the students going on the trip will spend eight days travelling around Spain and take a day trip to Morocco in Africa. As of now, eight students are going on the trip to Spain.

“We are talking a lot about the upcoming trip to Spain and that is something I’m looking forward to, though as of right now, I don’t think I am [going on the Spain trip],” sophomore Morgan Benton said.

Be sure to stop by Senora Ruiz’s room during a meeting and join in the fun!

Features 15

Evolution of the Blue Jay Story by Caleb Lautenschlager

Photos by Caleb Lautenschlager and Lacy Williams

The Yard Jays through the years have changed in style LHS has many well known traditions, from the electric pep rallies to the beautiful sound of the Alma Mater being sung by the choir, but few are as well known as the Yard Jay. Proudly displaying a handcrafted Blue Jay in the front of one’s house decorated and personalized with the student’s own unique touch for everyone to see has been a long lasting tradition. About 80 Yard Jays are sold every year and the tradition continues live on from year to year and class to class.

“It’s a great way to represent that you go to LHS,” TSA student president and TEAM leader senior Jess Watt said.

Although the tradition has been a stamp on LHS for a long time, little know how the Yard Jays are created.

A Yard Jay starts with a sheet of plywood and is made with the help of two of the schools club’s: Technology Education Association of Missouri (TEAM) and

Features 16

Technology Student Association (TSA).

“It brings our club closer together and helps get us more involved with the school,” Watt said.

For the Yard Jays, TEAM is in charge of gathering the materials. After TEAM gathers all the wood and poles. Then they use a machine called a CNC Router to cut out the shape of the jays.

“We use a program called Aspire to generate the drawing and it also writes the GM code for the CNC Router,” TEAM sponsor Dennis Blochlinger said. “We have it programed for the first bit to cut the inside details of the yard bird. The second bit cuts out the Yard Bird profile. Then the birds are ready to be hand-painted.”

TSA, sponsored by teacher Dathan Boden, helps complete the final task to finish the Jays.

“We paint all the colors on the Yard Jays,” Boden said. “We just get a blank sheet of

plywood in the shape of the bird and we do the painting.”

TEAM and TSA have been making the Yard Jays since 2014. The profit made from making the Jays is used to support the club’s trips to State and National competitions.

“A unique part of belonging to TEAM or TSA is that you can take your projects that you’ve made in just about any class and take it to competition at the State or even National level,” Blochlinger said.

If you are interested in joining TEAM or TSA, both clubs meet in room 30, TEAM meets Thursdays during Liberty Hour and TSA meets on Fridays during Liberty Hour.

Yard Jays may be purchased by anyone attending LHS for $85. Help the long lasting tradition of the Jay continue by stopping by the main office to pick up a Yard Jay order form. Not only can you support TEAM and TSA, but you can also show your Blue Jay pride and continue the tradition!

Left: Machinery helps with the Yard Jay designs. Right: This is the 2015-2016 school year Yard Jay design.

Right: The Yard Jays are painted by TSA students.

Left: The 2014-2015 school year Yard Jays.

Bottom: The Cross Country seniors displayed their Yard Jays at the Conference meet.

Features 17

Women’s Issues Now Story by Kamden Bernard

Photo by Mikayla Hill

LHS Students have created a new club to discuss feminism.

In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, feminism is defined as “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities”.

Before school on Tuesday mornings, outgoing and communicative LHS students gather to discuss these issues.

The two leaders, junior Alison Potter and junior Jacklyn Drewry, start the meeting by giving a topic and discussing it. Topics can vary from the dress code to the name “Lady Jays.” Each meeting’s discussion is a different form of equality issue.

“Today, we decide, Jacklyn and I, to talk about the perception around what’s deemed girl and boy appropriate for school activities in particular,” junior Alison Potter said.

Each week a different topic is chosen by the leaders. Not only are women’s equality issues a large and controversial topic to talk about, but the topic of equality is as well.

Women’s Issues Now is a club not only dedicated to women’s issues, but issues all over the world with both men and women.

“We provide a discussion platform for students, male, female, all genders to discuss issues generally focused on social issues and on gender perception,” Potter said.

The leaders and club members are devoted

Features 18

to getting what they call an “honest and true” opinion of what feminism is.

“I think a lot of people at LHS have a really negative opinion of what feminism is and that’s because they hear a lot of vocal “feminists” that aren’t really feminist. They don’t advocate for real feminist issues,” senior Sadie Jess said.

“They are men’s issues and women’s issues. Feminism is about gender roles and their power on both females and males. I think that if we can educate people on what feminism is that we will have a really good impact on LHS.” The club leaders created the club because they feel as though there was a lack of discussing the issues in women’s equality and equality overall.

“We started [WIN] because we felt there was a lack of dialogue and platform to have dialogue on issues plaguing our society and prohibiting social growth,” junior Jacklyn Drewry said.

The club uses an open discussion based platform, meaning people can openly express their feelings about the topic without having to feel criticized about what was said.

“Each meeting is structured where we talk about an issue and we just go around and contribute to the conversation and we

let the conversation go wherever it goes,” Jess said.

Members of the club feel welcomed with open arms.

“What I like about this club is that everyone is very welcoming and we all kind of have the same opinion on certain topics,” sophomore Diana Tran said. “I feel like it’s easy to express our feelings on specific topics without feeling criticized.”

Each member had a different reason for joining the club. Some joined to talk about their rights, some to see what the club would be like and some because people they know joined the club.

“I’m really passionate about my rights and I think that everyone else should be passionate about everyone’s rights and having equality everywhere,” junior Annika Fuller said. “I think it’s a really good discussion topic for high schoolers because this is where are minds are molded during these years. I think it’ll be good and interesting.”

Women’s Issues Now meets Tuesday and 7:20 a.m. in room 905 Mrs. Meade’s room topics can vary from the dress code to the name “Lady Jays”. Members can include any gender and any grade and are welcome to join at anytime.

Left: The group discusses feminism. Right: Juniors Emily Johannes, Sophie Jess, and Annika Fuller listen to the discussion.

"Established 1890"

Get refunded up to $5/month on your Itunes or Amazon purchases!

www.ponyexpressbank.com 215 N. 291 Hwy Liberty, MO

(816) 781-9200

Bring In This Ad For a Small Cheese Dip (with $5 purchase)

921 W. Liberty Dr, Liberty, MO

(816) 792-4844

Visit Pitt State!

Schedule your visit TODAY!

pittstate.edu/beagorilla In-state tuition.

Less than two hours away.

Pittsburg State University 800-854-PITT (7488) • Pittsburg, Kansas

What are your hobbies?

“I’m really good at video games. I also play football and that’s about it. I like chilling with friends, working out, and practicing football. My favorite in school memory is probably when I was a sophomore. It was my first time playing varsity football, just being put in the game.”

What keeps you motivated?

“My family. I want to help my family do well. They make me want to do better everyday and be good in the classroom. My dad [keeps me motivated too] because he’s a hard worker and he encourages me to be a hard worker. I want to either open up a fitness place or be a personal trainer. I’m a hard worker [as well], I’m funny, I get along with people and I’m nice.”

What’s your opinion on school?

“Sometimes it can be a pain but it gets you ready for the future and sets you up for a good job. Just planning out your life. It’s an important thing that you need. I feel good about leaving school. You get to explore things that you didn’t get to explore when you were little. You’re grown up.”

Myrick’s thoughts:

“I think Xavier knows how to maintain a positive attitude and how to allow himself to be led and be taught. He isn’t afraid to learn something new. He has a great sense of humor and is fun to be around, but he knows when it’s time to get real, be serious and do some leading with our own actions. He demonstrated compassion for others as my student- compassion is a great quality to have!”

Senior

Xavier Hinkle Spotlight 20

Story by Haley Stephenson

Photo by Adam Pouliot

What do you do in NCAPS?

“I am going into engineering. So I joined NCAPS because I didn’t have a ton of experience with engineering, but I didn’t want to take the basic classes. It provides an internship second semester which is really cool. We’re not sure which ones we’re getting yet, we just got our options two days ago. I really like it because it’s not just the usual people you get to see.

What are you involved in?

“I do Chamber Orchestra. I do an orchestra outside of school called KC Youth Symphony. We are rehearsing for a concert coming up in November and we are also going to a competition for Missouri Music and Educators Association, MMEA. I also do Model United Nations, I have a conference coming up with that. I do improv, Comedy Gold. I like to laugh and have fun. I like doing anything that advances me and gets me ready for my future, whether that’s taking NCAPS or doing something that’s like improv.”

What art do you make?

“There is a woman I know who is finishing a book, so she asked me to make illustrations and the cover for the book and it’s going to get published, so that’s pretty cool.

However, I imagine things I get to make it be the reality of the book. I am all into expression from what I wear to what I play and what I do. I like photo realism when I paint portraits, but then in some instances I really like an impressionistic view and you can’t really tell which one is better just based on the style. I like going from this expression to something completely different on the other end of the spectrum.”

Martin‘s thoughts:

“As an artist Berit is incredibly proficient in techniques and is super realistic in her approach to art. She keeps working at it and revising until she gets the look she wants in her artwork. She is fun, smart and creative.

Those three things make her a very interesting person and a great student artist. She will do well at whatever she wants to do.”

Junior

Berit Nuetzmann Story by Hannah Leonard

Photo by Corben Phillips

Spotlight 21

What do you do in your freetime?

“I’m either practicing for orchestra or choir, doing service projects for Boy Scouts, or sometimes I watch TV and Netflix. I like to be willing to do things for people and since I am an Eagle Scout it’s kind of an expectation. It’s just fun being who I am, doing things for people.”

What’s your favorite memory?

“It was two years ago in eighth grade when I was involved in ‘Once On This Island’ and that was the show we were doing and it was fantastic.

I loved doing that show, we were all a family. We worked together so well and it was a great turnout for the show.”

What’s are you passionate about?

“Music definitely. I’m in both the top orchestra and the top choir and I always try my best to make the music work and work as a team. So that way the music works and it sounds good. Inside of school I am involved in orchestra, theatre and choir. Outside of school I’m in boy scouts, and that pretty much takes up all of my time. I’m a pretty good actor, I’m a pretty good violinist and singer.”

Davis’ thoughts:

“Hollis has a positive attitude and a ‘can-do’ spirit. Whenever he greets me, he greets me with a smile, which is infectious. Hollis works very hard, and takes his job as a violinist in Chamber Orchestra very seriously. It is obvious he practices at home, and is always prepared for class.”

Sophomore

Hollis Hagenbuch Spotlight 22

Story by Haley Stephenson

Photo by Elise Ciferri

What are you involved in?

“I am involved in the plays, musicals and I’m in orchestra. I do a lot of stuff with All-District as well. I am in Once Upon A Mattress and I’m enjoying it a lot. My role is Lady Beatrice. She has a little dance solo and it’s a lot of fun. I did every play and musical in middle school as well. That’s really why I tried out this year; I had a really good time doing the plays and musicals and seeing how it builds up to the finished product. The high school productions are a lot more intense and rigorous. It’s a funny musical and it has really catchy songs.”

What do you do in orchestra?

“I’ve been playing double bass since I was in fifth grade. [I’m in] the Youth Symphony of Kansas City, getting in is a pretty big deal.

I’m second chair in The Academy Orchestra. It’s all pretty intense.

Kids from all over Greater Kansas City area side come in and practice once a week. We do classical music, but we sometimes do fun stuff like Western or even Beatles music. Next year, I get to travel to Ireland for the American Celebration of Music. School orchestra has been very influential for me. If I hadn’t had the encouragement or the confidence built up from school, I wouldn’t have auditioned for the Youth Symphony of Kansas City in the first place.”

Is high school different for you?

“Grades obviously matter in high school. That’s a little bit intimidating. I think as of right now I’m on top of my studies. I haven’t found it extremely stressful. It has, however, been a little bit more work than I did in middle school. The social environment is still good, I think that I am making friends.”

Davis’ thoughts:

“I think Makana Brooks is a musically talented, highly motivated and kind person who is willing to take on any opportunity. Not only does she play the string bass in the LHS Freshman Orchestra and in the Youth Symphony of Kansas City, she is also in the LHS musical this year. Her positive attitude and kind heart is infectious and she has yet to turn down a challenge!”

Freshman

Makana Brooks Story by Jenna Spence

Photo by Kayla Watkins

Spotlight 23

What do you do with music?

“I love music, so I like to write and record. Once my son leaves the nest, I’d like to do some film work. The opportunity to take ideas and create something new is such a perfect challenge. I own instruments more than I play– mainly I’m a guitarist and drummer, though I do record occasionally with a lap-steel guitar, fiddle and banjo.”

What were you in as an actor?

“I worked with students when I was a traveling actor and I was inspired by the “light” going on in their heads. I Worked at Tecumseh, outdoor drama in Ohio, American Players Theatre, outdoor Shakespeare festival, Lexington Children’s Theatre, played the father in the world premier of “The Riddlin’ Child,” Bridgework Theatre, toured around Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and Off-off-off-off Broadway stuff in NYC. I have not acted in anything since the spring of 2001, though I have directed shows since then.”

What was living in New York like?

“I lived in NYC for three years from 1998-2001. I miss it sometimes, but it’s no place to raise a family. I went to a concert a week while I was there and even worked in the World Trade Center for three months in 2000, but 9/11 basically told me to leave and return to the Midwest.”

Leif Yderstad’s thoughts:

“Mr. Zavos is very good at making you think about what’s being taught by making it interesting. I admire his positive outlook and his ability to make learning fun.

Mr. Zavos challenged us a lot and also was always very upbeat when teaching.”

Teacher

Chuck Zavos Spotlight 24

Story by Hannah Leonard

Photo by Kasey Allshouse

What do you do in your job?

“Some of the things that I do is anything that involves athletics. I call officials to make sure that they’re going to be there for games, I update the athletic website, take most of the athletic questions and put information like scores and times out there. I handle the gates at the games, make sure that the schedules are updated and the kids know about changes on what they need to do and where they need to be. I mostly coordinate between the athletic director and the coaches and the athletes.”

What do you like about LHS? “My favorite part about my job is the interaction with everybody. That includes the LHS staff, the coaches, officials and people from other schools. The wide range of people from all over the conference that I get to talk to is pretty cool. That’s the best part; meeting so many people.

That and working for the athletic director. He’s awesome.”

What do you do out of LHS?

“I spend time with my family. I have two children; a daughter at KU and a seventh grader at DMS. I also redo and make furniture. I enjoy doing what [furniture] shops do to redo old furniture. I do this in my garage. I’m currently working on two pieces; I am doing a shutter headboard for a friend of my daughter’s and I’m working on a shelf for the library to match The Nest.”

Morgan Fleming ‘s thoughts: “Mrs. Middleton is super nice and she’s always there when I need something, whether that be out of school things, in school things or sports. She’s super supportive in athletics and academics. I really appreciate all that she does for us. I know for sure that she runs the LHS Athletics Twitter account so she helps get support out for all of the athletics. She has a big impact in this school.”

Administrator

Tricia Middleton Story by Jenna Spence

Photo by Brieann Wynn

Spotlight 25

Facing

Your

Fears

Halloween

Story by Riley Kelley and Hope Scobee

Photos by Teresa Parra

For some students, their biggest fears can be described as out of this world. Sophomore Ava Whitebird’s biggest fear is E.T the Extra Terrestrial.

“I was at my grandparents’ house when I was three years old and they made me watch E.T. thinking I would love it,” Whitebird said. “I was seriously so scared of it. He looks scary, he talks scary and when he screams, that freaks me out.”

What’s the scariest movie you have ever seen?

506 students responded.

6.9% “The Purge”

60.5% Other

7.7% “It” 12.9% “The Exorcist”

Indepth 26

This

11.9% “Paranormal Activity”

Freshman Preston Thompson confirms that snakes are at the top of his fear list.

“My biggest fear is frogs or snakes,” Thompson said. “Because of the texture, they are too slimy.”

Straight out of his nightmares, Thompson can think of one scenario that would seriously give him the creeps.

“A snake pit would freak me out the most,” Thompson said.

One memory in particular involving one of the slimy creatures has stuck with him.

“I woke up and there was a snake on my floor. It was black.

I screamed and ran back to my bed,” Thompson said.

Remember those action movies when two cars would collide together and completely destroy each other?

“My biggest fear is getting crushed in between two cars whenever I am walking through a parking lot,” junior Allie Hansen said.

Why you ask? Well, to Allie, this is a phobia that has always been there in the back of her head.

“I think this is my biggest fear because it would hurt really bad and it’s just a really scary thing to think about. It would be a terrible way to die,” Hansen said.

“Ever since I was a little girl I have been afraid of this. I was just so little and it has always been a really big fear of mine ever since.”

Humor is the best way Hansen knows how to face this long-term panic.

“I don’t really have a story behind it because I have never gotten smashed in between two cars,” Hansen said.

How do you face your fears?

506 students responded.

37.7% Other

23.1% Scream

9.3% I’m not scared of anything

12.1% Hide

17.8% Run away

As for traumatizing experiences, senior Samantha Bennett can recall one of her own that seems to be straight out of a scary movie.

“My grandpa owns a lake house and my mom and I went down there by ourselves and we were trying to get the Sea-Doo out and running,” Bennett said. “It was old and we hadn’t used it for a while, so I get out there on it and I try to start it up. It’s rumbling and stuff and all of these spiders just come flowing out of it, big and small. They were crawling all over me and I was shaking and crying because I had spiders all over me. This was like hundreds of spiders.”

During childhood, most people can relate to the fear of monsters in the closet. For Bennett, this fear still drives her to check a few places every once in awhile.

“Whenever I get in my car at night, I have to check the back seat,” Bennett said. “I always have to check my back seat and closet to make sure there’s nobody in there.”

It’s a plane? It’s a bird?

It’s a kite? It’s a squirrel!

“My biggest fear is squirrels,” junior Corben Phillips said.

Phillips may be the only person with a legit motivation to be deathly afraid of the fuzzy, acorneating animal.

“This is my biggest fear because long story short, when I was little I had this horrible nightmare about squirrels and my whole family was attacked and eaten by squirrels,” Phillips said. “Ever since that dream, I have been deathly afraid of squirrels.”

Phillips is totally convinced that this horror will be present for the rest of his life.

“When I had this dream it makes it even worse because I was only four years old,” Phillips said.

What are you most afraid of?

506 students responded.

26.5% Spiders

16.2% Clowns

22.1% Other

8.9% I’m not scared of anything

12.3% The dark

Indepth 27

Not the Whole Story Story by Delaney Tarpley

Photos by Emily Johannes

A review of A Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown.

“A picture’s worth a thousand words, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.”

Ashleigh Maynard is the school’s good girl. Her dad is the superintendent of the school district, she’s a cross-country star and she has a perfect 4.0. However, what’s a person without a few mistakes?

In an effort to receive attention from her boyfriend, Kaleb, Ashleigh sends a picture of herself at a pool party, but without her swimsuit on. Things are perfect in their relationship until Kaleb goes to college, leaving Ashleigh behind in her junior year of high school.

After a nasty breakup, Ashleigh is heartbroken, but Kaleb wants revenge.

Pretty soon, the whole school has seen the text captioned with the words, “Slut up for grabs.” Ashleigh sees her world tumble down as she gets kicked off the cross country team, her friends ditch her and half the town wants her dad fired from his position. From there, things get even worse, if you can imagine that.

At her community service, Ashleigh meets a variety of people and one person who stands out above the others.

Personally, I enjoyed the story very much. I have never been in a situation like this, so it gave me more information that I wouldn’t have known without reading the book.

“I chose to write this book because it is relevant,” author Jennifer Brown said. “There are teens out there who are experiencing the humiliation and

Also by Jennifer Brown: -Hate List -Bitter End -Torn Away -Perfect Escape

A&E 28

embarrassment that Ashleigh goes through, simply by virtue of making a poor decision.”

Sexting is a word that makes most kid our age shift in our seats awkwardly and it should. It’s an uncomfortable topic and an even more uncomfortable situation to be in. It’s a hot topic issue in today’s society and a topic that high schools all over know all too well. DoSomething.org says over 24% of high school students have been in a sexting situation, most of which have ended poorly.

Ashleigh is a relatable character for most high school students. Even though you might not have sent an inappropriate picture of yourself, you have made a mistake at one point that affected the way you were viewed by others. That’s what

high school is all about, right? Ashleigh goes through a process that many of us have gone through while trying to rebuild our reputations. She meets new friends, drops old ones and starts putting her situation into perspective.

Nothing is ever deleted or erased on the internet or in a texting conversation.

It’s still out there floating around in cyberspace. Anyone can see it and anyone can get a hold of it. This is a lesson that many teenagers have learned the hard way.

Reading this book can be learning that lesson the easy way when you take a look at Ashleigh’s situation. This book shows you what can happen and how bad things can get, but it can also show you how to move on.

One of the biggest things I learned from this book is while a picture may be a thousand words, it doesn’t tell the whole story. After all, we all make mistakes and some of us get caught and some of us don’t. There are big mistakes and there are little mistakes. Some have higher consequences and some don’t. These mistakes might seem like they won’t ever go away and in some cases they won’t ever fully go away. But as Ashleigh learns in the book, mistakes do not define you.

You can’t let other people decide who you are, whether it’s the “good girl” or the “slut up for grabs.” Only you can decide who you are and who you are going to be.

A great lesson from A Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown.

Q&A

with author Jennifer Brown What made you write this story?

“As with all my books, I wanted to write it because it is relevant.

There are teens out there who are experiencing the humiliation and embarrassment that Ashleigh goes through, simply by virtue of making a poor decision. A lot of teens who need to hear that they’re not alone.

I spent much time during my teen years feeling isolated, so it’s important to me to reach out to teens in pain, to let them know that there is a light at the end of this tunnel they’re going through and that things will get better for them. I don’t have answers, but if I can create a character readers can relate to and then give that character hope, and in turn give the reader hope, I’m happy.”

What happens to Ashleigh and Kaleb is pretty scary. Can that really happen?

“Can and has! While several states have changed, or are currently working to change, laws surrounding teen sexting in some states sending a nude photo of a teen is considered distribution of child pornography, a felony offense. Teens and young adults could find themselves arrested, charged, convicted, ordered to do community service or other diversion programs, or even given jail time and required to register as a sex offender.

But there are a great many more cases of teens who’ve had to deal with emotional fallout of sexting gone awry. There are cases in which teens have had their nude texts go viral, have found themselves ridiculed to the point of having to move to a new school, have been suspended. And, sadly, there are even instances of teens committing suicide as a result of bullying due to nude texts.

That’s why it’s so important to think before you hit send.

Anything you send out into cyberspace is out there forever. You can’t take it back, and you never know when you might sorely want to.”

Many of your books focus on a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship gone bad. Why?

“Because these are the relationships that I remember most vividly from when I was a teen. Best-friend and boyfriend relationship problems caused me so much pain and angst! So a part of me may be still trying to work out relationships-gone-sour circa the 1980s, but also a part of me knows that I was definitely not alone. Boyfriend-girlfriend relationships cause angst for everyone! The complexity of relations in general, intrigues me.

There’s so much to talk about. I could write a thousand books and never touch on it all.”

A&E 29

Niki’s Corner Photos by Niki Benhardt

Halloween is coming soon! There is a literary pumpkin contest sponsored by the LMC. Here’s some candid’s of the middle left gym and bottom right floor.

The Library is a quiet place to get work done Top Left: Senior Jeffery Walters is working and so are the Librarians bottom left Chris Anderson and Lori Ridel.

A&E 30

Staff Ed

The Bell staff discussed whether blocking websites was beneficial to education.

Recently, LHS blocked most YouTube videos and has previously blocked many websites on the school computers. This has stirred up a discussion amongst students and teachers. Is blocking websites beneficial to education?

The Bell staff discussed many different opinions about these changes from both teachers and students. Several students viewed it as hindering the learning process because even the harmless videos their teachers have had them watch in class were blocked, which caused them to use up valuable class time to work on getting to the video. Others thought it was very beneficial in discouraging distraction during class time.

Overall, students were mostly okay with the blocking of certain websites, but thought the YouTube video blocking was

excessive. One student added that even though they thought it was excessive, since we are using the schools computers, they can do what they want with them and we have to respect the school’s decision.

According to several teachers interviewed by Bell staff leadership, this change has been brought about with mixed reactions. Many teachers who watch the same videos in class every year find that they have to go through and unblock every video one at a time. They see it as valuable prep time being used to unblock videos that they have previously used. It has also been slowing teachers down and occasionally wasting class time.

On the flip side, most of the teachers believe it has helped cut down on class distractions. One teacher didn’t see the filters as getting in her way and thought

that since the laptops are school property, they should be monitored and students shouldn’t be allowed to do whatever they want on computers.

Students in the musical are frustrated with the YouTube block because they put the choreography videos on YouTube so that they can practice at home. Because of this, lost valuable practice time because they couldn’t access them.

The Bell staff believes that once teachers get more experience with unblocking the videos, things will move faster.

Most of the Bell staff members think that some websites being blocked is a good thing and cuts down on distractions, but excessive blocking hinders our learning and how teachers teach.

Illustration by Daryl Gichui

Staff Vote: Yes: 9 No: 17

Opinion 31

Learn Their Stories

Chuck Zavos’ sophomore English class wrote and published narratives.

Zavos’ assignment was for each student to find a moment in that he or she could write about and reflect upon. It was supposed to be a moment, so Zavos asked students to think of something that happened over the course of an hour or two. Students were then

supposed to write in detail about the incident and to connect it to a theme. By doing this, students reflected upon the incident at the end of their essay and explained what the moment said about a theme seed (family, love, fear, etc.).

The whole purpose of the assignment and the publishing was to remind students that we all have a story to tell and that our stories can not only connect to others, but can also inspire and teach others as well.

To read the stories, scan or go to: https://libertyhighschoolmemoirs.wordpress.com/ For the podcasts go to: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/that-vacation-kristopher/ id1046380142?i=354108874&mt=2

A&E 32

The sophomore authors of the narratives and podcasts of Zavos’ English class are Jirayu, Bailey, Hunter, Drew, Nick, Katara, Caleb, Nick, Brock, Harrison, Kristopher, Daryl, Parker, Dakota, Ethan, Holden, Quincy, Zac and Alyzza.

M I D N I G H T H C Q K A T R N O G L W

P S I K K F P A U O C R U R L X R P E Z

R G P Z K U L M C Q I K D I X V A R W R

Trick or Treat!

Y U P O M L B A T S O A G C T M N P P V

I H H P O F U S G M R M T K G E G H B P

BATS BLACK CANDY COSTUME GHOST HALLOWEEN HAUNTED

D G K W T K E M V M X E O F N M E R B M

P I E S F N Y M L B C F B K P V M D F I

N E R K D W I F G Y F Q H O C Q J J W U

N T K E G V H V Q Y R A C S T R X K P X

Z F R L F Y T P I S N A T U C C X D H C

Z K C E X S I S G Q O T S U K I O E C I

G B F T A P Z X A G O Y Q C O R N M T P

MIDNIGHT OCTOBER ORANGE PUMPKIN SCARY SKELETONS SPOOKY

W I H O U T E P D M S H A K Z L P U I M

L E X N I X D T P B O L L B R Q Q T W X

T C R S K E X A G I B Y K E D P Z S S L

A S V E T E C T R J T N O R C O F O V R

J N O N W A P C H R D C O U L V H C S H

R T U H N O B U E T Z O M B I E O U D I

M A G D G U L E R I P M A V H O J W V S

H Q Y L L A M F T G N O H C S Y M E I P

TREAT TRICK VAMPIRE WEREWOLF WITCH ZOMBIE

Games 33

I am a Ferris Bueller Disciple Editorial by Editor-in-Chief Tara Prindle

I’m a big believer in the philosophies of the great Ferris Bueller. Call me a wannabe 80s kid, but I love the works of John Hughes, whether that is The Breakfast Club, Uncle Buck or Sixteen Candles (if you haven’t seen these movies I highly recommend them). There’s a grand message behind these movies, but

as I said, Ferris Bueller speaks to me the most.

Ferris was a senior in high school, such as myself, with a greater plan in place: to live life to the fullest. Now I’m not encouraging you skip school in order to have an adventurous day off like Ferris did, (mostly to avoid the doctor’s office, which is worse than school) but really to speak the Bueller message in a more upto-date way.

I am in no way, whatsoever, going to utter the words “YOLO.” You only live once doesn’t mean you go on a parade float and lip-sync The Beatles, go to a Royals game or steal your best friend’s father’s car for a joyride. People think “YOLO” gives them permission to do stupid things like playing with a king cobra, thinking they’re too young and invincible to leave unharmed. Every time I hear my generation speak the words of Drake instead of Ferris, I cringe. It’s

neither original nor inspiring.

The Bueller message is meant for a town to rally around “sick” youth, to spend a day with friends, eat exotic and weird foods, stand up for yourself and most of all, be a teenager while we can. If we can’t enjoy today, then it’ll be gone before you know it.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it,” Ferris preached throughout the whole movie. Now this is originality; this is a philosophy that guides my life.

It taught me to walk down the halls and avoid using my “going to class face,” at every high school sporting event I can be at and enjoy being a high school senior while I can.

Be brave, be bold, be social, be the Ferris Bueller of LHS.

Today’s Music Ain’t Got Soul Editorial by Design Editor Alex Wilson

Music is sacred. Music has been a form of self-expression since as long as anyone can remember. Music is a medium free of corporate grasp and is never made for the sole purpose of profit. At least that’s what it used to be.

Music is one of the few things that make me feel like a hipster, I always tend to

Opinion 34

listen to the classics. I’m talking Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Clapton, et cetera.

But what is the difference between yesterday’s music and today’s music?

To me it’s the soul. Music used to be a person or a group carefully crafting a song to stick it to the man. All they wanted was to tell the world what they were all about. Now music is about a person and a group with a bunch of random producers carefully crafting a song in order to brainwash a certain demographic to give them their hard earned cash. To be fair, not all modern musicians are like this.

Not that long ago I thought my distaste for modern music came from its sound, because a lot of music uses digital sounds.

Then, I got addicted to Daft Punk. For some reason I started listening to their album Discovery. I fell in love with that album even though it had everything I thought I hated; sampling, electronic

sound, and auto tune. Despite using these techniques constantly, I still listened to it.

The whole time I never hated the sound.

Because of my discovery (pun intended), I will only listen to “rock stars”. Young, naïve me would have only classified someone as a rock star if, well, they performed rock music. Now, I define “rock star” as someone who cares about his or her music and puts all their soul into it. It’s no longer the genre that matters; it’s the love and care that matters.

Music is not dead. There are many artists today who don’t care about the money and only care about their craft. Hopefully this money-grabbing industry is reverting back to the way it was.

No matter what happens to music, I’ll just keep listening to the classics. I could go on and rattle on about the different sounds of music from Jimi Hendrix to Michael Jackson, but instead I think I’ll go listen to some Son House.

No More Candy Tax Editorial by Opinion Editor Emily Johannes

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love candy. Halloween gives me that one night a year where I am allowed to eat as many Reese’s products as I can get my hands on. However, it didn’t used to be that way as my father also holds the same love I have for Reese’s.

My brother, sister and I would go trick or treating with the kids from the cul-desac and hit as many houses as we possibly could before bedtime, as it was usually a school night. Dressed as either a princess or a witch, I would collect my candy and bring it back home.

We each sat around the table sorting our candy into different piles. I sorted mine by type of candy. My brother would separate it by what he would eat and what he wouldn’t eat if he could even sit still long enough to sort it all out. The “wouldn’t” pile was mostly filled with Almond Joys and Whoppers. My sister would sort it by color of candy wrapper.

About halfway through this sacred ritual of sorting, my dad would loudly come in to demand what was rightfully his: the Reese’s. Known as the “candy tax” around our house, he took as many Reese’s as he saw.

As the years went on, we became good about eating our Reese’s while trick-ortreating and hiding them from him, but for several years, especially in preschool and the first couple years of elementary school, I wasn’t clever enough to hide them from him. In fact, I didn’t even know about Reese’s for years because he was so effective at stealing them.

The first time I ate a Reese’s, I ate the paper along with it. However, even with the paper, I knew I had found my candy.

That discovery has made Halloween exceptional for me ever since.

Yeah, there has been some candy clash at our house between my dad and I related to the candy tax, but to this day, we laugh about it together.

All Around Me are Familiar Faces

Editorial by Ads Manager Daryl Gichui

As a kid, I always thought the ideal family was one that was perfectly organized. You had a mom, a dad, brothers and sisters, grandparents, uncles and aunts and then some. However, I grew up with a very different setup.

Throughout my life our house was just me and my parents. I would see kids on holidays like grandparents day or hear them talk about what their crazy uncle did

on Thanksgiving and be envious. I knew I didn’t have the traditional type of family, and assumed that I was missing out.

Don’t get me wrong, growing up an only child comes with its perks. You have first dibs on dinner choices, you get the best presents no matter the holiday. But still, I missed playing with a brother or sister or having aunts and uncles. I appreciated my parents effort to play with me, but I continued to see my lack of a sibling as a disadvantage.

Now, as a fifteen year-old, I’ve realized how many people in my life kind of filled the roles I was searching for.

My eighth grade comm. arts teacher Ms. Martin was the greatest listener and would always take time out of her day to hear of our complaints and odd questions; so I saw her as a sort of a grandmother.

My elementary school P.E. coach, Coach Collins, exposed me to friendly competition and greatly influenced my fondness for 80’s music; he’d probably be my hippie grandpa.

Unbeknownst to my fifth grade self, my elementary art teacher Mr. Cruise showed me that trying new things that you may not be good at is often better than being content with your given talents. He helped me expand my outlook; like a wise old great grandfather.

My greatest childhood friends provided me with a form of sibling rivalry when it came school, sports, and especially video games. They shared with me very important first experiences like my first trip to the zoo, my first hot fudge sundae Poptart and the discovery of all amazing things you can do with Lego’s.

Currently as a cross country runner and newspaper staff member, I see my team and classmates, who I crack jokes, have conversations, laugh and hit the quan with as my siblings who are even more reliable and supportive than most siblings.

In my heart I will always consider all of these people my family, even if they we aren’t all related by blood.

Opinion 35

Athlete of The Month LIBERTY

Story by Katie Moon Picture by Adam Pouliot LIBERTY

Name: Josh Gale Grade: Senior Sport: Soccer Position: Right back Height: 6’2” Favorite Food: Mashed potatoes

“My favorite part of playing soccer is the difficulty of playing a sport that I’ve never played at the competitive level before. Also, getting to know the different tactics of the game. I do my best to represent the team, our school and everything that I do.”

Story by Katie Moon Picture by Morgan McNea LIBERTY

Name: Olivia Book Grade: Junior Sport: Sapphires Height: 5’5” Favorite Food: Spaghetti “My favorite part of being on the team is performing with everybody. Sapphire practice is very intense. It is a lot of work, but when we finish it’s the biggest accomplishment ever.”

-Olivia Book

“What I like most about playing with Josh is that he’s aggressive and good defensively. He can always pick you up when you’re down. He is a very positive person.”

“Olivia is a very strong dancer with a lot of technical ability. She also has very great expression. She is always positive and brings a good mindset to practice everyday. She is a great friend and a really good influence on everyone that she meets.”

“What I like most about coaching Josh is that he is a quick learner that will give everything he has to do what the coaching staff is asking of him to do. I know Josh will be extremely successful in his life by the high moral standards he lives his life by. He is an outstanding young man.”

“I love coaching Olivia because of how hardworking and dedicated she is. She is always asking us what she can do to get better. She wants to improve not only for herself, but also for the team. She serves as our social chair. She is great at motivating her team by planning events for the squad.”

-Josh Gale

-Satchel Manley

- Coach Thomas Rottjakob

Sports 36

-Taylor Bargfrede

- Coaches Maggie Willis and Kristen Bosiljevac

Bobble Jays Story by Paige Twenter Picture by Malissa Pennington

LIBERTY

Story by Paige Twenter Picture by Malissa Pennington

Name: Noah Witzki Grade: Freshman Sport: Swim and Dive Position: Fly and the free swim Height: 6’3” Favorite food: Cookie cake

Name: Autumn Avery Grade: Sophomore Sport: Softball Position: 1st base Height: 5’8” Favorite Food: Chicken tenders “My favorite part about softball is meeting new people who have ended up being my best friends later.

My favorite memory from this season is going to Springfield where we went to Lambert's, saw a scary movie and had team bonding time in the hotel.”

-Autumn Avery

“She’s a lot fun and she’s always so encouraging.

Autumn is always making jokes and having fun. She is always going to be there for you on and off the field.

She’s a great person, softball player and I’m very lucky to know her.”

-Lexi Resa

“Autumn is a really hard worker, she’s always trying to improve her game and she’ll always take opportunities for extra practice. She really tries to get in there and do the best she can to help her team. She’s a great kid all around and I look forward to the next couple years with her.”

-Coach Howard

“My favorite thing about my sport is being able to release stress and emotions, it’s kind of like an outlet for me. My first swim meet was really cool because all of us, as a team, did good and it was a very good start for me and the entire team.”

-Noah Witzki

“He’s really fast and he gives me a real challenge to keep up with him. He’s very optimistic and he likes setting high goals for himself. Noah is always there to listen to you as a friend and is there to give you advice.”

-Sam Coday

“It is going to be fun to coach someone with the talent he has. I’m going to try to get the best out of him that I can. He is very fast and one of the best freshman we have ever had here. It’s still early in his career, so I’m looking forward to having four years with him.”

-Coach Murphy

Sports 37

Dig for the Cure

Story by Jackson Peña

Photo by Morgan McNea

The Lady Jays volleyball team faces off against Truman to raise awareness.

As fall approaches and volleyball season comes to a close, LHS’s Lady Jays played their annual dig for a cure match against Truman In the new fieldhouse. The Dig for a Cure game brings awareness to breast cancer.

“The game is just to support all those who have breast cancer. It’s just to support and honor them,” sophomore Olivia Glaeser said.

The Sports Marketing team helped to raise money to donate to Susan G. Koman.

The team made pink shirts and sold them during lunch in the cafeteria for $8. The money that was raised was donated to the organization.

“It is a benefit to find a cure for cancer,” coach April Fleming said, “A lot of high schools in the area do a dig for the cure game where kids get all decked out in pink and the proceeds go to Susan G. Komen, or some other group that will help find a cure for cancer.”

Susan G. Koman is a non-profit organization that hosts several events across the nation to raise money to find a cure for breast cancer. For anyone who has ever had a relative, friend or mentor affected by cancer then they understand how important these fundraisers are.

Sports 38

The dig for a cure game is a simple and fun way to get involved.

“We are super excited for tonight’s game because it is a dig for the cure,” senior Sarah Phillips said, “We’re not just playing for ourselves, we are playing for those who maybe don’t get the opportunities that we have and we’re playing for something bigger than ourselves which is really important to us.”

There was a great turn out for the games.

“I’m super excited but I’m kind of upset that we don’t get to play all season in there but it’s kind of a unique situation just because we are the first group to play in there,” senior Rachel Henrichs said, “So looking back, it would be cool to say that I was apart of the team that was in there first. So I’m just super excited about it and I’m excited for tonight.”

Students, faculty and parents came out to show support for the Lady Jays. The majority of the people in the crowd were sporting their pink shirts for breast cancer awareness.

The JV starters took to the court with confidence, there was excitement in the air. Many of the girls were playing in honor of someone.

For instance, freshman Rylie Bandt said

her family has been touched by cancer.

Although Truman defeated the JV Lady Jays, there were some tremendous plays; numerous spikes by freshman Kate Schmidt and sophomore Emily McBride.

Freshman Rylie Bandt not only had great serves but assisted junior Emma Coholla with a nice block. These are just a few of the outstanding plays that happened during the two-game match.

Just before the Varsity Lady Jays took to the court, they acknowledged the survivors, those in a current battle and remembered those who have lost their lives to cancer.

The banter between LHS and Truman was all in good fun as the Varsity ladies took to the court. Truman took the match winning 3-2 but there were some remarkable saves by senior Dominique Lipari and junior Ally Gordon. There was great teamwork between senior Morgan Fleming and senior Rachel Henrichs, who blocked several spikes and spiked the ball. Senior Sarah Phillips and sophomore Olivia Glaeser had unreturned serves to name just a few of the highlights that happened during the three game match.

Left: Liberty’s varsity volleyball teams gets ready to spike against Truman. Right: Rachel Henrichs is on the net and Kaitlyn Baker prepare to recieve the ball.

Slamtastic Story by Kati Benhardt

Photos by Jessi Foster

Lillian Schumacher Elementary hosts a fundraiser to raise money for their PTA at LHS. The Harlem Wizards fundraising team is full of tricks, hoops and alley oops. On Thursday, October 8, the Harlem Wizards basketball team came to the new LHS Fieldhouse and played against the Liberty Underdogs team. The Liberty Underdogs consisted of LPS administrators and the mayor of Liberty.

Lillian Schumacher elementary school hosted and put together the Harlem Wizards fundraiser game.

“Our PTA was looking for an alternative to a traditional fundraiser. They didn’t want to encourage students to go door to door and sell things like cookies or magazines, they approached me about the idea of hosting the Harlem Wizards,” Lillian Schumacher principal Chris Gabriel said. “This will hopefully be a fun community event that will also financially support our PTA and allow them to provide the amazing experiences that they always do for our students.”

The Harlem Wizards team teaches awareness to elementary students and hosts a basketball game after the awareness presentations.

“Basically the Harlem Wizards will travel to multiple elementary schools on that day, during the day and will do 45-minute to an hour presentations on anti-bulling, anti-drug and anti-tobacco, things that kids need to hear,” coach Noah

Sports 39

Simpson said. “Then it ends with a big fun game that night. It’s a big fundraiser, but its awareness for kids to treat each other the right way.”

LHS head varsity men’s basketball coach Roger Stirtz explains what he expected when it came to the game.

“Honestly, I have no idea what to expect,” he said. “It’s for students in our district to have extra opportunities to enhance their educational experience, so it’s a positive thing.”

This is what Precious Black looked forward to about the game.

“I’d probably look forward to the game because seeing my fellow teachers and actual basketball team playing would be good,” she said.

The difference between the Harlem Globetrotters and the Harlem Wizards is the Harlem Wizards are a fundraising team, although the Harlem Wizards and Harlem Globetrotters are similar in playing style.

“It’s pretty cool actually. They kind of just mess around and they play, but they try and get the fans involved, its good for teenagers and kids they like it,” senior Mason Stirtz said.

Lillian Schumacher’s PTA hoped for a big crowd turnout for the fundraiser game.

“We would love to pack the house, but are expecting something around

300 people. The field house holds 1800 people, so there are plenty of places for people,” Lillian Schumacher PTA President David Sparks said.

There was one event like the Harlem Wizards basketball fundraiser in the past.

“We did one for the telethon a few years back, where we had the state championship team of 1998 come back and play the channel 18 all stars, lead

by Dallas Ackerman,” Men’s basketball coach Roger Stirtz said.

Coach Simpson had no doubt the Harlem Wizards would win against the Liberty Underdogs, in a fun manner.

“The Harlem Wizards actually have a couple guys on their squad that are former Harlem Globetrotters and then they have some guys that have played division one college basketball,” Simpson said. “There is no doubt in my mind, that if they want to beat us by 50 or 60, they probably easily could.”

Principal Gabriel hoped for a positive turnout to the fundraiser.

“I am hopeful that this will be a success, and allow our PTA to support field trips and cultural arts activities at school,” he said. “It would be wonderful for our families, if PTA didn’t have to come back to them with another fundraiser to fund the typical events they support.”

Top Right: A Harlem Wizards player autographs a Schmacher students merchandise. Left: The two teams get ready for tip-off. Right: A player of the Harlem Wizards team dunks.

COME VISITSAFE HALLOWEEN! October 29th 5-8pm @LHS

FREE Adult Buffet Ticket with Purchase of one Adult Buffet Ticket and 2 Drinks!

Valid at Liberty Locations

Now Accepting Applications!!

202 N 291 Hwy, Liberty, MO 64068

290 S. 291 Hwy Liberty, Mo

(816) 792-2737

CALL AHEAD FOR CARRY OUT DELIVERY

Contact Us: (816) 792-2428