The Budget Issue #6

Lawrence High School Established 1893 1901 Louisiana St. Lawrence, Kansas 66046 Volume 123, Issue 6 March 22, 2016

Social media used for harassment

NEWS IN BRIEF

2 • MARCH 22, 2016

IN THIS ISSUE:

Lawrence High School Established 1893 1901 Louisiana St. Lawrence, Kansas 66046

Social media used for harassment

Volume 123, Issue 6 March 22, 2016

Cover by Cooper Avery

COVER STORY

The district facilitated two social media education nights for parents to learn more about what teens do online.

Story on page 10

Superintendent to leave district ....... page 4 Building falls short in accessibility... page 5 Sanders pays visit to Lawrence......... page 8 Career Center expands programs..... page 12 LINK plans building improvements.... page 14 Senior speaks four languages............ page 16 Basketball takes third at state.......... page 18 Spring sports previews........................ page 20 Clothier wins second state title......... page 23 Musician adapts to impairment......... page 24 Art students design shoes.................. page 25 Politicians have gone too far.............. page 26 KITE testing causes stress ................ page 28 Computers should be available.......... page 29

LHSBUDGET.COM VIDEO Meet the editors Shemar Benchside Cam

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE Students circulate petition to ban Confederate flag Day in a life at LHS comics Womens’ Week story

Dan, I’ll have you and your friends know that horseplay of any kind, will not be tolerated anywhere on school grounds.

Oh.... Wait....

What are you talking about Chesty?

Rod, I think he’s talking about you....

Aww.....

Man.....

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Senior sets school speech and debate program record

By Jennifer Pomes Senior Stefan Petrovic broke a school record earlier this semester when he set a school record for the number of points awarded through the National Speech and Debate Association.

Petrovic has accumulated 2,288 points during the past four years of his participation in the debate and forensics programs.

“It determines your level of professionalism in forensics,” he said.

“They show dedication in a highly competitive activity.”

Petrovic overtook 2013 graduate Lauren Pauls for the record.

Points are awarded based off of participation in National Speech and Debate Association events like debate and forensics tournaments.

Participants in policy debate are awarded six points for winning a round and three for losing the round. Various degrees of points are awarded for different ranking in

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forensics events, as well as additional school activities that involve public speaking.

Petrovic said being a part of the debate and forensics programs has been important to his development as a speaker and has helped make connections.

“It has made me a better public speaker, better to my fluency,” he said. “Allows me to form great friendships.”

DEBATABLE — Senior Stefan Petrovic converses with junior Aprahmay Mishra in the Debate and Forensics classroom. Petrovic has aquired 2,288 points during his four years under debate coach Jeff Plinsky.

Photo by Ian Jones

MARCH 22, 2016 • 3

Museum, where hundreds of people got to watch over the course of two hours.”

As well as playing at the Field Museum, students went to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and other Chicago landmarks such as Wrigley Field and Grant Park.

Originally, the orchestra was going to travel to St. Louis for the trip, but Chicago won out.

Orchestra previously embarked on the Chicago trip in 2013.

e to Chic m a co l e

o! g

By Izzy Hedges From March 8 to March 12, sophomore, junior and senior orchestra students went to Chicago for the annual music department trip.

During the four day trip, the group performed at the Field Museum and were led by a conductor from Northwestern University.

“The orchestra trip was lots of fun and also very jampacked with activities,” junior Abbie Treff said. “The best part was performing at the Field

W

Orchestra classes travel to Chicago over Spring Break

Graphic by Amanda Stinnet

Accomplished photojournalist, LHS graduate passes away at 78

WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS — LHS graduate Bill Snead began his journalism career in Lawrence and went on to serve in several positions during his career, including a staff photographer at The Washington Post, where he is pictured above. Photo courtesy of Dona Snead

By Jennifer Pomes From covering local news with the Lawrence Journal-World to photographing overseas wars with The Washington Post, LHS graduate Bill Snead had a prolific journalism career.

Snead, a member of the class of 1954, died at his Lawrence home on Feb. 14 at age 78 of lung cancer.

He began his journalism career at the Journal-World as a photography assistant during his senior year in

high school.

He went on to spend 21 years at the Washington Post as a staff photographer, he worked as a picture editor at National Geographic and worked as a bureau manager in Vietnam for United Press International.

During his 50-year career, Snead earned recognitions from the White House News Photographers Association and was runner-up for a Pulitzer Prize in news photography.

Acting class brings storybooks to life by performing for local primary schools

By Izzy Hedges Acting teacher Jamie Johnson’s Acting II and Acting III classes made three storybooks come to life on Jan. 18 by acting them out in front of toddlers at the Hilltop Children’s Develop Center on the campus of the University of Kansas.

“We chose ‘Tuesday,’ about a little panda who has a giant sneeze,” Johnson said. “We did ‘This Is Not My Hat,’ about a fish who steals a hat, and a version of ‘There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly’ because I thought they might know that one.”

Smaller enrollment numbers in the

upper-level acting classes gave Johnson the leeway to travel with the group, as well as put together the skits for the classes.

“We had this process of putting everything together,” Johnson said. “We went to the library and gathered a bunch of children’s books, and then after that we picked out which ones we thought would be the easiest to dramatize.”

Although she said there are inevitable difficulties when performing in the community, the class will be traveling to Sunflower Elementary school later this month to perform for another group of students.

Graphic by Amanda Stinnet

PAGE DESIGN BY NIA RUTLEDGE • LHSBUDGET.COM

4 • MARCH 22, 2016

Superintendent leaves a legacy

Doll to retire at the end of the year after 7 years of initiating change

By Luna Stephens Starting the BYOD program, proposing a bond issue and working on LGBT issues were just a few of the many accomplishments Rick Doll made in his seven years as USD 497 superintendent.

When Doll announced his retirement in November, the school board began a monthslong search for his replacement. The district announced its choice, Kyle Hayden, as the new superintendent on March 8. Hayden is currently the assistant superintendent.

Doll is leaving USD 497 to lead the Kansas Educational Leadership Institute at Kansas State University next year.

“It has been a sincere pleasure to work with Dr. Doll over the past seven years,” school board president Valerie Sanburn said. “I don't think it’s ever an ideal time to replace an effective leader, but I understand that Dr. Doll has a new opportunity

that would have been hard to pass up.”

Choosing a new superintendent was something that affected the entire district and Lawrence community, so the district worked to include students and families in the decision process, hosting sessions on Jan. 13 and 14 to get public input.

“I felt it was our duty as student council executive representatives to go and represent LHS in the best way possible,” senior Elliott Abromeit, who attended the meeting, said.

There are many qualities a superintendent should have, and the district asked for input on what is most important to look for.

“They asked us about what kind of qualities we’d like and what we see in the district and how we would like things to change in it,” Abromeit said.

During Doll’s time in the district, USD 497 implemented blended learning and major renovations to LHS, as well as other schools in the district. He has received approval from educators in

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the district as well as the community.

“Generally, he’s been pretty good for teachers and kids,” debate coach and member of the teachers’ board of negotiators Jeff Plinsky said.

“Honestly, I would be just as happy if he stayed instead of retiring.”

Plinsky said that change was definitely something Doll succeeded at, as he oversaw things like the moving freshman to the high school level.

“The biggest change I saw was the willingness of the administration to deal honestly with teachers,” Plinsky said.

“Dr. Doll has really changed the culture for the better in that area. He has also forced us to confront race as educators. That is a scary thing for people my age, but we are making real strides in closing the achievement gap as a result of the initiatives he has championed.”

Doll said his desire to become a superintendent laid in his desire to have a positive impact on as many students as possible.

“Being the head of a school district provides an op-

LEGACY — Superintendent Rick Doll leads the school board meeting on Feb. 22. Photo by Cooper Avery

portunity to impact personnel, curriculum, facilities, and students,” he said. “I hope to leave the impression that every student is important and that every educator can have a profound impact on students’ lives.”

Even with Doll’s departure, the work he did will continue to impact the district, and his efforts will be furthered.

“Being the superintendent of Lawrence Public Schools has been the most challenging and the most rewarding [time] of my career,” Doll said. “I believe that the actions that I, and the entire school district, have taken around equity issues will have a prominent effect on the district even after I leave. Our equity work is embedded in schools, the district as a whole, and with the school board. I look forward to watching the district grow in their equity work in my absence.”

School facilities don’t measure up for people with disabilities

Outdated building causes inconvenience for people with physical disabilities

By Zia Kelly The hallways are narrow and students pack the staircases during passing period as they cram through on their way to their next classes.

But for students like sophomore Josh Evans, the only way to get to many of his classes is the elevator, located on the end of science hallway.

“They usually work good until they break down,” he said.

And it does break down. At the beginning of this school year, the elevator in the main building stopped working off and on and wasn’t consistently working during the first two months

of school. While most students were not affected, students like Evans, who rely on the elevator to get from class to class, were confronted with serious issues.

“I missed like three or four of my classes,” he said about a day when the elevator stopped working while he was upstairs. Continued on page 6

A PRESSING ISSUE — Handicap buttons on the interior and exterior of entrances allow students with physical disabilities to navigate campus. However, some of the buttons have stopped working throughout the year.

Photo by Cooper Avery

6 • MARCH 22, 2016

Noncompliance

Although many of the issues that make the building less accessible to people ADA, Continued from Page 5 with disabilities may seem Yet, many of the probAlthough the main buildinsignificant to someone who lems could be addressed ing elevator has consistently is able-bodied, they can have when the district follows worked since September, significant effects on those through on the long-term many challenges remain in who have difficulty navigating planning for the LHS buildnavigating the LHS campus the building on their own. for students with physical dis- ing that is in the works.

“Facilities that are not “There abilities. Classroom doors are accessible can are things difficult to open; bathrooms “Facilities that are not accessible can have a very in this aren’t accessible; some outer negative effect building doors lack working electric have a very negative effect on the on the lives of that are entrances or those buttons people with lives of people with disabilities. ” ­ flat-out aren’t working; and moving disabilities,” — Daniel Brown, Independence INC not between three buildings said Daniel ADA-comduring winter months is Brown and pliant difficult.

Bob Mikesic of in that This is a result of the age Independence, kind of basic sense of the of the building, disunity INC, a local organization word,” said assistant principal of new additions with the that provides resources for Mike Norris, who manages original floorplan and more people with disabilities. “In campus facilities. “I am not general outdated designs. many cases, this may mean saying the building is out of Because of those issues, that the person with a disabilcompliance because there much of the campus doesn’t ity is excluded from receiving meet standards established by exceptions made to ADA the same level or quality of compliance...Age of buildthe Americans with Disabilservices as someone without ing, construction going on, ities Act in 1991, although a disability.” the school isn’t in trouble stuff like that. Those sorts of When school facilities because it’s grandfathered in. things do factor in.”

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HARD AT WORK — Freshman Logan Bruner works during his fifth hour class in room 132. Many features of the room, including the desks, are outfitted to accommodate student with disabilities.

Photo by Cooper Avery aren’t accessible, students are often unable to navigate independently. Although paraeducators help students who need it, when places in the building are nonaccessible, students have to rely on paras rather than be independent.

For some students, getting through doors can be a literal barrier to getting to class.

Since the building has several additions and doors were installed at different points in time, many of them have different widths, made of different materials and have hinges on different sides. All of the inconsistencies can make it difficult for someone with a disability to enter and

MARCH 22, 2016 • 7 exit classrooms. made accessible to students Many of the handles on by putting in buttons. As it doors require twisting, which is, students with disabilities is impossible for some people cannot open the library or with muscular disabilities who gymnasium doors on their cannot grasp or twist the han- own. dle. For example, room 132, However, even if the which hosts many students buttons are not working or if with physical disabilities, has there isn’t one at all, students a twist handle. with disabilities always have The doors the help of themselves can “I had kids missing their core classes their paras also be too heavy or teachers for someone with because the elevator wasn’t working.” who they’re a disability to with. open by themAs a — Heidi Woods, special education student selves. This is an teacher who navissue for room 100, which hosts igates the classes with many building in students with an electric physical disabilities. wheelchair, Evans said he All of the classroom doors generally does not have a will be replaced this summer, hard time getting to and from and they will include paddle class. or stationary bar handles. BeHe has five classes a day cause of the age of the buildand said other students are ing, the widths of some doors good about getting out of his will still be narrower than path during passing periods. current building standards.

However, at the beginning Although the new doors of the year when the elevator will make classrooms accesbroke down periodically, he sible to some students, some had no way of getting back to with more severe handicaps the main level. And Evans was would not be able to open a not the only student affected. door regardless of any new “I had kids missing their specifications. core classes because the elevaTo make entryways accessitor wasn’t working,” special ble to those who cannot open education teacher Heidi doors, electric buttons are on Woods said. both the interior and exterior While the main buildof many entrances. However, ing elevator was fixed last these are only effective when semester, the elevator issue they work. in the annex is ongoing. The For the entire first semeselevator in annex is old and ter, the handicap button on cramped. room 100 was not working.

The annex elevator is so Since the room is central for unfit for use that teachers many students with disabiliand paras almost never have ties, this took away autonomy students ride in it. Not only from students for a large part is it unreliable, but many of their school day. wheelchairs, particularly larger Because both the interior motorized ones, would not fit and exterior buttons on the inside of it. door in the art wing work, all Students with disabiliof the career and technical ties can usually have their education classrooms that arschedules arranged so they do en’t accessible from majority not have to go to the annex of the main building can be at all. However, that hinders accessed. them from taking classes like There are also places in debate, which is upstairs in the building that could be the annex.

There are special educaa door with a twist handle tion offices upstairs in the and is structurally difficult to annex as well that students navigate if you have a physical with disabilities cannot easily disability. Many of the stuaccess. Lindsay Buck, who is dents who have class in room a case manager for the special 132 go halfway across the education department, said building to the nurse to use the case managers often have that bathroom instead. to take on students not by Most students, disabled or their grade in high school, as not, agree that the building is their supposed to, but by who crowded. An unusually-large can access what rooms. freshman class brought the Norris said that students student population to more with physical disabilities can than 1,600 students, which do debate, but if they enroll makes hallways and classin the class, the entire class rooms more cramped than would have to move to an previous years. accessible room for that hour.

This, added to rising class Until late last semester, the sizes caused by funding cuts annex was even less handicap at the state level, means classaccessible: none of the bathrooms are physically closer rooms were ADA-compliant. to capacity and harder to Over winter break, however, navigate. Especially for people a larger stall was put in and in wheelchairs. the bathrooms were redone to Woods said that students better accommodate students with disabilities who are in in wheelchairs. crowded classrooms often When students with have to sit near the door, disabilities enroll in classes, and often times could not building staff ensures there get across the room if they is a handicap-accessible needed to. bathroom in close proximity “The reality is that class to all of sizes are getthe rooms “We have increasing class sizes, we have ting bigger, they will and they’re facilities that legally and philosophically be in. For getting are becoming more inclusive. Once we example, bigger in the bathspaces that have more students with accessibility room in are fixed,” issues in the schools in a building that the math Norris said. way built 60 years ago, and those weren’t “We have hallway upstairs increasing issues then.” was class sizes, — Mike Norris, assistant principal we have switched from a facilities male to that legally a female and philobathroom when a student sophically are becoming more needed an accessible bathinclusive. Once we have more room nearby. students with accessibility isNorris also noted that sues in the schools in a buildbecause of the age of the ing that way built 60 years building, not every bathroom ago, and those weren’t issues in the school needs to be then. Those are the kinds of handicap-accessible, because things that are hopefully gothe cost of redoing every ing to be addressed through bathroom to be ADA-complilong-range planning.” ant would be untenable.

Earlier this year, the disHowever, some work could trict announced a long-term still be done. The bathroom planning initiative for the by room 132, despite having a LHS building. Although no handicap-accessible stall, has Continued on next page

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8 • MARCH 22, 2016

noncompliance ADA, Continued from Page 7 specific plans or timeline if there was more than one has been laid out, any new way for students to move additions or renovations will between floors. need to comply with ADA “One of the things would standards. be, in case the elevator broke Norris said that one of down and kids were stuck the largest challenges to ADA [upstairs], somehow put a compliance will be addressed ramp by the stairs,” he said. this summer by replacing Although there is no classroom doors. He also timeline or definitive plan said that the new front enfor the building, Norris said trance will be more accessithat with a large sum of ble for wheelchairs because money, which would likely the curb is being replaced come from the passage of with a shallow slope, which another bond issue, real is favorable to the older curb, strides could be made toward where people with disabiliadequate accessibility. ties had to “With enter the real money sidewalk all “One of the things [that should be you can the way by addressed by long-term planning] start movthe music ing wall, would be, in case the elevator doorway and you opposed can start rebroke down and kids were stuck the next to configuring [upstairs], somehow put a ramp by space,” he the front entrance. said. “But the stairs.”

“As we that’s not a —Josh Evans, sophomore $20,000 projdo this long-term ect over the planning... summer, now that that’s part we’re of a $40 miltalking lion dollar about significant structural project to renovate an entire changes to the school, that school.” at that point, some of the Until then, students, other parts of ADA are going teachers and administrators to start kicking and they’re will be working with what really going to start thinking they have. about ADA compliance in a “It’s a pretty careful bigger sense.” balancing act,” Norris said.

Although older buildings “At no point does ADA even like LHS are given passes for pretend to offer complete some failure to comply with autonomy and complete and modern building standards, complete self-sufficiency for once enough construction is students with handicaps or planned, the entire building other accessibility issues. will be subject to the most They can’t. There is no posrecent ADA standards, which sible way to do it, because at were passed in 2010. what point do you draw that Evans said that the buildline?” ing would be more accessible

­

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POLITICS

Democratic presidential candidate hosts two area rallies, students show support

Bernie Sanders makes rounds in Kansas City area, efforts reflected in caucus results

By Zia Kelly Students rallied behind Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders during his two rallies in the Kansas City area, spending hours in line and packed into cramped venues to see his speeches.

Sanders gave his second speech in the area on March 3 at the Douglas County fairgrounds. About 4,200 people from Lawrence and neighboring towns came to watch as Sanders promoted his campaign two days before Super Saturday, when Kansas held its caucus. Sanders won the state’s Democratic caucus overwhelmingly over his opponent Hillary Clinton.

Many students in attendance also saw Sanders speak at Bartle Hall in Kansas City on Feb. 24. Junior Noah Kuzca, a member of the Young Democrats Club, was one of those students.

“It [the speech] was very strong and he touched on all the topics that matter and should decide this election,”

he said.

Sanders addressed major topics in his campaign: campaign finance reform, regulating Wall Street, student debt and free college tuition and healthcare, among other things.

Junior Jazmyn McNair volunteered at the event, and said she was most excited to see Sanders address the management of student debt.

Kuzca, on the other hand, said he most looked forward to Sanders addressing the wealth gap. “[I looked forward to hearing] his [Sanders] demotion of the top 1 percent,” he said. “No one should be that ahead on the majority of people. America is a place of opportunity, but I don’t believe it can be achieved with such a margin between income levels.”

Substitute teacher and KU graduate student Travis Robinett volunteers with the Sanders campaign, and has worked at events in the Midwest.

“I think it’s really important,” he said after the speech. “Since Kansas is a Super Saturday state and he, frankly...After Super Tuesday, needs to start winning states.

And Kansas is one that he needs to win, absolutely.”

MARCH 22, 2016 • 9

Super Tuesday, which occurred cratic delegates. two days before the rally, did not Sander’s popularity in Douglook promislas County is largely ing for Sand“America is a place of opportunity, attributed to his appeal young voters, who ers. Sander’s but I don’t believe it can be achieved with are abundant because opponent, of the university. Junior Hillary Clinwith such a margin between Bridget Smith, who ton, pulled far income levels.” went to both rallies, said ahead by win­—Noah Kuzca, junior that the environment of ning a total the speech was impact1,052 delegates whereas Sanded by youth voters.

“He is an awesome ers had 427. speaker, and the young On March crowd that he attracts create a really 5, Sanders took the state’s nominaexciting atmosphere,” she said. tion with a 68 percent popular vote, and earned 23 of Kansas’ 34 demo-

BERNED — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke at the Douglas County fairgrounds on March 3, after previously coming through the area on Feb. 24 in Kansas City. “It [the speech] was very strong and he touched on all the topics that matter and should decide this election,” junior Noah Kuzca said.

Kuzca, along with other members of LHS’s Young Democrats Club, went to both rallies.

Photo by Griffin Nelson

PAGE DESIGN BY NIA RUTLEDGE • LHSBUDGET.COM

10 • MAR 9, 2016

SOCIAL MEDIA

Students affected by online harassment District hosts social media nights to educate parents on dangers teens face online

By Amanda Coatney Jane was walking down the hall during passing period when John took an unsolicited Snapchat of her from behind. He circled her butt, added in heart-eye emojis and shared it with members of the student body.

Her name has been changed so she could speak candidly about her experience. When the anonymous junior, Jane, found out what happened, she was mortified.

“I found out through

some people who were friends with him on Snapchat, and it really just made me feel objectified, embarrassed and kind of dirty,” she said.

Taking notice of the dangers of social media and the lack of education on them, the school district has implemented social media informational meetings at all four middle schools to educate parents and answer their questions.

“This is an issue that’s happening here,” Officer

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David Garcia from the Lawrence Police Department said at a meeting. “It’s not [just] a state or national issue, it’s stuff we’re seeing here in Lawrence.”

In these meetings, police officers and school officials like Denise Johnson, the Director of the Health and Wellness department in the school district, and Garcia discussed punishments and measures to take to keep students from different types of electronic harassment.

SNAPPED — Students around the school have bullied and/ or been bullied through social media apps like Snapchat.

Photo by Cooper Avery.

“It’s always going to depend on how the district attorney charges it,” Garcia said. “Broadly out there [child pornography is] a felony crime, it’s a minimum of 20 years, and they are registered as a lifetime sex offender.”

They advised parents to implement measures like

MARCH 22, 2016 • 11 having more conversations with students to be aware what they’re doing, approving and reviewing accounts, as well as messages, on all apps their students put on their phones, and tips and tricks parents can take for specific situations.

“As a parent you sit down with your kid and ask how their day was,” school resource officer Bill Bradford said. “You don’t settle [for] fine and nothing as an answer then maybe you can get a window into that [situation].”

Reluctant at the time, Jane did not immediately report the incident because she was afraid of what could happen.

“Last year, I did nothing,” she said. “I think I was just scared of what he would think of me. Now I understand that was not at all a compliment and that he is not at all a good guy.”

Such is common. Cases of harassment can go unnoticed because victims don’t want to bring it to the attention of authorities for fear of embarrassment, more harassment, or punishment.

In another case, Sarah was harassed by another student and his friends. Her name was changed to allow her to speak openly about the experience.

“His friends started commenting on my Instagram pictures,” Sarah said. “Then they added me in their group message...on Valentine’s day. They just kept making jokes that I didn’t think were funny.”

But because of the situation Sarah is in, she believes it would be better to deal with the harassment than report it and receive help.

“I didn’t see that coming, them attacking me like that,” she said. “Maybe they were just joking around, but I still feel offended.”

Bradford said harassment can have negative effects that outlast the time of the incident.

“I don’t look at social media any differently now but I do dress myself differently,” Jane said. “I haven’t worn leggings to school at all this year without double

checking that my butt is totally covered.”

The risks of electronic devices also involve harmful situations like coming into contact with sexual predators online, giving out too much personal information and jeopardizing future opportunities because of posts.

“Everyday somebody’s getting fired [because of] social media,” Bradford said. “Something they put on Twitter, something they put on Facebook, or a video they posted that they thought was kind of funny but their employer thought was pretty negative and reflected bad upon the company.”

While the school gets involved and helps resolve issues as much as it can, there are limitations on how they can intervene and help, because many problems take place outside of school.

“It would depend on how it affects the school environment and whether it occurred at school.”

Bradford said.

Because of all the limitations and details that go into solving these issues, the best course of action school officials and SRO’s recommend is to kill the problem before it happens.

“Once you click send you can’t get it back,” Bradford said. “So before you send, take a deep breath, think about it, read it back to yourself, and if you get the inkling that it might not be a good idea to do what you were doing, then don’t do it.”

Though social media has helped the world in many aspects, many realize its power as a tool for bullying others and understand the need to combat the issue.

“I love social media, but harassment on social media is a real issue,” Jane said. “It’s catcalling, but the attacker can hide behind their phones. To a person being harassed on any social media site, I would tell them to speak up.

Confronting the harasser face to face will embarrass them, and hopefully ensure that they never do it again.”

Students give input on social media harrassment Have you ever been personally attacked online?

Yes

25%

75%

39%

61%

No

Yes

Have you ever been subtweeted?

No

24%

Have you ever subtweeted anyone?

55% No

45% Yes

Is it easier to confront people online rather than in person?

Yes

76% No

Have you ever gotten into a fight online?

36% No

64% Yes

For the data, 105 students where surveyed.

Survey by Clara Severn and Graphic by Claire Robinson

PAGE DESIGN BY NIA RUTLEDGE • LHSBUDGET.COM

Career center keeps students coming CCC keeps its numbers strong second semester

By Gary Schmidt For 61 students at LHS, going to class has an entirely different meaning. When these few juniors and seniors head to class, a five minute passing period turns into a 10 minute drive to the new Lawrence College and Career Center (CCC).

The CCC, which fully opened and began offering courses in the fall semester of 2015, is providing some alternative ways for students to spend their school day. Often, this involves doing things that could not be offered in a typical classroom setting.

An astounding 33,000 square feet, the CCC provides students a larger and more dynamic setting to better accommodate the many different disciplines the students pursue while there.

From learning how to solve the impending world hunger crisis to becoming a certified nurse aide (CNA), the CCC is opening up new paths to students not previously offered in a traditional school setting. Through courses offered in conjunction with area colleges, the district is giving students the opportunity to get a head start on their future.

Neosho Community College, Johnson County Community College and Flint Hills Technical College are offering courses that can count for college credit and in some circumstances allow students

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to take “hybrid” courses.

These hybrid courses, while still being taught by USD 497 faculty, give students the opportunity to earn a high school credit and a college credit, all in the same semester by taking the high school course two or three days a week and the college course the other days of the week.

A typical day for a student who takes a class at the CCC does not vary all too much from a student who does not take any classes at the CCC. In fact, the only change that students see in their schedules is an omission of either their first three hours, or last three hours for a student who chooses to take an afternoon class, and the addition of a two hour block class, sandwiched between two thirty minute traveling periods.

CHECKING IN — Senior Jaden Johnson checks a Free State student’s blood pressure in the EMS First Responder course offered at the College and Career Center.

Photo by Cooper Avery

Something different about the CCC is that it offers students different ways to do the same things. A single course has the potential to be face-toface, typical in most classroom settings; online-based, such as many blended classes; or a hybrid course, having elements of both a high school course and a college level class. Additionally, the CCC’s proximity to the Dwayne Peaslee Technical Education Center, provides supplementary space and resources to the students.

And looking toward the future, the partnership

MARCH 22, 69%2016 •13

4:20 PM

To Lawrence College and Career...

Clear

Drive

Walk

Transit

E 19st St.

Louisiana St.

Barker Ave

LHS

Louisiana St.

Haskell Ave

W 31st St.

Haskell Ave

Broken Arrow Park

E 31st St

7 minutes

LCCC

Details

2.6 mi Louisiana St

Start MEASURING UP — Junior Tamara Soukhot participates in the a CCC class. Photo by Cooper Avery between the CCC and the Peaslee Center will continue to be a big factor. Charlie Lauts, an engineering teacher at both LHS and the CCC, said.

“The Peaslee Center is important because it gives us space for many other classes,” Lauts said.

The Peaslee Center houses the majority of the CCC’s engineering and manufacturing classes, but the professionals who work there also assist with many different marketing courses.

Lauts said that it will take time, but as enrollment grows so will the reputation of the center. Working toward the maximum capacity for students at the center is one of the longterm goals of the center.

Another objective of the CCC is to pair each student enrolled with a mentor, someone who will be able to help the student work through their daily challenges and monitor their growth will taking class at the center.

The CCC currently has around 150 mentors, but aims to have 450 readily available.

Although the center can have 300 students enrolled, the district would like to have more than enough mentors, so whenever a student needs someone that is an expert in another area, someone will be available.

Although the center is only in its first year, the growth it has displayed bodes well for the future.

“The CCC is long overdue,” Lauts said. “[Lawrence] has needed this forever.”

i Graphic by Ian Jones

The 61 students at the Lawrence College and Career Center are offered 5 strands or disciplines of classes to choose from.

Advanced Systems Technology (AST)

Engineering

24.5% 9.8%

Media, Business and Computer Technology

14.8%

21.4

29.6%

Human Services

Medical Care and Biomedicine

Graphic by Gary Schmidt

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FEATURES

14 • MARCH 22, 2016

LINK CREW

School group plans improvements LINK leaders work to create new safe spaces at school

By Kira Auchenbach LINK Crew plans to bring some new changes to LHS that aim to make the school a happier place.

A five-part project aimed to start at the end of semester will include adding a safe space, murals, cleaning up the trophy cases, putting “lions, tradition, pride” above the trophy hallway and a suggestion box.

The LINK Crew will propose the ideas of change to school administrators.

The crew hopes to add a safe space, a place where students can get away from everyday stress. This will be particularly helpful to students who have social anxiety, anger issues or any other trouble relating to school and peers.

“Something as major as the safe space would require demolition or construction to be able to put it in, so it’d be great to have district backing for that,” junior Cameron Stussie said.

Suggestion boxes would provide students a place where they could give their opinions, ideas and comments about LHS. Students would have the opportunity to anonymously submit desired changes they’d like to see in and outside the school.

“There are students who have opinions about what should go on with activities,” junior Kailey Bates said. “They don’t really have a voice because they’re too afraid of how they’re going to be judged for what clique they’re in.”

LHS has many trophies that are in the shadows and have not been displayed or well recognized. LINK plans to display more of these trophies and make the cases look nicer by dusting and cleaning the glass.

Above the trophy cases, they hope to put the words “Lions, Tradition, Pride” on the wall space.

Along with the idea of updating

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the trophy cases, LINK aims to display more art awards and ribbons. To raise awareness about what Lawrence High has to offer, murals by the art hallway would be painted. It hasn’t been decide how it will be carried out, but LINK hopes student participation will be an option in creating the murals. The murals will also help people find and know where the art hallway is.

For the participating LINK crew members, the projects will accomplish more than some cleaning. With the safe space LINK desires and the changes and improvements they hope to make, LINK crew’s intention is to help students feel accepted and encouraged at school.

“I hope that some of the students who feel completely outcast from everybody else in the student body, that they do feel involved and that they do feel like they have a voice in the building,” Bates said.

In addition to the building initiatives, LINK has come up with an acronym to show what LHS has to offer and what it’s about: OATS.

LINK TO A DIFFERENCE — Juniors Sydney Haralson and Jackson Mallory work in the LINK Leadership class. Photo by Carli Stellwagon O for opportunities, A for a place for all, T for traditions and S for success.

“Opportunities because LHS is so full of them and there’s so many different things that you wouldn’t normally see in high schools.” explained Bates. “A place for all, so we’re wanting to kind of group all the student body together and make sure that everyone is comfortable and every one feels as though they have a place.”

LINK’s ambition for the projects is to unify the student body so that no student feels left out or judged.

“All of these project ideas are just that at this point,” Schrag said.

“Ideas for ways to make Lawrence High more of a safe family place.

This is simply what LINK crew does.

Dream big, think big, to try to make Lawrence High School a safe and welcoming place for all students.”

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16 • MARCH 22, 2016

Student excels at foreign languages Multilingual senior learns four languages after being raised speaking two

By Gabriel Mullen Knowing more than one language is often indispensable when it comes to learning about other cultures and making connections with a broader range of people from around the world.

Considering that most people speak only one or two languages fluently, one might say that learning how to speak four is a rare and significant achievement for the average high school student.

The more fluent someone is in more than one language,

the greater the person’s ability to form bonds with people across cultures.

Senior Emily Torres recognizes how beneficial it is to be multilingual. In addition to speaking English, Torres speaks Spanish and French and is learning Italian.

“My parents are from Mexico and speak Spanish fluently, so that’s usually what I grew up around,” Torres said.

Torres’ mother knew that Emily had the skills necessary for learning more than one foreign language early on.

“I noticed [Emily] using the bilingual prayer booklets in church and saw her interest in learning more,” she said.

But Torres didn’t begin

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learning to speak Spanish fluently until later.

“My older siblings helped me learn English first, so I didn’t learn Spanish fluently until I was 8 and took my first trip to Mexico,” Torres said.

Torres’ first trip to Mexico gave her the perfect opportunity to immerse herself in Spanish and proved to be formative for her.

“I understood Spanish really well before I went, but in Mexico it was kind of like emerging into just Spanish.”

Torres said. “So I was kind of forced to speak and grasp it, and that’s when I learned it really well,” she said.

That sudden jump into a foreign country was similar to how her mother learned

FLUENT— Senior Emily Torres works in her Spanish class Photo

by Cooper Avery English, but unlike for Emily, it would become a long term experience that she is still going through.

“By moving to this country, learning English was something I was forced to do it if I wanted to get anywhere,” Torres’ mother said.

“For me, [learning English] is a continuous learning experience. It’s been one of the most difficult things I have done.”

But unlike Emily, her mother didn’t have the same advantage growing up that Emily did when she learned Spanish.

MARCH 22, 2016 • 17 Infographics by Inez Robinson

Emily started speaking Spanish at age 8 when her family took a trip to Mexico, where her family is originally from.

Emily is still in the process of learning French at LHS. She thinks this language is a little more difficult, but says it helps a lot also knowing Spanish.

Emily is still in the process of learning Italian individually. She thinks it’s the most difficult to learn because of the limited resources available.

English was Emily’s first language and is obviously the easiest to her.

“Learning English was much harder to do than Emily learning Spanish, mainly because Emily was immersed in Spanish and English from day one while I first became introduced [to] English when I was 19,” she said.

After becoming fluent in Spanish, Emily had options to choose from, starting in middle school.

“I really got interested in French in eighth grade,” Torres said. “I think it was intro to foreign languages where you take Spanish and French, and Spanish was just kind of a waste of time, so I decided to do French, and I started in freshman year.”

This year, Emily is taking French 4 and has begun to study Italian, hoping to learn more in the future. “[Emily is] a really serious student and she’s a really broad-minded person,” said

Language learning tips from Torres So, when you started to learn French and Italian, what kind of study techniques helped you learn two more languages?

“Well, the easiest thing about it is they’re all based in Latin, so if you know Spanish already, most other languages that are Romantic languages are a lot easier to learn because it’s just the same root words and kind of the same sounds and the same meanings behind all the root words so it’s a lot easier to learn.”

So, if other people want to start learning more than one language, what language do you think they might start with?

“I think Spanish, especially since there’s a lot of immigrants here in America, and like I said just being on a friendly basis, and there’s just a lot of opportunities from knowing Spanish, like in different careers like medicine and so, it’s important to be able to speak more languages to be able to help people.”

So if other people decide to start learning a foreign language, how do you recommend that they study for it, because it can be really tough as I’m sure you know to memorize words and things like that.

“Something we do a lot in French is watch movies in French, and I think that helps a lot with just being able to match sounds with how people move their mouth and just hearing what it sounds like first, and then going deeper into the grammar roots and things like that.”

“Growing up with parents French teacher Megan Hurt. who speak more Spanish than “She’s interested in a lot of English, I think it’s important things, and whatever she to me to be able to speak does, she does well.” more languages because you Hurt knows the benefits that come along with learning never know when you’re going to meet someone who a foreign language, having doesn’t speak English, and experienced many of them being firsthand. the “There “I figured if I know the languages friendly are a lot of the places I want to go to then it face of reasons to learn would make it a lot easier and enter- they can undera foreign taining to go to those places. ” stand language, ­—Emily Torres, better, and I think one of the senior it’s kind primary of nice,” ones is to she said. enhance “I your underthink standing [learnof the world, you know, it’s ing a foreign language] would just a big bonus all around,” unify people more by allowHurt said. ing someone to branch out Emily agrees and believes to more people and create that speaking a familiar lanrelationships with them,” Torguage can help others. res’ mother said. “One of the

greatest benefits of learning Spanish is having it on your resume for customer, client, or patient based careers,” Torres’ mother said.

As far as future plans go, Emily is ready to continue exploring new languages.

“At the moment, I speak very little Italian, so I’d like to study Italian and probably a little more French in college, and maybe take Portuguese at some point,” Torres said.

Emily’s mother has high hopes, and wants her daughter to continue studying.

“I think [Emily] will be more confident and more secure with herself and will also have helpful tools for getting jobs throughout her life,” her mother said. “I hope that when she finishes school she will have some sort of diploma for a foreign language.”

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SPORTS

26 • MAR. 9, 2016

Senior takes wrestling title Alan Clothier won the state championship for 6A wrestling

By Macy Landes Though his high school wrestling career has come to an end, senior Alan Clothier feels pretty good about how he finished the season.

Over the past few weeks Clothier has taken titles at league, regionals and now state.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Clothier said. “You put in all the work for the whole year, and to come out on top and be the best in Kansas, it’s pretty amazing.”

This is Clothier’s second state title in his wrestling career. This year, he won his last match by a 13-4 decision, claiming the title in the 182-pound weight class. When he competed at state during the 2013-14 wrestling season, Clothier won by a much narrower 2-1 decision.

Wins like Alan’s, coach Pat Naughton said, result from hard work and focusing on one’s overall well-being.

“Preparing for state is making sure the team is focused on techniques, rested, and feeling good

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mentally,” Naughton said. “We usually cut practice time down to 45 minutes and add some pool time at the end of practice.”

Willingness to improve also factors into how well wrestlers compete, Naughton said.

“He is a good listener,” Naughton said. “He is able to take the important parts of a conversation and implement them to fit his goals. The coaching staff noticed a few changes Alan could make on different shots to increase the success rate of his takedowns. Alan used these techniques to improve his success rate.”

Clothier has also had to prepare for state by overcoming unexpected obstacles. At state last year, Clothier lost his first match of that season.

“I’ve taken some losses I wish I hadn’t taken,” Clothier said. “I had a shoulder injury last year at state that cost me a match, so just there’s a couple things [that could have gone better] but I don’t… [dwell] on that. I lost, it was my fault.”

Teammate Chris Geiss said the team will definitely miss Clothier when he’s graduated, and his wins don’t go unnoticed.

“I think it [the win at state] is

TAKEDOWN — Senior Alan Clothier holds his opponent down in a match at LHS. Clothier took the state title to end a successful high school career. Photo by Hannah Gaines really special to the team because we all enjoy having him, and we realize it’ll be his last time [wrestling at the high school level] so we won’t get to see it again,” Geiss said.

Clothier’s legacy as a wrestler at LHS will be remembered by the team for years to come. “...I know I walked out of the arena as the top wrestler,” Clothier said. “Nobody can say that ‘Well he won it one year and didn’t win it the next year,’ like, I’m walking out as a champion, not second or third.”

The greatest reward, Clothier said, was having the support of the people he cares about most. “[My favorite moment of the season was] probably winning the state championship then going up and hugging my mom. She’s been by my side the whole time, all these years of wrestling, traveling and everything, so that’s probably the greatest moment.”

MARCH 22, 2016 • 19

SENIORS LEAVE A LEGACY

Basketball takes third at state Team takes hit in semifinal game, continues on to win consolation game led by core group of seniors

By Gary Schmidt WICHITA — The clock struck double zeroes and the heart of the Lions broke for friends, families, coaches and players alike.

No. 1 seeded LHS had lost to the No. 4 Wichita Southeast in the state semifinal game at Koch Arena in Wichita.

In a year of unprecedented success, a setback of this degree could be catastrophic for a senior-laden team with mere hours left in their LHS basketball careers.

Tears lined the path to the locker room, undoubtedly signs of the deep mourning

for a lost state title dream, a dream that had danced in the minds of the Lions during the past two years.

Giving up all hope and folding over seemed like the easiest — the only option left for the Lions at this point.

In the darkest moment for a team — the team that had exceeded everyone’s expectations except its own — it would take something special to rise up and play one more game.

And all along, for a special team among special teams, they did have the critical edge to finish the dream, they just didn’t know it yet.

Graduate Ben Rajewski, a starting member of last year’s runner-up team at the state tournament, stepped into the locker room minutes before LHS took the floor for the consolation game against Blue Valley Northwest. Knowing the feeling that crippled the once-buzzing team, Rajewski had just the words the Lions needed to hear.

Rajewski reminded the team of the progress the Lions have made, going from a ragtag group of underclassmen thrown into the fire of varsity basketball, all the way to a resilient family, carrying a 62-10 record during the past

three years.

For those seniors, who had felt the weight of loss at state two years in a row, the speech was more than enough.

Stepping into a quiet Koch Arena for the 2 p.m. consolation game against No. 2 seeded BVNW, the pounding of

Continued on page 20 TRIUMPHANT — Raising up their third-place trophy, the boys basketball team finishes their season strong with a final score of 74-66 over Blue Valley Northwest. Pictured in the front is senior Justin Roberts. Photo by Hannah Gaines

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20 • MARCH 22, 2016

Third at state State basketball, Continued from Page 20 the ball reverberating through the massive arena was music to the Lions’ ears.

Most of LHS’s student section, including a small but true group of seniors who followed the Lions’ success all season, had gone back to Lawrence, deadening the hype that had enveloped the arena a night before.

But this game wasn’t about that.

This game was, for four seniors, a last hurrah. The group of boys bonded together through good and bad.

They played together at the state tournament last year, the first time the Lions made it that far in recent history.

They suffered through the loss of their coach, Kermit Aldrich, who lost his battle with cancer their sophomore year.

The success of the Lions

during the past two seasons, according to the team, had been largely driven by their desire to win a title for Aldrich, but even more so wanting to win for each other.

“It’s been fun, man,” senior guard Anthony Harvey Jr. said. “These guys are my brothers, and I wouldn’t want to spend my time anywhere else.”

Coming off of an 18-2 regular season, the Lions headed into the postseason with a No. 1 ranking and unfinished business. On March 10, the team headed to Wichita State University for the second year in a row to face the top eight 6A schools in the state.

In a word, the team came in confident. All five starters had playing time in last year’s tournament, which was hosted at WSU’s stadium,

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Koch Arena. Although the 10,506-seat coliseum served as a change in pace from the regular season, the team had the proper experience to settle into its game.

“For me, walking down [during the quarterfinal game], the court was a lot smaller,” senior forward Price Morgan said. “That experience was pretty much irreplaceable.”

The Lions started the tournament out strong, holding off eighth-seeded Dodge City at 4:45 on Thursday.

Any jitters the Lions still had were worked out, as the Lions stepped up defensively to win against the Red Demons, 55-46.

The Lions looked to be the better team throughout the contest, but a frustrating 3-2 zone from Dodge City stifled the Lions’ dribble-drive game.

The team, struggling to get the ball inside, was dead from behind the arc, making a mea-

MID-COURT — Dribbling the ball back to home, senior Justin Roberts helps his team win the state tournament consolation game.

Lions placed third overall winning the game against Blue Valley Northwest. Photo by Hannah Gaines sly 20 percent of three-pointers. But when the game counted, the Lions did what they did best, surging out to a 15 point led, breathed on the wings of a tight defensive period in which the Lions only allowed 11 points.

Defense, which saved the Lions on Thursday, was the team’s Achilles heel on Friday. Despite a fourth-seed ranking, Wichita Southeast brought out a dynamic duo on the court that overwhelmed the Lions’ defense.

WSE’s highest scoring players, Jerrick Harding and Israel Barnes, scored a combined 66 points, which carried the Golden Buffaloes

MARCH 22, 2016 • 21

SENIOR LEADERS

Justin Roberts

Price Morgan

Anthony Harvey

1st team at the All-Sunflower League

2nd team at the All-Sunflower League

Honorable mention at the All-Sunflower League

All- Academic team at the Topeka Invitational tournament

seniors involved.

Harvey swished a three to put the Lions ahead for good after the Huskies cut it down to a two-point deficit with minutes left to go in the fourth. On the next possession, forward Price Morgan sent a BVNW shot ricocheting into the stands to stomp out any hopes of a comeback the Huskies had.

Finally, forward Fred Brou was fed an outlet pass out of the team’s press break and finished emphatically, skying up to hammer a two-handed slam down.

The final buzzer sounded, the team shook hands and lined up on the court for medals. The seniors grabbed the trophy and raised it up into the sky, sending the team into theatrics. The team broke it down one final time and walked away into the locker room, for the last time, victorious.

Twenty minutes passed

by, feeling like a standstill, until finally, one by one team members left the locker room to meet a crowd of friends and family.

Harvey, the last player to leave the locker room, came out clutching the trophy to his chest, with a larger-thanlife smile on his face, inciting roaring applause from his teammates, friends and family standing outside. Hugs were shared, photos were taken, and the trophy made its way to each and every player.

The trophy finally made its way to Morgan, and he grasped it, thinking back over four years of basketball and what it had meant to him.

“It’s meant a lot,” he said.

“It’s been such a huge part of my life over the past four years and it just sucks that it is over. I love this school.

I’m just glad to have been a part of it and I leave knowing every day I gave my all to it.”

to a 74-66 victory, toppling the top-seeded Lions.

“We didn’t think two players could beat our team, and for the most part that is what happened,” head coach Mike Lewis said. “But, you know, down the stretch we needed to make a few more plays to counter what they were doing, and we weren’t able to do it on our end.”

The Lions held with the Buffaloes for most of the night, but a switch to a 2-3 zone at halftime for WSE and the non-stop scoring from Harding and Barnes proved too much for the Lions.

The fourth quarter is when the Lions began to break down as some shots stopped dropping, physical plays became no-calls and Mallory, the Lion’s best onball defender, fouled out with three minutes left. The Lions were outscored 11-27 in the fourth quarter, sending them to the third-place matchup

against Blue Valley Northwest.

The Lions were undoubtedly disappointed to not make a return to the state title game, but they knew they still had one more job to do.

“I think you’ve got to go into it the same way and have some fun and play hard,” Lewis said about the consolation game. “You get a great venue to play in, it’s the state championship, you’ve got to play hard and have fun.”

And that they did. The Lions came out victorious against the Huskies, 74-66, carried by their seniors to the very end. The Lions came out on fire from downtown, hitting nine of 15 three-pointers in the first half, with four each from Mallory and senior point guard Justin Roberts.

The barrage didn’t stop there as Roberts, who scored a game-high 31 points and five assists, led the team down the stretch, but also got the other

Fred Brou

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22 • MARCH 22, 2016

Athletes return ready to compete After successful seasons in 2015, varsity Lions return with confidence Girls’ Swimming Fresh off a season that exceeded expectations, which saw the team place eighth at the state meet, the program expects much more where that came from this year.

Junior Mary-Reed Weston is one of the few on the swim and dive team who has multiple years of experience, something she says is a good thing.

“I’m really excited to work with the new freshmen. There’s a lot of talent coming in from the club team, so I think it will be good to have a stronger team than we have had in the past,” Weston said.

Weston led the Lady Lions at the state meet last year, earning second team all-state honors for her fifth-place finish in the 100-meter breaststroke, and her place in helping Lawrence High place its 200 meter medley and 400 meter freestyle relays teams.

To top those efforts from last year, lots of work needs to be done, according to Weston.

“For me personally, [my biggest challenge] would just be getting back into shape and back into the swing of swimming and going every day to practice,” Weston added.

The Lady Lions open their season against Emporia High School on March 23.

Track and field

points in different events on the second day of state, resulting in a tie for eighth place.

The team returns many of the athletes it sent to state a year ago and believes that a much improved finish at state its within its reach.

Trey Moore, a junior who placed fifth in the 110 meter hurdles at state last season, said that the boys time is now.

Moore also was on the Lions’ 4x100 meter relay last year, which finished sixth despite having the top preliminary time.

Some of the goals Moore has heading into this season are to improve his finishes at state, but also for the Lions to end the season with a podium finish.

The Lions’ first meet of the season is a dual against Topeka West on March 24.

Golf

pressure to perform any better, even if it will be his last season.

“Just it being my senior year and being able to play in lots of different tournaments and going to state,” Dykes responded when asked about why he is looking forward to this year.

After finishing ahead of Free State and Olathe Northwest by one stroke at regionals last season, coincidentally the Lions’ only tournament victory, the team hopes to reproduce some of that same magic.

“My goal is to go to regionals again as a team this year and to place [better individually],” Dykes said.

The Lions open their season away at the Deer Creek Golf Course on March 30.

The goal of track and field head coach, Jack Hood, is simple every year: win a state title. This past season, the Lady Lions were able to do just that. Reaching that goal again this season appears to be the challenge for the track team.

Senior Kyleigh Severa, who played a pivotal role in the 2015 state title, is looking forward to this season, still brimming with optimism from the state title.

Severa is a three-time champion in the 4x400 meter relay, but despite the loss of three of the members who helped win the title last year to graduation, Severa says her No. 1 goal remains to four-peat.

The boys team had a disappointing finish to the season last year, dropping several

“Practice, practice, practice,” was the mantra for LHS senior golfer Dawson Dykes. Practice will be a big theme for the Lions this year, as they look to build upon their 11th place finish at the class 6A state tournament last year. Dykes, among the four returners from the Lions’ state team last year, looks to improve his score of 76 from last season, good for 20th place.

The Lions, who were regional champions a year ago, return along with Dykes, senior Braxton Olson, and juniors Cole Brungardt and Garrett Wildeman to a much more experienced lineup.

Dykes, one of two seniors, doesn’t feel

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Story by Gary Schmidt, graphics by Amanda Stinnett

MARCH 22, 2016 • 23

Girls’ Soccer

Moving on from a lackluster 2015 season, the Lady Lions soccer team is welcoming change. Senior defender Elaine Harris cherishes the opportunity for one last season wearing the Lions uniform, but is still open to changes undertaking the program.

“Just the fact that it is a new season and a bunch of new freshmen coming up and that we have a bunch of new teams we are playing this year,” Harris said.

Last summer, LHS hired a new head coach Matt McCune following the resignation of former head coach Justin Young.

McCune comes to Lawrence High with an impressive resume, having played at the collegiate and professional levels and being a director of the Vinland Valley Soccer Association.

For the team, which finished 4-13 overall last year, moving on from a disappointing season a year ago presents more challenges than meet the eye.

“Our biggest challenge this year? Definitely like us not getting into our heads, being confident and being ready to play not letting last season affect us,” Harris said.

The Lady Lions open up their season against Pembroke Hill today.

Softball

son, will not replicate that success without trial, however. Last year, the team graduated four seniors, of whom head coach, Joe Dee Tarbutton, said in a previous interview with the Lawrence Journal-World, “There will never be another four as good as those.”

Taylor, along with other leaders of the team, are stepping up to push the girls to further success.

“The team has been doing speed school, we have weights, we all go to open fields and we all have our fall ball practices,” Taylor added.

The Lions open up their season with a doubleheader against Seaman High School on March 25 at home.

Baseball

With young talent however, comes growing pains.

“Having some of the underclassmen grow up, that’s gonna be a challenge,” Lowery said.

In addition to helping the underclassmen mature, Lowery hopes to serves as a leader in the clubhouse when it comes to helping the team grow closer together.

“To keep the team tight and to have everyone on the same page,” Lowery said when asked about his goals for the year.

The Lions opened up the season with a road trip to Springdale, Ark., during spring break to face Springdale Har-Ber March 18.

Boys’ Tennis

that was pretty big for me,” Abromeit said.

But this year, Abromeit, among others, looks to improve upon his results from last year.

“Top six in state probably. Just having a positive record this year,” Abromeit said.

The Lions finished ninth out of 12 at the Sunflower League meet last year, so an improved finish this year is a team goal for the Lions, according to Abromeit.

The Lions open their season on March 29 against Emporia High.

Falling one game short of a trip to the Class 6A state championship tournament last year, the Lady Lions Softball team went into the offseason carrying lots of momentum, but still lots of hunger to do better.

Spurred off of their first regional win since 2011, the Lions are optimistic about the possibilities of this year. Among the returnees from last season’s varsity lineup is senior Sophie Taylor, a shortstop who proved to be one of the team’s most consistent hitters last season, both for average and power.

The Lions, who finished 12-10 last sea-

After a grueling, nine-inning loss in the first round of regionals to Washburn Rural last year, the Lions are looking forward to this season with their eyes set on even bigger things.

Senior Daonte’ Lowery, who has committed to Johnson County Community College for baseball, is among a strong group of returning seniors who look to rally the team together to produce a better product on the field this season.

“Senior year. Top dogs. We got a pretty good underclass coming in, I’m pretty excited,” Lowery, an outfielder, added.

The boys tennis team is a year separated from only sending one qualifier to state, but looks forward to this year as one where it can send many more.

Senior Elliott Abromeit, the lone qualifier for the Lions last year, is heading into this year with more experience after qualifying for state last year for the first time, something he had been looking forward to ever since his freshman year.

“Medaling at state, getting 12th place,

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Art student kick it up a notch

Art classes design, create shoes for national art competition

By Shayla Brillhart Student in Wendy Vertacnik’s drawing classes have created entries for the annual Vans Custom Culture Art competition for three years. The national recognition awards one entry a grand prize of $50,000 for the school art program.

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“They [the students] did beautiful shoes last year,” Vertacnik said.

“They worked after school, they even worked on the weekends. I thought that last years were just as good as the five that they picked.”

Each year, students create shoe designs from each category: music, local flavor, action sports and art. From the students’ work, art teachers choose 10 students to work on a final entry to submit for judging.

“Last year was my first art class and I won to do

the committee, so it was interesting,” senior Miranda Doores said.

The contest is open to high schools all over the country. Vans narrows it down to their top 50 shoes then leaves it up to the public to select the top five finalists. Seniors in any of the top five schools are eligible for a scholarship at Laguna College of Art and Design.

“We design on a template that is like the shoe and we just design a shoe that matches one of the themes and all the art teachers judge which tem-

THE UNVEIL — Class winners of each contest category met in Wendy Vertacnik’s classroom after school on March 2 to unbox the Vans canvas shoes they will paint their designs on. “I think this will be fun,” said Katie Grear, who won first place in the Action Sports category. “I’m not used to sharing ideas with other people.

It will probably be good for team building.” Photo by Ian Jones plate they want to base the shoe off of.” Doores said.

The top 5 finalists, determined by internal vote and public vote, will be announced on May 12.

The finalists are then in-

MARCH 22 2016 • 25

FINALISTS’ DESIGNS

Students submitted designs in four categories for judging and winners in each were picked to create their shoes. Here are winners from three of the categories:

Action sports

By Wyatt Carson

By Katie Gleason

By Moses Hoy

By May Pawanrat

Art

By Evondi Weston

By Avery Mulally

By Cameron Walters

By Katie Grear

Music

By Zoe Brewer

By Izzy Christiansen

vited to travel to the final event in June to select the winner of the grand prize.

“We had local flavor so since it’s Kansas we wanted to tie in the stereotypical tornado scene and Wizard of Oz, plus we took aspects from the Kansas flag, so the back of the shoe had the stars and Ad Astra per Aspera and then we had a little buffalo and a sunset painted on one side then sunflowers painted on the other side,” Doores said.

Doores and her partner Miranda Pratt would meet at least three times a week to work on shoes. They worked on the shoes on their own time and during class time, making the

By Jessica Wilson

By Laura Murphy

By Zoe Brewer

creating time a total of three weeks for the pair of shoes.

“My design for last year was for the sport theme. It was based on a Japanese print,” senior Lexi Simmons said.

The art students have yet to make it to the top 10 but have high hopes for this year.

CATEGORY WINNERS ­— Sophomore Grace Odroski had her design for the “local flavor” category selected by LHS art teachers as a class winner in the Vans Custom Culture design competition. Winners work after school in Vertacnik’s room to bring their illustrations to life by painting their ideas onto white Vans shoes.

Photo by Ian Jones

PAGE DESIGN BY NIA RUTLEDGE • LHSBUDGET.COM

2 • Mar. 9, 2016

Sophomore excels at piano, math

Using Braille, Luther Fuller learns to play piano and participates in school despite lack of vision

By Gabriel Mullen Most piano music is comprised of written notes, measures and bar lines notated on paper. But sophomore Luther Fuller has been working with music differently than most students.

Fuller’s way of learning has been largely characterized by patterns of raised dots on paper, which he must read and write in, along with the challenge of learning to play the piano.

“I started learning Braille music when I was 10, so before that, I did most of my stuff by ear or my piano teacher would show me whatever note to play,” Fuller said.

Fuller had to do almost everything in his life by ear and still does to this day.

He also uses his sense of touch in many areas of life.

THE BUDGET • PAGE DESIGN BY NIA RUTLEDGE

MUSICIAN — Sophomore Luther Fuller plays the keyboard. Fuller has been blind since he was 11 months old. Photo by Abby English “One thing that is important to learning as a blind person is lots of descriptive language and hands-on opportunities,” Luther’s mother, Brendy Latare, said.

“I’ve been blind since I was 11 months old, so I don’t have any memories of having sight, [and] it’s affected me basically my whole life,” Fuller said. “I started in 2003 at the Kansas State School for the Blind in Kansas City, so I did two years of preschool there, and that’s when I started learning Braille.”

Learning to read and write without vision has been crucial for reading and taking notes, one of many examples of how Luther uses his sense of touch to

make up for his loss of vision. “[Braille] was my first experience of reading and writing, because, this isn’t a kind of deteriorating thing where I started getting low vision and it’s gotten worse and worse — I basically immediately became blind after a series of surgeries, so my vision has been this impaired since I went blind.”

When Luther was 6, he began learning to play piano.

“There’s a lot less [Braille music] than there is print music, but there’s a division of the Library of Congress where I can order it off the website,” Fuller said.

Fuller uses Braille not just to read, but also to take notes in classes like math, a subject he has performed just as well in as music.

“Luther’s extremely intelligent, he does a great job in math, he’s very analytical, [and] he’s very quick with answers,” Fuller’s math teacher, Stephanie Magnuson said. “[He] takes his time to make sure he understands what’s going on, and works hard to get there as well.”

Fuller’s need to understand math from an auditory and kinesthetic perspective has also challenged Magnuson to present her lessons to the class in ways that stretch beyond the traditional visual method of writing problems on the board and studying out of a textbook. “[Teaching Luther] has helped me connect with kids on different levels… it’s really helped me look at math in a different way and to make sure I verbalize the lessons as well as communicate them through the written,” Magnuson said.

According to Fuller’s mother, it is important to remember that suffering from any disability, including blindness, is something that many people can relate to in some way.

“Everyone, if we are lucky enough to live long enough, will have a disability, some of us sooner than others.

So we should all be working toward a truly universally accessible world, where information and opportunity are equally accessible to everyone,” she said.

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OPINION

28 • MARCH 9, 2016

STATE TESTING

KITE complications are unacceptable State testing program still problematic after years of administration, puts unnecessary burden on teachers

By Zia Kelly

Most people could agree that third quarter is terrible. The weather is bad, May seems like centuries away as teachers struggle to maintain the attention of students who are losing motivation by the minute.

On top of that, state assessments add more stress to the packed schedules and pressed curriculum of students and teachers.

This year, sophomore and junior math and social studies classes were put on hiatus while students took part in the Kansas Assessment Program KITE testing. Although state testing is no one’s favorite time of year, this year was especially bad. Juniors who took the social studies essay test were confronted with multiple issues, including poorly-worded and confusing questions and technical errors with the test itself.

“It was time-consuming, it was frustrating to the kids, it was frustrating to me,” said social studies teacher Fran Bartlett, who administered the KITE test to her Survey of United States History classes. “There were lots of problems.”

THE BUDGET • PAGE DESIGN BY NIA RUTLEDGE

Some of the questions were worded in a way that made no sense. When students hit “enter” to begin a new paragraph of their essays, their test would freeze or their were kicked out of the test entirely and lost all of their work.

When assistant principal Mike Norris called the state to report the issues,

the people who are in charge of the test said they knew about the issues and were not surprised that students were having those problems.

Here is where I draw my first complaint. If the state knew about the issues with the program — issues so significant that students could lose an entire

completed test — why are they administering it? Or, at the least, why did they not tell they schools how to navigate the issue?

Bartlett said that the teachers who administered the essay test figured out ways to make it work, like having students write their essay in a different section of the program and copy

and paste it into the submission field, but why should they have to do that? If teachers have to take days out of their curriculum — days that, for AP classes, can be important for getting through content before the exam, they should not have to take on the burden to make the assessments work.

Having teachers and students burdened with faulty tests is yet more frustrating when few of them know what is happening with the results and why they’re significant.

Then again, it doesn’t seem like the state knows what’s

ERROR DATA LOST

Graphic by Joaquin Dorado Mariscal

happening with the results, either.

The principle of the tests are simple: to assess whether or not students have learned what they needed to in their classes.

“Each grade and subject has a set of content standards they are supposed to learn,” said Marianne Perie, the director of the Kansas Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation. “Every test is based on those. The primary purpose is to see how well the students across the state of Kansas have learned the material in those content standards.”

That makes sense, but it’s also very vague.

Bartlett said she knows that this year’s round of testing is supposed to serve as a baseline for subsequent years, but teachers do not know when or how they will be getting the results of the test back. She also said they usually aren’t able to see individual scores, so teachers can’t really see how their students performed on the test.

Last year’s test results came out in October, and Perie said she expects this year’s to be available by the beginning of July. However, what the test results are used for still seems unclear to most students and teachers.

“In what ways they will use this year’s test to improve next year’s test, I don’t know,” Bartlett said. “That’s never been very clear. We were just told we have to do it.”

Although many teachers seem to think that their job could be jeopardized by the results of the test, Perie said differently.

“There are no consequences for students are teachers -they are informational only,” Perie said. “Hopefully they will be used to help teachers

better tailor their instruction to the standards.”

Perhaps the biggest problem is students not understanding what the tests are for. Although most students in high school now are used to state testing, many regard it as most of a chore than a test. Students like junior Ethan Seratte, who took the essay KITE assessment in his AP US History class, were not inclined to take the test seriously.

“I think state testing is dumb, so what I did was I made up an essay that had nothing to do with the prompt,” he said. “I ended up writing about Star Trek.”

After having to go through state testing several years during your school career and having seen no results from it, I see no reason that students would feel obligated to take the test seriously.

Seratte said that while his classmates understood what they were being tested over, few of them thought it was important and said that most thought being assessed over note-taking was pointless.

“It was how we were supposed to take notes or something,” Seratte said. “I thought that was ridiculous since everyone takes notes differently. It’s not graded usually, and so I figured it’s not really that important.”

The people who create the test seem to be aware of at least some of the issues in administering it. Perie said they will be looking to improve the way results are released and used to better fit teachers needs.

“Teachers prefer the tests to measure the same things for several years so that they can adapt their teaching and see the growth in their students,” she said. “That is our plan.”

OK, but here’s the deal: we have been doing this standardized testing thing for the entirety of our public

MARCH 22, 2016 • 29

school careers. Improvements are fine, but it seems that teachers and students have no idea about what it being tested, how their scores are being used and what they will determine.

Perhaps these problems would have been normal had they been happening when state testing first became an annual event. But No Child Left Behind, the national initiative that increased state testing, was enacted in 2001.

Granted, state tests changed significantly last year meet the new Common Core education standards. But how is it that in 15 years of state testing and in the second year of the current test, teachers and students can’t know what to expect.

Sure, the state is working on a program that could eventually show some comparative data. But eventually isn’t good enough. When results come without comparison, they mean nothing, so students and teachers are taking days out of class time for results that mean little to nothing each year.

Perhaps, the testing system could be changed so students and teachers can more clearly see comparative results easily.

Bartlett said state testing could be beneficial for students if the results weren’t compared from class-to-class, but compared individuals over time. For example: a student could take a social studies test their freshman year and their junior year and see the improvement of their score over time.

“If we’re using them in that way to sort of show students how much they’re improving...educationally, they’d be much more beneficial,” she said. “But that’s not the way the state has ever seemed to use them. The ramifications on the schools has seemed as if there’s high stakes...That creates an environment with a great deal of stress.”

PAGE DESIGN BY NIA RUTLEDGE • LHSBUDGET.COM

30 • MARCH 22, 2016

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND? Computer access limited People give thoughts on library access More computers need to be accessible to students for schoolwork

By Abby Percich Having to write and print off a 10 page essay is stressful, and walking into the library to see all 15 computers taken up only increases your stress.

I’ve gone to the library to print off an essay and do school work and have encountered various problems.

All the computers are taken up, the computers are too slow, or the printers won’t work. Sometimes I manage to take the last computer available and barely make it to my next class.

A solution to these problems is opening the upstairs computer lab solely for students who need to print off assignments and use the computers for something relevant to school. More computers would be accessible to students which takes pressure off being able, to find an available computer.

Our library is often overcrowded, noisy and filled with various groups of people doing different things.

Some students like to finish projects and use it as a place for discussion — which is difficult when you are supposed to be quiet and respectful to others — while others just loiter while waiting for school to start.

Some say the problem with computer accessibility stems from people using the computers for games, which is true in a sense because using the computers for games during school is disrespectful.

When students play computer games during school they are essentially prioritizing games over education. They have the freedom to do as they please, but they take a resource away from people who are engaged in school, which is frustrating. The students should play games on their own time and

be considerate of students who need the computers for work.

I go to the library to print off essays, study and do research for class assignments like many students do. However, it is quite frustrating when you go there to do a simple task and can’t because the computers are being taken up by people using the computers for things other than schoolwork —most commonly for Minecraft.

The main problem students have is the lack of computer accessibility to students.

By opening the computer lab upstairs, more computers would be available to students who need to print off long essays, important projects, and do research. The central location upstairs also allows students to be closer to their classes.

The English hallway is nearby, which is convenient for students who have to commonly print English essays.

If you have to wait until a computer to open in the library, you could be late to class. If you’re not patient enough to wait for a useable computer and decide to go without printing your essay, your grade will suffer. Many teachers don’t tolerate late assignments and won’t excuse you from their class to print an essay.

While using the computers for games isn’t ideal — or even appropriate really — the school has to decide whether to monitor and restrict the use of all computers or provide more options. The best solution is for more computers to be opened to separate the people who are using them for academic benefit and those who have nothing better to do than play Minecraft at school.

Computer accessibility problems are only going to grow as class sizes grow.

Our library is often overcrowded, noisy and filled with various groups of people doing different things.

THE BUDGET • PAGE DESIGN BY NIA RUTLEDGE

“I think that a separate room should be available for people that want to goof around on the computers so other people that are actually serious about school can do their work. ”

—Samir Iskandrani, freshman

So I think it’s a good idea to open the computer lab, because some people who need to work don’t have a computer so they come early. ” —Lillian Khan, junior

“With respect to gamers in the morning, you know we try to prioritize people who are doing actual work. We’ve occasionally set aside, when we have laptops available, the library classroom as a place to kind of isolate the gamers, and we try to get priority of the people who are actually working. It it is not always easy, but we try to keep an eye on things.”

—­ Steve Wilson, library media assistant

MARCH 22, 2016 • 31

JOURNALISM

LAWRENCE HIGH SCHOOL

MISSION STATEMENT The Budget is committed to providing the Lawrence High School community with objective, inclusive news coverage that ensures relevance to its readers. The staff devotes itself to the exercise of First Amendment rights and upholding the highest of journalistic standards. While the paper is a vessel to publish student voice, it conjointly acts as an educational entity holding the intent of bettering student journalistic ability and reader’s access to information.

ABOUT US The Budget is published every four weeks and distributed free of charge to students and faculty at Lawrence High School, 1901 Louisiana, Lawrence, Kan. 66046-2999.

The Budget is produced by students in the Digital Journalism and Digital Design and Production courses with occasional contributions from 21st Century Journalism and guest columnists. The newspaper’s goals are to inform, entertain, and present a forum of expression for students, faculty, administrators and community members. The newspaper is financed through advertising and staff fundraising.

The editorial staff is solely responsible for the content of this newspaper, and views expressed in The Budget do not necessarily reflect those of the administration of Lawrence High School or USD 497.

STAFF Editors-in-chief: Zia Kelly & Kansas Gibler Design & Layout Editor: Nia Rutledge Online Editor: Meredith Chapple Graphics Editor: Joaquin Dorado Mariscal Photo Editor: Cooper Avery Captions Editor: Hannah Gaines Zenfolio Editor: Ian Jones Webmaster: Jacob Parnell

Video Editor: Griffin Nelson Sports Editor: Colton Lovelace Ad Sales Representative: Nicole Owens Journalism staff members: Nicole Aqui, Kira Auchenbach, Shayla Brillhart, Amanda Coatney, Veda Cobb, Tristan Delnevo, Ella Denson-Redding, Harrison Easley, Abby English, Allie Fischer, Shyanne Garcia, Emily Gordon-Ross, Zoie German- Martinez, Isabella Hedges, Krista Hopkins, Trey Hulse , Lourdes Kalusha- Aguirre, Caitlynn Kliem, Ahnya Lewis, Macy Landes, Kenneth McLaughlin, Jaycee Mountain, Gabe Mullen, Ethan Parks, Abigal Percich, Mason Phelps, Kaitlyn Preut, Jennifer Pomes, Kate Rettig, Claire Robinson, Susan Rockhold, Sofia Rommel, Aidan Rothrock, Alicia Ruder, Connor Schmaus, Gary Schmidt, Clara Severn, Carli Stellwagon, Nick Steichen, Skylar Steichen, Luna Stephens, Amanda Stinnett, Coulter Strauss, Addison Thornsbury, Anna-Marie Turner, Jacinda Warren, Eric Wheatman and Julia Wilson.

Adviser: Barbara Tholen

EDITORIAL GRAPHIC

Over-assigning work means overworking students.

Graphic by Ella Denson-Redding

PAGE DESIGN BY NIA RUTLEDGE • LHSBUDGET.COM

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