Issue 5, The Budget, 2018-2019

LAWRENCE HIGH SCHOOL

LAWRENCE, KS

VOLUME 126, ISSUE 5 FEB. 7, 2019

t The Budge

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NEW BUILDING SAFETY

06 MAPPING OUT THE NEW SCHOOL

n a e l C te a l S

08 REMODELING CTE CLASSROOMS

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THE BUDGET News

IN THIS ISSUE

LAWRENCE HIGH SCHOOL

LAWRENCE, KS

VOLUME 126, ISSUE 5 FEB. 7, 2019

The secret life of divers page 22

Take a look at student bands page 20

Respecting religious diversity at school page 26 NEW BUILDING SAFETY

LHSBUDGET.COM STORIES

Two political perspectives on the 116th Congress

B

The Budget

Meet the 2019 Winter Court page 16

06

YOUTUBE

Advanced ceramics and culinary students work together to create hand-made plates

FOLLOW US: @lhsbudget

MAPPING OUT THE NEW SCHOOL

n Cleate Sla

08

‘I HAVE A DREAM’ SPEECH REFLECTIONS

LHS VS FS DODGEBALL RECAP

REMODELING CTE CLASSROOMS

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ON THE COVER — USD 497 approves final plans for the renovations of Lawrence High School, giving the school a clean slate.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SAMI TURNER

NEW VENUE PICKED FOR WINTER FORMAL

BY KEN BIGHAM

STAFF WRITER

This year, the winter formal will take place at Abe and Jake’s, located on 8 E. 6th St. In the past, the formal has been held in the rotunda at Lawrence High, but last year, it was at the Lied Center. Due to turnout, Student Council decided at the end of last year that the formal needed to be held somewhere with more space.

“We just thought it would be exciting to change the location, and we thought it would bring in some more students and bring the attendance up,” student council member Vera Petrovic said. “We organized it at the end of last school year.

We booked the venue, but right before winter break, we went and met one of the employees, took a tour of the building, and it was really nice.”

Student Council still plans on utilizing the Lied Center.

“The Lied Center was a little small for

2

FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY SAMI TURNER

such a big dance, so we are going to do Abe & Jake’s for formal, and we’re going to do the Lied Center for prom,” Petrovic said.

Junior Bryce Smith said the reason for this is that “it’s more like a free-for-all and fun dance, and prom is more of like a sophisticated, kind of delicate dance, and it’s more elegant. Formal, it’s more like a gym dance where you kind of dress up and you play loud rap music, and it’s really fun.”

According to Petrovic, Student Council plans to continue with off-campus dances.

“It’s just kind of a year-by-year decision to the future student councils where they want to have the dance,” she said.

RING — Junior Tessa Norcross stands in the telephone booth at Abe and Jakes Landing. This year, the Winter Formal dance is set to take place at Abe and Jakes Landing. “It was cool,” Tessa said.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MEGAN DRUMM

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SNOW “LAWRENCE PUBLIC STAR SCHOOLS YOU HAVE NO SCHOOL TOMORROW...”

—DERRICK JOHNSON, LINEBACKER FOR KANSAS CITY CHIEFS ON JAN. 22

@USD497

LATE START TALKS TO CONTINUE

BY FREEMAN SPRAY

COPY EDITOR

The school board recently voted to approve the formation of a new committee to tackle the issue of late start.

The concept of a change to the school start time has been a hot topic for months. Last summer, the High School Start Time Advisory Committee was formed to review the subject.

Surveys done by the committee showed that more than 50 percent of high school students, elementary students and parents wanted to move to a later start.

Based on these results and other research, the committee concluded that it would be beneficial for students’ health to begin school at a later time.

Still, many more considerations were required to reach a conclusion on a late start plan, causing possible implementation to be pushed back to the 20202021 school year. Issues of transportation, specific time and the complications of staggering the schedule to meet each student’s needs are still being debated.

Given other challenges, such as construction, the district is taking more time in discussions.

“We recognize that late start would be beneficial for students, but each student is going to have their what works best, and the follow-up committee will look at ways that we can structure the school day that provides that flexibility,” said assistant principal Mark Preut, who was a part of the committee.

$TIPS

FOR LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS How to apply for local scholarships

Visit the Lawrence High School online at https:// www.usd497.org/Domain/27, and click on the Student Services tab to locate the Local Scholarships link.

Important Dates

Application Deadline — 3:30 p.m. Feb. 18 in student services Senior Recognition Ceremony — 7 p.m. May 7

Step by Step Instructions

1. Review and get organized

Look at the scholarship options and decide which ones you are eligible for. Some scholarships require a special application while others use the general application.

2. Complete Applications

Fill out the correct application for each scholarship.

3. Essays and Letters of Recommendation

Write any necessary essays and collect letters of recommendation from teachers or other sources. You must collect them yourself and seal them into an envelope stapled to your application.

4. Final Check

Verify all required materials are included in each application. Staple applications individually. Do not use paper clips or envelopes.

SAVE THE DATE 5 EVENTS YOU SHOULDN'T MISS 1 2 3 4 5 FEB. 9

WINTER FORMAL 8:30-11 P.M. ABE & JAKES

FEB. 11

LHS vs. FSHS BASKETBALL GAME 5:30 P.M. GIRLS 7:30 PM BOYS, MAIN GYM

FEB. 20

ORCHESTRA CONCERT 7:30 P.M. AUDITORIUM

FEB. 26

JAVA AND JAZZ 7 P.M. BAND ROOM

FEB. 27

WINTER POSTLUDE CONCERT 7:30 P.M. AUDITORIUM

PAGE DESIGN BY SAMI TURNER FEB. 7, 2019

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News

HUBBA-HUBBA

REPORTING BY SYMON KNOX AND EVERETT MIDDLETON

Lions get flirty and share their best Valentine’s Day pick-up lines e nam use r u ca yo “Is le? Be r g ae o Go you g I’ve g in ryth chin eve sear n bee for.”

“Hey have do you Aid? a Bandmy k I scrape d nee for y falling ou.”

Dr. Sylvia Trevino-Maack School Psychologist

Jillian Wilson Senior

(Whe some n you’re a o t and i ne’s hous t’s ra e ining “Wel .) l, I home can’t go . I mi melt. ght ”

“I l num ost my borr ber. Ca n ow y ours I ?”

Jackson Dooley

Jay Hundley Woodshop teacher lp t he at ’ n d . oul e th “I c notic rgery u ing t s u b had iss you are mngs!”

You ur wi yo

a not r, “I’m raphe re g u to ct pho can pi u I yo t bu e and .” m ether tog

Olivia Percich Senior

Finn Strong Sophomore

“If I ha for e d a star very time you‘ v me s e made be a mile, I’d b the u le to hol d n the p iverse i n alm o hand f my .”

Kindred Curry Junior “You muc spend so ht mind ime on m , y mak I should e yo u pa y rent. ”

Tyler Soukhot Junior PAGE DESIGN BY EMILY KRUSE FEB. 7, 2019

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THE BUDGET News

COMING CHANGES New building plans excite students and staff, raise safety concerns

BY MACY LANDES & CONNOR SCHMAUS

CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

T

he district is moving forward with the remodel of Lawrence High’s campus, decided by a unanimous vote of the school board on Jan. 28.

The designs for the building, drawn up by architects at Gould Evans, emphasize a secure campus in addition to a more student-friendly environment, with more natural light and open learning spaces.

After the bond was voted on and approved by the community in 2017, the district’s facilities and planning committee, which includes board members GR Gordon-Ross and Shannon Kimball, worked with architects and managers to consult teachers, students and community members about how the redesign will look.

“When it’s a high school, especially a large high school, there are so many different people that are impacted,” chief operations officer Kyle Hayden said. “All these people have a huge stake in what’s happening there.”

From a practical perspective, many see the design as necessary for improving daily school life. Health teacher and 1992 Lawrence High graduate Adam Green hopes this remodel will bring together changes the school has seen in the past.

“We’ve had a lot of additions, and they’re kind of like little Band-Aids, and now we’re going to get, hopefully, a new building, where there’s plenty of square footage available for classrooms and just kind of an update to an older school,” he said.

While they are excited by the changes, some Lawrence High teachers have expressed concerns for student and

6

faculty safety following the remodel.

Many classrooms will feature floor-toceiling windows and, in the event of a lockdown, teachers would need to move cabinets in front of their walls in order to protect students from the view of an intruder.

“We haven’t, like, demoed anything yet, so we can still make changes that might be able to make it safer,” jewelry and ceramics teacher Deena Amont said.

“And no one wants to sacrifice having a positive learning environment where people can get together and see each other, obviously, but there have to be some engineering solutions.”

School board members said they believe proper safety precautions have been taken into consideration, citing close work between architects and teachers on individual designs.

“Our architects have gone out and met with different groups of teachers,” Kimball said. “We’re trying to strike a balance to meet security concerns and create an environment where our students want to learn and our staff want to teach.”

Architects at Gould Evans have decreased the construction time to 27 months, in order to reduce impact on daily student life.

“We started this project with a 30-month construction schedule,” said John Wilkins, a principal of Gould Evans. “One of the really cool things we’ve accomplished is that within three semesters of renovation, pretty much all of the classrooms are going to be done.”

Amont, who discussed her needs for her new classroom with the architects, said they were able to incorporate most of her ideas into the plans.

“You don’t always get everything that you want,” she said. “So I think that they listened to what I had to say and, given the constraints that they had to work with, I think they met most of the things

FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY ANNA PARNELL

that I requested.”

Students also welcome the proposed changes. Senior Cole Shupert anticipates more comfortable access to the annex for future students.

“You won’t have to go outside in the winter, which would be nice so that you don’t have to carry a coat around just to travel to your classes in the annex,” he said.

However, like teachers, Shupert fears that security won’t be considered enough. He believes control of the entrances is key.

“I feel like if the entrances are secured well, which is a big ‘if,’ especially with the way the building is currently constructed, changes on the inside wouldn’t be too much of a problem,” Shupert said.

Excluding the departmentspecific classes remodeled last year, the construction will serve as a demonstration of this style of design.

Amont hopes this will allow changes to be made along the way, as $1.7 million will be left for changes and expansion after completion.

“We have a really great opportunity to design and build a more cohesive building that’s safer than what we have now,” she said. “We have this great opportunity to do that, and I would hate to see it being wasted.”

WALKING WITH DREAD — Students come and go from the main building to the annex in freezing temperatures. “It would be more efficient if they were connected, especially in bad weather.” senior Hasiya Asuku said. “I know when it rains I hate having to go outside and get my outfit wet, and it would save time during the passing periods to get from the annex to the main building.” After the construction of Lawrence High School, the main building and annex will finally be connected and end student worries. PHOTO BY EMILY KRUSE

News THE BUDGET

QUICK TAKE 27

Total months of construction work

$46,191,493

Anticipated cost of construction

20%

of LHS classrooms currently meet the district’s ideal size

7

Additions to the LHS building since 1951

PAGE DESIGN BY ANNA PARNELL FEB. 7, 2019

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THE BUDGET News

MAP IT OUT

FIRST FLOOR

Explore the route of construction and planned additions to the school SOURCE: GOULD EVANS PRESENTATION TO USD 497 SCHOOL BOARD

PERFORMING ARTS

PERFORMING ARTS

NEW DINING AND COMMONS

FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY SAMI TURNER

CURRENTLY: CTE, ART AND SCIENCE

NEW INNOVATIONS CORRIDOR CTE classes, including film, art and architecture classes will be in this hall.

ADDITION

SE

NEW WEIGHTS AND CARDIO

NEW FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS 8

NEW LIBRARY

EAST GYM

COURT YARD

IT

CU R

There are currently 29 entrances to Lawrence High School, many unsecured. In the new building, there will be four secure entrances.

Y G AT E

ENTRANCES

CURRENTLY: MAIN ENTRANCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES

NEW CULINARY ROOM

WEST GYM

Major renovations in the performing arts wing include new lighting and electrical upgrades for the auditorium, more practice rooms, more instrumental storage and a larger orchestra room.

ANNEX

News THE BUDGET

TIME LINE

SECOND FLOOR ENGLISH

The school map is color-coded to show when various sections of the building will be under construction. Every part of the building will be affected.

FALL 2019

JUNE 2019 - SEPT. 2019

WEST GYM

SPRING 2020

JUNE 2019 - MARCH 2020

MATH

SPRING 2021

MATH AND SCIENCE

EAST GYM

FALL 2020

JUNE 2020 - SEPT. 2021

JUNE 2020 - FEB. 2021

FALL 2021 JAN. 2021 - AUG. 2021

RESTROOMS

KEY

In addition to the all gender restrooms depicted, there are five additional “All GenderReady” restrooms.

BOLD TEXT

CURRENT AREA

ANNEX

OUTDOOR LEARNING AREAS ALL-GENDER RESTROOMS SECURE ENTRANCES

BEFORE & AFTERS COURTYARD BETWEEN GYMS

MAIN ENTRANCE/LIBRARY

INNOVATIONS CORRIDOR

SOURCE: GOULD EVANS PRESENTATION TO USD 497 SCHOOL BOARD

PAGE DESIGN BY SAMI TURNER FEB. 7, 2019

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THE BUDGET News

CONSTRUCTING— Senior Xaelen Kicenski glues together a balsa wood bridge for their engineering class. Kicenski put in extra time into the build to get it done well. “It held up pretty well,” Kicenski said. “And I think it’s one of the better ones in my class.”

PHOTO BY KATHERINE WILLIAMS TEACHING — Zach Saltz gives a lesson to his film class. His class will move close to the photography and journalism rooms to maximize equipment inventory. “I’m really excited to be near other CTE teachers,” Saltz said. “If we could combine and share resources, how awesome would that be?”

PHOTO BY FYNN STOVALL FOCUSING — Senior Jason Truong works on a bridge for his engineering design class. “I think that class is a great way to improve my skills for my future career,” Truong said. “It’s horrible that they’re shrinking the size of the classroom and removing so much stuff that they really need.” PHOTO BY LESLIE OSTRONIC BUILDING— Junior Ruben Littlehead works on a project for the wood shop class. The wood shop class is one of the classrooms getting a whole new look in the renovations for the school.

The room will have a decrease in size. PHOTO BY ANDREW LIEBEGOTT

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FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY EMILY KRUSE

News THE BUDGET

MIXED FEELINGS

CTE classes will be highlighted in redesign yet concerns remain

BY GARY SCHMIDT

EDITOR IN CHIEF

T

he arts and career and technical education programs have long proved to be deeply tied to what makes Lawrence High the place it is.

Despite national awards in a variety of categories and the potential to equip students with the skills necessary to survive in a progressively more technological future, the classes have mostly been isolated in the far reaches of the school building. Principal Matt Brungardt said that remedying that problem and showcasing these classes was a primary goal of the firm attached to Lawrence High’s construction, Gould Evans.

Most of the classes will move to the hallway off the main gym, which will become the “innovations corridor.” “[One of our goals was] bringing the art and CTE programs into the heart of the school and increasing their visibility,” Brungardt said.

“One of the goals of the steering committee and design team was to make these 21st Century programs more visible and to put the student work on display.”

The firm is aiming to establish a more equitable division of this department. Currently, Lawrence High contains a wide variety of class sizes and working spaces, tailored differently to fit the needs of each department.

Brungardt added that while many classes are up to standards, as a whole, Lawrence High lacks classrooms that are equitable to peer schools.

The peer schools Gould Evans studied mostly had 720-square-foot academic classrooms. Less than 30 percent of the classrooms at LHS are 720 square feet.

Meeting these specifications comes with many benefits, but also some noticeable disadvantages. A key one of these lies in the woodshop, as noted by longtime teacher, Jay

Hundley. Due to what he views as insufficient plans for the woodshop, Hundley has announced his retirement.

“I would have liked to have taught for another year, but the shop is my soul, so that is why I am retiring at this time,” Hundley said.

He noted the loss of office and storage space in the plans.

“I would get a finish room, not any bigger, the same size,” Hundley said. “The finish room is the only thing that is undersized for this facility. Everything else is really nicely sized.

We can have 20 students in here and do everything safely and still have plenty of materials and storage for everything.”

“I WILL NO Despite downsides, there LONGER BE are positives to be ISOLATED drawn from the FROM THE REST redesign.

The film room, OF THE CTE currently located DEPARTMENT.” in room 125, is isolated from the —ZACH SALTZ, rest of the CTE de- FILM TEACHER partment but will be relocated to the “innovations corridor” where the rest of the CTE classes and fine arts classes will be.

This along with many other upgrades have film teacher Zach Saltz optimistic about the future.

“One of the benefits for me personally, is I will no longer be isolated from the rest of the CTE world,” Saltz said. “I don’t like having to walk down to see [photo teacher Angelia] Perkins and [journalism adviser Barbara] Tholen the whole time. I am going to be right next to Tholen, we are going to have a shared space in our classroom. They are also going to build a green screen shooting room across the hall that can be used by both video and journalism, which is awesome.”

CLASSROOM SPECS 720 feet

District’s ideal size for academic classrooms

90%

Classrooms at Free State that currently meet size goal

29%

LHS classrooms that currently meet size goal

PAGE DESIGN BY EMILY KRUSE FEB. 7, 2019

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THE BUDGET News

FROZEN COURT

Winter Court members share which character they would be in Disney’s ‘Frozen’ REPORTING BY AIDIN MANNING PHOTOS BY LESLIE OSTRONIC

NIKKI AQUI

“Elsa because she is the winter queen and not Leslie.”

IZZY HEDGES

“Marshmallow, the snow monster.”

ZUZU MELCHOR

“Elsa because she’s a queen.”

EMILY WALKER

“Sven the cute moose because he is just a fun time.”

12

?

LUKE DUNLAP

“Olaf because I haven’t seen ‘Frozen.’”

JOSIE HICKERSON

“Olaf because summer is my favorite time of the year.”

LESLIE OSTRONIC

“I would be Anna because people have frozen my heart.”

LAURA WILLOUGHBY

“I would be Olaf because I love warm hugs.”

FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY SAMI TURNER

JACK FOSTER

“None. #Boycottdisney.”

DOHA MAATY

“I would be Sven the reindeer because reindeer are cool.”

AARON REED

“The moose.”

WILLIAM YANEK

“Sven the reindeer because he is a loyal friend.”

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OWERSCHOOL ROBLEMS ERSIST Additional resources put into addressing issues with program

BY ANAHITA HURT

CO-ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A

s the district continues to deal with PowerSchool rollout issues, a dedicated PowerSchool Implementation team is working to resolve problems.

This project is being led by Power-

School project manager Susan Fowler.

PowerSchool, which replaced Skyward and other tools, has created challenges throughout the district this year.

“The biggest issue is that it is a big change for our district,” Fowler said. “As with any big change, there is a learning process involved. PowerSchool replaced our former student information, learning management and special education management systems, among others. We are learning to use this new platform and learning how it interacts with all of the other technology systems the district uses.”

As the district adapts to PowerSchool, PowerSchool itself is adapting.

“PowerSchool is viewed as an innovator and a company on the cutting edge of making enhancements,” Fowler said. “This is both an asset and a challenge for us. Many of the enhancements are not only new to us, they are new to PowerSchool. We’re learning together.”

Because the school district allotted the PowerSchool Implementation team more resources, some staff members, such as Fowler, were reassigned to the project.

Superintendent Anthony Lewis said he believes the team now has the proper staff members assigned, and the district will begin to see improvements.

“There is no quick fix to implementing a new system of this magnitude,” Lewis said. “I think PowerSchool Project Team is on the right path. The team continues to improve the way in which we are implementing the platform through training,

communication, and technical support.”

Lewis was a part of a video the district released in December to explain its plan.

“I apologized to the staff that the district rolled out the new system too quickly and before we were ready, and shared my appreciation for their patience, perseverance, and problem-solving attitude the first few months of the school year,” Lewis said.

“Our new PowerSchool project manager, Susan Fowler, and a team member, Kirsten Wondra, talked about the steps the district has taken in meeting with PowerSchool’s support team to develop a 60-day action plan for accomplishing high priority tasks and short- and long-term goals.”

Those who work with PowerSchool each day continue to report frustrations while noting improvements.

As the registrar at LHS since 1994, Diane Affalter uses PowerSchool for a large portion of her work and has been challenged by the rollout, including months early on of not being able to run transcripts from PowerSchool.

“I know that all of the schools have things that they need; with the high school, these students are going onto college and things needed to be fixed quickly, the transcripts needed to look correct,” Affalter said. “This is the next stage of our students’ education if they are choosing to go. Even education verifications need to see a transcript to see GPAs and if they had graduated.”

According to Fowler, transcript and GPA errors were caused by dropped classes showing up on PowerSchool-created transcripts and PowerSchool-calculated GPAs. Student Services staff are reviewing all student information before it is processed and sent to Parchment to create transcripts.

Affalter also has to look through folders of standardized test scores, because PowerSchool, as currently implemented, can only record one score at a time for ACT and

SAT exams.

For now, the program is tedious but she has hopes it will improve with time.

“I feel, with this being the best program in the state right now — we have the top of the line — that it should be able to do a lot more,” she said. “We just haven’t been trained yet on how to make that happen, and I think what they’re doing is as we need things and let the district know, they’re scrambling to try and help us figure out how to do that report.”

Ceramics teacher Deena Amont has had many issues with PowerSchool since its implementation. Communication, she said, is improving, but that took months. She described the day of training for teachers before classes started as a “disaster” with inadequately prepared trainers and no follow-up training.

Amont has had many issues when trying to use functions she previously used on Skyward in PowerSchool. As a result, she has returned to using paper and pencil tests. She notes other issues she hopes can be resolved.

“PowerSchool does not indicate student attendance status on the due date for an assignment (like Skyward used to do),” she said. “This is helpful when recording grades so you can easily tell that a student was absent, and that explains why they didn’t hand in the assignment. I put in a request for that to be an added function in PowerSchool.”

Amont said PowerSchool has a ways to go before it can match what she previously had — much less provide the additional functionality that helped lead to its purchase.

“It is not functioning (for me anyway) like Blackboard did, and I want it to have at least the same functionality as Skyward and Blackboard,” Amont said. “Another big issue for me is that there is still no sign of future training.”

PAGE DESIGN BY MIKAYLA KAUFMAN FEB. 7, 2019

13

DUAL STYLE THE BUDGET News

More opportunities for dual college and high school credit opening up

BY CALLIA PETERSON & AVA ACKERLY

STAFF WRITERS

S

tudents interested in earning dual credit their junior or senior years will have more opportunities than ever before.

In addition to the Math 101 and English 101 classes currently offered in the USD 497 school district, 10 new classes will be available to Lawrence High and Free State students as of fall 2019.

These dual credit courses allow students to earn college credit from KU before graduating from high school. Students who opted to take the only dual credit courses offered currently rave about the opportunity.

“You get a student discount, and you get it out of the way so you can do more enjoyable classes or graduate earlier possibly,” senior and current Math 101 and English 101 student Sydney Hawley said.

“Also, you’re in a class with people who you already know and you’re comfortable with, and you’re not afraid to go to the teacher and ask for help.”

Senior Allie Perkins, also a Math 101 and English 101 student, wanted to take the two classes early as well.

“You can get a basic class out of the

way,” Perkins said. “Especially for Math 101, a lot of people end up failing that class because it’s the easiest class they can take, and they don’t want to do it.

So I’m glad I’m getting it out of the way now.”

The first-year director of curriculum for USD 497, Jennifer Bessolo, is excited about the possibilities for these classes too. Discussions about these classes have been in the works for a while, but this year the partnership with KU really took off.

“We’re looking at the idea of trying to get our kids the most competitive edge possible and lots of options and opportunities,” Bessolo said.

These classes will give students the chance to get a college course out of the way for only a third of the cost.

Unlike AP classes, for the dual credit courses, students don’t have to take a test to determine if they get the credit.

The grade they get in the course is the grade that goes on both transcripts.

However, the district is not trying to take away from the benefits of AP classes. Instead, enrollment will control how many classes of each will be offered.

However, the district wants to avoid making these classes the No. 1 priority at the high schools. To avoid having a class of just six students at one school, which might affect how many students

that teacher has in another class, the district is looking into offering these classes at another location, such as KU or the College and Career Center, and possibly over the summer.

Patrick Kelly, director of career and technical education at the College and Career Center, recommends taking college courses as a high school student whether that is through the high schools or the College and Career Center. The CCC is known for hands-on classes that give students job experience and potentially college credit.

“The best way to see what we do at the College and Career Center,” Kelly said, “is to come see it in action.”

However, if students don’t think it is the right time for them to take the class, Melissa Johnson, teacher of English 101, thinks that is fine.

“While I do think it’s great for kids who want to do this, I think it’s OK for kids who don’t, because I think it’s OK to start college when you’re in college,” Johnson said.

Perkins has a warning for students interested in these classes.

“Take it and take it seriously,” she said. “Because although it’s still a high school class, the grade you get in the class is the grade you’ll have on your transcript at the university.”

NEW DUAL COURSES

ENGLISH

HISTORY

MATH

SCIENCE

SOCIAL STUDIES

English 102 ­— Critical Reading and Writing

HIST108 & 109 — History Mah 365 — Elementary BIOL 100 — Principles Statistics of Biology of the United States

PSYC 104 — General Psychology

COMMS 130 — Speaker-Audience Communication

POLS 110 — Intro to US Politics

ANTH 160 — The varieties of Human Experience

14

FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY SAMI TURNER

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Discover activities that cannot currently letter, but could become part of policy discussions

Unified Sports Unified Sports is a program LHS students compete in conjunction with the Special Olympics.

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Academics Students could letter based on their GPA. Topeka and Topeka West both allow students to receive an academic letter.

Art Classes LHS artists dedicate long hours to projects and enter local and national contests to showcase their work. Photo teacher Angelia Perkins has previously pushed for her students to letter.

FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY ANNA PARNELL

Theater Theater is another aspect of the fine arts department that could have the opportunity to letter.

Topeka West is one of the only schools that allows students to letter in theater.

Journalism Journalism students enter monthly contests as well as go to regional, state and national competitions every year.

Student Council Student Council representatives put in hours of work outside of school to plan school-wide functions and also volunteer their time to work at the events they plan.

Other Clubs Clubs and activities not affiliated with KSHSAA could still have the chance to letter in the future.

News THE BUDGET

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD Unified Sports participants persuade district to look into changing lettering requirements

BY ZORA LOTTON-BARKER

STAFF WRITER

M JUBILATION — Juniors Alan Sanders and Bryce Smith celebrate after making a basket in the Unified Sports scrimmage at Pack the House on Nov. 19. Unified Sports is one of the activities featured in Pack the House that currently cannot receive a letter. Students involved have been advocating for their lettering privileges.

PHOTO BY EMILY KRUSE

ore USD 497 students may get the opportunity to letter after Unified Sports athletes advocated for a change to current district practice. Currently, students can only letter in activities sponsored by the Kansas State High School Activities Association, which includes sports and music groups as well as some other activities like debate and scholars bowl. Left out are students active in programs such as Unified Sports, journalism and art.

“We’re putting just as much time, effort, and thought into our photographs as the athlete’s are,” said photo portfolio student Olivia Percich said. “We’re even paying in order to enter competitions, and we’re working just as hard as they are. It’s kind of frustrating for us just because we are really passionate about it too, and no one really notices it.”

The latest push to change district practice came from Unified Sports, which is a collaborative club between Lawrence High and Special Olympics. Athletes in the inclusive sports program practice and compete in soccer and basketball. After a long battle for equitability in the district, teacher and Unified Sports sponsor Susan Micka and her students were contacted in January about being part of a process to discuss changes by associate superintendent Anna Stubblefield.

The first meeting is planned for later this month. Micka said the committee will create standards for varsity levels of participation in activities, teams, academics and organizations in which students could be recognized with a letter regardless of if the activities are part of KSHSAA. The discussions came after Micka and her

students wouldn’t take no for an answer. When Micka asked administrators to see the policy, she was told it was a “policy of word.”

“When they told me that I translated that to mean tradition,” she said. “ No one has written it or reviewed it, no one has supported it, somewhere along the lines some kind of administrator said, ‘This is the way we’re going to do this,’ and that’s what they’ve done ever since.”

Micka’s students have told her what a letter represents.

“When they wear their letter jackets out, it’s not about what they’ve earned, but it’s also a symbol of what this school supports, and they don’t like wearing a letter jacket that says my school only supports athletics,” she said.

Micka was not the first teacher to reach out to the district about changing the lettering practice. Photo teacher Angelia Perkins has been trying for several years.

Perkins found that coaches and teachers set their own requirements for lettering. For some programs students earn points by taking outside lessons, going to competitions or volunteering at events. For sports like wrestling and basketball, the maximum requirement for a student athlete to letter is to have been on said team for three years and to show up to games.

Perkins said her requirements would likely demanded students not only achieve academic excellence in their photography class but also take outside classes, volunteer, enter competitions and be submitted into exhibits.

The hard work of her most dedicated students should be recognized, she said.

“If you’re not in it there’s no way to know the work that goes into it,” Perkins said. “It would be nice if the school, the administration, and in the arts community, that they could actually see their work as worth something.”

PAGE DESIGN BY ANNA PARNELL FEB. 7, 2019

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THE BUDGET Features

LOOKING ON THE

BRIGHT SIDE

Spamalot the musical is a hit despite challenges

BY FREEMAN SPRAY

WEBMASTER & COPY EDITOR

R

iding forth from Camelot, a massive cast practiced tirelessly to put together Monty Python’s Spamalot.

The popular musical comedy based on the even more popular movie by Monty Python finally came to LHS with performances Jan. 26 and 27.

“Everything presents unique challenges,” said senior Julian Weslander, who played Patsy, King Arthur’s assistant. “Especially since it’s just so much more out there and silly than a lot of the other plays we’ve done.”

The play is renowned for its absurd humor and crazy tempo.

“It’s just pure unadulterated ridiculousness and fun,” director Jamie Johnson said. “The world is kind of wild right now, and I think that people want to escape and look on the bright side, so I think that is probably one of the biggest selling points for us.”

Auditions for the performance attracted all manner of folk, from veteran actors to choir champions to Monty Python fans.

“There are a lot of freshmen who are interested in doing theater, which is exciting,” Weslander said. “I really like seeing a lot of new faces.”

Among this diverse group was an extensive pit orchestra.

“I had never done pit before,” sophomore flutist Grace Farney said. “It was a really cool experience.”

The show is complex, featuring many side characters, most of which have a song of their own. The amount of choreography to memorize was enough to challenge the most experienced of performers.

“We’ve had to learn lots of choreography that has stretched most of our abilities, but it’s also been very fun,” senior Lex Moulton, who played the knight Sir Galahad, said. “Our choreographer Barb has made it more than manageable for us.”

Despite the large cast, some actors had to portray four or five characters, so enormous was the number of individual parts. Cast members attributed the success of the show to the adaptability of these actors.

“There are lots of parts in the show with lots of cast members, and that’s one of the strengths of the show,” Moulton

NEW FACES IN THE PIT RAEF LANDES

“Most of [the music] is medium difficulty, but some of it gets pretty hard and pretty high, so that’s a challenge, but I’ve practiced those sections a good amount, so I think I’m ready but it isn’t easy.”

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FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY ANNA PARNELL

said. “There’s lots of different people having big featured moments, so you get to see a lot of the talent.”

The cast had a full wardrobe of extravagant costumes to match their wacky performances. Usually, costumes are made by the cast or brought from home, but for this show, they decided to rent. They got almost all of them from a school in Wisconsin.

“We try to cut costs any way we can, but with this, knight costumes are so specific,” Johnson said. “There’s no way to just be like, ‘Oh you can wear sweatpants and a T-shirt and you’re King Arthur.’ ’’ Renting costumes for the first time was difficult, but far more challenging was the loss of two days worth of practice due to the weather-related school cancellations. They lost a lot of prep time, forcing them to cancel the first performance.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever been this anxious for a show in honestly my entire professional life,” Johnson said.

“There’s so many moving parts and the kids just didn’t have as much rehearsal as I wanted them to. But they pulled it out, and I was really impressed.”

Sophomores join the musical’s pit orchestra CONNOR JONES

“It was really fun, because after working on the musical for so long, and actually seeing it ready and performing for people, it’s really satisfying, seeing it all fit together.”

Features THE BUDGET

PLAYING THE PART — Senior TIffani Smith holds onto junior Jack Malin in the winter production of Spamalot.

Smith played the character Lady of the Lake while Malin played King Arthur. “It was a lot of hard work and a big time commitment. You really had to balance your time out and priorities always came first,” Smith said. “I really enjoyed getting to know the cast. Most people I didn’t really have classes or activities with, so I made lots of new friends.” PHOTO BY EMILY KRUSE

ROCK ON THE BUDGET Features

Student musicians form bands in their spare time

BY EMILY GORDON-ROSS

STAFF WRITER

SASQUATCH STOPWATCH SENIOR DAVIS REED

Senior Davis Reed and his band Sasquatch Stopwatch came together about three months ago and made their debut performance at the Lawrence High talent show.

“Eli [Mardis] told me, ‘Hey Davis, would you maybe be interested in being in a skaa band?’ and that is how it got started,” Reed said. “I was like ‘Oh yeah, sure.’ He was like, ‘It’s called sasquatch stopwatch.’ and I said ‘Oh heck yeah.’”

Davis describes skaa music as a “conglomeration of jazz, pop, funk.” The band came together through senior Eli Mardis, who is lead guitarist and vocalist.

Other instruments are trombone, trumpet, alto saxophone and piano. The group is made up of current students and one former LHS student.

Rehearsal’s take place in the Mardis basement, and typically start with running through sets and practicing songs they already know.

“Then we’ll just play other songs that somebody starts playing, and everybody is such talented musicians in that group, they just begin to play with them and I just give them a beat on the drumset,” said Reed. “So, it’s two hours and maybe 45 minutes of that is us playing the songs that we’re going to be playing, and the rest of it is us just totally jamming. It’s great.

Long live the Squash.”

PHOTO BY EMILY KRUSE

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FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY ANNA PARNELL

Features THE BUDGET

LK ULTRA

SENIOR INEZ ROBINSON Senior Inez Robinson started their band, LK Ultra, about a year and a half ago in October 2017. They are the only member to attend Lawrence High School.

“Lily Pryor is my bassist, she does online school,” Robinson said. “Aoife Conway is my drummer, and they’re at KU, they’re a freshman. My keyboardist, August Hyde, he goes to Shawnee Mission East.”

LK Ultra came together during a camp called Girls Rock Lawrence, an organization dedicated to help girls and trans youth come together to promote feminism and self-expression through all genres of music.

“It’s...a place where you just get thrown into a random band,” Robinson said. “We got together and we made a song and we found out, ‘Hey, we actually can write stuff and we actually work well together. Let’s just continue it after camp.’ ” Robinson and the band have been gaining popularity, and have recently been booking two to three gigs a month with bands like Diet Sig and The Regrettes.

“We play very bedroom pop with punk influences, but it’s rudimentary, four-chord music,” Robinson said.

“We’re getting a lot of traction right now, this year.”

PHOTO BY ELYZEBETH WORKMAN

THE ARSONISTS

SOPHOMORE GIOVANNI VENTELLO Sophomore Giovanni Ventello and his band The Arsonists have been together for almost three years.

“This line-up hasn’t been together very long,” said Ventello. “Me and Aden (Smith), the drummer, have been playing together for maybe a year and a half.”

Ventello is the group’s lead guitarist and vocalist, as well as the band’s manager.

“It was my idea to create this new line up,” said Ventello. “I was an original member of the first line-up of this band but it was not the manager or lead at that point.”

The line-up currently includes Clayton Goodall on trumpet and Jackson Ray on piano and accordion. The band is currently looking for a new bass player.

“I had been playing out a lot with other groups and a lot of people had started seeing it and wanting to keep playing with me,” said Ventello. “Aden joined because our old drummer couldn’t make show after show so we were like ‘Hey, we need a new drummer’ Then Jack saw one of our shows and was like ‘Hey, do you need an accordion player?’ and I was like ‘that’s weird but awesome, yeah, definitely.’”

PHOTO BY EMILY KRUSE PAGE DESIGN BY ANNA PARNELL FEB. 7, 2019

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Sports THE BUDGET

Sports

FLIPPING FOR FUN Divers bring added support to swim team

BY DANIEL DAVIDSON

SPORTS EDITOR

S

ophomore Salvador Good steps up to the board, exhales and prepares to dive only to step back onto the board with uncertainty.

For both members of the dive team, becoming a diver was not their original plan. Good joined swimming freshman year primarily to stay in shape for soccer season. Freshman Keyan Crawford’s introduction to swimming was as therapy for a back injury sustained during football season.

Both of their introductions to diving happened freshmen year.

New to the sport, Good experienced his first fault on the board before regaining his confidence and sticking the dive.

Now, Good has a routine to stay mentally focused during a hard dive.

“Get to the edge and keep your composure,” Good said. “I count down, take a deep breath, say I’m going to do it, and then breathe out as I start my approach and do the dive.”

Both divers tried diving while on the team, and ended up sticking with it. But that was a big shift from what the rest of the team does.

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“Why not try it,” Crawford asks.

Free State shares dive coach Janna Skinner with the Lions. Every other practice both dive teams switch between which school they practice at. As a result, the divers are often separated from the rest of the team.

Head coach Kent McDonald, however, assures they are a critical part of the team.

“We aren’t two teams,” McDonald said. “We are one team, but we compete in a number of different events. It’s an ongoing effort to keep this team a cohesive unit.”

Together, these two divers are responsible for securing a large portion of the team’s scores at a meet.

“The points they score at meets make a big difference on how the team finishes,” McDonald said.

As for postseason, Good and Crawford will need 11 dives at league of state-qualifying difficulty.

McDonald said he is confident they can qualify for state by continuing to learn new and harder dives.

“They have certainly stepped up for the team,” McDonald said.

BOTTOMS UP — Sophomore Salvador Good approaches the end of the board at diving practice. Good is in his second year of diving for the Lions. PHOTO BY EMILY KRUSE

FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY GARY SCHMIDT

Sports THE BUDGET

STRIKING BACK

After a successful season in 2018, bowling program aims to rebuild

BY DANIEL DAVIDSON

SPORTS EDITOR

F

ollowing a powerful season with wins at seven meets and three bowlers sent to state, the Lions were left with an abundance of empty spots to be filled this year.

For the boys especially, the majority of those spots have been filled with freshmen new to bowling.

“When they first came in “I wasn’t sure how I was going to fill those varsity spots,” coach Paula Bastemeyer said. “Having some of these freshman come in and step right into those varsity spots is nice. I think we’re having a stronger season than what I suspected at the start, mainly because we just had a lot of unknowns.”

Despite initial uncertainty, the team’s scores have continued to grow. Last week, junior Emilie Rodman bowled an impressive 600 series in Olathe that put her at a close second for the entire tournament.

“My first game I had seven strikes in a row,” Rodman said.

“My ball was definitely doing what it was supposed to.”

The new team is also adapting to the introduction of the new assistant coach Gary Graves.

Bastemeyer says he has been an asset by bringing new skill sets

as a younger coach with a fresh perspective.

“I really am old enough to be his mother,” Bastemeyer said.

“So from a coaching standpoint, bringing in somebody who does a lot of computer work and statistics and analysis, he’s making my life easier.”

By more closely tracking team performance, Graves can identify specific problem areas for bowlers to practice those skills specifically. One of the most important things the bowlers will have to improve on before facing regionals is consistency.

“This particular team, more than any previous one, has a lot of two-handed bowlers,” Bastemeyer said. “I think that’s leading to our inconsistency. When you have a strike, everything’s good, but when you leave a pin and can’t pick up the spare, that’s when your scores drop.”

After a cautious start to the season, the Lions are ready to focus on improving scores as they look forward to regionals and state.

“If we can pick up our spares a little more, I think we can go far,” junior Andrew Flynn said.

“We’re middle of the pack right now but on the right track to the top.”

TURKEY — Junior Andrew Flynn prepares to throw the ball during a practice after school.

PAGE DESIGN BY GARY SCHMIDT FEB. 7, 2019

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THE BUDGET Sports

TRAINING TO THE TOP

BY ALEX STARK

STAFF WRITER

I

n order to help student athletes improve their bodies and minds in the off-season, security guard and assistant football coach Jeff Colter created his training program Never Be Satisfied.

Colter, who was a college and semi-professional football player, started Never Be Satisfied in 2017. The name is derived from a phrase he used to motivate a group of young people he coached in 2012. Colter would encourage them to work harder by telling them to never be satisfied with where they were.

“There’s going to be times when you’re going to face adversity in life, whether it be in school or sports, the workplace,” Colter said. “And you know, you just can’t let anything keep you down.”

Senior EJ Jewsome joined Colter’s program this year in order to help prepare him for the upcoming football season.

“I play D-line so my hands and my footwork are really important to that position,” Jewsome said. “Coach Colter, you tell him what you do and what

position you play and he focuses his workouts toward the things that will make you better at that position. Every time I work with him, I’m always doing something with fast hands or fast feet, ladders or something. I think just the way he specializes in each position really helps a lot of athletes here.”

Another student influenced by the Never Be Satisfied program is junior baseball player Rhett May. May believes that Colter’s teaching helped him push through his training with optimism.

“He’s just pushed me to become better and to keep a positive mindset,” said May. “He’s always influenced me to work hard….It [Never Be Satisfied] influenced me to just keep working, keep working harder, and it’s helped me by making me stronger faster, and realizing how my body works better.”

One of the biggest takeaways from the program for was learning how to lead by example.

“He [Colter] has influenced me to work harder,” Jewsome said. “I didn’t ever really think I could be a leader by just showing by example working harder, and he really opened my eyes to that.”

Some participants plan on applying the skills from Never Be Satisfied to life

Security guard creates out of school athletic training program after high school. Senior Jakoby Masters will continue his football career in a new environment.

“I am committing to Bethel College for football and majoring in exercise science,” Masters said. “[I hope to] focus on relationships with my teammates and coaches and just getting better and work hard.”

Colter’s goal is for all of his ath- “HE’S JUST letes to have PUSHED ME a winning mentality, TO BECOME and to always BETTER AND continue playing their TO KEEP A hardest POSITIVE whether it is MINDSET” on the field or the court. —RHETT MAY, JUNIOR “Reach your goals, one day at a time and just continue to build up to what you’re looking for one day at a time,” Colter said.

WORK IT OUT — Security guard and assistant football coach, Jeff Colter works on a footwork drill with junior Deshon Lewis in the weight room after school. PHOTO BY LESLIE OSTRONIC

ATHLETIC SUCCESS

EJ JEWSOME DEFENSIVE LINEMAN Butler Community College Commit

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JAKOBY MASTERS CORNERBACK Bethel Community College Commit

FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY SAMI TURNER

IVAN HOLLINS 2016 GRADUATE

Baker University All Conference Honors

JD WOODS 2016 GRADUATE

Baker University All Conference Honors

Sports THE BUDGET

PAGE DESIGN SAMI TURNER FEB. 7, 2019

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THE BUDGET Opinion

Opinion

KEEPING THE FAITH School can create obstacles to practicing religion

BY DOHA MAATY

GUEST EDITORIAL

B

eing a person of faith in a secular world can be trying.

As a Muslim-American student, I struggle with this every day. Prayers and holidays often come with anxiety instead of joy and celebration.

Schools can improve life for all students by making a few simple changes, such as creating a dedicated space for quiet reflection or prayer as well as working with students who need to be absent for religious holidays.

When schools become more inclusive of all religious students, the students seeking to practice their faith will feel more comfortable doing so. Today’s public education system is based on a Christian calendar because of the country’s foundation in Christianity.

By having a system that caters to one religion rather than respecting all religions, students of other faiths struggle to follow their own beliefs.

Many students of different faiths in America struggle to celebrate important holidays with family and in prayer because they are not national holidays.

By missing a day of school, a student will miss a full day of instruction which they are unable to repeat. Assignments may be made up, but the classroom experience cannot be.

Recently, on June 4, students in New York City public schools were

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given the day off in order to allow Muslim students to celebrate Eid-al-Adha with family after a month of fasting.

Although the Muslim population in Lawrence is proportionally less, a similar addition to our school calendar could help ease Muslim students’ concerns and anxieties of missing school and reduce the burden of making up the lessons missed while absent.

Similar to holidays, prayer rituals can vary drastically in each religion in form and frequency. Muslims need to pray five or more times a day.

Praying multiple times a day requires following a prayer regiment guided by established times. Conflicting schedules puts these students in a difficult position. School days normally start at 8 a.m. and end around 3 p.m.; extracurricular activities can also extend the day for students. In Islam, the second prayer of the day, Dhuhr, is always during the school day. I have struggled finding a private location to complete this prayer throughout my experience in public schools.

With specific times for each prayer, students who wish to pray should be given the opportunity to do so by creating a time and a room for religious needs.

If I were given access to a designated prayer room, it would eliminate the stress of having to find an appropriate location and be able to pray in a timely manner and get back to class.

Students should not need to sacrifice their religious practices for their

FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY SAMI TURNER

education or vice versa; they should be allowed to do both in order to help them grow freely.

The more school districts do to help raise awareness of faith and create an inclusive environment, the more tolerant the school community atmosphere can become. Showing respect to all religions represented throughout a school, as well as meeting more of these students’ needs, will help students feel more comfortable and welcome at school. Students will feel relieved that they do not need to act awkwardly towards others when it comes to such matters of faith practice.

This type of harmonious living can foster an open dialogue between students from different backgrounds.

By creating this type of dialogue early on in students’ educations, they will be able to use these communication skills to create a more peaceful and understanding world.

Though the Founding Fathers clearly were guided by Christianity, their world no longer exists. The non-Native population of 1776 in the 13 colonies was fewer than 3 million people. In a country of more than 300 million people, differing faiths surely exist. To maintain peaceful and fruitful relations among all people, tolerance of non-Christian practices is the best hope for the future.

Is it fair that people who want to celebrate Christmas with their families receive at least a week to do so while

Opinion THE BUDGET

others, such as myself, celebrating Eid cannot get a single day off? My story is common among non-Christian students in America, but it does not have to be.

If a balance among practices for all religions cannot be achieved, then perhaps no one religion deserves to be given more acceptance than others.

Schools all across the country should allow students of different faiths to practice their beliefs both in and out of school, which will lead to a tighter-knit community. The time has come to focus on this injustice and build a school system that reflects today’s country, its cultures and the students who live within it.

PHOTO BY EMILY KRUSE

PAGE DESIGN BY SAMI TURNER FEB. 7, 2019

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THE BUDGET Opinion

Opinion

LET US LETTER

School varsity letters not recognizing excellence in many activities

BY GARY SCHMIDT

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

T

he origins of lettering trace back to 1865, in the shape of varsity sweaters, donned by members of the Harvard basketball team. Since then, what lettering is and how it is celebrated has transformed in a variety of different ways, almost always deferring to what is now considered the staple of a letterman jacket, with letters and patches celebrating the success’ that student has achieved in their respective activity.

Lawrence High has a grand tradition of lettering and has opened up the capability of lettering to a wider variety of activities, rather than just varsity athletics, and even in certain circumstances, has made the criteria necessary to achieve this award much less strenuous than before. This allows for a greater number of students to receive merit for their work, a commendable effort in my eyes.

However, certain activities still receive a blind eye in regards to the celebrated status of lettering. Effectively, school policies regarding lettering have determined that some activities are worth more than others. Some don’t deserve the rich reward of bearing a shiny emblem on a cozy red jacket as a matter of a

technicality. As minor of a technicality this may be, this discredits the achievements of students everyday.

It is impossible to objectively state which activities are more important than others and this should be reflected in the lettering process at Lawrence High School.

I have been involved in a wide variety of activities, both ones I have received a varsity letter for and ones I have received no specific recognition for. Even from activity to activity, there is no fair way to establish what is a more arduous task, or what I have spent more time dedicated to. Each individual activity presents a unique set of challenges and requires a different set of skills.

However, the one thing that remains constant throughout is that they all require hard work and dedication.

From playing varsity football to showcasing your skills in art competitions, Lawrence High boasts a wide variety of talents all brought together by the pride of representing a great school and the unbelievable effort that students put into their passions.

I am by no means advocating for lettering as a form of participation trophies. All letters given in this school are ones that are earned through excellence in whatever avenue that may be. Simply, the undeniable talent of many Lawrence High students from journalism to Unified Sports to art and countless others are left recognized.

Lawrence High must recognize this as an opportunity to demonstrate the pride it bears for the students who proudly represent it each and every day.

Graphic by Arianna Myers-Arenth

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FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY ALEX LANE

Opinion THE BUDGET

SHUTDOWN

Government shutdown leaves a lot up to debate as talks break down

BY WILLIAM YANEK

ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

T

he longest government shutdown in American history is finally over. At least for now.

The shutdown began on Dec. 22 and ended on Jan. 25. Over these 35 days, 25 percent of government services were unavailable, leading 800,000 federal employees to miss paychecks during that time. Congress and the White House have until Feb. 15 to come up with a compromise before the government shuts down again.

This shutdown centered around the issue of immigration, specifically around whether President Donald Trump’s proposal for a wall on the southern border is moral or effective.

Who’s at fault for the shutdown depends entirely on your ideology. It is true that in 2006, leading Democrats like Senators Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton supported building 700 miles of border fence. It is also true that Trump and the Republicans had two years of unified government to push the wall through. Trump didn’t make the wall a legislative priority like he promised, and he may pay for it in 2020.

Which is a shame. There are vitally important discussions to be had concerning immigration — such as the effects of imported cheap labor on the wages of domestic workers and the ramifications of rapid demographic and cultural change — but these discussions will remain irrelevant until the federal government is actually able to control who comes in and out of the country.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of people come across the southern border illegally. The vast majority are good, decent human beings seeking freedom and economic opportunity from the most prosperous country in the history of the world. The vast majority contribute positively to their communities and to

the economy. Corporations progressives used to be skeptical of certainly enjoy taking advantage of them.

However, sovereign nations have borders. They have laws. A sovereign nation gets to determine who gets to cross their borders because a sovereign nation cares about the welfare of its citizens. Having an undocumented serf class of 11 million people and counting is not healthy for a sovereign nation. Neither is it healthy to have hundreds of thousands of pounds of lethal drugs and tens of thousands of human trafficking victims flowing across the border each year.

A real, substantive conversation over immigration can only start once the border is secured. A wall, barrier, fence, or whatever you want to call it should be a part of the solution, because contrary to popular belief, walls actually work. Look at Spain’s steel fence with Morocco, Egypt’s barrier with Gaza, and Israel’s southern border wall. A U.S. wall obviously wouldn’t extend the entire length of the border, and there would have to be other security.

Republicans and Democrats both have compelling interests in the immigration fight. Republicans

are concerned with the security threat of a porous border. Democrats are concerned about treating immigrants with dignity and taking care of the people who have already come across. People from both parties, to some extent, recognize there is some validity to the other side’s concern, which is why there is a simple compromise here: border wall funding for legal protections for some illegal immigrants.

Modern politicos in Washington D.C. have shown themselves to be incapable of such a compromise. The issue was not time. Voters gave Republicans two years to implement their policy goals.

And the issue was not money. The $5.7 billion requested for the wall amounts to 0.19 percent of the federal budget.

This shutdown instead was reflective of our increasingly polarized politics, a polarization so deep that our leaders cannot even set aside their egos for one second to enact reform for the security of our country, or, God forbid, give Trump a victory.

So who is truly to blame for this shutdown? That’s for you to judge.

Graphic by Alex Lane PAGE DESIGN BY ALEX LANE FEB. 7, 2019

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THE BUDGET Opinion

A Crumby Day

BY JAYLYNN HICKS

THE JOURNALISM STAFF MISSION STATEMENT The Budget newspaper is committed to providing the Lawrence High community with objective, inclusive news coverage that ensures relevance to its spectrum of readers. The staff devotes itself to the exercise of First Amendment rights and upholding the highest of journalistic standards. While the paper is a tool to publish student voices, it also works to help students grow as journalists and help readers access information.

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.

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

STAFF Kennedy “Ken” Bigham, Cuyler Dunn, Aubrey Fischer, Noah Ginsberg, Emily Gordon-Ross, Amaya Harris, Jaylynn Hicks, Mikayla Kaufman, Sophia Kaufman, Symon Knox, Alex Lane, Nola Levings, Andrew Liebegott, Zora Lotton-Barker, Kenna McNally, Everett Middleton, Caitlin Mooney, Arianna Myers-Arenth, Leslie Ostronic, Callia Peterson, Sydney Pritchard, Meriel Salisbury, Sydney

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FEB. 7, 2019 PAGE DESIGN BY GARY SCHMIDT

Sanders, Adelai Spears, Alex Stark, Fynn Stovall, Riley Unekis, Andrew Williams, Katie Williams, Elyzebeth Workman, Cooper Wright.

THE BUDGET NEWSPAPER EDITORS Macy Landes...............................Editor-in-Chief Connor Schmaus ����������������������Editor-in-Chief Gary Schmidt...............................Editor-in-Chief Emily Kruse.....................................Photo Editor Sami Turner...................................Design Editor Anna Parnell.................................Design Editor Nikki Aqui................................ Managing Editor LHSBUDGET.COM EDITORS William Yanek.............................Editor-in-Chief Anahita Hurt.................................Editor-in-Chief Aidin Manning ����������������� Social Media Editor Nadia Sanburn ������������������������������������Assistant Online Editor Freeman Spray..............................Webmaster/ Copy Editor David Obadare ������������������������������ Video Editor

Mia Robinson................................. Video Editor RED & BLACK YEARBOOK EDITORS Emma Howard............................Editor-in-Chief Skylar Steichen...........................Editor-in-Chief Maya Weslander �����������������������Editor-in-Chief McKenna White ����������������������������Photo Editor Megan Drumm ..........Assistant Photo Editor Addie Thornsbury �������������������������Photo Editor Izzy Hedges..................................... Copy Editor Pam Vue................................ Senior Ads Editor JOURNALISM EDITORS Shayla Brillhart.........................Captions Editor Daniel Davidson ��������������������������Sports Editor Allison Ramaley ������������������������ Head of Sales Gage Miller.......................Ad Design Manager Sophia Rogers..................sales development manager Barbara Tholen �������������������������������������� Adviser

Opinion THE BUDGET

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#livenaismith

EDITORS WHAT DO YOU WISH WAS PART OF THE SCHOOL’S CONSTRUCTION PLANS??

“I think it would be absolutely beneficial for the classes to come if there were a shrine of some sort in dedication to Nikki Aqui.”

—Nikki Aqui, managing editor

“I would like for the pool to be remodeled.

It’s very outdated and many of the facilities don’t work. The floor is slippery because it hasn’t been replaced in years. The equipment doesn’t fit most people, and the timeboard has been broken since I was a freshman.”

—Emily Kruse, photo editor

“Hear me out: take out the football field, put in giant rollerskating rink.”

—Macy Landes, editor-in-chief

“I wish we could keep the Latin Courtyard. I know so much work went into it, and I have so many memories of it. I am sad to see it go.”

—Anna Parnell, design editor

“A secure, yet accessible place for students to spend time outside, whether it be during lunch or for studying. I think that would make the school feel less inhibitive.”

—Connor Schmaus, editor-in-chief

“A way to travel to all the different parts of the school without having to go outside. When it is especially cold, going to the West Gym for third hour is a huge inconvenience.”

—Gary Schmidt, editor-in-chief

“A rock climbing wall or an adult sized playground #nevertooyoung.”

—Sami Turner, design editor

PAGE DESIGN BY GARY SCHMIDT FEB. 7, 2019

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PHOTO OF THE MONTH

JAMMING ­— Senior Inez Robinson performs with LK Ultra at the Whitehouse Schoolhouse PA Benefit on Jan. 26. LK Ultra is a local indie rock band encouraging a more inclusive and diverse music scene in Lawrence. The benefit was to raise money for a permanent PA sound set stem for the venue.

“The White Schoolhouse is a nice all-ages venue that is much safer for us,” Robinson said. “We surpassed our goal and made $1,255.25 that night.”

PHOTO BY FYNN STOVALL