Omaha Marian High School March 18 Network Student Newspaper

THE NET WORK Marian High School - 7400 Military Avenue Omaha, NE 68134 - www.marianhighschool.net - Volume 62 Issue 6 - March 2018

Students pray for victims, hope to end gun violence shannonmcsweeney & lilywatkins

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he massacre that took place on Feb. moment of silence for the victims before me in the next week, or especially that walkout, Elizalde’s heart was warmed.

14, at Stoneman Douglas High School the service was concluded. there will even be a next one to hit the “I got kind of emotional. I didn’t cry, in Parkland, Fla., shook the nation.

Paul read the brief biography on Alex news,” Paul said. but my heart grew, and I was fine throughSeventeen people died in the shooting Schachter, who was a victim in the ParkPaul was far from the only Marian out it. But then it hit me at the end,” and 14 were injured. The gunman was a land shooting. When Paul first learned all student to participate in the service. SeElizalde said. She was nervous about the 19-year-old former student who used an the statistics and information concerning nior Diana Elizalde organized the event, reactions of both students and parents, but AR-15 during the crime. Parkland became the shooting, the fact that this had become and created the core team consisting of was pleased with the kind reaction of the another statistic for school shootings, and a common occurrence struck her heavily. herself, fellow seniors Sofy Herrera and Marian community. the student survivors vowed to make their “I shouldn’t have to be going to school Donna Yang and juniors Jolie Peal and “It’s just kind of scary putting yourself school, and all other schools, safe from thinking that we will be next or that a Corinne Johnson. When she saw the num- out there, but everyone was respectful gun violence. friend or classmate won’t be there with ber of Marian girls who participated in the and listening and everything, and I think Instead of quietly mourning that really helped how it carried out for their classmates and letting the and how it turned out. So I was very tragedy be slowly forgotten, they happy,” Elizalde said. have risen up and started a moveMarian Principal Susie Sullivan ment. Many people were tired of the attended the service herself. “I was lack of action from politicians and so proud of our students, not only the ease with which it is possible to those who participated in the prayer obtain a firearm. This passion made service, but those who stayed inside. the spirits of many burn brighter, and The leaders were so clear in their protests against gun violence were communication that this was not a diquickly planned. visive issue. We are an example that Freshman Jackline Paul was one the rest of society should follow. The of the many students who participatbest solutions come from talking and ed in the Marian walkout and prayer compromise. Our students showed service demonstration on March 14. all of Omaha how this can be done,” The group that walked out met with Sullivan said. the Servants of Mary by the statue of The March 14 service was the Mary in front of the school and was first action for many Marian girls in led in a prayer by Sr. Jackie Ryan. voicing their prayer for an end to gun Then, several students came forward violence in schools. Though it may to identify and describe victims of have been the first, it may also not the shooting. Other students then be the last; another national event came forward while holding orange is planned for Saturday, March 24.

Standing in unity Marian girls hold 17 orange balloons representing the 17 lives lost on Feb. 14 in balloons, each balloon representing Whether or not a Marian student parParkland, Fla. The balloons were hung around the staircases of Marian to keep the victims in the students’ one of the 17 lives lost in Parkland. ticipated in the walkout, she can rest The community was then led in another thoughts throughout the day. assured that her voice was heard.

Feminine supply drive keeps sisterhood alive

maddierobertson

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arian has never been a school to shy away from giving back to the community. Although its most recent supply drive still benefited those in need, the drive was more unique in the sense that the items collected were ones never asked for before: feminine products.

The feminine product drive, which ran from the week of Feb. 26-March 2, was hosted by the Girls4Girls Club and the Young Politicians Club.

With one box of tampons costing $7, the average woman can spend thousands of dollars on feminine products throughout her lifetime. However, some women cannot afford to pay for these goods, or they do not have access to them to begin with.

“We decided it would be a great idea to host a drive to get menstrual products for women since they’re so expensive, yet so essential,” junior Maria Piperis, co-president of Girls4Girls Club, said.

At the time of the drive itself, three of the four leaders of Girls4Girls and Young Politicians were attending the Harvard Model Congress, so it was up to junior Elizabeth Joka to run the drive.

“I had to make posters and organize everything and finalize details. And I worked on getting the word around,” Joka said.

Throughout the week, the club members shared facts about feminine supplies

Monthly supplies A portion of the donated feminine products to be delivered to the Open Door Mission women’s shelter. Homeroom 113 brought in the most donations.

during homeroom, had women’s health practitioner Dr. Teresa Kenney, mother of

News

INSIDE

gear for ghana p.2

junior Anna Kenney, come in to answer questions about menstrual cycles and

OPINION

promised a free dress day for the homeroom that brought in the most products.

The two clubs and members of the Faith In Action team also decorated and hung posters around the school advertising the drive.

With the help of the efforts of students and faculty, Marian was able to collect 130 boxes of feminine supplies, with math teacher Mr. Kent Bray’s homeroom bringing in the most items.

The supplies will be taken to the Lydia House, an Open Door mission shelter specializing in care for women and young children.

Although the clubs collected more than anticipated, Piperis believes the Marian community can surpass its first collection total. “With the number of students at Marian, there’s still a lot of room for improvement. I’d love to make this drive annual and hopefully see improvement every year,” Piperis said.

While being an all-girls school has guaranteed a better understanding of the importance of feminine supplies, Joka thinks there is still a long way to go to educate all members of the community about periods.

“It’s kind of weird, I feel like there’s a stigma, even at an all-girls school.

It’s something we shouldn’t be ashamed about. It needs to be normalized,” Joka said.

in-depth

whining about winter Sleep: Don’t sleep on p.4 it p.8-9

sports state swimming p.12

(2) NEWS

THE NET WORK (March 2018)

Gear for Ghana nonprofit provides equipment, hope to soccer-lovin’ kids across world

gracesall ew things have a universality to them, common to countries and diverse cultures around the world.

Love, laughter and family are a few. But all children seem to know exactly what to do when a ball is bounced their way, and the children of the eastern region of Ghana are no exception.

Junior Katie Harris realized this fact on her summer service trip through Global Leadership Adventures. In July of 2017, Harris traveled to the Krobo speaking area of East Ghana to help refurbish schools, teach English classes and learn about the culture of Ghana for two weeks.

“We helped refurbish their schools but the most rewarding part was seeing their smiles and playing with them, not that we were amazing but just getting to be with them,” Harris said.

When the children had recess, Harris would play casual soccer games with the kids, often with nothing more than a worn down soccer ball.

Growing up, Harris had lived overseas in various countries, seeing firsthand the effects of poverty on younger generations. She had always

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wanted to help the children she encountered, but it often was too ambitious for her young age. But at 17, and after seeing the conditions of play for the kids in Ghana, Harris saw her opportunity.

“Each time I travel, the children I meet impact me in so many ways. Visiting third world countries is the best way to see your blessings. There are many people in our country who do not understand the severity of how some of these children live. We take many things for granted- even something as simple as a toothbrush and toothpaste,” Harris said.

One of the things that Harris noticed that the children in Ghana did not have was adequate equipment or any programs, despite it being such a vibrant region for sports. Harris said any type of equipment, even deflated soccer balls, were gifts for the children. This began her own non-profit program, Gear for Ghana.

Gear for Ghana hopes to collect donations in the form of sports equipment, such as used cleats, balls, shin guards, basketball shorts, sports shirts and foldable goals. Twice a

Sources: worldometers.info and humanium.org

year her organization will ship the donations to Ghana through local contacts.

Harris began this non-profit completely independently, using some of her own savings and filling out paperwork for the IRS and applications for nonprofits. She found a contact in Virginia who is willing to help ship the donations for a reduced price.

She has also kept in contact with a correspondent who she met in Ghana to distribute the donations.

“Honestly, the kids in Ghana are pretty different from the kids in the U.S. They don’t have iPads or phones to keep them busy so they play outside all day. They form so many friendships through sports which is why I felt that this used equipment would benefit them so much. They also are always happy, which was really amazing to see. It has shown me that you can be happy even when you don’t have much,” Harris said.

Two kids that Harris met in Ghana left a mark on her heart long after leaving the country. Two sisters named Charity and Abigail became her friends, one was 3 years old and the other 11. Abigail knew fragments of English, which helped Harris bond with her even more.

For now, Harris will not be returning to Ghana soon, but she said the project will keep her connected with international service. In the next two years, she hopes to travel with the shipments and take photos and videos for the non-profit.

She is most excited to see all the donations put to good use by some deserving kids.

Cheering with Charity Katie Harris ’19 sits with 3-year-old friend Charity watching a young adult soccer game. Harris described Charity as “extremely playful and loves to play and be spun around.” Photos courtesy of Katie Harris.

Upside down Harris snaps a photo of 11-year-old Abigail on an afternoon of recess. Harris said Abigail loved to have her picture taken, and spoke enough English to create a special bond between the two girls throughout the service trip.

Model status Another moment shows Abigail’s photogenic personality. Both Charity and Abigail were the kids Harris spent the most time with while in Ghana and were a huge influence in creating her non-profit program.

An ode to code: School celebrates coding team’s success

maddiesrobertson nticipation and anxious chatter bounced off the walls of Marian prior to the mystery assembly being held on Jan. 26. Teachers were instructed not to tip off any students, but that didn’t stop the circulation of rumors from spreading throughout the school.

Principal Mrs. Susie Sullivan was quick to shut down theories of newly appointed Nebraska football coach Scott Frost and television personnel Ellen DeGeneres coming to the assembly.

Who came through the gymnasium doors instead were Congressman Don Bacon and the families of seniors McKenzie Blaine, Colby Lemkau, Jessica Sahm and Franny Tvrdik.

“The reason I’m here today is to recognize a few folks who have done some great work here,” Bacon said.

The four girls, who were all in Dr. Sharon Genoways’ Coding I class during first semester, were honored for being the top ranking Second Congressional District team in the third annual Congressional App Challenge (CAC).

The Congressional App Challenge, which Genoways found out about via email over the summer, required her students to design a prototype of an app that would help the community. In addition to coding the app, the team was responsible for writing two essays and making a movie about their project.

The group formulated their app, FreshInTheFridge, when they saw Sahm watching videos from Tasty, a website composed of numerous minute long videos of food dishes being prepared.

“We wanted to work to lessen food waste. We thought if we made an app that had food and its listed duration time, it might help with food waste,” Blaine said.

By the time the girls were introduced to the project, they only had about two weeks to complete it. Every

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spare moment they had was put into finishing the prototype of their app, which was far from an overnight project.

“Every single thing you do is coded. All that direction has to be given to the app,” Tvrdik, who worked on the coding portion of the project along with Lemkau, said. Blaine was responsible for writing the two essays and Sahm created the video about the app.

Once their project was finally submitted, the team had to wait until January to receive the results of the competition.

The winners of the competition, along with being recognized Celebrating success Dr. Sharon Genoways embraces Franny Tvrdik ’18. The team of four by their district’s Congressman, was awarded special certificates by Congressman Don Bacon following their Congressiowould each be awarded a trip to nal App Competition win. Photo by Maria Alessandro.

Washington, D.C. to showcase Lemkau, who plans on going into the engineering their app or app prototype to other field, believes that Genoways’ support and the coding members of Congress and $250 worth of Amazon Web class will benefit her future pursuits. “I think the experiService credits. ence definitely helped me. D.C. will be a good experience “We didn’t think we were going to win,” Tvrdik said. and look good in college. It’s been fun,” Lemkau said.

“This is the first time Nebraska has ever gone to WashAlthough they will no longer be eligible to win anothington, D.C. for this.” er CAC competition, the coding field has limitless other Marian will be sending the four students to D.C. from opportunities for the group.

April 11-14, the day of Marian’s prom. Genoways will be “There’s a STEM crisis right now. In 2020, 400,000 accompanying as a chaperone. students in universities will have to fill 1.4 million jobs,” “I’m really excited she’s our chaperone and gets to Genoways said. “We need you, as intelligent women. come with us. She pushed us to do that. It was out of our You think differently and are desperately needed in those comfort zone but it gave us a great opportunity,” Sahm STEM fields.” said.

NEWS

THE NET WORK (March 2018)

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Cape Town water crisis evokes concern Dr. Tom Kelly shares border experience maddierobertson

hayleygolden

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ater: it’s a basic human necessity. Through the past few months, the city of Cape Town, South Africa was put into a position of crisis; their water supply was about to run out.

Due to the growing population and a major drought, Cape Town, a city of In Cape Town, more than 4 million residents, almost became the first major city to run out each person of water. “Day Zero,” the predicted day when the town would officially is limited to run out of clean water, was first pre50 liters per dicted to be April 21.

Through water saving methods, day.

Cape Town was able to push back “Day Zero” to an unknown date in Efficiency, which is already past the daily 2019. Methods such as taking shorter showers and reusing water have contribut- maximum for these citizens.

According to the Metropolitan Utilities ed to the date push back.

District, Omaha, a city with more than While the city may seem safe for now, 440,000 people, uses about 2,520,000,000 sophomore Abby Reynolds still believes gallons of water a month. That’s enough it presents a problem that the whole world water to fill an Olympic size swimming should be aware of. “It’s something that pool more than 3,815 times. The average shows us that our planet isn’t producing household in Omaha uses 85,000 gallons water like it has been,” Reynolds exof water per year. plained.

To narrow this perspective down “If Cape Town’s drying up, then even further, Marian uses an average surrounding areas are drying up, and that of 154,000 gallons per month. Though just indicates that there’s a greater change students are gone during the summer, the going on. I think we all need to be very warm season uses the most water due to conscious about that and investigate it and the watering of the grounds. The seasons take it seriously.” of fall, winter, and spring generally use Although the town is continuing to about 50,000 gallons a month. push back the deadline, there is still trepiFor Reynolds, this kind of water dation that the day could become a reality. use can be seen as concerning.

“I think If this day does come, more problems will water is a resource that we have a rather begin to arise. dangerous system for using.

Because we In an interview with The Guardian, consume such a huge amount of water, Greg Pillay, the head of Cape Town’s there is hardly any put aside for emergenDisaster Operations Center, noted that cy use, should we run out of water. This there are four risks that come with losing causes a problem because we are so used this resource: disease outbreaks, water shortages, sanitation failures and anarchy. to using water for everything that most people would hardly know how to cope,” As of today, water is still pumping Reynolds said. “It’s scary to think of how through the pipes, but regulations have vulnerable we would be without water been set for daily water usage. Citizens and I just really hope that day doesn’t have been allowed 50 liters of water come in our lifetime.” per person per day; that’s the equivaThough Cape Town and the surroundlent of about 13 gallons. To put this into ing areas may be safe for now, this crisis perspective, taking an 8.2 minute long is still an issue that will affect the city for shower uses on average 17.2 gallons of years to come. water, according to the Alliance for Water

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he Catholic Church teaches every they are. They’re just kids,” Taylor said. person to have compassion, respect Theology teacher Mr. Kory Delkamilland love for their fellow human beings. er and the rest of the Theology DepartAmidst the current political climate, it can ment also had the opportunity to listen become difficult to remember this teachto Kelly speak during their department ing, especially in regard to undocumented work day. Theology Department Chair, immigrants.

Mr. Greg Golka, coincided the work day Creighton University Theology Prowith Kelly’s presentation because of fessor Dr. Tom Kelly has taken it upon Kelly’s emphasis on Catholic values and himself to educate the community about the concern surrounding the wellbeing of immigration and explain why the Catholic immigrants. community should care. All students were “The first teaching in Catholic Social invited to come to the library’s CollaboTeaching is the dignity of the human ration Room on Feb. 13 to listen to Kelly person. He made it about relationships and discuss current issues surrounding the human dignity,” Delkamiller said. immigration crisis as well as learn about Although Kelly only mentioned the his experiences volunteering at the U.S./ Creation Story and how Catholics believe Mexico border. every person is made in Kelly started off the image and likeOur nation likes to by using the term ness of God, it was not “undocumented” to desensitize things that difficult to find other are sensitive topics. describe the immiconnections to Scripture We need to remember and the treatment of grants he worked with at the border. others. the golden rule of “I don’t like to use “Our nation likes to doing unto others as the word ‘illegal’. desensitize things that you would want them are sensitive topics. We It is my belief that to do unto you. no human being is need to remember the -Alice Taylor ’18 illegal,” Kelly said. golden rule of doing Throughout his unto others as you would presentation, Kelly discussed how many want them to do unto you,” Taylor said. people choose to immigrate without havAfter the presentation concluded, Kelly ing gone through the official, legal process opened the floor to questions. A question because of the time it takes to process all many had was what to do to solve this of the applications for a green card. He problem. At the moment, lawmakers and also detailed the dangerous journey to those in other political offices are the ones the U.S./Mexican border many undocuwith the legal authority to affect the counmented immigrants take. Along the way, try’s stance on immigration. But because many fleeing their country face dangerous of political differences, these discussions weather conditions, drug lords and gang reach a stalemate or are never held. This violence. issue, however, has a solution according Oftentimes, children are forced to be to Delkamiller. drug mules and smuggle illegal narcotics “We have to be willing to listen. We across the border. When they are caught, have the ability to solve it. We have the they are automatically deported and never gifts that are necessary to resolve it. legally allowed back into the country for Whether or not we make the decision to their “crime.” embrace that, I don’t know. But we can Senior Alice Taylor, who attended the do it. We just have to be willing to lean in. presentation with the rest of her InternaYou don’t always get everything you want tional Issues class, was especially touched in this political process, but this nation by the circumstances of the children who was founded on compromise. We need to make the risky trip across the border. compromise,” Delkamiller said.

“They’re not the bad people you think

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Students engage in government simulation at Model Congress juliahingorani

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ver the course of four days, a group of students had the opportunity to be a part of the largest congressional simulation conference in the world: the Harvard Model Congress.

Before the conference began, students were given the opportunity to explore parts of Boston, such as visiting Boston College and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Students were even able to see the Broadway show “Waitress” on the night they arrived.

Nearly a decade ago, Marian took students to conferences for eight or nine years. Other than the Harvard Model Congress, Marian also attended Harvard’s West Coast conference in San Francisco and the Rutgers Model Congress.

“As far as starting it back up this year, I think the idea was to offer an educational trip for students interested in government and social studies-related topics,” English Department Chair Ms. Susie Sisson said.

Any juniors and seniors who were able to pay for the trip were allowed to participate. Fourteen juniors and seniors who are currently or have already taken a government class were able to put their knowledge to the test. Harvard, the oldest university in the United States, sponsored this government-based conference.

On Thursday, Feb. 22, the conference launched into action. In this role-playing experience, each student was assigned the role of real life congress member, senator or member of government. “They are basically pretending to be a government official for the weekend. They’ll sit in committees and debate issues. They’ve done a ton of work ahead of time, and were assigned their parts a few months ago. These issues are happening rights now and they will attempt to try and find solutions,” Sisson said.

The entire time at the conference, students were to be referred to as their given role. “I was a part of the G20, so this meant that for the most part people refer to each other as their country rather than their actual name,” junior Lauren Philips said.

While acting as a government official, students participated in a number of simulations. Students were able to engage in committee meetings, open debates, trials, press conferences, testimonies and caucuses.

Students were presented with a modern issue facing the world at the beginning of the day and drafted a bill as a solution to solving the issue. Some of the issues students faced included student loans, confederate symbols and how to work on water crises around the Taking a break at Boston College Maria Piperis ’19, Corinne Johnson ’19, Audrey Yost ’18, Michaela world.

Munchrath ’19, Maggie Prosser ’18, Abby McGill ’19, Lauren Philips ’19, Maya Tate ’19, Lily Blake ’19. Not “I was in the National Economic pictured: Abby McLaughlin ’18, Donna Yang ’18, Elaina Sperry ’19, Caroline Drew ’19, Lily Gonzalez ’19.

Council and I dealt with the Student pand their perspectives and understanding of how issues Debt Crisis and U.S. Sanctions. We are dealt with in the government. “I knew I would be passed a resolution called TIDEPODS which was about learning, but the knowledge that I attained extended far privatizing student loans,” senior Donna Yang said. beyond parliamentary procedure and how Indonesia feels After drafting a pseudo bill, students followed it about globalization, I learned a lot about interacting with through committee meetings before the House and other people and how to effectively get an idea across and Senate. If the proposed bill is approved by the House and work with other people to create change,” Philips said.

Senate, it would proceed to the Executive Branch. If acBeing able to witness a simulation of the political protually passed as legislation, the bill proposed by the stucess can help spark an interest for a career in government dents could be sent to the White House for consideration. or policymaking.

This hands-on experience has allowed students to ex-

(4) Opinion

T HE NET WORK

(March 2017)

Legislators should go with the flow. Period. Staff Editorial: Ope is a Column by audreyhertel

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know I’m not the only girl who has ever experienced an unstoppable force and fought for access to hygiene this. You’re sitting in some sort of public area, and products in prisons earlier this year. Even though I’m then, BAM. It happens. “Well, what am I supposed to stoked that this happened, why did it take so darn long? do?” you think to yourself. You start to sweat, but you We have been around since humankind came to be and have that slight relief knowing that you’re not wearing we are just now starting to question it? white pants. You search through your That’s the tea. purse or bag hoping that you have at Let’s not forget about the tax on tampons. least one form of fixing the current Are you kidding? We literally have to pay “situation” you’re in. You freak out extra for being girls. Who made this rule and when you start to realize that your why? I WANT TO TALK TO YOU. Girls past self has terribly neglected you. So already don’t get paid the same amount as you’re faced with the task of having men, and now we have to pay an extra tax that to go to the nearest location that sells guys don’t have to pay? Talk about inequalfeminine hygiene products. Once ity. What about women in poverty? How are you’re at the store and do what you’ve they expected to pay for feminine hygiene got to do, you go to the check out products? Women already go through enough counter and, oh no, there’s only one injustice as it is and this only adds to it. Many sales clerk. He’s a boy. He’s literally women have accepted the fact that there is your age. You breathe in and say “I can a tax on tampons, and to me, that’s just not do this” and go up to the counter to cartoon by sofyherrera right. According to a news release in the check out. This dude has a look of utter Washington Post women spend about $7 each shock. He turns around and never comes back. Instead, month for feminine hygiene products, and women buy a girl returns with a smile on her face to check me out. these for roughly 40 years of their life. They calculated All I’m thinking is “Seriously?” Why are periods that the cost of feminine products creates more than $20 such an uncomfortable subject for people to talk about? million of taxes.

Literally almost every girl has a period. Girls make up We need to put an end to this. Legislators need to more than 50 percent of the population, so what’s the “go with the flow” if you know what I mean. They need big deal? I guess that some men may never get over to get rid of the tampon tax and make it easier for womthe fact that we bleed literally every month, and it’s a en to access feminine hygiene products. normal thing.

I know that as a Marian student it can be very easy Anyway, I know that maybe buying tampons can be to just walk down the hall and ask your classmates or a struggle, but the truth is there are women who have a female teacher, but at other schools or in public remuch more difficult time getting feminine hygiene prod- strooms, it’s not that easy. ucts and it’s not just because they are checking out with Legislators should create laws that allow schools a male sales clerk. The reality of the fact is that many and public restrooms to offer free dispensers of femihomeless shelters, prisons and even schools do not have nine hygiene products. I mean, the toilet paper is free. access to feminine hygiene products. As I said earlier, Everybody uses the restrooms, and almost every girl has this is a normal thing. Thank the Lord that women are periods.

way of life

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veryone knows the stereotypes. People living on the West Coast are easy-going and ahead of their time. East Coasters are rude, impatient and loud. Southerners are welcoming and kind to each other; they are known for their Southern hospitality. We Midwesterners are known for two things: corn and being polite; the order doesn’t matter.

Though we have grown up learning that “pleases” and “thank yous” are a part of everyday life, not everyone knows that. We have grown up with a “treat others the way you want to be treated” way of life and we are blessed to have always known this lifestyle of being nice. The Midwest has a reputation for being too nice, but when did being a nice person become a bad thing? We should take pride in all of the uncomfortably kind things we do.

We hold the door open for people (sometimes for an extended period of time when people just keep coming and we do not want to awkwardly cut someone off), we thank and tip our servers at restaurants we go to, we make sure people get in their house when dropping them off at night, we shovel our neighbor’s driveway for them after the third snow that week.

We like to know that we are helping and protecting each other. We need to look out for each other.

Not every region is bad or impolite, they just aren’t the Midwest - no offense to the rest of America. Many of us will fight and say that we are simply the best. We have a lot of pride being from the Midwest, and though we get a lot of hate for being nice and for being a boring region with little to do, we still love our home. Midwesterners can do no wrong, unless, for some reason, you hate corn and being polite.

Whining about winter: A memoir from the biggest summer lover gracesall

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can name on one hand all the things that I have a strong hatred towards; there aren’t many. Hate is a very strong and dramatic word, one I do not use lightly.

Not many things are deserving of my utter hatred.

Take, for example, Gossip Girl.

Though the entire premise of the show makes me roll my eyes and want to scream: “There are worse issues in the world than what Blair Waldorf did to Jenny Humphrey!”, I probably would not designate the word “hate” to the television show.

I just don’t have strong negative opinions about many things. However, you know what I can say that I completely despise? The smell of a dentist’s office and the season of winter. Both of these give me angst simply thinking about them.

Winter is by far the worst season of the year. Am I being harsh? I don’t think so. The only good thing about winter is the occasional snow day when I am not required to subject myself to the cold winds and dry air for my education.

Winter wonderland? More like gray and dreary state of slush. Snow is only pretty for about six minutes and then it turns to gray and black muck that never seems to melt off the sides of streets despite rising temperatures.

To all those who prefer this awful season to warmth and the sun, I cannot understand it. Especially January, when I saw the sun maybe once in the whole month. I live for the summer, for being tan, barefoot and worry-free. Winter means being pale and in a perpetual state of shivers despite layers of clothing and blankets.

I could never live in a state where winter lasts more than 3 months. Alaska? You’d have to drag me kicking and screaming. How can you choose to live somewhere that has a longer winter than summer? Catch me down south some-

where when I’m older, living my best life with summer weather trickling into November.

The days are shorter in the winter, and leaving work or school when it’s dark and only 6 p.m. makes me want to go straight to bed when I get home; homework be darned.

In the winter, it takes 20 minutes for my car to even warm up, and I’m still shivering even after the heat has enveloped me. Don’t even get me started on the steering wheel, because that is a lost cause. Getting gas is like braving the battleground, and turning off my car and subsequent heater is to be avoided at all costs.

I don’t know if it’s a mix residue of salt and snow that seems to cover my shoes, car and garage in the winter, but it’s rude.

A car wash is absolutely pointless in the winter, and we all love going through the

box combo goes down considerably.

As a general rule, all good Texans loathe the cold with every inch of their being. I am no exception to this. If the temperature dips below 50 degrees, I am out for the count. If you happen to see me trekking up Lower Lot in the dead of winter, there will, in fact, be actual tears in my eyes. Partly because of the -12 degree wind chill, and because I have come to the harsh realization that Nebraska is not Texas, nor will it ever be.

The mere mention of Nebraska also invokes tears in my eyes. I find this state to be very boring, very cold and worse yet, not Texas. I could go on for ages about how grand Texas is, but for right now,

we’ll stick with how great the weather is.

I am a lover of music, a self-proclaimed music connoisseur, if you will.

So naturally, I have bawled like a small child while listening to certain songs. I listen to Yo Yo Ma’s unaccompanied cello suites and cry frequently. The fluidity in which he plays never ceases to amaze me. The song “Jericho” by Sleep Token never fails to make me emotional. The singer has a powerful, yet haunting voice, and with added piano chords,

What makes Hailie ‘I don’t cry’ Rydel cry?

foamy colors for a clean; another reason to hate winter in my opinion. Nebraska had snow over spring break, too? What a disgrace.

At the moment, I have a countdown until summer break begins (49 days for seniors and 62 for underclasswomen, to be exact). Don’t get me wrong, I will be so sad to graduate and leave Marian for the last time, but I am more than ready for days when I can leave my sunroof open and blast my summer playlists in the car until the sun sets at 9 p.m.

To quote those cheesy tweets: Picture this. It’s 4th of July weekend. You are packing up snacks and drinks for a barbeque. Popsicles litter the bottom of the cooler and “Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen is playing through the bluetooth speakers. Your hair smells like a mix of lake water and bonfire. Life. Is. Good. I live for the months of May, June, July and August. So here I am, not so patiently waiting for 85 degree weather and the smell of sunscreen and chlorine every afternoon.

hailierydel

A

nyone who knows me is well aware of the fact that I am indeed a steelyeyed ninja. I simply do not cry. While watching “Marley and Me”- not a tear shed. While listening to the entirety of “808s and Heartbreak”- not a single tear dropped. During Freshman Retreat- no tears here. But, there is a thing or two that might make my eyes a little misty.

First and foremost, when I go to Raising Cane’s and they do not give me an extra Cane Sauce, when you know full well that I exchanged my coleslaw for one, that makes me want to cry. There is a science behind properly enjoying a box combo, and when you don’t have enough sauce, the joy with which you can enjoy a

this song is an act of emotional terrorism.

The song “Snuff” by Slipknot is a 100 percent guarantee for my tears. Everyone has experienced a struggle in some way, shape or form in their life.

This song gives voice to struggle and it will certainly become personal for most.

So, if you happen to find me listening to Yo Yo Ma’s unaccompanied cello suites, while eating a box combo one Cane Sauce short, and if it’s snowing in Nebraska-I will more than likely be sobbing.

OPINION (5)

THE NET WORK (March 2018)

The great music debate: Apple Music vs. Spotify Apples are sweeter than Spotify....maggieprosser

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potify is frustrating for me. I tried and tried to get used to the app and never did. Given, I never tried that hard. The ads are annoying. You end up memorizing them because they play so often. “The next thirty minutes are ad free thanks to the following sponsor…blah blah blah.”

When Apple Music came out in 2015, I thought maybe I would have better luck with the app. Now, I would never go back to using Spotify.

Ever.

Apple Music is user-friendly. Apple Music is organized by your library, “for you”, browse, radio and search. It is easy to navigate.

Any song you want is at the reach of your fingertips. You have to be on wifi to listen to music, but

you also have the option to download songs to your library.

If you do this, you can listen any time without internet connection. This can end up taking up a lot of room on your phone if you don’t have much storage, but I think it is completely worth it.

Cost-wise, Apple Music and Spotify run about the same per month. For an unlimited or “Premium” account on both apps it is $9.99 per month.

If you want a six person family plan on Apple Music you can grab a deal of $14.99 per month. Apple Music pulls in users by offering a student deal of $4.99 per month.

Apple has the upper hand because several artists have chosen to have certain albums only on Apple Music. Taylor

ACT horror stories

Swift’s “1989” and Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo” are exclusively on Apple Music.

Some artists prefer to only be on one platform, so there’s less of a chance of music piracy.

My favorite part of Apple Music is the recommendations it gives me for new music. I have found some of my favorite new songs through this feature.

Everything from Vance Joy to Arctic Monkeys has shown up.

According to the March Network Survey, about 14.9 percent of Marian girls are using Apple Music compared to 79 percent of Spotify users.

I’m always rooting for the underdog.

Apple Music is definitely a personal preference, but it’s always going to have my heart.

“I went to UNO to take the ACT. I got there really early so I could talk to my friends and prepare for the test. Once they started calling people in the testing rooms I realized I left my license at home. Fortunately I live about 2 minutes away from UNO, but when my mom came and brought my license to me, she was very displeased with me. After my post-ACT nap, I bought my mom lunch as repayment.”

- Kathryn Burbach ’18 “My parents wanted to drive me to my first ACT so I let them. I was also super scared of my phone going off so I left it at home. Fast forward to the end of the test, my room finished super fast and I got done an hour and a half before my parents were supposed to pick me up. I had to wait 45 minutes before another room got out so I could ask another Marian girl to let me borrow her phone to call my parents.” - Anna Swoboda ’18

Spotify is the apple of my eye...abbymclaughlin

A

h, good ol’ Spotify.

I remember the first time I downloaded it. I was going to Kansas City with my grade school and one of classmates asked if I had Spotify. Being the confused eighth grader I was, I asked “What’s Spotify?” After being filled in on one of man’s greatest inventions, I immediately downloaded the app.

When I first downloaded the app, I was so confused. I had a threesong playlist called ‘Jamz’ with ‘Low’ by Flo-Rida, ‘Promiscuous Girl’ by Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland ‘Thrift Shop’ by Macklemore.

I ended up deleting the app due to storage and lack of use. However, once I came to Marian, I immediately redownloaded it. Spotify is perfect on the iPad. You can experience ad free listening for 30 minutes if you watch a 30 second ad, which is very handy and irresistible to me.

Once sophomore year rolled around, I was a Spotify junky. Over Christmas break, they were having a promotion where you

“I had to take the ACT once in 7th grade through the Duke TIP program, but I was CLUELESS. I walked in and had no idea what was going on. When it was time for the science portion, I thought it was going to be more than just graphs. I read all the information and tried to understand science and guessed on all 40 questions.”- Shruthi Kumar ‘20

Labels are for wrappers, not people hailierydel

I

would like to have a word with whoever created the musical subgenre ‘technical progressive bluegrass’. Yes, this is indeed a real thing I have heard.

I hate labels, not explicitly in music (while it is quite ridiculous) but in regards to 95 percent of things.

When we begin to label, it subconsciously creates division, separating “us” from “them” and vice versa. We gain no benefit getting caught up in the technicality of things.

There is good music and there is bad music, and as far as I am concerned, that is all there is. It irritates me beyond belief when you ask someone about their music taste and they use seven different adjectives you have never heard of to describe it. Especially when one of those adjectives

could get Premium for three months for .99 cents.

Being fed up with all the ads, I decided to purchase. After the three months I was planning on canceling, but, a little over two years later, I’m still paying that $9.99 every month.

Spotify is great because they keep all your playlists. I like to make a playlist for every month of the year.

With Spotify I can keep the playlists up for as long as I like, and then go back and listen to my old playlists, and even make a folder for each year of my playlists.

I love the layout of Spotify. Being a more Type-A person, having everything categorized into lists makes it easier to find my music.

While I know not all music is on Spotify, (Beyonce, please put Lemonade on Spotify, thank you), they have a wide array of everything from rap to country, and even podcasts.

Another thing I love about Spotify is the Discover Weekly playlists.

is “indie.” Please explain to me what that means. I guarantee everyone has varying definitions of that one type of music. I fail to see the purpose of genres for this reason.

Our generation also has an uncanny knack for complicating relationship status with weird labels.

What exactly does “talking” mean, or “seeing someone?” Does anyone really know a solid definition for either of these statuses? Neither of these labels hold any genuine definitive significance.

An example of labels promoting division is political parties.

In this day and age, people are quick to pigeon-hole themselves into a certain group of people, especially in regards to political matters. If you label yourself

The Net work Staf f

The Network is a monthly publication of the journalism students at Marian High School, Nebraska’s only Class A Catholic, North Central Accredited college preparatory school for girls. The Network is a member of N.H.S.P.A. and the N.S.P.A. It is our goal to provide an accurate and informative news source for the student community. Opinions expressed on opinion pages do not necessarily represent those of the entire community.

Students, faculty, and friends are invited to voice their opinion in Letters to the Editors.

All letters must be typed, signed, and sent to this address: The Network, Marian High School, 7400 Military Ave., Omaha, NE 68134 Or emailed to us here: netpaper@omahamarian.org Or call us at 402-571-2618 x 1134 An electronic version of this paper and exclusive content can be found here: mariandigitalnetwork.com

Follow us on Twitter @MHSbeat • Follow us on Instagram @MHSpub •

Friend us on Snapchat @MHSpub

Every week, Spotify creates a playlist specifically for you.

The double-edged sword is that it updates every week so you get new music. But if you liked a song, you have to save it to another playlist or to Your Songs, which is just a collection of songs you’ve saved.

The “Browse” option is nice because the app offers different playlists for different moods and the Top Charts. You can even purchase concert tickets.

On the desktop or laptop version, you can even see what people you’re following are listening to.

I like this feature because it helps me find music that I probably wouldn’t have found or listened to if I wasn’t following that person.

Overall, I really enjoy Spotify. It’s super user-friendly; it allows you to find new music easily.

During the Grammys, I decided to give Apple Music a try. I didn’t like that you had to purchase it right off the bat. Even though I did, it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

“I actually hadn’t seen my real ID in months, so was planning to use my school ID, but that happened to be MIA. I was going to have to use my passport as identification, so next morning I walk into Skutt to sign in and realize I didn’t have my passport with me. I quickly went back to search my car, it wasn’t there. I was about to drive home when I saw something blue in snow. I go over to pile of snow only to find my passport buried and wet underneath.”- Abby Butler ‘19

a Democrat or a Republican, you are expected to follow their policies implicitly. If you happen to dislike one of these policies you’re labeled a “bad” Democrat or a Republican.

When these parties disagree, individuals are rarely able to have a productive conversation and come to a reasonable compromise.

These labels breed animosity because we already have this premeditated notion that one is right and one is wrong.

We have various types of religions, and within these religions we have different denominations. Yet we still have labels for each and every one.

All religions can agree on one underlying principle: be good. Despite this mutual agreement, we still feel the need to feud

and prove our “correctness” over other religions. A great deal of beliefs overlap into different religions, yet we all hold onto the fact that the ultimate deity is in our corner.

We all bleed the same. We all function the same on the inside. So what’s the purpose in distinguishing the color of our skin?

No one deserves more or less due to the color of their skin. So why point it out in the first place? It is not something that can be helped.

It is an inherent trait based upon DNA. Absolutely no one deserves an advantage or disadvantage for something they have no control over.

Don’t label music or people.

We’re all humans.

Everybody, love everybody.

managing editors: maddierobertson & gracesall copy editor: delaneystekr photo editor: audreyyost graphics editor & online editor: maggieprosser front page editor: allisonostapowicz news editor: juliahingorani & delaneystekr feature editors: hayleygolden, samanthafabian, juliaveik & lilywatkins opinion editors: katherinemartin & abbymclaughlin indepth editor: audreyhertel sports editors: annacook & audreyyost entertainment editors: sofyherrera & shannonmcsweeney photo essay editor: mariadeterman circulation manager, reporter & photographer: hailierydel adviser: marshakalkowski

THE NET WORK (March 2018)

(6) FEAT URE

For students, there is nothing impossible about supporting animals lilywatkins

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orget crazy cat lady; sophomore Daisy Owen is a crazy dog lady in the making. As founder of the Mission PAWsible club, it’s natural to be a bit nutty for animals. Owen has always been a dog lover, and that love only grew over this past year.

“Last year, my obsession kind of grew.

I came to videos of puppy mills when I was watching dog videos online, and I

was inspired to do something about it,” Owen said. Puppy mills are places where puppies are bred for profit, with little concern for the health of the dogs. The conditions of these mills are often inhumane.

The Humane Society of the United States has listed Nebraska and Iowa among the “Horrible Hundred,” a list which investigates the operations of 100 puppy mills in 16 states. Though Missouri

Puppy love Eden Opiyo ’21 and Ashlee Czyz ’21 pet a service dog at Surprise Day. The service dogs proved to be a big hit at the annual event. Photo by Maria Determan.

and Kansas rank at the top of the list with the most “problematic dealers” as stated by the report, Nebraska and Iowa follow exactly behind.

Owen had always been a dog person, and seeing such painful videos of dogs in mills both saddened Owen and emboldened her to take action. That motivation manifested itself in founding the Mission PAWsible club. The mission of the club is multifold; through the club, the members hope to raise awareness about animal abuse, support animals and all-around care for animals in any way they can.

Resident technology specialist Jane Campbell has always loved dogs. Knowing Campbell’s love of dogs and that she owned a therapy dog, Owen asked Campbell to be the moderator of the newfound club, to which Campbell happily agreed.

Though both are well-known dog lovers, Owen and Campbell do not intend to focus their club solely on dogs.

The club is still in its fledgling stages, but Owen and Campbell are already bursting with ideas as to projects the club could undertake. “We’ve talked about organizing a Marian team for the Nebraska

Nearly 6.5 million companion animals enter US shelters each year, 1.5 million of which are later euthanized Statistic from The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Humane Society’s Walk for the Animals fundraiser next fall. I’ve participated in that event several times and it’s a lot of fun for animals and humans,” Campbell said.

While much is still in the works, the two leaders are looking forward to all the opportunities the future will hold for the club.

Women in STEM break boundaries, stereotypes hayleygolden

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women in STEM Earned an estimated

79.2%

of men’s annual median earnings in 2016.

Statistic as of 2017 from the united states department of commerce

omen make up more than half of the population and almost half of the workforce in America, and yet, according to the United States Department of Commerce, less than 25 percent are represented in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields (as of November 2017).

This mind-boggling statistic has led many to question the unequal representation of women in the STEM fields. “In my generation, we were not encouraged in science. We were told that our role was English and social studies and we weren’t smart enough, so that started a decline that we’re just now starting to pull up,” science teacher and Science Club moderator Mrs. Stacy Tunink said.

Even today, when gender equality has become a big topic of conversation, women continue to be underrepresented in the STEM fields. However, many are calling for change. “For so long the higher paid and higher educated jobs always belonged to the males. It was believed that the men should make the money and women should care for the children. Now that women have been making huge strides in the workforce, there have been more females in the STEM fields. However, we are still greatly underestimated. But now girls are growing up in a society that encourages them to follow their dreams no matter how difficult, which I think is really cool,” senior and president of the Science Club Maggie Mullen said.

Junior Mary Watson notes that women add a different perspective in the STEM fields, and are vital for reaching new innovations. “I do think that women and men think a little bit differently. When we collaborate in any field, the results are far better than if only one gender contributed, and I think people in STEM fields should keep this in mind,” Watson said.

To help combat this underrepresentation, girls at Marian have been given the opportunity to join classes and activities like coding, SAME (The Society of American Military Engineers) Club, Science Club and Robotics Club, to name a few.

Senior Emilee Braun, who was a TAR in the STEM field,” Mullen said. (technology aide resource) for Spring 2017 Although being a woman in a and the Fall 2018, notes that coding class male-dominated career can be intimidathas paved the way for her love of coding. ing, Mullen and Watson ultimately believe “It can be complicated for some people, that it provides determination, empowand it’s not for everyone, but I find it inerment and a hard work ethic. “To me, teresting,” Braun said. “There are different it is empowering since females are not ways to get the outcome of the program, represented equally in the STEM field. It and it’s interesting to see the different makes me want to pursue being in STEM ways people get the outcome.” even more. I believe that with resilience, Tunink said that STEM classes offer females will soon be well represented benefits to more than just the STEM fields. throughout all STEM fields,” Mullen said.

“I think no matter what you’re going into, “Being a woman in the STEM field has STEM classes are beneficial because they encouraged me to work hard in my science teach problem-solving skills and reasoning and math classes and be open about what I and stuff better than a lot of other classes. want to do with my life,” Watson said.

They create a great base for anything you Overall, women in STEM are continuwant to go into, whether it’s STEM related ing to make waves and crush stereotypes. or not,” Tunink said.

Both Watson and Mullen would like to Braun notes that STEM has affected make contributions in the STEM world. her in numerous ways through different “I’d like to help as many people as I can. innovations. “Practically everything in my There are many professions that care for day-to-day life was developed from people others, but I think through the science, in the STEM fields,” Braun explained. “I technology, engineering, and mathematics feel that STEM has opened up the world fields, there are so many interesting and to question how far we can truly go. I powerful ways to do so,” Mullen said. am able to apply for college or apply for Watson agrees, saying “I just want to be scholarships without writing everything able to help people, one at a time,” Watson out because of STEM and I am able to explained. “If I can lead the way for other bake lots of treats for my family and friend women after me, that would be great, too.” because of STEM. It’s a matter of perspective on how it affects you and the people around you.”

Though the STEM world may sound like a big undertaking, Mullen says that anyone can do it. “I think people should know that there are many categories and jobs that involve STEM. Just because you don’t like a certain sciBouncy business Maggie Mullen ’18 and Megan Valenzuela ’18 make ence doesn’t mean bouncy balls at a Science Club event. Science Club is one of multiple you won’t prosper STEM-related clubs offered at Marian.

THE NET WORK (March 2018)

FEAT URE (7)

Step Club steps up

Girls grow from their roots lilywatkins

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tep is a form of dance where the footwork is the most important part of the dance. This school year, senior Davine Francis introduced this art form to Marian and started Step Club.

She describes step as, “Dance and music. All the sounds are made with your body, for example claps, stomps, snaps, and pats.”

Members and Francis define this club as a way to express yourself and release feelings and emotions.

The club was started because Francis felt that many girls couldn’t participate in cheer or dance. Because of this, she wanted Step Club to be a place where those girls could still be a part of dance, led by students. Also for a place to meet new people, especially for freshman to meet friends with the same interests.

“Step is a safe place for many of us, we come to talk and spend time with our closest friends. It’s like another home but at school,”

freshman Kori Bullard said. Most of the girls in Step Club were familiar with the dance before joining the club, whether it be in elementary school, middle school or watching the dances on YouTube.

“Step is a time to connect with all of my friends. It’s very enjoyable and doing it together makes it extremely fun,” sophomore Bri Eilderts said.

Step means everything to Francis. “I love being with all of the girls and it makes me feel like a mom or older sister. Everyone feels welcomed and anyone can do step.” She also mentions that the most important part of being the leader is making sure everyone has input and all the girls’ voices are heard. Francis hopes the club will carry on after she graduates as she plans to “pass the torch” down to whoever she believes will be the best leader for next year.

Stepping it up Step Club members Amou Majok ’18, Jackline Paul ’21, Wejuik Majok ’21 and Davine Francis ’18 practice their step routine.

The Step Club has been meeting every Friday since the beginning of the school year.

Arabic speakers appreciate their gift samanthafabian

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here are currently over 6,000 distinct languages spoken all over the world today, and out of those, at least 350 are spoken in the United States. When it comes to Marian, an array of these various languages are represented within the student body, Arabic being one of them.

With Arabic being the fifth most spoken language in the world, there is no question when it comes to its importance in today’s society. Because of its dominating presence, those who speak Arabic are provided with many advantages. The Marian girls who speak Arabic are able to feel the effects of these advantages, as they are given unparalleled opportunities to connect with a wide variety of people and cultures. This in turn has given them a broader view of the world and opened their minds to new ideas.

Senior Telly Mounto has grown up speaking Arabic ever since she was able to talk. Mounto was brought up speaking Arabic because her family wanted to keep their culture alive in their household and have her be able to communicate with her other relatives. Now, it is “an everyday commutative tool,” Mounto said.

Even at an early age, Mounto was aware that being bilingual was at a huge advantage to her, as it made her unique and gave her a way to set herself apart from others. She notes that living in America has conformed her to typical Western standards, but being able to speak Arabic has allowed her to also stick to her roots and keep her individuality.

“Not everyone can say they can speak Arabic. It’s a very hard language to learn and it automatically distinguishes you,” Mounto said.

Speaking Arabic has also been a way for freshman Wejuic Majok to stick to her roots. Majok’s

parents emigrated from Egypt to the United States in 2003 with her family; Majok was only eight months old at the time. Her family came over with very limited knowledge of the English language, so she ended up learning Arabic while simultaneously learning English.

The process of juggling the two languages was challenging for Majok, as her parents were also trying to incorporate Dinka, their native tribal language, into her vocabulary as well. Despite the early struggles, Majok is glad to have grown up in an Arabic speaking household, as she is now able to reap the benefits from speaking Arabic.

Majok has been able to form friendships with other Arabic speakers because of their mutual understanding of the language.

Majok has also been able to connect with people in the Omaha community by attending Sudanese mass with other Arabic speakers.

Despite Majok never receiving formal training in Arabic, she plans to do so in the future so that she is able to read and write in Arabic. Along with becoming literate, she also wants to take formal classes so that she is able to pass down the language to her children in hopes that they are able to appreciate their heritage and background as much as she has.

Just as Mounto and Majok did, Sophomore Agoum Monydhel also grew up speaking Arabic,

as both of her parents originated from Sudan. With Arabic being her first language, she didn’t begin to speak English until she was placed into English as a Second Language (ESL) classes as a kindergartener.

“Learning English was very difficult for me, because at the time I was entering the kindergarten with little English,” Monydhel said. “It wasn’t enough for me to enter the reading class, so learning English was a difficult task. However, Arabic just grew on me. I was hearing it all the time at home, so it was just acquired.”

Monydhel appreciates being able to speak both English and Arabic because it allows her to communicate with her relatives living in Sudan. Whether it is with her cousins or strangers in a supermarket, Monydhel admits that speaking Arabic has presented her with more opportunities to connect with a plethora of people and encounter more diverse cultures than if she were monolingual.

So, whether it be Arabic or one of the other 350 languages spoken in the United States, it is important to remember that learning a new language can open up new doors of opportunity and leave a trail of lasting impacts.

veryone comes from somewhere. Some people define themselves by their roots, some by their present, others by a combination of both. No matter how they might currently identify, Marian girls have an amazing assortment of roots that make them who they are.

Those roots reach to all corners of the world.

Junior Alix Valery is a prime example. Her entire family lives in France save for herself, her parents and her younger brother. Valery keeps up with her French heritage by speaking French with her family whether she is at home, on the phone or in France.

Her family also connects with their heritage by cook particular French dishes, such as bœuf bourguignon and crêpes. “I feel proud and special to be from France. I love it and find it really cool to be able to experience a different culture. It is amazing to be able to observe the differences, both big and small, between Americans and the French,” Valery said.

Sophomore Mary Said traces her family back to Israel.

She celebrates the culture with large family gatherings and appreciating being around family. “Family is super super important in my culture. We see each other all the time and if they live far away then we always make sure to phone them at least once a week,” Said said. When together, her family also enjoys making various traditional dishes such as taboole, which is a chopped

parsley salad.

Freshman Anna Dailey’s maternal grandfather was born in Lebanon, which in turn makes Dailey and her maternal side Lebanese. Whenever she and her family gather, they cook traditional Lebanese food to celebrate their heritage and bond. “I love being from Lebanon. Not many people in this area are from Lebanon, so I like that it is sort of unique to me,” Dailey said.

She wishes more people knew about the country itself as she is not able to converse with many people about it.

Though Dailey readily admits to not knowing everything about Lebanon, she still hopes to travel there one day.

Senior Athena Patsalis traces her immediate roots to Greece. Her family is from Koroni and Lesbos, and Patsalis is even able to speak Greek with her family. She and her family particularly like to connect with their heritage during Easter time, when they attend midnight mass and roast a lamb on a spit the Saturday before Easter.

Patsalis wishes more people were familiar with Greece.

“The Greek culture is one of the more unique cultures,” Patsalis said.

Differences in culture can cause division, but they can also facilitate unity. Though their individual roots may differ, students grow and blossom both into their own personalities and together through their heritage and their Marian community.

Do you take pride in your heritage?

Unanswered 40%

Yes 53%

No 7%

“My grandpa is 100 percent Irish and I’m proud to celebrate with him!”

Julia Kobler ’18

How do you celebrate your heritage?

Number of student answers per category

allisonostapowicz

“We make a lot of Reuben sandwiches, corned beef and cabbage, which I love to eat!”

Sadie Andrews ’18

Preferred method of celebration Based on the March 2018 Network survey responses of 206 students

(8- 9) IN-DEPT H

Sleep paralysis: Something that’ll keep you up at night juliahingorani

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aking up and feeling like an elephant is on your chest is a reality most people wouldn’t be thrilled to experience.

Yet, according to a report by the Sleep Medicine Reviews, in 2011, 28 percent of students were affected by a similar condition.

Though most of us are able to blissfully fall asleep, some people experience a terrifying opposite.

Some people wake up not being able to temporarily speak or move. This shocking phenomenon is known as sleep paralysis.

Depicted in medieval art as a demon sitting on one’s chest, sleep paralysis is a condition that occurs either when falling asleep or when waking up.

Sleep paralysis is when you have woken up before rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is finished.

It can happen when you are halfway awake, but usually not during a nap because you haven’t reached the deepest stage of sleep.

Sophomore Arij Khan, a member of the Speech team, chose sleep paralysis as her topic for her informative speaking event and has extensively researched the science behind sleep paralysis and its treatments.

“To prevent it, make sure you get enough sleep and avoid any things that can cause you stress and keep you up at night. Those things can trigger an episode,” Khan said. Stress is also a factor that can spark a sleep paralysis episode.

Though you are still able to breathe

normally, you cannot move your body. ing one can float or fly.

You are conscious, but cannot speak. “I This terrifying experience can occur remember waking up and feeling this repeatedly throughout the year or just weight on my chest. However, when happen once in your lifetime.

I went to look around, or move my Episodes can end on their own, arms, I discovered that I was ‘parawhen someone touches or speaks to lyzed’, ” senior Haley Kampe said. you or if you make an intense effort to According to the National Institute move. of Health, sleep paralysis affects apThese episodes can last for a few secproximately 8 percent of the general onds or a few minutes. population.

“There’s a specific method used to “Not many people know about it, end it, it’s called ‘sleep paralysis signalbut many people experience it,” Khan ing.’ You have to be aware that you are said. A variety of hallucinations often in that state in order to get out of it. accompany the inability to move or You have to take heavy breaths to calm speak. yourself down and kind of get yourself There are three groups that halluto go back to sleep,” Khan said. cinations can be categorized as: inLack of sleep and stress are two truders, incubus and vestibular-motor pathways to developing a sleeping dishallucinations. order, such as sleep paralysis.

Intruder hallucinations involve Ultimately, an effective way to avoid sensing of an evil presence or another terrifying incidents such as sleep pahuman presence in the room with you. ralysis is to ensure that you get enough “You can’t escape all of the scary sleep. things that are happening and the ‘demons’ that you feel,” Khan said.

“I remember waking up The second group, and feeling this weight incubus hallucinations, involves feeling physical on my chest. However pain such as pressure on when I went to look the chest, choking or suffocation. around, or move my The final grouping of arms, I discovered that vestibular-motor hallucinations include illusory I was ‘paralyzed.’” movement.

-Haley Kampe ‘18 Out-of-body experiences would fall under this category, including think-

Locations of the brain where sleep paralysis occurs vestibular motor

Amygdala

Parietal operculum

Advice from Arij kahn ’20

maggieprosser leep is essential to a health, learning, ov and quality of life. Acc the 205 responses from Network survey, only 4 of girls get the minimu amount of sleep every

By Harvard Health s a teenage girl needs sev hours of sleep in order ically and mentally hea as a young adult you ar ing and developing. An amount of sleep assists to your full potential.

In those seven to eig sleep, your body is wor than you think. (Your all night long to be pre First, your body is ta short term memory fro and converting it to lea rial that can be useful f Studies have shown mo results in better tests g maybe cramming for t all-nighter is not a grea

S

hours of sleep Based on the March 2018 Network survey responses from 205 students

Percentage of Marian girls

“Don’t worry about the small things.

They can cause sleep paralysis.”

Zzz’s prov

THE NET WORK (March 2018)

Many times people get so caught up in what’s going on around them that they forget about the importance that sleep has in their lives. Take an in-depth look at facts about dreams, sleep paralysis and how important sleep is to human health.

vides lasting benefits

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ght hours of rking more brain works ecise). aking its om the day arned matefor you later. ore sleep grades. So, that test in an at idea.

Second, your muscles are preresult in irritability, concentration paring for tomorrow. During sleep issues and impatience, as well as your muscles and blood vessels are stress, that could potentially lead to healing and repairing themselves. depression and anxiety.

Muscle mass increases overnight Teachers notice sleep deprivation after a hard workout, too. The rapid as much as the student experiencing eye movement (REM) cycle proit. “During band or handbells, their mote healthy growth in children focus is affected which affects their and adults. music playing,” Mr. Paul Niedbalski “I get about six hours of sleep per said. night, but I don’t think that’s enough Sleep is absolutely vital to proper to last for the whole day. When I health. Start the healthy habit now get less than six hours of sleep I get and get the recommended seven to headaches. That makes it hard to eight hours of sleep. focus,” junior Chloe Ferrara said.

According to our The list of negative effects survey of 205 of sleep deficiency goes on and on. Trouble making responses, only 43.3 decisions, trouble being crepercent of Marian ative, and trouble adjusting girls get the to change are all concerns that can be traced back minimum required to sleep deficiency. We all amount of sleep know the obvious concerns though. Sleep can cause every night. major mood swings. It may

p marian girls get per night “I usually go to bed at 8:00 or 9:30 and wake up at 6:10. It’s still not enough.”

- Anna DeFelice ’19

Hours of sleep

graphic by maggieprosser

(10) Feat ure

The Net work (March 2018)

Students ‘pi and tie’ to help cancer patients on pi day

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it means to have people thinking about you and providing some form of support,” Pettit said.

Teachers Mrs. Linda Brock and Mrs. Lisa Schmidt swapped some of their lesson plans of note-taking with fabric-cutting for their block day schedules. Helpers sported various pi day stickers along with strings of leftover fabric in celebration.

Students shared pie and chatted about the latest Marian news, but also took moments to think about what these blankets symbolized. Freshman Rachel Achola, along with her algebra class, “reflected on who they were going to. We wanted to make sure that everyone got a blanket because the patients are all going through the same thing,” Achola said. With each blanket, students attached a note for the patient who will receive the blanket.

Joann’s Fabrics went above and beyond to help Altman purchase low-cost fleece material.

Farm Credit Services of America not only donated $1000 but also sent 13 employees to Marian after school on Tuesday to tie blankets.

They worked tirelessly until 5:30 p.m. to contribute to the growing stack of blankets. Mike Stodden, a local Physical Therapist, generously donated to help

the cause.

The week before the drive, Altman expressed, “My dream would be 100. My hope is 60, reality 45.” The final count was 117. Piles of multi-colored blankets lined her desk and the walls of her room; the outcome was miraculous.

The overwhelming response from the student population and community

at large already has Altman formulating plans for the future. “I’m hoping to do this as a tradition. I want to make this something where we get more people donating fabric throughout the year so we are ready to go,” Altman said.

“If someone cares enough to make a blanket...how cool is that. It doesn’t get any better,” Altman said.

(Upper Left) From the heart Ms. Sue Altman writes a heartfelt note to the future recipient of the pink John Deere blanket in front of her.

Altman handed out pi day stickers and helped students cut and tie the blankets together.

(Upper Right) “God is with you always.” Blankets of numerous patterns and colors lined Altman’s classroom until March 16, when she delivered them to UNMC. Altman encouraged student volunteers to write meaningful messages and sign their names on the handwritten notes.

e all have that one object, whether it be the worn out teddy bear from your infant days, the pillow pet from your fifth grade birthday party, or the blanket that has so many holes that the thread hardly holds together. No matter the age, everyone needs comfort when they encounter a rough patch - especially the cancer patients at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). They need warmth and love as they endure one of the most difficult obstacles of their lives: harrowing rounds of chemotherapy.

Ms. Sue Altman, mathematics teacher, was approached about the tie-blanket project a few months ago while at UNMC. “A woman approached me and said, ‘You’re a teacher.’ I said, ‘yes.’ She said, ‘We need you. We need tie blankets for our patients,’” Altman said.

When the woman asked Altman if she would be willing to organize a drive, she responded, “Absolutely.” Altman knew this project could not be tackled alone, so she immediately reached out to Principal Mrs. Susie Sullivan, who supported the cause wholeheartedly.

The original idea was simple, yet sweet. Instead of the annual March 14 (3.14) pi day tradition of paper plate decoration and a slice of dessert, students indulged in a tradition that penetrated much deeper into their hearts than pi activities.

Senior Kalli Pettit spent her pre-calculus and anatomy blocks as well as hours after school tying blankets. “I really appreciate the opportunity to help others and make a positive impact on their lives,” Pettit said.

This project had an effect on the cancer patients, but also on her heart. “Having had family members that have gone through problems like this I know what

(Lower Left) All in a day’s work Maddie McKillip ’18 spends her afternoon tying bows around each blanket produced after school.

McKillip, 10 other students and 12 employees from Farm Credit Services of America freed their afternoon schedules to contribute to this warm and fuzzy cause.

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(Lower Right) Busy bees Thirteen workers from Farm Credit Services of America worked as a team to produce 19 blankets in a mere hour and a half. The company went out of their way to not only donate money but also the valuable time of their employees so that the maximum number of blankets could be donated.

Dedicated teachers explain why Marian is their second home

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o learn, it takes a dedicated student and an even more dedicated teacher.

Marian has provided its students with teachers who positively impact them on a daily basis.

Mr. Matthew Winterboer began teaching physics at Marian in the 2015-2016 school year after spending seven years directly out of college as an engineer for the Navy on submarines and three years as an engineer at the Omaha Public Power District after leaving the Navy. Teaching was always on his radar, but he expected to do it much later in his life.

“I loved engineering, and I still love engineering, but I always kind of thought, ‘You know, maybe someday later on in life, when I’m retired, I can go back and be a high school science teacher.’ As the years progressed, I realized that I didn’t want to wait until retirement age, I wanted to do it sooner, so then I pursued that,” Winterboer said.

While he was student teaching, he saw a posting for a physics teacher at Marian and jumped at the opportunity because being able to exclusively teach physics was the dream for him. The environment was different for him at first because he was not used to students being so motivated to learn.

“I’ve gone from trying to motivate students to care to trying to get students to just calm down, because sometimes the stress level gets a little high in this building, so I’m trying to get students to just relax and say ‘Okay, let’s take this in stride,’” Winterboer said.

Winterboer has the freedom to share

his passion for physics with his students because of the trust other faculty members and administration show in him. He can open students’ minds to engineering and possible STEM careers, which is something he truly enjoys.

“I know by the time I see students as juniors it might be a little late in the game, as far as a lot of them have made up their mind on what their interests are. If I can open some more eyes to the possibilities, at least in consideration for engineering-type careers, that’s a huge bonus and something I enjoy doing,” Winterboer said.

The shift to teaching at Marian was a natural one for French teacher Madame Janet Tuttle. She student-taught French at Millard South and then taught for three years at Roncalli before stepping away from teaching for 10 years to stay at home with her children. Just as she was reconsidering teaching, Marian advertised for a French teacher. She took the opportunity and has been at Marian ever since.

“I just love the people. I love the students, and I love the people I work with.

I like that we are free to sing Christmas carols in French, learn to pray in French and go to Mass together. I love that people have chosen to be here. People behave differently in a place where they’re excited to be there,” Tuttle explained. “What I like in particular about my job is that for many kids, I get you for four years. I get you when you’re 14 and I keep you until you’re 18, and I think that’s a real privilege.”

That same privilege was realized by

Mr. Kent Bray when he came straight out learn, which makes for a better teaching of a short retirement from a career of 30 environment years as a math teacher and administrator “I’m excited to come here every day, in the Papillion La-Vista school district to I see that in many of the students as well. fill Marian’s opening for a math teacher.

It’s such a close knit environment, the He has been teaching math at Marian for kids are involved in so many things betwo years while also participating in the sides just the school part of it and I think athletics side of the school as an assistant that’s what makes it such a neat environvarsity basketball coach. He has enjoyed ment.” seeing the impact being a athlete has on The staff at Marian helps to form their students’ organization skills. students and coworkers into better people “I think the nice thing is that we have in an environment that feels like home. found out that our students who do partic- The family aspect is what draws people ipate, whether it’s a sport or any activity, to Marian and keeps them there, and it’s they do better in school. We know it’s what allows students to leave as confident a lot of hard work but one of the many women ready to take on the world. benefits of athletics is that students learn time management and learn how to work through frustration. They learn how to handle those things, and so I think those two things just go well together,” Bray said.

The students that Bray has Gotta Work Physics teacher Mr. Matthew Winterboer lifts a Physics I student’s encountered backpack to demonstrate the concept of work. Winterboer joined the Marian have been community of teachers in 2014 and has loved it ever since. eager to

FEAT URE (11)

THE NET WORK (March 2018)

Human Trafficking Awareness Club encourages girls to be informed sofyherrera

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hether you know it or not, human trafficking is happening everywhere. This includes Omaha. According to notraffcking.org, “Over 250,000 people are trafficked in the U.S. every year for the purpose of sexual exploitation. With its location along I-80 and I-29, and regular hosting of major sporting events, thousands of these people flow through or into - the metropolitan area.”

Sophomore Jackie Smith decided to start a new club after traveling to India and realizing that human trafficking was an immense problem. She needed to be cautious as she was visiting. However, she began to think to herself, “I bet this is a bigger problem to local people than it is for the travelers.”

Smith decided to acknowledge this fact and build off of it to form a club that informs students at Marian about the dangers and reality of human trafficking worldwide and in Omaha. She also plans to organize events to help survivors. With 900 individuals being sold for sex every month in Nebraska, 75 percent who are presumedly minors, Smith said she feels that Marian girls should be aware of the signs for their own safety and the safety of those around them.

Marian’s involvement in human trafficking issues is not something new. The Servants of Mary at Marian have been involved for several years.

“We started the Omaha Coalition on Human Trafficking with the Mercy and Notre Dame Sisters in 2013. Sr. Nancy and I are part of the Coalition. The Coalition does education on the issue and training with hotel/motel staffs to recognize the signs of trafficking in their facilities so they can report it. 80 percent of sex trafficking happens in hotels/motels. The Coalition’s three goals are: Realize that it is happened right here, Recognize the signs of it and Respond safely and appropriately,” Sr. Margaret Stratman said.

The sisters are currently busy with other duties, but are hopeful to be able to participate in the club at a later time.

They think the most important thing the members of the club realize is that this is a real issue and girls need to keep themselves safe.

On returning from India, Smith said she recalled hearing the College World Series (CWS) was a major hotspot for human trafficking and realized that this issue was not a problem of just one location, but rather the entire world.

“I decided to start the club to stand up for people who are being trafficked because it is a big deal where we live,” Smith said.

“We all go to the CWS and are in public, and it’s important that we look for signs of it and protect each other and to protect ourselves and also to take action

against it,” Smith said. Her club will be a foundation for this learning process to begin and for action to take place.

Smith received help starting the club from Spanish teacher Ms. Caitlin Gaule (club moderator) due to her interest in humanities. The plan is for the club to meet twice a month on Wednesdays in the morning before school; the first meeting of the month being focused around education and the second being focused on action.

The club is hoping to host many events next school year to raise awareness through donations and fundraising. The proceeds will be given to the project, started by women, titled “Set Me Free” which helps survivors of human trafficking. The club may work briefly in the summer to plan for the year and to learn more about human trafficking during the CWS. Ms. Kathy Tocco, who graduated Marian in 1961 and later returned and taught Theology, goes to local hotels to train the workers how to identify customers who could be subjected to human trafficking.

She also hopes to be present at the club’s meetings to go more in-depth on the issue and teach girls tactics to be aware and how to take action.

With empowerment being one of Marian’s core values, it is fitting that Marian’s newest club emulates the spread of freedom for all.

Realize. Recognize. respond.

National trafficking Hotline 1.888.373.7888

Signs a person may be a sex trafficking victim:

- Not in possession of their own identification or travel documents - Not free to move around independently, socialize at all or attend religious services - Of school age but not in school - Being deprived of food, water, sleep, medical care or other life necessities - Has few personal possessions - Seems fearful or anxious in normal situations - Cannot speak on their own behalf

Signs a person may be a trafficker:

- Carries mutiple cell phones - Carries several hotel key cards - Suddenly acquires a lot of expensive things - Speaks for the “group” - Is the only male in a group of women - Only pays cash for rooms

Source: Coalition on Human Trafficking; for more information visit notrafficking.org

Smart Girl Society presentation causes girls to rethink social media implications mariadeterman B efore the flurry of Surprise Day acronym for a new emotion in today’s excitement hit Marian on Feb. 15, the technological world - fear of missing faculty and students got a healthy dose of out. Exhibit A: the average 13 year old reality. Mrs. Jennifer Christen, Dean of checks their phone over 100 times each Student Services, brought in Amie Konday. Exhibit B: 64 percent of Marian girls winksi, founder and CEO of Smart Girl sometimes feel anxious when they don’t Society, for a presentation about digital respond to a text right away. branding and social media safety.

Christen noted, “Honestly, I was Christen spearheaded the effort to bring surprised that a couple of the numbers Konwinksi to Marian. “She spoke at my weren’t higher. Unfortunately, in this kids’ grade school last fall. I heard really day and age you guys are inundated with amazing things from my husband and handheld devices. There is a constant need from other people that attended,” Christen to take and post pictures and other things.” said. A Marian parent who attended that In Konwinksi’s opinion, there is only same presentation contacted principal one solution to such widespread FOMO: a Mrs. Susie Sullivan which got the ball conversion to JOMO. Instead of wallowrolling. ing in fear and doubt about the lives of About two weeks prior to the student their peers, Konsinksi proposed an empresentation, Konwinksi spoke to a group powered approach: joy of missing out. of Marian parents. Though the presentaKonwinksi, the mother of five girls tion was not well-attended, Christen knew ranging from ages 12 to 26, is as wellthe impact was significant, and that all stu- versed in social media lingo as the students should have the opportunity to hear dents that filled the bleachers of the East Konwinksi’s message.

Gym. She mixed her maternal advice with Before Konwinksi stepped foot on her own company’s research to present a Marian’s campus, she collected the social logical warning to students and staff alike. media demoSenior graphics of Anna Mithe student kulicz was population. pleasantly She asked surprised students to by the way respond to Konwinksi statements presented such as “I the matefeel anxious rial. “She when I don’t was really check my real. Most social media of those for an hour” speakers are and “I feel like, ‘Social safe sharing media is my location evil, delete Reality check Amie Konwinksi, founder and CEO of Smart on social meit all, don’t Girl Society, teaches Marian students and staff the impordia.” With these use it,’ but she tance of social media safety. She highlighted both the useful responses, Kon- and harmful aspects of social media use. Photos by Audrey was like, ‘No, winski formulated Yost I like social a presentation that media. Here’s fit the social media makeup of the Marian how to be careful,’” Mikulicz said. She community. thought that Konwinksi’s message was The result? A diagnosis for the Marian perfect, “She was honest.” student population: FOMO. FOMO is an After explaining how the Marian popu-

lation fits into the outside social media world, she explained how exactly young people fall into hands of social media danger.

To start, when you create a social media account such as Snapchat, you agree Keeping it humorous Amou Majok ’ 18, Vicky Bongomin ’ 18 and Evelyn Paul to the terms ’18 laugh through Amie Konwinksi’s presentation. Konwinksi kept the audience engaged with her up-to-date information, humor and relatable anecdotes. of service and privacy. this presentation “was a reality check of Though it appears that the mere seconds how permanent stuff really is. I’ll be more of embarrassing selfies vanish into thin mindful about what I post and what I say air, these photos are automatically stored because colleges can data scrape.” for 30 days and can fall into the hands of Indeed, nothing that is posted on the data collectors. internet will ever fully disappear. KonWhat are data collectors exactly? They winksi warned students not to place their are individuals who gather your personal school, address or other personal inforinformation for a living. These collectors mation on their social media accounts for are able to construct an accurate reprethis very reason. Specific to Snapchat, she sentation of your personality through told all students to turn on ghost mode. every Twitter rant, selfie, kitten picture Though the new tracking feature may be and Pinterest post. Data collectors have entertaining, she warned that anyone who approximately 700 data points about each finds that information could use it to their and every social media user. benefit, regardless of the implications it Data collectors aren’t the only individcould have on you. uals who may find that a-bit-too-revealThis alarming fact sprung Mikulicz ing picture you took on the beach over into action. “After the presentation I spring break. Your parents, coaches, Ms. turned on ghost mode on Snapchat. I Mo, college representatives or even your didn’t know they could give away my creepy neighbor can get a hold of this; the address,” Mikulicz said. consequences could greatly affect your Konwinksi’s presentation gave 83 future. percent of students a new perspective on Mikulicz noted, “I already knew that social media branding and safety. everything on the Internet was forever, but Mikulicz, along with 37 percent of I didn’t know how many people actually Marian students, made changes to their check it, like colleges; you can lose your social media use or removed something scholarships.” from public view, according to the NetSophomore Maggie Peklo was equally work Google survey after the presentation. as shocked by the fact that anyone and “If I can impact at least one kid, then everyone could access her information. it was worth it. If 37 percent are going to “In six clicks you can find someone’s make any kind of change that’s huge for personal information,” Peklo said. For her, me,” Christen said.

(12) SPORTS

THE NET WORK (March 2018)

ready for Ivy League school’s track and field team Basketball season ends with Gochenour audreyyost District Runner Up plaque T aking on college is one thing, but to take on an Ivy League university and play a sport is another battle- a annacook battle that senior Kennedy Gochenour ince 2010, Marian’s Varsity Basketball team has is more than ready for. Gochenour was not competed in the District Tournament. On recruited for javelin throw and discus Feb. 20, the team played Papillion South in the first by Dartmouth College. Dartmouth is round and won by 31 points. The girls advanced to one of the eight Ivy League schools the District Finals, but lost to Lincoln East. and is located in Hanover, N.H. “The The team lost in the finals, but didn’t lose their whole end goal is to always succeed spirit. “The hard work and dedication of each player in a way that is defined by me. When I really made us a dangerous team,” senior Delaney was 8, I thought that succeeding meant Bray said, “We really embraced the journey.”

I should try for the Olympics when I They were .6 away from receiving a wild-card was older. Now that I’m 18 though, birth to state. Points are taken into account through success means getting into my dream the system of wins and losses throughout the seaschool,” Gochenour said. son. Although the team didn’t make it to the State Dartmouth fell into Gochenour’s Tournament, their determination was evident in all lap. Since her junior year, Gochenour players, “Everyone took on the role they were given thought she wanted to throw for the and did everything they could to help the team in College of William and Mary in Virwhatever way that was,” sophomore Sophia Hess ginia, but one of her club teammates, said. a ’16 Creighton Prep graduate, Ethan “They faced different adversities as the season Ruh, ended up at Dartmouth. After went on from injuries, to basically the whole team hearing how beautiful the campus was getting the flu at one point in time, to losing three and how great the students and coach games in a row in February,” Head Coach Mr. Peter were, Gochenour decided to take a visCunningham said. it to campus and meet with the coach.

Despite these adversities, the varsity team pulled “Coach Forino made me an offer like through with a record-breaking season. The team a week after the visit and I had to hang gained the most wins since 2010 and finished with up the phone so my parents and I could a 14-10 season. “I am very proud of how this year’s cry and hug each other. It was surreal team grew as players and people as the season to see my work pay off. In retrospect, went on, and I am very proud of what they accomI feel like it was destiny and all the plished,” Cunningham said. signs were there pointing me towards

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Dartmouth,” Gochenour said.

Even though the coach knew her through her friend Ethan and his parents, Gochenour had to market herself well. On her first visit to campus, she set up a visit with the coach to introduce herself. Even after her initial visit, Gochenour emailed Coach Forino training videos and kept him updated with her meets. She believes that marketing oneself is important in showing a school interest. “If any freshman wants to get into an Ivy League, that would be my advice: learn your strengths and market them. Also, be persistent about it,” Gochenour said.

Gochenour is extremely excited for what’s to come at Dartmouth. She is anticipating an atmosphere where she can have intellectual conversations with people and continue to be pushed to excel. Gochenour’s intended path is the creative writing track, which she is extremely enthusiastic about. “Dartmouth has a history of great writers such as Dr. Seuss, Robert Frost, Shonda Rhimes and Mindy Kaling, to name a few,” Gochenour said.

Gochenour is involved with the literary magazine “Burn”. This magazine consists of artwork and photography all submitted by Marian students. She has had a passion for creative writing since she was a kid.

“I think the pivotal moment for me was the summer between my sophomore and junior year when I went with my dad to hear Stephen King talk at Kaneko.King is one of my idols; Between loving horror, loving writing, andwatching this absolute legend sit there and talk I guess I just decided that I wanted to go for it” Gochenour said.

The college transition is tough for anyone, but Gochenour knows she is ready to take this on. “As a student-athlete, I will already have that automatic social niche with the track team. Another bonus is running into people you know from your past at track meets. I might even be able to see my sister, who competes for Duke University, at a few meets out of the year,” Gochenour said. Gochenour also has family living close by in Maine who will be there to give her family support if needed.

Gochenour is anticipating a new adventure, and Dartmouth is just that.

She said that the Ivy League networking is crazy. She has been asked to get dinner with alumni she has not met before when she arrives in the fall. Gochenour has felt completely welcomed into the Dartmouth community and is ready to take on the East Coast.

Undefeated regular season team brings electric energy at State swim and dive gracesall

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midst freezing rain and snow, the Marian swim and dive team braved the treacherous weather for their final battle at the state championship on Feb. 22-24. After completing an undefeated season, the state meet was electric with excitement from the girls, coaches and parents ready to see how the Crusaders would step up at the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln.

Two of the Marian divers competed on Thursday morning, with freshman Megan Carter earning the state title and seventh in Nebraska dive history with a score of 466.55 points. Sophomore Claire Hartley placed seventh with 346.15 points. Some of the swimmers cheered on the divers before their preliminaries on Friday morning.

Though the weather was precarious that weekend, Marian’s competitive attitude was evident before the meet on Friday morning, with the iconic “When We Tell A Story” chant ringing through the large arena before the first event began. Their white caps were easily spotted on the starting blocks, with teammates standing not far behind, ready to cheer each other on at every event. The Crusaders accomplished exactly what they cheered for: they told their story.

“I think state brings the whole season together and all the seniors and captains showed great leadership in and out of the pool,” senior Olivia Tate said.

With seven seniors leading the team this year, the girls made a point to leave it all in the pool. Freshman Rylee Trojan earned her personal record time of 5:15.00 in the 500 free. The idea of leaving it all in the pool with nothing left to wonder about translated well to the underclasswomen as well. Eight freshmen, three sophomores, three juniors and six seniors earned spots to compete in prelims, and 13 made it back for finals on Saturday.

Sophomore Bella Pantano was not only the state champion in the 100 backstroke, but also broke the school record in the 100 butterfly with a time of 56.92, almost half a minute faster than the previous record set by Savannah Nichols in 2016 with a time of 57.42.

“Honestly, I am super proud of myself because I worked so hard this season, and seeing these results is extremely fulfilling,” Pantano said.

The team ended their undefeated 2018 season as

State smiles The 2017-2018 varsity swim and dive team stands with their runner up trophy after finals on Saturday, Feb. 24. The team was proud of their 332 point finish after an undefeated season. Photo courtesy of Kathleen Franco.

runner-ups, finishing closely behind their green rivals of Lincoln Southwest (LSW). The girls earned 332 points after finals, 85.5 points behind LSW. The girls overcame many obstacles to get to the state finals. From biased journalists, to dangerous winter weather, to twice-daily practices, they remained diligent in the pursuit of each of their individual and team goals. “State is always very nerve-wracking and the girls came out for state. We had a lot of life-time best times. The competition at state is getting greater, and we just have to keep raising our levels in order to challenge the team,” head coach BJ Christensen said.

The girls swam faster on Saturday than Friday, and that was the goal.

The season was long and arduous, but every girl emphasized that the hard work paid off after seeing how close they had become as teammates. “In club season, it was just constant swimming year round and you don’t really have a passion or a goal for something. In high school season, I really felt that desire to get better not only for myself, but for my teammates, and do all that I can so that we could reach our end goal,” freshman Amanda Allbery said.

“Even though we didn’t win state, like we had dreamed about since the first meeting we had, we all performed so well. We had so many lifetime best times, and every single person on that team was swimming for Marian, not themselves. Our team grew into something bigger than just some fast swimmers. We all worked so hard the past four months and I couldn’t be prouder of the family we have become,” Pantano said.

The coaches expressed their utmost pride in the girls, from the regular season undefeated status to battling hard in the state finals. “I am the most proud of how the girls were a family this season. Through the ups and downs they stuck together and accomplished so many great things. Seeing the impact the seniors had on the freshman was amazing,” assistant coach Kristy Kunkel said. Kunkel graduated from Marian in 2011 and said the years swimming for the Marian team were some of the best years of her life.

The team made their coaches, parents and school proud. In the coming years, the swim and dive team will continue to be a force to be reckoned with, and may have schools on their toes for the state title next year.

THE NET WORK (March 2018)

SPORTS (13)

Tennis is a year round sport; Beene takes no breaks to prepare for season annacook

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arian has always had the reputation of containing a treasure trove of talented athletes. Student-athletes work hard during their designated season and sometimes even harder during the off-season. Year-long athletes put in hours of practice each week in order to keep up their strength, endurance and technique.

Junior Berkley Beene is an athlete who plays tennis year round. Making the varsity tennis team her freshman year, she has continued to build up her tennis skills.

During the summer, Beene plays outdoors in clinics with other players, along with taking private lessons and competing in tournaments.

In the winter, Beene plays indoors at the Tennis Club and takes doubles lessons with her No. 1 Marian Varsity Doubles partner, sophomore Emma McClellan. “It keeps me in shape. It’s also a good way for me to bond with my dad because he plays tennis,” Beene said.

In addition to playing in clinics and taking lessons, Beene recently attended The Elite Futures Invite at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida from Feb. 22 to Feb. 24. While in Florida, Beene played eight hours of tennis a day for three days, working on all tennis skills from serving to approach shots.

In fact, Beene was personally asked by

In motion Beene follows through on her forehand shot. She played for eight hours that day for the Futures Invite in Bradenton, Fla.

Nick Bollettieri, founder and President of the IMG Academy. Bollettieri encouraged Beene to come out and play in the invite and that he would personally take a look at her game.

“It was just really cool that he took the time out of his day to send me that video considering how busy he probably is,” Beene said.

Bollettieri is well known for training players who move on to become nationally ranked and eventually internationally ranked, world champions. He offers private lessons for $900 an hour and helps with the training of the athletes in the prestigious Bollettieri Tennis Program at

On the rise Beene rises up to hit a powerful first serve. She worked hard on perfecting her serving technique.

IMG. The Academy itself has also been a training base for well-known tennis players such as Maria Sharapova; Serena and Venus Williams have also trained at the Academy.

Beene benefited from the Future Invite saying, “I really improved on my serve and backhand. I also worked a lot on incorporating ‘quick feet’ into my game.”

Tennis is a lifelong sport that is never short of ways to improve a player’s game.

Her year long preparations and training has prepared her to compete in this year’s tennis season and follow Bollettieri’s advice, “Remember, Berkley, play one point at a time.”

Perfect landing Beene lands gracefully after serving. Her time and the Futures Invite improved her serve. Photos courtesy of Mr. Brian Beene.

Track on the attack; hurdling over misconceptions to start season strong maddierobertson

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ontrary to the popular belief, there is more to track than just lacing up sneakers and running. Track takes a physical, emotional and mental toll on each athlete.

With the help of fellow teammates and supportive coaches, however, the track team is continuing to thrive.

Because not every athlete is on the track at once, as soccer players would be on a field or volleyball players on a court, many are led to believe track is more of an individual sport than a team sport.

Freshman Lauren Harris, who has been participating in track for eight years, disagrees. “I would definitely consider track and field to be a team sport. The points are scored as a team so you can’t win with an individual person. Relay races also include more than one person on the track with you,” Harris said.

In addition to those who view track as

an individual sport, many also assume that me on when I’m running and congratulate me when I’m done,” Harris said. there is a lack of necessity for reliance on So far, Harris has competed in the 400, teammates.

800 and high jump. She is hoping to com“My fellow teammates have always pete in the 100 and 200 as well. pushed me to do my best,” Harris said.

Already, In an effort Harris has to push her felt the team even harder, bonding, Harris’ summer even within team coach her large utilized certain team. “The teammates to first track help Harris exmeet we cel. “My coach were all has always had talking in me run with Well-rounded warmup The track and field team runs laps the older boys the car and around the gym to start off practice. Every member, regard- jamming out so I would be less of their grade or event, participated in the first few able to be fastto music,” minutes of practice with their team. er in events.

Harris said The way that they push helps me to make Junior Rachel Liske, who competes myself push even harder. They are also in the 100, 200 and long jump, and has always on the sides of the track to cheer participated in Marian track and field

past three years, is debunking the rumor that track requires nothing more than the ability to run.

“There’s a lot to your form. You have to train hard, work hard. You’re supposed to run up on your feet as opposed to flat footed and keep your arms at 90 degrees,” Liske said.

The transition from middle school track, which can be less strenuous than Marian’s, has been made much easier with the team’s help. “With long distance we did a free run around the parking lot.

I didn’t know which way to go, so the upperclasswomen helped show me where to go,” Harris said.

With 36 freshmen, 26 sophomores, 24 juniors and six seniors, the team is starting off the season united and on the right foot.

Their first meet at Nebraska Wesleyan University on March 16 earned them fourth place out of 11 teams. Their next varsity meet is today at Doane University.

Athletic Trainer Melissa Brusnahan doesn’t want to see you, wants you healthy

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laying sports keeps you active, healthy and in shape, but along with those benefits comes with the risk of injury. A variety of injuries can stem from sports, but Mrs. Melissa Brusnahan, the Head Athletic Trainer at Marian, is prepared to treat them all. Brusnahan has been an athletic trainer for 27 years and has been the Head Athletic Trainer at Marian for 24 years. Her own experiences with injury recovery are what initially led her to her career.

“I had back surgery as a sophomore in high school, followed by a lot of physical therapy, which is what I initially intended to pursue. After my first semester in college working as a student athletic trainer I realized that was more my calling,” Brusnahan said.

Overuse injuries are becoming more and more common for Brusnahan to see.

Overuse injuries are caused by the repeated use of specific muscles, ligaments and tendons without giving the body time to heal before using it again.

“You’re always going to have your acute ligament tears and ligament sprains, but the overuse, whether it’s swimmers and their shoulders, runners and their lower extremities, lower extremity overuse with volleyball and basketball players, you see it in every sport. It has just exploded with specialization and year-round

training,” Brusnahan said.

To combat overuse injuries, Brusnahan suggests switching up workouts and trying new things to work different muscles in your body. By using those different muscles, athletes can still stay fit with less risk of an overuse injury.

“That’s why we encourage two and three sport athletes. You need to change up your workout. If a basketball player goes out and goes for a run or goes out and plays pick-up tennis they’re still using muscles, they’re still staying fit, but they’re using the muscles in a different pattern, so that’s beneficial. Changing it up is the biggest thing,” Brusnahan said.

An injury that has become more talked about in recent years is concussions. Concussions seem as though they have become more common in recent years, however, people have simply grown more aware of what concussions are and how to identify them in student athletes.

“I think schools and just society in general are much more aware of concus-

“

sions, people say ‘wow there’s a lot more concussions nowadays than there used to be.’ That’s not really true, there have always been concussions, it’s just that in the last 10 to 12 years with all the media attention to concussions, we’re more aware of them. We recognize them for what they are and we treat them accordingly,” Brusnahan said.

In a 2014 Nebraska Legislative amendment (LB782/ AM2057) to the Nebraska Concussion Awareness Act, schools were required to have in place protocol for assisting students recovering from a concussion returning to school.

The amendment to section 71-9104 (1) of the Nebraska Concussion Awareness Act directs schools to do the following: Sec. (c) Establish a return to learn protocol for students that have sustained a concussion. The return to learn protocol shall recognize that students who have sustained a concussion and returned

“

juliaveik

We encourage two and three sport athletes. [...] they’re using the muscles in a different pattern, so that’s beneficial.

Changing it up is the biggest thing.

- Mrs. Melissa Brusnahan Athletic Trainer

to school may need informal or formal accommodations, modifications of curriculum and monitoring by medical or academic staff until the student is fully recovered (nebsportsconcussion.org).

Brusnahan has ensured that Marian’s protocol for injuries such as concussions properly accommodates students with changes in their schoolwork and practices. She has established a protocol that educates students about the risks of concussions and the reasons why the school has to take the steps that it does to accommodate the students with concussions.

“I think we do a really good job here at Marian, we have a really good protocol in place that I’ve helped set up between the teachers, the counselors, the athlete, the parents, the coaches, and we’re all pretty much on the same page and work really well together. I think we’ve done a good enough job educating that everybody understands at least the very basic ways that a concussion works and why we need to make the accommodations we do,” Brusnahan said.

Regardless of where interests lie, life comes with the inherent risk of injury.

Sports can increase those chances of injury, but with a solid base of understanding about how to lessen that chance and treat your body well, the risk can be minimized.

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THE NET WORK (March 2018)

Fashion 101: Teacher edition

delaneystekr start: Who is your fashion icon?

Where would you Bob Dylan love to travel to? or Jennifer Lopez

What is your go-to accessory?

Science/Art Teacher, Mrs. Kris Calhoun

Copenhagen

Ro me

What is your favorite drink?

Water

h Watc

Theology/Latin Teacher, Mr. Mark Koesters

IS NC

Scarf

What is your favorite TV show?

Nannying horror stories teach life lessons

Spanish Teacher, Mrs. Amanda Pritchard

Diet Coke

ESPN Social Studies Teacher, Mr. David Anderson

allisonostapowicz

Sarah Gosch ’19 “My nanny was my cousin.

Nobody knew how to work the dishwasher, so we decided to add a bunch of soap and hoped it worked. We went swimming, and once we came back, the whole kitchen was filled with soap and bubbles. So we grabbed a bunch of towels and attempted to clean it up.”

Avery Ost ’18 “I had just gotten home from grocery shopping for the family I was nannying. I put all the groceries on the kitchen table, and realized it was time for the baby’s nap. I went upstairs for five minutes… and once I walked downstairs, the dog peed everywhere and was eating a loaf of bread I had just bought.”

Mia Hamilton ’18 “Well, me and my two nanny kids, both boys, would go bowling every day in the summer. Seriously, every single day. And every time one would win, one would lose. So there would be this huge screaming fight in the middle of the bowling alley. Tears would be shed, a bowling ball was thrown and three incidents where one would hide in the bathroom and cry for 30 minutes.”

Be a concert camping queen: How to survive camping for your favorite band

Opinion by audreyhertel

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othing beats the feeling of live music. As an avid concert goer, I cannot agree more with this statement. With a number of 12 concert campouts ranging from 7-30 hours, I like to consider myself pretty experienced. In cities from Lincoln to St. Louis, I have seen many different concert venues and had unique experiences at each. Considering my extensive knowledge on camping out for concerts, I want to help you, a future concert camper, not make the same mistakes that I have made in the past and get front and center for your favorite band.

First things first: is it general admission (GA)? Make sure that the concert you’re camping out for is actually a GA concert. It would be very awkward if you were sitting outside of a venue for more than seven hours for no reason.

I personally like to map out where I am going for the concert prior to the concert date. Especially if you are in a city you are not familiar with, you need to know how to get there and where you are going to be camping. Once you find the location, look for parking near the music venue. Please pay attention to where you park. The last thing you want is to come out to your car only to see a parking ticket tucked under your windshield wiper.

Before all of that happens, you might be thinking, “What time do I actually need to start lining up?” The time depends on the band and how popular they are in area. If a band is not that popular where you are going to see them, you will definitely not have to line up seven hours early. If you are unsure about what time you need to go in order to get center barricade, use Twitter as a resource.

If you are as hardcore as I like to think I am, camping out up to 30 hours for a band, you will need to sleep. I’m not saying get a full seven hours of sleep, but at least take naps occasionally.

Make sure to pack some pillows and blankets because more than likely, you’re going to be sleeping outside of the concert venue. Be sure to look at the weather and bring umbrellas, hand warmers, rain ponchos, lawn chairs or anything else you may need to stay warm and dry.

You must eat while camping out. You cannot get away with only having one Cliff bar. Pack a lunch and snacks prior to the date or walk across the street to a restaurant.

Even if you’re not hungry, put something in your body because the moment you start to headbang, your lack of

nutrients will cause you to start seeing black spots.

My go-to pre-concert food is half of a Jimmy John’s turkey unwich (or if I am trying to better myself and be a vegetarian, I’ll get the veggie), Goldfish and Gogo Squeez cinnamon applesauce with a giant bottle of alkaline water.

Drink water all day. You may become sick of it, but when you’re being squished against the barricade soaked in other people’s sweat, you won’t regret being hydrated.

Also, make sure to go to the bathroom a lot prior to the show. You will not be Get Wrecked with The Wrecks: This photo was taken by the wonderfully talented Kyle Lehable to get barricade back if man, who is generously letting The Network use this photo. (He’s an awesome photographer. you go to the bathroom during Check out his instagram @kyle_lehman.) Background photo below courtesy of CJ Moy. the show. Yes, you may have When you’re done with your hair, make sure to put to use a porta potty, but sometimes you’ll get lucky and on some deodorant and perfume. When you are in close businesses around the venue will let you go in and use proximity to your favorite band you don’t want to smell theirs. like gasoline or sulfur from the city air (I forgot one time About 45 minutes prior to the time the doors to the and regret it to this very day). venue open, you should go change into what you’re Once you are all glammed up, go back to the line and wearing that night. If you are in a group have someone allow everyone to “ooo” and “ahh” over your transforstay where your stuff is and have two of you take some mation. Be sure to keep a jacket with you if it is cold, things back to the car like extra blankets or chairs. and bring a fanny pack with you if you don’t have trustYou should have picked your outfit out before campworthy pockets. It makes it a lot easier to dance without ing. Make sure you wear something comfortable that you holding your phone or money in your hand! can dance in.

Once doors open, it’s time for you to pull your fanny After changing into your concert clothes, it is time to pack up and go snatch barricade. My advice to you, is to do your makeup. Do not put on shoes until you are done enjoy every moment of the concert. Cherish what hapwith everything because they tend to make maneuvering pens and interact with the musicians on stage. Live music around in your car a lot more difficult. Please turn on is such a sacred thing. Try not to be on your phone, your car while you’re in it. You don’t want to freeze or because I have come to realize that the artist and even overheat (you would sweat that sharp eyeliner off before you will come to appreciate the show so much more. you even had time to set it). When it comes to doing hair, Plus, there will probably be photos of you on that artists the MAJOR KEY is to use dry shampoo. It adds aweInstagram the next day for you to regram (Just like this some volume, smells good and takes all of that grease one that I found of me at The Wrecks). right off your head. Messy French braids are always a The last piece of advice I have for you is to have the good style to work with or even just wearing your hair best time of your life and make those seven-plus hours down with a lot of hairspray, and dry shampoo makes of waiting worth it. Who knows? You might buy another you look like a total rocker babe. ticket that same night for a show the next day.

THE NET WORK (March 2018)

ENT ERTAINMENT (15)

Sweet sophomores are struggling delaneystekr

I

cried in homeroom three days in a become a problem for the sophomores: row about absolutely nothing,” sophiBlock. “The worst part of sophomore omore Sarah Cronin said. slump is the iBlocks I have served,” shannonmcsweeney & katherinemartin Sophomore year is rough. “I guess sophomore Libby Dogger said. because freshman year everything is Motivation can be tough for any new and fun and exciting and you have student, but for some reason sophomore a ton to look forward to, and sophomore slump really sucks the motivation right year is just there, it is kind of like a out of you. “For the most part I am fine; filler,” Cronin said. it is just, like, motivation.I have a lot to The transition between freshman do, and I just can’t [do it], and I end up year and sophomore year can be daunting, especially with the increase in the independence that the teachers give students.

“Sophomore year is a lot more stressful with the amount of honors classes and Procrastinating with pride Abigail Elkins ’20 and Libby Dogger ’20 projects and stuff. smiling while wasting time on Buzzfeed and House Hunters.

I’m also a really Procrastination is a classic syndrome of sophomore slump. bad procrastinator, so that doesn’t help,” sophomore Lily watching House Hunters,” Dogger said.

Weindel said.

As is true with overcoming any Sophomores are just trying to get obstacle, the right attitude is everythrough their year, and with tough thing. Take advantage of planners and subjects such as chemistry and Ameritry to get your homework and projects can History, the pressure can definitely done in advance instead of waiting until Is it bad to break up with someone build up. “You are still trying to figure the last minute. “Pay attention in class, out everything, but are still kind of new and realize that your grades do matter,” over a text message? and still have the pressure of trying to Cronin said.

No! improve,” sophomore Abby Elkins said.

If it makes you sophomores feel any 3% Sophomore slump may seem like an better, all the upperclasswomen have all-too-frightening reality for some, but gone through it and have made it out Is it bad to break up with others have created their own reality.

“I alive; keep pushing through. “Sophosomeone over text? It depends! thought that at first we were struggling, more year you’re still new and 38% but now we are thriving because we you’re expected to know what No (3.4%) are working together, and we are to do. Everything isn’t handed to remember going to try to work together and to you, and responsibilities and We r thru show that the slump doesn’t life come at you. But it isn’t that Yes (58.5%) apply rough, and if I made it Yes! to us,” Depends on the 59% Elkins said. through, situation (38.1%) A new adyou can too,” Based on 147 responses in the March 2018 Network survey. dition to the senior Sadie curriculum Stracke said. has also

How to thrive in the ‘friend zone’ shannonmcsweeney

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love friends. I collect them like Pokémon.

A friend is a source of entertainment, a voice of reason and a person to go to for both comfort and ranting. They always stick with you, from early morning coffee runs to late night adventures. Basically, friends are the best. But some weird people don’t even want to be friends.

I know no one would reject my friendship because they don’t like me, because I’m pretty much the best friend anyone could ask for.

So the only other reason why a person would be disappointed to be my friend is if they wanted to be more than friends.

Here’s the thing: sometimes two people just aren’t fit for a romantic relationship.

Do you think Shaggy and Velma could have solved so many mysteries if they were dating? How could Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson run the Parks Department if they were too busy smooching?

Someday you may come across a per-

son who you like, but don’t “like-like”, but who likes you as more than a friend. Simply explain to this person that you don’t feel the same way, then suggest going on a platonic ice cream date to smooth things over.

If said person gets angry at what you said, unfriend them. Why? First, because they refused ice cream and no sane person would do that. Second, because they are not taking your feelings seriously. If they weren’t content being just friends, they should have said that in the first place.

The friend zone is a beautiful place filled with great memories, and if people don’t like it there, they are welcome to be placed in the enemy zone, but there are spiders there so I wouldn’t recommend it.

The next time you either are in a friend zone or have someone in one, think of it as a blessing instead of a curse. Afterall, friendships are just as important as relationships.

Tips for a successful sophomore year 1. Get to bed at a decent hour and drink lots of water.

2. Write down all assignments in a planner. Even when you have no homework (it’s really satisfying to cross off).

3. Understand that grades are important, but not more important than your mental health.

4. When things get too overwhelming, take three deep breaths and try to put your problem in perspective.

5. Be patient with your friends. It’s okay to explore other groups and to find new people to hang out with.

6. If you’re taking your driving test or you already passed, always remember to stay on the right side of the road.

7. Remember to have fun, and cherish your time.

Ready, set, GO! stretch!

comic by shannonmcsweeney & sofyherrera

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! e s is i r p r u S

PHOTO ESSAY

THE NET WORK (March 2018)

Dressed to impress Grace Treves and Reagan Boex ’20 peruse the rack of Surprise Day gear from the BLUEtique. Mrs. Toni Compton, manager of the BLUEtique, says she sold 90 tees and 30 pairs of shorts. “Ordering Surprise Day tees and shorts was definitely a successful endeavor,” Compton said.

“I love dabbing” Grace Apker ’18 steps into the middle of the dance circle to showcase her moves. “I just went for it,” Apker said. DJ LayC made her third appearance of the school year to celebrate Surprise Day with this lively crowd.

Furry friends Ava Kleinschmit, Lea Bushey and Mary Cate Tabor ’21 smile back at one of four therapy dogs in Senior Hall. Student Board worked with Love on a Leash to coordinate cuddling sessions with these imPAWsibly adorable pups.

Sugar rush Clara Glock ’21 receives a sweet treat from the sticky hands of a Student Board Representative.

The machine broke on several occasions, but managed to survive through the afternoon.

Surprise Day duty Teachers line the wall of the East Gym with their instruction packets. New staff members, such as Mrs. Priscilla Trecek, Learning Services Coordinator, marvelled at the extravagance and planning that Student Board put into the event. “I was surprised that Marian does this for you guys.

Marian lets you have a lot of freedom,” Trecek said.

Photos by Maddie Robertson and Jolie Peal

Inflatable overload Jenna Andersen and Madison Fitzgibbons ’21 scream as they slip down the inflatable slide set up in the East Gym. Students alternated between the obstacle course, “The Meltdown” and this towering fish-themed slide.

Ahhhhhhhh Becca Townley ’19 sinks into deep relaxation as a professional masseuse soothes the stress of Surprise Day away. Though the line was lengthy, girls savored every second of back-cracking bliss.

sponsored by Student Board Feb. 15, 2018