the
MESSENGER
Volume xxv, issue ii | MO 63017 | MARQUETTEMESSENGER.COM | September 2017
IT’S ABOUT TIME.
District reconsiders school start times mahika MUSHUNI READY, SET, GO! PROMPTLY AS THE BELL RINGS AT 3:05 p.m., Jillian Baker, senior, races down three flights of stairs, through the Commons, across the bridge, down the length of the parking lot and to her car. She glances down at her phone as she jumps in her car. 3:08 p.m., safe! “I have to be at my work by 3:20 p.m.,” Baker said. “If I’m not in my car by 3:08 p.m., I won’t get there on time.” This is the afternoon routine for many students who like Baker have jobs that start immediately after school ends. Those jobs may be difficult to hold if the possibility of a start time change to 8:30 a.m. goes through. The High School Review Committee, created to analyze the positive and negatives of the existing high school structure and of possible changes to be made, is considering a change in start time. Instead of 8:16 a.m., the committee is looking at moving the start time back to 8:30 a.m. for the 2018-2019 school year. Talks of possibly moving the high school start time 14 minutes later came out of the middle school review, which looked extensively into the concern within the community that the middle schools started too early. A subcommittee then looked into various studies on when specifically middle school students should be starting school. Principal Dr. Greg Mathison said the subcommittee created to look specifically at start time presented to the Board that anything
specifically past 8:30 a.m., but also anything about 8 a.m., they believed to be better for students. “That’s what science is backing, so starting school at 7:30 a.m. academically, mostly for the middle schools, is not good,” Dr. Mathison said. When the High School Review Committee came together at the start of the last year, they too had to look into start times because if the middle schools started later, the high schools would have to be change too. Originally, the committee was looking into only switching the middle school and high school start times, with middle school beginning at 8:16 a.m. and high school beginning at 7:30 a.m. After a survey of the community, the committee realized that wasn’t the most sought after option. “We saw that the most favored area would have been the middle school around 8 o’clock and high school around 8:30 a.m.,” Dr. Mathison said. If the possibility of later start times stays on the table, Dr. Mathison said the change could be beneficial to students, specifically the middle schoolers. Superintendent Dr. Eric Knost said he’s been hearing complaints in regards to the middle school start time for a while. “A lot of kids go from 9 o’clock as fifth graders to then 7:30 a.m. as sixth grader so it’s a huge adjustment,” Dr. Knost said. But Dr. Knost said that changing the start time isn’t as simple
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THE PEOPLE Editor in Chief Online Editor in Chief Associate Editor Production Editor Copy Editor News Editors Opinions Editor Features Editor Arts&Leisure Editor Sports Editor Assistant Online Editor Social Media Editor Advertising Manager Business Manager Photography Editor Staff Reporter Staff Adviser
Greg Svirnovskiy Neelansh Bute Austin Woods Abhijit Srirangam Mahika Mushuni Marta Mieze Kailin Zhang Alex McAteer Kavya Jain Kenzie Winstead Delaney Neely Jen Bosche Connor Karst Sabrina Lacy Luke Malawey Jason Belval Jeff Swift Emily Jorgensen
CONSTRUCTION
science and religion
talent show
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Samantha Giblin, senior, speaks at the Fall Model UN tournament at the JW Marriott.
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Abby Copeland, senior, said science and religion uphold one another in their own important ways. Madelyn Berzon, junior,
LIVING WITH DIABETESperforms a monologue at the annual Talent Show.
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diving
Cole Gross, senior, dives at a meet that pitted MHS against Ladue Horton Watkins High School.
OUR POLICY The Messenger is published eight times a year by students enrolled in the Newspaper Production class at Marquette High School, Chesterfield, MO, 63017. The publication office is located in Room 226, (636) 891-6000 ext. 26228 Opinions of Messenger columnists or the Editorial Board are not representative of the opinions of the entire Messenger staff, the newspaper or the administration. The
Messenger takes responses for any issue. Send these in at www.marquettemessenger.com. The Messenger reserves the right to edit submitted material and to refuse to print material because of space limitations, repetitive subject matter, libelous content or any other reason the Editor in Chief and adviser deems appropriate, including advertisements and letters to the editor.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Mr. Mustang RECENTLY, I WAS NOMINATED TO be Mr. Mustang for one of my classes, and upon nomination, I was given a congratulatory letter. To me, it was ironic that this letter stated that I had to act with “utmost integrity” for the event even though I had to dance in my boxers as a part of the performance. I wanted to promote my club in a positive way, but I didn’t want the negative attention that I would have received if I was expected to scandalously dance in my boxers. I believe that the boxer dance is a mockery of Mr. Mustang representatives who are genuinely looking to promote their groups in a positive way. It is a source of tasteless laughter that comes at the expense of the Mr. Mustang representatives who have practiced and rehearsed several
hours every week to make the event as enjoyable as possible. Mr. Mustang, however, should not be erased from the face of MHS. The diversity of clubs at our school should be celebrated and having a male pageant with a representative from each club is a fun and classy way to do so. We should, however, be careful with how we promote the clubs that we have at MHS. Having a “boxer dance” as a part of Mr. Mustang does nothing more than mock the diversity that we, as a school, should be proud of. Sincerely, Demetri Case junior
Mystake IT IS HARD TO TELL IF THE PEOPLE around you that you walk the halls with are comfortable or not when it comes to certain traditions. There is a group of people who don’t like “Mystake.” “Mystake” is the guy’s way of mocking (in a fun way) our competetive dance team. It’s supposed to be fun, but unfortunately it was taken out of context by members of our LGBT community. I understand where both sides of the “Mystake” tradition are coming from. There are a little over 2,000 students in this school and there is a group that the tradition might offend. It wasn’t meant to make them feel uncomfortable in a place they go to feel comfortable around friends . The tradition was
meant to be fun. If questioning femininity and masculinity were brought up, that wasn’t the intention of it. I don’t think that people are trying to be cruel for supporting the norm that is established. People don’t want to be somewhere where they feel like they are being mocked. So having the option of attending the assembly would be great because it’s not the intention to offend students who feel differently. It would also be nice if students had a say so in the tradition that way we can change it up a little for everyone to feel accepted and not excluded or thinking that they don’t belong. Sincerely, Taylor Thomas junior
OPINIONS
editorialBOARD
Consequences of dress code “HEAD, SHOULDERS, KNEES AND TOES, KNEES and toes. Head, shoulder, knees and toes, knees and toes.” One of these body parts is not like the other. One of these body parts, as outlined on page 30 of the Student Handbook under the title “Dress code and personal appearance,” is described as not in good taste. Specifically it states “the body must be modestly covered from shoulder to mid thigh”. Have you ever seen a shoulder and been overtaken with an inability to look away, unable to focus on the very important math lesson you’re currently supposed to be paying attention to. But that shoulder....free of fabric...exposed… No? Likewise. Ever look in a mirror? You have shoulders too. The notion that shared body parts, something as arbitrary as a shoulder, even midriffs or backs, could be considered a distraction to anyone sitting in class is ridiculous and contributes to the culture of victim blaming. Inherently, the goal of eliminating “distractions” perpetrates the assumption that the way you choose to express yourself is responsible for the thoughts and actions of others, when indeed they, not you, control their thoughts and actions. Instances in which dress codes were enforced as a method to curb sexual harassment exist, even within our own state government. In 2015, members of the Missouri legislature responded to reports of increasing sexual assault with plans to enforce more modest dress codes, acting as though a 19 year old’s first business suit was the problem, not the 50-year-old Missouri politician inappropriately using his authority over
an intern. The idea that dress codes exist to curb sexual harassment and assault is absurd. Sexual harassment operates as a show of dominance, unrelated to the clothes a victim may be wearing. Ultimately, dress codes enforce the perception that only women need to “take precautions” to “prevent sexual assault,” evident through specific mentioning of “halter tops,” “tube tops,” “handkerchief/bandana tops,” and tops “that have bare midriffs, open sides, bare backs,” all clothing predominantly worn by women. This double standard wrongly targets women but also overlooks the fact that men also experience sexual violence. Society’s’ failure to recognize the issue the of male sexual assault is evident through the absence of information on it. There are statistics on the percentage of men raped — 1 in 33 — but as far as assault goes, there is little more than blank spaces. It may seem like a stretch to say dress codes contribute to the culture of sexual assault, but the reality is small, seemingly harmless aspects of our society contribute to bigger picture problems. Dress code just so happens to be one of those seemingly unaffecting, miniscule pieces. Should we allow people to express themselves as they please? Not completely. Dress code can go on, the motive behind it and the distribution of it can happily evaporate. A dress code that simply seeks that students don’t disrespect themselves, rather than holding them accountable for the “distraction” of others, and holds all individuals in equal regard should be a requisite of a positive learning environment. Slowly and slowly, building a better society.
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MUSTANGS SPEAK How do you feel about Confederate monuments?
”They should stay, but we shouldn’t honor them as Confederates. They should stay as a part of our history.”
Anna Schuth, junior
Malcolm Lee, sophomore
Fixing transgender bathroom policies delaney NEELY STILL IN THE EARLY STAGES OF HIS EVENTFUL presidency, Donald Trump has revoked an Obamaera clarification of Title IX, applying and allowing students in public schools to use the bathroom they are most comfortable with. Aside from this being discriminatory toward transgender and gender-fluid individuals, it puts the safety of those students at risk as well. I understand that many students would feel unsafe about a trans student using the same bathroom as them, but that doesn’t change the fact that trans students are more susceptible to harassment and bullying. According to a 2013 survey done by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Networks, 4 in 10 of transgender and non-binary students said they felt unsafe at school because of their gender expression, half said they’ve been verbally harassed, and one in five reported being physically harassed. The majority of those students also said they didn’t report any of it because they didn’t believe the administration would do anything. An important aspect of school is feeling safe, but how can a student feel safe when they are denied access to the bathroom they feel most comfortable with. I’m not saying that a boy can just walk into the girl’s bathroom, but an out-individual should be able to use his or her preferred bathroom or freely use the single-sex stalls in schools. The bathroom policy in Rockwood is constantly re-evaluated due to the world changing around us. It’s not always made clear to all the students, but if asked, the administration will willingly give the information. A common idea in school policy mentions the benefits and safety of all students. Keyword: All.
It’s hard to balance two conflicting views in one building. Either side can be uncomfortable in most of the possible solutions. So far, administration has done a tolerable job in trying to please both sides. Currently, the procedure is for students to reach out to an administrator and ask to use one of the many single-stall bathrooms throughout the school. The problem that arises, even from this, is the need for the students to be the ones to reach out. Many individuals are uncomfortable with who they are and where they are in life and would never go to an adult and ask for permission to use the bathroom. If a student needs to use the restroom, and they choose one of the single-stalls, that should be left to their discretion. I don’t think students should have to reach out. There will always be those who won’t. One positive about our current policy is the fact that students don’t need parent permission to ask for use of these bathrooms. Of course, the school would prefer family involvement, but if the student strongly opposes that, they do not need it. Instead of opting that students should use whichever sex bathroom they feel appropriate, we should simply continue to offer the use of the single-stall bathrooms. The changes we do need, however, is allowing those students to use said bathrooms without needing the permission of faculty. If a student goes into these bathrooms, odds are that the surrounding staff will silently understand why said student is using the bathroom, without needing the verbal clarification. This allows uncomfortable students to feel safer, without outing them, and keeping the masses in the school comfortable with the procedures as well.
Sai Tokekar, freshman
Scott Szevery, social studies teacher
“Yes, it is a part of what we should know as people, but still, when it comes to statues and people still showing what they believe in and people looking up to that, that’s still oppression towards the black culture.”
”I think that they should just be destroyed because they are offending people, and honestly I don’t think anything that could potentially offend people should be allowed anywhere.”
”I would like to see them moved from public parks and put into museums where they can be addressed as parts of our history. I don’t want to see them destroyed because I think explaining the reasons why they were put up is an important part of who we are as a people.”
“I think they should stay because it’s a part of history and a part of our American culture for what we used to be and how we changed it throughout history.”
Stevie Abbate, senior
OPINIONS
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Gun CONTROL BY THE NUMBERS: GUN VIOLENCE
93 people die of gun violence in the united states everyday
31, 672 deaths every year involving guns
25 x america’s gun homicide rate is 25 times the average of other countries
60% homicides commited using fire arms
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“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” - Second Amendment ACTIONS NOT EXCUSES alex MADARAS
guest columnist IN THE WAKE OF ANOTHER MASS shooting, the ever-present gun control debate has been reawakened from its lull of indifference. The reality is issues of gun violence are most vehemently argued directly following a mass shooting and are otherwise ignored by the populous despite an average of 12,000 firearm-related homicides per year. The discourse over gun control is long-standing and fierce. There is absolutely no question of whether to save American lives. In death, no one is a liberal or a conservative. No one is a product of tradition or a social justice warrior; everyone is quite simply, dead. Accordingly, the issue of restricting access to weapons should not be a political issue. In its most basic form, it is life or death. However, it is impossible to make changes in gun control
PROMOTE GUN RESEARCH alex MCATEER
opinions editor
9.05 7.13
3.38
White
Black
Hispanic
Other
Gun Related Deaths By Racial Group per 100,000 people
Stats from the World Health Organization, United Nations, NCADA, University of Michigan and World EconomicForum
THE DICKEY AMENDMENT IS A BILL passed in 1996 that states “none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may be used to advocate or promote gun control.” This bill essentially means that gun control may not be scientifically researched by the federal agency best equipped to do the research. Gun control may be the most divisive topic in American politics today, with the left and the right being very far apart, and few compromises ever being made. The impact of this amendment is drastic as no studies can be done inside the U.S. by the federal government. This leaves the research to groups with ulterior motives, or a research of other countries success and failure in gun control. The problem with that, however, is many of the nations with successful gun control do not see guns as a right, but a privilege. In America, however,
without political action. Those who see the firearm debate as over-politicized fail to acknowledge that the only way to push for tangible change is through legislation. Gun control is quite purely about how much the government cares to save the lives of its people, which seems to be, as of late, very little. Arguments from legislators and advocates against firearm restriction range from protecting the Second Amendment, to preserving tradition of gun ownership, to the “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” In the modern age of killing technology, it is impossible to justify access to firearms with a document written when weapons were far less advanced. The right to tradition cannot overcome the right to life. Time and time again, mass shootings are dismissed as isolated incidents perpetrated by mentally ill lone-wolf attackers and the chronic issue of the ease of access to firearms is swept under the rug. There is no excuse for the amount of carnage that the U.S. government has allowed while stagnating gun control. Action is necessary. It is important to contact legislators and voice the severity of the issue as well as to support organizations. To stay silent is to condone atrocity.
it is our constitutional right, which carries much more weight. But, all this is besides the point when you ask yourself: Why? The amendment has nothing to do with limiting the ability to take away citizen’s firearms, but does have to do with the government being able to do effective research on the topic. The bill keeps citizens ignorant as to what effective gun control looks like, which is the root of the issue. And, it is what makes this amendment so puzzling: Why is it here in the first place? What is it’s intended purpose, and how do American’s benefit from this? The amendment has in my mind effectively killed many Americans due to it keeping us, as a nation, ignorant to what forms of gun control are effective. That is unforgivable. Now more than ever as mass shootings have only been getting worse, something is not working. May it be waiting periods, mandatory courses in gun ownership, or a ban on all guns, America needs a new plan to keep its citizens alive and safe. The Dickey Amendment has been in place for far too long. It is time we stand behind common sense gun control, as soon as we figure out what that is. From 1999-2014, 497,592 people have died in America from guns. How many are you willing to accept?
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE ethan HILL
guest columnist DUE TO THE HORRIFIC EVENTS OF the shooting on Oct. 1 in Las Vegas, the contentious discussion of gun control has re-entered the public eye. Stephen Paddock, the shooter, had 17 firearms in his hotel room along with at least one being modified with the controversial, yet legal, attachment, the “bump stock.” The bump stock is a device that allows a semi-automatic rifle to simulate fully automatic. Every time the rifle recoils after a shot, the trigger is automatically pulled by the shooter, therefore shooting more bullets faster. And so the debate: should we ban the bump stock? The answer is yes. There is no practical reason a civilian should have a bump stock. In fact, even the National Rifle Association, the number one backer for gun rights in America, went on record to say that devices such as the bump stock “should be subject to additional regulations,” according to the “Washington Post.” I cannot find any reasons as to why such an illogical and dangerous attachment should be legal. Absolutely none. It is necessary to have regulations on the sale of guns, who’s buying guns and even the guns themselves. The large problem, however, is finding where those regulation stops. As more heinous and awful shootings pop up across America, us Americans want to blame the guns. From there we’ll regulate and regulate until soon we will no longer have guns. If gun control is so effective, how come Chicago is on track for 700 homicides for the second year in a row? After all, Chicago is known to have some of the strictest gun laws in the States. Heroin, cocaine, and meth are illegal, yet they still manage to find their way into homes all across the U.S., just as guns do to criminals illegally carrying them. There will always be guns. There will always be psychos. Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. If we continue on this slippery slope past the bump stock regulation, then millions of gun owners are doomed to losing more and more of their constitutional right. When Congress continues to take more and more from gun owners, they should remember one thing: they’re protected by the very thing they’re out to get rid of. Firearms are the only thing standing in between a tyranny and a free man.
NEWS
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Photograph by Abhijit Srirangam
Daniel Boone Library to reopen luke MALAWEY • mahika MUSHUNI A LONG 11 MONTHS AND 20 DAYS AFTER ITS closing for renovations, the Daniel Boone Library, located at 300 Clarkson Road, is scheduled to open Wednesday. Madeline Imig, senior, was hindered by the closing of the branch as she received tutoring there. “The tutoring helped me a lot, so when the library closed, it was really inconvenient,” Imig said. Other students, such as Leeza Kabbendjian, senior, said Daniel Boone was never their primary location. “I’m a regular at the Sachs Library, which takes me double the amount of time to get to compared to Daniel Boone. At Boone the lighting was off and the atmosphere was dreary,” Kabbendjian said. “It wasn’t modern in terms of technology and infrastructure.” Kabbendjian does plan to give the branch a second chance once it reopens. “I’m hoping the remodel will make the environment less claustrophobic and better suited for studying,” Kabbendjian said. The librarians who previously worked at the branch were relocated to the Sachs and Grand Glaize branches for the duration of the renovation Janet Crutcher, librarian, used to work at Daniel Boone before it closed. She was transferred to work at Sachs. “[Sachs] was the same except that I had to find out where they put things, where the scissors were, the nametags and other things were,” Crutcher said. The librarians will return to Daniel Boone. “As far as the customers, the ones that I have talked to, almost half of them say they will go back to Daniel Boone,” Crutcher said. As for those who do decide to return or pay a visit to the library, Crutcher said they will enjoy the new facility. The renovation project required redesigning the entire facility to include a quiet room, study rooms and additional features such as the Discovery Zone, an entire floor dedicated to children. “I think a lot of regulars will enjoy the Discovery Zone in the kids area downstairs,” Crutcher said. “The books are basically the same and the request area will be basically the same, but we will have two different levels and the kids will be in the basement and the adults and teens will be upstairs.” Margaret Sullivan, MHS librarian, said although the library closing hasn’t had much affect on her personally, it has affected her as a professional. “When students have needed something or wanted something, I have to stop and remember that the Daniel Boone isn’t open, so I need to remind them of that and say ‘you might want to go to Sachs or you might want to go to another branch’,” Sullivan said.
Samantha Giblin, senior, gives a speech at the Fall Model UN conference at the JW Marriott Hotel. Giblin was named to the All-American Model UN team after winning a verbal commendation award at the University of Chicago MUNUC Conference and interviewing with the heads of the team. “All-American means further developing my skills in research, public speaking, and argument construction while offering true cross-cultural experience that will create lifelong relationships,” Giblin said. Photograph by Paige Knittel
Model (F)UN for senior Samantha Giblin selected for prestigious National Model UN team kailin ZHANG DURING THANKSGIVING BREAK, SOME students will visit their relatives. Other students will stay home to celebrate the holiday, eating turkey with their family. Other students will simply take time to relax and hang out with friends. For Samantha Giblin, senior, Thanksgiving Break next year will be spent in Budapest from Nov. 22 to Nov. 27, as part of the All-American Model UN Team. “I was super happy after being selected for the team,” Giblin said. “I was laughing and crying simultaneously and couldn’t stop smiling for days afterwards.” Model United Nations (Model UN) is an extracurricular activity where students represent different countries and simulate the committees of the United Nations. At conferences, students debate resolutions to try and solve global issues. Giblin said high school students who win major awards from Model UN conferences held at colleges are invited to apply to the All-American Model UN Team. While participating in the Model United Nations at the University of Chicago (MUNUC XXIX), Giblin won a verbal commendation award in the African Union representing the Republic of Sierra Leone. From there, students must fill out an application and go through an interview process in order to be selected for the team. Gilbin was 1 of 24 students from the United States who were chosen. These individuals have the oppor-
tunity to travel to international competitions in continents such as Europe, Asia, the United States and South America to debate about international issues against other high schoolers from around the world. “One of my favorite things about it is meeting new people from all walks of life and forming those friendships and gaining a globalized perspective of everything that’s going on,” Giblin said. Giblin will only be attending a few conferences because the program itself can range from a couple hundred to a few thousand dollars. The costs of her flights will be covered by her father’s frequent flyer miles. McKenna Peters, Model UN sponsor, said that although MHS students have participated in other Model UN programs before, Giblin is the first student to be a part of the All-American Team. “Samantha is a real go-getter, serious and really into world problems and really solving those world problems,” Peters said. “She shined at MUNUC, one of our big conferences we go to in Chicago.” Principal Dr. Greg Mathison said Giblin is a extremely well-spoken and thoughtful student. “She cares a lot about people and wants to see change on a large scale to help others,” Dr. Mathison said. Neha Bhardawaj, senior, is Giblin’s partner on the speech and debate team. Bharadwaj said Giblin’s work in Model UN has advanced her speaking talent. “I think that Model UN and debate are so intertwined that any prep work Samantha does in debate can be applied to Model UN,” Bharadwaj said. “Being her partner for four years, especially after she got involved in Model UN, I definitely see an improvement in her confidence when speaking.” Bharadwaj said Giblin’s success comes down to her diligence. “Samantha is truly one of the hardest working people I know,” Bharadwaj said. “She spends hours doing her research online, finding articles. She knows what to expect before she goes into the competition.”
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Weighted grades affect course choice marta MIEZE • kailin ZHANG WHEN MAANASA VOLLU, FRESHman, was deciding, which classes to take in her first year of high school, she was torn between Honors U.S. History and regular U.S. history. Vollu said she settled on taking regular U.S. History because history is not her strongest subject. On the other hand, Vollu decided to take honors language arts. Despite the “honors” title of the class, the class is not a weighted course. Vollu said language arts should be weighted due to the rigor of the course. “Language arts is a hard subject,” Vollu said. “The only thing you can really study for is the grammar and everything else like writing and reading you can’t really study for.” Weighted grades were an important influence on the decisions Vollu made for her class selections. She chose to take an additional weighted class, Honors Geometry, due to the appeal of the weighted GPA. While weighted grades commonly appear as an important deciding factor in the classes students choose to take, many different ideas and misconceptions surround the topic. Principal Dr. Greg Mathison said weighted grades reward students who choose to take more challenging courses. When it comes to Honors Language Arts, Dr. Mathison said the curriculum department needs to compare the honors course with the regular course, reviewing what the difference is and if it is significant enough to make the class weighted grade. “Those decisions are mainly driven by our curriculum department and our teachers through discussions and analyzing the curriculum itself,” Dr. Mathison said. Natalie Fallert, coordinator of literacy and speech, said the practice of weighted grades doesn’t make sense because many colleges and universities don’t weight grades for admission considerations.
Maanasa Vollu, freshman, takes notes in her honors language arts class, which is not weighted. Vollu chose to also take honors geometery primarily because it is weighted and therefore would benefit her GPA. Photo by Kailin Zhang
“The whole purpose of challenging classes and 4.0s is to sort students for admission and placement in college,” Fallert said. Additionally, Fallert said there is not a true system in place to determine which classes are weighted and which are not. AP classes are automatically weighted, but the label of “honors” in a class does not determine the weight of the class. Fallert said the curriculum department believes that some type of standard should be set to ensure consistency across the subject areas. This consistency would offer students who excel in classes outside of the four core subjects the same opportunity for an inflated GPA. Fallert said motives behind taking weighted classes may vary. “Human nature would tell us that most people do not challenge themselves for the sheer experience,” Fallert said. She also said weighted grades could also deter some students from taking certain classes because of the perceived difficulty of the course. Emily Diaz, college counselor, said the importance of the weighted grade varies for each person. “[Some colleges] recalculate GPAs and give weight to some classes and
don’t give weight to others,” Diaz said. Weighted grades are not irrelevant, Diaz said, but instead are a great way to motivate students to take challenging coursework. Lauren Williams, language arts teacher, said students should choose courses because they want a challenge rather than a weighted grade because colleges look at the unweighted GPA anyway. Williams said students in weighted grade classes can get a B and still have a 4.0 GPA. “It might make you feel better to have a 4.0 GPA, but colleges really don’t care about that,” Williams said. Quinn Brandt, sophomore, is currently in four advanced classes, two of which are weighted. Weighted grades have greatly impacted her course choices, Brandt said. “I find it helpful, especially because I think it balances out the difficulty of the class,” Brandt said. Weighted grades are a great way to motivate students, Brandt said. It serves as a reward, however, it is frustrating when they do not actually matter when applying to college. “Those harder classes do help you prepare for college,” Brandt said. “There’s not just one benefit to taking those kinds of classes.”
NEWS IN BRIEF
Rachel Pang, junior, scored a 36 on her first ACT test. ”I think it was really lucky,” Pang said.
Ranks and records All 4 RSD high
schools named in MO top 20
MHS ranked as 5th best school in MO Statistics from Niche
Countdowns 32 days until
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Pictured: Abby Copeland, senior. Photo illustration by Delaney Neely and Kavya Jain 95
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Students find balance between religious beliefs and science material
so the debate between creationism and evolution was interesting. She began going to church in seventh grade and since then her faith has grown stronger. CATHOLIC MASS EVERY SUNDAY. YOUTH GROUP TWICE A Now Copeland firmly believes in creationism and the idea that week. Prayer all the time. Religion takes up a lot of time in Quinton God created everything; however, she still thinks religion and sciDurer’s, sophomore, schedule. So does science. ence uphold each other in another way. Durer considers himself a successful science student with a nat“All the new scientific findings, I believe that God gifted those ural talent for the subject. His passion for science to people,” Copeland said. “They are able to discovhas lead him to double up courses this school year er because of Him. God already knows everything by taking AP Physics and Honors Chemistry. “Science and religion for me about the world, but His mind is so crazy big and Durer said that to him Catholicism and science ours is so finite.” they go hand in hand. complement each other. Tarun Narayan, sophomore, prays every mornScience is just describing ing and evening. He models all of his actions based “Science and religion, for me they go hand in hand,” he said. “Science is just describing God’s God’s creation further, so on Hindu ideology and plans to pursue a career in creation further, so there’s always going to be science. Narayan said the contradiction between relithere’s always going to be gion and science solely depends on personal opinion. correlation between the two.” Durer said the Bible describes the creation “People say we’re all made out of atoms, but who correlation between the of Earth as spanning over seven days. This could and what makes the atom? Subatomic particles, but two.” be interpreted as closer to seven ages, and an age what makes that? You can keep on going until you from a scientific standpoint could mean many get to one thing that can’t be explained by science, things he said. and that’s where I say religion comes in,” Narayan QUINTON DURER Durer said the Theory of Evolution doesn’t said. “That’s where I say a god or deity made that.” SOPHOMORE conflict with his religious views. Dr. Cathy Farrar, AP Biology teacher, teaches “I’ve always thought God created everything Darwin’s Theory of Evolution to her students every one at a time like ‘oh I started with this, what if I year. Dr. Farrar said faith and spirituality aren’t added this’,” Durer said. “He went from one thing to the next, and effective ways of analyzing something that’s scientific as science that’s how I would explain evolution.” attempts to explain diversity and unity empirically. Durer said the lack of proof that God exists may be unappealing Dr. Farrar said scientists who research the relationship between to some. religion and science are usually spiritual; however, they are able to “I think a lot of people have more issues with religion than scidifferentiate between the two. ence because science is very structured,” Durer said. “Everything is “They are capable scientists who separate their faith from the proof proof proof; whereas in religion, it’s all about having faith and empirical aspect of it all, but as a teacher I recognize that there are believing what you can’t even see.” many different perspectives that come in the classroom, and it is For John Palmer, senior, learning about evolution freshman not my job to teach you religion,” Dr. Farrar said. “I really approach year was difficult. Palmer said he usually excels in science classes it as a fact-based topic: this is what we know and this is what we can because his family is good at the subject, but the disagreement beprove.” tween his Christian faith and course material presented a challenge. She approaches the subject by restating that a scientific theory is “I try to realize that the teachers are trying to teach us somesomething supported by many different scientists with a variety of thing that is not their personal opinion but is part of school curricevidence and is different from a hunch or hypothesis. ulum,” Palmer said. “I just try to understand that even though it’s Dr. Farrar said through the years she has been asked questions not my belief, it’s what I have to know to be successful.” by students that relate more to spirituality. When this happens, she Abby Copeland, senior, who also identifies strongly with her engages in conversation, but suggests they talk to someone who Christian beliefs, said she was still new to her faith in ninth grade, knows more about their religion.
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as moving a start time forward or back. There are a lot of ramifications resulting from any sort of start time shift, especially considering the bus schedules and routes for the three tiers of elementary, middle and high school. “Every time we have a model we want to try, the router has to sit down and start from scratch and reroute every map for all three tiers, elementary, middle, and high, to see what kind of time frame that would put it in, when it would get kids to school and if it would work,” Dr. Knost said. There is also the issue of the amount of time transportation takes each morning. Currently, the total window of transportation each morning is roughly an hour and a half, with 45 minutes between the transportation of the various levels. “We are trying to take it from being an hour and a half process from starting at 7:30 a.m. until 9 o’clock, we are trying to change that from being about an hour, an hour and 10 minute process,” Dr. Knost said. “To make that work for three tiers with 182 buses, that’s really difficult and intricate.” All of these complications have led to the discussion to focus primarily on adjusting the middle school start time. “We’re trying to adjust the middle school up to that 7:55 a.m. range and then we are trying to let everything else adjust after,” Dr. Knost said. “We are still perfecting it, but the commitment is to make a change with the main goal being to push middle school start times later and have minimal impact on the other start times.” Dr. Knost said the discussion of the possible movement of the start time is still a possibility. But ultimately, the goal is to end up with a decision to by the end of November to benefit students by 2018-2019. “We are trying to do what is good for the success of students and it’s hard to ignore medical professionals,” Dr. Knost said. “People say ‘it worked for me,’ and well sure it did, but when our medical professionals say ‘look you want kids to succeed, you want them to be more likely to succeed this is a strong factor you should consider’. “
The Science The issue of early start times doesn’t lie in only the fact that students go to bed late. It lies in the fact that biologically, teenagers can’t go to bed earlier due to their circadian rhythms, the body’s 24-hour cycle. Ashley Hobbs, psychology teacher, said the circadian rhythms include more than simple alertness. They
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also encompass attention and body temperature, all of which cause raised or muted levels of sleepiness throughout the day. An individual’s circadian rhythms vary with age, causing different instances of sleepiness and alertness throughout the day. Jennifer Davis, co-founder of the National Center on Time & Learning, said because of circadian rhythms, students are naturally up later and therefore need to sleep in later. “This has a major impact on a variety of health indicators,” Davis said. “A number of districts across the U.S. and in Europe also are looking at shifting high school start times to later in order to address these health impacts on teenagers.” Davis said she is unsure if a 15-minute difference will have a dramatic impact, but said any movement toward a later start time is a step in the right direction and inherently positive. Though, she recommends administrators keep other factors in students’ lives in mind when considering adjusting the schedule. “If your district does move to an earlier start time, or your high school, one of the other areas they might need to explore is the amount of homework that students are getting,” Davis said. Dr. Mary Carskadon, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at The Alpert Medical School of Brown University, also said start times should be moved back but warns students against staying up later as that defeats the entire purpose of a later start times: to allow students to go to sleep when they naturally should be and still be able to get enough sleep. “There’s excellent data showing that scores on scales that measure depressed mood get much better when the start time is later, so young people are, maybe not happier, but certainly not as sad as when they have to get up earlier,” Dr. Carskadon said. A later start time also allows teenagers to function better in terms of their demeanor and their temperament, which transfers onto the environments those individuals inhabit. “It’s not just helping you learn and study, but it’s helping you be happier. The hallways are cleaner. The classrooms are cleaner. People are more thoughtful and are more willing to do things to help each other,” Dr. Carskadon said. “It’s sort of the hidden gain that people don’t think about.”
The Impact: After school Many of the after school activities at MHS don’t see “hidden gains,” but instead are worried about
the impact of a later start time on their respective activities. Kylie Wurgler, debate coach, said she worries about the class time her debaters would miss because as of now, they leave for tournaments at 2:30 p.m. “Students will miss a whole entire class period; whereas now, they are only missing half a class period, but to miss a whole class period is really hard,” Wurgler said. “Most of my students are AP students and they are in all these hard classes, so it’s going to be really difficult to every week, every Friday, miss seventh hour.” Wurgler said she also worries about the complica tions a schedule change may cause her as a teacher. “If I teach a seventh hour, I miss a whole class of teaching every week,” Wurgler said. Debaters themselves worry about the effect of a later start time. Sarah Abbas’s, freshman, mom work as a doctor and usually has the nightshift during the school year. A later start time would make it difficult to pick up Abbas. “She usually has to leave for work around 5 p.m., and when she does that, she usually picks me up before that, but if it was even later than that, she’d have to rush, pick me up, go all the way home, and then to work,” Abbas said. A start time shift would also directly impact multiple aspects of athletics.” Christopher Kenny, varsity soccer coach, said a problem could lie in getting out to games. “You go to away games that start at 4 p.m. or 4:30 p.m., you’re going to have to have kids getting out of their seventh hour earlier all the time,” Kenny said. “Kids are going to be scrambling to get out of school and get ready for the games.” Kenny said there are also the teachers who coach sports who would have to likely leave early and have to get subs or someone to watch their class for the time they are gone. Other than games, the effect on sports would con stitute start and end times for practices to be pushed back too. Blake Johnson, freshman soccer coach, said practice would start about 3:35 p.m. and then it would go until 5:30 p.m. , 5:45 p.m. on most days. “Kids are very busy and taking time away from them in the afternoons is not very helpful,” Johnson said. “They have to do homework, they need to spen time with their families, they have to eat dinner.” Kate Pogue, sophomore, runs cross country and prefers the current start time vastly more than a
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possibly later one. Pogue said the current start time is fairly practical as it gives her time after school to manage her time, something she enjoys having. “It would just shorten my time in the afternoons for activities and stuff, and since I do cross country, it would make that go later and I’d just have to stay up later,” Pogue said. Activities Director Shane Matzen said plans for what will be done about sports as far as practices and games go are on hold as they await to see if the start time change becomes more than a possibility. “As far as games go, you have to keep in mind we’re four high schools. There are about 45 others in the St. Louis area. We can’t demand that game times all change because of us four,” Matzen said. “That’ll be something that when we get to it, we will have to see how we handle.”
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On the opposite end of the day, zero hour would too be affected by a later start time, more so than the time of zero hour just being moved back. Brittany Sharitz, ACT Prep Course teacher, said she wonders if a few more students would be interested in signing up for a class. “If it were 15 minutes later, that might be just the extra time they need to be willing to sign up for some extra prep classes in the morning so it could have a positive benefit on the ACT programs,” Sharitz said. Dr. Cathy Farrar, AP Biology zero hour teacher, said she does not believe a push back in the zero hour start time would affect the amount of students who take zero hour courses because students take classes based on if they want to be in the class, not based on whether there is a zero hour. But she said students may benefit from a later time as zero hour being pushed back would help students be more alert in class. “Some kids have a hard time getting up and moving during zero hour,” Dr. Farrar said. “Having zero hour a little bit later would probably be a good thing.” Shreya Srigiri, sophomore, is enrolled in AP Biology and said she would benefit from a later start time. “It would allow kids to be a little bit more awake in zero hour and more active during their classes,” Sarigni said. “I would feel more awake if it was at a later start time.”
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FEATURES
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LET’S TALK BUSINESS. neelansh BUTE
JORA WANG, SENIOR
MEET JORA abhijit SRIRANGAM
FAVORITE ART MEDIUM “I use my tablet and Photoshop and create illustrations in that program. I still sketch traditionally. Currently, I think my favorite thing to do is regular illustrations, doing portraits and that’s about it.”
PAST PROJECTS “I did project interface in which my passion project was actually creating characters. So I created a set of five characters personifying different mental illness treatments and I put that up online. I did research for them and created little synopses to go with each of my illustrations.”
CURRENT PROJECTS “We’re doing a macro assignment, which is a piece that is a close up of something and requires a lot of detail. I’m also working on my concentration theme, which is 12 pieces that are supposed to be connected by one theme. I’m doing mine on flower meanings.”
FUTURE CAREER PLANS “I want to be a neurologist or maybe a psychiatrist. I have some personal experience with psychology and mental illness. I want to help destigmatize mental illness and help further education for it.”
SOME FASHION APPAREL COMPAnies start in the midst of a bustling, economically stimulating environment. Aéropostale, 1973, New York City. Others humbly originate from the rusted familiarity of a sedan’s trunk. Nike, 1964, Eugene, Ore. Arman Virdee, senior, created his fashion company Maestro in 2016 at home while sick with the flu. The idea stemmed from his Instagram account, armandinho10_football, where more than 130,000 followers look forward to Virdee’s photographs of soccer boots and apparel reviews. “My huge following on Instagram due to my soccer product photography and reviews led me to become even more engrossed in soccer culture,” Virdee said. “My love for streetwear fashion then prompted me to want to create my own designs, clothing and much more.” Much of his inspiration for the company originated from a desire to create something new. The first step: quality manufacturing. “For me, perfection in my product is key, and if it is not perfect, I will push back launches until it is,” Virdee said. “Pride in work. I can proudly say that all of my products are made 100 percent here in the United States.” The company’s name is an expression of self identity. “Maestro comes from a soccer culture word, ‘Midfield Maestro,’ and when I played soccer, I always occupied that central midfield position,” Virdee said. “On the logo, the ‘A’ and ‘O’ are highlighted in gold and that is because the “A” represents Arman, me, and the ‘O’ is actually a sideways 10, my favorite number as a player.”
Photograph by Emeer Virdee
The company’s growth skyrocketed during the 2017 class elections, when Virdee successfully ran for Senior Class President. Classmates displayed support for his campaign through purchase of his Collection I shirts, he said. “The biggest spike in growth has without a doubt been this year for the release of Collection II,” Virdee said. “Everyday, you will see at least one student or even teacher wearing a Maestro shirt, and that is because we sold out in less than a week.” Blake Johnson, language arts teacher, owns a Maestro long-sleeve T-shirt. “It’s very impressive to see what he’s done so far,” Johnson said. “He’s a great kid on the soccer field and in class.” Pritpal Virdee, Arman’s father, said that along with growth in the company itself, he’s seen growth in Arman’s entrepreneurial abilities. “Arman listens to the marketplace, he watches, he observes,” Virdee said. “I gave him the money to start the company, but he had to get a return on that investment, which he did. In the second launch, he completely sold out. Now the business is self-funded.” Leeza Kabbendjian, senior, recently
purchased Virdee’s white long-sleeve Collection II shirt. “In general, the products have a very urban and modern feel,” Kabbendjian said. “I think it’s admirable that he’s bringing that into a suburban setting.” She sees Maestro expanding its services in the future. “I think he will be diversifying his business because he really does have an eye for people and what they want,” Kabbendjian said. Grihith Varaday, sophomore, is one of many students who approached Virdee after seeing classmates sporting Maestro shirts around the halls. “It looked nice, so I decided to get one as well. As soon as I got it, I knew it was very good quality, versatile and authentic,” Varaday said. As parliamentarian of the Future Business Leaders of America club, Varaday sees Virdee as an inspiration. “Arman’s company really gives voice to the young entrepreneur,” Varaday said. “His business is motivating me to start my own business in high school. It’s a great example not only for me, but for other high schoolers too.”
I CAN SEE MY FUTURE. AND DRUGS WON’T GET ME THERE.
Rockwood Drug-Free Coalition
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Community members reduce Halloween waste kavya JAIN • mahika MUSHUNI GHOSTS, WITCHES, GHOULS AND baskets upon baskets of candy. This is what Halloween brings to mind. Not scattered candy wrappers on the street from trick-or-treaters or rotting pumpkins in garbage bins. In Anna Stover, senior’s, house Halloween isn’t as big as it use to be, but the family still carves pumpkins. “I’m the youngest, so we use to do more stuff when we were younger,” Stover said. “Now I usually go out, and my parents will pass out candy to trickor-treaters.” When the festivities end, Stover said they throw the pumpkins into the wooded area of their backyard to disintegrate. Robert Knoernschild, owner of Sullivan Farms, said they do something similar with their leftover pumpkins when the season ends. “We just leave them in the field,” Knoernschild said. “When it starts to freeze they collapse, and then we plow them into the soil.” Knoernschild said Sullivan Farms doesn’t have anything set up to collect community members’ pumpkins for compost. He said the goal is always to sell most of them, but not run out. Temporary decorations, wrappers and carving equipment fill up at least a trashbag full of waste the week after Halloween for Calli Christ, sophomore,
and her family. Christ said her family usually tries to reduce waste by giving leftover candy to younger kids in the neighborhood or donating it. Angie Christ, Calli’s mother, said they typically have a lot of leftover candy, about two plastic bags full. In the past, Angie has donated some of the candy to St. Clare Hospital where she works. Angie said she doesn’t throw away candy because of the way she was raised. “My grandma used to always say ‘waste not, want not’,” Angie said. “I grew up in a generation where you finish everything on your plate. If it’s food, somebody should have it, and candy is a treat so it seems like it would make someone happy.” Pediatric Dentistry of Sunset Hills, Arnold and Wentzville is one of many places that collects candy to be donated after Halloween, said Sharon Messal, administrator of all three locations. “Nov. 1 and 2 we have tables set up where anyone can bring in candy, whether it’s schools that had a trunkor-treat or churches,” Messal said. “If the children come and bring the candy, we give them $1 per pound up to five pounds.” The candy is picked up by the United Service Organization (USO) to be distributed at local sites and shipped overseas to troops. Messal said there
Pumpkins and other Halloween related trash pile up by the curb. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, more than 90,000 acres of pumpkins were grown in the U.S. in 2014. Photograph by Mahika Mushuni.
are many different reasons they decide to host a drive every year. “I think dental health is the number one reason,” Messal said. “We also love the USO, and it’s one of the mechanisms they love too. They call us months before and say ‘you’re still going to do this aren’t you?’” Messal said they usually collect up to 1,000 pounds of candy yearly, a large undertaking due to its popularity, with plenty of setup and one to two people staffing it all day long.
While they owe a lot of their success to their Facebook presence, Messel said social media is only one piece of the puzzle. The dentistry utilizes a lot of “word of mouth” through their 60 employees and other orthodontists. “If people are looking to teach their children that they can have a few pieces of candy but they don’t need it all, and they want to make them feel like they’re contributing to their community, one way is to support the military and donate,” Messal said.
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p i s c e n i &e k p The Messenger tried 16 pumpkin spice products. These are the five worst. jen BOSCHE • kavya JAIN
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CHOBANI PUMPKIN SPICE BLENDED YOGURT
The yogurt had the normally satisfying bitterness of greek yogurt with a disgusting twist of spice and an unusual sense of sweetness. Although yogurt sounded like a good idea, IT WAS NOT.
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Enough said. You should never continuously chew pumpkin spice flavoring. Never.
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This was just plain gross. I can best describe it as water mixed with just straight spice. The immediate power of the spices was enough for some staff members to have to spit out the little sip they had just taken.
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When initially bit into, they didn’t taste very different from a normal marshmallow. Next came the gritty and grainy texture mixed with the normal fluff. Last was the realization of what could best be described as inedible.
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The immediate reveal was the bright orange chip with a faint smell of dog food. The initial taste resembled a white chocolate chip but immediately took a turn for the worst. The intensity of pumpkin and nutmeg was disgusting.
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Commercialization causes obsession kavya JAIN AUTUMN BEGINS IN AUGUST FOR KATIE CURran, sophomore, when she starts buying pumpkin spice products right as they hit the shelves. Curran describes herself as “obsessed” with the flavor. She owns a pumpkin spice candle that she burns almost every night and she eats pumpkin spice Cheerios for breakfast almost every morning; however, her favorite item is pumpkin spice Oreos. “I would definitely say my obsession began last year when I discovered the pumpkin spice muffin mixes,” Curran said. “I made those all the time, and eventually, I started buying everything in the flavor.” One of the reasons she loves pumpkin spice is because it reminds her of Thanksgiving and her favorite season, fall. Curran said it could be 80 degrees outside, but if she was sipping on her pumpkin spice coffee, it would be fall for her. Curran was always a fan of pumpkin pie, so while the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte didn’t spark her love for the flavor, she said their commercialization established a trend. More companies sold pumpkin spice scented or flavored goods, and it became the new peppermint. “I think people buy into the craze because for one thing pumpkin spice is really good, but also people like seasonal things a lot,” Curran said. “Generally, fall and the holiday time are people’s favorite seasons, so seasonal trends like pumpkin spice and peppermint are very popular.” Dan Mercer, Starbucks employee, said the seasonal release of the pumpkin spice latte attracts a different demographic to the cafe. “I would definitely say there is a section of customers that know what a pumpkin spice latte, but doesn’t come to Starbucks on the norm,” Mercer said. “Significantly more people that aren’t usuals come in. They will know to ask for the latte, but won’t really know anything else to order.”
Although other coffee shops sell pumpkin spice drinks, Mercer said Starbucks is well-known for it because fall is a complete package there with pumpkin spice lattes, frappucinos, whipped cream and pastries. Mercer compared the pumpkin spice latte to the unicorn frappucino that gained a lot of social media attention. While the latte is just another drink on the menu, Mercer said people ordering it are buying more than the beverage; they’re buying into everything it comes with. But what exactly is pumpkin spice? Dr. Kantha Shelke, food scientist and principal for Corvus Blue LLC, a food science and product development firm said pumpkin spice is the name of the combination of spices used to make pumpkin pie. It usually consists of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and clove. Historically, mixtures similar to pumpkin spice have been used for millennia around the world, often during celebratory occasions. Dr. Shelke said they can be found in Indian masala chai, Middle Eastern baklava and Persian pilaf. Dr. Shelke said seasonal flavors like pumpkin spice remind people of warm and friendly times associated with pumpkin pie like holiday gatherings. This nostalgic feeling increases the popularity of seasonal products like the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. “The commercial pumpkin spice latte ingredients focus on giving one a complete and pleasurable experience that is consistent every time around and one that is truly evocative of the pumpkin pies popular during the holidays,” Dr. Shelke said. “Transporting one quickly to the nostalgia of happy celebrations can be addictive, especially when one is stressed. Wellness of the mind can lead to wellness of the body, so it can be a good thing, if one does not overindulge on the fat, sugar and calories.”
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Milo Laux, senior, sings the song “Belly Ache” with their guitar. The song was written from the perspective of a psychopath. Marley Meinking, junior, performs her dance to the song “Life is But a Dream.” Meinking practiced her dance for 2-3 months prior to the show.
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Faith Sievers, senior, sings alongside Grace Shaw, sophomore, to the song “The Ballad of Mona Lisa.” The duo was accompanied with piano played by Shaw.
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Anshul Raman, senior; Siri Ragala, senior; and Gianna Armey, junior, sing with the MHS choir at the show. They performed together with all different levels of choir.
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Rebecca Jaegers, senior, sings her original song “Can’t Put Me Out” with her ukulele. Her song promoted ideas of self-love.
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Claire Schmitz, sophomore, performs a duet with Melanie Bantel, senior, to the song “Little Me.” Schmitz and Bantel decided to do the show only about three days before auditions.
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Photographs by Abhijit Srirangam, Marta Mieze, and Kailin Zhang
Students perform in annual talent show marta MIEZE • kailin ZHANG REBECCA JAEGERS, SENIOR, WAS INSPIRED TO start playing music by her grandfather, who played the guitar when she was younger. When he passed away, his guitar was passed down to her. “That was like the biggest deal to me in my life,” Jaegers said. “It’s kind of a way to feel connected to somebody who’s gone and keeping that person’s memory alive by honoring them through music.” Jaegers, along with 18 other students, entertained the crowd at the annual Talent Show on Oct. 6 and 7. Jaegers sang her original song “Can’t Put Me Out,” with her ukulele. Jaegers said her song is kind of like a love song - only to herself. It follows the idea of having her own back if nobody else will. Jaegers’s songwriting process consists of playing a chord progression and improving lyrics while recording. From there, she plays back the recording and memorizes the song. It took Jaegers about 20 minutes to write her original song for the Talent Show. To prepare for the show, Jaegers rested and stayed hydrated to prepare her voice. Despite being sick,
Jaegers was looking forward to the show. “It’s always very fun to share music with an audience; the show impacted my life by giving me a different outlet to show my music and sound,” Jaegers said. “I love being part of a group, but sometimes it is nice to have a moment to be like ‘this is me’.” Jason Winter, sponsor, said, out of every performance in the initial audition, about half of them were chosen to perform in the actual show. Then, students attended two rehearsals in order to prepare. “The show is a neat opportunity for students in the Marquette community to show off different talents they have to the rest of the school,” Winter said. Winter said the show has taken place since the opening of MHS and continues to draw in talented students. Marley Meinking, junior, shared her talent in ballet on pointe in an act called “Life is But a Dream.” She has been dancing ever since a dance studio visited her daycare when she was three. Besides ballet, Meinking is also involved in lyrical, modern, tap and jazz. Meinking said her dance in the show took about
two to three months to prepare. “Really [the dance] is up to interpretation for everyone,” Meinking said. “It is about reflecting on life.” Meinking said the show helped her build self-confidence. Milo Laux, senior, performed the song “Belly Ache,” by Billie Eilish, on their guitar. Laux got into character during the song, which tells the story of a psychopath who kills her friends and feels remorse. To prepare for the show, Laux listened to relaxing music to calm them down and get in the zone. “The show definitely got me more used to performing and was a good opportunity to further my experience,” Laux said. Megan Cline, sophomore, said she was surprised by the talents of her peers when she came to the talent show to watch her friend perform. Cline said talent showcases are an important part of the high school experience. “It’s really fun to have a creative outlet to students,” Cline said. “When students aren’t allowed to show off originality and creativity, then it’s just about learning and it’s not fun.”
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STONE BURKE, FRESHMAN NICK WARMANN, SENIOR Fastest 5k:
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“If Stone keeps improving, he’s going to kind of be in that discussion [for All-State] but it’s hard to look three years in the future. He is a very positive, very open-minded, very coachable, hard worker. One thing they both have in common is that they are both pretty calm at races, especially toward the end of the race, they both stay pretty focused.” Michael Ebert, cross country coach
Average Daily Miles: 8
Fastest Mile: 4:24
“One thing about Nick that sets him apart from a lot of runners is that it seems like the bigger the race, the better he runs and the calmer he is, which is not normal. He really seems to thrive in high pressure races and in big important races, he really seems to do better.” Michael Ebert, cross country coach
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medals this season delaney NEELY
Golfer keeps State streak strong mahika MUSHUNI FOUR STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS. Three time All-State. Two days. One sport. Since her first practice in July of her freshman year, golf has been a big part of Sarah Lewis’, senior, time at MHS. “Golf is definitely the most fun in high school I have ever had and I’m definitely going to miss it a lot,” Lewis said. Lewis made the journey to State solo this season, the first time in the last four years a team hasn’t gone to State. Lewis credits her ability to make it to State to all the extra training she put in. “I put a ton of time into my practice over the summer,” Lewis said. “I probably put in 400 more hours than I would normally. I put in a lot of time and effort into making this year my best year.” At State, Lewis shot 74 the first day and 80 the second day, ending tied for 11th overall and making AllState, reserved for the top 15 players. Even still, Lewis felt a bit disappointed with her performance, going from being tied in third and ultimately ending in eleventh by the end of
the championship. Lewis said she is still happy to have made All-State for a third year in a row. Eric Schweain, varsity girls golf coach, said Lewis has had a successful golf career in high school. “It’s hard to be an All-State athlete in anything but to do it three times in a row shows what a quality player she is,” Schweain said. Schweain credits her success and consistency as a golfer to the training, including being a year-round golfer, meaning she has out-of-season training. For Schweain, watching Lewis finish her golfing career at MHS with the State Championship was bittersweet. He felt sad about not taking the whole team but happy he got to witness those moments at State to conclude her high school career. “I probably watched [Lewis] play less than any other golfer for the last three years until we went to the State tournament and then I got to watch her for three days and talk through every shot with her,” Schweain said. “She’s so good and so consistent that when we’re taking teams, I was always working on the back end and so I would check on her every once in awhile, but it was consistent.”
Lewis’ legacy as a golfer goes beyond her performance on the course, though, her relationship with and place on her team is something that will resonate for a while, Schweain said. “I think she is a natural leader. She brings a pure energy to the sport. She’s fun and so the girls are naturally more motivated to be like her and to me that is how a team grows,” Schweain said. “It’s not an adjustment we make as coaches. It is the fact that they were such a powerful leader that continues then, kind of the strong hold for our program.” Abby Tichenor, junior, agreed with Schweain and said playing alongside Lewis has made her a better golfer. “She pushes me to be more competitive and become a better golfer,” Tichenor said. “By playing with her, I focus more and concentrate on my game.” Tichenor said she admires the way Lewis approaches golfing, staying positive and focused. “She also has a great mental game, something I wish I had more of,” Tichenor said. “She doesn’t let one bad hole get to her, she knows how to shake it off and just continue playing her best golf.”
eat like a champ jeff SWIFT
NAME: Kyle Mill GRADE: Junior SPORT: Varsity Football, Varsity Track
POSITION: Running Back EVENT: 100 meter
SPORTS
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Q: What do you try to avoid eating? A: I try to avoid soda and drink a lot of water and Gatorade. But in terms of food, not that much. Q: How does ignoring your diet affect your play or how you feel during a game? A: Dehydration is probably the biggest thing. In the first game of the season, Summit had a lot of cramps, like 10 players had to leave the game. We have to stay hydrated to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Q: How do you change your diet when shifting from football to track? A: For track, I tend to try to lose weight, eat leaner, cutter foods. Q: How important is the diet that they give to you? A: Yeah, for some people, it helps a lot. for some people it’s common sense, but I like that they try to help us figure out what we need to eat. It’s helpful for a lot of people.
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Q: What is your general diet for football? A: They want us to eat a lot of food, usually avoid sweets and stuff. We usually want a lot of meat, steak, chicken, just you know, a lot of calories. Q: Do you adjust your diet throughout the season? A: Not much, no. I typically try to match it with the amount of running we do, but not much else really. Q: What do you eat before a game? A: We usually have a team dinner. Usually some kind of meat, like roast beef, and sometimes a pasta with a salad. We also could have fruits like a banana.
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Sports snacks
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1 “Usually during the home games, we have secret sister so they give us food or I just eat apples. It’s fresh and I get energy.” Sarah George, freshman, volleyball
sabrina LACY
2 “Granola bars. 3 “Before a big game, It gives me the I feel like we always energy I need to get Noodles & actually make it to Company. We althe game.” ways go out to eat. Isaiah It gives you energy Brisseaux, because it’s carbs.” sophomore, Kenzie Nieder, football senior, cheer
4“Gatorade, protein bars and bananas. They give me enough energy to make it through the full hour of the day.” Ben Swift, sophomore, football
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The deadline is Oct. 27. Go to yearbookordercenter.com and use code 8222 for details. Seniors, find your cutest baby pic and tell your parents about baby ads. They can now customize your ad at home online.
ACT Math/High Level Math Tutoring Available Teacher
314-954-1005 sarika.kohli@gmail.com
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Just keep diving Beloved dive coach decides to retire FOR LISA ROTH, ASSISTANT SWIM COACH AND head dive coach, her students and fellow staff members are like family. “I feel like they’re my kids,” Roth said. “And I treat them like I would my own kids if I were my kids’ coach. I might be tough on them some days, but it’s because I want the best for them and I set expectations for them that are completely reachable.” And the team thinks the same. Roth is colloquially known as “mom” at every practice, every meet and for every member if the team. Swim and dive meets six days a week, often for practices and meets as long as four hours. Roth said the countless hours spent in the pool have helped her facilitate important relationships with her students. “I get to be around kids that are so amazing,” Roth said. “They become young adults by the time they graduate and I learn from them as much as they learn from me.” But those long hours have taken valuable time away from Roth for her own family. To get some of those hours back, she’s stepping away from the team following the end of boys’ season “It has nothing to do with anything about coaching,” Roth said. “At this point, I just kind of need a little time away so I can spend some more time with my family.” Jack Riffel, senior, has been a swimmer at MHS for four years. Riffle said Roth’s presence helps the team get better throughout the season “She’ll deal with any of the drama,” Riffel said. “She’s really supportive of what we do and helps us get through a lot.” Riffel said he is grateful that Roth chose to retire after boys’ season, as he swam his senior season with her. He said that without Roth in the girls’ season, the team will be worse off. “The team will lose that bond that we have together,” Riffel said. “Coach Roth is a very exciting, fun part of the team. She likes to be serious, and also fun
greg SVIRNOVSKIY • mahika MUSHUNI
Lisa Roth, head diving coach, celebrates MHS’ pull to second place in the 400-free relay, edging out Ladue at their meet on Oct. 12. Photograph by Mahika Mushuni
at the same time. When girls’ season comes around, they’ll be missing someone that they’ve known for four years.” Maegan Saleh, senior, said Coach Roth’s impending retirement is one of the reasons she won’t continue diving this season. “She’s amazing,” Saleh said. “Everyone depends on her for everything. She holds everything together. I just love her and it wouldn’t be the same without her.” Saleh said although she expects the new coach to be formidable, in her eyes, no one can replace Roth. “I don’t know who the new coach is going to be. I’m sure it’ll be a good coach also,” Saleh said. “But it’s just not the same.” Replacing Roth is Jessica Brown, language arts teacher. Brown previously coached MHS swim and
dive from 2002-2005. “Just being back on the pool deck, it was energizing,” Brown said. “Just being around the swimmers and the smell of chlorine, it felt very homey. I was ready.” Brown said while she can’t replace all of the things Roth brought to the table, she hopes her own style will endear her to the divers. “I’m sure our coaching styles will have some overlap,” Brown said. “I am my own person. Hopefully the divers will see me as knowledgeable and competent as their coach. We’ll just have to get to know each other and go from there.”
BECOMING A DIVER: students share their stories “I started when I was little, it was just a casual thing at first,” Williams said. “And then once I had retired from gymnastics, I tried to fill that time so I thought diving would be a good replacement for that.” Williams said she instantly loved the sport and the great coaches and credits her ability to make the transition to the similarities between diving and gymnastics. “Diving and gymnastics are like any acrobatic sport. It’s a skill, it’s body awareness in a space and it’s something that has to be learned,” Williams said. “You just kind of fall in love with being upside down.” Williams and Venegoni both described their love for diving, something Lisa Roth, dive coach, aims to achieve for all her divers. “My focus was always about making sure that anyone who was on board to be a diver liked what they were doing,” Roth said. “The students knew that if they become an athlete on this team,
they are going to like it.” But that didn’t come without its struggles, especially in the early years of the dive program. Recruiting divers, particularly male divers for boys season, was difficult and resulted in a smaller dive program that has since grown. “My first season coaching, I had one of my divers ask this guy to just show up for one day and he dove one year as a senior and went on to dive in college,” Roth said. Roth gives her divers credit and described the mental barrier that many divers encounter and that sometimes leads to discouragement. “Diving is such a mental sport you have to physically be able to train and do what you need to do on the board, but mentally you have got to be prepared to do the difficult things off of the board,” Roth said. “It’s difficult to smack the water or the board and get back up or do a new dive that’s really hard.”
Jake Venegoni, Senior
NINE YEARS AGO, FUTURE TEAMmate Cole Gross, senior, dragged Jake Venegoni, senior, to join the recreational local dive team. Venegoni is still on the board, about to complete his final season as a MHS diver. He broke a school record in 2016, and broke his own record again this season. While he was a swimmer prior to giving diving a shot, Venegoni said that diving was just more interesting to him than swim. “I found myself advancing quicker,” Venegoni said. “There was always something more to learn because you can always get better or learn something knew or a different way of doing things.” Venegoni is looking at continuing to dive at the collegiate level, and plans to focus on that as the season wraps up. While Venegoni got involved in diving through peer pressure, Anna Mae Williams, sophomore, got started during a shift of athletic interest.