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<<Volume 81//Issue 2>>
Hornetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Buzz
Editorial: Overcrowding at Northtown
Sports: A Magic Season For The Royals
Features: One Year Later, A Glimpse at The House
HB 2014
2 /Table of Contents
Z ZO ctober U B ]
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Letter From the Editor
COVER
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This is the second issue of the new, redesigned Hornet’s Buzz. Our staff has had a short amount of time to produce the articles, designs, and pictures that are included in this issue. The content in the October Buzz was generated from our staff members, as are a large quantity of photos, infographics and illustrations. As a small staff, we encourage guest writers, photographers, and student body input into our publications. This expansion will allow greater representation of North Kansas City High School. Our editorialist, senior Sierra Smith, has primarily focused on the issues pertaining to overcrowding in our school. As a staff, we have noticed, as well as aknowledged, comments from other students and situations that occur in school because of the student population being quite large. The editorial itself further explains these impacts, as well as some proposals that we considered to be logical. Also, if there are any issues or topics that you would like to see covered in your school paper, we are always accepting letters to the editor. If you would like to comment on the paper on a personal note, send the editor news tips or express your opinion on the news coverage, please contact the Buzz. The Buzz staff is avaliable through many forms of social media. As it is highly valued and very important to us, thank you for your readership.
HB
Staff
Staff Adviser Paul Aubrey
A&E Editor Demi Bribiesca
Editor-In-Chief Sports Editor Rylie Lyon Jesse Knoth Op/Ed Editor Sierra Smith
Comic Editor Sabrina Merrill
News Editor Rebecca Hild
Photo Editor Sierra Cawthon
Features Editor Molly Green
Royals Advance to ALCS The Royals ended the longest losing streak in professional sports. They beat the A`s and Agnels to advance to the ALCS. Editorial
Maximum Occupancy
Opinion
Voters Ponder New Amendment Students Speak Second Language
News
District Pilots Elementary Level Schools Northtown Competes at Carrollton Band Day
Features
Freshman House: A Look One Year Later
Arts & Entertainment
Student Writes Poem in Memory of Father How Videogames Can Be Determined Successful
Sports
Northtown Soccer Boys Beat Oak Park Royals Hope to Take the Crown
Comic
Students submit comics
Photo Essay
The Journey of Creating a Chimera: The Hybrid Project
Policies and Regulations
• The North Kansas City High School newspaper, The Hornet’s Buzz, is part of the educational curriculum of North Kansas City School District. Although the paper is a class activity, NKCHS students may submit materials, such as stories, photography, or art, for publication consideration. Students should bring any submissions to Room MN- 219. Submissions may be edited for content, length and grammar. • The Buzz is a student publication that is published in accordance with Board of Education Policy IGBD- Student Publications. Schoolsponsored publications and productions are part of the curriculum and are not a public forum for general student use. School authorities may edit or delete material which is inconsistent with the district’s legitimate educational concerns. All student media shall comply with the ethics and rules of responsible journalism. • Any person with an interest in the NKCHS community is encouraged to submit letters to the editor. All letters must be signed. All signatures will be verified through a phone call or personal interview. Letters should be fewer than 400 words in length. The Buzz reserves the right to edit any letter for grammatical errors, libelous content, or space limitations. Letters to the Editor may be emailed to paubrey@ nkcschools.org, or mailed to North Kansas City High School, 620 East 23rd Avenue, North Kansas City, Missouri, 64116. • If written, staff editorials will not be signed and will reflect the opinion of the majority of the staff members. Commentaries and columns, on the other hand, will be signed and reflect the individual writer’s views. • The Buzz is a member of the National Scholastic Press Association, Missouri Interscholastic Press Association, Journalism Educators of Metropolitan Kansas City, and Journalism Education Association. Some material is courtesy of MCT Campus HS Newspaper Service. • If you are interested in advertising with The Buzz, please contact us at (816) 413-5970 or email paul.aubrey@nkcschools.org. • The Buzz is printed by The Sedalia Democrat of Sedalia, Mo.
Oct. 14, 2014
Editorial/3
Maximum Occupancy
As the size of the freshman classes have increased the past few years, the size of Northtown’s campus remains the same. The school has begun experiencing a multitude of problems due to the lack of space to grow; the high school is gridlocked by neighborhoods on all sides, so there is virtually nowhere to expand. The freshman class last year was much bigger than this school is used to accommodating, and this year’s freshman class has even exceeded the size of last year’s. Many areas in the school are feeling the strain that far too many students on this campus is creating. Complaints of the cafeteria being too cramped and having not near enough seating have reached an all time high. When walking through the hallways during lunch periods, it is apparent that students are finding room in any place available to eat their lunches. Many classrooms have become an additional lunchroom; the hallways and stairwells are often lined with students and lunch trays. While eating outside is acceptable and happening now, in a month or two, all the additional seating outside will be lost to the chill of winter. There has been previous talk about the possibility of expanding the lunchrooms, but with our open campus it is not likely to happen. If the district allots money to add onto the cafeteria, the reign of open campus would most likely come to an end. One of the biggest issues teachers are facing with the increase of students at Northtown is class size. Many teachers have classes that are far larger than the recommended class size, especially classes that are exclusively for freshman or sophomores. A lot of classes have reached the absolute limit in amount of students; often every desk is occupied. It has been proven that when the student to teacher ratio is lower, typically the learn-
ing increases in a classroom. If a teacher has fewer students to worry about keeping under control, they can devote their time to promoting learning with each student. Deborah Kerley describes how, “classes are so big that we cannot reach all of our kids effectively.” Bus drivers are also finding the increase in students a serious problem. Many buses are also at capacity and experiencing many issues due to this. As with classes, the more students on a bus, the harder it is to control. The bus routes that are specifically located in the Northtown area are experiencing the most problems. The buses that transport students to Winnetonka, Oak Park or Staley have not had such a drastic increase in student riders, though there has been small increases. The school has dealt with a lot more bus related incidents than is typical for our school. “It makes for a stressful drive…it concerns me when I can’t pinpoint bad behavior and unsafe practices to discipline the trouble makers…I
The Buzz’s View: Unusual influx of students causes schoolwide woes must address the whole bus over a microphone. It’s also a safety factor in keeping my concentration on the road,” said Nicole Stegnik, a first year bus driver for the North Kansas City School District. A common student complaint that directly correlates to the influx of students this year is the congestion in the hallways during passing periods. Although it is not causing many dire problems, a lot of students are dealing with the increased probability in being late to class because the hallways are so full of students going in so many directions. Another student problem, typically one that upperclassman are witnessing, is the crowding of the parking lots. The back parking lot is often very full, causing students to park in the other parking lots surrounding the school. Normally those parking lots are reserved for teachers, but students are finding it necessary to park in those spaces at times.
As students have started parking in the other parking lots besides the back parking lot, those parking lots have also become a lot more overcrowded than usual. Although many of these problems are virtually unsolvable, there are possibly some slight fixes that might reduce the magnitude of these issues. A small extension of passing period from seven minutes to eight minutes might stop the quantity of tardies to student’s classes by allowing students just a bit more time to wade through the hallways. Another bus or two could be added to Northtown’s routes in order to accommodate for the amount of riders and to cutback the number of bus related incidents. Class sizes could be balanced better. There are some teachers who teach a very full class at one time, and have the same type of class at a different time with far fewer students. Moving some students at semester into the smaller classes might allow for better classroom sizes and reduce crowding. One small fix to the cafeteria problem is to cover the courtyard. The courtyard could easily be covered, not completely enclosed, but covered enough to protect from snow and rain, so that more students could eat out there, throughout the year. The buildings that compose Northtown are very old and although they have a lot of character, they are lacking in modern fixtures that could improve our campus and be better equipped for the amount of students that attend North Kansas City High School.
HB
4/Opinion
Northtown’s Spoken Word
Students speak second language MOLLY GREEN [Features Editor]
SABRINA MERRILL [Cartoonist]
The Doodle Department
One of the well-known facts about Northtown is that diversity is what walks our hallways. Many Northtown students speak a language other than English in their homes. Northtown is known as the most diverse school in Missouri. “The diversity at Northtown makes up the fabric of the school,” said Dr. Wartick. A contributing factor to Northtown’s diversity is the
ELL department, otherwise known as English Language Learners. Our campus host the newcomer’s classes taught by Rhonda Day in the Business and Technology building. “My classes are usually 2025 students by the end of the year,” said Day. When a student is enrolling and is new to the country, they are tested on a scale of 1-6, six being the highest, if they score below a three they are sent to the Newcomers program where they work with Day, who has taught ELL for 22 years. The ELL department has about “one hundred students at a time, I have 96 right now” said Sara Boyd, ELL teacher. “I also speak Spanish, it’s beneficial [because] I talk to parents all the time [and] they feel comfortable talking to me,” said Boyd. Northtown’s diversity does not only stay in the ELL halls. Junior Jocelyn Amparan is fluent in both English and Spanish.
“Its beneficial, I like being able to speak both,” said Amparan. In today’s society, knowing a second language can get you a job and open many doors in the workplace that those with out a second language might miss. “I have more job opportunities than others because some places have many Spanish speaking clients, so they need people to understand themselves. I could get better pay because I’m kind of working double, [speaking] Spanish and English,” said senior Edith Moreno. Senior Samira Zantout is fluent in both English and Arabic. Zantout moved from Lebanon when she was nine. “Being bilingual means I can subconsciously switch back and forth between languages. At home, I switch my thinking and speech to Arabic and when I leave the house it switches to English. If I have to make a presentation I like to practice it
in Arabic as well as in English. If something sounds like it can be lost in translation, I adjust the English wording to make in more language neutral so the message doesn’t lose value to someone of a different native language.” Diversity is what helps shape Northtown, it is known as one of the most diverse schools in the area and it is one of the things that makes this school great. Without diversity Northtown would not be the same.
MOLLY GREEN
In the class Studying for a test, freshman Jing Ke sits in Ms. Day’s classroom. Ke is an ELL student in the newcomers program.
Oct. 14, 2014
Voters Ponder Amendment
Opinion/5
Protect our local schools
MOLLY GREEN [Features Editor] On November 4 Missourians will be making the decision to vote yes or no on Amendment 3. If passed, it will take local control away from parents, teachers, and school districts and hand it over to the politicians, force taxpayers to pay even more money for government-mandated testing (estimated a one billion dollars in additional cost yearly), and force educators to teach to the test rather than to focusing on actual instructions and learning. Our schools cannot afford to lose learning time nor can they afford more unnecessary mandates. Not only taxpayers, but educators, will be affected. Student test scores will affect the teacher’s salaries. The proposal will require teachers to be dismissed, promoted, and paid based off of a teacher evaluation system using the students’ test scores as the scale. The Missouri department of education would have the authority to cut state and local funding from a district by cutting off both state and local funding, if it doesn’t approve the teachers evaluations.
Teachers associations would be prohibited from having an input into the evaluations system through negotiations. If passed it will begin on July 1 2015 “My worry is if [Amendment 3] passes things won’t change, the problem is teachers will have so much pressure to teach to the test, its like asking a doctor to be for want responsible the patient when they leave the office,” Barb Skoglund, a Family and Consumer Science teacher said. “It will force younger teachers to freak out, and not want to teach anymore, and older teachers who can make a difference to those kids who can’t test well or have a learning disability, to take honors in order to keep their jobs,” said Skoglund. The amendment is changing students from people to numbers. The people who know students the best are the teachers, parents and local school boards. They see it everyday, while some politicians haven’t seen the inside of a classroom since they graduated. Teachers want to teach us, not test us. They want to see how great we can be, not how well they can
perform.
Teachers
teach us, not test us.
Buzzline- Favorite trick or treat?
Styler Freeman, 10 “I saw a vine a man missing one arm dressed up as a zombie crawling around a store, scaring people”
Tierney Stuart, 10 “Me and my family have a game night instead of trick-or-treating”
Joseph Zahnter, 12 “I’ve jumped off the top of a staircase and scared some kids and stole all of their candy”
John Paul Ameryun, 12 “I like tricking people because its a treat to trick people”
HB
6 / News
District Pilots Elementary Schools
Crestview and Winnwood Elementary attend school year round
Photo courtesy of North Kansas City School District website
Crestview Elementary is a North Kansas City elementary school chosen to pilot what is called, “The Modified Calendar.” The Modified Calendar was imple-
mented in response to summer learning regression in lower level students.
RYLIE LYON [Editor-in-Chief]
In 2013, the Board of Education and central office for North Kansas City School District decided that two North Kansas City schools would be piloting year round schooling sessions. The two schools that were chosen are specific to the elementary school level; Crestview Elementary and Winnwood Elementary. The projected goals are to have more solid, foundational understandings of academics while students are still in early ages of school. Winnwood Elementary principal, Dr. Leah Martisko, explained that “the focus for this transition was to provide a high quality education for our students for a longer period of time.” “Research has shown that many of our students lose some of what they have learned [throughout the school year] when they are off for the summer,” Martisko said. Crestview Elementary principal, Deyrel Wallace, further explained that, “our ultimate goal is to put an end to the “summer slump.” Typically, students can regress up to three months in their reading levels over the summer.” “If you look at this in terms of instruction, [August through November] will be spent trying to get [students] back up to [the] levels they reached in May. This is a loss of nearly three month from learning new material,” said Wallace.
Thus, the response to this “regression” in learning was to create the modified calendar. In short, elementary level students have identical calendars with the North Kansas City School District until they resume school on June 10, 2015, beginning the modified calendar. After the tenth, students have smaller durations of time in which they attend school, followed by breaks, and then back to school. “Teachers and students have had the opportunity to opt out of the Modified Calendar if this did not fit their families’ schedule or priorities,” explained Crestview Elementary principal, Deyrel Wallace. “Since this is such a big shift in how we have always operated, it was important that we were sensitive to the needs of others,” he said. “Our end goal,” Martisko continued, “is higher levels of achievement and deeper levels of understanding for our students on grade level concepts and experiences.” A full year session of school would be constant exposure to foundational information for students, with available assistance that would help develop further understanding, keeping the material prevalent. “With the additional days, we will not be adding additional curriculum but instead, we will be going “deeper” in the content that currently exists,” explained Wallace. Regardless of these goals, there are other benefits in
addition to preventing student learning regression, being more development with student behavior, and also, more accommodations with student health. Wallace commented that, “[schools] will still have wraparound services ranging from BackSnack, tutoring, and free breakfast for all. We are also going to look at expanding our extracurricular opportunities.” Spending more time in school grants young students the opportunity to have more constant availability to resources. These resources include specialized fields of work, such as counseling. Other adult figures would also be available to students, all of which could give a student guidance or counseling, if such mentoring was needed. This opportunity from the modified calendar has the potential to further assist in the overall development of student behavior. The modified calendar also offers more opportunities for structured meals for students. While attending school, students have the opportunity to eat breakfast and lunch at set, specific times in the day. Also, with programs such as Free and Reduced lunch, there are less complications that students may have to face, allowing them to receive the help and assistance that they may need. Other outlets of aid, such as the Backpack program, may benefit students as well, and also for longer periods of time throughout their schooling because of the modified calendar.
Angela Kirkland, Winnwood Elementary administrative assistant, agreed with the possible benefits of the modified calendar. “Hopefully the impact will be better for them,” said Kirkland. “I think that it can positively impact the students’ health and well-being.” Aside from the possible benefits, high school students have not been in favor of implementing a modified calendar, even on a pilot elementary level. Junior Stephanie McCormack believes that it will take away from aspects of their development. “They would lack that social vacationing [experience],” said McCormack. “I wouldn’t have been able to go to Europe, and that experience gave me a world wide perspective, which especially [applied] to the IB program.” Although currently only implemented on the elementary level, modified calendars are still only in pilot schools. The fate of the modified calendar has yet to bedecided, and will be evaluated by the Board of Education and the central office for North Kansas City Schools after concluding the pilot term. “We are thankful for the support of the district, families and staff that are committed to making the Modified Calendar a success,” said Wallace, “it will truly be a team effort and we are all in this together. It’s for the kids, and we will do “whatever it takes” to meet the needs of our students!”
Oct. 14, 2014
News/7
This one time at band competition Hornet band competes at Carrollton DEMI BRIBIESCA [A&E Editor] Saturday that the band works strong normally puts the band Drum Majors, is your and prepares all season for. This as one of the last performances band ready? The 2014 Hornet year the band is taking part of of the night. Marching band performs two competitions, Carrollton “I was really glad we went their halftime show Man vs. last for two reasons: We got to Machine at every home football Band Day that took place on September 27 in Carrollton, leave the school later so I got to game. However, what most Missouri. The band competed sleep in a little more. Also, this people don’t know is that each in the indoor drumline, and field is an awesome show and I’m year the band performs that shows competition. They placed glad that we were the closing year`s show at two competitions. They are judged based on marching style, music performance and overall atmosphere, this is how the show is viewed overall. Through the entire marching season there are two weeks that matter the most. The week that leads up to the Saturday of competition can be PHOTO COURTSEY CHRIS REGAS described as “chaos, it’s crazy Left, Right, Left The Hornet Marching Band preforms their 2014 show “Man vs. and everyone Machiene” at the the Carrollton Band Day competition where they took fifth place. is practicing to Over all the band wishes to improve their scores and continue to place better than make the show Oak Park perfect,” acfifth out of eight bands beating band. We played for a larger cording to sophomore Jeremy Oak Park and raising their crowd and had a really high Enlow. scores from last year. energy at the end of the day,” This hectic week ends with The other competition the Epperson said. the Friday before the band band takes part in is the one The band has a call time competes. This day is utilized that occurs at the Missouri Day of 3:00 pm where they arrive for refining the music, cleaning Festival that is held in Trenton, to school, grab their uniforms the charts and reviewing the Missouri on October 18, 2014. and place their instruments by choreography. Usually, the Hornet Marching the gate of the back parking “The Friday before band Band is one of the last bands lot to be later loaded by Senior competitions are like getting of the night to preform because Assistants. on a roller coaster. It’s nerve they are placed in a 5A class When everything is loaded wracking and exciting all at along with bands from Oak the band gets on the buses and the same time. I’m usually Park, Liberty North, and St begin the hour and twenty-five nervous, excited and hyped up Joe Central. Bands are placed minute journey to Carrollton, so sleep is a little difficult for in different classes based off Missouri. me,” said band director Carrie how many students are in the After they arrive, the band is Epperson. program. Being 113 members given specific times for events Then the big day comes, the
that they are required to attend, such as the indoor drum line performance and when they are supposed to meet for dinner. During the entrance of the indoor drum line senior Dodge Wasinger led the band in cheers to show the other schools and Northtown’s performers how much spirit they had and that they were there to support. “That’s just who we are, when we go to competition we show our love and support for whoever is performing,” Wasinger said. The indoor drum line performed a mash up of songs from their field show that showcased their talents. Once the band is done with dinner, senior assistants finish unloading the trailer and the band gets dressed and prepares to perform. The band prepares by setting up in a concert arc and practice their memorized music and the choreography to their show by just performing their show in place. After their warm-up session Mrs. Epperson gives the band one last motivational speech and wishes them good luck. The band’s performance earned them fifth place out of eight other bands in their class. The next competition will be on October 18, in Trenton, Missouri.
8/Features
HB
One year later
A look into the Freshmen House
Oct. 14, 2014
RYLIE LYON Student inquiry Freshman House math teacher, Erin Berkland walks her classroom while her Algebra I students test on their current chapter.
Features/9
RYLIE LYON
Class discussion Danine Wright, another
Freshman House teacher for ELA, English language arts, discusses with her class the expectations for students.
RYLIE LYON [Editor and chief] Last school year, a new program was created for freshman students who were not enrolled in honors courses or trying for an honors diploma. This newly created program, known as The Freshman House, is a transitional way for freshmen to be acclimated to North Kansas City High School’s traditional classroom settings and scheduling. Also known as “The House,” this program requires students to attend their core classes every day, including math science and,English language arts. Social Studies are not included in the House, however it is still considered a core class. The purpose of the House “was to help transition kids from a middle school environment to high school,” said math teacher, Deborah Kerley, who taught in the House last year. “Also, [the purpose] was to evaluate the effectiveness of kids seeing their teachers everyday.” “I do think I was able to build a better relationship by seeing them more often,” Kerley continued. Reflecting upon last year, Kerley commented on improvements that could have been made. “I think that more communication between administration, parents, and teachers make it more of a community environment,” said Kerley. “I think they made some strides for that last year, but I don’t think they achieved the community [environment] we wanted.” Compared to last year, the overall structure of the House classes have changed. “The teachers we have in the House are working with more consistency [this year],” explained assistant principal, Bart Bates, who is [also in charge of the majority of responsibilities with the House.] “They are trying to build more team unity … and more consistency across the classroom. [The teachers] feel like students will be more successful.” The consistency across the classroom will be emphasized in ways such as how each teacher in the House begins class each day. Also, it will deal with technology issues, and various uses and disciplinary actions. First year House teacher Erin Berkland hopes that the House will help students “learn how to be more responsible and take ownership of their actions and consequences.” However, one setback from reaching this hope is the student population in the classroom impacting the outcomes of what students ultimately gain in their experience in the House. “One thing different than it was last year, [is the] afternoon classes are enormous,” said Kerley, “The classes are so big that we cannot
RYLIE LYON Jeromy Clemons Another House teacher, has his students grouped and using their school technology in the classroom.
reach all of our kids effectively.” Ultimately, this leads teachers such as Berkland to believe that they are only benefiting “a handful” of kids in each of their classes. “I think that the idea is good, but the proper support needs to be there. It’s definitely a group effort,” Berkland said. To help aid the multitude of students in each class, upperclassmen are given the option to offer their tutoring services during the House blocks. In order to be a House Tutor, a student must be certified to assist other students through Assistant A+ coordinator Sandy McQueery’s tutoring sessions, covering the expectations of behavior qualifications for specific subject areas in which a student would anticipate tutoring and also how to appropriately approach situations with students. Tutors can be very useful to teachers in the classroom, helping more students with questions, taking care of smaller responsibilities that a teacher may need to delegate. and also to set an example for the underclassmen. “I think, in part, [having a tutor] was just another person in the room. A person who was a role model and doing something successful,” said Kerley. “My experience as a Freshman House tutor last year was eye opening,” said senior Ashley Happy. “It also could be frustrating at times because you would have students that were really trying and others that were just disturbing the learning environment.” “However,” Happy continued, “as a tutor I felt that I could make the learning environment better for the students who were focused by working one on one with those who were [disruptive] in class to keep them focused.” Although many improvements have been suggested, the House was beneficial to some students. House graduate and sophomore, Misty Hudson, had a positive outlook on her overall experience in the Freshman House last school year. “I liked it actually,” said Hudson. “For me, it was more organized. [The structure of daily core classes] helped me get all of my work done,” she said. “It helped me learn more in that subject.” Changes are being made in the House and teachers are uniting and adapting every day to help their students. Bates expressed that there is on-going work to adjust and improve the program. “It’s important for students to know that this is new [to Northtown],” he said. “[Administrators and staff] are going to work on making things better for the students. We know it’s not perfect.”
HB
10/A&E
Defining a Success How video games do it
SIERRA CAWTHON [Photo Editor]
Thousands of video games are released yearly in the US alone, but out of all of these video games, only a select few are financially successful. Quite a few different factors play into the success of a video game. Three of these factors are: trends in the industry, the quality of the game, and the quantity of the gameplay. But keep in mind; all of these will vary from game to game because of the developers, the target audience, advertisement, and many other things surrounding the game. What is considered desirable in a video game has changed very much over time. An example of a recent trend that is not as prominent today but still seen is the trend in first person shooters (FPS) that put the player in the shoes of soldiers and other military personnel. Games such as “Call of Duty” and “Brothers in Arms” are examples of games that followed these trends. Video games that take what is trending into consideration can often pull more interest from the consumers. The quality of a game can mean a lot. It not only means the quality of the graphics and the programming behind the video game, but also the originality, story, and interesting gameplay. A game that did well with this was “The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.” This game used Wii Motion Plus to enhance the gameplay and immerse the player more deeply in the game by making it feel like the player is actually wielding a sword. The quantity of the gameplay is very important as well. This means how much there is to the game, the length of time it takes to complete the main story line. And if it’s not a very long time, it should offer more to the gamer, such as side quests, multiple ending, and hidden treasures. These are all things that add to the game’s overall quantity. The game “Dishonored” did a phenomenal job with gameplay. There are different outcomes for all of your choices in the game as well as many side missions you can choose to do or not, but every decision goes into how the game will end. The Webster dictionary definition of a video game is “An electronic game in which players control images on a television or computer screen.” It sounds simple, but in reality there is so much thought put into making a video game. It takes years of hard work to produce an incredible video game. Every game is a piece of art that should be appreciated for what it is, successful or not.
A&E/11
Oct. 14, 2014
“For my Dad” a poem by Izaak Kimsey I thought of you today, I wish that you were here, So I could tell you all new secrets, And everything I’ve feared I know you’re not far from me, With you I’d never part, I hope you’re doing better now, Since you’re not in so much pain, I’ve got tons of things to tell you, I’ll say it all one day, I miss you more than ever, Just know I’m doing okay, The love for you is in my eyes, I can’t wait to see you again one day.
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12 /Sports
Twenty Years Later... Northtown boys soccer team beats Oak Park
PHOTO COURTESY OF LAUREN DAVIS
Just for Kicks Freshmen Axxel Chazaro-Lara and senior Yusuf Dahir warm up on the sidelines, to prepare to be entered in the game. It is important for players to warm up their legs to avoid injury.
JESSE KNOTH [Sports Editor] The best high school athletic competitions are in-district games. Both teams want to win to improve their record or for bragging rights, which brings out the best in both teams. Northtown has sports rivalries with every school in the district and when Northtown plays an in-district game, it’s always a hard fought game. Northtown Men’s Soccer loves playing in-district rivals but have not had much success against rival Oak Park in the past. Northtown Men’s Soccer had an a 20-year losing streak coming into this season, but that ended this year. Northtown beat Oak Park 1-0 in overtime on September 22 in a dramatic fashion.
Not only does it end Northtown’s long losing streak to Oak Park, but it also helped advance their season “ Not only did we beat an in district rival, we also advanced in our conference record and overall record,” said senior varsity captain John Paul Ameryun. Senior player Pol Urquizu also gave his insight of the game and the effects of the win “It was special and everyone was talking about that game all season and being able to help my team beat Oak Park after a lot of years made me feel good.” Urquizu also had the game winning assist so he was a big part of the Northtown victory. “I am very lucky that I was able to play in such a special
game! And it was incredible that I was able to help my team win!” Said Urquizu. Third year player junior Muamer Hamsic agreed with what Urquizu said about the game “ It meant a lot to me, knowing we haven’t beat them for a long time. It took a lot of hard work to beat them and we did.” Hamsic played a big role in the hornet victory and was very excited about the win and so was the rest of the Northtown team. Northtown has a lot of rivalries and history, and the Northtown soccer boys wanted to end a 20 year losing streak to Oak Park, so they did something that hasn’t been done in a long time. Both the teams battled hard and both teams struggled to score in regulation. The harder
fought the game the more satisfying the victory. Bragging rights were on the line and were finally earned near the five minute mark in overtime. After a big victory like this, the Hornets plan to take this victory and use it to gain momentum and try to have success in their upcoming games.With such a long season the Hornets definitely need this win moving forward. The victory was a big one for the team and, whether it was a first year player or a 4th year player on the Northtown Men’s Soccer team, they all knew that this game meant a lot and that they had done something special.
Oct. 14, 2014 The Drought is Over!
Sports/13
Here Comes Blue October DEMI BRIBIESCA [Sports Editor]
The year 1985, the Kansas City Royals fell behind the Toronto Blue Jays three-games to-one in the American League Championship Series. the Royals came back to beat the Blue Jays four-games-to-three and fought their way to face the St Louis Cardinals for the 1985 World Series where the Royals came out victorious. However was twenty-nine years ago. On September 26, 2014, the Kansas City Royals played in Chicago against the White Sox resulting in a three-to-one victory and ending the longest playoff appearance drought in all of professional sports. The Royals traveled back to Kansas City where they faced the Oakland Athletics for the wild card spot on September 30, 2014. The game started at 7:10 and after twelve long hard-fought innings the Royals came out victorious. In the bottom of the twelfth, Eric Hosmer hit the ball, managing a stand up triple. Following that, Christian Colón, an infielder from Puerto Rico, hit a single, bringing Hosmer in to score and then stole second base resulting in the Royals to come back and tie the game 8-8. Catcher Salvador Perez came to the plate with the score tied and one mission in mind, to get the run in. Perez hit the ball down the third base line, allowing Colón to score the winning run. On October 2, 2014 the boys in blue traveled to Anaheim, California where they took on the Los Angeles Angels in a five game series that would decide who would advance to the American League Champi-
onship Series. The first game of the series went eleven innings and ended with Eric Hosmer hitting a solo home run, making the final score 3-2, Royals. The next game on October 3 lasted eleven innings and resulted with the Royals scoring three runs in the top of the eleventh to clench the win in game two. October 5 the boys brought the blue rain back to a thunderous Kansas City crowd. The game lasted nine innings and ended with an 8-3, victory resulting
in the blue crew to sweep the Angels in the series. “I was thirteen years old when the Royals were last in the World Series. My children are around the age I was in 1985,” said head NKC Baseball Coach Steve Hall. Our parents and grandparents were around to see the last blue rain. That was a time when hamburgers were cheap, gas cost nothing and the Kansas City Royals won the World Series. This generation has never
seen The Royals make it to the postseason. The generation gap between parents that have witnessed the 1985 World Series and their children that are witnessing the Royals in their first playoff series in twenty-nine years later. Through out the season the boys in blue have made a lot of astonishing plays that would lead to their playoff appearance, from Lorenzo Cain making diving catches in the outfield, to Mike Moustakas snagging line drives that could harm him. “My favorite play from this season was back in August when there was a double play. Mike Moustakas received the ball and threw it to Omar Infante who got the out at second, who then turned and threw it to Eric Hosmer at first. It was such a cool play,” senior Tyler Uptegrove said. “The play I remember is back when Aoki hit the grand slam against the diamondbacks,” sophomore Luke Shumate said. It has been an amazing year for the Kansas City Royals; they broke the longest playoff drought in all of professional sports, they were the first team to win their first three-playoff games in extra innings and they brought pride back to Kansas City. There is still a long road ahead for the blue crew, and the question on all of our minds is can they go all the way. Will we see the 2014 World Series? These questions have no for sure answer but one thing is for sure, WE BELIEVE.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEMI BRIBIESCA
Rally for the crown: The Kansas City Royals host a rally at Kauffman Stadium before they hosted the wild card game against the Oakland Athletics.
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By: Isaac Lee,11
14/Comics
By:Leland Williams, 12
Sadie Johnson, 11
Oct.14, 2014
Hey There Neighbor!
Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Would YOU like to draw a comic and see it published in the paper? Go see Mr. Aubrey in room 219 or email Sabrina Merrill 541469@nkcschools.org Or Mr. Aubrey at paul.aubrey@nkcschools.org
Comics/15
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16/Photo Essay
SIERRA CAWTHON
Senior Madee Richardt is a Clay and Sculpture student at Northtown. Currently, she is working on an art project themed around hybrids of animals and people. She is mimicking her hybrid as a mix of 1950’s pin-up girl and an octopus.
The Journey of Creating a Chimera
SIERRA SMITH
Senior Gaije Hansen is also making a hybrid sculpture. Students must create what is called an origin story for their projects. Hansen explained that her origin story is that “during a storm, the squid washed into a river and an elephant almost stepped on it, but thought she was pretty, so they made babies.”
SIERRA SMITH
SIERRA SMITH
Sophomore Jaden Roulett is creating a “human bull” in the Clay and Sculpture class in Northtown. His art teacher, Kelli Pharriss, explained that the project is based off of Frankenstein. The students are morphing together creatures and humans to ultimately create what Pharriss is calling “hybrids.”
Senior Quy Pham is in the morning Clay and Sculpture class on “B” days. Pham is creating a hybrid that is a cross between a lizard and a human for his project.