THE OLATHE EAST
VOL 24 | ISSUE 6
Coloring Outside the Lines: All You Need to Know About the New Murals Around School Photo by Lesley Poarch Page| 3
Flying with Colors A Look at the Murals Painted by the Art Club
Margo Dulny // Staff Writer
EDITORIAL
7| Being An Asian in America 8-9| Types of PDA
FEATURE
10-11| Teachers With Cancer 12-13| Humans of Olathe East
SPORTS
15| Leaders of the Student Section 16| Boys Who Play “Girl” Sports
ENTERTAINMENT
18| What Students Thinks of the Books They Are Required to Read 19| Animal Collective Review
NEWS
3| Art Club Murals 4-5| Cheating in High School 6| Final Countdown to College
The Olathe Public Schools prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion or disability in its programs, activities or employment, and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups to its facilities as required by: Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and other relevant state and federal laws. Inquiries regarding compliance with applicable civil rights statutes related to ethnicity, gender, age discrimination or equal access may be directed to Staff Counsel, 14160 Black Bob Road, Olathe, KS 660632000, phone 913-780-7000. All inquiries regarding compliance with applicable statutes regarding Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act may be directed to the Assistant Superintendent General Administration, 14160 Black Bob Rd. Olathe, KS 66063-2000, phone (913) 780-7000. Interested persons including those with impaired vision or hearing, can also obtain information as to the existence and location of services, activities and facilities that are accessible to and usable by disabled persons by calling the Assistant Superintendent General Administration. (04/13)
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Photos by Margo Dulny people should definitely be inspired by it. You see, kids student might be startled as they come face to first starting with art and they’re not the best but we all face with the art club’s massive mural in the 800 start there. The more practice and the more you explore, hallway. you should always keep pursuing something you’re interested in.” The art club came together to discuss a project for the group to do “I feel like adults should see us as—yes we’re still teenagers and not and decided to paint two murals on the school walls. as mature but—there’s still so much potential for us to grow”, said “For one, we wanted to cover that old flamingo and brighten up a Henriquez. blank because that’s boring. We also wanted to add something nice to Poarch hopes people will find something personal when they see the school”, senior Lesley Poarch said. the picture. “When people walk by the mural, I hope everyone sees at The club voted to paint least one thing about themselves two murals right next to on that wall. I hope they see a part each other. The left side of their identity as well,” Lesley has a painting of a Hawk, said. and the right side has a Valdez hopes the mural will help painting of girl with a tree people to see art differently. and students on her head. She said, “I hope when people Poarch said, “It’s the walk by they’ll wonder what club students reaching for all did this and that it will attract the things in the tree and more people to join the club and taking their pick. It’s all wanting to get more involved.” different aspects of the Poarch was not actually part of school and what we do the club originally and only joined here at East. We hope to by helping the club with the mural. represent more people in She said, “I got involved in art the school in what we’re club through the mural. I hope doing.” people will have a greater appreciaSenior Ahna Valdez, tion for the artists in this school. president of the art club, They work incredibly hard and The art club working on the murals shown above. said of the concept, there are so many talented artists at East. They Photos by Lesley Poarch “We were trying to think of something should really be appreciated and encouraged by to do for our club because we want to do more art for the community, their peers.” and we thought it would be a good idea to start with the school”. The club will also go to other schools to help younger kids learn The club meets on Thursdays, and sometimes comes on days when and understand the meaning behind art. Poarch said, “...We’re going... they don’t have school, to work on the mural. Valdez and senior [to]...teach the kindergarteners through fifth grade how to do some art Zamantha Henriquez paint the mural every day during third hour to projects. I hope it helps inspires them to help learn [art] and see the help with details and make the mural look more realistic. value in learning.” Henriquez hopes the mural reaches out to students and said, “I feel
News
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Cheaters Never Win
An Inside Look at Recent Cheating in Olathe East
I
f you’re not a cheater, you know a cheater. Even if you don’t cheat (even a little glance at a paper), you most likely know of someone who does. The Hawk’s Eye passed out a survey and discovered that students have a variety of reasons for cheating from, “I cannot fail high school” to, “I want good grades but don’t care for learning.” Some reasons attack the teachers themselves such as “my teachers can’t teach” to more cruel answers such as “because teachers care more about the letter grade more than actual [student] development.” United States History teacher Thea Britton can tell when students have cheated because they have the same wrong answer and sit in close proximity of each other. Math teacher Michael McDonald can tell when their work looks suspiciously like his own. “As far as if they’ve cheated off someone else: two people make the same exact mistakes. It’s hard to tell when they do it right, but when they do it wrong it’s easy to tell because there are a million ways to get a [math] problem wrong,” McDonald said. “I typically give them a zero for [cheating].” McDonald said. “What I like to do is if I see eyes wandering during a test, I’ll give a general warning, and then if there is any more of it, I’ll let them know [they got a zero] and take it from them.” However, wandering eyes greatly differ from getting caught red-handed with a copy of the test. “If somebody has gotten a copy of the test ahead of time or a copy of the key ahead of time, there’s not really any warning. In that case, I bring their test and my key to the administrators. I get them involved immediately. Among the administrators, the student and I, we take a look at it and see what they have to say, and there’s a procedure to that,” McDonald said. Britton allows the students who have committed foul play to make up for their blunder grade-wise. “I can usually assume there was a little bit of glancing at another paper,” Britton said. “What I’ve usually done [when someone is caught cheating] is I have made the students take the revised version of the test, and I have made the students tell their parents what they did. I’ve never had repeat offenders. I also follow up with an email to their parents, and that’s usually enough that no one ever does it again.” But teachers don’t always catch students who cheat. Roughly, 20 out of 94 students polled by the Hawk’s Eye cheat more than once a week. Overall, 70 out of 94 students have cheated at least once in their life.
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Olathe East Hawk’s Eye
Britton said, “I feel that, you know, it honestly happens more than I catch anybody that’s a cheater. I feel like cheating isn’t beneficial to the student. It doesn’t really do anything that hurts me.” McDonald said, “Honestly, it makes it really hard for teachers to then trust not just that student but students in general. All of a sudden I had to scrutinize every single test. Students that I liked and respected and enjoyed having in class, I’m having to ask them if they cheated on tests. It just took a lot out of it for me; took a lot of the joy out of education for me. It’s hard to say a teacher is victim of it, but it’s hard on teachers because really we want to teach, and we want to help students learn.” “It’s unfair for the students who do work
“
Teachers care more about a letter grade than the actual [student ] development.
”
-A Student’s Reasoning for Cheating
hard if another student has an advantage. I think that’s an obvious drawback in general,” McDonald said. “And, the student misrepresenting a person’s work as their own means they are really missing the point of school which is to learn the material for themselves and gain intelligence, build up their brain.” If students learn that they can cheat and get away with it, nothing stops them from cheating again. However, the older students get, the stakes only get higher. He also said, “The downside is much bigger than the upside. If they didn’t cheat, they would probably still do okay. But, if they get caught cheating, they take a zero, at least. In college, they get kicked out of school. The upside is minimal. The downside is huge.” McDonald encountered a cheating situation this year regarding his AP Statistics classes. “What we believe happened was a student did not get a hold of our key but took a picture of their test before they turned it in. So, the test was given Wednesday and Thursday, apparently Wednesday night a copy of the test was out. It wasn’t necessarily our answers, but it’s still an advantage, students seeing the test ahead
CHEATING BY THE NUMBERS
Jordan Meier//Co-Editor Alexa Buechler//Copy Editor
of time. That’s what we can understand: that someone took a picture of theirs with their phone,” McDonald said. Technology plays such a new role in modern day cheating. Many students resort to using their phones rather than the old-fashioned “write the answers on one arm trick” or placing a piece of paper that has helpful information sneakily in a folder where the test-taker can see it. But even in the this age of technology, 26.5% students surveyed said that looking at other’s papers is how they cheat. “I know that people can cheat on their cell phones. They’re on their phone during the test (which doesn’t happen in my classroom), but sometimes students need to go to the restroom, and they could plant something in the restroom, so I know some teachers don’t allow students to go to the restroom during a test,” Britton said. The latest popular method of cheating consists of taking a picture of the test or answer key. This has become easier through the phone application GroupMe. Many teachers moderate group chats, and the teacher uses the chat to give answers to homework after the students complete the assignment. But this may not be helping students learn. One survey said, “I don’t have time for useless completion grades.” Another survey said, “It’s fast and honestly homework is stupid because it is a lot of work for little reward.” “This year,” Britton said, “I’ve only had one cheating scandal, and three people came forward. Someone took a picture of the test and passed it around.” Teachers try many different methods to prevent cheating, relying on students to use common sense. “I’m not always great at it, but I’m trying to remember to separate my desks during tests because I have table groups. Otherwise, I ask people to cover their papers with another paper, but I just don’t think that works out well when you have table groups,” Britton said. McDonald said, “We’ve really made a point in the math department about security. Make sure all our assessment materials are locked up. Don’t leave the answer key just laying around. Things you would think would be obvious. But, it can happen pretty quickly. Also, tightening up the restrictions on cell phones in the classroom. On test day, we need to really be vigilant about no phones being used because someone could snap a picture of something.” Technology may or may not have expanded cheating, but it seems cheating has certainly gained momentum in our day and age.
A group of 90 students, consisting of freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors, were surveyed on their cheating habits throughout high school; here are some of the results.
The Groupme app has become a new method of cheating in recent years. This app allows students to bond with their fellow classmates and acquire help outside of the normal class time. While students claim that these groups are only used to ask questions about homework or projects, over fifty percent of students surveyed who said they were in class group chats admitted that more often than not Groupme’s are used to cheat.
Feature News
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C l a n i F
n o w D t n ou
258 Days Left... 223 Days Left...
198 Days Left...
Days Left... 156 Days Left... 142
101 Days Left... 70 Days
Nikki Lansford//Senior Staff Writer
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elcome to an article about one of the biggest decisions in your life and how it can easily put you on a path of either success or failure. That decision is best made around the age of 17, because students know to get scholarships. The year is quickly coming to an end for Olathe East students, and whether they want to go to a community college, a four-year university, or an ivy league, it is the final countdown with only so few days left. So let us begin with basics for the underclassmen with when to start applying for college. Many schools have a deadline for when they will take students with “priority status.” For most schools this simply means that a student applying before this deadline will have the opportunity to receive more scholarships provided by the school and possibly have an opportunity in the honors program. A vast majority of these schools’ deadlines fall between November and December, making it so that many schools recommend that their students apply as soon as possible in order to reap the benefits that early enrollment entails. Experts say to start looking into colleges in the summer before senior year and try best to apply in the following fall of that year. Then there is the obvious monetary factor. The tuition in 2015, according to trend.collegeboard. org, for an in-state student averages roughly around $9,139, while the out-of-state tuition averages $22,958. In 2010, the average cost for an instate school reached around $7,629. The inflation in prices increases the amount each year, which many have to take into consideration when finding their ideal college. Once accepted, there are even more challenges to face. Friends split during college, most students no longer live with family, and this new foreign place will be your home, well, at least for the school year. It amounts to a lot to take in.
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Olathe East Hawk’s Eye
So, let’s now discuss final factors for choosing your college and how to get over the fear of it all. Rejection seems to be one of the major problems students face when looking into colleges. Yet students need to keep in mind that their biggest challenge “will not be the inability to be admitted into every place [they] apply” says University of Florida professor, Sherman Dors. In fact the low college acceptance rate ‘everyone’ is worried seems to be a hoax. According to the Washington Post, the majority of schools around the country, over 500 schools in fact, accept 75 percent of their students. Unless you’re applying to an Ivy League, you need not to worry. Another factor to contribute to college decisions is the school itself. Some students who choose to go to Johnson County Community, feel embarrassed. According to americanradioworks.publicradio.org about 44 percent of all undergraduates choose to go into a community college. A place like JCCC is potentially a smart and financially responsible decision for students who want to save money. Then if a student decides to transfer to a four-college they have even more options available. Make sure to keep in mind the size of the school and how many students you want to keep in your class. Even remember to consider small things such as the landscape of the school and the amount of walking time it takes to get from class to class. Many students do ponder these questions more and more when facing their future. And the simple fact is this it all comes down to preference. Though a majority of students opt for a larger school, the decision is a personal one for each individual. In total no matter where a student goes or doesn’t go, the decision falls on them.
White Rice
“Silly Amy, you’re not American”
Amy Du // Business Manager
Left... 1 Day Left...
By The Numbers 52% of Johnson County Students go to college 65.9% of students went to college right after graduating high school 13.7% of students attend a college out of state
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s I graduate from high school and look to the rest of my life, age seems to have brought me enlightenment. I’ve grown older - wiser, yet no matter how easy it is to brush this innocent encounter off, I can’t help but hold this small mishap in my memories forever. “Silly Amy, you’re not American.” The statement wasn’t meant to be harmful. But does that make it any less painful? These words spoken through the mouth of a little boy, could they really be true? Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids. Stupid Asian, you’re not white. My five year-old brain believed it. John Smith said these words with such confidence that I could’ve voted him for president. Back in elementary school I had a favorite shirt. It was the best shirt in the world. Red, white, and blue, sassily embellished with the words “100% American Girl” across the front. Maybe I had it coming for being so flamboyantly patriotic. Yet we were forced to say the pledge of allegiance every morning, so I figured we were all in this together, right? At least until I came upon this horrible epiphany that “Oh my gosh,” I’m not actually American. My revelation was further backed by the nodding heads all around me in the little table group. These small people all agreed on how I wasn’t American. “Yeah Amy, you’re Chinese,” said Elizabeth Smith. “We’re American. You’re not,” said Bob Smith. As I looked at my slightly off-white skin tone to their perfectly white skin, I remember my world did a double back flip into a pit of darkness. Or in my case, not white...ness. When I got home, my dad asked me what I learned today. I cried and told him that I couldn’t wear my America shirt anymore; I wasn’t American. He gave me such a look and said “Yes, you are. You were born in America.”
Eleven years later as I sit in my History class watching John Smith fail at the American citizenship test, I can’t help but Artwork by: Cassandra Breit see the irony. American does not mean Caucasian. Nor does it pertain to any other race. Then why should specific races fall victim to hurtful comments, intentional or not? It took only six years of life for me to come to this understanding - that the rest of my existence would be like this. Like asking a toddler to separate the blue blocks from the red, it took only a mere child to point out that I wasn’t like the others. Throughout my life, I have heard every joke in the handbook: “Hey, open your eyes,” “Ching Chong Ding Dong.” The part of my brain that’s supposed to tell me what’s okay or not is numb already. This kind of hurt is not new - discrimination is age-old It’s been seventeen years now and I wonder when it’s gonna stop. For now, all I can do is put on a little extra eyeliner in the morning and pretend to actually consider my options when they ask me “Are you Chinese, Asian, or Indian?”
Editorial
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PDA: Please
Eating Face
Unless It is Displayed
A little display of affection with your significant other is completely acceptable as long as it abides by the rules of public decency. Holding hands or resting your head on your loved one’s shoulder promotes socially acceptable forms of PDA, but you don’t need to convince us of your love by making out under the stairs. A wide variety of PDA species exist in our school, and these techniques have been studied and ranked here from acceptable-but-weird to I-think-my-eyes-just-baby-barfed.
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NeverEndingHug
Not one of Nicholas Sparks’ books can compare to the romance created by breathing in your S.O.’s warm breath as they breathe in yours. I applaud couples who go green and recycle each other’s air, and I can’t think of anything more personal than synchronizing breathing patterns. Besides sniffing each other’s post-lunch aromas, the never-ending hug has other benefits, like wearing the same color and camouflaging as one person or joining together to become some kind of Power-Ranger Megazord. Instead of coming across as disgusting, this kind of PDA kindles a more awkward ardor. Recommended songs include “No Air” by Jordan Sparks and “Stuck like Glue” by Sugarland.
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Don’t Attempt
in a Sensible Manner
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WhenWillMyLoveReturn From War
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“The Notebook Embrace”
Play Fighters
The most common type of Play Fighter couples is the “tag” couples. “Tag” couples start when one person takes an item belonging to the other person and proposes a chase as the only way to retrieve it, for example, a jacket. Now, rule one, don’t ever just ask for the jacket back; it ruins the fun. The only possible way to get it back, in a public setting, is to chase him/her around the school until you obliviously bump and knock down every teacher, student, and staff. If you’re going to play jacket Pokémon, at least pay attention to the route you take and try to avoid running into the people around you.
Parting is such sweet sorrow, especially before heading to class. Please, treasure those six minutes in heaven and stare into each other’s eyes as if you will never look into them again. I suggest listening to the Dear John soundtrack to help ease the pain of leaving. Looking out a window dramatically also adds to the intensity of the moment.
“Never-Ending Hug”
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Olathe East Hawk’s Eye
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Hannah Cruise//Senior Staff Writer
Lap-Sitters
TheNotebookEmbrace
My dog gets excited to see me come home from school, but that in no way matches the excitement of the couple who sees each other after the excruciating pain of a fifty-minute class period. At first sight, the girl runs and jumps into her boyfriend’s arms with the enthusiasm of a vegan tumblr blogger entering a Whole Foods to buy Boxed Water. They twirl around the bridge after sixth hour, talking about all those letters he sent her, of which she never received because her mother hid them to ensure their love would never surface despite destiny parting through to – anyway, we don’t need to be extras in your rom-com motion picture. Please keep the koala-ing at home.
STOP
MAKINGOUTUNDER THE STAIRS
Don’t do it, don’t. Sit next to your boyfriend/girlfriend like a normal person. Congratulations, you have convinced me that your relationship exists, now please stop making out. I have a couple question for you lap-sitters: do you ask to sit on their lap or do you take full authority and just go for it? Do you even read the paper? Too far, sorry-back on topic. I know the school can get pretty chilly sometimes, but I have never needed someone to sit on my lap for warmth. Studies have scientifically proven that wearing a jacket or adding layers to your wardrobe will make you warmer. Invest in a coat, so you don’t have to grope. It kind of rhymes.
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Baby Talk
I will involuntarily gag if Baby Talk is heard anywhere inside and outside of school. Talk in a normal tone for the sake of the entire school and humanity as well. Please. Please. Please. Act like the mature adult you (hopefully) will become and talk normally.
“When Will My Love Return From War”
Photo by Logan Brockschmidt
Editorial
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So diers in Pink Stories of Olathe East Breast Cancer Survivors
Kaitlyn Shacklett//Staff Writer
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n 2016, specialists estimate that among United States women, 246,660 new cases of breast cancer will arise resulting in 40,450 breast cancer deaths. Breast cancer occurs when cells in the breast divide and grow without their normal control. Sometimes, cancer cells spread to nearby tissue or other parts of the body. Thousands of women endure breast cancer every year, each one having their own story. Olathe East tells of three of these stories.
Jone Lee: Cancer Free
Computer teacher Jone Lee went to the doctor for her annual mammogram in August of 2014, but her doctor asked her to come back for a more extensive one. Lee then had a biopsy done because that mammogram was not clear. She later got news that she had breast cancer, and though contained to one breast, called for a mastectomy. Lee made the decision to make it a bilateral (double) mastectomy in October of the same year at KU Medical Center. After the surgery, she was grateful to not have chemotherapy or radiation, and the doctors announced her cancer-free. “In the beginning, I guess I’d say that I was really in denial, but continued to remain positive. Throughout my entire ordeal, I never thought about this being “the end” and remained positive. I had to keep that attitude because I have two young girls, and I didn’t want them to be scared,” Lee said. Lee confined herself from working at the school for 5 ½ weeks after her mastectomy and another two weeks after she obtained
implants. Lee, being fortunate to not endure further treatments, continued to teach without too many absences. Family, friends, and coworkers were very supportive of Lee, bringing her meals, offering to help her with things, and spending time with her at home to keep her occupied. However, Lee’s hardest struggle was allowing others to do things for her, considering she regards herself as an independent woman. Because of weight lifting restrictions, Lee got used to the extra sets of hands in her life. From her personal experience, Lee encourages others to get their annual mammograms. “Without me doing that, who knows where things would have ended up,” Lee said. Since her surgery in 2014, Lee has gained the opportunity and privilege of becoming a support system for other women who have experienced the same ordeal with cancer.
Dancing became a crucial oping mechanism for her, relieving her stress by doing something she loves. Her friends were there to support her on bad days. Hill’s home life challenges her every day. For two weeks in a row, her mom couldn’t continue with chemotherapy because of her low white blood cell count. Everyone in her family has been distant from the home because they still don’t know how to deal with the changes in their lives. “The one thing I will never forget is the day my mom decided to shave her head. It was just the two of us, and I wasn’t expecting it. I can’t fully deal seeing her with no hair. It’s definitely the hardest thing for me throughout this journey,” Hill said. Hill’s school life changed as well. Unable to focus in class, Hill goes home early from school some days. “I watch the TV show Chasing Life. I have always thought to myself that I’d hate to be the sister of the girl with cancer because she goes through so much at school and at home. Now I realize that is me,” Hill said.
RhondaMeives: Cancer Free
Lee with her daughter, Alyssa Photo by Jone Lee
Ashley Hill:
Daughter of Breast Cancer Fighter
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Hill with her mother, Michele. Photo by Ashley Hill
Olathe East Hawk’s Eye
On her mother’s birthday last October, senior Ashley Hill spent the day with her best friend. Although it was a day to celebrate, the Hill family’s lives seemed to stop in time. Hill knew her mother had an appointment and wanted her mother to call when she knew the test results. Hill’s dance instructor visited her house and reassured her that her mother would be okay. Without replies from her mother all day, Hill became worried. When she returned home from school, the news came that her mother did indeed have breast cancer. “I just shut down after that. I remember going to my room and
crying for what seemed like hours. I always thought negative, like I knew it was going to come back positive,” Hill said. Throughout the past few months, Hill has ridden a roller coaster of emotions. Her mom had surgery and twelve rounds of chemotherapy, one each week at Overland Park Regional Hospital. She also underwent a treatment called “The Red Devil.” Her body, only able to withstand this treatment four times in life, suffered through all four. It became very hard for Hill to handle her home life, school and extracurriculars.
Meives at KU Medical Center. Photo by Rhonda Meives
Hill said that a person should never take anything in life for granted. With her mother breast cancer, her eyes have opened to the realization that she may wake up one day and her mom may not be with her. “You can’t focus on the past and you can’t focus on what is going to happen in the future. You just have to live everyday of your life to the fullest,” Hill said.
Michele with the Olathe East Talons Dance team. Photo by Ashley Hill
Meives and her family. Photo by Rhonda Meives
Spanish teacher Rhonda Meives received her breast cancer diagnosis in March of 2015. She immediately underwent surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation at KU Medical Center since last March. In December of 2015, Meives’s doctors announced her cancer-free. However, her story does not stop there. Meives hiked up a mountain of a journey to stand where she is today: teaching foreign language to students at Olathe East. The most difficult part of being diagnosed was balancing not only her own health, but also the entire lives of her three daughters. She needed to love on them and pretend that nothing had changed. “It’s my job to be strong for them, so that is what I had to do,” Meives said. Meives made the decision to work full-time throughout the rest of last school year and all of this one because she loves what she does, and she as a teacher only gets a certain amount of sick days.
Working also became a distraction for her as well. “It was nice to forget about all of the challenges going on in my life for seven hours each day. I didn’t want to just sit home and wallow,” Meives said. Meives learned that people she didn’t even know cared could just come out of the woodwork and try to help as much as they could. This helped Meives cope with the trials she has faced. Some examples of support she received included meals, comfort items like socks and blankets, and conversation. She also learned not to wait until something big comes along to tell people that they are appreciated. “Family and friends are who get you through all of the tough things you experience in life,” Meives said.
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“My dream is to be a celebrity makeup artist and travel the world. I want to be able to go to exotic places and enjoy the life God has given me and my job. “I don’t want to have a boring life. I want my job to be fun. I have never liked the thought of going to the same place for the rest of my life, I don’t like staying in one place for a long time now. I know I don’t want to be a grumpy person who dreads working.”
Bridget Boggs, Head Cheerleader Coach
Danielle Fox, Freshman
“I had the opportunity to travel to many different countries.” “I and another [history] teacher, Mr. Umphrey went to: Greece, New Zealand, Australia, England, France, Spain and Germany. We took students and visited the Berlin Wall, the Coliseum, the Great Barrier Reef and did some snorkeling, went to a concentration camp. That was crazy!” “For me and the kids, they got to hear it at school and in textbooks, but seeing it with their own eyes, and touching it was a great experience.”
Mike Stephens, Leadership/History
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Olathe East Hawk’s Eye
Suzannah Burris, Senior
Connor Young, Freshman
“I and my friend [Kyler Kennedy] were up and playing video games, late at night. And it was like 3 or 4 in the morning, so we just went to sleep. And [while] we were asleep and we hear this loud scream and it’s Kyler’s. And his scream woke me up, so he went to sleep immediately and I fell back asleep pretty fast.” “He got [a] cramp cause he was low on potassium...When we woke up the next morning Kyler said to me: “Did you guys hear me cramp up yesterday, in the middle of the night?” I responded to him: “Yeah. So did the entire neighborhood!”
Devin Ellicot, Senior
“I grew up in a small town in western Kansas. I loved school! I loved everything about school! I was very lucky to have an amazing PE teacher and coach. My first two years in high school, she tried out for the Olympic Handball Team, and made it, and left for the Olympics [in 1976].” “She was a real inspiration to me, but the teacher that replaced her just wasn’t very good. “I really think I became a PE teacher to make sure that other kids have a good experience in PE, and [make good choices in life].”
“The greatest thing in my life is my kids. They remind me of how wonderful, funny, quirky, and weird they can be. They inspire me to be the best person that I can be. “I did some hiking at Tetons National Park, with my two year old strapped to my back. It is something that I will always remember.”
JJ Allen, Drawing
Bridget Boggs, Health/Cheerleading
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Have you ever wanted to dig deeper into a person’s life? Maybe you wanted to know something about their background or a place that they have visited? The blog, Humans Of New York, tells the reader exactly that and more. Its creator Brandon Stanton, fired from his finance job in 2010, decided to take up a hobby of photography in cities all over the country. “His work was most widely acclaimed after he added vignettes, short quotes or descriptions, to his portraits of random New Yorkers, starting in 2010. Along with a blog, he complied a book about his subjects that became a #1 New York Times Best Seller. Each snippet tells a detail of the person’s everyday life, unknown to the ordinary pedestrian. Stanton’s goal is to get these random strangers whom he meets on the street, to tell him their “stories,”’ said Courtney Child, 2014-15 Hawk’s Eye editor. The Hawk’s Eye decided to try its own hand at it with the Humans of Olathe East.
“During lunch one day, I spilled [my milk], while I was messing with some friends [and making fun of them in the process].” “I think I was picking on them, so they got mad at me and tipped my milk [when I was drinking] and it spilled all over me,” “[The thing I learned from it was] don’t make fun of people, and think about what you are going to say before you say it, [and when you are making fun of people don’t drink anything, especially milk].”
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Jacob Stofer//Staff Writer
“I went to Colorado last summer.” “Adventures are so important and I love traveling this world and capturing experiencing the beauty of our God in new and ever-fresh ways. God’s love is so apparent in his creation and I love exploring it.”
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Yet Another Spinoff Of Brandon Stanton’s Humans Of New York
Burris, Allen, Stephens: Photos by Amy Du Fox, Ellicot, Hernandez: Photos by Jacob Stofer Young, Boggs: Photos by Melanie Eszter
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Humans of Olathe East Part III
“I was a soccer player from pre-school to 8th grade. I stopped playing soccer going into high school. I was in elementary school. I became involved in an after-school club called the running club.” “I generally like to run in high school, so I decided to run in college. I think it will be a different transition, where I will be running more than I [ever was], I will push my body a lot more. I will keep pushing as hard as I can to be the best I can be.”
Josh Hernandez, Senior
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The students brin gi
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s the game begins, the orange sea rises. The fans stand together, anticipating the first shot. With every Hawk shot there’s a proud yell, and with every failed block there’s a saddened “boo.” And when things calm down, the chanting begins bringing spirits back up. While the teams battle it out on the court, the students in the stands fight their own battle, trying to prove that they have the most spirit. There’s clapping, yelling, oohing, awwing, and the occasional Napoleon Dynamite hand bird. With the seniors that lead, the student section makes watching the games all fun and games. Senior Malik Jackson said, “I have an immense amount of school spirit. I love my school. I love some of my peers. And Students making the Hawk sign during a at the end of the day the freethrow real reason I’m there is to support the team.” Jackson feels like the support really helps the team. He said his support comes from knowing many of the basketball players. “I have a lot of people that I’m close to on the team. And to support them is the main reason to go.” Jackson is not alone in his school pride. Senior Wesley Burris showed much school spirit and led the student section frequently
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ng spirit to the ga mes
probably missed two or three, I haven’t been to all of them, but I’ve been to a lot.“ said Burris. Burris, as one of the main leaders at the games, helps keep spirit high. One of his favorite parts of the games is the experience. “I like the environment you know, it’s really loud and rockin’ all the time.“ said Burris. Burris also goes to events for a slightly different reason than Jackson. Burris said, “I’d say I go for the people in the stands, I mean I do enjoy watching our team, but I’m not great friends with everybody on the team. I have a lot of friends who are in the student section so I enjoy that” Jackson named some other leaders in the section, “I think Justin Peyton’s pretty good, Logan Steen’s pretty good, Emily Blaine can be pretty good.” The fans have enjoyed the team’s season right along with them and overall Burris is pretty proud of the student section this year. “I think Hawk Nation as a whole has done pretty well. Schedule your visit TODAY! We obviously have our off weeks and our on weeks, but I think pretty much anybody you can Flat-rate tuition. find in the pep class Less than two hours away. or whatever you call it, they’re doing pretty well this year.” said Burris. The game ends, and the orange sea spills out the exits and the fans cannot wait until they get to return and support their team again.
Visit ! e t a t S t t i P pittstate.edu/beagorilla
Fans united cheering for their team throughout the year. “ I first started going my sophomore year, I really got into it. I went to like two or three [games] my sophomore year. Then I didn’t miss one my junior year. I’m trying to keep that up this year, but I
Pittsburg State University 800-854-PITT (7488) • Pittsburg, Kansas
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Breaking the Barrier of Stereotypical Sports, Junior Marlon Martinez, The Only Male Tumbler On The Olathe East Cheer Squad Receives Praise For His Cheerleading Achievements.
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his year, a talented and dedicated junior, Marlon Martinez has made his tumbling début with the Olathe East Cheer team, although, not the first time he has ever tumbled. Martinez began teaching himself how to tumble since the eighth grade at Frontier Trail. This is the first year Martinez has been on a cheer team let alone the Olathe East cheer team. After witnessing Martinez’s tumbling skills in action during a P.E. class Coach Boggs strongly recommended that he try out for the squad. As a part of the cheer team, the squad participates in various out of school community service activities in addition to all the games and cheering competitions they do through out the year. “I recommend people to come try it, I mean if they’ve never done it its something new they can try and see if they like it.” Martinez said. Martinez’s favorite activities include the special needs baseball game that the team attended in the summer of 2015, the cheer team went there to support the participants, to cheer them on. Another service project: the little girl’s clinic where they get to teach and help young, up-and-coming cheerleaders.
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Olathe East Hawk’s Eye
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Photo by: Marlon Martinez
Melanie Eszter//Staff Writer Cheerleading stereotypes were around cheering on the school team. as long as the sport has come into “We’re a pretty good team; we have some existence. differences but we still come as a team and “I know people think it’s mainly for work together,” Martinez said. He will most girls,” Martinez said. Especially now definitely be trying out for the team against guys are becoming dancers and male next year. Aside from being a superb tumbler, cheerleaders or yell leaders, there is Martinez is a main base in a stunt group. “We more room for acceptances as Martinez like to do new things like heel stretches and has only received positive feedback for flips,” Martinez said about his stunt group. his interests. The cheers presented at pep assemblies, “If you like it, you like it, you don’t which usually start out with a cheer and the have to see if other people are going to stunt sequence are usually choreographed by judge you for it” Martinez said. “You Coach Boggs, the team captains or the team shouldn’t care what people have to say seniors. With tryout season soon approaching about it, because you’re doing what you Martinez has the opportunity to be interwant to do and it’s not to please others; viewed to become a team captain for next it’s to please yourself “ Martinez said. year, he is not sure about trying out for it yet. Martinez’s mother used to be a “It would be fun being captain, being the cheerleader as well; she loves to support first male captain at Olathe East” Martinez him in everything he does. He receives said. so much support from his parents, famMartinez loves performing at games whether ily, and the whole Olathe community in it be basketball, football games, or pep assemgeneral. blies. He gets good feelings when he comes out and performs with the band for a crowd, the audience he loves You shouldn’t care what people showing what he does. “It’s all about having fun” have to say about it because Martinez said. Cheerleaders you’re doing what you want to have to love what their team and what they themselves are do and it’s not to please others its to doing. The audience can tell who please yourself. really doesn’t enjoy what they are doing. “It’s like people look at like “Cheer Fest is one of the biggest competitions we are there to support our team; we have that the East cheer team goes to in the fall” to make sure we are doing our best because said a current sophomore on the Olathe East people will notice the smallest things even if cheer team. Cheer Fest happens to be one of you think they wouldn’t notice, they’ll notice”, Martinez’s favorite events almost as much Martinez said. as Cheer Ball. The cheer squad achieved a Martinez is not yet sure if he wants to one or superior rating, the best that can be continuing cheer in college but he is keeping received at the Cheer Fest competition. This, it in mind. “I’ve been looking at Pitt State but only achieved by hard work and numerit’s still a thought. It’s not a 100 percent sure ous before school, after school, and Sunday but I’m thinking about it”, Martinez said. practices. While Martinez has big plans for his future Martinez has gratefully “never ever fallen” he looks ahead to what stands right in front or been injured while tumbling, and he hopes of him. When he comes to school everyday that it will remain that way. Martinez favorite determined to make the most out of anything tumbling pass to throw right now, a layout life throws at him, that in itself is the number or a high straight-legged back flip. He hopes one reason why Marlon Martinez, let’s nothto get his full, 360 twist flip by next year. He ing stand in his way, which makes him The can throw a standing handspring and is still Real MVP. working on mastering his standing tuck. Although Martinez doesn’t think he will join a competitive cheer team, he thoroughly enjoys
An Unrequited Love
How Do Pre-AP and AP Students and Teachers in OE Feel About Required Novels?
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Unless the student actually picks a book they want to read, they aren’t learning anything, -Meron Solomon
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worthy. The character development and the theme is great; I think all in all it appeals more to guys than girls. I think it is good to get historical fiction in there,” Jacobsen said. “I’m not too big on war novels, but All Quiet on the Western Front was okay,” sophomore Cathy Bui said. Another prominent book students read sophomore year is A Separate Peace,“I definitely like the themes in A Separate Peace. I think that it is a timeless book; a coming of age novel. I think that a lot of students can relate to the characters,” said Mrs. Jacobsen. “It was good for the most part, I liked how we could kind of relate. They are all around the same age as us and deal with competition,” Bui said. Sophomores also read Fahrenheit 451, set in the future, describes a time when books become illegal. “I’ve taught it for four years, I love it because of the relevancy compared to when it was written and now seeing the Bradbury’s guesses are true in our society so I think it is relevant to students just because it is kind of eye opening to the direction our society is going and how education is going to suffer because of technology. The
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Olathe East Hawk’s Eye
literary devices in there are ridiculously strong, so it is a great tool for teaching literary analysis,” Jacobsen said. Most novels read by Pre-AP and AP have a prevalent theme of death classic novels. “I think down deep we all have a fear of death or a consciousness of it and the possibility. I think it is a popular theme because it helps us gain a different per-
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This is the place we push you to new limits. When you are not comfortable, you are growing. -Mrs. Swyers
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e all know that literary critics believe literary classics exceptional, but do teachers and students feel the same way? Advanced English students are required to read “classics” and if a student stays in advanced English all throughout their high school career they will read approximately 23 books. Gretl Swyers instructs seniors and freshmen. In her freshmen classes she covers Animal Farm, Great Expectations, Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, Romeo and Juliet, and To Kill a Mockingbird. “I think that students are naturally going to push back when they are presented with text that is difficult and makes them think, but our job as instructors is to get them out of their comfort level and to push them to think in new ways. They have to grapple with text they haven’t had to work with like Great Expectations,” Swyers said. “Lord of the Flies had more action and suspense in it, but hard to follow and know really what was going on especially because it was an assignment to do over the summer alone,” freshmen Addie Lee said. “We teach these tougher texts for you guys to be able to then re-address your life and others and to be able to hopefully make connections between the texts and the authors saying and how you feel,” Swyers said. Sophomore teacher Michelle Jacobsen covers All Quiet on the Western Front, A Separate Peace, Fahrenheit 451, Jekyll and Hyde, Othello, and Their Eyes were Watching God in her class. “All Quiet on the Western Front is definitely award-
Addis Sharpe//Staff Writer
spective on something that is inevitable,” Jacobsen said. “Death is inevitable and [it seems that] death in books usually try to teach us something,” Bui said. Jennifer Quick’s junior class reads David and Goliath, The Great Gatsby, The Immortal Life of Henrietta, and The Scarlet Letter. “They are great books because we are preparing students for the AP exam. The Great Gatsby gives us the great depth of symbolism and the discussion of the American Dream,” Quick said. “The Great Gatsby was a lot more interesting, the plot was good and was more of a book I would read when I’m older, but it kind of was like an eye-opener to see how people view the world with how money they have,” junior Meron Solomon said. “There is a great debate which books should be read for an AP class. The idea is that it doesn’t matter what specific books you read; it’s how closely you can analyze what you are reading and that you do choose books that challenge yourself,” Quick said. I would choose to read The Great Gatsby on my own probably not The Scarlet Letter but we read it for art, plot, and the enjoyment of it,” Quick said. Scott Feaster instructs AP literature and composition and College Prep to seniors. He lectures on Frankenstein, Kite Runner, Jane Eyre, MacBeth, Hamlet, Brave New World, and Heart of Darkness. As a senior course, students can expect for this senior course to be rigorous. “They are challenging, but it teaches a lot about human nature. Most of the books are British literature I try to incorporate those” said Mr. Feaster, who finds Kite Runner his personal favorite “MacBeth was also a difficult read since it’s Shakespeare. Personally, I wasn’t very fond of the plot, but it was also the last thing we read before Christmas break, so most of us were too exhausted to really appreciate it,” senior Abbey Sigler said. “I think some of the books, they like some of them are a challenge. Some of books are not going to appeal to everybody, but I think there is something we can get from them,” Feaster said. Through required reading students and teachers could find their new favorite book. The books have much to teach everyone not, only about literature, but about life too. Some of the books AP students read Photo by: Google
Painting With Animal Collective
The Legendary Band’s 10th Album SurprisesWith Array of New Sounds andTechnique Gavin Miller//Senior Staff Writer
My Rating: “What are you gonna do / Go into the forest / Until I really can’t remember my name / I’m gonna come back and things will be different / I’m gonna bring back some stories and games”, screams Animal Collective vocalist Avey Tare on the final verses of “Amanita” – the closing track of Centipede Hz, the band’s previous album. The band did disappear into the forest after that 2013 release, but with their latest, Painting With, have certainly reemerged with a new identity and a fresh batch of “stories and games”. After their monumental 2009 record Merriweather Post Pavilion, the group seemed to have peaked, with their subsequent Centipede Hz failing to reach the heights of its already-legendary predecessor. But where that release scrapped Merriweather’s poppy song structure for more a more abrasive and less accessible sonic soundscape, Painting With picks right up where its 2009 spiritual companion left off. Self-described as their poppiest album yet, Painting With channels pop music of the 50’s and 60’s – groups like the Ramones and the Beach Boys – through the band’s signature lens of psychedelia. Choosing to do away with ambient passages prevalent in previous releases, the result is shorter songs which move the record along as a quick pace and never bore the listener. Track highlights including “Natural Selection” and “Bagels in Kiev” run under three minutes – a rarity for a band whose finest songs are at least five minutes and full of dense noise and ambiance. At the expense of length however, there seems to be a loss of emotion. Animal Collective clearly intended this collection of songs to be less raw and dense, opting for an auditory kaleidoscope of deconstructed
and reconfigured pop songs rather than songs embodied by the emotion so memorably included on previous albums. The tracks here are quick and to the point, with singers Avey Tare and Panda Bear ping-ponging lyrics off one another at an impossible rate against a cacophonous backdrop of samples, electronica and organic sounds swelling together to “paint” epileptic sonic landscapes. More often than not, this new approach to the lyrical structure of songs is refreshing in its poppy intent, but after a whole album of such music, the drawn out and raw emotion of tracks like “Banshee Beat” (Feels) or “Fireworks” (Strawberry Jam) does feel sorely missed. Painting With never slows down as an album; there’s not a slow minute within its 45 minutes, and while each track is entertaining, wonderful and even thrilling, the true spirit of Animal Collective seems slightly absent in the department of sentiment. Every album has highlights, and Painting With features several standouts, even among a never-dull tracklist. “Golden Gal” dons a slightly more vintage beat for the band, and the song’s statements on gender roles are topical and broached beautifully with memorable lyrics. Tracks such as “The Burglars”, “On Delay” and “Vertical” make for thrillingly high-speed additions, but also leave the audience needing a breather after a barrage of bullet-fast call-and-response vocals. The closing “Recycling” may be the best song on the whole album, with thought-provoking lyrics and a beat which, in true AnCo fashion, gets better and better on every repeated listening. Fans of the group that fell in love with their previous material may be let down by the lack of screaming, the toned-down emotion and a track list which may seem repetitive on a first listen. As with every Animal Collective album however, Painting With opens up on repeat listens. The density of the music becomes more penetrable after every listen, and the more the listener grows to enjoy the tracks the more the record succeeds in its pop intentions. Curiously, Painting With may appeal more to first time AnCo listeners than veteran fans. While endlessly appealing in entertainment value and listenability, the group’s 10th LP may not be their magnum opus nor a masterpiece, but where the project lacks in dramatic weight it thoroughly makes up for in joyful artistic expression.
Photos by dominorecordco.com
Entertainment
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