One Step Forward, One Step Back

one step forward one step back

How can we, as students, keep our planet moving forward? page 12

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Dear Eagles, We hope fourth quarter has been treating you well! Even though we feel like mentally shutting down at this point in the semester, there’s always news to share when it comes to the Olathe North community’s achievements. With just a few weeks left in the school year, The Chronicle wanted to highlight the successful competitive clubs and spring sports, reminisce about Spring Break vacations, and bring attention to important environmental topics on this Earth Day. Of course, we couldn’t forget about pressing pop culture

news, like drama with The Weeknd and the potential ban on TikTok. On a more personal note, this issue is our last “regular” edition for the 2022-23 school year, so we wanted to share our gratitude for serving as The Chronicle’s Editors-in-Chief. We have had so much joy sharing the stories of the various communities at North throughout these four years on staff. And we are so glad we could do it with such a talented group of writers and designers, as well as the best sponsors! Thank you Eagles, and enjoy!

Eve Loehrer Menaka Garapaty

2022-2023

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The Chronicle is the official high school news publication of Olathe North High School and open forum distributed to all students throughout the year. This is the second issue of volume eight. The Chronicle is printed by Osage Graphics. This is a student publication and may contain controversial material. The Olathe Unified School District No. 233 and its board members, officers, and employees disclaim any responsibility for the content of this student publication; it is an expression of the School District Policy. Students and editors are soley responsible for this student publication.

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Thoughts and Prayers...

Thoughts and Prayers... Thoughts and Prayers...

Thoughts and Prayers...

Following the Nashville school shooting, fear continues to circulate and new safety precautions are being implemented. Political action towards gun control stalls yet again.

By Denise Villa-Hernandez | Staff Writer

Guns have been one of the biggest problems in America, and the issue is only getting worse. From 19702017, there were a maximum of 60 shootings each year. Since 2018, America’s school shootings have increased by 50%. Most school shootings happen in high schools, followed by elementary, and then middle schools. In the year of 2022, there was over 300 gun-related incidents in schools, the most there has been in American history. Most of these incidents don’t even make it to the news. The number of school shootings has increased every week this year.

On March 22, a high school student in Colorado fired bullets in Denver East High School. The student suspect has been identified as a seventeen year old named Austin Lyle. [Lyle had a safety plan because he was a danger to other students beforehand, leading him to be searched every morning before entering school.] He was being patted down in a separate room from other students. He shot two administrators, leaving them in critical and unstable condition. After the shooting, Lyle left the school building, and he was found dead in Park

County—two hours away from the school. Police couldn’t find a cause for his death. Security systems have developed over the years because of this problem. 94% of schools in the United States have cameras. Some states have installed metal detectors in their schools. After an incident in Virginia where a six-year-old shot his teacher, Newport News School Board announced that metal detectors would be placed in their schools. Instead of metal detectors, some schools have students use clear backpacks to see what they carry inside the schools. Bulletproof backpacks have also been developed over the years, and some are already made in designs for kids in elementary school and younger. Recently, Alabama has invested in whiteboards that turn into saferooms. It is customized to fit into any classroom and to be open within ten seconds. The safe room locks from the inside which activates security cameras and is also bulletproof. This could be used during weather emergencies as well. A Christian elementary school in Nashville experienced a shooting on March 27. Six people, three children and three adults, were killed. The police identified the suspect as Audrey Hale; a twenty-eight-year old and former student. Body footage was found of the attacker driving to the school as well as entering the school. Hale bought seven weapons legally, although only three weapons were used at the school. When the police arrived at the school Hale was found and was killed by the police. The shooter had maps drawn of the school. Police haven’t discovered a motive for the shooting. This incident reignited calls for Congress to do more in

order to prevent future school shootings. Schools that have suffered with gun violence have seen a drop in student enrollment. School shootings don’t just affect the people in the school but can also affect the families and community. In some cases some families relocate from towns, neighborhoods or schools.

Since 2018, America’s school shootings have increased by 50%. In the year 2022, there have been over 300 school shooting incidents.

Students that experienced a school shooting may not have been physically injured but it can be a consequence for their mental health. Any witness of a school shooting can suffer traumatic stress which could escalate into a larger problem like being anxious or depressed. According to Children Hospital Of Philadelphia, most witnesses would have temporary symptoms, but others, especially children, could go on for longer and could possibly develop into chronic psychiatric disorders. Short-term symptoms can affect academic achievement and social and emotional growth within the students. Knowing the motive that causes these tragedies could help our community be aware of signs that may cause future danger. Most school shootings are caused by students from their own school. Students say that school shootings are

Another big cause for [violent] actions is being exposed to violence at home. They could’ve been a victim of abuse or seen abuse anywhere else.

caused for revenge towards the school or for someone else. On February 14, 2018, Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people and injured 17 others. He was an expelled student, and the year before, school staff had been warned about Cruz, he was known as a troubled teen and was a risk for student safety. He confessed to a psychologist that his motivation was revenge and misanthropy (hatred towards humankind). Another big cause for these actions is being exposed to violence at home. They could’ve been a victim of abuse or seen abuse anywhere else. Some signs that can be looked for are if they threaten someone with direct violence, talk about using weap-

ons or brag about them, or suddenly distancing themselves from their close ones. After the Columbine massacre on April 20 1999, there has been an increase of school shootings. Others took ‘inspiration’ from this incident and tried to recreate it. Adam Lanza fired arms at Sandy Hook elementary school on December

14, 2012, killing twenty children and six staff members. He had an obsession with the Columbine High school massacre. Lanza was found dead, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound next to a classroom. The increase of school shootings has caused fear in students all over America. People have demanded a change, to stop the violence happening in schools. Schools have set rules and have different types of security inside. Every school year teachers talk to their students on how to handle and what to do in case an intruder or someone with a weapon is seen. Stopping gun violence can help students feel safe in schools again.

By the Numbers

By Eve Loehrer | Editor-in-Chief

1/10 gun deaths are 19 0r younger

68% of guns in incidents and shootings at schools were taken from home, family members, or friends over 1 million Americans have been shot in the last decade

Stopping gun violence can help students feel safe in schools again.

Budget Cuts Sweep the State

The Lawrence School District tackles their budget woes with school closures

By Eve Loehrer | Editor-in-Chief

While the Olathe School District has cut back on funding for programs to alleviate debt, the Lawrence School District will take a different approach. Lawrence Superintendent Anthony Lewis recommended that Broken Arrow, Pickney, and Woodlawn elementaries be closed and Liberty Memorial Central Middle School be repurposed into a magnet school.

room utilization. In light of the budget cuts the district has faced this year, some have wondered whether closing elementary schools is an option in Olathe.

“We continue to monitor our student enrollment to make the best educational decisions for students while maintaining our established neighborhood school model as a guiding factor in our decision making,” Assistant Director of Communications Erin Schulte said. “Last year, school closures were not the route we wanted to take when we were facing budget realignments.”

Assistant Superintendent John Hutchinson expanded on why the district didn’t consider closing or repurposing schools.

land behind Woodland that’s just now getting developed. That school will probably be one of our bigger ones in five to ten years.”

Sunnyside Elementary, a Chisholm Trail feeder school, has the lowest capacity in the district, currently sitting at 43%.

“Sunnyside at one time was our largest elementary [and] had 800 kids crammed in there. Yes it’s really low now, but you can’t just go ‘oh it’s below 50% let’s get rid of that building,’” Hutchinson explained.

The district uses a neighborhood school model, which means most of the district’s elementaries sit inside and between neighborhoods.

According to The Lawrence Times, this plan would save the district around $1 million. These cuts are part of a longterm plan to cut around $9 million in district spending to improve staff salaries.

“The current utilization of our elementary facilities is 76%, meaning we have about 1,351 available elementary seats. Middle school utilization is 72% or 843 available seats. Projections indicate our enrollment will drop by 300 students by 20272028,” Lewis wrote in a letter to Lawrence families. “Lower enrollment means less funding. The district simply cannot afford to continue to operate this inefficiently.”

Similarly, Olathe has several elementary facilities with low class-

“We’ve grown since our inception in 1964, and we’ve grown every year until COVID,” Hutchinson said. “We’re starting to flatten now [so] we might have some space in some areas while [we’re] overcrowded in others. We may have to look longer-term with that, [but] right now it’s not been a consideration.”

Although four Olathe elementaries are sitting at below 50% capacity, Hutchinson cautions against just closing a school.

“[You’ve got to] be careful,” Hutchinson said. “The last thing you wanna do is try to close the building down, sell it, and then that neighborhood rolls over.” This especially holds true for an elementary school like Woodland. Although the school was at 49% capacity as of 2022, this is projected to increase in upcoming years.

“Sometimes we build a building knowing that it could not be full for a while,” Hutchinson said. “There is a ton of

“[Because] you can see a lot of fluctuation within one [school], you [have to] be careful about just pulling the flag of that school,” Hutchinson said.

If Olathe’s enrollment remains stagnant, we may see proposals for school closures. But according to Hutchinson, it would be several years before any action would be taken.

“It’s always a much longer look on whether or not we should be looking at closing the building,” Hutchinson said.

-

“LOWER ENROLLMENT MEANS LESS FUNDING. THE DISTRICT SIMPLY CANNOT AFFORD TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE THIS INEFFICIENTLY.”

- ANTHONY LEWIS

“WE MAY HAVE TO LOOK LONGER-TERM WITH THAT, [BUT] RIGHT NOW IT’S NOT BEEN A CONSIDERATION.”

JOHN HUTCHINSON

Transgender Athletes: A Hot Button Issue in Kansas and Across the Country

By Eve Loehrer | Editor-in-Chief

For the third year straight, Democratic Governor Laura Kelly has vetoed legislation that would ban transgender girls from participating in women’s sports. But this time, Kelly’s veto has been overridden by both the House and the Senate. HB 2238, introduced on January 31, creates “the fairness in women’s sports act to require that female student athletic teams only include members who are biologically female.”

The bill was initially passed by both the House and the Senate with overwhelming majorities before it made its way to the governor’s desk. Governor Kelly vetoed the bill on Thursday, March 17.

“Let’s be clear [what] this bill is all about – politics,” Kelly said in her veto message. “It won’t increase any test scores. It won’t help any kids read or write. It won’t help any teachers prepare our kids for the real world. Here’s what this bill would actually do: harm the mental health of our students.”

In order to override the veto, a two-thirds majority is needed in both chambers of Congress. The Senate had passed the bill initially with over 70% support, but the House needed to retain at least the amount of support the bill garnered in the initial vote. Both chambers overrode Kelly’s veto on April 5, the House passed the bill with an 8440 margin and the Senate passed the bill 2812. The law will take effect over the summer, completely preventing transgender women from participating in women’s sports starting with the 2023-2024 school year.

There has been significant backlash from transgender activists over the bill. Many have argued that the bill is not necessary as it is estimated that only three transgender athletes are currently competing on the team that aligns with their gender identity in the state. However, Republican legislators that backed the bill argue that it’s best to take action now to “protect women’s sports’’ for the future. “[The bill] would keep trans women out of sports or any trans people out of sports,” freshman Charlie Senu-

ta said. “And it would force people to be people they’re not. [It] would just be absolutely detrimental to so many people.” Additional controversy has stemmed from Democrat Ford Carr’s support of the bill. Carr is a first-term Democrat from Wichita, where he ran unopposed. Having voted against his party may harm his chances of being re-elected in the future. More bills targeting transgender Kansans will likely be passed in the future. Although Kelly has a history of vetoing such bills, the Kansas Legislature has shown its ability to override vetoes. Another bill that is likely to be passed is SB 180, which would “[establish] the women’s bill of rights to provide a meaning of biological sex for purposes of statutory construction.” SB 180 defines gender and terms such as “boy,” “girl,” “mother,” and “father” using biological sex. The bill allows laws to “distinguish between the sexes where such distinctions are substantially related to important governmental objectives,” which includes separating sports, prisons, domestic violence shelters, locker rooms, restrooms, and other state-sponsored services by biological sex. SB 180 has been passed by both chambers with similar margins to HB 2238, and would likely be able to override a veto from Kelly.

Other advancing bills would create a civil cause of action against doctors that provide gender-affirming care, require school trip room assignments to be divided by biological sex, and prevent state funding from being used for drag shows.

Senuta is disappointed about the number of anti-transgender bills currently advancing in the state.

“It just feels out of the blue because there was change happening and everything was moving forward and progressing,” Senuta said.

But Kansas is not the only state advancing in this direction. Indiana and Idaho have passed bans on and criminalized gender-affirming care for minors.

A Kentucky law, described as one of the strictest anti-trans bills in the country, re-

quires schools to divide restrooms by biological sex, prohibits conversations involving gender identity and sexuality in schools for all grades, and bans all gender-affirming care for minors, requiring doctors to de-transition all minors under their care.

Seeing the number of bills being passed can negatively affect the mental health of transgender Americans. According to a survey conducted by the Trevor Project, 86% of transgender and nonbinary youth said the recent debates around anti-trans legislation has negatively impacted their mental health. The Trevor Project also found that suicidal thoughts have trended upward over the past three years among LGBTQ+ youth, with 20% of transgender and nonbinary youth reporting that they had attempted suicide in the past year.

“It’s doing a number on me,” senior Scout Smith said. Despite the controversial political environment in the state, several transgender students reported they feel accepted at North. However, the school district itself still has guidance in place regarding transgender students. “Guidance Related to Gender Identity,” released to teachers in December 2021, advises obtaining parental permission before addressing a transgender student by their preferred name and pronouns and opposes teachers asking their students for their preferred name or pronouns. Because this document is a guidance, it only recommends a course of action to teachers and maintains their ability to make decisions based on the situation. However, legislation along these lines could require teachers to adhere to these guidelines.

Despite the positive experience he’s had at North, Senuta has seen how the guidance has impacted how he’s treated by teachers.

“It’s just disheartening sometimes,” Senuta said. “This is my one place where I have the chance to be who I am and I can’t be. It doesn’t make sense.”

Start Time Tension

District tables tiered busing discussions after a large influx of complaints from parents, teachers, and students

By Vin Parazin | Advertising Manager

After an increase in parent complaints regarding the new potential start times for elementary, middle, and high school students, Olathe Schools Superintendent Brent Yeager announced in an April 5 email that all start times for next year will remain the same.

This email stems from a proposal made in the March 2023 board meeting that would change the start times of elementary, middle, and high school schedules. These were announced due to a critical shortage of bus drivers across the district.

The district announced, in its initial three proposals made in the March 2 board meeting, that high school students would be slated to start high school at 7:30. An updated proposal, released to the public on March 23, also proposed high school start times to begin at 7:40 and 9:00 am. The proposed ending times of these days were 2:30, 2:40, and 4:00, respectively.

show up to first hour,” Foster said. Sophomore Mercury Hasty also believes that the 7:30 start time is detrimental to students’ health.

“I was really confused [about the earlier start times] because it has already been a scientific debate for the past 6-7 years if teenagers should start school at 8 in the morning, so the idea of moving it to 7:30 feels like a joke,” Hasty said.

Data from scientists shows that adolescents are more likely to go to sleep and wake up later. According to a study published by the National Institute of Health, adolescents in six different mammalian species, including humans, had average circadian rhythms that were either one to two hours later than that of younger children. For kids who take their younger siblings to school, the increased gap in school times can also be a challenge.

“Everybody else who doesn’t ride the bus is going to be affected. If we start at 7:30, but elementary [school] starts at 9, then they’re going to have to sit there for an hour and a half,” Hasty said.

However, teacher Mary Loecker believes that, even with a later start time, attendance and productivity among students would be unaffected.

“If we were to push the start time back to 9 o’clock because students feel like they need to get sleep, the same 20 people who would show up at 8:05 would still show up at 9:05,” Loecker said.

trip availability are some of the numerous aspects that the Olathe School District has considered to alleviate the shortage.

Board member Julie Steele warns that these changes could impact students, especially those in need.

“I know the commitment that is long held in this district to provide equitable educational opportunities for all students and [by potentially reducing the payride] we just made this harder on those students,” Steele said.

Around Olathe North, many students expressed concern about the earlier times. Freshman Rylee Foster believes that a 7:30 start would negatively impact the student body at Olathe North.

“We wouldn’t do as well in our morning class and more people wouldn’t

Despite the decision that the Olathe School District made to keep the same times for the 2023-2024 school year, the district will still take measures to address the bus driver shortage. According to the USD 233 website, continued rolling blackouts, elimination of pay-ride services, and reductions in field

She also says that the retention of the current schedule also could reduce the number of field trips that students take, which could negatively affect their future.

“These kids going to colleges and universities [is] a beautiful thing because they start to see themselves, thinking, ‘that that could be them’,” Steele said. “We just made that harder.”

“WE WOULDN’T DO AS WELL IN OUR MORNING CLASS AND MORE PEOPLE WOULDN’T SHOW UP TO FIRST HOUR.”

-RYLEE FOSTER, 9

“I KNOW THE COMMITMENT THAT IS LONG HELD IN THIS DISTRICT TO PROVIDE EQUITABLE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES [...] WE JUST MADE THIS HARDER ON THOSE STUDENTS.”

-JULIE STEELE

Proposed Schedules

Option A

High School: 7:30-2:30

Middle School: 8:00-3:20

Elementary: 8:40-4:00

Option B

High School: 7:30-2:30

Middle School: 8:15-3:15

Elementary: 8:55-3:55

Option C

High School: 7:30-2:30

Middle School: 8:15-3:15

Elementary: 8:50-3:50

Option 1

High School: 7:40-2:40

Middle School: 8:25-3:25

Elementary: 9:00-4:00

Option 2

High School: 7:40-2:40

Middle School: 8:25-3:25

Elementary: 9:00-4:00

*uses a different bus organization than Option 1

Option 2

High School: 7:40-2:40

Middle School: 8:20-3:20

Elementary: 9:00-4:00

“During the months of January-March 2023, the district studied the possibility of a three-tiered transportation system, which is no longer under consideration.”

- Olathe Public Schools Website

Is TikTok No More?

By Alyana Spence | Staff

TikTok, a short-length video service owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, has been a constant headline recently as U.S. politicians continue to call for it to be banned. This move would not be entirely unprecedented as the app has been banned on devices used by the American armed forces for three years already, and other countries such as India have put bans in place as well. Some universities are beginning to follow suit, such as the University of Texas at Austin, Auburn University, and Boise State University which have all banned the platform on their school’s Wi-Fi networks. Bans like this have proved to be easy to get around, as they are not on personal devices so it is easy to simply switch to cellular data to avoid them.

nies from places such as Iran and Russia.

On March 23, TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Chew addressed privacy concerns and answered questions from Congress that mainly seemed to concern TikTok’s relationship with the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party. The hearings sparked negative reactions from the public, as members of Congress seemed to have little understanding of what TikTok was, or even how home wifi operates. One news source even described the hearings as “racist political theater”.

If a ban is not implemented, it is possible that ByteDance would be forced to sell TikTok to an American company or the U.S. could approve TikTok’s plan to operate in the United States, which Chew mentioned multiple times throughout the hearing.

“The bottom line is this: American data stored on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel,” Chew said. “This eliminates the concern that some of you have shared with me that TikTok user data can be subject to Chinese law.”

ering that’s been attributed to TikTok could also be attributed to domestic big tech companies,” Paul said in the Senate. This issue directly affects many students at Olathe North, especially those who do not want the platform to be banned.

Several bills regarding TikTok have been introduced in the U.S. in recent months. In December, a large spending bill was passed that included officially banning TikTok on all government devices. A separate bipartisan bill was introduced around the same time, although not passed, that aimed to ban TikTok completely, and even target similar social media compa-

Critics of the movement to ban TikTok have argued that the privacy and data issues are the same as other social media companies and that Chinese affiliation seems to be the main issue, despite Chew denying multiple times throughout his hearing that TikTok shares any U.S. data with China. Senator Rand Paul has expressed concerns about the unfair treatment of social media companies, as well as arguing that banning TikTok would “emulate” China, as they have already banned the platform.

“Every accusation of data gath-

“I’d be a bit disappointed in our government given that it’s somewhat of an infringement on the First Amendment along with the fact that so many people who didn’t have careers now make their livelihood through TikTok,” senior Walter Bethea said; regarding the possibility of a ban. Many students seem to oppose a ban, regardless of their feelings about the app itself.

“Despite how much I dislike TikTok and its unhealthy habits that it sometimes gives me, I think that banning TikTok would be really bad and insensitive to a lot of people,” senior Leandra Ho said.

Editor

“THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS: AMERICAN DATA STORED ON AMERICAN SOIL BY AN AMERICAN COMPANY OVERSEEN BY AMERICAN PERSONNEL.”

- CEO SHOU CHEW

“DESPITE HOW MUCH I DISLIKE TIKTOK AND ITS UNHEALTHY HABITS THAT IT SOMETIMES GIVES ME, I THINK THAT BANNING TIKTOK WOULD BE REALLY BAD AND INSENSITIVE TO A LOT OF PEOPLE.”

- LEANDRA HO, 12

Internship Spotlight

By Taylor Sales | Photo Editor & Vin Parazin | Advertising Manager

Olathe North is well known for the 21st Century Programs they provide. For many of the programs, as a senior, it’s possible to deeper dive into jobs related to the program. For some, internships are a huge part of the senior experience. Here are some seniors and the internships that they do!

Halle Heeren

Q: What 21st century program are you in?

A: “Sports Medicine.”

Q: Where is your internship at?

A: “Menorah Medical Center.”

Q: What do you do there?

A: “I work as a patient care tech in the cardiac care unit.”

Q: Do you like it? Would you recommend it to other people?

A: “Yes! I think it is a great place and I get to see a lot of things that normal people don’t get to see.”

Q: How do you think this experience will set you up for success later?

A: “I’m getting a lot of clinical hours, so that looks good for college.”

Noble Rafu

Q: What 21st century program are you in?

A: “Med Pro”

Q: Where is your internship?

A: “Village Shalom. It’s a nursing home.”

Q: What do you do there?

A: “I work as a CNA.”

Q: How would you describe your experience? Do you recommend it to other people?

A: “Yes I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in the medical field to see if this is something they actually want to do!”

Jake Hall

Q: What 21st century program are you in?

A: “Sports Medicine.”

Q: Where is your internship at?

A: Chisholm Trail Middle School.”

Q: What do you do there?

A: “I shadow a PE teacher.”

Q: Do you like hanging out with the middle schoolers?

A: “Yeah, we kick back. I just play games with them and I get to talk to them. They’re 8th graders, so we can have an actual normal conversation together and it’s really fun.”

Q: How will this experience set you up for success later?

A: “Well, sometimes a kid will fall and need help back up, and that’s what I want to do, help people back up.”

one step forward EVs: Eventually Vital?

By Jackson Stephens | Copy Editor

Does anyone know the scene from 2002’s Minority Report where Tom Cruise escapes the police station and a chase ensues through a busy highway full of self-driving electric vehicles? No? Well, although Minority Report had some fantastical elements to it (clairvoyant humans that sit in a pool 24/7?) it did actually predict the future with some degree of accuracy.

The push to switch to electric vehicles and hybrids has been going on for the last ten or so years but has really ramped up in recent years with the EU coming to an agreement that no new cars could be built within Union countries unless they were electric cars. The US has also made a similar decision, although it only affects the government’s fleet of vehicles. With all these policy implementations, some people are left in the dust about what benefits a fully electric car has over a hybrid and vice versa, as well as why both cars are different from conventional cars, aside from the different fuels.

Hybrid vehicles are the most similar to a gas-powered car. A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that runs on an internal combustion engine powered by gasoline. While the engine runs, it charges a comparatively small battery that is used to greatly increase fuel efficiency (by more than double what a gas car gets) as well as provide a lifeboat if the vehicle runs out of fuel halfway between towns.

Hybrids do have an electric motor, but it is not designed to be the only motor the car runs on. Hybrids are mostly designed for people who want to test the waters of the EV world without going straight into the deep end, as evidenced by a Department of Transportation study that found that only

5.5% of US car owners owned a hybrid. Electric vehicles have only an electric motor and run completely on electricity. Some electric vehicles have a regenerative braking system that allows the battery to refill from the friction generated by the driver bringing the car to a stop but the main source of energy for the car is at recharging stations. Both hybrids and EVs have their advantages and disadvantages. Hybrids and EVs both get much better fuel efficiency than traditional gas-powered cars but hybrids still run on gas and create emissions. EVs have a much shorter range than both conventional cars and hybrids, though they have zero carbon emissions. When switching to an electric vehicle, most drivers consider their driving habits to be one of, if not the greatest factor in their decision. If they make road trips often or have a longer commute, most drivers will opt for the hybrid because it has the range they need while being more environmentally friendly than a conventional car. On the other hand, if the driver has a short commute or just wants a car to get around town, then the electric vehicle is most likely a better fit for them because they won’t need to worry about the limited range as long as they stay within the city limits. There are also maintenance costs to think about when making the transition. Hybrids use much the same system as a traditional car, so traditional maintenance costs are a good estimate for how much you’ll need to spend to keep a hybrid

running. Electric vehicles, however, run on a completely different system with the main potential issue being battery degradation, which is when the battery decreases in efficiency. This issue isn’t very common but if the battery is past warranty, replacing it can be fairly expensive. As electric vehicles become more and more commonplace and ordinances phasing out conventionally fueled vehicles go into effect, some people are left asking if the switch is really worth it. Electric vehicles have a smaller range than both hybrids and conventional cars while entry-level hybrids are slightly more expensive than their conventional counterparts. People who recently bought a new conventional car aren’t likely to buy a brand new, more expensive car, even if its emissions are lower. The problem, then, shifts from raising awareness about the effects carbon emissions have on the environment to finding a way to convince people to decrease their individual carbon emissions. A large majority of people are aware of the emissions conventional vehicles create but a very small minority are willing to actually do anything about it. Some tax credit policies are in place, where buyers can get some tax relief from the government, but these policies cover less than half the price of the car. Most people would rather buy the thing that is cheaper and more reliable than take a risk on something that is more expensive and unfamiliar.

The future of the planet is very much up in the air and the way we get around drives the direction of our destiny. While the future of transportation is hazy on the horizon, one question remains: when will I get my sick new hover car?

one step back

The Willow Project Sparks Concern

By Menaka Garapaty | Editor-in-Chief

With Earth Day on the horizon, there are many ways to celebrate the beauty of our planet. We were told since elementary school to do our part for the environment by conserving energy, cleaning up the community, and following the Three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. But today, there is so much more that we can do. While the holiday is a time to reflect on advancements in the environmental movement, it is also a chance for us to bring attention to the current problems the planet faces. This Earth Day, the topic of interest is the Willow Project.

the area that the courts would uphold. Senior Geoscience student Carleigh Schuster is very disappointed with ConocoPhillips’ commitment to go through with this project. She believes that the Willow Project may be one of the worst ideas for the future of the environment, as it would industrialize Alaska, affect migration patterns for animals, and change the lives of the residing Native tribes forever.

“This project is extremely detrimental to Alaska’s way of life and would greatly affect the Native tribes that live there,” Schuster said. “I just hate seeing one of the last states that remains mostly uninhabited be run down by oil drilling. I hope [ConocoPhillips] tries to stay as attentive as possible to not ruin the environment more than we already have.”

Geoscience Academy and AP Environmental Science teacher Marsha Skoczek agrees that the Willow Project could have damaging effects to the climate.

as health clinics, youth programs, community projects, schools, and waste disposal systems. However, these economic benefits come at the expense of the country’s valuable habitats and natural resources.

“Even though we are relying less on foreign powers for their oil, we are tearing up our land and ecosystems in the process,” Schuster said. “We will see the effects later down the road. If we get to this point, it may be too late to even try and slow down the process of climate change.”

The Willow Project is a huge drilling operation that was proposed by Alaskan drilling and energy company ConocoPhillips. The Trump Administration approved the project in 2020, allowing construction of five drilling pads on Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve in the North Slope. The Biden Administration had the power to reject the operation, as President Biden promised that there would be no more drilling on federal land during his campaign. However, on March 13, the president approved a “limited” version of the Willow Project, giving the green light on 90% of ConocoPhillips’ operation plans. According to the Biden Administration, they couldn’t completely reject or reduce the project drastically because ConocoPhillips has leases in

“Because [ConocoPhillips is] drilling in protected waters on the northern shores of Alaska, they’re really close to habitats that are not necessarily in danger but they take a long time to heal if they are damaged,” Skoczek said. “Let’s say that there was an oil spill. How are you going to clean up all that oil when it’s covering the icebergs in that really fragile ecosystem?”

Shifting from an environmentalist viewpoint to an economic one, there are some aspects of the Willow Project that benefit America’s position in foreign affairs. According to ConocoPhillips, the operation will produce about 180,000 barrels of oil per day, decreasing America’s dependence on foreign energy. Willow could generate anywhere from $8 billion to $17 billion in revenue “for the federal government, the state of Alaska, the North Slope Borough, and local communities.” Property taxes from the project could help fund services such

So, why should we—Kansan high school students—care about oil drilling in Alaska? Well, the CO2 emissions released from this project will be equivalent to adding 2 million gas powered cars to the road each year. Over the course of 30 years, Willow is expected to emit a total of 260 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, contributing to the current rapid rate of global warming. For this reason, Schuster and Skoczek believe that students should care about the effects of Willow as young people are the ones that will be living with the consequences.

“[Students] should be pushing for more alternative energy sources or green energy, like solar or wind or something else that’s not going to be produc-

“[Students] should be pushing for more alternative energy sources or green energy...”

- Marsha Skoczek

“Even though we are relying less on foreign powers for their oil, we are tearing up our land and ecosystem in the process.”

- Carleigh Schuster, 12

ing all of those greenhouse gases that are contributing to climate change,” Skoczek said. Along with advocating for a future of renewable energy sources, there are day-to-day actions that we can take to make a difference. Skoczek suggests contacting senators and representatives at the state and federal level, and telling them your thoughts on the Willow Project, as well as other operations that impact the environment. Additionally, take time to reflect on the businesses you regularly buy from, and research

companies are you supporting?”

- Marsha Skoczek

their climate goals. If you disagree with their stance, let them know with your pocketbook.

“What companies are you sup-

porting? Are you supporting companies when you go to the store or when you go to the gas station that are trying to move toward more green solutions? Just do your research,” said Skoczek. So while the future of our planet may be in the hands of politicians, environmentalists at Olathe North and nationwide are taking action to address the Willow Project and urging others to do the same this Earth Day.

how you can keep our planet moving forward

By Eve Loehrer | Editor-in-Chief

“What

Spring Holdiays

By Paige Keith | Staff Editor

Ramadan falls on a different date each year, this year starting on March 22. During the entire month of Ramadan, Muslims who choose to participate fast every day from dawn to sunset. They are not to eat anything—including wateruntil they break their fast after sunset for their evening meal. Those that are ill, menstruating, pregnant, or have not yet reached puberty are exempt from Ramadan.

“I have been taking part in Ra-

I will either go back to sleep or stay up and get ready for school. After school I pray, do my homework, and sometimes nap. At around 7:45 pm, I break my fast. My family and I pray Maghrib (the fourth prayer of the day) and Taraweeh (an optional night prayer). By this point it’s around 10 pm, and I catch up on things like homework and have another dinner-like meal.”

Throughout this time of self-sacrifice, there are constant reminders to strengthen your faith. When people face the challenge of Ramadan, not only are they challenging their physical strength but mental and spiritual wellness as well.

and abstain from eating meat on Fridays or fasting.

This is supposed to serve as a reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice.

For some, this challenge is easy.

madan ever since I was a kid Born into a religious household, I began fasting at a young age, around nine-ish,” senior Abrahim Ansari said. “The hardest part about Ramadan is staying disciplined and being active in our faith. Out of the 12 months of the year we only have one Ramadan, so as a Muslim we must fulfill our duties this month.”

During Ramadan, entire schedules can shift to accommodate this holiday.

When asked what a typical day looks like during Ramadan, senior Bousso Drame said “Currently, I wake up at 5:15 am. I eat a light meal, usually yogurt, fruit, or oatmeal. By 5:45 it’s time to pray Fajr (the morning prayer).

By 6:00 am

When asked if it’s a challenge to abide by the guidelines of Ramadan as an athlete, Ansari said “most definitely it is a challenge for me. No water or nothing to eat really takes a toll on me during tennis, but for me, it’s all a mental game. If I can push through six hours of school then I can push through a couple more hours of tennis. Ramadan is all about discipline. For inspiration, I look towards famous athletes, like Kyrie Irving, who is also fasting this month. He gives me hope to push through Ramadan.”

Lent and Easter usually do not coincide with Ramadan bcause the Islamic and Christian calendar run on two different schemes of calculation. This year, however, the two holidays overlap.

Lent is the six-week peri od leading up to Holy Thursday and is a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. The climax of Lent is Holy Week, which commemorates the last week of Jesus’ life, including the Last Supper and Crucifixion. For 40 days and 40 nights, Catholics surrender something

“If you give something up, I guess it is hard to resist the temptation to do whatever you give up, but personally I don’t think Lent is hard,” St. Teresa’s Academy senior Emily Cisper said. For others, it’s a struggle.

“It sucks I can’t eat meat on Fridays during Lent,” Rockhurst senior Tommy Cisper said. “I cheat on the meatless Fridays a lot without even knowing. Sometimes now [for Lent] I don’t even give anything up or I give up something that means nothing to me so that it’s easier to accomplish.”

Both Lent and Ramadan end in a joyful celebration. Ramadan concludes with the fast breaking festival, Eid al-Fitr. In most communities, Eid is celebrated by indulging in delicious meals gathered by family.

Lent ends with Easter, the festival of Resurrection, which celebrates new life in Christ. Though Easter is celebrated by many who don’t practice the religion associated with it, it is common among many to spend the holiday splurging on candy and/or surrounded by family. Many Christians/Catholics celebrate Easter Sunday with a special church service before said candy splurging.

“[The] Hardest part about Ramadan is staying disciplined and being active in our faith.”

-Abrahim Ansari, 12

Big Wins for ON Clubs!

Big Wins for ON Clubs!

DECA is off to Orlando

By Menaka Garapaty | Editor-in-Chief

From March 5 to March 7, 33 Olathe North DECA members competed at the DECA State Career Development Conference (SCDC) at Johnson County Community College. Competitors took part in events within the career clusters of Business Administration, Marketing, Finance, Hospitality & Tourism, and Entrepreneurship in hopes to qualify for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). After the three-day competition, a record number of 22 students from Olathe North DECA qualified for ICDC and are off to Orlando.

The SCDC competition consisted of Individual Events and Written Events. When a competitor takes part in an Individual Event, they complete two “Role Plays” and take a Career Cluster exam that contributes to their overall score.

Junior DECA officer Sareena

Kandalkar competes in the Restaurant and Service Management event, which falls under the Hospitality and Tourism cluster.

“During a role play, I assume the position of a service worker and solve a dilemma in the given scenario,” Kandalkar said. “I then have ten minutes to strategize a plan, and another ten minutes to present the solution to a judge!”

Written Events are optional for competitors and include Business Operations Research Events, Integrated Marketing Campaign Events, Entrepreneurship Events, and more, where students prepare business plans to present to judges.

“For a written business plan event, my partners and I present our business plan to a judge and then answer questions about the campaign,” Kandalkar said.

Those who qualified for ICDC placed top three in their Individual Event

or top two in their Written Event. Over the past few years, Olathe North DECA has seen an increase in the number of students that qualified for ICDC, with just fewer than ten qualifiers three years ago. Kandalkar attended ICDC in Atlanta last year and enjoyed her experience. “Now we’re off to Orlando to compete against people from all across the world!” Kandalkar said. “ICDC is a weeklong event including an extravagant opening ceremony, DECA night at Universal studios, the Grand Awards ceremony, and so much more. The city will be filled with DECA members as we trade pins from our states and meet so many new people!”

Olathe North had one of its most successful seasons this year, and there is more in store for the chapter as they head to Orlando. Best of luck to Olathe North DECA at ICDC!

Science Olympiad Places 2nd at State

By Jackson Stephens | Copy Editor

The Olathe North Science Olympiad team had been busy experimenting with the best ways to win their upcoming state competition in Wichita ever since their second place finish at regionals on February 25.

Science Olympiad sponsor Brett Kippley was very proud of the team, particularly noting their 12 top three finishes out of 23 events, as well as being in the top six in eight other events.

“That was pretty good. We usually do pretty well but that was a very good showing for us overall,” Kippley said.

I caught up with team members Matt Coffman and Joey Wiltanger to get their thoughts before the state competition. Both stated that they had definitely prepared for this event, though their methods were slightly different.

Coffman referred to his

preparation as “Rocky IV-esque” while Wiltanger stated that he had been “practicing, putting in the work.”

I asked them if they had any predictions going into the weekend of April 1 and again, they had varying answers.

Coffman, who does Scrambler, It’s About Time, and Trajectory, believed that “a middle schooler will embarrass themselves, their school, or their family by acting a fool at the competition.”

Wiltanger, one of the team’s resident Chemistry Lab, It’s About Time, Codebusters, Fermi Questions, and Forensics experts, simply predicted that the North SciO team would “ball hard.”

Both of these team members are seniors, which raises an interesting dilemma. If the team places first at state, they get a ticket to nationals, which is on the same day as a major school event.

“It’s gonna be the weekend of graduation, so the seniors will have to make a difficult decision. Do they want to compete at nationals or do they want to go to graduation? That’s gonna be something that we’ll talk about if we make it there but right now we’re just looking at the next competition in front of us,” Kippley said. Unfortunately, North placed second at state this year, just behind Blue Valley North, a school that they’ve been neck-in-neck with for the last few years. Even though they didn’t come out on top, Kippley is still glad the team got the experience. “[Blue Valley North is] good competition, it’s healthy competition, and I think we do better because they do better. I think it makes the entire state as a whole look better,” Kippley said.

FCCLA’s Success at Regionals

By Menaka Garapaty | Editor-in-Chief

Olathe North FCCLA has received a number of accomplishments this school year. Last month, FCCLA members competed at the Regional competition where senior co-presidents Bousso Drame and Liana Stowell placed first in the Interpersonal Communications category. They are very excited to advance to the State level competition in Wichita, which will take place from April 16 to April 18. FCCLA stands for Family, Community, and Career Leaders of America. It is a nonprofit national organization that focuses on Family and Consumer Sciences education through four career pathways: Hospitality & Tourism, Visual Arts & Design, Educa-

tion & Training, and Human Services.

“Many students join FCCLA because of their FACS interests, which can range from education to culinary skills,” Stowell said. At the Olathe North chapter, students focus on STAR (competitive) events, service projects, and fundraisers.

“One of our most recent community service activities has been baking cookies for our bus drivers to express our gratitude towards them!” Stowell said. For FCCLA members that choose to compete, students can pick from over 50 STAR events. They can demonstrate their knowledge of the topic by identifying an issue concerning families and communities,

research the specific challenge, and implement a project to advocate for change. “Some of our most recent accomplishments have been in our STAR event competitions.” Stowell said. “At the regional competition, Bousso and I received first place in our category!”

Stowell and Drame are excited to move on to FCCLA State, where they hope to advance even farther. Junior Konner Nguyen will also attend State to compete in the Culinary Arts STAR Event.

“We hope to qualify for the National Competition, which will be held in Colorado this summer!” Stowell said.

MAPS Team’s Trip to Seattle

By Jackson Stephens | Copy Editor

This January, members of Olathe North’s MAPS club submitted their research paper abstracts to the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB). If their abstracts got accepted, then they got to fly out to Seattle to attend a conference with other scientific researchers who also submitted abstracts and got them accepted.

Chris Elniff, the MAPS sponsor, is very proud of the group’s success this year.

“All of our abstracts got accepted this year, which is really cool. That allowed us to take those projects to the conference and actually present that research,” Elniff explained.

MAPS member Meirah Paul submitted a successful abstract that dealt with a protein with medical applications. “My project was about a protein in the liver called OATP1B3, or the organic anion transporting polypeptide, which is a liver drug transporter that works to filter antibiotics and different substrates that enter your bloodstream,” Paul explained.

Because Paul’s abstract was accepted, she got to fly to Seattle with 10 other MAPS members and

spend a few days exploring the city.

“We went to some pretty famous restaurants like Din Tai Fung, took lots of pictures, and went to the river market which was super pretty,” Paul remembered.

Paul also enjoyed the conference itself because of the opportunities it afforded her.

“It wouldn’t have been as cool without the research part of it because we were having fun but we were also able to network, learn more about research, and we even got airbrush DNA tattoos!” Paul said.

Paul plans on attending UMKC’s BA/MD program and she’s grateful for the experience the project has given her in her chosen field.

“Research makes up such a big part of medicine, and that’s often ignored. Research is how doctors know what medications to prescribe and what treatments are the most effective. I am not sure if I will continue this specific project, although I hope I can, but I know research will definitely be incorporated into my education at some point!” Paul said.

The interesting thing is that the conference is predominantly attend-

ed by undergraduate students, PHD students, and students on a post-doctorate path, which makes Paul and her fellow MAPS members stand out.

“They are by far the minority being there in high school and that’s always the first comment from anybody who comes and watches our presentations or sees our posters,” Elniff said.

According to Elniff, this recognition is hard-earned.

“Talking to a couple of my teams this year, they estimate that they probably put 80 to 100 hours into the poster and model. It’s a big time commitment, but it’s over the course of a year, so unless they procrastinate, they are able to get it done,” Elniff said. Another reason Elniff likes the conference is because of the learning experience it provides for the MAPS members.

“It can feel overwhelming when you’re in high school and you know that in order to get into the field you have to do undergrad and you do grad school and then you have to do a PhD project. There’s a lot of steps so seeing people further along on that path and seeing that they’re happy and having fun helps students as well,” Elniff said.

Name Brands Aren’t All That

Is the logo of a brand-name worth the price tag?

By Bria Dawson | Staff Editor

Isometimes wear Old Navy leggings. I’m taller and have longer legs, so I have to purchase leggings that are made for longer-legged people. Getting $30 Old Navy leggings that were made specifically for longer legs was nice to have. They didn’t come in any special colors but I didn’t need anything crazy. All I needed was the length. When I would walk into class every day, there was one specific girl who would ask me the same question every single time I would wear my leggings. She would come up to me and look at my leggings then ask, “Are those LuLu?” Every time would be the same answer: no. She would go in depth as to why Lululemon leggings and the brand itself was just so much better as a whole. She would also talk about how my leggings looked and felt like the Lululemon leggings but she was always shocked to find out that they were not Lulu leggings. This made me question how people think of brands. If my Old Navy leggings looked like Lululemon leggings and even

felt like Lululemon leggings, why would one go the lengths to pay hundreds of dollars for something that you can get on sale for $30? I honestly should have just lied to her. Told her that they were Lululemon leggings. I bet she would’ve believed me. The material felt the same and it looked the same. How could she tell that it was different?

Logos. The name. The status. Lululemon is considered one of the best luxury sportswear brands. People will buy a product from a brand just because of the logo on the clothing. The clothing could be just as good as another brand or even a generic company but because it has the little Lululemon logo on the back, it is worth every penny. This brings me to the question, why are we drawn to brands? The clothes are made the same and produced just as well but why do people pay for these things just because they are made by a certain brand? Clothing as a whole has been a status symbol. Clothing dates back to all of history and even back then, your clothing was a status symbol. Only the richest

best quality. As the world has evolved and changed, clothes have got away from the look of the clothes and more to logos that are put on them. Your clothes can be a status symbol just because of the logo that is on it. The brands such as Lululemon and Nike have built a reputation and to most, wearing brands like these put you on a pedestal. This can be said about any other big brand. Think about the status that Apple products have over Android products. Having an android, at least in our generation’s eyes, is a poor version of a phone and people often make fun of those who have these phones. But if we were to take a look back and see it for what it really is, those who buy Apple products are only buying the logo. Of course there are things that Apple produces that are better than Androids but the same could be said about Androids. People are paying thousands and thousands of dollars for a phone that does the same thing, just because of the apple on the back of the phone. I have nothing against brands such as Lululemon. Even I am a victim of buying certain brands just because of the little symbol it has on the product. Personally, Lululemon doesn’t work for me as a taller person. It is very hard to find things that fit me that are affordable. It doesn’t make sense to pay hundreds of dollars for something that won’t even fit just because of the logo on the back.

“It doesn’t make sense to pay hundreds of dollars for something that won’t even fit just because of the logo on the back.”

Student Spotlight

By Bria Dawson | Staff Editor

Q&A with Olathe North Track and Field/Cross Country Athlete, Shea Johnson (10) getting into the life of a strong athlete.

What drives you to keep going as an athlete?

I am motivated by my teammates and my coaches because I never want to let them down or disappont them so I always work my hardest for them.

When did you start running track/XC?

I started running track and cross country in the 6th grade when we were able to join because that was the only sport 6th grade could

How do you condition for your sport?

We run 6 times a week, a faster workout on Monday, recover on Tuesday, mile repeats on Wednesday, recovery run on Thursday, race on Friday and a long run on Saturday.

What is the hardest workout you do and why? The hardest workout I do is called the Grim. It is mentally and physically challenging because the workout is supposed to push you to your limits and simulates a race feeling. The hardest part is mentally staying strong for the next rep.

What is your favorite event(s)?

My favorite events are the 5k and the 2 mile because I have more endurance than speed so I prefer the longer races.

What is your best time?

My best time for the 5k is a 18:11 and my best 2 mile is a 11:11.

SPRING

Track & Field

By Nate Gunderson | Staff Writer

The Olathe North boys track and field team have had a successful season so far. They’re looking to repeat as state champions after last year’s historic run, where they took first at state with 112 total points. What makes this even more remarkable is that the next closest team only had a total of 56 points. The team is led by a strong group of seniors including returning state champions Jason and Josh Parrish. The group also includes returning state placers Micael Canseco, Christian Harris, Joe Oulette, Cam Willis, and Ian Quarles.

“Having that feeling behind us and having already succeeded last year, it keeps us going because we know the work that we put in it pays off. We just have to keep doing what we’ve al-

ways done and keep working harder than anyone else. We just have to stay focused and not get a big head,” Canseco said. Meanwhile, the girls track and field team is also poised to have a historic season. They are led by returning state champion senior KaLiyah Jordan as well as state placers Riley Jahner and Ella Bentley. To go along with this, they also boast a talented group of underclassmen including Chloe Nelson, Megan Avey, Mackenzie Batten, and Raegan Foster. This season, junior Raegan Foster broke the school record in the 400 yard dash with a time of 58.57. The team is looking to continue this success and hope to win the state title later this year.

“WE JUST HAVE TO KEEP DOING WHAT WE’VE ALWAYS DONE AND KEEP WORKING HARDER THAN ANYONE ELSE. WE JUST HAVE TO STAY FOCUSED AND NOT GET A BIG HEAD.”

-MICHAEL CANSECO, 12

Left: Senior KaLiyah Jordan passes a Mill Valley runner at a meet. | Photos by Ja’Liyah Davis Center: Junion Isaac Goitom prepares to throw shotput.

Right: Distance runner senior Ray Kosgei runs at a recent meet.

Softball

By Nate Gunderson | Staff Writer

Moving over to the diamond, our girls softball season has also started up. Last year they had a tremendous season, falling just short of the state title after getting knocked out by Topeka, who had beat them the year prior in the state title game. This year, they’ve started the season off at 2-2, with two extremely close losses. Despite this, they’re still in a prime position to make a run at the Sunflower and State title this year. The team’s only Senior is three-year starter Senior Rilee Irby. Irby lost her freshman year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Losing my freshman season was rough. Especially knowing that our team had a great shot at at the State title that year,” Irby said. However, this has not deterred Irby at all in her hopes of winning a title this year. “Being the only senior is definitely a large challenge knowing that all my teammates are counting on me. It’s my duty to make sure everyone’s motivated and staying focused on the task at hand,” Irby said. The team is looking to build off their success in previous years and finally capture that illustrious State Title and send their Senior Captain out with a bang.

“IT’S MY DUTY TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE’S MOTIVATED AND STAYING FOCUSED ON THE TASK AT HAND.”

-RILEE IRBY, 12

Above: Senior Rilee Irby is up to bat in the April 6 game against Gardner Edgerton.

Below: Junior Mia Williams pitches on April 6. | Photos by Crystal Babb

Above: Junior Mia Williams, sophomore Lailah Simmons, and sophomore Sophie Herman congratulate eachother at their game against Gardner-Edgerton.

Underwhelmed By Underdogs Underwhelmed By Underdogs

By Nate Gunderson | Staff Writer

The NCAA tournament is the most enthralling event in the entire sports world. In no other sport can an obscure team that you’ve never heard of like Loyola Chicago, UCMB, Butler, George Mason come out of seemingly nowhere and beat a perennial powerhouse school like Virginia, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Kansas or Duke. That’s why not just college Basketball fans, but fans all across the world watch March Madness. We love an underdog story. However, while we love these stories while they’re going on, the casual fan tends to stop watching by the time their bracket is busted or the underdog eventually gets beat. Everybody loves it if we have that one underdog story who beats all odds and makes the final four, but not when you have 4! TV ratings show that by the end

of the tournament the names that draw viewers are the Blue Blood schools or the superstar NBA draft prospect. Well, this year’s Final has neither of these. If I were to ask you to name all 4 teams who made the final four or name a player from each team, chances are you wouldn’t be able to. This year’s final four includes 5 seeds San Diego State and Miami, 9 seed Florida Atlantic, and then the overwhelming favorites of the remaining teams in UCONN. Out of all these teams, there is one player who is projected as a top 50 player in this year’s upcoming draft, UCONN’s Jordan Hawkins who is the 15th ranked prospect. No offense to Hawkins he’s a great player, but the casual fan isn’t going to tune in just to watch him play. This year’s Final Four projects to be the least watched in the history of the modern era of March Madness.

Why were the March Madness Final Four games lacking viewership this year?

“In no other sport can an obscure team you’ve never heard of [...] come out of nowhere and beat a perennial powerhouse school [...]”

ON Staff Slays Slang

By Taylor Sales | Photo Editor

Every semester students tend to come in with new words or phrasesthat tend to throw off staff members. Some words students are using a lot lately are rizz, dupe, fit, ship, and slay. Hearing teachers use these new trending words is always entertaining. I asked a student to use the terms and then asked staff members to use them in a sentence. Some were correct and others were just a good laugh.

Vin Parazin:

Rizz: “Paige has got a lot of rizz.”

Dupe: “So I bought a Louis Vuitton dupe, but it was actually real.”

Fit: “This is my fit check.”

Ship: “I don’t ship people, I think that’s overrated.”

Slay: “You aced that math test. Major slay!”

“Jackson has no rizz.”

“Dupe Lululemon leggings on Amazon.”

“I like your fit.”

No comment for “ship”

“Girl Slay!”

No comment for “rizz”

“You fooled them. You’ve been duped.”

“My Schulte, I like your fit.”

“I ship them”

“You’re killing it. Okay slay!”

“He is risen.”

“You’re a dupe.”

“You’re fit.”

“A ship sailed.”

“Jackson’s slay.”

“I’m rizzless.”

“Dude, don’t step in the dupe.”

“I workout. I’m so fit.”

“I’m shipless too. I have no ship status.”

“KU did not slay their tournament games.”

Crystal Babb

Newpaper/ English

Kelsey Fisher FACS

Brent Schulte History

Amanda Harrington Sports Med

Spring Break Memories

By Vin Parazin | Advertising Manager

From

Above: Senior Katie Bauman visited the natural history museum in Los Angeles, California.

Top Right: Freshman Ruly Morffi skiied down the slopes in Colorado.

Bottom Right: Senior Tayor Sales visited the shores of the Point Loma community in San Diego, where she will be going to school next year.

Below: Senior Rowan Riggs auditioned for the marching band for the University of Arkansas and made it.

Above: Junior Sydney Ratliff’s picture overlooking Paris, France from the Distinguished Scholars Europe trip.

Top Left: Junior Sydney Ratliff visiting St. Pauls Cathedral in London, England.

Left: Senior Jessica McCue posing for the camera during a sunset on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Bottom Left: Senior Ella Robinson visiting a Florida beach.

Below: Senior Ella Robinson poses for a picture in Disney’s Epcot theme park.

A little bit about Assassins

By Vin Parazin | Advertising Manager

The Olathe North community’s Assassins game officially started on March 24, and has been going strong. In the game, each student pays to participate. Each participant has a target, and, in order to eliminate their target, must spray water in the form of either a water gun, a spray bottle, or a water balloon. If their elimination attempt is successful, then they must prove it in the form of a picture. That picture gets posted to a group on Twitter. There are multiple “rounds” in a game. To survive a round, a person must eliminate their target within the timeframe. If they don’t eliminate their target, they will be eliminated at the end of the round. Ultimately, once all other players have been eliminated, the winner of the game receives a cash prize of $600. There are numerous “safe

Faith Fitts Junior

Eliminated Player

Q: What is your favorite part of the game?

A: “My favorite part of the game was the week leading up to the game starting—everyone trying to figure out who has who, plans being formed, and secret alliances being made.”

zones,” including all Olathe North property, a target’s workplace, and their religious site. Anything outside these zones is fair

get celebrating after a track meet.

game for players to eliminate their targets.

Junior Faith Fitts says that she found and eliminated her tar-

Kyleigh Connell Senior Coordinator

Q: What is your favorite part about being a coordinator?

A. “Probably overseeing everything and running the game my way, haha!”

“I got my target at IHOP after a track meet.” Fitts said. “After trying two other times to get her, this one finally worked and went as planned.” With the sheer places of fair game, and the popularity of Assassins outside of Olathe North, many other Assassins players throughout the United States have taken dangerous methods in eliminating players. There are numerous news reports of car accidents related to the game. Additionally, a news station in Boston has reported specific cases of passerby mistaking water guns for real guns. Safety aside, it’s most important to have fun with the game. “I would recommend the game to other people,” Fitts said. “I think it’s a fun way to finish off the end of the school year.”

Isaac Goitom Junior Player

Q: Who did you eliminate and what was their reaction?

A: "[I eliminated] Hamza Lamrani, and he wasn’t surprised because he knew I was coming for [him]."

“LOWER ENROLLMENT MEANS LESS FUNDING. THE DISTRICT SIMPLY CANNOT AFFORD TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE THIS INEFFICIENTLY.”

- ANTHONY LEWIS

April Confessions

By Paige Keith | Staff Editor

My friends seem like strangers now and I’m watching them live our good memories with other people.

My sneaky link has the personality of a saltine cracker. But without salt, just dry and bland.

I play smash or pass when I walk in the hallway.

She cheated on me (with a girl) but managed to convinced me it meant nothing.

Multiple of my ex’s homies have hit me up since we split...

The vape detectors DO NOT WORK!

I was in love with my current girlfriend the entire time I was with my ex.

My first girl kiss was her cheating on her boyfriend.

I manifested my boyfriend.

James Webb Reveals All!

By Jackson Stephens | Copy Editor

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to travel back in time? Chances are pretty good you have. Every time you go outside on a clear night and look up, you’re instantly transported between four and 16,308 years in the past. Depending on which star you look at, your ticket to the past is punched with a different arrival time.

Distances in the universe are measured in a length called a light year, which is the distance light travels in a year. So when we say a star is five light years away, that means the light from that star took five years to reach our eyes, meaning that light is five years old. Being able to see into the past may seem exciting, but astronomers are over the moon when a faraway galaxy (more than 13 billion light years away) is discovered that offers new insight into what the universe was like in its infancy.

While looking at the night sky is cool, to really see what’s going on in the universe you have to use a telescope. Most ground based telescopes can see a lot farther than the human eye, but even they are limited by Earth’s atmosphere because it absorbs electromagnetic waves on the higher end of the spectrum. Most faraway galaxies are only visible on these frequencies, rendering these kinds of telescopes useless for observing the early years of the universe. This leaves one solution: space telescopes! Telescopes in orbit around Earth aren’t hindered by an obfuscating atmosphere, allowing them to see much further than any telescope on Earth. Up until a year or so ago, this job was mainly filled by the Hubble Space Telescope which was launched in 1990 and has been taking pictures of the cosmos ever since.

Hubble was the main tool used by astronomers to study early galaxies until the James Webb Space Telescope took to the skies in December of 2021. Webb was not fully deployed until August of last year even though it took its first picture a month prior.

Ever since then, Webb has been teaching us more and more about the cosmos on a weekly basis. Olathe North Geoscience teacher Staci Cavanaugh has been in the know about the things Webb has sent

back to us since it took that first picture back in July. In fact, one of Cavanaugh’s favorite pictures is one of Webb’s first snapshots. “My favorite [picture] is one of the first five images released: the Carina Nebula. It shows never before seen stars forming within the cosmic cliffs of gas and dust that is the nebula,” Cavanaugh said. One of the great things about Webb is its ability to let us play space tourist and see things we couldn’t see with Hubble. Two things set Webb apart from Hubble: its eyes and its size. Hubble can see things in the UV and visible light part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which have granted us some fantastic views, but Webb sees mainly in the infrared portion of the spectrum, allowing us to see much further than Hubble due to the redshift of the light of receding galaxies. Additionally, Webb’s primary mirror is about six times larger than Hubble’s, which means that it can collate much more light and take a more detailed picture. Cavanaugh thinks these differences set Webb apart from Hubble in a completely unprecedented way. “It is impossible to truly convey the significance of Webb’s data thus far. With our ‘new set of eyes’ we can see nebulae in greater detail than ever before. Astronomers will be able to see some of the first galaxies ever formed after the Big Bang,” Cavanaugh explained. Being able to see these galaxies that were around when the universe was in its infancy is huge scientific news because it allows us to gain a greater understanding of what the uni-

verse was like back then and how things got to where they are now. It’s about as close as we’ll get to seeing the Big Bang. Will we see the Big Bang? According to Cavanaugh, chances are pretty slim. “I truly don’t know if Webb would be capable of seeing the Big Bang. Ideally, the heat from that event would be too small for Webb’s mirrors to detect,” Cavanaugh said. Since Webb can see mostly in the infrared spectrum, a lot of the detail it captures depends on the heat emitted from faraway objects. The heat emitted from those early galaxies was already so “tiny” that the dot that showed up had to be magnified copiously to determine what it was. This means that looking even further back to the Big Bang is probably impossible. Despite this disappointing prognosis, Cavanaugh is excited about what the future holds for Webb. “Webb proved that we could fold up a large telescope and deploy it in space, which means more big space telescopes in the future! It also has a tennis court sized sunshield to block out heat instead of using coolant onboard, which will allow for longer lifetimes of future missions,” Cavanaugh said. Cavanaugh was also very excited about how future generations will interact with the data Webb collects, noting that “[t]his technology will allow us to see life signatures on exoplanets (planets not in our solar system) and detect the most detailed data on star formation. Textbooks will need to be rewritten from what Webb will continue to discover!”

Above: The cliffs of the Carina Nebula | Courtesy of NASA

Here’s What You Should Watch: Reality Dating Show Edition!

Art by Eve Loehrer | Editor-in-Chief

Love Island (UK)

By Menaka Garapaty | Editor-in-Chief

No reality dating show, from The Bachelor to Too Hot To Handle, can compare to the brilliance of Love Island UK. To be completely transparent for this review, I have only seen one type of Love Island, that being the UK version. And I have only seen season eight, as each season can be from 45 to 60 episodes long. But I do not need to watch any more seasons or versions of Love Island to tell you that Love Island UK is top tier. The Hulu show follows a group of British “bombshells” looking for love over eight weeks in an island villa. They pull each other for chats, complete challenges,

Where to Watch: Hulu

Rating: 10/10

and couple up every few weeks, all with the risk of getting kicked out of the villa based on the viewers’ votes. But the reason I find so much joy watching, specifically, the UK version of Love Island, is the immersive experience of the British vernacular. Within all the arguments and banter, British slang is a constant, and there are specific phrases that every contestant uses. This includes the consistent use of “100% percent,” to show they agree with each other even when they obviously don’t fully agree with each other. And they say it like “hundruh-pecen.” Also, in the first ten episodes, they will always

The Perfect Match

By Bria Dawson | Staff Editor

This show stars past reality TV icons who didn’t end up finding love on the first show(s) they were on before. One interesting thing about this show is that the contestants are only from other Netflix Reality TV shows, such as The Circle, The Mole, and Too Hot to Handle. The name of the game is to find a perfect match with the people that are living within the

say “it’s early days” when asked how they feel about another “bombshell.” And other staple phrases/terms include, “I don’t want to step on anyones’ toes,” “Crack on,” “Bunda,” “Has your head turned?” and “You’re my type on paper, but…” If you want to hear these phrases in action, while experiencing a roller coaster of emotions throughout 49 episodes, Love Island UK is the show for you. Overall, as a credible American viewer, I strongly believe that Love Island UK reflects the epitome of British culture.

Where to Watch: Netflix

Rating: 7/10

house. There are five girls and five boys that live in the house. Every day, two new people are invited into the house and the people within the house get to choose to keep the match they have, or pair up with a new person. At the end of the night, the last two people without a match are sent back home. What made this show so good was definitely the people featured in it.

Because the show is run by the streaming service, Netflix, they only had the most interesting and problematic people on The Perfect Match. There was a good mix of drama and amazing challenges for the pairs to test their own compatibility, which helped them realize who was really the best fit.

Despite Controversy, The Weeknd’s Career is Still Going Strong

By Alyana Spence | Staff Editor

Canadian singer and songwriter

Abel Tesfaye, known publicly as The Weeknd, has broken countless records since his rise to fame. The Weeknd now has five diamond singles, which makes him only the fourth artist to earn five or more diamond certifications.

Many Olathe North students are a part of Tesfaye’s fanbase. According to a poll of 37 Olathe North students, 65% of respondents claimed that they listen to The Weeknd’s music.

Recently, Tesfaye has been dominating the Spotify charts, becoming the first artist in Spotify history to hit 100 million monthly listeners, and the number has continued to rise even after he hit this mark. Tesfaye already held the

title for most played song of all time on the platform with his hit single “Blinding Lights,” which was released in 2020.

In June 2021, news broke out that Tesfaye was working on writing and planning his own television series. A few months later, actress Lily-Rose Depp was cast as a lead in the show alongside Tesfaye himself, and HBO took over production in November 2021. The series, titled The Idol, features many other big names such as Blackpink member Jennie Kim, singer Troye Sivan, and Shiva Baby star Rachel Sennott, among others. Anticipation for the show only grew when Tesfaye premiered the first teaser for the series while on tour in July 2022. Two more teaser trailers followed, the second released in August 2022 and the third in October 2022. The exact date for the release has not yet been announced, however, it is set to premiere on HBO Max “in 2023,” according to the platform.

On March 1, Rolling Stone published an article including information from 13 anonymous sources of the show’s cast and crew that claimed The Idol is a disaster and described the show as “twisted torture porn.” The article, written by Cheyenne Roundtree, claimed the upcoming series was having major production issues including delays and rewrites, and that these problems were the result of Sam Levinson, director of Euphoria, taking over as director. Many of the sources also claimed that the show had originally intended to highlight the ways the entertainment industry takes advantage of

women, but had completely deviated from this feminist perspective after Levinson replaced Amy Seimetz as director. One source explained that they felt as though the series “went from satire to the thing it was satirizing”. Shortly after this article was published, Tesfaye tweeted a clip from the show tagging Rolling Stone and saying, “did we upset you?” The snippet showed Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp’s characters talking with Schitt’s Creek actor Dan Levy, with Tesfaye’s character referring to Rolling Stone as “irrelevant”. This response received mixed reactions. Some fans were angry that Tesfaye did not address the allegations from the article, while others seemed to laugh at the notion that The Weeknd could be “canceled.” This news seems to have had little effect on Tesfaye’s career as it was reported on March 20 that his monthly Spotify listeners have climbed to 111.4 million, nearly 30 million more listeners than second place Miley Cyrus.

RECENTLY, TESFAYE HAS BEEN DOMINATING THE SPOTIFY CHARTS, BECOMING THE FIRST ARTIST IN SPOTIFY HISTORY TO HIT 100 MILLION MONTHLY LISTENERS.

“[THE IDOL] WENT FROM SATIRE TO THE THING IT WAS SATIRIZING.”

the Hallways Heard It in

By Eve Loehrer | Editor-in-Chief

Read some wacky, authentic, out of context quotes from the hallways of Olathe North!

“I wouldn’t steal from a pregnant woman.”

“I would,”

“I’m gonna look him right in the eye, and I’m gonna scream at him.”

“I was like ‘I don’t have the neurotypical brain cells for this.’ But then we got ice cream and I was like ‘mmm ice cream.’”

“If you break someone’s neck, 99% of the time they’ll be dead.”

“We’ve found the cure for cancer. It’s cocaine.”

“Oh to be a plant and photosynthesize.”

“You don’t want to partner up with a liberal Democrat.”

“It’s like gothic Bob Ross.”

“You have a crush on JFK?”

“I’m not going to MLA-cite a sponge from Home Depot.”

“I have Fruity Friday every day.”

“What if there’s no dark side? What if that’s just who I am?”

“I want someone to give me a bouquet of Olive Garden breadsticks.”

“They’re slip-on Converse! Easy access to the dawgs, you know, not that I need it.”

Northviews | April

By Mallory Graybeal | Online Editor

Above: Senior Jack Wilson pitching during the Varsity baseball game on March 31. |

Photo by Leandra Ho

Above: Freshman Kate Figgins dribbles the ball down the field. | Photo by Menaka Garapaty

Above: Senior Ivanna Silva during a stunt. | Photo by Jessica McCue

Above: The girls track team celebrates at a meet. | Photo by Ja’Liyah Davis

Above: Junior Luke Sorrels working inside of a vehicle in the OATC program. | Photo by Leandra Ho