Park Hill Trojan Issue 6 April 2015

TROJAN the

Park Hill High School Kansas City, MO April 2015 Issue 6

PHHS vs. PHS An in depth look at the differences between the two sister schools.

This Story is Dope As the much talked about date (4/20) approaches, legislation about the drug is changing.

Forever Royal After the Royals landmark season, they gear up for a fresh start with some new players.

TROJAN

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PHHS smallest clubs offer big opportunities for school involvement.

6 This Story is Dope As the much talked about date (4/20) approaches, legislation about the drug is changing.

8 10 12

14 The Great Debate

Matt Eblen

A look into the five national qualifiers for PHHS’s award winning debate team.

Copy Editor: Amanda Battmer

16 Humans of PHHS

Design Editor:

Ally Buchberg

CONTENTS

Delaney Noland Andrea Tenney Keeley Myszka Pierce Klempnauer

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Yoga The benefits of yoga and meditation are reaching unlikely participants.

14-15 STAFF

Reporters:

PHHS vs. PHS An in depth look into the income separation between PHHS and PHS, and how it affects the rivalry.

Editor-in-Chief:

Story Editor: Jerron Archer

Forever Royal After the Royals landmark season, they gear up for a fresh start with some new players.

The

Photo Editor: Hattie Saltzman

Extracurricular Underdog

We spotlight those people making a difference here at PHHS.

ABOUT THE COVER

Photo by Matt Eblen Junior Henry Eckold returns a serve during the first home tennis match here at PHHS. The varsity tennis team came home with a 9-0 win over Staley, while JV won with 8-1. Eckold won his match 10-3 and has spent 3 years on varsity.

The Trojan, published monthly during the regular school year, is the official publication of Park Hill High School, and is printed by Antioch Printers in Kansas City, MO. All unsigned editorials represent the opinion of The Trojan staff. Editorials do not necessarily represent the opinion of the faculty or administration including the adviser. The student body receives this paper free of charge to encourage readership, promote awareness of school and community events, and issues, and to showcase student journalistic work. The Trojan welcomes letters to the editors. All letters must be signed to be published, but may be anonymous if the author chooses. Letters may be no more than 350 words and must be delivered to room 350 ten days prior to publication. The Trojan staff welcomes comments, questions and opinions. Send comments to berans@parkhill.k12.mo.us, 7701 Barry Road, Kansas City, Mo 64153, or call 816-359-6238.

ABOUT THE BACK COVER Photo by Matt Eblen

Senior Madison Ogden preforms at the spring sports assembly. She preformed “Something’s Got a Hold on Me” by Etta James. She plans to got to LACM

1. Photo by Andrea Tenney 2. Photo by Matt Eblen 3. Photo by Matt Eblen 4.

Photo by Matt Eblen 5.Photo by Andrea Tenney 6. Photo by Matt Eblen

LETTER FROM

THE EDITOR EAR READERS

D

I’m a pessimistic person. I’m truly a glass is half empty type of guy; I see the world in various shades of dark gray. Yet, despite my somewhat sardonic and dour view on the world, I find humor.

Humor in the darkest of topics. If you give me an awful situation, I will find some type of dark humor. That is one reason I love April.

April Fool’s day. A day in which humiliating your friends is played off as a worldwide joke. Here at The Trojan we once had an April Fool’s day issue. This was easily achievable considering how much cheaper the paper used to be printed at. That issue didn’t go over well. Surprisingly some people didn’t grasp the inherit ironic nature of the issue. So, instead of trying to repeat that past issue, I’ve decided to list some of the headlines for stories that would’ve appeared in this year’s Aprils Fool’s issue.

Nick Cage: He has an Oscar, and Leonardo DiCaprio does not.

Sometimes the world isn’t fair.

Pro Netflixing: As PHHS sports wind down, students gear up for the summer season.

Slim Shady: Did he ever stand up?

Forced Parkour: Is it forced particpation or just pushing?

LARPing: Why not?

School Cafeteria: An Emotional Poem Newspaper vs. Yearbook: They suck, we’re better.

Mixtape: Compton Spice Latte, a young girl’s ascent as a Starbucks king pin.

Mr. Park Hill: This has no joke, I’m just attempting to stay relevant Who really has the best job in Platte County: Hint, it’s totally who you think it is.

College Dreams: Those things that you had in September. Then you realized you were poor.

How to Fail Newspaper by Jerron Archer Most people here at the hallowed PHHS know me for one event, Mr. Park Hill, and from that event it was decided that I am funny.

That is an opinion that I greatly appreciate. And if there was one thing that I learned from that experience, finding humor in even the most dire of experiences is a great virtue. Not to say that the midwest high school male beauty pageant was a dire experience, it was actually quite enjoyable. Mostly because I won. But sometimes life sucks. And by sometimes -- I mean a lot of the time. Yet, as seniors get ready to go their separate ways and underclassmen get ready to drudge through a few more years, I urge everyone to keep humor in your life. You don’t have to smile, I mostly scowl. But i am the first person to laugh.

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MATT EBLEN

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Some of Park Hill’s smallest clubs offer big opportunities for school involvement.

By: Amanda Battmer

UNDERDOGS

Extracurricular

THE

4 CAMPUS

Getting involved in school is a way of life for some students.

Everyone knows of those kids that seem to pop up in every yearbook group photo. Participating in school activities doesn’t have to mean joining every club or attending every big event, however. Park Hill has roughly 46 clubs, and new ones are created every year, leaving a lot of opportunities to get involved.

One of the lesser-known of these organizations is Human Rights Club. Sponsored by social studies teacher Jennifer West, the group started as a way for students to become more knowledgeable about global events and areas around the world that don’t have the same basic human rights as the U.S. With roughly fifteen members, it definitely qualifies as one of PHHS’s more obscure associations.

“I think a lot of students enjoy learning about what’s going on in the rest of the world, but they don’t know about the club. So far what we’ve done has been pretty under the radar,” said West. “I would like to get more underclassmen involved because I know— just my students in World History and AP Human Geography—they like knowing what’s going on in the world, and I think students are especially passionate about personal rights and protecting personal rights. So I think it has the potential to be much more popular.”

Human Rights Club typically goes unnoticed by the majority of the student body, but has attempted greater visibility by promoting topics of discussion and even bringing in a guest speaker.

“At the very beginning of the year, we tried to promote feminism, the new feminism, which is not the man-hating feminism; it’s the approach that we need even men to further the role of women’s rights. I think it was misunderstood, and there were a lot of posters pulled down and people I think lost the message. That might have been also on us, but it was a little frustrating,” said West.

This isn’t the only club to draw some confusion. GSA, an organization aiming to support the LGBTQ community, experienced a similar incident.

“GSA is not only for students that are a part of the LGBTQ community, but also very much open to straight students as well to

come together and provide a fun, supportive, and safe club,” said senior and GSA president Stacia Gray. “We hung up some posters signed by an administrator and a club actually tore our posters down and replaced them with theirs. We’ve tried hanging more posters around the school to gain more members and even tried having multiple movie nights to help also. But unfortunately, we cannot do much else until we gain more members.”

Many of PH’s interest-specific groups are short on members, bust so are more artistic associations. Many don’t realize that PH is home to a creative group known as Art Club.

“It’s fun because you don’t even have to be good at art to be in art club, you can kind of just do whatever you want and be creative and express yourself without being graded on it,” said freshman Ashley Gilland. “I think anyone could have a good time in art club if they came, because they can be creative in any way they want, so I think more members could only benefit.”

Psych Club is another small group that doesn’t require anything but interest to join. Meeting Mondays after school, this club serves as an opportunity to learn about mental functions and behaviors, as well as expose its members to careers in Psychology.

“Psych Club is primarily a way to just get to know different aspects of psychology, because psychology encompasses a lot of different things,” said junior Taryn Huffer. “One of the biggest things we do is the Psych fair, which is where we get a whole bunch of professionals and a couple of colleges and we hold it here to where kids could come and find out exactly what careers you could actually go into and what it requires in college to get a degree in psychology. So I think that was one of the biggest things we did was to try to encourage people to be willing to look at stuff like that.”

All of these smaller clubs offer ample opportunities to get involved, and encourage students to simply show up. Plus, if a favorite hobby or interest isn’t represented by a group at school, any student can create one.

To ensure student safety, the PHSD always keeps up to date on the best ways to prepare students and faculty on what to do in an emergency situation. Fire drills are practiced so frequently at PHHS that students know exactly how to walk out the doors and stand in a line until cued to re-enter the building. However, intruder drills are not performed as often. Most likely because it is difficult to predict what an active shooter might do. With a new Missouri law that has recently surfaced, PHHS has begun to reconsider their methods on how to handle the event of an armed intruder.

According to the law, all employees of the school must receive training on how to effectively respond to a threatening situation and how to address potentially dangerous encounters in the school. The training requires each participant to know and understand how to respond in the event of an actual emergency.

Teachers and other employees have been trained to initiate the Run, Hide, Fight response.

“There are several things to be considered when initiating a Run, Hide, Fight response. Determining where the intruder is will help decide the best course of action to take. If the intruder is in the front of the school and you are on the opposite side of the school, your best course of action would be to run. If you are in close proximity to the threat your best option would probably be to hide in a classroom and barricade the classroom door the best you can. Fighting would be your last option in Run, Hide, Fight. Fighting is only to be used as a final resort if the threat has entered your classroom and has gotten past your barricade.

Your last option left would be to fight the intruder. If you have to fight as a last resort, you want to have to be prepared to fight 100 percent and don’t hold back,” said resource officer Brian Hill.

For the non-traditional classroom setting, keeping students safe in a threatening situation can be an obstacle. Physical Education teacher Gretchen Farmer is prepared for anything that could potentially happen whether her class is out on the track or in the gym.

“If we were outside, we would have to rely on cell phones, campus supervisors, or an SRO to communicate with us about

By: Delaney Noland

activity in the building. We have even had the SRO at Congress come out to the track to make us aware of a situation in the community and to inform us that we needed to return to the building,” said Farmer.

The teachers are dedicated to keeping their students safe during their time at school.

“My greatest concern would be that I am able to protect my students and that no harm would come to any of them. In an emergency situation, I know that I will have to rely on my instincts and good decision making,” said Farmer.

While teachers and staff are trained to keep students safe, there are several steps that students themselves can take to be prepared for these situations as well.

“The best thing students can do to be proactive is making sure to follow the instruction of teacher and staff during an incident. Also knowing the layout of the school so that if you had to use the run option you know where the closest exit door is located,” said Hill.

Reporting any suspicious behavior to the SRO or administration is another way to be proactive. You can also you use the text a tip program that is offered at the school to report any criminal activity happening on school property while remaining completely anonymous.

Planning ahead is a key factor when it comes to being prepared for active shooter situations.

“It’s good to think ahead of time before an incident occurs that way you don’t have to think about it when it happens; you just react because you already have a plan in place,” said Hill.

Students and teachers could possibly expect more active shooter drills to occur in the future.

“Park Hill is always looking for new ways to keep students and staff safe while at school. Park Hill will continue to practice hold and lockdown drills for students and staff throughout the school year. Park Hill is looking to add more drills throughout the school year along with scenarios to better prepare staff and students in the case of an actual intruder in the school,” said Hill.

n u R de i H t h g i F

6 FEATURE

By Jerron Archer and Matt Eblen

Designed by Matt Eblen

April 20th, from the sly jokes to the new pop culture, the day is held in infamy. The connection between the “4/20” and marijuana may not be obvious, yet every year its popularity continues to skyrocket.

It originated in the early 1970’s at a California high school. A group of boys, who referred to themselves as “The Waldos” found a map supposedly leading to a marijuana crop. The boys met on April 20, at 4:20 pm, and began their search for the crop. Although they never found it, the term stuck with them, and has blown up in recent years. Despite the inherit dangers The “weed” culture believes that smoking marijuana brings you no harm. Although the science doesn’t exactly support this, those who refer to themselves as “stoners” are set on the belief.

According to the www.drugabuse.gov, marijuana, while not as addictive as other controlled substances, does have addictive quality.

“I do think it’s a big deal, because obviously it’s illegal. At the same time, I don’t think it’s a big deal, because it does you no harm,” said senior Joaquin Santibanez.

Around 9 percent of users become addicted. This is especially true if the users start young. Marijuana does cause more respiratory problems to its users than those who use tobacco.

“In my opinion, in having experience with the consequences, the consequences don’t outweigh the benefits. The consequences are more punishable than the benefits are rewarding. I mean you can get arrested, get in trouble with your parents, and all sorts of stuff. But I still don’t think it’s a big deal to smoke, if you enjoy it,” said Santibanez.

The popularity of marijuana has seemingly gone through the roof in recent years.

According to “drugabuse.gov,” 21.2 percent of current high school seniors have smoked weed, along with 6 percent of these students reporting that they smoke daily. However, there still are students and teenagers who believe that there should be resistance in the popularity of the accused “gateway” drug.

Junior Jordan Elder is one of these people. She is involved in multiple anti-drug campaigns and clubs, involving “youth with vision,” a group of students from Platte, Clay and Ray counties who work with young kids, with a goal of educating the future generation about the effects of drugs. “[The use of marijuana] concerns me,” said Elder. “Marijuana is one of those things that when you start using it, you don’t notice

a difference right away. It’s one of those differences where it takes a while to show up, so those people that think they’re okay at first, who don’t see any differences, start seeing the differences later on down the road, along with everyone else,” said Elder.

In relation to the skyrocketing popularity, there has been a parallel reaction legally. Fights for the legalization of marijuana across the United States has become a main topic on the minds of citizens and politicians alike.

Currently, four states in the United States have legalized marijuana for recreational use, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Colorado was the first state to legalize marijuana for legal use. Colorado cast their ballots in 2012, making it legal for adults ages 21 and over to possess marijuana. One of the most recent states up for this change is Alaska, where adults ages 21 and over are allowed to possess, transport, and buy up to an ounce of marijuana. Oregon voters also voted to allow their citizens to obtain up to an ounce of marijuana in public, and up to eight ounces in their homes.

The passage of these laws looks like it is just the beginning. During an interview with Vice Media co-founder Shane Smith, President Barack Obama released a statement about his thoughts on decriminalization of pot.

“We may be able to make some progress on the decriminalization side,” Obama said. “At a certain point, if enough states end up decriminalizing, then Congress may then reschedule marijuana.”

Missouri is one of the states that currently has lawmaker considering legalization. According to recent polls, Missouri is among a list of 7 states on its way to legalizing the growing, selling, and smoking of marijuana for adults 21 and over.

If this progress continues, it looks as though going to the bar won’t be the only by-product of turning 21, at least for this generation.

“Marijuana is one of those things that when you start using it, you don’t notice a difference right away,” said junior Jordan Elder.

8 COMMUNITY

Forever Royal

By: Pierce Klempnauer

World Series game seven, bottom of the ninth, tying run at third and two outs. Royals and Giants fans around the world cling to the edge of their seats in anticipation of the next pitch. One fan base erupts in joy and the other in disbelief that the magical 2014 season is over. Since that fateful October night, Royals fans have been anticipating the return of baseball. On April 6, the long wait through the bitter winter days will finally come to fruition with the celebration of the new baseball season, known as opening day.

The Royals’ front office led by General Manager Dayton Moore, has been more active this offseason trying to take the next step, winning a championship. Moore and the rest of the front office have worked through the offseason trying to fill the numerous holes that became apparent throughout last season, as well as the holes that were made through free agency. The ‘ace’ of the Royals pitching staff for the last two seasons, James Shields, departed to San Diego signing a four year 75 million dollar contract. In conjunction to Shield’s departure, the Royals signed former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Edinson Volquez to a two year contract worth approximately 22 million. The Royals addressed the departure of fan favorite designated hitter, Billy Butler, who signed a three year 30 million dollar contract with the Oakland Athletics. Butler signing with Oakland led the Royals to sign Kendrys Morales to a two year, 17 million dollar contract, in an attempt to provide a power hitter that the team lacked last season. The Royals had an outfield spot to fill with Nori Aoki signing with the San Francisco Giants.

To fill the spot left by Aoki, the Royals signed outfielder Alex Rios to a one year 11 million dollar contract. With all of the wheeling and dealing that is a part of the offseason, one can only predict how all of the moves will pan out on the field.

Psychology teacher and Royals fanatic Daniel Motta said, “I think the biggest impact from an offensive standpoint would be Morales if he could get back to how he was, it’s been a few years and had a lot of injuries

so that could be tough. But I think from an overall standpoint Rios will make the biggest impact because he will play better defense in right field than we had last year and we already had a really good outfield. Hopefully he can be equivalent in terms of offense. But ultimately I think Morales could be huge for the team, it’s just a matter of how he comes back.”

For the Royals to take the next step toward winning a championship they will need to see improvement from their young players. Particularly from first baseman Eric Hosmer and third baseman Mike Moustakas.

“I think the person that needs to take the next step is Moustakas. I think if he takes the next step the [batting] order will pan out. But I think the most critical is Hosmer. I think if he plays well, we’re great, if he doesn’t then I think that spells bigger problems for the team,” said Motta.

When asked which young player needs to take the next step, lifelong Royals fan, sophomore Brett Nelson replied, “I think Moustakas needs to step his game up to take the team to the next level. He has so much potential that has not showed on the field.

I also think Ventura can be an elite pitcher.

He probably has the most potential of any pitcher we have.”

After tallying 89 wins and winning the American League Championship, the Royals will enter the new season with high expectations for the first time in quite a while. Even with the pressure to win Motta predicts that the Royals will be in playoff contention once again.

“Our division has gotten a lot better which makes it hard. We won’t be able to beat up on teams like the Indians, or White Sox, or even the Twins this season. But I don’t think we should be below .500, so I would say that anywhere would between 82 to 87 wins would be realistic. On the high end if everything goes right I think we could get around 92 wins.”

Projected Starting Line-Up: C. Salvidor Perez 1B. Eric Hosmer 2B. Omar Infante SS. Alcides Escobar 3B. Mike Moustakas LF. Alex Gordon CF. Lorenzo Cain RF. Alex Rios DH. Kendrys Morales SP. Yordano Ventura

Senioritis By: Andrea Tenney and Matt Eblen

At the start of fourth quarter, seniors are coming down with an illness. Many have symptoms of laziness, homework that remains incomplete, and sleeping in class. The number of days they take off are slowly increasing. While some may call it laziness, others know it by a different name: Senioritis.

Anxiety levels are through the roof as college applications fly left and right.

Seniors sit in class and await that one envelope with the golden ticket to their life after high school.

“I feel that with a lot of kids, when they get [accepted] into college, they instantly think that high school doesn’t matter anymore, so they just give up on it,” said senior Emma Gaiser.

All the weight on one senior’s shoulders can be lifted by one envelope. College acceptance letters are the checkered flag in their senior year. They signal the end of their high school life. Their life of six minute passing times, 25 minute lunch periods, and wearing an ID at all times is coming to an end. And that’s when they come down with a bad case of senioritis.

“You see more people just not care towards the end of the year. I’ve had it all year. Sleeping in class, not doing homework, not really caring in school in general,” said senior Brandon Elifrits.

From this point on, seniors are already leaving behind high school life, assignments are turned in with less frequency while they are more likely to be found sleeping in class.

This is a new style for most students, yet it is a yearly occurrence for any teacher who specializes in the upperclass.

“For me I see it right after spring break, because they’ve had a taste of the nice weather and mostly know where they will be going. They’ve had a little bit of a break where their routine has been hampered; so after spring break is when I see them kind of panicking the most,” said language arts teacher Sara Capra.

By the time spring break rolls around, seniors are spending more time finding a college roommate than working on their Government homework. Seniors spend time counting down to their early release

from school, their ability to get lunch from wherever they want, and no longer setting the dreaded 6 am alarm. Seniors prepare to greet the real world of adulthood and responsibility. Yet, while some take these new found freedoms as reasons to ignore their current responsibilities, others come to the realization about just how much their life is going to change. These select students realize that their mistakes will result in a pink slip of a much higher consequence.

“The real world is scary. You never know what can happen. You can be doing well one day, then one thing - just one thing - can ruin it all. Ruin all you worked for, then you have nothing. And that’s really scary and stressful,” said Elifrits.

As school winds down, some seniors may be falling into the pit of laziness, while others are realizing that for the first time ever, they are actually leaving the nest.

Senior Skip Day Many seniors look for any escape that they can get from the heavy load of schoolwork. The most common Senior Skip Day is the Royals’ home opener. This year the Royal’s home opener falls on April 6th. Many students are especially excited considering the success the Royals achieved during their last season.

10 FEATURE

By Matt Eblen

Since 1998 PHHS and PHS have faced off on every front. While most would assume that this adolescent war would be focused on the typical sporting events and academic dominance, this rivalry has more serious underpinnings: Class.

In recent years the district has experienced a distinct split, PHHS and PHS were no longer friendly rivals. Perceptions about the two school’s population’s incomes have fueled the more aggressive flame.

One of the most contested issues are the sizes of the respective schools. PHHS has a total enrollment of 1,736 people for the start of the 2014 school year, while PHS has only 1,564 “I like people from PHS but every time I go to their school it upsets me because our school isn’t as nice as theirs and their school is really big. And I think [PHS students] think they’re better than us and they’re really not. That really annoys me because their school is so much bigger and so much nicer and ours is really bad and old. I know it’s newer than ours so it’s obviously going to be nicer but I don’t know why they made it so much bigger. I think PHHS got the worse end and they’re not even better than us,” said senior Saylor Grau.

It’s an often disputed fact. Which of the two sister schools can claim academic dominance over the other.

It often turns into the last ditch effort for either school to show off at the latest sporting event.

One school always claims superiority in some type of academic performance.

ACT scores are often the first to be fired across the gym.

“The ‘ACT score chant’ is definitely a defense mechanism. I think we try harder in general.

We want to go to a good college. So, I know a ton of people who try as hard as they can and if you’re rich they have more to fall back on. If I didn’t get good grades I couldn’t afford to go to college,” said Grau.

Yet, the facts behind the ever feared test are more complicated than they may seem at first glance. While PHS’s deposit score is a full point above PHHS at 24.4, the percentage of graduates tested is significantly lower at 75.24 percent, around 10 percent lower than PHHS. PHS also has a lower percentage of graduates at or above the national average.

“I think that it upsets PHHS students because we feel really like we work really hard as a school and we have such a diverse body. I think it’s so cool that we’ve gotten such a large number of students to take the ACT. That’s never really happened before.

It just shows how hard Park Hill kids work. It’s something to be proud of. So when it’s used against us in such a negative and shallow manner honestly, it’s a really low blow. It’s a poor argument to bring up in a somewhat demeaning manor,” said senior Lauren Handley.

Many believe the more aggressive side of the rivalry stems from misinformation and stereotypes that have filled the two schools’ relationships in the past few years.

“I mean I think it’s natural when there are two high schools in a district you have to be better. PHS is spoiled rich kids, I don’t know what their stereotypes are for us except maybe ‘Oh, they’re hoodlums or something’,” said senior Sean Moise.

However, many may wonder where these stereotypes come

from; where they were first propagated.

“The stereotype for PHHS is either the red necks or the ‘ghetto’ school: even though it’s not true. PHS is viewed as the preppy school with the Polos. You could find both of those stereotypes at either school, it’s the prevalence that changes. But it is true in some way, because there are more prepsters at south and more ethnic diversity here,” said Handley.

Information taken from the Missouri Comprehensive Data System ran by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education tells a very distinct story. When it comes to race, PHHS has a sizeable gap in the amount of students that descend from an ethnic background than PHS. PHS’ total enrollment was 78.1 percent white in 2015, while PHHS’s white population totals in at 65.2 percent. “[The fact that PHHS has more minorities than PHS] doesn’t surprise me. Racially we seem to be a little more accepting, so we welcome students more here,” said Moise.

“I’m aware that feelings of animosity arise due to the income gap. It is a wealthier side of the district, they have nicer neighborhoods that have a higher income. I think though, that Park Hill has much more diversity both racially and income wise. That can spark some animosity, some stereotypes,” said Handley.

Yet, there seems to be one factor that pushes the otherwise calm rivalry to a new level. When income enters the mix, there has a tendency to make things more personal. But, when statistics about each schools lowest income students are put side by side there isn’t much of a difference. Each school provides free or reduced lunch to students whose parents make under a certain amount of money each year, PHHS has 28.3 percent while PHS has 22.7 percent. This, however, doesn’t account for the families that make over this amount. And, when neighborhoods such as Briarcliff, the National, and Riss Lake are taken into account many assume that PHS upper class is much higher than PHHS. “I think that the income gap speaks for itself, as do racial diversity statistics. It’s not our fault that things worked out like that. I would like to know if any gerrymandering happened,” said Handley.

Gerrymandering is a mostly political term that is defined as the manipulations of boundaries in order to favor one class over the other. This would imply that when PHS’s boundaries were first drawn that the wealthiest neighborhoods were chosen over those who have a lower income median. Yet, PHS contains some of the wealthiest and poorest neighborhoods in the district.

“I think PHHS got the worse end and [PHS is] not better than us,” said senior Saylor Grau.

12 SPORTS

YOGA AND ATHLETICS By: Delaney Noland & Ally Buchberg

Yoga from the outside world is simply seen as mellow people twisted like pretzels. On the inside, “yogis” are practicing this to do much more than stretch out their limbs. Yoga is about harmonizing the body with the mind and improving overall well-being. As the trend grows in popularity, more and more people are beginning to see increasing benefits of this peaceful workout whether it be for a healing technique or athletic advantage.

Sophomore Rachel Sutlief, an intern at Zona Yoga, was once skeptical of this activity.

“I used to think yoga was too girly and frilly for me and I was too stubborn to think it could work, but when I decided to try it, I loved what it did for me. Yoga lengthens your spine and muscles, which really helped with my back problems. My flexibility has increased and it is a great stress reliever. I’m much more relaxed. Yoga has improved my life in many different aspects,” said Sutlief.

A common stereotype associated with yoga is that only serene, tea-drinking hipsters participate in it. This misconception is slowly breaking as sports teams across the nation are using yoga for their athletics. Lebron James, Kevin Garnett and Victor Cruz, along with

several other professional athletes incorporate yoga into their rigor- helps attain relaxation, mental clarity, flexibility, balance, and ous training. At PHHS, the physical education and advanced weights weight loss. Yoga also heals many symptoms such as insomnia, pain, classes do yoga videos at least once a week. The cross country teams muscle stiffness, depression and anxiety. even practiced poses and breathing exercises once a week in addi“Yoga helps with the whole body but focuses on what you can do tion to their regular workouts throughout the season. to feel better and how to be more comfortable in your own skin. It’s Sophomore Madison King is a dedicated cross country athlete thatall about listening to your body and what it needs. It’s a different appreciated having yoga weaved into the team’s training. focus on traditional medicine; yoga is working on healing through “I think that it helped strengthen us as a team because it was holistic ideas,” said yoga instructor Laura Barker. an extra hour a week that we got to spend together. It was a great Yoga is attainable for people from all walks of life. Anyone can bonding experience,” said King. find a yoga exercise that fits their personality and ability.

King not only saw yoga as an aid for the entire team, but a great “Everyone at school should try yoga whether they are an athlete benefit for her own personal achievements. or are just stressed and want to forget about being a teenager for an “I love that yoga helps me feel centered and calm. It was great hour,” said Sutlief. having it on Fridays so I could go into my race on Saturday focused and ready to run. I definitely think it helped with my running because it helps to stretch out all the muscles that get sore and tight during our weeks of practice. Yoga is very helpful in many aspects of running form and power,” said King.

Studies have found that yoga also helps to fight off diseases. It

14 LIFE

The Great Debate

by Hattie Saltzman

The Park Hill Speech and Debate team, led by language arts teacher and debate coach Tyler Unsell, has another year of success under its belt. As the invitational season ended and districts began, debaters and interpreters buckled down and prepared to qualify to MSHAA State and NSDA Nationals.

Students must work hard year round to prepare for districts, and for five individuals, that hard work has paid off.

“General debate preparation began last summer, but specifically for the qualifying tournaments it was about a month before,” said junior Brent Lamb, who qualified to State and Nationals in Policy debate with his partner Lucas Youtsey. “Debating all the rounds was pretty difficult. Going through six hour and a half rounds is exhausting, especially when it is drawn out over three days of trying to beat opponents and attempting to stay awake.”

Liam Redinger and Nate Sumimoto qualified to Nationals in Public Forum debate, with Redinger also qualifying to State in Humorous Interpretation. “Liam calculated that for every round we debate, we prepare roughly two times that amount. The average Public Forum round lasts 33 minutes and we debated at the National Qualifiers seven times, so that was roughly eight hours of prep.”

Unsell put in his fair share of work to get the team ready for the season. “We do most of the preparation months in advance so the main thing that we do to prepare for the big tournaments is to make sure that we’re in the right mental place,” said Unsell. “So I teach the kids a lot about relaxation and about how to handle stress. I think that helps them deal with those big tournaments.”

The Park Hill Speech and Debate team is much more than competition to those participating.

“We say it all the time; the debate team is a family. If someone has a personal issue we can talk to each other about it. We joke around and poke fun at each other just like a family would,” said Lamb. “The team is also very inclusive. When I joined the debate team my freshman year, I was a shy, nerdy kid. Although most of the team would argue I am still nerdy, I became outgoing and more talkative which is a huge improvement from my junior high years.”

Lamb isn’t the only one who thinks this; even Unsell is a firm believer that the team is a family.

“I am very involved and they’re involved with me. I talk about them as if they are extended family because they are,” said Unsell. “My family here is about the students that are super involved and they become a part of it. So they know when I mention Hattie or Brian from last year they know exactly who those people are. And that’s what makes it so very special and so very great.”

Redinger put it best when he said, “Being on a team is good, but being in a family is better.”

Liam Redinger

Nate Sumimoto

...is going to Nationals in Public Forum debate and State in Humorous Interpretation.

...is going to Nationals in Public forum debate.

Izzy Wussow ...is going to Nationals in Dramatic Interpretation.

Lucas Youtsey ...is going to Nationals and State in Policy debate.

Brent Lamb ...is going to Nationals and State in Policy debate.

From wearing Buddy Holly glasses and mom jeans to polos and pastel shorts, people get judged every day because of the clothes that they wear. These are some of the many stereotyped outfits for the “modern day hipster” and the “frat boy.” Instead of following the framework for being unique, people are now given an outline of what they should wear, what music they should listen to, and who they need to be to fit in to a certain group.

“For some people, I can see how it would be difficult to fully be yourself in a place full of people you see every day. In public you can be whoever you want because you will never see those people again. And in high school there are expectations from your peers to stick to a certain criteria,” said junior Nick Tanner. “It’s unfair that some people are unfortunate to where they can’t dress in clothes or have the things they want. But that’s no reason to make fun of them.”

High school isn’t exactly like the movie “Mean Girls” but it does have some similarities. Students in high school are put into groups based on their appearance and their friends. They could be considered jocks, preps, hipsters, cheerleaders, etc., but if you can’t buy the “cool” clothes, then you’re considered an outcast or “displaced.”

“They are their own person with their own style and abilities, we should respect and give empathy for everyone around. I believe that to be unique is to be different or special; walking your own path and coloring outside the lines,” said Tanner.

A hipster was defined as someone who doesn’t follow the current trend and is unique in their own way, but in today’s society, that’s not the definition anymore. Following a trend is like setting off a pile of dominos; if one person starts wearing

high-waisted shorts and crop tops then the trend will keep on going until it reaches the last domino, or in this case, the last person.

Senior Maddison Ogden is stereotyped into the hipster category and believes people should be unique to themselves.

“It actually makes me really angry. I wouldn’t consider myself a hipster, I would consider myself grunge, just because that’s how I’ve always been. I’m super rock and roll,” said Ogden. “If you’re friends with a group of people who dress that way, you’re going to try to follow with it. But then there are those people that really try to just be themselves, and don’t want to be like other people.”

It’s important to be yourself and people have been taught that since they were little kids. Trends only stay alive for so long and then the next one will be here to take over.

“It may continue for a little while but people are always looking for something bigger and better. I think something will come along and push it out of the way,” said sophomore Kelsey Warren. “I feel like it’s kind of dumb because people are just trying to be other people. I think everyone should just be themselves. And I really don’t think that we should be stereotyped at all or categorized because I feel like everyone should just be free.”

“I believe that to be unique is to be different or special; walking your own path and coloring outside the lines,” said junior Nick Tanner.

Trailing After Trends

by Keeley Myszka

HUMA of Park

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Teacher of Park Hill By: Ally Buchberg Approaching the end of his first year teaching at Park High School when Wissmann attended. When students Hill, accelerated and regular chemistry teacher Ryan learned about Wissmann’s high school’s club, they were Wissmann has made an impact on many interested in starting one of their own. pancake lovers’ lives. Despite having a Lumberjack Club now has around 30 Master’s in Education and Bachelor’s of “[I like] what the school does. members.

Science in Chemistry from Truman State It’s one of the best in the state. “[Lumberjack Club] sits around and University, Wissmann is involved in many eat pancakes and just kind of hang I like it here and I plan on leisurely activities. out,” said Wissmann. “It’s all free, so “When I have free time, [I am an] avid sticking around for a while.” students just show up. We don’t cut golfer - although, I’m not that great,” said down any trees, though. That’s the Wissmann. “[I enjoy] watching soccer and hockey. I used misconception. All we do is eat pancakes.” to make my own rockets, but that’s just the science nerd in Lumberjack club meets every Tuesday at 3 PM in room me. Hence the chemistry teacher.”

304, and is just one way of experiencing the hospitality Chemistry is his main focus; however, he also Wissmann has to offer. sponsors Lumberjack Club, which originated at Kirkwood

ANS f Hill Student of Park Hill

by Hattie Saltzman Singing is much more than just a passing hobby to one senior at Park Hill. Victoria Hanford, a member of Park Hill’s choir, Voices, has won a prestigious scholarship from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She participated in a contest known as Friends of Opera along with approximately 200 others.

“Of all the vocal music auditions they picked the top to come back and compete in the contest for a scholarship. Of everyone who auditioned, only the top 14 people got called back,” said Hanford.

“It’s only a thousand dollars, but the prestige of it is beneficial. If you win that then they’re like, ‘Oh, that person got a Friends of Opera scholarship,’ so you already have a name going into college,” said Hanford. “It gives you exposure to the

professors and other people who will be going to the University of Nebraska and are studying music as well.”

Singing, of course, isn’t new to Hanford.

“I’ve been in voices since my sophomore year. I was in the women’s honor choir twice in my junior year, and then this year I was in the Missouri All-State choir and the district All-State choir which is a pretty big deal.”

Hanford has been singing in choirs since middle school.

She realized that she liked it more than just a hobby in seventh grade.

“I was auditioning for the first solo in honor choir as a seventh grader. I got up in front of everyone in the room and they were all like ‘Dang, she can sing.’”

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Bring in yoga article for a PHHS discount 50% off for students 20% off for staff Bring in this ad for a free nail trim

Park University 2014-15

CAMPUS VISIT DAYS

Discover and explore all we can offer you at an exciting Park University event or a personal campus experience.

SPRING PIRATE PREVIEWS

Get hooked. Stay hooked. Join us for one of our Spring Pirate Preview events.

Juniors starting college in Fall 2016 are invited to one of these special days to help you get a jump start on your college decision. The visit will begin with light refreshments along with an introduction and welcome to our campus. You will then have the opportunity to mingle with our devoted faculty and staff. We have representatives from every department eager to speak with you and help you decide where you fit in as a Park Pirate! Then, an admissions counselor will provide you with a fun and informative presentation about the admission process and the various scholarships Park offers. Following the presentation, you will receive a guided tour of our historical, charming campus from one of our Student Ambassadors. Please join us and take advantage of this opportunity to explore all things Park U! •

MARCH 21, 2015 • APRIL 25, 2015

1-ON-1 WEEKENDS

JUNIOR OVERNIGHT EXPERIENCE

These special weekend dates are for students looking to get details one-on-one with an admissions counselor.

RSVP early for these dates as space is limited.

• Jan. 17, 2015 • Dec. 13, 2014 • Feb. 21, 2015

PERSONAL CAMPUS EXPERIENCE

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Make any day your visit day. Tour the Parkville Campus, meet faculty, talk with current students and discover historic Parkville.

High school juniors are invited to experience the life of a Pirate during an overnight visit at Park U. During this visit you will spend the night on campus with Park student hosts and experience life on campus “after hours.” The overnight experience begins Friday afternoon and concludes Saturday after our Pirate Preview Day. • Apr. 24, 2015

To RSVP or for more information please contact Admissions: (816) 746-2533 or

parkvilleadmissions@park.edu. You can also visit us on the web at www.park.edu/visit

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PARK HILL HIGH SCHOOL KANSAS CITY, MO