Maize High: From A to Z

A Play special issue with 26 stories from A to Z

A B C

Who’s Inside?

Wally Axmann

Former college professor tells why he made the switch to teaching high school.

Jotham Byall

Freshman loves to brew coffee and is starting a new business.

Luke Coffman

Junior discusses his move from Tennessee, soccer and piano.

D

Jamey Dover

E

Caroline Erickson

School Resource Officer talks about his journey to get to Maize.

Senior recognized in national contest for her poetry.

F G H

Tabitha Fankhouser

Cafeteria worker loves to hang out with her four children when away from work.

Sandra Garcia

Junior talks about her passion for art and love for her snake, Winston.

Daleyn Hopkins

Sophomore, who goes to Complete, is the goalie on a co-ed hockey team.

I J

David Ingram

Freshman tells how his adoptive family and choir has impacted his life.

Trent Johnson

Junior is a self-taught pianist, guitarist and songwriter.

K L

Tina Kiley

Family is the most important thing to Para Educator.

Pei Qi Lin

Native of China plays the guzheng, a Chinese instrument, in her free time.

M

Jonathan Mercer

N

Austin Nickell

O

MaKenzie Owings

Sophomore balances the work of an honors student with his passions.

Senior says he dreams of a career as an astronaut and is a NASA fanatic.

Freshman spends time doing water sports at her lake house in Oklahoma.

P Q R S T

U V W X Y

Hayley Utter

Logan & Ansley Paterson

Freshman and senior siblings talk about their relationship.

Senior is devoted to creating art and recently took up animation.

Ana Vo

Jacob Quiggle

Sophomore is dedicated to family, religion and sports.

Alessandro Ragazzi

Foreign-exchange student from Italy adjusts to life in America.

Junior speaks about her Vietnamese heritage and playing tennis.

David Walker

English teacher spends free time wood-working and with family.

Roxanne Thulin

Miah Sober

Junior shares the story behind her unique sunglasses.

Front-office secretary has been at Maize for 17 years.

Johnny Yelverton

Bailey Tredway

Senior is passionate about art and photography.

Former officer trains students from past job experiences.

Play staff

Kendra Cunningham Editor-in-chief Savie Hughes Online editor Emily Brecht Design editor Lyndsey Piska Photo editor Lizzie Bell News editor Lily McClaren Engagements editor Bailey Birkholz Features editor Andrea Fuhrman Advertisement manager Sadie Ast Kynzi Barragan Allie Choyce Mandi Copp Logan Dillon Kiara Ehrmann Kaitlin Grimes Carley Heim Christian Hurst Ryan Jones Alvin Le Casey Loving Abby McCoy Maddie Neigenfind Lauryn Ogden Riley Quiggle Ryann Redinger Morgan Thomas Stormi Williams Paige Young Dan Loving Adviser

Z

Jenna Znamenak

Senior finds her niche in fashion while battling her anxiety.

I

MA ZE : The Inspiration A

Play is the official newsmagazine for and

by Maize High School students. Play is published six times throughout the year.

Play is a student publication and a forum for public opinion. Letters to the editor should be signed and around 300 words.

The editorials and columns are the sole opinion of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the USD 266 Board of Education, the administration, the faculty or the adviser.

summer week spent at the Flint Hills journalism camp at Kansas State inspired our staff to build this magazine with one goal in mind: to highlight the qualities and characteristics that people of Maize have to offer ... from A to Z. Play wanted to focus on a wide array of students and employees and offer their stories in a fun, informative format. We hope that you laugh, cry and smile, but most importantly learn from these stories and experiences of the people who you walk by every day.

A

Wally xmann W ally Axmann attended Kansas State and Wichita State where he majored in physics and mathematics, but college is where his passion for teaching developed.

“My passion came from seeing some really bad teachers and some really good teachers next to each other and seeing what could be done and what was being done,” Axmann said. “I thought I could emulate those good teachers and help people have a better experience.”

Once Axmann obtained his first college degree, he went on to teach high school physics at Collegiate. After two years of teaching, he decided to go back to school to get his Master’s degree.

“I went back to get a Master’s degree at Wichita State, and they invited me to come teach for them,” Axmann said. “I taught remedial algebra, Trigonometry, College Algebra and several more.”

Axmann said he enjoyed meeting so many different people while getting to teach at the university. He explained how being a college professor was very self-directed.

“At a university you are expected to do certain things, but there are no expectations of when or how you will do them,” Axmann said. “You have to be very self-motivated.

You have to decide for yourself that you are going to do your job, and that you are going to work hard at it” Axmann said his favorite part about being a college professor was teaching the graduate students.

Maize A-Z / 4

Algebra teacher is happy to be back in a high school classroom

“I enjoyed teaching people who were at the top of their game,” Axmann said “It was more of a peer to peer teaching at that point because as a grad student you’re required to know more about your field than anyone else.”

Although Axmann enjoyed his years at the university, he missed his time being a high school teacher. When the position at Maize became available, Axmann was eager to take the opportunity.

“It’s right by my house and the same school that my daughter is in,” he said. “It was exciting to say I can go back to teach where I started, go back to my roots.”

Axmann has adjusted to the transition back to high school; however, he has noticed a few differences from teaching at the university. The biggest change is the hours.

“Teaching at a university kind of spoils you for hours,” Axmann said. “You’re only required to be face to face with somebody for 12 to 15 hours a week. Transitioning to seeing students here, I see them almost 40 hours a week. Although I love interacting with students, it’s a real change in flexibility.”

Although it’s taking time to adjust to the increase of hours, Axmann said the students have been his favorite part of this transition.

“There’s a lot more motivation here, and a lot of hard work,” Axmann said. “I love being able to interact and get to know [my students]. College is definitely less personal.

I like hearing about your extracurriculars and your families and just being able to build more of a relationship.” n —Kaitlin Grimes

Q: A: Q: A: Q: A: Q: A:

FYI

If you could have any other job, what would you want to be?

A research scientist! I was able to be able to be a research scientist for a time. I did both experimental and theoretical research at Wichita State and Kansas State.

What is something most people don’t know about you?

I really like to go sailing. I usually go to Cheney Lake because it’s close. I am a bit of an odd ball. Most of the research scientists I know don’t like teaching, if so no lower than college.

What are your favorite hobbies outside of the classroom?

I like movies, reading, going to the lake, going to the beach and skiing.

What kind of picture captures you best as a person?

Probably one with my students. You guys are really why I’m here.

Axmann helps his students with their homework. Photo by Stormi Williams.

Jotham

Byall

Freshman expresses his personality through his love for coffee and his new business

I

ndividuality can take on many forms — depending on the individual, of course. Each person has that “special something” that separates them from the rest of the world. For freshman Jotham Byall, his eccentricity has several layers, and those layers are what make him the creative, unique person he is today.

Byall has attended Maize since the end of his fifth-grade year, and his enrollment in the district marked the beginning of his time in public school.

“I’ve actually gone to all three aspects: private school, home school and public school,” Byall said. “I started out in private school in kindergarten and first grade, then dropped out of private school. Until the end of fifth grade I was home-schooled, and then for some reason my mom took me to public school for the last quarter of fifth grade until now.”

Byall said he personally was not a big fan of private school, and his homeschool experience had positive and negative aspects.

“It is nice to have a flexible schedule and basically your own personal teacher and it’s nice being able to have so much more free time,” Byall said. “But it also is kind of boring not being able to hang out with any friends during the day.”

Since coming to Maize, Byall has made many friends who share similar interests. Byall’s main hobbies are longboarding, show choir, art, photography and visiting coffee shops around town.

Byall also has a unique way of further shows his love for coffee: brewing it himself.

Last summer, Byall got the idea to begin brewing his own coffee from the owner of a local coffee shop on the west side of town.

“Ecclesia had a Chemex there, and I really enjoyed the taste of the coffee,” Byall said. “The owner of Ecclesia convinced me to get one so I bought one on Amazon and bought the filters, the grinder and the scale and started making coffee every day.”

Byall invested in a Chemex — a manual coffee maker — so he could recreate the same taste and consistency of Ecclesia’s pour-over coffee.

Byall said the brewing process takes about 15 minutes, but he believes that higher quality coffee is worth the extra time.

Byall’s unique take on brewing coffee not only adds to his eclectic personality but also attests to his aspirations as a trailblazer and entrepreneur. In fact, Byall recently started his own phone repair business.

“I didn’t really think of creating it as a business at first, but more recently — like two weeks ago, I think — I thought it would be a good idea just to start it as a business since it’s something I enjoy,” Byall said. “And a lot of people have broken phones and I wanted to offer it to them for a lot cheaper than what other places would charge you.”

Since Byall’s business is still relatively young, he said he doesn’t do much advertising other than simply offering his business to the electronically damaged.

“Noticing [broken phones] is a big thing,” Byall said. “And just asking friends and stuff if they know of anyone who needs help. Just word of mouth, mainly.”

As for Byall’s future, he said he plans to study architecture and is interested in attending Kansas State. n — Mandi Copp

Jotham Byall repairs a broken iPhone 5C. Byall started his own phone repair business about one month ago.

@jbyall2001

@jbyall

Jotham Byall sips his favorite pour-over coffee at Ecclesia coffee shop. Byall was given the idea to begin brewing his own coffee from Ecclesia’s owner. Photo by Mandi Copp

Maize A-Z / 5

Luke

Coffman

Junior elaborates on the different places he’s lived, his talents and his future

M

Coffman plays an antique piano. Coffman has been playing for 11 years. Photo by Mandi Copp @lucascoughman

Likes Music and soccer

@lucascoughman

FYI

Dislikes Bad Mexican food

Favorite Subject Physics Maize A-Z / 6

oving is always a challenging experience. Whether you’re moving down the street or across the country, uprooting your life and starting over in a different place is definitely no walk in the park. While moving may be a rare occurrence for some, junior Luke Coffman is no stranger to the mobile, nomadic lifestyle.

Coffman and his family relocated to Kansas from Jackson, Tenn. in August. When he was younger, Coffman also moved around multiple times to different places in the South.

“I lived in North Carolina until I was 6 then I moved to Jackson,” Coffman said.

When Coffman lived in Tennessee, he attended four schools all within the Jackson area.

“It’s never an easy thing to do, but you get used to it after moving around so much like I have,” Coffman said Coffman has had to move multiple times due to his dad’s job —this includes his family’s move to Kansas.

“He works at The Eagle. His official title is the executive editor,” Coffman said.

He says that, contrary to the beliefs of many locals, Wichita has much to offer, and it is the largest city his family has ever lived in.

“The town I lived in is a fraction of the size of Wichita,” Coffman said. “People say it’s boring here, but it’s really not compared to anywhere else or out in the middle of nowhere in Tennessee.”

While where Coffman lives often changes, he has some hobbies that have remained constant over the years.

Coffman regularly takes piano lessons and has been playing for about 11 years.

“My parents made me [play piano] for the first few years and then they told me I could quit if I wanted to, but I didn’t,” Coffman said.

Coffman performed in recitals in Tennessee, but has yet to play in front of an audience in Kansas.

Aside from having musical talent, Coffman also plays soccer.

He started out playing for his school’s team and then joined a traveling team.

“We travel a lot,” he said. “I haven’t gone many places [in Kansas] yet, but in Tennessee we went all over the state.”

Although Coffman has changed schools many times over the years, his academic career has remained exemplary —he is currently ranked toward the top of the junior class.

While Coffman balances extracurricular activities, Advanced Placement and honors classes, he said homework has surprisingly not caused him much stress.

“It can be difficult at times, but I’m not very bothered by it,” Coffman said. “I just keep going, and honestly, I don’t know what to do with myself when I’m not busy.”

After high school, Coffman wants to attend medical school.

“I’ve always been interested in science and caring for people,” Coffman said.

When he finishes college, he would like to go into medical missionary work. n —Alvin Le

Jamey Dover

J

Officer shares the details of his career

FYI

amey Dover has known from childhood he wanted to become a police officer. At the age of 20, he graduated from Hutchinson Community College with his associates degree, waiting a year to fulfill his dream job. During that time he worked at the Newton Kansan newspaper.

“I worked for advertising sales … waiting,” Dover said. “Soon as I applied [for the law enforcement job] I got hired within six months.”

He began his first three years in Newton. However, very shortly into his career Dover said he started to get burnt out.

“I was not taught how to deal with stress,” Dover said. “I bottled it all up and I say I became quite a jerk there for a little while because I was also dealing with 3 percent of the population that were always in trouble 99 percent of the time. So you start looking at people like they’re not people, just bad people.”

Dover moved to Hesston to continue his career. There were only six officers total, including the chief.

He said, unlike Newton, most of the offenders in Hesston had never committed a crime before and this proved to him not all people were bad.

“You start seeing different variations and it’s not all black and white anymore,” Dover said. “It’s all different shades of grey.”

As an officer, Dover gets to touch the lives of people within the community, and with a certain individual that is exactly what he did.

“There was a kid I was dealing with who got arrested and was in a You start seeing different variations and fair amount of trouble and he could have gone two ways with it,” he said. “He could’ve kept going down the path and get in trouble or he it’s not all black and white anymore. It’s could’ve straightened out his life.” all different shades of grey.

Ten years later, Dover said they are still in contact and he has gotten his life back on track.

—Jamey Dover, Officer “Anytime you can affect a life to where it’s for their better, even if it’s small, I think in this job you got to find that and it’s what keeps you going.” Dover said. “Being in law enforcement can be as much Jamey Dover has been working as a police officer for 15 years. In his about teaching as a teacher is.” n — Savie Hughes free time he likes to spend time with his children.

“

“

Photo By Lauryn Ogden

Maize A-Z / 7

Caroline Erickson

Senior is involved in Debate and Forensics FYI

Q: Whats your favorite color?

A: Blue

Q: Whats your favorite flower?

A: Peony Q: Whats your favorite food?

A: My boyfriend’s chicken Alfredo @lacefloral Senior Caroline Erickson has always had a strong tie to Poetry. She’s been writing since fourth grade. Photo by Lily McClaren.

Maize A-Z / 8

S

enior Caroline Erickson is many things: She’s a debater, writer, leader of Feminist Club and is involved in Forensics She came to Maize her sophomore year after she transferred from Andale High School.

Erickson started writing poetry in the fourth grade and has loved it ever since.

“Our teacher made us do haiku, and I love writing stories, and she said I should keep writing,” Erickson said.

She entered a piece of her poetry to a Scholastic writing competition.

She received the highest award at regionals and her piece won a silver medal at nationals. Erickson has since created a senior portfolio to showcase her poetry. She plans to attend Wichita State to double major in creative writing and history.

When Erickson is not writing she is dedicating her time to Debate or Forensics.

“I thought Forensics was actually Debate and started my freshmen year at Andale High school,” Erickson said.

She began to participate in Debate after teacher Curtis Shephard told her to join.

“I love debate because I love discussion and the mental challenge of expressing your thoughts,” Erickson said.

She also contributes to Maize in other ways, such as leading the Feminist Club. She help started the club back up again this school year. She went to Ms. Nitcher for a sponsor and set up at the club fair. The club has kicked off ever since.

“Being a leader of feminist club is one of my prouder things at Maize High,” Erickson said. n —Carley Heim

Fankhouser Tabitha

T

Kitchen assistant enjoys spending free time with her four children

abitha Fankhouser’s favorite thing about her job is the constant interaction between her and students. She has been working at Maize for three years as a kitchen assistant.

Fankhouser’s culinary hobby doesn’t just connect her to the hundreds of students at Maize–she also cooks every night for her own children.

Before she started her job at Maize, Fankhouser worked a variety of jobs in retail. She then took a break from working so she could take care of matters at home.

“I was a stay-at-home mom for seven years before I started working again,” Fankhouser said.

When Fankhouser is away from work, she loves to spend time with her family. She has a set of triplets who are 9 years old, and a younger son who is 8. The triplets’ names are Riley, Aiden and Chloe, and the younger son is named Brennan.

“My family means everything to me,” Fankhouser said. “[My biggest fear is] not being able to be there for my kids because I am all they have”.

Fankhouser enjoys spending time with her children at their local park, eating snacks while lounging around and watching TV at home or participating in any other random activity that her kids want to do. Many of her favorite memories with her kids are from when they were all young. “[Some of my best memories with my kids are] first birthdays, when I got to bring all three of the triplets home from the NICU, moving home with all four of them and then meeting with my family for the first time,” Fankhouser said.

One of the few characteristics that uniquely defines her are all of her tattoos. She has a total of nine tattoos, and most of them are for her family.

“The one on my chest is for the triplets, the pin-up on my right arm is for all four of the kids, my cupcake is for the kids [and I have one of] a lollipop because it’s cute,” Fankhouser said. “I have a bunch on my back too, but those don’t really mean anything. I got those done when I was a teenager because I just wanted them.” n –Logan Dillon

Fankhouser loves playing with her four children. Their names are Riley, Aiden, Chloe and Brennan. Photo by Logan Dillon.

FYI

Q. How old are you and when is your birthday?

A. “I’m 30 and my birthday is July 22.”

Q. What is your family life like?

A. “It’s big, dysfunctional, fun and crazy.”

Q. If you had to describe yourself in three words, what words would you use?

A. “Outspoken, opinionated and caring.”

Q. What is one of your weaknesses?

A. “One of my weaknesses is that I trust too much, and I give too much without giving back to myself.”

Maize A-Z / 9

Sandra

Garcia J

Junior opens up about her passion for art and love for her snake

unior Sandra Garcia has had an artistic eye since she was young.

She spends her free time drawing, doing graphic design and ceramics. The 16-year-old, self-taught artist has big plans for her future.

Garcia has been in Art I, Drawing I and II, Ceramics I and Graphic Design Development since freshman year. She plans to move her artistic career to the next level after high school.

Garcia said what she enjoys the most is the reactions people have after seeing her work.

“The feedback from other people, them saying I should do that for my career, that motivates me,” Garcia said.

One of Garcia’s biggest muses is her pet snake, Winston. She got Winston three years ago for Christmas.

“My brother helped me get him, my parents weren’t too happy, but they got over it,” she said.

Winston tends to stay in his cage but he loves to be around people.

He has never bitten anyone.

Relaxation is a major factor that keeps her going back for more art.

She likes to recreate things that she has seen other people make and make her own version of them.

Drawing tattoos has been something that she has also taken interest in doing. She hopes to take the time to learn how to give tattoos, since she currently just draws them for people.

“I’m always going to draw and do tattoos for people but hopefully I will have the time to actually learn how to physically do them,” Garcia said. n —Lauryn Ogden @garcia_since00

FYI

@garcia_since00

@sandygarcia_mex

Junior Sandra Garcia has been interested in art since seventh grade. One of her subjects that she draws is her snake Winston.

Photo by Lauryn Ogden

The feedback from other people, “them saying I should do that for my career and that motivates me ” —Sandra Garcia, junior Maize A-Z / 10

Sketches by junior Sandra Garcia

Daleyn Hopkins

@dale.ly

B

@jayleemaree

@daleynhopkins

Sophomore plays on a co-ed hockey team

eing the only girl on her co-ed hockey teams allows 16-year-old Daleyn Hopkins to take on a leadership role.

“Being the only girl allows me to boss [the boys] around,” Hopkins said.

Before moving to Wichita when she was 6, Hopkins lived in Canada with her dad, brother, sister and two dogs.

Currently, Hopkins attends Complete High School. She said Complete has helped her gain her credits back so she can graduate early.

“We are a big family,” she said. “Everyone is closer with each other there since it’s a smaller school.”

Prior to playing hockey, Hopkins played soccer. But after she tore her Achilles, she stopped playing. After this, she gradually got into hockey. Inspired by her father, a season ticket holder of the Wichita Thunder, she started playing hockey at age 9. Athletics have always remained an important priority in her life.

Hopkins is currently in the off-season. Last season she played for the Junior Thunder through two different leagues: bantam and the high school league.

On her teams, she plays the position of goalie. Hopkins says she enjoys it because there is less skating involved.

“It’s more of moving around in a little area. I don’t have to go from one side of the ice to the other,” she said.

Hopkins has been playing with the same

group of boys since she started.

“We are a family,” Hopkins said. “The boys that I play with, we have grown together. They just treat me like one of the guys.”

She said the boys listen to her and she feels as if she is the leader of her teams.

“Just because I am the only girl, I feel like I need to run more things,” she said. “The guys on our team are just boys; they act like boys .”

Attending summer camps, weekly practices and tournaments about every other weekend keeps Hopkins busy.

She said her goal when she goes out to play a game is to block as many as she can.

“It’s not really about winning,” she said. “It’s about doing the best you can do to your ability.

In the future, she hopes to attend University of Michigan to play hockey. She wants to become a kinesiologist, a health care professional specialized in body movement. Hopkins has suffered many concussions due to hockey and has injured both of her knees. She wants to help people with their injuries just like others have helped her.

Hopkins said hockey probably isn’t worth the injuries, but that’s not what she is worried about right now.

“I’m just worried about playing something I love,” she said. n —Abby McCoy & Ryann Redinger

In the summer, Hopkins will be attending camps like Matt’s Summer Camp and Iowa Goalie Camp to learn more goalie techniques. At these camps, she will be taught by a coach who works specifically with goalies.

Photo by Lily McClaren

FYI

Q: What is your favorite candy?

A: Hot Tamales Q: What is something you’ve always wanted to try but have been too scared to do?

A: Nothing really because if I want to do something, I will end up doing it even if I’m scared.

Q: What accomplishments are you most proud of?

A: Still going on with hockey through all the injuries it’s given me and still playing even though people say I’m not good, or that I’m just a girl so I don’t know how to play.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: “Cars” and “Drumline” Q: What motivates you?

A: What motivates me in hockey would be to be better than the boy goaltenders, to show them up. Prove that I can be as good, if not better, than them in the same sport.

Maize A-Z / 11

DavidIngram Freshman loves being a ‘Singram’

H

Freshman David Ingram sings not only in the school choir but he is also is involved in his church choir with his adoptive family.

Photo by Ryan Jones.

FYI What is your favorite Disney movie?

e loves to sing and he loves to run, but what most people don’t know about freshman David Ingram is that he was adopted at birth.

“I was put up for adoption because my mom had lots of kids and couldn’t support me and wanted me to have a better life,” Ingram said.

He said it doesn’t bother him that he was adopted because he was welcomed by his adoptive parents and older siblings.

Ingram has wondered about his birth parents and does want to find them, but he cannot do so until he is 18 because of his closed adoption. One question he said he would ask his birth parents is how many siblings he has.

Soon after being adopted, Ingram’s family moved to New Jersey, which is his favorite place he has lived. When he was 5 they moved back to Kansas because of his father’s job.

“It [New Jersey] was my favorite because I lived an hour away from everything like the beach and New York,” he said.

His family is originally from Pennsylvania and he is the only one in his family who hasn’t lived there.

Ingram had three siblings that are all older: his sisters, who are also adopted, and a brother. Ingram and his siblings all have different hobbies and interest, but one thing they all have in common is singing.

Ingram not only grew up around music, but he also involved himself in choir in the seventh grade and hasn’t stopped since.

“I decided to join the choir because I enjoyed singing, I also wanted to go on the trips,” he said.

His father is a pastor, currently for Crossroads Christian Church, which causes them move frequently. For the Ingram family, they find it easiest to stay grounded through their faith and music.

“We sing on the stage at our church, not all the time, but for special occasions, we call ourselves the ‘Singrams,’” Ingram said.

While David spends a lot of time involved with music and his religious background, he also runs track and cross county for the first time at Maize.

“I just do what they tell me to do,” Ingram said. “My favorite event is sprints.”

Although his family is full of music teachers, Ingram strives to break outside the family norm and become a math teacher.

“I would like to attend a college in New Jersey,” he said. “I enjoy math and to help people learn different ways is why I want to teach.” n —Lyndsey Piska and Riley Quiggle

When is your birthday? @daveyjamessnaps

What is your favorite holiday?

Maize A-Z / 12

@david_ingram02 @davidjames72602

Trent

Johnson

Junior taught himself how to play piano, guitar

F

or most people, church is a place to worship the Lord. For junior Trent Johnson, church was not only that but also a place where his love for music was found.

When Johnson was about 10 years old, he and his family moved to a different church which was base more around music than his old church. As he attended more services there, his love for music grew.

Johnson started singing before he began playing instruments.

“Music is just my passion and it has been for awhile. I remember as a kid, I used to sing about airplanes,” Johnson said.

When he was 12, he began singing in the church choir.

“I don’t remember if I really liked it, I just know my family wanted me to,” Johnson said.

During Johnson’s freshman year, he decided that he would teach himself to play the piano. As he watched his dad and older sister, he eventually mastered it. In the middle of his sophomore year, he taught himself how to play the guitar.

About three years ago, Johnson began writing music. It began when his friend asked him to write a verse for his rap song.

Johnson changed the purpose of this verse a few different times, and ended up making it the chorus of the song that he sang at one of the school’s talent shows.

Johnson has written many songs, but several of them are incomplete parts. He has three songs that he is convinced are done. He does not title his songs though.

“I don’t want to be cliche and just go with a line in the song as a title, I won’t name them until I have to,” Johnson said.

He said he plans on attending Kansas State University to study computer science. He does not think he could make enough money doing music, so he will do it on the side.

“Music is a way to express my feelings ... I get a lot of satisfaction from practicing hard on something and finally being able to play it or sing it correctly,” Johnson said. n — Kynzi Barragan

“Music is just my

passion and it has been for a while”

@mr_trent123

— Trent Johnson, junior @trentjohnson_3

@musicman.3

Junior Trent Johnson has a strong passion for music. He is a self-taught instrumentalist who writes his own music.

Photo by Lizzie Bell

Q & A with Trent Q: Favorite TV show?

A: “Malcolm in the Middle” Q: If you could be any animal, which animal would you be? Why?

A: A bald eagle because I would dive off of cliffs and just scream through the air.

Maize A-Z / 13

Tina K A

iley

family is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head,” but for paraprofessional educator Tina Kiley, family has always meant so much more.

“To me [my family] is truly everything,” Kiley said. “I can’t imagine my life without my family.”

Kiley’s father worked in the meatpacking industry, opening new meat packing plants around the United States, and because of her father’s job, she and her siblings moved frequently.

Kiley said her siblings were the only thing she always had with her when they moved.

“We had a lot of fun [growing up],” she said. “We were either best friends or worst enemies.”

Kiley grew up in a household with six siblings. She has three brothers and three sisters. Kiley and her youngest sister Rebecca spent the most time together before Kiley got married.

“We [Rebecca and I] were the youngest two,” she said.

In December, Kiley received the news Rebecca was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.

Para devotes her life to family

Pulmonary fibrosis causes scarring of the lung tissue and affects a person’s ability to breathe.

“She’s already getting, unfortunately, very ill,” Kiley said. “[The doctors] told her it was going to be a fatal disease and most people only live three to five years after diagnosis.”

Michael, Kiley’s eldest brother, was Diagnosed many years ago and has outlived his diagnosis by eight years. Rebecca’s illness has progressed much faster than Michael’s. “[Her diagnosis is] probably the hardest thing [for me],” Kiley said. “I can’t imagine my life without my kid sister. She’s like the other half of me.”

Kiley’s little sister hasn’t been the only thing from her childhood she’s always carried with her. Kiley said her childhood dream was to be a teacher.

She has worked in the Maize school district for 16 years. She works with the students in the special education department as well as the general education.

She began working with kids in the special education program after one of her nephews was diagnosed with spinal meningitis when he was 1. This left him mentally and physically disabled.

“I like watching the kids develop into young adults,” Kiley said. “[Growing into

their] personalities, and figuring out what kind of path they want to go.”

Kiley said she has not only dedicated her life to helping the students at Maize but also her own children throughout their life struggles. She has three children: Darby, Laurel and her “unofficially adopted’ son, Kellen. “[Darby] had a best friend in high school,” she said. “[Kellen] had been adopted [by another family] when he was 2 months old and his [adoptive] parents kind of threw him away.”

Kellen’s adoptive family sent him to military school in Wisconsin. Because of this, he ran away and was missing for most of his freshman year. When he returned home, he got into an argument with his parents and they kicked him out, leaving him homeless.

Kiley and her family took him in and got custody of him when he was 16, giving him a home while he finished high school.

“He’s been ours ever since,” Kiley said.

Although Kellen is not biologically related to Kiley, she considers him an important part of her family.

“Everything I do, I do for family,” Kiley said. n —Allie Choyce

FYI What’s your favorite motivational quote?

Maize A-Z / 14

Para educator Tina Kiley flips through her family photos. Kiley said she has a big family that’s loud and fun to be around.

Photo by Allie Choyce

L

Pei Qi in

S

Sophomore plays Chinese instrument

ophomore Pei Qi Lin moved from China in 2007. Both of Lin’s parents were born in China. “[my parents and I] came from China,” Lin said. “My dad wanted to move the whole family after he worked in New York, owning a restaurant.”

She has two younger brothers, four and eight years old, who were both born in America.

“I miss China because even though school was longer we could leave for lunch and go do anything,” Lin said.

While some people play sports and others are artists, Lin plays an uncommon instrument. She plays the guzheng, a 21-string instrument originated from China.

“I’ve played the guzheng for almost 11 years; it’s not as hard once you learn it,” Lin said.

Not only can Lin play the guzheng but she can also speak three languages.

“I can speak Chinese, English and Japanese. English was a little difficult at first because all the rules,” Lin said.

Lin learned to speak Japanese from her aunt and grandma, who both speak Japanese regularly.

“Japanese and Chinese are very similar, so it was easy to learn Japanese,” she said.

When Lin has free time, it’s spent drawing or playing with her younger siblings.

“I want to be a designer when I grow up because I enjoy drawing and it seems like a fun job,” Lin said. n — Stormi Williams

FYI

Birthday: Favorite thing about Maize:

3 words to describe yourself:

Lin plays the guzheng, a 21-string instrument from China.

She has played for 11 years and has no intentions of quitting.

Photo by Stormi Williams

Maize A-Z / 15

Jonathan

Mercer

Multifaceted sophomore juggles his passions of ultimate frisbee and music

Photo by Lizzie Bell

B

etween the work of an honors student and a job as a cellphone salesman/ repairman, sophomore Jonathan Mercer has a full schedule. When these aren’t at the top of his to-do list, Mercer is making time in his already-busy schedules for his passions.

“I am very passionate about, first of all, my faith, second of all, my love for music and creating and writing music, and then my third is ultimate frisbee,” he said.

Mercer has been in band since he was in fifth grade and currently plays the tuba in concert band and the sousaphone in marching band.

After nearly five years in the program, Mercer said he is ready to move on.

“This is kind of the end of the road for me,” he said. “I have enjoyed band very thoroughly, but there’s a lot of stuff that I have to deal with on my schedule that I have to take time out of for band, and it’s just getting a bit too much. I have enjoyed it, but the time has come.”

Although he said he is ready to quit band, Mercer plans on continuing his music through writing his own work.

“I write [music] on my acoustic guitar,” he said. “I’ve been playing that for about a year and a half, two years now, and then I recently learned piano.”

Wanting a creative outlet, Mercer began writing music for himself a year ago. Most of Mercer’s music is solo work, falling into what he would call a contemporary/alternative genre.

“It’s kind of the release that I have,” he said.

“Whenever I’m going through something, and I can’t really understand what I’m going through, I turn towards music. It kind of helps me cope with what’s going on with my life.”

Mercer said he has written several songs he considers himself proud of. His first live solo performance was at Maize’s Coachella, where he played a song he wrote titled “Mind Your Head.” His most recent song, titled “Extraneous Solutions,” can currently be seen in part on his Twitter.

“It’s about this girl that I was with and how I was chasing that to find happiness, but that’s not where my happiness was found,” Mercer said. “I just see everyone else going after false idols … and even though I see that, and I can understand that, I have the same problem going after false idols in this certain situation.”

Between work, school and music, Mercer also finds time for his other passion: ultimate frisbee.

“When I was a wee lad in fifth grade, I think, my youth group played ultimate frisbee because my youth leader at the time played,” he said. “I really fell in love with it.”

Ultimate frisbee is a non-contact sport. The goal of the game is to get a frisbee to your receiver in the end-zone. All of the players in the game try to get the frisbee for their team.

Once you have the frisbee in hand, you cannot run or move outside of pivoting. The first team to score 15 points wins the game.

“The way that we describe it mostly is football with a frisbee,” Mercer said. “I’ve always enjoyed sports as a kid and it’s just the perfect match of what I love in each sport put together.”

Mercer began pursuing ultimate frisbee the summer before his freshman year. When he returned to school, Mercer was ready to bring the sport to Maize.

“It changed from ‘I like this’ to ‘I love it, and I can’t get enough of this,’” he said. “I started the club very ambitiously with no idea what I was actually supposed to be doing. So, I kind of just started trying to do what I thought was right, which ended up not being correct even in the slightest, but I still learned from my mistakes.”

Even when the results of the matches aren’t good, Mercer said he continues to show enthusiasm and love the game.

“We went to the Kansas City Youth Ultimate Championships and, oh my goodness, [...] we lost every single game, and every single game but one of them we lost [by] 10 or more,” he said. “It was very discouraging, but it was a great learning experience. The kids loved it.

Everyone that went was like ‘this is fantastic,’ but we were just getting destroyed.”

Mercer said his favorite part of ultimate frisbee is the sportsmanship and camaraderie between teams necessary for the self-refereed sport.

“The spirit of the game is what the sport is founded upon,” Mercer said. “You have to be a cool person. Everybody has to call their own fouls, and they would be honest and trustworthy. You have this bond with the other team and the other player to understand that even though you are playing at a highly competitive level, you can’t go on to cheat.

Your heart is pure, and the love of the game is above anything else.”

With honors classes, a job, a club to run, extra-curricular activities and his other passions, Mercer has a full schedule.

“The whole entire month of March I was working two jobs, and I probably had a 70-plus-hour work weeks, and I still had to have time for the club, and I still had to have time for my youth group and I still had to have time for my girlfriend,” he said.

“There are a lot of things that I would like to do, and I just don’t have the time for, and there are things that I don’t have the time for and I still do. I just get a little less sleep each night.”

To avoid stress, Mercer has advice for managing a busy schedule.

“What I do is I do the things that I have to do and just hope that everything else falls in line,” Mercer said. “Be busy enough to know that you’re making an impact on the world, but not too busy to not realize the things that actually matter.”

Even though Mercer has plenty of reason to be stressed, he still manages to have a positive outlook on his everyday opportunities.

“There are no two ways about it,” he said. “I have been incredibly blessed in every aspect of my life. There are a lot of things that go wrong, but for every thing that goes wrong, 10 things have gone right. I have realized that if I start to show, then everyone else starts to show too, so I have to stay strong and everyone else is going to stay strong. Although I am stressed, I am stressed because of the gifts I have received.” n —Casey Loving

mercer.nary @mercernary_ @mercernary_

FYI

Q: movie?

What is your favorite A: “The Fellowship of the Ring”/”Lord of the Rings”, and “Memento”

Q: What is something else you’re passionate about?

A: Helping people out Q: Wichita?

Favorite hangout in A: Taco Bell Q: Biggest fear?

A: Not following God’s will Q: Favorite song?

A: byEither “Camp Adventure” Delta Sleep or “How

Great” by Chance the Rapper

Q: moment?

Most embarrassing A: am I don’t really embarrassed. I proud of the person that I am.

Q: Favorite joke?

A: Person Person A: I’m *adjective*.

B: Hi, *adjective*, I’m Jonathan!

Q: Favorite pizza topping?

A: Pork sausage Q: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

A: Italy Q: Favorite quote?

A: man, Luke 18:14 “I tell you this rather than the other,

went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Maize A-Z / 17

Austin Nickell

Senior dreams of becoming an astronaut and being the first of his immediate family to graduate from college

F Senior Austin Nickell wants to graduate college with a degree in aeronautical engineering, focusing on planetary motion.

Photo by Kiara Ehrmann. @austin_nickell

‘‘

@Austin_Nickell

@austin_nickell_

FYI What does friendship mean to you?

Maize A-Z / 18

”

or many kids, the childhood dream of becoming an astronaut doesn’t last, but for NASA enthusiast Austin Nickell, this dream is something he actively works toward.

Nickell said he developed interest in working for NASA his freshman year after taking Freshman General Science with teacher Kathleen Thomas. Specifically, Nickell said he strives to be an astronaut. “[The goal of being an astronaut] lights the fire for wanting to be better than I had been,” Nickell said.

Nickell said graduating from college is a priority because he will be the first person in his immediate family to do so. He plans on majoring in aeronautical engineering, which involves planetary motion as well as designing space crafts. Nickell plans to attend Butler for two years starting in the fall. Afterward, he will finish his degree at the California Institute of Technology or Wichita State.

Nickell’s love of space has led him to collect an array of NASA and science-themed items including a hoodie, t-shirt, 3D model of the space shuttle and a NASA sticker.

He recently got a tattoo of the solar system on his back to showcase his passion for it. Nickell said not only is he infatuated with space, but also the people who share his love for it.

“My celebrity role model would probably be Neil Armstrong. He’s low-key funny and he was also the first man to walk on the moon,” he said.

Science careers, such as becoming an astronaut, generally require an extended understanding of math, which Nickell said can be difficult for him.

“Growing up I was never really good at math. I had to buckle down on it and get a lot better,” he said.

Nickell said that math can cause him stress when planning for the future; however, he says he remains optimistic and tries to excel in his math classes.

“It’s definitely had its ups and downs, but if I try hard enough, I normally figure out what I need to do,” he said.

When not at school or working at Target, Nickell said he spends a majority of his free time reading space magazines. He says it is the thing he looks forward to most in the day.

“Space is a big part of me,” Nickell said. “It’s a big part of my career field and it makes me feel more like I’m meant to be here.” n — Kiara Ehrmann

Owings

Makenzie

Freshman loves to wakesurf with her family in Oklahoma

T

he sun on your cheeks, water on your face, the burn of the rope in your hands and the sound of the boat engine. To freshman Makenzie Owings, gliding through the water is relaxing and invigorating all at the same time.

Ever since she was a little girl, Owings has loved life at the lake. Her family owns a lake house on Grand Lake in Okla., and have for her whole life.

“We’ve always had a lake house and I’ve always done random stuff when I was there,” she said. “I started wakeboarding when I was eight. I can jump over the waves but I can’t do tricks or anything like that.”

Not only does she wakeboard, she does other water sports.

“I do wakesurfing; I used to do wakeboarding; I ski; I’ve done knee boarding before and tubing,” she said.

Most recently, she got into wakesurfing, which is a water sport in which a rider trails behind a boat, riding the boat’s wake without being directly pulled by the boat. After getting up on the wake, typically by use of a tow rope, the wakesurfers throw the rope, and ride the wake to resemble the wave for surfing.

“With wakesurfing, you’re using a regular surfing board but with wakeboarding you have to put your feet in boots and it’s a lot harder to stand up and you’re really distanced with the boat,” she said.

Of all of the water sports Owings has tried, wakesurfing is her favorite.

“When you’re wake surfing you’re so close to the boat you can talk to people on the boat,” she said. “If you get really good, you could surf onto the boat so you wouldn’t have to fall down to get back onto the boat.” n — Paige Young

“I do wakesurfing; I used to do

wakeboarding; I ski; I’ve done knee boarding before and tubing.”

–Mackenzie Owings, freshman

Freshman Makenzie Owings loves water sports. She gone to Grand Lake since she was eight years old. Photo by Mandi Copp @sc_kenzie

@makenzie_owings

FYI She was born on Feb. 24, 2002 Her middle name is Leigh She has five siblings She has two dogs Maize A-Z / 19

Aynsley & Logan

Paterson

Siblings Logan and Aynsley Paterson enjoy similar hobbies such as playing video games and watching Marvel movies.

Photo by Lizzie Bell

Maize A-Z / 20

Siblings speak about their unique relationship and what makes them different

S

enior Logan Paterson and his sister Aynsley, a freshman, have many qualities in common with one another, and share most of the same interests in sports and miscellaneous activities.

This has brought them closer over the years.

“She’s talented, has a lot of friends,” Logan said. “She’s really nice to others, and just a good sister.”

The Patersons grew up involved in the same activities, but as time went on, their interests changed. Both were heavily involved in swimming and playing guitar, but once high school hit, Logan focused on swimming while Aynsley devoted herself to playing the guitar.

“In summer we would have a camp and we both write a song where we had to come up with the music and lyrics,” Aynsley said.

“We worked together on making the song and we had a lot of fun doing it together.”

Aynsley said that she believes her relationship with her brother is good and she enjoys bonding with him over mutual likings.

“We don’t see each other a lot but our relationship is definitely strong,” Aynsley said.“I’m into a lot of the things that Logan’s into, like superheroes and stuff like that. We both love the Marvel movies and we’ll go watch them together when they come out.”

Logan is happy with the relationship he and his sister have, and is very proud of who she has become.

As a senior, swimming has been a part of Logan’s life since he was in kindergarten. Even though he’s been in and out of the sport since he was a freshman, he’s been focused on bettering himself.

“It’s changed me for the better,” Logan said. “I didn’t have many friends before but joining the team I got a lot more and I feel more involved.”

Logan also began lifting his sophomore year, and has been working hard ever since to strengthen himself and get in shape for swimming.

“I wanted to see an improvement in myself and decided I wanted to start gaining muscle for swimming and just for myself,” Logan said. “The most I’ve been able to lift is 375 on dead-lift.”

Logan said the one thing that keeps him motivated is the feeling he gets when he doesn’t give up.

“I guess what keeps me going is I want to get strong,” Logan said.

“I have the feeling of once you start going you can’t stop, you just gotta keep doing it. You’re not going to get stronger if you give up.”

Like her brother, Aynsley has been involved with guitar since a young age, and has been focusing her time on becoming better.

“I started playing guitar because it seemed like the easiest thing to pick up,” Aynsley said. “I practice about three times a week for 45 minutes.”

Aynsley said that playing the guitar makes her feel special in her own way.

“It makes me feel unique,” Aynsley said. “I can make my own thing and no one’s ever done it before and it just has a special meaning to me.”

She said that she would like to keep her guitar playing as a hobby but definitely perform in small public areas for money in the future.

“I’ve recently started writing my own music and that’s a new thing I’m working on,” Aynsley said. “I love music. I’m very passionate about it but I actually want to be a psychologist for little kids.” n — Sadie Ast

FYI: Logan

Q: What have you gotten away with?

A: “I have gotten away with playing games.”

Q: What would you name your boat if you had one?

A: “I would name it The Adventure.’”

Q: What celebrity would you rate as a perfect 10?

A: “Ben Affleck.”

Q: What’s the closest thing to real magic?

A: “Working out.” @lpaterson596

@LoganPat11

FYI: Aynsley Q: Who is the messiest person you know?

A: “Corrin Conway.”

Q: What is the dumbest way you’ve been injured?

A: “I tripped on a shoe.”

Q: What ridiculous thing has someone tricked you into doing or believing?

A: “That they were possessed by a ghost.”

Q: What’s the most useless talent you have?

A: “Whistling with my tongue.” @Aynsley.007

@PatersonAynsley

Maize A-Z / 21

Jake Quiggle

@jquiggle18 @ItsQuiggs @jacobquiggle

Sophomore has passion for wrestling and football

F

Sophomore Jake Quiggle has played football for seven years and has wrestled for four years. Quiggle has earned more than 40 medals through varsity football and wrestling. Photo by Morgan Thomas

FYI

Q: Who is your favorite cartoon?

A:

Q: What do you order at Chipotle?

A: Q: Favorite music artist and your favorite album of theirs?

A: Q: If you won the lottery, what would you do?

A:

Maize A-Z / 22

or sophomore Jake Quiggle, most of his time is spent with family, going to church and playing sports.

“We usually have family dinners on weekends. Saturday nights are usually for family and then friends. Sunday mornings are for family too,” Quiggle said. “It gets chaotic during the week, but at the end of the week we just, like, bring it in and get together.”

Throughout his life, Quiggle has found motivation in and is inspired by his dad, Tim Quiggle.

“He’s somebody who I strive to be,” he said. “ I look up to him. My dad helps quite a bit. He always calms me down. If he thinks it’s going to be okay, then I know it’ll be okay.“ Ever since Quiggle was young, he’s made religion a major part of his life.

“We go to church Saturday and Sunday nights for small group,” Quiggle said. “I try to go to church as much as possible.”

“My religion can affect some of the things I do. I don’t always think before I do sometimes. It’ll make me stop and think ‘what am I doing and what [should I] be doing’,” Quiggle said. “It helps with football and wrestling too. I pray before every game, every match, every tournament, and I know that God will give me the ability of what I can do.”

Quiggle has been playing football for seven years. During his sophomore year, he started on varsity.

“Being on varsity was a lot of fun, but it was kind of nerve-racking and a lot of pressure, because I was playing varsity football as a sophomore,” Quiggle said. “After the first couple of games I got used to the pressure, and I just kind of fell into the feel of the team.”

While football has offered many things for Quiggle to look back on and smile, it has also caused him many broken bones.

“There were a lot of favorite memories, but one of my favorite was the Derby game,” Quiggle said. “Even though we got destroyed, it was a really fun game. In the second half we came together as a team. It was fun to see everyone together like that. We had a lot of fun in the game, even though we were down a by a whole lot. I’ve broken fingers and gotten a few concussions from football, but that’s about it.”

During the fall, Quiggle dedicates time to bettering himself in football, but as soon as the season is over, it’s time for varsity wrestling.

“Varsity wrestling isn’t as nerve-racking as varsity football is, because not a lot of people come out and watch, or really care, about wrestling like they do for football. It’s mainly pressure from myself to be the best that I can be and place at state and win state.”

Quiggle has a 33-11 win-loss record in wrestling.

While he is focused on family, school, sports and religion, Quiggle also has to think about his future.

“In ten years I’ll hopefully be out of college with a house, a job and maybe a family,” Quiggle said. “I want to be a lawyer. I’m not sure what kind of a lawyer I want to be yet, but I do know that I want to go into the Law Enforcement and be a lawyer.”

Quiggle plans on going to college at Oklahoma State University for football.

“I’m surprised that I’ve made it this far,” Quiggle said. “I’m amazed that I stuck to football and wrestling this long, and that I’ve been doing decently good at both of them, because so many things could have gone wrong with them.” n —Morgan Thomas

Ragazzi Alessandro

Foreign-exchange student adjusts to life in America

S

enior Alessandro Ragazzi came to America as part of a 10-month exchange program at the beginning of this year. Even though the fourth year of high school is traditionally the last for American students, after graduation, he will venture back to Italy to begin his fifth year.

During the process for the foreign-exchange program, candidates fill out a profile where they describe their personality, characteristics and dream jobs. Potential host families will search through students and choose candidates with similar personalities to theirs.

“You can choose the state where you want to go. I didn’t,” Ragazzi said. “[My host family] were complete strangers.”

“When I came here, my English was really bad.”

He said he believes the hands-on experience of using the language here is a much better experience compared to the classes in Italy.

“I learned more in three months here than in class back in Italy,” he said.

Students at Ragazzi’s Italian school are required to start taking English classes in middle school continue throughout high school.

Ragazzi’s high school is also run more like a stateside college. Students go to school every day, but they may only have a few hours of a certain class during one day of the week.

“Let’s say that Monday I have two hours of Italian, two hours of math and one hour of English,” Ragazzi said. “Each week is the same Monday [schedule].”

Because of the way the classes are scheduled, where you might only have math twice a week but three days apart, there is also more homework.

“It’s difficult. The teacher says ‘you have a test tomorrow and 40 pages of history to study,’” he said.

After getting the heads up for big tests or assignments, students might not get a chance to see their teacher before the test day.

“It’s too independent,” Ragazzi said. “That’s the problem.”

While the typical American high schooler’s venue changes every class period, in Italy you stay in the same classroom all day, and a different teacher will come to you every period. In addition, your class will have the same people in it during your five years of high school. Any friends you’ve made stay with you, along with any enemies.

“It’s not cool. Here you can know more people [because] you change class all day,” he said.

He also said he likes how each term you get a whole new set of classes and with it, a brand new set of people to meet.

At Maize, there are three lunch periods to accommodate the large number of students, but at Ragazzi’s school in Italy, they forgo lunch periods altogether. They start class around 8 a.m. and leave around 1:30 p.m.

“If you get hungry, and the teacher is explaining something, you cannot eat,” Ragazzi said.

At his school, there is a small, 15-minute break in the morning, similar

Ragazzi lines up a shot into the net during a photoshoot.

He was a cyclist for eight years before picking up soccer almost three years ago. Photo by Lizzie Bell

to En-Cor, but if you don’t eat during that you’d have to wait until the end of the day.

Even the transportation to school is different here than in Italy.

“The yellow bus,” Ragazzi said. “we don’t have that in Italy.”

In Italy, the students use city buses, just like the ones traveling around Wichita, to get to school. They have to buy their own bus passes too.

“To do anything here, you have to have a car. In Italy, you just walk outside and go.”

One of Ragazzi’s biggest hurdles in coming to America was leaving his friends and family behind in Italy. He just saw his parents for the first time in eight months over spring break.

Every weekend, he would call his parents to help alleviate the distance.

“For them it was more difficult because they were there in the same life, every day, without me,” Ragazzi said.

He was able to make new groups of friends early on during his visit to America, but he knows that he’ll have to leave them once the school year is over.

“It’s already been eight months that I’ve been in the U.S. The big difference [from leaving Italy] is there is a big possibility that I’m not coming back here, so I [might] leave everything here forever,” he said.

Despite leaving friends and family behind for a school year, Ragazzi does encourage people to partake in a foreign-exchange program.

“You grow up a lot,” Ragazzi said. “Your mentality changes. You start to understand things that maybe, when you’re in your home country, you don’t think about.” n — Christian Hurst

Maize A-Z / 23

Miah

Sober

Junior can be seen around school in her groovy glasses

S Junior Miah Sober suffers from aura migraines. She wears her sunglasses to keep headaches at a minimum.

Photo by Lyndsey Piska

Q

A Q

FYI What is your favorite thing to do outside of school?

“Hang out with friends, video games, math and walks at night.”

What is your biggest pet peeve?

A

Maize A-Z / 24

“When my friends are on their phones when we all hang out.”

quare, round, Aviators or Wayfarers. We all wear them to protect our eyes from sun rays, but for junior Miah Sober, there’s a little more to the story.

“I wear my sunglasses because I get chronic migraines and light is a big trigger for me,” Sober said.

Sober was diagnosed with a type of migraine in the seventh grade called aura migraines. These migraine could cause her to pass out and often made her miss school because of the pain. They can last for days or even weeks.

According to the Mayo Clinic, these disturbances can include flashes of light, blind spots and other vision changes or tingling in your hand or face. Sober’s way of helping reduce the number of migraines she experiences is by wearing sunglasses in places with high levels of light.

But this is no sob story. Sober wears her sunglasses for many more reasons other than headaches.

“When I was younger, I remember watching ‘Pokemon’ because my aunt introduced it to me, and there was an episode called ‘Here Comes the Squirtle Squad,’ and the leader had these sunglasses on,” she said. “The second time I’ve seen them is on another anime I watch called ‘Goon of the Gone.’ One of the main characters wears these sunglasses, and he looks like a total bad ass.”

Although Sober’s unique sunglasses cause her stand out in a way most of her peers don’t, the attention doesn’t shake her spirits.

“They [the glasses] are worn on strong, fearless characters who don’t care what other people think, and I’ve tried to grow up that way,” she said.

Sober said the glasses have been able to help her express her personality.

The glasses not only save Sober from an immense amount of pain, but they also give her an unforgettable appearance. People from all over the place have recognized her glasses and come up to her to comment on them.

“You aren’t going to see anyone else walking around in these. I’ve had people from Texas come up here to visit family, and they are like I’ve seen you in Dallas,” Sober said.

For those who don’t always seem to fit in, Sober gives a piece of beneficial advice.

“Don’t care so much of what other people think; don’t try to fit in with the crowd. Don’t try to fit in and wear the little clothing,” Sober said. “Wear what makes you comfortable and makes you look good because, honestly, you being happy and confident is the best, most beautiful thing you can do.” n —Lyndsey Piska

Bailey

Tredway

Senior pursues further education in photography

E

Bailey Tredway said she spends about six days a week in downtown Wichita, and she enjoys taking photos there. Photo by Lizzie Bell

FYI

Q: Do you have any pets?

A: “I have two cats and a dog. The cats are Max and Cora, and Zoey is my dog.”

Q: What is something you are obsessed with?

A: “Local downtown businesses, I guess. I love going to places like Milkfloat, 86 Cold Press, and Picasso’s.”

Q: Who in your life brings you the most joy?

A: “As cliche as it, definitely my friends. I rely a lot on them not only in tough times bur also just to send stupid, funny tweets to.”

Q: What trends did you follow when you were younger?

A: “Silly bands. The feather-in-your-hair thing. I’m cringing a lot thinking about this. “

ver since she was little, senior Bailey Tredway has enjoyed creating art. She has won multiple awards for her art and photography and will be majoring in photography in Savannah College for Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia.

“The thing about [SCAD] for me is that I know I love it there,” Tredway said. “It doesn’t even feel like school because I’m just there doing what I like.”

Earlier in her life, Tredway viewed art as a hobby rather than a passion. She used to paint with water colors, and her parents would hang her art up on the wall. She started creating art as a small child. Tredway said she remembers buying cheap, oily clay from Hobby Lobby.

Although art was an important aspect of her life, Tredway said she focused on math and academics because she felt like she excelled at it. She said later she realized that just because she was good at something didn’t necessarily mean she should pursue it.

“I think art has helped me analyze more of myself and my own relationships with people and why I’m doing things,” Tredway said. “It’s affected how I think about relationships and how I want to grow as a person.”

Tredway said she believes as high schoolers we are so focused on the future with our careers, but she wants to learn more about who she is and how she can impact others.

This past fall, Tredway competed in a national Young Arts competition. She submitted a series of five photos regarding a single concept. The concept she focused on was how she views herself and her relationships.

In this series, Tredway made a drawing representing her mental health. She said doing this drawing helped her understand her mental health better.

“I’ve always been an analytical person,” Tredway said. “I think art has helped me analyze more of myself and my own relationships with people and why I’m doing things. It’s affected how I think about relationships and how I want to grow as a person.”

In terms of pieces of her art work, Tredway said she doesn’t regret anything.

“I’m glad I did all of the projects I’ve done because I’ve taken something away from all of it,” Tredway said.

Making mistakes is something that Tredway said has made her stronger and has helped her grow and figure out her style.

“I feel like it took me so long to even try to get myself to even step out of my bubble, and I’m still barely out of it,” Tredway said. “I want to try new things and not hold myself back” Next year, Tredway will be majoring in photography at Savannah College of Art and Design. Last summer she attended a class there and said she really enjoyed it.

“There are so many great things to do there,” Tredway said. “I could see myself switching to film. I don’t even know. We’ll see." n —Abby McCoy & Ryann Redinger @tisbailey

@tisbailey

@tisbailey

Maize A-Z / 25

Hayley

Utter

Senior artist spends most of her time in the art room

M Senior Hayley Utter is working on a new galaxy-themed mural in Amanda Gosch’s art room. The mural is planned to be finished in a few weeks. Photo by Ryan Jones @hayley_jordan_

@HaleyUtter

FYI What’s your favorite restaurant/fast food place?

And what is your go to order?

What do you think would the be the hardest thing to give up on?

Maize A-Z / 26

aize has always been decorated by student-made murals. A new mural pops up every year or so. These murals give the students passing by something to look at on their way to classes but most people may not know who made them. Senior Hayley Utter has been working on a new mural of a galaxy in one of the art rooms. She has devoted her time and creativity to make this work of art. The art room has become her second home.

“I have been doing art my whole life,” Utter said. “I have been encouraged to do it as much as possible.”

Utter is planning on bringing her talent and passion into her future career. She wants to create animations and share her creativity and passion for art with the world.

Utter has recently started animation. She has been using the computers and accessories in Jodee Johnson’s room to advance her animations. With her projects, she has been using the program Adobe Flash, with a drawing tablet. The drawing tablet mixes paper drawing with technology creating a digital piece of paper that she can draw on.

Creating even the smallest of cycles is very time consuming and without a team of people it might take months to finish an animation.

She is only a team of one so it may take her quite a while to finish a project.

“It’s something that I always wanted to do on my own and she has the program for it, I take a laptop home sometimes to work on it,” Utter said. “I’ve been working on the same project all year because it just takes so much time doing it with one person.”

Utter has started with simple little animations, getting to know the software and how animation works. Utter is learning new things every time she finishes an animation.

“I have been doing animating mostly just this year,” Utter said.

“Simple walk cycles, like a cat and a deer, different things like that, I never really had the software to do it easily before.”

Utter has been doing art for most of her life. She spends most of her free time and her time at school doing different forms of art. She described herself with three words: creative, emotional and determined. Most of the encounters you may have with Utter will be while she is showing off her creativity. n —Ryan Jones

Vo

Ana J

unior Ana Vo is a second-generation American born in Grand Rapids, Mich. Her parents came to the United States during the Vietnam War and American culture is all that Vo has grown up around. However, that hasn’t stopped her from rekindling with her culture.

Vo and her family celebrate Chinese New Year as Vietnamese New Year. She said that her family shares gifts with each other and they watch traditional performances to celebrate.

“We bring our family members li xi envelopes with money in them and then bring them flowers or just a bunch of a Vietnamese treats,” Vo said. “Then we go see dragon dances.”

She said she has learned how to make traditional Vietnamese dishes in order to bring her closer to her culture and give her experiences for the future.

“I know how to make pho, which is the noodles and broth soup,” Vo said. “I also know how to make banh buc luoc which is like this sticky stuff with shrimp and pork, and banh xeo and egg rolls.”

Vo is an involved student at Maize, taking part in many activites such as tennis, Red Rage, DIY Club, NHS and FCS. Vo is also a manager for boys tennis team.

She said that one of her favorite activities is tennis, and she enjoys playing with her friends in her free time. She said that high school has given her the chance to get involved with things she had never tried before. “[High school has] definitely gotten me more involved with a lot of things,” Vo said. “It helped me come out of my shell and mature at the same time, and it has helped me realize a lot of things that I can use in life later on,” Vo said she has never felt limited to certain friends. She says one of the things that makes her unique is love of meeting new people.

“I feel like I don’t have a certain group of friends,” Vo said. “I kind of just float around and I like to get to know everyone better. I just like being different and people are always telling me that I bring them so much energy and I love being that person.” n — Sadie Ast

Junior has a love for family traditions and the game of tennis FYI

Q: How many pets do you have?

A: “I have no pets, but I used to have a fish.”

Q: What is the longest you have been without sleep?

A: “The longest I’ve been without sleep is 24 hours.”

Q: Who is your hero?

A: “My hero is my sister, Amanda.”

Q: What is your biggest fear?

A: “My biggest fears are falling off stage, dying or being lonely.” @anavoasian

@AnaVo2018

Junior Ana Vo says that she does not play club tennis but likes to go hit with a bunch of her friends in her spare time.

Photo by Lizzie Bell

Maize A-Z / 27

Walker

David FYI What is your biggest fear?

What is the best compliment you have ever received?

What’s on your bucket list?

David Walker showcases some of the projects he has made. He plans to spend the majority of his time wood-working after he retires. Photo by Lizzie Bell

Maize A-Z / 28

F

or 21 years David Walker has been known as a high school English teacher. However, outside of the classroom environment, Walker spends his free time wood-working.

“When I retire from teacher I’ll be one of the guys at the craft shows with the overalls and old straw hats.” Walker said. “I tinker. I like to make things.”

Walker has built many objects: puzzles, croquet sets and most recently, cornhole games for his daughter’s July wedding.

Before he began teaching, he spent 21 years working in business management. One of the biggest changes for Walker was moving from working with adults for so long to working with teenagers.

“It’s a different environment when you are working with teenagers,” Walker said, “You never know what to expect every day.”

Aside from being a teacher and crafter, Walker is a father to four daughters. Walker said he has learned about patience and compassion from raising girls.

“Understanding that you have to be patient, you have to be compassionate, you have to be tender,” Walker said.

Growing up, Walker lived all over the place. He moved every two to three years, including overseas. Walker’s dad was a career man in the military. He was in the Marines during World War II and in the Army for 28 years. All together, Walker’s dad had over 30 years of military service.

“You know honestly I found something I liked about every place we have ever been,” Walker said.

Although growing up he was constantly moving, Kansas has always had a special place in his heart since he moved here in 1985. Colorado was one of Walker’s favorite places to visit. He said he loves the mountains, hiking and all that comes with it.

“Up until my knees got bad we went snow skiing all the time. I’ve skied on most of the mountain ranges in the country,” he said. n —Abby McCoy and Lizzie Bell

Xfactor* Roxanne Thulin The

Front-office secretary has been at Maize 17 years

W

henever someone needs something, they go to the office. The first person they usually see is Roxanne Thulin.

“I know that whoever enters the front office or calls is going to be welcomed with a smile and helpful attitude,” principal Chris Botts said. “She is one of the hardest workers that I have ever met and her hard work is contagious.”

Thulin has been working at Maize High for 17 years, and worked at Maize Elementary before she came here.

“I started working at MES [Maize Elementary School], and I was a para and I worked there beginning of school until I got a phone call from the school psychologist here, Mr. Hinson, and he was needing a secretary, and people over at our educational support building recommended me, and so he interviewed me, and hired me on the spot that day,” Thulin said. “So I worked part time over there in the mornings, and then I came over here in the afternoon.”

She eventually decided she wanted to leave the elementary school to work at Maize full time.

“I decided to come work full time over here, because it just fit, I was kind of tired of going back and forth, although I really miss the little kids, they’re so cute and they were so much fun, and I enjoyed working with all the teachers there too,” she said.

Outside of school Thulin enjoys spending time with her family. She has four kids: Devin, age 29; Amanda; age 26; Madison, age 23; and Avril, age 23.

“I love my family, our youngest has Down Syndrome, and our family has always just been very close together. Avril is just the glue that sticks everyone together,” Thulin said.

She has been married to her husband, Ted, for 30 years.

“I love that he’s very kind, he’s a good dad, he’s a good husband, we balance very well,” she said.

When she’s not at school or spending time with her family, she enjoys watching Netflix, reading and going to her favorite coffee shop.

When she has the time she loves to watch “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “The Voice”, and “Criminal Minds.” She also likes to read.

“I love anything James Patterson, David Baldacci, Daniel Brown, I love John Grisham books, Nicholas Sparks, I do like Nicholas Sparks,” Thulin stated.

She said her favorite thing to do is go to coffee shops, especially Reverie.

“If I’m in the mood for Matcha tea Latte, I order those. My specific order that I like is Vanilla Cafe Latte, one pump of vanilla, extra shot of espresso,” she said. “I like it when it’s all fancy on top. It’s a really cool atmosphere, it’s not like book study people, it’s a really good crowd, I feel like anyone’s welcome there.” n —Andrea Fuhrman

Roxanne Thulin’s favorite part about working at Maize is the welcoming environment. Photo by Lizzie Bell

*There might be close to 1,500 people who call Maize their school, but believe it or not, we couldn’t find anyone whose last named started with “X”. So we decided to choose a staff member or student whose name contained an X.

Fun Facts

Celebrity Crush: Adam Levine and Justin Timberlake

Favorite shows: Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Dancing with the Stars and The Voice Favorite coffee shop: Reverie Family: She is married to her husband, Ted, and has four kids Maize A-Z / 29

Yelverton Johnny

Teacher utilizes skills learned from past law enforcement jobs @USD266_Fire_Law

A Johnny Yelverton, Law and Fire science teacher, represents his past careers in the Air Force, Law Enforcement, and Fire Rescue.

Photo by Lily McClaren

FYI

Maize A-Z / 30

fter the precession of high school, Law and Fire Science teacher Johnny Yelverton worked in retail. It didn’t take long for him to find out he didn’t want to remain in that career forever.

At 23, he joined the Air Force. He spent four years as a crew chief and a year and a half as an intelligence analyst. Being in the Air Force, Yelverton has traveled as far as Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

Throughout his time in the Air Force, Yelverton lived in several states, including Texas and Oregon. He said that leaving family was an obstacle he had to overcome during his travels.

“Some point in your life you need to just pick up and just ‘boom’ start fresh,” Yelverton said. “Have some money and just go and you’d be surprised at what you can prove to yourself.”

Before becoming a teacher at Maize, Yelverton had experience working for the police and fire rescue for 10 years and also worked part-time as an EMT in Butler County for two years.

Yelverton said he learned much about security from working private and federal security. Throughout working in the Air Force, law and fire science and security, Yelverton quickly learned the importance of trust and friendship.

“Friendship is true trust, and you only have that with a few people,” he said. “I mean, you have relations and friends. But a true friendship is true trust.”

Yelverton has taught a D.A.R.E program for second through fifthgraders as well as Girl Scouts. He said both of these programs gave him a knack for education. But with his background experience, he knew that teaching classes on law enforcement and Fire Science would be more suitable for him.

Yelverton contacted many school districts trying to sell this program. Maize already had classes fairly similar to the ones now but they were taught by college instructors or students would have to go to the college to take them. The Maize district knew it would be a good fit to have a Maize asset teaching the program.

Yelverton said his biggest fear is that his students will fail after he teaches them good ethics. He said he strives to teach every student to the best of his ability so they can become great in their careers for themselves and for their communities.

“People are going to do stupid things,” Yelverton said. “But if you come through here, if I put your picture on my wall when you graduate, when you get into a uniform or something, and you fail me or you fail yourself, or you fail your family, or your community, that’s my biggest fear. To see your picture on the news when you have done something wrong.” n — Lily McClaren

Jenna Z namenak Senior expresses herself through fashion while battling anxiety

S

@Jenna_Znamenak

ome people find it easiest to express themselves through the music they listen to or their hobbies, but for senior Jenna Znamenak she finds expressing herself through clothing is her nitch.

“I made a really cool pair of high-waisted shorts out of a pair of jeans my mom had when she was in her 20s,” Znamenak said. “Everybody is like ‘where did you get those?’ and I’m like ‘Oh, I made them’.”

She plans to attend Kansas State for textile and marketing. Her inspiration for attending college comes from being the first generation in her immediate family to attend as well encouragement from a friend.

“I feel like if he can do it, I’ll be fine,” she said.

Things in life haven’t always been easy for Znamenak. In middle school, she left her home in South Carolina and moved to Kansas.

“I was different from everyone because I came from the South. I was made fun of a lot because I had a different style and that made me more insecure,” she said.

Soon after the move, Znamenak developed anxiety. “[When you have an attack] you don’t really control anything, you’re freaking out and sometimes you don’t know why,” Znamenak said. “Sometimes it feels like you’re going to die and sometimes it just feels like you’re not and you know it’ll pass but it’s in the moment and it’s scary.”

Although Znamenak has approached hardships in her life, she doesn’t let it stray from her dreams of going to college and gaining independence.

“I think constantly being positive and reassuring myself and being confident because that’s huge,” Znamenak said. “I don’t think you can do anything until you’re confident in yourself and you make your own happiness.”

Having experience with anxiety, Znamenak has a piece of advice for those also struggling with it.

“No one is going to care about what you are wearing or what you are doing,” she said. “Just take a deep breath and reestablish your reflection of yourself.” n — Maddie Neigenfind

@jennaznamenak

FYI Q: Where are you from?

A: “South Carolina” Q: What is your favorite color?

A: “Green” Q: Favorite type of music?

A: “Anything, but metal” Q: What is your lucky number?

A: “13” Senior Jenna Znamenak plans to attend Kansas State and is considering majoring in Textile and Marketing.

Photo by Maddie Neigenfind

Maize A-Z / 31