October 2018

Maize High School || Maize, KS October 2018

“In my opinion, it’s a better alternative [to harder drugs]. I feel like I am not strong enough to say ‘no’ yet.”

Now Playing Pages 10-13

01/ Cover

Eagles participate in National Day of Service

Pages 8-9

Football remains undefeated Page 21

8 1 1 1. Junior Caden Cox hurdles Campus opponent to lead Maize on another scoring drive. Maize won 21-0. Photo by Sam Bartlett 2. New therapy dog visits students in the Maize Career Academy. Photo by Sam Bartlett

3. Junior Princess Abby McCoy and junior Prince Sam Bartlett pose for a picture at the Homecoming coronation. Photo by Ellie Stucky

4. Senior soccer player Hunter Clark joined the varsity football team this year where he has helped contribute to the team’s undefeated season. Photo by Sam Bartlett

02/ Toc

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What’s inside?

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News Teacher Jed Heath brings therapy dog Major to the MCA building.

News

Maize adds several new teachers to its roster for the school year.

8-9 10-13 17 20 21 24-25 30-31 Photo Focus

Students and staff participate in Maize’s first National Day of Service.

Now Playing Play investigates e-cigarette culture and the dangers of Juuling.

Maizenews.com || Oct. 2018

Who’s inside?

Abby McCoy & Casey Loving Editors-in-chief Bailey Birkholz Design editor Sam Bartlett Photo editor Maddie Neigenfind Features editor/Ad manager Ellie Stucky Sports editor Ryann Redinger Engagements editor Madelyn Craft Kamryn Gaines Brooke Grisham Madi Hay Carter Jones Keira McGinty Lily Robison Janeth Saenz Kyerra Snyder Abby Turner Jordan Wontorski Dan Loving Adviser

Cover Illustration by Sam Bartlett

Column

Senior Ryann Redinger writes an open letter to a student studying next to her at Starbucks.

Editorial

The Play staff shows how vaping is a bigger threat than students may realize.

Sports

Football plays first half of the season without allowing a point.

Sports An update on the first half of the fall sports season.

Photo Focus A look back at the fall homecoming week.

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.

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Play newsmagazine | maizenews.com

Facebook: Play Newsmag Twitter: @PlayNewsmag Instagram: @PlayNewsmag

Raise your voice

Submit a letter to the editor for the next issue to room D16 or mhsnewsmag@gmail.com

First copy free.

Additional copies $1.

Printed by School Paper Express. © Copyright 2018 Play newsmagazine

03/ TOC

security measures Added to Maize Story by Madelyn Craft

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he Maize district has recently increased security efforts to make the schools safer for students.

There are several new security measures being taken at each of the schools.

One of the newest is “Run, Hide, Fight.”

“That’s the system that the students have been taught,” said Dave Nash, assistant principal at Maize South High. “Teachers have been trained on the three options that you have in case of an intruder.”

Nash said he believes this system improves the safety of the students in all of the schools by giving them more options in the case of an intruder.

“If you look at the studies from other situations like Sandy Hook, the students had to stay in place,” he said. “So when they had an intruder come in, the students had nowhere to go. They didn’t have another option, that was what they were told to do.”

One of the biggest changes in security at the schools is the new badges that are given when a visitor enters the building.

“When adults come in, if they’re going

Officer Jamey Dover stands with a new Maize Police vehicle. A new security system has been added to all of the Maize schools. Photo by Kyerra Snyder

to be around children, they go through a machine called the Raptor System,” officer Jamey Dover said. “It scans their driver’s license and it goes to a database.

And then as long as that clears, then their name tag prints where they’re going, who they are, and what time they signed in.”

Senior Cameron Todd said he hasn’t

seen any notable changes in security precautions.

“Over the years, we’ve had one officer in the same area, but if anything were to happen in the Maize Career Academy building, I don’t know how they would respond to that because Dover is all the way across the building,” Todd said. n

burger chain comes To NEWMARKET B Story by Kamryn Gaines urgerFi is the newest restaurant chain to make its way into Wichita.

Its focus is toward younger generations and bringing newer and healthier options when it comes to eating out.

With vegetarian and vegan options paired with freshly made fries and shakes, BurgerFi aims to be the perfect after-game meal.

The restaurant chain started off in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida, in 2011 and has been expanding ever since. The chain now has 106 restaurants across the US, Panama, Kuwait and Mexico. “[Our chain is] currently pushing into the Midwest and one of the top places for restaurants is Wichita,” general manager Alex Evans said.

BurgerFi’s goal is to change the way people eat out and give a better and healthier solution.

“Burgerfication of the nation, we are

04/ news

changing the way people perceive burgers,” Evans said. “We use the top percent of what other restaurants use.

We have vegetarian options and vegan options.”

Not only is BurgerFi trying to change the ways of fast food, the chain also focuses on making the best experience possible for their staff and customers by providing the best customer service.

“It’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle,” Evans said.

“A happy employee makes happy food makes happy people. You’re gonna get what you paid for. It’s not fast food; it’s fast casual.”

A great guest experience is not the only thing BurgerFi focuses on. The restaurant also uses recycled furniture in unique ways around their store.

“We are an old-fashioned, urban-style restaurant; 80 percent of the furniture is recycled,” Evans said. “Chairs are parts of airplanes, renewable pine wood, all of the paper you see here is 100 percent

recycled. Some of the chairs are made from old Coca-Cola bottles and Edison bulbs.”

This restaurant chain has received multiple awards for its work over the years.

“During our opening, we were No. 2 in the nation,” Evans said. “We are bearable now as we’re getting settled down. We’ve only been open for seven years, but so far a new store has been opening up once a month.”

Sophomore Tadi Vaughn is one of the students who has visited the restaurant.

“It was pretty good, a little overpriced,” she said. “The workers are really nice and some are past Maize students.”

“Come out just to change your mind; it’s not your average burger,” Evans said.

“This is what high schoolers are looking for. We are looking to get younger generations incoming. We’re trying to get into the younger generation, and that’s really all it’s about.” n

MAJOR Help

Maizenews.com || Oct. 2018

MCA teacher Jed Heath brings a new service dog to school Story by Keira McGinty here’s a new furry friend at the Maize Career Academy to help the students through the day. His name is Major, and he’s a certified facility therapy dog.

Major’s handler, Jed Heath, adopted the dog from Paws for Freedom, a company which trains dogs to become service dogs or therapy dogs.

While a service dog is trained to help specific people with their disabilities, a therapy dog is trained to work in a facility and provide emotional support to anyone and everyone. Major has been trained to properly behave in different therapeutic situations and goes around to bring cheer to students in the building.

“I saw [the therapy dog] over at Complete High School and how well she was received there, and I knew that our building doesn’t have our own counselor or really any emotional support here in the Maize Career Academy,” Heath said.

“I really wanted to do something different, and I’ve seen how well facility dogs have been received in other buildings.”

Heath adopted Major in June. To be able to adopt him, Heath needed to fill out an application and background

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checks were made. Afterward, Heath went through a week-long training process to prepare Major for working at the MCA. Heath said students who are particularly fond of Major will wait at the door of Heath’s room and call his name during passing period to say hello. He can help to improve somebody’s day just by providing a solid presence and distracting them from intrusive thoughts.

Even if a dog means well, it can provide more stress than comfort. Barking and licking might lead to someone having sensory overload, or even an anxiety

attack. Major, on the other hand, knows how he’s supposed to behave to be beneficial to those around him. He stays calm while still giving attention to those who want it. Senior Megan Denton feels that having a therapy dog has made a positive impact. “[Having a therapy dog] has made me feel happy,” Denton said. “He distracts me from whatever’s going on in my mind.

He makes me have positive thoughts. I’m just thinking about him and petting him.

He doesn’t judge; he just loves on you.

He doesn’t care what’s going on in your life." n

Major gives kisses to handler Jed Heath during robotics.

Major is allowed to roam around the room during class and provide comfort to distressed students.

Photo by Sam Bartlett

Maize Gives Personal Chromebooks to students

Story by Janeth Saenz his school year, Maize students got the chance to take Chromebooks home for the first time. The students will use the Chromebooks in and out of school for homework, projects and any other school work.

Suzanne McKaig, an English teacher, was a member of the committee for the approval of Chromebooks. She said the committee intended for students to have easier access to technology.

“The goal in mind was to have equal access for all students to technology,” she said. “Besides having equal access to learning with the Chromebook, the students will also be able to learn the responsibilities that go along with using the internet.”

The Chromebooks came with a charger

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and a case for each student. Each case costs $13.99, and each Chromebook is $165. The district spent $446,930 for the Chromebooks. Students are responsible for their Chromebooks and will have to pay the school for any damage done to them.

“Each year when a student comes back to school they will have the same Chromebook as they did before,” McKaig said. “After four years, they [freshmen] will have the opportunity to purchase that Chromebook at a reduced rate.”

Junior Kylie Luethje said she might not need it as much as other students, but she thinks it will be beneficial for the majority of students.

“I don’t really use my Chromebook during class,” she said. “I still think it was a good idea because a lot of kids might

not have access to it.”

McKaig said she believes the school has reacted positively to the addition of Chromebooks.

“There’s been no indication of any negative feedback from the teachers, students or from administration,” she said.

McKaig said introducing the Chromebooks to high schools is just the beginning. She believes the district has thoroughly researched the advantages and disadvantages of Chromebook use in the classroom.

“We have introduced the Chromebooks now in the high schools, the next step would be to introduce them into the middle schools,” McKaig said. “Then eventually introducing them into the elementary grades. It’s been a two year process that we’ve gone through.” n

05/ News

New teachers bring variety of experience

Isaac Shue helps a student with an art project in Art 1 class. He came from Cheney and taught elementray and middle school. Photo by Sam Bartlett

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Story by Madi Hay here are a number of new teachers at Maize this year. Among them is Jessica Schrum, who teaches business communications, accounting, marketing, digital media and entrepreneurship. ¨I’ve heard great things about the district and the principal, the administration and the kids,¨ Schrum said.

Schrum, who previously taught at Wichita Southeast, went to college at Fort Hays. She said she likes to watch her kids in the sports they play while she is not in the classroom. ¨All I do is sporting events all weekend long,” she said. “I have three kids that do soccer, volleyball and football.¨ Isaac Shue is another new teacher this year. He teaches Art 1 and Ceramics 1.

His family was a big part of him becoming a teacher.

“Both of my parents were teachers, and I enjoy kids,” Shue said.

Shue came from Cheney, where he taught elementary and middle school.

“I like more of the high school age,” he said.

Shue has his own pottery studio named IS Ceramics, and he said it’s a big part of his life.

“We do art fairs about every other weekend,” Shue said.

06/ News

Tara Wall-Meyer teaches English 12, English 11 and co-teaches essentials of chemistry and physics. Previously, Wall-Meyer was a para.

“I picked Maize because this is where all of my kids have gone to school and I love Maize as a school,” Wall-Meyer said.

Wall-Meyer said she loves doing activities outside of the classroom. ¨One of my favorite things to do outside of the classroom is coaching cheer,” she said. “I love being a cheer coach, and then currently the biggest project we have going outside of the classroom and completely away from school is that my husband and I are building a house,” Wall-Meyer said.

Shelby Goss, who graduated from Maize in 2014, is the new band teacher. ¨I actually replaced my old band director,” Goss said of Bryan Kirk. “When I found out that he was moving on to another school, I really wanted this job because I enjoy Maize and I wanted to come back and take over my old band program.”

Thea Lippoldt teaches social studies in a special education classroom. Lippoldt has taught at Maize before, went to teach at Maize South and returned to Maize.

“I needed a change from what I was doing,” Lippoldt said. “I was teaching in a functional classroom and I really missed

my friends and the administration and the population of students here at Maize.”

Lippoldt said she loves getting to see and meet new people every day while at work.

“I love getting to know the students who come by the classroom and also finding ways to help people who need that throughout their day, whether its students or teachers or anybody,” Lippoldt said.

Marcia Hatfield teaches orchestra and said she is happy that she got to teach here because she loves the students and the environment.

“I was excited that the district added another orchestra teacher position to the district,” Hatfield said. “I am thrilled to be teaching here. I had subbed in Maize previously and loved working with the students here.”

Hatfield works in six buildings and said it’s hard to keep up with all the news from each building. She does a lot of activities outside of school to keep her busy.

“I play bass in the Wichita Symphony, and enjoy spending time with my husband and two kids,” Hatfield said.

Darcie Lowry teaches one block of science. She has been in the district since 2011. She previously taught at Maize South Middle. In addition to teaching at Maize High, she teaches for the virtual school. n

Maizenews.com || Oct. 2018

Stall overhaul

Bathroom murals get replaced by new stall doors

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Story by Carter Jones tudents of Maize High have seen the iconic murals on the commons bathroom stalls for years. The murals painted on stall doors in the boys and girls restrooms have been removed and replaced with plain white stalls.

Art teacher Jodee Johnson said that she understands why the stalls had to be removed for the new year.

“I think it’s good that we got new stalls because it was really hard to keep the paint on them,” Johnson said. “We had to repaint them quite frequently because people would pick at them and tear the paint off of them.”

Teachers in the art department were told that the stalls needed to go and were asked if they wanted to keep the stall doors in storage or if they wanted them scrapped.

“It’s a dilemma because you have these

massive heavy doors and what do you do with them?” Johnson said. “We don’t have the storage for them.”

Johnson said the stalls have had to deal with years of graffiti and damage, and they were in terrible condition.

“The inside of the stalls looked horrible,” she said. “They were an embarrassment to our school. We needed the new stalls because it was gross in there.”

Students used to see the murals every day, but may never have thought about who made them or how they got there.

The murals were a project for the art in action class about five years ago. There were six to eight students involved in making them.

“The hard thing is to get the paint to stick,” Johnson said. “That was the problem we had with it. People would scratch into them and peel the paint off, and it was really annoying because people

spent a lot of time on them and it looks horrible.”

Maize has been searching for ways to prevent graffiti in the bathrooms.

Johnson said she believes the way to stop the graffiti is to keep the bathrooms clean.

“I’ve noticed that the more something looks messy, the more people mess it up,” Johnson said. “The bathrooms need to be cleaned every day, if graffiti is put up it needs to be washed off or taken down immediately, especially since most of the stuff that’s written is derogatory towards other people.”

Art teacher Beth Janssen said she agrees.

“Once someone writes on them, then everyone else thinks it’s OK to write on them,” Janssen said. “So if one person writes on it and it gets cleaned off, it’s less likely for other people to write on it.” n

complete Brings store to retirement home

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Story by Kamryn Gaines s Maize and Maize South both have their own spirit stores, Complete High School has recently opened a store of their own in the Reflection Ridge Retirement Community. The store is designed to help the students learn about service and management.

“I think it’s just to give the residents the proper service that we

all feel they need,” Complete student Bree Fowler said. “I also feel like we do it just out of the goodness of our hearts. We interact with the residents a lot, and it helps us with elderly people. It puts some youth into the whole building.”

The residents of the retirement home have said that they are very appreciative of the store as well.

“I think the store is wonderful and has wonderful service,” resident Carol Perez said. “They’re smart and know how to think and solve problems. Overall just wonderful customer service, and everybody really likes it.”

The students said they have learned a lot from the experience of working at the store.

“I’ve learned that you have to be patient and considerate with the seniors.” student Julien Bedfort said. “They [the residents] come to talk to us, so I just make them feel comfortable and talk to them. You’ve got to go with the flow of the store.”

Fowler also said she has learned a lot of life skills from her work in the store.

“I’ve learned a lot of communication skills by working in the store,” Fowler said. “I’ve learned how to read the residents so if they’re having a bad day I can try to brighten it. I’ve learned how to manage my time properly. I love working in the store.” n Complete students work at the store at Reflection Ridge Retirement Community. Photo by Kamryn Gaines

07/ News

Service with a Purpose

Maize participates in National Day of Service to make a positive impact in the community on 9/11

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08/ Photo Focus

Maizenews.com || Oct. 2018

1. Freshman Jake Jackson tapes off the wall before painting the small gym. Photo by Braden Stamper 2. Sophomore Bode Carter organizes soup cans in Maslow’s Closet.

Photo by Sam Bartlett

3. Juniors Alicen Grindstaff, Julian Shamasko, Tony Arellano and Alyssa Miller help make bowls for a Kansas Food Bank fundraiser. Photo by Ellie Stucky

4. Senior Jonathan Mercer and Junior Lauren Fuhrman help organize juice at the Kansas Food Bank. Photo by Sam Bartlett 5. Kindness rocks painted by students were placed at Sedgwick County Park. Photo by Ellie Stucky 6. Select choir sings at Grasslands Estates. Two ensembles sang at three retirement homes each throughout the day.

Photo by Casey Loving

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WARNING: THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS NICOTINE. NICOTINE IS AN ADDICTIVE CHEMICAL.

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Maizenews.com || Oct. 2018

smoke and mirrors student 5 suspensions S A look into the connection between teens and Juuls

Story by Abby McCoy and Ryann Redinger Design by Abby McCoy ome students believe it’s the newest trend.

Doctors say it’s harmful for health.

The school district has suspended students for using them on campus.

The FDA says it is an epidemic.

The topic of teen Juuling is controversial for both teens and adults alike, and everyone seems to have their own perspective on it.

A Juul is an easy-to-use vaporizer designed for adult smokers looking for an alternative to smoking cigarettes.

Juulpods click into the top of the Juul, containing Juulsalts, a liquid formula based on nicotine salts. These pods can also contain THC or other drugs. For a 17-year-old Maize student, this trend has become part of the student’s life.

“It’s like a tweet gone viral,” said the student, whose identity is being withheld to protect them from being punished. “It’s like when someone sees it, they’ll retweet it. It is a trend, they think it’s cool. It gives some kids a release, but with others, and a lot of people, I think it’s peer pressure.

They think rebelling is cool.”

The student said they first started smoking frequently in their freshman year but later started using a Juul. Once the Juul came out, the student acquired one through a friend above the age 18 because the student is minor.

“It was that peer pressure thing,” the student said. “In my opinion, it’s a better alternative [to harder drugs]. I feel like I am not strong enough to say ‘no’ yet.”

The minor said they view Juul usage among teens as a phase due to the outlet for stress-relief that the product provides.

“I think that it’s a teenage thing,” they said. “You don’t see 50-year-olds partying all the time and getting drunk. But right now everything is piling on me and this is a good release. Yes, there are other things you could do [to relieve stress], but I feel like people think this is the most accessible way.”

The student said the bathroom is a com-

mon spot for students to Juul in school.

“I get super anxious, so I’ll go to the bathroom, or just literally anywhere with no cameras, and take a couple pulls,” the student said. “It just relaxes my body and I kind of just tell myself ‘OK, deep breath.

You got this,’ and I go back to class.”

Although the student actively uses a Juul in school, the student believes school administration cracking down on Juul usage is their right.

“What the school is doing, I don’t think it’s bad.” they said. “The school wants positive role models for their students.

It’s their choice. If for the betterment of the school if they want to ban things, they can ban them. Most especially if they are illegal.”

‘It’s new to us, too’

Juul usage has been on the rise since 2017 when the company was founded.

Just in the first few weeks of school, five Maize High students were suspended for having Juuls on school property.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration compliance checks have uncovered 40 violations for illegal sales of Juul products to youth. The FDA has issued 40 warning letters for those violations.

On Sept. 12, the FDA declared that teenage use of electronic cigarettes has reached “an epidemic proportion.” The FDA gave Juul, and five other large e-cigarette companies, 60 days to prove that they can keep their products away from minors, or their product will be pulled from the market.

“Juul Labs will work proactively with the FDA in response to its request,” a Juul spokeswoman told the New York Times: “We are committed to preventing underage use of our product, and we want to be part of the solution in keeping e-cigarettes out of the hands of young people.”

Principal Chris Botts said he believes the use of e-cigarettes has become a trend among high school students.

“It’s new, it’s targeted towards teenagers, and it’s easy to hide,” Botts said.

The district has a contract with a drug dog company that comes in randomly

this school year in relation to Juul use at Maize

2.1 million

youth were e-cig users in 2017

The FDA CITED r e ta i l e r s

40

$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$

for violations relating to youth sales in 2018.

= 1 juulpod = 20 cigs juul controls

72%

of the e-cig market Sources: FDA, CDC, NIDA, Nielsen, Dr. Botts

11/ Now Playing

‘The very first guinea pigs’

School administration aren’t the only ones concerned about the teen use of Juuls.

Doctors and specialists have been doing research on the effects of nicotine on teens, including Linda Gibson-Young.

Gibson-Young, an instructor at Auburn University, has been doing research on the use of Juuls among the youth popula-

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tion and has written medical literature on its effects.

She is concerned about how much nicotine teens are getting from using Juuls.

She said one Juul pod is equal to one pack of cigarettes when it comes to nicotine content.

“We’ve had story after story explained to us in the clinical setting that students will try to inhale as much as they can before they go to the next class,” Gibson-Young said. “So the youth are actually getting much higher doses of nicotine.”

Gibson-Young said addiction to nicotine can cause withdrawal in the body,

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Letting yourself get manipulated sucks. Don’t let the tobacco industry let you poison your body and make you waste your money. There’s better things to do with your time.

—Amy Seery, pediatrician

causing nicotine to have a calming effect on the mind. That, in turn, only deepens the addiction.

“When you initially get the exposure to nicotine, you get the elevated heart rate, but it’s as your body has that withdrawal from the nicotine then you get the irritability, anxiety and just difficulty focusing,” Gibson-Young said. “You start to respond by wanting more nicotine in the body.”

Gibson-Young said she believes the biggest threat to teens is the potential developmental damage caused by nicotine.

“The brain is still growing through the

I think it is disappointing that Teens use things like Juuls as a “stress reliever.” There are so many [legal] options to relieve stress. It’s just sad. Especially when you discover that you have a friend who uses a juul.

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Let people make the decisions they want to make.

They’ll learn the consequences of their decisions.

Quotes from an anonymous survey sent to the student body.

12/ Now Playing

teen years, so the more chemicals that you put into the brain or more effects that you have on the central nervous system, the greater damage you can have longterm because you can damage your brain while it’s still growing.”

Amy Seery, MD, is a pediatrician at Via Christi. She said the most important thing for teens to know is that these products have not been well studied.

“The problem is, it can take decades for these problems to manifest,” Seery said.

“Teenagers are willing to be the very first guinea pigs in a real-life study as to how harmful these may or may not be. When we find out later, 20 or 30 years later, about the horrible cancers and the devastating physical effects of these products, it may be too late for the people who are choosing to use them.”

Seery said she believes companies like Juul are aggressively targeting teenagers through ad campaigns, visual appeal and especially the flavors available. “ I can guarantee you they’re not advertising unicorn poop as a flavor to my grandmother.” she said. “That’s a very specific target audience for that flavor.

Letting yourself get manipulated sucks.

Don’t let the tobacco industry let you poison your body and make you waste your money. There’s better things to do with your time.”

‘We are not really grown people yet’

A 17-year-old student quit using e-cigarettes because of being unable to pay for it, but the student has adopted a different outlook on teen usage of e-cigarettes.

“They don’t really think that there is anything wrong with doing it,” the student said. “I don’t think the kids that are doing it are grown up enough to just own up to that they are doing something that maybe they shouldn’t be doing. I just don’t think that the people who do it are really open often or self-aware enough to understand that it’s not a good thing.”

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I find it really backwards to vape without having a nicotine addiction beforehand.

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throughout the school year. One K9 unit search has been conducted this year, and Botts believes this search is the reason the number of Juul-related suspensions has been so high.

“It’s new to us too, and it’s hard to detect because there’s hardly any vapor trail,” Botts said. “If you walked in [a bathroom] you would definitely smell cigarette smoke or marijuana.”

School policy states that use or possession of any tobacco products on school grounds or at school activities is considered major misconduct. If a student is found in possession of an electronic cigarette or vaporizer containing nicotine, it will result in a three-day suspension, followed by a drug test. If the drug test comes back positive, it results in a 10-day out-of-school suspension.

“I think students can do whatever the heck they want to do when they aren’t at school,” Botts said. “That’s their choice.

My job is keep our school and the students safe. I can’t in good conscience say that’s it’s OK to do here at school.”

Botts has two children who go to Maize schools and values educating them to make good choices in and out of school.

“As a dad, it scares the heck out of me,” he said. “It’s impossible to be with her [his daughter] at all times, so you hope that you’ve raised your kids to make good decisions and know that they’re going to mess up. That’s part of being a teenager, learning from it and growing from it.”

Maizenews.com || Oct. 2018 The student obtained their e-cig from an older family member. They said vaping was just something they did, but now said they believe using a product such as Juul isn’t a good decision, especially for teenagers.

The student said another reason teens might be Juuling is because of they are trying to figure out who they are.

“We are not really grown people yet,” the student said. “We are still figuring out what we want to do, or who we are, so doing things like this that could possibly put you in a different light could be the reason why you do it,” the student said. “I think that a part of it is they don’t know what they want, so they go and attach themselves to something that is popular.”

In the state of Kansas, you must be 18 to purchase products containing nicotine through a face-to-face retailer.

Mike Thornbrugh, manager of public and government affairs for QuikTrip, said it is important for QT to handle sensitive items with extreme caution.

“If you appear to be under the age of 40, we are going to ask for identification to make sure that an individual is of age,” Thornbrugh said. “We don’t make moral decisions in regards to that [selling Juuls to minors]; we have to make sure you are of age.

“Our deal is you aren’t going to buy from us. If so, we’ll take care of matters. If somebody wants something, they’ll get it somehow, someway, but not from us.”

‘They don’t care; it’s cool’

There are many students who haven’t attached themselves to Juul products. A 15-year-old Maize student has chosen not

to Juul despite having many friends do it.

“I see how my peers use them and that setting I get in when they are using it is toxic, and I don’t want to be around stuff like that,” the student said.

The student said they do not allow their friends to Juul around them, and if friends Juul around them, they will leave.

The student believes that teens are Juuling simply because it’s a current trend.

“Just like smoking was popular back then, like you could smoke on an airplane,” the student said. “It was something that was cool back then and now people are dying from lung cancer. They don’t care; it’s cool.”

The student said they have confronted their friends about using a Juul and feels the only reason they Juul is because they want to fit in.

“You should have your own morals,”

“ I think that a part of it is they don’t know what they want so they go and attach themselves to something that is popular.

—Anonymous

the student said. “The fact that those [morals] don’t matter to you because it’s

a (not so) minor problem

Play sent a 17-year-old reporter to seven stores that sell Juulpods in Wichita. Two out of the seven were willing and ready to sell him pods without carding him. (Read more on page 20.)

a trend is kind of disgusting. That upsets me because you could be doing so many other things, and you’re here Juuling.

I’d rather see you drink seven Starbucks venti pumpkin spice lattes. Ewwww, but better than Juuling.”

A 15-year-old student said they first began to Juul after a few friends let them try it. They said after trying it once, they thought it was fun and wanted to try it again. The student said friends would let them borrow their Juuls to use in the bathrooms during lunch. They said it developed into an addiction at the beginning of sophomore year.

“If I saw [a Juul] I’d be like ‘Hey, let me hit that,’” the student said. “I didn’t even care who it was, and I’d literally go ask them.”

The student said Juuling was a way to get rid of the goody-goody label they felt they had in middle school. They said it was a way to change in high school, and the student knew it was bad, but the peer pressure turned into addiction.

“You just forget about everything when you’re on that buzz,” the student said.

Because of the recent suspensions, though, the student decided to quit Juuling to protect their future and had not Juuled for two weeks and plans to continue to abstain from using it.

“I just look at my future and think ‘OK, I can go down this path and Juul every day and buy myself a Juul and then get caught and freaking work at McDonalds for the rest of my life, or I can stop, actually focus on school, and go to college and make money,” the student said. “I’d rather do that one.” n

stress relief alternatives

1. Engage in face-to-face. conversations.

2. Spend time with supportive friends and family.

3. Try mindfulness and breathing techniques.

4. Find activities that bring you joy.

5. Exercise.

6. Get adequate sleep.

List provided by pediatrician Amy Seery

13/ Now playing

Brewing Something Good

Senior Alex Freige balances school with full-time job Story by Maddie Neigenfind Design by Abby Turner s the strong smell of coffee fills her nose and a low roar of people muttering softly to one another amplifies in the room, senior Alex Freige works diligently to satisfy the growing demand of Frappuccinos from the abundance of studying students.

Freige has been working at Starbucks in New Market Square since February.

She said she looks forward to the loving environment set in place by her fellow workers every day. “[I love] being with my coworkers,” Freige said. “We call them partners. They just make my day better. We all get along, I love them so much.”

While the environment among workers is fun and loving, working with the customers can sometimes be a challenge.

“The most difficult part of work is keeping up with our customers on certain days, especially happy hour on Thursdays,” Freige said. “They can get kind of crazy over a cup of coffee.“ For most students, after-school activities vary between studying, sleeping or catching up on their social life. For Freige, she heads to Starbucks, racking up close to, and sometimes more than, 40 hours a week.

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“Depending on the week and how much they’re willing to schedule me, I usually do a 3:30 to 11 p.m. shift every day,” Freige said.

“Starbucks pays really well and they’re really compatible,” she said. “It was a way better environment than where I was before. On nights that we’re really slow, my coworkers and I will go into the back corner and talk after everything is done.

We all like to dig deep and know more about each other than just the surface.”

According to Freige, one big perk about working at Starbucks is making all of her favorite drinks, especially at the espresso bar.

“I like the espresso bar because I prefer to make anything with steamed milk,” Freige said. “Hot bar doesn’t take a long time like cold bar; everything is in one place. My favorite drink to make would have to be a caramel macchiato, iced. It’s very popular and simple to make, but my favorite drink to have is a London fog latte with soy milk.”

Freige has a suggestion for people searching for a good morning drink.

“If you’re looking for good coffee and something that genuinely tastes good, our vanilla sweet cream cold brew is so good,” she said. “It wakes you up, and it’s just

everything you need in a cup.”

Throughout her time at Starbucks, Freige said she has made lots of valuable memories and relationship that will last a lifetime.

“My favorite memory at work is with Amber,” Freige said. “She’s my shift supervisor and usually works mornings. [. . .] We were all messing around making jokes. I got a video of Amber running across the bar like a gorilla. She’s just so funny and goofy.”

Despite her strong bond with her coworkers and the homey feel of Starbucks that Freige has grown to love, it’s only a stepping stone to becoming something great.

“I love the people I work with and Starbucks pays good, but this isn’t what I want to do forever.“ n

Senior Alex Freige has worked at Starbucks for about seven months. Freige’s favorite drink to make is a caramel macchiato.

Photo by Abby Turner

14/ Features

Maizenews.com || Oct. 2018

A Summer Abroad

Teachers get once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Story By Lily Robison and Carter Jones ath teacher Emily Provencher and art teacher Amanda Gosch decided it would be exciting to take a trip to China over the summer to teach students new skills in mathematics and art.

The teachers stayed overseas from June 26 to July 23 in the city of Xuzhou. While in Xuzhou, Gosch and Provencher experienced a life very different than American life.

The teachers discovered several differences between education in America and in China.

The first week they went on a pre-tour of the country, and then began working with Chinese students and teachers.

Provencher said that she taught them some math activities, how to use math with cards and projects that they could do with different games. Provencher said that students sit in class listening to the teacher talk and do not do any activities or games.

“I think the Chinese teachers really

M

enjoyed it,” Provencher said, “I got some letters from them and they said how great it was, how lucky our students are to be able to learn in a fun environment.”

From Gosch’s perspective, the art world in China was full of pottery and calligraphy unlike art in America.

“The art was calligraphy or pottery everywhere we went,” Gosch said. “I did go to a seminar where we did calligraphy lessons. We learned that a lot of people are illiterate when it comes to calligraphy because not everyone could do the letters.

This is because their alphabet is so huge and it takes forever for them to master it.”

Gosch said most of the information she gave to her students in China could not be used for their benefit because they have strict rules.

“What I taught them, they could not necessarily apply to their classroom,” she said. “In China they have strict by-thebook rules. You cannot have them be creative, they cannot think outside the box.”

In China, Provencher and Gosch got to learn not only about the education bar-

rier but also about the different cultural aspects. For Gosch, getting to experience real Chinese food was a plus.

“Chinese food is not the same as American Chinese food. You don’t have fried rice, you don’t have fortune cookies.

I ate jellyfish, boiled frog soup, sheep and tofu,” Gosch said.

Gosch said she also learned to say some terms in Chinese, Leng Shui means, “cold water” and wo ai ni means, “I love you.”

During the tour around China, Provencher and Gosch got to experience the beauty of the Chinese scenery and countryside. Gosch said the riverboat was the best thing she had seen in her entire life.

“Here is a beautiful breeze and you are talking to some of your bestest friends in the world now,” Gosch said “You see a beautiful landscape and these water buffalo that are wild. They’re everywhere and some people that live near there are fishing for dinner or taking a bath, it’s so beautiful. I didn’t ever want to leave that boat.” n

Photos submitted by Amanda Gosch Math teacher Emily Provencher and Art teacher Amanda Gosch pose with the pre-tour group.

Emily Provencher and Amanda Gosch posing with Chinese women and child.

15/ Features

Chrome Sweet Chrome

Students decorate their school-issued Chromebooks

Christian Sampson

“I think I have the best Chromebook in school because it has pieces of my friends on it, [Jolan Besse] painted it and [Cade McGaugh] gave me the Supreme sticker.”

Megan Beemer

“Something that people don’t really know about me is that I’m actually Jewish and had family that passed away in concentration camps, so the Star of David is a little way of remembering them.”

Jade Goracke

Autumn Hesslink

“I like the stars on mine, but my favorite part is the glitter. It’s my little way of showing how extra I can be.”

Story and photos by Brooke Grisham and Jordan Wonstorski Design by Carter Jones

16/ Features

“I like the Simpsons stickers because my dad and I watched it together when I was a kid. It brings good memories and happy thoughts when I’m doing school work.”

Kylee Clark

“It’s my favorite quote, and it really inspires me to keep going no matter how hard a class gets.”

Maizenews.com || Oct. 2018

To the boy next to me at Starbucks

Senior Ryann Redinger contemplates education over a cup of coffee

Senior Ryann Redinger decides a high GPA may not be worth someone’s happiness. Photo by Sam Bartlett

Column by Ryann Redinger s I sit at Starbucks, you are sitting on my right deeply studying your AP Government textbook with your AP Stats and Calculus books in a stack nearby. I have been here awhile, and you have not looked up once except to say hi.

As I sit and creepily watch you study (because I have nothing better to do), I can’t help but wonder what you do with your life besides study.

Do you have time to spend time with people, eat, or even sleep?

When studying and school is your entire life, do you ever have time for things such as sleepovers, family outings, or dating?

I wonder if you ever get to experience those things. Or do you opt out to go to Starbucks and study for hours upon end instead?

I get it; you want to get into a good school, so you can get good scholarships, so you can have a well-paying job. I understand, but I can’t help but wonder how you give up so much to take all those advanced classes, do all the extracurriculars and still remain intact.

When it’s 3 a.m. and you still have at least another hour of homework left, how do you wake up the next day and show up to school ready to learn and perform?

I wish I could be like you. I mean I have

A

a 4.0 GPA and I feel like I am very involved in school, yet I don’t even compare to the high achiever that you are and that many other students are. I used to be.

Taking hard classes and being involved in every club that exists used to be a priority, but something my junior year changed. My classes got harder and my schedule got crazier, adding in show choir, school choir, and starting a new relationship. I found it so hard to finish my homework due to the constant need for perfection after a long show choir rehearsal or movie date.

I remember what it was like to pull all-nighters: half spent doing homework and half falling into a dark place of anxiety due to lack of sleep and wanting to please my teachers. I know I did that to myself by doing all the extracurriculars, but things happened to me my junior year that made me prioritize almost everything in my life over homework, which only deepened the hole of academic anxiety I was already in.

So I just don’t understand how you and many of my other friends do it. I can’t understand how you can be OK, or at least seem to be, after all the stress of trying to be the perfect student. I don’t wear perfect well, although I try very hard to pull it off.

I realize I don’t need to be a star student

to be happy. My identity isn’t found in the straight A’s and honors classes. I no longer delight myself in correcting someone else’s grammar.

Yes, I still struggle with anxiety, but it’s not the constant pressure to be the best student a teacher has ever had. It’s not the pressure to try to be top 10 in the class. It was no longer a goal for myself.

Instead, I decided to pursue my passions in education by taking career courses rather than taking AP classes. I’ve let myself do things I enjoy rather than force myself to take classes that will only hold me back from obtaining some sort of happiness.

You know, maybe you actually love taking AP classes, staying up until 1 a.m. on a regular basis, and sitting at Starbucks for three hours staring at a textbook.

Maybe school does give you some sort of happiness. Being an honors student never gave me that, and I always felt so ashamed that I wasn’t very good at it. Telling myself it was OK to pursue other things made me realize I can be happy without having a 30-plus on my ACT. I’m an ex-honors student, and that’s OK. I’ve just always needed someone to tell me that.

So I guess this letter isn’t for you after all. It’s for me. n

17/ column

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NR

Column not yet rated

Junior reviews what should or shouldn’t be R-rated

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ear Motion Picture Association of America, I am a good person. I follow the rules. I stay out of trouble. I keep my head low. But thanks to you, now I have been driven to a life of crime. I have broken the law. Because of you, I have had to lie about my age so that I can see a movie with more than one use of the f-word in it.

I know what you’re thinking, and I’m thinking it, too: Lock me up. If thieves go to prison for stealing, why shouldn’t a 16-year-old boy go to prison for hearing such foul language meant not for virgin ears? However, before I start the rest of my life behind those cold, steel bars I will now call home, I would like to say that it is not I who should be on trial. No, it is the whole system that should be on trial.

I have seen many movies in my day.

Horrific, gruesome, bloody movies.

Movies where men are torn in half and women are eaten alive. Movies where children lose their limbs at the hands of their father, only to return the favor at a later date. Movies where public figures get half of their face burned off by a facially-scarred maniac. Of course, these were only “Jurassic World,” “Star Wars,” and “The Dark Knight,” all of which were rated at PG-13 or below.

As a lover of movies, I have to say that your rules just make no sense to me.

Why is it that bad words, things that I hear every day, deserve to be more R-rated than violent, disturbing displays one could only find in their nightmares?

I probably hear somebody curse in school at least a few times a day, but the amount of times I’ve seen somebody get torn in half by a dinosaur can’t be more than five.

There are beautiful, outstanding movies every year aimed directly at people my

age that they cannot see because of an arbitrary age barrier. There is absolutely no reason that movies like “Lady Bird” and “The Edge of Seventeen” cannot legally be seen by the people they are targeted at. At the time of writing this, I still haven’t seen “Eighth Grade,” a movie about what it is like to be in middle school, because age restrictions made screening opportunities very limited in my area.

It makes me so [INAPPROPRIATE] upset that these stupid [CENSORED] ing movies are rated PG-13, while some beautiful film about growing up is rated R because it says [PROFANE]. I can walk into nonsensical [EXPLETIVE] ing movies where people get their [NAUGHTY]ing heads chomped off no problem. Meanwhile, I have had to sneak into so many [VULGAR]ing movies just because they say words I hear every day like [REDACTED]. I mean really, [REDACTED]? You think 15-year-olds haven’t heard the word [REDACTED]?

Who hasn’t heard the word [REDACTED]?

I may be a criminal, but the real crime here is sheltering teenagers from important films because they have a few no-no words in them. There is no sense in shielding kids from thoughtful, resonant movies that happen to have words that can be heard every day, while, at the same time, allowing grisly displays of horror one could only imagine to be seen by children of all ages. As “South Park” so sarcastically put it, “Remember what the MPAA says: Horrific, deplorable violence is OK, as long as people don’t say any naughty words.” So, until you decide to reevaluate your priorities, let me just say from the bottom of my heart: [REDACTED] you, MPAA. [REDACTED] you. n

Casey Loving Commentary

Have a suggestion for the next opinion column?

Contact me at 20caseyloving@ usd266.com or on Twitter @CaseyMLoving

19/ opinion

aStudent (Notvaping So)isMinor Issue a greater problem W

than it may seem

e did it. We learned from the mistakes of older generations, and we made a change. We saw the looming threat of lung cancer and made a plan to stop it. We made a plan to beat teen smoking.

Now, we aren’t the first generation to recognize the dangers of nicotine use.

There have been other solutions before, most commonly the nicotine patch. But none of these have provided any long-term solution. We needed something that would stick around, something modern and accessible so the younger generations could be cut off before they even developed an addiction.

Something that would simulate smoking so closely that you could hardly notice you weren’t. Something so similar, in fact, that there would barely be a difference in nicotine content at all, if not more. We needed an electronic cigarette.

“The purpose of this invention is to provide an electronic cigarette that substitutes for real cigarettes and helps smokers to quit smoking,” the patent text for the first modern e-cigarette reads.

On paper, this sounds like a good idea: An electronic cigarette that can wean people off of smoking, leaving out the harmful tar and other negative side effects that come from cigarettes while still capturing the same feeling.

In theory, it’s a perfect solution. In reality, it seems to be a fiasco.

E-cigarettes are regarded as a joke.

Adults think they’re stupid, and the word “Juul” itself is enough to make a teenager laugh. Still, there is nothing our generation loves making jokes about more than serious issues. This is just another one of them.

“Teenagers are kind of ‘right now’ thinking,” officer Jayme Dover said. “They’re not thinking five or 10 years down the road, and they’re not thinking about consequences. ‘Nothing’s going to happen to me, everything’s gonna be OK.’ Plus, that’s the way vaping has been marketed, and that is just not correct.”

The greatest problem with vaping today

20/ editorial

is how it is being marketed, or rather mismarketed. Not only are e-cigarettes being misrepresented in the dangers they cause, but they are also directly targeted toward a teenage audience, one that by and large does not smoke in the first place.

Although e-cig companies like Juul claim to be used to end smoking addictions, a 2017 study by the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that vaping actually increases the risk of a smoking addiction. By mimicking the behavior of smoking, frequent use can plant patterns into adolescents. Without ever having a cigarette in your life, these patterns can increase the chances of cigarette and nicotine addiction, making the bad habit more accessible as there is no longer a learning curve.

The study also shows that e-cigs provide a much easier gateway to smoking and nicotine addiction than picking up traditional cigarettes. Because vaping does not necessarily start out with nicotine use, it opens the door for kids to take what starts off as a relatively harmless practice and escalate from there. Once nicotine is introduced, an addiction can quickly be picked up, as most e-cigs use the most addictive form of the drug, and a high concentration of it.

“E-cigarettes contain nicotine (and Juuls contain very high levels of nicotine), which is both extremely addictive and also quite harmful to the developing brain (brains continue to develop through the mid-20s),” Jessica Barrington-Trimis, a contributor to the study who is an assistant professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California, said in an email interview. “In addition, e-cigarette use has been strongly associated with subsequent cigarette initiation -- that is, young people who begin using e-cigarettes are more likely than those who do not to then start smoking.”

Even worse than how vaping is being mismarketed as a safe, cure-all alternative to smoking is how it’s marketing specifically targets teenagers. It seems like now you can’t go to the gas station,

turn on your radio or drive a mile down the road without seeing some form of advertisement for Juul, acting as if it’s the cool new thing.

“I don’t know too many 42 year olds who [say] ‘I can’t wait to get the cotton candy flavor,’” principal Chris Botts said.

“I think it’s targeted toward kids who are easy to influence.”

For the purpose of research, Play sent an underage reporter to several stores in the area that sell Juul pods, seeing how far he could get in the process of purchasing the nicotine-rich substance. Out of seven stores, two presented him with the opportunity to buy a pod, no ID required.

“You’re not having to go to a drug dealer,” Dover said. “You’re just going to the store.”

Of course vaping hasn’t just become a problem for students, but for the school as well. In the first month of the school year, five students were suspended for vaping or having an electronic cigarette on school grounds, with the school adding specific text regarding e-cig policies to the agenda in recent years.

“We have [seen a major increase in e-cig use], at least from a school discipline standpoint,” Botts said. “I wish that students understood the consequences or the harmful effects that it does have, and it’s frustrating.”

We have all had middle school talks about dangers of smoking and drug addiction. We all know that smoking is a problem that has plagued generations before us. Most of us aren’t stupid enough to take up the habit. So why are e-cigs any different?

We understand that this may sound like some cheesy after-school special about how bad it is to smoke, but look at the facts. Vaping has been shown to be dangerous for your health. It’s been proven to not end any sort of smoking addiction, still leaving users with a nicotine addiction, just from a different product.

It is marketed directly to them because companies think they’re dumb enough to fall for it. Prove them wrong. n

Maizenews.com || Oct. 2018

Perfect Start

Football doesn’t allow a point in first four games

Junior Caden Cox scores a touchdown during a 49-0 win against Valley Center in the season home-opener. Cox has scored nine touchdowns so far this season. Photo by Sam Bartlett

Story by Ellie Stucky he football team achieved the best season in Maize history last season.

This year, the Eagles are on pace to eclipse last year’s success.

The Eagles were 9-2 last season. They lost to Derby, finished second in Class 6A, during the regular season. The other loss came to eventual Class 5A champion Bishop Carroll in the playoffs.

“You hope that last year’s group kind of set the tone for this year’s group so they can pick up where they left off,” coach Gary Guzman said. “Last year’s kids did a really good job, and of course these kids were part of that as well, and we’re hoping that they can just keep things going.”

The Eagles are already making Maize history. They have gone 4-0 and haven’t been scored on yet this season.

The Eagles are one of two teams in the state that hasn’t allowed another team to score against them. They have scored 164 points overall halfway through the season.

Junior Caden Cox, who scored nine touchdowns in the first four games, feels

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great knowing that the team is undefeated and haven’t been scored against.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Cox said. “It obviously motivates the whole team to keep the streak alive and we’ll hold onto it as long as possible.”

Senior Deriq Doty said he is looking for the exact thing Guzman is wanting from the team, and he has been working since this summer at weights and conditioning each morning to prepare for it.

“With last year being the best season in school history, it really motivates us to do even better this year because we fell a little short last year and we want to get back and take it even further this year,” Doty said. “We definitely have the group to do it, we’ve just got to keep getting better and better every week.”

The team’s main focuses are paying more attention to touch ups and smaller details rather than the bigger picture.

“We don’t worry about big plays or all of that,” Cox said. “We focus on technique and doing our job every single day.”

Senior Caleb Grill said he is feeling

confident about the season and his teammates.

“I feel great,” Grill said. “We’re loaded on the offensive side of the ball with so many weapons.”

Though the team is confident they can do even better this season than the last, they know their goal won’t be easy to reach and their competition will be difficult.

“Derby [will be our toughest opponent], and we have to be locked in the whole time and have no errors at all,” Grill said.

“We have to be perfect.”

Guzman has a positive outlook on this year and looks forward to seeing how the team continues to grow closer and work harder.

“Every year, I pretty much feel this way going into a season,” Guzman said. “You never know what you’re going to have, how the kids are going to come together, how the chemistry is going to work. I’m optimistic about the year though. We had a good summer and based on that I’m pretty optimistic.” n

21/ Sports

Sliding in Seniors try soccer for the first time in their high school career

Story by Madi Hay Design by Bailey Birkholz ost people start playing sports at a young age and train throughout the years to make their high school team.This season, several seniors joined the soccer team without any prior experience playing competitively.

Senior Devlin Wolke has played basketball, baseball, football and track throughout his life and has now decided to add the new sport to his list. He said one of the challenges he has experienced so far

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Nick vasilescu

22/ Sports

in his soccer career has been learning the positions compared to the sports that he has played before.

“In soccer, you have to run a lot more than basketball, and there are a lot more people on the field, which makes it harder,” he said.

Wolke said he is playing defensive wing and is hoping to achieve a state championship for his first year with his team or his “brothers.”

“I want a state championship because I want my brothers to get a state ring,” Wolke said. “And, of course, the feeling of accomplishing your goal from day one.”

Wolke’s decision to join the soccer team was influenced by some of his friends who thought he would be a good addition.

“My friends were pushing me because of my speed and physicality that I could bring to the sport,” Wolke said. “Hunter Clark and Nick Reiswig were the main ones pushing me to come out along with other close friends.”

Nick Vasilescu is another senior who hasn’t played soccer before. He has played basketball and tennis, and gone out for swim in the past, but said he was looking for more options.

Vasilescu said he and Felix Kopycinski, Vasilescu’s best friend since sixth grade, wanted to try something new their senior year, so they decided to go out for the soccer team together.

“Although I’ve never played before, it’s just a lot of fun because my buddy Felix and I have been friends forever, and it’s our last year so we wanted to try it”, Vasilescu said.

Coach Jay Holmes said that he likes how the boys come out and try their hardest and keep improving.

“I am pleased the guys came out to learn the game and compete this season,” Holmes said. “They are learning and improving as the season moves forward.”

Vasilescu said his season may be cut short due to an injury that occurred

Photo Illustrations by Sam Bartlett

during practice.

“I was practicing and I tried saving a shot and I ended up saving it with only the tip of my finger and it bent back and broke the tendon and the bone,” said Vasilescu.

Although Vasilescu said he enjoys the sport, he does not see himself playing in the future.

“Maybe when I’m 40 years old and have nothing else to do, I’ll play goalie again,” Vasilescu said. n

Devlin Wolke

Maizenews.com || Oct. 2018

What’s kickin’?

Senior soccer player Hunter Clark kicks for the varsity football team

Story by Jordan Wontorski Design by Bailey Birkholz enior Hunter Clark has played soccer since he was 3 years old. Because much of his time is consumed by soccer, he doesn’t have a very open schedule for new activities.

Still, he decided to take on the role of kicker for the varsity football team this year, making his after-school schedule include four and a half hours of practice.

Clark said he isn’t worried about fitting in on the new team and has received a lot of support from his teammates, in both soccer and football.

“My friends thought it was good for me, and my soccer coaches didn’t really know what to say,” he said. “They weren’t mad, but they didn’t know what to say. It was kind of funny.”

Football coach Gary Guzman said Clark is doing great at becoming involved in the new sport and is very good at what he does.

S

“Hunter is doing outstanding,” Guzman said. “Right now he is 20 of 20 on extra points and has also put several of his kickoffs in the end zone.”

Clark, a versatile soccer player who has played many positions in his career, said he enjoys football and feels that it’s helping him branch out and gain new life experience.

“I’ve only played soccer for my whole life and I wanted to try something different, something new,” Clark said. “I knew they needed a kicker, so I was like ‘I’ll do it.’”

Clark was recommended to Guzman by

his friend and former teammate Ethan Kingrey. Kingrey graduated last year and did double duty on the soccer and football teams.

“Hunter was interested in kicking for the football team, and he came to me for more information about it.” Kingrey said.

“One day after soccer practice I took him to Guzman during football practice and that’s how it all started.”

Guzman is happy Kingrey recommended Clark.

“I figured Ethan understood kicking well enough to know whether or not Hunter would be able to kick for us.” Guzman said. “I know that our football players like [Clark] and appreciate what he does for our team.”

Along with experience, Clark wants to get a scholarship and knows that the more effort he puts in, the more reward he will have in the future.

“A scholarship and experience that’ll help me later in life is what I’m hoping for,” he said. n

e

Senior Hunter Clark gets ready to line up for a kickoff during the game against Valley Center. Photo by Sam Bartlett

Photo Illustration by Sam Bartlett

Senior Hunter Clark tries to steal the ball from a player during the game against Maize South. Photo by Kamryn Gaines

23/ Sports

Sports in brief

Fall sports ready for strong finish Story by Ellie Stucky Design by Abby McCoy

Sen the

Updated through September 23

football

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he Eagles came into the season with something to prove despite losing only two games last year.

So far, so good. In their first four games, they outscored their opponents by an average of 41-0. Three of those games ended with a running clock.

The Eagles have steadily moved up on the rankings.

“I think how underrated we were heading into the season and our past success has motivated us greatly,” senior Noah Stanton said. n

volleyball

V

olleyball started 12-15, and sophomore Mallorie Koehn is looking forward to more improvement along the way.

“We have continued to improve throughout the season,” Koehn said. “We started out kind of rough, but we were a new team with new coaches so it took a little bit for us all to get comfortable with each other, but now we are all very close.” n

The Eagles defeated Valley Center 49-0. It was the home opener to their 2018-19 season. Photo by Sam Bartlett

“Our goal from the start has been to qualify for state and win.”

-Mallorie Koehn

Fre pla

Maizenews || Sept. 20, 2018

boys soccer

T Senior Logan Voran goes one-on-one with a Maize South midfielder. The Eagles lost to the Mavericks 2-0. Photo by Kamryn Gaines

“Of course you can’t win every single [TOURNAMENT], but so far we’ve been in THE TOP THREE.” -Lexie Ridder

he boys soccer team has gone 2-4 this season. Junior Carter Turner knows they need a little work but thinks the team will come around.

“I think we’ll get better,” Turner said. “We had a good win against Eisenhower. We just need to play every game with that mentality and come out to play hard.” n

girls golf

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olf has finished in the top three in every tournament. Sophomore Lexie Ridder has prepared for every second of it but is always finding room for improvement.

“Mostly what I’ve done to prepare is practice as much as I can,” Ridder said. “I focus on the flaws that I learned from previous tournaments.” n

cross country

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Freshman Zoie Ecord races at Lake Afton in the first meet of the season. The team has placed in the top six in two of their three meets. Photo by Sam Bartlett

“hONESTLY, WE’RE DOING REALLY GOOD. eVERYONE’S PRETTY GOOD AND CONSISTENT.” -jENNA vAN eCHAUTE

he girls team has placed in the top six in two of three meets. The boys have placed in the top five in two of three meets.

Senior Joel Gaddie beat a personal record by 18 seconds achieving a 17:17 5k at the Rim Rock Farm Classic meet on Sept. 22. Gaddie is hoping to better his record by the end of this season.

“I’d like to jump under 17:00 but we’ll see if that happens,” Gaddie said. “That’s the hope.” n

girls tennis

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he Eagles have finished in the top ten each match this season and junior Jenna Van Echaute has a positive outlook on how the season has gone up to this point.

“Everyone’s pretty good and consistent. I feel like we’re just a really good team,” Van Echaute said. n

Senior Hope Reasoner continues following her passion of singing after developing a medical condition.

Photo by Sam Bartlett

A Hopeful Story

Senior Hope Reasoner stays positive through the adversity of vocal nodules Story by Abby McCoy and Kyerra Snyder Design by Kyerra Snyder

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enior Hope Reasoner has had a passion for singing for as long as she can remember.

Reasoner has been in ICT Flight Show Choir, a traveling show choir made up of high schoolers in the Wichita area, for four years. She joined Maize Women’s Choir her freshman year and has been a member of Select Choir since she was a sophomore.

“There was never a time where she did not like singing,” Reasoner’s mother, Pam said. “She really thrives on dancing and singing.”

But all that singing hasn’t come without a cost. Reasoner recently discovered that she has vocal cord nodules.

Renee Edgar, Reasoner’s speech therapist, said vocal nodules, or nodes, are layers of tissue that vibrate on the edge of vocal folds.

“They are comparable to a blister or a callous,” Edgar said. Nodes are usually caused by a person using their voice in a

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“I love singing. It is the reason I am who I am today.”

-Hope Reasoner

loud manner, she said.

Reasoner used the discovery that she had nodes as a way to better herself.

“In a way it was kinda a ‘Hey, you need to humble yourself and take care of your voice,’ ” Reasoner said. “ ‘You are not unstoppable, you are still human.’”

Her father introduced her to music when she was very young through his own singing and songwriting. He played the guitar and wrote music. Reasoner recalls memorizing her father’s songs to sing with him.

Reasoner said she was always “that girl” who tried out for solos in her elementary

school programs.

“I love singing,” she said. “It is the reason I am who I am today.”

One of her elementary school music teachers, Cathy Pierce, said Reasoner was always willing to take class leadership roles.

“I remember that Hope was very expressive with her voice,” Pierce said. “She most often had a solo or sang in a small group for programs. She didn’t seem to mind vocally demonstrating for others and was supportive of her classmates.”

Her fifth grade year, Reasoner auditioned for her first musical, “Pocahontas,” through Christian Youth Theater Wichita.

That same year, she auditioned for two more shows, “Cinderella” and “The Wizard of Oz.” She continued CYT until her freshman year.

Reasoner’s voice had been in good condition until her junior year. She then developed two small vocal cord nodules.

In May, she traveled to Iowa with Flight to compete, despite having the flu. She sat for half of the show, but performed in her big solo number. Her voice cracked during her performance and from there her voice started showing symptoms of nodes.

Reasoner’s voice coach suggested that she go see a specialist. After running some tests, he confirmed that she had the condition.

“I literally thought my voice was unstoppable,” Reasoner said. “I finally got nodes and it put me in my place.”

Her doctor instructed that she should avoid talking and remain on a restricted diet to recover. Following this, Renee Edgar, Reasoner’s speech therapist, said that she has seen her improve her diet.

“She did increase her hydration,” Edgar said. “She also reduced her caffeine to avoid drying out her throat.”

Reasoner’s faith is an important part of her life. She believes having nodes allowed her relationship with God to grow.

“It’s my passion because it’s the talent that God has gifted me with,” Reasoner said.

Pam said that her daughter’s relationship with God has always been what makes her the proudest.

“It’s really good when God takes away things that we love because it makes us realize that there are other things that we may have missed and how important those things are,” Pam said.

During the summer, Reasoner traveled to South Dakota for a church mission trip. She said this trip inspired her to pursue music education in the future.

“It was one of those things where I was really focused on the kids on the mission trip,” Reasoner said. “I realized how much I loved kids. I was like ‘OK, that is what I am being called to do.’”

Reasoner said that everyone who helped her along her journey of nodes has shaped her and helped give her perspective regarding her gift.

“It humbled me to take what people said into consideration,” Reasoner said. “I am putting my identity in my voice, and that is not who I am. It helped me figure out who I was without my voice.” n

Senior Hope Reasoner sings a solo at a showchoir competition in Iowa. Photo submission by Hope Reasoner

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82 for 82 Junior Casey Loving spent his summer watching a new movie a day Want to see the list of movies and their rankings? Go to https://boxd.it/1VIYS

#1: Schindler’s List A powerful, gripping movie that was even more emotionally resonant than I expected. Somehow, the importance and greatness of this movie seems understated. Too many scenes to name stick out in my mind as unforgettable in every sense of the word.

Story by Casey Loving Design by Keira McGinty

28/ Entertainment

#2: City of God The only foreign film on my list, “City of God” has been described as the closest to a Tarantino epic you can get without it coming from the man himself. Subtitles may be jarring to some people, but with a movie as good as this, you hardly notice that they’re there.

Maizenews.com || Oct. 2018 Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge fan of movies.

However, at 17 years old, I still have far too many gaps in what I have and have not seen. Between classics, modern classics, future classics and friends’ personal favorites, there are far too many films I have not seen to the point where I don’t know where to start. To catch up, during my 82 days of summer vacation, I challenged myself to watch a movie I could not recall ever watching in full. Some days I couldn’t get to one, while some days I would watch up to three. These are my top five movies of the summer.

#3: Up in the Air Although I don’t think this movie is as technically perfect as “There Will Be Blood,” I enjoyed every minute of it and can’t help but rank it higher. A wholly unique movie, “Up in the Air” takes what may seem like a boring premise and makes it into art, delivering some of the most supremely uncomfortable moments ever as it depicts the sad life of George Clooney’s character, while still giving the audience plenty of laughs.

#4: There Will Be Blood The last of my three “perfect” films, “There Will Be Blood” gives one of the greatest performances of all time with Daniel Day-Lewis’ Daniel Plainview, while the less-appreciated Paul Dano gives an almost equally amazing performance in foil.

#5: The Untouchables I am not a big fan of crime movies, but nearly every moment of the Capone-era film “The Untouchables” is pure magic, with insane chemistry from its lead actors and a score that could rival John Williams.

29/ Entertainment

All pepped up

A look back at StuCo’s up-themed Homecoming week

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1 1. Senior Jonathan Mercer performs at the Grand Band Slam Jam. Photo by Sam Bartlett 2. Seniors Jacob Quiggle and Eli Owings coach their team at the Powderpuff game. Photo by Ellie Stucky 3. Junior Casey Loving and senior Abby Wray sing “Man or Muppet” with sock puppets at the Grand Band Slam Jam. Photo by Sam Bartlett 4. Senior Cheyenne Busker carries the ball at the Powderpuff game. Photo by Ellie Stucky

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30/ Photo Focus

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Maizenews.com || Oct. 2018

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5. Senior Carson Stephens reacts to being crowned Homecoming King. Photo

by Ryann Redinger 6. Maize charges onto the field before the Homecoming game against Newton, which they won 45-0.

Photo by Lily Robison

31/ Photo focus

Press Pause

A moment with junior singer and dancer

Junior Londen Peebler transferred to Maize High from Maize South to pursue her passion of the arts. Peebler said she looks forward to performing with Maize drama and choir this year.

Photo by Casey Loving