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Rolla High School - 900 Bulldog Run - Rolla, Missouri 65401- Volume 67 - Issue - 5 April 15, 2016 - www.rhsecho.com
Cancer Survival Stories
ECHO reporters Sadhika Jagannathan and Maria Pommerenke hear the stories of Rolla High School’s own. pgs. 10-13
Human Trafficking hits close to home pgs. 6-7
RHS Sneakerheads strut their stuff pgs. 8-9
A feature on local youth groups pgs. 16-17
In this issue... A Fishy Student Feature ........................................................................3 4-H Featured...........................................................................................5 Human Trafficking in Local Context......................................................6 Dang Kids and Their Video Games........................................................14 RHS Students on Elaborate Hair..........................................................19 Vegan Spotlight Story............................................................................20 RHS By the Numbers.............................................................................22
Letter from the editor
I remember last year, ECHO editor-in-chief Magdaline Duncan wrote, in a Letter From The Editor, about how in her travels to other schools for winter guard, she felt that they honored their top students much better than Rolla High School. I thought it was a nice letter. It had good points. This year, my travels with the Academic team have made me seen the most of other schools since my eighth grade track days of glory. Honestly I am more convinced of Mag’s point; at Waynesville, all students that take an AP test and get a three or better are recognized; at Houston, every student who obtained brightflight, of all time, had their name, picture and year put up in a glass case. It was especially wierd seeing that that case only had fifteen pictures, while some of my classes have fifteen brightflights, not really, but my class easily passes that number. I know Houston hardly has a graduating class in triple digits, but we have nothing like that; just a concession stand-esque list of valedictorians in a dank corner of the cafeteria. Conditions regardless, that’s the only real recognition of academic success by students, and its only for the very best, after they are no longer coming to this building every day. I feel like recognizing kids for AP scores, ACT scores, GPA of a certain number and higher, could instill more inspiration in kids of this school; if they feel bad then they should work harder.
ECHO Magazine Staff
Editor In Chief - John Giesey, Managing Editor - Chloe Myers, Copy Editor - Elise Mazzeo, Webmaster - Amanda Steineman Staff Writers - Brynn Proffitt, Trustin Dinsdale, Celia Parsons, Emily Roberts, Maria Pommerenke, Connor Wilson, Sadhika Jagannathan, Adrienne Pyeatt, Faith Koenig, Caroline Adams, Ashanti Owusu-Brafi, Adviser - Mary Gillis ECHO is an open forum for student expression. All letters to the editor must include the writer’s name, signature and class or position. Anonymous letters will not be published. ECHO reserves the right to reject any letters. Letters should be sent to ECHO, Rolla High School, 900 Bulldog Run, Rolla, MO 65401.
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Visit www.rhsechonews for more news and features from RHS
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While you can fish trout year long, March 1st marks the opening of Trout Parks throughout the state. This season is only open from March 1st to October 31st in the following parks: Maramec Spring Park, Bennett Spring State Park, Montauk State Park and Roaring River State Park. These parks are located throughout the state. During this season you can keep four trout a day and release the rest. For experienced angler and Rolla High School senior Sam Remillard fishing is a favorite past time. “I mainly trout fish but I also do a lot of river and pond fishing. Trout fishing is my favorite. It sucks getting up in the morning but it's worth it,” Remillard said. Fishing can seem like a daunting task, but Remillard says otherwise. “It’s pretty simple, you have to use really light line because the water is super clear, and most of the time I use jigs. Wild trout are more fun to catch but they’re harder to catch unless you go to a trought park,” Remillard said. There are two types of trout that you can catch in Missouri rivers, Rainbow and Brown. Besides that, of course, there are lunkers and fish. “A lunker is a trout that is above three pounds or over 18 inches long. I’ve never caught a lunker, which is my life goal. I had one hooked up once but he got away. My life goal is to be on the lunker board. I’ll get there one day,” Remillard said. The easiest way to catch a lunker is to go to Rockbridge, MO, where the average fish weighs about two pounds, but the largest one recorded weighed 16 pounds. “I really want to go to Rockbridge. They only have lunkers and if you catch one you have to pay by the pound. It’s $4.50 a pound. A tag is $20 and you can use it for a whole month. It’s expensive to go there but you get to catch a lunker,” Remillard said.
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Humans of Rolla High School: Alex, Samantha and Michael DeBlasi b y
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“Me and my brothers are, for what I know, the only pair of triplets in the high school. I think the triplet statistic is about one in a thousand. We’re all fraternal though, so we have as much in common genetically as two siblings would; if we were identical we would have the same DNA. Also I’d have to be a boy to be identical. We look pretty distinct now, and it’s always been easy for people to distinguish me, except when we were babies my parents couldn’t tell me from Alex. As children they’d usually do boy stuff together and I’d want to do girl stuff, so I guess our childhood was pretty normal like that. I was also taller
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than them, so people thought they were twins and I was their sister but that’s not really the case anymore. Now that we’re teenagers we’re all more mature and cool with each other, but we’re still siblings, so sometimes we fight but oh well. For driving, we’re all going to have to share a car, and Alex will probably drive, because he’s the best driver. For college, we’ll probably split up and I’m honestly not really looking forward to that. One time they were gone for a week and there was a tornado and I cried because I didn’t want to die alone,” Samantha DeBlasi said.
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don’t understand, you know, when you come to the fair you can’t just jump in the Copy-Editor pin with a goat you don’t know. You have to walk up to them and pet them, and Rolla High School houses many clubs you tell them about the animal. It’s about ranging from leadership, language, to educating kids and the community more film. However, one of the groups that isn’t than just [school-related things]. We do mentioned much in the high school is the an all-you-can-eat for five dollars chili dinner every national organization 4-H. 4-H is the United States’ year and it raises money for the barns. What they’re largest youth development organization with nearly wanting to do is take the roof from the show arena six million young members throughout the nation. over to the pig barn, and... we raised $3,000 for it. You The organization has members from elementary could come in to one of the fairground buildings and we have games for school to high school. 4-H strives to shake youth into leaders and innovators through hands-on learning in the areas of science, citizenship kids that is all run by the 4-H kids, all the food is made by 4-H families, it’s all set up by 4-H kids,” Green said. and healthy living. The organization aims to shape youth to move the 4-H strives to create leaders with new and refined skills. Green’s incountry and the world forwards in unique ways. Its mission is to empower youth to reach their full potential and let them work and learn in volvement led her to develop her leadership and public speaking skills. “When I first started it was first like, “this sucks. I hate going to partnership with caring adults to form a world where youth and adults learn, grow and work together for positive change. The groups are orga- meetings and learning about the same stuff over and over again.” But I’ve gotten to the point now where I can use [the knowledge] because nized by county and the opportunities vary as well. the leadership skills you learn like talking in public are helpful. I could “For Missouri, we go around and do bake sales, we raise money for the barns at the Phelps County Fairgrounds. We do community service. never talk in public before… I’ve only been in 4-H for three years. My We pick up trash on our adopted road, we do bell-ringing for Salvation first year I didn’t want to talk, second year I was secretary, and now I’m Army, and you can also take [your community service and projects] and president. I’ve gotten to the point where I can get up in front of a room go to state and nationals and you can become part of a big board where and I talk and it doesn’t bother me, and I can talk to strangers more comfortably after being in the show arena, like talking to a judge or you can come up with rules and even show animals. I haven’t been to someone who just walks up to your pin and asks you about your sheep. state, but I can show my animals this year at the state fair. I don’t do any of the government-type stuff. [4-H] is kind of like one big club that I’m more comfortable with talking in general. I was always a big talker, but not with strangers,” Green said. brings every little piece of anything you can do and puts it in one,” seGreen’s position as president of her 4-H group allows her to run nior and president of her district group, the Young Riders, Sadie Green entire meetings and organize the group. The organization is not simply said. 4-H allows its members the opportunity to learn multiple skills from run by adults with the kids following their lead. “What I do is I basically get all the information together and I make educated adults and leaders. “I know in my 4-H group we have what we call projects. They’re kind an agenda, so everything from old business to new business. So, what of like classes, you have a meeting every month that you go to and learn we did last month I’ll bring that up and I’ll put that in the old business about that. For instance, I’m in poultry, sheep, woodworking, and cake section, and then I come up with all the new business, so anything we’re doing this month or the upcoming months, and then I talk in front of decorating, so every month on a Tuesday we’ll have poultry and we’ll the 4-H groups and present everything talk about how to go and set up your to them. At the end of the year I have nesting boxes, or what kind of breeds to make a booklet, and I write down… you want to order. For sheep we’ll what projects we did, what group trips go and talk about what we’ll look for we went on, and there’s a few other when we go to find a market lamb, things that we haven’t started yet, and with woodworking we build stuff because usually we don’t start that until and we work our way up from easy the end of this first season. It’s really stuff like boot jacks all the way up to not a lot to do right now, but when the cabinets. It depends on what groups end of you year comes you have all that you do. There’s also photography stuff to get together that you have to where they teach you things like do right then. That gets sent off to the [editing]... I know we have anywhere state, and you can get awarded,” said from steers and heifers and pigs and Green. sheep and chickens and goats all the 4-H isn’t the normal high school club way down to photography, arts and that meets once a week or a month; 4-H crafts, cake decorating, woodworking, is a national organization that strives anything like that. It’s a really wide to better the members in many ways. range. They have a lot of programs. As The special setup of the programs allow long as you have a leader for it, we can members to expand their skillsets and do the project,” Green said. interests while meeting new people While 4-H does common types of Sadie Green showing her chickens at the 2015 Phelps County Fair. from all over the district. community service, they also have “It’s very much like a family. Yes, we have big groups at the school, other unique activities that they use to interact with the community. but I feel like everyone gets along really well. You kind of get to know “In late April or early May we’ll do a parent and teacher’s petting everybody in the group. It’s just one big family. I mean, I have four or zoo. We go to the fairgrounds and everyone will bring in an animal or five people in there that I call “mom” or “dad” just because you grow two or however many you want to bring, and the kids come out and they look at your animal and you talk to them about it. [At bell-ringing] with them, you see them four or five times a months, you go to their people come by and ask us, hey, what are you doing? and we’ll tell them houses and stay the night. There’s all these kids you get to meet, and, about 4-H, what it’s about, what we’re doing, what we’re bringing to the yes, kids are annoying, but at the same time they’re great kids. They just table. We do bake sales at the steer and heifer classic, where all the sur- want to grow and be just like you, so you have to really strive to show rounding counties in Missouri can come to Rolla and show their steers them the best you can be, so that way they can be the best that they can and heifers; we do a bake sale, serve them lunch and dinner, and that’s be. It’s so much better than any high school club you will ever be in,” said Green. when everyone comes in and you can talk to [them]. It just depends on what we’re really doing. Most of our community service is at the fairgrounds, getting everyone educated about animals, because the kids b y
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H UMAN Trafficking “ Many people think it is a problem that happens in other countries
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or major US cities, but not in Missouri.
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he terms human trafficking and sex slavery are terms that are typically associated with third world countries. They seem foreign to most in the United States. What most do not realize, however, is that it is not only a problem in the United States, but where RHS students call home, Missouri. 100,000 children are prostituted every year in just the United States. Girls start to be sold for sex between the ages of 12 and 13, and boys and transgendered youth start between 11 and 13 years old, according to the Stand Against Trafficking coalition. Rikki Barton works for the Stand Against Trafficking coalition out of Southwest Missouri. “They have done a lot of work, including various public education events and they are currently working on putting together trainings on human trafficking specifically for law enforcement, legal, social services, and medical. They host viewings of documentaries often and provide educational materials to taxi drivers, hotel workers, youth serving organizations, and more,” Barton said. With all this being said, the coalition has one main goal. “So essentially, they want to use education and awareness campaigns, trainings and media to educate the public,” Barton said. Although counselors and organizations that belong to the coalition
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do work directly with trafficking victims, the coalition itself does not. However, they do see success in raising awareness and educating others about the issue. “We have done and will do several ‘outreaches’ to various places that might encounter trafficking victims, like tattoo parlors, taxi drivers, hotel works and others. We find that educating those who might encounter victims and empowering them with the National Human Trafficking Hotline number will go a long way. We educated some SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners) nurses a while back and they said they have seen or identified a lot of the red flag warning signs that we described to them. That proves to us that trafficking is happening here. We empowered them to know what to do when they have another victim in the future,” Barton said. The coalition is working hard to shed light to this issue that most do not understand. “Unfortunately, not many do [realize trafficking is a problem here]. Many people think it is a problem that happens in other countries or major US cities, but not in Missouri. We are working to educate the public about the prevalence and help show them that it is happening in Missouri,” Barton said.
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Since the dawn of man, the question of how one can best flex all over one’s neighbor has been a prominent question going back to the struggle of Cain and Abel and every generation since then. In today’s hyper-class-sensitive world, displaying wealth through clothes and possessions is a dominant ideology, birthing the world of fashion and its industry. One specific branch of men’s fashion, the Sneakerhead, is unlike any other. As many RHS students attempt to make themselves stand out through fashion or the display of wealth, RHS’s sneakerhead will keep doing what they’re doing: Keeping track of release dates and drooling at pictures of shoes on the internet. “It’s kind of just a specific branch of male fashion focusing on shoes. Normally its emphasis is on basketball shoes like LeBrons and Air Jordans. The entire genre kind of focuses on having different shoes of these types. If you were to look it up on Google you’d probably see these pictures of twenty somethings with dozens of pairs of colorful basketball shoes, which really captures the whole genre well. That’s not to say you have to meet this criteria to be a sneakerhead; as long as you have an appreciation for the sneaker culture and stuff like that you can call yourself a sneakerhead. I said it was a male fashion thing, but I’ve met plenty of girl sneakerheads too. It’s just really about admiring cool sneakers. [My initial interest was because] I’ve always liked basketball and the NBA, so it kind of just came from following those guys and their shoes. But the underlying cause I think of Sneakerheadism in general is just a desire to look good. That’s what it’s about, having some cool shoes and looking good while wearing them,” junior Jesse
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Liu said. Many times, the sneakerhead is born from the desire to look good. Sometimes the influences would be from the NBA, and sometimes it is from friends. “[I got into it] mostly through my friends. Some of them are pretty into it and I’ve kind of picked it up. Although the reason for that is that I’ve always liked to look good, and to have a nice pair of sneakers to go along with your outfit is just a good feeling. My favorite kind of sneakers are Lebron’s. They were the first kind of real sneaker I got; they’re super comfortable, look great, have tons of colors available, and all that stuff. I like Jordan’s too; I said LeBron’s are comfortable, but I could sleep in Jordans,” sophomore Ryker Wilson said. Regardless, the world of high-end sneaker appreciation simply comes from appreciation of high-end sneakers. “I have a wide variety of shoes from NBA players. A couple pair of Kobe's and a couple pairs of Lebron's. I just need a little bit more of [Chris Paul 3’s] and my [Kevin Durants]. It's’ kinda like stamp collecting except a whole lot more expensive. People should wear sneakers everyday, it’s a great part of your dress; cool kids might see your upper pars and realize you’re ugly, but they’ll look down at your shoes be like ‘Dude, I like your shoes’. It makes you official. If you’re at a job interview for Arby’s and you’re wearing, like, gold and black LeBron’s, you’re probably getting that job,” senior Ryan Nakanishi said. The sneakerhead is both very complex, and relatively simple. This reflects in their collections: the love for shoes and looking hella dope is
s simple, but the colors and quantity are anything but. “I have twelve pairs of shoes, a pair of James Harden Hyperfuses, 2013 Blake Griffin Hyperdunk Player editions, a couple pairs of Jordan I’s, one pair of Skull Kamikazes, which is a Jordan I with a blue and red colorway, and the other is the OG red and white colorway, Jordan Retro Sweater 7’s, and my most prized pair is my concord Jordan 11s, which I haven’t worn yet. They’re precious to me. Then there’s my pair of LeBron Lifestyles, and I have two pairs of AIr Max 90’s, but one pair is just wrecked,” Liu said. “I have three pairs of LeBron 12’s, two pairs of Jordans, and a Fourth of July colorway LeBron 11’s; those are my favorite pair; they’re red, white and blue with a tan bottom,” Wilson said. Should one encounter a sneakerhead in the wild, make sure not to make physical contact with the feet. “I guess if [you step on] the back part that's kind of okay, but if it’s the front part, there’s hell with it. Imma square up on them,” Nakanishi said. “Do not step on the shoes of a sneakerhead. That’s not even funny, don’t do it,” Liu said. The sneakerhead culture thrives on good-looking shoes, but what makes a pair so? “To me it's important for sneakerheads to just go off of what they like. Sometimes people will just buy a pair based on the hype surrounding them, and in my opinion sometimes those pairs are just ugly; I’m not immune to hype, but for me its a combination of hype and how they look. My tastes aren’t that specific, I like if they look good and if
they go well with some outfits I have. I do prefer Nike over Adidas or other brands, and my favorite kinds are Jordan I’s and 11’s, but like I said I just want the shoes to look cool. Some sneakerheads get the shoes so that they can own them; put them in their box and never wear them so that they won’t get dirty, but I’m not like that. A lot of [what makes a shoe coveted] has to do with the company and the shoe’s history. Then there’s stuff like how rare it will be and simply how it looks. All of that plays a role to how much hype a new release will get with the community. For example, when they re-released the retro highs people got hyped because it was historical, Jordan was associated with it, and the shoes looked dope. When Yeezy’s first came out, they were just huge, especially for Adidas, the Red October’s were especially hyped. That had a lot to do with exclusivity,” Liu said. One of the most important tenets of Sneakerheadism is the purchase. Adding to one’s collection, opening the box, and wearing them to school is what a large part of being a sneakerhead is about. “Either a pair of LeBron 13’s, or Jordan I hi-V’s. I’ve been saving for a couple of months, so it won’t be too long,” Liu said. “I’ve been looking at a pair of LeBron 13’s with a maroon and grey colorway,” Wilson said. As could be expected with collecting $160 plus shoes, Sneakerheadism can get expensive. Ultimately however, Sneakerheadism just comes down to looking hella dope with a fresh pair of sneakers. “Yeah, I’ve probably spent around $1500 or so. But beauty is pain, so I gotta keep going,” Nakanishi said.
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Cancer is the abnormal division of cells. It can Aaron Settles, a Rolla High happen almost anywhere in the body and, often School student, had Nasopharyntimes, it spreads to different areas of the body. Jor- geal cancer. It was behind the left dan Mumma, a sophomore at Rolla High School, side of his nose. was diagnosed with cancer at a young age. “The beginning was easy, but “Jordan had Wilms tumor, which is a kidney as long as it kept going, more cancer, so it starts off in your kidneys. She was dichemo and radiation, and once chemo got done it agnosed when she was four and a half. She had on was fine, but as soon as radiation started it’s where her right kidney, a tumor the size of a grapefruit. it got tough and it rwas eally bad,” Settles said. She had surgery to remove her right kidney and Despite the struggles, Settles believed that the she had six months of chemo after that,” Charlene positivity and support really influenced his well Mumma, Jordan Mumma’s mother, said. being. Chemotherapy attacks cells, like cancer cells, “I thought I always went in with a positive attitude that grow very fast. Hair cells also grow quickly, so because I didn’t want to be down and not work so Jordan lost a lot of hair. hard. Every time you get down, it gives you stuff to “She lost her hair and not want to keep going she was almost pink You take everyday and you under- and give up. Without at the time, and was [the positive attitude] I stand that no one is guaranteed pretty self conscious probably would have not about it. I think done so good. I stayed everything,” Mumma said. you just get used to positive all the time bepeople staring. That’s cause going through that, just what they do. They’re not staring to be rude, I can feel like I need to do a lot more stuff rather they’re just staring because it’s something differthan nothing, so I kinda always stay positive and ent. You don’t always see a five year old girl in a take day by day rather than try to guess everything pink skirt with no hair. It didn’t bother me so much out. [Friends and family] helped a lot. Friends, because it couldn’t be helped and they weren’t Family, they were always there,” Settles said. being rude,” Mumma said. Settles claims that his positive attitude helped Fighting the battle with cancer was an experience him a great deal while being treated. Cathy that changed Mumma’s outlook on life. Wolfert, a Graves Disease survivor and teacher at “It changed the way that I parented. Before I was Rolla High School shares a similar experience and definitely more structure and more disciplined belief. with all of the kids and it was pretty clear of the expectations and consequences. When you have a kid that you think could honestly die before their fifth birthday, you change that a little bit. You still want to raise them to be good people, but I definitely got a little softer,” Mumma said. I thought that [going through cancer would influence her to] grow up and be in nursing, and we’ve talked about her possibility of being a social worker who goes in and deals with [people] but she’s not into the medical stuff. She wants to go into teaching. In addition, Mumma mentioned that surviving cancer is mostly based on luck, and that people should not worry about small things. “I think that anytime anyone has a kid that has cancer, or that they have some thing where you feel like it could take them away, you just kind of don’t sweat small stuff. You take everyday and you understand that no one is guaranteed everything,” Mumma said.
*Pictures taken and supplied by family and friends of those interviewed.
Cancer: Another Perspective “[Members of] our family are cancer carriers. There hasn’t been real formal research on the genetics of cancer, but we’ve had a lot of cancer in our family,” Wolfert said. Due to this, Wolfert had experience with cancer from a very young age. “I had a sister, we were fifteen months apart, we grew up together. She got cancer, leukemia, when she was very young, back in the seventies, when we didn’t know much about cancer,” Wolfert said. Although Wolfert’s sister had cancer in the tonsil area, when her tonsils were taken out, the cancer spread. “She ended up having brain surgery and died at age twelve,” Wolfert said. Wolfert was only eleven at the time. “When I was eighteen, they found a lump in my breast and my mom was freaking out. She’s like ‘Oh, here we go again,’” Wolfert said. Although the lump was benign, Wolfert later experienced another setback. “As I was getting older, I too had ovarian cysts a lot and I ended up having a hysterectomy very early, around age forty” Wolfert said. This procedure did not put an end to Wolfert’s health problems though. “When I was forty-two, I was diagnosed with Graves Disease. That is a thyroid cancer. What happens is, what they called it years ago, a thyroid goiter. At first, they didn’t want to surgery on it and even the insurance companies kind of argued: Was it cosmetic or was it cancer. I had it for a while before they ever decided to do the surgery,” Wolfert said. The late surgery had more effects on Wolfert. “They ended up taking out my thyroid and my parathyroid, so I have this beautiful scar here. They had to end up moving my vocal chords and everything to get all the cancer out,” Wolfert said. The surgery was only one step though on the road for her recovery. Wolfert was treated with Radioactive-Iodine treatments. “The Radioactive-Iodine treatments were the hardest because I had to stay in isolation away from my children during those treatments,” Wolfert said. Wolfert has a matter-of-fact outlook about the treatments. She is happy with her current health though. “I’ve been very lucky. The last few years I’ve gone, I was clear,” Wolfert said. The medical treatments she experienced ended, though she now takes medicine to simulate certain hormones in order to maintain her energy level. “I have to take a synthetic thyroid every day. I can’t take a genetic thyroid because I have no thyroid. When I don’t have my medicine, my hypothalamus doesn’t know how to regulate,” Wolfert said. Wolfert speaks about some of the side-effects from the surgery and medicine. “I can’t sing anymore because my vocal-chords were moved around, which I miss. Your skin is real dry. A lot of people have a lot of trouble with their eyes. Their eyes get dried out or kind of bulgy. I have kind of bags under my eyes, that’s a true side-effect of graves disease. It doesn’t matter how much you rest or what kind of facial spas you go to, you’re going to have these eyes that are kind of bulgy, but other than that, I feel lucky that I’ve been as healthy as I have for all these years,” Wolfert said. Although Wolfert is happy with the effects of the treatments, she does have to watch out of certain things. “I have to do blood work, about every three months, and they go in and do your T-3s and T-4s to make sure that you have enough thyroid and the right levels. Sometimes they have to adjust the medicine. Wolfert claims that activity and being conscientious of one’s diet is the key to her remaining healthy now. “Before the surgery, I could just eat all the time and lose weight. I was really thin. Now, without thyroids, you have to be very cautious. Your body tends not not to have that metabolism. I just have to watch what I eat and exercise a lot,” Wolfert said. Wolfert’s surgery was only the first step of her treatment. Along with her new responsibility to watch her weight and diet, she continued with treatments and checkups.
“After my surgery, I had several wake up from surgery and you have this huge radioactive-iodine treatments. bandage and you try not to get sick. It healed Every year I also have follow-ups. pretty quickly though and they do all the They would say, ‘We need to make sutures inside, so that really minimized the another treatment just to make sure scarring,” Wolfert said. that nothing comes back.’ SomeWolfert does not believe that the worst part times it’s hard to tell because of the was the pain though. scar tissue in there, but I haven’t had to have “The worst part for me was just being in isolathose for quite a long time,” Wolfert said. tion, away from the kids. They were little at the An earlier diagnosis might have helped her to time and not being around them. It wasn’t too avoid some of the lasting symptoms. bad. The [doctors] know what they’re doing to “It took several years to diagnose. They would get you in and get you out,” Wolfert said. do tests the dye tests, to see how much was Although she missed her family, Wolfert had growing, they really had to watch it grow. That the support of her friends. was kind of the unfortunate part; if they had “I had a bestfriend that went with me to a lot taken it out early on, I would not have lost my of my treatments and she was a great support. parathyroid too. Since we waited so long, they I’d call her up and say, ‘Okay, it’s time to go to had to just take both,” Wolfert said. radioactive-iodine,’ and she’s like, ‘Here we go!’ When diagnosed, Wolfert went into treatHer and I are still best friends. Just having her ment. She is glad that the doctors chose the there and that support and making it positive, radioactive-iohaving my family, my faith, dine treatment “Every time you get down, it gives you stuff and knowing people who rather than to not want to keep going and give up,” were praying through it, chemotherapy. that made me realize that Settles said. “I’ve watched we weren’t going to give my sister and up to this thing, that we people go through chemotherapy. It wasn’t caught it early enough, I think that’s the key,” near as intrusive. It was nothing like it is for Wolfert said. people on chemo,” Wolfert said. Her friends support helped Wolfert to keep Wolfert sang the praises of the cancer treata positive outlook, just as it did Settles. She ment center she was at for the surgery claiming continues with this attitude. they took good care of her and had experience “Treatments have come far. We hear a lot with patients with Graves Disease. about people beating cancer and keeping a “Having a clinic where that’s what they positive attitude,” Wolfert said. specialized in and knowing that the mortality She is extremely thankful that she survived rate was really high, that meant that you were the treatments and the cancer and lives her life going to survive it. I think a lot of it is personal; according to this. just having that positive attitude. ‘I’ve got to “Every year, we go out and do the cancer relay live through this because I’ve got my kids and I and I’m always really excited, and kind of sad want to watch my kids grow up,’” Wolfert said. too, because you walk around the park and you However, like after surgeries, she was still in see all those luminaries, and you realize how pain. lucky you are because you beat this thing,” “[It was a] very painful surgery. When you Wolfert said.
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There’s a new form of entertainment that’s been gaining quite a bit of traction over the last few years, and is likely to continue to grow in popularity still: e-sports. E-sports is an abbreviation for electronic sports, and most relate to highly competitive gaming. When someone thinks of gaming, they may think of their childhood; playing Pokemon on their Gameboy Advance while going on a long car ride, sitting on a couch yelling at their brother because they just got scored on in fifa and the goal was totally unfair, and so on. Well, e-sports is typically the multiplayer aspect of video games like these, only rather than playing simply to have fun, it’s much more competitive and winning is everything. “A lot of people spend a lot of time training on like Dota and League of Legends. People spend much of their free time on LoL & Dota and it’s a really hard job. It’s really hard to like have good payoffs in the e-sports industry,” junior Starcraft player Jeff Moss said. “They have huge prizepools [for tournaments]. It can be over 18 mil at times,” Moss said. Just to put that number into perspective, that’s a larger prize pool than the Superbowl. Just as well, the 2014 League of Leg-
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ends championship, another popular moba, was viewed by over 27 million people when it was broadcasted on ESPN. That’s more than the number of people who watched game seven of the World Series in that same year. And while the competitive professional scene is so prevalent, there are many who play the same games for fun or just enjoy sitting back as fans, just like you have in any other sport. Senior Ryan Nakanishi is an avid League of Legends player. “I’d say [I play] probably about 5 to 7 hours daily, but on weekends if I’m really intense on it, I’ll play like 10 to 12 [hours],” Nakanishi said. “The first time I played [LoL] was probably around 7 years age. I just like the competitiveness, you get into every game and it’s always going to be a new experience. Whether your team is really good or whether your team is really bad, you just have to be the man and step up and win.” Moss is a fan of the two competitive games Starcraft 2 and Heroes of the Storm. “I watch all the major tournaments and stuff usually. It’s fun,” Moss said,“I started playing Warcraft, which is kind of the precursor to Starcraft, at about 4.” One notable thing about most e-sports is that they can be very time-consuming. A typical LoL match can last from 30 to 45
minutes, sometimes shorter or even longer. With Dota 2 some matches have been known to last for nearly 2 hours straight. Combined with the un-pausable nature of competitive gaming that doesn’t allow you to just walk away for a minute during a game, this can possibly spell trouble for those who play multiple games in one day. “If I’m really gonna play [League of Legends] I have to make time for homework, and I’m in band so I have to make time for putting in band work. It’s kinda stressful, but it’s do-able,” Nakanishi said. “I usually make sure to do it after I finish everything else, so some days I just don’t get to play any,” Moss said. There is another, almost equally popular aspect to e-sports that nearly everyone can participate in: being a viewer. Live streaming services such as Twitch.tv have made it possible to watch live e-sports games, as they are happening with only around a 30 second delay, totally for free from nearly anywhere in the world that has an internet connection. Due to how easy it is to view these games thanks to services such as these, watching e-sports has become just as much a passtime as watching an NFL game.
“E-sports, you know, people who look at E-sports are gonna be like ‘wow that’s not a sport because you aren’t doing anything physical’, but all that mental strain that you go through, like most of the pro players, they spend like 10 to 12 hours a day just constantly playing. So if they lose, that’s like their career. If they lose during professional matches and they get kicked out, like that’s their job. They have to come back to that, and that’s stressful.You still get heckled, still get taunted, people make fun of you and such, they’ll tell you you’re terrible. Professionals just wipe that off and just keep playing,” Nakanishi said. “The people who are actually professional at it, first off they make a lot of money, I mean, thousands of dollars or more. There are tournaments with prize pools of millions of dollars. And they put in so much time on it, they spend like 12 hours daily just playing video games. I can’t play video games for 12 hours. So yeah, it takes a lot of work,” Moss said. While e-sports can range from the highly competitive, hectic world of the professionals to just a group of friends that meet up for a club every Friday, one thing is for sure according to one student. “It’s fun,” sophomore Sean Kim said.
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There are several youth organizations is Rolla, Missouri. Some are school oriented, while others are with churches, such as youth groups While there are many, some may not realize what they do. Immanuel Lutheran Church’s youth group, has some projects in which they are working. “Currently we [Immanuel Lutheran] are trying to raise funds to attend the National Youth Gathering in New Orleans, Louisiana. The National Youth Gathering is a gathering of 25,000 to 35,000 high school youth and adult chaperones for four days. This year it is from July 16 to20. They come together to praise God, learn about their faith, grow in their faith as a group and expand their knowledge of what it means to be a Christian,” Matt Koenig, Immanuel’s youth director said. The Immanuel youth group strives to focus on fun alongside hard work fundraising and faithfulness to God. “We do a lot of open gyms right now. We open with a word of prayer, then it’s followed by an ice break-er or get to know you game. Usually that is then followed by what my youth group loves, a few games of laser tag,” Koenig said. Immanuel isn’t the only youth group seeking to create a fun, yet godly environment. Mary-Anne and Chad Lewis lead the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church’s high school youth group “The majority of our actives are on Thursday nights down in the Cave and we play games down there like ping pong, foosball, and airhockey. So we play those, you know just have social time and we eat. We usu-ally have about twenty to thirty minutes where we talk about something that’s interesting to them in a way that reflects their faith or some sort of teaching based on current events or things that are going on inside the church. We also do bonfires and try to get together in the summer to do pool parties and things like that. We have movie nights, we have gym nights where we go play games in the gym. We have a confer-ence, a youth conference we go to once a year in the summer in Springfield. So we do a lot of different things like that,” Lewis said. The catholic youth conference is for teenagers to see their faith in ways that are relatable to them. Mary-Anne Lewis thinks that it is the best way to get to know their youth. “The youth inspire us because at their age and where they are now in their faith, I was not there in high school. I was far from it, I was ‘too cool’ to be a Jesus lover. So just to see them, it inspires me to be better
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and to want to be a better person,” Mary- Anne Lewis said. St. Patrick’s youth group, along with many others, is one that strives to grow its numbers through Evange-lism. “We are a Catholic youth group, that does not mean you have to be Catholic to come. We invite anybody to come. We are very laid back, as Chad says, we are not here to just jam it down your throat, we are here to plant seeds. So that when you go through life you can remember the things we say and hopefully help you grow. We want them to come, we enjoy spending time with them. We want them to be comfortable, and to know that it is an open and safe place,” Mary-Anne Lewis said. First Baptist is also doing many things with their youth. Their youth director Noble Hower is excited about what they are doing. “We do a lot of stuff with our youth. Our normal activities are on Wednesday and Sunday nights. On Wednesday we meet at six o’clock, we eat food, and then we have a worship service after that. It’s some-thing where kids can bring friends. Then on Sunday nights it’s a bit deeper bible study at six and sometimes afterwards we do something fun, like go get ice cream or play games. Once a month do a movie night. Abnormal activities are things that we do in the summer. Right now we have a conference we are going to soon. It’s a big conference with about 700 to 800 teenagers there, where we get together and have a blast with all the other teenagers there. We will also be having a class on Financial Peace University, and it basi-cally teaches you how to handle your money and handle it correctly. Basically teaching how to go through college without debt. And then on May 4th we are going to meet with all the youth groups in town and have a big prayer event,” Hower said. This prayer event has been going on for six years. Over the course of those six years two-hundred youth have gathered to join them. According to Hower, First Baptist would love for more people to come and join their group, “We are very laid back. I think many teenagers are afraid to walk into a church thinking ‘oh am I going to have to dress up.’ Our youth group is pretty small so we are wanting to grow. We just got a new youth fa-cility We really want teenagers to know that we are not uptight. My whole purpose over their is develope a desire for God, posse a passion for people and a will to win the world for Jesus Christ,” Hower said.
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For the first time in over 100 years, a woman will appear on U.S. currency. But she’ll have to share space on the $10 bill with Alexander Hamilton, and that’s unfair to both of them.The Treasury Department says that as part of its redesign of U.S. legal tender every decade, an unidentified American woman who was a champion of “inclusive democracy” will be the ten-spot somehow alongside Hamilton, a founding father, author of the Federalist Papers and the country’s first Treasury secretary.The current secretary, Jack Lew, will have final say over who will appear on the bill, which will be released in 2020. Some possibilities are Harriet Tubman, the Underground Railroad leader and abolitionist, and Susan B. Anthony, the crusader for women’s suffrage. The last woman on a U.S. note was Martha Washington, whose portrait was put on the $1 silver certificate in the 1890s.It’s high time that the faces on American currency grew more diverse. But neither Hamilton nor the woman Mr. Lew selects should be forced to share.A bill before Congress would kick Andrew Jackson off the $20 bill and set up a commission to name a female replacement. That option, or getting rid of Ulysses S. Grant from the $50 bill, would be better than the current plan.Though both were impressive military strategists, Jackson and Grant left questionable presidential legacies. Both pushed bad monetary policies, for one thing, that led to fiscal disaster. Hamilton, by contrast, was one of the country’s most talented early statesmen.The new currency will be released around the 100th anniversary of the first U.S. presidential election in which women could vote. It’s a sign of progress that the country has gone from fighting about women’s suffrage to fighting about their place on currency. But five years from now, the woman chosen should get a bill of her own.
1100 North Rolla Street Rolla, MO 65401
Dan Collier, Agent Get your license Get a car Call Dan Collier for a great rate
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Office: 573-364-4133 Fax: 573-364-2531 Office Hours Mon-Fri 8:30am to 5:00pm After Hours by Appointment
Information taken from CNN.Monday.com
from THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FOLLICLES
“At first it was just because I didn’t want to do anything with it but then I suppose it became kind of who I was and it like separated me from the rest of the crowd, so i just kept it.” - Ben Edwards
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Teenagers are in a constant battle with finding themselves and who they are. Through self expression they can find a way to create their identity. Hair is often a way for students at Rolla High School to show character and express their personality. “I think it can be both. I think I’m a very colorful person. I think it’s fun. I’m crazy, my hair’s crazy! But at the same time, it’s just like, I don’t know, it looks cool, why not?” junior Faith Humphrey said. Social media is a way for teens to connect and explore individuality, so many discoveries for inspiration such as hairstyles are found. Faith further explains her inspirations, “It’s just like you see the pictures on Facebook, with
the girls and their hair is all curled in the back and it’s pretty, and there’s Matilda, who I’m best friends with and she’s always doing cool stuff with her hair and I was like neat I want to do that,” Humphrey said. Unique hairstyles don’t necessarily have to be all about bright colors. Ben Edwards on the other hand goes for a more natural look with his established fro. “At first it was just because I didn’t want to do anything with it but then I suppose it became kind of who I was and it was what separated me from the rest of the crowd, so i just kept it,“ sophomore Ben Edwards said. Elaborate hair attracts attention from others, and it can also give students a strong sense of individuality. “I work so hard because my hair makes me happy. Honestly, my self-esteem is basically entirely based around my hair. I literally put so much work into my hair. The struggle is real,” junior Matilda Gueterslo said.
“Shockingly enough, you can actually have colored hair and still be a functioning worker. Crazy right?” -Faith Humphrey
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Artists of b y
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Art is a visual way to express one’s desires and opinions. This day and age, art can be expressed in endless ways ranging from art created with a pencil and pen to reciting a poem on stage. Even though art is a very common activity it can be very time consuming and a lot of hard work, Zak Phillips and Casie Snelson have put that work in to create something very beautiful. Zak Phillips is a senior at Rolla High School and active in many sports such as football, track, and basketball. Even though Zak might seem the athletic type, he works very hard in plays for the drama program. “I like doing drama because you can be or play anyone you want to be. You can be a dog, superhero, or anything. I really like the idea of that because I have multiple personalities so I like to embrace acting by making people laugh while on stage,” Phillips said. Even though Zak began to act only last year he has already been in three plays. “I have worked in three plays. The first play I helped with was Alice and Wonderland where I did lights. And I also acted in Check Please and Bye Bye Birdie,” Phillips said. Interests in certain things can inspire someone at any time. For Zak it sparked when he worked on lights in Alice and Wonderland and tried out for a roll in Check Please. “In Check Please I had a small roll which I wore a burlap sack and I had three lines but I really enjoyed the cast and Mrs. McNeven (the drama coordinator). I really like the feeling of being in a family. I mean, I first started drama when family and friends told me about it. My parents were in plays when they were younger. I also really like the types of people in plays and making people laugh,” Phillip said. Although a show is fun while in production sooner or later it has to end. That feeling can be different for a lot of people. “It is kind of like ending a sports season, we have worked so many months, weeks, and hours making this project for other people to watch. Its like you know you’re never going to be able to do this again and it makes you emotional. I mean, you have been with these people for so long and you know it has to end so it is sad,” Phillip ends. Casie Snelson is a sophomore at Rolla High School and has been creating art since middle school when she moved to Rolla. “I started enjoying art in middle school when I first started in the public system and I met Mrs. Myers (the art teacher at rolla Middle School). I was in private school we basically had no classes that involved art. So when I came to Rolla and saw they had an art class I accelerated in everything Mrs. Myers asked,” Snelson said. Since Casie has been creating art for about three years she has done a variety of different projects.
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Art work created by Casie Snelson
“I do some ceramics, feathered necklaces, plush making, mascot suits, and of course I draw. I do a mixture of things, the only thing I don’t like to work with is charcoal.” Art can be important to many people. Casie finds art extremely important because it is a way to express yourself. “Art allows for people to express their emotions. As well, sometimes you don’t even realize it, but their inner mind. So sometimes you could be creating a piece and you look back at it and think, ‘wow I don’t remember putting that in there’. Because you deepest thought can be on your paper and you don’t even know it. It is also another way to gather around friends and work with all sorts of subjects, which is very important,” Snelson concludes.
Artist: Zak Phillips Grade: Senior Artist: Actor
Artist: Casie Snelson Grade: Sophomore Artist: Drawing/Painting
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As one of the many sports Rolla High School has to offer, track gives many students an opportunity to choose from many different events. Luckily, Harman took that opportunity when she first got the chance. “I started in eighth grade. I started mostly because a lot of my friends were doing it and I wanted to try something new,” Harman said. Since joining the track team her eighth grade year, Harman has come to love not only the social aspects track creates, but the feeling of success that follows every event. “I really love how accomplished you feel after a workout. You think it’s going to be hard at first and it sucks Allie Harman while you’re doing it, but you just feel Grade: 10 so accomplished at the end,” Harman said. Sport: Track But in order to reach this feeling of accomplishment, Harman has had to push through obstacles every athlete understands. “I would say track is both a mentally and physically straining sport. It’s kind of a mind game. Like if you tell yourself you can do it, then you can. You have to think everything through before you actually go through with it,” Harman said. Another trait Harman has had to develop as a busy student and athlete is time management and being able adjust. “The hardest thing for me to deal with as an athlete is probably how I’m never completely ready for what I can be thrown in to run for. Coach can just tell you the week of the meet that you’re doing an event you’re not used to. It’s just a lot of adjusting to a lot of different situations,” Harman said. Last year, Harman was put to the test and had to work through her major struggles as a track athlete. “One of my proudest moments would have to be last year whenever I was put into the 4x4 to run for conference. I wasn’t prepared at all to run it, but we ended up getting first and it was just a great feeling because I’d never run that event before and we got first,” Harman said. After Harman is out of high school she plans on attending college and pursuing a career in the nursing field. Who do you look up to, who inspires you? “On our team, it would probably be Meredith Sowers. She’s always the one to push you even though she might be in a lot of pain, you don’t see it because she’s always motivating everyone else,” Harman said. What advice could you give to future players? “Always try your best because you never know who’s going to be watching,” Harman said. What other activities/clubs are you in? Girl’s basketball, football manager.
Hunter House Grade: 11 Sport: Baseball
For many athletes, sports are some of the first memories they can remember. Junior, Hunter House started playing baseball at a very young age and has stuck with it throughout his life. “I’ve been playing baseball since I was four. My parents got me signed up and it was just something that I wanted to try out. I’ve been playing for what seems all my life so I’ve just kind of grown up loving it,” House said. Once the age is reached where one has to decide if they’re serious about continuing with their sport, the pressure can be overwhelming. “The hardest thing for me to deal with has been worrying about tryouts. No matter what, there is always going to be the fear of not making the team, not starting, or not doing as well as you hope. There is always that seed of
doubt,” House said. But through his hard work and perseverance, House has worked through obstacles and onto the team every year he’s tried out. “I would probably say baseball is more of a mentally straining sport. There’s a lot that goes on that you’re always thinking about. You have to assess the situations you’re in and determine whether you want to get one more out or keep people from scoring. There’s just a lot that goes on that people don’t realize,” House said. Along with the mentally straining aspect of baseball, it still proves to be just as straining physically. “If I could improve something, it would have to be my throw. Since I am a pitcher, I would like to work on how hard I can throw,” House said. House’s hard work and perseverance do have some reward in the end. “My proudest moment would probably be during my freshman year when we played Lebanon and I hit a homerun,” House said. House has plans after high school. “I would like to go to college, preferably to play baseball, but if that doesn’t work out, I’ll probably go to Missouri S&T for engineering,” House said. Who do you look up to, who inspires you? “I’d have to say Chuck Whitson. He’s helped me a lot this past offseason, as far as the way I approach pitching,” House said.
What advice could you give to future players? Always try your hardest. Always give it everything you got,” House said What other activities/clubs are you in? Football.
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Veganism is the practice of eating nothing that was produced by an animal, including meat, eggs and dairy. Very few students at Rolla High School are vegan. Personal experiences have caused some students to “Well, first I became vegetarian because my cat got hurt and it ended up dying. I tried to nurse it back to health and it was really sad. I didn’t want other animals to be dying, so I became vegetarian. After being vegetarian for a year or year and a half I became a vegan, and it’s been this way for like three and a half years now. it’s just because I kind of thought being a vegetarian was too easy and I wasn’t really doing anything because even though I wasn’t eating meat those animals were still abused in order for me to have dairy
products and eggs, so I decided to cut all animal products out of my diet,” senior Alex Sapaugh said. The difference between vegetarianism and veganism is often confused. Vegetarians have cut out all meat, while vegans have gone further and cut out all animal products from their diet. “I am vegetarian. I decided that eating meat is not good anymore because of the bad stuff in the meats. Also, I’m a Seventh-Day Adventist meaning that I can’t eat meat that’s unclean. So I was already not eating seafood or pork. I could only eat meats like turkey, chicken and beef. I’ve decided that the way people process food is not the way it should be and I don’t like animal cruelty. I think that killing animals for food is wrong,” sophomore Leah Rasco said. Being a vegan is a struggle, especially in Rolla, since it is a small town with limited grocery choices. Alex Sapaugh finds it to
be easy as long as someone is completely committed. “Becoming a vegetarian wasn’t very hard for me. I never missed eating meat, but from vegetarian to vegan it was pretty hard not to have cheese. You have to read the labels on everything. It cuts out things like chips just because they contain whey. It’s actually not that hard though, and I feel like a lot healthier,” Sapaugh said. There are many reasons to go vegan, but the most significant of them are the health benefits and reduction of animal cruelty. “I feel a lot healthier now, but it was mostly just like, it’s inhumane. No matter what. Even when it says on the package that it’s “grass-fed” or “cage-free” there is no humane meat. Even if it’s in your own farm you’re still killing it for your own personal gain,” Sapaugh said.
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Coffee can be a powerful presence in American culture, and moreover with American teen culture. As late-night study sessions become frequent for high school students, so does caffine. Due to its appreciation, coffee can become an addiction, and as a confirmation of the fusion between high schoolers and coffee, some RHS high school students even work as baristas. Bethy Blebins has worked at the new Starbucks facility in Price Chopper for about three months. She is a certified barista which she had to train and taste a variety of different coffees and describe them. She explained how coffee goes from the bean to the drink. “First they pick the coffee then do a a whole bunch of different manufacturing to the coffee. Then they grind it and send it to us,” Blebins said. Elizabeth Parkinson has worked at Rollas’ Panera Bread for almost a year now. Like Bethy, she is a certified barista. “We get these coffee beans in a bag the we open the bag and put it in the espresso machine. Then we either put the coffee in the regular espresso or in the decaf machine,” Parkinson said. For an big coffee drinker, you would be surprised by the saying, ‘the lighter the bean the stronger caffeine’ is quite accurate. “The dark roast, which is roasted longer so it has a stronger flavor
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but when it cooked it lost its extra caffeine. So the light roast has more caffeine since it is not roasted as long,” Parkinson said. To brew coffee, it can sometimes be time consuming but for lets say a latte it doesn’t take long at all. “For a full pot of coffee it can take up to five to six minutes to brew. To make, lets say a latte it will only take about thirty seconds to brew it,” Parkinson said. Caffeine can be an addiction for most people that are continuous coffee drinkers. Some people could drink an entire pot of coffee in one day. “About a month ago, I used to drink a pot of coffee a day. Now I just drink a latte a day. When I stopped drinking that much coffee I felt horrible, I would get really bad migraines,” Latin teacher Taylor Morris said. From a more personal view, one student shared her experience. “I can drink up to four cups a day. It usually depends on how much homework I have or how late I stayed up the night before. If I did stay up late then I drink about six cups within a day. If I don’t get coffee within at least two days I get really bad headaches as well,” sophomore Renee Reisner said.
BY THE NUMB3RS b y
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Spring Senior Athletes Rolla Girls Soccer is ranked
9th
in Missouri Class 3 Girl’s Soccer Both Girls and Boys Track Teams took
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place in the Lebanon Track Meet
Girls Soccer won
1-0
against the Helias Crusaders
Boys Baseball had an
8-4
victory over Cuba
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Boys Tennis Seniors
Boys Golf has returning varsity players
Springing into Spring b y
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The sun is shining and the birds are chirping- I think it’s safe to say that Spring has arrived! With all of this warm weather I’m sure that you are thinking, “What can I do outside with my friends?” (Because you don’t make memories playing on your phone’s, kids). Not to worry, I am here to provide you with some free (and not free), fun and fantastic spring and summer activities. If you’re looking to keep it local you can check out Ber Juan park where you can walk, run or skate the trail, play tennis, go to the skate park, play disk golf, fish, fly kites, have a picnic, and people and cloud watch. You could also check out Lion’s Club Park for tons of trails, disk golf and fishing. The first Friday and Saturday of June (the 3rd and 4th) marks the beginning of summer with the Route 66 Summerfest. There will be an outdoor movie, Irish Dancer’s and so much more! You can check out the full schedule at route66summerfest.com. If you’re looking to go out of town (or roadtripping) then you can check out the Gasconade River, Lane Springs and Meramac River for different activities like camping, fishing, floating, canoeing, hiking and swimming. If you didn’t find quite what you were looking for, to find more more adventures you can download a free app called TheOutbound, or you can go to theoutbound.com.
Visit www.rhsechonews for more news and features from RHS
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GSA:
A Club of Acceptance b y
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Recently, Rolla High School students started a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club. Junior Ashanti Owusu-Brafi and sophomore Maria Pommerenke have already started getting other students on board with their idea and recently received approval to form. Many students at Rolla High School do not know what GSA stands for or what it is about. “GSA is a student-run club where students go to learn about awareness and educate themselves about identity and how to respect people. We are here for support and to educate people about gender identity and sexual orientation” Owusu-Brafi said. Before beginning this club, Owusu-Brafi made sure she would have support and be able to gain members for the club. “I had conducted a petition to see who was actually interested to be sure I was not starting this for no reason. Within two days of asking around at school, I gained more than fifty signatures,” Owusu-Brafi said. Understanding the hardships that some experience in high school, it is her hope that this will be a club that will be seen as a safe place for them. “LGBT kids struggle a lot in our world today and GSA creates a safe and accepting environment where all students can be inclusive of each other and understand how to be respectful of our individuality. I myself have become very aware of the issues within and around the LGBT community and find it vital that people have a place to discuss these things,” Owusu-Brafi said. While LGBT has been a controversial topic in many high schools, Owusu-Brafi has not had any negative responses to her ideas. “So far I’ve had positive feedback. Sometimes I had to explain what the club was and how it works to some who were reluctant, but I did not have any absolutely negative feedback. My only worry is the amount of hate people can have towards others. My experience has showed me that people can be brutal, but usually students have a reasonable tolerance for LGBT issues,” Owusu-Brafi said. Rolla High School students are all responding positively to these ideas. Junior Sam Wilsdorf and sophomore Rachel Butz both comment on how GSA is a great addition to the school. “I believe that everyone should have a place in the Rolla High School to express themselves. I think the GSA is a great opportunity for people to be who they truly are and not feel afraid to convey their ideas. I think it’s a great idea,” Wilsdorf said.
“I think it’s a good idea, because it’s a way to reach out to members of our community that feel scrutinized and isolated from society. I hope it will be successful,” Butz said. The group has already begun having regular meetings and gaining membership by word of mouth and hanging up posters. “Mainly we meet up and talk about the issues we have and social awareness, as well as some social activities, such as movie nights, parties, and possibly a trip to see Pride Saint Louis. Hopefully we can have regular meetings and attendance. GSA will be meeting at the high school on Fridays in Mr. Warner’s room,” Owusu-Brafi said.
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