Rolla High School ECHO March 17, 2017 Issue by RHS ECHO

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Rolla High School - 900 Bulldog Run - Rolla, Missouri 65401- Volume 68 - Issue - 8 March 17, 2017 - www.rhsecho.com

RHS STEM teams advance to State pg 10

Rolla Animal Shelter Campaign Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s History Month pg 4

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In this issue...

Polar Plunge ..........................................................................................6 Secretaries.............................................................................................14 Artist/Athlete of the Month..................................................................18 Book Reccomendations.......................................................................20

Letter from the Editor

I would just like to take this time to rant about the sophomore class for a quick second if that’s alright. K? K. No, I’m not just going to bash on them like most upperclassmen do about how their annoying or whatever. Because, let’s face it juniors and seniors, at one time or another some upperclassmen called us an annoying sophomore too. Let’s travel back in time to fall of 2014, the start of my very own sophomore year. I would say we were a pretty quiet class from my understanding, doing what we were told and just having some wholesome fun… at least I did anyway. I worked really hard in the classroom to keep my grades up. I also really looked up to the upperclassmen around be and even befriended a couple of them. I respected them because, to be honest, they kind of intimidated me. So, I just went with the flow, hanging with kids my own age and just having fun with them. I stayed in my own lane and let the upperclassmen do their thing. Now fast forward to the fall of 2016 when this current sophomore class joined the high school. After watching them this school year, I can say with full confidence that they are nothing like me when I was their age. I hear talk of partying, smoking, and just being downright rebellious. Sophomore me had no clue what that stuff even was. Like, alcohol… what!? I feel like some of the sophomore class is more self aware; they dress better and wear way more makeup than I even thought about wearing at age fifteen. Not only are they going to parties, they are throwing them themselves. Now, I’m not judging them in any way, shape or form- like you do you, honey- all I’m saying is they grew up way too fast in my opinion. I don’t personally have any classes with any sophomores, but I’ve overheard some of them talk about how they just flat out haven’t turned in an assignment for this one class in over a week just gives me heart palpitations. Sophomore me would’ve had a panic attack. I don’t know, maybe I think these things because my baby sister is a sophomore this year and I’m just now noticing these fifteen year olds doing these things, but either way, sophomore me was a completely different person than these hooligans. There’s only a two year age gap between me and them but I don’t see myself in any of them at all. Man, I don’t know it’s just crazy to me. *Warning: no sophomores were harmed in the writing of this letter.*

ECHO Magazine Staff

Dan Collier, Agent Get your license Get a car Call Dan Collier for a great rate

1100 North Rolla Street Rolla, MO 65401

Office: 573-364-4133 Fax: 573-364-2531 Office Hours Mon-Fri 8:30am to 5:00pm After Hours by Appointment

Get Your Tux For Prom At Glik’s

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.

Editor In Chief - Celia Parsons, Copy Editors -Adrienne Pyeatt & Connor Wilson, Webmaster Ashanti OwusuBrafi Staff Writers Sophia Gesualdi, Nalani Massaro, Maia Bond, Diya Allada, Brandon Kirchner, Caroline Adams, Lydia Giesey, Theresa Lauer, Bailey Allison, and Lorren Black Adviser - Mary Gillis

Visit www.gliks.com to find your nearest location

ONCE UPON A MATTRESS b y

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Whether you admit it or not, everybody loves drama. Be it the twitter feuds and diss tracks we see among celebrities, or, in this article’s case, performances and plays, it’s always relaxing to kick back and watch someone go through some spectacle or anotherbecause that’s what entertainment is all about. RHS’s theater department is at it once again with the musical, Once Upon A Mattress, showing on March 16th, 17th and 18th. Mrs. Kelli McNeven, the drama teacher at Rolla High School, gave a brief synopsis of what this particular play was all about. “Once Upon a Mattress is the ‘true’ story of princess and the pea. It’s a twist on a traditional fairy tale story-the prince isn’t a big, brave guy, the princess is not your dainty, little princess. It’s sort of a role reversal in terms of those lead characters. The queen, who is in charge of the castle, doesn’t think anyone is good enough for her son, so she doesn’t like any of the princesses and always designs really difficult tests for them to pass in order to be able to ask for her son’s hand in marriage. Her latest test for the new princess, which is really kind of the last chance for all the people in the kingdom-because no one can get married until the prince does-is a test of sensitivity: If she can feel the pea under twenty mattresses, then she is a true princess,” McNeven said Senior Christina Woelk and sophomore Kelly Brown headline the show, respectively portraying princess Winnifred and prince Dauntless. Both Woelk and Brown are experienced on stage “It really started in seventh grade [for me], and I’ve been doing stuff ever since,” Woelk said. “This is my first play at the High School, but I do shows at Ozark Actors Theatre in the summer almost every summer, and I’ve been doing it since 2010,” Brown said. McNeven, naturally, picks all of the school productions before the school year with specific reasons in mind. “It depends on different reasons; things like who we had available-knowing which cast members we had coming back this year, kind of knowing what our talent pool was going to be. This was also a show that had a lot of characters, so we could include more people if need be. Also, set design was a factor. We’re able to create a unit set and change out a few of the items, instead of doing twelve different designs for scenes,” McNeven said.

The actors in our school’s productions put a lot of time and effort into bringing these plays to life. Rehearsals and practices for Once Upon A Mattress have been going on since December. “We started off before Christmas break with just solos and duets, just to get those down. Then, when we came back, we started doing group numbers, and then blocking at the Middle School. Blocking is the movement of an actor or actress among the stage during a scene. After getting everything blocked, we go over lines-and memorization is a big part because we’re on no scripts. We basically go through act one on one day, act two the next, and then dress rehearsals the week of the show,” Brown said. Putting on a musical, as one may guess, is more difficult than just a regular play. It requires the actors’ creative juices flowing not only into the acting, but the singing and dancing as well. “It takes a lot more energy to do a musical, just because everyone is moving around so much more. I feel like in musicals there’s more of a need for you to be very engaged with what you’re doing,” Woelk said. “With plays, some people might think it’s hard to memorize just lines in general, but with a musical you’re memorizing lines, and song lyrics, and the choreography for a dance number, all at the same time,” Brown said. However, the hard work pays certainly pays off. The musical numbers and choreography tie together the show and are almost always the highlight of the performances. However, a show is only as good as an audience thinks it to be. McNeven explained the best audience is one who participates with the performers on stage. “An audience that’s attentive. Audiences that respond to what’s happening, that react, are very good. Sometimes you get audiences that are really into what’s happening onstage, then for the very same show the next night, you get one or two people to laugh. In live theater, there’s always this exchange of energy between the audience and the cast members, so you always hope for one that’s really responsive, because then the energy level for the actors is a lot higher,” McNeven said.

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Women’s History Month b y

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For the entire month of March people around the world are celebrating Women’s History Month. Over hundreds of years of various women fighting for equality, we have made huge strides regarding women’s rights. Kim Gamel and Valerie Brinkman are two women who coordinated the St. Louis Women’s March that took place on January 21 at the beginning of this year. The two explain why it is so important for us to celebrate women for an entire month. “I think we should dedicate an entire year to women! I think that, historically, women have not been recognized in a lot of ways; their achievements haven’t been recognized, they’re not recognized in literature, they’re not recognized in history books, it’s still a time of white males. I believe it is important to have a month where we recognize and celebrate women throughout history that have impacted our lives or our society today,” Brinkman said. There are hundreds of iconic women who broke the boundaries against stereotypes and what was expected of them whether it be at home or at work. Some of those women who come to mind might be Frida Kahlo or Harriet Tubman, but Valerie Brinkman is inspired by Elizabeth Warren. “A person that got me the most politically engaged, and probably who I align myself the most with would be Elizabeth Warren. She is currently my personal hero, I admire her so greatly. Of course, she’s still a politician, and there are times when she has to be a politician. But in the endgame, she needs to keep her seat and needs to keep her place in office because she’s a very strong woman, she’s a strong political figure, she’s a strong liberal, and I think she’s a champion for the American people. Everything she does, she tries to stand up for the poor, the disadvantaged, the minorities. When I first saw her speak-and this was years ago-but it woke something up in me, and suddenly I had this interest in politics,” Brinkman said. Women entering more male dominated fields can be discouraging. But as time progresses more women becoming CEOs, construction workers, or working in STEM fields.

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“I can tell you that for politics there are organizations that help women run their campaigns. They give them suggestions, they help them out financially, they pair the women running with a mentor of sorts. I think there are other types of outreach that help in other fields such as STEM. There are also women-led organizations that help and encourage young women to get interested in those industries at an early age,” Gamel said. For the entire month of March women around the world are being recognized for their dedication and strength for demanding change. A question being asked is if Women’s History Month is being intersectional. “It depends on your definition of intersectional. My definition is having women from all walks of life, that come together; so it’s white women, it’s muslim women, it’s black women, it’s latina women, it’s trans women, every kind and type of woman having a place at the table. So that’s what I strive for, but I think that there’s people who look at intersectionality as just a black-andwhite issue. You could ask anyone other than me, and they’ll have a different answer on what intersectionality really is. I don’t think we’re completely intersectional, because I know there are groups who aren’t necessarily included. I don’t know if I can identify why that is, be it their choice or things that people are doing that intentionally exclude people, but I do know that as far as past movements go, this is the most intersectional than we’ve ever been. We still have room to grow, of course, but I believe we’re getting there,” Brinkman said. Kim Gamel is one of the women who helped make the St. Louis Women’s March happen. Holding women’s rights dear to her heart, she commemorates Women’s History Month by still inspiring women today. “The Women’s March on St. Louis group has come up with a Thirty Days of Action. A few days ago was international women’s day, and there was a rally going on in St. Louis. The women’s strike just works to show what our economy might look like if women weren’t a part of the workforce.

Kim Gamel Women are encouraged to stay at home that day from work, unless there’s an emergency in say, the medical field, or if their job simply depends on them being there. If that’s the case, then they’re encouraged to wear red in solidarity, not cook or clean or do the grocery shopping, or only visit woman-owned establishments,” Gamel said. One of the most controversial topics today in terms of gender equality is the wage gap between women and men. Although in most cases it isn’t completely physical- typically manifesting in institutionalized hostility from certain careers or different glass ceiling effects- it still remains present in our society. Women earn only seventy-eight cents to the dollar that men earn, leaving a large enough wage gap for many hard working women to be upset about. There is still a question as to whether or not women are equal in such a progressing world. “I believe we are created equal, I still don’t think that we are treated equal. The things that I see that make me feel we are not treated equal, like the difference in pay; women are typically paid less than men for the same work. We’re also not considered for the same jobs, or the same promotions. I have seen this firsthand in different jobs I’ve worked in, where women have been passed over for promotions even though they had been there longer or were more qualified, but a man was chosen instead. And it’s been for different reasons; men are typically seen as stronger and more capable, just considering what type of job it is, so they’re historically promoted more quickly than women. Men are also seen as the provider of the family, so I believe men are promoted more readily than women because people see men needing it more than women, because they are the ones who are supposed to provide. Women are looked at as caregivers, men are looked at as the providers,” Brinkman said. 2017 Presidential election has caused a stir within many groups. One being the Women’s Rights Movement questioning if are are progressing for women’s rights. “This is the biggest movement I’ve ever seen in my lifetimeNow, I’m forty-six, so it’s not like I’ve been around forever, but

Valerie Brinkman even looking back through history, I feel like this is one of the biggest movements for women. It’s a global movement; even though the elections that happen here, it also affects people around the world. This really has the potential to go somewhere, and do something, but I think that women really need to use this opportunity to do something. Women can’t just say it, and then sit back and not do anything. We need women to run for office, we need women to fight,” Brinkman said. Valerie Brinkman was inspired to coordinate the women’s march for many different reason, one being she feels the American people are not being represented well.

“I’ve been feeling for a long time-and this isn’t just from this most recent election-that politics just aren’t really working for American people. I feel that our political system, our government and our laws are all run and created by whoever has the biggest pocketbooks. So whichever lobby group has the deepest pockets to donate to an organization, then they need that money to keep up with their campaigns, and they’ll end up voting the way those people want them to vote. The everyday, average American doesn’t have that deep of pockets, so the lobby groups that are being made or the laws that are being written, I really believe that they don’t represent what the American people actually want. With this last election, that went up a thousand times. And with this last election-I don’t want to get to specific with the candidates, because it’s not one particular politician; a lot of them are like this. But this happens at the local level, at the state level, at the national level, everywhere. I feel that there has to be change, and if this election did nothing but wake people up, I think that that’s great. So all of a sudden, we’re talking about this and we’re doing things and we’re fighting back, and that’s what it’s going to take; This grassroots organization of ordinary Americans standing up and saying, ‘Enough. This system should work for us, and if not, we need to change it,’” Brinkman said.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS MISSOURI

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Students from the RHS Student Council at the 2017 Polar Plunge

Students from Rolla Middle School at the 2017 Polar Plunge

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Special Olympics allows youth with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to involve themselves in athletic competition with other athletes in the organization. There are nearly four million athletes currently involved in Special Olympics worldwide, and fifteen thousand of these athletes are from Missouri. “Special Olympics is like an olympics for anyone with special needs. The athletes go and play sports just like any other person would do. They can bowl, play basketball, or participate in other sports. My brother was in Special Olympics and he bowled one year. He did very well and had lots of fun,” junior Ami Ikuenobe said. Throughout the year, communities raise funds for Special Olympics through countless fundraisers, donations, and activities. One of these events is the Polar Plunge. On March 4, students from Rolla High School Student Council were able to volunteer and partici-

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pate in this event. “The Polar Plunge is an annual event that supports Special Olympics Missouri. There are several plunges each year at different locations. People raise money for the cause and plunge into the cold water. We are involved in a plunge that takes place at Fugitive Beach. A lot of different teams came to the plunge. We surpassed our goal by over half the amount, which is really exciting,” Ikuenobe said. The 2017 Polar Plunge at Fugitive Beach was nothing short of a success. Students, teachers, and other community members all found a way to be involved. “We do this every year, but this year we had the most students and teachers plunge. We raised a lot of money, and it’s good to know we are also spreading awareness for the cause,” junior Shannan Chan said.

Visit somo.org for more information All photos are courtesy of Jessica Qiu

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Members of the Rolla Community at the 2017 Polar Plunge

Spring Break 2017 B

How are you going to spend your spring break this year? Are you going to stay at home and die of boredom? Or are you going to get up and make some great memories? For those of you who want to make your spring break eventful and memorable, here are some ideas to fill your week with fun and adventure in the great outdoors.

• Hike Taum Sauk Mountain • Explore Elephant Rocks • Take a dip in Lane Springs • Climb the Lenox fire watch tower • Bike Lion’s Club trail • Just take a road trip • Explore Hawn State Park • Walk HaHaTonka State Park • Explore Devil’s Icebox (cave in Columbia) • Check out The Pinnacles in Sturgeon • Have a bonfire with s’mores • Visit the Botanical Gardens • You’re never too old for St. Louis Zoo • Take a stroll in Forest Park • Backpack through the St. Francois Mountain • Fish at Lake Wappappello State Park • ATV through St. Joe Sate Park • Boat at Mark Twain Lake • Horseback or bike Katy Trail • Camp out in a friend’s backyard

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ACT? More like LIT

For the Underclassmen of Rolla High; here are some standardized test tips and tricks from yours truly. How to shake off those day of nerves b y Theresa Lauer Study tips Cel

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Studying for the ACT can be super overwhelming, because been there done that. The best advice I could give you is to buy one of the overly massive ACT test booklets and do the problem tests out of it. The book itself holds lots of information about the ACT and study tips as well, but what I found to be the most helpful were the practice tests. After I wasn’t happy with the ACT score I got during the school year, I decided to take it one more time last summer. For about two weeks prior, I sat at my kitchen table and took one to two practice tests a day. I set a timer for the same amount of time as the actual ACT tests, just to make sure I wasn’t pacing myself properly. This way, you have seen what a real ACT test looks like and how much time you’re allowed. It really helped me not feel as anxious about the time limit and the types of questions. On that test, I scored three points higher than before so it was definitely worth the time and energy.

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Never spend too much time on a single question on the first run-through. There are a lot of questions in a short amount of time, so rather than just sitting there and staring at the test, just skip it and move on to the next question. If you keep your pace up enough there will be more than enough time to come back and go back through all the questions skipped. This also leads into another strong test-taking tip: the answer is always C. If on the second run through the answer still isn’t coming and you have absolutely no idea what to put, just mark down C. Rather than selecting a random letter every time you don’t know the answer, just stick to one letter for every single one. It’s more likely that one of the answers will be happen to be the letter you keep selecting than just randomly picking tons of letters and hoping for the best. The instructors for the ACT will give time warnings, so wait at least until you get the 5 minute warning to start jotting down C for every answer, the answer could wind up being deep down inside of you before then.

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The first time I took the ACT I was extremely nervous the day of. When you haven’t taken it before then you have no idea what to expect. People will tell you what is on it but until you take it you’re just blindly going into it. So yeah, it’s stressful… EXCEPT it shouldn’t be! There is really no need to freak out about this test. In the end, you will get the score that you get and you most likely have many more opportunities to retake it and improve your score. So, here’s some advice that may help calm those nerves and make the test day go smoothly. Study enough in advance that you feel confident. Honestly, I scored higher when I didn’t study but I was way less nervous for the tests that I had studied for. Get some sleep. It’s not worth staying up all night cramming. If you’re tir ed you’re not going to be feeling it. Being tired will only make it harder on you. Get everything together in advance. You need pencils, a charged calculator, an ID, and your ticket that shows you have registered and paid. Eat breakfast. You’re going to be sitting there for a while and a growling stomach while you’re trying to find the volume of a cone is going to get on your nerves. The most important thing to remember is that it is not the end of the world if you do bad on this test. So seriously, chill out, relax, you will be fine.

Is the ACT for you? b y

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Standardized tests are pretty stressful to think about and take, but deciding which tests you should take for college is one of the more important decisions in your high school career. There is the ACT but ultimately it all comes down to what the college path you chose and what requirements are needed to be met. The ACT is a test that shows your general knowledge of English, Math, Reading, and Science. The test costs $39.50 without the writing portion, but most colleges require that portion so adding it would be $56.50. This test is at a low price compared to other tests, but not every college or university accepts this test. I personally didn’t do as well with this test, the first time I took it I got a 25 and then the last time I got a 29, not really the scores the colleges I was applying to wanted. It wasn’t the best test for me.

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“I’ve been playing football since I moved here in fifth grade and hopefully will continue through college. This year I also wrestled and the last couple of years I played basketball and I run track. I also do the pentathlon in track and over summer I did the decathlon for entry to the Junior Olympics, but I turned my results in too late. I missed my opportunity, but I plan on doing it sometime during this summer.” Douglas said.

“I’ve got a lot of different letters from colleges and universities for athletics, but I haven’t accepted any yet. If I sign for football and get a better offer for track, then I kind of screw myself over. All the sports are in the air but those are the two I’ve got the most letters about. I’ll most likely go in state but if I get a better offer I will go out of state.” Douglas said.

To support Xaviar go to downundersports.com/payment or you can mail checks payable to “Down Under Sports” at Down Under Sports 1755 North 400 East #201 North Logan UT 84341. You can also pay by phone 435-753-4732

A senior at Rolla High School was given the opportunity of a lifetime. Xaviar Douglas was asked to attend a summer athletic program representing the Central Conference Football Team of Missouri. “I’m going to the Down Under Sports Program to play football in Australia and then have a three-day resort day in Hawaii. They requested me personally and one or two other people from Rolla. The information was sent to Coach Franks at the high school and he found me and gave me the form and I filled it out. After my mom did all the math it would be about $7,500 and we are going to try to get the majority of it through sponsors. The program we are using for this gives us a discount for $1,000 raised in thirty days. The first day we got $60 out of it, so if we keep it up, we will be able to get it. The way it is, I will bring in forms to pass out for people to become my sponsor and leave them in the counselor’s office. So it is kind of like donations they don’t go straight to me, but the Down Under Sports Program. You can also order shirts and have the money go towards me not to me. The website is downundersports.com” senior Xaviar Douglas said.

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State; a victory mostly known for sporting events yet is achieved more often than not in other programs here at the Rolla High School. Both the Rolla Robotics team and Science Olympiad team moved on to State this year in their competitions. These two programs have worked hard all year to prepare for their meets and competitions. Rolla Robotics is an academic club for students interested in the engineering or mechanical career paths. In September, they receive a challenge from FTC- First Technical Competitions- where they then work from them on to create a robot that can complete the challenges at hand. “At the beginning we all brainstorm together but then if there’s a certain part they’re really interested in, we’ll break them up into teams and say ‘okay you work on the arm,’ or ‘you work on the drive train’ or ‘you work on how we’re going to pick up the objects’ and they split up and work on that but eventually we get to the point where we have people who are really working on the robot, people that are programming, people that do the 3D modeling so they can print out parts for the robot, people that mainly focus on the marketing side of it, making t-shirts, helping us do any kind of fundraising and how we can have outreach to the community. So, you don’t have to be a robot person to be in robotics,” the head coach of the Rolla Robotics Leigh Ann Tumbrink said. The challenge they receive is challenging obviously, but also changes from year to year, creating new obstacles and tasks for the robots to complete. “The challenge is different every year, including various tasks for the robot to accomplish. Usually there’s objects you’re going to pick up somehow and sometimes you’re lifting, the robot is lifting itself or it’s climbing something.This year, they have to pick up wiffle balls almost and they have to shoot them into a metal vortex. And then, they use remote controls like Gamestop gaming controllers to control the robot for a minute and a half and before that is autonomous where they program the bot to do things all by itself,” Tumbrink said. The road to state is a long one, consisting of multiple competitions and meets in-between to better the robot and its abilities. “You have the qualifiers, which if you do good in the qualifiers you go to state. Then you have meets and if you do well at the meets, it’s kind of like sports where if you’re ranked high enough based on how well you do in those meets, then they have one more kind of conference championship that all those high ranked teams that didn’t quite make it could compete one more time to try to get to state,” Tumbrink said. But, the real question is: where do you get the supplies to build something like this? “The actual metal parts we buy through Pitsco which is LEGO and it’s a specific kit that you can buy and you can build your robots out of that or you could just go to Lowe’s and buy aluminum channel and make basically the same thing. They’ll give you specific items that you can use like drawer slides that have more moving pieces inside and they’ll let us use Lazy Susans which spin like in a cabinet. But besides that they’re very specific, it has to be something every-

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one can buy so you’re not over another team, and also it has to be a very simple object you can buy. You don’t want someone going out and buying a robot, that’s not fair. Now, we can 3D print whatever we want. Whatever we can come up with raw material wise, were welcome for it. The robot itself, it’s brain is an android phone and then we have another cellphone that is partnered up to it and that’s what we hook our controllers to. So, they have to learn how to do JAVA because that’s the language the app runs that these phones run. So we buy all that stuff, electronics, wiring, they have these little remote controllers and stuff too that we buy that through a company called Modern Robotics and that’s the only place we can buy those. We have certain requirements that we have to follow and some that you can just go buy at Lowe’s,” Tumbrink said. Along with having an interest in the engineering field, students must also meet the requirements to join this academic club. “The only requirements we have are: they have to have good grades, they can’t have anything lower than a C, and they have to at least attend half of our meetings. We have lots of kids who are involved in sports and other clubs and we don’t want to discourage them and say it’s robotics only so we meet on tuesday evenings and sunday afternoons and we just expect them to at least be at one of them and maintain a least a minimum of 50 which by the time it gets close to an event, there’s hardly anybody ever isn’t way above that because we start meeting lots more than that,” Tumbrink said. Expenses for this club are more than most, with supplies and travel costs always being an issue. “Since we’re a club to the school we’re not really considered a sports team, there’s really not a club that gets funding. But they have the first Community National Bank Bulldog Card that when people use it they collect some of that money and give it back to the school. Dr. Zalis decides where it goes so he’ll designate some of that funds to us but it’s not a guarantee. So, we’re pretty much on our own. We hope to get extra and CORE ends up paying for one of our tournaments. Bruewer Science gives us about $1000 a year and that’s our only consistent source. Everything else we have to go out and find creative ways to make money,” Tumbrink said. Besides just the technical side of Robotics, there are also many other skills you’ll learn that could benefit you for the rest of your life. “Robotics gives a lot more than just the technical skills that you think would go along with it like mathematical and engineering skills. There is also a lot of public speaking involved. So, you get a lot of soft people skills too along with the hard mathematical skills,” senior and the captain of the 6168 team Dawson Satterfield said. Just like other clubs and sports activities at Rolla High School, there’s a lot of work to be done, but the rewards in the end are worth it. “We spend so much time together that by the end of the year, we’re a family. Even though families have spats amongst each other, still in the end we’re a family. They learn so many soft skills that going into a job interview would make them shine. Robotics is super fun, challenging, exciting, invigorating, and inspirational. It gives you a huge sense of accomplishment. US FIRST says it best, when they say it is ‘the hardest fun you’ll ever have,’” Tumbrink said.

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Another club at the Rolla High School that is academic based and very successful one is Science Olympiad. “Science Olympiad is a club that we have and throughout the year we prepare for a certain competition that we have to compete against the surrounding local high school clubs once a year,” senior and Science Olympiad member Seth Hoffheins, said. There are no academic requirements to join, but an interest in science is highly recommended. “I have taken all of the biology and chemistry Rolla High School can offer so it’s a good club with a whole different realm of science. And it’s more specializing, so if you enjoy science or if you just enjoy building or learning how things work, you get new aspects of that that you’re not able to learn in a classroom,” Hofheins said. There are multiple categories the team competed in including anatomy and physiology, Air trajectory, windpower, robotic arms, forensics and optometry. These categories require either a test or a ‘build-it’ component where students are challenged to build a model of some sort of aspect of the category they competed in. Hofheins and senior Adelaide Brow were paired up for the anatomy and physiology category where they were given a 15 minute test of their knowledge of the body. “The one Seth and I competed in was a test competition. It was a 15 minute test, and basically you take the test together and then they (the judges) score it,” Brow, said. Science Olympiad meets every other thursday after school, giving the competitors time to prepare for their

competition, but Science Olympiad also requires time outside of meetings to make sure it’s participants have all the knowledge they need to be successful at the competition. Well as a club at the high school we have meetings every other thursday and we get into our groups and go over what we need to do, but it’s really on an individualistic level. Addy and I would meet up and actually prepare solely for our event because it’s so specialized. So, the club meetings can only do so much, it’s more about meeting up with your group and evaluating what needs to be done and studying your material,” Hofheins, said. The members study all year long for their one competition which was on February 18 at S&T. From there, the pairs can move on individually or, depending on how they entire team scores altogether, can move on as one team. Luckily for Rolla High’s team, they advanced together. The date for state still hasn’t been announced but will be held in Jefferson City, Missouri. While preparing for the competitions, Science Olympiad members will learn very valuable skills and information that they could take with them to their future careers. “I think Science Olympiad is a great opportunity if you are interested in science or even in a specific field of science, i think it’s a great opportunity to gain some more experience in that field or just have a fun time with science because there’s not really very many academic clubs that are competition based. I think if you’re a competitive person but you’re not into athletics this would be a good choice for you,” Brow said.

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“Secretaries are loyal, efficient, dedicated, and they secretly run the world,”

Bryant, said.

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Ms. Mesa

Mrs.Wood

What do you do? What do you do?

“I’m in charge of budget and finance for the building,” Wood said.

What is your favorite part about your job?

“Working with Ms. Mesa,” Wood said.

“I’m an administrative assistant to Mr. Smith and basically I just take care of all of his needs,” Mesa said.

Hobbies?

“I love baseball so the fact that Davie [my son] plays baseball is great,” Mesa said.

Mrs. Kraus

What do you do?

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“I support Dr. Herman and the kids with last names A through K. I do attendance appeals and lots of other various things,” Kraus said.

Hobbies? “I like gardening and spending time with my grandkids. I have thirteen and most of them are in three other states so traveling to see them,” Kraus said.

Mrs. Dunn Mrs. Feeler

What do you do?

“My job is administrative assistant for the athletics office,” Dunn said.

Hobbies?

What do you do?

“I am the registrar and basically what I do is handle student records, sending out transcripts, new enrollments when students transfer to another school. Anything to do with school records and transcripts I work with,” Feeler said.

“I love to read, crochet, quilt, and cook,” Dunn said.

Mrs. Bryant

What do you do?

Ms. Norbo

“I am the A+ Secretary and a cashier in the cafeteria,” Norbo said.

Hobbies? “Photography, piano, guitar, hiking and sleeping,” Norbo said.

What do you do?

“[I am the] secretary for the athletics office,” Bryant said.

What is your favorite part about your job?

Mrs. Turner

What do you do?

“I just like working with the people,” Bryant said.

Ms. Mumma

“I am the attendance secretary,” Turner said.

What do you do?

“I like to camp and fish, anything outdoors,” Turner said.

What is your favorite part about your job?

Hobbies?

“I am the principal’s secretary here at the high school. I do announcements, calendars, keep Dr. Pritchett in line and on schedule. I pretty much do everything,” Mumma said. “My favorite part of the job is potluck day,” Mumma said.

Rolla Animal Photo Source: Rolla Animal Shelter Campaign Facebook Page

Photo Source: Rolla Animal Shelter Campaign Facebook Page

Photo Source: Rolla Animal Shelter Campaign Facebook Page Unbeknownst to some, the current Rolla Animal Shelter is in dire need of help. Sam O’keefe, A member on the fundraising committee for the Rolla Animal Shelter Campaign, a campaign raising money to build a brand new shelter, shares why there is a need for the new shelter “Right now we’re just trying to raise money for a new facility, because the facility now is in absolutely terrible shape. The concrete walls are cracking and crumbling. The dogs are stored in outdoor kennels, with just an open roof overhead and no walls. The roof where the dogs sleep, birds go up in the cross beams and poop onto the dogs, their food and water bowls, and litters the entire roof. The dogs have to go to the bathroom in their kennels, and in some, the concrete is warped so those kennels can’t be used because it isn’t sanitary,” O’Keefe said. O’Keefe continues to tell of the tragic conditions that these poor animals live in. “Some of the kennels and cages are so old that they are held together by plastic ties. The heating and cooling ventilation system is extremely old, inefficient, and doesn’t work well. If an animal has an illness, it’s a very small building with poor circulation to foster good care for them,” O’Keefe said. Obviously, a new facility needs to be built as soon as possible. The old conditions at the current shelter are inadequate and should have been dealt with years earlier. “There will be an entirely new building in a new location on Lions Club Drive, we are currently looking to raise 1.5 million dollars so we will be working with everyone we can,” O’Keefe said.

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The campaign has only recently come to the public eye, and is working hard to reach everyone. “We’re in the very early stages of this, we’ve just now announced the campaign publicly. We’re working to get the word out to let people know that we are trying to raise money to build the new shelter,” O’Keefe said. It’s not hard to get in touch with the campaign, and donating is even easier. “We have a Facebook page called Rolla Animal Shelter Campaign. We also have a website called SaveRollaAnimals.org. We have contact information on both and people can donate through the website or a button on the top of the Facebook page. We also have mailing address to mail cash or checks,” O’Keefe said. Though local groups, businesses, and people within and outside of the community donate money, many fundraising events are in the works and some are in the very near future. “We’re having a public kick off event March 25th from 11:00 a.m, to 2:00 p.m. The Phelps County Animal Welfare League, or PCAWL, will be having their third annual Tail Trot 5-10K run or walk on April 1st, where all proceeds go to the campaign,” O’Keefe said. Some may say that the problem with the shelter is that it is understaffed, and that is an issue, but O’Keefe explains why a brand new shelter is the absolute necessity, not just more staff. “We have two full time animal control officers and one part time officer to do all of the work for the community, including cleaning the facility. I would like to note that the Missouri Department

Photo Source: Rolla Animal Shelter Campaign Facebook Page

Shelter Campaign Photo Source: Rolla Animal Shelter Campaign Facebook Page

of Agriculture often sits the shelter for being a poor facility, but they give the staff and the care and treatment of the animals high marks. So it’s not for lack of the staff doing their jobs, it’s truly them being in a poor situation and making the best out of it. That’s really important because it has nothing to do with the people that work there, it’s just that it’s city and community shelter that is more than 40 years old and it’s truly falling apart and is too small for the size of the city we have now,” O’Keefe said. While funds are being raised, these animals are still living in very poor conditions, and adoption is always encouraged to rescue these unlucky animals, though most are unaware of how the process of adoption works. “When we have animals come in and are up for adoption, they have a cursory examination by our contracted veterinarian, and with that they get their rabies vaccination that is required by the state and the Department of Agriculture. If a family wants to adopt a pet, we try to do a quick talk to see if the animal fits with the families wants and needs. We charge a $35 fee and a contract needs to be signed, saying that they understand and agree to provide that pet with its medical needs and any other issues in the future. It also states that you have to spay or neuter the pet if they haven’t already been within thirty days of adoption,” animal control officer Kevin McCue said. The process can seem lengthy, so the option of fostering dogs is brought up, but unfortunately not an easy process either. “We cannot send animals out to a foster because we are a city pound and by state guidelines, we cannot just send an animal out to a foster. If an individual wants to foster an animal,they have to have an Animal Care Facility License, issued by the Department

of Agriculture. They have to meet standards in order to foster animals, so not just anybody can say they want to hold a dog for two weeks,” McCue said. Because of the small staff, volunteering is encouraged and can be a good option for some volunteer hours. “The city requires a letter of liability to be signed by anyone that comes here to spend time with the animals on their own. They have to be 18 years old to sign a contract, so if someone is to come underage with their guardian, and their guardian is with them at all times, that’s fine. The same thing stand that if they’re volunteering to spend the time with the animals like that, they have to sign the letter of liability, and that releases the city from any liability if the individual were to get bitten or scratched,” McCue said. If one is unable to volunteer their time, they could donate to the cause to help out the animals. “We always accept donations by either materials like cleaning supplies, paper products, dog and cat food, or monetary funds by cash or check to the Rolla Animal Shelter. There’s two directions that monetary funds can go. One is to our general fund for our daily operations in the current shelter, or to our new shelter. Things we are in need of are ammonia based window cleaner because we cannot use anything that have pine oil or bleach, it has to be ammonia based. Cat and dog food are always a need as well,”McCue said. The need for a new shelter is coming to the public’s attention, and hopefully the fundraising and donations lead to a speedy accumulation and construction so stray animals can get the care they need.

Athlete of the Month Gage Maxwell

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Rolla Football going to the District Championship this season people wonder where the star Varsity players got their start from. One of the most versatile players on the team, Gage Maxwell who is also a wrestler that competed for state this season tells about his experience with sports starting back when he was only eight years old. “I have wrestled since I was eight years old and I have been playing football ever since the 5th grade,” Gage said. Starting Wrestling at such a young age and then adding Football only a few years after it is not uncommon to get tired or even bored of playing sports for such along time, but to Gage it is what keeps his mind in the right direction. “It’s usually just play sports and stay out of trouble or you can end up in some bad places, so it’s good to keep participating in athletics to keep your mind in a right direction,” Gage said. Placing 2nd in state this season, it is not uncommon for star

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athletes to move to an upper level competing in sports at a collegiate level. “I was offered to wrestle for Hannibal-LaGrange University and I am looking forward to wrestle there,” Gage said. Being a star athlete and a good student is difficult to most people causing them to be a great athlete and a bad student or vice versa. However for Gage he has his mind on track. “You got to take a lot of your free time to study and do your homework. Just trying to do good academically wise, if you can’t even do that you can’t play your sport,” Gage said. Being a great athlete and also a Senior, you have lower classmen looking up to you for help and even some guidance, putting a lot of pressure on you. “After a while I’ve gotten used to the pressure, it’s that you gotta be there for everybody. You can’t be a well trained group without trying to help everyone you can, to keep the program going,” Gage said.

Artist of the Month Jessica Qiu

For most people they see art class as just a waste of an hour. However, people like Jessica Qiu see art as a passion and have been doing art for most of their life. “I became interested in art at a very young age, I think preschool years. I’ve always enjoyed creating things with my own abilities,” Jessica said. Finding inspiration for pieces in today’s day in age can be a struggle because of the lack of creativity throughout most of the day. However Jessica makes the most out of her environment. “I love looking at works from different artists on social media. In general, my surroundings inspire me the most. I pull inspiration from the people around me and even the TV shows I watch,” Jessica said. There are many different types of art to choose from and to grow with such as painting or drawing. Qiu doesn’t really have a favorite though. ‘I don’t really have one favorite art form, because I can’t choose just one. My favorites are photography, pottery, and lettering. I love each one, because it requires some skill, but you can easily build upon what you know. There’s room for growth and creativity,” Jessica said.

Stuck at home this spring break? Curl up with these books recommended by RHS students! b y

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“My favorite book is ‘Lemonade Mouth’ because lemonade is life. It’s about a group a of people ‘banding’ together. That’s a pun because they form a band,” sophomore Kelly Brown said.

“My favorite book is ‘Milk and Honey’ by Rupi Kaur because it talks a lot about different situations in a person’s life that you don’t really think about and some of them can be really relatable. It’s a book of poems about a girl’s life broken up into sections of Hurting, Loving, Breaking, and Healing,” junior Lexi Turner said.

“‘I like My Life With the Walter Boys’ by Ali Novak because it’s a cheesy love story and it’s based in a small town. I feel like I can relate to the main charcater on some levels,” spohomore Jesse Crump said.

“My favorite book is ‘Diary of an Oxygen Thief’ by Anonymous because I like the repeated quote from the book ‘Hurt people, hurt people,’” sophomore Mallory Persicke said.

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“‘A Giant Cow-Tipping by Savages’ by John Close because it’s about my favorite past(ure) time: cow-tipping,” sophomore Devon Green said.

“Dr. Phil’s Ten Life Laws would have to be one of my favorites. It’s by Dr. Phil, of course. He teaches you how to lead a better life and be happier. Also, he talks a lot about Oprah, so that’s good,” senior Noah Lewis-Daly said.

Breaking the Habit

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I first realized that I had a problem when I went on a legendary weekend Netflix binge of Criminal Minds. I watched a season in a weekend. There were 22 episodes, and each one lasted around 45 minutes. Needless to say, I didn’t do much else that weekend. Over time, I have come to use Netflix as background noise to work on homework to and keep myself entertained while I watch funny videos on my phone. This was not one of those times. I paid rapt attention to the plot and became caught in the never-ending stream of video due to the autoplay feature. Normally, this wouldn’t have been too much of a problem. Sure, I didn’t get much homework done among other things, but it wasn’t cutting in to much else. The problem that arose was paranoia. Criminal Minds, it turns out, is horrifying. With every episode I continued to think there were people hiding under my bed and in my closet, waiting to jump out and slaughter me in cold blood to find that my cat had found her way into my room. This was when I decided something needed to be done. I knew that quitting Criminal Minds was necessary, but it would be so easy to fall back as long as I was watching Netfix. I genuinely knew that Netflix is an unhealthy habit for me, and my binge-watching needed to stop. So since February 21, I have been Netflix-free. Whether it interests the reader or not, I highly reccomend breaking habits like this. The end result has made me a happier, more productive person. Although this process was over many more than 9 days, I saw the majority of the effects within that time period, so read on to learn all about me breaking my Netflix binge-watching habit.

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Day 1: I was productive, maybe too productive. I was finished with homework and extracurricular stuff by 6:30. Normally this would be my prime Netflix binge-watch time. Instead, I laid in bed looking at the ceiling until bedtime. Day 2: I have fallen into another addiction. Funny American Idol audition videos on YouTube have taken over. Day 3: For most of the afternoon, I was able to keep myself busy. However, later in the night, I realized that now I need to break all video streaming habits, including YouTube. Day 4: I am so bored. Don’t get me wrong, I like reading, but there’s a point when one wants the mindless entertainment video streaming provides. Oh well, maybe I’m getting smarter. People also have been bothering me more lately; I have a pretty short patience with them. Day 5: Finally, I closed the Netflix tab. I haven’t been paranoid or scared of homicidal killers lately, so that’s good. Day 6: I stayed home all day. Somehow, even though there was nothing to do, I procrastinated and did my homework pretty late at night. Day 7: I’m getting a lot more done lately. I’ve fallen back in love with reading books and I feel like they’re genuinely entertaining again. Day 8: I think this is going to work out just fine. I don’t feel the need to be watching videos all the time, but I do feel the need to be reading and getting things done so I can continue my book. Day 9: Basically, from here on I’ve gotten over the habit. I’m pretty proud of myself. It may not seem like a huge accomplishment, but to me it is.

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There are so many celebrities that are famous for being famous. The names that immediately come to a person’s mind are the Kardashians, Paris Hilton, and Honey Boo Boo. Some celebrities that are famous for nothing have made the best of their situation and others have lost all control. Recently Danielle Bregoli has gotten a lot of popularity because of her unforgettable quote, “Cash me ousside, how bow dah?’”She used these words when she was on Dr. Phil, daring the audience to fight her with a heavy accent she got “from the streets.” The only thing this girl has done is steal women’s car. Alana Thompson, aka Honey Boo Boo, was a part of the Toddlers and Tiaras, but later got a spin off reality TV show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, due to her and her family’s crazy antics. This family’s one talent is making a butter slide in the middle of their kitchen. Kim Kardashian is arguably the most famous woman in the world. Keeping Up with the Kardashians is on its 13th season and has four spin off shows. Kim Kardashian’s net worth is over $150 million and continues to grow. However, Kim Kardashian’s rise to fame had nothing to do with her talent. The one thing all of these ladies has in common is that they became famous for doing nothing. However, there is a key element that sets them apart. One’s image has evolved and the other two are stuck where they started. The question people are always asking is: Why are the Kardashians so famous? The answer is simple. Kim Kardashian has turned from a reality television star to an extremely successful entrepreneur. She has made the name Kardashian a worldwide brand. Whether you hate Kim or watch her show every Sunday, you cannot deny that she is a super smart businesswomen. Kim is the founder of the television production company, Kimsaprincess LLC, which produces workout DVDs, fragrance lines, and the e-commerce shoe shopping website, ShoeDazzle. But wait, there’s more. Kim also endorses many brands including Kardashian GLAM silly bands, Kardashian ‘Couture’ lollipops, The Kardashian Kard (a Kardashian Mastercard), Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, and even a Hardy’s salad commercial. These may sound ridiculous but after 10 years, we are all still talking about Kim Kardashian. The reason Honey Boo Boo is no longer relevant is because she did the exact opposite of what Kim did. The only thing keeping Alana Thompson prominent in the media was her TV show, which got really old, really fast. In fact, the show only ran for two years. One can only stand a seven year old running around caffeinated on her ‘Go-Go Juice’screaming things like, “A dollar make me holla,” for so long. Honey Boo Boo will forever be the silly little pageant girl that bobs for pig’s feet and uses chicken to moisturize her knees. Danielle Bregoli’s success in the future could go both ways. The only thing that Bregoli is known for is her cringe-worthy accent and criminal behavior, so there really is no way that she could evolve her image to something more interesting. Though one could argue that Danielle Bregoli will be around for a long time because she already has seven million followers on her Instagram account, @bhadbhabie, a sponsorship from FitTea,started her own clothing line, Cashmeoutside, and starred in Kodak Black’s music video, ‘Everything 1K’. Most recently, Bregoli pretended to get hacked by the Illuminati, earning her a lot of attention, and dropped a song with. Even though this is the smartest PR stunt I have ever seen, again, there is no way she will be able to evolve her image quite like Kim Kardashian has. All in all, with our generation’s fascination with other people’s lives, there are way too many reality tv shows. This means that celebrities come and go all the time due to our short attention spans, so it takes something special to stay relevant in teenager’s lives.

Rumor has it... that Rolla High School students who drive encounter a stressful parking lot each morning and afternoon. B

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The students of Rolla High School who are over 16 and have been granted access to a vehicle face the same problem every morning: parking. Narrow spaces, an incline, and young drivers generally create scary situations. Thankfully, Sgt. Rapier, who supervises the parking lot each morning, believes that students are more cautious than people think. “There are very few accidents. The parking spaces are very narrow. Hopefully, at some time in the next few years, we’ll have the gravel lot paved. Our biggest problem is that students accidentally trap other students in the parking lot. That really irritates people. Most [students] are very cautious drivers. Once in a while, a student will have trouble gauging how close they are to another

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vehicle so we may have a mild accident. The narrow spaces make it very difficult,” Sergeant Wayne Rapier said. Brooke Gillman, a junior at Rolla High, isn’t as optimistic about the parking situation. “I don’t like parking in the gravel lot, but I park there anyway because that’s where my friends park. People seem to get hit too often and don’t realize they can use different exits. In regards to the main parking lot, the student drop-off doesn’t make it very easy to exit where the parents exit, but there are other places to exit. It makes it pretty dangerous when everyone is trying to cram out of one exit. I also think that some people need to learn how to park and it would be nice if the gravel lot was paved. A lot of people park there and it’s not in very good condition,” Gillman said. The parking situation at Rolla High will, without a doubt, be different next year as the student drop-off is moved and access to exits becomes easier, but for now, students remain concerned.

esting thought to think of, the concept that everything being posted online will forever be available to anybody. Does this mean that somebody should just completely disregard all the caution and go right ahead, post every single thought to facebook for all to see anyways without any care, or should Welcome to this month’s installment of Completely Credible, the column where I state my opinion on things that I know too much about, all while not providing a single source to back we be avoiding social media, using it up. Essentially, a typical news column. The subject of each column is bound to be different, an encrypted web browser, privately and this will more or less be about whatever happens to catch my attention at the time. While emailing all information rather than reading be sure to keep in mind this is purely my opinion on something that probably doesn’t using facebook? But even then most popular email accounts are running matter. to the internet. through different companies, which By Connor Wilson In the internet age, most teens are atmeans odds are someone out there has Staff Writer tached to their smartphones, technology the power to look through everything ever is vital to almost every single job. Heck, sent on that account. I’m typing this up on a computer, using In this current day in age, it seems like In this modern age privacy is more or a school-monitored account as well as a every other person is a conspiracy theorist less nonexistent, and even those of us curschool-monitored computer, which also thinking the government is secretly spyrently in high school today are to an extent could be monitored by the CIA. There’s ing on them. It’s wild to think that, were used to it already. Myspace was before very little privacy to speak of. this just a few years back, most would our time, online social media was already I mean, even when extensive measures say that’s crazy and there’s nothing to popular and thriving. The taking away of are taken to make sure that all accounts be afraid of. Recently, however, this has online privacy is happening right now, have secured passwords, emails, account proven to be absolutely not true. The weband while there are protests from many names, no facebook accounts or any social site Wikileaks, which is a popular source internet communities actively, we don’t media platforms attached, even if all of of leaking secret information, recently see protests in the streets over something released news and evidence that the CIA is those measures are taken odds are if the that many people hold extremely valuable, government truly needed to get informacapable of tapping into and overriding all so how important is privacy today? tion they’d have no trouble. It’s an interWindows-running computers connected

Credible.

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Join the RHS ECHO Magazine Staff! Sign up for the intro class:

Journalism Composition

Two ways to take Journalism Composition 1) Traditional Face to Face Class (in the school schedule) 2) Online (done entirely outside of school hours on own time) The curriculum is the same, the method of delivery is different. Both are ½ unit of English. Both meet the prerequisite for being on ECHO or Growler.

If you enroll for online, you will just enter that separately in your IC portal.

Going Places On the ECHO staff, you have multiple opportunites to travel all across the country for the Journalism Education Assocaition National Convetnion. These conventions take place anywhere from Seattle and Washington D.C and everywhere in between. While there, you learn about all aspects of journalism from some of the top journalists in the country!

Meeting People

In room 302, you will meet more people than you thought you could in high school. From baseball players, to artists, to FCCLA officers, to expert L.A.R.P.ers and everyone in between. Joining the ECHO staff is a great way to get to know people from your high school you normally wouldn’t have any interaction with. It’s a great way to make new friends and new relationships that could last a life time.

Awards Every year, the ECHO staff participates in MIZZOU’s Journalism Day. J-Day is a full day filled with speakers, break-out sessons, and award ceremonies. We, as a staff, send in our layouts and stories throughout the year to be judged at J-Day for awards and recognition. If you are on staff for a year or more, you could also recieve a cord for graduation!

Skills Being a part of the ECHO staff advances your knowledge in all aspects of journalism. You’ll take part in the entire process.From interviews, to writing the story, editing, layout, and exportation, you’ll be a part of it all in room 302.

Contact RHS ECHO Magzine

Senior Copy Editor Connor Wilson and senior WebMaster Ashanti Owusu-Brafi showing off their spring spirit.

Mary Gillis, Adviser mgillis@rolla.k12.mo.us (573)-458-0101 ext. 14302 Room 302