May 11, 2021

EC HO prom

May 11, 2021

s/o won’t let you hang with “the boys”? page 18

4 talented teens! page 12

PROM 2021

photo gallery on page 16

WHAT’S InSIDE? Faces of RHS 4 The We’re Going on a Bear Hunt 6 Comic 7 Cool Seniors’ First Crushes 8 Classroom Decor 10 We’re Going to College 11 of Youtube 12 School Meet the Teacher 14 Meet Lego Club 15 Prom Gallery 16 Echo 18 Dear Not History 19

Say goodbye to ECHO seniors!

Gigi Huber

Kyle McCutcheon Jillian Launius JJ Giesey

Michael “Mandy” James Emma Starns

Sorry for misspelling your name last time, Chase Stacy! :/

2

A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS

3

By Michael “Mandy” James

The Faces of RHS A new and rising artist has caught the attention of RHS. Audrey Spencer has been all the talk for her student “highlight” portraits.

Spencer started this project in early February after posting on her Snapchat Story asking for around 30 people willing to be drawn in highlighters for a college portfolio. Spencer was then overwhelmed with hundreds of friend requests.

“I was just really bored in the middle of class and started to doodle with highlighters, and I thought this would look really cool if I started to focus on more highlighter drawings, and then it eventually evolved into people. Each piece is usually about 20 minutes, I don’t sketch or anything. On the downside, sometimes mistakes happen that I can’t undo, but I think that is a part of it. It gives it a more human aspect.” said Spencer.

While Spencer is making this portfolio, she is weighing her college options. She has been persistent about improving her skills with each piece she creates.

“I’ve been looking at a few different colleges. I’ve just been building a portfolio. A lot of the ones I’ve been looking at require this type of portfolio, and it’s been kind of daunting. The one I’ve been looking at the most is the Kansas City Art Institute. After I finish these pieces, I plan to move on to more daring projects, whether they’re similar, or drastically different, I want to challenge myself.”

While Spencer has mastered her highlighter art, she also works in many different mediums and has been sprinkling talent across the scale.

“I do a lot of art digitally, because I’m interested in going into an animation career of some sort, it’s very much a more animated style than what I’m doing right now. I’m just trying to test my boundaries and see what I can do. I don’t want to get stuck on one specific thing,” Spencer said.

Spencer finds creative fuel all around her.

“Everyone around me has inspired me. Everyone builds me up, and it almost makes a standard that I’m not sure I can really get up to. I see all these other people around me get so excited over what I do, and it makes me want to push myself more. I mean there is another artist I’ve liked, you can’t really see it in my style, but I was really inspired by a lot of my childhood cartoons and Tim Burton. All of these figures behind some of my favorite things growing up really brought me to go ‘I want to do this,’” Spencer said.

Spencer has shown her emotions through all of her art. Each piece is unique and conveys strong passion.

“I’ve been drawing since I was a little kid, I remember opening a time capsule that I made when I was little, that I had hidden in the back of the cabinet and right there, in a little notebook, it said ‘I want to be an artist when I grow up.’ So I’ve always kinda had this path in life even if I never really knew it. I think art is my expression in a way. I’ve struggled with social anxiety and stuff like that, and so art has really been the place I can vent my real feelings and emotions.

It helps me pour myself into something.” Spencer said.

4

Art teacher, Laurie Myers, has had the opportunity to observe Audrey’s progress as she has grown as a person and as an artist. Over the course of high school and years prior, Spencer has been in many classes with Myers, and they share a bond.

“Audrey is an incredibly gifted artist. She is eager to learn and to try something new. As a person, she has a very kind heart and a determined, positive attitude. Audrey inspires me by her versatility as an artist and by her willingness to keep working when others would have already given up.

I’ve had several students with Audrey’s creative drive and potential, but not all of them push themselves to the extent that Audrey does. She completes her assignments, then works well beyond the class expectations. Besides Audrey’s drawings, paintings, and digital art, Audrey is an exceptional writer and has a beautiful voice. As her 7th grade homeroom teacher, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Audrey several times throughout the day for the entire school year.

Watching her progress through visual art, hearing her sing from time to time and reading a novel she was writing at the age of 11 was so exciting for me. From 7th grade to high school, Audrey has developed her own unique style and expression. She has grown into a very mature individual with a heart to make a positive difference in the world through her artwork—especially her work of people,” Myers said.

5

2015

2020

We’re going on a bear hunt!

Missouri Conservation opens bear hunting season

By JJ Giesey

Back in 1958, Arkansas successfully reintroduced more than 200 black bears from across the 50 states into Arkansas. Since then, the American black bear population has been on a slow and steady rise. In October of this year, the Missouri Department of Conservation will Find all the open the opportunity to hunt black bears, as their population has reached sufficient levels gummy bears. to be deemed huntable. With three management zones being proposed, Phelps county is split between Zone 2 and Zone 3. The hunting methods are the same as hunting deer or There are 19 in elk with the exception of using the atlatl, a device that is meant to throw a spear at a target. total.

Hunters are not allowed to bait the bears with food or with scent to an area to entice them to come.

Like other animals at high risk of extinction from habitat destruction, black bears show an overall positive trend, and populations are starting to recover back into their original homes. Likewise, elk were brought back to Missouri in 2011. American bison were going to be extinct if it weren’t for various private landowners and zoos collaborating to bring back the bison population, which at the time was less than 600 in captivity and less than 50 wild ones in the U.S. Pronghorn antelope were heavily diminished and in danger of going extinct by the beginning of the 20th century. Thanks to efforts to save them by hunting organizations, they recovered and now have a large range that encompasses most of western North America.

Hunting is an important activity and tradition for many people, and reintroduction of predators can help the environment recover. As of now, a lot of American forests are in danger of deer populations skyrocketing due to a lack or strong presence of natural predators. A forest will have a large blanket of foliage if the process is going well; however, a barren or even at times grassy forest floor is a sign that the forest is dying due to deer eating the growing plants and reducing the competition for plants like grasses. The forest will not die instantly, but it will slowly transition from forest to woodland to finally, a grassland. This is a growing problem for the health of forests and ecology for the wilderness. With the reintroduction of black bears, however, there now is another animal that can hunt deer and reduce their numbers. The more diverse a habitat, the healthier it is.

Black bears are different from brown bears mainly due to size difference and importantly, brown bears have a large, muscular shoulder hump that black bears do not have. Black bears aren’t always exclusively black. Black bears often keep to themselves outside abundant food congregations or when a mother bear is taking care of her cubs. Safety against bears is important and to remain secure in wildlife encounters, awareness is key. The bear mostly wants to keep to itself and will do so if it doesn’t see you as a threat. Running away or signaling fear could set off the bear, and people should never give bears food. Giving a bear its space is very important.

Dr. Darren Heaton, science teacher at RHS, is rather excited to hunt black bears and plans to apply to hunt in the fall.

“I think it is a great idea. Restore the ecosystem the way it used to be before we extirpated everything, like the elk and the bears,” said Dr. Heaton.

Dr. Heaton also sees the positives of hunting.

“It’s a way to keep (wild) populations in check and keep it healthy. When all other natural predators are removed, it would be catastrophic to the deer populations if hunting was eliminated. Not to mention most of the funds from hunting goes towards habitat restoration,” said Dr. Heaton.

Hunting is also a good measure to culling species that are invasive and destructive like boars. Alongside this, hunters are often the ones who work directly with the conservation department to manage wildlife and their environments.

Elk and now black bears have reached sufficient population numbers, and optimistically the inevitable future endeavors of reintroducing animals such as gray wolves, bison, brown bears, mountain lions, and many others will be successful and bring back nature in a diverse and interesting way.

6

By Michael “Mandy” James

My time has finally come...

This is it...

I must prepareOh, right...

Dude, you’re just graduating.

Silas aya Am

#Highlighter Student Storytime #FamilyRecipe My cousin and I were running around at my grandma’s house while she was cooking. (We grew up eating everything that she made and we really loved it.) My grandma had these really, really big cookbooks and my cousin picked one up because they’re just laying all around the house most of the time. She’s chasing me around the house with the cookbook, and my grandma has the little stoves that have the metal tipped things. It wasn’t really the best idea for a three and a four year old to be running around. My cousin raises the cookbook up and she hits me in the back of the head with it, smashing me into the stove and I got this huge scar on my forehead.

7

Seniors’ First Crushes

By Kyle McCutcheon

Rebekka Ross liked... Ethan Stephenson

Bailey Pierce liked...

Gus Gremp

Justyce Ousley liked

Aspen O’neal liked...

Cole Davis

Layla Sutton liked...

Lane Mabe

Patrick Blair

Chase Stacy liked...

Maribeth Hamilton

Eli Mertens liked...

Paige Taylor

Sam Insall liked...

Rosie Bolyard

8

O

v

S

ia li

#Highlighter Student Storytime #BadBeanie

ll idwe

One time I was riding my bike to the carnival with my mom, and we were going down BB, that really steep highway. My mom was in front of me, and she was blasting music in her headphones per usual, and I was going down the hill with her. I had a beanie on and I lifted my hand up while I was going down the hill, just to see if it was still on because I was going pretty fast. And two seconds later I fell off my bike, rolled down the hill. I have this massive scar on my arm and on my knee. I remember watching the world turn as I rolled down the hill. It was quite the experience because people stopped to see if I was okay. They even called the fire department and I was like, I’m fine. So that was a pretty interesting experience. My mom took me home, and poured rubbing alcohol on me and it was an exciting time at the Sidwell house.

d...

Ethan Stephenson liked...

Rosie Bolyard

Hannah O’Connor liked...

Payton Lambeth Josh Lefatshe liked...

Kaylee Stanley

Q

u

in

n Beaugard

#Highlighter Student Storytime #Frenemies It was mine and Luke’s 13th birthday party. We were doing a big paintball tournament with all of our friends. He got four friends, and I gathered four friends, so it was a five on five. Guffy was on the other team and tried to shoot me, but he ran out of paintballs. So I lit him up, and my shots went from ankle, calf, knee, thigh, thigh, then...

He just stares at me and yells, ‘QUIIINNNNNNNN!’

😳

9

Classroom

Decor

by Meghan Williams

The barren walls at Rolla High School resemble empty canvases that few inspired teachers attempt to tackle with cheesy posters or cheap curtains over the windows. That is if they’re fortunate enough to have windows, which many classrooms are lacking here. The absence of natural light and color sometimes has a negative affect on students.

But on the other side of the spectrum, heavily decorated classrooms bombard students with distractions. The crazy colors can be too wild, and the funky posters can cause students to easily veer off task.

A study published in Psychological Science provides some surprising conclusions. Researchers had two groups of kindergarten aged kids and put them into two separate rooms; one was wildly decorated and the other was empty. Facilitators presented each group of children with the same test, and the students in the emptier room scored 13% higher on the test and spent less time off task.

Some teachers online claim that if the posters and other decor relate to the lesson they are teaching it actually helps the students. At least if the students aren’t doing their homework, they might still be learning about the material.

A group of researchers in the United Kingdom studied 153 classrooms and found that a class with some decorations is the most beneficial to the students. The room shouldn’t be too crazy or wild, but leaving anywhere from 20% to 50% of the wall empty is recommended by the researchers.

#Highlighter Student Storytime #ARAHAERAB n

It was our last show u for The Little Mermaid Jr. We all went out to eat after our shows.

When we got done eating, I had to be driven back to my car. (I left my car at middle school.) When we were walking to my friend’s car we saw a cute little dog walking. We were like, ‘oh this is peculiar’.

So we’re messing with the dog, we’re looking for a collar and just couldn’t find anything on it. We thought, ‘What are we gonna do with this dog.? This guy emerged from the darkness, like the shadows, he just started walking. ‘Who is this guy and is this his dog?’ we thought. We watch as this strange figure walks away. He gets to his car, and we’re still trying to figure out if the dog belongs to him or not. Then, all the sudden, a yelp -like ‘ARAHAERAB!’ The dog stands up on its hind legs, runs off, and speeds towards the sound.

We sat there confused.

10

L

ca

s

The University of Salford Manchester had their own study: Holistic Evidence and Design (HEAD).

They concluded that displaying student work on the walls not only helped the students remember the material longer but also gave the kids a greater sense of responsibility for their learning. But the researchers frown against displaying grades on the wall. This may motivate some students to perform better, but can negatively affect the students who didn’t do well on the assignment. The study also says that natural light, or just a well lit room in general, boosts math and reading grades. Regarding color, HEAD suggests that one vibrant feature wall is enough and to leave the other walls relatively bland.

Rolla High School student Cailyn Myers aligns with most of HEAD’s research. “I like classrooms with color schemes, like when they have warm tones. I don’t like a lot of random colors; it distracts me.

Windows are the best. I love Hargis’s room because we have two windows that we can open all the time,” Myers said.

A few of the classrooms at Rolla High School, such as English teacher Star Hargis’s room, already fit this profile. Although, a large number of them lack the much-beloved natural light. If teachers could apply some of the tips that the HEAD study suggests, then Rolla may see an improvement in grades and attitudes.

e ho Sc

We are going to college!

With the end of the school year rapidly approaching, many students are getting ready to move on to the new beginnings of adulthood. The impact of Covid-19 on these past two school years has been undeniably heavy, but that didn’t stop the students of Rolla High School from reaching their goals and shooting past the present, with many thanks to their supportive teachers.

Senior Quentin Hodges is ecstatic about pursuing his future in the coming months.

“My plan is to go into cyber security right after high school, and go to college for it. But after I get my degree, I’m going to work towards my dream job,” said Hodges.

Hodges credits his middle school teacher for sparking his love for computers.

“I got my first Windows computer and that’s when [the love for coding] began. I have to hand it to Mr. Cox from middle school. His computer class was the scratch class [for online game coding], and everyone had to create a simple game. That day we started, I realized how much I loved computers. I’m really excited to help people in the future,” said Hodges.

Though the past year has been filled with a funky school schedule and unprecedented quarantines and health precautions, students have also had more downtime to focus on school, work, or hobbies they might enjoy. Although the change from a regular school schedule had a lot of negatives, there were a few positives. Looking back, many students were able to take some stress off of their plates and find time for new interests - an unique advantage for seniors.

Another senior, Olivia Sidwell, has started choosing her after-graduation plans.

“I plan on saving up for an apartment or place to live and then attending OTC [Ozark Technical College] to save some money. After that, I plan on transferring to Missouri State University for English. It’s one of the things I’m best at core-wise and it’s just overall enjoyable,” said Sidwell. “I’m really going to miss my friends and the memories we have made, but I’m pretty excited for the future,” Sidwell adds.

Senior Alyssa Henson also comments on her after-school plans.

“I plan on attending college here at Missouri S&T for psychology and to eventually become a therapist. Mrs. Engelke’s psychology class really moved me to want to learn more about it. She made the class very interesting, and I then realized that I had a passion for psychology. I’m really looking forward to the new experiences and new people I’ll be able to meet after high school,” said Henson.

With the uncertainty that the school year began with, this concluding school year turned out much better than anticipated. Many students have excelled as well as learned to the best of their abilities. They are becoming more and more prepared for the beginning of adulthood, and hold out hope for the future.

by Emma Starns Alex JacksonMissouri University of Science and technology

Eliana StanislawskiMissouri University of Science and technology

Alyssa HensonMissouri University of Science and technology

Olivia SidwellOzarks Technical Community College

Camryn FalkhenhainMaryville University

Layla Sutton- Missouri University of Science and technology

Hannah Fryer- College of The Ozarks

11

Emily SwizdorEast Central College

As the steadfast wave of the internet grows, resources made available on the World Wide Web has helped empower an entire generation to take their education into their own hands. While teachers help with essay corrections, PhotoMath helps with any troubling geometry homework, and parents are the sidelong encouragement along for the ride; our generation was raised by YouTube. Now when someone doesn’t know how to do something, society says to “Google it” or find a YouTube video. That’s exactly what these students did.

school of youtube the Jeweler

A smooth tumbled rock encased in gold wire hangs from a chain around Morgan Korrich’s neck. Korrich receives many compliments for this elegant piece of jewelry, but when asked where she bought it, she happily replies that she made it herself. Equipped with an eye for beauty, Korrich found immediate inspiration from other online artisans.

“One of my friends had shown me an Instagram post, and it was these really pretty rocks and crystal necklaces, and I thought that’s cool. I think I could do that.” said Korrich.

While Korrich never spent hours glued in front of a screen following YouTube tutorials, the internet is vital to her creative process.

“Without somebody showing me [the post], I wouldn’t have thought, ‘oh I should make rock necklaces,’” said Korrich. “But with that outside influence from the internet, it’s definitely helped me grow. I have done research on different ways to decorate the rocks. I found that you can use hemp string or other malleable materials to make different designs and effects.”

And with the wide resources available on the internet, Korrich hopes to expand her jewelry making repertoire even further.

“I think I will continue to try to learn new things, especially with the help of the internet,” said Korrich. “I know there’s definitely a lot of other things I could do.”

beatMaster

Quincy Cummings, an RHS senior and soccer player, moved to Rolla High School in his sophomore year from the beaches of California.

California- a hub of music, fame, and culture- is a far cry from the quaint town of Rolla. After Cummings moved to Missouri, distant from the salt-scented air of the coast, not only was he devoid of his usual hobbies but also a group of friends.

“I didn’t know anyone here, so I couldn’t go out and do anything,” said Cummings. “So, I was looking for something new.”

Sucked into the currents of the internet, Quincy found himself intrigued by the intricacies of music making.

“I just kind of watched tutorials on YouTube occasionally,” said Cummings. “I finally just started messing around and picking random notes. I actually can’t play any instruments, but I know how music works. I know how instruments work, and that is how I’ve been able to make music: by studying music.”

While his flight to music producer prominence fueled his passion and interest, it had its fair share of turbulence. As a new self-taught music producer, Cummmings constantly grappled with rejection.

“I got rejected a lot,” said Cummings. “I was sending a hundred emails, and maybe five people would get back. But I just kept on trying and eventually got some money from it.”

The constant battering of refusal and disregard did not wear on Cummings though.

“This allowed me to think if I did not know how to do something, it shouldn’t stop me from just trying because I was so bad when I first started,” said Cummings. “It took me two years to get good at this... I just knew I wanted to make songs I heard on the radio, so I just kept trying.”

12

As prom came into view on the spring horizon, preparations for the fated night started in earnest. Boys beseeched the price for a tux, teachers grimaced at chaperone duties, and girls rushed around to get their dresses hemmed. However Lizzy Patton’s dress needed no extra hemming. At prom, Patton was wearing a beautiful green tulle dress- a Lizzy Patton original. However, this was not Patton’s first rodeo of making a special piece for herself. Her passion for making and designing her clothes began after watching others craft their own dreams out of mere fabric and thread.

“I wanted to learn how to sew because I had seen a lot of different videos of sewing tutorials,” said Patton. “It inspired me to take the class fashion design.”

Fashion design teacher, Jamie Cantrell, caters a class to those who have a strong interest in the textiles that cover our lives. Patton took the class her sophomore year and credits much of her success to Cantrell’s teaching. However, with the internet, the initial source of her inspiration, Patton was able to expand her knowledge outside of the classroom setting. “[The internet] definitely inspired me,” said Patton. “I looked up more ways to make clothes without the patterns you buy at stores.”

Patton’s end-goal is not only to express herself using clothing, but also to choose an affordable alternative despite the haute couture society that dominates most fashion trends today.

“I’ve gotten into more types of fashion that are more expensive,” said Patton. “So making your own clothes helps with the price of it.”

Eventually Patton plans to use her skills to bring in some income by sharing her unique pieces with the world, all through the power of the internet.

“I do plan on selling stuff at some point, probably on Etsy,” said Patton.

self-taught seamstress

By Mallory Moats

By Belle Staley

photoshop Prince

While some students are Snapchat fanatics, others are TikTok prodigies, and still more are Instagram stalkers. Noah Hatfield spends his share of screen time on Adobe. Not only can he cut, slice, and paste, but he is also a self-taught expert. The soft-spoken soccer player (yes, another one- we’ll have to ask what they are putting in their plastic water cooler) knows the ins and outs of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

“I just saw what people could do, so I downloaded Photoshop,” said Hatfield. “I started messing around and watching YouTube videos.”

Hatfield, not the characteristic computer geek, deems his talent as a little known fact - a skill he developed through Youtube rather than an in-person class. For Hatfield, YouTube is a non-judgemental teacher that patiently guides him through the intricate layers of editing photos.

“When you are watching a YouTube video, you can watch it as many times as you want,” said Hatfield. “It’s a lot easier than having someone on your shoulder teaching you what to do because you feel like you have to be good enough for what they’re teaching you.”

His slow progression to mastery has only been enabled by the endlessness of the world wide web.

“With YouTube videos there are millions of them,” said Hatfield. “You can watch as many as you want.”

This mindset pushed Hatfield ahead in the graphic design world, but he also applies his resolve to other aspects of his life.

“This has made me realize you don’t need to have someone to teach you,” said Hatfield. “You can learn something yourself, especially with the internet.”

Ry an

e

n

ns dde Gi

#Highlighter Student Storytime #RiskyRestling Last year during wrestling season, I had this partner who was a lot smaller than me. She was doing a bunch of double-leg shots on me, which is where you grab someone’s legs and go down. I kept landing weird on my right knee. She kept doing it and I almost dislocated my kneecap. It got really close to being pushed out of place and I pulled my MCL.

13

Learning Meet the Teacher

By Quinn Guffey

n

ga

M

r

o

ich Kor

#High

Eleven years prior to coming to the Rolla school district, special education teacher Stephanie Bell worked at B.W. Robinson’s School for the Severely Disabled. For two years, Bell served as a paraprofessional. She provided students support structurally and aided in classroom instruction alongside the main instructor. For another nine years, Bell worked as the main instructor of her classroom. Originally, she went to school for a career in nursing, but after a life-altering tragedy, Bell began schooling for the purpose of helping underrepresented students.

“I had to restart all my schooling and I decided to go for schooling since I was already working at B.W. and I really liked it. So I wanted to work with kids who have special needs,” says Bell.

Bell wants to offer Rolla High as much as she can.

“I would like to teach my students many things. I want to give them knowledge, and that they are still a part of this society and just as equal.There are so many things they can do and be a part of,” says Bell.

As for students who aren’t sitting directly in her classroom, she also has words of wisdom for them.

“These children are the same as everyone else in the school… it’s one thing I’d like everyone to see. We’re all still human,” says Bell.

Rolla High School also works with the community in many ways to help the special education program. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the kids shuttle to town for expeditions. First, they all go down to Peak Sports physical therapy for some exercise, help fold laundry, and to get out of their cramped classroom. After that, they take a trip down to Kroger on West 4th Street.

“At Kroger, the kids bag groceries and learn to stock shelves. We find something that they can all do… so that the kids all get a chance to get out and help,” says Bell.

lighte

r Stud

ent St orytim e #Kille rKelly

S o tw o gettin years ago, w g read e wen y Al l t h t e boys to go back on a choir to the trip to were a there’s ho World lr j circle. ust a bunch eady off th tel, so we so w e Mr. B o ere ge f Fun. We b f u p s. I lo eople . was game. t were ting o oked pla no K n just ge elly Brown t having an ying the ni out the wi the bus... nj n y t c fall ov s them all o omes by. H part of it, s a chop gam dow, and o er ver ut, an e e h in a g w e a wa sn’t d y dram that a i lot. aticall I see like th even playi s just watch ant ng the y like, ree pe ing th o e the de g ad-po ple fall. The ame, but h e ssum y g o r pose. i I thin gid and k abo ut

14

and Legos Meet Lego Club!

The sound of bricks clicking together fill the air of Room 129 as Lego enthusiasts collaborate to build new creations. On Wednesday afternoons, Lego club, one of the newest clubs at Rolla High School hosts their weekly meeting open to anyone with a passion for building with Legos and making new friends. Jessica Haberman, a special education teacher at RHS, helped collect the supplies needed for the club by hosting a Lego drive. A generous amount of bricks were donated by the community. However, the club, sponsored by special education teacher Stephanie Bell, is mostly student-run. Club president Maxwell Mitchell, a master builder, started the club and is currently serving as president. He has over seventeen years of experience building and creating with Legos, and even makes his own Youtube videos where he shares advice on how to build and create different sets and designs.

“The reason I became president is because I wanted to show people how to build Legos. I made the club so I could make new friends and meet other kids.”

- Maxwell Mitchell

All kids welcome at Lego Club every Wednesday after school in room 129!

15

By Mallor y Moats

By Quinn Guffey

This Year’s Court...

Prom 2021

Photo Gallery by Quinn Guffey

Mid-dance Game of Chess?

16

Corn Hole Anyone?

Selfie!

Photo Bomb!

17

Dear Echo...

Q: “I am so stressed about all the stuff I have to do. How will I make it through this neverending school year?”

We can’t help you because we feel the same way! Luckily, our resident expert, Mrs. Engelke, has some advice for all of us.

De-stressing techniques will be posted during finals week on Instagram @rhsechonews!

of part e a e r rs a es th esso termin ach r t s E that ts de lth. as alize ese even ical hea facing & e r o g e t s h r o r t s l a o y nt to ss ho tude espond & psyc sors the rm stre ce on s r o l n f rt-te we r for stres sica ant rma port e. How our phy ypes of ms. Sho r perfo e reach m i t f u s It ’s ne’s li on the echani ance o nic or w ave have h yo s of ever ct they in term oping m even en me chro ss can h c a o s n p c e d a stre i e e r c m r b i n va prefer ponses essors ms that o s r pe str hanis eir res hen cts. as th tress ec well erate s ks! It ’s w ping m ful effe d o m mo lar tas ptive c har icu alada part m

18

Q: “My girlfriend gets upset when I spend time with my friends instead of her. I try to explain how much I love spending time with her, but it’s important for me to be able to set aside time for the boys as well.

How do I make her understand?”

It sounds like your girlfriend might be grappling with some deeper issues that are surfacing in the onset of your situation. Assuming your girlfriend doesn’t have any personal problems with your friends, there are a couple likely explanations for her behavior. She might be feeling jealous, unappreciated, or threatened. These are all strong feelings that easily cause people to crave reassurance. If your girlfriend reacts disproportionately to you spending time with her friends, she might be finding validation through your time. When before it might’ve seemed like your time and attention were all on her, she was able to resolve (at least temporarily) this conflict she’s experiencing. When that validation is taken away or challenged, even when it seems like a small thing (like wanting to spend the night with your friends instead of her), it can send that sense of security crashing down and her feelings spiraling.

At first glance, it can seem like an irrational overreaction or even controlling behavior. It’s easy and tempting to respond accordingly.

No one likes to feel controlled. It can be easy to jump to the defense, act out in frustration, and end up responding in a way that leaves her more upset and you regretful. Immediately pointing out that her behavior is “controlling” will only escalate the situation.

You might be impressed by how far it can go for your relationship to step back and try to understand why your partner is feeling the way she is. Maybe you’ve tried validating her or making her feel better already. If it still hasn’t worked, the key might be in your timing.

Instead of bringing up how much you appreciate her in the context of hanging out with your friends, make time to have a separate conversation about it-- ideally when you know you’ll have the time to finish it. In other words, not when you’re walking out the door to hang out with your friends. Explain why it is important for you to hang out with your friends and maybe even encourage her to do the same.

If she’s still upset, plan a special date before you drop the topic (i.e. if you hang out with your friends on Friday night, plan to go to dinner just the two of you on Saturday). This small gesture might alleviate any feelings of uncertainty.

While there isn’t an excuse for controlling behavior, there is usually an explanation. Reacting the way you initially feel is rarely a longterm fix. If you care about your girlfriend, consider the previous steps which not only control the situation but might prevent it in the future. If this doesn’t work, explain to her how her actions make you feel.

Finally, beware of voicing the situation to your friends. Your guy friends are supposed to be there to work things through with you, but their counterpoint can quickly undo all of the progress you just made with your girlfriend. After likely spending more time than you wanted maturely addressing the situation with her, it might be tempting to vent to your friends. If you feel the need to bring it up, use discretion with your wording and have a motivation in mind beyond venting your frustrations. If not, you risk creating tension and even mutual dislike between your girlfriend and your friends, triggering more problems in the future. Besides, things have a funny way of getting around in high school. Save yourself the trouble of your girlfriend finding out through her friend’s boyfriend that you called her manipulative and controlling.

That might be harder to talk your way out of.

Demolish the Building, Not its History

By Jillian Launius The slow dwindle of small town culture has plagued its population for the past decade. However, is the progress being used to “save” these towns taking away buildings and landmarks that gave the town its importance in the first place? The demolishing of historical buildings in small towns has become a more common occurrence than the inhabitants would like to admit.

Rolla has not been excused from this dilemma. Missouri University of Science and Technology has recently decided to demolish buildings on campus for a new entrance. Among these buildings is the 75 year old Bureau of Mines Building, which is included in the National Register of Historic Places. While the demolition was opposed by over 100 written comments, Missouri S&T has ultimately decided keeping the historical piece of architecture up to code is too costly. This poses the question, does the progression of Rolla come with the cost of demolishing its history?

According to reporting by National Public Radio’s Rolla correspondent, Jonathan Ahl, the revamping and saving of the Bureau of Mines building would cost 25% more than demolishing the old building and constructing a new one with the same square footage. Although money has taken a large role in the

I had a phase where I stepped over cracks. I was always jumping over them and always looking at the ground. I noticed as I got older I kept looking at the ground. I don't make eye contact with people. I look at the ground while I'm walking. I think that's just a force of habit because when I was younger, that's all I did.

m

l rie

b

M

ka

i

Highlighter Student Storytime #PlaygroundRulz

Ch a

l

y

tton aA

decision of the building’s fate, other factors should serve a greater importance. In the words of Ryan Reed, a member of Missouri Preservation, the saving of the Bureau of Mines Building and other similar buildings on campus would serve as the ultimate recycling. The salvation of materials would fit seamlessly into the ideals of conservation Missouri S&T holds.

More importantly, citizens of Rolla have taken themselves back from the rigid facts of funding or the number of years the bricks that build a structure have stood, they are left with the memories held by the place. The Rolla Bureau of Mines Building holds what is probably little importance in the majority of Rolla citizen’s lives. What it symbolized, however, is irreplaceable.

Nostalgia, a feeling held dear to most hearts, is embedded in the large and small buildings of this industrial town. The memory of ice cream at South Central Creamery as a kid flows seamlessly into nights spent at the bowling alley and the smiling faces seen in prom photos at the courthouse.

Losing a building will not demolish the town of Rolla, but not taking the care to keep parts of what makes it nostalgic will.

19

ings R id

Highlighter Student Storytime #BrutalBiker

I was having a rough time over break, and one of my friends was like ‘hey we're hanging out during spring break!’ So she picked me up and we went to the skate park. We went to the skate park almost every day with our group of friends. I was practicing going down the ramps, and I was about to go down, and there was a kid there. He was on a bike. He rode his bike right in front of me as I was going down. I fell and scraped my knee really badly.