October Issue 2018-2019

COLLEGE CLASS ON CAMPUS An STLCC professor teaches AP Psychology on campus

NEWS, Page 2

NEW VARSITY ATHLETES

AWARENESS WEEK As awareness week nears, students reflect on bullying experiences, and find out where they can get help.

Cheerleaders and athletes make an impact in their first varsity season.

SPORTS, Page 7-8

SPOTLIGHT Page 4-5

THE PEPPER BOX RITENOUR HIGH SCHOOL

ISSUE 2, VOLUME 96

9100 ST. CHARLES ROCK ROAD, ST. LOUIS, MO 63114

OCTOBER 2018

Ritenour teachers beyond borders

Two Ritenour staff members traveled over the summer to help students in other countries By: DANIELA SAENZ and ALBERTO LINARESCERVANTES Pepper Box Staff

working in groups, we used Google Translate to talk with each other, since I couldn’t really understand what they were saying.”

Teaching in Peru McIntosh found a lot of cultural differences between Personal Finance Peru and the United States. and Business Education “The food there was teacher Joelle McIntosh, phenomenal and tasty, but went on a trip to Peru the air pollution was another last summer through the one of those new difficulties Fulbright Teachers in Global that I had to overcome,” Classrooms program.

McIntosh said. “The traffic The school that she went was very bad, this one time, to teach was called IE Carlos I saw an Uber getting hit in Wiesse located in Comas, back, and the other driver Peru. that hit him just left on his McIntosh did a way, and the Uber driver just presentation on what she Photo Courtesy John Schimmel shrugged like It was normal. “ had taught in Peru, including The program allows PLTW teacher John Schimmel went to Haiti with his daughter to help children last summer. financial goals, goal setting, teachers from the United and things about finances.

States to work with the McIntosh said. them to Ritenour students. how they impact the business “It was pretty different Peruvian students, and to Although the students She has plans to meet twice environment,” McIntosh said. for me, and even though we share what life was like in an did have the same struggles, a month after school and set all looked like we were from American classroom, as well hopes, and dreams, the up an exchange between the different races, most people Helping in Haiti as what education was like in language barrier did become groups. in the school spoke Spanish,” the U.S. an issue during her time in “It is not official yet, McIntosh said. “It was kind Over Summer break, “What I discovered in my Peru. While it was a struggle, but I would love if it were,” of a challenge for me. For engineering teacher John experience there was that it helped her appreciate the McIntosh said. “Students some things, I had to have a Schimmel traveled to the even though the language was differences in culture even can video chat with Peruvian translator. For example, every Caribbean country of Haiti to different, Peruvian teachers more. students. It would be like time I used a complicated help children in that country had the same struggles as “Every time I wanted a verbal exchange between word in English, the students try to overcome adverse American teachers, and to watch T.V in my room, the students in Peru and our would look at me confused, situations.

Peruvian students have the everything was in Spanish, students.” so I had to use simpler words Haiti suffered an same hopes and dreams,and and I couldn’t understand McIntosh was shocked so they could understand. earthquake and is still goals as our students,“ anything, and I just told to see that in Peru, students Other times when we were recovering from this myself, where can I have graduate at the age of 16, devastation to this day. at least some of my home,” and she said they don’t have Schimmel made a connection McIntosh said. “Then I enough options for colleges with someone close to the learned something, our or universities. She also situation, and took advantage cultures, our governments mentioned that the students of that to provide help are different. For example, I from Peru want to desperately to the country and some saw while I was there that just visit the United States. experiences for him and his one person said something to Overall, her experiences family. someone else, and someone helped shape her approach to “I decided to go to Haiti heard him, but they didn’t the new school year. for a couple reasons. I met the do anything about it. That is “I think the trip made lady who runs the orphanage, one of the differences of our me a better teacher. I have a and I love the work that government.” better understanding of how she does with her kids. I McIntosh wants to students coming into a new wanted to contribute and I continue contact with her and different environment also wanted my daughter to students from Peru, and feel. I try to speak slowly experience what life is like Photo Courtesy Joelle McIntosh create an after school club or and clearly. I’m also more outside of the United States” Business teacher Joelle McIntosh spent this summer in global group that connects aware of world events and Schimmel said.

Comas, Peru as part of the Fulbright Teacher program.

INDEX

SEE BEYOND BORDERS - 2

NEWS.....................Front Page NEWS.....................Page 2 OPINION................Page 3 SPOTLIGHT............Page 4 SPOTLIGHT............Page 5 SPOTLIGHT............Page 6 SPORTS..................Page 7 SPORTS..................Page 8

Foreign language classes offer new bilingual seal

By ABBY RICHARDSON The Pepper Box Staff A program adopted by over 30 states has recently been introduced to Ritenour Check out High School. This program information works to benefit students who from this already know, or are learning, issue, as well a language other than their as additional first. It is called The Seal of content from Biliteracy.

The Seal of Biliteracy is the Pepper Box and KRHS on a certificate students can ritenourlive.org receive on their high school diploma from taking a test to prove their biliteracy, or bilinguality.

This applies to any combination of languages, such as English and Spanish, English and French, Spanish and French, or any other mixture, and can benefit bilingual students in many

ways.

“I think it’s a great thing for our students,” head of the foreign language department, and German teacher Christopher Bailes said. “I think it will motivate them to stay with the languages, and go on to the higher levels, and they get college credit as well.”

Universities are always looking for students that stand out of the crowd, and biliteracy is something that can make one stand out.

The ability to read and write can exempt students from taking language courses in higher education, or give them the chance to test into higher levels of education.

Having this skill presented on one’s diploma can be the difference between a student

getting into a university.

Colleges can also present the opportunities for bilingual students to study abroad. Studying abroad can allow students to meet new people, who speak a different language, and possibly even begin their career by making connections to people in different countries.

Universities are not the only ones looking for bilingual or biliterate students. Bilinguality is a useful trait that can help the bilingual person, or the people surrounding them.

Many work environments look for people who have this skill.

Junior bilingual student

SEE BILITERACY - 2

News

October 2018

Page 2

News Editor: Martin Trujillo trujillocarrazco164@ritenourschools.org, Victoria Taylor taylorv512@ritenourschools.org

BEYOND BORDERS - Cont’d from Front Page Many children there live in orphanages, but most of them have at least one living parent.

Parents usually cannot afford to care their children, so they often place their children in orphanages. Parents often believe that these orphanages would take better care for their children, providing food, water, a bed, and an education. But that is not the case because they are usually in a worse state than the situations the children were in with their parents.

“We just helped out around the orphanages with whatever they needed help with. We painted, cleaned, organized, helped with feeding the kids, played with the kids and loved on the kids,” Schimmel said.

Schimmel said that the

trip introduced him to a new experience in downtown Port-Au-Prince, which was different than some other high traffic areas.

“Traveling to Haiti wasn’t too bad. The Port-au-Prince airport is not like the airports we have in America, but the travel there wasn’t too bad.

Getting through immigration and customs was a little bit of a pain, but not horrible,” Schimmel said. “Driving through Port-au-Prince was like no other kind of driving that I have ever experienced.

There are thousands of cars, 4-way intersections with no traffic lights or stop signs, motorcycles with 4-5 people riding them, taxis from little pickups with 20-30 people hanging onto the back, and pedestrians within inches of

BILITERACY - Cont’d from Front Page Leslie Lopez has been offered many opportunities for higher study, including the offer to study abroad, because of her bilinguality.

“You can help people who speak English translate to Spanish, and someone who speaks Spanish translate to English. It’s really good to be able to help people,” Lopez said.

Translation is a very important skill to have in the job market. Employers are always looking for people who can translate, as there are many companies based in countries that speak other languages, and there are also competitors that may speak only one language.

The Seal of Biliteracy is a marker to prove that students have these skills, and the potential to make great

speeding cars.”

Schimmel left with a fantastic experience that he doesn’t want to come to a close, so he is continuing to do work to help those children.

“I am not done with Haiti.

This is just the beginning. I have started an initiative to have sponsors send birthday and Christmas gifts to the kids (all of the kids now have sponsors). I was able to take care of several immediate needs for the orphanage (they had no battery operated lights, for example, and they lost power on two different evenings while I was there). I am starting another initiative to raise money with the goal of providing three solar panels so they can cool one room in their building” students of higher education, and employees.

“I wish I could have done it in high school”, French teacher Laura Garay said. “I think it encourages students, and it feels like a reward for putting in the time.”

Students would not be able to take the test to earn the seal until their third or fourth year studying the language, therefore proving to be an incentive for learning the higher levels of language.

Photo courtesy Joelle McIntosh A Peruvian student wears an RHS sweatshirt that was brought by Joelle McIntosh.

Schimmel said.

Many of the orphanages in there are in need of resources such as clean water, beds, and clean clothes. Providing power and collecting money for solar panels is a good step forward to help children in

need.

“This was my first trip to Haiti. It will not be my last trip there. I expected it to be meaningful, but I never could have imagined the impact that it made on me,” Schimmel said.

“It’s nice to see how hard you worked to learn a new language. It’s nice to see that presented,” Lopez said.

The seal presents an opportunity for bilingual students to get a head start in college or in the work force.

“It’s an incentive for students to study the upper levels,” Garay said. “It would help our programs grow, and encourage students to take that third or fourth year.”

College psychology class taught on campus Professor Janessa Hall is giving students a taste of college in their AP psychology class

By FAITH BOYD The Pepper Box Staff Professor Janessa Hall teaches on a St. Louis Community College campus most of the time, but during first period, she teaches Ritenour students lessons about psychology.

Students at Ritenour have been studying psychology with Hall since the beginning of the semester. Though the class was originally listed as AP Psychology, since Professor Hall is teaching it the students will be receiving credit equivalent to the Psychology 200 class at the community college.

Hall’s teaching style has given the students a taste of how their education is going to look after high school.

“Hall expects more than a typical high school teacher and you have to do a lot on your own. She’s not going to constantly remind you of what to do, you just have to do it,” senior Jasmine Destiny said.

Students who graduate high school may go off to college without enough experience or knowledge

about just how different the classes and expectations are.

Working with a professor allows students to ask questions and gain insight about college, preparing those who plan on enrolling. With actual first-hand accounts from someone who has taught college students and a learning experience that reflects a typical college course, students do not have to be left in the dark.

“Hall is always willing to answer our questions about college. Learning from her really gives us all a chance to see the difference in dynamics between high school and college teachers,” senior Kierra Slack said.

Since the class is a college level course, it is more challenging than a normal high school class.

“Something that’s really different about Miss Hall is that she doesn’t remind you when you have assignments due, which is what they do in college, and I wasn’t ready for that,” senior Li’Derick Franklin said.

Though Hall’s teaching style has generally been described by her students as

Photo by Coralis Bobe Professor Janessa Hall of St. Louis Community College lectures her students in an RHS classroom. Hall is teaching AP Psychology this year, which is the equivalent of Psychology 200. The class is a hybrid class, with Hall coming here 2 days a week. very traditional, it can also be just as helpful as a class that is hands-on. If anything, it is even more insightful because it hints at what college has in store.

“Hall is super traditional and speaks in a monotonous way. Still though, she always explains and elaborates on what she says, so that everything is made very

clear,” senior Hope Houston said.

Hall conveys a sense of professionalism in the way she teaches and interacts with students. She is respected by her pupils due to her wisdom and expertise, as well as her vast knowledge of the college experience.

“I really like how Hall teaches because I think

it prepares you for actual college. She teaches off of a PowerPoint, gives a lot of examples, and then she just lets us do our work. She’s the kind of teacher who doesn’t even have to refer to the board, she just always knows what she’s talking about and that comes naturally to her,” Destiny said.

A rolling dental truck serves the community Students received access to low priced dental care in the first two weeks of October

By MORGAN EAVES The Pepper Box Staff

The shiny smiles are headed towards Ritenour High School and the rest of the school district with its free dental care service provided among all students.

Each student in the elementary schools, middle schools, and the high school is given the opportunity within the month of October to sign up and become eligible for a free dental cleaning. For the sake of parents’ convenience and students’ needs, this service has brought

attention to families across the district.

“We just send out the information,” RHS nurse Julie Heath said. “We talked with the principal to see if they agreed with it, and of course he 100 percent said ‘anything for the kids, let’s do it.’”

This process began during summer break through the mail.

Sign up sheets were sent out during summer break with each student’s enrollment packet. During that time, parents were given the opportunity to decide before school started whether or not

they would like to enroll their child within the program.

“We had a huge turnout this year,” Heath said, “Last year we only had 11. So we sent it out with the summer packets, with all the enrollment paperwork, and we’ve gotten well over 100 back.”

This program has been useful for Heath based on has shown up in her office in previous years.

“So kids come in here all the time: toothaches, abscessed teeth, so we give them the forms,” Heath said.

With her first year registered in the program, Senior

Hope Houston claims it has benefitted her pocket and helped her have clean teeth.

Houston claims this program has helped with the amount of time she has for dental care and the hours for schooling that gets in between her schedule within the standard length of a school week and has saved her pain from the dentist’s chair.

“So I guess it’s free,” said Houston. “I don’t have to leave school to get a cleaning done, because my dentist sucks.”

RHS alumni Jada Truong believes that the high school

has made a great move for families not able to provide their children with insured dental care, which includes her brother, Louis Truong, who currently attends Hoech Middle School.

“The school is pretty good for caring for their students’ health and all,” Truong said.

“I think the program is pretty great because a lot of people can’t afford dental care or because their insurance can’t help them pay for their dental care. And it’s even better because they come to us rather than us having to go to the dentist.”

Page 3

Opinion

October 2018

Opinion Editor: Dori Sloan-Ule sloanuled585@ritenourschools.org

College exams miss the mark 5, 30, 25, 16, 36.

Arbitrary numbers given to students designed to measure college readiness.

It has gotten so bad that some students have started measuring their worth based on these numbers. To make matters worse, grade inflation completely numbs what it means to get a good grade on an assignment. The state of secondary and postsecondary education is scary.

College entrance exams are designed to be hard--this is no secret--it’s what produces a lot of average scores. Test makers realize that to do their job, they must trick the test taker not through information, but through test taking strategies. This is why preparatory classes focus on practicing test taking skills and not the material covered.

Therefore, underprivileged students who are unable to pay for preparatory classes or

text books underperform.

ACT recognizes that underprivileged, or “underserved” as ACT calls them, consistently do not meet benchmarks that more privileged students meet.

ACT’s self awareness supports the idea that college entrance exams are not equitable to those who cannot afford to learn the skills to take them or take them multiple times.

It can be very stressful for students who excel academically and qualify for the schools they want to attend, but are kept from reaching their potential due to low test scores.

Ritenour does offer fee waivers for those who qualify and have a lower than usual family income, but what if that income needs to go elsewhere than some standardized test that undermines our college readiness? Families have

hospital bills, extended family to take care of, other tuition debt, and many other issues that are ignored by a standard family income the fee waiver expects of a specific number of people in a household.

The ACT registration fee is $49.50 without the writing portion. That is a bit over six hours of work for a Missouri student working at a minimum wage job, which “underserved” students generally need.

Testing agencies in the United States pride themselves on academic integrity, but do not acknowledge the difficulties that students with a low socioeconomic status experience. This ignorance provides a disservice to students and withholds them from reaching their full postsecondary academic potential throughout the nation. That is not academic integrity.

The dismissal of sexual assault I was met with, “Don’t tell

The Salty Spitoon anyone else,” and “they meant

By Dori Sloan-Ule Many people in today’s society dismiss those who speak out about their sexual abuse stories.

People say things like.

“Why didn’t you speak up sooner?”, “It means he likes you,” “I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that, I know him, he isn’t like that.” That same dismissive tone that women receive is the reason we do not speak out. It is the reason we are scared. We do not want to share our tribulations because we do not want to be dismissed; we want to be seen, we want to be heard.

When I told my story,

it in a family way.” When it was with a significant other, it was, “I’m sorry, I’m gonna change, I’m trying to work on it.” They never changed.

Let me tell you that there is nothing that can excuse sexual abuse, nothing that makes it okay, and no reason these women should be dismissed or blamed. In most cases of sexual assault, the victim is blamed for it. “You should not have worn that,” and “you should not have said that,” are common themes victims hear. These women did not choose to be assaulted or raped, they did not want it.

Wearing or saying anything besides “Yes, I consent,” does not mean they consent.

Unless a woman verbally or physically says “yes”, then they do not want it. I certainly did not want it.

What if it was s family member who had been assaulted? Would their answer still be the same?

Would they still dismiss them

and tell them the things they have told me? Told us?

We need to stop just dismissing women. We need to believe them, we need to take action. They deserve to be heard, to be seen. They deserve to go to trial, to testify. Sexual assault happens to one in four women and one in six men, and one in six women and one in 33 men experience attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. Why is the number so high, yet the issue is still taken with a grain of salt?

Why do we let this continue?

Why don’t we stop the stigma of diminishing the severity of the act.

I stand with those who have been sexually harassed, assaulted and victimized. I stand for those who couldn’t speak up, were afraid to talk, lived in fear of their peers disbelief. I stand for those today who have went through similar, and have yet to receive their proper justice, and may never due to today’s society.

Cosby trial brings out odd social media response Sweet Caroline

By Caroline Ramos-Herrera Bill Cosby, the former TV star was sentenced to three to eight years in jail for sexual assault and rape for crimes that happened decades ago.

I’m upset at his prison sentence, but not for the same reason as a lot of people on social media. I cannot believe that the sentence was so short for such disturbing and disgusting acts.

Sadly, some believe that Bill Cosby did not deserve the sentence he was given.

On social media, I have seen posts about how Bill Cosby has been compared to Carol Bryant, the woman at fault for the Emmett Till murder from

1955. I’ve read some people say that if he is imprisoned, then Bryant should be too, citing that they are similar ages and that their crimes happened a long time ago, implying that race was a factor in Cosby’s trial.

I believe that Bill Cosby is actually a very lucky man.

Honestly, he got to live for over 80 years of his life free and unaccused. He was able to ruin multiple woman’s lives, but he got to live his life, in the dark, like nothing ever happened. He moved from victim to victim.

If it were up to me, both Cosby and Bryant would be rotting in a jail cell for the rest of their lives. Cosby has ruined multiple lives and so has Bryant, but Bryant’s guilt has nothing to do with Cosby’s. Those things just do not go together.

Is the world racist? Very much so. Is the world unfair?

That too. Does that mean Cosby shouldn’t have been tried? Definitely not.

What I do not understand is how a man who raped multiple women, but was given a minimum sentence, is considered an unlucky man.

Other people on social

media also try to cover for Cosby’s actions by asking why women waited so long to speak up about their assaults.

In the society we live in right now, women are killed, raped, beaten, regularly abused, just for telling a man no, just for wearing a skirt, just for turning down a man, just for her speaking to him.

Yes, these women waited a long time to come forward, but it does not change the facts about what happened, and people who are guilty should be held accountable.

Bill Cosby is a rich, powerful man who was beloved, so he knew that he would be able to take advantage of women without consequences. Cosby had the power to ruin every single victim’s life more than he already did. Do you still wonder why these women did not come forward sooner?

The world is sexist and in denial.

Consider Bill Cosby a lucky man because what he has coming now and in the near future did not come sooner. The only ruined life was every single victim whose life changed in the hands on this evil man.

PEPPER BOX STAFF

Adviser: Ron Steinschriber Content Editor In Chief: Martin Trujillo Castillo Production Editor In Chief: Victoria Taylor Visual Editor In Chief: Coralis Bobe Opinion Editor: Dori Sloan-Ule Online Editor: Madison Waldrup Sports Editor: Caroline Ramos-Herrera Spotlight Editor: Trystan Bell Business Manager: Catalina Mundin Staff Members: Jada Baylor, Faith Boyd, Pierre Brown, Makari Buress, Jersie Cox, Faith Curd, Mackenzie Davis, Morgan Eaves, Alberto Linares-Cervantes, Amelia Norman, Chloe Pagan, Abigail Richardson, Andrea Rojo, Daniela Saenz, Quynh Trinh, Caroline Wong Editorial Policy: The Pepper Box is designed and created by members of the newspaper staff of Ritenour High School. The purpose of the newspaper is to provide a forum for the students to focus on issues, give opinions, and share information with the Ritenour High School community. The opinions expressed in this paper do not reflect opinions of our faculty or administration.

Letters to the editor are welcome and accepted, but they may not contain profanity, obscenity, or anything inappropriate to school. They may be e-mailed to Ron Steinschriber at steinschriberr@ritenourschools.org, or dropped off in room 240. The staff reserves the right to edit these letters.

The word on the How do you celebrate Halloween?

“I hang out at home, watch scary movies and eat candy” Cornelius Washington ~ Freshman

“I hang out with friends and go to haunted houses” Austin Byerly ~ Sophomore

“I usually stay at home with my family and pass out candy” Camryn Cole ~ Junior

“If I’m with friends I go out and party but if I’m with family I stay at home.”

Emily Portillo ~ Senior

Spotlight

October 2018

Page 4

Spotlight Editor: Trystan Bell bellt525@ritenourschools.org

Bullying remains a national problem for students Although awareness has risen, students still report incidents of bullying from young ages forward

By CAROLINE WONG Pepper Box Staff

• 20% of U.S. students in grades 9–12 experienced bullying • 70.4% of school staff have seen bullying. 62% witnessed bullying two or more times in the last month and 41% witness bullying once a week or more • When bystanders intervene, bullying stops within 10 seconds 57% of the time • 15% of high school students (grades 9–12) were electronically bullied in the past year • 55.2% of LGBTQ experienced bullying • Only about 20 to 30% of students who are bullied notify adults about the bullying

1 in 3 students in the United States say that they have been bullied in school at some point in their academic career.

At Ritenour, bullying is one of the issues that gets attention throughout the school year. Counselors try to help students through bullying problems, and the Leadership class will be presenting an Awareness Week from November 5-9, with bullying awareness taking place on November 5. On that day, the students will be sharing statistics and will be in the cafeteria doing a human museum with tape over Statistics from stopbullying.org their mouths and stats around their neck on a posterboard. during recess when this group Senior Li’Derick of girls who had been bullying Franklin is the chair for the me for the past couple of committee on Awareness months had pushed me over Week, and he is happy with on the ground and started how planning is progressing. kicking me and stepping “I’m trying to raise awareness for some important on me,” Fritzsche said. “The worst part was that the topics that aren’t really principal at the time was little discussed or comfortable to no help (in my opinion), talking about in schools,” and said that we just needed Franklin said. “I think we to ‘talk it out’.” are doing a really good job at According to stopbullying. raising awareness on issues that some of our students can gov, compared to how many students get bullied relate to.”

According to a survey sent nationally, only 20 to 30% of out by the Pepper Box, 71 out teenagers notify adults.

School Counselor Lindsey of 85 students who responded Webster says that Ritenour said they have been bullied, High School provides and of those who said they a variety of counseling were bullied, 53 of them said resources for students. Youth that it happened three or In Need and Communities more times. The majority of the respondents also included Healing Adolescent Depression and Suicide various accounts of physical (CHADS) are just a few and verbal forms of bullying. examples of in-school high Sophomore Jordan school programs offered to Fritzsche experienced students in Ritenour. bullying when she was in “We encourage elementary school. staff members to build “When I was in third relationships with students grade, I very specifically because they may report remember this one day

things to a teacher. We also encourage students to check on their friends and report if there is a concern,” Webster said.

While this happens at a high school level, Fritzsche did not feel like she could confide in her teacher at the time in elementary school.

“I couldn’t tell the teacher about it because I was just so upset and I just didn’t have the courage,” Fritzsche said.

“It really upset me and really broke me down at that point.

It made me depressed and I was depressed for most of middle school after that”.

Not only is physical forms of bullying a problem in schools, so is cyberbullying.

9% of students in grades six through twelve experience cyberbullying. Though less common than physical forms of bullying, it still is faced as a major problem as well.

“We see a lot of cyberbullying,” Webster says.

Junior Nyia Nash recalls a time when she was bullied, and it included elements of

cyberbullying.

“I would get notes in my locker telling me to kill myself every morning and indirect messages about me on social media,” Nash said.

Bullying continues often times because it either goes unnoticed, or people choose not to intervene.

Stopbullying.gov says that 71% of students have seen bullying in their schools, and 62% have seen it two or more times in the last month. They also say that when bystanders intervene, bullying stops within 10 seconds 57% of the time.

In addition, there are certain groups that are targeted more than others.

The LGBTQ community is statistically at higher risk of being bullied. President of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Club Madison Moyle said that this is a topic that they discuss at meetings.

“We discuss it semifrequently and we handle it by discussing how to approach it,” Madison Moyle said.

Students who are being bullied can limit future bullying by bringing their issues to staff or friends. The Ritenour staff tries to make students feel comfortable to share out their thoughts and feelings. Students are also encouraged to build relationships with friends and teachers can make the student more inclined to talk about problems they are facing.

“We help students feel comfortable talking by creating a safe and positive atmosphere in the counseling office,” Webster said.

Gaining confidence with the help of the support with friends and administrators can get students to overcome the bullying problem.

“Once I started getting my parents aware of what was going on, I learned to stop letting it get to me and to stop allowing them to bully me,” Nash said. “All it took was a little confidence.”

Photo by: Coralis Bobe Bullying remains a problem from elementary school all the way through high school. This photo illustration depicts a scene of bullying that might take place on a high school campus. Ritenour students reported instances of bullying in high school, as well as incidents that started much earlier in school.

Page 5

Spotlight

October 2018

Spotlight Editor: Trystan Bell bellt525@ritenourschools.org

Ritenour embraces trauma informed practices A trauma team has been formed at the high school to help staff and students deal with trauma created by our administrative staff because there is an initiative from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to have all staff working with students trained in understanding trauma and its effects,” Durnin said.

As of right now, the members of the Trauma Team are working with outside agencies on how to deal with traumatic experiences that can affect how people learn, think, and react to stress.

“The Trauma Team was created in response to a national grant through

By QUYNH TRINH Pepper Box Staff New to Ritenour this year is the Trauma Team - a group of teachers and administrators training to become trauma informed.

Members of this team include English teacher Melissa Monzyk, counselor Dina Durnin, Special Education teacher Alyssa Yakimov, health teacher Matthew Elder, Assistant Principal Christopher Isaacs, and Principal Jeffrey Marker.

“The Trauma Team was

America’s Promise to encourage school districts to become trauma informed, meaning aware that many students and staff have experienced traumatic events in their lives that affect how they process information and react to stressful situations,” Monzyk said.

The Trauma Team is intended to support staff, who can then support the students.

Soon enough, the training that has been received by the Trauma Team will branch out to help students and adults who are going through traumatic events.

“The program leader from Alive and Well came and did an hour long training at the end of last year on a professional development day, and teachers are receiving training on professional development days this year.

They can also email any member of the Trauma Team to get support in handling any specific situations that may arise,” Monzyk said.

Their goal is to learn as much as they can about trauma informed teaching to where they are able to educate staff on the impact trauma has on a student’s educational

ability and behaviors. They are being trained on different approaches they can use to better support their students and how to utilize resources provided by the district or in the community.

“We hope that the Trauma Team will be able to provide information to RHS staff members about the research behind Trauma-Informed teaching and learning as well as strategies teachers can use to support students who have experienced trauma,” said Monzyk.

RHS Awareness Week November 5-9

Monday - Bullying Awareness Tuesday - School Shooting Awareness Wednesday - Suicide Awareness Thursday - Mental Health Awareness Friday - Unity Day Outside counseling services available to students Three agencies have joined forces with the counseling department to help meet student’s needs

By PIERRE BROWN The Pepper Box Staff This school year, there are three different agencies coming to provide counseling aid to students in addition to the school counselors.

These programs are said to empower teens and adults to achieve healthy, stable, and satisfying lives. All three programs provide a oneon-one or group setting for support services.

The Safe Connections program is a non-profit organization that has served the St. Louis area for the past 40 years. Their services include empowering teens and adults to achieve healthy, stable, and satisfying lives as well as building self-esteem, helping teen identify and choose healthy relationships, making positive choices, and treating trauma.

If you ever notice the Safe Connections symbol, it’s a lotus flower. The lotus flower symbolizes purity and rebirth across many different cultures and religions. Lotus flowers

are typically found in murky waters, growing from the mud and ultimately rising above the surface of the water as a beautiful bloom. This serves as a symbol for the work Safe Connections does to help survivors rebuild and reclaim their lives after abuse.

Toni Richter, a Licensed Adolescent Therapist at Safe Connections, will be coming to RHS and meeting with students.

“I think having Safe Connections is very helpful for our students to learn about healthy relationships,” RHS Counselor Lindsey Webster said.

Another agency new to Ritenour this year is CHADS (Communities Healing Adolescent Depression and Suicide). CHADS clinical staff is comprised of master’s level mental health professionals, both counselors, and social workers. CHADS was founded after Marian and Larry McCord’s 18-year-old son, Chad, died by suicide in 2004. Their website tells the story of how CHADS began.

“Marian and Larry

had fought alongside Chad trying to help him conquer his disease, but found a healthcare system unequipped and often unwilling or unable to help.

They were determined to create an organization focused on saving the lives of our youth by increasing awareness, education and research to address adolescent depression and suicide.”

CHADS offers school outreach programs, classes and family support programs to advance the awareness and prevention of depression and suicide. Additionally, CHADS has outreach programs such as SOS (Signs of Suicide®), EYES (Every Year, Every Student), Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, and many more.

The third agency new to Ritenour is Youth In Need, a school-based counseling service that is also provided by a master-level child, youth, and family therapist.

Youth In Need staff specializes in treating youth and families coping with psychosocial stressors such

as school attendance and truancy, divorce, grief, family conflicts, abuse/violence, and personal issues that could potentially or already have an effect of students.

Youth In Need is nationally accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA), an international, independent, not-for-profit, child and family service, and behavioral healthcare accrediting organization.

Students in need of help should have a service that is reliable and will help students coping cope with negative past or current events in there lives.

In addition to these programs, the school district hired Keaton Strong to serve as a Crisis Intervention Specialist. His job is another layer of help for students on top of what the counseling department and the outside agencies help with.

“My situation is different because the counseling agencies that are here are typically therapist that are dealing with individual means and they have more time to

deal with individual means.

As their Crisis Intervention Specialist, I deal with the whole student body makeup,” Strong said. “Where they may have 15-20 kids that they see on a regular basis, I see all of the students no matter what the circumstances are, even if they are meeting with them I still see them because the counseling services are not here on a regular basis.”

Strong works in the building all day long, but does not have a regular schedule.

Students can pop in and talk, but he also can leave campus to help students if they need that specific scenario.

This job is different because I don’t just do mental health likes some of these counselors do, I do the overall makeup of the students.

So that’s in school and out of school, so i actually see students not just at school, but I got to homes too if the students are not comfortable with talking while they’re at school,” Strong said.

Spotlight

October 2018

Page 6

Spotlight Editor: Trystan Bell bellt525@ritenourschools.org

TedX presentation coming to the RHS auditorium Seven speakers will come speak on the Ritenour campus at an event scheduled for January

By JERSIE COX Pepper Box Staff Ever since the 1980s, Tedx and TedTalks have been held all around the globe to discuss technology, entertainment, and design, but now for the very first time Tedx will be coming to Ritenour.

The collaboration with Tedx and Ritenour, called “TedxRitenourRoad,” will be held on January 18 at 6pm in the auditorium.

Tedx is an event in which the goal is to spark conversation and connection throughout the community during the speech. The goal at each Tedx event is for the audience to leave knowing new things and being more open to them as well.

The theme of the Tedx talk will be ‘Speak Up.’ There will be seven speakers who will be talking about multiple subjects such as racial problems, harassment towards people who are LQBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer+), depression and suicide in people of color (POC), and much more.

In the Ritenour community, these problems that the seven speakers will be discussing are struggles that some students face in their day to day life. Lindenwood French and Gender Studies Professor Heather Brown helped plan the event, and believes that the topics are of vital importance.

“I shoppped around for spaces for a couple of months, but I had a connection with Ritenour through a colleague at Lindenwood, and it was the perfect venue,” Brown said.

Senior Stephanii Stanley agrees that these topics are important for many people within the school and community.

“I think these topics do need to be discussed, because things like race and sexuality are big topics in our society. Usually these topics are not talked about or brought into the light, so representation for people facing this is really important,” senior

Stephanii Stanley said.

Sophomore Ari Anderson has watched Ted Talks in the past, and knows what they could mean for people who connect to the topic.

“I like it, they give a lot of emotional speeches. They put a lot of meaning behind all of their speeches which really impacts me,” Anderson said.

Sophomore Isabella Rohlfing believes that Ritenour is a perfect place to host this type of event because of the diversity of people in the school and the community.

“I think it will be good that they are coming to Ritenour since we are a very diverse school.

We have people of all races and sexualities, so I’m glad they are coming here,” Rohlfing said.

Brown helped plan the event, and believes that the topics are of vital importance.

“My goal in organizing this TEDx event is to raise awareness about topics that many aren’t as aware of as they ought to be, and therefore the topics often get stigmatized. I’m looking for a dissolution in stigma and a raising of awareness and acceptance,” Brown said.

Many students did not know what Tedx is since TedTalks is more famously known. It is hoped that after this event, more students will be more aware and seek to listen in on more Tedx videos to educate themselves furthermore.

“I was on that selection committee, so I can say that the main reasons why these talk topics appealed to me is because they are of great importance to our community right now, especially our youth. These topics I am referring to include race, gender, privilege, stepping out of our comfort zones, the opioid crisis. The talks are all varied and do a great job addressing some heavy issues in a very accessible way,” Brown said.

Brown indicated that not only would the event be hosted by

Ritenour, but it would also try to engage students and community members.

“I know that we are featuring a Ritenour student as one of the live performances, and we’ll also be looking for volunteers to assist with the execution of the event the day of.

So I look forward to gathering 6 or 8 willing participants for that,” Brown said.

General admission is free and anyone is able to come, according to the Facebook page that Tedx and Ritenour have both put together called ‘TedxRitenourRoad.’ People have to place your ticket order by going on their Facebook page and clicking the purchase tickets tab. An

email will be sent for verification that the free ticket was received. Drama teacher Greg Jones is helping to organize the event, and expects 300400 people to attend.

“I think that it is a wonderful experience that Tedx is coming to our school. Tedx is such a great event that gives us great insights on struggles in our community. So it will hopefully make more people here at Ritenour think differently and be more open minded,” sophomore Sam Lewis said.

“We need more representation of these topics at our school, To make us better people. If this event can change at least a few people then soon enough we can change the world.”

Classroom of the month - Science electives DEPARTMENT: Science

The Setari virdis Mutant Millet Project with Danthforth Plant Science with Ruth Kaggwa

CLASSES: Zoology, Forensics, Anatomy, Botany WHAT MAKES THESE CLASSES UNIQUE: Students in these classes can explore scientific fields outside of the normal core classes that are required for graduation. Students can do classroom activities such as learning how to analyze a crime scene in forensics, or growing plants in Botany.

Photo courtesy Angela Lane Forensics students working with Detective Steve Hurst of Overland Police Dept.

Photo courtesy Angela Lane

New changes to schedule force students to be alert

By JADA BAYLOR and ANDREA ROJO Pepper Box Staff There have been a couple new changes at Ritenour for the new school year regarding certain policies, include adding in a one minute bell, no longer having hall sweeps, and having block every week, which has led to the creation of Husky time.

Music will no longer be played during passing time. In the last four years, the school has had music playing throughout the hallways during random passing periods, encouraging students to get to class on time. However, once the music stopped and the bell finally rang, students who were caught in the hallways would receive a detention by administrators.

“I like not having the hall sweeps because it got annoying, plus kids use to always rush last minute to get to class and it became traffic in the hallway,” junior Naylei Martinez said.

Senior Yazmine Kibble agreed with Martinez, and said that sometimes the hall sweeps would make moving through the hallways more dangerous.

“I did not notice that we do not have any more hall sweeps, but I am glad we do not because people used to be running through the halls trying to get to class,” senior Yazmine Kibble said.

The one minute bell is also a new addition to the bells this year. The one minute bell is used during passing time in the hallways. Its purpose is to warn students one minute

before the bell rings to give them notice that they have one minute left until class starts.

Senior Lena Thai said that the bell just adds to a chorus of other bells throughout the day, and it might lose its effectiveness.

“The one minute bell is confusing when you hear it, and even though it has a different tone from the regular bell, it confusing to hear three different bells throughout the day,” Thai said.

Kibble disagrees, and feels that the bell has already helped cut down on tardies.

“I feel as if the one minute bell is very beneficial because when you’re in the hallway talking with your friends in between classes, you lose track of time. It helps people

realize that they have to get to class,” Kibble said.

In addition to the bell changes, since every week is now a block schedule week, there are six weeks during the year where there is no early dismissal on a Thursday, and those days have “Husky Time.”

Husky time will be used for various activities. It allows students to make up any work and not have to stay after or come in early. It also allows teachers to have assemblies without students missing class time.

There are various activities that the high school plans to do with each Husky Time, and in each Husky Time there are multiple activities scheduled. So far this year there has been an activity fair, a Renaissance reward

handout day, and a drill day on October 18.

Sophomore Miranda Martin had concerns about everyone going in different directions, but was excited about the opportunities of today’s Husky Time “I like the Husky Time better because it allows us to have more time to study instead of wasting time. I think that the passes might get a little confusing though,” Martin said.

Principal Jeff Marker said that the Husky Time is a method to maximize time spent at school.

“It will get refined to get better and better. This is designed so you don’t have to miss practice or have to walk home. This is us supporting you while you are here,” Marker said.

Page 7

Sports

October 2018

Sports Editor: Caroline Ramos Herrera ramosherrerac605@ritenourschools.org

Seniors take the long road to Varsity

Two seniors contributed to their varsity sports in their first years with their respective teams.

By CHLOE PAGAN The Pepper Box Staff For seniors DeCayla Robinson and Robert Stevson, it took four years of dedication, perseverance, and hard work to earn their beginning spots on varsity, and they have thrived during the fall season on their respective teams.

Robinson had been playing JV volleyball for three years until she was promoted to the varsity team. She feels as though she earned her spot, and is excited to experience varsity volleyball “It felt amazing. It made me feel like I was a major contribution to the starting line-up,” Robinson said.

During the off season, Robinson worked hard by joining a club volleyball team as well as using any extra minute to practice her skills with friends and family. She feels as though varsity and JV volleyball have one thing in common, even if the levels are

different.

“You’re playing a game to win or lose at the end of the day,” Robinson said.

Junior Aleksndra Van Hoy has been on varsity for two years, and has seen Robinson’s growth on the team this season.

“She has improved majorly.

She knows what to do even if she makes a mistake, she knows how to fix it and make herself better,” Van Hoy said.

On the other hand, Robert Stevson believes that the varsity game is very much unlike that of JV. “The game is very different.

The game moves so much faster and all of the teams we play against require one hundred percent focus and concentration to beat,” Stevson said.

All the concentration and speed Stevson developed to earn his starting position came from his years of extensive practice. Stevson claims that he has not once missed a single practice throughout his four years of

playing for Ritenour.

“During each offseason, I practiced at least three times a week with different athletic trainers,” Stevson said.

His life, he claims, has revolved around the game of soccer, and this is what he it will take to develop as a player.

He felt relief when he found out he had made it to varsity, “There were times where I felt as if I may never make it, so to finally get onto the team and play an important role is a blessing,” Stevson said.

Stevson did not know what to expect going into the season, he felt as though he would have to fight for playing time against his talented teammates, which was not the case.

Robinson and Stevson both said that they were extremely grateful to have finally earned a spot on their varsity squads after all the years of dedication they each put in.

Photo courtesy RHS Athletics Above: Senior Robby Stevson dribbles the ball in a varsity matchup this season. He made the varsity team after three years on the C team and JV Team.

Below: Senior Dacayla Robinson (right) blocks a ball with junior Makayla Hollyfield in a volleyball match.

Photo by courtesy RHS Athletics

All St. Louis high schools get new conferences The athletic directors at St. Louis public schools shook up the conferences for competitive equity

By FAITH CURD The Pepper Box Staff All of the public high schools in St. Louis have switched up this year, with conference realignment happening in all sports.

Athletic conferences are collections of sports teams playing competitively against each other at, in this case, the high school level. Teams are usually sorted into conference pools based on their level of competitiveness and sometimes also geography.

For most sports at Ritenour, the conference teams were the same for the last four years: Kirkwood, Pattonville, Webster Groves, Parkway North, and Rockwood Summit.

After having the same conferences for so long, athletes have become used to only playing these schools.

However, Athletic Director Drew Lohnes helped a committee of coaches discuss new layouts for conferences for all the sports. Each sport at Ritenour now has its own distinct conference with a mixture of old and new teams to compete against.

“I picked the teams for our conferences based on competition, geography, and diversity,” Lohnes said. “I

want the conference games to be fair, and I wanted the teams in our conferences to be based on competitive balance. I thought about geography because I would not want to travel an hour or two away for each conference game, and about diversity because I want to play new schools.”

Boys Swim Coach Jennifer Wakefield sees the change as a way to be exposed to new teams that were not previously considered. It is also a way to get away from old competition.

“I’m a little anxious.

Although I am glad a couple teams that beat us every year have switched to different conferences, I am nervous for these new teams coming in,” Wakefield said.

One of the anticipated problems by Ritenour coaches and players is the lack of knowledge about the new competition. ”I am nervous because there are a few schools in our conference I have not heard anything about. We do not know their record, how they compete, or if they are just overall good competition. It is going to be hard to prepare for,” Wakefield said.

The results have already started to benefit teams at

Capture Your Memories in this Year's Ritenour High School

Yearbook!

Photo by Ron Steinschriber Senior Chastity York slides into third base in a game against Pattonville. While the team still plays rival Pattonville on the schedule, the contest no longer counts as a league game, since Ritenour is in the Green Pool, and Pattonville is in the Red Pool for softball.

Ritenour, with games being more competitive and less blowouts on either side.

“I would like to think we have already benefited.

Some teams have already played the new teams in their conferences and done really well. I was excited to switch some of the teams around

to see if it made any changes to our records. And, so far, the results have been great!”

Lohnes said.

Senior Natasha Taylor knows about the changes and sees the new conferences as beneficial to her and her volleyball teammates.

“I don’t really know who

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the new teams are or how good they are. I do think we will benefit from the changes because it will help us play at a higher competitive level.

The schools that we are playing this year seem to be around our level, so I like the new conferences,” Taylor said.

Sports

October 2018

Page 8

Sports Editor: Caroline Ramos Herrera ramosherrerac605@ritenourschools.org

Cheering and stunting their way to the top Three cheerleaders impressed so much at the beginning of the year that they made it to the varsity team after not having participated in cheer during their previous years in high school “I missed tryouts

By MACKENZIE DAVIS (my freshman year), so The Pepper Box Staff I tried out this year and got on the varsity team.

With little to no I played soccer and did experience, three cheer in middle school,” girls tried out for Dunker said. “I’m really cheerleading and made excited that I made it onto the varsity squad varsity my first year their first year. because I really didn’t Sophomores Lucille think I would make it, Dunker and Destiney and the girls who have Knight were both very cheered before are still surprised with making on JV or the freshman it onto Varsity Cheer. team, but I made it on Junior Leah Lee was a the Varsity team.” little surprised, but quite Junior Leah Lee was a confident that she would little surprised, but with make it. her experience doing Knight was happy cheer when she was because she just wanted younger and being on to try out for fun. the step team last year “I was really excited she was fairly confident. because I just tried out “I joined cheerleading with my friends for because I did it when I fun and made it on to was younger and wanted varsity. I do admit that it to get back into it,” Lee is really challenging but says. the effort and practices Teammates Sarah make cheer worth it,” Murrell and Brianna Knight said. “I joined Johnson are proud because I love team of how far they have sports. I started out come this year with this playing a lot of sports. year being their third Softball, soccer, track, year in cheer, but first cross country, and on varsity. They were basketball.” both cheerleaders their Dunker had a freshman year and made little bit of experience it on varsity along with before, saying that she these girls this year. wanted to try out her “I am glad that sophomore year. these girls made it onto

varsity their first year.

Although it’s a little difficult trying to show them everything we’ve learned in the short time that they have been on the team, they’ve come pretty far,” Murrell said.

Johnson echoed Murrell’s statement, and is proud of the progress she sees her teammates make on a daily basis.

“I think that these girls have earned their spot on the team from the beginning of practice to now,” Johnson said, “Even though they are new, they have grown a lot.

They have all brought great attitudes to the team. I feel like everyone on the team struggles, no matter if they are new or have been on the team for a couple of years. I also feel like these girls deserve it because they have actually had experience performing now, they all work really hard to be where they are now, and seem to be very passionate about what they are doing and being part of our team.”

Photo by: Coralis Bobe Sophomore Lucille Dunker (Right) stands atop the cheerleaders at a football game this season. Dunker made varsity without any previous high school experience.

Inside the Huddle - Preparing for the end NAME: Roxann Rivera GRADE: Junior SPORT: Softball

Q: How did districts go for your team?

A: “Districts was tough at first, I thought we weren’t going to do good, but then I realized what team we were and we came out and gave it our all.

Q: What were the results of the district matchups for softball?

A: “We made it past the first game, lost the second, but in the end we gave it our all.”

Q: Now that the season is over, how do you see the future prospects of Ritenour softball?

A: My team is a pretty young and we do have lots to work on, but we are getting there.

Next year is going to be our year and I can’t wait to see what happens.

What are you doing to prepare for the playoffs at the end of the year?

Natasha Taylor Volleyball

Joe Kipper Soccer

Ben Weissler Cross Country

Deshaun Gatlin Football

“By getting plenty of sleep and drinking plenty of water. I also watch past games to better my performance and fix my mistakes.”

“Districts is what we have been planning all year and we are all very excited to play and hopefully make it to the finals. I have been working really hard and hopefully I can score some (goals).”

“I am training a lot on and off the field making sure I stay mentally focused and don’t make any mistakes to mess up my leg more than it already is. Another thing I like to do is talk to other athletes and get opinions to see if I can better understand how to increase my speed and advance to sectionals.”

“I’m focusing on school first. I make sure my grades are in line and then I focus and give it my all at practice while taking it one day at a time.”