LEARNING TO DEAL
TEDx REVIEW TEDx Ritenour Road is performed to a willing audience
WINTER SPORTS CAPSULES
An in-depth look at the role of trauma, violence, and poverty in the lives of students
OPINION Page 3
Basketball, wrestling and swimming head to the end of their seasons
SPORTS, Page 8
SPOTLIGHT Pages 4-5
THE PEPPER BOX RITENOUR HIGH SCHOOL
ISSUE 5, VOLUME 96
9100 ST. CHARLES ROCK ROAD, ST. LOUIS, MO 63114
FEBRUARY 2019
“Mr. Ritenour” announces retirement Activities Director Jerry Nolen announced his retirement at the January Staff Meeting
By: CAROLINE WONG Pepper Box Staff On January 8, 2019, Ritenour Activities Director Jerry Nolen officially announced his retirement, effective June 30, 2019. In the 151 years of existence of the Ritenour School District, Nolen has been either a student or staff members for a total of 43 years; 13 years as a student and 30 years as an employee. As a student, Nolen attended New Overland Elementary School (now the Overland Post Office), Marion Elementary, Hoech Junior High (now Hoech Middle School), and Ritenour High School. “I participated in marching band and regular band. I was a basketball manager and a student athletic trainer for the three years I attended Ritenour High School,” Nolen said. After graduating in June of 1972, Nolen attended the University of Missouri and double majored in German and Science Education. As Nolen taught German to elementary school students in the Columbia School District, he was put on academic probation and ran out of money as his mother passed away. These events prompted Nolen to move back to St. Louis and change his major to Elementary Education. He graduated from University of Missouri, St. Louis in May of 1977. “After three years of teaching, I was not sure if
[it] was for me,” Nolen said. “I quit teaching during the recession of 1980 thinking that everyone would want a former teacher as an employee.” Nolen worked part time in the warehouse for Schnucks Markets. During this time, he went back to school to receive a Masters of Secondary Education. “When my daughter was born in 1983 and began school, I felt the tug of wanting to be in a classroom. For a few years, I was a volunteer tutor at Wyland Elementary and then began to substitute teach again. That just made me want to be a teacher again even more” Nolen said. In 1992, Nolen was hired again to work as a seventh grade science teacher at Ritenour Middle School. By 2002, Nolen moved to the high school to work as a part-time science teacher and part-time activities director. Over the years, both staff and students have gained a great liking to Nolen. Athletics Director Drew Lohnes has worked with Nolen for almost 20 years. “He has such a positive influence on everyone,” Lohnes said. “He has been the face of this school for a very long time and has built relationships with thousands of former students.” With the kind nature Nolen holds and the relationships he has with students, he is seen at almost every athletic event, field trip, lock-in, dance, musical, and
Photo by: Ron Steinschriber Activities Director Jerry Nolen interacts with students at lunch on February 1. Nolen will be retiring after working in the district for 30 years. On the left are his high school graduation photo from 1972. The photo on the right is his first photo as an employee at the high school in 2002. Nolen came back to the school district in 1992 and worked at Ritenour Middle School for 10 years before coming back to the high school.
more. “I really enjoy the students and staff members. I spend more time with all of [them] than my immediate family,” Nolen said. As the years went by, Nolen has found it more and more difficult to work long hour days. “I am tired,” Nolen said. “I am 64 years old and I want to see the United States and spend time with my home family.” Retiring was not an easy
decision to make. When Nolen officially announced his retirement, Lohnes expressed his nervousness about the changes that will happen with Nolen’s position. “I knew it was coming,” Lohnes said. “It’s something that he has discussed for the past couple of years”. With the new time on his hands, Nolen is looking forward to traveling to see the many national parks and monuments, spending more time with his grandsons, and
becoming a better vegetable gardener. However, just because “Mr. Ritenour” will no longer be working at the school, he will always be remembered for his dedication, pride, and love for his school. “I have been the luckiest person in the world to have worked in the Ritenour School District with the thousands of students I have had and the hundreds of staff members with whom I have worked,” Nolen said.
Record-breaking amount of early decision students Seven seniors were accepted to high ranking colleges, many with scholarships By QUYNH TRINH Pepper Box Staff Ritenour’s graduating class of 2019 has set a record number with the amount of Early Decision students accepted to prestigious colleges and universities. Seniors Marco Urbina, Lena Thai, Hope Houston, Wei Tai, Martin TrujilloCarrazco, Clarissa GaonaRomero, and Tai Huynh have all been accepted into the colleges of their choice, months prior to regular admission time. Urbina and Thai were accepted into Marshall and Franklin College; Houston was accepted into the University of Chicago; Trujillo-Carrazco, GaonaRomero, and Huynh were
IN THIS ISSUE
accepted into Washington University; Tai was accepted into LeHigh University. The seven expressed positive feelings and relief toward their early decision status, and felt that all of their hard work had paid off. “When I got accepted, I felt like a load of pressure was taken off of me and I just felt like I accomplished my goal after 12 years of being in Ritenour,” Urbina said. Gaona recalled being emotional upon receiving her acceptance and shedding tears. “I was honestly in shock for a good couple of minutes before it actually sunk in, and then, of course, the tears came. It was a really incredible, rewarding feeling,” Gaona-Romero said.
Applying for Early Decision typically begins in November and results are unveiled mid-December. Early Decision is a binding contract. Students who are admitted are obligated to enroll into that institution and must withdraw any applications to other schools. Because they are only permitted to apply to one place, students are advised to apply to the university they consider their first choice. Early Decision admittance is different from Early Action, which is non-binding. Students who apply for Early Action receive a response, but are not expected to commit to that school. “Having to commit to one school is a pretty scary thought. However, I applied
SPIDERMAN REVIEW
WHITEWASHING HOLLYWOOD
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TRAUMA, POVERTY, AND VIOLENCE PAGES 4-5
to my dream school, so I know that the school that I committed to is the perfect one for me,” said Trujillo Carrazco. Students encountered a number of challenges during the application process. “I was really confused about my financial situation because of my non-affluent family members, so it took a long time for me to get a hold of the right paperwork and resources to help me,” Thai said. Huynh expanded on Thai’s answer and also chose finances as an obstacle. “The biggest challenges came during the financial aid forms and the moment before hitting the submit button. It was very difficult to read through the tax forms and
figure out exactly what the colleges want,” Huynh said. “For Wash U, they have extra forms to fill out on top of the FAFSA to apply for financial aid. Beyond that, the moment before I hit the submit button, I reviewed my application at least 15 times to make sure that everything was spelled right, grammatically correct, and aesthetically pleasing. The entire application is essentially a snapshot of my entire life so far, so it was very important to capture the best moments and be confident in the traits, activities, and memories I decided to talk about.” Huynh named college counselor Julie Kampschroeder as his biggest See EARLY DECISION on P. 7
RHS OSCAR PREDICTIONS
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
EFFECTS OF NEW GPA RULE
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Opinion Visual Editor In Chief: Coralis Bobe
January 2019
PEPPER BOX STAFF
Content Editor In Chief: Martin Trujillo Carrazco
Spotlight Editor: Trystan Bell Online Editor: Madison Waldrup
Production Editor In Chief: Victoria Taylor
Opinion Editor: Amelia Sloan-Ule
Business Manager: Catalina Mundin
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Sports Editor: Caroline Ramos-Herrera
Adviser: Ron Steinschriber
Staff Members: Kayla Baker, Jada Baylor, Torin Blevans, Faith Boyd, Pierre Brown, Jersie Cox, Faith Curd, Mackenzie Davis, Morgan Eaves, Emma Finnegan, Samia Fouche, Jordan Fritzsche, Darleen Garcia, Alberto Linares-Cervantes, Amelia Norman, Chloe Pagan, Abigail Richardson, Andrea Rojo, Daniela Saenz, Kimberly Teoli, 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.
Partial video highlights necessity of well researched news
Editorial Pepper Box writers are often asked why we still have a printed newspaper. After all, we have millions of articles for free online and social media for breaking news. Logically, print news should be outdated by now. So why do we keep doing producing a monthly paper? Ironically, print news is criticized for the time it takes to produce. We spend roughly three weeks to interview, write, edit, and assemble an
issue. In contrast, breaking news can be published in a matter of seconds. However, we pride ourselves on the time we spend to produce each and every issue. We meticulously develop our stories to be the most accurate to our knowledge and resources that they can be-something that breaking news can not always guarantee. We value accuracy and truth over speed and frequency. Upholding these values is important now more than ever--in the era of fake news. Most notably, the faults
of breaking news were showcased at the 2019 ProLife March in Washington D.C.. Due to lack of research and an incomplete video, a group of Covington Catholic High School boys, wearing Make America Great Again hats, were labeled racist as they seemingly mocked a Native American Veteran. The incomplete video circled around the Internet and many prominent news stations quickly reported on it. Days later, a new video was uploaded, and it painted the larger picture. There was actually a third group
involved in this incident. This third group was there counter-protesting the march, and verbally attacked the high schoolers with racist and homophobic slurs. The Native American Veteran then inserted himself in between the two groups in an attempt to de-escalate the tension, walking directly in front of the boy in the video. Often with breaking news, there are updates and corrections that are published to correct the false reporting, but it may not matter if damage has already been done with
inaccurate reporting. For nearly the entire weekend, these boys were linked to teenagers during the civil rights struggle mocking and harassing African Americans. This could have been avoided if a reporter would have taken their time to research the situation and publish the most accurate information that is available to them. Yes, it is great that news can be instantaneous and that everyone can report, but it is important for every citizen to know the ramifications of an inaccurate or misleading report.
Into the Spiderverse is a unique take on Spiderman By ABBY RICHARDSON Pepper Box Staff When I first heard about “Spider-Man, Into the Spiderverse”, I wasn’t too excited. I had already seen enough superhero movies in the past few months to last me a lifetime, and I was sick of seeing the same plot over and over again. I didn’t plan on seeing the movie until after it left theaters, but one thing changed my mind; the art. As soon as the movie hit theaters, there were a flood of artists who started drawing their own characters for the movie. People really connected with the film, and its message that anybody can be a hero. Seeing this idea represented in hundreds of different art styles made me excited for the movie. Maybe this would finally be a unique movie, one that stood out. I was not disappointed. Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) a teenage boy living in Brooklyn, gains the abilities of the superhero “Spider-Man”, after being bitten by a radioactive spider. When Morales goes back to visit the site where
he was bitten, he stumbles upon villain “Kingpin” (Liev Schreiber), as he tries opening a portal to alternate dimensions. Kingpin succeeds in opening the portal, and accidentally lets multiple “spider-men” into his own universe. Morales realizes he isn’t the only “Spider-Man”, when he meets Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), and three other heroes with spider-like abilities, from alternate universes. The group teams up to take down Kingpin and return to their own universes, and on the way, Morales learns to control his abilities, as well as how to become a true hero. There is truly no way to describe this movie other than to call it a masterpiece. Stunning animation, a compelling storyline with diverse and relatable characters, and a youthful soundtrack all came together to create a fresh take on an old hero. The movie’s soundtrack is one of the things that makes it so easy to stay interested. It features hip hop music from artists such as Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Post
Malone, and more, that add a youthful and passionate feeling into the movie. Using this genre of music in Marvel movies has become more and more common over the past few years, but never to the extent that this movie has taken it. The music adds a fresh element that helps the film appeal to a young adult audience, as well as compliment younger characters. The characters and storyline in this superhero movie are one of the main reasons it is so beloved. There are six main heroes, each with unique and lovable personalities. The characters are diverse in age and background, and appeal to many different types of people. The story may mirror that of a typical superhero movie, but there are also many underlying themes, including individualism, unity, and confidence. Each character is their own, and each character has had to find a way to unlock their unique abilities. This, along with a quote from Stan Lee, the original creator of “SpiderMan”, where he insinuates that anybody can be a hero,
is inspiring to all viewers, assuring them that however “different” they might be, they too, can be a hero in their own way. The characters also create a theme of unity, as it takes all six of them joined together to take down evil. Although these are both common themes in the movie, the biggest theme was self confidence. The true way for the main character to realize his true potential and power, is to take a “leap of faith”, and to do that, he has to believe in himself. While the soundtrack and storyline keep watchers intrigued, the true highlight of the movie is the animation. It helps to create a contrast between the characters, it keeps the viewer’s eyes glued to the screen, and it is a reinvention of the animation world, as well as the world of superhero movies. Each character in the movie was created to be unique, as to appeal to different types of people. This is greatly aided by the unique character designs and animation styles used to differentiate characters and emphasize the fact that each character was
from a different universe. In the current world of film, other than children’s movies, animation is primarily used to make something look more realistic. Many animators focus on getting every detail correct, including drawing every single eyelash on a character, or creating clothing that looks realistic. With that use of animation being so common, one can forget that there are endless ways to convey ideas in art, and the simplistic yet beautiful animation of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, reminds us of that simple fact. Most movies that are aimed towards adults seem to forget about animation as an option, and this film can also help to integrate art into content aimed at adults. Overall, this film creates a sense of individuality, beauty, and unity with a gorgeous soundtrack, an intriguing storyline and characters, and an awe filling style of animation. It lets us know that we are all heroes, and inspires us all to take our own leap of faith
Editorial Cartoons
Illustration by Abby Richardson
Illustration by Chloe Pagan
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Opinion
January 2019
The whitewashing of Hollywood needs to stop history-based movies; such as
The Salty Spitoon movies about slavery, movies
By Amelia Sloan-Ule You turn on the TV, and all you see is white. White characters, white people playing characters who are suppose to be a person of color (POC), it is all just white, white, white. Why is that? Why is it that we keep having a majority white cast with a token person of color who is usually racially stereotyped? Even now in 2019 there are few movies with a cast that is all people of color, or split in half with a half white, half POC cast. Most movies that feature casts of color are typically
about the civil rights era, movies about Asian history, etc. These movies are typically the only movies that have a majority POC cast. However, that doesn’t stop some producers and directors from whitewashing certain characters. A good example of this is Scarlett Johansson in “Ghost In The Shell”. She played the lead role, Major. “Ghost In The Shell” was based off of manga, which is of Asian descent. Isn’t it logical for an Asian actress to play Major and not a white person? This is just one example of whitewashing a character. It takes away chances for POC actors to play a POC lead role, in an industry that is already white dominated. It takes away chances for actors and representation for viewers.
A few movies and shows that have broken this standard are “Black Panther’, “Spider-Man: Into The Spider Verse”, “Moonlight”, “One Day at a Time”, and “Get Out”. These movies feature an extensive POC cast or at the bare minimum, a POC lead, which is not normal in most popular cinema. These movies provide representation. They give POC people a character that they can relate to, that they can connect with. Something
that they cannot usually do with a character portrayed by a white person because they do not experience the same struggles as POC. However, these POC characters do go through similar struggles that POC face and thus makes then more relatable and someone that more audience members can look up to. Furthermore, seeing POC characters in positions of power such as T’Challa, King of Wakanda or Okoye, leader of the Dora Milaje gives POC people someone strong to look up to; it allows them to see people who look like them in positions of power, which is something you rarely see in today’s government or positions of power. That is why representation is so important. That is why it matters. The only reason Illustration by Abby Richardson stopping POC from
getting lead roles, or their own show with their own cast, is blatant racism. The Academy favors white people. Hollywood in general, favors white people. But, with the massive success of “Get Out” and “Black Panther”, they are starting to realize that white people are not the only good actors and actresses, and that movies with a POC lead and a POC cast can do just as well as many other blockbuster hits. When Black Panther hit the box office it smashed so many records within its opening week alone. Movies with a POC lead or POC casts can do just as well as movies with a white lead or cast, if not better Everyone deserves to see themselves in their heroes, whether they are black, white, male, female, non-binary, gay, straight, skinny or thick.
R. Kelly documentary shows need for change Sweet Caroline
By Caroline Ramos-Herrera The media has been full of controversy after the allegations against famous singer R. Kelly resurfaced on the Lifetime show, “Surviving R. Kelly”. Over the years, there have been incidents where R. Kelly had committed immoral crimes towards underage females. One time he urinated on an underage girl. Another time he tried to marry R&B singer, Aaliyah while he was 35 and she was only 15-yearsold. Another time, which was only about a year ago, he was
exposed for having underage girls unwillingly join his cult, in his own house. R. Kelly has been through a trial for possession of child pornography, but has been acquitted for the crime. Evidence has been shown and yet R. Kelly is still innocent. There were videos and the marriage attempt he made with Aaliyah has been proven true. Sexual misconduct and rape is a growing issue in pop culture and more and more people are starting to come forward with allegations that they were way too scared to come forward with before. I feel as if R. Kelly had way too much power over these women to where they were too scared to come forward. R. Kelly has had allegations against him for about 20 years. I would not believe that there would be
any change and I do not believe that the turn out would be any different than all of the other cases and accusations. That is just my perspective. There is no reason to blame the women for the timing of the accusation. There should be a call for instant action and investigation. We should not be asking, “why so late?” or “why did they not come forward sooner?” We should be asking what actions are we going to take to make a change or why we should not discredit or brush off the serious allegations women are constantly making. We should not let people like R. Kelly get a slap on the wrist because he is famous and portrays himself to be a great guy. Every man is capable of
doing horrendous things and fame and fortune should not take away from that possibility. In my opinion, R. Kelly is a guilty man. The evidence is in plain sight, but you get to choose whether you choose to see it and believe it. I do believe it. R. Kelly should be held more accountable
for his actions, way more accountable than having Sony drop him as an artist. R. Kelly should be tried, imprisoned, and spend the rest of his life in prison. What he did cannot be taken away but it can be prevented for the future and steps for reform can be taken for the sake of those victims.
TEDx RitenourRoad inspires audience members The event held in the auditorium encouraged audience members to “Speak up” By JERSIE COX Pepper Box Staff A collaboration of speakers, many from Lindenwood University, came to Ritenour on January 18, to create TEDx RitnourRoad. The goal was to show interest, controversy and mainly a big ‘spark’ to develop a deep conversation. The theme of the TEDx was “Speak up.” They used “Speak up” to mean shedding light into topics such as race, sexuality, depression, suicide in people of color, and much more. Personally I thought that
the event was great. The topics that were presented are usually not brought into the light and talked much about. There were about six to eight speeches, all talking about problems in our society, from the struggles of having an interracial family to not being afraid to speak up about harassment . I did enjoy the speeches and the light weight humor in between each talk. I did wish that there was more diversity in the crowd though. I felt as if the crowd should have been a variety of people from different backgrounds, since the topics
were mainly about people of color, but that was not reflected in a majority of the audience. I was also slightly disappointed in the “big red carpet” that was promised. It did not seem to be much more than a red bathroom circle rug. However, I did like the stage set up. It was simple and inviting without being too basic. I think my favorite part of the event was the halftime performance with the Drag King star ‘Dixie Rebellion’. Drag kings are not common, so I was fairly amazed and impressed. When Dixie came
onto the stage, they did two lip syncing acts with tapdancing adding into it. They also added great meaning to their performance, showing that they were born this way and they are confident enough to tell the world that they are non-binary. The crowd was very respectful, which I liked. I did not see or hear any negative comments in the crowd. The crowd was interested and surprised at some facts, which was interesting to me because they were ideas that I thought were no brainers. For example, in the discussion of the struggles of people
of color, I saw many people gasping and covering their mouths, and all I could think about was “Wait, you didn’t know this already?” The event was well planned, The audience seemed to have enjoyed themselves and I know that I surely did enjoy myself at the event. I would love to go to another event and I most definitely recommended anyone wanting to get a new insight on things and of course to spark a new idea and a deep conversation.
Comics
Illustration by Abby Richardson Illustration by Chloe Pagan
Spotlight
January 2019
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News in Depth - Trauma and violence A continuation of personal looks at social issues at Ritenour, and how students deal with them By MACKENZIE DAVIS & ALBERTO The information in all of the LINARES-CERVANTES cases seem to imply that the Pepper Box Staff problems were not centered on people from this neighborhood, but rather that they just happened In the last few months, there have to occur in the community. Those been high profile crimes that have three cities are part of those that taken place within the community make up the Ritenour School that makes up the Ritenour School District. While none of these events District, but there is question about whether they are individual events, or seemed to involve Ritenour students directly, they can definitely affect part of a larger problem. the mindset of students who live in In contrast, in the last week it was actually reported in the St. Louis Post- proximity to the events. Sophomore Nikya Hourd said Dispatch that a list from alarms.org recognized that St. Ann was one of the that violence in the community is something that she thinks about safest cities in Missouri, ranking as regularly. She says that it could number 7. affect her future endeavors. This suggests that there are many “I know that being an African factors at play for when crime American woman is going to be happens in communities, and it hard, but I also know it will be shows that it can even happen when even harder due to the violence in cities are doing everything they can St. Louis. African Americans are to prevent it. However, once these seen as the cause of the violence, so events begin, they trigger a cycle certain opportunities could be held of trauma, which in connection to poverty, can make violent events more from me because I share that race,” Hourd said. common.
Violence in the community On November 29, a woman picked up a butcher’s knife inside of the Family Dollar in Breckenridge Hills and ended up stabbing a victim. The woman who died was a local resident, but the woman charged with the crime was visiting from Memphis. 36 days later, on January 4 the manager of the T&R Pit Stop was killed in his garage in St. Ann. The perpetrator walked into the garage and shot the manager in what is believed to be a mistaken identity in a dispute about drugs. Finally, on January 15, a teenager from Herculaneum was shot and killed in the McDonald’s parking lot in Overland. The victim and the people who have been arrested were all connected to the Kirkwood area, as they were former football players at Kirkwood High School.
Financial issues There are 36,615 people in the cities in the Ritenour District, and out of that, 20% (7,723 people) of them are reportedly living in poverty according to datausa.io. Ritenour has been trying to respond to the amount of students in poverty. Ritenour has had free breakfast, and starting this year, Ritenour has introduced free lunch, free after-school meals, and after-school buses. All of these initiatives have been started in the last three school years. When the district bought their own buses, it was a combination of concern about the bus service that the district had been using, as well as to address student safety. The initiatives have taken effect because the district wants to minimize any negative effects of outside factors in students’ lives. Poverty has an effect on students,
Graph created by Alberto Linares-Cervantes on metachart.com When people live in households that are struggling with poverty, they are also at risk of higher rate of gun violence, sexual assault, murder, and homicide. Information used from vittana.org, qz.com, and wesh.com
especially as it relates to their levels of success at school. However, Ritenour does not have the tell-tale signs of school districts in trouble. According to ChildFund International, an organization that brings school supplies to low income students, “Overcrowded classrooms, broken desks, no computers — all are common sights in school districts
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with budgets that don’t meet students’ needs.” Hourd knows people in the community who live in poverty, and she says that it can definitely have an effect on their academic performance. “I know several people who live in poverty and they look at things differently than I do. When they get things of small value, they treasure
...children who have experienced trauma may have difficulty regulating emotions. Trauma can lead to one always operating at a level of hyper-vigilance, resulting in responses that are often elevated, perhaps aggressive. This subsequently leads to fights with other students, teachers with an end result of suspension/expulsion,” Lampley said.
High profile crimes which have occurred in the vicinity of Ritenour High School since November
Shooting at T & R Pit Stop in St. Ann 1/4/19 Stabbing at Family Dollar in Breckenridge Hills 11/29/18 Ritenour High School
Image created on Google Maps
Shooting at McDonalds in Overland 1/15/19
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Spotlight
January 2019
Left: Children who experience poverty are 500% more likely to suffer depression, 350 percent more likely to smoke tobacco, 90% more likely to engage in binge drinking, 63% more likely to have a heart attack, and 60% more likely to be obese. Information used from the Los Angeles School Report. Right: A poster that hangs in the counseling office offers support to students who suffer some of the issues in the graph. Graph created by Alberto Linares-Cervantes on metachart.com
them, or look at them as if they are of huge value, which they technically are for them. They don’t have high goals like myself because they don’t believe they could actually do anything worth more than what they own,” Hourd said. Dr. Shante Lampley is the Chief Deputy Juvenile Officer at the Child Protection Department in the Judicial Circuit Court in St. Louis. Lampley says that just living in poverty can have a negative influence on students, no matter how much the district attempts to help. “I believe there is an intersection between both poverty and violence and that one can certainly contribute to the other. As a society, we are taught to have certain things in our lives in order to be considered successful,” Lampley said. Sophomore Skyler Gayden has noticed this effect in one of her friends who is living in poverty. “I know someone very close to me who is living in poverty currently and it’s affecting their life a lot. I’ve noticed a decline in their mental attitude because of it and it really made then almost completely give up on their goals,” Gayden said. Lampley went on to explain that the studies done on crime in communities often link poverty to crime. “According to the General Strain Theory [an explanation of crime and delinquency], these social structures pressure people to commit crimes to obtain things that society suggests we need. For example, adults might engage in illegal activities to obtain money to care for his/her family or an adolescent might do it to be accepted by peers,” Lampley said. “Trauma, whether it is acute or chronic, can lead to negative behaviors (crime, poor health, substance abuse, etc.) if not addressed. I’ve found that many of the youth we work with live in homes and neighborhoods where violence is commonplace. It is normalized.”
Trauma Ritenour Counselor Dina Durnin has had extensive training in dealing with trauma. She understands that not just the victims are affected by traumatic experiences, but that hearing about them in others can create trauma for friends and family. “This is called vicarious trauma and so hearing stories about trauma, even if it didn’t happen to you, you can feel the effects of what was going
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on. So, that’s a big piece, too, because those types of things are out of your control. They didn’t happen to you and so you think, how do I deal with that?” Durnin said. Durnin believes that this idea of not getting enough resources to deal with trauma can translate to other problematic activities. “Obviously with poverty, you don’t have resources readily available to you because of the financial cost. It could potentially lead to people either turning to drugs and alcohol, or violence and crime of some sort, which then leads to traumatizing events. This can even happen in the community as a whole, like with Ferguson. We are close enough to Ferguson that even that impacted our district’s trauma,” Durnin said. Durnin said that dealing with trauma can be difficult because there is not one set response that will help each individual. That is why the counseling office tries to push strategies to students and staff, so that they can find what works best for them to deal with trauma, and not have it lead to other potentially more dangerous activities. “We talk about how do we help people who are affected by trauma and how do we help them cope, strategies they can use, the resilience factor,” Durnin said. “We can have 2 kids out of the exact same home, exact same experience, and one kid is thriving and the other kid is not.” Sophomore Eva Gleckler sees how some of these factors start to connect with each other in her own life. “It can hurt and destroy relationships in such bad ways because people get so stressed and are so traumatized that what they know is special and real to them (their relationships) are not the same anymore,” Gleckler said. “These things mess people up and make people make sad choices, ones they really don’t want to have to make. But it’s life. You are not always going to be rich and stable. Nobody is perfect, so there is no way every one of us is going to be okay.” Durnin also mentioned the biological factors that come into play with trauma, and how they might connect with the physical triggers in students’ lives. “Whenever we experience trauma, we release a hormone called cortisol, which is the stress hormone, which goes and affects our brain. If we are in a constant state of stress, or traumatic events, then that’s on high alert, and it begins to change the development and
“Unfortunately, our society doesn’t support mental health like they should. If it did, we could push in resources and make them readily available to those who are experiencing the most trauma, which is typically people who do live in poverty,” Durnin said.
Photo by Mackenzie Davis
Photo by Ron Steinschriber Students gather in the cafeteria during the morning of February 1. Students have access to free breakfast at Ritenour thanks to a new policy enacted last year.
chemistry of your brain,” Durnin said. “Then your brain isn’t connecting enough neurons, like a kid who is the same age who doesn’t have the trauma you have or the crime rates in your neighborhood versus theirs because of poverty. On that high alert, you may not feel it or know it, but that stress hormone is being released. Therefore when you’re in that constant state of stress, then it does affect your brain development, which then affects your ability to make decisions well, and academically perform well.”
The Intersection Poverty, trauma, and violence can all intersect because most people who are impoverished will experience trauma or violence at least once in their life, if not more. However, the stigma against the impoverished does nothing to help their situation as they can be seen as violent, which can cause people to be aggressive towards them. Furthermore, acts of violence can breed trauma. All three of these coexist together and can be the cause of one or the other. Trauma can be debilitating and can lead to poverty, poverty can lead to violence, violence can lead to trauma. They all work together and coexist. According to Columbia University in New York, anyone who is in the upper class are very rarely behind bars and if they are, they use their money to get out. “When people in mainstream America think of violence, they also think of poverty: the deviant, defiant, dangerous, ‘underclass’ or ‘undeserving poor’... [but] bad apples exist in all classes.” Lampley believes that poverty, trauma, and violence all have interconnected elements. “I do believe that youth who do not have healthy, nutritional diets, live in substandard housing, and
The poverty rates broken down by gender in the United States. Ritenour is a diverse community with double digit population percentages of white, black, and Hispanic students. Information used from the Kaiser Family Foundation website. Graph created by Alberto Linares-Cervantes on metachart.com
have inadequate resources are less likely to be focused in class and it can impair their ability to learn. Youth might demonstrate an inability to stay on task in class,” Lampley said. “Regarding violence, if someone is reared in an environment were poverty, trauma, and violence are factors, educational success is not high on his or her level of priorities.” Lampley also made the connection between trauma and violence. “In addition, children who have experienced trauma may have difficulty regulating emotions. Trauma can lead to one always operating at a level of hyper-vigilance, resulting in responses that are often elevated, perhaps aggressive. This subsequently leads to fights with other students, teachers with an end result of suspension/expulsion,” Lampley said. Gayden sees that in her community, but understands that just because some people might experience one of these three elements, it does not necessarily mean that it will result in the same outcome. “It starts with poverty and then it pulls people to the path of violence, so they can possibly steal the things they need. This can lead to trauma for anyone involved, but I don’t think it’s that way with everyone,” Gayden said. Durnin says that the key to dealing with these types of problems that have arisen in communities around the United States starts with mental health. Trauma falls under the mental health spectrum, and Durnin believes that making mental health resources available to anyone who is dealing with these types of problems may eventually stop what has become a troublesome cycle. “Unfortunately, our society doesn’t support mental health like they should. If it did, we could push in resources and make them readily available to those who are experiencing the most trauma, which is typically people who do live in poverty,” Durnin said.
Spotlight
January 2019
Page 6
Classroom of the Month - Child Development Department - FACS The classes consisting of students from all grade levels did a project about families at the beginning of the semester. Students put a clay pot in a paper bag then broke it into pieces with a hammer. After this activity, the students discussed things that can damage or break apart a family. Students then wrote these on the broken pieces and attempted to glue the pot back together. Photo courtesy Jennifer Wilson L to R - Junior Karla Rodriguez, sophomore Guadalupe Lopez Duran, freshman Caroline Slunaker participate in the Flowerpot and Families project.
Photo courtesy Jennifer Wilson Senior Dominic Carney, and freshman Savanna Henderson participate in the Flowerpot and Families project.
Howdy Day 2.0 starts the new semester The high school continued its new tradition of team building on the first day of each semester By DANIELA SAENZ Pepper Box Staff On January 3 the staff and students of Ritenour returned for a two day week, with the first day back being reserved for an event that is intended to help the culture of the building. Howdy Day was created two years ago as an attempt to help build a school culture that was relationship centered. After some conversations with the social justice group, the Game Changers, the school decided to implement the event. “The Game Changers believed that students would enjoy school more and feel like they belonged more if they had at least one teacher in the building that they can trust and know they can go to,” Game Changers sponsor Tavonda Palmer said. After their discussion, some of the students shared
these feelings with staff members at a meeting, and it was determined that some of the days of the school year would be dedicated to building the relationship between staff and students, so that classrooms could become more symbiotic. Another goal for Howdy day was to get students to feel more comfortable with each other and build a family-like atmosphere in the classroom by doing icebreakers and other team building exercises. While the attempt has been going for the last two years, some students do not feel like one day of activities can build relationships. “Well, honestly, the school’s culture in reference of Howdy Day alone, definitely not my cup of tea. I can understand the whole, ‘oh, we’ll get to make new friends!’ sort of thing, but it really feels forced and I’m sure not a single person wants to be forced into making friends.”
junior Haleigh McClain said. Junior Nyola Sadler agrees with McClain that the day might not be a natural form of team building. However she sees the importance of the day. “Howdy Day is so corny if you ask me, but it helps the students get to know each other and play games together,” Sadler said. Teachers say that they need to learn about each of their students to build that community. They need to care about their students outside of their subject and classroom. Chemistry teacher Rachael Tripp is on the committee for Howdy Day, and sees it as an important step in starting each semester off with relationships as the main focus between students and teachers. “I do find value in Howdy Day. I am on the planning committee. The purpose is to help staff and students to find
a connection before they dive into content,” Tripp said. Studies have shown that the best learning happens when teachers have a genuine connection with their students and can build a community of their classroom. Having room to grow and get more people on board with Howdy Day can make it more effective. Junior Jazmine Brevik says that events like Howdy Day have helped contribute to a positive environment within the school. “I think the school’s culture is very friendly and outgoing, to a degree. I would also say very welcoming to new students who aren’t quite familiar with the way our school flows if they enroll at the beginning of the year,” Brevik said. Tripp says that the focus of Howdy Day is to really let students know that their teachers care about them as people, not just as students in
their classroom. “Teachers need to learn about each of their students to build that community. They need to care about their students outside of their subject and classroom. I attempt to do this by listening and having conversations with my students and telling stories about my own life outside of school..” Tripp says. McClain added that while Howdy Day may not be the most ideal way for her to connect with other students and teachers, she definitely sees the value in continuing to host it and improve it. “From my personal standpoint, I absolutely hate sudden changes, so for me to be able to find my own group of friends without a push in the back, such as forceful interactions among others in the sake of ‘Howdy Day,’ is not quite a standard I’d like to keep. However, I can understand where the idea stems from,” McClain said.
Oscar Predictions - based on student survey Best Actor
Best Animated Feature Film
38.3% Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) 27.3% Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born) 21.4% Lin Manuel-Miranda (Mary Poppins Returns) 6.5% Lucas Hedges (Boy Erased) 6.5% Christian Bale (Vice)
45.8% Incredibles 2 3.2% Isle of Dogs 7.1% Ralph Breaks the Internet 43.9% Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 0% Mirai
Best Actress
34.2% Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians) 28.4% Lady Gaga (A Star is Born) 25.8% Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns) 3.9% Olivia Colman (The Favourite) 7.7% Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade)
Best Picture
Best Visual Effects
48.1% Black Panther 7% A Star is Born 13.3% Crazy Rich Asians 10.63% Mary Poppins 25.3% Bohemian Rhapsody
46.8% Avengers: Infinity War 8.9% Ready Player One 17.1% Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 27.2% Black Panther 0% First Man
Best Costume Design
Visuals by Martin Trujillo Carrazco
69% Ruth Carter (Black Panther) 12% Colleen Atwood (Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald) 6.3% Sandy Powell (Mary Poppins Returns) 1.9% Erin Benach (A Star Is Born) 10.8% Julian Day (Bohemian Rhapsody)
All photos taken from IMDB
Page 7
News
January 2019
Early Decision - Continued from page 1 help throughout the entire application process. “Without her guidance, my application would not be high quality at all. She gave me the confidence to press the submit button after a lot of meetings, and it paid off,” Huynh said. As the college counselor, students depend on Kampschroeder to dispel their questions and concerns about college. She mentions that many students worry about going far away, tuition costs, and test scores. “Many students have a lot of responsibilities at home with their families and that can be a barrier. Students need assistance finding out which colleges ‘meet full need’. If a student is in the top 10% of their graduating class but is struggling with earning a high ACT score, that student may also apply to certain colleges ‘test optional’,” Kampschroeder said. “All of this is a very specific strategy and requires a lot of studying to know the process.” Kampschroeder arranges workshops and individual meetings where she prepares students for their future.
She offers early out College Workshops every Thursday after school. “Students who are serious about going directly to a four year college should be attending these sessions,” said Kampschroeder. Kampschroeder also goes into junior English classes in January to talk about E3 options. She starts taking oneon-one appointments with juniors that continue through their first semester of senior year. “This is when the individual plan is made, after they attend early out Thursday learning sessions,” Kampschroeder said. Lastly, students in the top 10% of their class who are willing to attend universities/ colleges out of state that meet full need, attend a full day workshop on a day off school to learn more about the process. They also come to Common Application sessions in May and August outside of school time. “[It] is a lengthy process that takes hard work and dedication,” Kampschroeder said. Kampschroeder expressed
her pride in these students for breaking the record of most early decision students ever in a Ritenour class. “I am elated that the Class of 2019 set the record for most Early Decision acceptances in Ritenour history! They worked hard for four years and also put in the time on their applications,
so they truly earned what I call ‘the golden ticket’,” Kampschroeder said. “I commend each and every one of them for their hard work and bravery in this process. It is not for the faint of heart!” Applying for college is a lengthy process and Thai advises all students to use their resources.
She understands that she would not have received the acceptance that she did without the guidance of Kampschroeder and others, so she urges younger students to seek information. “If you have questions, ask. Closed mouths don’t get fed, and that is a fact,” Thai said.
Photo courtesy Ritenour School District The seven students pictured were accepted Early Decision at prestigious colleges and universities. Back row: Tai Huynh (Washington University), Wei Tai (Lehigh University), Hope Houston (University of Chicago), and Marco Urbina (Franklin and Marshall College). Front Row: Clarissa Gaona-Romero (Washington University), Martin Trujillo-Carrazco (Washington Univeristy), and Lena Thai (Franklin and Marshall College)
Longest government shutdown in US history ends after 35 days By MORGAN EAVES Pepper Box Staff In the United States, the government came to a 35 day standstill in a point of further separation for the country. President Donald Trump has insisted and pushed for America to separate the country from southwest Mexico for “safety” and “security” in the country, and also against outsiders of the country. Trump asked Democrats for 5.7 billion dollars in the budget as direct funds for the border. This began intense debate between Americans. Sophomore Logan Vance sees positives and negatives to the shutdown, but feels that the positives outweigh the negatives. “The amount of drugs
coming across the U.S. border would vastly decrease considering the fact that it is 500 billion U.S. dollars a year. Criminals typically flee to America where Mexican police can’t do a thing. And on top of that, it would completely raise the employment rate for America because a lot of illegal immigrants come to America and steal jobs,” Vance said. The shutdown began on December 22, and was temporarily ended on January 25. However, it is only a temporary reopening of the government for three weeks, unless an additional compromise can occur. “I believe it was a standoff of the United States,” Government teacher Mike Murray said. “It was a standoff of the President and Congress.”
As a result of this shutdown, 800,000 federal workers were working without pay and a growing number of them started to file for unemployment benefits to sustain a living. In addition, thousands of federal contractors were being laid off work and are likely not able to receive paychecks for past work. Senior Emily Portillo does not agree with the motives for the shutdown, and believes that their needs to be more compromise between the political parties. “We need to find an agreement amongst one another,” Senior Emily Portillo said. “It should not include the separation of families, building walls to keep individuals out, or creating hate against minorities.”
History teacher Michael Floyd’s mother, aunt, and several friends are all federal workers. With friends of Floyd employed in the Transportation Security Admission, payment has much been an issue. “I know a few friends that have been asked to work, but are not receiving pay,” Floyd said. “This is unfortunate because they all have families and have financial responsibilities that they are unable to take care of.” The recent government shutdown was been the longest shutdown recorded to date throughout the 411 years of United States history. Congress recently passed a proposal for workers to receive back payments of work that had been affected by the shutdown. Though passed, action will not take
full place until Washington comes to a conclusion. “I think it was a little bit overboard but the way I feel about it, he’s asking for 5.7 billion dollars out of a 4.47 trillion dollar budget so it is 57 dollars out of 4.4 thousand dollars and 5.7 billion is nothing compared to what the American economy puts out a year,” Vance said. Without full agreement from Washington, and full action for workers, effects from the government can continue to harm families, leave people in debt, and change lives permanently. “In the world of politics there is always a game of give and take, but oftentimes the game can become very dangerous when we begin to gamble with the lives of American citizens,” Floyd said.
After school food and transportation available to students Two new programs help students stay safe and healthy when they stay for after school activities By AMELIA NORMAN Pepper Box Staff Administrators are working hard to open up opportunities for students who want to be involved in after school activities Getting involved in activities, clubs, and sports is something that is highly encouraged, but it can sometimes be difficult for some students. Ritenour has recently put into place a couple of changes in order to make it a possibility for every student. Ritenour High School now offers after school activities buses on Tuesdays and Thursdays at both 4:30 and 5:30. Students and parents have asked for this for quite awhile. According to Activities director, Jerry Nolen, administrators started to look into it and realized there was a great need for it. “We tried an activities bus more than five years ago and not enough students rode the bus to make it cost effective. More recently, Mr. Marker realized we needed it and advocated for it strongly
to the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Kilbride,” Nolen said. Ritenour is providing after school activity buses for the purpose of giving every student an equal opportunity to be involved in clubs, activities or sports. Some students are not able to be picked up from school at a later time, and therefore are unable to stay after. Those students now have the chance to do so. “Having an activities bus will allow students who could not get picked up from school while staying for after school activities a chance to participate now. They will have a ride home, not necessarily to their door, but closer than if they had to walk,” Nolen said. Junior Desiree Baggot, rides the after school activities bus and she thinks that it is very beneficial for students here at ritenour. “I feel like the new activities buses really benefit people who aren’t able to get rides from their parents or aren’t able to walk because either their house is too far or they’re scared,” Baggot said.
As well as transportation, Ritenour now offers afterschool meals every day to anyone who stays after school for any activity, club, or sport. Ritenour High School cafeteria staff are now putting together small ready-to-go dinners to help out students by providing them with something to eat when they are staying after school. Ritenour Director of Child Nutrition, Patty Poretti, shared her views on the new after school meals. “The idea to prepare after school meals happened last semester. The district and high school administrators wanted to fill a need to provide busy students who participate in after school activities with a tasty and nutritious “grab and go” meal,” Poretti said. Students who stay after
Advertisement courtesy of Ritenour School District
school will no longer have to worry about bringing snacks from home or being hungry because they are now provided with a meal here at school. “We are providing nutritious meals to our students instead of the students having to buy “junk food” to curb their hunger. For some kids, this after school meal may be their only meal until breakfast,” Poretti said. According to Poretti, students have already given positive feedback about these meals and about the items
being served. “We have revised our menu already based on the kids’ feedback, as well as feedback from Ms. Gee and Ms. Sarah, our after school meal workers. We are quite satisfied with our success so far and we hope to hear how the after school meal makes a positive impact on our kids!” Poretti said. Now that Ritenour provides transportation and a meal, students have a greater opportunity to get involved and participate in the activities they wish to.
Sports
January 2019
Page 8
New grade rule extends into second semester Winter teams say that they have seen positive improvements with the new grade expectations By FAITH CURD The Pepper Box Staff Ritenour’s Athletic Department put a policy into place about having a required GPA to participate in sports at the beginning of the 20182019 school year, and with the start of the new semester, the coaches and athletes have adjusted to the new requirements. Athletic Director Drew Lohnes was the leader of this policy, which was designed to put more of an emphasis on academic success amongst athletes. “The 2.0 GPA policy was put into place to raise the requirements to participate in interscholastic activities, even though MSHSAA, the state’s governing body, did not have the same grade requirements,” Lohnes said. As the new semester started, the winter teams were the first to have to navigate with their players who did not meet the higher standards. Boys basketball coach Mike Nelke says that this new policy has not really changed a whole lot in terms of players keeping their eligibility, but has helped him enforce his academic standards. “In regards to GPA, it has made our student athletes more aware of their grades and I think for the most part they have risen to the occasion. We have always
emphasized grades in our program, but the new rules have made us focus on them even more, which is a good thing. Overall, it has made our kids more aware of what is expected of them in the classroom,” Nelke said. Sophomore swimmer Lizbeth Hernandez believes that the policy has been a success so far, and it has reemphasized that playing sports is something that must be earned. “It is a privilege; one hundred percent. I don’t think that a person who plays sports should let their grades fall because they think it is their right to be able to play,” Hernandez said. Overall, this policy was Photo Courtesy RHS Yearbook meant to help the athletes Boys basketball coaches Mike Nelke and George Lee speak to their team during a timeout in their on each team. This policy game against Parkway South. Nelke mentioned that he has seen mostly positive results from the ensures that anyone who new GPA policy with his team, as it has made his athletes strive to perform better in the classroom. is playing a sport would be eligible to play at a four year says this new minimum state requirement, it has not university after they graduate “I do think the school has should have always been an really held back his wrestlers, because of their GPA. created this policy for the expectation although he says that the Athletic Director Drew better of the students, but I “It is definitely, easily, parents must buy in along Lohnes explains how this also think more student and manageable. But, I also think with the athletes. policy is expected to show teacher interaction could be it is good because it pushes “I feel it is no big changes. useful, like the counselors students to keep trying. difference. If kids are “With the new policy trying to have more oneSports is sometimes the ineligible then they no longer that went into effect this on-one time with studentonly motivation someone have anyone watching out school year, the district athletes who need it. It is a has to graduate or pursue for them. They are walking has committed resources good way to steer students, their future, and having the streets and their grades to provide tutoring to any but sometimes students do expectations such as these can are getting worse. It is up to participants that have grades not know where to go once help them succeed,” Phillips the parents to push their kids below a 2.0 GPA.” they are on the right path. said. in the right direction. If my Hernandez believes there A push could definitely Wrestling coach Dean children had less than a 2.0 should be more interaction be useful since everyone Cochran agrees with that they would never see daylight between counselors and has different obstacles,” sentiment. He says that even again unless it was through a student-athletes to help Hernandez said. though the GPA requirement classroom window,” Cochran enforce the policy. Senior Sara Phillips at Ritenour is higher than the said.
2018 Winter Sports Midseason Capsules By JADA BAYLOR The Pepper Box Staff
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Swimming
Coach Andrea Rivera Record: 10-6 Key Performers: Senior Lexy Alanis, junior Alyssa Lane, and sophomores Jayden Frost and Amiya Clark These four have helped us to RHS Athletics develop some Sophomore Jayden Frost swims in a meet against strong leadership Hazelwood East. Frost set a Ritenour record in the for the newer conference meet, swimming the backstroke in 105.75. swimmers. Key Newcomers: Lizbeth Hernandez and Isabella House How has the season gone? Very pleased with how the season has gone so far. The girls have done a great job of bonding together as a team and exhibiting great sportsmanship in all our competitions.
Wrestling • •
• •
RHS Athletics Senior Geraldine Flores wins a match at a meet at McCluer High School. Flores won her district match-up and will head to the state competition.
Coach Dean Cochran Key Players:: “The key players this season are the wrestlers that remained in the face of adversity, losses, and wins. I would go to war with these wrestlers covering my back,” Cochran said. Juzaya Scott, Taylor Engelmeyer, Geraldine Flores, Anthony Chrun, Cordan Hampton, Ahmond Oates, Richard McNary, Logan Coker Key Newcomers: Justin Teoli and Taylor Engelmeyer How has the season gone? “When I see these men and women mature, learn, and deal with any adversity that comes their way. They push on when their mind is telling them to lay down and quit. They calculate in the heat of battle when most people can not think straight. They are the reason I go to the hottest room in building and give everything I have to aid in their development,” Cochran said.
Boys Basketball • • •
•
•
Coach Mike Nelke Record: 3-16 Key Performers: Gerale Corley, Damon Sanders, Brandon Clarke, and Jakobi Flynn have all played well for us at times Key Newcomers: Johnny Mayberry, a sophomore, has made huge contributions for us over the last month or so How has the season gone? “We have a lot of new pieces this year and a lot of players that are playing varsity for the first time. Our guys are gaining valuable varsity experience that will make the future very bright,” Nelke said.
RHS Yearbook Senior Damon Sanders rises for a jump shot against Parkway South.
Girls Basketball • • • • •
RHS Athletics Senior Nature Frost drives against a Mehlville opponent. Frost is leading the team in scoring this season.
Coach Robert Kennedy Record: 2-14 Key Performers: Nature Frost and Adreona McCraw Key Newcomers: Brook Madison, Nyla Adams, Jasmine Johnson How has the season gone?: “Although we haven’t been winning as much as we have in previous years. We have improved tremendously and the athletes have tried their best and put in their best efforts,” senior Nature Frost said.