Echo issue 10 pages 04 05

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FEATURES

Echo Friday, April 28, 2017

For what it’s WORTH

Kirby Goodman kirbygoodman@ slpecho.com

Accepting my college decisions

Christina Insixiengmai, junior

In the SPOTLIGHT

Sophomore uses radio to connect with others nationwide Broadcaster hopes to create school radio station

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ervously logging into the application portal of my dream school, Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, my heart raced and my teeth clenched.

It was 2 a.m. in Europe, the site of my spring break vacation, but I had to stay up to check the status of my application the second decisions came out.

“While we were very favorably impressed by your fine academic qualifications and many personal strengths, I am sorry to tell you that we cannot offer you admission at this time. We would like to offer you a place on our waitlist in the hope that a place in next year’s entering class will open up for you later on this spring,” my letter said.

I was offered a spot on the waitlist. It’s easy to say this was not the outcome I wanted.

Colleges put people on the waitlist who meet the requirements for admission but don’t fit into the limited size of the student body and incoming class.

Although it seems like an insult not to be accepted, a college’s interest in you as an applicant and a person is nothing short of a compliment, especially coming from What’s the a selective school like POINT? Carleton.

This was Rejection should never difficult for me to impact selfbelieve. worth I tried to convince myself that a college’s opinion of me based on my grades, test scores and a couple of essays says little about me as a person, let alone my self-worth as an individual. This isn’t easy for me and I definitely wasn’t prepared for the toll college decisions would take on my happiness.

While Carleton sometimes goes to their waitlist, they didn’t accept a single person off it last year. I can hold out a tiny bit of hope, but I know my chances don’t look great.

I applied to a lot of schools and have plenty of college options I’m happy with , but it’s still difficult for me to let go of rejection.

I take other people’s opinions of me really personally and let them be a reflection of me, even though they shouldn’t be.

While I may not leave high school going to the college of my dreams, I will leave with more confidence in myself than I ever imagined four years ago. I worked really hard the last four years, in the classroom and out — and I do not need a college acceptance letter to tell me that.

It’s hard for (students with learning disabilities) to learn when they’re conforming to other people and how they learn.

Ellie Meys, sophomore Can you explain what you do?

What I do is a mixture of things. What I focus on is amateur radio. I’m just getting into doing in on the high frequency because we just got the antenna up. But basically what you can do is you can talk to people all over the world via radio Where do you do this?

I do (radio shows) in my basement. Anyone who has a (radio) license can talk to anyone if they have the right kind of license and the right kind of equipment.

How long have you been doing this?

For about two years. When I got my first license, I could only do local stuff. Last year about this time, I got my high frequency license so I can do that which I’m really interested in. I haven’t been able to (use the high frequency) yet because the antenna just went up.

How did you get into radio?

My grandpa has an amateur radio license and he spent his whole career repairing radio

Photo Leila Raymond

Tune in: Sophomore Ellie Meys switches band on her radio to access a different frequency.

Meys amateur radio call sign is KE0FNN. stations when they went down. My dad has a ameteur radio license. I’ve been around it my whole life. But how I really got into it was when I was at an estate sale and I found this old radio and I love it.

What do you like about it and why does it interest you?

I like it because it is an escape from just Minnesota. You can hear things from all over the world and talk to people all over the world.

It broadens my horizons because I get to meet new people.

Who the most interesting person you have talked to you?

I haven’t (talked) to that many people yet but

there was this guy from Kansas City that was really nice. We had a nice conversation.

Do you have any goals?

I’m doing this (because) the school has a radio (equipment). I really want to get that up and running. No one knows that. The (University of Minnesota) does something with (the radio station) but no one here does anything with it.

What would you say to anyone who is interested in getting into amateur radio?

To start, people can talk to me. I would be happy to help anyone. I would love to have people my age to bond over radio with.

Hannah Leff hannahleff@slpecho.com

Echo celebrates 100-year anniversary Generations of staffers unite to reflect on successes Sam Orloff & Alissa Meredith samorloff@slpecho.com alissameredith@slpecho.com

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t’s not everyday you get a delivery that’s 100 years old.

Echo staffers experienced this when Kevin Moorhead delivered his grandmother’s copy of the first volume of Echo and a picture of her.

Co-editor-in-chief, senior Ethan Brown, Seeing the said his favorite part first copy of the event of the Echo was seeing the first published was a copy of Echo reminder of because he the legacy gained a visual on how we leave the paper has behind. changed over time.

Maggie Bahnson, “I thought senior it was really awesome to see the representation of what we’ve been doing here for 100 years and see how student journalism has evolved,” Brown said. “It’s cool to compare what it was

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like when they printed the first newspaper to how we print our news paper and what we write about now.

Current Echo adviser Lori Keekley said the event was intended to honor current and former staffers.

“It’s about the tradition and the legacy you leave,” Keekley said. “It’s nice to honor the people who have gone before us who have allowed us to continue and build upon that legacy.”

Co-editor-in-chief senior Maggie Bahnson said she appreciated having the old Echo issues present at the party and the ability to share them with those who attended.

“Seeing everyone page through the old books is very rewarding,” Bahnson said. “It shows that despite everything that has changed in the world, Echo still is a constant and the excellence of student journalism has continued this long.”

Former Echo adviser Mim Kagol said, in celebrating Echo’s anniversary, she is impressed with how much the paper has changed.

“When I started, we had electric typewriters at the time, and we thought we were so fancy,” Kagol said. “We counted

Photo Nathaniel Sturzl

Honoring 100-years of Echo: Senior editors-in-chief Maggie Bahnson and Ethan Brown present on student-journalism at the Echo 100-year party April 23. lines and calculated lengths of stories and sent hard copies to the printer.”

Kagol noted School Board chair Jim Yarosh was editorin-chief of the paper when it finally earned a Five Star All American Award.

“He was never afraid to set the bar high and go after it,” Kagol said. “(Yarosh) was a real special person in my history and exemplified the qualities the Echo strives for.”

Kagol said she appreciates the continuation of the publication because of the professional experience students receive.

“All my staffers said they got real-world, adult skills out of Echo. You receive a real sense of responsibility, meeting your obligations and getting it right while you’re on

staff,” Kagol said. “It’s a real world experience and I believe (Echo) has thrived in that atmosphere.”

Bahnson said the 100-year party brought to light the importance of student journalism and reminded her how fortunate she is to be part of the publication.

“We’re lucky at St. Louis Park to have the ability to represent the student voices in our school and have a studentrun publication,” Bahnson said.

“Things like the 100-year party show our focus toward journalism, something we often take for granted but something we are very fortunate to have.”

Guest speakers included principal Scott Meyers, Bahnson, Brown, Keekley and St. Louis Park Mayor Jake Spano.

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(Prom is) going to be kind of a new experience and I’m excited to check it out for myself.

FEATURES

Echo Friday, April 28, 2017

David Salamzadeh, junior

Actors connect with Holocaust survivors

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Witness Theater writes production based on first-hand accounts of genocide Nietzsche Deuel nietzschedeuel@slpecho.com

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ith the opportunity to form lasting relationships with holocaust survivors, senior Amira Stone said she was amazed by their ability to remain

kind.

“Something that just amazes me, (is) that people who have been through so much destruction still have so much empathy,” Stone said. “It just strikes me that you can hold on to empathy and still preserve your idea of humanity after having been through that.”

According to freshman Sofia Seewald, the Jewish Community Center worked with the Jewish program Yachad to share the survivors stories through the performance of the Witness Theatre Project.

Holocaust survivor Manny Gabler said he hopes teenagers will be reminded of the importance of remembrance through reenacting their stories onstage.

“I think it’s really important to have human connection,” Gabler said. “I’m hoping (the survivors) can pass this emotion onto (the young generation) and hoping the actors get caught up in the emotion and they can pass it on to their kids.”

Psychologist Ruth Hornstein, who works as a mediator between the teenagers and the survivors, said the Witness Theatre Project (WTP) was created to give teenagers a chance to learn from Holocaust survivors.

“Originally the program was formed as a way to foster relationships between teens and Holocaust survivors, because survivors are often invited to events to tell their story,” Hornstein said.

According to director Todd Bruse, writing the script revolved around the survivors narrating their own story.

“We took all of their stories (and) we recorded them via videotape. Throughout the process, whenever something seemed it could be supported with action as opposed to narrative we figured how that would work,” Bruse said.

Stone said she realized the importance of being able to personally interact with the survivors.

“That’s been something unique about this program, you’re not just sitting down and listening to their story, you’re meeting with them every weekend,” Stone said.

Photo Nietzsche Deuel

Storyteller: Holocaust survivor Charles Fodor narrates his story of being liberated as it is reenacted by senior Amira Stone and freshman Sofia Seewald and others behind him.

According to Seewald, the teenagers are careful not to offend the survivors when talking to them.

“It’s been very influential and talking to some of them can sometimes be very intense but I don’t know it’s like ‘Will I offend them in any way?’ so we have to be really careful with them,” Seewald said.

Stone said the production is timely and relevant to today’s events.

“It’s an important time to be doing this production.

Naturally with our political climate, a lot of these topics come up during rehearsals. A lot of what you hear about the Holocaust is ‘never again’ but genocides are happening and have happened since,” Stone said.

Gabler said current world issues regarding immigration mirror pre-Holocaust events. “(The Holocaust) is so similar to what’s happening today with Syrians, and the Syrians are all getting killed because nobody wants them. It’s the same story all over again,” Gabler said.

Hornstein said the WTP is important to her because it utilizes different aspects of her life.

“It’s been very impactful for me because it’s been a way to both combine my professional skills and experiences with my identity as a child of Holocaust survivors,” Hornstein said.

Seewald said working with the Holocaust survivors

The Witness Theater Project • Production based on the experience of Holocaust survivors • Showings on April 30, May 3 and May 4 • Tickets cost $10 in advance and $15 same day

on this project has formulated a deep impact on her daily thoughts.

“I do (think about the stories of the survivors a lot).

Now that we have our script together, just reading through it everyday, it just reminds me of how horrible this experience was for them,” Seewald said.

According to Stone, the survivors hope for people to reflect on the deeper meaning of their stories.

“I think that something the survivors are really adamant on (is that) there’s no point in their stories if people aren’t taught and aren’t learning about what it really means beyond just the experience,” Stone said.

The WTP takes place at 2 p.m. on April 30 and at 7 p.m. May 3 and 4 in the Witness Theatre at the Jewish Community Center. Tickets cost $15 when bought at the show and $10 if bought in advance.

Dress Closet offers formal attire Community service project accepts clothes through donations

Tenzin Gyaldatsang slpecho.com

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unior Lizyt Balbuena said she felt excited to have the opportunity to look at formal dresses she could keep for free.

“I feel like (The Dress Closet is) a great opportunity that we have (at Park) because some girls that are looking for dresses (say) they have to spend a lot of money on buying some dresses,” Balbuena said.

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If (students) felt as if they could not afford a dress, then they do have the opportunity to get a dress now, which is helpful.

Sophia Ross, teacher

According to Marketing Education and Community Service teacher Sophia Ross, the Dress Closet offers free formal attire to all students at Park. “(The Dress Closet collects) gently used or new formal dresses and suits for students to come in and look at,” Ross said. “If they find one that they like and one that fits them well, they can take it and have it and use it for any occasion that they want.”

Senior Tamala Herron, leader of the Dress Closet, said the Dress Closet helps students who don’t feel they can afford formal attire for a school dance. “(The Dress Closet) gives students the opportunity to go to Prom and events like that. If (students) felt as if they could not afford a dress, then they do have the opportunity to get a dress now, which is helpful,” Herron said.

Ross said the Dress Closet is available to all students no matter their financial status. “(The Dress Closet is) not for students who are just in financial need, but any student who doesn’t want to spend a hundred or three hundred dollars on renting a suit or buying a dress for a formal dance,” Ross said. “Any student could use it.”

According to Ross, students can look through the Dress Closet at any time in room B222.

Suit Up: Dresses and Suits line the back room of B226. Park’s Dress Closet offers a variety of dresses and suits for high school students.

Prom fast facts

Where: American Swedish Institute When: Saturday, May 6 Cost: $25 early bird, $30 regular Theme: Prom in the Garden Infographic Avia Kaner-Roth Source Megan Aune

Photo Grace Farley

“(Students) can come into the dress closet any time, so preferably before school, but they can come in during their lunch hour or if they have a pass from a teacher to leave class and take a look,” Ross said.

“If I don’t have anything going on at that time, I can let them in and they can have free reign of that room to kind of look at dresses and suits and try them on.”

Herron said all formal attire in the Dress Closet is available because of donations.

Herron said students can donate to Ross in room B226.