The Harbinger Issue 5 2021

the harbinger.

S H AW N E E M I S S I O N E A S T 7500 MISSION ROAD PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS 66208 NOVEMBER 01, 2021 VOLUME LXIII ISSUE 5

NEVER

SATISFIED Many high school aged boys can get into negative diet and workout habits as a result of toxic and competitive gym environments

02 INSIDE COVER

staff list

PRINT EDITORS Celia Condon Sydney Newton ONLINE EDITORS Sophie Henschel Campbell Wood ASST. PRINT EDITORS Peyton Moore Cesca Stamati ASST. ONLINE EDITORS Lyda Cosgrove Kate Heitmann HEAD COPY EDITOR Campbell Wood PHOTO EDITORS Elise Madden Maggie Merckens ASST. PHOTO EDITORS Rachel Bingham Macy Crosser Hadley Chapman VIDEO EDITOR Roberto Galicia ASST. VIDEO EDITOR Maggie Klumpp PHOTO MENTORS Emily Pollock Grace Allen Lily Mantel MJ Wolf STAFF WRITERS Caroline Wood Madeline Funkey Anna Mitchell Christian Gooley Caroline Gould Mia Vogel Paige Zadoo Greyson Imm

Sophie Lindberg Ben Bradley Nora Lynn Katie Murphy Luke Beil Maggie Kissick Emma Krause COPY EDITORS Sydney Newton Celia Condon Campbell Wood Sophie Henschel Peyton Moore Cesca Stamati Kate Heitmann Lyda Cosgrove Caroline Wood Caroline Gould Greyson Imm Nora Lynn EDITORIAL BOARD Sydney Newton Celia Condon Campbell Wood Sophie Henschel Peyton Moore Cesca Stamati Kate Heitmann Lyda Cosgrove Caroline Wood Madeline Funkey Nora Lynn SECTION EDITORS EDITORIAL PRINT Madeline Funkey NEWS PRINT Caroline Gould ONLINE Kate Heitmann OPINION PRINT Sophie Lindberg

THE HARBINGER

design by assistant print editors cover design by celia condon cover art by natalie scholz

ONLINE Mia Vogel FEATURE PRINT Anna Mitchell ONLINE Greyson Imm A&E PRINT Nora Lynn ONLINE Paige Zadoo SPORTS PRINT Caroline Wood ONLINE Ben Bradley PAGE DESIGNERS Anna Mitchell Katie Murphy Madeline Funkey Christian Gooley Caroline Wood Bridget Connelly Luke Beil Emma Krause ART EDITOR Natalie Scholz ASS. ART EDITOR Nora Lynn STAFF ARTISTS Celia Condon Sophie Henschel Sophie Lindberg Christian Gooley Bridget Connelly Marissa Liberda STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Audrey Condon Charlotte Emley Elle Siegel Jill Rice Julia Filmore

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Kate Beaulieu Maggie Klumpp Riley Eck Sabrina Dean Tristen Porter VIDEO STAFF Roberto Galacia Maggie Klumpp PODCAST EDITOR Ben Bradley SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS Celia Condon Sophie Henschel ASST. SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Mia Vogel Paige Zadoo SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF Madeline Funkey Campbell Wood Christian Gooley Grace Allen Paige Zadoo Sophie Lindberg Ben Bradley Peyton Moore Lyda Cosgrove Nora Lynn Marissa Liberda Bridget Connelly ADS MANAGER Greyson Imm CONTEST COORDINATOR Peyton Moore CIRCULATION MANAGER Maggie Klumpp

political cartoon by natalie scholtz

online preview

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photo by rachel bingham

FOOTBALL & BAND SENIOR NIGHT S C A N TO V I E W T H E GA L L E RY F O OT B A L L A N D B A N D S E N I O R NIGHT by rachel bingham, riley eck, emily pollock, audrey condon

SUNFLOWER LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP S C A N TO V I E W T H E B OY S S O C C E R S U N F LOW E R L E AG U E C H A M P I O N S H I P GA L L E RY by maggie merckens & lily mantel

SMEHARBINGER

EDITORIAL 03

NOVEMBER 01, 2021 design by madeline funkey illustration by tallie scholtz

BRING BACK THE RESPECT Seniority is an important right of passage in high school, however it’s a power that shouldn’t be abused

F O R : 8 A GA I N ST : 0 The members of the editorial board who agree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by for, and those who disagree with the viewpoint are represented by against.

E DITO R IAL PO LIC Y The Harbinger is a student run publication. Published editorials express the views of the Harbinger staff. Signed columns published in the Harbinger express the writer’s personal opinion. The content and opinions of the Harbinger do not represent the student body, faculty, administration or Shawnee Mission School District. The Harbinger will not share any unpublished content, but quotes material may be confirmed with the sources. The Harbinger encourages letters to the editors, but reserves the right to reject them for reasons including but not limited to lack of space, multiple letters of the same topic and personal attacks contained in the letter. The Harbinger will not edit content thought letters may be edited for clarity, length or mechanics. Letters should be sent to room 413B or emailed to smeharbinger@gmail.com.

The legacy tile by th e m a i n g y m h a s t h e u n s p o ke n r u le of st u d e nt s n ot wa l k i n g o n i t u nt i l t h ey ha ve a varsity letter or a re s e ni ors. PHOTO BY JILL RICE

T

WO YEARS AGO, if you were walking in the gym hallway, you’d see the rush of students part as they tiptoe around the sides of the East legacy tile — only seniors or varsity athletes walking straight across. Walking on the tile was a privilege one had to earn.

Nowadays, when you walk down that hall at 2:40 p.m., you can barely see the tile as unqualified students trample over the tradition on their way out.

Rituals like this might seem silly, but they’re something to look forward to as underclassmen and relish in as seniors.

The slight adjustment in your route to avoid the tile may feel like an inconvenience, but just imagine how good it’ll feel as a senior to stride right over it knowing your turn has come.

Seniority is an important rite of passage in high school, and it’s a power that shouldn’t be abused.

W I T H T H E C U R R E N T f re s h m e n a n d s o p h o m o re s , t h e re ’s a l a c k of a w a re n e s s ove r s e n i o r i t y a s t h ey h a ve n ’ t h a d a n o r m a l st a r t t o h i g h s c h o o l w i t h t h e p a n d e m i c .

With the current freshmen and sophomores, there’s a lack of awareness with seniority. To be fair, they haven’t had a normal high school experience with the pandemic, so their understanding of these traditions and unspoken rules is diluted.

Many upperclassmen were shocked to find freshmen — who typically sit at the back of the student section — sit themselves in front, right next to the seniors at the Lancer Day football game. Confusion spread across freshmen faces as upperclassmen

sen•ior i ty

t h e fa c t o r s t a t e of b e i n g o l d e r o r h i g h e r i n p o s i t i o n o r st a t u s t h a n s o m e o n e e l s e

chanted “FRESH-MEN, MOVE-BACK!” punctuated with a series of claps. To avoid scaring the freshmen, upperclassmen should explain the seating arrangements of games rather than yell at the underclassmen — seniority is important, but sometimes underclassmen genuinely don’t know they’re violating its rules.

High school would go on without seniority, but it rewards seniors for getting through all four years and makes their last moments here at East more exciting and enjoyable. If all students sat wherever they want in the bleachers, some students may never get their chance at the front row. With seniority, everyone gets that opportunity at some point and it’s something to look forward to over their years.

And seniority doesn’t just apply to seniors. Anyone in an older grade has some authority as they’re more experienced, especially with one of East’s hottest topics — the parking lots.

With The Prairie Village Pool Lot being dubbed “the sophomore lot,” it’s an unofficial rule that only sophomores are allowed to park there and freshmen that drive to school park on Delmar St. or side streets.

Yes, as a freshman it’d be nice to park in the sophomore lot and take advantage of your newly legalized freedom, but since the sophomores have been at East longer and went through their time of not parking there, you should let them have first dibs on the spots.

Similar conflicts surround the unassigned back row of the senior lot, and the same rule applies: older students get dibs.

Even though freshmen eventually picked up on the student section organization at football games, 84% of students believe that this year’s underclassmen lack a sense of seniority

compared to previous years, according to an Instagram poll of 287 students.

These little accommodations for the seniors may seem annoying in the moment, but every student will get their turn at the top, so people should show their respect on the way up.

Outside these specific traditions, seniority should occur on a daily basis as underclassmen should show general respect for all upperclassmen since they’re the more experienced high schoolers.

Showing the upperclassmen respect and looking up to them also allows the newer grades to better transition to East and observe the high school dynamics.

While seniority should be encouraged, it shouldn’t be taken too seriously. It can come off negatively since it adds a hierarchy to high school, which can lead to resentment between grades and mentalities that seniors are automatically superior.

When sophomores threaten freshmen for parking in the Harmon lot or upperclassmen curse out underclassmen for not cheering loud enough, it takes the fun out of honoring seniority and discourages students to follow it. But, as long as it’s doesn’t go too far, following seniority can be a fun, lighthearted preservation of decade-long traditions.

Being the oldest in the school comes with responsibilities and privileges, but they shouldn’t be misused. Upperclassmen show the underclassmen how high schoolers are supposed to act. Those perks of being a senior are givens with seniority, but the respect and compliance from the underclassmen has to be earned through mutual respect.

04 NEWS

THE HARBINGER

design by caroline gould

NEWS IN BRIEF Catch up on school, local and national news

EAST

An in-person DECA competition was held on Oct. 25

by p eyton moore THE FIRST IN-PERSON DECA competition

since 2019 occured on Oct. 25 at Blue Valley High School from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

This competition was solely for first year DECA members, and was judged by experienced DECA members.

“You would think that after a couple years people wouldn’t be as excited or eager to compete,” Marketing teacher Mercedes

Rassmusen said. “But Mrs. Doane and I were overwhelmed [and] excited about how many people wanted to be apart of it and the excitement surrounding the competition.”

With a maximum of 50 participants from East, Rassmusen and Doane offered the opportunity to only their marketing principles classes, so that their students could have their first experience in a smaller setting.

“Afterward, my friends and I went to

Johnny’s in our suit and ties,” junior Joe Hardinger said. “It felt like we were at a team dinner after a big game, but without the sweat and [instead] dressed as buisness men.”

East second year DECA members were the judges at the this competition. Six senior judges from East met with the other school’s judges, and DECA teachers got there early to receive instructions on how to be unbiased and fair during role plays.

“Since I haven’t seen a competition in

person before, I always pictured myself in a huge room with a pannel of judges, but it is so much more chill than that,” senior and DECA judge Emma Brown said.

The next competition will be held virtually by Leavenworth High on Nov. 10 and will be open for both junior and senior DECA members.

Prairie Village mask mandate is set to expire on Oct. 31 THE

PRAIRIE VILLAGE City Council decided at their meeting on Oct. 18 that the PV mask mandate will no longer be enforced, and it was set to end at midnight on Oct. 31.

During the council meeting, there was a motion made to extend the mandate to match Jackson County’s, which would expire on Nov. 7. The PV council’s vote fell 5-7.

Despite the city ending its mandate, the

SMSD mask requirement for schools will remain in place.

The CDC’s incidence rate in the U.S., which shows the number of cases per 100,000 persons in the past seven days, has just recently reached 91 cases per 100,000 people, compared to 191 per 100,000 people in June.

“I really feel for anyone responsible for making decisions around COVID regulations,” East Nurse Stephanie Ptacek

NATIONAL THE SUPPLY CHAIN for holiday gifts —

consisting of ports, trucks and shipping containers — is experiencing backups due to overloaded shipping yards and crowded ports, which are both results of COVID complications.

According to yahoo finance, gifts may experience up to 16 days of shipping delays before arriving on your doorstep and many professionals encourage consumers to fully

said. “It has to feel like a no-win situation at times. The City Council has to consider recommendations of public health experts against what some local businesses say they need to remain viable.”

However, City Council member Bonnie Limbird doesn’t exactly agree with the inaction on the mandate, and believes business owners in Prairie Village should be leaders and still encourage masks throughout

complete holiday shopping as early as Black Friday.

As a result of the backup, there’s a major inbalance in the demand and supply chain, so goods have higher prices and less stocks, according to Hanna Ziady of CNN Business.

Companies such as Adidas, Crocs and Hasbro gaming have already warned consumers of the delays, advising them to order holiday gifts sooner rather than later.

*information from U.S. News

District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Ill., La., Nev., N.M., Ore., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Wash.

the community.

“I think it’s too soon to stop wearing masks,” Limbird says. “Without the mask mandate, there [are] a lot of people that just will not wear their masks at all, but I think it’s too soon. I think we will have a resurgence. We get into this mindset like ‘Oh, we are doing better now let’s stop all the precautions we were taking,’ but we haven’t gotten far enough.”

COVID-19 causes an increase on the price of Christmas gifts and shipping time This bottleneck supply chain predicament first started when the third largest port in Ningbo, China closed after a worker tested positive for COVID-19 in late June. The two week closing of Ningbo put extended pressure on smaller, nearby ports as they were already recovering from previous port closures and from the blockage of the Suez Canal back in March.

Freshman Rachel Condon has found

NATIONAL MASK MANDATES EVERYONE

LOCAL

UNVACCINATED INDIVIDUALS Calif., Conn., N.Y.

that her relatives, and her friends’ relatives too, are are requesting Christmas lists and prepping for the holiday season months in advance to prepare for the holiday surge season.

“My mom asked for my Christmas list early in October which is not normal,” Condon said. “She said she needed to shop early because otherwise nothing was going to come in time.”

Which people in U.S. States and Territories’ have to wear masks under the mandate

NO ONE Ala., Alaska, American Samoa, Ariz., Ark., Colo., Del., Fla., Ga., Idaho, Ind., Iowa, Kan., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Neb., N.H., N.J., N.C., N.D, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.D., Tenn., Texas, Utah, Vt., Va., W. Va., Wis., Wyo.

NOVEMBER 01, 2021

NEWS 05

WE

design and copy by campbell wood photos by hadley chapman

A sneak peak

S TUDENT

at t he

dif

COUNCIL IS hosting their annual can drive on Nov. 1-14, where all proceeds and goods will be donated to the Johnson County Christmas Bureau. The can drive is a tradition that’s been run by StuCo for decades.

QZOaa SvS\ba

A look at each StuCo class’s hosted events that are open to all grade levels, except for the freshman event

sophomore Sophomore StuCo will chalk four square courts in the parking lot and host a tournament.

WHEN: Nov. 14 from 11-1 WHERE: main parking lot ADMISSION: $10 per person

WHEN: No official dates as of Oct. 27 WHERE: Chipotle & Chill and Salty Iguana & Summersalt

freshman

Freshmen only will bring mac & cheese or pasta to their seminar classes to win a dessert party, and for the teacher, a $30 gift card to Noodles & Co.

WHEN: Nov. 1-14 WHERE: seminar

JCCB

r

T HE JOHNSON COUNTY Christmas Bureau is a

holiday shop that provides clothes, food, toys and other items to 10,000-12,000 people in need during the holiday season. JCCB collects donations yearround that lead up to the shop’s opening on Dec. 3.

The shop operates in a pop-up location every year — such as the old Sears and Toys R Us locations — and is run similar to a department store with volunteers who tend each station. While StuCo mainly supports the drive through can donation, cash is also given as the JCCB can purchase canned goods cheaper than store prices.

Bov' )&-k

WEEK 1

WHEN: Nov. 7 at 1 p.m.

WHERE: aux gym.

ADMISSION: $10 or 10 cans per team of two

junior

There will be two restaurant nights following the twoweek run of the can drive. All students and families can go with proceeds later donated to JCCB.

WEEK 2

senior

The seniors will be hosting a spikeball tournament in collaboration with Spikeball Club.

DO IT

t u C o ’s C a n D fe r e t of S r i ve nt eve nt s p a r this ye a

The first week’s first and second hour competitions with a snack party for a reward

BOOKS BRING BOOKS TO FIRST HOUR ON MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY.

PEANUT BUTTER BRING PEANUT BUTTER TO SECOND HOUR ON MONDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY.

Bov' 0&)*

The second week FOOTBALL features club and activity competitions HARBINGER where any canned AP goods can be dropped DANCE off outside the counseling offices on the BAND designated table

VS

SOCCER HAUBERK IB CHEER ORCHESTRA

06 NEWS

must go on THE SHOW

THE HARBINGER

design by emma krause photo courtesy of dan ipock

UPCOMING SHOWS HEART OF AMERICA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL WHAT Romeo and Juliet WHEN June-July 2022

MUSICAL THEATER HERITAGE WHAT A Spectacular Christmas WHEN Dec. 9-23

KC REP THEATER As theaters reopen after being closed for two years due to COVID-19, members of the performing arts community believe that it will benefit KC as a whole

WHAT A Christmas Carol WHEN Nov. 26 - Dec. 18

by nora lyn n

F

ROM KC BALLET and Starlight Theatre

to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City visual and performing arts have been reopening and scheduling shows for the upcoming seasons since August of this year, working to make debuts post-COVIDrestrictions.

One of these theaters is Musical Theater Heritage, who still have a few COVID-19 protocols in place, such as a mask requirement, no food or drink allowed in the theater and either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test needed for entry.

Following the footsteps of MTH, the Kansas City Repertory Theatre has started booking shows again, with their rendition of “A Christmas Carol,” being the first show to come back. Auditions were held on Sep. 11, the cast list was announced on Oct. 19, and they’ve been practicing since.

This will be the 42nd year KCRep has put on the production, and it’s become not only a tradition in the KC community but also a necessity, according to East alum and the returning Ghost of Christmas Present Matt Rapport.

“I think on a practical note, as far as the people in the theater community, it provides a lot of work for a lot of people at a time of the year that’s really good to have [it],” Rapport said. “It’s also indisputably the KCRep’s biggest selling show, so it injects a lot of money into their company, which of course helps them produce things down the

line and other things they do.”

To Indian Hills eighth grader Eliza King, who is playing the roles of Fan and Belinda in “A Christmas Carol,” theater is an important part of the KC community that brings people together.

“It doesn’t really ask much of the audience,” King said. “It’s kind of a universal experience, like in whatever way, most people experience some sort of musical theater and I think it kind of ties us together.”

W E A LWAY S T RY to give a new perspective that comes from understanding the history and the evolution of the American musical.

CARLY LEE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT MTH Though KCRep has had only one other production this year, MTH has put on many performances over the last few months.

However, MTH still struggles after the biggest wave’s of COVID-19 in 2020 and this past summer. They don’t know whether these fluctuations will further affect their ticket sales. Already, they have fewer tickets to sell due to “killing” seats — the practice of spacing seats apart between parties for safety measures.

MTH’s Executive Director of Operations and Finance and East parent Carly Lee worries that people have gotten out of the habit of attending live performances and public gatherings, but she hopes that it instead unifies the KC community. “[I’m hoping live performances] bring us together,” Lee said. “There’s been a lot of divisiveness and a lot of picking sides over mask mandates and vaccine mandates and I’m hoping that theater can again become a place where people come together from all different backgrounds, all different beliefs and experience different voices and live theater together.”

MTH also uses their productions as an opportunity to appreciate cleverness and artistry in theatrical choices. Because MTH is built off its founder George Harter’s radio show “A Night on the Town” that discussed theater history, this has become the root of their mission — they even go as far to have discussions about a show’s history before the performance (though less so during COVID-19), according to Lee. They take pride in creating opportunities for local performers, artists and up-and-coming actors with various sizes of events and venues.

“We always try to give a new perspective that comes from understanding the history and the evolution of the American musical,” Lee said. “I also think that we try to do that through our education program and summer

camps.”

Along with performances, theater classes are coming back in person as well, like KCRep’s Theater Youth Ensemble, the KCShakes’ student classes and MTH’s summer classes for K-12. Classes during the 2020 season were either closed in MTH’s case or virtual with KCShakes. King, who was a part of KCRep’s Youth Ensemble, feels that classes are welcoming communities that students should experience.

“I feel like I’m with like-minded people, so it makes me feel a lot more comfortable,” King said. “I mean it’s really open and accepting and The Rep in particular, they do a lot to make sure everyone feels comfortable there.”

Rapport and others in the theater community believe that the reopening of performing arts theater will also benefit the rest of the KC community not only because theater can be impactful and important, but add light-heartedness during times of inconvenience.

“The culture of theater is often thought of as we can change society, we can wake up society, we can ‘hold a mirror up to nature’ as Hamlet says and have this impact,” Rapport said. “And that’s a tricky one for me because while I agree with that I also think there’s nothing wrong with just something that’s just entertaining and distracting and enjoyable for them.”

NOVEMBER 01, 2021 design by maggie merckens

HOLY MOLEY!

IB and AP Chemisty 2 students organized mole day for the Chemisty 1 students after not having it last year due to covid

PHOTOSTORY 07 L E F T Sophomore Sam Streiler intensely competes in mole-sical chairs against junior Piper Benjamin and sophomore Ja ke Mil ler. Mil ler win s the round of mole-sical chairs. “I did get one of the chairs. I did make it to the final round with Jake.

I ended up loosing to Jake in the final round” said Stre i le r .

PHOTO BY CHARLOTTE EMLEY

R I G H T Junior IB Chemistry 2 st u d e nt Presley Con n e l ly hold s up a torch a n d b e g i n s the mole O ly m p i c s .

“Settin g u p wa s k i nd of fun, but it was a ls o a b i t of a disaster b e h i n d t h e scen es. Bu t it wa s oka y because eve r yo n e h a d fun ” said Con n el ly. PHOTO

BY JILL RICE

A B O V E S o p h o m o re G ra ys o n I m m a n d L i d a P a g g ett race during t h e 6 . 0 2 m ete r s p r i nt . I m m b e a t P a g g ett by two s e c ond . PHOTO BY CHARLOTTE EMLEY R I G H T So p h o m o re s A lex F lowe r a n d S a m St re i le r p u l l the rope a s t h ey a re d o i n g t u g - of - wa r a g a i n st h o n o rs and IB che m i st r y . Re g u la r c h e m i st r y w i n s t h e g a m e of tug - of- war i m m e di ate ly .

PHOTO BY CHARLOTTE EMLEY

A B O V E Honors Chemistry teacher Su sa n H a l lstrom h old s up a trophy for her victory. Each time a ch emistry stu d ent won an activity, their teacher would get a p oint.

PHOTO BY TRISTEN PORTER

SCAN ME • PHOTOS Use this QR code t o p u rc h a s e p h o t o s f ro m t h i s eve n t o n H a r b i e P h ot o

08 OPINION

THE HARBINGER

design by sophie lindberg

OPINION

HIGHLIGHTS A look into student opinions and the opinion section

I S IT TIME FO R CHRIST MA S M U SIC?

Student opinions on when it’s appropriate to listen to Christmas music

THIS W EEK Opinionated tweets from this week IN TW EET S I H AV E S E E N D O N A L D T R U M P J R D O S O M E R E A L LY S T U P I D T H I N G S .

T H I S H OW E V E R G O E S WAY B E YO N D A N Y T H I N G I H AV E E V E R W I T N E S S E D H I M D O B E F O R E . T R U M P, J R S E L L S T- S H I RT S M O C K I N G @ A L E C B A L DW I N FATA L S H O OT I N G @ T H E H I L L

MICHAEL COHEN

10/25/21

K Y L E R I T T E N H O U S E C R O S S E D S TAT E L I N E S A N D M U R D E R E D T WO P E AC E F U L P ROT E S T E R S . A N D T H E J U D G E WO N ’ T E V E N A L L OW AT TO R N E Y S TO C A L L T H E D E C E A S E D “ V I C T I M S .” S O M E T H I N G T E L L S M E N OT TO E X P E C T T H E WO R L D ’ S FA I R E S T T R I A L

ONLY DU R IN G T H E H O L I DAYS

BRYAN BEHAR

10/26/21

I F YO U L I S T E N t o [ C h r i st m a s m u s i c ] e a r l i e r , t h e n yo u ’ re s u p e r s e d i n g t h e h o l i d a y s . [ Yo u s h o u l d st a r t l i s t e n i n g ] r i g h t b efo re T h a n k s g i v i n g , b e c a u s e i t i s k i n d of w h e n t h e s e a s o n starts.

EMMY SULLIVAN

SOPHOMORE

RIP MORT SAHL. HE JUST INVENTED MODERN AMERIC AN POLITIC AL S AT I R E , I S A L L . WA S S T I L L D O I N G G R E AT S TA N D U P S O N P E R I S C O P E U N T I L V E RY R E C E N T LY. A N D W H I L E H E WA S B E S T K N OW N F O R S T I N G I N G W I T, H E WA S A LWAY S A N E X P E RT J O K E W R I T E R .

IT PUTS ME in a good mood, and I think that s o m e t h i n g t h a t m a ke s yo u h a p py s h o u l d n ’ t b e re s t r i c t e d t o a c e r t a i n s e a s o n , t h o u g h i t i s b e tt e r t o l i s t e n i t d u r i n g t h e C h r i st m a s season.

NEVA HUDSON

SOPHOMORE

I N STAG RAM RESP O NSES Some responses to an Instagram Harbinger poll, “When is it an appropriate time to start listening to Christmas music?”

TA K E O U R P O L L S @smeharbinger

Follow us on social media to participate in the polls

@smeharbinger

@smeharbie

S T U D E N T

Y EAR R O U N D

T A K E S

HARRY SHEARER

10/26/21

East students’ thoughts relating to this issue’s opinion section DO YOU THINK THAT CHRISTMAS MUSIC SHOULD BE LISTENED TO STRICTLY AROUND THE HOLIDAY SEASON? * I n s t a g ra m p o l l of 2 0 3 vo t e s

YES

63%

NO

37%

DO YOU THINK SUCCESS CAN SOMETIMES BE FALSELY ATTRIBUTED TO HARDSHIPS SOMEONE HAS FACED? * I n s t a g ra m p o l l of 1 47 vo t e s

YES

78%

NO

22%

HAVE YOU EVER TRIED JOURNALING? * I n s t a g ra m p o l l of 2 24 vo t e s

YES

63%

NO

37%

OPINION 09

NOVEMBER 01, 2021

Success all

design by peyton moore

ghters i n stess

stress or g

m

stress

ce

ion

ns connect

io

persi s

struggles.

One example is Oprah Winfrey. She was physically abused throughout her childhood, and gave birth when she was only 14 to a son who only lived a few days. When I hear people talk about her, it’s always, “It’s

ve

n ta

n

IN REALITY, IF something good is coming for me, it’s going to be because I worked my butt off to make it happen — not just because I was dealing with the loss of someone or going through family problems.

i

strongest soldiers.”

You’ve probably seen this quote on Pinterest or hanging on one of those sappy wooden signs with black script lettering in the Target home aisle. The way I interpret this sappy quote is that the strongest people who have the best futures have to go through the harshest struggles to get there.

But what part of that’s true? Sometimes people can make it seem like the way of the world is that people who go through tough things have success and good fortune coming for them automatically, but this mindset is misleading.

Quotes like these often give people something to latch onto — and I’m not saying I’m not guilty of this too. Whenever I’m going through a difficult time with school, friends or family, I’ll often think to myself, this is because I have a good future coming, this is what I have to go through to get there.

Often when I’m venting to someone, they remind me that karma will come back to me because an inconvenience has happened.

In the moment, this promise might make me feel better — but that glimpse of joy is short-lived.

In reality, if something good is coming for me, it’s going to be because I worked my butt off to make it happen — not just because I was dealing with the loss of someone or going through family problems.

When I was in seventh grade, I broke my ankle the week before dance tryouts. After sitting out for almost three months, I put in so many extra hours at home stretching and conditioning to get back to the shape I was in. I ended up being placed in more advanced classes and routines the following year. So many people told me “You deserved that lead after having to sit out for so many months,” after our first competition. But really, I just wished someone would have told me that they were proud of how hard I worked.

A lot of the more well-known success stories are from people who had a painful childhood or went through years of suffering before ever catching a break. Instead of giving them credit for their success because of their hard work, people instead attribute it to the struggles they faced in the past that pushed them to their success, essentially diminishing their accomplishments and

at age 12 Spears was the “breadwinner” for a family of 5 grew up with a dad who had extreme anger issues

NICKI MINAJ

at one point her dad attempted to kill her mother by lighting the house on fire his family was so poor he his whole family had to live in a van

m

“G OD GIVES HIS hardest battles to his

t

by c elia con d on

na

@r_t_marx

deter

minatio deter dr i

WORK, DEDICATION + A LOT OF PATIENCE

BRITTNEY SPEARS

rdwork

co

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IT TAKES TO BE SUCCESSFUL? CONFIDENCE, HUMILITY @sme_office + A GOOD WORK ETHIC

grew up in an abusive household with an alchoholic father

t io n iza

municat io

*information courtesy of listverse

an

Often success can be attributed to the hardships someone has faced, but they should be appreciated for the hardwork they put in, despite their hardships

n

Celebrities that are successful despite their past

ha

ISN’T GOOD KARMA

SUCCESSFUL CELEBS

JIM CARREY

awesome that Oprah is so successful now, she deserves it after the trauma she went through as a teen. By the way, do you know what she went through as a teen?”

But Oprah isn’t successful and wellregarded because she had a rough childhood.

She’s achieved her goals because she carved her own path to success by talking on radio shows, creating her television broadcast and moving up the ladder until she had enough power and wealth to create her own talk show. Many of Oprah’s most successful books and episodes are a reflection of her early struggles, but they’re also a reflection of what she’s learned through making such a huge name for herself — on her own.

If I were Oprah, I’d want people to appreciate my work ethic that led to my accomplishments, rather than just feel proud of me for making it through the calamities I faced early on. We should give Oprah credit for her creations and impact, rather than focus on her past.

That leaves those who endure hardships and never find a way out. Sometimes, the reason for this is that they don’t actually ever try to get out of it.

If you took honors English sophomore year, you might remember reading “The Glass Castle” over the summer. The author and narrator Jeanette Walls tells the stories of her family who faced poverty in the 1960s all the way through the early 2000s. The family faces homelessness as a result of the parents who can’t keep a job

started as a janitor and performed comedian acts as a side job

or save money. By the end of the book, the three kids make it out of the cycle and gain success while their parents don’t. Why don’t they? Simply because they lack the motivation to create a functional life for themselves.

The hardships they faced had no impact on their success.

Walls and her siblings gained success and freedom because they all worked incredibly hard to get out of the life they were living.

The parents could’ve done the same if they worked for it, but they didn’t. Good things don’t just come to good people, they have to be earned.

Success isn’t some karma-provided gift as a reward for their hardships, and the “toughest soldiers” are not destined to face great success: good things are deserved when they are earned, not because people simply have had it rough. A tough soldier doesn’t necessarily mean a hard worker — you can be the toughest, strongest soldier but you might not have to work for it at all.

Maybe you have it easy, or maybe you’re a weak soldier, but your strength doesn’t always matter in the eyes of success.

Anyone can have it hard, and anyone can have it easy, but only persistent workers gain success, happiness and true satisfaction in life.

THE HARBINGER

10 OPINION

MEN TA L LY Staffer shares her opinion on journaling, the benefits and how it helped her

by soph ie lin d b e rg

“M

ONDAY , OCT. 11, 2021.”

Starting my first entry with my favorite Pilot G2 pen in hand, snuggled up on an overfilled beanbag, I got ready to write about my recent issues with a person very close to me in my journal. I opened the cover — it has a map design and a cheesy line saying, “the adventure is the journey.”

My friend suggested the idea of journaling, as she utilizes it to get through a tough time in her life, so I decided to write myself.

I haven’t been journaling long, but after that fateful Monday, I’ve since incorporated it into my daily routine. It’s made a profound impact on my life in the two weeks I’ve done it, and I would recommend journaling to anyone looking for a way to cope with stress or anxiety, wanting a bit of structure in their life or just looking for a mind-healthy hobby.

When my friend first suggested journaling to me, I was apprehensive. I had the idea in my mind that only teenage girls writing about boys would keep a journal of their feelings, and I didn’t want to perpetuate a stereotype that existed — or make it true, because I am in fact a teenage girl that definitely has boy problems. (I mean, who doesn’t?)

After only five minutes, I decided that I wasn’t going to let a stereotype get in the way of my potential happiness — as no one should.

Mainly, journaling is utilized by people who need to cope with a recent traumatic or

design by anna mitchell photos by audrey condon

N OT E D

tragic event, but I highly recommend people start journaling in their everyday lives — even with no event triggering it. You can kind of beat the trauma to the punch and get an early idea of what you’re feeling.

One of my friends told me that in order to heal, I need to sit with my feelings and understand them, understand what I want from them.

The biggest reason that journaling is so beneficial is because it forces you to analyze your thoughts and feelings. Taking a predominantly heart-guided thing and applying it to the logistical side that naturally comes with writing can open up new avenues of thought and helps you to better understand what you’re feeling. There have been multiple times when journaling that I connected all the dots of unknown feelings and was able to truly understand them.

SCAN ME • WEBSITE S c a n h e re t o l e a r n a l i tt l e b i t m o re a b o u t t h e s e lf c a re a n d c o p i n g of j o u r n a l i n g

According to a 2020 study, conducted by educators at Ewha Womans University in Seoul Yeoun Soo Kim-Godwin, SukSun Kim and Minji Gil, researchers found that “implementing a positive writing intervention is a practical means of promoting psychological well-being as a selfcare strategy.”

EFFECTIVE JOURNALING

Organizing your thoughts on paper is so much easier than in your head. Having a method to the chaos is key, whether that be dumping words on a page or structuring your writing around something — which is why journaling is such a good option. It also provides a physical timeline of your mentality, which you look back on and see how far you’ve come mentally.

It’s similar to meditation. You get to take a moment for yourself, your feelings and self-reflection. It gives me motivation to get through the day.

On that note, the main reason I’ve stuck with journaling so far is because of the the structure it provides my life.

Yes, I complain about how my life is too structured because of all the obligations I have to tend to. But when you pair structure with control, that’s when you start to create mental change, reinstating a feeling of control.

And, the fact that it’s a healthy habit that you’re doing consistently, is infinitely better than either leaving your feelings unchecked or trying to cope with an unhealthy method, such as avoiding your feelings or self-blame.

Journaling has proved to be the best way for me to ‘sit with my feelings.’ Being able to have an outlet that suits my overthinking and overly-logistical self has made everything fall into place over the last few weeks.

It also can take the spot of a person. If you’re closed off, or just don’t feel ready to talk to someone about your feelings, a

journal is a great w a y to warm up to the idea.

What I like to do is pretend that I am talking to someone, and write down what I want to say to them. Something like “your (action) made me feel (emotion),” and go into detail on the emotion you’re writing about. This goes back to the organization of thoughts, the glue holding everything journal-related together.

The biggest thing that I see people struggle with when they start journaling is sticking with the habit. It’s easy to let the little things slip through in your daily schedule, but as those add up, you train yourself to give up on the important habits.

I’ve noticed that it’s easier to let thoughts flow at night, so I recommend starting your journaling journey after sundown. If you want to ease yourself into it, start with just writing every other night, with the expectation of writing no more than a page.

If you end up writing more than a page, or more often than every other night, then you can start implementing that as your new normal.

Making the habit easy is the key, and whatever that means for you, works.

And now I look forward to my end-ofday ritual of lounging in that overstuffed beanbag with my aesthetic journal. Two weeks of journaling can’t solve all your problems, but I’ve come far enough to know that these past two weeks have made my life easier.

*according to iajw.org

How to journal effectively and maintain that beneficial habit

1 3

GET ORGANIZED FIND A GOOD TIME THAT WORKS

2 4

CREATE A WRITING RITUAL TO REPEAT SET A TIMER

*Instagram poll of 165 students *according to webmd.com

Study found journaling for 15 minutes three days a week showed less depressive symptoms after one month

81%

of people who have tried journaling quit the habit

B RI N G I N T H I S AD TO R EC E I VE 10% O F F

TEA- R EX

5 8 32 J o h n so n D r i ve M i s s i o n , KS 662 02

12 FEATURE

THE HARBINGER

design by anna mitchell

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS L E F T Senior Kate Rasmussen poses in a new flannel shirt she made in student store . PHOTO BY MACY CROSSER

T H I S W E E K I N P H OTO S

A look at what students are up to in student store and seminar

M I D D L E Junior Aero Alber shows classmates his plastic leg model he recently completed d u rin g h is semin a r p eriod . PHOTO BY HADLEY CHAPMAN R I G H T Sophomore Luke Harbert and Kambren Moore play basketball in the g y m a t u n if ied tea ms during seminar.

PHOTO BY HADLEY CHAPMAN

F E AT U R E D T E A C H E R ’ S FA L L F E E L I N G S

A few teachers’ responses to questions about the fall season

CRAIG HEENEY

WHAT ARE SOME ACTIVITIES?

OF

YOUR

FALL

“I’m a big deer hunter so fall is a great time for me. I love hunting and eating deer but

A P E E K AT

ONLINE THIS ISSUE

A preview of online stories posted this issue

SCAN ME • WEBSITE

A l i n k t o H a r b i n g e r ’s o n l i n e p u b l i c a t i o n

[I also love] just getting away from the hustle and bustle of life and getting to be out in the woods and see all kinds of animals.

ANNE F LU R RY

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE FALL SEASON? “I mean it’s everything the smells in the air,

SCAN ME •

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

E a st J u n i o r C a ro l i n e G o r m a n i s a va rs i t y g y m n a st a n d i s c o m p et i n g a t st a t e

the changing of the leaves, I love the colder weather, I love that it begins the hope of the winter holiday season, I love the sports, I just love the colors. I mean I even love the meals and food.

SCAN ME • A&E

C H R I STO P H E R B U R R OW S

DO YOU ENJOY FALL? WHY OR WHY NOT? “Yes I do like fall because I no longer have to rake leaves because I have children. I also do like the cold weather.

A R ev i e w of t h e 5 0 t h A n n u a l Ka n s a s C i t y P syc h i c F a i r

FEATURE 13

NOVEMBER 01, 2021

design by sydney newton photos by macy crosser and hadley chapman

GOING BEYOND

East teachers in the same departments have formed bonds with each other outside of the classroom

THE BOOK WORMS

by ben bradley

WHEN WALKING PAST rooms 518, 519 and 525, the fifth floor hallways are constantly filled with laughter at jokes that may not be understood by a common passerby. English teachers Erica Jackson, Kristin Anderson and Meredith Sternberg only speak the language of “their people:” an English teacher language.

Last year’s COVID regulations limited teachers from moving between floors as frequently as they once did. The three had always been close, but formed a stronger bond when they were isolated together on the fifth floor for 5 months.

“I remember being excited about coming to school when I was in high school, I remember wanting to go to school to tell my friends something,” Jackson said. “That’s how I still feel coming to work every morning. I always have something funny I want to share.”

Whether it be a newly-organized weekly potluck with all of the English teachers, bringing cake on each other’s birthdays or writing up brackets — not your average March Madness bracket, but ones with topics like Christmas movies, books and nostalgic ‘90s music — the English department is always up to something original.

“We used to have a quote card [of funny quotes from movies and books] that we would write on all the time,” Anderson said. “That was pretty great, but totally not for the students’ eyes.”

I H AV E A w o r k fa m i ly h e re , a n d ove r summer I start to miss them, I am a lw a y s e a g e r t o g e t b a c k t o s c h o o l a n d s e e eve r yo n e .

ERICA JACKSON

ENGLISH TEACHER

The group tries to meet up outside of school at least once a week. They usually end up gathering on Jackson’s back deck on a normal week, and on the yearly Lancer Day, they have a tradition of celebrating at fellow English teacher Samantha Feinberg’s house.

“I have a work family here, and over summer I start to miss them,” Jackson said. “I am always eager to get back to school and see everyone.”

THE BOOKS

MARKETING MAGIC

MALLORY DITTEMORE FIRST came to East last year as a student teacher in search of a job and a place to stay while her apartment was being renovated. She grew close with Amanda Doane after sharing a classroom with her, and found a place to stay with Doane and her family of four.

“It was really nice, I felt like I had a second family here,” Dittemore said. “I was filling in as the cool aunt.”

Over the course of the month, Doane, who has worked at East for 16 years, introduced Dittemore to the other business teachers at East. She became a part of their circle, and was added to their group chat that pings with text messages day and night, both in and out of school.

Mercedes Rassmusen, who’s been working at East for the past 26 years, is considered the “rock” of the group by the other teachers. She met coworkers Jennifer Hair — her proclaimed “work wife” — and Doane through DECA, a student activity run by the business department. Their group expanded when Jessica Krievins and Kevin Wiesner came to East, and Dittemore joining completed their family. They all came to East at separate times, but feel like they’ve known each other forever, so working together comes easily.

“I can say that in all the different districts and buildings I have been in, this is the first time that I’ve been in a department where I actually feel like I’m part of the family,” Krievins said. “I actually have people to bounce ideas off of which is the best thing that a teacher can have.”

Whether it’s filling everyone in on a faculty meeting or sending a funny meme to lighten the mood of the 7-hour day, they’re constantly supporting one another. They love to boost each other up whenever they can, so when Doane was nominated for the “Outstanding Teacher of the Year” award, it felt like a big family celebration.

“We may not spend time outside of school together because we live in different parts of the city,” Rassmusen said. “And we’re all at different phases in our lives with children and the ages of our children and what they’re doing and stuff, but we are constantly in touch with each other and contacting each other, talking on our phones together.”

MATH MATES

EVERY DAY, JENNIFER Horn comes to school at around 7 a.m. to arrange her desk for the day — a stark contrast to Monique Goodeyon, who’s accustomed to messy habits after sharing a room with Horn for 16 years. With Hannah Pence right next door, the three math teachers are a natural trio.

Each morning before school, one of the three stops to get drinks at Quiktrip, McDonald’s or anything along the way for their other two friends. The three have had systems like this for as long as they’ve roomed next to each other.

W E TA L K A LOT a b o u t t h e fa c t t h a t w e w o u l d st i l l b e j u st a s c l o s e eve n i f w e d i d n ’ t s e e e a c h ot h e r eve r y d a y .

B u t , I ’ m n ot s u re h o w I w o u l d manage without them.

HANNAH PENCE

MATH TEACHER

“Mrs. Horn and I were in the basement for a few years, and when you are down there you really don’t see any of the teachers above,” Goodeyon said. “It wasn’t until we moved up that we started to get close.”

Now, they rarely go a day without seeing one another, whether its meeting up for lunch, on the weekends and every other day over the summer.

“It wasn’t until last summer that I finally convinced the two of them to come down to my lake property and spend a few days there,” Horn said. “I think it’s pretty safe to say that we all had a good time and are planning another one.”

The thought that Horn and Goodeyon are closer to retirement than Pence scares her. The best part about her job is seeing them everyday, and she views them retiring as leaving her.

“We talk a lot about the fact that we would still be just as close even if we didn’t see each other every day,” Pence said. “But, I’m not sure how I would manage without them.”

Until then, they will be standing outside the math hallway every passing period, catching up with each other after the previous class, and available for questions from students.

14 FEATURE

WILL IT EVER

Societal pressure and competition within teenage male athletes pushes them to overexert themselves by p a ig e zado o

A

RE YOU TAKING enough pre-workout?”

“How much are you lifting?”

“I’m lifting twice what you are.”

East Athletic Trainer Dakota Gelsheimer-Orlando hears these comments on a daily basis working with teenage boy athletes in every sport from football to wrestling. While this conversation is typically referred to as “locker room talk,” she says the aspect of competition can lead to male athletes taking unhealthy measures to achieve their desired body, or even to just “outlift” their friends.

Dakota believes the root of these conversations comes down to something simple: competition. Competition with friends and teammates. Competition with their own perception of themselves. Competition to achieve the male body standard.

While Dakota, Carriage Club personal trainer Jake Albracht and sports psychologist Dr. Linda Sterling believe athletic competition within boys can spark a positive drive to perform better in their sports, all three of them acknowledge that competition can initiate the unhealthy mindset.

The unhealthy mindset of never looking good enough or muscular enough spirals into overexercising, consuming more pre-workout than the recommended amount or intaking 500-1000 more calories than healthy for your body type. All of these behaviors can turn into an obsession — one which leads to things like playing while injured, resulting fractures or breaks.

However, a healthy relationship with fitness looks like recovery days, improvement of performance in ones sport and adaptability.

According to Sterling, the competitive mentality in men’s fitness of never being “big” enough can lead to overexertion and overeating — two characteristics she most often finds correlated with unhealthy and toxic behavior in the fitness world with her patients, rather than lifting to your limits, and eating the right number of calories for your body type.

Whatever the goal may be, competition culture in the gym has led to unnecessary pressure to become muscular and built, according to sophomore Jack Kessler, who’s seen this effect firsthand.

“In gyms, [toxic comments] are a common thing,” Kessler said. “There’s always guys who just ruin it for others. There are guys in the gym when we’re working out who have the focus of needing to look bigger and more muscular

than everyone there in the back of their head. They’re only focused on numbers, not watching a change in performance or their bodies.”

Kessler believes the competitiveness within teams and friend groups to be the most built brings competition and toxicity into the gym or sports practices, which should be focused on simply improving. This toxicity starts the spiral of unhealthy training and conditioning with things like overeating, overexertion or playing sports while injured.

“I see the pressure in boys to be that stereotypicalbuilt, muscular athlete mostly through social media now,” Dakota said. “That creates a large impression on these boys that’s what they need to look like, which sparks the cycle of unhealthy, toxic habits and mindsets.”

Carriage Club’s Varsity hockey goalie and junior Edward Sih has a strict, hyper-focused routine for fitness. He thinks that while he works out to stay ahead of his competition, another big part of why himself and other teen boys work out is because they aren’t happy with their appearance.

I N GY M S [ TOX I C c o m m e nt s ] a re a c o m m o n t h i n g . T h e re ’s a lw a y s g u y s w h o j u s t r u i n i t fo r ot h e rs . T h e re a re g u y s i n t h e g y m w h o h a ve t h e fo c u s of j u st n e e d i n g t o l o o k b i g g e r a n d m o re m u s c u l a r t h a n eve r yo n e t h e re i n t h e b a c k of t h e i r h e a d .

JACK KESSLER SOPHOMORE East’s boys varsity soccer goalie and senior Blake Nunnelee agrees. After working out at the gym, he often looks in the mirror and sees a non-muscular, overweight kid and thinks, I don’t look good, I need to go back to the gym and fix that.

“In young male athletes especially, they’ll be making gains and progress but look in the mirror and still see the ‘skinny kid,’” Albracht said. “That’s when the unhealthy mindset starts to creep in.”

Albracht notices an unhealthy mindset amongst teenage boys when exercise and training is the only thing they ever talk about. They come to him about a pain in their shoulder after they’ve

only worked on their arms s hyperfocus and obsess.

Bulking is an example of o according to Dr. Sterling. Thi by teenage boys, involves hea consumed beyond the boy’s nee weight training, according to Instagram of 112 boys, 41 said th Varsity football center and he uses this bulking strategy b He lifts twice a day, eats three p chicken and peanut butter san snack and takes one to two sc lifting. To him, this routine is he Comparable to Heneger, Sih four days a week, eating 3,000 c calories over a teenage boy’s a Healthline. His diet centers aro and avoiding all forms of sugar and creatine monohydrate befor Sih doesn’t see a problem wi “As long as you’re happy a body too much significant harm However, according to Sih, from his routine. He faces insom of sleep most nights, lack of ene hyper-focus on his supplement to obsess when he doesn’t consu for the day.

Dakota thinks the practice o roots in a psychological obsessio or never doing enough, leading more — she doesn’t advise eithe

“What I see the most is boys w and take a break,’ but they keep put a kid in a walking boot bu still going. Because at this point obsession. They feel like they c they can’t not look good. Sitting This obsession can lead to injuries, especially regularly witnesses

NOVEMBER 01, 2O21

BE ENOUGH?

s in the gym and on the field, leading to unhealthy ways of pushing themselves and negative effects

seven days in a row. They

overexertion and overeating, is practice, commonly used avily increasing the calories eed while focusing on intense Healthline. In a poll from hey’ve bulked or actively bulk. d senior Brian Heneger says before every football season. protein-filled meals of grilled ndwiches as a protein-filled coops of pre-workout before ealthy. h spends 3-4 hours at the gym calories a day, more than 500 average intake, according to ound eating fiber and protein ar. He also takes pre-workout ore workouts. ith any of this. and you’re not causing your m, it’s not unhealthy,” Sih said. he’s noticed negative effects omnia that leads to 3-4 hours nergy when he’s bulking and a t intake and diet causing him ume enough calories or meals

of bulking and overexercising on of not looking good enough, to the need to constantly lift her of these methods.

will be told,‘You’ve got to stop ep going,” Dakota said. “We’ll ut they’re still lifting, they’re nt it’s become a psychological can’t miss out, they feel like g out isn’t an option to them.” boys continuing to play on stress injuries, which she s in her job. These injuries are most commonly caused by

overexertion on the body from working out or practicing too much without allotting recovery time in between.

Stress injuries are diagnosed before a fracture or break.

When Dakota diagnoses one, she tells the boys to sit out for their next game to prevent a worsened injury. These directions are rarely listened to or reported to coaches by the players, according to Dakota.

It’s not uncommon for Dakota to put a cast on players for minor stress injuries to prevent them from playing their sport or exercising, despite being told not to. She’s even had to take players’ helmets on the sidelines during football games to prevent them from playing a game that will most likely turn their injury into a fracture or break. According to Dakota, athletes feel such a need to overperform that they’re willing to risk injury. The National Trainers Association also reported out of 43 high-school male athletes, 54% said they’ve played their sport while injured.

T H E Y S TA R T B E G G I N G a n d b e g g i n g fo r m e t o j u s t l e t t h e m p l a y . T h a t ’s t h a t p s yc h o l o g i c a l fa c t o r a g a i n of ‘ I h a ve t o d o m o re , I ’ m n o t d o i n g e n o u g h ’ [ a n d ] t h ey s t a r t fe e l i n g re a l ly b a d a b o u t t h e m s e lve s .

DAKOTA GELSHEIMERORLANDO EAST ATHLETIC TRAINER As she takes their helmets, Dakota is used to the boys pleading: “Let me back on, let me back on, I’ll be fine.”

“They start begging and begging for me to just let them play,” Dakota said. “That’s that psychological factor again of ‘I have to do more, I’m not doing enough’ [and] they start feeling really bad about themselves.”

It’s a chain effect, according to Dakota. When an athlete plays injured, their body breaks or fractures even worse, which can eventually completely prohibiting them from training or conditioning.

Sih has been part of this cycle, continuing to play hockey with injured knees during his November 2020 season.

Halfway through his season, the cartilage in Sih’s knees started completely wearing down. He played 12 games until finally sitting out in late December when he couldn’t lie down without shooting pain rushing to knees.

Despite the pain and injury as he continued to play the

game, Sih didn’t think it was a disastrous choice.

“I didn’t want to leave the game,” Sih said.

“I didn’t want to miss out or lose potential progress. I remember I just kept on saying to myself, ‘just keep going, just keep going.’”

Looking back now, Sih recognizes that was an unhealthy approach to treating his injury.

“Nowadays, I would’ve sat out earlier than I did last year,” Sih said. “Playing 12 games in pain was not a choice I should’ve made.”

Along with overexertion, Nunnelee thinks another unhealthy habit teenage boys take is an overuse of supplements, such as the powder creatine monohydrate.

“If you’re working out almost every day, and you’re hurting yourself and beating yourself because you want to look better, it’s become unhealthy,” Nunnelee said. “With supplements, it can be easy to go down a darker path. Most guys I know using steroids started out taking multiple supplements at a time.”

Between overexertion, injuries and overeating among teen male athletes, taking a simple “break” is rare for their bodies or mental states.

Sterling, Albracht and Dakota all agree that simple recovery days and rest periods are not only necessary for gym-focused students to prevent their bodies from injury, but to maintain a healthy relationship with fitness.

Taking a recovery day, sitting out of a game when injured or cutting down on the intake of supplements and preworkout ingested and remembering progress is being made despite negative thoughts is key, according to Dakota.

“If you actually transfer performance, as in, are you getting better at something outside of the gym, if nutrition is on point, and training is going well, the vanity aspect will take care of itself,” Albracht said.

design by sydney newton art by natalie scholtz

16 FEATURE

THE HARBINGER

design by marissa liberda photos by grace allen

THE GREAT ESCAPE

th

th

The Environmental Education room is home to many furry, and not so furry friends — here are some of the endless tales of their escapes

e

e

hopper

walker

the

erer g n li

by ka te h e itm an

THREE YEARS AGO, students were showing elementary schoolers the amphibians for a field trip, when the giant bullfrog leaped out of the student’s hands and hopped for its life.

The bullfrog then proceeded to hurdle away from the crowd of kids, leaped out into the third floor hallway, made its way to the north ramp — in typical Bonnie and Clyde fashion — as the environmental education students clamored after the frog.

“All the kids in the classroom were just screaming their heads off,” DeBey said. “They were freaking out, they were laughing and some of them were crying. The teachers, the principal and even some of the parent volunteers were all laughing.”

DURING ONE SUMMER of 2005, the Environmental Education classroom’s giant tortoise had the adventure of its lifetime.

The tortoises are often kept in an outdoor pen, giving them some fresh air and more room to walk around. When a construction worker working on the library left the outdoor pen’s gate open, the tortoise crawled right out into the foreign territory on the other side of the fence.

It made its way down 75th St. before taking a short rest in someone’s yard and was able to taste a new variety of grass than what was in its pen. When the homeowners saw the giant tortoise in their yard — after overcoming their initial shock — they figured the tortoise was from East’s Environmental Education program and

ABOUT FIVE YEARS ago, the milk snake wanted to stretch out. When it noticed it’s cage was open, it took advantage and slipped out.

The snake escaped its cage and didn’t return for three and a half months. The environmental ed students couldn’t find the snake in any of the sinks, terrariums or under any synthetic logs. They figured it slipped away when a student forgot to close its cage.

However, throughout the three and a half months, it had been sitting in the classroom listening to

A L L T H E K I D S i n t h e c l a s s ro o m w e re j u st s c re a m i n g t h e i r h e a d s of f , ” D e B ey s a i d . “ T h ey w e re f re a k i n g o u t , t h ey w e re l a u g h i n g a n d s o m e of t h e m w e re c r y i n g .

RUSTY DEBEY

TEACHER

The students’ panic heightened as it took them several minutes to catch the frog in their hands. However, the bullfrog was eventually secured in its cage. The elementary schoolers on the other hand were far from at ease — they were still worried the slimy bullfrog would bounce right out onto them and crawl all over their arms.

brought it back to the school.

After a calm rest of summer break, the tortoise’s pen was left open yet again and he escaped for another stroll.

This time, however, the giant tortoise decided to venture across the football field and onto Delmar St. He ended up walking up Delmar on the concrete, enjoying a lovely autumn day until a passerby noticed.

“It really spooked somebody and they brought it back to school,” Environmental Education teacher Rusty DeBey said. “I got a call from the office saying ‘come pick up this animal,’ they believed was ours.”

Since then, the tortoise hasn’t gone on another walk but is still plotting to take another, this time down Mission Rd.

habitat lectures and confidential parent — teacher conferences, and had watched the students’ confusion and heartbreak over its disappearance. DeBey figured the snake didn’t leave room 301 premises because the it knew there was a food and water source.

But eventually, the snake was found in the environmental education classroom only a few feet away the whole time and put back into its enclosure. Now, its three month hiatus is just another rumour that circles within the animal’s conversations.

Eventually, the snake was found and put back inwto its enclosure.

“WHEN YOU ARE HOLDING THE ANIMALS, ARE YOU EVER WORRIED THAT THEY ARE GOING TO JUMP OUT?” “ C O N S TA N T LY. T H AT ’ S W H Y I l i ke h o l d i n g t h e l e o p a rd g e c ko b e c a u s e h e ’s st i l l . E ve r y s i n g l e ot h e r a n i m a l m ove s a ro u n d — eve n t h e t u r t l e s , t h ey j u st m ove a n d m ove a n d m ove . Yo u [ h a ve t o ] d o [ c l a s s ] w o r k w h i l e yo u ’ re h o l d i n g t h e m . Yo u c a n ’ t g i ve a l l yo u r a tt e nt i o n t o t h e m . I w a nt t o h o l d t h e m b u t a l s o t h ey a re l i tt l e c re e p e rs .

SOPHIE SHROYER JUNIOR T H E R E WA S A R AT T H AT e s c a p e d t h e o w l c a g e n ot t o o l o n g a g o . I t w a s t h e re fo r a b o u t a w e e k b efo re w e [ c a u g ht ] i t . I w a s j u st w o r r i e d t h a t i t w o u l d p o p o u t of n o w h e re a n d g i ve s o m e o n e a h e a r t a tt a c k .

EMILY ROCCA

JUNIOR

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18 FEATURE

design by peyton moore & christian gooley photo by julia fillmore

A NEW HEART FOR A NEW START

by soph ie hen sch e l

NOW EAST PARENT Feda Briggs is sitting at her desk when she gets the call from her twin daughters’ school, Piper Elementary.

“Feda, please get to the school as soon as you can, Ella passed out running to the library.”

Her heart sank and her mind floated to seven years before. She sees her sister, Mary-Rose collapsed at her feet after running to tell her goodbye in their hometown, Beirut Lebanon. She died from cardiac arrest.

Please, please don’t let this happen to Ella.

Feda picks Ella up and takes her to the hospital, insisting the doctors do more and more tests to land on an answer that’s not just “coincidence,” memories of her sister lingering in her mind. They find Ella has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick and pumps blood at a slower rate — she’d have to get an Internal Cardiac Defibrillator inserted in her chest to regulate heart arrhythmias.

Feda’s worries shifted. It suddenly wasn’t about whether or not this was a heart issue. It was about how they could help Ella combat the possibilities and unknowns that would come with the disease. “ I [ h a d ] really bad anxiety of, ‘If I run, I’ll pass out,’” Ella said.

“Recess would come, I’d be running and then I’d go grab my teacher’s arm because I’d get scared. It affected everything.

From that day on, nothing was the same.”

Years after her diagnosis, her sister, senior Maria Morrisey, and her mother were also diagnosed with HCM, but their cases are not nearly as severe.

From this, they concluded Ella’s aunt likely passed from the disease as well, which worried Feda: her daughter could have a similar fate. But they’ve learned how to cope together, not overthinking possible outcomes and rather living with the obstacles as they arrive.

As Ella progressed through her elementary years, she experienced numerous shocks. She would overexert herself, pass out, go into arrhythmia and be shocked back to a normal beat with her ICD. Ambulance calls were an unfortunate staple, whether at

school or with friends on their way home.

“The first time, we were at my old school and we were walking home and she had a shock — I was like 12, and I was on the phone with the police,” Maria said. “As a twin you have a job to make sure she’s OK, and with this now happening I had a very rushed childhood and had to be mature very young.”

Living anxiously with the ICD in her chest was just the first of many changes.

Next came goodbyes to all of Ella’s favorite childhood activities — all at once. She was an avid gymnast. Handsprings had once been apart of her daily routine, and she had to say goodbye. Even when she stopped being able to participate, she still sat on the benches with the team, as close to normal as she possibly could be. She took her restrictions and lived with them the best ways she could.

She thought her childhood was ending.

She thought nothing could get worse.

Although Ella struggled with not having substantial abilities throughout childhood, everything worsened with high school. She had more shocks, her dietary restrictions tightened and her physical abilities plummeted.

When she was little, she lost sports and running. Now, she can’t eat more than 700 mg of sodium or walk up the stairs at school without losing all feeling in her feet and turning pale out of fear she’ll have another shock.

Her short-term memory is deteriorating, she can’t get too excited about milestones or she’ll overexert her heart. She can’t comfortably stand in the student section at football games, she can’t run to the pep rally on Lancer Day. She can’t live the life she wants.

“I feel robbed,” Ella said. **** It was Sept. 11 when Ella’s most recent shock took place. According to Feda, it was the most ironic, terrifying, groundbreaking shock she’d had yet. And all for a squirrel.

Ella was driving down a side street, a baby squirrel was crossing with another car racing toward it. She skidded to the curb — she cares about animals, a branch of her perpetual kindness.

Ella jumped out and was glad to see the car had dodged it. She picked up the squirrel and took a few steps back to get in her car — and then everything went black.

She opened her eyes to see her foot on the gas with the engine revving and the baby squirrel darting around the backseat.

What happened? How did she get here?

After she came to, Ella’s heart entered the worst arrhythmia she’s ever had, taking four shocks to bring it back to a steady

rhythm. It should only take one. Her heart was getting worse.

“She almost lost her life to save a squirrel, and that squirrel didn’t even live, it died in the car,” Feda said. “I was talking to her doctor on the phone, and all she was caring about was to make sure to tell [her friend] to keep the squirrel safe, not to lose it or let it die. She has no color in her, she’s shivering still because she was shocked four times and that’s what she was telling me to do — ‘Get off the phone with the doctor, tell [my friend] to take care of the squirrel. Promise me you’ll take care of the squirrel.’”

According to Feda, that’s just who Ella is. That’s who she’s always been. But nonetheless, the disease was getting worse, and she needed to be checked.

Feda first went to Ella’s doctors at the University of Kansas Medical Center, then to her cardiac team in Memphis,Tenn. for a second opinion. They insisted Ella came in person for a visit. They did echos and ran tests, but they capped out on medicines — there was nothing left to do. Ella and her mom went home.

About a week later, Feda got a call — a call that changed the lives of their entire family.

Ella jolted into Maria’s room. It was a daily occurrence for the two, but this day wasn’t their typical evening gossip. As she tore open the door, legs like jello, she gave her sister a teary-eyed gaze. Confused at the ball of emotions before her, Maria jumped to ask what had happened.

It was official. Ella was going to be on the heart transplant list. After the passing out, the ICD, the restrictions and the grief, her HCM would be over. She was getting a new heart.

“I started screaming and crying of joy because I was so excited for her,” Maria said. “She didn’t know how to feel at the moment — she was just crying, then smiling, then crying again.” ***** Ella’s second chance at a normal life arrived in a phone call from the hospital.

Maria will stay in Kansas City with their step-dad while Ella, Feda and their biological dad will move to Memphis on Nov. 7. She’ll officially join the transplant list the day they arrive and wait for her new heart, followed by the actual transplant surgery and around six months of recovery time. Her wait time will depend on the priority status she’s given — they’re hoping for 1A, which typically would get her a heart within 30 days. Ella and her mom will be staying in a house they’ve rented out for the first month of their stay. As far as school, she’ll be participating in an SMSD

NOVEMBER 01, 2O21

off-campus service program with a reduced schedule to the best of her abilities.

Although it’s a life-changing and lifesaving second chance, she’ll be leaving behind her twin, her friends, her senior year and her life as she knows it.

“Recently, I’ve been sitting in class and I’ll just look around and be like, ‘I’m gonna miss this so much when I’m just in the hospital alone,’” Ella said. “I know some of my friends will visit me, but it’s just like the random people like [teacher Brett] Kramer who I know won’t visit me, but just make life a little better. That’s what’s destroying me the most... it’s like hitting a pause on your life and especially because it’s senior year.”

As hard as the move will be for Ella and her family, the potential for a normal life fuels an intense optimism.

“When she gets excited, she can actually be excited. It’s that type of thing, she gets to do everything like a normal person for once,” Maria said. “I haven’t comprehended it yet because she’s such a big part of my life.

I just go into her room randomly because she’s my sister, or I text her stupid stuff, or we fight, it’s that stuff that’s not going to be there for a long time. Her room is going to be empty for months. It’s just gonna be sad not to have her with me.”

Senior Isabella Marquez has been a friend of Ella’s since eighth grade and has seen her struggles with HCM firsthand.

She knows that while it’ll be hard for their friend group to function without her, they’re overjoyed at the thought of her struggles dissipating.

“It’s sad because she’s just so young and getting a surgery that severe is really scary,” Marquez said. “But it’s going to benefit her in the future, I’m really happy for her that that’s going to happen.”

Ella’s doctors have informed her that post-recovery, she’ll be able to run for the first time since elementary school and regain her short-term memory. Her hair and nails will no longer thin. She might have the life she always wanted.

Ella and her family will continue to fight the mental battle of guilt that comes with accepting a transplant. But they know whatever conflicting feelings they have of knowing someone will die, the donor will have done so willingly to save Ella’s life.

“I know the person will probably be around my age,” Ella said. “It’s just weird, but I know it’s an accident. I won’t be forgetful like I am right now, my hair will be healthier, my nails, everything. I know I’ll come back and I’ll be able to run. I just think of stuff like that.”

20 A&E

THE HARBINGER

A&E HIGHLIGHTS

design by nora lynn photos from spotify and facebook art by bridget connelly

Catch up on what’s trending in the arts and entertainment world

RECENT RELEASES MUSIC

HOW CAN A

PODCASTS A LBUM | BLUE BANISTERS A R T I ST | L A N A D E L R AY R E L E A S E DAT E | O CT 2 2

Rey’s second release of the year is a powerful and insightful track, mixing her strong lyrics and vocals to speak on he r newfound s e lf-love

P OD CA ST | Q U E E N O F T H E CON R U N T IM E | 40 M IN

Though Mair S my t h s e e m s l i ke a n a n g e l i n disguise when one is m o st needed, re a l i t y T V p ro d u c e r J o h n a t h a n Wa lto n ’s re s e a rc h reve a ls h e r l i fe a s a d eta i le d c o n a r t i st .

A LBUM | GIRL TO GIRL

P OD CA ST | S I N I ST E R S OCIET IES

A RTI ST | TENIL L E ARTS

R U N T IM E | 2 5 M IN

RELEA SE DATE | O CT 22

F ro m b u n ke rs and b o oze to p ro p h et s a n d a p o c a ly p s e s , C o - h o st s S u r u t h i B a la a n d H a n n a h M a g u i re i nve st i g a te t h e c r i m e s of m u lt i p le c u lt s .

Over the course of this album, Arts writes a letter to her teenage self as a reflection of her journey through l ife

PROP GUN BE DANGEROUS?

Though the investigation on the “Rust” set shooting is still open, these are some details about prop guns

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF PROP GUNS: TYPE ONE: Totally fake and made to look like the real thing — though it’s a safer option, it much less realistic and rarely used TYPE TWO: A once real gun that was manipulated by prop masters and filled with blanks rather than ammunition

TYPE TWO CAN STILL BE DANGEROUS, EVEN WITH BLANKS Though a prop gun has no projectile, the force of the gun power’s explosion can still do damage if a person in close range

UPCOMING EVENTS D AY O F T H E D E A D THE NELSON NOV. 1 - 15 10 A.M. - 4 P.M.

SIP AND SHOP MISSION BUSINESS DISTRICTS NOV. 13 10 A.M. - 4 P.M.

Blank with a “crimped” end

Detachable bullet

The typical safety protocol for prop guns is 20 feet away from the gun

M Y W H O L E T H I N G i s h o n e st ly w hy d o e s i t h a ve t o b e l o a d e d ?

I m e a n , [ I k n o w t h ey ’ re b l a n k s ] , I g ot t h e ex p l o s i o n a n d eve r y t h i n g .

B u t w e ’ re s o fa r a h e a d w i t h C G I t e c h n o l o g y t h a t I ’ m s u re t h ey c a n t h ey c a n m a ke i t l i ke a s re a l i st i c a s p o s s i b l e .

AUDREY MOREHEAD

JUNIOR

*information from cnn.com, nbcnews.com, apnews.com, and cbsnews.com

CHOP

NOVEMBER 01, 2021 design by celia condon

CHICK E N &

rice soup

A review of Shinju Sushi & Hibachi, which just opened at 3935 West 69 Terrace in the Prairie Village shops

by sydney new to n

I

T’S SAFE TO say that my bank

**** MISO

*** ST EAM ED

veggies thoughts

**** FIN AL

account has taken a hit from the gas money spent on biweekly 30-minute drives for a hibachi dinner with friends. So when I heard about Shinju Sushi & Hibachi, located at 3935 W 69th Ter. just a few minutes from East, I convinced myself I’d save money by trying out the first reasonably close hibachi restaurant.

Replacing C. Frogs in the Prairie Village Shops, Shinju offers sushi for those looking for a classic dining experience, and hibachi if you want to see the chef grill your meal in front of you with a culinary show.

Rainbow-colored lights hung on the ceiling, and a circular bar in the center of the restaurant made it a modern twist on a traditional hibachi restaurant. It gave off a young, hip vibe unlike most other hibachi joints in the KC area. Considering I went at 5 p.m. on a Monday, the restaurant was fairly empty at first, but filled up by the time I was leaving around 6:15 p.m.

With no wait, my friend and I were directed to their familystyle tables, with eight seats surrounding each cooking station — making it a perfect place to go for large occasions like a birthday party. The only downside was that right as I sat down in my chair, which was rather close to the ground, it felt like I was looking eye-level with my plate.

The menu was overwhelming at first, with options for types of protein, appetizers, drinks and even sushi, but no clear categories for each item. I appreciated the menu’s variety of vegetarian

it U P

options for both hibachi and sushi lovers.

And after my server explained each dish, I chose the basic chicken hibachi dinner, which included vegetables, fried rice, miso soup and ginger salad. The soup and salad took no more than five minutes to arrive at the table, which is some of the quickest service I’ve had in a while.

I can’t complain about the soup — it was okay, but tasted like every other miso soup I’ve had. And not to mention there was way too much seaweed in the soup for my liking. It felt like the soup and seaweed were fighting for room in my mouth. The ginger salad, on the other hand, redeemed the course as it was the perfect balance of sweet corn and lettuce to the savory ginger sauce, and had the ideal sauce-to-lettuce ratio — it was by far the best ginger salad I’ve ever had.

Ifter about 10 minutes, we finished up the first course and now came my favorite part: the chef. He immediately lit the table on fire, flipping eggs with his utensils and creating a volcano of onions, then went on to cook the actual meal.

His grand finale was letting us catch scrambled eggs from the air — a huge disappointment from the shrimp I’m used to during my other hibachi experiences, and honestly kind of gross.

My main course had three parts: vegetables, fried rice and chicken — plus a few pieces of shrimp that the chef generously included. I started with the vegetables, which consisted of carrots, broccoli, onions, mushrooms and zucchini. The mushrooms and onions instantly stuck out to me, with strong flavors and an added saltiness from the soy sauce glaze. All of the vegetables were well-cooked and seasoned, but as an avid broccoli and carrot hater, the rest were not for me.

The best part of my meal was by far the fried rice. It had the perfect amount of soy sauce, and the rice balanced well with the egg and vegetables, which stood out from the more bland fried rices I’ve had in the past. I finished it in less than

A&E 21

five minutes, which my stomach didn’t thank me for. Looking around, it was the first thing gone on the other customers’ plates as well.

When it came to the chicken, I was underwhelmed. Though the chicken was cooked perfectly and had a smooth texture, it didn’t have a strong flavor and felt bland. The redeeming factor was the “yum yum” sauce, which, when paired with the chicken, added the perfect amount of sweetness. I even asked for a container of it to bring home.

The portion sizes were obscene — I couldn’t even finish half. I’m used to huge sizes with hibachi, but Shinju’s sizes were especially big. The amount of food on my plate felt overwhelming, but at least I had enough to save for lunch the next day — the leftovers surprisingly kept fairly well.

Two people could definitely share one of their meals.

I T GAV E O F F a yo u n g , h i p v i b e u n l i ke m o st ot h e r H i b a c h i j o i nt s i n t h e KC a re a .

The waiters were sure to check in throughout my meal, asking if I needed anything or how my food tasted — but unlike some restaurants, it seemed like they genuinely wanted to help. The friendliness of Shinju’s staff made me feel welcome, making my experience even brighter.

The total cost of my meal was $16.29, plus a three-dollar tip. The price seemed reasonable for the amount of food I got, and was way more affordable than the countless $30+ dollar hibachi meals I’ve had in the past.

Shinju offered an enjoyable dining experience with great service. If you try it out yourself, you’ll probably see me there too, chowing down fried rice with my friends and reveling in the cheaper prices and closer location.

****

22 A&E

TO THE AND BACK by katie murphy ETWEEN THE

B

HOURS

of never-ending math homework and tennis practice, spending three hours at a movie theater is rarely at the top of my to-do list. But after being bombarded with Instagram ads of Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya wandering sand dunes, I had to make room in my schedule to see the new scifi movie “Dune.”

Set in a futuristic world of rival houses fighting for control of a desert planet, filmmaker Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel features powerful cinematography of sandy dunes, impressive fortresses and worn cities. The movie follows a young heir, Paul Atreides, to the planet “Dune” after the emperor transferred control of the precious “spice” — a rare, multiuse drug — from t h e b a r b a r i c Ha r k o n n e n s to the Atreides family.

W i t h

control over the universe’s most lucrative product, the family is faced with danger from all sides — including the planet’s own fierce native inhabitants, the Fremen.

Atreides — played by the internet’s crush Timothée Chalamet — navigates politics and prophecies while also learning to survive in the harsh, new conditions.

Anyone who has read Herbert’s novel knows Villeneuve had a lot of information to convey in two and a half hours. From politics to religion to culture to space travel, Herbert spelled out Atreides’ world in minute detail. Since the movie features a new universe, there’s a lot of information for viewers unfamiliar with the original story to take in. However, the movie didn’t feel rushed. It helps that the movie only covers roughly 500 of the 800 pages of the novel, so Villeneuve was able to stay mostly true to the book.

The first 30 minutes of the movie focuses on introducing the characters of each house and the tricky political s i t u a t i o n the House of Atreides is in.

However, the pace picks up once the Atreides move to their new planet. By the end, I was left intrigued and

ready to watch the rest of the story unfold in the sequel — which the filmmakers have already promised to the audience. Based on the recent increase in sales of the original novel, people are already flocking to see what happens next.

If you’ve read the book, you have a significant advantage — there’s lots of foreign information to process.

Although I read the book a few years ago, I watched the movie with two friends who haven’t read the book. Both were thoroughly confused about some aspects of the plot, like why there was conflict between houses, what the Emperor was all about and who the Bene Gesserit were.

While the mystery keeps you wondering “what’s next,” it’s also frustrating to have unanswered questions, and it didn’t help that the blaring soundtrack overpowered the characters’ mumbling at times, making some words impossible to hear.

To avoid confusion and have a better grasp on the storyline, I’d highly recommend reading the book before watching the movie. The background knowledge I had allowed me to enjoy the cinematography and storytelling of the movie instead of desperately trying to keep track of who’s who.

One disappointing part of the movie is the overwhelming number of cheesy moments of Chalamet staring off into the distance. Although an

important aspect of the plot is Paul’s personal growth from an uncertain boy into a wise leader, the soul-searching idea is overplayed and repetitive. Even though Chalamet’s diehard fans probably appreciate the sappy scenes, the movie could’ve been more condensed and less like a perfume commercial.

And if your number one reason to watch was to see Zendaya, you’ll be disappointed.

Despite her seemingly big appearance in the trailer, she’s only on screen for roughly seven minutes — most of which are silent appearances in Paul’s dream sequences.

I was worried that the movie would be over-thetop with unrealistic CGI and corny special effects, but was pleasantly surprised.

The casting and costumes were spot on to what I imagined from the book. The weathered-butfuturistic look of the planets reminded me of the “used” feel of planets in Star Wars. The setting and CGI impressed me and didn’t come off as tacky.

Although hard to follow at times, “Dune” is an immersive cinematic experience that successfully transports you to a different world. The plot is arguably an analogy for current events in the Middle East — with a fictional spice instead of oil — which makes the movie even more captivating. If you’re into sci-fi and find yourself a free Saturday afternoon, I’d recommend watching this movie. I’ll definitely be back for Part II in 2023.

THE HARBINGER

design by greyson imm

A review of Dune, Denis Villeneuve’s film based off of Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction novel

CESCA’S

REVIEW

A review from staffer Cesca Stamati, who saw “Dune” with Katie

With talented actors, an epic universe and baffling special effects, “Dune” cements its place in scifi history next to the “StarWars” franchise — but the two should be properly distinguished.

While “Dune” also includes razor fast space-ships, an evil empire and a desert planet (hello, Tatooine), it’s sleekly futuristic style separates it from “Star Wars.”

Plus, the tone is more serious, making the movie better-suited to a mature audience that can handle Harkonnens.

Despite its many similarities “Star War, “Dune” reminded me most of “Game of Thrones.” With the same unforgiving death scenes, feudal system and even Jason Momoa, the two universes felt similar. “Dune” is the perfect sweet spot betwee the two.

CESCA STAMTI JUNIOR

KATIE’S takes

Katie’s overall thoughts on Dune

setup felt long setting was reminiscent of Star Wars potentially confusing without context costumes were accurate to the novel’s costumes descripton

NOVEMBER 01, 2021

LOCAL LANCERS 23

O C TAV I O

design by sydney newton

WHAT’S YOUR NAME, AND WHY IS IT YOUR NAME? My name is Octavio Galicia. They found my first name from a baby book and thought it was interesting.

My middle name was going to be Joaquin. They changed it because they thought I would get made fun of for it. I don’t really see it personally, but I like Octavio a lot honestly.

WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU ARE OBSESSED WITH? I have a weird guilty pleasure. It’s Lego Ninjago. It’s a show from my childhood.

They kept making seasons, so I keep watching. There’s 16 of them, and it’s all about Lego ninjas. It’s the weirdest thing. I watch it basically every single day, at least three episodes a day. It’s a big part of what my childhood was.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO WASTE TIME? Honestly, I like using PhotoShop a lot and getting creative with a lot of ideas. What I do sometimes is help with the other frequent friday posters. I’ll help design them if they need help. It’s something I like to do, just sort of get creative and think of a cool poster idea.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERTED ISLAND, WHAT THREE THINGS WOULD YOU BRING? I would bring a video game consul so I wouldn’t get bored. I’d bring a good mini fridge so I could get any sort of items around the island and preserve them. Then I’d bring my phone so I could look through photos and not get lonely.

WHAT’S THE STRANGEST DREAM YOU’VE EVER HAD? I remember one time I got in a boxing ring match. I was the referee. The night before there was an MMA fight. It was a fight between McGregor and the yellow cab from the Great Gatsby. It was standing up right and used it’s wheels to fight. It was really weird.

24 SPORTS

THE HARBINGER

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SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS Gallery, results and free-agents picked up by Fantasy Football players

PLAYER PICK-UPS Free agent pick-ups by Fantasy Football players

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T E A M | P a t r i ot s POSITION | Running

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A B O V E L E F T J u n i o r M ar i n B r yant talks at t h e te nt w i t h j u n i o rs I s a b e l le H lo b i k an d M aya Ro u de bu s h an d s o p h o m o re L a u re n G a h a g a n befo re t h e boys ’ race . PHOTO

BY RACHEL BINGHAM A B O V E J u n i o r Wya tt H au ghto n j u m ps to war m u p b efo re t h e b oys 5 K ra c e .

PHOTO BY RACHEL BINGHAM L E F T F re s h m a n S o p h i a M a r i e n - B rovo nt r u n s p a st j u n i o r M a r i n B r ya nt a n d s o p h o m o re G eys o n I m m d u r i n g h e r race . PHOTO BY RACHEL

P O I N T S P L AY E R GA I N E D | 2 5 . 3 DA M I E N H A R R I S I S t h e r u n n i n g b a c k fo r

N e w E n g l a n d , b u t t h ey ’ re m o re p a s s - h e a v y s o h e w a s n ’ t ex p e c t e d t o d o a s w e l l .

JUNIOR GRAHAM MOSHER PICK-UP | Eli Mitchell T E A M | 4 9 e rs POSITION | Running

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P O I N T S P L AY E R GA I N E D | 1 6 .7 L A S T W E E K H E b a s i c a l ly w o n m e t h e

LAST STANDINGS TENN IS state

DOUBLES SINGLES

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1 s t - B r y s o n L a n g fo rd a n d G ret a S t e c s c h u lt e 2 n d - Ka t i e S c h m i d t a n d Abigail Long 4 t h - B r i d g et 7t h - Ka t i e M u r p hy

VOLLE YB A L L GYMNASTICS

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Final results of some of the fall sports’ seasons *as of Oct. 27

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g a m e . I ’ d s a y i t w a s p rett y c l o s e , I e n d e d u p w i n n i n g by 2 5 p o i nt s a n d h e h a d 1 7 s o h e w a s d ef i n i t e ly a b i g fa c t o r i n g ett i n g m e t h a t w i n .

FRESHMAN JACK BROGHAMMER P I C K - U P | C o rd a r re l l e P a tt e rs o n TEAM | Falcons

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To re a d m o re o n fa l l s p o r t s ’ re s u lt s i n st a t e t o u r n a m e nt s i n L u ke B e i l ’s st o r y

POSITION | Running B a c k , W i d e Re c e i ve r a n d K i c k Ret u r n e r P O I N T S P L AY E R GA I N E D | 1 4 .1 H E H A D B E E N a k i c k ret u r n e r a n d h a s

b o u n c e d a ro u n d t e a m s a n d h a s n eve r b e e n g o o d , b u t a l l t h e s u d d e n h e st a r t e d g o i n g c ra z y .

*football players from MCT Campus

NOVEMBER 01, 2021 design by bridget connelly photos by elle siegel

Sophomore Jack Jones furthers his baseball career as he verbally commits to the University of Tennessee

THE OPTIONS

Some of the colleges that Jack was talking to about playing baseball before committing

SPORTS 25

RUNNING HOME by madel i ne funkey CROWD PACKED with baseball scouts watches as sophomore

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Jack Jones steps up to the plate, ready to play his last game of the summer. Jack feels the ball ricochet off his wooden bat, and let’s it fly out of his hands toward the dugout, jogging around each base. He didn’t need to see the ball hit the grass to know he just hit a home run. Glancing up at the scoreboard after he made it back to homebase, he sees that his exit velocity — the speed of the baseball coming off the bat — was 105 mph, exceeding the average Major League Baseball exit velocity of 89 mph.

“It feels really cool — smoking the ball — because it’s like hitting a buzzer beater in basketball or a last minute touchdown,” Jack said. “Even if it’s not a big situation, knowing you just perfectly hit a ball is a really good feeling.”

Jack was introduced to baseball at age five by his dad, who formerly played for Illinois Wesleyan College. Starting on a travel team at age eight in his hometown of Bloomington, Ill., Jack was always playing with the older kids due to his larger physique and natural athletic abilities.

When Jack was nine, his father passed away and he, his mom and younger sister moved to Kansas City, Kan. to be closer to their grandparents and cousins a few years later. They made the move a week before the first day of seventh grade, forcing him to leave his friends and hometown behind. Jack knew he wouldn’t miss anything about the actual state of Illinois, but it was the people he was leaving behind who made the transition tough.

“Adjusting to the move was really difficult,” Jack’s mom Lyndsey Jones said. “Over time, he made great friends and teammates and found an amazing team he loves.”

Once he got settled in KC, Jack began training and playing with a baseball academy called Building Champions. The BC team provided Jack with knowledgeable coaches and better instruction to bring his athletic career even further than in his old Illinois teams — which were run by a couple small town baseball dads.

In his new team, Jack gained a personal hitting coach, Jeremy Jones, who’s the owner of BC and a scout for the Royals. Jeremy says he was instantly impressed, not only with Jack’s ability to focus on executing his movements, but also his ability to analyze himself in between reps and ask for help when he was struggling.

“Obviously the physicality was there in Jack, but you always want to make sure the athlete is an elite thinker,” Jeremy said.

“He was really thinking at a high level as far as how his body was moving and being able to make adjustments needed, fast.”

Jack thinks training with BC has helped him become mentally tougher and control his emotions on and off the field by teaching him that you’re going to fail more times than you succeed, so it’s all about how you recover and adjust when you have setbacks.

“Having these coaches that he looks up to and respects that also teach the idea that it’s not just about the games, it’s about the person and the kid as an athlete, I think that is one of the best things that’s happened to Jack in a long time,” Lyndsey said.

Jeremy, along with East baseball coach and pitching coach for BC Will Gordon, teaches athletes how important a positive mindset is on their team.

“During practice, Jermey will sit people down and talk to us about our mindset,” Jack said. “He wants everyone to play hard and be really respectful. He’s implemented to hold yourself and to not throw your bat if you’re frustrated.”

After training all throughout elementary and middle school, Jack’s freshman year was the real test: it was time for him to begin the recruitment process. Playing baseball in college was an easy decision for Jack because he wanted to get an education as well as follow his baseball dreams of one day playing in the Major Leagues. College coaches aren’t allowed to contact him until Sept.

1 of his junior year. So, Jack worked with Jeremy and Will to make sure he was ready, contacting coaches himself and training to improve his hitting skills.

“If college coaches are recruiting a player prior to their junior year, they’ll call me and ask Jack to call them,” Jeremy said. “So Jack can call the coaches, but not vice versa.”

This past summer, scouts started to fill the stadiums of Jack’s tournaments, turning Jack’s five-year-old fantasy into a reality.

“I was nervous to know that I was playing in front of scouts because I felt like if I didn’t perform, they wouldn’t be interested,” Jack said. “Towards the end of the summer, I forgot about it and just focused on playing baseball, because you can’t think about other things while you’re playing, otherwise you won’t play well.”

Jack was selected to play in Prep Baseball Report Future Games in Atlanta — the last tournament of the summer season. During this tournament, the best players from each state are put in a tournament of six or seven games.

He was given two free days while in Atlanta, so him, his mom and his sister drove two hours to explore the University of Tennessee, since he had been in contact with the coach Tony Vitello for two months. While he had visited and talked with other colleges, he felt his conversations with the Tennessee coach were much more natural and he loved the campus and baseball stadium, as well as the compact college town feel of Knoxville, Tenn.

“As soon as I stepped on the campus it felt right,” Jack said.

“I visited a few other schools too and they didn’t feel the same.

Walking on the Tennessee campus and seeing everything there, there was nothing I didn’t like.”

After being blown away by his personal visit to the University in the summer, Jack made the call to Tony informing him that he will be officially verbally committing to the University of Tennessee — eager to continue his academic and baseball career.

The relationships he’s made with Jeremy and Will have coached him in baseball, and through life, helping him grow to be the person he is today. Lyndsey says that these men have been unbelievable influences in Jack’s life that have helped to guide and show him that they have faith in him.

“They both help me grow as a guy,” Jack said. “They have stepped into that father figure role and helped me learn how to be a man.”

Ranked number two in Kansas for his age by Prep Baseball Report, Jack is proud of the hard work he’s put into the sport, and can’t wait to now play at the college level. He constantly analyzes videos his mom takes of him at games to make sure his swing looks right and notice if his feet are falling out of the box or hands are dropping — then goes to work on different drills to improve skills and maintain consistency.

“Jack, he gets the sport,” Lyndsey said. “There’s something about it that he just understands. If he’s not doing something correctly, he goes to his coaches and he’s really good at self-correction.”

26 SPORTS

THE HARBINGER

STATE RECAPPED:

design by lyda cosgrove photos by macy crosser, kate beaulieu and sabrina dean

An recap of how volleyball, tennis and golf performed at state and substate

GIRLS

WHERE: BLUE VALLEY NORTH WHEN: OCT. 23 GAME SUMMARY: 3 GAMES AGAINST OLATHE SOUTH: 13-25 25-22 21-25

GIRLS

VO L L E Y B A L L by luke beil T HE GIRLS VOLLEYBALL team competed in

a sub-state game against Olathe South on Oct 23. sub-state is a one-day tournament consisting of either one or two single elimination games, depending on how the team performs.

After several injuries on the team, the team moved JV player and junior Annie Bastien up to varsity, with only a few practices before state.

However, the team still played very well, according to varsity volleyball player and senior Aina Lewis.

Although the girls lost the first game pulling them from the state competition, the team still took the game to three rounds for a tiebreaker.

“Our attitude going into it was one of the most important things,” Lewis said. “We went in ready to win and play the game we know how to play. I feel like we did well.”

Although the volleyball team’s season didn’t end in their ideal way, seniors like Lewis are excited for the future of the team.

“It’s sad that I won’t be able to see everything that they’re going to accomplish but I know they will do a lot,” Lewis said.

GOLF

T HE GIRLS GOLF placed third during the two-

day state tournament at the Emporia Municipal Golf Course on Oct. 18 and 19. In the tournament, the combined individual scores and a six- player team score determines who takes home the trophy, with the lowest score winning. East scored a 706 coming behind a 685 from Washburn Rural and a 678 from Blue Valley West.

This year’s state team consisted of five underclassmen players, who are all competing at state for the first time. Despite the age gap, the team soon found a bond through their fivehour tournaments, many team dinners and daily practices, which motivated them to work as hard as possible at state, granting them their third place title.

Senior Tess Roman hopes she helped the younger girls understand what it’s like to be on varsity and play at state, having attended the tournament all four years of high school. Although the team won’t have any seniors next year, Roman still has faith in the team for next season.

“I think they’re going to do great next year, probably better than this year,” Roman said.

3RD OVERALL 2ND PLACE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS: SENIOR TESS ROMAN

1ST OVERALL 1ST IN DOUBLES: JUNIORS GRETA STECHSHULTE & BRYSON LANGFORD 2ND IN DOUBLES: SOPHOMORES KATIE SCHMIDT AND ABIGAIL LONG 4TH IN SINGLES: SENIOR BRIDGET EPSTEIN 7TH IN SINGLES: SOPHOMORE KATIE MURPHY

GIRLS TENNIS

T HE GIRLS TENNIS won state for the third year in

a row on Oct. 15 and 16. Juniors Greta Stechshulte and Bryson Langford played their own teammates, sophomores Katie Schmitt and Abigail Long, in the final doubles round and won, continuing their three-year winning record. Long and Schmitt took home second place.

“While we are all good friends, we are still competitive and both [doubles teams] want to win,” Stechshulte said.

As far as singles, senior Bridget Epstein came in fourth and sophomore Katie Murphy placed seventh. Their scores combined put them in first.

“Everybody’s place really does matter,” Stechshulte said. “Us getting first is no more important than our singles team placing or our other doubles team getting second.”

The girls head coach and English teacher Andrew Gibbs believes winning state is the fulfillment of the players hard work, whether it be playing year round tennis or improving every day.

Gibbs focuses on putting his players in match situations which thoroughly prepare them for games. Instances like making a good first serve and minimizing the number of times they lose two points in a row are just some of the tactics that Gibbs has instilled, preparing the East team for state.

“As long as high school tennis has been around, East has always had a strong program,” Gibbs said. “I don’t ever want to take for granted the opportunity that playing in a state tournament is.”

NOVEMBER 01, 2021 design by elise madden

PHOTOSTORY 27

CONNECTING ON THE COURT

Freshman connection organized a pickle ball tournament to help the homeless by donating blankets to the Uplift Organization on Friday, Oct. 22.

SCAN ME PHOTO

Use this QR code t o p u rc h a s e p h o t o s f ro m t h i s eve n t o n H a r b i e P h ot o

A B O V E F re s h m a n Nate George plays w i t h p a r t n e r Kian McKenna and h i t s t h e b a l l to Bennett Tuttle a n d Jakey Jolles.

PHOTO BY RACHEL BINGHAM R I G H T F re s h m an Connection Ch a i r B a n ks P re n diville fills out the lo s e r ’s b ra c ket towards the end of t h e to u r n a m e nt. “Around 50 fresh man s h owed u p,” P rend iville said. “ I t wa s c o o l s e eing everyone c o m p ete a n d g i ve back to the community.”

PHOTO BY ELISE MADDEN

T O P R I G H T F re s h man Jakey Jolles celebrates by chest bumping f re s h m a n B e n n ett Tu ttle after scoring a point against freshmen JJ P a vin a nd Na t ha n D an iels. PHOTO BY RACHEL BINGHAM A B O V E D re s s e d a s potato heads, freshman Lucy Warner and h e r p a r t n e r A n n a Ra vis give their opponents a high five with their p a d d le s a f te r lo s i n g their game. In the bracket style tournament, Wa r ner a nd Ra vis lost 7-6, tran sferrin g th em to th e loser’s bracket. “ M y m o m a n d d a d were potato heads for halloween so I found t h o s e i n my b a s e m e nt, it was very last minute,” Warner said.

PHOTO BY MACY CROSSER L E F T A s s e n i o r E m ma Brown fills out the bracket for the to u r n a m e nt , f re s h m a n du o s wait to fin d o u t w h o th ey w il l play n ext.

F re s h m a n M i le s K ro e ning and Jack Meirowsky took first place and wo n C h i c k - F i l - A g i f t c ards. PHOTO BY ELISE MADDEN

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THE HARBINGER copy by cesca stamati

NOVEMBER

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How to celebrate the less known holidays happening this month

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holidays

national stress awareness day

Sleep in past your alarm Meditate for 10 minutes Book a yoga class Do a face mask

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national fast food day

Hit up your favorite fast food place REMINDER: eat at restaurants that SCAN ME usually celebrate with deals (here’s the 2020 list!)

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national jersey friday

Wear your favorite jersey to school Buy tickets to the Chiefs VS. Packers game on Nov. 7 at Arrowhead Stadium

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world television day

Start a new Netflix series Watch an episode (or five) of your comfort show Unsubscribe to any streaming services you don’t use

ALLOWEEN IS OVER. You’re still coming down the sugar high from all that candy and craving more holiday spirit.

Instead of waiting around for

Thanksgiving and Christmas, save the date for these national and world holidays you’ve probably never heard of.

world kindness day

Leave a kind sticky note on someone’s locker Hug your friends and family Donate to a local charity (here’s a list of optons!)

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SCAN ME

small business saturday

Buy something from a small business Visit these local shops in KC instead of big SCAN ME companies (here are 30 options!)