The Harbinger: Issue 3 2010-2011

Harbinger the

all that

AZZ

ISSUE 3 SHAWNEE MISSION EAST PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS OCT. 5, 2010

The Blue Knights, East’s top jazz ensemble, continues tradition of excellence

EvanNichols

Instruments moan out the first notes of the day as members of the Blue Knights sit down to tune before class starts. Sitting in the middle of the oval is band director Kim Harrison, sight-reading some of the band’s music while he plays his

trumpet. He finishes the bar, rests his trumpet, and looks up.

“One, two, ready and…”

The room unites into one wave of sound--blues scales and jazz licks echo around the band room.

Practice has begun. *** East’s top jazz band, the Knights, consists of 20 kids total, all upperclassmen except for two sophomores. Although a small group, the band has shown its ability by

performing on a larger scale--since 1997, the band has placed first at every competitive jazz they have attended. It’s a tight group; besides the guitarists and pianist, all the kids in the group have dedicated two of their six school hours to band. Keshav Ramaswami, a 4-year guitarist for the program, has seen the potential in this year’s group.

Continued on page 14

To listen to recordings of the Blue Knights from their latest concert visit the Homegrown section at smeharbinger.net GrantHeinlein

Superintendent Gene Johnson proposes boundary changes and pg.p.22 school closures

Sophomore Matti Crabtree illustrated a children’s book

p. 12

Staffer reviews cinnamon rolls at six bakeries in Kansas City

p. 20-21

Photos of the Rim Rock cross country meet

This is not about us not wanting to go to South, this is about us wanting to go to East.”

p. 32

East parent Robin McCullough

NEWS 02 10-05-10

defining the cuts

A look at proposed school closings and budget cuts LoganHeley

“Neighborhood schools” may be a thing of the past for the Shawnee Mission School District and two groups of students may have to trade their Columbia Blue for Raider green.

On Sept. 13, superintendent Gene Johnson presented 11 proposals to the Board of Education. His plan included closing Mission Valley and redistricting Brookwood and Trailwood elementary schools into the South attendance area following the current academic year. Dr. Johnson said the proposals could save the district more than $3.1 million annually by making the district’s building usage more efficient and keeping schools closer to their maximum capacity level.

This year, Mission Valley is operating at 48 percent of its capacity, according to district figures. Closing the school, Dr. Johnson said, would save the district $832,865 annually. The superintendent’s proposals also aim to better balance the number of students at each of the five high schools.

Dr. Johnson’s plan to move Brookwood and Trailwood elementary schools to the South area would, by district projections, increase South’s enrollment to around 1,700 students by 2020. South currently is the smallest high school in the district in terms of population with an enrollment of 1,445 while East is the largest at 1,867.

If the district does nothing, Dr. Johnson said, East would continue to have between 350-370 more students than South each year through 2020. Even though East is built to house about 200 more people than South, under the Superintendent’s proposals East would actually end up with around 100 fewer students than South in 2020.

Keeping the district’s high schools relatively close in enrollment, Dr. Johnson said, allows for each school to offer similar programs because, theoretically, approximately the same number of students would be sign-

ing up for them. According to Dr. Johnson, consistent enrollment would also mean that buildings would be able to have a more stable staff over time.

At the middle school level, students would have more opportunities to take classes such as foreign languages and computer applications for high school credit, Dr. Johnson said. Having credit for those courses going into ninth grade would allow students to take more electives in high school or enroll in programs at Broadmoor Technical Center.

The proposals have caused parents and students to sign petitions, create websites and even write a song against the changes.

Robin McCullough, who has children at both East and Brookwood, said her fight was not about being opposed to having her kids go to South, but rather that she wants them to go to East. She said her family was “one of hundreds” that bought or built their home specifically to be in the East and Mission Valley areas. McCullough doesn’t feel that the district should separate families from the high school their children have grown up cheering for.

“I’m telling you what I love about East and just because I love that about East doesn’t mean that South does not have it,” McCullough said. “But because I have bought into East and that is where my loyalty lies, then that’s not right to pull us away after 25 years in the same location and say ‘your loyalty now is going to be over here.’”

“Grandfathering” students into the school whose area they currently reside in is not a part of Dr. Johnson’s proposals. Instead, he said, the current Board transfer policy would be kept, meaning that any student that wishes to could transfer, with approval by a district administrator, to any school in the district. Even so, junior Jake McCoy is concerned about the fact that his brother and he would have to “transfer back” to East next year because they live in the Brook-

wood area.

“It seems unfair to the kids that already attend East, and especially for me, to potentially have to transfer in just for my senior year,” McCoy said. “It just doesn’t seem fair.”

Under Dr. Johnson’s plan, teachers at schools proposed to close are not necessarily guaranteed a job and, if they are retained, may not get to choose their assignment next year. Mission Valley teacher Judy Bakalar chose to teach at Mission Valley 11 years ago because she felt the school was like family and hoped to finish her career there. Since hearing Dr. Johnson’s proposals, she has realized that probably won’t be the case.

“In these economic times I think you do what you have to do to survive,” Bakalar said. “Everyone is in that mode in their personal lives as well as in the job scenario. So, other people have to sacrifice and it sounds like, you know, we as teachers will have to too.”

The last and only time the district has closed a middle school was during the 198586 school year when Broadmoor, Indian Creek and Old Mission were closed. At that time the district was moving ninth graders to high school and intended to have just five middle schools. Instead, a state law allowed parents in the East area to petition and ultimately keep Indian Hills from being closed.

The Broadmoor and Indian Creek buildings are still in use by the district, but Old Mission was sold.

Dr. Johnson said that the district would find uses for the buildings that would close under his proposals, though no definite plans are in place right now. One possibility is consolidating programs that the district offers, such as early childhood education, into a single building rather than having them spread throughout the district. Dr. Johnson said the district plans to keep using the soccer fields at both Mission Valley and Antioch for teams at East and North.

“Obviously we have no intention of clos-

all photos by ClaireWahrer

ing five schools and letting them sit there,” Dr. Johnson said. “We’re either going to decide what we’re going to utilize them for or we’re going to put them up for sale.”

Indian Hills teacher Nola Hoffmann said teachers at the middle school are “waiting expectantly” to see what the Board decides and, if closings are made, how they envision the class schedule to change. Hoffmann said she believes students from Mission Valley will have a home at Indian Hills.

“I’m really excited about having them come here,” Hoffmann said. “I’m glad that they’re going to be here. I think this school has a lot to offer.”

Hoffmann also believes that Indian Hills will be able to handle the additional students if Mission Valley closes. According to district numbers, Indian Hills housed 957 students in 1969-70, 132 more students than the district projects will be enrolled at the school 10 years from now and 45 students over the school’s maximum capacity.

Principal Karl Krawitz said that building under utilization would never be accepted in the business-world.

“We have to run schools like a business because that’s the expectation,” Dr. Krawitz said, “but at the same time we’re asked to make business decisions at the expense of kids.”

To listen to a complete interview with superintendent Gene Johnson regarding his proposals, visit smeharbinger.net.

a look at the big moves of the MAJOR CHANGES recent proposals

*Projected is for 2019-20

utilization the percent of a school’s capacity

AntiochtoHocker Grove

48% 55%

IH: Projected

IH: 2010-11

100%

MV: 2010-11

54%

HG: Projected

HG: 2010-11

Antioch: 2010-11

42%

Mission ValleytoIndian Hills

83%

The Enrollment Boundary Shift

east enrollment

1,867

east enrollment

1,624

2010-11 Projected

south enrollment

1,445

south enrollment

1,717

NEWS

To the Rescue

“

We don’t really hear about it in Kansas because we don’t have dolphins.

-Chair Betsy Dee

Six months out of every year, fishermen in the Japanese village of Taiji take part in the dolphin drive hunt. The name may be reminiscent of scavenger or Easter egg hunts, but from September to March, 1,2001,800 dolphins are slaughtered in Taiji alone.

Thousands more are killed in other Japanese waters.

To the Rescue, a new SHARE project headed by seniors Betsy Dee and Dan Stewart, is spreading the word about dolphin slaughter in Japan.

“If people just know about it, there’s people who are willing to give to our environment and help make a difference.” Stewart said.

Stewart and Dee are holding a screening of the film “The Cove” in the choir room at 7 p.m. “The Cove” is a documentary following dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry that exposes the dolphin killing in Taiji, Japan, as well as the unsuspecting Taiji citizens who consume the mercury-filled dolphin meat.

“I’ve seen a bit of “The Cove” and I had no idea that that was going on,” Dee said. “I was really shocked by it.”

Following the film will be a party at the East pool, complete with a diving contest and dolphin-inspired games.

“There’s this game where we butter down the [inflatable] dolphin and put it in the

issue 3

Kaboodle for Kids

“ ”

pool,” Stewart said. “Someone has to ride the dolphin for four seconds without falling off.”

Senior Chloe Fischgrund, a SHARE exec, originally came up with the idea for To the Rescue, but was looking for some students to be the chairs for it.

“I wanted to get involved with SHARE somehow and she brought me on along with Dan Stewart,” Dee said.

To the Rescue is unique in that it is one of the few projects that benefits animals. In addition to raising awareness, Dee and Stewart are hoping that people will be inspired to donate money to the organization affiliated with “The Cove.”

“I’m excited mostly because it’s a new project,” Dee said.

“Hopefully a lot of people will get into it.”

Lemonade stands aren’t just for nine-yearolds looking to make a few bucks in the summer anymore.

This school year, one may drive down Mission Road to find a lemonade stand outside of East hosted by juniors Maddie Collins and Libby Wooldridge, as part of their SHARE project LemonAid for Sierra Leone. New to the SHARE scene, LemonAid aims to collect items and send them to needy areas in Sierra Leone.

SHARE doesn’t permit simple money donations, so the funds collected through the lemonade sales will be used either to buy mosquito nets for the Sierra Leoneans or to pay for the shipping of the donated items.

“I think one of the biggest challenges will be actually getting what we collect to Sierra Leone,” Wooldridge said. “It’s so corrupt that we’ll have a hard time even knowing if it does

“

”

‘Kaboodle’ can help students become more aware of children who have health issues. -Chair Paige Kovarik

Last year, juniors Paige Kovarik and Carolyn Wolff began working on their Gold Award for Girl Scouts, the highest award possible. They had to create a service project that both benefited the community and would last long after they graduated.

Thus Kaboodle for Kids was created as both their Gold Award and SHARE project.

Kaboodle collects children’s activities such as books, games and puzzles, wraps them in a fleece-knot blanket, and delivers the packages to Children’s Mercy Hospital to be distributed to kids in intensive care.

“Making these blankets and little activity bags brings so much comfort to the kids who are really sick in the hospital and are there for a long period of time,” Wolff said.

Last spring, the girls began the project, holding book drives at Mission Valley Middle School and Corinth Elementary.

This year, they’ll do drives at East and a few elementary schools, along with possibly setting up a donation bin in the lobby of Children’s Mercy. Kovarik and Wolff are still working out the details for this year, but they have a basic idea of what they and their volunteers will be doing.

“Once a month we’ll get together and make the fleece blankets,” Kovarik said. “It’s a fun thing because we sit around and watch

New Ways to SHARE LemonAid for Sierra Leone

movies and eat brownies.”

The fleece material for the blankets is expensive, with each blanket costing around $10-12. Kovarik and Wolff plan on talking to the SHARE directors to work out ways they can raise money to fund their project and buy blanket materials.

Though the volunteers are assembling the packages, they only drop them off at Children’s Mercy.

Privacy and health issues prevent them from coming in contact with any of the long-term care patients receiving the Kaboodle packages, but Wolff knows that their hard work is appreciated.

“I’m excited to get the volunteers involved and show them how passionate we are about this project,” Wolff said.

A look at three of SHARE’s newest projects LillyMyers

Literally anything you can think of, they need.

-Chair Libby Wooldridge

get there.”

Earlier in the school year, Collins and Wooldridge met with Pat Kaufman and Leslie Multer, the director and associate director of SHARE, to brainstorm different items they could collect through drives at school while taking into account the weight of the shipments.

“Someone brought up something like toothbrushes, but [the Sierra Leoneans] don’t brush their teeth,” Wooldridge said. “You have to work inside the culture and not bring something new.”

Suzy Meier, a family friend of Wooldridge and board member of the LemonAid Fund, exposed Wooldridge and Collins to the idea for their project last spring. The LemonAid Fund supports developmental projects and programs in West Africa. In addition, Meier introduced Wooldridge to the founder of

03

the fund, Nancy Peddle, last summer when they all visited the same lake in Michigan.

Wooldridge got a chance to share her plans with Peddle. “[Peddle] thought everything sounded really great,” Wooldridge said. “She just really emphasized that anything we can come up with will help them. The little things really do make a difference.”

Though Wooldridge and Collins are still working out the details of LemonAid, Wooldridge is thrilled to finally be in charge of a project as a SHARE chair.

“It’s not actual hours and going to volunteer somewhere,” Wooldridge said. “It’ll be kind of fun and different, making a difference for people in Sierra Leone and helping them get what they need.”

”

photos by EdenSchoofs& KaitlynStewart

04 NEWS 10-05-10

GAMESTUDIES

new sports seminar to help improve student athlete’s grades AlexGoldman

QUICKFACTS WHAT:

morning study hall with coaches tutoring

WHO: all athletes with a D or F in one of their classes

WHEN:

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:45-7:30 a.m.

WHERE: Room 317

WHY: to improve athletes’ grades to maintain eligibility

Freshman Joe Frazell is still half asleep as he walks through the silent halls at 6:40 a.m. Most of Frazell’s friends are either just waking up or still asleep. There is barely anyone in the school. He sleepily walks into room 317 for his mandatory athletic seminar. He sits at his desk and begins working on his geometry homework. 45 minutes and 34 math problems later, Frazell is dismissed along with the rest of the very sleepy student-athletes to their first hour.

Frazell is one of the many East athletes attending early morning study halls, created specifically for athletes who aren’t meeting their academic requirements. Athletes, who have a D or a F in a class will have to attend the study hall every Tuesday and Thursday from 6:45 to 7:30 a.m.

Frazell, who is on the cross country team, has had a D in geometry for a couple weeks and hasn’t turned much of his homework.

“The main reason I don’t have a high grade is that I don’t try that hard and don’t turn in the daily assignments,” Frazell said. “The study hall is a little too early for me, but

it does help. I get a lot of my work done and my grade is already getting better.”

New Athletic Director Jeremy Higgins has helped install this study hall to help athletes get their work done and improve their grades.

“They are called student-athletes,” Higgins said. “Student comes first. Their number one priority should be their grades. This is just another way of athletes taking care of what they need to do. Most of the time they’re not doing the daily work. In the new study halls, coaches will be available to tutor and help out the kids.”

The coaches have worked together to develop a cycle in which each coach can help student athletes without it interfering with their coaching. The winter and spring sport coaches will tutor and supervise in the fall, the spring and fall sport coaches will work with the athletes in the winter and the fall and winter sport coaches will help in the spring.

Basketball coach Shawn Hair is hoping students will use the seminars to do what they need to do to get their grades up.

AthleteOpinions

JUNIOR Mitch Daniel

photo illustration by EdenSchoofs

“Going early in the morning didn’t help me because there was no tutor and I had no homework in the class I was struggling with.”

“Hopefully, these kids will start focusing on school,” Hair said.

“They need to understand and do the daily work everyday.”

Last year, Coach Hair tried out the early seminar for basketball players during the season. Any player on his varsity, JV, sophomore or freshman teams that had a D or a F in a class had to go in early to school twice a week to work on homework and study for the class the player was failing. Hair believes the early was a success with most his players currently on the honor roll.

Even though grades haven’t really been an issue for East athletes, Higgins believes it will help athletes succeed both on the field and classroom.

“There isn’t a major problem with students’ grades,” Higgins said.

“We just wanted to help out our athletes.”

The seminars are mandatory and there will be consequences if an athlete decides to skip it. The first absence will result in a warning. If they skip another study hall, their coach will talk with them. After the third absence, the player will be suspended for their next game or meet.

Higgins said that there hasn’t been much of a problem in the attendance and that about 75 percent of the athletes have been showing up to the seminars.

Assistant basketball coach and American history teacher Todd McAtee doesn’t think that grades are as much of a problem as in other schools but thinks the athletic study halls are a good idea as long as coaches follow and take it seriously.

“If kids aren’t showing up to the seminars and their coach doesn’t follow up or suspend the athlete then this is a waste of time,” said McAtee. “If the coaches do discipline players that aren’t showing up, then this is great. Hopefully, it will re-emphasize the importance of academics to athletes that aren’t taking it seriously.”

Frazell says the seminars have made him try harder in school and has helped him turn in his work on time.

“Hopefully I won’t have to go the study halls anymore next week,” Frazell said. “It would be nice not having to go to school at 6:40.”

students discuss the effectiveness of the new seminar

SOPHOMORE Anna Colby

I think it will work because it will motivate kids to improve their grades so they don’t have to come into school as early.”

“I think it will be helpful.

It encourages kids to keep their grades up so they can play on their sports team.”

FRESHMAN Addison Housh

all photos by GrantKendall

charitycontroversy ChloeStradinger

According to the East dress code, no clothing should be worn to school that is suggestive or disruptive. Basically, no clothing that flaunts girls’ chests. No plunging necklines, no halter-tops, no spaghetti straps and no backless shirts.

With the new school year, students have found a popular loophole for the dress code: “I heart boobies” bracelets.

The bracelets are a product of the Keep A Breast foundation, a non-profit organization that raises money for breast cancer. The Keep A Breast foundation’s mission is to educate young people about breast cancer and early detection in order to save lives.

The 1” thick bands cost $3.99 each and come in vibrant colors such as blue, pink, green and white. Freshman Tessa Osborn wears a green one, a gift from her friend.

“I wear mine because it’s cute, and it’s for a good cause” Osborn said.

Although the bracelets support and raise money for breast cancer, some schools aren’t buying it. In over 10 states across the country, middle schools and high schools have been banning the bracelets for being inappropriate.

Schools taking action against the bracelets and banning them has caused controversy over whether it’s okay to ban something that’s for a good cause, like breast cancer awareness.

Principal Karl Krawitz understands how the bracelets could become a distraction for some schools, and why schools would take action against them.

“I wouldn’t ever question what a principal would do in their particular environment relative to maybe banning something of that nature,” Dr. Krawitz said.

Dr. Krawitz understands how certain schools may not have

NEWS issue 3

New wristbands scribed “I love Boobies” raise money for breast cancer, but have been banned in schools across the country

the maturity level to wear a bracelet like that, and junior Emily Frye agrees. Frye thinks the bracelets are only appropriate for certain age groups. She argues that while elementary schools shouldn’t be allowed to wear them, high school students should.

“If you’re allowed to watch an R-rated movie and buy cigarettes, then you should be able to wear a bracelet that says the word ‘boobies,’” Frye said.

While some East students support and sport the bracelet, others just don’t care for them.

Sophomore Maddie Connelly’s freshman sister had an “I heart boobies” bracelet, and Connelly made her take hers off.

Connelly didn’t like that her sister was wearing a bracelet with the bold saying on it.

“I get what the bracelets stand for, I just think they’re awkward,” Connelly said.

The saying might be uncomfortable, but the bold lettering catches attention, which is the purpose of the bands.

“We’re really taking a positive style of communication and taking something scary and taboo, and making it positive and upbeat,” Keep A Breast foundation spokeswoman Kimmy McAtee said in a recently released statement.

East parent and breast cancer survivor Teresa Earley understands the motives behinds the bands and isn’t offended by the message. She found out about her breast cancer about a year and a half ago when she went in for a mammogram. She was under the age of 50, which is the first year the government covers the cost of a mammogram.

According to Earley, it might have been too late had she waited to get her mammogram.

“Many, many people are affected by breast cancer so it’s

05

just good to have awareness,” Earley said.

Dr. Krawitz isn’t concerned that the message will be misinterpreted by East students. He’s confident in their maturity level and awareness of problems in society based on student involvement in big volunteer organizations like SHARE and the Coalition group.

“Here, when students get on a cause,” Dr. Krawitz said, “the cause is authentic and genuine.”

Senior Night

Place your Homecoming Bouttonier or Corsage order by Tuesday, October 12th and receive a 10% discount by mentioning this ad.

Go Lancers!

Village Flower Company

6978 Mission Road (913) 722-1325 www.villageflowercompany.com

Monday, Oct. 11 @ 6 p.m. vs. Kansas City Christian SMAC Complex Field #3

NEWS 06 10-05-10

News Briefs

25

the week in DanStewart

Senior Lucas Throckmorton flies into the air to kick an elevated ball.

5

On Wednesday, Oct. 13, more than 200 college representatives will be on hand at the Shawnee Mission College Clinic to answer questions about everything from scholarships to campus life.

While the sheer number of universities represented at the clinic is impressive, junior Jean Orr sees it as an opportunity to make meaningful contacts with representatives.

“Last year I didn’t really talk to the people there because I wanted to see what the clinic is all

about,” Orr said. “But this year, if I’m really interested in [a college], it will be a good way to connect with that college, and it would be personal.”

The PTA and Lenexa Rotary Club sponsor the clinic, which is in its 48th year. Representatives will make presentations in individual classrooms, as well as visit informally with students at tables in the cafeteria and gym from 6:30-9 p.m.

A free shuttle will leave every 15 minutes from the Brighton Gardens parking lot for those who can’t find spaces at East.

Tuesday Oct. 19 Wednesday Oct. 20 Thursday Oct. 21 Friday Oct. 22

clinic

23

Monday Oct. 18

mer Lancer dad who…mails the flyers and contacts the lobster men in Maine [for us],” Fishman said.

East alumnus Jacqueline Crane, now a freshman at the University of San Diego, participated in the AFS program during her junior year.

Through scholarships from the AFS, summer job earnings, and money from the Lobster Landing, she was able to spend first semester in France “It changed my life completely,” Crane said. “It gives you a great sense of independence and freedom, because you’re doing everything on your own and you learn a lot about yourself.”

college

Friday Oct. 15 Saturday Oct. 16 Sunday Oct. 17

On Saturday morning, hundreds of pounds of live lobsters will be rustling in their crates outside the front entrance, flown in fresh from Maine and ready for pickup.

The 73rd semi-annual Lancer Lobster Landing, cosponsored by the International Club and the American Field Service (AFS), is a way to raise money for scholarships for East students in the AFS’s study abroad program.

Orders, which are due today, cost $14.50 each for 1.25 pounds of lobster. Pickup will be from 10-11:30 a.m. Club sponsor and social studies teacher Brenda Fishman says 700-800 orders are normal by this time of the school year.

“We have a fantastic for-

13 Thursday Oct. 14

landing

Tuesday Oct. 12

lobster

9 Sunday Oct. 10 Monday Oct. 11

Wednesday Oct. 6 Thursday Oct. 7 Friday Oct. 8

Mon. October 4 Tuesday Oct. 5

Taking a peek at East’s upcoming events MorganChristian

SHARE garage sale

3GREATS garage sale

with senior exec JulieChalfant

1

old school vending machine

fur coat

2

Christmas Sweater

3

photos GrantHeinlein

Band members Russell Philpott and Joseph Kashka wait after the game to see the opposing school’s band.

GrantHeinlein

Quarterback John Schrock furiously unhooks his chinstrap after arguing with the referee.

DanStewart

Coalition members walk on Mission Rd. during the early morning sunset.

GrantKendall

Sophomore Lily Kauffman sings during the musical revue.

TO CLOSE

EDITORIAL issue 3

07

THE

BORDERS

With the changing boundaries, the district should change the open-transfer policy If parent outcries are any indication, East’s inbox this fall will be filled with transfer requests should the boundary changes proposed by superintendent Gene Johnson take effect. With the open enrollment policy currently in place, kids will be filing in straight from Brookwood and Trailwood.

So what would be the point of the boundary changes?

Every classroom full at any given hour. Chemistry rooms with every desk filled. Elective classes confined to one hour, since there is not an extra classroom to create a second hour.

This isn’t a positive environment for students, teachers or the district’s budget.

East is operating at 81 percent capacity: 2,304 students can be in the building, and currently, 1,850 students are enrolled. On the other hand, South is operating at 68 percent capacity. It makes sense to redistribute the students, to create a better environment for East and a higher enrollment for

South. The maximum capacity is calculated by filling each 106 transfer students are in the building. Transfer students classroom at every period of the day. By taking the average must maintain a 2.0 GPA and are not allowed bus transportanumber of students per classroom (28), the total number of tion.

When making a change like this, the district has to stay classrooms in the building, and the number of periods in a day (excluding seminar, so seven), the capacity can be calcu- consistent. Giving in to parental demands will not help the lated. Capacity also takes into account the number of lockers budgetary woes. Many parents have claimed they moved speand gym lockers available. The district has to do something cifically for their child to go to East. But this is public school, to cope with budgeting issues, and this and even though boundary changes are unThe majority opinion of the fortunate, they are a necessary evil. Parent is the plan.

With the open transfer policy, trans- Harbinger Editorial Board wants are subordinate to district needs. for against absent ferring to an in-district school is simple.

However, eighth graders and students currently enrolled need not worry. In order to A signature from Dr. Gillian Chapman, administrative manager for secondary continue the camaraderie of the district, these education, the student’s current princistudents should be allowed to transfer to East.

To be fair, busing should be provided to those pal and the student’s parent, and the student is enrolled as a transfer. Currently, that live in the East area and who consider themselves Lancers. Seventh graders, on the other hand, will have a year at a new middle school to adjust to their new high school boundaries. Elementary students will have even more time to adjust.

It’s public schooling. In this economic and political climate, tough calls have to be made. To protect the overall state of the district, these new boundaries have to be respected by students and parents alike.

Harbinger

11 1 0

the

SammiKelley

Letters to the editor should be sent to room 521 or smeharbinger@gmail.com.

Letters may be edited for clarity, length, libel and mechanics and accepted or rejected at the editor’s discretion.

Assistant Photo Videographers Paige Hess a publication of shawnee mission east high school Oct. 5, 2010 Thomas Allen Editor Ads/Circulation Manager Editorial Board 7500 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS 66208 issue 3, vol. 52 Eden Schoofs Jennifer Rorie Nathan Walker Andrew Goble Spread Editors Editors-In-Chief Andrew Simpson Freelance Page Editors Staff Artist Annie Sgroi Andrew Goble Lilly Myers Christa McKittrick Alex Goldman Live Broadcast Editor Corbin Barnds Annie Sgroi Toni Aguiar Jeff Cole Copy Editors Online Editors Logan Heley Assistant Editors Features Editor Evan Nichols Logan Heley Live Broadcast Producers Kevin Simpson Kat Buchanan Sarah McKittrick Andrew Goble Pat McGannon Thomas Allen Jennifer Rorie Evan Nichols Features Page Editors Annie Sgroi Tom Lynch Online Assistant Editor Jack Howland Chloe Stradinger Head Copy Editor Kevin Simpson Maggie Simmons Anchors Evan Nichols Kevin Simpson Haley Martin Kat Buchanan Andrew Simpson Online Copy Editors Kat Buchanan Alysabeth Albano Art and Design Editor Jack Howland Kennedy Burgess Jeff Cole Bob Martin Emma Pennington A&E Editor Morgan Christian Lilly Myers Chloe Stradinger Morgan Christian Aubrey Leiter News Editor Anne Willman Corbin Barnds Online Photo Editor Photographers Jack Howland A&E Page Editors Logan Heley Lindsey Hartnett Kevin Simpson Katie East Kennedy Burgess News Page Editors Bob Martin Nathan Walker Multimedia Editor Grant Kendall Morgan Christian Tom Lynch Matt Gannon Maggie Simmons Paige Hess Anna Marken Editorial Editor Sports Editor Chris Heady Convergence Editor PR Representative Sammi Kelley Katy Westhoff Corbin Barnds Bob Martin Chloe Stradinger Staff Writers Samantha Bartow Opinion Editor Sports Page Editors Grant Kendall Homegrown Editor Online Staff Writers Claire Wahrer Raina Weinberg Matt Gannon Alex Lamb Nathan Walker Andrew Simpson Tomi Caldwell Opinion Page Editors Freelance Page Editors Chris Heady Podcast/Blog Editor Online Photographer Grace Snyder Ian Wiseman Christa McKittrick Julia Davis Jeff Cole Nathan Simpson Riley Meurer Emily Kerr Photo Editors Zoe Brian Video Editor Adviser Marissa Horwitz Grant Heinlein Mixed Editor Caroline Creidenberg Alex Lamb Dow Tate Kaitlyn Stewart Anne Willman Dan Stewart The Harbinger is a student-run publication. The contents and views are produced solely by the staff and do not represent the Shawnee Mission School District, East faculty, or school administration.

08

OPINION 10-05-10

Serene to

EXTREME Junior reveals the evolution of his indoor soccer experience

THE NEWBIES

“Is that really it?” my friend inquires. The building looks more like a run-down warehouse from Saw than a pleasant soccer complex. I’m worried to step outside the air-conditioned comfort of my car because I may fall into a series of cleverly conceived death traps.

I begin to shake in my tie-dye socks.

The spooky, not-well-marked shed rests quietly off the highway. It’s a place that your mother Googles quickly before you leave to make sure there hasn’t been any criminal activity there in the past week. A place you always spot off the highway but never really know what it is. An odd vagueness looms around the building like a foul stench.

A quick glance around the ill-lit parking lot reveals parents getting out of mini-vans and SUVs, unbuckling kids and popping up DVD players. I feel instantly reassured. If the kid who just finished watching the collective works of “Dora The Explorer” is playing here, maybe my teenage pals and I can, too.

Walking alongside parents holding camcorders and lawn chairs as if they’re battle gear, I have no idea who we’ll play. All I’ve seen so far are young children, and I’m not sure how the Kansas Legal System looks upon teenage kids obliterating toddlers in a game of soccer.

an opinion of JackHowland

I haven’t worn shin guards since second grade.

They currently sit in a cardboard box underneath a heap of grade school sports’ relics.

Trophies, ribbons and team photos where the one kid makes a slightly unconventional smile fill the chest of past memories. Sitting in a rarely visited corner of my basement, surrounded by baby books, the box acts as a grave. A burial ground for my grass-stained soccer years.

Admittedly, most of my career I was lost and more focused on hoarding orange slices at halftime than actually winning the game.

And most of the trophies in my basement graveyard are obligatory “best effort” awards

Then we see them.

The brawny 14-man unit looked like tattoo-clad employees from Harley Davidson; I felt like they may mock me for arriving in my plush 1994 Jeep Cherokee. It was right then that I realized playing the random “Dora The Explorer” junkie wouldn’t have been so bad.

By the end of the exhausting night, we had lost. Actually, we were systematically destroyed. I think it was 11-0, but I’m not sure because they stopped counting goals in an attempt to maintain our already low selfesteem. I have bruises on my body, and heard more than one expletive shouted my way by the rough and tough opposing squad.

Our team name was the “Chillahs,” and that’s exactly what I intended to do -- chill. But by the end of the pain-filled evening, I felt physically abused by the group of 40-year-old soccer players.

It was more like Saw than even I had expected.

When signing up to play on the Chillahs, I felt like I was signing a contract into a season of recreational bliss. In other words, an excuse to see friends and giggle at cringe-inducing images of grown men sporting shin guards and short shorts. However, after an embarrassing loss capable of making die-hard fútbol fans give up on the sport entirely, I vowed to find the problem with our team.

Then the answer came to me -- it was determination.

I should have guessed that desire to win would be an issue when we decided on Chillahs as a team name. Or maybe I could have guessed it when the “i” on my jersey was printed with a heart dotting it. Or the dead giveaway: according to at least the male team members, the jersey’s choice color was “effeminate-looking-teal.”

Our feminine jerseys, combined with a lack of motivation and overall disinterest in soccer, put us at a disadvantage out on the field. I began growing accustomed to defeat. Each week a vastly different team would beat us. There was the one team composed solely of blood relatives that beat us 7 -2 and was less endearing as they were

THE PROS

I’ve heard the dance-floor worthy lyrics to Chromeo’s “Fancy Footwork” sung in the backseat of my car easily a hundred times. For the entirety of the rec soccer season, this track has been to my car what a theme song is to a television show. Each Friday I turn the bass to a safe level in my aging Jeep Cherokee, and just wait for the synth. And this Friday was no exception.

But I feel different.

We still jammed to “footwork.” We still called our moms and told them we’d be back by 11.

But rather than last week, I feel like I have to win. There is no award for winning: no tangible item I can flaunt to my non soccer playing subordinates. Yet I have to win.

So with shin guards on and pre-game speech from Remember the Titans on repeat in my head, I pull into the complex. I walk to our pre-determined field. And I’m ready to play.

After some less than impressive half-assed warm-ups, the game starts. From the get-go we assert ourselves as the dominant high school team, firing a mid-range shot into the back of the goal quickly from the start. 1-0.

As the game goes on, usual insults fly back and forth between each team and the ref does his best, “Hey, stop that!” that he obviously practiced in front of his mirror shortly before coming. Then, due to a defensive flaw - which is just a fancy word for being lazy- we got burned and the game was tied. 1-1.

To be blunt, I was furious. Then in an indescribable, euphoria-like moment, I had an epiphany. Everything stood still, and the booming complex air conditioner almost seemed to shut up for a moment. Rec soccer was not a joke.

Those 40-year-old players we had played were out there because of their passion for soccer.

The South kids were there because they wanted to achieve something together. That family of

that the semi-delusional goalie could win.

But I enjoyed f¨útbol nonetheless. That is, before my second grade retirement that shocked the world. Following my decision, I never thought I would kick a ball again. So when I was asked to join a recreational soccer team after a seven year hiatus, I was naturally hesitant. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to revisit those memories of running away from the ball in a fear-induced panic and yelling for mommy.

But with encouragement from friends, and a soccer for dummies handbook, I said yes.

Time to dig up some confidence. And my old shin guards.

THE AMATEURS

creepy. And then there was the one team of amateur soccer players who essentially used us as a punching bag in a 14 - 1 thwarting.

But despite such serious defeat every week, we actually wanted to win. And we did win a few times, both times against the scientifically inaccurate “Blue Thunder.”

The team was made up of teens from South, who more often than not verbally attacked our soccer skill and even once called me “stupid.”

It was about halfway through our season that I came to terms with the fact that we would not make it to the championship.

Even with this loser mentality, we still set goals. And those goals began and ended with beating “Blue Thunder.”

It seemed fitting that our final game of the season was against our cross-town rivals. Rec soccer just got a lot more serious.

Minus the large crowds, skilled teams and obnoxious vuvuzelas, this last game was to be our World Cup. We were playing for the pride of the 10-man-deep Chillah faithful.

soccer players was there because they loved soccer.

And suddenly; I had new-found energy. I quickly subbed in for an exhausted forward and ran onto the field like a cheetah hunting its prey. Quickly into my shift I gained possession of the ball, then quickly lost it to the South Kid whose tooth I accidentally knocked out earlier in the season. I probably shouldn’t have been mad at the guy whose dentures I took down in their prime; but I was.

I wanted that win. I stole the ball back from toothless, then quickly passed it up to another player. She passed it on to a forward. He finally gave it to our lone player by the opposing goal.

Then it went in; as if we had that series of passes rehearsed before the game.

Our World Cup was over. I could almost hear a faint vuvuzela in the distance.

Our team stood in disbelief at the impressive play that unfolded right before us. And we finally felt motivated; at least now we knew that we didn’t throw away six weeks of winter. Our lastsecond victory was just what our team needed.

When I left the complex that night, I left with the knowledge that I’d be returning for another year of rec soccer memories. And before I went to bed, I stowed away my jersey, soccer ball and rec soccer I.D. until next year’s return.

And my shin guards will never go in the basement again. all photos by KatieEast

OPINION

issue 3

Boys One of the

09

Sophomore reflects on tomboy tendencies learned from brothers

EdenSchoofs

an opinion of Caroline Creidenberg

Sprinting towards base, an arm reached out and tagged me.

“You’re it,” taunted the little boy I was playing tag with. “What’s your name

again?”

“Caroline.”

A change of expression filled his face.

“You’re a girl?”

Growing up I was possibly the cutest kid ever. I had a short little wedge haircut, and my bleach blond hair was normally tinted green from too much chlorine. I wore hand-me-down cargo shorts, and orange shirts. I loved to burp and I wasn’t afraid to own up to my flatulence. Although my grandma would buy me pink dresses, I would always end up in my brothers’ old basketball shorts.

All these quirky characteristics reflected my brothers. I just wanted to be like them. They were the athletic ones. They were the cool ones. They were my role models.

CC is 22 months older than me, but acts only four months older than me. One minute I would be yelling at him for flick-

Oh Brother

ing my ear, and the next I would be laughing at him for making stupid knock-knock joke. It’s a love-annoy relationship.

Back when I was little and couldn’t fight on my own, CC and I would team up and attack our eldest brother Matthew.

CC and I would tackle Matthew to the floor and attempt to pin him down, which rarely, if ever, happened. CC and I would get hyper together and tickle my mom to tears. CC and I would play soccer in our bare feet until our feet were so red, they ached. CC and I were a force to be reckoned with.

I wasn’t always with CC though, sometimes I would want my alone time and Matthew was the one that understood that.

We would sneak into my parents bedroom and watch Sports Center’s top 10 together, but not say one word. We would listen to Mute Math albums, or read the new Harry Potter books.

He was my mellow side, my introverted pal.

When we weren’t listening to music or reading together, we were laughing. Whether it was because America’s Home Funniest Videos was hilarious or my mom and I were tickling him, his laugh was unforgettable. When he laughed, I laughed.

Soccer was a religion to my brother. I attended more of my brothers’ rec soccer games than my ballet classes. Following in my brothers footsteps, I dropped ballet and took up rec soc-

cer. Rec soccer just wasn’t enough for my brothers though, so they started premiere soccer. Which means I started premiere soccer.

I like to say I’m a mix of my two role models. One side of me is social and talkative and outgoing, and the other is all for my alone time. Matthew is right handed, right footed. CC is left handed, left footed. I’m right handed, left footed.

To this day, you can still find me searching through bags of my brothers’ old clothes. Every once in a while we will still have a wrestling match or a tickling war. I don’t what my life would be like without their influences on me, maybe a makeup wearing, cheer-leading, girly-girl.

If I were to walk down in a high heels and a face full of makeup I would be embarrassed. It’s not who I am because that’s not what I grew up seeing. I grew up seeing basketballs, not Barbies, smelling Axe, not perfume, and feeling comfortable in that setting. The setting of brothers, being the only girl.

All I know is since they are in my life, I’m a tennis-shoewearing, soccer-playing, tomboy. I’m the little sister of two annoying older brothers. I’m a little sister of two brothers who may lock me in a closet for hours and give me noogies until I cry, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

“ “ “ Sophomore

Anna Colby

My brothers and I used to have Beanie Baby wars, oldest and youngest against middle children, with our hundreds of Beanie Babies. The only problem is that they usually resulted in Zach making one of us cry.

”

Photos courtesy of families

East students share memories of growing up with brothers

My brothers and I used to have nicknames for each other but I only remember Todd’s, my oldest brother. He was el Nino, which was from Saturday Night Live Best of Chris Farley. That was a little inappropriate for someone my age but I knew every movie that had Chris Farley in it, and I wouldn’t have if I didn’t have brothers.

Junior

Katie Crawford

One Halloween we decided to go as Star Wars characters. My older brother was Obi-wan Kanobi, I was queen Amadila, and my little brother was Anikan Skywalker. I look back on pictures of that and just laugh because I have no idea what possessed me to want to be her. Every other girl was wearing poodle skirts and there I was dressed as a character from a space movie. That would never have happened if I didn't have two brothers.

”

Senior

Caroline Doerr

10

OPINION

10-05-10

Seeing Green

AlysabethAlbano

Every time I turn on the television I see energy commercials encouraging me to “go green.” My Twitter feed is full of celebrities announcing that we should all “go green.” And politicians are warning everyone what will happen if they don’t “go green.” With all these different platforms telling you to “go green,” how can you put their suggestions into action?

Sometimes it’s hard to think of ways for you to do your part.

It may seem that problems such as climate change and pollution are too big for your actions to have any impact. But the thing is you don’t have to single-handedly raise $1 million for pollution research to help. Even the smallest efforts can make a difference. Here are four easy things you can do at school to help the environment.

Senior shares her vision of an environmentally friendly East

Ditch the trash can: recycle.

Whenever I walk to the trash can and see empty water bottles, nearly blank sheets of paper and coke cans, I want to scream. All of those things could have been recycled- we have recycling bins in every room for a reason! Those green things aren’t just for decoration. Take advantage of the recycling bins that should be in each of your classrooms. If there isn’t a bin around, ask for one. If the bin is the corner of the room that nobody even looks at, ask your teacher to move it right next to the trash can. A simple change like that can yield dramatic results. The average secondary school, like East, produces 48.4 pounds of waste per student each year. Experts say that basic recycling measures can decrease that number to 7.74 pounds a year. And remember you and recycle more than just paper in your classroom recycling bins. Your pop cans and bottles, cardboard coffee cups, like the ones you get from our coffee shop, and certain plastics can too. I’d rather see an overflowing recycling bin then a trash can full of things that could have been recycled.

Reusable water bottles.

Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic beverage bottles every hour and 21.9 billion a year so before you buy that 24 pack of bottled water, think about buying a reusable water bottle. A typical Nalgene bottle costs between $5-10. A 24 pack of water costs around $3.50. Not only will save money in the long run, you’ll make a significant impact on the environment. What people sometimes don’t realize is that water bottle have to be shipped to stores. This usually occurs in semi trucks which get around 6-8 mpg. So whether you are into pink and sparkly or basic blue, there is one out there sure to fit your style. Plus you can decorate them with bumper stickers to make them more personal. The water fountains at school contain the same water you would get if you bought a water bottle from the cafeteria there is no health benefit either way.

But there is a convenience benefit, you can fill up whenever you need to. Unlike the cafeteria, the water fountains never close.

H:Drive/Web Backpack

Web Backpack has been around for years. Freshman and sophomore year I mostly ignored it and I’ll admit not many of my teachers use it. But once I found out the many ways it can be put to use, I was hooked. Americans make roughly 400 billion photo copies a year, which translates to about 750,000

The United States

In at last place, the US ranks 17th on the 2010 Greendex scale. Although a greater effort is being put forth, we’ve still got a long way to go

Brazil

Brazil comes in at first in the housing category and is right behind India in worldwide rank.

KaitlynStewert

copies a minute. If teachers provided worksheets to you online, they could reduce the number of copies they make personally. But even better, you should take advantage of the H:Drive provided to you on your Web Backpack account. It is a really great tool to help you “go green.” Everything you save on your school account is stored on your H:Drive, you can access this folder from any computer, even when you are at home. Knowing this, you can write your essay, edit it on the computer, and print it once. Let’s say you go through four drafts when writing a four-page English paper. If you only print your final draft you are saving 12 sheets of paper. If a 30 person class did this, they would save 360 pieces of paper. If every English participated in a similar process the paper savings would add up.

Doubled sided homework.

A simple way for you to save some paper is to reuse the paper you do assignments on. For instance, if you use one side of the paper for a math assignment, do the next night’s homework on the back. Just make sure to ask your teacher before-

The GreenDex

hand because some may not accept it. If they seem against it at first, push them. Just explain your reasoning behind wanting to and they should understand. Even if you only have half a page left, use it up before grabbing a new sheet. If you really want to help your class save paper, ask your teacher to print your worksheets double sided and hang onto them for multiple assignments. If the teacher knows he or she will use two worksheets that week they can just print one page that contains both, instead of wasting two sheets of paper per student.

You just have to remember to keep track of them, the less extras you have to ask for, the less copies the teacher has to make.

When I first decided to “go green” the task seemed daunting. I was convinced nothing I could do would help too much.

I didn’t realize that the simplest things can bring big change. If everyone did little things, think of the change we could bring.

After all, it was the little “bad” things we did that got us into this mess in the first place.

A look at the world’s greenest countries to the most environmentally unfriendly Russia

India

Coming in at first place for the third consecutive year, India manages to be 12 points ahead of the US. India has number one rankings in all categories besides a second place rank in housing.

Russia ranks fifth place on the GreenDex. Over the past two years it has managed to raise its score by three points by reducing food waste

FEATURES issue 3

making a

RECOVERY Sophomore Mary Kate Kovzan battles with anorexia

GrantHeinlein

PaigeHess

Her heart rate is dropping.

The monitor hooked up to her chest beeps and beeps and beeps. The nurses rush in time and time again as the beeping speeds up. Her heart was coming closer to stopping.

Her mother nudges her as she tries to sleep.

“You need to stay awake,” she says.

Sophomore Mary Kate Kovzan keeps replaying her mother’s words in her mind as the exhaustion takes a toll.

Her doctor tells her that she will have to stay there for a week until she can be transferred into an eating disorder center. She fights back, wondering how she was supposed to stay awake for seven more nights. The doctor said she was not safe at home. Her heart rate was so low because of the malnutrition. She would have to stay on the monitor for the next seven days.

“Just seeing my mom really upset about it didn’t hit me,” Mary Kate said, “I had become to used to the drama with my eating disorder, and when I was in treatment after that I finally realized, ‘Wow, that was really scary.” *** Mary Kate was just like every other 13-year-old girl. She was a member of the Kansas City Strikers soccer team and weighed about 110 pounds. Her weight was average compared to the other girls on the team.

However, it was her friends as well as the other girls at school who made her believe she needed to be smaller. She was surrounded by her petite friends and had to deal with them talking about how unhappy they were with their own bodies.

She soon decided something needed to be done. She had had enough of seeing her friends put on size 00 dresses while she would put on size 1. As New Year’s rolled around, Mary Kate set a goal to get in shape and lose weight: she would run three to four miles every day and try to cut out all junk foods.

It seemed innocent enough.

However, it soon became more and more obsessive. At sleepovers, while the other girls were in the kitchen eating oven-bake pizza, she was back in another room doing sit-ups.

People around her didn’t think much of it for a while.

The once-innocent runs became longer. Six to seven mile runs would be followed by multiple sets of sit-ups secretly in her room -- as many as it took until she cried. Mary Kate would look up different ways to tone every part of her core.

Scabs ran up and down her spine from rubbing on the hardwood floor and left awkward-looking scars.

“It would give me the ultimate buzz,” Mary Kate said.

“Kids smoke and drink, but I would do sit-ups to feel that rush of adrenaline and happiness.”

Around three months into her dieting, her mother was becoming skeptical and more conscious about her weight loss.

“It was winter, so she was somewhat hiding her weightloss through baggy clothing,” mother Kari Kovzan said.

Shortly after, Mary Kate would be diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and exercise addiction. Mary Kate started to think about every possible calorie she would take in. She would not swallow her own spit, and the fear of retaining water was scarier than the feeling of dehydration.

Mary Kate was doing constant body checks, whether it was critiquing herself in a mirror or wrapping her arms around her stomach to see how far they could go. She despised the way she looked. Her thighs were too big. Her stomach was too pudgy. Her cheeks stuck out too much when she smiled.

Calories were the enemy to Mary Kate. The thought that every calorie she ate was another to burn off haunted her. Mary Kate would take the longest route possible to her classes in middle school. She shook her foot under her desk to burn even more calories.

At the deepest moment of her experience with the disorder, almost every food was cut out. She started with fats and then cut out carbohydrates. Soon, she was eating one meal per day. Missing breakfast was easy for her. She would take bowls of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal back to her room that her mother made before school and subsequently would flush the bowl down the toilet. Lunch was also easy to get a way with -- at school there was no one to get on her case about eating.

Dinner was another story.

She would drop food on the floor and hide it in her napkin. The anxiety of eating was almost unbearable for Mary Kate. She would throw fits every night at their wooden dinner table. Her parents had no idea what to do. Kari had struggled with an eating disorder but it had been years since she had dealt with those issues. As the fits went on, Mary Kate’s doctors worried about her mental health.

Her doctors put her on antidepressant and anti-anxiety medication because Mary Kate began isolating herself from friends and only wanted to stay at home to work out. In order for the depression medications to kick in, they needed to be absorbed in food. Her doctors told Mary Kate that since she wasn’t eating, the medication was ineffective. She argued with her parents when it was time to eat. She tried to keep calm; she would have to take the anti-anxiety medication 30 minutes prior to meal time in hopes that it would lessen her anxiety around food.

11

It helped her not have a panic attack during meals, but she still would not eat in peace. The anxiety of eating the food wasn’t as hard as dealing with the guilt shortly after finishing.

“I would have an apple or sandwich and then flip out and try to throw up as much as I could,” Mary Kate said.

But Mary Kate did not like purging. After a few times, she decided she would rather just not eat at all than have to throw the food up.

Mary Kate’s parents followed doctors’ orders and pulled her out of all physical activity, including her favorite sport, soccer. According to her parents, she was at a critically dangerous weight. When her team was going to play in a tournament in Topeka, she begged her parents to let her participate.

She finally convinced her parents to let her. At the game, she was struggling with her energy while running up and down the field. She’d miss the ball, she’d miss a tackle. She’d fall, and have trouble getting up. Mary Kate didn’t feel normal, but she didn’t want anyone to know.

When the students at Mission Valley Middle School started to hear about her, they could not seem to grasp the fact that it was a mental disorder. They did not understand that once she started to struggle, it was out of her hands. Hurtful comments that were made about how skinny she was, gave Mary Kate motivation to prove to them that she is stronger now than in the past.

“The hardest part about all of this was probably the people and their reactions to everything, because it’s hard for one person to know everything about eating disorders if you haven’t experienced it,” Kovzan said.

Once Mary Kate hit 72 pounds, her mother knew needed to be somewhere safe. She talked to Kovzan’s doctors and they agreed she needed to go into treatment as soon as possible. According to her father Steve Kovzan, she had a deadly heart rate in the low 30s per minute. Mary Kate was so fragile that she could have passed away in her sleep.

Mary Kate was only 13-years-old at the time and many centers would not take teens under 14. They wanted Mary Kate to go to an all female and teen-only center. After calling all around the United States, they decided on Laureate Eating Disorder Program in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Laureate is one of the top eating disorder treatments in the United States with leading experts, and since Steve’s mother also lives in Tulsa, it was easy for them to go up there every weekend.

According to Mary Kate, this in-patient treatment center was all about accepting the way you look, realizing what harm was being done to your body and finding your inner peace. While they stayed there, have five or six classes every day ranging from working with their body images to gaining knowledge about them.

Mary Kate learned a lot of coping skills like how to lead a normal life without her eating disorder taking over. It also showed the entire family how to recognize the signs of eating disorders and the ways to help her stay on top.

For Mary Kate, God was her helper through the three months living there. She would read little excerpts from the Bible in treatment and relate it to a time in her life. God was then, and still is now, her number one reason why she wants to get better.

“When I was deep into my illness, my mom would always tell me ‘you have to take care of the body that god has given you, it isn’t yours, it’s his,’” Mary Kate said. “God is giving himself to us, so the least I could do is feed [my body] and take care of it.”

She met many girls in a similar situation as hers at Laureate. Although they live in different states, they still keep in touch by e-mail and use each other as motivation. Mary Kate still keeps in touch with the girls who are doing well, however, she chooses not to talk to the ones struggling the most with it as much. She even deleted some girls as friends on Facebook because she did not want to look at them and send herself down a spiral.

continued on page 18

12

FEATURES

sketching it out

10-05-10

step by step Crabtree describes her illustrating process

Sketching/ Blocking

DanStewart

DanStewart

In this step, I just get my idea down on paper, sketching simple shapes and lines; nothing detailed. I’ll fiddle around with the blocking as well, which is the subStep 1 ject’s position on the page and the proportions. This takes about a minute, depending on how many times I redo it.

Drawing

ErinReilly Sitting on a shelf in the Crabtree living room are several photographs, mostly family portraits and school photos. Standing up at the far left end of the wall, however, there’s a cartoon of a girl with flowing black hair gazing at a full moon while the leaves rustle by. This is one of the many works of sophomore Matti Crabtree, who has landed her first illustrating job at the age of 15.

Matti truly discovered her talent at a summer class at the Kansas City Art Institute a few years ago under the direction of her teacher, Steele Snover. “I was always copying my drawing style off of other artists, but Mr. Snover really helped me to find my own drawing style,” Matti said . She describes her style as “Anime-inspired”, but she also does realistic sketches.

“Matti’s attention to detail is what sets her apart from other artists,” Matti’s father, Chris Crabtree. “I walk by this statue on the Plaza and the hair isn’t affected by gravity at all, and it throws me off every time, like ‘That’s not right! It should lay differently!’ I know Matti would always catch that detail in a way that many overlook.”

The summer of freshman year, Matti set up a website to display her comic strip “Deck of Jokers” or DOJ for the more religious followers. Set in a high school on an alternate universe, it’s full of fun and witty jokes that Matti hopes her readers will enjoy.

“DOJ is basically a comic that’s supposed to make my reader be entertained,” Matti said “I got the idea from my friends a few years ago, took about a year to decide on a catchy name, and then built the website myself.”

The website, deckofjokers.com, is currently under construction, but will be updated by the end of this year, and readers can expect to see a new comic every week.

When she isn’t working on Deck of Jokers, Matti spends her time being involved in various theatre projects. However, art is never far away; last year, she drew posters for two Frequent Fridays: The Allegory of Suzie Moore and Jeremy Layte and Check, Please.

“Her poster for Allegory was extremely cool!” sophomore Annie Sullivan, a fellow thespi-

drawn to art n Sophomore has a passio

an said. “She drew each of us in cartoon form; it was incredible how much the drawings resembled the actual actors!”

Matti’s door to a career in illustration opened when her dad showed her site to his co-worker, Jennifer Owens.

“The first time I saw Matti’s work, I thought she was a 24 or 26 year old with her own firm!” Owens said. “I had been looking for an illustrator for my new book for two years, and I really liked Matti’s ability to put so much personality into a character, and this is especially important in a children’s book since the readers get half of the story from the pictures.”

However, the Crabtree’s found out just how impressed Owens was when she called them to ask if Matti would illustrate her new book, Tate the Timer’s Scavenger Hunt.

“I was very concerned that this project might be a little overwhelming for a 14 year old,” Owens said. “But when I finally met with her in person, she was extremely professional, and I knew she’d be able to handle it.”

“I was so shocked when Jen called me!”

Matti said. “Many professional illustrators or even people fresh out of college don’t get job opportunities like this.”

“I knew that I thought Matti really had some potential, but I wasn’t sure if I was just having a dad’s objective view. It was when other people started to see and tell me that she was really good that I knew,” Chris said.

Crabtree’s assignment included 23 illustrations: 20 illustrated pages, an illustrated end page, and a two-page cover spread. She started working on the project in early

for illustrating

art courtesy of Matti Crabtree

March.

“When my sister and I were reviewing Matti’s first sketches, we were very impressed,” Owens said. “However, we had never been through the artistic process before, so this was all new to us. Thankfully, Matti put together a whole outline and realistic timeline for when each step of the process would be done and explained it to us.”

“I decided to let her take over in the creative department,” Owens said. “She was doing such a great job with what we wanted.

The only other person I’ve given such complete control to is my hairdresser!”

Matti is currently in the process of “inking and coloring” (see sidebar). “The backgrounds are pretty tedious, but drawing the characters was so much fun! I can’t wait to see how it looks in print,” Matti said. The book comes out in Fall of 2011.

“This experience has really helped Matti,” Chris said. “Her attention to detail and motion are noticeably better.” Chris believes Crabtree’s ability to convey the story through her illustrations grew much stronger.

“Having my site Deck of Jokers helped start my career, and if I didn’t put myself out there like that illustrating this book wouldn’t have been possible.”

Now that I know where I want everything, I draw more definite lines and add details, tweaking the original image to suit what I want it to be. From here, I can either add shading by Step 2 hand, or I can decide to color it digitally; this one will be colored, so there’s no shading here. This takes anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes.

Inking

After the drawing stage, I get out my set of art pens (specifically Copic Multiliner pens), and get to work on filling all the drawing lines with ink. There’s also the option of shading with pens, Step 3 which is pretty fun; but not this time. After I’ve gone over all the lines, I let it the ink sit for a bit before erasing the pencil underneath (it could smudge the ink if I didn’t). This step takes about an hour.

Coloring

When the ink is done setting, I use my scanner to scan the image directly into my computer and bring it into my preferred digital coloring software, Pixelmator.

Then I spend a while Step 4 cleaning the image up before I add color. Coloring usually takes several layers of color and a lot of detailed tweaking, so it can take anywhere between an hour to five hours, depending on the complexity of the image.

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14

FEATURES

10-05-10

jazzy k‘nights’

Jazz Program continues pattern of success

Continued from page 1

“There’s a lot of people who may be a little shy at this point, but there’s a lot of potential is this band, whether it be playing solos or playing background,” said. “From what I’ve seen from these seven weeks, I think we’re going to do really well this year.”

The program didn’t begin until 1986, when Harrison came to East. He had taught band in various western Kansas schools for six-and-a-half years before that, and, once he arrived at East, he saw the necessity to establish a jazz program. East remained the only school in the district who didn’t have a jazz band in their curriculum. Teaming up with Orchestra teacher Jonathan Lane, the two formed the first band as an extracurricular. They practiced one hour after school once a week, and thirty minutes before school once a week.

Only one and a half hours of total practice together. The band had 13 members its first year.

“I barely had enough kids to call it a band,” Harrison says sitting in his office. The walls are covered with jazz band plaques and certificates. “It was pretty small then.”

Jazz band was added as a class to the East schedule in 1988. Though slow to take off, Harrison saw the first glimmer of hope for the program in 1990 when they placed 2nd at the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Jazz Festival. It was their first true competition.

“Here we were, in our second year of having jazz as a class, and [we are] already placing in a competition in Missouri,” Harrison said. “We had the potential to have a really good program.” *** “This is the last tune and I want it to rock the house!” Harrison shouts.

The band starts in Black Coffee, a classic jazz piece from 1948. It’s an impressive blend of sound, the strength of the brass, a steady strum on the bass, the soft tap of the cymbals and drums combined with supporting chords from the piano.

The song breaks into a trombone solo, and then a trumpet, and then two more solos after that. All of the them are completely improvised, using only a base of “jazz licks,” or basic jazz beats, to build off of. The song ends with a final blast of the trumpets.

DanStewart

“I thought everybody did better.”

He never gives too much away, never admits to perfection. *** In 1997, principal Dr. Cocolis approved the addition of a second jazz band class—the Blue Notes. Along with student’s outside training and East’s positive response to jazz, the program was able to truly take off. Competition after competition, the Knights took home the first place prize. The band has also made appearances at the “Essentially Ellington” Festival in New York City in 2001 and 2006. The festival selects only 15 bands from the country, chosen after listening to a recording of six songs from each school. The first time they went, as Harrison recalls, almost nine of the fifteen bands came from Performing Arts schools.

“We were competing against Miami High School for the Performing Arts, Atlanta, Georgia, New York City, Los Angeles, and then, Shawnee Mission East,” Harrison said. “You’re in there with awfully incredible company.”

Along with their impressive festival showings, the band comes with an impressive group of alumni. Six former members of the band now perform or work as musicians in New York City, including last year’s graduate Matt Chalk, who is currently studying at the New School in New York City and Kevin Cerovich, who, as a senior at UMKC, was named the 2003 “World’s Greatest Jazz Trombonist” from ages 18-25. *** “Trip-a-let Trip-a-let Trip-a-let!”

Harrison stresses each syllable, clapping his hands. He’s talking to the drummer who’s struggling with the beat of the Woogie, A New-Orleans tune for the upcoming show. “You

gotta do it buddy!” They start the measure over again, Harrison focuses on the percussion. They stop again. “Put the accent on one, and slow it down. You’re going too fast.” The band regroups, and starts again. This is crunch time. *** Their practice style is simple--sit down, warm up, and then start playing that quarter’s charts. Harrison listens the entire time, playing along on his trumpet sometimes, too. He barks out orders here and there, assigning solos, giving tips, isolating instrument sections to practice tricky measures.

With the Fall Show only days away, the band isn’t focused on the notes and rhythm anymore. Those were memorized weeks before. Their focus is style. Staying true to the art form of jazz. Just like actors bring the words of a script to life, the students bring out the emotion of the music.

“It’s just like taking your game to a higher level in a sport,” Harrison said. “To sound professional they really have to be focused.”

To Harrison, the band has always remained a hidden gem. Always lost in the bigger names of the music program, their talent remaining relatively unknown to the East community. But despite it’s lack of notoriety, he sees the program always remaining a strong base of the music program, powered not by his dedication, but the students’ love of music and dedication to both jazz and regular band.

“I’ve had kids in the past who would’ve just done jazz,” Harrison said. “But I want the other part of the program to be good, too. I don’t want us just to be a good jazz band, I want us to be a good concert band too. It’s nice to have balance.”

WHATTHEYPLAY jazz band members talk about their music pieces

One O’Clock Jump The Woogie “I really like One O’clock Jump because it’s fun for me to play. The music for drums is just pretty much guidelines.

It’s a good tempo and kind of laid back so I get to move around a lot.”

“I really like all of our musical pieces. I really like The Woogie. I like that it’s kind of bluesy and it’s reminiscent of New Orleans jazz. It’s just kind of a funky piece.

You don’t hear that kind of music often.”

Senior Burke Smith, drums

Junior Kristen Shedor, trombone

Black Coffee

Summertime

“I like the piece Black Coffee. It’ just “The piece Black Coffee is a classic, but I a fun blues song. It has a dirty, gritty like the piece Summertime a lot more. It’s blues sound to it and it’s fun to play.” almost like a trumpet feature song and there are a lot of times where I’m playing Senior Joe Sernett, guitar by myself. The solo part of the song gives me a chance to hone in on the rhythm.”

Senior Russel Philpott, trumpet

FEATURES issue 3

15

listening to the lyrics

Students in the Song Writing Club learn to share their music

AubreyLeiter

Clustered in a small closet full of choir robes, members of the Song writing Club sit in a haphazard circle. When they hear their leader strum on his guitar, they fall quiet and, right on cue, all join in singing “She Will Be Loved”

by Maroon 5, a song that each member knows and can be a part of.

The Song writing Club, sponsored by Choir teacher Ken Foley, is a place for students to receive feedback on the songs they’ve written, listen to music and connect with people who share their passion. Sophomore Mason Pashia, an active choir member and guitar player, founded the club in Jan 2010.

Since their first meeting, they have met at least once a week, usually on Thursdays, during seminar. Pashia started the club because of his strong desire to receive extra criticism from his peers. He wanted people who were interested in music to tell him which parts in his songs were weak, which parts got repetitive or which parts were strong. “[The club] is a great place to bounce ideas around,” Pashia said. “It’s also a way for people to get their work out there and hopefully a place for them to break out of their shell.”

When Pashia came up with the idea, he knew Foley would be the perfect sponsor. He suspected that Foley would say yes because of the choir teacher’s continual support for his students’ ideas. When he asked for permission, Pashia said Foley was genuinely excited.

“I thought it was a very neat idea that these kids wanted to come together, as a club, not to just write songs but to share their ideas and give forth their input,” Foley said.

The only issue was finding a stable place to house the club when they met; the Choir room is usually occupied by other Choir students and therefore inaccessible. Pashia explains that since there isn’t a set area to practice every week, it is hard to keep the club structured.

Foley lightheartedly calls the club the “Traveling Hippie Song writing Club” because he finds it humorous that they haven’t been able to practice in the same place twice.

Other locations that the club has found to practice in are the lobby of the auditorium, the ensemble room and the music hallway.

Another issue that they run into is the task of staying on topic during meetings. The majority of the members are best friends, so this causes issues when it comes to maintaining control. Also, some members are shy when it comes to sharing their work. Pashia hopes that over time they will warm up to the group and show what they have.

Even though they have small issues with organization, it is worth it to Pashia when he feels like he has made a difference.

“At one of the meeting I played one of the recent songs I had written and almost everyone was speechless,” Pashia said. “I think it is really fun to have my music heard by others.”

Sophomore Lily Kaufmann began attending the meetings because of the social aspect of the club. She wanted to spend her seminars with her friends instead of in a quiet classroom. Once they started bringing instruments and using pen and paper, Kaufmann began to really enjoy the club for the musical aspect, not just because her friends were in it.

“I continue to go because I love to write music, it’s what I do to express my feelings,” Kaufmann said. “Plus music brings people together. It’s a universal language that everybody knows and never gets old.”

Even though she didn’t expect it, Kaufmann said she has learned a lot from the club. She thought it would be difficult to participate because of the similarity in the members’ song writing. She now realizes that this problem is what has helped her most; she knows that a different opinion can open her eyes to a completely different side of a song that she had never seen before.

She remembers one meeting last year in particular where this realization was very evident. They were assigned to bring their favorite piece of music to share with the group. Kaufmann brought the sheet music to “Drops of Jupiter” by Train.

“It was interesting hearing people’s choices; the songs all reflected the person who picked them,” Kaufmann said.

This year, Pashia has many goals for the club. He hopes to enter at least 50 percent of the members’ works into song writing competitions, as well as attend an open-mic night somewhere. He wants the members to perform their creations, and he has planned some exercise that he wants to try to get the creativity flowing beforehand.

Even though Foley believes that it is neat that they have even started the club, he thinks they could be more successful if they became more structured by meeting after school hours, one day a week. He also thinks it would be a good idea for them to organize gigs outside of school to show off their talent.

“All of us love music and being creative,” Pashia said.

“It gives us a chance to be surrounded by people who have the same outlook on life which isn’t always common.”

all photos by MarissaHorwitz

Musical Inspirations

Song Writing Club members share their favorite songs

Favorite Song: “White Blank” Page by Mumford and Sons

Favorite Part: “The song starts out slow and then all of the sudden all of the sounds come together. It is really powerful. I love the lyric ‘rage’ because it brings out the mood from the sound.”

-sophomore Max Duncan

Favorite Song: “Light Up My Room” by Barena-

ked Ladies

Favorite Part: “I really like the song because of

the melody and the lyrics. My favorite lyrics are in the chorus, mainly because I like the tone of the song.”

-sophomore Vanessa Daves

Favorite Song: “Just Another Song” by Kyle

Blake

Favorite Lyrics: “There is no use holding on to

the girl who can’t be won” Favorite Part: “The guitar picking pattern is really cool. I like the lyrics because they are all from his personal experiences.”

-sophomore Drew Broeckleman

Favorite Song: “Drops of Jupiter” by Train Favorite Lyrics: “Can you imagine no love, pride,

deep-fried chicken, Your best friend always sticking up for you even when you’re wrong” Favorite Part: “I like those lyrics because it is quirky and no other song has that kind of lyrics.”

-sophomore Lily Kaufmann

16

SPREAD

SPREAD

10-05-10

issue 3

in Senior Daniel Colebank leads the clarinet section of four seniors, one sophomore, and nine freshmen in a chant before every halftime show: “Blood makes the grass grow, kill kill kill!” They may have stolen it from cross country, but it is becoming their own.

The clarinet section is dominated in numbers by the freshmen, which causes barriers that aren’t prevalent in other sections. Since the freshmen can’t drive and there are no juniors it has been harder for the clarinets to connect. The freshmen are learning how to march and what it’s like to be in high school, so it is tough for them to really connect and form strong friendships with the seniors in the section.

The flute section of the marching band may be made up of 10 girls and two boys, but their sound is loud and heard as much as the trombones. The flutes take their playing very seriously.

“Flute players are mostly girls who are really competitive about playing the flute,” senior section leader Tyler Cecil said.

According to Cecil, flutes are the closest and most serious group in the whole band.

They have frequent flute parties where they get together and just hang out. They have more T-shirts than any other section.

Even though they are the tightest they cer-

A closer look at four of the sections that make up the East marching band and their different personalities.

JenniferRorie

Standing in a cluster before the marching band steps onto the football field, senior Burke Smith leads the drumline in their favorite chant, “Who all’s seen the leprechaun say, yeah!” followed by a resounding, “Yeah!” It not only gets them pumped up to play with the band, but also gets them excited to play together as the core of the band.

The marching band plays and walks off the field. The boys that come together and shuffle the 20 yards towards the stands of screaming fans rising to their feet form the SME drum line.

The band had its turn, but now it’s their time to shine.

The beat, the adrenaline, the screaming from the crowd. The cymbals perform flawlessly- not a single member misses a beat.

But most importantly the crowd loves it and the student body is standing up cheering on the 16 boys, one girl, and their drums.

“The adrenaline overwhelms you,” Smith said. “We will rush and get really excited.”

CLARINETS

The clarinet section likes to just have fun, and foreign exchange student senior Christian Otzen has introduced his European style dance, “Pick the Apples.” That isn’t the only dancing the section does. Throughout the games, they will dance to the music, and just enjoy their time having fun with the entire band. “[With] pretty much everyone in the band, if we have fun, we have fun together,” said Colebank.

Clarinets are a young group that have played together for only a few short months, but they are making their mark on the marching band.

“Next year once they have two sections under their belt they will have a great sound, and be really strong,” Colebank said.

tainly aren’t the craziest out of the group.

This year not only are sophomores learning how to march, but so are the freshmen. The freshmen in the flute section have added a different aspect to the group because they have bonded more than ever before. Cecil attributes bonding to having a great senior class that is dedicated to the band.

“You have to reach out to the freshmen to get to know them better, and, in turn, you reach out to everyone else and the sections are a lot tighter,” Cecil said.

FLUTES

17

The friends made on drum line are just as important as the beats they make. At band camp they will go out to eat together at Chipotle--they have “team dinners” to bond. Before the Lancer Day parade, they went out on a dinner and entertainment run to US Toy to buy funny hats.

Drumline may be something that everyone knows about or has heard in the hallway, but it is more than just a couple of guys that can hit a drum. It is a section that does more than follow sheet music and play on the correct beat. They practice once a week out of their normal class, and also recently performed at the Shawnee Mission District Education Foundation breakfast as a highlight of Shawnee Mission East. Drumline is a culture, but more than that, it is a group of friends.

“It’s only four years of my life, it’s really fun with the camaraderie and the group of guys,” Smith said.

DRUMLINE

BRASS As the marching band hops onto the bus headed to a home football game, songs from “Wheels on the Bus” to songs from the Disney movie “Mulan” and the band Journey are belted out by the brass section.

Much like their choice of music, the trumpet section is a colorful and diverse group from all parts of the school.

“We have boy scouts, we have farmer type attitudes, we have kids who only hang out with band kids, we have kids who have completely different social lives,” said senior Russell Philpott. “But it’s music that brings us all together.”

The trumpets, like the other sections, think they are superior to the others, which, in turn, leads to some friendly competition.

During the last week of summer, at band camp, Philpott and Tyler Cecil were discussing how the flutes weren’t playing loud enough. That lead to a competition between the flutes and trumpets to see who could play

louder.

“It was healthy competition, and it was great,” Philpott said.

Summer camp was a bonding experience for the trumpets, but also for the trombones.

The trombones are more of a mellow section compared to the rest of the band, but they still have fun and connect with their section members.

The two seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen have bonded over the summer and now get along and play together well. The seniors are friends with the freshmen and vice versa.

“I have a lot of friends in band and really enjoy spending time with them,” said Hung.

For Philpott, it is all about the confidence in marching band, “If you have the confidence to play and you have the confidence to march, it looks good, and it sounds good,” Philpott said. photos by Grant Heinlein, Eden Schoofs, Danielle Norton, Molly Howland, Eliza McCormick and Hiba Akhtar

16

SPREAD

SPREAD

10-05-10

issue 3

in Senior Daniel Colebank leads the clarinet section of four seniors, one sophomore, and nine freshmen in a chant before every halftime show: “Blood makes the grass grow, kill kill kill!” They may have stolen it from cross country, but it is becoming their own.

The clarinet section is dominated in numbers by the freshmen, which causes barriers that aren’t prevalent in other sections. Since the freshmen can’t drive and there are no juniors it has been harder for the clarinets to connect. The freshmen are learning how to march and what it’s like to be in high school, so it is tough for them to really connect and form strong friendships with the seniors in the section.

The flute section of the marching band may be made up of 10 girls and two boys, but their sound is loud and heard as much as the trombones. The flutes take their playing very seriously.

“Flute players are mostly girls who are really competitive about playing the flute,” senior section leader Tyler Cecil said.

According to Cecil, flutes are the closest and most serious group in the whole band.

They have frequent flute parties where they get together and just hang out. They have more T-shirts than any other section.

Even though they are the tightest they cer-

A closer look at four of the sections that make up the East marching band and their different personalities.

JenniferRorie

Standing in a cluster before the marching band steps onto the football field, senior Burke Smith leads the drumline in their favorite chant, “Who all’s seen the leprechaun say, yeah!” followed by a resounding, “Yeah!” It not only gets them pumped up to play with the band, but also gets them excited to play together as the core of the band.

The marching band plays and walks off the field. The boys that come together and shuffle the 20 yards towards the stands of screaming fans rising to their feet form the SME drum line.

The band had its turn, but now it’s their time to shine.

The beat, the adrenaline, the screaming from the crowd. The cymbals perform flawlessly- not a single member misses a beat.

But most importantly the crowd loves it and the student body is standing up cheering on the 16 boys, one girl, and their drums.

“The adrenaline overwhelms you,” Smith said. “We will rush and get really excited.”

CLARINETS

The clarinet section likes to just have fun, and foreign exchange student senior Christian Otzen has introduced his European style dance, “Pick the Apples.” That isn’t the only dancing the section does. Throughout the games, they will dance to the music, and just enjoy their time having fun with the entire band. “[With] pretty much everyone in the band, if we have fun, we have fun together,” said Colebank.

Clarinets are a young group that have played together for only a few short months, but they are making their mark on the marching band.

“Next year once they have two sections under their belt they will have a great sound, and be really strong,” Colebank said.

tainly aren’t the craziest out of the group.

This year not only are sophomores learning how to march, but so are the freshmen. The freshmen in the flute section have added a different aspect to the group because they have bonded more than ever before. Cecil attributes bonding to having a great senior class that is dedicated to the band.

“You have to reach out to the freshmen to get to know them better, and, in turn, you reach out to everyone else and the sections are a lot tighter,” Cecil said.

FLUTES

17

The friends made on drum line are just as important as the beats they make. At band camp they will go out to eat together at Chipotle--they have “team dinners” to bond. Before the Lancer Day parade, they went out on a dinner and entertainment run to US Toy to buy funny hats.

Drumline may be something that everyone knows about or has heard in the hallway, but it is more than just a couple of guys that can hit a drum. It is a section that does more than follow sheet music and play on the correct beat. They practice once a week out of their normal class, and also recently performed at the Shawnee Mission District Education Foundation breakfast as a highlight of Shawnee Mission East. Drumline is a culture, but more than that, it is a group of friends.

“It’s only four years of my life, it’s really fun with the camaraderie and the group of guys,” Smith said.

DRUMLINE

BRASS As the marching band hops onto the bus headed to a home football game, songs from “Wheels on the Bus” to songs from the Disney movie “Mulan” and the band Journey are belted out by the brass section.

Much like their choice of music, the trumpet section is a colorful and diverse group from all parts of the school.

“We have boy scouts, we have farmer type attitudes, we have kids who only hang out with band kids, we have kids who have completely different social lives,” said senior Russell Philpott. “But it’s music that brings us all together.”

The trumpets, like the other sections, think they are superior to the others, which, in turn, leads to some friendly competition.

During the last week of summer, at band camp, Philpott and Tyler Cecil were discussing how the flutes weren’t playing loud enough. That lead to a competition between the flutes and trumpets to see who could play

louder.

“It was healthy competition, and it was great,” Philpott said.

Summer camp was a bonding experience for the trumpets, but also for the trombones.

The trombones are more of a mellow section compared to the rest of the band, but they still have fun and connect with their section members.

The two seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen have bonded over the summer and now get along and play together well. The seniors are friends with the freshmen and vice versa.

“I have a lot of friends in band and really enjoy spending time with them,” said Hung.

For Philpott, it is all about the confidence in marching band, “If you have the confidence to play and you have the confidence to march, it looks good, and it sounds good,” Philpott said. photos by Grant Heinlein, Eden Schoofs, Danielle Norton, Molly Howland, Eliza McCormick and Hiba Akhtar

18

FEATURES

10-05-10

fifth quarter

comeback

Players’ families offer students an alternative to partying after Friday night football games AnnaMarken

When Chip Sherman came to East last year, he brought more than an impressive coaching resume. He brought a new tradition that would help to eliminate underage drinking and out of control parties: Fifth Quarters.

Sherman started Fifth Quarters while coaching at Platte County High School. According to Sherman, the level of drinking and drugs amongst the students on the weekends was on the rise. Sherman wanted a safe place for them to go on Fridays where they could be monitored, but still have a good time. Sherman said that students began to see that there were ways other than partying to have a good time. His Fifth Quarters soon became a die-hard tradition.

“Kids really enjoyed them,” Sherman said. “It got to be a thing where every Friday that’s just where everyone went.”

Along with keeping kids out of trouble on Friday nights, the Fifth Quarters keep the team together. It gives them a place to get together and celebrate. Senior John Shrock, whose family hosted the first Fifth Quarter, said the team enjoys the Fifth Quarters because they give them a place to get together with lots of food.

While Principal Karl Krawitz supports Fifth Quarters and feels they have been very effective in keeping the students safe during the weekends, he has only attended one. He and

Sherman agree that is important for kids to know that Fifth Quarters are not associated with school, but something the team is putting together. It is an opportunity for students to get away from coaches and teachers, but still be supervised.

The Fifth Quarters have seen a great increase in attendance since their introduction into East culture. Since they were started last year, not many people knew about Fifth Quarters. As word got around, more people started going.

According to Sherman, average attendance last year was around 100. Already this year, average attendance has nearly doubled. Sherman predicts that the attendance will increase every year, as more and more people become familiar with Fifth Quarters. Due to the increases in attendance and popularity of the events, the parents and administration are planning on having the Homecoming game’s Fifth Quarter on the East practice field as a bonfire. The bonfire will be open to all students and the event will be free.

The parties are hosted and coordinated by the parents of the Varsity football players. Sherman gave them the idea and helped get them started, but the parents have taken them over.

“I helped get the ball rolling, but the parents really took control,” Sherman said. “They are really, really great. They do

a wonderful job.”

Attendance by the players is not mandatory, however, Defensive Coordinator Chip Ufford said the players feel an obligation to attend because Sherman is ultimately organizing the parties for them.

Food, one of the most appealing aspects according to senior cheer captain Lauren Fischer, is donated by local restaurants, with the help of the Gridiron Club, a group of football parents who organize many events for the sport. Meals have ranged from Chipotle, to pizza, to burgers.

As for the future of Fifth Quarters, Dr. Krawitz and Sherman are hoping to introduce Fifth Quarters into other sports.

The basketball began to adopt the tradition last year and held a few, but Dr. Krawitz and Sherman would like to see them happening after every game. Even if smaller sports combine to host, Dr. Krawitz would be pleased. “[Fifth Quarters] have seen wonderful success,” Dr. Krawitz said. “Students have the perfect opportunity to hang out, listen to music, and eat free food, but still keep their minds focused on what is important.”

the doctors had her on an IV to reverse the effects of the Tylenol dosage.

They were not going to let her go home, so her parents checked her into a mental hospital for kids with depression.

The dull pasty-brown colored walls and inconsiderate faculty made Mary Kate want to go home the second she walked in.

She still remembers one of the workers that was 40-years-old and had anorexia. She was one of the skinniest people Mary Kate had ever seen.

“That was really triggering my eating disorder because I was already struggling and being around her made me wish I looked like her,” Mary Kate said.

At this point, Mary Kate could tell her friends and family were becoming mentally tired and felt as if they were getting fed up with it.

“Nobody really understood it,” Mary Kate said. “They thought it was in my control and my friends would act upset with me when I was not doing well.”

Mary Kate started to hang out with different friends shortly after. These girls were people that she somewhat knew but never had hung out with. They helped Mary Kate keep her mind away from her eating disorder and she was able to pull herself out of the downward spiral she was stepping into.

“By them including me and asking me to hang out, they were helping me,” Mary Kate said. “Little things like that were a major part of my recovery and they didn’t even know they were helping.”

She felt as if some people were only concerned about her eating disorder when they saw her and could not see past it.

The girls she started to hang out with did not know much about her eating disorder. It was a bit of a relief to not have to always think or worry about her eating disorder.

Mary Kate gets upset when she thinks about what has gone on in the past. More than anything, she feels somewhat embarrassed about her eating disorder.

“There is a lot that an eating disorder comes with,” Mary Kate said, “such as major weight-loss and eating habits that people think aren’t very attractive.”

Some days Mary Kate will look in her bathroom mirror

and comment on how certain features looks. But after all of the treatment she has been in, Mary Kate has grown to accept herself.

Mary Kate has been out of treatment for over a year. The never-ending cycle that she thought she would always be in has been a growing experience.

She has items up all around her room to remind her of her journey. Sitting on her dresser are purple and pink studded homemade block letters that spell out recovery. A stack of green and yellow sticky notes lay in front of the letters so Mary Kate can write encouraging statements to post on her mirror.

“I was asked in my English class, ‘Can negative experiences change you for the better?” Mary Kate said. “I think that this negative experience has changed me for the better because it made me stronger and has given me more of an outlook on life.”

She goes to an out-patient doctor once a month rather than the twice a week she used to have to go to before and after treatment. The trust between her and her parents has been restored. She roams free when it comes to meals. According to Mary Kate, she knows what she needs to eat daily and if she misses a serving with one meal, she makes it up with the next.

Steve says that since the day they found out Mary Kate had a problem, the entire Kovzan family has been very honest and open with where Mary Kate is and her progress. In return, they received lots of support and compassion from friends and neighbors.

“Our view is that if we can save one girl from the path that Mary Kate went down, then we are making a difference,” Steve said.

Both Mary Kate and her parents agree that the more people are aware and educated about eating disorders the better.

Mary Kate is hoping that people gain knowledge and realize that hardcore dieting and anything along that matter is nothing to joke about or consider at an early age.

“My experiences should show,” Mary Kate said, “that thinking it is okay to cut out foods or go on diets can go from being innocent to affecting you for the rest of your life.”

Sophomore stuggles with anorexia and works towards recovery Continued from page 11

She started learning ways to help with her disease. She began referring to her illness as Ed. When she talks about Ed, it is as if Ed is a living person. Mary Kate explained how she and Ed would not see eye to eye and she was losing herself to her so-called friend.

The doctors at Laureate sent her home with an eating plan and routines to stay healthy. Three months after coming home from Laureate, Mary Kate relapsed in November 2008. Since she was living there, she had to enroll in a local school in Tulsa to make sure she was passing. Through the family therapy session at Laureate, the Kovzans learned that relapsing does not have one cause. But for Mary Kate, relapsing meant to go back to the old mindset and routines, like secretly doing sit-ups in her bedroom and cutting out all fats and carbs.

Instead of taking her back to Tulsa, her parents sent her to a program at Research Hospital for Eating Disorders in Kansas City, Missouri. She would have meals and spend the day there but come home every night to sleep. She was checked into there for about a month but, according to Kovzan, after she got out she still wasn’t doing everything correctly.

She tried to recover from the relapse, but the habits that she was trying to break, such as skipping meals, were still taking place secretly.

These imperfections that she thought about herself took a toll in March 2009 when she relapsed fully and returned to Laureate. She stayed there until June 2009.

Mary Kate was thinking positively and her poor thoughts were not overwhelming her following her second stay at Laureate. She stayed this way until December 2009, when she fell deeply into a spiraling depression. The stress of her eating disorder and friends was becoming too much.

One night, she grabbed the Tylenol bottle out of her pantry and swallowed what she and her mother estimate was 4550 pills.

She was hoping not to wake up.

The next morning, her parents saw the bottle and they rushed her the hospital. She was devastated when she woke up. Mary Kate had to stay in the hospital for three days, and

“Me and Scott Watson serenaded my date, Caroline Marland, with the beautiful love ballad “Truly Madly Deeply” outside of her house. I had the lyrics completely memorized. “ Senior Nick Lucas

Breaking Out into Song

Wash Me

“I took a white t-shirt and wrote a bunch of names on it, mine being in Sharpie and the others in washable marker. Everything was in a bag that said ‘wash me’ and a note that asked ‘Homecoming?’”.

Sophomore Max Werner

“I’m in Mr. Foley’s acapella group, the Y Chromotones and we know this song “Steal my Kisses” by Ben Harper. I rewrote the words so that it applied to Homecoming and the guys walked in with a mic signing the melody and I got on one knee with a flower and asked her to Homecoming.”

Sophomore Mason Pashia TomiCaldwell

HOW TO avoid awkward moments

Q. What would you change your name to if you had the opportunity?

A. I would change it to Oslo Denmark.

Q.What is the craziest situation you have ever been in?

A. My friend and I decided to do a double feature of “Para-

at

normal Activity.” We didn’t pay, we were alone and it was really late at night.

Yes, pictures can be awkward. Take a big breath, smile and be yourself.

Do not ditch your date, the last thing you want to do is leave her/ him stranded. Have fun, laugh about it and before you know it, pictures will be over.

A. Ghetto-fabulous. Yeah, just because...

Q. If you could meet with anyone in the world who would it be?

A. Nene from “Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

seconds

2.

with junior

Patrick Riggin

HOT SPOTS to get a bite to eat before

The Cheesecake Factory

EdenSchoofs Kansas City Country Club

Getting with a small group of six or a huge group of 28, you are bound to have fun. There are many types of food to choose from—barbecue, “My group is going to Kansas Italian or a steakhouse. It is the City Country Club. Some people time that the guy has to pay, so in my group are members there order up and have some fun! and it can accommodate our

“The choice of Plaza III was agreed with my group of 16 because it is a very nice and delicious place to take our dates to homecoming.”

Sophomore Patrick Blackburn

group of about 20.”

Freshman Ben Tschudy

TomiCaldwell

Homecoming

1. {Say Cheese!}

Q. What is one word you would use to describe yourself?

30

19

a page about HOMECOMING

}

Serenading

issue 3

{

CREATIVE WAYS

MIXED

MIXED

Dinner Time

Have some back-up topics ready. The time is going to come and you will hear nothing but silence. What do you have in common? Everyone has something they can talk about--favorite music, movies, or even sports. If you’re a guy, ask the girl if they like “Real Housewives of (NYC, D.C., New Jersey, Atlanta, ad infinitum).” It’s guaranteed conversation.

3. {The Dance}

Listen to the music and sing the lyrics. Homecoming is supposed to be fun! Show it, shake it and don’t forget to socialize with your friends.

The dance is to see other people and that will ease everything.

A&E 20 10-05-10

B Classic Cookie

MeMa’s a 409 W. Gregory Kansas City, MO

1211 Main Street Kansas City, MO 6974 Mission Prairie Village, KS

2450 Grand Kansas City, MO

d Big Momma

cDolcé

128 W 18th Kansas City, MO

Stroud’s E

F YJ’s 5410 NE Oak Ridge Kansas City, MO

STAFFER REVIEWS SIX DIFFERENT CINNAMON ROLL VENDORS

A&E

BAKER’S DELIGHT

issue 3

21

HaleyMartin

By a stroke of good luck, I arrived at MeMa’s bakery downtown during their daily happy hour: from 3-5 p.m. Because of this, I got two cinnamon rolls for the price of one, a deal that goes for all of their baked items. The shop was quaint and very much home style, with photos framed on the walls, newspaper stacks ready to be read and a giant wedding cake on a table. Large armchairs and side tables dominated the far corner of the shop, with tables and stools occupying space on the wall opposite of that. I grabbed my two hot cinnamon rolls from the cashier and took a place in an armchair.

a

The cinnamon roll was served in a cupcake wrapper to hold it together. I ate the muffin-like roll with a plastic spoon. The outside of it was dry but the inside was extremely soft and doughy, which consequently made it my favorite cinnamon roll. Cinnamon was dripping into all of the crevices of the cinnamon roll and even off into the small polka-dotted bowl it rested on.

Biting into the cinnamon roll gave me the same sweet satisfaction as biting into a halfway baked cookie—it made me want to close my eyes and savor the moment. As I tried the promising middle, my eyes began to water because it was so hot. Be cautious of the middle because the cinnamon sauce covering it is extremely warm.

I walked into the Classic Cookie right before closing time; all of the chairs were on the tables and the seating area was deserted minus the two nice ladies cleaning up the counter.

One of them took my order of a sole cinnamon roll, which she grabbed out of the back and heated up while making polite small talk about school. I sat in a booth at the front of the store by the large window to eat the roll because I could not help but notice the resemblance between the shop and my grandma’s farm house kitchen. This realiza-

B

tion immediately made me feel at home, so I started in on the cinnamon roll.

This medium-sized, ship-shaped roll was different from the others I had tried, in that the bread taste dominated the minimal amount of cinnamon dispersed throughout.

The copious amount of icing offset the rollbuttered-with-cinnamon aspect, and it was flaky but, at the same time, still a bit moist.

I’d suggest drinking coffee or hot chocolate with this cinnamon roll to bring it to its prime. For best results, drop by in the morning for breakfast and eat it on the way to school. Not only is it tasty, it’s also inexpensive and quick.

The atmosphere of Dolcé was that of a quaint French bakery, with light music playing in the background and two puffed up armchairs that looked perfect for napping in. Above the chairs hung a framed newspaper clipping about the owner’s passion for baking cupcakes, the store’s specialty. But I was there for the equallyscrumptious cinnamon rolls.

The rolls were placed in a spacious glass display alongside various flavors of cookies and other delectable-looking sweets. The kind cashier warmed it in the microwave (a reoccurring trend among almost all of the places I visited) and served it up on a clean white plate. I took my seat at one of the small

C

tables dispersed across the small vicinity of the shop.

Dolcé was the first vendor I visited and therefore I didn’t have too much to compare it to, though the roll alone spoke volumes about the quality of the bakery. It was firm and certainly not flaky, not too hot to eat but still warm enough to melt a bit of the frosting. The middle of the roll was gooey and oozing with cinnamon.

The icing had a peculiar, but very tasteful flavor that took me a minute to put my finger on. It was a very thin flavor with a faint taste of cream cheese that really gave it that certain pop. I feel sure that anything at Dolcé will live up to the high standard of the cinnamon roll.

Big Momma’s is nestled into the food court on the lower ground of the Crown Center shops. The shop itself is very open with numerous shelves devoted solely to cinnamon rolls. Upon looking at the rolls of various sizes, one stood out among the rest, the appropriately-named “Big Momma” roll. It could have easily been called the “Bigger-Than-Your-Face” cinnamon roll—the girl behind the counter filled me in, saying that the rolls are often substituted as birthday cakes fit to feed six people.

Although the Big Momma roll looked tempting, I chose the smallest cinnamon roll offered, which was actually larger than the typical canned Pillsbury roll. It looked clas-

D

sic with thick icing drizzled over its twisted form, and was given to me warmed up in a see-through plastic to-go container. I took it out to one of the many tables scattered across the food court to eat and began to gently tear and eat it with my hands.

Apart from the firm outside of the bread, the inside was surprisingly fluffy and soft.

The cinnamon was speckled throughout the roll and embedded into the taste. The middle of the roll stayed tightly twirled until the very finish, as I had saved it for last. It made my mouth water just looking at it. The middle was absolutely drenched in the flavorful cinnamon and left me craving another as soon as I was through with it.

E

Their rolls looked very much like rolls, only they were covered in a visible amount of cinnamon. From the outside, it seemed like these pastries would taste like cinnamon toast, but they actually tasted quite moist, as if the melted cinnamon was evenly spread throughout the whole roll with a hint of apple flavor. The treat was so satisfying that I felt the need to wrap several up in a napkin and bring them home to my family.

The kind and polite staff, the quiet and respectful families gathered around plates of fried chicken, the western-style furnishings and the checkered red tablecloths all made for the perfect atmosphere to enjoy these unique cinnamon rolls.

As I walked on 18th between Broadway and Main, it was hard to miss the Mediterranean slash Mardi Gras style snack bar with various concert posters and local ads lining the windows. Inside, the walls were covered with numerous knickknacks including a severed doll head perched on top of the fresh fruit rack. The cinnamon rolls were marked on the humble display as sticky buns, selling for two dollars, and were enclosed in a glass case along with other plastic-covered pastries.

The lopsided sticky bun was served warm, straight out of the microwave with a slice of butter. It had several pecans on the top and was doused with melted, sticky cinnamon. I

cut some of the outside off with my fork, and immediately noticed a high-cinnamon-tolow-bread ratio, which made for a great combination. With my second bite, I decided to cut out the under cooked and gooey middle, and dip it in the butter provided. I quickly ate it for fear that it would slip off of my fork.

It sounds cliché, but the middle literally melted in my mouth and sent my taste buds soaring with bursts of now-lukewarm cinnamon. The butter offset the cinnamon with its sweet taste, making me wish that every cinnamon roll came with butter. After these first two bites, I quickly devoured the rest and left my white plate with only remnants of cinnamon and a few lonely pecans.

The local familyowned restaurant Stroud’s is widely known for their noteworthy fried chicken.

But after trying out a few for myself, I can safely say that their cinnamon rolls could easily be added to the list of main attractions. The dim lighting inside the restaurant and the overall southern and homey atmosphere seemed to promise me that the rolls would be made with as much care as the venue presented. When I walked in, I politely asked the hostess for just one cinnamon roll—she came back with a basket of approximately seven crystallized treats. I didn’t complain.

STAR SCALE

CHECK PLEASE

AVERAGE

F

DELIGHTFUL

CULINARY GENIUS

The most gruesome fiends are all here at Haunt, and they are waiting for you. They know you’ll come to navigate our 9 twisted attractions, like Asylum Island, Lore of the Vampires and the all-new Corn Stalkers. But, most importantly, you’ll come to be prey for our legions of ravenous creatures.

3EPT ÂŻ /CT

&RIDAY &RIGHT .IGHT JUST

Present this coupon at any Worlds of Fun ticket window to purchase up to 4 Regular* admissions. Save $7 off Worlds of Fun Friday Fright Night admission after 6 pm. Not valid toward the purchase of Junior/Senior, Twilight or Pay Once Visit Twice admissions. Offers valid any operating Friday from September 24 , 2010 – October 29, 2010. Also valid Thursday, Oct. 28. Cannot be combined with any other discount offer. No cash value. Prices, policies, schedules, and attraction availability are subject to change without notice. All prices plus tax. Limited attraction availability and Camp Snoopy closed Friday nights and Thurs. Oct. 28. Worlds of Fun reserves the right to be closed for private events. To view the most current operating schedule while planning your trip, please visit worldsoffun. com. Valid for up to four (4) All-Day Regular* admissions.

Extreme Haunts are not recommended for smaller children.

0190

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WOFHntGts10x12.indd 1

1

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3ATURDAY 3CARES JUST Present this coupon at any Worlds of Fun ticket window to purchase up to 4 Regular* admissions. Save $12 off Worlds of Fun All-Day Regular* admission. *Regular admission is for guests 48� in height or taller in shoes. Not valid toward the purchase of Junior/Senior, Twilight or Pay Once Visit Twice admissions. Offers valid any operating Saturday from September 18, 2010 – October 30, 2010. Cannot be combined with any other discount offer. No cash value. Prices, policies, schedules, and attraction availability are subject to change without notice. All prices plus tax. Worlds of Fun reserves the right to be closed for private events. To view the most current operating schedule while planning your trip, please visit worldsoffun.com. Valid for up to four (4) All-Day Regular* admissions. Halloween Haunt is frightening after 7pm. Extreme Haunts are not recommended for smaller children.

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9/9/10 4:44:04 PM

PHOTO ESSAY issue 3

23

DOWN BUT

OUT

NOT

Football team looks to recover after close loss to second ranked Sunflower League team

Senior Grant Ellis, kneeling on the sideline, takes a break before heading back to the field. “At that point, I was dehydrated and just wanted to regain my focus,” Ellis said.

“With the team down I needed to get in the right state of mind.”

GrantHeinlein Losing by a mere four points, the Lancer offense strategizes their comeback. The GrantHeinlein final score was 24-13, with Olathe North coming out on top.

GrantHeinlein Senior John Schrock, below left, sidesteps a defender’s tackle. “It was just one of those games where we should have came away with the win,” Schrock said. GrantHeinlein Encouraging his teammates, senior Krey Bradley screams from the sideline. Bradley ranks second in the Sunflower League for receiving yards this season. KatieEast

Looking up the field, senior Quan Brunt, above, sheds a tackle from a flying defender. This year is Brunt’s first on the varsity team. Brunt starts cornerback on defense as well as doing special teams.

GrantHeinlein

24

A&E 10-05-10

WebGems Harbinger staffer gives you a guide to the latest cutting edge web pages ChrisHeady

www.thefwa.com www.listentoyoutube.com Legal music is the best; free legal music is even better. Listentoyoutube.com is a website that revolutionizes the way YouTube and mp3 files correlate.

After searching your favorite song or artist on youtube.com, the viewer can copy the URL and then paste that same URL into a designated box at listentoyoutube.com. After two more simple clicks, the music or audio file from the video downloads directly to your iTunes, free of charge. The notion of ‘this can’t be legal’ is most likely boggling your mind but trust me and the site, it’s 100 percent legal.

8

the great

search suggestions for wolframalpha

you birthday (ie january 30, 1994) your first name your calculus homework problems your vision (ie 20/50 vision) your chemistry homework what you ate for lunch your #1 college choice your favorite color

The reference point for all cutting edge websites on the web. All types of designers in any field should definitely check this site (and the features it has to offer) out. The FWA, or the “Favourite Website Awards,” breaks out of the ordinary website and has a wide variety of categories that a viewer can waste time on or admire the world wide web. They feature a site of the day, a photo of the day, job opportunities online and even more. It’s almost like the headquarters of the Internet.

www.actstudent.org Juniors, the dreaded ACT test is approaching quickly, but fret not, for the Internet can be of assistance to your preparation. Even if you aren’t taking a test prep class, this website can help you prepare for what you need to know to dominate the ACT test. With practice tests in English, math, reading, science and writing, students can be fully ready for their adventure of a test that is the ACT. After practice tests, students can plan careers based on test scores, and even plan ahead for college.

GrantKendall

www.wolframalpha.com Everything that you would ever need to know about absolutely anything can be found on this website. Any noun, calculation or history subject can be dissected to its very core here.

Its it’s like Google -- if Google was on steroids. On this site, it’s not about what you want to know about something, it’s how much you would ever need to know about it. Just searching the word New York, Wolfram Alpha give you details about: location, local map, population, current time, current weather, economic properties, crime rate, daily traffic delays, geographic properties, nicknames, and more.

Any subject can be of help with this site. It’s as if you’ve got your own personal tutor -- who knows everything, about everything.

www.bookrags.com We’ve all been there. Two days before your book report is due and you have no idea what the story is about. Where do you go? Thanks to bookrags. com, all worries can come to an end. Like the more popularly known sparknotes.com, BookRags gives summaries of each chapter. But it does more than that. For those students who worry about a quiz or test, Rags provides study guides that can ease the stress for many East students who think it is essential to get an A on a test. Teachers can get help as well with lesson plans, essay suggestions and test questions. Everything the average bookworm could ever want, can be found on bookrags. com.

ae

issue 3

F I L M F E S T

AubreyLeiter

Oct. 1st-7th

October Edition

25

KANSAS INTERNATIONAL

calendar

&

A&E

Even though it’s already halfway finished, make sure to stop by the Glenwood Arts Theatre for the remainder of the Kansas International Film Fest. This annual festival features the premier work of local to national filmmakers’ independent or international film. Expect an exceptional show, considering this year marks the 10th anniversary of the event.

October Weekends Oct. 5th

After being featured on many hit songs including “Billionaire,” Bruno Mars has officially completed a first album due out this month. This album includes the radio-popular love song “Just the Way You Are” which reached the top of the Billboard 100 this past month.

Doo-wops is being released just in time for Mars to start his upcoming tour, where he will be opening for Maroon 5.

Doo-wops and Hooligans by Bruno Mars

Halloween

HAUNT

Most wouldn’t associate roller coasters with haunted houses but during Halloween Haunt you can enjoy the best of both worlds (no Hannah Montana puns intended). Every weekend throughout this entire month you’re apt take a trip out to Worlds of Fun with your most daring friends and experience the thrill of wandering through frightening Haunted Houses to get to your favorite ride.

Oct. 15

Jackass 3D

Paranormal Activity 2

Country music fans definitely don’t want to miss the talented Carrie Underwood when she comes to the Sprint Center with Billy Currington in the middle of this month.

The concert happens to land on the same night as Homecoming so if you aren’t attending the dance, or have been searching for an excuse not to, tickets are still red hot and available for this event.

Oct. 22nd

Carrie Underwood

Oct. 16

If you enjoy watching grown men run around doing pointless and life-threatening stunts, allmoviephotos.com then this is the movie for you.

Since the popular MTV show, the characters of Jackass have been very successful with their past two movies and the third will most likely be enjoyed by devoted fans. This time they can even enjoy the madness in a whole different dimension.

Appropriately hitting theaters about a week before Halloween, the second installment of Paranormal Activity is coming your way, fast. As the first movie left viewers with a cliff hanger, this film will continue the mystery of a women possessed by a demon (hopefully with more clarity than the first film).

If you are a fan of horror flicks, this is definitely one to see. allmoviephotos.com

Oct. 25th

If you’re a fan of the rapidly expanding genre of music called dubstep, then make sure you are at Liberty Hall in Lawrence on October 25. Bassnectar, who has been performing music for over 15 years, will be putting on a rave-style show to remember. He is known for his electronic mix where he combines mainstream music with underground dubs. If you’re a fan of “womping” and this type of music, you will definitely not want to miss out.

Oct. 25th

BASSNECTAR

After seeing her first two albums sell a combination of 13 million worldwide, it’s pretty obvious her third album Speak Now will be popular. Expect an album filled with love songs that teenage girls all over the nation can relate to. This album features her most recent single, “Mine” and is coming out just months before she starts her World Tour in February where she will visit over 18 different countries.

SPEAK NOW

by Taylor Swift allmoviephotos.com, kansasfilm.org, taylorswiftofficial.com, carrieunderwood.com

A&E

26

10-05-10

Chromeo’s newest album lives up to the hype, offering

BobMartin

We’re ten years into the new millennium, and the task of defining “dance music” is nearly impossible. Swimming through the flood of what kids like to move to, no longer can one genre single-handedly take the reigns. When Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” fades into Far East Movement’s “Like a G6” without anyone breaking a heel, it’s clear that most everything the “Top 40” sells is dance floor friendly.

Enter Chromeo, two Toronto boys who, in a world where auto-tune and “The Dougie” can make you a star, are still dancing at disco’s grave.

Blending the best parts of ‘80s electro and funk, Chromeo’s sound is unquestionably original, yet completely nostalgic. Using an electric guitar and talk box as their tools of trade, Patrick “P-Thugg” Gernayel and David “Dave 1” Macklovitch have been making music since high school.

The two hit the scene in 2002, and watched their career take off after their 2007 release, “Fancy Footwork.”

The duo’s third and most recent effort, “Business Casual” maintains their previous draw with a funky enough sound to give every foot in the room a good workout. As a personal newcomer to the group, this certainly wasn’t a bad place to start. Opening with the synthy “Hot Mess”, the band teases our tastes with a “bedroom keyboard” sound that beautifully transitions to a crisp studio song. This groove doesn’t stop as the album moves into songs like “Night By Night”

ae &

GRANT HEINLEIN Photo Editor

KENNEDY BURGESS A&E Page Editor

www.buzzgrinder.com

A NOT SO ‘CASUAL’ SOUND and “You Make it Rough,” finding the perfect balance between real vocals and Chromeo’s signature talk box call and response. Macklovitch knows exactly how to handle these tracks, and slides into his spot-on vocals with class and ease.

Lyrically, things couldn’t be more simplistic. Almost every song on “Business Casual” covers the subject of love. A topic that transcends “overused,” the duo manages to avoid clichés by focusing more on the overall sound, rather than the the lyrics themselves. Keeping that nostalgic feeling in mind, these hyped up songs fall in line with much of what worked for Toto and so many other hitmakers of the 80s.

Finding the right flow within these upbeat songs, Chromeo still prove themselves to be versatile as “Business Casual” winds down. It nearly pains me that director and master of teen comedy John Hughes couldn’t have been around to hear the album’s closer, “Grow Up.” One of the mellower and more solemn tracks present, it perfectly embodies the spirit of so many of Hughes’ brat-pack flicks and practically begs for a Molly Ringwald dance montage. Complete with a karaoke-friendly chorus of “aye yos,” Macklovitch is straight to the point grumbling that “if we can’t be grownups then we won’t grow up.” Once again, despite simplicity, the song is able to conjure up something far greater than the basic sum of its parts.

As structurally solid as “Business Casual” is, the album’s

News Section Editor

Album you’re most looking forward to this fall?

Song that you’ve been jamming to this school year?

THE AGE OF ADZ - SUFJAN STEVENS Sufjan released the entire album early on NPR Music for streaming.

The new electronic feel is superb.

TBA - KANYE WEST

Sidewalks - Matt & Kim After hearing their single “Cameras,” it looks as if the New York duo’s second release will be as strong as the first.

STAR SCALE

To hear more from Bob Martin including multiple music podcasts and various reviews, visit us at smeharbinger.net.

MUSICAL CONNOISSEURS OFFER THEIR TWO CENTS

EAR PLUGS

Favorite artist to come on the scene in 2010?

Concert that you’re looking forward to in the near future?

“We Own The Sky” — M83

MUMFORD & SONS

SUFJAN STEVENS: 10/17

A friend recently turned me on to them and I haven’t turned their instrumental beats off since.

With the release of “Sigh No More” in 2009, Mumford & Sons blew up across the board landing features on radio shows and top spots on the charts.

He’s a strange and abstract artist in my opinion and I think he’ll put on a show like nothing I’ve ever seen.

“Basic Space” — The xx

Sorry T-Swift, but Kanye’s latest single “Runaway” has me waiting in anticipation for his new album to drop.

JACK HOWLAND

distinct style can’t save every song. Two tracks short of the fantastic closer, the band comes out of nowhere with a slow ballad sung entirely in French. While “J’ai claque la porte” has a background music kind of feel, the softly spoken lyrics don’t really touch in any way. The language barrier aside, the song really doesn’t belong here. Currently working on a Ph.D in French literature at Columbia University, the language is clearly something close to Macklovitch, but the song still doesn’t feel right. One less than stellar attempt is acceptable though considering everything we have here.

Enjoying “Business Casual” is like trying a new dish.

You’ll know from the first taste whether or not you like it, and the rest likely won’t serve to change your mind. The funkafied beats and fantastic modern use of the talk box make for something that has been hard to find in the last 20 years. Chromeo had a core audience and stylistic sound in mind here, and they completely nailed it. Disco may be dead, but Toronto’s dynamic duo is absolutely here to stay.

Freelance Whales

I kept hearing their song “Crystalized” via Sirius radio so I did some groovesharkin’ and now I’m hooked.

They haven’t had much local hype here, but their new Twitter promo has been blowing up lately.

“One Life Stand” — Hot Chip

Local Natives

The band knows how to throw together a catchy synth tune, and this song is their best.

RADIO ONLY

The band is still not as popular as they ought to be, but with catchy songs and a loyal following, look for them in the future.

ADD TO PLAYLIST

BAND OF HORSES: 10/14

I was bummed I wasn’t able to see them open for Modest Mouse this summer. They will def put on an amazing live show.

RA RA RIOT: 10/9 Ra Ra Riot’s album “Rhumb Line” dominated my iPod last year, and I can’t wait to see the violin-heavy band play in Lawrence.

PRESS REPEAT

A&E

issue 3

eclectictransition ZoeBrian

Since 1997, Of Montreal has been dominating the indie music scene. Well, as much as an indie band can while still claiming indie-ness. The underground band is currently signed with one of the most respected indie-labels around, Elephant 6. Co-created by Jeff Magnum of Neutral Milk Hotel, record labels don’t get much indie-er than that.

With the release of their tenth album, False Priest, the band continues to deliver memorable songs, but unfortunately fails at creating a distinctive feel from previous releases.

With “I Feel Ya’ Strutter” the album starts off with a bang. Heading straight into the upbeat chorus, Kevin Barnes’ falsetto vocals are over-laid again and again yet still retain the crisp freshness and clarity of a well-produced song. Barnes’ unfaltering high-pitched voice can be compared with that of Mika, who won the British Breakthrough Act at the 2009 MTV European Music Awards, and, to a lesser extent, Adam Levine of Maroon 5. The distinctive chorus is highlighted by powerful piano solos that bring a whimsical Regina Spektor feel to the number.

The first track is followed by a simple piano riff that segues into the story of a guy who goes to extremes to be with the girl he thinks he loves, only to discover she is absolutely nuts. Barnes’ talent for storytelling in “Our Riotous Defects” is backed by static-y ‘are my speakers broken?’ sounding guitars, powerful bass lines and disturbingly detailed lyrics about the torture of being forced to “wear colored contacts in order to match [her] dress...” and the tragedy of his girlfriend “...killing my beta fish as punishment.”

The strong opening tracks are quickly forgotten with

STAR SCALE

EAR PLUGS

Of Montreal stays true to their psychedelic style in their 10th studio album while delivering new sounds

the introduction of two numbers that aren’t even worth an entire listen. The overly synthesized and white-noise filled beats of “Coquet Coquette,” which begins with an almost exact replication of the introduction to Black Eyed Peas’ “Don’t Phunk With My Heart”, is a let down while the obnoxiously repetitive “...everybody’s stoned about you, everybody’s thrown about you, everybody’s stoned about you...” of “Godly Intersex” undermines the so far great composition.

The use of hip-hop and R&B feature singers enhances the album while attempting to separate False Priest from the past nine releases. R&B singer and Kansas City N native Janelle Monáe is featured twice on False Priest, in “Our Riotous Defects” and the superior “Enemy Gene,”and adds to both songs with a sultry-smooth blues voice that overpowers yet harmonizes perfectly with the sharp falsetto of Barnes. Along with Monáe, Solange Knowles, Beyoncé’s younger sister, is also featured on the album. Knowles creates a sweet hip-hop vibe with Barnes as the fun lyrics of “Sex Karma” enhance the catchy chorus “I know...I look like a playground to you, playa’.” Her pitch-perfect tone ends the song with a pleasant slowed down and over enunciated repetition as the chorus fades out.

With a shock of funk “Girl Named Hello” is a welcomed change of pace from other songs. Barnes seems to be poking fun at rap and funk yet embracing them at the same time. He jokingly sings “I did a line with a girl named Hello. I’m just kidding, yo,” as the funky bass line mixes with Barnes’ voice humming, oohing, and even taking a break from his falsetto to reveal a surprisingly masculine voice.

RADIO ONLY

27

As the song draws to a close the guitar and piano seem to get off beat, Barnes seems to forget the lyrics, and all sound becomes a blurry audio acid-trip.

In contrast to the so far upbeat songs “Casualty of You” begins with a dark piano solo resembling the Dresden Dolls and is soon revealed to be a ballad, the only one thank goodness. Barnes may have talent when it comes to writing satirical lyrics but his attempt at a serious number fails miserably. The off-beat violins and out-of-tune piano only distract instead of adding to the track and Barnes’ whining induced eye-rolling and compelled me to skip three minute mope-fest.

Probably the most memorable song on False Priest, “Hydra Fancies,” feels like 1970s roller disco perfection.

With the typical ‘70s beat, comparative to that of Earth, Wind and Fire, the song is sure to be a nostalgic favorite for fans of the great disco bands of the ‘70s.

While False Priest has it’s low points the album is overall an interesting change of pace from over auto-tuned poppy hits so commonly played on the radio. The creative story-lines along with a variety of beats ranging from funk to electro-dance stay true to previous Of Montreal while the unexpected addition of hip-hop and R&B bring a tinge of uniqueness to the otherwise uniform Of Montreal sound.

ADD TO PLAYLIST

PRESS REPEAT

top

tracks

“Enemy Gene”

2

1

“Sex Karma”

3

“Hydra Fancies”

4

“I Feel Ya Strutter”

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SPORTS issue 3

PEACEFUL PEDALING

29

Junior uses biking to cleanse his mind JuliaDavis

Thick-framed glasses, a wispy brown afro and skinny jeans, he zooms by almost too fast for detection. His hair blows in the wind, and he feels the breeze on his face. His bike provides the transportation, while his own legs provide the power needed to take him wherever he wants to go.

This is exactly how junior Brendan Dulohery likes spending his Saturday afternoons, taking in the outdoors and enjoying the feeling of freedom as he rides around the city. He bikes close to 10 miles on days when he has work, and uses his bike to get around almost everywhere.

Dulohery’s reason for riding his bike everywhere is simple: he doesn’t own a car, and riding a bike is simply quicker than walking. He also rides because it’s something that he likes to do.

“I just really enjoy it,” Dulohery said. “It clears my head.”

Only recently has Dulohery become a biking fanatic, when his parents bought him his black Dahon as a birthday present.

“I was bikeless actually until this summer of 2010,” Dulohery said. “I got one at the beginning of the summer, and basically since then, it’s all I’ve done.”

One experience that sticks out in Dulohery’s mind is biking to Lawrence, which he has done twice. The first time, Brendan, his friend junior Andrew Long, and Andrew’s dad Larry ventured out and biked the 54 miles it took to get to Lawrence.

It was mid-July, the air was heavy and humid, and the ride was grueling.

The route they took led them through hours of Kansas countryside.

“I would go through periods of thinking it was beautiful, and loving it and appreciating it, and then periods, like going up hills, where I’d be like ‘I hate it. I want out. I hate it,’” Dulohery said.

Finally, after five and a half hours, and countless hills, they made it to Lawrence. Brendan, Andrew, and Larry pedaled steadily up the final and steepest hill, standing up on their bikes to get the extra power to reach the top.

When they reached the crest, they saw the University of Kansas spread out before them.

“We got off and were like ‘Yeah!’” Dulohery said. “It was a pretty good feeling. I felt pretty awful physically but pretty

great mentally. I challenged myself, and I think this is one of the examples in my life where I actually went the extra mile and totally kicked ass.”

After this first successful trip, Dulohery and Long wanted to challenge themselves and not only bike to Lawrence, but back to Kansas City as well. Wil Kenney, another friend, joined them on this trip. They shortened the route so that each way was only 40 miles, and early one September morning, they set out on the 80-mile journey.

The ride to Lawrence was not nearly as tough as the first trip they took. One factor that contributed to this was the weather, which this time around “was absolutely gorgeous.” They made it to Lawrence in just three and a half hours.

After a brief rest, the group made the trip back to Kansas City. Roughly halfway back, Kenney fell and a pedal caught his leg causing a scrape bad enough to end the trip.

Andrew’s mother picked them up after an impressive 64 miles.

Long road trips aren’t his only reason to ride; with friends like Kenney and Long, who both do not own cars, biking is the obvious option. However, with his other friends, Dulohery is never against hopping in a vehicle with four wheels instead of two.

“Riding in a car doesn’t bother me at all,” Dulohery said. “Sometimes, yeah, I’d rather be biking, but I’m not grinding my teeth riding in a car.”

One of the reasons Dulohery prefers biking to riding in a car is the exercise factor. By riding everyday, he has been able to keep physically fit doing something he loves. Before he became an avid biker, he tried to make running his “thing” but never really became attached to it in the way he has to biking.

“Biking is the closest thing to a sport I do. I like it because

A LONG ROAD TO LAWRENCE Dulohery reflects on key moments on his 5-mile ride ANDREW LONG’S HOME

A Cool Start

“It was really really cold in the morning. We left at 5 or 6. We had jackets so it was fine.”

KU CAMPUS

PYRAMID PIZZA

Arriving in L-Town Lunch Break “I was just shocked at how fast it was. I was just wowed at how fast we got there. We had a way shorter route, but still I wasn’t as tired as I should have been.”

“It was really good. We got the buffet, and we walked in, and we were still in our spandex biking shorts that were really short and tight, and I still had my hair in a bun, and we just went crazy.”

EdenSchoofs

it’s exercise, but it’s not so tiring that you come home and you’re dead,” Dulohery said. “I just think that the agony of running distracts from the enjoyment.”

With biking, Dulohery can appreciate his surroundings and connect with the outdoors.

“It’s pretty much the closest to being in nature you’re going to get out here,” Dulohery said. “To get around is part of the reason I bike, but I think mostly just because it’s a hobby of mine that I enjoy.”

Since Brendan has incorporated biking into his life, he has seen the benefits reach farther than he ever anticipated.

Biking has given him something to look RIGHT OFF OF K-12 forward to at the end of every day, and it is something he can always go to for a break “When he first tipped over from the hectic world of high school.

Biking also allows Dulohery time for I thought nothing of it, reflection. He uses the few hours each day but then I looked over and that he spends on his bike to think and there’s this huge gross hole sort things out.

“It’s made me calmer, more relaxed... in his leg. It was all yellowy helped me get over crap, you know,” Duand gross, and it started lohery said. “It’s just good for my mind, bleeding a lot, and we had really. Physically, it’s great, but, mentally, to wrap his leg in Andrew’s it’s very Zen. It’s like meditation for me.”

The Accident

shirt, and it was all that gross and bloody.”

SPORTS 30 10-05-10

Setting sail

Sophomore sails at Lake Lotowana every summer GrantKendall

Her first time on the water was the scariest. The wind was blowing at speeds of nearly 20 mph, and all she could do was hold on to the side rails, hoping that the one camp instructor who knew how to sail out of the five people in the boat could bring them back alive.

The water yearned to take sophomore Leslie Hamilton down beneath the waves, but even this fearful introduction to sailing didn’t slow her down. Hamilton has developed a passionate devotion for sailing.

“I’ve been learning a lot with all my friends at the lake,” Hamilton said. “They started out pretty good and now I’m better

than them.”

Friend and fellow sophomore Liz Gray told Hamilton about a camp in Minnesota that Hamilton should check out. Camp Lake Hubert focuses on rowing, fishing and windsurfing, and sailing. Hamilton went to Lake Hubert for the first time the summer before 7th grade.

“Whenever I wrote my parents letters it was always about sailing and how much fun it was,” Hamilton said.

Despite never having set foot in a boat before, a brief introduction was enough to pique Hamilton’s interest in the sport.

“That’s where I learned to sail and

MOMENT

learned to love it,” Hamilton said.

After Hamilton’s seventh grade year, her family bought a lake house on Lake Lotawana in Lee’s Summit, about 45 minutes away from her home. Soon after Hamilton showed interest in sailing, her dad’s friend gave her a boat that he received for his birthday but never used.

“The hull is in pretty terrible condition with a nickel-sized hole in the front,” Hamilton said. “But we have re-finished all of the side rails and the centerboard and replaced it with all new parts. It looks like it’s in good shape but it’s pretty beat up underneath.”

Hamilton’s boat and the group of boats she races with are called Butterflies. The name refers to how long the boat is, which FUNNIEST MEMORY is 12 feet. All Butterfly boats are identical The Summer of ‘09 Leslie was in the final race of a set at Lake Lotowana. Her friend, so when racing, it all comes down to the Henry, was in the race also and his house was right on the lake. All of a sudden Leslie saw sailor’s skill.

Henry’s dog, a huge golden retriever, swimming out into the lake towards Henry’s boat.

During a race, there are a few key stratHis dog caught up to Henry’s boat and proceeded to ride in the sailboat for the remainder egies that a skipper should execute. For inof the race. stance, starting the race on the starboard (right) side rather than the port (left) gives SCARIEST you an advantage; you have the right of The first time Leslie sailed was at Camp Lake Huwave. bert in Minnesota. She was in a 28-foot boat with “If you are on starboard, you can tell several other campers and several leaders when the people on port to get out of your way,” the boat tipped over and Leslie got caught under Hamilton said. the sail. She stayed calm and swam under the sail Hamilton sails on Lake Lotawana durand away from the boat but it was one of her scariing the summer. Every Tuesday she and est sailing memories. other kids whose parents own lake houses on Lotawana race for two to three hours as a group. Each time they meet, a new This past summer Leslie was seated first course is set up out on the water. going into a big race, a Calcutta. At the “[Racing is] a way getting better at sailstarting line, right before the four-minutesing and getting faster each week,” Hamiluntil-start horn blew, a gust of wind came ton said. and her boat tipped over. Leslie fell off onto Sailing may seem simple to some, but someone else’s boat who then pushed her the sport is based on concentration and off into the water. Leslie got her boat up calculated methods. right before the start and with a wet boat, “There are all sorts of techniques,” wet sail, and missing life jacket, she went Hamilton said. “There is just stuff you have on to win the race. to know about.”

Stories of a

SAILOR

BEST RACE

Sophomore Leslie Hamilton maneuvers her boat, a butterfly, at Lake Lotowana.

KatieEast

Anticipating the wind is key when on the water. Knowing when and how the wind catches your sail will dictate the boat’s speed.

Ideal wind speed is around 12 to 15 mph, when the boat is going fast but it is still under control.

To help the young sailors with their technique, Jim Young, a famous Olympic sailor and sailing coach makes two to three visits a summer to Lake Lotawana. He runs multiple drills with them, like race starts and buoy roundings, and helps perfect their racing skills. Young points the sailors in the right direction and makes them figure out what they were having trouble with themselves, without telling them directly. With this unique teaching manner, Young maximizes the potential of the sailors.

“He is my favorite teacher ever,” Hamilton said. “He gets along with everyone at the lake.”

A skier’s perfect day involves loads of fresh powder on the slope, and a fisherman’s perfect day is right after a rain, on a crisp morning. Hamilton has her own version for sailing.

“There should be a lot of wind with clouds in the sky,” said Hamilton. “It’s not too sunny where you get a glare so you can see the wind on the water.”

From scared beginnings in Minnesota to being one of the best at Lake Lotawana, Hamilton has grown over the years.

“Now, two or three summers later, I’m number one in the fleet and I’m going to be the fleet captain next summer,” Hamilton said.

Fleet captain at Lake Lotawana means that she will be in charge of all meetings with the rest of the sailors. Hamilton was voted fleet captain by her peers.

“Growing up and getting better with my friends has been the most fun thing,” Hamilton said.

STATE WATCH

SPORTS issue 3

31

A look into the fall sports team’s chances at a state championship CorbinBarnds

FOOTBALL GIRLS’ XC

BOYS’ XC FOOTBALL

BOYS’ SOCCER GYMNASTICS GIRLS’ TENNIS BOYS’ XC GIRLS’ TENNIS BOYS’ SOCCER

Football

Although it was a disappointing loss, the Olathe North game was a great measuring tool for the potential of this team. Despite losing 24-13, the game was much closer than the score suggests. Had a few more catches been made or a few penalties been avoided, the Lancers could very easily be looking at a 4-0 record. The Lancers looked to have the better team against Olathe North, the defending state champ, and if they play as well as they are capable of they can realistically beat anyone they’ll play. They have drastically improved their stock as a state contender.

Volleyball

The Lancers have started the season very strong with a 5-1 record, but have been shaky at times. The team most likely isn’t as talented as last season’s and their offense shows that.

The Lancers’ defense is very strong and picks up most of the slack. One thing that hurts the Lancers at times is a lack of chemistry but this is often fixed as the season progresses. This team is exceeding expectations although winning a state championship will be very difficult. Their stock has risen.

Boys’ Cross Country

Over the years, the boys’ cross country team hasn’t been able to consistently put together a competitive squad, but this year’s team is quickly improving and is starting to become a factor statewide. At the Rim Rock Classic, the biggest meet of the year, the team placed 17th out of 31 teams; if you factor out the outof-state teams at the race, the Lancers are instantly sitting right near the top in what is a preview to the state meet. At the Rim Rock race, six runners broke the 18 minute mark, whereas only junior Mitch Daniel did last season, showing the improvement as a team. This young junior-led squad has a chance to make some noise this year but their true potential is for next season. This team’s stock is going way up.

Girls’ Cross Country

Like the boys’ cross country team, the girls’ team has a lot of youth, and while talented, their prime is not set for this year. Sophomore Anna Colby and senior Hanna Jane Stradinger are the key runners on this squad, consistently finishing at the top for East. At Rim Rock the team placed 21st out of 27 teams. Suffering from an injury to her quadriceps, Stradinger isn’t running at her usual top pace, hampering the team’s state chances. Although they could easily surprise some people at state by some big runs from juniors Emily Kerr and Lilli Stalder, their chances at placing well at state are very slim. Their stock has fallen a little bit.

GIRLS’ GOLF GYMNASTICS SamanthaBartow GrantHeinlein GrantKendall

Boys’ Soccer

The boys’ soccer team is very tough to get a read on. One game they managed to get upset by a Shawnee Mission West team not known for brilliance, but last Tuesday they beat the same West team 5-0. These instances have showed me that although they have the potential to win state, they also have the potential to get beat in the first round of the playoffs against a team they should easily handle. But this team is senior-laden and for the most part they only have one more state tournament to play. This team is very talented but the loss against West worries me, the Lancers state stock has sightly fallen.

Girls’ Tennis

E Girls’ Golf

Over the past few tournaments, the girls’ golf team has started to gain serious momentum. Like the tennis team, Blue Valley North will be the team’s main competition to win state. But over each of their past match-ups the Lancers have been winning.

At the East Invitational, the Lancers placed second to St. Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas is a 5A team and will not factor into East’s title chances. At that tournament, sophomore Anne Willman and senior Sarah Genton illustrated that they have each hit their stride on the links course by posting scores of 75 and 80, respectively. It looks like this team could win state, despite my earlier prediction otherwise; the Lancer’s state stock his sky high.

The girls’ tennis team had the potential to win state the past two seasons; last season it was a two team competition for the state championship with Blue Valley North coming away the victor. Unfortunately this team could will run into the same Blue Valley North roadblock at state this season. Although BVN returns a bulk of their scoring from last season, East is still capable of winning. The tennis team’s state stock hasn’t declined nor has it increased.

Gymnastics Despite their lack of attention received from the student body, the gymnastics team at East is quickly becoming a state contender this season. After a fifth place finish at the state meet last season, the Lancers believe their chances at state this season have improved, mainly due to the current freshman class that has arrived from the club gymnastics ranks. Senior Katye Bever is the star of this team and will have a chance at placing very high at state in the AllAround event. With the addition of the freshman class, this team has gotten an unexpected boost and their state stock is soaring.

32

PHOTO ESSAY 10-05-10

The top 21 runners from both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams raced at Rim Rock Farm on Oct. 25

Freshmen Kelly Pidcoe and Annie Kuklenski of the junior varsity team, above, get together and talk after finishing their race.

DanStewart

Junior Ben Randolph, above, runs ahead of the pack in the JV race while at Rim Rock. As one of the top ranked runners, Randolph finished 22nd overall in the race, third for East behind juniors Reid Frye and Ian Wiseman.

AndreaZecy

Senior Kirsten Clark runs in the junior varsity race, “It wasn’t my best meet overall; however, I gained more energy towards the end so I could start passing people.”

AndreaZecy Before starting their race, senior Hanna Jane Stradinger and junior Lilli Stalder, right, lay on one of the team’s tarps. The girls use the down time to get in the right mindset. “I like to hang out and relax before my

DanStewart