Issue 14

ISSUE 14 | APRIL 20, 2015

SHAWNEE MISSION EAST 7500 MISSION ROAD PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS 66208

INSIDE:

ENROLLMENT FROM PRIVATE SCHOOLS INCREASES

news: page 6

STUDENTS HUNT FOR SPORT

features: pages 20/21

DIVISION 1-3 ATHLETES

sports: pages 27

an in-depth look at the effects of state budget cuts on education

Deal or no Deal 2 editorial

Striking a nuclear deal with Iran would not be beneficial to the United States’ agendas Eighty years ago, Persia became Iran.

Thirty-six years ago, Iran, one of our closest Middle Eastern allies, became a bitter rival. Thirteen years ago, the U.S. President declared Iran to be a part of the new “Axis of Evil.” And now, the U.S. and Iran are fighting together to try to quell the violent “Islamic State” in Iraq. The adversaries are now in talks to end economic sanctions on Iran in order to curb their current nuclear program.

But not everyone here in the U.S. believe it’s time to start limiting those sanctions on a country that we’ve long deemed dangerous. A country who has made threats against our biggest ally in the region, Israel. A country who has funded terrorist groups.

And we here at the Harbinger agree: it’s too soon to be scaling back those sanctions on Iran. They need to prove they’re as comCO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Morgan Krakow Sophie Tulp

ASSISTANT EDITORS Caroline Kohring Tommy Sherk

HEAD COPY EDITOR Pauline Werner

NEWS PAGE DESIGNERS Will Brownlee Ava Backer Ali Lee Chase Tetrick

A&E PAGE DESIGNERS

ART & DESIGN EDITOR

Anna Dierks Abby Walker Ellie Cook Katie Hise

NEWS SECTION EDITOR

OPINION PAGE DESIGNERS

Phoebe Aguiar

mitted to the stability of the region as we are.

Iran may have a new face as their president, Hassan Rouhani, who has promised to try to ease tensions between the West and Iran, but behind the scenes, it’s the government that has been so at odds with the U.S. all these years.

While Rouhani is their president, the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei and his council are still the ones pulling the government’s strings. Along with that, Iran is still funding groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestine and the Houthi forces in Yemen; two anti-U.S., anti-Israel groups.

Granting Iran a nuclear deal could have catastrophic effects for us in the region, including losing the support of Israel, a long time enemy of Iran. Losing Israel would cost us our strongest ally in the region

Ellie Booton Alex Masson EDITORIAL SECTION EDITOR Tyler Keys Will Clough

Sophie Storbeck

A&E SECTION EDITORS Audrey Danciger Yashi Wang

CIRCULATION Kylie Schultz

OPINION SECTION EDITOR Audrey Danciger

FEATURES SECTION EDITORS Courtney McClelland Claire Pottenger

SPORTS SECTION EDITOR Will Oakley

SPREAD SECTION EDITORS Aidan Epstein Chloe Stanford

FEATURES PAGE DESIGNERS Haley Bell Caroline Heitmann Daisy Bolin Celia Hack

SPORTS SECTION EDITORS Teagan Noblit Michael Kraske Ellis Nepstad Caleb Krakow

COPY EDITORS Maddie Hyatt Caroline Heitmann Sophie Storbeck Kylie Schultz Will Clough Ellie Booton Sophie Tulp Morgan Krakow Caroline Kohring Tommy Sherk Pauline Werner Susannah Mitchell

PHOTO EDITOR Annie Savage

ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITORS Hailey Hughes James Wooldridge

EDITORIAL BOARD Sophie Tulp Morgan Krakow Pauline Werner Tommy Sherk Caroline Kohring Susannah Mitchell Phoebe Aguiar Katharine Swindells Mike Thibodeau Will Oakley Audrey Danciger Julia Poe

ADS MANAGERS Abby Walker Celia Hack

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Morgan Browning Haley Bell Joseph Cline Kaitlyn Stratman Abby Hans Allison Stockwell Abby Blake Kylie Relihan James Wooldridge Annika Sink Katie Lamar Elizabeth Anderson Annie Lomshek Ava Backer Ali Hickey

STAFF ARTISTS Abby Walker Caleb Krakow Annie Lomshek

and the strongest military presence in the Middle East.

Along with that, we can’t risk the chance for Iran to get a nuclear weapon. They’ve said in the past that they’re only researching nuclear technology for power plants, but, according to the New York Times, Iran has time and time again tried to cover up their nuclear enrichment programs. Allowing Iran to continue their nuclear program, even if it’s under global surveillance, is just too big of a risk.

Iran has not yet shown the West they can be trusted. Lifting the sanctions that have been placed on them is still too premature. It wouldn’t be hard for their government to agree to a deal just to see the sanctions lifted, then immediately go back to their old ways of secretly enriching uranium just like they used to.

The U.S. needs to stand strong and

stand by it’s old allies and say no to this deal. Iran’s government may be taking steps in the right direction, but they’re still along way from proving their worthy of a deal like this. It will be best for the stability of the Middle East to keep a nuclear weapon as far away from their government’s hands as possible, which means keeping the sanctions and keeping them from a global nuclear deal.

Editorial Votes

For: 7 Against: 0 Absent: 5

STAFF WRITERS Elaine Chamberlain Celia Hack Jessica Parker Daniel Rinner Chase Tetrick Ellie Cook Mac Newman Annie Jones Annie Lomshek Jemima Swindells Olivia Favreau Davis Finke

ONLINE EDITORS-INCHIEF

Susannah Mitchell Julia Poe

ONLINE HEAD COPY EDITORS Katharine Swindells Mike Thibodeau

ONLINE LIVE BROADCAST EDITORS

Harbinger Staff

Spring 2015 ONLINE HOMEGROWN SECTION EDITOR Stella Braly

ONLINE OPINION SECTION EDITOR Celia Hack

SOCIAL MEDIA ONINE EASTIPEDIA SECTION DIRECTOR Katie Lamar EDITOR

Ellis Nepstad John Foster

Matthew Kaplan

ONLINE NEWS SECTION EDITOR

Matthew Bruyere

Will Clough

ONLINE VIDEO EDITOR ONLINE SOUND EDITOR Leah O’Connor

ONLINE FEATURES SECTION WEBMASTER EDITOR Mike Thibodeau

ONLINE SPORTS SECTION EDITORS Michael Kraske Daniel Rinner

ONLINE ARTS EDITOR Sean Overton

Matthew Bruyere Katie Lamar Abby Hans Annika Sink Nick Mantel Jack Griswold

Jacob Milgrim

ASSISTANT WEBMASTER Callie McPhail

MULTIMEDIA STAFF Alex Masson Tyler Keys Gabe Snyder Ellis Nepstad

INTERACTIVE DESIGNERS Haley Bell Caroline Heitmann Mike Thibodeau Nick Mantel Jack Griswold

ONLINE PHOTO EDITORS Callie McPhail Katie Lamar

SME PHOTOS Abby Hans

ANCHOR

Taylor Norden

ADVISER Dow Tate

School, Local and Worldwide News Broken Down

written by Maddie Hyatt

East Graduation Will Recognize More Students Dropping its traditional graduation recognition system, East will move forward to honor the top 108 students in the senior class. Previously, East has recognized only the top 10 students in the class with the highest grade point averages (GPA).

“We’re all very close academically, and as a result, we felt administratively that we were but unavoidably leaving out a number of students,” Principal John McKinney said.

East will begin to honor students in a more collegiate fashion using a Latin selection of cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude. Five percent of students will be graduating as cum laude or with honor, 10 percent as magna cum laude or with great honor, and 3 percent as summa cum laude or highest praise. Without this collegiate system no more than 2.6 percent of the senior class would have been recognized.

“We have a unique situation at East in that our top 10 are divided by one one-thousandth of a decimal,” McKinney said.

In order to achieve any of these rankings, students must not only get straight A’s but participate in weighted honors courses, according to McKinney.

“It’s not at the exclusion of those who have worked hard, it’s intended to include those who have also worked hard,”

McKinney said.

When finding the exact number for each designation, McKinney said no one with a weighted GPA below a 4.0 will be recognized. Natural breaks in the grading system were looked for, although the scale ranges from about a 4.0 and above. Cum laude will range from about 4.0-4.4, magna cum laude 4.4-4.6, and summa cum laude 4.6 and above.

The new recognition system has gotten mixed feedback from parents and students from the class of 2015. Families were notified of the changes in a letter from East’s administration.

“That is unnecessary amount of time to spend at graduation announcing all those names, senior Sydney Shearer said. “They should post a list outside the office so those people get recognition but not during graduation.”

East is not the first high school in the district to use this recognition scale. SM Northwest used it in their graduating class of 2014. This year, SM West and East will follow suit.

“We felt it was the right thing to do for our community, for our students, for our school and that’s the reason why we made this decision,” McKinney said.

“We spent a lot of time, discussion and looking at different models and this the one that lends itself to the great recognition to the greatest number of students.”

news 3

Changes in Recognition Only 10 students were recognized in previous years.

Some of the 374 seniors will be recognized with honor: 3% highest praise 5% honor 10% great honor

The top 108 students will be recognized this year

Photos of the Week

left

Sophomore Ellie Mitchell and the JV Lancer Daners perform at their Spring Show on April 14.

Mission Road to Receive Safety Improvements In a 6-5 vote, the Prairie Village City council approved a request to improve Mission Road safety for pedestrians.

After a February car accident, Prairie Village parents lobbied to improve sidewalk conditions from 71st to 75th street, according to the PV Post. This part of Mission Road is often used by pedes-

trians, St. Ann Catholic School students and SM East students. The city’s action will reduce this stretch of Mission Road from four lanes to three. It will also allow more room for a bike lane and expansion of the sidewalk. The revamp will take precedence in the city’s 2016 budget.

below

Junior Henry Churchill cheers for junior Joey Wentz to reach third base at their varsity game against SM Northwest.

photo by Annie Savage

New Bill Limits Families in Poverty In a controversial bill, passed by both the Kansas house and senate, and signed into law by Governor Sam Brownback last Thursday, the state government will restrict how recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) use their financial assistance. The new bill prohibits spending the money on tattoos, swimming pool visits, arcade visits, movies, strip clubs, piercings, massages, tobacco, nail salons, lingerie, cruise ships or visits to

psychics, according to CNN. It will also ban individuals receiving public assistance from spending their welfare out of state and limit them from drawing more than $25 from an ATM per day. Missouri is also considering a similar proposal that would ban recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP) from using the governmental assistance to buy cookies, chips, energy drinks, soft drinks, seafood or steak according to the Washington Post.

photo by Ali Hickey

above

photo by Joseph Cline

Junior Carlie Smith as Ginger from “Gilligan’s Island” struggles with the props from the show “Classic Cuts” which featured sketches from “The Brady Bunch” and “Monty Python.”

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news 5

A FRESH LOOK Acceptance and support for homosexuality is increasing

written by Ellie Cook After years of being bullied for being gay, sophomore Jacob Desett decided he would transfer to East because he had friends here who he knew would accept him.

He says coming to East was the best decision he’s ever made.

“When I came to Shawnee Mission East, I really thought it was the best school I’ve seen to treat gay people,” Desett said. “I think they really understand that we are just people that just like the same gender.”

This sort of acceptance isn’t anything new to today’s culture, but being gay or transgender was not as welcomed by previous generations; it was only in 2003 that Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriage. A study done by the Pew Research Center shows that Millennials in favor of gay marriage grew 16 percent from 2001 to 2014. This number increased by an average of less than 11 percent for people born before 1980.

Indiana’s new religious freedom law is making news by stating that the government can’t “substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion.” This means business employees can now turn away customers if their religion prohibits them from serving that person. Human rights activists have pointed out that this could be used to deny service to certain customers due to their sexuality. A multitude of protests came with the new law, including Apple CEO Tim Cook speaking out against it, and many National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) fans calling for the Final Four tournament to be moved out of Indianapolis. Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson almost implemented a similar religious freedom bill until his son created a petition asking him to veto it.

Among many steps being taken by the government in support of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) equality, The Obama Administration recently stated they are in favor of banning the use of conversion therapy in minors, according to The Washington Post. The ban was in response to a petition posted to the White House website in early Jan., which received over 120,000 signatures.

Conversion therapy attempts to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of an LGBT person through the use of multiple psychiatric treatments such as electric shock and prayer.

Though religion is one of the main reasons for homophobia, some religions have become more open to the idea of a more uncommon sexuality. According to a National Congregations Study wave that came out last year, the number of religious congregations that allowed gays and lesbians to hold full membership

changed from 37.4 percent in 2006 to 48 percent in 2012. The Presbyterian Church announced last month that they will be changing the wording of their constitution to allow same-sex marriage.

With all the news about same-sex marriage lately and the presidential elections coming up next year, questions are arising about candidates’ opinions of the matter. The International Business Times claimed last week that LGBT leaders support Hillary Clinton because of her activism in LGBT rights, such as speaking at the International Human Rights Day for the United Nations. A poll done by NBC last week shows that 74 percent of Americans age 18 to 34 support same-sex marriage, while only 45 percent of Americans over 65 do.

“In the previous generation, they would bully people for being gay just because they were strange or something,” Desett said. “No one was really out yet, because that wasn’t a thing. Nobody even really believed that people could be gay.”

While the thought of showing a same-sex couple on a show used to make TV producers cringe, LGBT people are represented in pop culture more than they have ever been. The Seattle Times cites that the number of recurring LGBT characters in prime-time cable television shows has increased from 42 to 64 percent in the past year. Shows like MTV’s “Faking It” and ABC’s “The Fosters” not only have lesbian characters, but lesbian protagonists. Now, big names in pop culture, like YouTuber Tyler Oakley and actress Laverne Cox from “Orange is the New Black”, can use their power to fight for gay rights. The Streamy Awards selected Oakley to be one of four celebrities to receive the Streamys ICON Award last September for creating awareness and raising over $525,000 for The Trevor Project, a charity that works to prevent LGBT teen suicide. Cox’s website lists her as an actor and speaker, who gives talks around the country about “moving beyond gender expectations to live more authentically.”

Desett agrees it’s easier for people to accept homosexuality now, more than just a few decades ago. It was easy to come out to his friends and parents, but some of his more conservative family members still don’t know yet. Baby steps, he says.

“It’s not just male or female; it’s not just gay or straight,” Desett said. “[People are] starting to figure out that they can categorize themselves however they want to make themselves feel like themselves and not trapped and under a certain category. They can love who they love and I think that everyone’s starting to feel more at home with themselves.”

ACCEPTANCE OF HOMOSEXUALITY

37 13

64% 18-34 4000 5-10%

states where gay states where gay of Americans re- is the age group marriage has been marriage is still port being in fa- most supportive legalized vor of legalizing of equality for banned

gay relations

gays

registered high of teens are school Gay openly gay Straight Alliance clubs in the US

information courtesy: www.americanprogress.org, www.gaymarriage.procon.org, www.gallup.com

Making the Switch

6 news

written by Caroline Heitmann

61 48 42 40 35

students transferred in 2015 students transferred in 2014

students transferred in 2013

students transferred in 2012

students transferred in 2011

Number of Private School Students at East

14%

Freshman Daniel Hill made his decision the summer before freshmen year: he was going to Shawnee Mission East High School. After graduating eighth grade from St. Ann’s Catholic School, he wasn’t going to Rockhurst High School or Bishop Miege High School, like many of his middle school friends. Instead, he was moving from eight years of private education and trying public school. He wanted more opportunities, like extracurriculars, and he felt they would be more readily available at East. He was excited.

At first Hill said he felt like the only one, but he was surprised by the amount of private school kids joining him, after they also realized the benefits of a public education.

Hill and his friends are the latest group of people following a growing trend, according to the counseling center: more and more students are coming to East from private elementary/middle schools.

Registrar Stephanie Blackmer found that in the 2010-2011 school year, only 35 students came from a private elementary/middle school into the freshman class. Since then, that number nearly doubled, and in the 20142015 school year, 61 freshmen came from a private school.

Counselor Coordinator Deanna Griffey believes at first the struggling economy helped influence some students’ decisions, then those students’ success showed others the opportunities public schools offer.

“I think it’s now because [the economy] might have been the ball that got everything rolling,” Griffey said. “As younger kids and the parents of younger kids see those older kids maybe coming from private school to

Freshmen

10%

Sophomores

9% Juniors

7% Seniors

photo illustration by Ava Backer

East, they’re seeing those kids successful.

They’re now looking at that as a viable option, that East can be a school that provides a good education just like private schools do.”

In addition, senior Spencer Frank believes that with larger class sizes, there are more people to meet, while Hill believes that also East’s opportunities help attract students coming from small schools.

Hill enjoyed his years at St. Ann’s, and when it was time to graduate and choose a high school, his parents let him choose whichever one he wanted. In the end, he realized East was a better school for him because he knew that East had more student-involved activities and clubs than the other schools he was considering. “[I transferred] mostly for opportunity because there’s a lot more [extracurricular] freedom at East compared to other schools,” Hill said. “I think it’s more academically sound than Miege, and the reason I didn’t go to Rockhurst was that there’s no freedom and non-academic events.”

For Hill, the transition was easy. He thought it was just like going to any high school, and knowing people also coming from St. Ann’s helped too.

But this wasn’t the case for Frank when he decided to go to East four years ago. He barely knew anybody coming from St. Ann’s with him to East.

“I could count them on my hands,” Frank said. “Maybe six people [also came to East from St. Ann’s] and some of them didn’t even finish out at East. They went to other schools like junior year or sophomore year.”

Nevertheless, Frank was also attracted to East because of the new people to meet.

More private school students are going to public schools

“Well, I guess having gone to that one grade school for nine years, everyone knew each other pretty well,” Frank said. “We were all kind of one big family, and I liked that.

And I liked all the friends I had made, but I wanted to meet new people. So, East offered that to me. I thought, I’ll still be friends with people I’m already friends with, I just want to meet more.”

Although Frank was looking forward to larger classes, this worried Sheila Rowan, mother of Alana Rowan, an eighth grader from Visitation Catholic School coming to East. She is worried about the transition from Visitation’s small class size and overall community to East’s large student body.

Nevertheless, she is still excited for Alana to attend.

“I like [principal John McKinney], a lot,” Sheila said. “I like the courses that they offer, and I think [Alana’s] very interested in the arts and especially theater. And I think they have a lot more to offer her there than they would at St. Teresa’s Academy (STA).”

Alana’s older sister attends STA, but for several years now Alana has known that she doesn’t want to stay with a private school education. Alana, along with her other classmates coming to East this fall, are just more examples of the increasing trend.

Even though it was a tough decision Frank and others made when switching from private to public, they don’t regret anything.

“I almost went to Rockhurst,” Frank said.

“In the end I decided that I just wanted to make more friends and meet new people. I’m glad I made that decision. It all worked out well for me.”

LOVE FUND

COLOR RUN

Student Council will be hosting a color run to benefit the “Love Fund” Charity on May 9 written by Daniel Rinner

F

our-hundred runners, 3.1 miles, 250 lbs. of colored powder.

These numbers are everything the student council executive board had to account for this year, when planning a new event for the first time at East: a color run.

The Color Run is the brainchild of senior student body president Annie Savage. She and the rest of the board hope they can start a new tradition at East by holding the five kilometer race, where runners can throw colored powder throughout the course.

“When I won student body president, I wanted to do something different.” Savage said. “I knew it was going to be a lot of work, but I didn’t know what I needed to do, where I needed to start.”

After Savage cleared the idea with East’s administration, she and the rest of the board met with the Prairie Village city council to get permission for the run. Council members approved, but also told the student council how much planning the run would take.

“After meeting with city hall, we learned of a

COLOR RUN FACTS:

lot of things that we didn’t even consider,” senior class president Spencer Frank said.

The city requires noise permits to have a DJ outdoors. Police officers must be present to guide traffic around runners. Student council had to send letters to every Prairie Village resident along the running route, and they compared six different vendors of colored powder before buying supplies for the run.

In addition to planning the run’s details, student council chose to donate the profits to the Love Fund, an account operated by the counseling office that helps low income students at East.

“We have the potential to almost double the budget that they run on each year,” senior student body secretary Maggie McGannon said.

The board decided to set prices at $15 for all Shawnee Mission students and $30 for adults. All proceeds will go towards the Love Fund’s budget for the next year. Although they expect around 400 runners to participate, they only need 120 to make up for their expenses.

“We learned how to operate a run on a profes-

400 RUNNERS

3.1MILES

sional level.” senior student body treasurer Noah Marsh said. “You cannot tackle these events by yourself.”

Since this is the first time East has held this kind of event, this year’s student council has no example to follow. Savage hopes that after they hold the Color Run this year, next year’s student body executives can continue a new tradition.

“If [the exec board] start right away next year, they are going to have it completely done a month before the event,” Savage said. “We started so late that it really affected us.”

When the day of the run comes, Savage will be directing the other student council members to manage food stands, water stations, raffles and three areas in the route for colored powder.

Above all, she will be tracking mistakes so next year’s board doesn’t have to repeat them.

“I look at student council events that we do, and they’re just traditions,” Savage said. “I want to start a tradition that everyone will remember our exec. board did for our year.”

250 lbs.

of Colored Powder

news 7

8 news

THE

CLEAN SWEEP

District custodial changes improve look of school and provides for full janitorial staff written by Morgan Krakow photos by Katie Lamar

SHORT STAFFED

a full custodial staff for the East building Amount of custodians working before changes

A CHANGE IN TITLE

“HEAD CUSTODIAN”

“BUILDING MANAGER”

NEW NIGHTLY REQUIREMENTS FOR CLEANLINESS

1. whiteboard washed 2. floors swept 3. windows washed 4. classrooms dusted 5. carpet vacuumed

As students file out of second lunch, all that remain are tipped over milk cartons, the crust of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and the swishing sound of a broom. In the empty lunchroom, two janitors enter, tossing away the leftover foods and sanitizing tables with spray bottles.

Before this month, tables had been left dirty in between lunch periods.

Clean lunch tables as well as other changes around East are a part of SMSD’s recent restructuring of the custodial system. Other changes include keeping the dust out of the stairwells and restocking the bathrooms consistently.

As of April 8, the district-wide program revamped the current janitorial staff. The policy made sure each school had a full custodial staff, something East hadn’t had since August, since custodians were shuffled to different schools, job descriptions changed and maintenance expectations at each school increased.

According to Associate Principal Briton Haney, who oversees maintenance duties within the building, these changes were much needed. As of Feb. 1 East was down four janitors necessary for the upkeep of the building. Some had moved onto different positions and others had retired, leaving the school with eight permanent custodians and some who split their time between buildings.

According to Haney, this caused inconsistencies in cleanliness, like unstocked paper towels in the bathrooms and multiple maintenance projects were put on the back burner just to keep up with the regular traffic of students.

Haney said that the problem was district-wide, so all custodians who worked for SMSD were made to re-apply in March to make sure the needs of each school were met within the district. Then, each janitor was handed a job offer and reassigned to their new position by April.

“They basically took the entire team and reshuffled the deck and re-dealt them all out so they would all benefit,” Haney said.

English teacher Vicki Tucker is pleasantly surprised with the changes, even though it is only about two weeks old.

She saw the immediate changes. After requesting that tables replace the old desks in her classroom back in August, she was impressed to find them in her room within days. Additionally, her white boards

and floors are clean every morning.

East’s previous head custodian was moved to Shawnee Mission Northwest and replaced by Hassan Yekzaman.

However, the title of head custodian was changed to building manager in order to help restructure the current janitorial management system. The job now involves much more management and delegation, while the previous description included general custodial duties in addition to running the upkeep of facilities.

After a walk-through of the school with principal John McKinney, Yekzaman saw serious areas of improvement and set to work devising plans. Custodians are now instructed to have floors, windows and white boards clean, as well as classrooms dusted and carpets vacuumed, something that was previously unclear and not enforced. Now that custodians have distinct duties for each wing they clean, there is less of a gray area when it comes to actually maintaining the school, according to Yekzaman.

“There [was] no consistency I think, there [was] no teamwork and I think [their previous] purpose was foggy,” Yekzaman said. “Because [they weren’t] accomplishing what we’re here for.”

His management philosophy stems from a common purpose, that they as janitors must make the school a safe and clean environment. Even though they’re not teachers, or administrators, they act as supports to better education. This purpose allows for better teamwork among custodial staff, Yekzaman says.

“Teams become a better team when our purpose and goal daily is the same.”

Yekzaman said.

Principal John McKinney notes that when the school is clean it looks presentable and competitive with other area high schools. McKinney said that when he takes parents and students through on tours, it’s important that the families understand that East is not only a quality education in a safe building, but also a clean one.

“With a full staff, with clear responsibilities and a manager sort of empowered to make sure everything gets done,” McKinney said. “That’s good. That’s a good thing. And hopefully you’ll start to see results from these changes if you haven’t seen them already.”

Finding

columns 9

a new

Outlook

Whenever people looked at me last year, a lot of them felt like they knew me from somewhere. But they never knew quite where to place me, so I ended up explaining my entire life story. Yes, I did go to your middle school. I wasn’t here last year because I was in Michigan. No, I lived in Michigan before that too. And yes, moving was hard, but hey—life is what you make it, and I’ve decided not to be sad.

Maybe I’ll just start from the beginning.

I was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I lived in the same house until the summer after my seventh-grade year.

At that time my dad, who works for General Motors, got transferred to the Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City for a one-year assignment.

Our family moved to Prairie Village where I attended 8th grade at Indian Hills. Our house in Ann Arbor was unoccupied since we were only gone for a year and we didn’t bother to rent it out, so when we returned to Ann Arbor after the year was up, we moved back in without much hassle.

I had been under the impression that Kansas City had been a one-year, one-time thing. It was almost like a yearlong vacation. I’d met some wonderful people I stayed in touch with and the new experiences had opened my mind beyond the world I knew for twelve years of my life.

I learned to have pride in where I came from due to constantly having to defend my home state. So when I got back to Ann Arbor I started appreciating the good things about Michigan.

Freshman year I went to Skyline High School, where I was happier than I ever thought I could be. I was overconfident and oblivious to what people thought of me, basically defining the expression “ignorance is bliss.” I loved every minute of band and learned that, perhaps, honors geometry was not for me. It was the year I became the extreme fan of Michigan sports that I am now, and it was a good year for basketball because Michigan went to the national championship.

After dinner on the night of that disappointing game (we only lost by six points), my dad cleared his throat and said he had found something out at work that day.

Since I’m here at Shawnee Mission East writing this article, you can probably guess what the news was.

We were moving back to Prairie Village. And being as happy as I was that year, you can probably also guess that I freaked out.

I don’t remember anything very clearly that happened after I heard. I screamed a lot, and I ran up to my room and came

back down to scream some more. There were a lot of tears and desperate protests. We had a very long family discussion after I’d calmed down enough to listen about how my dad was going to have to travel out of the country a lot for work if we stayed in Ann Arbor, and his daily hour-long commute wasn’t something he wanted to do anymore. All of this I could understand, but it didn’t lessen the sting that the whole life I had imagined for myself in this place I loved had been taken from me.

Still, I never really displayed a direct outward protest to moving after my reaction on the night they told me. I lived out the rest of my freshman year with dignity, embracing everything I had the best I could. I held all my anger inside until the evening after school got out, when I caught a ball wrong and twisted my thumb at practice for my summer softball team. It wasn’t serious, but it was swollen, so I sat on the bench for the rest of practice. And during that time, something snapped and I started crying. My teammates all assumed it was because my thumb hurt, and I was too upset to enlighten them. I bawled the whole ride home with my mom, and when we got back home my dad got an ice pack for m y

All of this I could understand, but it didn’t lessen the sting that the whole life I had imagined for myself in this place I loved had been taken from me.

thumb. He sat down on the couch with me and I just sobbed, “I don’t want to go, Daddy.” * * * There were no more serious meltdowns, and in July we moved into a rental house in Prairie Village. In August I started my sophomore year at East. My brothers took the move much more lightly than I did and adjusted with less difficulty. I, on the other hand, was excessively bitter and resolved not to like East because I thought it would be unfaithful to my old school. I refused to sing the school song.

I had friends at school, but it was rare that I ever spent a Friday night outside my basement.

All of first semester I was often inwardly miserable, and let school-related stress get to me much more than it should have. It wasn’t uncommon for me to stay up until midnight or 1 a.m. I enjoyed very few of my classes and had a lot of silly breakdowns over things like chem labs. Considering

opinion by Elaine Chmaberlain

this year isn’t nearly as bad, I’ve concluded most of my stress was an indirect result of the transition.

You’d never have known any of this, though, because I have this defense mechanism that triggers whenever I’m awkward or unhappy where I basically just go crazy.

All year I was loud and giddy and sometimes disruptive, and reactions to my presence varied from mild amusement to exasperation. Honestly, I feel bad for poor Chaffee. Just ask anyone from my EHAP class.

But gradually, things started getting better. There wasn’t a specific moment, but if I had to pick a time when it really turned around, it would be winter break. We went to Ann Arbor for Christmas as usual, and I think the break from school was helpful in itself. But on top of that I got to see family and old friends, and at the end of break my grandma moved to Prairie Village, which made things a lot more like they used to be.

I went back to school feeling revitalized. I began to realize it was okay to have fun at East, and that maybe there was a light at the end of the dark tunnel that was sophomore year.

So junior year, I went into things with a more positive attitude. I joined Harbinger and am a section leader in band. I started actually going out and doing things with my friends. And while I am still crazy and probably always will be, I’ve calmed down enough where I don’t annoy people as easily anymore.

Even after two years, part of me is still bitter and homesick; I won’t deny that. But most of the time, I’m able to ignore it and just enjoy myself. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s being sad. Life is what you make it and if you decide to be stubborn and angry, you aren’t going to be happy. So I make an effort to see the positive effects moving has had on me.

I’ve learned to go through transitions and expand my horizons. I have twice as many friends as I would have if I’d never moved. I’ve had experiences I’ll never forget and wouldn’t trade for anything. Overall, I am a more complete person than I might have been otherwise. I think in the end the whole ordeal has been worth it.

I tend to always take the positive outlook on things, probably because I’m just an insatiably happy person. And I’ve decided not to wallow in whatever bad feelings I have about moving. Because if I could name one overarching thing I’ve taken away from all this, it would be that I’ve learned to be happy no matter what.

10 columns

4/16/2015

08:55:37 AM

ALWAYS

WATCHING

New cameras are not the answer to security questions at East

opinion by Leah O’Connor photo illustration by Annie Savage

4/16/2015

08:55:37 AM

4/16/2015

4/16/2015

08:55:37 AM

08:55:37 AM

As I strolled down the south ramp on a quiet Monday afternoon, I felt a newfound feeling of safety. Previously, my nightmares were filled with recurring scenes of slipping on a dropped smoothie or coming across a stray student eating lunch. I would walk down the treacherous slope, terrified at the thought that maybe today would be the day an intruder would come in and murder me right in this very spot.

Said no one. Ever.

This is not how students view the new cameras. The fact that our administration genuinely thinks that students will feel safer with a shiny new security system and a pile of cameras shows their unfortunate misdirection. At first glance it does make sense to increase security with the threat of school shootings becoming more and more apparent.

But unfortunately, according to The Associated Press, the statistics surrounding school shootings haven’t changed since the 90’s. If someone was to, say, shoot up a school, the amount of surveillance wouldn’t matter at all. If a person’s mission is mass murder, being caught on tape probably isn’t even a thought. The cameras don’t stream anywhere other than inside the school, and by the time a shooter was spotted it would probably be too late. This is where the problem lies.

Studies have shown that increased security isn’t working. So why are we doing it?

This new measure just doesn’t feel like it is being done for student safety.

To me, it feels like a way to it is being done to keep students in check. The veil of “safety” feels thin as I walk down the halls with a camera on me everywhere I go. In their minds, the administration is trying to help. They aren’t going about this trying to suppress students or lock them in boxes, but that’s what is happening.

But why now? Nothing traumatic has occurred lately. And while the motto of “proactivity not reactivity” does stand true, we haven’t had any students die on their way back from lunch or as they run inside to grab a forgotten lunchbox after school is out. And I highly doubt we

will in the future. There haven’t been any late-night burglaries or extreme vandalism. And even when there were incidents of students breaking in through the roof, punishment was merely a Friday school, something you could get for leaving a tray in the band hallway.

It’s the source of the problem that needs to be dealt with, not the symptoms, and I don’t think that is something schools themselves are able to do. Whether it is increased funding into mental health care or a change in gun laws, something needs to be done. It’s shown by the continued school shootings that security isn’t the answer, so why do we keep trying that method?

Today, I walk down the halls hearing students discuss the ridiculousness of the cameras and listen as teachers crack jokes about them in my classes. We’re left mocking the administration’s attempts at improving safety, assuming that is their goal, instead of actually feeling comfortable in their school.

The cameras make me feel more uneasy than safe and I know I am not alone in this. As someone who often spends 10 hour, six day weeks here, I feel uncomfortable with the idea of someone watching me as I work in Little Theatre or the lighting crew “Bat Cave.” It doesn’t hurt me, nor will it affect any of my choices of what I do, but it does make me feel uneasy in the environments I consider my home. I shouldn’t feel like I am in prison in my learning environment, but I do.

I think many are left with questions.

Why can’t we just punish those who break the rules, instead of spending more money to watch over an entire student body?

With all the budget cuts, why is money being funneled into an abundance of cameras? Why are so many cameras pointed at the same door? I know these questions may not be answered, but they are something we need to think about.

Until then, I’ll find peace in knowing that students will no longer be in grave danger while entering or leaving the building unmonitored. Shawnee Mission East is just another big brother to watch my back as I stroll through the halls.

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12 columns

s e n i l r i ABC A NG I

HIR W O N

“stable”

depressed

“stable”

“stable”

Depression art by Audrey Danciger

opinion by Julia Poe

O

Discrimination?

n March 24, Germanwings Flight 9525 began an unscheduled descent over the French Alps. The pilot was locked out of the cabin. He slammed his fists against the door, screaming for copilot Andreas Lubitz to let him in and straighten out the plane.

Lubitz never responded.

At 10:41 a.m. CET, the plane smashed into the ground, killing all 150 passengers. The tragedy quickly ignited a firestorm of attention around the world, and it took less than a day for the media to dig up Lubitz’ mental health history and begin to point fingers.

Lubitz was suicidal at one point in his life. He took antidepressants and, before the crash, was visiting with a

In light of the Germanwings crash, we must remember that every case of depression is unique and cannot be generalized

psychiatrist to treat depression and anxiety. In short, Lubitz was not a mentally “healthy” person. And the media latched onto that. They began to blame depression.

It was all anyone seemed to talk about. Blogs, newspaper columns and even official reports discussed how depression was the cause of the crash. Talking heads on CNN and NBC debated whether the crash could have been prevented with proper psychological attention, and a common phrase began to emerge — “this could have been stopped.”

“This could have been stopped if airplane companies screened for mental health. This could have been prevented if pilots showing signs of depression had their licenses suspended. This could have been stopped if we had regulated mental health.”

There is one exceptionally worrisome flaw in this stream of logic. How do you go about regulating mental illness? Who gets to define what “stable” and “unstable” looks like? How does testing occur? The truth of the matter is that there isn’t an easy way to define depression or regulate mental

illnesses. And the moment we start attempting to do so, we begin to create a problem for our society.

As reported by the CDC, one in every 10 Americans takes antidepressants. That means that at least one tenth of our society is depressed.

And that’s okay. Yes, there are individual cases of depression taking a nasty turn. Some depressed people have been known to kill their classmates, like Aaron Ybarra in Seattle last June. Some suicidal people have been known to lash out, to hurt themselves, to hurt others. And Lubitz, a depressed and lonely man, took 150 lives by crashing that plane.

But those single actions don’t speak for the majority of those who struggle with mental illness. De pressed people create art and act in movies and write books. They are doctors and truck drivers, teachers and politicians. They are parents and siblings and friends. They fight against their own emotions, and they don’t just survive — they thrive. Refusing jobs to those who are defined as “mentally ill” will not help.

We cannot not reduce depressed

people to a generality. We cannot act like every depressed person will react the same. Because those who are suffering from depression are not powerless, they are not monsters and they are not a danger to those around them.

They are people, just like anyone else, and they will continue to live beautiful lives despite the weight of that depression.

It’s not mental illness that causes tragedies like the crash of Germanwings Flight 9252. We can’t blame depression for that crash. It was a strange, individual, extremely personal tragedy — the type that can’t be prevented because depression can’t be prevented.

It’s impossible to keep depression from happening. Instead, we need to adapt. We need to learn how to both accept depression and fight against it.

That doesn’t happen with regulation.

That happens by treating depression as yet another disease that we will fight against as a society.

Because in the end, we can’t beat depression with rules and tests. We can only beat it with love, with compassion and with understanding.

FISH out of

FUNDS THE HARBINGER ANALYZES THE EFFECTS OF STATE BUDGET CUTS ON PUBLIC EDUCATION

INSIDE: HISTORY OF THE BUDGET CUTS

news: page 3

BUDGET CUTS’ EFFECT ON EAST

spread: page 4 & 5

IMAGINING THE FUTURE OF EAST

satire: page 6

FOR A TEACHER With the proposed budget cuts taking place at the state level for the 2015-2016 school year, East teachers and board members say that SMSD students will face a changing school environment as a result of the funding situation.

Linda Sieck, current Spanish teacher, and next years’ National Education Association Shawnee Mission President says that students at East will likely feel the effects of state budget cuts in the classroom. According to Sieck, with more students in classes, less teachers in the building and faculty teaching six hours a day, the cuts are causing major concerns for educators about the quality of education their students will receive. “[The] biggest concern I’ve heard teachers vocalize [for next year] is ‘I am not able to do what is best for my students,” Sieck said. “There are just not enough hours in the day for me to plan the kind of lessons that I want to do, to incorporate technology fully or to get papers back as quickly as I want without sacrificing something else.”

This winter, educators were informed that they would be required to teach up to six hours a day, compared to the normal five hours they teach now. In light of proposed education cuts, the district wanted to maximize efficiency. For every five teachers that pick up an extra hour, one staff position is no longer needed.

At the same time an early-retirement plan was offered for staff members to provide incentive for eligible teachers to retire, saving an estimated $18,000 per employee, Deputy Superintendent of Communications, Leigh Ann Neil told the Kansas City Star.

This year, the district will see 10 percent of its employees retire, largely influenced by the early-retirement plan, according to Sieck. One-hundred and eighty teachers and 20 administrators are leaving the district this year, as opposed to the usual estimate of 80 personnel that typically retire from the district. These retirements save the district funds, as not all of these positions will be replaced.

At East, Associate Principal Jeremy Higgins projects that 11 teachers will leave the building. He estimates that three of those positions will probably not be re-hired.

According to East area school board member Donna Bysfield, the early retirement plan and the increase in teaching time for teachers were measures taken in order to keep the district from having to make more drastic cuts, like cutting programming such as Fine Arts.

“All of those are pieces [the district] is working on to keep the budget as healthy as we can for the educa-

BUDGET CHANGES

POTENTIAL

EFFECT

ON EAST

100 new kids will enter the school next year

written by Sophie Tulp

written by Pauline Werner

tion of the students,” Bysfield said. “I know that people have been concerned about cutting programs but as I am aware nothing is going to be cut besides studyhall.”

Although the school saved money from offering the early-retirement package to eligible faculty, Sieck says there are now fewer teachers for more students, only adding to the effects of a heavier workload. The extra hour adds 24-30 more students which slows down the time it takes to grade, record and input papers on Skyward, taking longer for teachers to give feedback and seriously cutting into their personal time at home.

Senior Advanced Placement (AP) English teacher Vicki Tucker says the effects of these budgets cuts will be most noticeable when it comes to assignments like senior research papers and AP test prep.

“Writing cannot be taught simply by making an assignment and moving on,” Tucker said. “Spending personal time with each student is what needs to be done, and the more students you put in a classroom basically dilutes what a student can learn because the teacher cannot physically and emotionally keep delivering to more and more students daily on the same level.”

Tucker says that she will likely have to cut the number of novels that students read for the course, as well as many of her favorite writing assignments, in order to keep up with the increase in students.

Tucker, who teaches both freshman English and senior English classes will experience increases in all aspects of her courses. In addition to an already increasing number of students, next years’ incoming class of freshman is one of the largest East has seen in eight years, Counselor Coordinator Deanna Griffey says. The class of 480 will add over 100 more students to the East population.

The cuts for next year are not just a concern to teachers, the counseling center will also feel the effects of both the staff cuts and the large class size of incoming freshman, according to Griffey. All counselors will be taking on 50-60 more cases between the increase in enrollment and the loss of a counselor position.

Griffey and Sieck agree that seniors will feel the effects of the counseling center changes most heavily, as they rely on the counseling center for resources such as transcripts, recommendation letters and college counseling throughout the year. Seniors may experience a harder time scheduling appointments with their counselor, or may have to plan for appointments farther in advance. Additionally counselors will likely take more work home with them than in years past.

According to Griffey, the counselors are struggling

11 teachers will leave the building

to brainstorm on how to accommodate all of next years’ changes with only four counselors to serve an estimated 1,700 students for the 2015-2016 school year.

“Our caseloads will be bigger and we have duties outside of counseling with students — so our concern is how do we make those fit?,” Griffey said. “Its harder to take work home, so us trying to cram it into the time we have here, thats where we will struggle. We are worried.”

On the other end of the spectrum, teachers like Tucker who have in the past been able to write many recommendations for seniors on their own time, are now looking to scheduling only a small amount on a first come first serve basis.

Bysfield emphasizes that while the official 2015-2016 budget will not be approved by legislators and the district until April 22 when the legislature receives state revenue reports, the effects that students feel will be the result of the district attempting to create a bestcase scenario. She notes that from the funds saved with the early-retirement package, the district may actually emerge relatively unscathed from the state cuts.

“We are saving money and we are actually going to be in better shape,” Bysfield said. “[This district has] tried to look at every possible way to be efficient without losing the quality of education. It is difficult because we are a big business, and business side of it doesn’t have the ability to be as compassionate as education wants to be.”

But teachers like Sieck and Tucker are continuing to worry about how to fit everything into one day, while still keeping their courses interesting and enriching — not just giving out worksheets and sending kids onto their laptops for a whole class period. These activities, Sieck said, are often easy, but not effective lesson replacements when short on plan time.

“I think the bottom line is that we’re not machines,” Sieck said. “If you just want everything to be multiple choice or scantron, that would be do-able, but most teachers want to give more than just a pen and pencil test to show what you know.”

With work encroaching on their personal time more and more with the cuts in work-day planning time, Sieck says it is ultimately the students that will suffer.

“I always say teacher working conditions are student learning conditions,” Sieck said. “If your teachers are stressed and they are overburdened, then that is going to reflect in the classroom.”

10% or

180 teachers

20 administrators of the Shawnee Mission School District employees will retire this year

“

counselors will be taking on 50-60 more cases next year

get t the ways bud taking a look a und East for both ro cuts will look a nd teachers a ts n e stud

“I always say teacher working conditions are student learning conditions. If your teachers are stressed and they are overburdened, then that is going to reflect in the classSpanish Teacher room.”

LINDA SIECK

FOR A STUDENT

Over a decade’s worth of show posters hang on the wall behind theater director Brian Cappello’s desk. One of them is “Shrek: the Musical,” last year’s winter musical.

“Shrek” sticks out in Cappello’s mind because of its spectacle, and its price. Upwards of 50 cast members and handmade costumes, homemade set pieces on top of the $3,000 royalty fee to the company that owns the musical’s copyright and the cost of renting professional backdrops. According to Cappello, these behind-the-scenes expenditures are what gave the show its unforgettable scope.

Now, he’s not sure how much longer the theater department will be able to take on shows like “Shrek.” He looks ahead and sees theater’s operating budget dwindle, leaving less money to costume the cast, create sets, even buy shows.

He worries for his students, whom he knows thrive on the hands-on experience of producing theater, instead of studying theory. “[Budget cuts] may not affect what we do itself,” Cappello said. “But I could see it affecting the quality of what we do.”

Senior Becca Zeiger student directed “Shrek” and attributes its success in part to its professional-grade scale, seen where there were props and set components which demanded something beyond what the students could make inhouse.

“We do our own shows, we make our own costumes, but some things are harder to find,” Zeiger said. “Things like that are better rented and that’s going to be more expensive.”

For example, Princess Fiona’s specific redhaired wigs were rented for three different actresses. Dragon’s character was operated by two people -- senior Abby Cramer at the mouthpiece and senior Alex Lang operating the body of the fully-mobile dragon and rented from the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

From Zeiger’s perspective backstage, “Shrek,” a show that filled the Dan Zollars Auditorium four times over its three-day run, couldn’t have come to life the same way without its expansive visuals.

“We want to put on the most professional show as possible and I think when you start cutting corners the show suffers,” Zeiger said. “It’s not very fair because the cast and crew put in so

much work, we’re just asking for the same effort and time from the state.”

Even so, Cappello knows the theater department would survive without the funds, but in a different way. Towards the end of each year, when he chooses the shows that East will put on for the next year, there will be more considerations to make. The considerations could include how it’s cheaper to costume 30 cast members than 40, and how shows with bigger names demand more royalty checks.

It’s a new reality which will find its way into the theater department’s classrooms as well. “[Technical director Thomas] DeFeo and I know a lot of stuff, we’re teachers. You take away everything we have, we can still teach the concepts,” Cappello said. “But it’s hard to teach the concept of a light board if you can’t afford a decent light board.”

In the introductory theater class, Drama, Cappello teaches students learn how to make a character come to life with no costume, no makeup, no lighting. Then, all of the technical aspects add to the character and create the world of a performing art piece. Without that world, though, Cappello says he’s left teaching only theory.

“The Greeks did theater without any sets at all,” Cappello said. “So it can be done. But there is a certain quality we want.”

He says that East has developed a reputation for its strong theater program. To him, that expectation comes from the excitement his students feel when taking on a new challenge.

“We have built certain expectations within our department and within the community,” Cappello said. “When you say East theater, you think huge. You think quality, you think really good stuff.”

Cappello loves watching the audience’s reactions to his students’ performances, and says he would go to his grave saying that his are the most talented students in the district. That’s why he resents the budget battle, which may force the department’s attitudes to shift from pushing boundaries to adapting to them.

“I don’t want to watch the kids suffer because someone in Topeka has cut the money,” Cappello said.

“

EFFECT ON EAST THEATER

fewer costumes and props

smaller casts

less money for royalties

simpler sets

“By the end of the year we have a fourth of the kids in the school involved in performing arts. And if the quality becomes sub-standard then that’s a scary thing.”

Theater Director BRIAN CAPPELLO

FOR A TEACHER With the proposed budget cuts taking place at the state level for the 2015-2016 school year, East teachers and board members say that SMSD students will face a changing school environment as a result of the funding situation.

Linda Sieck, current Spanish teacher, and next years’ National Education Association Shawnee Mission President says that students at East will likely feel the effects of state budget cuts in the classroom. According to Sieck, with more students in classes, less teachers in the building and faculty teaching six hours a day, the cuts are causing major concerns for educators about the quality of education their students will receive. “[The] biggest concern I’ve heard teachers vocalize [for next year] is ‘I am not able to do what is best for my students,” Sieck said. “There are just not enough hours in the day for me to plan the kind of lessons that I want to do, to incorporate technology fully or to get papers back as quickly as I want without sacrificing something else.”

This winter, educators were informed that they would be required to teach up to six hours a day, compared to the normal five hours they teach now. In light of proposed education cuts, the district wanted to maximize efficiency. For every five teachers that pick up an extra hour, one staff position is no longer needed.

At the same time an early-retirement plan was offered for staff members to provide incentive for eligible teachers to retire, saving an estimated $18,000 per employee, Deputy Superintendent of Communications, Leigh Ann Neil told the Kansas City Star.

This year, the district will see 10 percent of its employees retire, largely influenced by the early-retirement plan, according to Sieck. One-hundred and eighty teachers and 20 administrators are leaving the district this year, as opposed to the usual estimate of 80 personnel that typically retire from the district. These retirements save the district funds, as not all of these positions will be replaced.

At East, Associate Principal Jeremy Higgins projects that 11 teachers will leave the building. He estimates that three of those positions will probably not be re-hired.

According to East area school board member Donna Bysfield, the early retirement plan and the increase in teaching time for teachers were measures taken in order to keep the district from having to make more drastic cuts, like cutting programming such as Fine Arts.

“All of those are pieces [the district] is working on to keep the budget as healthy as we can for the educa-

BUDGET CHANGES

POTENTIAL

EFFECT

ON EAST

100 new kids will enter the school next year

written by Sophie Tulp

written by Pauline Werner

tion of the students,” Bysfield said. “I know that people have been concerned about cutting programs but as I am aware nothing is going to be cut besides studyhall.”

Although the school saved money from offering the early-retirement package to eligible faculty, Sieck says there are now fewer teachers for more students, only adding to the effects of a heavier workload. The extra hour adds 24-30 more students which slows down the time it takes to grade, record and input papers on Skyward, taking longer for teachers to give feedback and seriously cutting into their personal time at home.

Senior Advanced Placement (AP) English teacher Vicki Tucker says the effects of these budgets cuts will be most noticeable when it comes to assignments like senior research papers and AP test prep.

“Writing cannot be taught simply by making an assignment and moving on,” Tucker said. “Spending personal time with each student is what needs to be done, and the more students you put in a classroom basically dilutes what a student can learn because the teacher cannot physically and emotionally keep delivering to more and more students daily on the same level.”

Tucker says that she will likely have to cut the number of novels that students read for the course, as well as many of her favorite writing assignments, in order to keep up with the increase in students.

Tucker, who teaches both freshman English and senior English classes will experience increases in all aspects of her courses. In addition to an already increasing number of students, next years’ incoming class of freshman is one of the largest East has seen in eight years, Counselor Coordinator Deanna Griffey says. The class of 480 will add over 100 more students to the East population.

The cuts for next year are not just a concern to teachers, the counseling center will also feel the effects of both the staff cuts and the large class size of incoming freshman, according to Griffey. All counselors will be taking on 50-60 more cases between the increase in enrollment and the loss of a counselor position.

Griffey and Sieck agree that seniors will feel the effects of the counseling center changes most heavily, as they rely on the counseling center for resources such as transcripts, recommendation letters and college counseling throughout the year. Seniors may experience a harder time scheduling appointments with their counselor, or may have to plan for appointments farther in advance. Additionally counselors will likely take more work home with them than in years past.

According to Griffey, the counselors are struggling

11 teachers will leave the building

to brainstorm on how to accommodate all of next years’ changes with only four counselors to serve an estimated 1,700 students for the 2015-2016 school year.

“Our caseloads will be bigger and we have duties outside of counseling with students — so our concern is how do we make those fit?,” Griffey said. “Its harder to take work home, so us trying to cram it into the time we have here, thats where we will struggle. We are worried.”

On the other end of the spectrum, teachers like Tucker who have in the past been able to write many recommendations for seniors on their own time, are now looking to scheduling only a small amount on a first come first serve basis.

Bysfield emphasizes that while the official 2015-2016 budget will not be approved by legislators and the district until April 22 when the legislature receives state revenue reports, the effects that students feel will be the result of the district attempting to create a bestcase scenario. She notes that from the funds saved with the early-retirement package, the district may actually emerge relatively unscathed from the state cuts.

“We are saving money and we are actually going to be in better shape,” Bysfield said. “[This district has] tried to look at every possible way to be efficient without losing the quality of education. It is difficult because we are a big business, and business side of it doesn’t have the ability to be as compassionate as education wants to be.”

But teachers like Sieck and Tucker are continuing to worry about how to fit everything into one day, while still keeping their courses interesting and enriching — not just giving out worksheets and sending kids onto their laptops for a whole class period. These activities, Sieck said, are often easy, but not effective lesson replacements when short on plan time.

“I think the bottom line is that we’re not machines,” Sieck said. “If you just want everything to be multiple choice or scantron, that would be do-able, but most teachers want to give more than just a pen and pencil test to show what you know.”

With work encroaching on their personal time more and more with the cuts in work-day planning time, Sieck says it is ultimately the students that will suffer.

“I always say teacher working conditions are student learning conditions,” Sieck said. “If your teachers are stressed and they are overburdened, then that is going to reflect in the classroom.”

10% or

180 teachers

20 administrators of the Shawnee Mission School District employees will retire this year

“

counselors will be taking on 50-60 more cases next year

get t the ways bud taking a look a und East for both ro cuts will look a nd teachers a ts n e stud

“I always say teacher working conditions are student learning conditions. If your teachers are stressed and they are overburdened, then that is going to reflect in the classSpanish Teacher room.”

LINDA SIECK

FOR A STUDENT

Over a decade’s worth of show posters hang on the wall behind theater director Brian Cappello’s desk. One of them is “Shrek: the Musical,” last year’s winter musical.

“Shrek” sticks out in Cappello’s mind because of its spectacle, and its price. Upwards of 50 cast members and handmade costumes, homemade set pieces on top of the $3,000 royalty fee to the company that owns the musical’s copyright and the cost of renting professional backdrops. According to Cappello, these behind-the-scenes expenditures are what gave the show its unforgettable scope.

Now, he’s not sure how much longer the theater department will be able to take on shows like “Shrek.” He looks ahead and sees theater’s operating budget dwindle, leaving less money to costume the cast, create sets, even buy shows.

He worries for his students, whom he knows thrive on the hands-on experience of producing theater, instead of studying theory. “[Budget cuts] may not affect what we do itself,” Cappello said. “But I could see it affecting the quality of what we do.”

Senior Becca Zeiger student directed “Shrek” and attributes its success in part to its professional-grade scale, seen where there were props and set components which demanded something beyond what the students could make inhouse.

“We do our own shows, we make our own costumes, but some things are harder to find,” Zeiger said. “Things like that are better rented and that’s going to be more expensive.”

For example, Princess Fiona’s specific redhaired wigs were rented for three different actresses. Dragon’s character was operated by two people -- senior Abby Cramer at the mouthpiece and senior Alex Lang operating the body of the fully-mobile dragon and rented from the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

From Zeiger’s perspective backstage, “Shrek,” a show that filled the Dan Zollars Auditorium four times over its three-day run, couldn’t have come to life the same way without its expansive visuals.

“We want to put on the most professional show as possible and I think when you start cutting corners the show suffers,” Zeiger said. “It’s not very fair because the cast and crew put in so

much work, we’re just asking for the same effort and time from the state.”

Even so, Cappello knows the theater department would survive without the funds, but in a different way. Towards the end of each year, when he chooses the shows that East will put on for the next year, there will be more considerations to make. The considerations could include how it’s cheaper to costume 30 cast members than 40, and how shows with bigger names demand more royalty checks.

It’s a new reality which will find its way into the theater department’s classrooms as well. “[Technical director Thomas] DeFeo and I know a lot of stuff, we’re teachers. You take away everything we have, we can still teach the concepts,” Cappello said. “But it’s hard to teach the concept of a light board if you can’t afford a decent light board.”

In the introductory theater class, Drama, Cappello teaches students learn how to make a character come to life with no costume, no makeup, no lighting. Then, all of the technical aspects add to the character and create the world of a performing art piece. Without that world, though, Cappello says he’s left teaching only theory.

“The Greeks did theater without any sets at all,” Cappello said. “So it can be done. But there is a certain quality we want.”

He says that East has developed a reputation for its strong theater program. To him, that expectation comes from the excitement his students feel when taking on a new challenge.

“We have built certain expectations within our department and within the community,” Cappello said. “When you say East theater, you think huge. You think quality, you think really good stuff.”

Cappello loves watching the audience’s reactions to his students’ performances, and says he would go to his grave saying that his are the most talented students in the district. That’s why he resents the budget battle, which may force the department’s attitudes to shift from pushing boundaries to adapting to them.

“I don’t want to watch the kids suffer because someone in Topeka has cut the money,” Cappello said.

“

EFFECT ON EAST THEATER

fewer costumes and props

smaller casts

less money for royalties

simpler sets

“By the end of the year we have a fourth of the kids in the school involved in performing arts. And if the quality becomes sub-standard then that’s a scary thing.”

Theater Director BRIAN CAPPELLO

Save the Date

20 features

THE

OPENSEASON photo illustration by Annie Savage Several East students participate in the written by Audrey Dancinger sport of hunting

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or senior Peter Moriarty, each hunting trip brings two moments of peace.

The first comes just before sunrise, when he and his hunting buddies have waded through the marsh to their blind, laid out all their gear and finally sit back, waiting for the ducks that will soon fly overhead. It’s pitch black, the water is completely still and, for a moment, it seems as though the rest of the world is too.

The second comes after the hunt. After the sun rises and the birds stop flying, Moriarty can finally relax and joke with his friends. Joking turns into talking, some topics serious, some more lighthearted, and hunting turns into something more than just a sport.

And it’s that side of it -- those peaceful moments -- that Moriarty thinks many don’t understand. He says those who don’t hunt often associate the sport with its negative stereotypes without stopping to think about what’s beneath the surface.

“You see so many guys who will kill a deer, throw it in their truck and ride through town with blood all over them and that’s really bad for the sport.”

Moriarty said. “It takes an immense amount of respect to know, ‘I killed this animal now I’m going to use it, I’m not just going to kill it for fun and let it die and rot.’”

It’s common for those who oppose hunting to give Moriarty flack when they see his burnt orange “Open Season” T-shirt, but he knows exactly how to defend himself and the sport.

For Moriarty, hunting has more benefits than just adrenaline rush and feeling of accomplishment that comes from hitting his target. Because of the active conservation efforts taken by organizations like Ducks Unlimited, he knows he isn’t putting any species in danger of extinction. He also likes knowing exactly how the meat he’ll be eating was treated, processed and packaged.

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he can hear it scampering in the brush. Besides the wind rustling the leaves of the trees, this unsuspecting rabbit is the only thing in the woods making noise. Suddenly, it pops out from behind the tree leaving itself an open target Adrenaline rushing, she raises her bow. Her hands don’t shake, her palms don’t sweat. She’s done this before. She squints, aims and pulls back the string of her Recurve. Steady. Snap. She releases. The feathers whiz past her cheek as her arrow soars through the air toward the rabbit. Bullseye.

Senior Melissa Bruce took up archery after the “Hunger Games” movies revived the sport and sparked her interest. Besides the occasional help from her grandpa and mom’s boyfriend, she taught herself to aim and shoot on the shooting range at Shawnee Mission Park.

“The first time I went shooting I would miss so much,” Bruce said. “I would go over the target or [the arrow] would get stuck in the ground and I’d have to go looking for them.”

But after visiting the range a couple times a week, she got the hang of her bow and decided to try her hand at hunting.

For Bruce, hunting is a source of stress relief, adrenaline and strength. If she’s frustrated she can channel that energy into shooting and concentrate her focus on just one thing. At the end of the day when she places the heating pad on her sore arm, she can hardly remember why she was upset in the first place.

Although, according to National Geographic she’s only one of 4 million women of the 37 million hunters in the U.S. she knows she can hold her own.

“It’s seen that guys are born stronger than women and they have a better build,” Bruce said. “And it is true sometimes, but I’m pulling 30 lbs. back every single time I shoot, so I do have a lot of strength behind me and I’m successful at it.”

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t’s been three hours and senior Molly Gasperi hasn’t seen a thing. She is bundled from head to toe in layers of leggings, sweatpants, long-sleeved shirts and thick jackets. Shivering next to her dad in their tree-stand she gazes down at the forest floor, waiting for even the slightest movement.

It’s now been four hours and Gasperi is freezing and frustrated. She misses the warmth of her bed that comforted her last in the early hours of the morning before the sun rose. Her fingers have long since turned numb and she can barely feel the heavy shotgun she’s gripping.

Finally she sees something. Within seconds her dad aims, fires and successfully hits the deer. The miserable morning has turned around and Gasperi knows that all that waiting was worth it. It always is.

When her dad offered to take her to the shooting range in sixth grade, Gasperi was hesitant, but eventually agreed to go.

“I just said I would try it because everybody is so busy in my family and my dad is working all the time,” Gasperi said. “So if he wanted to do something with me I was going to take advantage of it.”

Even through her shooting ear muffs, Gasperi can hear her dad’s advice as she aims her 9 mm pistol at the paper target. She takes a breath, grips the trigger and shoots. There’s a loud crack as the bullet explodes from the gun and punctures the very edge of the target. When her ears stop ringing she can hear her dad congratulating her and offering more advice.

Gasperi doesn’t shoot for the adrenaline rush or accomplishment of hitting her target. She shoots for the time spent with her dad and the bond they share doing a sport they enjoy.

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features 21

t 4:30 on a frigid, mid-November Saturday morning, junior Will Kost’s alarm rings. It’s time to go hunting.

Groggy and clad with camouflage waders and matching coat, he and his dad load their guns and other equipment into the car. Then Kost and his cousins pile in and begin the drive up to their farm in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Along the way they make their traditional stop at the Love’s gas station off of I-29. The crew tiredly slides out of the car and drags their feet into the familiar red and yellow building. They grab coffee and donuts to perk up and fuel themselves for the long day ahead.

As he sips his coffee, Kost thinks about this hunting trip and how it won’t be quite the same as the others. Of course the family is all together, they’ve made their stop at Love’s and they’ll be hunting in their usual territory, but something is missing: his grandfather.

Kost credits his grandfather with having the most influence in his hunting career. It was his grandfather who introduced him to the sport and taught him how to aim and shoot. It was his grandfather who drove him to their shooting spot on the lake in his red pick-up truck. It was his grandfather who passed his shotgun down to Kost before he passed away from cancer in 2009.

While Kost’s grandfather won’t actually be accompanying him on this hunting trip, he’s never far from mind. Trips up to St. Joe are a time when Kost can celebrate the memories he’s made hunting with his grandfather on the farm, and when he aims his grandfather’s gun, it’s almost as if he’s never left his side. “[The gun] kind of ties us together,” Kost said.

22 feature

A Student’s Best Friend

Students have special bonds with their unique pets

Alyssa & Benny

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cute, cuddly and loyal MiniSchnoodle who eats his poop. Love him or hate him?

This dog has been a source of conflict for the Vuillemin family ever since they got him six years ago. Freshman Alyssa Vuillemin loves this dog to death, but her father, Brett Vuillemin, isn’t the biggest fan.

Benson, often referred to as Benny, has all the qualities of a cute little dog that a typical family of girls looks for. The four girls -- mother Cynthia, daughters Alyssa and Elle and current female dog Rosie -- dominate the house. Brett is surrounded by girls. Getting Benson would mean another man in the house.

At first, he didn’t want a second dog, but eventually warmed up to the idea of another boy. But Benny isn’t much of a masculine figure.

“He acts feminine,” Alyssa said. “He will sleep with me every once in

above

a while, and also makes these little noises that are so high-pitched and girly.”

It isn’t exactly Benny’s fault though. He is constantly surrounded by girls and female influence. For example, when Benny goes on walks he approaches big dogs ready to attack. He stands no chance though, he is little and not very strong or aggressive.

Brett finds a lot of the qualities that the girls love extremely annoying. He prefers big dogs like Rosie.

“I think [Benny’s] noises are loud and piercing,” Brett said. “His breath smells like skunk and he’s an annoying little dog.”

The conflict between Brett and the family is a source of laughs and stories. Even with some arguing, the family will always be able to bond over this silly feud.

Freshman Alyssa Vuilleman plays with dog, Bennie.

Graham & Snowy

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or winter break, junior Graham Murphy didn’t go on a tropical getaway, but he still had the perfect break. He fell in love with someone named Snowy.

“I relate to her curiosity,” Murphy said. “I find her very intelligent.”

Snowy isn’t like any other girl, however -- she’s a White Striped Ferret.

Graham and Snowy first met at school. Snowy used to belong to an East student who graduated and donated her to the environmental studies program. He was lucky enough to meet her through environmental studies classes. Snowy lives in the classrooms but goes home with Murphy on occasion. This is a time for them to bond.

“I consider her a personal friend actually,” Murphy said. “Ever since I took her home I have gotten to know her personality.”

Graham and Snowy have a cuddly and playful friendship. Some of their fondest memories are the nights where he gets to

above

written by Katie Hise photo illustrations by Kylie Rellihan

take her home and she crawls into his bed as they are both falling asleep.

Other memories are more playful. Over winter break Graham let Snowy roam free. She wandered around the house, enjoying the freedom. At one point she found herself a comfortable place under the dishwasher. It was her home for the next 24 hours. Murphy would try to pull her out, but Snowy would nip at his fingers and try to pull him under with her.

Snowy has grown comfortable with Murphy, to the point that she knows his smell. Even when he is near, she feels more calm.She is less skittery and seems more relaxed. According to Murphy, Snowy definitely trusts him and likes him better than other students because of all the attention and freedom he gives her.

Murphy doesn’t think that he will get his own ferret when he graduates.

“I’ll definitely miss her,” Murphy said. “Hopefully I can visit.”

Junior Graham Murphy holds pet ferret, Snowy.

Sarah & Pablo

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estled in the sheets of a queen size bed, Pablo dozes off dreaming of food. He lives a life of luxury -- carrots whenever he wants and a warm belly to lay on.

Sophomore Sarah Milgrim had wanted a pet other than a typical dog or cat since 6th grade. After her parents said no to a hedgehog, she thought a rabbit was the next best thing.

Pablo is her Bleu Dutch Bunny. Milgrim fell in love with Pablo instantly and has been his best friend for four years now. Inspired by friend sophomore Ellie Cook who had an instagram for her dog, Milgrim made Pablo his very own Instagram.

Pablo’s instagram has 65 followers and 31 posts, most of which are selfies.

Like most instagrammers, he will update his followers with a cute picture on what he is doing. He will also post birthday shoutouts for Milgrim’s friends.

Milgrim has been able to bond with Pablo through

above

the Kardashians. She thinks that his sassy attitude makes him a perfect fit into that family. His profile on Instagram says ‘Currently keeping up with the Kardashians #lorddisick.’

“I just sorta created this funny persona for him on his instagram,” Milgrim said. “He’s never actually seen the Kardashians, I just thought he would fit in with their family because he is so sassy.”

Milgrim said she and Pablo have a special relationship. She is Pablo’s favorite in the family. He is very comfortable and warm around around her, much more so than the rest of the Milgrim family. Milgrim loves this bunny and thinks he is cute enough for the world to see.

“For a picture to be postable, he has to look good in it,” Milgrim said. “If it’s a bad angle or he looks bad in it I won’t post it.”

Follow him @bunnybunny_pabs

Sophomore Sarah Milgrim cuddles with bunny, Pablo.

CULINARY CONNECTIONS feature 23

Sophomore Trent Burnum makes food and makes relationships.

From the Beginning:

Eight years ago, Stena Kirk stands before her cutting board tossing chicken-toasted bread, sausage and onions into her famous casserole. At her hip, a much younger sophomore Trent Burnum focuses on the pinches of salt Kirk sprinkles onto her dish. Her bright, floral attire contrasts her short, dark hair, yet matches her flavorful food.

“Every time we go [to my grandmother’s house], we have a big meal, even if it is just for a couple hours,” Trent said.

“She’s always doing something.”

Trent, now 16 years old, wants to see his name on the front of a restaurant. His own restaurant, that is.

When Trent was younger, he watched Kirk in the kitchen.

His eyes followed her delicate hands sharply until he could mimic her motions without thinking. Through Kirk, Trent picked up skills like dicing tomatoes and preheating an oven at eight years old.

“Trent seems to find cooking relaxing and fun,” Trent’s mother Misty Burnum said. “He didn’t get that from me.”

But even with this acquired knowledge, there were still gaps. He didn’t know how to handle a paring knife or how to make a blackberry pie. What he did know came from watching Kirk in the kitchen.

After two years of watching, Trent’s hunger to cook himself led his mother to search for culinary programs he could get involved in.

“We found [the Culinary Center] because my mom was trying to find me more classes since I was into [cooking],” Trent said. “They have classes varying from really young to very advanced, and they bring in as many guest chefs as they can.”

And for a ten-year-old with a developing culinary identity, the non-competitive environment at the Culinary Center allowed him to strive. And, according to his father, Shawn Burnum, he did strive.

“He had a real desire to learn and try new things,” Shawn said. “And he had fun with it and was successful, which provided the positive reinforcement to continue.”

On the Grill:

Diverting his attention from “Breaking Bad,” Trent looks at the clock. 4:00 a.m. His rotation is finally over. The responsibility he had to man the pork shoulder for the last seven hours was now his father’s. Inspecting the marination one last time, Trent trades places with his dad and retires to bed.

It’s a long process, smoking a shoulder.

“When I have the time -- because I have to stay up all night with it -- I like to smoke a big pork shoulder for 1213 hours,” Trent said. “You have to dry rub it and inject it throughout the night. It’s a lot of work but it’s really rewarding, I think. Because in the end, it tastes so good.”

The taste isn’t the only thing the father-son duo get out of grilling, either. Trent gets more comfortable on the grill each time Shawn hands his son grilling tongs. So now, if the weather permits, he and his father light a burner and grill dinner for their family whenever they can.

“He and I really like preparing our own spices, sauces and learning how to smoke different types of meats,” Shawn said. “[We] have really learned a lot together and have had fun sharing these experiences.”

Not only had Trent learned to cook, but he’d developed a signature, too. His friends and family know his dishes as Trent’s ribs, Trent’s burgers and Trent’s steak.

written by Ellie Booton

“I never do anything by the book,” Trent said. “I always use bold flavors, always add a little bit of spice to it. I just like to take something and change it.”

With a name for himself, Trent asked himself what else he could claim. An apron? A kitchen? A restaurant?

Plans for the Future:

Trent’s dreams are bright, to say the least.

Dreams to major in restaurant management. Dreams to own, manage and cook at his own joint. Heck--maybe he’d call it “Burnum’s Burgers”. But before he can do that, he’ll have to graduate high school and find a college with a strong culinary program.

“Kansas State University has a really good program for [restaurant management],” Trent said. “And the way I see it is that there’s always going to be restaurants even if everything else falls out.”

Currently employed at the local restaurant Urban Table, Trent is getting a taste of those dreams. But he isn’t cooking, managing or hosting.

“Trent--table 14 needs cleaning!”

That’s his cue. He clears the wine glasses and meat plates from the table to the dishwasher, then he goes back and lays out the silverware for the next family. First the napkin, then the fork, the plate, spoon, then kniv--no, first knife, then spoon. Right.

Trent is a busboy.

A busboy limited to clearing leftover salads and dirty forks off of tables, but, in his future, he sees himself cooking or managing in a similar environment as Urban Table. “[The managers] let everyone put their own flare on what they’ve made,” Trent said. “If that’s what I could end up doing, that would be awesome because the managers get to have input and make food.”

After becoming the Burnum family’s personal chef, oth Misty and Shawn Burnum know that Trent can achieve just that.

“If he wants to continue down this path and continues to apply himself, I have no doubt he can be successful,” Shawn said. “As a parent, I just want to encourage him to do something he enjoys and is passionate about in life.”

Right: Trent at the Kansas City Culinary School. “Classes started around 12 or 13-ish [years old], and I took as many classes I could at school and at the Culinary Arts Center. I actually got in advanced classes that I wasn’t supposed to be in until I was 16.”

Below:

Trent and his sister Tristan work on a cookie cake for their dad. photos courtesy of Trent Burnham

Right:

Trent grills burgers at a friend’s house for his birthday.

24 a&e Taking a look into the diverse local theatre, Alamo Drafthouse written by Anna Dierks photos by Hailey Hughes

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swing dancing studio, a bar hotspot and a movie theater. Clearly, the Alamo Drafthouse is quite the atypical theater. First opened in 1997, the Alamo Drafthouse has strived to attract an audience for golden era cinema, foreign language films and also to a community cultural center.

At the corner 14th and Main, the Alamo Drafthouse glows with old-timey lights featuring a display board of their wide range of movies. I couldn’t help but feel downright glamorous walking into the elegantly decorated theater. The Drafthouse has taken on a 1950’s Hollywood theme and from the red carpets to the actors and actresses plastered on the wall. It wears the look well.

My dad bought the tickets, due to the 21-and-older ticket purchasing policy, and I explored the lobby a little and found a bar area around the corner. I should’ve known something was going on when I walked in and heard the smooth jazz playing softly. The bar-goers heads’ inclined towards the band at the front while seated at bar stools and couches around the room. Between the bar and couches was a narrow dance floor, flooded with middle-aged men and women stepping and twirling to the beat. There was a swing dance instructor weaving his way through the dancing couples, giving tips and thumbs-up all around.

With sometime left before our movie started, my dad and I grabbed a Coke at the bar and observed the contagious joy radiating from the dance floor.

The theater itself was also quite impressive. The first thing I noticed was the aroma. The whole theater smelled of juicy burgers and fresh salads. My mouth

left

The front of the theatre on the corner of Main and 14th Street

upper right

Throughout the theatre famous movie quotes are scattered on the floors, this one being in front of the ticket stand.

right

The front of the theatre features some of the most famous actors on banners.

watered immediately and I couldn’t wait to check out the menus displayed on the tables in front of the reclining seats. From chocolate milkshakes to avocado and pesto sandwiches, the selection granted my every food-related wish. My dad and I finally decided on the hummus dip with pita and vegetables. The pita was still warm and the vegetables were chilled and very fresh; both tasted heavenly paired with the cup of hummus at the center of platter. Although our order was small, it was the perfect movie-watching snack.

The movie ended around 10 p.m., but the dance floor was far from dwindling. It was crowded by a wide range of ages dancing enthusiastically to the new, younger band that played at the front. The bar area was loud but full of friendly faces ushering us to the dance floor and offering us Cokes. Although we had to decline, it looked like a fun environment. I left the Alamo Drafthouse feeling satisfied with my night and looking forward to my next opportunity to come back and check out the dance floor.

“IN HONOR OF”

CAMPAIGN Is there a SME teacher or staff member who has affected your life in a positive way? Have there been school programs that captivated or inspired you to uncover new talent, develop new skills or make new friends?

The “In Honor of” Campaign is your opportunity to recognize and support the people and programs that make a difference at SME. When you honor the people and programs you love at SME, you are supporting The East Fund. Grants provided through The East Fund enhance innovative initiatives, help students engage in after-school tutoring and create interactive classroom opportunities.

Visit www.theeastfund.org to learn more.

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t’s two in the morning, the credits are finally rolling and my tear ducts have ceased to function.

Every Disney film lately — ahem, “Big Hero 6” — has at least one of those scenes, and no matter how many times I’ve seen it, no matter how little it actually touches me, I’m still vulnerable to Disney’s manufactured tear-inducing moments.

While Disney animated films rarely lack in bittersweet moments and magical plots and ultimately feel-good endings, they do tend to disappoint in the values they teach.

Children and adults alike walk away from films that either subconsciously or very obviously portray questionable ideas.

Admittedly, Disney has tried to improve itself from the days of princesses awaiting a

26 a&e

A Theory of

FILM Evolution Disney animated films have grown to convey better quality messages since its early days written by Yashi Wang

prince that will be captivated by their beauty and solve their problems. The prob-

lem with the treatment of females has lessened since the debut of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” in the 30s, but has far from disappeared. “Pocahontas,” like “Mulan,” goes as far as to pull a romantic relationship out of nowhere for a heroine that would have stood just fine by herself. The film also replaces the ugly, real fate of Pocahontas and her people with a version that cheerfully ignores the facts. The Disney mold was fulfilled, and a wonderful story of peace and understanding was told, but the decision to paint over a tragic true story to serve as entertainment is unacceptable.

This is not the only example of Disney’s misrepresentation dealing with race or culture. For example, “Aladdin” and “Lion King” casted passably accurate voices for villains while the heroes are unrealistic and Americanized.

It’s hard to ignore the underlying influence of Disney. No matter what they teach, most of us grew up with these films and the borderline-iconic characters that make their appearances at birthday parties and Halloween nights each year, emblazoned across tiny kindergartener t-shirts and backpacks. At the same time, the evolution of societal values also has a hand in determining the evolution of Disney values.

When we as a public protest and criticize, the media often bends to accommodate the audience. In this 21st century characterized by both new and old social struggles, as well as the voices that speak out against them, Disney is finally breaking through with quality films that are changing and improving in their messages.

Newer movies, while still identifying a hero and a villain, deemphasize the classic premise of ‘good versus evil.’

Even the film industry in general is following the trend of emphasizing character development and ‘man versus self’ instead. Platonic and family relationships are also receiving more attention, which brings me to tears more than “Sleeping Beauty” ever did.

“The Princess and the Frog” is one of Disney’s very best, and Tiana is arguably the strongest female lead out of all Disney leads. She is not a princess by birth, but she is a driven char-

HEARTTHROB to

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ey teenie boppers! Unless you’ve been living under a rock or are above the age of 25, you should know that Zayn Malik has left One Direction. Oh no! I know a large demographic of our readers are fans of One Direction, but angry pageviews are still pageviews. Cue the gallery of outraged tweets and stealthy pictures taken of girls crying in their geometry classes.

Sans some of my satirical exaggeration this is how the majority of celebrity-related articles started on March 25 after it was announced via One Direction’s official Facebook page that Zayn Malik would no longer be a part of the band. The announcement, wedged between five promotional posts for three fragrances and a world tour schedule, stated that Zayn was leaving the band because of stress and the effects of being in the spotlight.

As expected from a fanbase a million strong with thriving Twitter and Vine accounts, reactions to the news were plentiful. Ranging from “This can’t be real!” to “How could their team work them this hard! This is all because you guys said he was cheating!” to “Thank you for the music Zayn,” tweets mentioning Zayn’s name made it into the millions. Accompanying the

acter with dreams and works hard for her own goals. She also — gasp — has an actual 3-D personality, all spunk and determination. The portrayal of African Americans, corrected after many criticisms, is finally a decent outreach towards diversity.

“Big Hero 6,” one of Disney’s latest and most acclaimed works, deals with coping with grief and loss, unlike its predecessors. How many Disney film characters have both their parents alive? Do any go into detail? There are also well-written female characters, and the ‘genius kid’ premise brings in an element of brains over brawn.

“Monsters University” tackles friendship instead of romance or family relationships. It’s also more life-lesson focused: understand who you are and be proud of it, even when you realize that just because you try hard doesn’t always mean you will succeed. Above all, it’s okay to have failed dreams, it’s okay to find new goals. This prequel to “Monsters Inc.” avoids a perfect happily ever after while still ending on the Disney’s branded feel-good note. The premise and plot is altogether unprecedented in major Disney films.

Live adaptations of old animations seems to be Disney’s new trajectory. It might seem like a weak move on Disney’s part, but for me, it’s an act of redemption. While “Cinderella” did not stand out to me, so far “Maleficent” and “Alice in Wonderland” have impressed me with their altered storylines.

The new “Alice” presents a story that is finally solid in plot and character construction, and urges viewers to believe in the impossible and be true to themselves against society’s dictation.

“Maleficent” provides a satisfactory retelling of “Sleeping Beauty” with a strong female lead and a prince that’s pretty much useless. This turn of events might also seem like imbalanced gender equality, but makes up for 56 years of an iconic animated film that really should have been named “Phillip”, not “Sleeping Beauty.” The movie deals with regret, personal identity, and different kinds of true love.

One Direction fans should not be ridiculed for devastation over popular member’s withdrawal written by Olivia Favreau

distressed tweets and vines from fans were comments from their peers and sarcastic articles written to mock their emotions.

Why not? One Direction fangirls are rabid tweens who scream a lot and live by the phrase “British boys are best.” Their love for this band is completely insane and can’t be compared to anything else, right? It’s not as if they’ve ever damaged property and began looting stores after their favorite team lost. Oh wait.

Let’s face it. People are passionate about the weirdest things: vintage cars, sports, video games and celebrity culture in general. So why is it so strange for someone to support a boyband? Why are people being ridiculed for caring about something that is being brought to an end? One Direction is not over. The rest of the boys will be continuing on as a four-piece and that’s great, but for fans there is now a missing link to the five boys they fell in love with in the first place.

As strange as it may seem to some, a lot of these girls have put love, energy and money into this band and are sad to see it go through this change.

I understand that it’s hard for some people to understand the stigma that surrounds these girls. Because nothing is more synonymous with One Direc-

tion than dumb teenage girls but let’s put other kinds of fans into their shoes.

When you mention the results of a game from your favorite sports team people scoff at you. “Don’t you see they’re just a money making machine?” “Everything surrounding them is disingenuous.” “Those Brazilians shouldn’t be crying over losing the World Cup, they are clearly overreacting!”

By now this topic has been swept under the rug by mainstream media, and the One Direction fandom has regained a semblance of peace and quiet. Despite this, I’m still baffled by how people were allowed to take pictures and mock people for caring about something. I understand having no interest in the things people are upset about. I would probably laugh at people’s reactions if something like this had happened to Five Seconds of Summer or the Chiefs or whatever but I would never throw that laughter back into someone’s face.

When it’s obvious that someone cares about something, the first reaction shouldn’t be to ridicule them.

No one should have to deal with that, no matter how trivial the event is to you.

sports 27

East athletes going Division One, Two and Three

Division 1

written by Michael Kraske

Senior Lucas Jones will attend the University of Eastern Illinois next year on a basketball scholarship. Although he was considering other options, Jones landed on his decision to attend Eastern Illinois last year.

“I like the town (of Charleston, Illinois) and coaches, and they have a good business school which is what I’m going to major in,” Jones said. “The size is also great, not too big but not too small.”

Jones has been playing on the varsity basketball team since his sophomore year. At first he wasn’t sure if he wanted to play in college, but the decision wasn’t hard for him to make after getting D1 offers.

“I just really love to play, and I can’t picture myself not doing anything so I want to continue to be active and play,” Jones said. “I’m a little nervous because I don’t know what it will be like, and I won’t really know anyone, but I can’t wait to start.”

Last December, senior Kyle Ball committed to play football next year at Kansas State University (K-State). Ball will begin as a greyshirt for the team, meaning that he will not be enrolled at the university or practice with the football team until next January. Next fall semester, Ball will attend Johnson County Community College, and once next spring comes, his full scholarship at K-State will begin. Ball was also considering football programs like the University of Kansas and the Air Force Academy, but K-State stood out to him most.

“I really loved the atmosphere down there,” Ball explained. “And I also like the the values that the team has.”

Ball is currently unsure what he wants to do after K-State football. Although he’s had a passion for the sport since a kid, he’s planning on playing through college and seeing what he wants to do then.

Division 2

Last year, with over a year of high school left, senior Corey Knabe committed to play golf at the University of Central Missouri (UCM). After talking with coaches and visiting the school, he knew it was where he wanted to go.

“I’ve been talking to the coach since the spring, and I took a visit down there in the summer and their facilities are really nice,” Corey said. “All the programs down there are great, and they just have an overall great system down there.”

Corey’s older brother Conner, an East graduate, is currently playing golf for K-State, and their dad, Billy Knabe, played golf at Central Missouri from 1985 to 1989.

Family traditions have been one of the leading reasons for Corey’s commitment to UCM. “College golf kind of runs in the family,” Knabe said.

“I play with my dad and brother all the time, since I was a little kid. They’ve really influenced me to play in college more than anyone else.”

Billy Knabe noticed Corey’s early commitment to golf, but noticed his passion develop over time.

“I haven’t had to motivate him much at all,” Billy said.

“I’ve been playing with him his whole life, but he’s always been able to motivate himself so he can get to the next level.”

Division 3

Senior Jennifer Young never actually thought she would be a college athlete up until a few months ago.

She plays for the East girls’ lacrosse team, and also plays for the KC Blue Lions club team. The Blue Lions recently traveled to St. Louis and Chicago for tournaments.

When she got to Chicago, she started to consider playing in college.

“When I went to Chicago, it was a pretty big recruiting tournament called the Midwest Showcase, and we went up to Loyola and played for a weekend in November,” Young said. “I had several coaches, probably eight or nine, emailing me during and after the tournament about filling out a recruit questionnaire and if I was interested in playing.”

From that point, she landed on her decision to play lacrosse at Illinois Tech.

“It stood out to be because it was a technological school so they specialized in engineering and math and sciences, which is what I want to go into,” Young said.

“All the other schools were liberal arts schools so it was more of the major of the school that was a deciding factor.”

Next year, Margaret Krause will attend Adrian College in Michigan to play lacrosse. After applying to over 15 schools, she received an acceptance letter from Adrian. Although she never really thought she would go there, her dad convinced her to take a visit up to the city of Adrian, Michigan, just to see what it was like.

“When I first visited it was like 9 degrees below zero and snowing, but there was something about the campus that just made me happy,” Krause said. “It’s gorgeous there. I also love how the teachers knew you well, but weren’t too in your business.”

Krause will get her major in business with a minor in fashion merchandising. Although she didn’t receive any scholarship money from the coaches, she did get student athlete scholarships.

photos by Annie Savage

Kyle Ball Lucas Jones Erik Harken

E

28 sports

DOUBLE TROUBLE Longtime friends make meaningful doubles partners

“Tennis helps maintain our strong relationship it orginially created,” Renft said.

COM P ING “We are both super competative and hate losing so becoming a team was easy,” Larrabee said.

D

of the most important ways to help keep underclassmen calm, as well as keep the whole team together.

“Getting underclassmen mentally prepared -- keeping them positive,” Renft said. “Some of them get nervous, and you just have to give them a little ‘c’mon let’s go.’”

Aside from learning from their Homestead tennis coaches, the boys also have role models on the big screen too that they would like to credit for some of their talent.

“My favorite player is easily Rafael Nadal,” Renft said. “ He is so confident; not to mention he’s got a mad forehand.”

Larrabee and Renft watch the major tournaments, but mostly enjoy watching the Americans. Larrabee admits that they are not the best they have seen but is always looking for an opportunity to cheer on his home country.

Both boys enjoy watching the Americans succeed on TV, and they believe they will be continuing to watch from the couch after high school. Larrabee wants to play casually as an adult, and Renft wants to continue to play noncompetitively in his later life as well.

Larrabee and Renft strive to be their own Nadals on tennis court, start a new record for pegs and bring the State trophy back home to Shawnee Mission East for a four year sweep.

NS

ET

hope the ball ends up staying in the court.

“This year we are going to keep a running total of how many times we peg kids,” Larrabee said.

Having played no matches so far, their total is solely based off of pegging their own teammates, for fun. They have a running total of six, plus one more when Larrabee drilled Renft.

Larrabee: 1 Renft: 0 Another goal, a bit more serious, is to snag the State title for the fourth consecutive year.

“We have won the last three years, girls have won the last four, so for girls and boys it will be eight in a row,” Larrabee said. ”That would be cool to never lose a State championship since we started at East.”

Since the selected State team can only participate in six matches before Regionals takes place, the boys are preparing solely by playing singles and doubles matches every day at practice.

For each average season meet, every boy plays both a singles and doubles match. In State, they are to choose one, usually whichever they are strongest in.

Because the State title is such an obtainable goal, the boys want to make sure they don’t let it slip. Each have responsibilities to uphold and role model positions to fill. Renft and Larrabee both strongly feel that being a positive leader is one

IO AT

IP SH

FRIEN

S

eniors Elliot Renft and Jeff Larrabee are finishing what they started: playing together on the court. The boys are fourth year East tennis players but have been playing together much longer than that. Larrabee lives near Homestead Country Club and as a child walked over every day and played; Renft also played at Homestead. Although this year is the first year they have been partnered up for doubles at East, they are already familiar with each other on the court.

“We used to play doubles a lot at Homestead, then we got split up when we came to East, and now we are back together,” Renft said.

Larrabee and Renft, longtime friends on and off the court have a steady and attainable end-of-season goal. To take the edge off nerves and still have a good time, the boys also have a goal simply for their entertainment. They watch their tennis idols, picking up on their skills and attitudes. Renft and Larrabee strive to be role models and leaders, but want to have a bit of fun on the side.

Not only is winning State on their radar, but also starting a first-time-ever record for pegs in one season.

A peg, defined by Renft, is when one intentionally nails an opposing player with a ball as hard as you can. If you hit them, it counts towards the total and if not...just

REL

written by Jessica Parker photos by Annie Lomshek

“We are great friends on and off the court, it isn’t hard to be a team,” Larrabee said.

TAKING THE CUT photos by Morgan Browning written by Mac Newman

M

any students fight for that prestigious spot on an East sport team. Between 60 and 70 people tried out for girls soccer, but only 38 made one of the two teams.

Those few are getting to play with friends

KARA KOENIG

sports 29

Student athletes reflect on lessons learned from not making the team they tried out for

and enjoy your sport. But not everyone is so lucky, these three people are just a sample of those who have experienced this.

Whether it was a bad tryout, not being in shape or being just out of luck, people get cut. Some seasons, like this year’s boys’ soccer teams, had talent so high that the coaches don’t cut anyone. But in other seasons, people get cut left, right and center.

I STILL THINK I AM A GOOD SOCCER PLAYER. -Koenig said.

OSCAR SWARTZ I COULD’VE DONE A LOT MORE TO PREPARE, I DIDN’T SHOW MY TRUE COLORS. -Swartz said.

JASON BRYANT “I JUST WASN’T WHAT THE COACHES WERE LOOKING FOR,” -Bryant said.

F

J

unior Kara Koenig tried out for girls soccer full of confidence. She thought she did well in tryouts because she also plays club soccer for the Legends. She was expecting to make the JV team. According to her teammates, she is a talented soccer player.

That’s why she was so shocked when she found out she was cut.

“I went and talked to [head coach Jamie Kelly], and he said I was too quiet,” Koenig said.

Kara found out after constantly hitting the refresh button over and over on Coach Kelly’s Twitter account and then finally seeing the names pop up without hers.

She was at her house with her parents, and they were angry. That, mixed with Kara’s sadness and confusion, prompted her to decide not to tryout next year. Although, since tryouts are so far away, she may change her mind.

“I still think I am a good soccer player,” Koenig said.

“I play club, and my club coach thinks I am good, so I am just going to go with my club coach’s opinion.”

Instead of soccer, Kara is now running track for East.

She is doing the 400 meter, 200 meter and long jump, and enjoying it.

F

reshman Jason Bryant was excited to be trying out for basketball, until he saw the 60 or so boys also trying out. Which made him unoptimistic and thought he will probably not make the team. He says he just wanted something to do in the winter besides wrestling. That doesn’t mean he did not try though, Bryant felt he did quite decent in tryouts.

“I just wasn’t what the coaches were looking for,” said Bryant.

After Bryant found out he didn’t make the team, he was not very dissapointed. He joined the freshman football team in the fall and now he runs track, doing sprints.

He hasn’t really decided yet but, if he does decide to tryout for basketball next year, he says he will have to work much harder.

“My feelings were that I didn’t really care, I just wanted to see if I could make the team,” Bryant said.

reshman Oscar Swartz was extremely nervous going into baseball tryouts this spring. To prepare, he trained once or twice a week, starting months before tryouts with a former minor league player. Swartz remembers a quote from him: that tryouts are just a three day beauty contest.

“I was definitely nervous,” Swartz said. “But the way the tryouts are worked, I got put with all the other catchers, which means it was a smaller group. That made it less intimidating. But it still was my first tryout at East so I was confused on what was going on.”

Swartz tried to deal with the nerves, but says they were too much.

Swartz was riding home in his dad’s front seat with sweat beams still running down his face and grass stains on his pants. He opened up the envelope given to him by the coaches after a grueling 30 minute wait to find out if he made the team. He opened it up and frowned. He was disappointed, but the flow of cliches from his Dad, like “there’s always next year,” made it so much worse. “[In the tryouts] I did crap,” Swartz said. “I could’ve done a lot more to prepare, and I feel like if I was in a more comfortable environment I could’ve done better. I didn’t show my true colors.”

Swartz recovered quickly. He moved on to soccer and focused on trying out for that in the fall.

Swartz now runs or works out almost every day. He goes to Prairie Elementary’s or Indian Hills Middle School’s soccer fields during the weekends to play with friends.

“I used getting cut as fuel to force myself to work out, run and get ready earlier for soccer,” Swartz said.

30 sports

“I’m unfortunately no longer able to play this year.

But, the team is incredibly strong and will be a lot of fun to watch at the end of May.” -Lucas Jones

“We expect to win the Suflower League again, place in the top three of every tournament and get another state title.”

-Corey Knabe

“It’s been a rough start with Tuna (Lucas Jones) being out for the season and Danner being injured and we haven’t performed to our potential, but we started similar to this last year during the regular season and still turned it around and won state. “

-Brady Clark

“Well it’s been pretty frustrating so far.

I have been hurt this year and am not playing because of the back injury. But, we have a lot of talent on our team so we will definitely be contending for another state championship.”

“We have a 20 shot lead so far in the Sunflower League after our first tournament and are hoping for another state title.”

-Connor Swanson

Five VARSITY Golfers

-Max Danner

11

SUNFLOWER LEAGUE TITLES

photo by Joseph Kline

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32 photoessay

BASEBALL

TRACK

photo by Haley Bell

photo by Joseph Cline

A WEEK IN

SPORTS

PHOTOS

SOFTBALL

photo by Kylie Rellihan

SOCCER

DRILL TEAM

photo by Annie Savage

BASEBALL

Junior Spencer Mustoe warms up before their game against SM Northwest. “[The season] is going well,” Mustoe said. “There’s been highs and lows but I feel like as a team, we are really starting to figure it out.” The team has high expectations for getting to state this year. “We all believe we can win state and we’ll stop at nothing to achieve that goal.”

photo by Annika Sink

TRACK

Freshman Nicolas Bruyere long jumps in the track meet against SM North. “Our track season has been very good so far,” Bruyere said. He found long jump enjoyable as soon as he started track. “[The hardest part] for me is slowing down before I jump off the mark because I should be going full speed into the board,” Bruyere said.

DRILL TEAM

Senior Carolyn Wassmer performs her senior solo at the annual Spring Show. “It was really surreal and bittersweet,” Wassmer said. Drill team placed 2nd in Jazz and 6th in Hip Hop at Nationals in March. “It was an awesome night to end a great dancing career but it was hard for a lot of us to believe that could be our last time ever performing,” Wassmer said.

SOCCER Junior Addie Griffith goes for a header in their game against SM Northwest. “We run a lot and whenever we play or run we always say we’re preparing to play BV Northwest because they are the best and we want to be the best,” Griffith said. “On game days we always jam out to London Bridge by Fergie. It’s just our pump up song. I can’t wait to see where our team goes from here.”

SOFTBALL

Senior Emily Budzowski encourages her teammates in their game against SM West. “Having played for the same coach for three years and getting two new ones your last year is kind of tough but we are making it work,” Budzowski said.

“The best part about this season is that we are such a close group that even when we aren’t playing our best, we hold each other up and keep playing as if we were winning.”