Issue 6 of the 2013 - 2014 Harbinger

the harbinger.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MCKENZIE SWANSON

PAGES 12-13

JUNIOR GEO CACHES PAGE 18

WINTER FASHION PREVIEW

STORY ON PAGE 4

aDANGEROUS

DR

Extreme heart rates caused by caffeinated energy drinks put athletes at risk

Shawnee Mission East l 7500 Mission Road, PV KS, 66208 l November 18, 2013 l Issue 6 l www.smeharbinger.net

editorial.

HEADED DOWN A BAD PATH

EDITORIAL:

EVERYTHING IN MODERATION The recent ban on trans fats points out a larger problem amongst American youth.

Today’s high school students spend copious amounts of time on social media and staring at screens. They are part of an obesity epidemic that is sweeping the nation. They’re guzzling down caffeinated beverages in excess. Whatever they do, they overdo it. As students, The Harbinger believes that our generation should listen to the old saying, ‘everything in moderation.’

The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to require companies to start phasing out trans-fats in their processed food points to a much larger issue at hand. If moderation was exercised more often, this wouldn’t be among the chief issues the FDA has to deal with. But the trans-fat ban is an indicator on a generational slump.

Not only is it the debate on the banning of trans fats; it’s the parental lock features on new tablets to limit the time kids spend on the internet. All signs point to a group of young people with an enormous lack of self-control and willpower.

The government should not have had to step in and place restraints upon food in the first place. While this tactic helps to limit the consumption it is not teaching the importance of one’s use of restraint.

The largest question is whether we will grow out of it.

This instant-gratification type of world keeps young people always looking to what is next.

Our brains process photos and videos on social media so quick-

ly that we are always wanting more. We, by nature, demand everything faster and easier.

Instead of a home-cooked meal, it’s a packaged and processed lunch. Instead of a long books, it’s the short SparkNotes on the internet. Quicker, less work, instant gratification, all the time.

Sure, it’s not the downfall of humanity but this more, more, more style of living points to some serious hazards ahead.

Diabetes, heart disease, obesity -- these phrases get tossed around frequently but demonstrate chief concerns for our generation. According to the Center for Disease Control, over the past 30 years obesity rates in adolescents has more than tripled. From 1980 to 2010, adolescents who were obese went from 5 percent to 18 percent. We are growing up in a country filled with people who are dying from diseases related from eating too much. Moderation could do a world of good.

Americans teens should consider the consequences of their over-doings and pull back.

Instead of spending hours on a cell phone, cut back on screentime and fill the extra space with a book or exercise. Instead of over-eating unhealthy food, keep a balanced diet and consume junk food in smaller amounts.

The government shouldn’t have to regulate food consumption and the world would be a lot better off if teens began exercising moderation more often.

EDITORIAL BOARD VOTES FOR AGAINST ABSENT

8 2 1

THE HARBINGER STAFF 2013-2014 Co-Editors-In-Chief Andrew McKittrick Katie Knight Assistant Editors Morgan Krakow Sophie Tulp Head Copy Editor Sarah Berger Assistant Head Copy Editor Pauline Werner Art & Design Editor Miranda Gibbs News Section Editor Greta Nepstad News Page Designers Mike Thibodeau Spread Editors Phoebe Aguiar Caroline Kohring Features Page Designers Sydney Lowe Claire Whittaker Pauline Werner

Sarah Berger Sophie Tulp Katie Knight Morgan Twibell Pauline Werner Caroline Kohring Julia Poe Staff Writers Maddison Hyatt Ellis Nepstad Michael Kraske Hannah Colemann Lauren Brown Photo Editors McKenzie Swanson Maddie Schoemann Assistant Photo Editors AnnaMarie Oakley Annie Savage Opinion Section Editor Morgan Twibell Opinion Page Designer Nellie Whittaker A&E Section Editor Leah Pack

Features Section Editor Maddie Hise

A&E Page Designer Audrey Danciger

Copy Editors Mike Thibodeau Clara Ma Andrew McKittrick Will Oakley Morgan Krakow

Sports Section Editor Will Oakley Sports Page Designers Tommy Sherk John Foster

Freelance Page Designers Georgia DuBois Staff Photographers Kathryn Jones Neely Atha Callie McPhail Kylie Relihan Annika Sink Taylor Anderson Taylor Bell Katie Lamar Paloma Garcia Tessa Polaschek Abby Hans Scotty Burford Editorial Board Andrew McKittrick Katie Knight Morgan Krakow Sarah Berger Will Oakley Morgan Twibell Sophie Tulp Julia Poe Grace Heitmann Mike Thibodeau Pauline Werner Online Editors-in-Chief Grace Heitmann Julia Poe Head Copy Editor Susannah Mitchell Assistant Head Copy Editor Clara Ma Online Photo Editor

Marisa Walton Assistant Photo Editors Hailey Hughes Meghan Shirling News Editor Nellie Whittaker Homegrown Editor Maxx Lamb Opinion Editor Claire Sullivan A&E Editor Audrey Danciger Sports Section Editor John Foster Assistant Sports Editors Ellis Nepstad Will Oakley Video Editors Sophie Mitchell Annie Foster Podcast and Radio Editor Leah O’Connor

Head Webmaster Jack Stevens Assistant Webmasters Jacob Milgrim Matthew Bruyere Live Broadcast Editors Jack Stevens Andrew McKittrick Anchors Sydney Lowe Will Oakley Maddie Hise Multimedia Staff Jack Stevens Sophie Mitchell Matthew Bruyere Annie Foster Social Media Jacob Milgrim Adviser Dow Tate

The Harbinger is a student run publication.

The contents and views are produced solely Interacive Editors by the staff and do not Will Oakley Mike Thibodeau represent the Shawnee Matthew Bruyere Mission School District, East faculty or school administration.

Eastipedia Editor Maxx Lamb

Letters to the editor may be sent to room 521 or smeharbinger@gmail.com. Letters may be edited for clarity, length, libel and mechanics and accepted or rejected at the editors’ discretion.

WRITTEN BY MIRANDA GIBBS ART BY GRETA NEPSTAD

A week in photos

F E I R B NEWS the

Junior Sydney Krause runs with the ball during a powder puff scrimmage on Nov. 8.

PHOTO BY MARISA WALTON During a SHARE dodgeball tournament, Senior Tommy Larson prepares to throw the ball.

PHOTO BY MCKENZIE SWANSON Junior Sam Williams and sophomore Ryder Terry celebrate after the team scored a touchdown against Leavenworth.

PHOTO BY ANNIE SAVAGE Junior Akshay Dinakar and sophomore Bhavish Dinakar fight for the ball in a knee hockey session.

Typhoon

IN

Philippines suffer major hurricane PHOTO BY ANNA MARIE OAKLEY

news.

}

Making landfall with winds reaching 235 mph and waves 19 feet high, The Weather Channel believes Typhoon Haiyan will likely go down as one of the five strongest storms in 50 years.

As aid began pouring into the hardest-hit areas, the scope of devastation expanded. Officials in the city of Tacloban -- which bore the brunt of the storm -- have said the death toll could rise to 10,000 in their city alone.

This death toll would confirm that Typhoon Haiyan is the deadliest natural catastrophe in the Philippines.

The Social Welfare and Development Department of the Philippines is saying the storm has affected 4.28 million people in about 270 towns and cities spread across 36 provinces in the central Philippines. Photos and television footage show fierce winds ripping tin roofs off homes, large ships being tossed onto shores and wooden buildings splintering under the force of waves.

Relief workers and aid trucks reached the disaster areas nearly four days after the initial landfall on Nov. 11. With operations hampered due to destroyed roads, airports and bridges, many of an estimated 660,000 displaced people have no access to food, water or medicine, according to the United Nations.

Counties in Colorado threaten to secede

HAIYAN

If the residents of the rural, Eastern Plains region of Colorado get their way, the 51st state of the United States will be about the size of Vermont with the population of a small town spread throughout miles of farmland. There will be no legalization of marijuana, no civil unions for same-sex couples, no new renewable energy proposals. This area’s attempt is sending the Democratic-controlled legislature a message: their concerns are not being heard.

Sean Conway, the commissioner of Weld County — the most populous of county threatening to secede — stated in an interview with CNN that the point was to grab attention: “We’re tired of being ignored, we’re tired of being politically disenfranchised,” Conway said. “...if you don’t wake up and you don’t start to change things, you’re going to see more movements like this begin to take a more serious face…”

Five out of 11 counties voted in favor of the secession on Nov. 6. The process, however, could take some time. The secession will require approval both the Colorado legislature and the U.S. Congress.

Protests against immigration arise in KC Kristallnacht was one of the most violent attacks against the Jewish population during Nazi reign in Germany. On Nov. 9 — the 75th anniversary of this event — the National Socialist Movement (NSM) gathered outside the Jackson County Courthouse to protest immigration reform.

The white supremacist organization joined with groups including the Aryan Nations to send a message to local government.

In an NSM leaflet about the rally, they stated: “If you are working for a slave’s wage, making barely enough to feed your family, and are tired of seeing the corruption that is crippling our land, the time to get active in this fight is now.”

At the same time, a collection of civil rights organizations gathered at the Liberty Memorial to denounce the efforts of the NSM, in silent counter-protest. The separate location was chosen to avoid conflict.

Another counter-protest brought 300 people to barricades across the street from the courthouse, blocked off by officers. Among these opponents were members of the Latino Coalition of Kansas City (LCKC), who invited thousands of people on Facebook to rally against NSM party, who were trying “to protest immigration reform and racial equality.

Let’s let them know what Kansas City thinks about that!”

Typhoon:

a violent tropical storm that occurs in the western Pacific area

two million people are in need of food and fresh water

3typhoons

Nina

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series of collapsed damns due to - Aflooding resulted in approximately

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-

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(1979)ameter of 1,380 miles lead to mud-

slides, sunken ships and collapsed bridges

Haiyan

(2013)

by the UN officials, 11 - Predicted million people are to be effected

by Typhoon Haiyan

wind speeds at

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flip over minivans knock over powerlines flatten a house

news.

caffeine’s consequence WRITTEN BY JULIA POE

Senior Mitchell Tyler is going to vomit.

He’s lined up on the Lawrence 30 yard line. He can’t be sick or sluggish. He needs to move.

The center snaps the ball. Tyler rounds his outside blocker, snatches a pass out of mid-air and begins a 70 yard sprint into the endzone.

Tyler barely has time to celebrate the touchdown with his teammates. Less than a minute later, he is bent over a sideline trashcan. He empties his stomach of the only thing he consumed after school -- a Five Hour Energy drink.

From the sidelines, athletic trainer Ron Wollenhaupt noticed a difference in Tyler throughout the Lawrence game. It’s easy for him to detect when a typically calm player like Tyler has downed an energy drink before a game. The difference in Tyler is small -- Wollenhaupt notices that he is a little more twitchy and jumpy.

But Tyler’s teammates and other athletes often have more noticeable symptoms. Their irritability skyrockets and they snap at coaches and fellow players. Most often, energy drinks make athletes anxious. They’ll fret on the sidelines, talking constantly in an effort to calm their nerves.

Wollenhaupt worries about this caffeine-induced change of personality in his players. But the greatest concern for Wollenhaupt and other professionals is caffeine’s ability to overstimulate the heart, which can cause an athlete to get sick like Tyler or collapse on the field.

In extreme cases, a caffeine-induced spike in heart rate can cause the player to have a heart attack or stroke on the field.

“That’s my biggest concern with caffeine, is seeing a player just go down in the middle of a [game],” Wollenhaupt said. “It’s a very scary thing, but it’s a very real danger. These athletes don’t realize how much risk they’re at.”

A single 1.93 ounce container of Five Hour Energy packs 200 milligrams of caffeine -- the maximum a teenager can consume in a day without creating health risks, according to the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

ART BY GRETA NEPSTAD

According to Kansas City Internal Medicine cardiologist Dr. Keith Jantz, any amount of caffeine causes symptoms such as shaking hands, increased aggression, hot flashes and difficulty focusing. An unhealthy amount - begins to take a toll on the heart by inducing an unhealthy heart rate.

The way caffeine creates a sense of being awake is by accelerating heart rate. Athletes already experience a raised heart rate during physical exercise; when caffeine is added to the equation, athletes risk a dangerous state of heart rate called tachycardia. In the state of tachycardia, the heart beats so quickly that it’s impossible to separate heart beats.

According to Jantz, this intensified heart rate puts the body under high levels of stress, wreaking havoc on the nervous system. As an athletic trainer, Wollenhaupt urges against the usage of energy drinks out of fear of caffeine’s damaging effects.

“Athletes think they need energy drinks,” Wollenhaupt said. “They think they have to have the edge. But honestly, these drinks do more harm than anything. You have the high heart rate, you have the anxiety, and then on top of it the kids are getting addicted to all that caffeine.”

Wollenhaupt feels that energy drink companies “trick” athletes and students into believing those products will boost their performances through effective marketing.

Red Bull will give you wings. Five Hour Energy is made for hard working people. Monster pours money into promotions for NASCAR drivers, stunt bikers, rock climbers -- “super-athletes” who push the limits of danger and speed.

All of these marketing ploys tell students and athletes one thing -- energy drinks will make them faster, stronger, more alert and more hard working.

Yet these effects are rarely seen in teenagers, according to Wollenhaupt. In fact, he has often noticed that the drinks diminish an athlete’s performance by increasing their aggression. A football player, for instance, will be more likely to jump offsides or target another player due to this personality change.

“Those high caffeine levels, all they do is get too

jacked up,” Wollenhaupt said. “These kids and athletes do not need the energy from energy drinks.

They make them jumpy. They make them nervous, and that takes away from how well they do.”

Caffeine doesn’t just detract from physical performances -- it can also become an addiction. As a stimulant, caffeine has addictive qualities, which are enhanced in teenagers according to research from the University of Pittsburgh. When high school students try to stop relying on caffeine, Jantz says they often experience cramps, nausea, headaches and exhaustion. Prolonged usage due to addiction is the main concern of cardiovascular professionals such as Jantz.

“It’s going to open you up to a whole range of cardiovascular problems down the road,” Jantz said.

“You put all that stress and wear and tear on your heart muscle and the tissue around it, and you’ll cause an enlarged heart a high likelihood of suffering a heart attack later on.”

Tyler is ranked as the fifth best receiver in the Sunflower League with over 400 receiving yards. He has been a part of every aspect of the team’s success as a running back, kicker, defensive back and receiver throughout the season. But Tyler attributes none of this performance to his Five Hour Energy tradition.

When his teammates first introduced him to Five Hour Energy, Tyler simply wanted to get a pre-game “buzz” that would boost his speed and performance.

After five years, a pre-game shot of the drink had become a habit.

Now that he has seen more obvious risks, that “boost” is becoming less worth it to Tyler.

“It just became this mental thing that I thought I needed,” Tyler said. “But like Coach [Dustin Delaney] is always saying, we don’t need them. All the energy you need you get in that burst of adrenaline at kickoff. If you’re trying to use energy drinks, you’re just hurting yourself.”

headaches

a Breakdown of Caffeine 88 mg caffeine

160 mg caffeine

200 mg caffeine

tiredness

side effects of caffeine depression

200

calories 5-Hour Energy 0 mg

4

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sugar

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Monster 45 mg

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00 1

news.

Days in Office A recap of new superintendent Jim Hinson’s first few weeks

WRITTEN BY CLAIRE WHITTAKER PHOTOS COURTESY OF LEIGH ANN NEIL

New Superintendent Dr. Jim Hinson has been in office for approximately 100 school days. His first priority when he took office was to listen and gather ideas for improvement at town meetings to determine necessary changes to improve the district. He has identified five areas of focus for future planning: academics, technology, safety, security and facilities.

“Two hundred and eleven degrees water is simply hot water at a simmer but with an extra degree at 212 it boils,” Hinson said in an email interview. “Our children deserve great schools in which everyone and every program is going the extra degree.”

A change Hinson has already made is the implementation of new computerized communication system that will allow for a large volume of calls to go out in a short period of time in case of emergency.

Another action Hinson has taken is requesting the board of education to approve the hiring of a demographer to give a report including demographic profiles of the district, student enrollment projections and a review of geographic boundaries.

Over the past few months, Hinson has expressed his commitment to designing great schools. According to Hinson, the most challenging part of the job is trying to talk with students, staff and community at every building. He

Dr. Jim Hinson thanks employees dedication at his first official meeting as superintedent on Monday, July 1.

hopes to listen to everyone’s views through talks and surveys while adding his expertise to make the most informed decisions about where change needs to occur.

“It is important for me to hear from our state holders and to truly learn about and understand the district,” Hinson said. “This will allow us to create plans that will maintain and build on the great things that we have in place and to make any possible adjustments to ensure we are operating at the 212 degree mark.”

President of the NEA for the Shawnee Mission school district, Nancy Fritz, finds Hinson’s listening to be very beneficial to the district. The NEA is a teachers union dedicated to promoting quality public schools, strengthening the profession of teaching and improving the wellbeing of members.

“I think the fact that he has held so many town hall meetings [has been positive] and was willing to listen to so many people about their concerns, and I think that he genuinely listens and is trying to make some decisions about what can be done to improve some areas,” Fritz said.

Along with the NEA, Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) president and East parent Lori Bledsoe feels Hinson has been taking the time to listen to not only the school board, but parents and administrators as well.

When comparing Hinson to the former administra-

Since Hinson Has Been In Office:

tion under Johnson, Bledsoe feels Hinson has been doing things right by making these changes and seeking input from the community and reaching out to parents for input.

She feels the previous administration did not actively seek out this valuable input as much.

Hinson takes surveys during his presentations to allow everyone to voice their opinion, something the former administration did not do. He hears everyone by having the audience do text surveys responding to things like district goals and concerns. Bledsoe finds these interactive presentations very beneficial.

Hinson has also shown up and engaged in various East events put on by the PTA, another thing Bledsoe finds positive. He came to East College Clinic, renovation sensation and a PTA meeting at the start of the school year.

“I like the fact that he is engaged and walking around,” Bledsoe said. “He spoke at the very first PTA meeting this year and we had a record turnout.”

Fritz also views the new leadership positively and thinks the majority of community members feel the same way.

“I believe the majority of people spoke out and thought that we needed a change as far as just different leadership, somebody from the outside that could maybe take a more objective look at how things are being run and what improvements might be needed in the district,” Fritz said.

What’s been in East news and national news in the last 100 days July 1 Hinson begins his first day as superintendent of the Shawnee Mission School District.

October East begins being repainted for the first time in 10 years.

The school will be painted over the upcoming months.

August 12 East Principal John McKinney starts his first day as principal.

In the News: July Protests across Egypt reached 15 million people.

The protests were calling for the resignation of President Mohammed Morsi.

August 21 The Assad regime in Syria used chemical weapons on civilians in their on going civil war.

July 29 Pope Francis I declares that he has no right to judge gay people.

October 1 The Affordable Care Act went into effect across the nation.

The bill’s online market place has been experiencing technical isssues.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF WWW.SMEHARBINGER.NET

PHONELESS FREEDOM

opinion.

Having no phone proves to increase productivity

WRITTEN BY MORGAN TWIBELL My phone mesmerizes me. I love technology and am a sucker for iPhones, seeing as I save up the absurd $300 every time I hear a new one is coming out. I don’t let anyone touch it. I spend hours on it going through various social media sites like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, looking through the group chats I’m in and SNAPCHATTING (Sorry for the caps lock. I recently became obsessed with snapchat).

My days start off with a phone at 100 percent battery, but as I’m walking to the senior lot, at the end of the day that happy green energized battery is a sullen red reading 10 percent. It’s not even that I just am texting or checking tweets and statuses; I rely on it for everything. Emails to colleges; check. Googling “how to superscore an ACT” or lyrics to “Dark Horse”; check.

Pinterest DIY crafts; check.

I think most teenagers can agree that our phone is basically super glued to our body. It keeps us sane and in the know. It helps us find out information in a split second that we would otherwise spend hours digging up.

I have a very competitive and confident spirit, when the challenge arose for me to try going a week without my phone I nonchalantly said, “Of course, how hard could it be?” And that was that. I locked my phone in a closet in the journalism room for a week.

Close those dropped jaws, people.

The stages of phoneless-ness were similar to that of having a withdrawal from drugs. I felt like a walking Facebook status all week.

LANCER VOICE

A few of Morgan’s friends answer the question: What was it like when Morgan didn’t have her phone?

PHOTOS BY TESSA POLASHECK

Feeling...Annoyed. It’s Saturday and I’ve been phoneless for 24 hours. I purposefully didn’t tell any of my friends about this challenge I had accepted, so I would be able to see their reactions.

I sat at home all day feeling like a locked-up hobbit with no connection to the outside world. I don’t think I’ve ever been more bored in my life. I had some quality me time and lemme tell you — I got kind of sick of myself. At this point, most of my friends still don’t know that I am without a phone. I only have one of my friend’s cell phone numbers memorized so I call her from my handy dandy land line and find out the plan for the Halloween party I am supposed to be attending.

The rest of the day I laid on my couch watching scandalous Lifetime movies with my sister who says that is the most time I’ve ever spent with her. Finally, I make it out of the house at night and that’s when my friends started drilling me with questions, something along the lines of, “How are we supposed to talk about themes for games?” and “What is the deal with your phone!?” I explain the situation, smirking at their frustration and we go on with our evening.

Feeling...Productive. I spent the whole next day cleaning out my room and closet with my mom. SO MUCH ENERGY. It’s like everything I would usually be doing (i.e. texting, checking social media, YouTubing animal births) was sucking away all of my energy. Without the ability to be on my phone 24/7 I couldn’t stop talking, laughing, jumping -- literally. My mom kept making fun of me because for some

reason I kept speaking in text lingo, starting of my sentences with “TBH” and ending them with “LOL”.

I didn’t want to let myself become lifeless without a phone. So when I got home from school and had nothing to do with myself I applied to three more colleges because, why not?

Feeling...Relieved. When I hit the midpoint of my phoneless journey, I knew there was no way I was backing down from this challenge. There was no way I was about to cave and beg for my phone back. I was actually ENJOYING having to talk to people face to face.

Although I enjoyed it, I definitely was out of the loop. Actually not just out of the loop; out of the loop, down the corner and across the street. That’s where I was. I had missed out on going to friends’ houses for movie nights, I slept through what I assumed would have been a delicious brunch, and worst of all I missed out on ALL the girl drama (totally kidding, that was probably one of the best parts of not having the phone).

Feeling...Empowered. When there were only two days left, my competitive spirit had kept up with me. At this point it wasn’t even about not having my phone or being able to text, check Instagram, etc... it was more about proving something to myself and to the adults that think all we ever do is stare at our phones. Our generation isn’t reliant on the cell phone. Yes, they are very helpful and sometimes we may settle for less just because it is easier to use a phone then it is to go and put yourself out there in person.

Feeling...Anxious. I actually started dreading the moment I was getting my phone back. When I walked into fourth hour on Friday, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to look at it.

My green message icon literally looks like a ticker. The number just keeps bumping up and up and up. It finally stops at the magic number of 820. Yes, 820 texts. I will admit that about 600 of them were from one group message, but still. I don’t think I ever realized how much people can text.

I’m not kidding that my hands were shaking while reading/trying to respond to all those messages. My vision was getting blurry and my phone was hotter than Ryan Gosling (but seriously that thing was heating up, and quick).

My family claims that this week will go down in history as the most time I have ever spent with them, which wasn’t very great for me, but a lot of good did come out of this experiment of mine.

I have realized that my phone actually isn’t a “part of me.” It doesn’t define me.

It doesn’t speak for me. I like talking!!! (well, I think everyone knows that) and I like personal interactions with people. It is so much easier to get your point across and understand what people are actually saying if you don’t have emojis and punctuation marks to throw you off. And now I don’t think I’ll ever be as reliant on my phone as I was before. No joke, I’ve actually lost it like 3 times since having it back.

I didn’t frantically scatter around looking for it. I just let it be, I knew it would turn up eventually and kept on Feeling...Good.

ANNIE SAVAGE

LUKE HAVERTY

VICTORIA SABATES

“It was hard to find her and make plans. It almost jeopardized our friendship when she didn’t respond to me. I thought she was ignoring me but the second she got her phone back she texted me a kissy face.”

“It was like milk without cookies. Something just felt wrong. I couldn’t text THE Morgan Twibell for a week. FB message was a nice throwback, though. I didn’t realize how much I relied on my phone for information.”

“I was 100% affected. She’s my go-to person to text if anything funny happens to me. She always has something good to say. I couldn’t figure out where she was so I had to call her home phone— 5th grade all over again ”

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opinion.

CROSSING a RED LINE

Speaking out about depression makes you stronger

AN OPINION OF MIKE THIBODEAU PHOTO BY ANNIE SAVAGE AND MAXX LAMB “Mike has something he’d like to say,” David, my advisor said.

Great. Thrown right into this. That’s probably a good thing, I don’t know if I’d be doing this without that shove.

I stand up in front of the 30 strangers who are all a part of this writers’ workshop. I’m shaking, a nervous habit of mine.

“Hi, I’m Mike and the column I wrote was a goddamn joke,” I stuttered, putting way too much emphasis on goddamn. “I should’ve written something real like all of you, but instead do you know what I did? I wrote a goddamn joke. I should’ve written about how through seventh, eighth and ninth grade, I considered killing myself.” * * * Ring!

The bell wakes me up like an alarm clock. Someone flicks on the lights, hitting my sleepy eyes, forcing me to squint.

I check the side of my mouth for drool with my wrist.

None.

Thank god. What would people think if they saw me in a puddle of my own drool?

I drag myself out of Mrs. Simmons’ Algebra class behind the throng of seventh and eighth graders.

Tim, my best friend since second grade, leans up against a locker outside of class. When we were younger, Tim helped me learn how to ride a bike up and down Catalina in the summer. Going into eighth grade, we spent almost every day at Fairway pool flirting with freshmen.

He’s flirting with some cute sevie.

“Hey man, how’s it goin’?” I ask him, hoping he’ll turn and introduce me to the girl. He doesn’t turn around.

“Hey Tim, how’s it goin’?” A bit louder this time.

Maybe he just didn’t hear me last time, I think.

He doesn’t turn.

“Tim?” He doesn’t turn. I get the hint and merge into the crowd of students going down the hall.

What just happened? * * * It’s been another long day at school. I walk into my mom’s room, flicking the lights off when I walk in. They have a weird glare on the screen. That’s what I tell my mom when she jokingly calls me a hermit when she sees me sitting in the dark. She jokes, but I am like a hermit, I’m alone.

I flop down on the bed and grab the remote. I flip the TV on and I scroll through the DVR. “Friends.” Perfect. My favorite show. I’ve seen almost every episode.

I look at my phone. One text. All day. It’s from Jamison.

I ignore it. It’s been three months since I’ve talked to Tim. While watching Joey act like an idiot for the hundredth time, I realized something. Most of my “friends” never speak to me outside of school. I don’t have any of their numbers. I’m not invited to parties, to hang out. I’m barely talked to at school.

I realized that I spending most weekends alone. Alone in the dark watching some crummy 90’s sitcom that I’d recorded. * * * It’s late. Past 1:00 a.m. on a cold winter night and I’m laying on the couch watching, technically, Sunday morning cartoons. Freshman year’s been better than last. My phone usually has a message or two on it. People want to hang out now. But my mind still lingers in the dark.

The messages stopped hours ago. Everyone else has gone to bed. I need to start heading that way too. Not even “Futurama” is keeping me awake anymore.

I pry myself off of the floral, cotton cushions and walk to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

I fumble for the light switch in the darkness. I flick on the lights and my reflection catches my attention. I stare into my eyes. They’re empty. Still shadows.

My mind is desolate. I don’t feel anything. Not the laughs I got from watching “Futurama” earlier. Not the belonging that I’ve started to feel in high school. Not even the pain from the girl I want being with another guy.

I open my medicine cabinet and gaze inside. Toothbrushes. Contacts. A Swiss Army knife.

A red Swiss Army knife.

I grab the knife, forced by instinct. I had to take it. It feels heavy in my hand.

Draw out the blade, my instinct commands.

Feeling along the side, I find the groove on the knife.

Click. It shines in the fluorescent light.

I sit down of the lid of the toilet. The blade rests on my wrist. I feel its edge. Sharp.

Push. Just a little, my instinct coaxes. I give in.

A little more. A little more. A little more.

The pressure builds and builds. Any deeper and I’ll stain my wrists the color of the Swiss Army Knife. Red. Just one flick. One flick, and I switch from on to off. I turn all the pain and loneliness off. One flick and I turn all of the light off and sink into the comfortable darkness.

What am I doing?! My conscious kicks in.

I pull the blade away from my wrist, close it and stuff it back in the medicine cabinet.

I sink down onto the lid of the toilet, submerging my face in my hands.

That wasn’t me. What was I doing?

In a state of shock, I go to bed. I just need some sleep. * * * We’re supposed to be going to the workshop’s awards ceremony after the our meeting ends, but there was something I needed to do first. There’s someone I need to tell about what I nearly did a year and a half ago.

I’ve got the elevator all to myself. Floor five. Six. Seven.

Ding. The doors open and I walk down the hall to my room.

I’m out the door again even before it has a chance to fully close. All I needed was my phone.

I decide to walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator again. Opening the door to the staircase I start scrolling through my contacts while climbing up the mountain of stairs. Floor eight. Nine.

There he is. I hit call and the phone starts ringing. 10.

11. 12. I finally get to the summit of the staircase, the place I always went to when I needed to write. It was hot, stuffy and peaceful.

He answers.

“Hey pal. What’s up?”

“Dad,” My voice immediately starts shaking. “I need to tell you something.”

Through tears I explain everything to him. How depressed I had been. How I constantly thought about suicide. And how I had held that red Swiss Army knife to my wrist, and tried to end my life.

Then I told him how scared that made me. Something had taken over me, and it terrified me. I didn’t want to kill myself, I just wanted someone to notice me. To help me through.

I started talking to my friends. About small things at first. Things like troubles with girls or problems at home.

The trust I had with others kept building.

I told him how at the end of listening to the most heartobliterating stories, I finally let it out. I admitted that I’d try to kill myself for the first time to a group of the closest strangers in history, instead of reading what I had originally written; a little, heart-warming mush about my dad giving me “stupid slaps.”

“Well,” my dad says. I can tell he’s fighting a losing battle to hold back tears. “I’m glad you tried to use a Swiss Army Knife. You couldn’t have cut yourself deep enough to do much.”

Through the tears, I can’t help but smile.

PUSHING PAST A

opinion.

ART BY MORGAN KRAKOW AN OPINION OF SUSANNAH MITCHELL

FRAYED PERCEPTION Taking on the challenge of accepting herself The lockers were stained a deep, dark red the way a pomegranate stains your hands. The red blurred by as I rushed to sixth hour. Sliding into my seat, I set down my Vera Bradley bag. I glanced around the room to make sure I wasn’t too late, or too early. Only losers got to class early.

Class was starting; I finished re-tying my Sperry’s as everyone talked to each other. A girl tossed her perfectly-straightened hair and laughed. She looked over at me and coolly complimented my shirt. It was $50 from American Eagle.

“Thanks...” I blushed, trying to think of how to continue the conversation. By the time I found the right words, she’d already turned away. I’m so stupid.

My cheeks burned. I stared down at my desk, wishing I could be like them. Popular. * * * Sitting down by myself, I scanned the cafeteria. Is there anyone I know? Sighing, I came to the conclusion I always did.

With no one to talk to, I started eating alone. I looked down.

This happened every day. Alone at lunch, I would pull out the iPhone my family could barely afford and try to distract myself with another game of Doodle Jump. And usually, it worked.

A few girls walked by, Abercrombie-clad and laughing at an unheard joke. I tried to smile at them; I wanted to invite them over. The smile never quite reached my lips. * * * It was the summer before freshman year. I stood in my bedroom, waiting with bated breath. Any second the door would open and slam shut with a gust of wind, bringing my mom inside with it. I tried to puzzle my words together like a Rubik’s Cube, considering the most convincing combinations. I finally left my room and paused at the kitchen doorway while my mom started cooking dinner.

“Hey mom?” She didn’t look up. “Could I have, like $30?”

She set down her knife and sighed. I tried to look anywhere but at her.

“You know that means we won’t be able to buy all of our groceries this week?”

I didn’t respond. We both knew the answer.

That summer, the few friends I’d made during eighth grade had invited me to go to Theater in the Park. I couldn’t say no; saying no meant they might not ask me again. They might not like me anymore. No wasn’t an option.

I shrank against the doorway while she left to get her wallet.

She placed the crumpled bills in my hand and walked away, staring straight ahead, eyes unfocused. I looked in my hand; there was one $20 bill and one $10 bill. They felt dirty. * * * The car lurched forward as I adjusted my striped backpack beneath my feet. It had been a long time since I’d thrown away my Vera Bradley, old and stained. I brushed off the tops of my Levi’s and tucked a lock of damaged hair behind my ear. My 17th birthday had been three weeks ago and my mom had gotten me a new hair straightener. It was $150. Everyone at school had shiny, straight hair. I had to have it, too. Eventually my old straightener burned out from constant use.

“What’s your address again?”

I mumbled the answer. I’d needed a ride home from school, so I’d had to ask a friend. I hated asking friends for rides, but it was my only option.

We passed Prairie Village, Mission Hills. The houses decreased in size and value as we approached my house. We drove

on through Fairway, the neighborhood where I usually told people I lived. We finally reached Roeland Park. The grime on the houses was noticeable; creepy figures and busted cars littered my street.

When we reached my house, I leapt out of the car. On my way to the door I didn’t look back. I was humiliated. * * * Words and faces blended together as I scrolled through my Face b o o k newsfeed.

Girls at parties, b r a n d new cars.

Over and over. But one face stuck out: laughing, wearing an oversized sweatshirt, with a head of unruly hair. No riding boots or Lilly Pullitzer in sight. It was Sophie.

Inseparable in preschool, Sophie and I withered through five years of going to different elementary schools before reuniting in fifth grade. From there, we enrolled at Indian Hills together.

For weeks we would pass each other in the hallway. Smile, try to talk. But as seventh grade went by, I would see Sophie talking to other people in the halls. New friends, people I would have embarrassed to talk to. We talked less and less. And then, we stopped talking.

Sophie had moved on. She was comfortable, she was happy. A girl living her own life. And I wanted what she had.

I closed my laptop and looked around my room.

My Sperry’s were on the floor, my Patagonia on the bed. And I realized they weren’t my things at all. They were everyone else’s.

My favorite sweatshirt sat in the back of my closet, worn and stained. I’d never worn it outside of the house.

Imagining the ridicule was almost painful. And yet, it makes me who I am.

The next day I went to school, sporting my sweatshirt and with my hair in a braid. My curls spilled out near the front, but I didn’t care. I was tired of living with shame.

Accepting myself is a challenge. But it isn’t impossible.

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A Trip ACROSS THE POND PHOTO BY ANNAMARIE OAKLEY WRITTEN BY SYDNEY LOWE

Pouring freshly brewed tea into hand-painted Malaysian coffee mugs, junior Katharine Swindells grabs custard cremes, the British version of a vanilla Oreo, to create the perfect after-school snack that reminds her of home.

Home being 4,000 miles away in Ealing, England.

She left home with a set of expectations, but those were proven untrue when she arrived and saw some of the big differences between a 6-12 school in England and High school in the U.S. She recalls back a year and a half ago, when her family was first told that they were moving halfway across the world. Her dad had been coming to Kansas once a month for a couple of years, working for Cerner whose headquarters are based here. Moving here permanently was always a possibility.

Although she was sad to leave traditions like walking home from school everyday with her best friends that she would walk home with from school every day and talk with for up to half an hour. Swindells was eager for the new opportunity of living in another country, and to broaden herself culturally.

With her only knowledge of Kansas being from “The Wizard of Oz”, Swindells was picturing a much more rural life than what she was used to while living so close to London. *** Learning about the move a year and half ago, Swindells was somewhat famil-

Junior moves to the U.S. from England and finds several differences between what she expected and what she’s encountering

iar with Kansas and Shawnee Mission East prior to moving, having visited twice.

She came and shadowed junior Pauline Werner and then toured the school again later that year, noticing how crowded the halls were and how big East was.

“You guys have that whole school spirit thing,” Swindells said. “I love that. I never went to watch my school play [sports] and we didn’t have that whole t-shirt thing or anything. It’s like a community.”

East was not like the common American stereotype she expected, which was that girls are catty and superficial, much like the characters from one of her favorite movies, “Mean Girls”.

Swindells met a lot of her current friends in her homecoming group, one of them junior Chloie Costello.

“One time, we asked her to speak in an American accent and she said a quote from “Mean Girls,” Costello said. “She loves that movie.”

Coming from a public school that took itself as seriously as a private one here would, she is used to high expectations.

At her old school, students were expected to stand when a teacher entered the room, always use sir or miss, and not do anything while in her uniform that would embarrass the school. She also was used to having each class only twice a week, so the workload was more manageable than here where teachers give only one night for most assignments.

“I’m so tired all the time, I don’t know how you guys manage,” Swindells said.

“I’m barely keeping up.”

The homework load, along with 25 minute lunch periods instead of the hour she’s used to, are two of the major adjustments Swindells has made.

As far as differences between here and home, Swindells mainly notices the

friendly nature here.

“The weirdest thing is when you go to the supermarket and they pack your bags for you,” Swindells said. “That weirds me out so much. At home they expect you to pack your own bags.”

Swindells is planning on getting involved in the lighting crew of the musical, something she enjoyed back home. Along with that, she is interested in the Harbinger staff and has done work for the FreeLancer already this year. A fan of opinion writing, Swindells loves any chance to share her opinion, her favorite topic being politics.

In the same way that many Americans got up at the crack of dawn to watch the royal wedding in 2011, the Swindells family was up at four in the morning awaiting the American presidential election result between President Obama and Mitt Romney.

“I was so scared,” said Swindells. “Like I can’t move if Mitt Romney wins the election.”

Unlike a lot of people who enjoy following the Royal Family, Swindells is not a fan.

“Quite a lot of us in England think that they are just unnecessary and cost us a lot of money,” said Swindells.

Because she realized that she would be starting over in college anyway, the move didn’t end up bothering her so much. She was upset to leave her life in England behind, but excited to start a new one with new opportunities in the U.S. All in all, Swindells has been happy with how her life has changed since moving here, and looks forward to everything the East has to offer her.

Missing Home

Here are a couple items Swindells misses from England that she can’t buy in the U.S.

Cadbury’s Dairy Milk “Cadbury’s is the chocolate brand, so my favorite is the Original dairy milk.”

features.

0:00

XFM radio “XFM is sort of like the London version of the Buzz. They play quite a lot of English Indie Rock bands that end up getting really famous six months later.”

E4 TV channel

Microwavable Curries

“There’s a really “So you know at good programme the supermarket called “Misfits” you can buy readythat I love. The first made meals and just three seasons were microwave them? In amazing but the England you can get more recent ones really nice ones for have been kind of curry.” terrible.”

ART BY PAULINE WERNER

A Beginner’s Guide to GEOCACHING

spread.

Junior Kendall Dunn discovers her love of exploration through geocaching

WRITTEN BY LAUREN BROWN

BUY THE APP

PHOTOS BY MARISA WALTON

STEP

Available for free in the App Store, Dunn suggests buying Geocaching Intro by Groundspeak Inc. The app consists of maps and other tips.

Check the map provided in the app to find caches near you and that seem to be easily accessible.

02BRING A FRIEND

J

unior Kendall Dunn holds down her pressed, white cheer uniform to keep it from flying up in the wind. She walks with determination across the parking lot. The words 18 feet...seven feet...two feet illuminate her white iPhone screen letting her know she’s getting closer. She has to be standing right on it.

Dunn doesn’t know exactly what it is she’s looking for, but her experience of four years with this GPS scavenger hunt have helped her become familiar with potential hiding places for geocaches.

A geocache is a capsule that contains small toys or trinkets that geocachers can take and replace when they find the cache.

The cache also includes a logbook which geocachers sign with the date and their chosen codename. According to the official geocaching website, Dunn is one of six million people that participate in the global GPS stash hunt for 2,263,245 geocaches on any given day.

Dime-sized capsules hidden amongst playground equipment. Old coffee cans containing small pencils and beads nestled in bushes. Used Altoid mint containers with nothing inside but a logbook and a magnet concealed behind her favorite frozen yogurt store. * * * Crunching the leaves beneath her, she drops to the push-up position to peer underneath a metal electrical transformer box.

A grin stretches across Dunn’s face as she pulls out a black key holder that has been magnetized to the bottom of the transformer. Inside is a rusty Coke bottle cap, a smiley face eraser and a marble enveloped by spider webs.

Stained by rain, names of other adventurers who have found

this hidden cache are scribbled in ink on a lengthy list. Codenames like North Coast, NomCat, Sells Crew and Burns Family. Dunn pays more attention to the dates. She likes seeing when this cache was most recently visited. With excitement she announces that the last group that found this particular cache was here just three days before. She signs her name, dates it and places the cache back where she found it.

What could be considered boxes of junk to some is treasure to Dunn. She seldom takes or replaces the things she finds, but still gets a rewarding thrill from discovering their hidden locations.

To her, it’s more about the hunt to find these items than the discovered knickknacks themselves. * * * Dunn first heard about geocaching in seventh grade when on a hike with her family at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Mo. Walking along a trail, they saw another family searching for something in the leaves. When the Dunn family asked them what they were doing, the other family explained that they searched for geocaches all over the world during their vacations.

After returning home to Kansas City, Dunn and her father decided to experiment with geocaching nearby. They began their search on the six-mile Trolley Track Trail that connects the Country Plaza, Brookside and Waldo. After finding her first one, Dunn became hooked to the rewarding feeling she got upon discovering a geocache.

“It’s cool because these things exist around you all over, but

STEP

04 you have no idea,” Dunn said. “They’re just existing with you.”

Anyone with a smartphone can download the free Geocaching Intro app and create an account. From there, users choose a geocache to find and navigate to it. Caches are categorized by size and level of difficulty based on the time it will take to find the cache and what kind of terrain level the geocache is at. Descriptions are written by the users that have hidden the caches, and often will include a hint to help people in the geocaching community find the caches with greater ease.

“It’s one of those things that’s fun because it’s a spontaneous adventure,” Dunn said. “One thing leads to the next. When you go geocaching it opens up the window to all kinds of fun you wouldn’t know about otherwise.”

Her friends don’t find her interest in geocaching strange. It’s just another one of Dunn’s interesting hobbies. In fact, many of Dunn’s peers ask her to take them along on her adventures.

Before Dunn was old enough to drive, she and her friend junior Catherine Sabates would rollerblade in their neighborhoods to

search for geocaches. “[Kendall] is truly her own person which is something I admire about her,” Sabates said. “Kendall’s hobbies aren’t the only things that are interesting about her. She’s really adventurous.”

Occasionally when Sabates is babysitting, she takes the kids she’s taking care of “treasure hunting” using the geocaching skills Dunn has taught her.

“It’s a really good way to get them active and the whole scheme of geocaching is super easy to grasp that even a four or five year old can grasp it,” Sabates said.

Junior Gracie Guignon says Dunn also influenced her to start geocaching.

“I remember in 8th grade we were at her house on a Saturday night,” Guignon said. “[Kendall] brought up the [geocaching] app and we ended up running all over Mission Hills the whole night just geocaching.”

Since introduced to geocaching in middle school, Guignon has taken other friends to try out this outdoor treasure hunt.

STEP

01

CHECK THE MAP

Dunn recommends bringing a spontaneous friend who isn’t directionallychallenged.

Sometimes the cache is as simple as a bottle cap, or it’s even a small McDonald’s toy. According to Dunn, there is always a list of previous cache-hunters.

She believes Dunn is the reason her friend group initially became intrigued by geocaching.

Dunn admits that she laughs to herself when she passes by a location she has found a geocache before. She’ll never reveal the locations where she has found geocaches to people who might tamper with it.

The geocaching community has chosen the phrase “muggle” to describe people who are unaware of geocaching, based on “muggle” or non-magical person in the Harry Potter series.

Dunn says that the secretive nature of geocaches should be kept from these “muggles.” “[Revealing the location of a geocache to “muggles”] ruins the integrity of geocaching,” Dunn said. “If everyone knows where it is than someone will mess with it.”

Even the geocaching community on the application, which Dunn says she isn’t necessarily active in, agrees to keep the location of the cache secret from one another. Users will comment on the forum of the app regarding whether or not they

spread.

STEP

03

GET THE PRIZE

way to

GO!

found the capsule or with helpful tips that may have not been stated in the original description of the cache.

In the geocaching world, Dunn is recognized as “Kads456.”

She’ll sometimes comment: “Fun find. Kind of hidden!” or “Fun times!” in the forum in response to finding a cache.

Dunn still gets a thrill from finding geocaches nearby, but hopes to search for some while traveling to Seagrove with friends, or while visiting the University of Denver campus in February.

The next step in Dunn’s adventure would include her starting her own series of geocaches, placing them in local parks or outdoor malls. She would love to have her friends and family search for the ones she hides, although she jokingly says that her skill might surpass theirs.

“Anybody can do it if you have the app, but it takes skill,” Dunn said. “It’s like brushing your teeth. Anyone can do it but it takes a certain skill to do it right.”

A Beginner’s Guide to GEOCACHING

spread.

Junior Kendall Dunn discovers her love of exploration through geocaching

WRITTEN BY LAUREN BROWN

BUY THE APP

PHOTOS BY MARISA WALTON

STEP

Available for free in the App Store, Dunn suggests buying Geocaching Intro by Groundspeak Inc. The app consists of maps and other tips.

Check the map provided in the app to find caches near you and that seem to be easily accessible.

02BRING A FRIEND

J

unior Kendall Dunn holds down her pressed, white cheer uniform to keep it from flying up in the wind. She walks with determination across the parking lot. The words 18 feet...seven feet...two feet illuminate her white iPhone screen letting her know she’s getting closer. She has to be standing right on it.

Dunn doesn’t know exactly what it is she’s looking for, but her experience of four years with this GPS scavenger hunt have helped her become familiar with potential hiding places for geocaches.

A geocache is a capsule that contains small toys or trinkets that geocachers can take and replace when they find the cache.

The cache also includes a logbook which geocachers sign with the date and their chosen codename. According to the official geocaching website, Dunn is one of six million people that participate in the global GPS stash hunt for 2,263,245 geocaches on any given day.

Dime-sized capsules hidden amongst playground equipment. Old coffee cans containing small pencils and beads nestled in bushes. Used Altoid mint containers with nothing inside but a logbook and a magnet concealed behind her favorite frozen yogurt store. * * * Crunching the leaves beneath her, she drops to the push-up position to peer underneath a metal electrical transformer box.

A grin stretches across Dunn’s face as she pulls out a black key holder that has been magnetized to the bottom of the transformer. Inside is a rusty Coke bottle cap, a smiley face eraser and a marble enveloped by spider webs.

Stained by rain, names of other adventurers who have found

this hidden cache are scribbled in ink on a lengthy list. Codenames like North Coast, NomCat, Sells Crew and Burns Family. Dunn pays more attention to the dates. She likes seeing when this cache was most recently visited. With excitement she announces that the last group that found this particular cache was here just three days before. She signs her name, dates it and places the cache back where she found it.

What could be considered boxes of junk to some is treasure to Dunn. She seldom takes or replaces the things she finds, but still gets a rewarding thrill from discovering their hidden locations.

To her, it’s more about the hunt to find these items than the discovered knickknacks themselves. * * * Dunn first heard about geocaching in seventh grade when on a hike with her family at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Mo. Walking along a trail, they saw another family searching for something in the leaves. When the Dunn family asked them what they were doing, the other family explained that they searched for geocaches all over the world during their vacations.

After returning home to Kansas City, Dunn and her father decided to experiment with geocaching nearby. They began their search on the six-mile Trolley Track Trail that connects the Country Plaza, Brookside and Waldo. After finding her first one, Dunn became hooked to the rewarding feeling she got upon discovering a geocache.

“It’s cool because these things exist around you all over, but

STEP

04 you have no idea,” Dunn said. “They’re just existing with you.”

Anyone with a smartphone can download the free Geocaching Intro app and create an account. From there, users choose a geocache to find and navigate to it. Caches are categorized by size and level of difficulty based on the time it will take to find the cache and what kind of terrain level the geocache is at. Descriptions are written by the users that have hidden the caches, and often will include a hint to help people in the geocaching community find the caches with greater ease.

“It’s one of those things that’s fun because it’s a spontaneous adventure,” Dunn said. “One thing leads to the next. When you go geocaching it opens up the window to all kinds of fun you wouldn’t know about otherwise.”

Her friends don’t find her interest in geocaching strange. It’s just another one of Dunn’s interesting hobbies. In fact, many of Dunn’s peers ask her to take them along on her adventures.

Before Dunn was old enough to drive, she and her friend junior Catherine Sabates would rollerblade in their neighborhoods to

search for geocaches. “[Kendall] is truly her own person which is something I admire about her,” Sabates said. “Kendall’s hobbies aren’t the only things that are interesting about her. She’s really adventurous.”

Occasionally when Sabates is babysitting, she takes the kids she’s taking care of “treasure hunting” using the geocaching skills Dunn has taught her.

“It’s a really good way to get them active and the whole scheme of geocaching is super easy to grasp that even a four or five year old can grasp it,” Sabates said.

Junior Gracie Guignon says Dunn also influenced her to start geocaching.

“I remember in 8th grade we were at her house on a Saturday night,” Guignon said. “[Kendall] brought up the [geocaching] app and we ended up running all over Mission Hills the whole night just geocaching.”

Since introduced to geocaching in middle school, Guignon has taken other friends to try out this outdoor treasure hunt.

STEP

01

CHECK THE MAP

Dunn recommends bringing a spontaneous friend who isn’t directionallychallenged.

Sometimes the cache is as simple as a bottle cap, or it’s even a small McDonald’s toy. According to Dunn, there is always a list of previous cache-hunters.

She believes Dunn is the reason her friend group initially became intrigued by geocaching.

Dunn admits that she laughs to herself when she passes by a location she has found a geocache before. She’ll never reveal the locations where she has found geocaches to people who might tamper with it.

The geocaching community has chosen the phrase “muggle” to describe people who are unaware of geocaching, based on “muggle” or non-magical person in the Harry Potter series.

Dunn says that the secretive nature of geocaches should be kept from these “muggles.” “[Revealing the location of a geocache to “muggles”] ruins the integrity of geocaching,” Dunn said. “If everyone knows where it is than someone will mess with it.”

Even the geocaching community on the application, which Dunn says she isn’t necessarily active in, agrees to keep the location of the cache secret from one another. Users will comment on the forum of the app regarding whether or not they

spread.

STEP

03

GET THE PRIZE

way to

GO!

found the capsule or with helpful tips that may have not been stated in the original description of the cache.

In the geocaching world, Dunn is recognized as “Kads456.”

She’ll sometimes comment: “Fun find. Kind of hidden!” or “Fun times!” in the forum in response to finding a cache.

Dunn still gets a thrill from finding geocaches nearby, but hopes to search for some while traveling to Seagrove with friends, or while visiting the University of Denver campus in February.

The next step in Dunn’s adventure would include her starting her own series of geocaches, placing them in local parks or outdoor malls. She would love to have her friends and family search for the ones she hides, although she jokingly says that her skill might surpass theirs.

“Anybody can do it if you have the app, but it takes skill,” Dunn said. “It’s like brushing your teeth. Anyone can do it but it takes a certain skill to do it right.”

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Get to know a couple players on the ping pong ladder

S ME 1st JAY ANDERSON

“Jazzy Jay”

Q: What’s it like being number one?

A: Well it’s hard to talk about it without sounding arrogant but it’s good. I feel like people are scared to play me, they’re psyched out.

WRITTEN BY MORGAN KRAKOW

Q: How does it feel to be one of the only girl ping pong players?

A: Well, it’s super fun but it’s also intimidating because all these guys are really good.

6 th

45th

“Borks”

MARGO HELLMAN

BROOKS HIDAKA

Q: So you’re on the top of the leaderboard, how does it feel?

A: Yeah, it feels pretty good. I go pretty hard in the basement, my lair, to practice.

PHOTOS BY KATIE LAMAR

“Margo 3 Chainz”

features.

5 th

MICHAEL TILLHOFF

“Big Mike”

Q: Are you trying to make it up higher on the bracket?

A: I mean it’d be better, but I don’t really care for that.

I’m just here to have fun.

Chuy’s

a&e.

WRITTEN BY TOMMY SHERK PHOTOS BY CALLIE MCPHAIL

Drink a cup of coffee before you go to Chuy’s Mexican Restaurant. Maybe even two, because the energy in this place is través de la cruz (through the roof). This restaurant recently opened up on the Country Club Plaza, yet, unlike the Capital Grille, it only calls for tshirt-and-jeans attire. Whether it’s businessmen going out to lunch, kids dropping in for some chips and queso dip after a game or a date night for a couple, people will be coming back to Chuy’s for its well-prepared food, lively surrounding and friendly staff.

Going to Chuy’s was an overwhelming experience.

Not bad -- just a little much.

Though it has a cheesy kind of atmosphere, like its 80s music and giant metal fake palm trees, it has great food and it’s good for any occasion (MexiTRY TAKE OUT

takes Kansas City Chuy’s Mexican restaurant, originated in Texas, opens on the Plaza

can always is). When I went on a Sunday around lunch time, there weren’t many people there. But, from the people that were there (a mom and two kids, a group of middle aged friends and an older couple), I could see that Chuy’s would be able to attract a crowd ranging from young groups of friends to older couples.

For my lunch, I had steak soft tacos, which looked bland, but were surprisingly flavorful. Accompanying that were baskets of chips (we went through two), three kinds of salsas; spicy, chunky and mild, and guacamole. After I was finished, our waitress tried to persuade us to get dessert, and though she made it sound delicious, we were stuffed.

By the end of my meal, the waitress and I were on a first name basis. She and all of the

DINE ‘N DASH

Chuy’s Salsa Fresca

WORTH A VISIT

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staff were very kind, but on the edge of being desperate, which is probably the case for most newly opened restaurants. They also had three people greet us at the door and bus boys constantly checking our tables, so Chuy’s isn’t necessarily the place to come to for privacy.

The decor was sort of like a nicer, cleaner Salty Iguana.

It was clean, inviting and had really interesting decorations.

Almost too many. There were Spanish style paintings and cartoons lining the walls, large metal palm trees sprouting out of the colorful tiles and things like an Elvis head lamp that gave the place some personality. I can say that I was never bored.

Though I went in and out in a pretty short time, I left Chuy’s satisfied and full. I can see Chuy’s becoming a good pre/ post-East game dinner place.

CULINARY GENIUS

Ingredients •3 ounces fresh serrano peppers, stemmed and chopped coarsely •1/2 cup cilantro •1 cup onion, peeled and chopped •1/3 cup fresh lime juice •1 tablespoon salt •1 teaspoon garlic salt •1 1/2 pounds Roma tomatoes, cores removed and coarsely chopped Steps 1. Place serranos, cilantro, onion, lime juice, salt and garlic salt in a food processer or blender, and pulse on low speed for 5 seconds.

2. Add tomatoes, and pulse on low speed until desired consistency.

3. Serve with tortilla chips.

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10

If you need a break from the linoleum and fluorescent lights, you don’t even need to leave East property -- try eating lunch out on the football field. Even now that it’s getting a little brisk out, you can still bundle up, get some friends and go into the outdoors and enjoy a little fresh air.

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the art hallway There’s always someone sitting in the art hall working on a project. Its a quieter and less cluttered than the art rooms. With plenty of light to work on any project and gives easy access to any materials you made need. A multitude of other students’ art is displayed in the cases.

the field

WHAT DO ESN’T YOU MAK KILL STRONGE ES YOU R, EXCEP T TATE. TATE WIL L KIL -KELLY CL L YOU. ARKSON

the j-room

Chairs, couches, computers, art, books and an electric fireplace. The library at East is more than just a place to check out a book for class. It’s the perfect place to either finish that homework you didn’t do before school, be social or both. The library offers a comfortable place to do school work and has all the necessary amenities.

the library WHAT’S the

CRITERIA?

A list of considerations when picking your hangout spot

1

How close are you to the coffee shop? Don’t pick a place that makes you brave three flights of stairs to get your caffeine.

2

The journalism favorite. The back room of the journalism classroom, 521, is a haven for all the things journalism.

You can find any Hauberk or Harbinger student in the j-room for multiple hours of the day. It’s covered in funny pictures, extra papers, computers, cameras and school work. While messy, it still has that homey feel.

Pick somewhere quiet and personal. You don’t want to be surrounded by 20 freshmen already worrying about WPA dates.

3

Make sure you’re somewhere that you can focus.

Tucked away places are great for powering through assignments.

4

Stay close to power. There’s nothing worse than having your phone or laptop die.

ART BY MIRANDA GIBBS

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AZORSKY WRITTEN BY GABY GIBBS ART BY MIRANDA

W IE V E R P N IO H S A F WINTEnRway must-haves

BEARDED BABES

COZY SWEATER+ STATEMENT SCARF+ HIKING BOOTS

90S BABE

Bearded Babes are about two things: comfort and looking good while doing it! This street trend has been brought to life by the hipsterversus-hobo-cult of New York, and their love of fashion and sweaters.

The color to represent this trend is oxblood, and you can wear it headto-toe, or as just an accent in your socks. To sport this trend properly, you need a few must haves: a cozy sweater, a statement scarf and hiking boots; beard not required.

The 90s are back, if you haven’t noticed. Along with backpacks, beanies and crushed velvet, emerald and all shades of green are popping up along city streets. This trend is the combination of the lingerie-pajama runway trend, and the current “Californiariot-gurl” culture. Being a “Californiariot-gurl” includes following teen feminist leaders (Petra Collins and Lorde), wearing chokers with your cult of friends and being a diehard groupie for bands like Bleached and Best Coast. Stores and fashion icons are rocking this trend from Brandy Melville to Zara, and Sofia Coppola to Tavi Gevinson. To be a riot-gurl yourself, check out a local thrift store for a black or floral slip, preferably embellished with lace, and accessorize it with a knit beanie and black ankle boots. Don’t forget your Tamagotchi!

MINIMALISM MODEL

STREET

RUNWAY

street + ru

WHITE TROUSER/ PASTEL SKIRT+ CHUNKY TURTLENECK+ CUTOUT BOOTIE

FLORAL SLIP+ KNIT BEANIE+ BLACK ANKLE BOOTS

MUST-HAVES KNIT BEANIE + STATEMENT SCARF

BOMBER JACKET

THIS is the trend of the season. If I was a fashion designer, it would be my favorite child. All runways at New York Fashion Week showed collections featuring sleek, modern clothes in winter white or metallic pastels. The sharpness of the white combined with the rounded shoulders and tailored, boxy shirts is refreshing, and is a trend the fashion industry and fashion followers have embraced. Winter white is complemented with metallics, pastels and embellished beads and sequins.

So as you should know by now, statement coats have been featured on every runway, in every store and are the piece of the season, therefore a quintessential part of this trend. To be a Minimalistic Model, check out stores like Zara and Topshop to find a white blouse with white trousers, or a pastel sequinned skirt -- to die for!

OXFORDS + BLACK ANKLE BOOTS

SUITED UP Mens’ suits are something to invest in, but if you wear one everyday, it’s definitely time to change it up.

Seen on the runways for this winter are suits in traditional winter fabrics, like tweed, and sultry fabrics, like silk. Tweed suits are seen in shades of grey and bright blue, and are worn to the office or “casual” suit occasions.

Silk suits are seen in colorful or dark floral patterns, abstract patterns and shiny colors, and are worn to latenight formal events. This trend is for the man who is classy, confident and knows how important having a properly tailored suit is. To wear this polished trend yourself, check out stores like Zara for tweed and classics, and for silky sweets, Versace is your best friend, but sadly, not your wallet’s.

SILK/TWEED TROUSER & BLAZER + FLORAL/COLORFUL VEST+ BOW TIE

w

Bergeron Burgers

“

WRITTEN BY SARAH BERGER ART BY AUDREY DANCIGER

”

THE FANCY VERSION Blanc Burgers+Bottles

The atmosphere at Blanc can be summed up in two words: sleek and modern. With an almost all white interior, Blanc creates a super trendy vibe and has trendy burgers to match. At first this restaurant’s menu didn’t look too vegetarian-friendly, but upon taking a closer look I found two veggie burger options, the spiced lentil and the grilled polenta, otherwise known as that yellow squishy cornmeal stuff. I decided to order the grilled polenta because I wanted to think outside the bun, but not go to Taco Bell.

With that being said, the grilled polenta burger was definitely interesting, but not much of a burger, much more like a sandwich. The polenta infused with pepper created an orange-colored patty that had spinach leaves and bruschetta on top, sandwiched in between two slices of ciabatta bread. This sandwich was super difficult to eat; every time I took a bite into it, the polenta would crumble and dribble out of its bun and onto my plate. What actually made it into my mouth was delicious, but unfortunately that was less than half of the sandwich.

I’ve been a vegetarian since I was eight, that means for 10 years I’ve been experiencing the pain of trying to find meat-free options at restaurants when I eat out.

While I don’t regret my decision to give up meat in any way, it is hard for me to walk into a restaurant and have more than two vegetarian-friendly options. One solution to this problem that has always been reliable for me is the veggie burger -- a delicious combination of usually black beans and lentils. With the variety of ways it can be prepared, and its similar taste and appearance to its meaty counterpart, the veggie burger almost never fails.

Here’s a breakdown of three local veggie burgers in the area:

THE ORIGINAL VERSION BRGR

Since I’ve been a vegetarian for the majority of my life, traditional burger restaurants like Red Robin are not places I like to visit very often. My first impression of Red Robin was that it was packed with rambunctious children and their parents. Since two of my least favorite things are meat and people, I was preparing myself for the worst.

Fortunately, I did find some comfort in my meal, the garden burger. This burger didn’t look like a traditional burger, but was more orange due to the fact it was made up of mainly rice and vegetables. Despite its untraditional look, it did have a traditional taste topped off by pickles, tomatoes and mustard. That was the kicker though, the mustard they put on the burger was way too powerful and dominated over every part of it.

About halfway through the burger, my mouth decided it had had enough of this mustard bombardment and I decided to just stick to the fries.

THE CHAIN VERSION Red Robin

BRGR has been a favorite for my friends and I since it opened a couple years ago in Corinth Square. My favorite part of BRGR has always been its macaroni and cheese, and I was pretty skeptical their veggie burger would compete with it. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised.

Out of the three veggie burgers I tried this was the most traditional. The VRGR was made out of lentils and black beans, like most veggie burgers are, and it was adorned with guacamole, tomatoes and sprouts.

The patty was a giant and flowed over the edge of its whole wheat bun. The texture was smooth and chewy, kind of what I imagine a normal burger to be like. The guacamole on it was really good, but like the rest of the burger it was overpowered by the pattie. I wish I could have tasted it more, though, because that would have really set the veggie burger above the rest. Despite that little mishap, overall the burger was the best of the three. From now on when I go to BRGR, my cherished mac and cheese will have competition from the VRGR.

a&e.

Make Your Own

Sweet Side

Want a veggie side to go with your veggie burger? Use this recipe to make your own:

Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries INGREDIENTS

3 large sweet potatoes 1/4 cup of olive oil 1-2 tablespoon sugar 1 Tbsp salt 1-2 tablespoon of spice combination of your choice (ideas: chipotle powder, paprika, garam masala, cajun seasoning)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450• F. the sweet potatoes and 2. Peel cut off the ends. Cut the po-

tatoes in half lengthwise and then in half crosswise. Cut each piece into wedges.

the sweet potatoes into 3. Put a large bowl and add the oil.

Mix well to combine. Sprinkle with salt, sugar and spices of your choice.

the sweet potatoes out 4. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet

for a total of 25 to 30 5. Bake minutes. After the first 15 min-

utes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and turn over all of the sweet potato pieces.

recipe courtesy of simplyliving.com

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sports.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

SPORT

RYAN CARTER PHOTO BY JOHN FOSTER

OPPONENT TBD

DATE 11/22/13

LOCATION TBD (Away)

TBD Spring Hill Wrestling Gardner Girl’s Basketball SM North BV North Swimming O East

11/30/13 12/5/13 12/7/13 12/5/13 12/9/13 12/5/13

Washburn Univ SM East Gardner SM North SM East Cali Trail

SM North Boy’s Basketball Tournament

12/10/13 12/13/13

SM North TBD

Football

Q: What are your and your team’s expectations for the rest of the season?

A: There is no happy way to end this season unless we win state so that is what we are striving for.

Q: What was it like being put in on offense against Leavenworth and scoring two touchdowns?

A: It was great to score, but I have to give the credit to the offensive line. They allowed me to run without anyone touching me for almost five yards every time.

Q: What has been your favorite game to play in this year?

A: I would say the Leavenworth game because we made East history by winning.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK PHOTO BY MCKENZIE SWANSON

WINTER

INSTAGRAM OF THE WEEK gheity (Grace Heitmann)

SPORTS

Q: Andrew McKittrick

Will Oakley

FOOTBALL

TWEET OF THE WEEK

PREVIEW

WHAT SPORT ARE YOU WHAT ATHLETE ARE ANY UNDERCLASSYOU ANTICIPATING MEN YOU’RE EXCITED LOOKING FORWARD TO DO WELL? TO WATCHING? ABOUT?

I’ve gotta say boys’ basketball. They always have a great atmosphere.

Zack Holbrook is going to be a monster in the pool.

I’m looking forward Tuna, as always. to see the basketball team tear it up on the court this year.

EAST LANCERS

48 20

SM NORTH INDIANS

EAST LANCERS

36 14

Cole Aldrich was a beast last year on wrestling. I’m looking for that again.

I hear Joey Wentz is pretty dang good.

I’m looking to see another Wentz dominate.

LEAVENWORTH PIONEERS

SOCCER

@SME_Football League champs, district champs, regional champs, school record for wins... we are not done yet!!! #smestrong 32

51

RETWEETS

Way to go girls!

The football team advanced to sectionals by defeating the Leavenworth Pioneers 36-14. That win put this years team as the winningest East football team of all time, with 9 wins.

EAST LANCERS

3

0

20 likes

FAVORITES

BLUE VALLEY TIGERS

Last weekend, the girls’ cross country team ran at the state meet. They placed 8th overall.

EAST LANCERS

0

1

BV NORTHWEST HUSKIES

sports.

I

t’s Wednesday, which means that for the 40 boys and girls basketball players standing on the football field that they’re going to spend the next 30 minutes doing nothing but running to get ready for the season.

Senior Monique Clark knows she’s not in good enough shape yet. She’s in better shape than when she started coming to conditioning, but she’s not there yet. Getting lapped by some of the quick point guards sharing the court with her, she sprints from baseline to baseline, continuing to push herself.

“I just want to give up, but then I don’t give up” she said. “I really just want to make the team.”

So she came every day, starting right after Labor Day in August. Though the girls and boys players condition together sometimes, she doesn’t mind working out with the boys. She’s used to it. Ever since she started lifting weights her sophomore year at Topeka West High School, she was with the boys because Topeka West doesn’t offer all-girls weights class Over the past four years, Clark moved between parents and attended three different high schools. Freshman year at Southwest Early College Campus, a public school in Kansas City, MO. The next two years were spent at Topeka West High School because her dad wanted her to go to a higher quality school. Then, again because of the quality of the school, she enrolled at East a week before her senior year began. She was angry when she left Southwest because she left behind a close group of friends. She was more sad when she had to leave Topeka.

At Southwest, she tried out for basketball. She was outrunning the juniors on Varsity so her coach moved to her up to a part-time Varsity starter. Topeka West, sophomore year: she didn’t try out because she was afraid her coach, who had benched her during volleyball season, would do the same during basketball season. Junior year, no volleyball but Clark rostered on the freshman basketball team.

Despite her choppy basketball history, Clark is doing everything she can to make the team at East. She goes to conditioning every day, and makes sure to let coach Austin Klumpe know if she can’t be there. She played KC Gym Rats every Sunday afternoon, an outside-of-school league where she got to play with some of the girls she would be trying out with.

At the same time, she’s working on getting more in-

volved with people at East, which means having more school spirit and signing up for SHARE projects. So that she’s not just talking to people in her classes, she’s interacting with them outside of school. She knows that if she can do that, she can have a better senior year.

Her first year at Topeka West was rough. She mostly kept to herself, only starting to talk to some old friends from when she grew up in Topeka later in the year.

From the experience of going to six schools since seventh grade, Clark knows that it’s not usually until second semester that she starts to talk to people. She has people she’ll talk to during the day, but still finds herself playing NBA 2K13 PlayStation 3 or watching TV alone when she has free time.

She’s aware that, when she walks into a room full of people, she isn’t likely to go up and talk to someone she doesn’t know. She’s even been told that she has a negative vibe that people can feel as soon as she walks into a room. These two things combined, she says, are what made it hard to start again at a new school.

“And then, I’m quiet on top of that,” she said. “So they’re not going to talk to me anyway.”

In elementary school, she remembers being teased for being the tall and quiet girl that played all the boys’ sports and liked to read and do well in school. She was teased for it and since then, she’s had a fear of rejection and has learned to just ignore everybody. She says that some people have shields that hide themselves from other people, it’s just that her’s is bigger.

She’s played since fourth grade, but it was more fun before she had to move away from her mom, who still lives in Kansas City. Clark remembers her mom coming to her games, but that had to stop when Clark was farther away. Even though she lived with her dad in Topeka, he only came to a few.

In Topeka, she was on the freshman team as a 5’ 11’’ junior. Even though all of the teams would sometimes practice together, the players her age didn’t make her feel like she fit in any better.

“I felt like I actually belonged on the [freshman] team, whereas on JV/Varsity I didn’t feel like I belonged,” she said. “That whole team was not acceptive. They didn’t like me, for whatever reason. I really didn’t fit in.”

Her teammates would scoff at her. On one occasion, Clark, who admits to not being good at free throws, told them she made eight out of ten during a drill and they

didn’t believe her. She had a coach that would kick her out of practice and then yell and jeer at her for skipping.

But Clark was happy to find the coaching and team environment at East to be much different.

“They seem more like a family, like everybody’s connected,” she said. “Everybody’s caring and everybody talks to everybody, so I like it a lot.”

Junior Kayla Schuman is one of Clark’s closest friends on basketball, and says that, even though Clark is reserved, she talks to people and has improved a lot since conditioning started.

“She’s always working harder and harder each day,” Schuman said. “After conditioning, she would talk about going to the gym in her apartment complex, so I think she has a strong work ethic.”

Clark says that there’s no question that she feels closer to her potential teammates at East than she ever did at Topeka West, and she already likes the East coaches better. She says that coach Klumpe has high hopes for the season, and that rubs off on the team, making them work harder.

Klumpe has noticed that Clark is starting to open up to the other girls in the program, which he attributes to the growing sense of camaraderie that comes from working out and training as as a team as well as to her hard work.

“I think Monique is putting herself in a position to be a member of our program because of her work ethic in the preseason,” he said. “She came in not knowing what to expect, didn’t know anyone on the team, not knowing anyone in the school and she’s kind of settled herself in as far as our expectation level and what we need to do.”

Outside of basketball, Clark went to her first football game to see junior Alec Dean catch a hail-mary pass to win East’s first home game against Olathe Northwest.

She’s been too busy on the weekends with debate tournaments and basketball to hang out with new friends, but she sees herself headed in that direction. She knows that the quality of her senior year will depend on how well she gets involved and starts to come out of her shell around second semester, and that it’s up to her.

As for tryouts, which start today and finish on Wednesday, Clark hopes she’s ready.

“As long as I keep trying and giving my all and not giving up and just doing what I have to do and staying focused,” she said. “I can do whatever I need to do.”

SHOOTING FOR SUCCESS

NEW STUDENT WORKS HARD TO MAKE THE BASKETBALL TEAM AND HOPES TO HAVE A GOOD SENIOR YEAR AFTER A CHOPPY HISTORY PHOTO BY NEELY ATHA WRITTEN BY PAULINE WERNER

At the beginning of September when fall sports were just getting started up, Lucas Jones and the other East basketball players were already getting ready for the winter season.

Jones has been going to weights and conditioning, a program run by Varsity basketball coach Shawn Hair. The program is four days a week and started over two months ago.

Jones and the rest of the team start their conditioning right after school in the weight room or on the track, depending on the day.

Jones and the team usually lift, however they have different routines each day.

“Tuesdays and Thursdays we do lower body and upper body,” said Jones. “And then Mondays are speed and agility, so it’s less weight.”

Over the summer, Hair and four other coaches hosted a similar weights and conditioning program. Jones would arrive at East Monday through Thursday before 9:30 a.m., when the one hour weights and conditioning started.

Whether Jones is benching, squatting or running, he is preparing his body for the upcoming season.

Some winter athletes prepare for their season during the fall by swimming, lifting weights or running. However, sophomore Jack Carter plays on the JV football team.

The daily practices help keep Jack in shape for the upcoming wrestling season.

When not in the football season, Carter will go to the weight room, or try to make it to open mat where the guys on the team come in and wrestle each other for practice. He comes when he can. This is more towards the start of the wrestling season, and over the summer. “[I lift with] who ever goes to the weight room after school to lift,” said Carter.

Over the summer, Carter gets up early and arrives at East for a two hour weights and condition session with the football team.

Carter tries to lift as much as he can, which is almost every day. After he’s done lifting and practicing with the football team, Carter waits at East until open mat starts at around 11:00 a.m.. At open mat, wrestler wrestle someone that is in or close to their weight class. The practices at the hour-long open mat change often, so Carter usually wrestles whoever shows up.

Carter hopes that all his hard work will pay off, and on his second wrestling season, he makes varsity.

Ice packs on his body, and a muscle milk bottle in his hand, senior Zach Holbrook relaxes after a regular day. For him.

At 4:30 a.m., when most students at East are still asleep in their beds, Holbrook is starting his first practice of the day.

At 6:00 a.m., Holbrook has completed one session at the Roeland Park Aquatic Center. He then heads home to get ready for the rest of his day.

At 2:40 p.m., the last bell of the day rings in the halls of East. Holbrook has just over an hour before he has to be back at Roeland Park Aquatic Center for his second practice.

This one is twice as long, from 4-7.

All throughout the year, Holbrook and 30 other swimmers on the Kansas City Blazers club swim team practice together in the senior group. Although he is a swimmer, Holbrook and the team don’t always work out in the pool.

“We run a lot for cardio,” said Holbrook, “As it gets colder we stop running, and then we hit the weight room for strength training and we do medicine balls over our heads while we tread water,” said Holbrook.

When Holbrook lifts weights, he focuses on overall strength, not for bulking muscle.

This winter, Holbrook will be competing in his last swim season at East, and wants to finish out with a state title.

pre season prep WRITTEN BY ELLIS NEPSTAD PHOTOS BY TAYLOR ANDERSON

Molly Ross

Zach Holbrook

Jack Carter

Lucas Jones

sports.

On weekdays right after school, you might find senior Molly Ross in the East weight room, at Matt Ross or even on the street running. Ross does various activities to get ready for her senior basketball season.

“It depends on the mood I’m in,” said Ross. “Usually if I’m running, I work on my upper body and then just stretch out my lower body and then run. It just depends.”

In previous years, Ross played club basketball with the KC Thundercats during the off season. Ross no longer plays on the club because most of the players are committed to play in college. Ross is considering playing college basketball or track. Although she hasn’t fully committed to play basketball in college, she continues to train on her own when she can.

Ross lifts weights in the weight room at East Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

If Ross gets busy with her Chemistry 2 or Calculus homework, then she shoots hoops after she finishes her homework.

When Ross shoots, she challenges herself by setting daily goals, like trying to make 25 free throws in a row, or making 50 three pointers.

“I always end on a make,” Ross said.

During the fall season, Ross stayed in shape by running constantly with the cross country C team.

Ross has been staying in shape and training for her final high school basketball season. Ross hopes to shut down opponents, score 10 points, grab eight rebounds and record a few assists each game.

A LOOK AT THE OFF SEASON WORKOUTS OF FOUR STUDENTS

photo essay.

Game Set Match Ping Pong Club had its first annual tournament this year on November 11th. “Ping pong club has gotten much more popular, this year especially.

We went from about five members to being able to host a whole tournament,” said Senior Jack ‘Pong Master’ Stevens, the head of SME Table Tennis Coalition of Champions. Senior Jay Anderson won the tournament, with a record of 4-0.

FAR LEFT: Junior Sean O’Toole plays his first game. “The tournament was a great experience,” O’Toole said. “I won my first game but unfortunately lost my second.

Overall, it was such a great time.”

LEFT: Senior Jay Anderson helps fix a faulty net in between games.

“Ping pong is more of a lifestyle than an activity for me,” Anderson said.

“I’ve been training all my life for this, a lot of hours hitting around on my ping pong table in the basement.”

PHOTO BY ANNIKA SINK

PHOTO BY KATHRYN JONES

BOTTOM LEFT: Senior Jack Stevens updates the ping pong bracket.

“I pretty much do everything behind the scenes for ping pong club,” Stevens said. “I made the tables, I put up the nets, keep the bracket updated and make sure stats are correct.”

PHOTO BY MCKENZIE SWANSON

PHOTO BY ANNIE SAVAGE

ABOVE: Senior and self-proclaimed “Ping King” Ryan Tarry watches a match. “I like the competition at ping pong club this year,” Tarry said. “I’m definitely one of the best there. I’m top 20 but didn’t place in the tournament. Ping pong club is fun to go to because you get to hang out with new people and play the greatest game ever invented.”