The Harbinger 19-20: Issue 11

the harbinger.

S H AW N E E M I S S I O N E A S T 7500 MISSION ROAD PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS 66208 FEB. 24, 2020 VOLUME LXIII ISSUE 11

A SENI R The Sunflower senior basketball team creates a source of entertainment and exercise for local seniors

0 2 | I N S I D E COV E R

cover design by | catherine erickson cover photo by | kate nixon

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

ABOVE Freshman Marin Bryant talks to her friend while drawing in their Intro to Studio Art class. photo by | annakate dilks LEFT Freshman Abby Whitehead cheers during the freshman boys A-team vs Lawrence Free State. photo by | mj wolf

“ D OW N H I L L” R E V I E W

Scan to read this feature over biology and forensic science teacher Jennifer Davis

Scan to read Jackie Cameron’s review over the new rom-com “Downhill” released on Valentine’s Day

by | riley atkinson

by | jackie cameron

S TA F F L I S T PRINT EDITORS Lila Tulp Carolyn Popper Caroline Chisholm ONLINE EDITORS Ben Henschel Jackie Cameron ASST. PRINT EDITORS Catherine Erickson Rose Kanaley ASST. ONLINE EDITORS Lauren West Riley Atkinson ASST. DESIGN EDITORS Celia Condon Sarah Bledsoe HEAD COPY EDITORS Carolyn Popper Jackie Cameron ASST. HEAD COPY EDITOR Natasha Thomas PHOTO EDITORS Aislinn Menke Kate Nixon ASST. PHOTO EDITORS Sarah Golder Trevor Paulus Julia Percy VIDEO EDITORS Maggie Schutt Ryan Gossick Lawder DeSantis ASST. VIDEO EDITOR Sydney Williams BROADCAST EDITORS Alex Dinyer Lucia Barraza ASST. BROADCAST EDITOR Natalie Scholz Megan Stopperan PHOTO MENTORS Noelle Griffin Megan Biles Megan Stopperan STAFF WRITERS Lyda Cosgrove Kaia Monaco Caroline Gould Caroline Wood

Kate Heitmann Cesca Stamati Lily Haw Grace Tucker Peyton Moore Kelly Murphy Jilli Foley Campbell Wood Winnie Wolf Sophie Henschel Brynn Winkler Elizabeth Mikkelson Tommy Paulus Lauren Dierks Sydney Newton Emma Brown Lily Billingsley Allison Wilcox Phoebe Hendon Grace Allen Annabelle Moore Lydia Underwood Maddox Mogenson Sydney Decker COPY EDITORS Ben Henschel Lila Tulp Carolyn Popper Jackie Cameron Caroline Chisholm Natasha Thomas Sarah Bledsoe Brynn Winkler Lydia Underwood Catherine Erickson Rose Kanaley Campbell Wood Lauren West Phoebe Hendon Jilli Foley Allison Wilcox Sydney Newton Riley Atkinson Lily Billingsley EDITORIAL BOARD Ben Henschel Brynn Winkler Caroline Chisholm Carolyn Popper Catherine Erickson Jackie Cameron Lauren West Lila Tulp Natasha Thomas Riley Atkinson River Hennick Rose Kanaley Tommy Paulus

Phoebe Hendon Sarah Bledsoe Lydia Underwood SECTION EDITORS EASTIPEDIA ONLINE Kelly Murphy EDITORIAL PRINT Tommy Paulus NEWS PRINT Sophie Henschel & Campbell Wood ONLINE Phoebe Hendon OPINION PRINT Annabelle Moore ONLINE Gabby Caponecchi FEATURES PRINT Sydney Newton Jilli Foley ONLINE Brynn Winkler A&E PRINT Elizabeth Mikkelson ONLINE Sydney Decker SPORTS PRINT Allison Wilcox ONLINE Lydia Underwood ADVISORS Lucia Barazza & Alex Dinyer PAGE DESIGNERS Caroline Gould Caroline Wood Kate Heitman Cesca Stamati Lily Haw Grace Tucker Peyton Moore Kelly Murphy Jilli Foley Sophie Henschel Elizabeth Mikkelson Tommy Paulus Lauren Dierks Sydney Newton Emma Brown Lily Billinsley Allison Wilcox Grace Allen

Annabelle Moore Maddox Mogenson STAFF ART EDITOR River Hennick STAFF ARTISTS Sophie Henschel Gabby Caponecchi Lyda Cosgrove STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS MJ Wolf Maggie Merckens Emily Pollock Hadley Chapman Emma Kate Squires Maggie Klump Reily Moreland Elise Madden Taylor Keal AnnaKate Dilks Lucy Kostner VIDEO STAFF Olivia Olson Natalie Scholz Lawder Desantis Evelyn Roesner Ryan Gossick Maggie Schutt Sydney Williams Roberto Galacia PODCAST EDITOR Lydia Underwood Sophie Henschel SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Lilah Faye SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Annabelle Moore Maddox Mogenson SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF Kaia Monaco Megan Stopperan Reilly Moreland Gabby Caponecchi ADS MANAGER Sydney Newton CIRCULATION MANAGERS Campbell Wood Anna Stover SOCIAL CHAIR Lila Tulp Reilly Moreland CONTEST COORDINATOR Catherine Erickson

EDITORIAL | 03

design by | tommy paulus cartoon by | natalie scholz

C AU C U S

CRAZE

The Iowa Caucus is unnecessary, confusing and should be replaced with primaries instead

FOR: 9 AGAINST: 2 The individuals on the editorial board who agree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by for, and those that disagree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by against.

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

I

t feels nearly impossible to ignore the media frenzy surrounding the Iowa caucus — every news site is full of differing opinions on its validity. This year they introduced a newly developed smartphone app used to tabulate caucusing results but failed miserably in doing so, taking nearly three days to reach a verdict on the winner. The recent caucus mishap has demonstrated that regardless of its popularity and tradition, caucusing needs to go.

Caucusing brings unnecessary voter pressure, herding bunches of people into a gym to stand in their candidate’s corner — some of which change places just to make sure another candidate doesn’t win. To keep the presidential primary process as accurate as possible, states that caucus need to make the switch to primaries before another election cycle takes a hit like this one did.

There are two ways of polling in the United States: caucuses and primaries. The difference is primaries include individually registered voters going to polling booths and voting. In caucuses, which some states choose to hold (including Iowa), voters gather together to discuss and vote on a top pick for their party. These caucuses are set at a neutral location in each of a state’s precincts and are held during both the presidential and midterm elections, but they’re most popular during the presidential election.

The caucus is one of the first preliminary elections held, setting a precedent for other

states’ elections. Voters want to see how well the candidates they support hold up in real elections. But since the first round of voting is done via caucus, we’re forced to rely on an outdated system ran by untrained ‘officials’ with far-too important jobs like running and tabulating the caucuses.

The caucusing system has become one of the most talked about preliminary presidential polling processes. Yet the validity of the results always seem to end up unreliable — the New York Times recently released a series of articles after the 2020 caucuses detailing several inconsistencies in tallies that lead to vague results over the course of multiple primaries. So it was no surprise when the latest Iowa caucus was once again deeply flawed.

But regardless of new — not necessarily improved — technology, the Iowa caucus has always gained more media discussion and presidential popularity than it should when it comes to presidential elections, due to the fact that it is the beginning and tonesetter of primary season.

For those outside of Iowa, the results of their caucuses are a way to gauge how well certain candidates are doing in polls, this year being an unusual exception. Though these observations are influential in the decision-making of those in other states, the lack of clarity — and accuracy — can be confusing for voters. Making the results inaccurate due to the social pressure of publicly choosing a candidate results in fabricated voting decision based on what

others think. That won’t be there come election day.

While the Iowa Democrats are usually consistent in predicting, their record has never been perfect. Neither Richard Gephardt in 1988 or Tom Harkin in 1992 secured their party’s nomination, despite coming out on top in Iowa. Iowa’s Republicans haven’t been nearly as accurate, such as the party nominees in 1980, 1988, 2008 and 2012, which leaves us with no explanation to why these caucuses are held at such a high esteem.

the area, working a caucus is an exception.

Most primary elections are overseen by professional state officials who abide by specific laws and have undergone intensive training. Caucuses are instead run by political parties with no governmental involvement — the potential for error skyrockets.

It’s also become apparent that technology and modern day elections do not mix well if they’re handled in such lackluster fashion.

Conducting elections the correct way involve many steps such as voting, counting

But regardless of new — not necessarily improved — technology, the Iowa caucus has always gained more media discussion and presidential popularity than it should when it comes to presidential election The best option is to get rid of it. The caucus system has countless issues of inaccuracy not including the recent Iowa caucus mishap, but the machine failure in Iowa was the final straw.

Unlike a typical primary, the only way caucus participants’ votes will be taken into account is if they show up to the designated location — picture a bunch of people shoved into an elementary school gym — in February. This creates a system that easily excludes the input of other eligible voters in the state of Iowa that most likely will be voting in the actual election.

While every job includes some kind of training process, education or experience in

votes and most importantly, accurately reporting the data. Underdeveloped apps like the Iowan Democrats used make an already superfluous process even more messy — and turn what usually takes one night into a three-day disaster.

While states technically have the right to choose whether or not to hold caucuses, the recent controversy of the Iowa caucus will definitely be a chance to fix the most publicized caucuses in the nation. The disappointment of the 2020 Iowa caucus gives handfuls of reasons to end the outdated and flawed system in 2024.

04 | NEWS

NEWS

design by | lily haw

by caroline wood

HIGHLIGHTS Catch up on news around the school, the state and the nation

EAST

SENIOR WILL GREEN won East’s third annual Mr. CANsas pageant representing Choir on Wednesday, Feb. 19 in the auditorium.

In front of the stage, plastic bins were set up for each contestant with their photo on them. Each member of the audience brought at least two cans as their admittance to the show, afterwards putting their cans in whoever’s bin they thought should win the pageant.

The winner was the contestant that received the most canned goods in their bin — hence the title, Mr. CANsas.

Canned goods brought by the pageant attendees were donated to the Jewish Family Services so they could be distributed to those in need.

“The whole goal is that we get people from a lot of different groups and clubs and all that so we can get just as many cans as possible,” senior SHARE Exec Ella Higgins said.

LOC A L

T O P Seniors Phillip Clemente and Wesley Costello perform ‘Baby Shark’ during the Mr. Cansas pageant. photo by | julia percy B O T T O M Duane Havard, executive director of the French Creek Council of the Boy Scouts of America, said the Boy Scouts’ abuse-related bankruptcy filing will not affect the 3,000 scouts in six counties in northwestern Pennsylvania that the French Creek Council oversees. photo courtesy of | mct campus

M A RK YOUR C AL E N DAR C H E E R P R E - T RYO U T PA R E NT ME E T I N G | FEB. 24

BAS K E TBA L L S E N I O R N I G H T | F E B. 2 5

BA L FO U R - G R A D A NNO U NC E ME N TS | FEB. 27-28

T H E N AT I O N A L O RGA N I Z AT I O N O F T H E B S A F I L E D F O R C H A P T E R 1 1 BA N K R U P TC Y I N O R D E R TO EQ U I TA B LY C O M P E N S AT E V I C T I M S WHO WERE HARMED DURING THEIR TIME IN SCOUTING AND ENSURE S CO U T I N G ’S F U T U R E .

B OY S CO U TS ( B SA ) | 0 2 / 1 8 / 2 0

SHARE held their third annual Mr.Cansas pageant There were 13 senior boys that participated in the event, each representing a different sport or club at East.

In order to persuade the audience to put cans into their bins, the seniors participated in three events: candidate runway, interviews and talent show.

During the candidate runway category, contestants showed off their individual styles — senior Phillip Clemente representing lacrosse won “best dressed” by wearing a Left Shark costume. Then, they were each interviewed on various topics, including questions pertaining to canned goods that were almost always answered with “chicken noodle soup — it’s a classic.” Finally, they prepared a special talent to present. The talents varied from singing to reading poetry to a Star Wars inspired lightsaber duel.

Green collected a total of 40 cans in his bin.

Mayor Quinton Lucas creates new role for better roads

MAYOR OF KANSAS City Quinton Lucas shared his plans for a new position dedicated to maintaining the roads in his first State of the City address. He has coined the position as the “Pothole Czar.”

During his State of the City address, Lucas mentioned that he wants to prioritize infrastructure to make the city safer.

“We’re not doing enough preventative maintenance to stop problems before they get bad enough to require emergency repairs,” Lucas said in the address.

The new position will work on prioritizing road projects, addressing current infrastructure issues, encouraging better coordination with city departments and creating easier ways for the public to report issues with the roads to fix

N AT I O N A L

them as swiftly as possible.

Lucas has assigned City Manager Earnest Rouse with finding someone to fill the “Pothole Czar” position.

However, there is conflict against the new position because the “Pothole Czar’s” roles already belong to the Public Works Director.

But Lucas believes that adding the position will address existing road problems faster.

Lucas also brought the budget for resurfacing streets for this year up to $17 million, which is a 70% increase from what it was two years ago.

So far in 2020, about 1,910 pothole cases have been reported and almost 800 have been repaired. The new “Pothole Czar,” according to the address, will set out to further reduce that gap.

Boy Scouts of America declares bankruptcy

BOY SCOUTS OF America declared bankruptcy due to accumulated debt from hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits within the organization on Feb. 18.

BSA has been around for 110 years, but in the past 72 years, the organization believes that 7,800 former leaders were involved in sexually abusing over 12,000 scouts. The lawsuits from victims of abuse threw the BSA into debt between $100 million and $500 million, according to CNN. “I was just bewildered to be honest,” said freshman Life Boy Scout Wyatt Oligmueller.

“I didn’t quite understand why this was happening and I had never heard of it before.”

When the BSA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy — reorganization of the debtors’ business affairs, debts and assets — they contacted the “Scouting Family” (parents, scouts, volunteers, etc.) through email, informing the families that their main objectives for filing bankruptcy were to

“equitably compensate victims who were harmed during their time in Scouting and continue to carry out Scouting’s mission for years to come.”

According to the BSA, about 90% of the abuse instances against the organization took place over thirty years ago. The organization is currently implementing policies to prevent future abuse and hold child safety as paramount.

One-on-one interactions between scouts and adult leaders are now banned and the adult volunteers will have mandatory background checks. The kids will also be trained so they can respond to and prevent abuse. Reporting suspected abuse to law enforcement will be mandatory.

“We believe victims, we support them, we pay for counseling by a provider of their choice and we encourage them to come forward,” the BSA told the “Scouting Family.”

NEWS | 05

design by | sydney newton

R E I N FO RC I N G A P P L I C AT I O N S SMSD plans on using a new app for principals to conduct classroom walkthroughs for fourth quarter

F

by cesca stamati

or the upcoming fourth quarter, the Shawnee Mission School District will use an app called McREL Power Walkthrough, hoping to give principals a deeper look into each classroom to provide feedback about teaching strategies seen in class.

By fourth quarter, SMSD principals will dedicate half an hour a day to checking boxes on Power Walkthrough for specific teaching strengths seen while observing a class, like how a teacher chooses to provide students with helpful feedback during a lesson.

Their goal for the new app is to evaluate the methods used by teachers to outline, reinforce and give feedback for

We’ll be looking at the different teaching strategies that are being used as well as checking for understanding. Asking questions like is there practice going on in the classroom, are there assignments done in class, out of class, what kind of student feedback are we seeing. Just better discussions for us as a staff to have moving forward.”

britt haney | associate principal learning.

The walkthroughs will allow the principals and department-heads to observe and input information about the teachers’ different approaches to instructing students.

They will record data on the techniques used in teaching the class, like outlining an assignment with a helpful rubric or having daily objectives made clear before each lesson.

According to associate principal Britt Haney, the app will allow the best teaching strategies to be incorporated across the school.

“We’ll just look and see what percentage of classrooms are doing different aspects of the best teaching practices,” Haney said. “If we see an aspect of a teaching technique that we would like to see incorporated in school even more, we can then follow up with professional development on that and have the discussions to try and get teachers to do more of it.”

The board of education authorized the district to spend up to $52,750 on the app, only being accessible to the 125 principals and assistant principals through the district. The funds will also go to a required two-day training to teach principals how to use the new software.

According to Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Dr. Darren Dennis, the funding for the software comes from Title IIA, a supplemental federal fund.

Though the app is supposed to benefit the school in different ways, English teacher Erica Jackson has experienced classroom walkthroughs for years and feels she hasn’t seen any benefits and this app is not worth the funds it needs.

“We had some program in the past and it gathered data, but I haven’t seen how that data has been beneficial,” Jackson said. “So I haven’t seen the connection yet between the new app and the benefits, therefore I question the use of that money. I mean, that’s more than what it costs to pay a new teacher’s salary.”

Jackson does agree and understands the importance of principal involvement during class time but she feels the district should consider prioritizing different things other than expensive applications.

“Those teaching strategies can be better accomplished or done more effectively if class sizes are smaller,” Jackson said.

According to Haney, this new software will allow principals to check on instructions in classrooms and identify student’s needs through school.

“We’ll be looking at the different teaching strategies that are being used as well as checking for understanding,” Haney said. “Asking questions like is there practice going on in the classroom, are there assignments done in class, out of class, what kind of student feedback are we seeing. Just better discussions for us as a staff to have moving forward.”

Before this app, a Google form was used to evaluate classrooms in order to send it to the district office. The district office wanted to compare data with other schools that also use the software so that they could see how those schools are using the data to make improvements in how teachers reinforce lessons or present assignments to the class.

“The administrative team, all the principals, we’ll kind of identify those talking points and then we’ll bring them to our department chair meetings, and then that will drive professional development as a staff moving forward,” Haney said.

“In time, it will help to provide instructional feedback to staff which in turn will lead to a better classroom experience for students,” said Shawnee Mission North principal Jeremy Higgins.

After the app has been fully developed, it is expected that principals and department-heads will be seen doing short, daily walkthroughs by the end of the school year. In the long run, it is hoped that this app will help spread more effective teaching methods district-wide.

P OW E R WA L K T H R O U G H A breakdown of the categories teachers will be checked on in the app

ATM OSPHE RE CREATING THE ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNING

COM PRE HE NSION HELPING STUDENTS DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING

A PPLICATION HELPING STUDENTS EXTEND AND APPLY KNOWLEDGE

OBSE RVATIONS ADDITIONAL OBSERVATION ELEMENTS

IM PROV E M E NTS OVERALL IMPROVEMENTS FOR TEACHERS, PRINCIPALS AND STUDENTS

06 | NEWS

design by | sophie henschel

THE NEW WAVE O F...

5G

WHERE? CURRENT LY AVA I L A B L E I N 9 CI TI E S :

5G coming to more and more cities in the U.S.

T H E R U N D OW N

S

print Mobile’s fifth generation of internet connection is developing and changing the tech world after its implementation last May in nine cities — Kansas City is one of them.

The newest generation of internet connection is bringing exponentially higher speeds for downloading and connection. But most importantly, it is modernizing business practices and improving problems across the world according to East parent and Sprint IT Account Manager Kevin Decker.

“An example we like to use for the future of 5G is total remote surgery in places like Kenya, from a hospital in Kansas City,” Decker said. “Sprint has projected that in the near future, things like

medical care will be turned on its head.”

Along with businesses and hospitals using Sprint Mobile’s new generation, 5G is already in motion for public use, even though it’s not completely full 5G. There are some variations — like AT&T’s “5GE” — which do not run on a 5G network.

“At the moment, a small amount of people in the Kansas City area have access to completely 5G phones,” Head of technology management Jake Vossen said. “People with a ‘5G’ network are running on a 4G core.”

While the 5G network is still in its infancy for the general public, Sprint and other corporations are continuing their development of the fifthgeneration across Kansas City and the world.

S T U D E N T TA K E S

KA N SAS C I T Y, M O | AT L A N TA , GA | LOS A N G E L E S , C A A | D. C . | DA L L AS , T X | H O U STO N , T X | N E W YO R K , N Y | P H EO N I X , A Z | C H I C AGO, I L

= STAT E S W I T H 5 G = STAT E S W I T H O U T 5 G

AC R O N Y M S & VO C A B MIMO-

S P R I N T ’ S N E W WAY O F I M P L E M E N T I N G 5 G C O R E P RO C E S S O R S A L L OV E R KC ( A N D T H E OT H E R S I T E S ) MASSIVE INPUT, MASSIVE OUTPUT

IoTI saw this one commercial explaining 5G to me and I was so confused by it, but I think for now I’m going to stick with my 4G connected phone — it works and I am okay with that.

karoline nelson | senior

INTERNET OF THINGS: THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD B E I N G CO N N EC T E D TO T H E I N T E R N E T

T H E S TAT S 2020 15 BILLION DEVICES CONNECTED

2025

A P RO J EC T E D 80 B I L L I O N CO N N EC T E D D E V I C E S

SPEED I have this thing called 5GE and even though it is not the same as the real 5G I am excited to see how everything turns out.

lily utt | junior

D O W N L O A D S P E E D S A R E E S T I M AT E D 6 T I M E S FA S T E R T H A N 4 G 2 0 1 . 2 M P / S C O M PA R E D T O 3 5 . 7 M P / S

AVA I L A B L E P H O N E S S A M S U N G G A L A X Y S 1 0 5 G . $ 1 , 2 9 9 AT V E R I Z O N L G V 5 0 T H I N Q 5 G . $ 1 , 0 0 0 AT S P R I N T M O T O R O L A M O T O Z 4 . $ 4 0 0 AT A M A Z O N

NEWS | 07

design by | lily billingsley photos by | hadley chapman

The Overland Park Papa Keno’s rebrands to Buffalo State Pizza & Co. and will feature a new menu and live music

A B O V E The awning where the Papa Keno’s sign used to be is now blank at the Overland Park location as they wait to change it to Buffalo State Pizza & Co.

P

by natasha thomas

apa Keno’s LLC filed a lawsuit against the owners of the Overland Park Papa Keno’s restaurant on Jan. 29 after the owners decided to separate their building from the Papa Keno’s company and change their restaurant’s name to Buffalo State Pizza.

The two owners of the what was previously Overland Park Papa Keno’s, Philippe Lechevin and Steve Robson, declined to comment on or confirm the lawsuit. However, they explained the rebranding from Papa Keno’s to Buffalo State Pizza in a message addressed to their customers.

The message was posted on a sign sitting atop Buffalo State Pizza’s ordering counter, where the owners addressed

“[Steve] said ‘I spent a lot of money — I’m not gonna say the amount — to a marketing group to rebrand the restaurant within a week. We came in one day and it was completely gutted with anything that said Papa Kenos. Nothing was allowed to say Papa Keno’s.”

David Pearcy | sophomore the changes. They said the establishment was “separating with [their] third party in efforts to better serve [their] customers.” The sign promises that the change will bring “new and improved menu items, fresh ingredients, and vegan/gluten free/keto options.”

The Overland Park restaurant employs multiple East students including sophomore David Pearcy, who has been working there since early September. According to Pearcy, the change to Buffalo State Pizza was sudden. “[Steve] said ‘I spent a lot of money — I’m not gonna

say the amount — to a marketing group to rebrand the restaurant within a week,’” Pearcy said. “We came in one day and it was completely gutted with anything that said Papa Kenos. Nothing was allowed to say Papa Keno’s.”

President of Papa Keno’s LLC David Hawley describes a similar suddenness in a written response, saying that he learned of the Overland Park branch’s separation when Lechevin and Robson’s lawyer sent a letter that they would be “ending their license agreement in four days.”

Both Pearcy and fellow East sophomore Garrett Smith, who has been working at the restaurant for three months, seemed to be unaware of a lawsuit.

“I don’t think [the lawsuit] is true, going off of what Steve said,” Pearcy said. “But Papa Keno’s does seem to be around a lot of turmoil right now.”

Despite the changes, the restaurant is still focused on pizza and runs similarly as it did when it was still called Papa Keno’s. Children can still be found running to the back to play on the arcade machines, and the same system of ordering at the front and seating yourself is used.

“It’s not a big change,” Smith said. “If you went to Papa Keno’s and you liked it there, you’d still like [Buffalo State Pizza] now.”

Even though the current restaurant looks similar to Papa Keno’s, Pearcy says that some customers have noticed the name change. Pearcy usually gives the same rehearsed line.

“Usually if I’m on the phone with someone it’s like, ‘Oh you guys changed to Buffalo State? How did that happened?’ And [I say] ‘We’re independent now, everything’s gonna be a little bit better.’”

Pearcy says they still have to paint the walls and change the interior — with more “buffalo” style decorations — although he notes that despite some confusion, they won’t be serving Buffalo wings.

W H AT’S N E W? New changes coming with the transition from Papa Keno’s to Buffalo State Pizza REBRAND ING The owners of the restaurant will BUFFALO STATE PIZZA CO.

remain the same, but it will be branded as Buffalo State Pizza & Co.

NEW MENU ITEMS The Buffalo State Pizza menu will feature new types of pizza

LIVE MU SIC The locations will feature live music from local musicians

FRESH INGRED IENTS The menu will feature

fresh

ingredients, as well as glutenfree, vegan and keto options

08 | OPINION

design by | annabelle moore

OPINION

HIGHLIGHTS

A look into student opinions and the opinion section

T I KTO K O P I N I O N S WHAT IS YOUR O P IN IO N O N TI KTO K?

I think TikTok has ruined a bunch of good songs and I don’t get why people spend so much time on it — I find the whole thing a joke.

THE WEEK IN 280 C H A R AC T E R S T H E WO R L D H E A LT H O RGA N I Z AT I O N H A S A N O F F I C I A L N A M E F O R T H E I L L N E S S C AU S E D BY N E W CO RO N AV I R U S : C OV I D -1 9 . I T I N T E N T I O N A L LY M A K E S N O R E F E R E N C E TO A N Y O F T H E P EO P L E , P L AC E S O R A N I M A L S A S S O C I AT E D W I T H T H E C O RO N AV I R U S — T H E G OA L WA S TO AVO I D ST I G M A T H E N E W YO R K T I M E S | 2 / 1 1 / 2 0 P R E S I D E N T T R U M P FA L S E LY C L A I M S “ R E D E M P T I O N M O N E Y ” F RO M I M M I G R A N TS I S PAY I N G F O R T H E B O R D E R WA L L , B A F F L I N G E X P E RTS

ryan staehr | junior CNN POLITICS | 2/12/20

HOW MA N Y H O URS P E R DAY D O YO U S PE N D ON TIKTOK A N D WH Y ?

T H E R I G H T TO VOT E I S T H E R I G H T A L L A M E R I C A N S A R E B O R N W I T H – A N D W E A R E P RO U D TO P ROT EC T I T E V E RY DAY # B L AC K H I STO RY M O N T H WE TV | 2/12/20

So TikTok is my most used app — I spend an average of 2 hours and 7 minutes per day on it. Whenever I’m bored it’s the first thing I go to and I try to find the funny ones that remind me of Vine. If I’m really bored, I learn the dances, but I mostly use it for the comedy aspect.

claire mcphail | junior

B R E A K I N G : T H E N F L H A S R E I N STAT E D M Y L E S GA R R E T T F RO M H I S I N D E F I N I T E S U S P E N S I O N , T H E B ROW N S ANNOUNCED S P O RTS C E N T E R | 2 / 1 2 / 2 0

R E AC T I O N S H OTS A STUDEN TS O P IN IO N O N AC T I O N S HOTS O F T HE M S E LVE S

O P I N I O N AT E D .

DO YOU BELIEVE NEGATIVITY IS A PROBLEM AT EAST? | 272 VOTES

35% NO 65% YES DID YOU EVER GO THROUGH AN “EMO” PHASE? | 283 VOTES

72% NO 28% YES S E N I O R L AU R E N D EC K E R : “ I t a l wa ys m a kes m e l a u g h w h e n I s e e p i c t u res o f mys e l f d a n c i n g b e c a u s e I ’m u s u a l l y m a ki n g a we i rd fa c e, a n d t h a t p i c t u re i s d e fi n i te l y n o exce pt i o n . ” p h oto by | j u l i a p e cy

J U N I O R W I L L TOW N S E N D : “ O h my g o o d n es s. I l o o k s i l l y. A l t h o u g h , I d o n’ t m i n d my p i c t u re b e i n g i n t h e p a p e r b e c a u s e I l ove t h a t c l a s s — a s l o n g a s I ’m h a v i n g fu n I d o n’ t m i n d i t — g o a h e a d a n d ta ke t h e p i c t u re. ” p h oto by | elise madden

DO YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE EXPRESSING YOURSELF THROUGH YOUR CLOTHES? | 246 VOTES

37% NO 63% YES

OPINION | 09

design by | emma brown

TURN THAT FROWN U PSI DE D OW N Staffer discusses how students should have an optimistic outlook for them to accomplish more

“I DON’T WANNA be here… I hate this… Ugh, I’m so by kelly murphy

unlucky…” — we’ve all had moments where these thoughts play over and over in our heads. Whether it’s a friend whining about how cold it is outside or someone in the hallway ranting about how they just bombed their CAT test they didn’t study for, it’s hard to go minutes without hearing negativity thrown around at school.

We shouldn’t feel the need to complain every time something not-so-great happens — but we can’t help it.

Pessimism is a natural part of life. It’s our biological inclination not only to register negative stimuli more readily, but to also dwell on it, according to verywellmind.com.

Even though it’s human nature to think negatively more often than positively, that doesn’t mean it’s good for us.

Optimism has been proven to be healthier than pessimism.

According to psychologist Suzanne Segerstrom, “Setbacks are inherent to almost every worthwhile human activity, [but] a number of studies show that optimists are in general both psychologically and physiologically healthier.”

In every case, there was a strong relationship between optimism and a lower risk of disease,”

alan rozanski | cardiologist I’d consider myself an optimist, but the never-ending negativity surrounding me in high school always seems to dampen my mood. I get it — sometimes it’s not easy to steer your thoughts in a cheerful direction. However, it’s

important to try and be more positive because a negative mindset can be enough to change the outcome of a situation for the worst.

If you convince yourself that you won’t be able to make the winning basket, you become more likely to miss.

Anticipating failure actually increases the chances of us failing. That mindset leads to us not putting our best foot forward, according to verywellmind.com. Not only that, but constant negativity also leaves us less enthusiastic and motivated and more likely to be indecisive and procrastinate.

In other words, pouting about your Stats final scheduled for tomorrow and putting it off will likely leave you performing worse on it. Try opening up a book and studying instead — there won’t be any complaining when you end up being well prepared and acing it.

There are also physical side effects of looking at a glass as half-empty, according to cardiologist Alan Rozanski. In a meta-analysis of 15 studies, Rozanski and his colleagues found that people who ranked low in optimism were much more likely to have a heart attack or other cardiovascular issue, along with a higher mortality rate.

“In every case, there was a strong relationship between optimism and a lower risk of disease,” Rozanski said in an article for the Chicago Tribune.

Having an optimistic outlook has many other benefits including increased stress relief, improved immunity to illnesses and overall better resilience. I find that this holds true in my life, especially as it relates to my self-image.

I’m less insecure about each pimple on my face and my annoyingly frizzy hair when I focus on the things I love about myself like my hardworking attitude and trusting nature.

And optimism isn’t about blocking out the difficult parts of life — it’s about realizing that not every part of your life is perfect, and choosing to be positive anyways. You won’t always wake up to a perfect 72-degree-day. The A you’re

hoping for on your Biology test may end up being a B. So instead of kicking yourself over things you can’t control, try to focus on the hilarious meme from your friend instead of fixating on the annoying text that your boss sent you.

Along with practicing gratitude, there are other ways for us to combat the inevitable annoying texts of the world.

Instead of whining about your car feeling more like an igloo than anything else, you can appreciate that you’re lucky enough to have a car to drive you around while some have to trek through mounds of snow. Rather than freaking out about the Spanish quiz you completely forgot about and

Setbacks are inherent to almost every worthwhile human activity, [but] a number of studies show that optimists are in general both psychologically and physiologically healthier.”

suzanne sergerstrom | psychologist staring at Skyward watching your grade sink, take a deep breath and let it motivate you to try extra hard to get those points back.

To become more positive, focus on doing things that you love (and if it sounds obvious, that’s because it is). Which can be as simple as doing anything that puts a big smile on your face. For me, it’s exploring new places, singing along to anything from Taylor Swift’s latest album, catching a movie at Standees with friends and playing tennis with my teammates.

There’s nothing wrong with word-vomiting to a friend about how you tripped up the stairs and spilled your coffee in the stairwell. But next time you do, try following it up with a detailed description of the cute beagle you saw on

5 AC T I V I T I E S TO D E ST R E S S & STAY P OS I T I V E

1

BA K I N G CO O K I E S K EL LY’S PICK | peanut but te r w it h He rshey’s kis s

2

N OT E T H E DAY ’S H I G H L I G H TS K ELLY ’S HI G H L I G H T | H arbinger de a d l i n es

3

FOC U S O N S E L F CARE K E L LY’S S U GG E STI ON | b u b b l e b a t h s a n d fa ce m a s ks

4

U S E A N I M A L S AS AN OUTLET K E L LY’S IDEA | h an g ou t w i t h you r pets

5

TA K E A VAC AT I O N KE LLY ’S FAVORITE | goin g to Californ ia with family

OPINION | 09

design by | emma brown

TURN THAT FROWN

UPSIDE D OW N

Staffer discusses how students should have an optimistic outlook for them to accomplish more

by kelly murphy

“I

don’t wanna be here… I hate this… Ugh, I’m so unlucky…” — we’ve all had moments where these thoughts play over and over in our heads. Whether it’s a friend whining about how cold it is outside or someone in the hallway ranting about how they just bombed their CAT test they didn’t study for, it’s hard to go minutes without hearing negativity thrown around at school.

We shouldn’t feel the need to complain every time something not-so-great happens — but we can’t help it.

Pessimism is a natural part of life. It’s our biological inclination not only to register negative stimuli more readily, but to also dwell on it, according to Very Well Mind.

Even though it’s human nature to think negatively more often than positively, that doesn’t mean it’s good for us. Optimism has been proven to be healthier than pessimism.

In every case, there was a strong relationship between optimism and a lower risk of disease

alan rozanski | cardiologist According to psychologist Suzanne Segerstrom, “Setbacks are inherent to almost every worthwhile human activity, [but] a number of studies show that optimists are in general both psychologically and physiologically healthier.”

I’d consider myself an optimist, but the never-ending negativity surrounding me in high school always seems to dampen my mood. I get it — sometimes it’s not easy to steer your thoughts in a cheerful direction. However, it’s important to try and be more positive because a negative mindset can be enough to change the outcome of a situation for the worst.

If you convince yourself that you won’t be able to make the winning basket, you become more likely to miss. Anticipating failure actually increases the chances of us failing. That mindset leads to us not putting our best foot forward, according to Very Well Mind. Not only that, but constant negativity also leaves us less enthusiastic and motivated and more likely to be indecisive and procrastinate.

In other words, pouting about your Stats final scheduled for tomorrow and putting it off will likely leave you performing worse on it. Try opening up a book and studying instead — there won’t be any complaining when you end up being well prepared and acing it.

There are also physical side effects of looking at a glass as half-empty, according to cardiologist Alan Rozanski. In a metaanalysis of 15 studies, Rozanski and his colleagues found that

people who ranked low in optimism were much more likely to have a heart attack or other cardiovascular issue, along with a higher mortality rate.

“In every case, there was a strong relationship between optimism and a lower risk of disease,” Rozanski said in an article for the Chicago Tribune.

Having an optimistic outlook has many other benefits including increased stress relief, improved immunity to illnesses and overall better resilience. I find that this holds true in my life, especially as it relates to my self-image. I’m less insecure about each pimple on my face and my annoyingly frizzy hair when I focus on the things I love about myself like my hardworking attitude and trusting nature.

And optimism isn’t about blocking out the difficult parts of life — it’s about realizing that not every part of your life is perfect, and choosing to be positive anyways. You won’t always wake up to a perfect 72-degree-day. The A you’re hoping for on your Biology test may end up being a B. So instead of kicking yourself over things you can’t control, try to focus on the hilarious meme from your friend instead of fixating on the annoying text that your boss sent you.

Along with practicing gratitude, there are other ways for us to combat the inevitable annoying texts of the world.

Instead of whining about your car feeling more like an igloo than anything else, you can appreciate that you’re lucky enough to have a car to drive you around while some have to trek through mounds of snow. Rather than freaking out about

Setbacks are inherent to almost every worthwhile human activity, [but] a number of studies show that optimists are in general both psychologically and physiologically healthier

suzanne sergerstrom | psychologist the Spanish quiz you completely forgot about and staring at Skyward watching your grade sink, take a deep breath and let it motivate you to try extra hard to get those points back.

To become more positive, focus on doing things that you love (and if it sounds obvious, that’s because it is). Which can be as simple as doing anything that puts a big smile on your face. For me, it’s exploring new places, singing along to anything from Taylor Swift’s latest album, catching a movie at Standees with friends and playing tennis with my teammates.

There’s nothing wrong with word-vomiting to a friend about how you tripped up the stairs and spilled your coffee in the stairwell. But next time you do, try following it up with a detailed description of the cute beagle you saw on your way in.

5 AC T I V I T I E S T O DE-STRESS

1

BA K I N G CO O K I E S KELLY ’S PICK | pe anut butte r with He rshey’s kiss

2 3 4 5

N OT E T H E DAY ’S H I G H L I G H TS KELLY ’S HIGHLIGHT | Har binge r de adlines

FO C U S O N S E L F CARE KELLY ’S S U GGEST IO N | bubble baths and face masks

U S E A N I M A L S AS AN OUTLET KELLY ’S IDEA | hang out with your pets

TA K E A VAC AT I O N KELLY ’S FAVO RIT E | going to Califor nia with family

10 | OPINION

design by | jackie cameron

(DON’T) S FAKE IT

by sydney decker

TIL YOU MAKE IT People shouldn’t make assumptions about others’ character based on their clothing

SYDNEY’S PICKS A breakdown of one of Sydney’s typical outfits and how it represents her own style NIRVANA T-SHIRT LIKES THE BAND AND REPRESENTS HER INTERESTS FAV SONGS ARE “LITHIUM” AND “COME AS YOU ARE”

“MOM” JEANS REFLECTS HER TYPICAL STYLE AND THINKS THEY’RE COMFY

DOC MARTENS LIKES THE VINTAGE, ALTERNATIVE LOOK

CHAIN NECKLACE CREATES THE CLASSIC VIBE SHE WANTS

taring down at my outfit for the day, I can’t help but wonder if I’ll get questioned about my Led Zeppelin T-Shirt by my lab partner to see if I can name one of their albums (even though I know I’m an avid listener of their album Physical Graffiti) or if my beat-up black Doc Martens will get even more second glances walking down the hallway.

In any circumstance when I try to either express my groovy personality through a tie-dye shirt or simply throw together a pair of sweatpants and a plain t-shirt, I know I’m instantly at risk of being judged and having assumptions made about me — often with no further context than my clothing.

Whatever suits your style, or even if you’d rather throw on sweatpants and sweatshirts everyday, no one deserves to have their fashion choices made fun of. Yes, clothing is just something to cover our bodies, but it can also demonstrate our interests.

More often than not, it’s liberating to express your interests through cheetah print or neon colors — but it can also lead to unwanted, judgmental assumptions from strangers walking down the street. These thoughts include thinking someone has no style, when they could just be having a lazy day, or that they don’t know how to dress themselves, when someone could just like to mix and match.

When I’m trying on different outfit combinations, I can’t help it that a wave of worry rushes over me, wondering what everyone will say about my outfit — forming judgments about me. Will they assume I lack unique taste if I wear popular brands? Do I risk being seen as out-dated or a try-hard for going my own way? Regardless of being on or off-trend, people will always find reasons to judge.

People shouldn’t care whether or not someone knows the Beatles’ albums by heart if they’re wearing their shirt or is their shirt says “Honolulu” and they’ve never actually been there — it doesn’t affect you, so you don’t question it. self•ex•pres•sion

the ex p ressi o n o f o ne’s own p erso na l i ty : a sser ti o n o f o ne’s i ndi v i dua l tra i ts

Expressing your interests through fashion is a way to truly feel like and accept yourself.

But the second someone negatively comments on your outfit, you feel self consciousness you think about how much easier it would be to slip into something more anonymous in the hallways to fit in.

There’s always a recurring debate in my mind about what I wear. If I wear Lululemon leggings

and a tank top I’ll look like everybody else. But if I decide to wear jeans and Doc Martens, I’ll look like I’m putting too much effort into being “different.”

Call me crazy for analyzing people’s clothes to a ridiculous extent, but this overwhelming concern when putting on an outfit is caused by those who make comments about what someone is wearing and openly accusing them of being “posers” based on their clothes.

I can’t help but get frustrated when I see a teenager wearing an old Rolling Stones band tee and getting flooded with accusatory questions like “do you even listen to them?” and “name five of their songs.”

When I wear my Nirvana t-shirt, I wear it because I regularly blast “Lithium” and “Come as You Are” on my late night drives. And when I see someone wearing a Queen shirt or a shirt referencing the TV show “Friends,” I can’t help but wonder if they actually listen to the band or watch the show — but

When I’m trying on different outfit combinations, I can’t help it that a wave of worry rushes over me, wondering what everyone will say about my outfit — forming judgments about me. Will they assume I lack unique taste if I wear popular brands? sydney decker | junior unlike some people, I can accept that they might just be wearing it because they saw it at Urban Outfitters and thought it would look great with their mom jeans.

You have a right to wear whatever you want — whether you’re trying to express yourself or if you just don’t care so much about what you wear.

Everyone deserves to have the confidence to express their interests authentically through either your vintage bell bottoms or graphic tees with inspiring quotes, because whenever I’m representing what I like, my mood improves and I feel confident when I see the reflection of my stylish outfit in the windows I pass.

And as for the strangers we pass everyday, judging them based on appearance, don’t strictly stick to that initial impression — someone could be having a lazy fashion day.

OPINION | 11

design by | carolyn popper photo illustrations by | kate nixon

P L AY L I S T PAC K E D MY C H E M ICAL ROM AN CE TO P SO N G: DEST ROYA FA L L OU T BOY TO P SO N G: H UM H ALLELUJAH P I E RC E TH E VE IL TO P SO N G: BULLET PROO F LOVE PA N I C ! AT TH E DISCO TO P SO N G: T H E CALEN DAR

SCAN ME | SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

PHO EBE

AT

H

Scan the QR code to listen to the 68-song playlist, “phoebe’s middle school bangers” created by staffer Phoebe Hendon, full of hand-picked emo favorites with artists ranging from Paramore to blink-182

C O N C E R T FAV E S

THE DISCO

W H O: FALL O UT BOY W H E N: MARCH 2016 R ATI N G:

W H O: PAN IC! AT T H E DISCO W H E N : J ULY 2016 RATIN G:

W H O: T WEN T Y O N E PILOTS W H E N: J ULY 2016 R ATI N G:

W H O: T WEN T Y O N E PILOTS W H E N : N OV. 2018 RATIN G:

*****

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While often regarded as cringey, emo music proved as a support system in the formative years of middle school

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by phoebe hendon alfway through seventh-grade, and I’m sitting on the floor of my bedroom lacing up my brand-new, black hightop Converse shoes, wondering what my friends will think of my freshly-dyed, brightred hair.

It’s a scene I retrospectively roll my eyes at, just as I do thinking about the rest of that day — how I listened to my “emo favorites” playlist on full volume through the tangled wires of my headphones on the bus ride to school and shied off the weird looks I garnered from wearing a beanie in gym class. My friends give me a lot of crap for how cringey I used to be with my flower crowns and band T-Shirts. But even though I’ve grown out of the emo phase, I refuse to compromise on one thing: emo music, which gave me a sense of security I was sorely lacking in middle school, still deserves a place in my playlists.

Starting seventh grade, I was around 5’3 and felt like a total nobody, so whisper-screaming songs about the “bloody heartbreak of love” and hammering air guitar in my bedroom made me feel kind of cool. I knew I wasn’t cool in the eyes of my friends or family or kids at school, but the music I listened to made me feel like a different person — not the quiet, short, insecure girl I was.

Now, I’ll clarify for the sake of my own reputation that I’m not talking about “screamo” — screams of bloody murder over ear-decimating background guitar. No, I worshipped what

emo-Tumblr called “The Holy Trinity:” Panic!

At the Disco, Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance.

Combine Panic! At the Disco’s ridiculous song titles and never-ending theatrics, Fall Out Boy’s quasi-rock sound and mega-hottie bassist Pete Wentz with My Chemical Romance’s depressing lyrics, and you’re looking at the stars of Phoebe’s Spotify playlists.

My fascination with emo culture originated around the time I began middle school. When you’re heading into a new school with a bunch of new people, it seems like the perfect time to do a decent amount of self-rebranding. At that point in my life, the clothes I wore, my interests and music taste were all based off my parents’ preferences. So when it came time for me to find some sort of individual identity, I can’t help but wonder if I just went for shock value. When you’ve been raised on mundane Coldplay and innocent pigtails, it’s hard to ignore the allure of leather jackets and mosh pits.

Despite the near-deafening volume of drums, guitar and yelling in most emo songs, the lyrics were the loudest to me. I typically wrote my thoughts and feelings into poems and short stories, but emo music was the first time I heard songs that reflected how I felt inside. It served as a processing outlet for the strange feelings I was developing — feelings I couldn’t voice.

When I first heard All Time Low’s “Missing

You” and listened as lead singer Alex Gaskarth sang, “Now don’t lose your fight, kid, it only takes a little push to pull on through, with so much left to do, you’ll be missing out, and we’ll be missing you,” I felt a sense of comfort that had become foreign. Emo music was a shout back from the void, telling me I wasn’t worthless or invaluable like I had started to tell myself over and over.

I first experienced depression and anxiety around 6th grade, but since I’d never been taught what they were, I didn’t have a word for it — until I found emo music. I didn’t feel like I could talk about these things with my parents, so the artists who sang about loneliness and sadness were the first adults I’d been introduced to who knew what I was going through.

To know that there were others — especially adults — who went through the same things I was and had not only made it out of those dark places, but were now thriving, meant the world to me. It was a sign that I, too, was capable of pushing through the depressive state I found myself trapped in. I may have struggled with a lack of belonging, but my music reminded me that somewhere, someone was looking out for me.

And through further exploration on the internet, I found a community of kids who, like me, used emo music as a coping mechanism. I didn’t know anyone else at school who dressed like I did or liked the things I liked, but making connections online with kids like me made me feel a

lot less different. At school, I was an outlier. But online, I found people who I identified with — in both interests and insecurities.

Seventh grade was a rough time. I had only one or two close friends and was struggling with the academic adjustment. Throughout the entire year, I walked down the hallways of Indian Hills Middle School with my eyes firmly locked on the heels of whoever was walking in front of me. I made conscious efforts to never smile with teeth or raise my hand in a class full of kids I didn’t know. I had such a deathly fear of calling attention to myself that I developed a way of stifling all of my sneezes — burying my nose in the palm of my hand — and I still do it to this day It’s been four years since 7th grade. I’m far more confident than I was in middle school, and though it’s taken some trial and error — the emo phase was mild compared to my brief stint as a theater kid — I’ve finally found my footing. But just as the sneeze-stifling has wedged its way into who I am, so has the love for emo music.

I’m working on letting my sneezes out, but you won’t see me skipping over Blink-182 when their songs come on over my car’s bluetooth.

And you definitely won’t see me throw out the black Converse. One of the soles may be near completely detached from the shoe, but it’s still holding on — just like I’ll hold on to comfort music brought me.

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FEATURES | 13

design by | sydney newton

F E AT U R E

HIGHLIGHTS

OSCAR MILLER F EAT U R E D ARTIST

C R E AT I V E T H I N K I N G

OSCAR’S FAVORITE TOOLS FULL SET OF

B E L O W Junior Kelly McAlister tries to make buisness teacher Jessica Krievin’s kids laugh. photo by | megan stopperan

DRAWING PENCILS

2 - D S K E TC H A RT I ST

FELT TIP BLACK INK PENS

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR DRAWINGS? “A lot of them are illustrations of real things or imaginary things.

They also abstract conceptual things. I’ve done a few drawings where I asked someone for a word, an abstract concept that doesn’t have a representation physically and then I try to draw it out in ink. So far I’ve done time, hope, perfection and uncertainty. I’ve also done illustrations of a lot of dragons and mythical creatures and also real life animals. Those are a lot of the time in unrealistic scenarios. It’s a realistic thing but it has a different color scheme or it’s doing something it usually wouldn’t.”

T O P Sophomore Bella Kozup talks to her friend during their physical science lab where they learn how force works with different weights and restrictions. photo by | annakate dilks

HOW DID YOU GET INTO ART? “My sister has always been an artist. She’s actually studying art at KU. It was one of those things that my grandma and aunt always did it and my sister always did it, so we always had art materials in the house.

R I G H T Freshman Nate Kilmer shows freshman Brayden Reynolds a video while they draw hands under blankets in Intro to Studio Art. photo by | annakate dilks

I just started drawing. I started when I was around four. Up until eight grade I never took a real art technique class so I was always just teaching myself. Then it started to get a little more technical and focused on what I was trying to do with the art.

HOW DO YOU APPROACH EACH D RAW ING? “I try to give other people a way to see an image I have in my head that I feel like I can’t describe another way. Usually what starts the drawing is either being inspired where something

F E B R UA RY

M A R K YO U R C A L E N DA R

24 25 26

TH

TH

TH

B o a rd o f E d u ca t i on M eet i n g | 7 p. m .

SCAN ME | MEETING Want to hear what happens at the board meetings?

Check out the SMSD Youtube channel to listen the full meetings

puts that image in my head or I just come up with it. Then I usually start by thinking of what I want to use to make it. There’s always restrictions with certain mediums. If you’re just using a black pen on white paper you can’t add certain things, but if I wanted it to be really contrasted I would use that or if I wanted it to be really colorful I would use something else. The images are all really different but it usually starts with me thinking of what I want the image to be and then thinking how within time restrains and what I have to use I can do it. I start drawing

C h ee r S e n i o r N i g ht | 7 p.m . i n E a st M a i n Gy m

what I have most clear in my head and then I based the other part off of that.”

SCAN ME FOR MORE ABOUT MILLER G u est C h e f M entor S eries | 6 p.m . a t B ro a d m o o r B i st ro

Read for a feature about Miller to hear about the details of his drawings and what inspired him to start

design by | peyton moore

W H AT ’S SMSD’s post-high school transition services provides students with special needs the skills to adjust after high school by catherine erickson

A

N EX T ?

fter growing up in the kitchen by his mom’s side, kneading dough and placing toppings for homemade pizza, East alum Jack Melvin decided he wanted to work in a restaurant when he grew up — specifically at Joe’s Kansas City, his favorite barbeque joint.

As a student with down syndrome, Jack continued with SMSD’s special education services after graduating last year by participating in the district’s post-high school transition program to develop social and vocational skills for future job opportunities.

For his vocational training, Jack is currently working at the Lakeview Village dining hall and childcare center during part of his school day, but hopes to be placed in the Broadmoor Bistro at the Center for Academic Achievement within the next year to receive more restaurant specific training.

The post-high transition services provide graduated high school students aged 18 to 21 with skills needed to adjust to life after high school: independent living skills, job training and social skills.

The five classrooms provided for the 46 students in the

The program is individualized to each student’s needs based on their Individualized Education Plan, which states the student’s goals and accommodations they need with various staff, whether in isolation, in the community or in a general education classroom. program are located at Shawnee Mission South — with separate entrance and exit doors to separate the area from the high school. The district did this intentionally so the students don’t feel like they’re still in high school.

The school day is the same as other SMSD high schools, from 7:40 a.m. to 2:40 p.m, but most of the students in the program leave throughout the day to attend unpaid internships for job training, classes at Johnson County Community College and field trips to grocery and department stores. Recently, Jack went to IKEA with his class to plan out a hypothetical future apartment.

“It’s been a good transition because the hours are the same, there’s a bus to and from the job sites, but it’s not like he’s still in high school,” Jack’s mom Joan Melvin said. “It’s been a nice extension where he can zero in on job skills, but they still have that time in the morning for movement activities and stuff they did at East.”

The program is individualized to each student’s needs based on their Individualized Education Plan, which states the student’s goals and accommodations they need with various staff, whether in isolation, in the community or in a general education classroom.

“We look at the students’ preferences, their interests, and

FEATURES | 14

what skills they’re wanting to develop,” SMSD’s secondary transition specialist Kelly Chapman said. “We want to put them in a place where they want to work [in the future], for example if they want retail, then they need cash register experience.”

Former East parent Sharon Walker had two kids attend the post-high school transition program, who are now living independently with the support of the Mission Project, a non-profit corporation that enables adults with developmental disabilities to live independently with individualized support.

Walker believes SMSD’s post-high services provide a way to transition between high school and independent living.

“The post-high services give them more independence [than high school] because there’s not someone constantly watching over them, especially with the internships,” Walker said.

Now 23 and 26, Dan and Elli Walker learned skills through the program that they use on a daily basis — punching a time clock, responding to emails, writing thank you notes and basic money management. They are now both employed, Elli at CBIZ and the Down Syndrome Guild and Dan at McGonigle’s Market, where they have similar duties as the ones in their post-high internships — stocking supplies, cleaning windows and organizing.

Chapman believes the district is constantly trying to better the post-high school transition services by adapting the environment and expanding the jobs available. The program was initially based in Broadmoor Technical Center since 2001, but moved to South in 2015 where students could have a separate wing of the building while still having access to amenities like the cafeteria and gym. The range of job sites offered has also broadened, now with eight sites offered in the morning and 10 in the afternoon.

“We really try to create an adult atmosphere with the internships while providing that type of structure with the classroom time,” SMSD special education director Sherry Dumolien said. “We don’t have a bell schedule or anything, but we do have some organized instruction.”

Because of this structure, Joan Melvin believes Jack has become much more independent after only one semester in the program.

“When he goes to his job site he knows exactly where he needs to go, he checks his watch to make sure he’s on time, he’s taken on a lot of responsibility,” Joan said. “Social skills too, it’s very, very personal at both Lakeview and South, so he’s gained a lot of maturity.”

Dumolien believes that while the students are positively impacted by their internship, they also have a positive impact on the worksite.

“This year, having students here at the CAA and continually seeing the inclusive aspect, the collegial conversations, the friendly banter between individuals that their paths may have never crossed, is a good feeling,” Dumolien said. “I would predict that there is an uptick in people eating lunches and coffee in the Bistro just to be able to engage in those conversations.”

PA RT N E R I N G BUSINESSES

Some of the most popular internship opportunities in the post-high school program

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FEATURE | 15

design by | jilli foley

MEET THE

( P ST ) M AT E S Seniors grab the oppurtunity to self-scedule their work in the in-app food service, Postmates

M

ost Saturday and Sunday mornings are the same for senior John Weedman. He wakes up around 8:30 a.m. or 9, turns his status to “online” on the Postmates app and waits for a “ping” that signifies someone needs a pickup for their morning coffee or pancake order.

Postmates, created in 2011, is an app that enables anyone to order food from select restaurants — which is then brought to their door by drivers 18 and older who pass application regulations.

Weedman has been a Postmates food delivery driver for just over a month and has already completed 110 food deliveries, earning about $10 per delivery.

After working for his uncle’s T-shirt factory a few summers ago, Weedman realized he didn’t have time to keep up a job year-round with baseball and the academic pressure of senior year. But with Postmates, Weedman can choose his own hours and make money in his free time.

“It’s pretty nice for me because as long as I have gas money and food money I can put the rest in my bank account,” Weedman said. “I could never hold a job with practices and sports and school going on. That’s also not what I’d want to do — go home from school, change and go to work, you know.

[With Postmates], I can go home, take a nap, turn it on when I wake up and go make $40 that night.”

Weedman enjoys the sense of calmness found driving around, listening to music in his own car and stopping whenever he feels like it — bringing in cash without the confines of a typical high school job.

“It’s nice for me because if I want $10 for a burger or to go out to eat on a Friday night, I can turn the Postmates app on for 30 minutes, make $10, transfer it to my debit card and go get a burger,” Weedman said.

Weedman typically works after school

— if he has time — from around 4 to 9 p.m., and on weekend mornings whenever he wakes up. Weekend mornings normally bring in the biggest rush of customers throughout the week.

Living right off the plaza, Weedman is always in range of what the Postmates app calls “hotspots,” or places where the driver is most likely to get delivery requests.

“I don’t have to go, get up, get into my car and drive somewhere [far away] to pick

JOHN WEEDMAN 1 1 /2 m ont hs o n Postma tes 110 de l iveries

up an order,” Weedman said. “If I wake up on a Saturday morning and turn it on while I’m laying in bed, I’ll get what’s called a ping and then they’ll take me to my order.”

Although making money is a plus, Weedman finds entertainment in seeing different parts of the city and meeting interesting people through food deliveries.

“Most of the people [I deliver food to] are 20-30 years old — not going out to get food [and] being lazy,” Weedman said.

“There’s definitely some funny people that you see, like the people who it’s pretty obvious they’ve just been sitting at home, playing video games on a Tuesday instead of working and Postmating a pizza.”

Weedman recalls a time he delivered a salad to someone at 5 p.m., just to show up at their door to see a 30-year-old in a leopard print onesie pajama outfit, or the time he picked up an order from Coldstone Creamery on the plaza — only to walk directly behind the creamery and deliver it

to an apartment building.

“Apparently people are willing to pay for a 1-2 minute walk,” Weedman said.

Despite the abnormality of this job, Weedman obtains a sense of pride in being one of few high-school Postmates drivers.

“I don’t think what you envision your Postmates Delivery guy to be is an 18-yearold high schooler,” Weedman said. “But I think it’s actually pretty smart. Sometimes people ask me if it is worth the money or worth the gas and I think it is. I’ll be dropping off food and have people ask me if I’m old enough to do this or call me honey.

It’s actually a great way to get more tips.”

Some drivers, such as Weedman, have been on Postmates long enough to establish a working routine. Other drivers, such as senior Harvey Ji, are just getting started.

For Ji, Postmates is merely a way for him to make some extra money before college without having to sacrifice much time. Ji was looking for something that was feasible, had flexible hours and didn’t interfere with his extracurricular activities such as bowling or school work. Postmates was the perfect option for him.

Ji started Postmates driving a few days after he turned 18 on Jan. 22 and has only completed two orders since he’s started, but hopes to increase that number as school and college-preparation aspects of his life settle down.

Before Postmate-ing, Ji worked at the bakery, Mrs. Fields, during the year and Sonic over the summer. But Ji wanted to get a job where he could set his own hours due to his busy schedule full of bowling, writing scholarship applications and homework from his AP classes.

Compared to his other jobs, Ji finds Postmates a lot more relaxing and stress free.

“In the fast food industry, you’re rushing to get your stuff done and trying to move on to the next person, but with Postmates

you’re just picking up and delivering the food — it’s not too stressful, unless the traffic is really bad and you need to get there, but I have never experienced that myself,” Ji said. “I would say the biggest plus is the [low] stress factor.”

Ji also admired the quick process of a Postmates application. With no interview required, Ji and others simply enter their name and social security number. In a matter of 10 minutes, Postmates performs an automated background check and the company either accepts or declines their application.

A hidden plus Ji has discovered in his short time while driving is that some restaurant employees give drivers bonus drinks or food.

“I’ve experienced that the people at restaurants, when they see there’s a Postmates worker, they [are] really nice to you,” Ji said. “I was offered a free drink when I went into Chipotle [to pick up a delivery].”

Along with the simplistic aspects of

HARVEY JI 3 wee ks on Post m ates 2 de l ive r i es

Postmates driving and outlook the public has on them, Ji enjoys being his own boss and the independence of this job.

“You just drive around and pick up food,” Ji said. “You get to listen to music and do whatever as long as you get there in a timely fashion. So if you like driving and listening to music it’s definitely a good job for you.”

16 | FEATURES

THE GR

The entertainment of “Granny Basketball” doubles as a place for se active and participate in a sport they never thought they’d play ag by riley atkinson

H

uddled in a tight circle, the 12-person team decked out in baggy black “bloomers” and knee-high sunflower socks stack their hands in the middle.

“One, two, three, let’s bloom!”

The Sunflower Granny Basketball team spreads into their positions after their pep talk from East grandparent Jean Ralston — they’re ready for action.

Basketball keeps them active, but it’s more than that‚ it’s a sport they never thought they’d be able to play again.

They’re a community. They know it’s a laughable affair, and they love that.

Some of the players are over 70 years old, others just over 50. Some are retired and watch their grandkids daily, others are still working 9-5 jobs. Some played for their high schools and others had barely dribbled a basketball before joining the team. The center has even had six knee replacements.

In between jokes about taking their medications and trying not to fall, the team members help each other tie their shoes or review game plays, strengthening a bond that’s far from a typical church bingo nights at church, according to Ralston.

“Nobody has ever heard of it,” 60-year-old team member Martha Long said. “My favorite part is bragging rights. I get to laugh and tell everybody that I play granny basketball.”

I get to be a star now, where I was a bench warmer in high school. These gals are wonderful.

martha long | team member

T O P The Sunflowers pose for a team picture after a game. photo by | sarah golder

M I D D L E Jean Ralston talks to the team during a time-out. photo by | kate nixon

B O T T O M L E F T Martha Long attempts to block a pass during a game. photo by | sarah golder

B O T T O M R I G H T A Sunflower team member ducks before taking a shot. photo by | sarah golder

Their court at the Olathe Community Center is usually close to the courts where elementary school kids play, so they get a few eyebrow raises as they warm up their free throws. The kids working on their layups nearby wear neon Nike shoes while the grannies sport white New Balance sneakers — leaving the fifth grade boys wondering if their own grandma could shoot that well.

In Granny Basketball, there’s no physical contact allowed, and they can’t run or jump. They have to “scurry along.” The court is divided into three sections with two players in each — which helps prevent injury because there’s less room for them to fall or get knocked over by players running by.

“A lot of people say ‘that’s not real basketball,’” Ralston

said. “When you hear the rules be hard,’ but it’s still a good wor . . . We’re all having a lot of fun The grannies are mostly s might not have Bill Self — bu they’ve gotten much better at s 2017 when she joined. They le a pick and roll,” so Ralston thi now.

“I mean that first year I don Ralston said. “And this year w confident right now. We’re ho competitive this year.”

At games, the bleachers grandchildren, children and hu loved one dribbling and passin yellow socks and baggy pants spent years sitting in the blea games — and now the roles swi “A lot of our ladies [have] th or their grandkids and they bri them,” Ralston said. “If there that you know of course you w forward I wanna make a basket Hearing about the league a grandson, sophomore Aaron wanted to watch her play as soo “I honestly think it’s real basketball, it gives her somet retired,” Aaron said. “It’s kin because they can’t run and they Ralston joined the Overland Kansas City Star article on the G and her raving conversations a games has convinced other pla Long and Ralston both a are most entertaining. 30-year organizations like Operation B them — with “handicaps” lik donations.

Whether the charitable sid were convinced by a friend — they’ve loved the chance to be f in awhile.

“I get to be a star now, whe in high school,” Long said, l wonderful. I think you’re not go and join a granny basketball tea

A N N Y S H OT

design by | carolyn popper photos by | kate nixon and sarah golder

enior citizens to stay gain

s you think, ‘well that can’t rkout. We work up a sweat with it.” self-coached — and they ut as a team, Ralston feels strategy and stamina since earned how to “maneuver inks they’ve got it together

n’t think we won a game,” we’re already 2-0. We feel oping we’ll be a lot more

are often packed with usbands curious to see their ng the basketballs in their s. As a grandparent, they achers of their grandkids’ itch. heir kids come to the games ing the cowbells and shake e’s someone in the crowd want to say ‘Put me in as a t’.” at family dinner, Ralston’s Ralston, was curious and on as he could. lly cool how she’s doing thing to do because she’s nda funny watching them y shoot the grandma shots.” d Park team after seeing a Granny teams in Lawrence, about the belly-laugh-filled ayers, like Long, to join. agree their charity games r-old teams comprised by Breakthrough play against ke oven mitts — to urge

de pulled them in or they — the grannies can’t deny front and center every once

ere I was a bench warmer laughing. “These gals are oing to be a negative person am.”

B E H I N D Jean Ralston watches the Sunflowers play. photo by | kate nixon

18 | FEATURES

THE

design by | celia condon photos courtesy of | adelaine marrone

East Alum moves to Los Angeles after graduating to work as a nanny for a celebrity family

A L L Marrone in Los Angeles after accepting her nanny job in June.

A TYPICAL

SUMMER

A timeline of Marrone’s life from East graduation, to LA life

A P R I L 201 9 I N A P RI L O F 2019, M A R RO N E STA RT E D BA BYS I TT I N G H E R F U T U R E N A N N Y - K I D S O N C E A W E E K I N KA N SAS C I T Y

M AY 201 9 I N M AY O F 201 9, M A R RO N E G R A D UAT E D F RO M EAST , A N D ACC E P T E D T H E N A N N Y I N G O F F E R I N LOS A N G E L E S

J U N E 2 01 9 O N J U N E 29, 2 019, M A R RO N E PAC K E D A N D L E F T FO R L A ., ROA D - T RI P P I N G AC ROS S T H E CO U N T RY

J U LY 2 01 9 O N J U LY 4 , 201 9, M A R RO N E A R R I V E D I N LOS A N G E L E S , R EA DY TO TA K E O N H E R N E W L I F E ST Y L E A N D B EG I N H E R J O B

by allison wilcox

D

uring April of her senior year, Adelaine Marrone sat at home scrolling through Care.com looking for a nanny job that she could have after she graduated high school.

Instead of staying near KC like nearly 90% of her friends, Marrone, 2019 East alum, wanted to move to a big city, regardless of how far away it was. She wasn’t looking for nanny jobs in Kansas City — she wanted to be in Los Angeles.

Her online search failed, but a family Marrone had occasionally babysat for over the past year offered her a live-in nanny job — and they happened to be moving to LA in July of 2019. A month later, she packed her suitcase and began living with the single-dad and his seven-year-old twins so he could pursue his acting career in Hollywood.

Moving to LA, a city with a population eight times the size of KC, Marrone traded her comfortable midwestern lifestyle and adapted to big city life. She decided the move was the change after high school she was looking for — the LA traffic and buzz in the crowded streets were worth it, even if it meant saying goodbye to some of her closest friends back home.

Even without her friends Marrone has come to love LA and claims that aside from going to movies and having picnics with the kids, the city environment is what she’s enjoyed most.

“I love the city and the atmosphere,” Marrone said. “I like being outside a lot, so one thing about it is you get the city, and you get the beach and the mountains.

There’s no time where you can be bored — there’s always something to do.”

Marrone was excited to live a new life in a big city like LA, but late night drives around the Plaza with Brock Hampton pouring out the windows would be a hard experience to get in LA traffic.

Besides aching for ice cream runs to the nearest Andy’s with her friends, Marrone was worried about being in a new city surrounded by unfamiliar people.

“It was honestly terrifying because I moved out here completely on my own,” Marrone said. “I didn’t have any friends out here. It was kind of scary going to a place where I didn’t have anybody and not necessarily knowing the city.”

While her experience has been positive, her mom, Charity Marrone, was worried about whether or not moving to LA was the best plan.

“At first I thought it was not a feasible idea,” Charity said. “It was kind of outlandish to think that she could go to LA. From everything I had heard LA was really expensive, hard to move to and not really 18-year-old appropriate most of the time.”

After all the housing details unfolded and the job information was clear, Charity

felt comfortable making the decision to send Adelaine across the country since they both were familiar with the family.

Marrone has enjoyed developing friendships with new people while strengthening her relationship with the family she’s been living with. Babysitting in KC, Marrone was not incredibly close with the family, but after spending more time together they have grown closer by swinging at the park and celebrating special occasions like birthdays with them.

Living in their guest house, Marrone was immediately welcomed into their family which she said was an incredible start to her life in LA — especially given the sacrifice of leaving her own family behind in KC, leaving communication only to Snapchat and FaceTime. Marrone’s cherished her moments spent with the kids going to movies and having picnics on the beach.

“I’m just a kid person and I love children and caring for them,” Marrone said. “At this point I feel like they’re my own kids, I love them to death.”

While Marrone sees the kids in the mornings and on weekends, her day doesn’t officially start until 2:15 when she picks the kids up from school and watches them for no more than four hours. In addition to an occasional weekend night, her schedule leaves her with plenty of time for Malibu beach days and daily visits to local coffee shops such as Bluestone Lane.

On the look out for new adventures, Marrone imagined someone would introduce themselves to her at a coffee shop, instantly make conversation and spark a friendship. Although, after a few months Marrone realized LA isn’t quite like the Midwest — people don’t always want to make friends and the culture in meeting people is different, especially since Marrone isn’t in a typical work environment surrounded by people her own age.

After researching “Best ways to make friends in a new city,” Marrone settled on downloading Bumble, a dating app, but selected the version to meet people that were mutually seeking friendships.

Marrone has spent her time with her friends driving down the lit streets to watch cotton-candy sunsets on the beach.

Having new friends to share these moments with in LA has made missing her friends in KC a little less painful.

Marrone’s younger sister, Sylvia Marrone, misses her but thinks the move has been successful for Adelaine because being forced to acclimate to LA has taught her valuable life skills, like the ability to form relationships with new people.

“I think she’s learned a lot like how to be more responsible from being with the kids,” Sylvia said. “Also she’s learned how to be more herself because she’s had to

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20 | PHOTOSTORY

C H I N ” C H I L L”A N W I T H

design by | aislinn menke

E XOT I C P E T S

Some East students don’t own ordinary cats or dogs . . .

FA R L E F T Sophomore Grace Knoff’s brother Bauer laughs while her other brother Charlie holds their chinchilla, Fluffy, with gloves so it won’t bite him.

LEFT Freshman Evyn Roberts Sphynx cat, Willow. “She really likes people, because she gets cold so she knows she has to be around other people because if she didn’t she’d freeze,” Roberts said.

LEFT The Knoff’s chinchilla, Fluffy, pokes its head out of its cage. “We’ve had the chinchilla for about two years,” Knoff said. photo by | emily pollock FA R L E F T Bauer Knoff holds the Knoff’s bearded dragon, Rex, while Charlie Knoff holds the top of its cage.

“We’ve had the bearded dragon for around two years.

We feed it diced up apples or crickets,” Knoff said.

RIGHT Roberts pets Willow while she looks outside.

“She’s really chill [...] she acts like a dog more than a cat, she’s crazy,” Roberts said. “She feels like a peach, she’s really soft [...] she’s good to sleep with because she gets really warm so she’s like a heater.”

A&E | 21

design by | elizabeth mikkelson photos and information courtesy of | netflix, amazon and spotify

A&E

REVIEWING A RECENT RELEASE

HIGHLIGHTS

Staffer’s take on Taylor Swift’s following her new Netflix documentary

The Harbinger hub for all things trending in the arts and entertainment world

A LOOK AT SPOTIFY’S TOP HITS THIS WEEK

ALBUM | CHANGES

A L B U M | N O T I M E TO D I E

R E L EAS E DAT E | F E B 1 4

R E L E AS E DAT E | F E B 1 3

From marriage to faith and his new outlook on life, Justin is reflecting on changes he’s experienced and the impact they’ve had on him

Eilish and brother Finneas wrote this song as the newest theme for the brand new James Bond Movie No Time to Die

SCAN ME | PLAYLIST

PLAYLIST PICKS YO U S H O U L D B E S A D | H A L S E Y

Check out the rest of Spotify’s top hits here and listen to them for yourself

FA L L I N G | T R E VO R DA N I E L B L I N D I N G L I G H TS | T H E W E E K N D LIFE IS GOOD | FUTURE & DRAKE

REILLY’S FILM RATINGS CHEER

TO A L L T H E B OYS

*****

*****

This gripping docuseries follows the ups and downs of Navarro College’s competitive cheer squad

A teenage girl’s love letters are exposed and wreak havoc on her life

R EA D L AU R E N D I E R KS ’S R E V I E W O F “ TO A L L T H E B OYS I ’ V E LOV E D B E FO R E : P. S . I ST I L L LOV E YO U ” O N PAG E 2 5

by

reilly moreland

LET ME PREFACE this: the first soundbite I ever heard from Taylor Swift was Reputation. I didn’t give Taylor a proper goaround growing up, despite her being one of the biggest faces of the music industry.

So when I heard Netf lix was releasing a documentary about the legendary country-turnedpop star, I knew I had to see it.

Despite my delayed entry to the Swiftie world, I’m now a hardcore fan —when her album, “Lover” dropped, I played it on loop for a week, screaming the lyrics to “Paper Rings” with coonline editor-in-chief Jackie Cameron in the journalism room.

After the Rockhurst game, I did not follow the crowd to the Chick-Fil-A drive thru, nor any kind of after party. Instead, I snuggled up in my bed with my mom’s computer ready to be blown away—but boy was I not prepared for the genuine and heartwarming story of how Taylor came to be.

The movie begins with Taylor reading through some of her old diaries, filled with song lyrics

from the wild haired, countrysinging Taylor, and montages of her singing when she was on the brink of fame. The movie covers different chapters of her life — writing the “Lover” album, Kanye West humiliating her at the VMA’s, her body image and political involvement.

For me, the most jawdropping moment was after Taylor won her first VMA for Best Female Video, and Kanye West took the mic from her and said, “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, Imma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.” The fact that one of the most famous rappers in the world could belittle a 17-year-old girl’s first VMA left me speechless.

Although I’m used to hearing Taylor through my radio, seeing her through my screen, I found the deeper look into her life, and what it’s like growing up in the music industry.

REILLY’S MISS AMERICANA TAKE BOY, I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THE GENUINE AND HEARTWARMING

M A R R I AG E STO RY

YO U

*****

*****

A stage director and his actor wife struggle through a gruelling, coastto-coast divorce

Joe Goldberg, meets Guinevere Beck, who he becomes immediately infatuated with

STORY OF HOW TAYLOR CAME TO BE SCAN ME | MOVIE Scan here to watch the trailer to Taylor Swift’s documentary “Miss Americana”

A&E | 21

design by | elizabeth mikkelson photos and information courtesy of | netflix, amazon and spotify

A&E

REVIEWING A RECENT RELEASE

HIGHLIGHTS

Staffer’s take on Taylor Swift’s following her new Netflix documentary

The Harbinger hub for all things trending in the arts and entertainment world

A LOOK AT SPOTIFY’S TOP HITS THIS WEEK

ALBUM | CHANGES

A L B U M | N O T I M E TO D I E

R E L EAS E DAT E | F E B 1 4

R E L E AS E DAT E | F E B 1 3

From marriage to faith and his new outlook on life, Justin is reflecting on changes he’s experienced and the impact they’ve had on him

Eilish and brother Finneas wrote this song as the newest theme for the brand new James Bond Movie No Time to Die

SCAN ME | PLAYLIST

PLAYLIST PICKS YO U S H O U L D B E S A D | H A L S E Y

Check out the rest of Spotify’s top hits here and listen to them for yourself

FA L L I N G | T R E VO R DA N I E L B L I N D I N G L I G H TS | T H E W E E K N D LIFE IS GOOD | FUTURE & DRAKE

REILLY’S FILM RATINGS CHEER

TO A L L T H E B OYS

*****

*****

This gripping docuseries follows the ups and downs of Navarro College’s competitive cheer squad

A teenage girl’s love letters are exposed and wreak havoc on her life

R EA D L AU R E N D I E R KS ’S R E V I E W O F “ TO A L L T H E B OYS I ’ V E LOV E D B E FO R E : P. S . I ST I L L LOV E YO U ” O N PAG E 2 5

by

reilly moreland

LET ME PREFACE this: the first soundbite I ever heard from Taylor Swift was Reputation. I didn’t give Taylor a proper goaround growing up, despite her being one of the biggest faces of the music industry.

So when I heard Netf lix was releasing a documentary about the legendary country-turnedpop star, I knew I had to see it.

Despite my delayed entry to the Swiftie world, I’m now a hardcore fan —when her album, “Lover” dropped, I played it on loop for a week, screaming the lyrics to “Paper Rings” with coonline editor-in-chief Jackie Cameron in the journalism room.

After the Rockhurst game, I did not follow the crowd to the Chick-Fil-A drive thru, nor any kind of after party. Instead, I snuggled up in my bed with my mom’s computer ready to be blown away—but boy was I not prepared for the genuine and heartwarming story of how Taylor came to be.

The movie begins with Taylor reading through some of her old diaries, filled with song lyrics

from the wild haired, countrysinging Taylor, and montages of her singing when she was on the brink of fame. The movie covers different chapters of her life — writing the “Lover” album, Kanye West humiliating her at the VMA’s, her body image and political involvement.

For me, the most jawdropping moment was after Taylor won her first VMA for Best Female Video, and Kanye West took the mic from her and said, “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, Imma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.” The fact that one of the most famous rappers in the world could belittle a 17-year-old girl’s first VMA left me speechless.

Although I’m used to hearing Taylor through my radio, seeing her through my screen, I found the deeper look into her life, and what it’s like growing up in the music industry.

REILLY’S MISS AMERICANA TAKE BOY, I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THE GENUINE AND HEARTWARMING

M A R R I AG E STO RY

YO U

*****

*****

A stage director and his actor wife struggle through a gruelling, coastto-coast divorce

Joe Goldberg, meets Guinevere Beck, who he becomes immediately infatuated with

STORY OF HOW TAYLOR CAME TO BE SCAN ME | MOVIE Scan here to watch the trailer to Taylor Swift’s documentary “Miss Americana”

C H Ior CKEN WA F F L E S 22 | A&E

Review of the new Sweet Combforts & Wingman Kitchen in Westport

ABOUT THE: DREAM

KEY INGREDIENTS O R EOS C H O C O L AT E S A U C E W H I T E C H O C O L AT E

R AT I N G

**** 4 / 5 S TA R S

W O U L D T RY AGA I N

F L AVO R FAC TO R

design by | lila tulp photos by | sarah golder story by | maddox mogenson IF THERE’S ANY PERFECT breakfast-and-dinner combo, it’s chicken and waffles. At first thought, a sweet and soft breakfast food paired with a savory and crunchy dinner food would result in nothing but a disgusted look and a bad tip. But something about chicken and waffles just works and these waffles were more than the usual subpar IHOP waffles.

Sweet Combforts and Wingman Chicken in Westport provides a split-experience restaurant that has two intense tastes — super sweet and perfectly savory. With a menu that features novelty honeycomb waffles, chicken sandwiches and hot wings from mild to burn-your-mouth hot, this two-in-one restaurant provides customers the chance to experience breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert in one sitting.

I ordered the Oreo-and-cream topped Cookies and Dream waffle and the Fruity-Pebbles-covered Bam Bam waffle for $5.95 each.

Based on the long list of ingredients in each item, I figured it would take at least 20 minutes to concoct, but in less than 10, they were on a plate in front of me.

Judging from the pictures I had seen on the restaurant’s wall and website, I had no idea what to expect from the Cookies and Dream besides a chocolatey fantasy — which is exactly what was produced.

The waffle was coated in chunks of Oreo and rivers of chocolate sauce. It looked like each attribute was placed purposely to create a perfect conglomeration of sweetness.

One bite in, I was in love.

The crunch of the Oreo, the smoothness of the chocolate sauce and the tenderness of the waffle all came together and made a harmony of perfection. The waffle itself tasted just like a funnel cake, throwing me back into my childhood days at the carnival.

It got a little annoying when I couldn’t avoid chewing on huge Oreo chunks, but with every bite, every doubt melted away.

I was in love. The crunch of the Oreo, the smoothness of the chocolate sauce, the tenderness of the waffle.

ABOUT THE: TENDERS KEY INGREDIENTS BREADING CHICKEN K E TC H U P

R AT I N G

***** 5 / 5 S TA R S

W O U L D T RY AGA I N

F L AVO R FAC TO R

ABOUT THE: BAM BAM KEY INGREDIENTS C H E E S EC A K E FRUITY PEBBLES W H I T E C H O C O L AT E

F L AVO R FAC TO R

R AT I N G

**

2 / 5 S TA R S W O U L D N O T T RY AGA I N

The pictures on the wall only slightly described the intensity of the Bam Bam waffle. But the pixelated images of the loud and rainbow-clad tragedy couldn’t prepare me for how interesting this waffle would be.

Unlike its Oreo counterpart, the Bam Bam waffle didn’t impress me at all. The first bite told me everything I needed to know — Fruity Pebbles and white chocolate on a waffle was something that never should have happened. I was honestly disappointed, considering I love all three ingredients individually. But as a trio, they leave an awful aftertaste that stays in your mouth and your brain for the rest of the night.

A few sips of water finally cleansed my palate to prepare for my favorite dish and the grand finale — chicken strips.

Anyone who knows me knows I order chicken strips from everywhere, from McDonald’s to Salty Iguana. This chicken had big standards to uphold.

Upon being served, the crispy and perfectly golden breading already started to make my mouth water. It was almost impossible to wait the three seconds it took to add ketchup.

But those strips were worth the wait.

The ketchup was cold, the chicken was warm and the taste was unparalleled. I’d never tasted chicken that crispy and perfectly chewy in my life. It was like finding a buried treasure that was rumored to be a myth.

The platter took me back to childhood memories at Houston’s on the Plaza with my past-favorite chicken tenders, leaving me almost emotionally attached to pieces of fried meat. I shed an internal tear as I finished the plate, knowing my stomach and bank account would regret another order of chicken for $8.95.

But with two grand-scheme waffles, a four-piece chicken tender and a flood of satisfaction and nostalgia for just about $25, Sweet Combforts and Wingman Kitchen are going to have to file a restraining order to keep me from coming back to indulge in their masterpieces of taste — but next time I’ll skip the Bam Bam.

A&E | 23

design by | caroline chisholm photos by | megan stopperan

A LO O K I N TO

STRANG HALL

New food hall in Old Overland Park left staffer wanting to visit the location again soon

by kaia monaco

I

f you Google Strang Hall, you’ll be brought to a page filled with pictures of professional meals. However, the restaurant itself resembles more of an upscale food court than the expected trendy cafe.

Strang Hall, located at Metcalf and 80th, contains eight different kitchens lining the wall that seem to offer everything: chicken, coffee, Mexican, Asian, pizza, sandwiches, superfoods and even cocktails. The biggest factor that separates it from the average food court is the calm atmosphere, with its subtle instrumental music and clean, wood design.

The first thing I noticed during my visit was how packed the space was. There were people sitting all over – working at tables, chatting with friends at the bar or simply reading a book in a booth. Despite the quiet environment, it was a little overwhelming at first to decide what I wanted to order.

Each kitchen’s menu had at least 10-15 items to choose from, ranging from $5-18.

I was forced to take several laps around the building just to gauge all my options. I

eventually decided to play it safe and order a vanilla latte from Strang Coffee, instead of the other espresso or tea options.

The biggest problem was the restaurant doesn’t work with cash — only cards. Since I only had cash, I had to exchange it for a “Strang Card”, a card you load up with any amount of money at the bar to use at whatever kitchen you want.

Once I became the owner of a new “Strang Card,” I swiped it at the coffee station and picked up my $6 eight-ounce vanilla latte — which was nowhere near deserving of its price. I was already unimpressed by the presentation — a plain, black-and-white coffee cup. The latte itself was subpar. The espresso wasn’t very strong, the texture was weirdly creamy and the taste reminded me of watered-down hot chocolate.

I wasn’t pleased with my coffee, but the smell of the restaurant’s food kept me optimistic. I chose to eat at Norcini, the kitchen specializing in pizzas and sandwiches. I ignored my instincts to order a plain old cheese pizza and went with the eight-inch Incendio — a pizza topped with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, basil, chile

flakes, garlic, evoo and salsa rossa. Within just 10 minutes of ordering I received a text notifying me that my lunch was ready.

Judging the $12 pizza, I was pleased with the presentation — each slice was perfected with a sliced tomato and basil leaf. It was more misshapen than a normal round pizza, adding to the homemade feel of it.

Along with that, the aroma of cheese and tomato goodness made my mouth water. I immediately noticed how oily the pizza was.

Not in a greasy way, but more in a way that seemed like the chef had added an olive oil drizzle to it as a final touch.

The restaurant is only seven minutes from East, and the quiet atmosphere provides the perfect place to grab a bite with friends.

kaia monaco | sophomore It was at that point I realized I had no napkins and spotted a service bar set up in a corner. This station was stocked with

utensils, cloth and paper napkins, soda dispensers and boxes to take meals to-go — in true cafeteria style.

After I’d gotten past the olive oil, I began noticing the other flavors of the pizza. No one flavor of the pizza was too overbearing — the sauce and cheese amounts were just right. The basil leaves and tomatoes added a nice flavor of refinement without tasting too much like a garden pizza. My only complaint was the chile flakes that seemed to be sprinkled right on the crust — my mouth was on fire. I boxed up my pizza and left my dishes for the workers to clean, just as the sign at the door instructed.

The coffee may have been a bust, but my savory pizza made up for it. The restaurant is only seven minutes from East, and the quiet atmosphere provides the perfect place to grab a bite with friends. Some items may be more on the expensive side, but overall the prices are pretty reasonable — $8 for a pizza or $7 for a salad. There are countless options on the menu I haven’t even tried, so Strang Hall will be seeing me again, lapping around the building searching for more to indulge in.

design by | kate heitmann photos by | megan biles

24 | A&E

SOCC E R FO R A LOT YOU’D EXPECT A warehouse of sweaty people to reek of B.O. and send you back to eighth grade gym class, but the smell of turf and hot pizza rolls fills the warehouse to the top.

Two indoor-sized fields occupy the left side of the building surrounded by nets, giving a sense of closure and safety to each field.

In between each field are two bleachers that gift a front row seat to all the parents and observers watching the game.

The rest of the tall ceiling space is decorated with string lights, dangling professional soccer scarfs and urban planters — urging me to add a post to my Instagram feed.

Even if playing soccer isn’t your thing, the giant screen projecting professional sports games might be the place for you. With foosball

tables and a snack shack, the World Cup or the NBA All Star game becomes the cinematic focus.

Hugging the right wall is the heart of the warehouse — the snack shack. During halftime players and spectators can splurge on Pizza Rolls, nachos, candy and soda offered to everyone — it might even stall your annoying siblings from whining through your game.

And if older than 21 and feeling the need for a beer or alcoholic beverage, the bar area of the shack is only a few feet away.

Don’t worry, you aren’t expected to balance hot nachos on your lap while sitting on the bleachers.

Wooden picnic tables are scattered around the snack shack providing the perfect view to pay attention to the fields and the screen.

Indoor soccer warehouse, Soccer Lot welcomes players of all skill levels to play pickup games, join a league or hang out by lauren west

JUST BEFORE MERGING onto I-35 from Southwest Blvd, an image of the Kansas City Skyline dominates the view. But past the ramp is a small warehouse with a neon blue logo contrasting the brick exterior — Soccer Lot. Unlike any other indoor sport spaces, Soccer Lot offers pickup games — a show-up-and-play kind of schedule — to provide a healthy and fun way to improve soccer skills, hang with friends or sit back and enjoy the game with a soda and popcorn.

T H E AT M O S P H E R E

T H E GA M E

SOCCER LOT IS also different from other indoor locations because of the size of the field. Five-a-side is a popular style of play in the UK that is becoming more popular in America. Instead of a typical 200’ by 85’ field, five-a-side is played on a 100’ by 50’ field with five players on each team, instead of the usual 6v6.

The smaller space and team allows for players to work on footwork, create space in a small area and execute moves at a fast pace. According to SoccerLot. com, the game is still challenging for experts who play against each other while being beneficial for beginners to gain experience touching the ball.

Soccer Lot has both competitive and non-competitive leagues to join at youth and adult levels. They offer camps, practices, tournaments, parties and events and pickup games.

It costs $8 and a signature on a waiver — if 18 years or older — or $30 for a team of five to play in pickup games. Posted on Soccer Lot’s website and social media are all of the daily pickup games.

The order of which team starts first depends on which color of penny is up first on the side of the field. Two teams have five minutes to score and if neither team scores then the next two teams in line come in. If one of the teams scores, they continue to play until they’re defeated.

If your soccer skills aren’t up to date like mine are, no worries. The two fields are divided into an easy and hard side and within that teams are divided into five players. Anyone is welcome to play or watch whether they come with or without a team — sorry if you get stuck with me.

A&E | 25

design by | catherine erickson photos by | maggie klump

ROM-COM

2

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before P.S. IT’S A MUST WATCH

***

the rev iew is out.

TO A L L T H E B OYS 3 S TA R S

by brynn winkler BASED ON ITS mushy trailer with shots

of a lovestruck couple stealing sheepish glances across crowded rooms, I wasn’t expecting “The Photograph” to live up to one of the greatest romantic movies of all time. Though the casting of the movie was up to par with “The Notebook” and its soundtrack rivaled that of “A Star is Born,” the unfocused plot inhibited the Valentine’s Day hit from surpassing mediocrity.

The soundtrack was a soulful collection of R&B oldies and trendy hits by artists like H.E.R. and Anderson .Paak, along with a sensual jazz score

by Robert Glasper.

Because the film takes place in two different time periods and parts of the United States — jumping from 1980s Louisiana to present-day New York City — the soundtrack was key in connecting the two plots.

However, director Stella Meghie failed to fluidly merge the two plotlines — one about photographer Christina Eames and the other about her daughter Mae. Instead of intertwining the character’s stories to show the universality of human emotion and

Review of two recently released rom-coms — “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You” and “The Photograph”

by lauren dierks AT THIS POINT in the school year, I’d take any form of entertainment over finishing my CAT packet or reviewing an Anatomy Quizlet — including a sappy rom-com. After watching the original “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” movie, I was convinced I’d fallen in love with Peter Kavinksy too. So with the release of the sequel, “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You” on Netflix, I couldn’t help but rekindle my obsession.

Before I started the movie I had prepared myself for the warped depiction of high school relationships and drama that comes with the cheesiness of Netflix original romcoms. Though I knew what to expect, I still found myself surprised at the characters’ abundance of free-time as if homework didn’t exist.

The classic popular-jock-falls-forquiet-girl plot from the first movie carried over to the sequel with Lara Jean Covey and Peter Kavinsky as the “picture perfect” couple. It’s hard to disagree that their relationship is cute, but it’s far from realistic. The all too common in-school PDA and promises

experience, the lack of focus hindered character development and took away any sense of suspense — I didn’t have to finish the movie to know the guy would get the girl in the end.

The movie opens up with a video of a 20-something-year-old Christina, and then jumps ahead to present-day New York where her daughter Mae, played

by Issa Rae, and Michael, a reporter played by LaKeith Stanfield, are falling for each other.

The movie continues to jump back and forth, and slowly the viewer realizes how the two plots intertwine — Michael is writing a story about the young love Christina left to pursue photography in New York.

About 45 minutes too late, it finally became clear that the main conflict in the plot was Mae reading a letter from her mother, who recently passed away, and realizing she didn’t want to make the same mistake of running away from love in her own life. But Meghie didn’t effectively present this to audiences, failing to include a well-flowing beginning, climax and falling action.

The real reason I remained invested in the movie was the sheer talent of the

to “never break each other’s hearts” are not regular occurrences in a relationship — especially in high school.

Things get more realistic when a jealous Peter and a self-conscious Lara Jean begin fighting. Peter acts out when Lara Jean spends more time volunteering with a boy she had history with from sixth grade, John Ambrose McClaren, and Lara Jean can’t help but feel second best to Peter’s ex. The two break up because of the tension — the most realistic part of the sequel.

After their breakup Lara Jean starts to have feelings for John Ambrose. He’s no Peter Kavinsky, but I did develop a soft spot in my heart for John Ambrose.

His big smiles at the sight of Lara Jean and his subtle reminders that chivalry isn’t dead made it obvious he loved her.

But this only made it more upsetting when Lara Jean led him on, only to get back with Peter in the end.

The only problem with John Ambrose was his severe lack of conversation topics other than reminiscing over elementary school. Every encounter started with “remember when...” We get it, you had a crush on each other

actors. Issa Rae and LaKeith Stanfield’s chemistry on screen was impressive, and Chanté Adams, who played young Christina, was remarkable at getting the audience on her side during her heart-wrenching journey.

Michael’s brother, played by Lil Rel Howery, added some natural comedic relief about Michael’s “player” lifestyle that I wish I could have seen more of.

The actors were able to shine despite the disastrous plot that tired too hard to get the two stories to mirror each other.

Ultimately, the likable and interesting characters kept me invested until the inevitable ending where Michael and Mae reunited and committed themselves to their relationship — although this cliché event had a modern twist: it took place in a crowd outside of a Kendrick Lamar concert.

With the genius soundtrack and casting, I was hoping to add this to my list of rom-com favorites — but the resulting product was disappointing.

when you were little, try asking a simple “what have you been up to?” I would have liked to get more background on him other than that he dressed up as a deviled egg for sixth grade Halloween.

Although I liked the little fling these two had, it was obvious it wouldn’t last.

I wasn’t surprised when Lara Jean and Peter ended up together, but it didn’t have the closure that I needed.

There was no mention of the unresolved fight that caused their break up less than 10 minutes ago. Maybe it’s just my stubborn personality, but ending a fight in “let’s never fight again” was almost as bad as them claiming to be ‘together forever’ two minutes into the movie. The flat plot was underwhelming considering they ended the movie in the same place they started. I was expecting more drama than I was given — leaving me slightly disappointed.

As expected in rom-coms, the movie had obvious flaws, but the unrealistic depiction of high school and melodramatic relationships are what make the movie comical. The unrealistic drama drew me in — even if I was on the verge of cringing the whole time.

THE

P H OTO G R A P H

**

THE PHOTOGRAPH 2 . 5 S TA R S

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SPORTS| 27

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S P O RTS

HIGHLIGHTS

AT H L E T E ’ S T A K E HOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR THE SEASON?

track & field

O L AT H E L A N E S E A S T B O W L I N G C E N T E R

I have been going to winter conditioning as much as my schedule allows. I also did a meet in January at KU with some track friends from East before our season starts to see how we are doing.

G I R L S B A S K E T B A L L | VA R S I T Y G A M E V S .

lucille winter | junior

Updates, schedules and quotes about the winter sport season

COMING UP THIS WEEK B O W L I N G | VA R S I T Y & J V M E E T 2 / 2 4 @

S H AW N E E M I S S I O N S O U T H 2 / 2 7 @ S M E

boys tennis

W R E S T L I N G | B O Y S VA R S I T Y S T A T E 2 / 2 8 - 2 9 @ W I C H I TA S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

M A R K YO U R C A L E N DA R FEB

25

MAR

2

B OYS & G I R L S

ALL SPORTS | FIRST

BASKETBALL | SENIOR

D AY O F A L L S P R I N G

N I G H T V S . O L AT H E

SPORTS

A B OV E | Senior Nick Arensberg dribbles during the Varsity game against Lawrence Free State. photo by | annakate dilks

WEST @ SME

I am preparing by playing KCUT 4-5 times a week. I have been playing some tournaments and getting ready for a fun season.

Lots of competition based stuff just to get me ready to play matches every day.

hudson mosher | junior

STUDENT POLLS ARE YOU TRYING OUT FOR A SPRING SPORT? | 299 VOTES

60% YES 40% NO DO GIRLS SPORTS GET ENOUGH RECOGNITION? | 299 VOTES

27% NO 73% YES SCAN ME | WEBSITE Go to the Harbinger website to view a gallery from the boys Varsity basketball game against Olathe Northwest

L E F T | Senior Lily Ogg performs at the Lancer Dancer halftime show during the boys Varsity game against Olathe Northwest. photo by | julia percy

A B O V E | Freshman George Kopp runs in towards the basket to make a layup during the freshman game against Rockhurst. photo by | maggie klumpp

28 | SPORTS

FENCING F U TURE

FOR A

by

grace allen

A

design by | sarah bledsoe illistration by | sophie henschel photo by | noelle griffin

mong the swimmers, gymnasts and pole vaulters, second– grader Melissa Kline fixated on one sport — fencing– during the summer olympics. She fixated on the white suits and sword-like weapons dueling on her TV screen. From that moment on, now Freshman Kline wanted to be an Olympic fencer.

“Every single year I would ask my mom to sign me up and finally one day she did,” Kline said.

Since beginning lessons when Kline was in sixth grade, fencing has allowed her to travel the country for competitions. Some require a 20-minute bus ride to the local fencing arena,some are held west of Wyoming. Kline travels these long distances to prove her talent to college scouts and competitive advisors.

In her fencing class, Kline is the only girl of ten students — but she doesn’t mind. In fact, she feels being surrounded my male athletes makes her a better fencer.

“We all help each other to get better at tournaments. Even though we are all different ages, we all go to tournaments and cheer us on,” Kline said.

They push each other to become better fencers by addressing mistakes directly — if someone isn’t picking up on foot work, they stop and fix it. Sometimes, in between lessons, older teammates will tutor Kline in biology when she doesn’t understand the concept. And after spending hours at tournaments, trips to grab ice cream and hang out are pretty common.

When the team travels state after state to compete, she and her

Eve r y s i n g l e ye a r I wo u l d a s k my m o m to s i g n m e u p a n d fi n a l l y, o n e d ay s h e d i d melissa kline | freshman

H OW TO :

M AS KS

F E N C I N G S A F E LY

B R E A S T P L AT E

B R E EC H E S T EAT H E R : L I N K I N G TO E L EC T RO N I C S CO R I G SYST E M

WEAPON

teammates are not allowed to warm up with each other because of the age and gender differences. It gives Kline an opportunity to find new sparring partners — allowing her to meet new people along the way– and keeps each member independent in their own right.

Freshman Jillian Poplau, a close friend of Kline’s, admires how Kline is open to meeting new people instead of sticking with the same clan every tournament.

“She makes amazing friendships through it and is always talking about the people,” Poplau said. “You can tell she really cares about it and the people she has met there.”

Kline owes her passion not only to the sport, but to her coaches who have trained her. When her Bulgarian coaches left the country for their hometown after a family member died, Kline competed without her coaches. Though she earned first place, Kline felt lost without the coaches that she relied on.

Her coaches’ father passed a family heirloom to Kline after watching the same tournament on TV from Bulgaria. The necklace has been passed down to members of their family, and now has been passed down to Kline because of the close bond she shares with them.

“I’m the only one on the team who has that and it’s kinda like I’m part of the family,” Kline said.

On the off-season, Kline builds her savings account buy refereeing at fencing tournaments. She also gives private lessons and volunteers to help younger kids at her club who are just beginning.

With college approaching fast, Kline continues to train with the goal of earning a scholarship to one of her many dream schools– Notre Dame, Northwestern or the Air Force Academy. At every tournament with college scouts in the audience, Kline thinks of her long term goal: the Olympics.

After reaching the college level, Kline hopes to continue on to world championships, which would qualify her to compete in the Olympics. She hopes to medal in the Olympics – just like the fencers on her TV in second grade.

SPORTS | 29

design by | annabelle moore

G E TC H A G I R L S

I N T H E GA M E Girls sports such as basketball and soccer get far less attention than boys

by grace tucker

S

A B O V E | JV girls basketball and Varsity girls soccer during games. photos by | megan stopperan

enior Nick Arensberg went up for a layup four seconds before the buzzer rang at the East versus Rockhurst boys’ varsity basketball game. As the game-winning shot swished through the net, 600 students came thundering down the bleachers and stormed the court — more than the administrators could handle.

The crowd was filled with East students, parents, alumni and middle schoolers who came to support the team. This was East’s first win against Rockhurst in three years and everyone was ecstatic. But if the game had been played by 10 girls instead of 10 boys, would the win have gotten nearly as much attention — even with the biggest game winning shot in East history?

There is a stark, disappointing contrast of attendance within the crowds of girls’ and boys’ sports games. Boys’ games fan base tends to fill the bleachers while the girls games sometimes fill half. Sophomore basketball player, Duncan McKnight, claims that this may be because the boys make more contact in their games and contact is what makes the game entertaining to watch.

Junior and girls’ Varsity basketball player Sarah Bingham notices the almost-empty stands, besides the crowded parent section, at nearly all of her games as she’s introduced. The student section only fills up at the end of the girls’ game when students try to snag good seats for the upcoming boys’ game.

As she sits in the stands of the boys’ games after a tough victory against Shawnee Mission West, Bingham observes the vitality among the crowd. She imagines — but can’t always be sure — if her team would have a higher chance of winning with a crowd like that. This year, the girls hold a record of 8-8, and the boys 10-8. The records are similar, but the attention is not.

Even when the girls earned a winning record last year for the first time in years, the JV boys basketball team games averaged a higher attendance rate than girls Varsity. According to Bingham, she and her team would like to be more appreciated since they put in the same amount of work, but don’t get the same school love.

Senior and boys Varsity soccer player Hunter Cooper enjoys attending the girls soccer games because it’s easier to watch and interact with the players in a smaller crowd. According to Cooper, if more people came to the games he thinks that students would come to the realization that they misjudged the quality of their games all along.

Cooper feels that not many people even consider going to girls games. They just assume that the boys games will be more fun — not to mention that since most people go to the boys games, other people just follow and do the same.

“I feel like people don’t really know about the girls’ games,” Cooper said. “Basically, they don’t pay attention to them so they don’t know what to expect.”

The girls’ soccer team usually experiences the same sparse crowd as girls basketball — family members sprinkled throughout the stands, some students who’ve come out to support their athlete friends and the occasional boyfriend.

Senior and girls Varsity soccer player Karoline Nelson believes the team deserves a bigger crowd than they normally have. Last year, the girls varsity team record was 16-2-1, and this year the team has a total of 11 seniors, five of which are committed to college for soccer — Nelson, herself, committed to play Division 1 soccer at the University of Denver.

I feel like people don’t really know about the girls’ games.

Basically, they don’t pay attention to them so they don’t know what to expect.”

hunter cooper | senior Colleges chose those five girls specifically to play and benefit their college teams. This shows the skill level the team must have, as a good number of them are college bound soccer players, and they are only in high school.

Nelson is used to having large holes in the crowds at their games, but this year expects to see more filled stands in their games against rivals, Shawnee Mission South and Shawnee mission West — both of which always draw a bigger crowd than the others. According to Nelson, the only times the student section has a reasonable amount of people is towards the end of their season or on senior night, and the girls soccer team even has a big chance at making it to state.

“It’s embarrassing when we play other schools who have a larger student section, and then we have almost no one,” Nelson said. “I would love if more people came and watched our games, especially because there aren’t many other sports taking place during our season.”

30 | SPORTS

design by | elizabeth mikkelson illustrations by | sarah bledsoe

C I TY OF

C H AM PI ONS From the ups and downs throughout the years of Kansas City’s home sports teams, the city is like no other when it comes to dedicated fans’ pride and support

T

by caroline chisholm

he city was energized as Damien Williams ran down the sideline, ensuring a Chiefs win with one minute left of the fourth quarter of the biggest game of the year, Super Bowl LIV. Kansas City natives decked in blue chanted “MOOOSEEE!!!” along side streets downtown during the Royals World Series parade in 2015. In the drop-dead cold winter, fans raved in Children’s Mercy Park as hometown heroes of Sporting KC snowangeled in confetti after their 2013 MLS Championship Cup victory.

At the Super Bowl rally this past month, Chiefs star and tight end Travis Kelce was able to summarize the feeling all KC natives and sports fans possess...

“I love this city to death.”

A majority of Kansans have heard the “So, do you live on a farm?” question when traveling anywhere else in the country, but us KC natives know we’re sporting more than jean overalls with our accomplished teams and spirited fanbase.

KC is the only city to win the NFL, MLB and MLS championships since the MLS launched in 1996. While the Chiefs don’t have multiple rings like Tom Brady and the Royals are constantly ‘rebuilding,’ there is uniqueness in the support and pride our teams rally.

It’s high-fiving the stranger painted in blue next to you in the stands as your city’s soccer team wins their fourth Open Cup in 13 years. It’s staying faithful to your baseball boys in blue 30 years after their last World Series victory, never doubting that they’ll soon win again. It’s the unique relationships and dreams that we build by watching our favorite KC teams make our

stereotypically “boring-as-a-cornfield” state proud.

Even non-sports fanatics feel the electricity in the halls on Red Fridays from the die-hard football fans loudly cheering “Chiefs!” or join in on the game highlights conversation in class.

KC pride translates from the stay-athome-mom-filled suburb of Fairway to the rustling crowds near Union Station. The excitement comes with our monumental wins and our fan loyalty even through the gap years of loss.

The city’s accomplishments starts conversation among all hometown hearts. You can’t go through the checkout line at Hen House without hearing the employee say “How ‘bout them Royals?!” Chiefs, Sporting and Royals flags deck the front of every other house during each season.

Even after 50 years of going Super Bowl less, the Chiefs stadium never showed it because KC fans aren’t bandwagon fans. They don’t linger to other teams when their local stars are experiencing a losing streak. Instead they go to every game whether it’s wrapped in coats during a blizzard-like snow or with their thighs stuck to the stadium seat in KC ’s unpredictably hot summers.

Our teams bring us a sense of home despite our flyover state status to the rest of the country. We wear our hometown pride on our sleeves unlike bigger-city goers.

Even artists Post Malone and Dustin Lynch dressed themselves in Patrick Mahomes jerseys during their concerts in the weeks following the Chiefs’ win.

Malone had to pause mid-concert to tomahawk chop with the crowd — the roaring sound of KC ’s hometown pride literally drowns out the music.

The success of our three major teams has created a sense of unity in the community, and further highlights the pride KC natives have. Blue-dyed fountains signal to locals as they pass

through the Plaza of a Royals game day.

Red Friday deals at local businesses get the city in the mood for fun-filled weekends. I mean, I won’t turn down a free pastry at my favorite local bakery for wearing my Chiefs jersey proudly.

Players like star Sporting KC defender Matt Besler have become role models for young athletes in the city.

Playing both locally and nationally with the U.S. Men’s national team, Besler has shown that childhood dreams can become a reality –– even when growing up in Tornado Country.

Season ticket holders build friendships with the regulars in the row in front of them because they know that even though their hometown isn’t on the “25 best US cities to visit”, their team is truly the best — and when the goals are scored, hugging and cheering alongside a perfect stranger isn’t strange, but communal and prideful.

It doesn’t seem weird to walk up to the family who sits behind mine in Children’s Mercy park from March to Oct. at French Market when I see them enjoying their meal. Awkward small talk isn’t a problem in home stadiums because everyone there is there to talk about the same thing — our pride in KC. While the rest of the U.S. thinks we are tending to our wheat fields, KC natives are coming together to celebrate the highs and the lows of our favorite teams. Although KC pride goes beyond just sports, it is undeniable that our three champion teams lift the city to a whole new level.

At the Super Bowl rally this past month, Chiefs star and tight end Travis Kelce was able to summarize the feeling all KC natives and sports fans possess...

“I love this city to death.”

2013

SPORTING KC WON THE MLS CUP AT SPORTING PARK VERSUS REAL SALT LAKE AFTER REGULATION TIME AND EXTRA TIME

2015

THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS WON THE MLB WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP AGAINST THE NEW YORK METS, WINNING BY 3 GAMES

2020

THE CHIEFS WON SUPER BOWL LIV WITH A SCORE OF 31-20 AGAINST THE SAN FRANISCO 49ERS

32 | ALT-COPY

design & copy by | rose kanaley

LEAP 1 6 4 1,

1 I Nl e a re b oar nr o n peo

p ye ap a le

F E B R U A RY

29 YEAR by rose kanaley

Leap year is a holiday that gives everyone an extra day to spend recognizing and doing things one normally wouldn’t

IF YOU’RE ANYTHING like me, you understand (after watching my favorite episode of Modern Family) that leap year signifies more than just a day of catching up with Earth’s alignment of the sun — it’s a whole extra day of the year. 24 extra hours to do any-

thing. It seems unfitting to spend this day studying for my calc test or getting lunch at the usual spots, so I’ve come up with the best ways to spend Feb. 29 this year, with things I would never think to do otherwise — it’s gotta be special.

TA L K A B O U T T R A D I T I O N

W H AT ’ S T H E D E A L

DEAL Best deals and specials on Leap Day

T RO P I C A L S N O F R E E 8 OZ S N OW O P E N I N G DAY I N H O N O R O F L EA P Y EA R

PIZZA HUT F R E E P E RS O N A L P I Z Z A I F B O R N O N L EA P Y EA R

T RO P I C A L S M O OT H I E 24 OZ S M OOT H I E SA L E D EA LS FO R M E M B E RS O N C L AS S I C S M O OT H I E S

It’s my fourth birthday. You have to explain it to people a lot. It’s fine, I don’t usually notice because I celebrate on the 28th usually, but a lot of people are like ‘Wait, so you’re like eight?’ I always can say a fun fact about myself when teachers ask is that my birthday’s on a leap year.

jane theide | sophomore

365

.24

day s i n s t e i n a ye a a r o n e d w e h ­b u t a ve leap eve ye a r w i t h y 4 ye a r rs 366 day s

LEAP YEAR MEANS different things in cultures around the world. It’s an Irish tradition that leap day is known as Bachelor’s day, where women are supposed to ask men to dance or even propose to them. Let’s be clear, I’m not telling you to propose to someone on Feb. 29, but it’s

a real tradition people follow.

If the man proposed to says no, he has to buy a fur coat or silk dress for the woman (so either way not a bad option). Most of you (probably) aren’t planning on following these traditions this leap day, but we can all be on the lookout.

T H E S P I RI T UA L S I D E LEAP YEAR, TO my surprise, is also considered to be a spiritual time in many cultures. I think of it to be like an underrated New Years, where you can set goals for the next four years instead.

As far as spirituality, leap years are said to be

lucky years filled with enthusiasm, optimism, love and compassion. I hope that’s true, but either way it’s great time to start setting goals and looking into the future.

MAKING THE CHOICES THERE’S NEVER A bad time to take advantage of your surroundings, but leap day is especially ideal. Lawrence may be a 45 minute drive, but the Leap Year Lawrence Fest will feature various pop and reggae artists like Jay Canter and Nitemirror. And the KC area has concerts featuring all sorts of genres — from Bay Faction to the Kansas City Symphony. Or if you’re not feeling particularly musical, there’s always the option of making a fun day out of it to do ac-

tivities you normally wouldn’t. Lucky for you, it’s on a Saturday so you won’t have to miss any school to explore anything from the cooking competition being offered at the Culinary Center of Kansas City to a workout contest through Warhorse Games KC. Kansas City weather is too unpredictable to look at spending a day hammocking or outside guaranteed, but using the day to get well needed rest from all the bio homework is also an understandable choice.

L AW R E N C E L E A P Y E A R F E S T

DAV E M A S O N C O N C E R T

M U S I C F E ST I VA L I N H O N O R O F L EA P DAY

T H E F E E L I N ’ A L R I G H T TO U R

@ T H E GAS L I G H T GA R D E N S

@ VOO D OO AT H A R R A H ’S K A N SAS C I T Y

PHOTOSTORY | 31

design by | kate nixon

PLUNGING INTO THE SEASON The girls’ varsity swim team volunteered at the Special Olympics Polar Plunge on Saturday to kick off their season officially starting March 2

A B O V E Senior Anna Gunderman and sophomore Rachael Stiles pose for a picture after accidentally running the 5K. “We just kept running [to the water station we were supposed yo man] and then...people in the race started passing us...and then we finally thought we saw it but it was the two mile marker and... then we just decided to finish the course,” Gunderman said. photo by | sarah golder

T O P Seniors Elizabeth Sandstrom and Anna Gunderman move a table full of medals. photo by | trevor paulus

FAR ABOVE Sophomores Meg Gunderman and Anne Deedy stand by a table of medals while cheering runners on.

ABOVE Seniors Kathleen Deedy and Claire Stiles laugh while Rachael Stiles tells them how she accidentally ran the 5K. RIGHT Sophomore Rachael Stiles and seniors Anna Gunderman and Kathleen Deedy take tabs off of time trackers used on runner’s shoes. photos by | sarah golder

M I D D L E Seniors Claire Stiles, Kathleen Deedy and sophomore Lucy Kostner watch as participants jump into the lake at Shawnee Mission Park. “We were watching the first group of people get in the water for the plunge, and I was thinking there was absolutely no way anyone would ever talk me into doing that, it looked so cold,” Deedy said. photo by | aislinn menke

32 | ALT-COPY

design & copy by | rose kanaley

LEAP YEAR

february

29

Leap year is a holiday that gives everyone an extra day to spend recognizing and doing things one normally wouldn’t

by rose kanaley

IF YOU’RE ANYTHING like me, you understand (after watching my favorite episode of Modern Family) that leap year signifies more than just a day of catching up with Earth’s alignment of the sun — it’s a whole extra day of the year. 24 extra hours to do any-

thing. It seems unfitting to spend this day studying for my calc test or getting lunch at the usual spots, so I’ve come up with the best ways to spend Feb. 29 this year, with things I would never think to do otherwise — it’s gotta be special.

1 IN 1,461 people are born on a leap year

TA L K A B O U T T R A D I T I O N LEAP YEAR MEANS different things in cultures around the world. It’s an Irish tradition that leap day is known as Bachelor’s day, where women are supposed to ask men to dance or even propose to them. Let’s be clear, I’m not telling you to propose to someone on Feb. 29, but it’s a real tradition

BEST DEALS TRO PIC A L S NO free 8 oz sn ow cone

people follow. If the man proposed to says no, he has to buy a fur coat or silk dress for the woman (so either way not a bad option).

Most of you (probably) aren’t planning on following these traditions this leap day, but we can all be on the lookout.

T H E S P I RI T UA L S I D E LEAP YEAR, TO my surprise, is also considered to be a spiritual time in many cultures. I think of it to be like an underrated New Years, where you can set goals for the next four years instead. As far as spir-

ituality, leap years are said to be lucky years filled with enthusiasm, optimism, love and compassion. I hope that’s true, but either way it’s great time to start setting goals and looking into the future.

365.24

days in a year ­but instead we have one leap year every 4 years with 366 days

opening day in honor of leap year

PIZZA HUT free p ersonal pizza if someone’s born on leap year

TRO P IC A L S M OOT HIE 2 4 oz s m oot hie sale deals for members on classic smoothies

It’s my fourth birthday. You have to explain it to people a lot. It’s fine, I don’t usually notice because I celebrate on the 28th usually, but a lot of people are like ‘Wait, so you’re like eight?’

I always can say a fun fact about myself when teachers ask is that my birthday’s on a leap year.

jane theide | sophomore

MAKING THE CHOICES THERE’S NEVER A bad time to take advantage of your surroundings, but leap day is especially ideal. Lawrence may be a 45 minute drive, but the Leap Year Lawrence Fest will feature various pop and reggae artists like Jay Canter and Nitemirror. And the KC area has concerts featuring all sorts of genres — from Bay Faction to the Kansas City Symphony. Or if you’re not feeling particularly musical, there’s always the option of making a fun day out of it to do activi-

ties you normally wouldn’t. Lucky for you, it’s on a Saturday so you won’t have to miss any school to explore anything from the cooking competition being offered at the Culinary Center of Kansas City to a workout contest through Warhorse Games KC. Kansas City weather is too unpredictable to look at spending a day hammocking or outside guaranteed, but using the day to get well needed rest from all the bio homework is also an understandable choice.