SHAWNEE MISSION EAST
7500 MISSION ROAD
PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS 66208
APRIL 10, 2023
VOLUME LXV
ISSUE 14
In lieu of Autism Acceptance Month, students and members of the East community share their unique perspectives on autism that often go unseen
See what’s happening at a different U.S. high school through their newspaper coverage
smeharbinger.net
What current events are students and staff talking about?
MARCH 1 INTERNATIONAL WEEK CULTURE FAIR
ST. MARK’S SCHOOL of Texas celebrated their International Week, in which students educated each other about their diverse international cultures through activities and food.
ALUM COMPLETES PACIFIC CREST HIKE
ST. MARK’S ALUM Alan Rosenthal recently completed a through-hike on the Pacifc Crest trail from the Northern border of Mexico to the Southern border of Canada.
Visit the website of Saint Mark’s School of Texas news publication, The ReMarker
RIGHT Students gather in the Great Hall for the International Week Potluck, which featured foods from a variety of cultures around the world. photo by I bijaan noormohamed
View online photo galleries of the girls
JV lacrosse team’s defeat of St. James Academy 9-7 and the girls varsity team’s defeat of Park 24-9
PRINT EDITORS
Peyton Moore
Francesca Stamati
ONLINE EDITORS
Lyda Cosgrove
Kate Heitmann
ASST. PRINT
EDITORS
Greyson Imm
Katie Murphy
ASST. ONLINE EDITORS
Aanya Bansal
Maggie Kissick
PHOTO EDITORS
Rachel Bingham
Hadley Chapman
Macy Crosser
ASST. PHOTO EDITORS
Liv Madden
Riley Scott
HEAD COPY EDITORS
Caroline Gould
Caroline Wood
ASST. HEAD COPY EDITORS
Aanya Bansal Greyson Imm DESIGN EDITORS
Nora Lynn
Anna Mitchell
ASST. DESIGN EDITOR
Bridget Connelly
VIDEO EDITORS
Abby Lee
David Allegri
PODCAST EDITOR
Emma Krause
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS
Mia Vogel
Paige Zadoo
ASST. SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
Bridget Connelly
SECTION EDITORS PRINT NEWS
Addie Moore
ONLINE NEWS
Hassan Sufi
ONLINE FEATURES
Ben Bradley
PRINT SPORTS
Ava Cooper
PRINT EDITORIAL
Sophie Lindberg
ONLINE OPINION
Larkin Brundige
PRINT A&E
Veronica Mangine
STAFF WRITERS
Isabel Baldassaro
Sophia Brockmeier
Larkin Brundige
Maggie Condon
Mary Gagen
Avie Koeneman
Libby Marsh
Lily Simmons
Gracie Takacs
Connor Vogel
Lucy Wolf
Ada Lillie
Worthington PAGE DESIGNERS
Afa Akwanka’a
Sofia Blades
Adya Burdick
Ava Cooper
Grace Demetriou
Elle Gedman
Veronica Mangine
Kai Mcphail
Lyla Weeks
STAFF ARTISTS
Sofia Blades
Caroline Daniels
Madi Maupin
PHOTO MENTORS
Riley Eck
Julia Fillmore
Claire Goettsch
Caroline Martucci
Emily Pollock
Mason Sajna
STAFF
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Paige Bean
Kate Beaulieu
Lydia Coe
Audrey Condon
Sabrina Dean
Ryan Dehan
Charlotte Emley
Julia Fillmore
Will Griffith
Kenna Harrington
Molly Miller
Clara Peters
Tristen Porter
Alex Sajna
MJ Wolf
Amelie Wong
Madi Maupin VIDEO STAFF
Luke Beil
Calen Domingues
Ryder Hendon
cartoon by bridget connelly
The Harbinger is a student run publication. Published editorials express the views of the Harbinger staff. Signed columns published in the Harbinger express the writer’s personal opinion. The content and opinions of the Harbinger do not represent the student body, faculty, administration or Shawnee Mission School District. The Harbinger will not share any unpublished content, but quotes material may be confrmed with the sources. The Harbinger encourages letters to the editors, but reserves the right to reject them for reasons including but not limited to lack of space, multiple letters of the same topic and personal attacks contained in the letter. The Harbinger will not edit content thought letters may be edited for clarity, length or mechanics. Letters should be sent to room 413B or emailed to smeharbinger@gmail.com.
regain public approval.
TRUMP SUPPORTERS ARE flooding the streets of New York in the wake of former-president Donald Trump’s indictment and his warning of “death and destruction”. His charges involve the embarrassing cover-up of his alleged affair with adult-film actress Stormy Daniels.
But he’s not the only leader under heavy investigation as President Joe Biden may face similar charges related to the unlawful possession of classified documents.
While Trump prepares a number of outrageous comments to battle Congress’s so-called “Witch Hunt,” Biden has complete immunity to any criminal charges while occupying the Presidential seat.
The only way Biden could be jailed for any crime would be through a tedious and highly-partisan impeachment trial. That seems unfair doesn’t it?
Presidents should be held personally accountable for any crimes carried out while in office and thus should not be immune to indictment, prosecution and arrest simply because they have their face on the wall of the oval office.
The President is the poster boy of our
country for four years. They’re the lens through which the rest of the world sees the United States. We should all want our commander-in-chief to positively represent our country. We should want them to be a model citizen, someone with integrity, whom we can trust and even look up to.
Our most beloved Presidents — Washington, Lincoln and FDR — are all leaders we can look up to.
If a president has committed crimes and is poorly representing our country, yet is unable to be removed from office through impeachment, there’s a clear problem. They should be held to the same standards as civilians. If they’ve committed a crime, they should be subject to the same punishment.
Presidential immunity is a widelydebated gray area of the Constitution. Hardly anything is written on the subject, so the Department of Justice is left with complete control of the matter.
The DOJ established in the 1970s that though the Vice President can be criminally prosecuted, the President can’t. Their reasoning behind this matter is that if the president is criminally prosecuted they’re going to be distracted, unable to function and may change various policies in order to
Though a criminal trial would distract the sitting president, the Constitution lays out an easy solution when the sitting president is unable to perform their duties. The Vice President would simply take their place while the trial is underway, just as he would do if the President was ill or announced resignation. Executive powers would be upheld without interference.
If the President is acquitted, they could return to their normal duties after the trial. However, if they are convicted, the Vice President would assume his powers. It’s a straightforward solution and disproves the DOJ’s theory that a criminal trial would distract the president.
The U.S. has had problems with criminally prosecuting presidents before Trump as well.
President Bill Clinton was acquitted of perjury in his 1998 impeachment trial, even after he was proven to have lied under oath, a crime that typically results in five years in prison. Clinton wasn’t removed from office simply because the Senate didn’t believe his crime was a big enough reason, according to CBS news.
Same goes for former-President Nixon who illegally ordered a break-in to the Democratic National Headquarters.
His crimes were serious enough that he needed a presidential pardon to avoid legal action once resigning, it only seems fair that he should have been subject to criminal prosecution in the year between the scandal and his resignation.
This attitude sets a poor example for all the people of the United States, but also allows presidents to commit crimes, knowing they can escape without a scratch.
A common misconception regarding presidential immunity is that only crumbling countries send their leaders to jail and it’d be outrageous for our country to do the same. Not only would it be embarrassing, but it would send our country into disrepair.
This simply isn’t true.
The database Freedom House has ranked every country in the world as free, partly free or not free. Politico then investigated every single incident of executive punishment within the last 50 years and identified 27 cases within developed countries.
Of these 27 incidents only two countries saw their freedom designation decline within five years of incarcerating their president.
For example, France has imprisoned both their president and prime minister within the last 10 years and has remained one of the most democratic countries in the world — ranking above the United States for the past four years.
Impeachment trials seem to be becoming less effective as our country becomes more divided by red and blue lines. Now more than ever, presidents should not be immune to criminal prosecution, they should be required to follow the same rules as the people they preside over.
Without a way to properly punish our president, this country stands precariously close to tyranny.
Tornadoes will continue to affect people in the South and Midwest
TORNADOES HAVE BEEN sweeping the country since March 30. They have resulted in 32 confirmed fatalities, ranging throughout the U.S.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites announced the severity of the storms captured on satellites on their Twitter account.
NOAA is monitoring strong weather that may bring severe storms capable of producing golf ball size hail and strong winds to the South.
There will be little time to recover from current damage, with roughly 50 confirmed tornadoes having touched down in several southern and midwestern states and more to come, according to The National Storm Prediction Center.
ASSISTANT
Freshman Tucker Ward has family living in the midwestern areas affected by the tornadoes. His family has had to take cover twice in the past two weeks.
“We had to go to the basement because of the tornado,” Ward said.
The National Weather Service identified several areas of concern including central Arkansas, eastern Iowa, northern Illinois, southern Missouri and southeastern Oklahoma. Missouri and Oklahoma are estimated to hit a Level 4 on the tornado scale, according to The Storm Prediction Center.
“More dangerous weather in the USA,” World Meteorological Organization wrote on Twitter.
“Please heed warnings and stay safe.”
WEAK 0-1 wind speeds of 65-110 mph
STRONG 2-3 wind speeds of 111-155 mph
VIOLENT 4-5 wind speeds of 166+ mph
*according to weather.gov
KRISTOFFER Barikmo emailed all underclassmen and their families on March 22, stating that they must not park in any lot on campus. Now, Barikmo is actively enforcing these rules.
“We do not sell permits to any ninth or tenth graders as we have a shortage of parking,” Barikmo stated. “We have sold exactly the number of permits for the spaces we have and students without permits continue to park on campus.”
This email was following a message in the Pep Club GroupMe that threatened involving administration if underclassmen continued to park on campus.
Although parking for underclassmen isn’t completely unavailable — Barikmo provided three options in his email: the back line of spots on the south lot, next to Prairie Village City Hall, the PV Pool parking lot or along Delmar by the athletic fields.
According to an Instagram poll of 136 students, 73% of upperclassmen expressed multiple times that underclassmen must not park in any numbered parking spots. Upperclassmen like senior
TIKTOK IS NOW banned on all Johnson County government networks.
As federal legislators have begun to investigate the app’s security, Johnson County took action into their own hands by restricting usage.
The county released a statement that the ban came after they reviewed the app in response to the federal government’s concerns about its Chinese ownership. Johnson County chose to restrict the app on government-owned devices.
Abry Steinbrecher have argued that because they have paid for passes, only they can freely use them.
“If you are a freshman or sophomore, please do not park in the senior lot [or] the junior lot,” Steinbrecher said. “We have waited for three years to have spots free for us.”
On the other hand, many underclassmen are facing frustration due to a lack of parking spots. According to an Instagram poll of 149 East students, 73% of underclassmen are upset with the current conflicts. Bus services are no longer available for those within a two-mile radius of the school, and according to various announcements from SMSD administration, truancy is currently a rising issue within East, prior to parking conflicts.
Sophomore Madi Moormann worries that inconvenient parking will only raise these rates.
“It can be tricky to get to school on time,” Moormann said. “Especially with road work on Mission Road.”
To enforce parking rules, Barikmo checks all cars in the lot for parking passes, writing down plate numbers for cars without them. Cars without passes are then ticketed and fined starting at $25. If a pass-less car is found two or more times, the student will not be able to purchase a parking pass when they’re next able to do so.
“If you park in a spot with number or you pull across a yellow line and you don’t have a permit, you risk getting a ticket,” Barikmo wrote.
“Based on this review and consulting across departments, offices and agencies, TikTok access by employees on Johnson County networks will be restricted as of 5 p.m. on March 10,” Governor Laura Kelly said in her press release.
“Exceptions will be made for employees with a business need to use TikTok.”
As authority figures in government positions across the country have begun to draft bills in favor of banning the app entirely,
TikTok influencers have expressed outrage, voicing that other issues should be paid more attention.
Sophomore MK Hughes says that legislators and local government should prioritize more prevalent issues like gender and race equity.
“There are so many things to focus on that are astronomically more important,” Hughes said.
“All of these bills involving taking massive steps back in trans rights getting passed is ridiculous.”
JUNIOR HENRY BROOKS* hasn’t written an original essay in four months.
He plagiarizes argumentative pieces in English, historical document analyses in history and short-answer responses in science. The first step to any written assignment has become a habit: typing “openai.com” into his search bar.
“Artificial intelligence makes cheating almost too easy,” Brooks said.
Hours of homework have morphed into 20 minutes of copy-and-pasting spent focusing more on Fortnite YouTube videos than crafting thesis statements. Is Brooks worried about getting caught and suspended?
He actually thinks that idea is funny: “I have AI that makes AI essays undetectable by AI-checking websites,’” he said with a chuckle. “There’s no way teachers will catch me.”
When research lab OpenAI released ChatGPT on Nov. 30 as the first viral AI chat tool, its impact on the classroom was unpredictable. Nearly four months later, the effects are clear: in an Instagram poll of 198 East students, 40% reported using AI tools to cheat at school. Meanwhile, educators struggle to determine AI’s rightful place in their curriculum and combat dishonesty.
“I can’t promise that there will be a major change by next fall,” the district’s Chief Academic Officer Darren Dennis, who is in charge of curriculum development, said. “We recognize that [AI] is not going away and have started having discussions, but nothing has been decided.”
Dozens of new AI websites, chatbots
and apps are released weekly by start-up developers and companies like Microsoft and Google. Though the district has been banning new tools on school-issued MacBooks, 32% of students in an Instagram poll of 109 are aware of at least one AI program not blocked. Juniors Chase Jones* and Ayden Beverage-Calvin can list multiple.
“Right now [on March 28], there’s at least Rewriter Tools, SmallSEO Tools and Jasper AI,” Beverage-Calvin said.
Plus Jones* didn’t even care when the district blocked his favorite AI tools like Genie and Quill Bot. He still manages to cheat on half of his assignments by sneaking his phone with AI apps into his lap while teachers are looking away. If that doesn’t work, he’ll wait to “complete his work” — code for “fire up ChatGPT” — until he gets home.
“After I used AI for the first time on a test, I was proud that my grade in the class went up,” Jones said. “It’s smarter than I am, gets better grades and saves time, so I’m going to keep using it.”
The only thing that stops Jones from using AI for every writing assignment is the prompts that ask about his personal life experiences that technology hasn’t gotten advanced enough to write about. At least, not yet. He’d be willing to complete 100% of his assignments with AI one day if possible, seeing almost no cons to “using his resources.”
“I only feel a little bad when I get a better grade than people who actually studied, but they should really just start working smarter instead of harder,” Jones said.
English teacher and IB coordinator
Meredith Sternberg is unsurprised by students’ willingness to cut corners but doesn’t think it’s because they are simply “bad kids.” Instead, she feels the education system has partly failed them.
“To kids who are cheating with this technology: I’m sorry,” Sternberg said. “Education has clearly essay-ed you to death and made you not want to learn the humanities. So should us teachers be shocked when students find the most convenient, excellent hack ever and start using AI? No, because we made them stop caring.”
Even some more curious students — the ones morally against cheating at first — have caved to AI when under pressure. Sophomore Tara Nelson* woke up on the last day of the third quarter with a 79.0% in chemistry — just 0.5% away from a B. She knew she didn’t have time to write a multipage extra credit essay herself with less than an hour until her morning class. So the temptation to ask AI to “write a 1.5 page essay explaining Avogadro’s number” was irresistible.
All she had to do was manually replace a few suspiciously-complex words like “paramount” with more common terms like “important,” and her teacher didn’t notice the ruse. Nelson’s grade was secured — with time to spare for breakfast.
“Before that day, I was nervous to try AI since I’d only seen it on TikTok and heard about other students using it at school,” Nelson said. “But it went so well that I’ll definitely use it again if I run out of time for an assignment.”
Science teacher Susan Hallstrom expects
more students to try cheating with AI. But since most of her assignments are completed on paper during class time without access to electronics, she isn’t concerned about cheating in her class.
“I’ll probably change some assignments to make cheating difficult like by making more ‘pretend’ values for molar masses that can’t be looked up,” Hallstrom said. “If anything, I’m mostly concerned about [extra credit] reports and might have to change those.”
AI can be used for more unexpected assignments than just reports, according to Jones. Cheating tutorial videos on TikTok have taught him useful hacks like how to answer multiple choice questions in all subjects and create recipes in food class. Senior Ava Brown* and her friends use ChatGPT to complete extra credit AP Statistic assignments because it’s “just faster.” AI apps like Qanda can even do math homework for students.
Beverage-Calvin, on the other hand, uses an AI writing tool called Genie solely for inspiration and revision like fixing runon sentences — he’s drawn a moral line at plagiarism. But he’s not surprised that tools are being used for outright cheating.
“It’s scary because I’ve played around with ChatGPT for fun, and if you ask for an ‘expert’ response, the AI gives an entirely different result than before,” Beverage-Calvin said. “Or if you ask for an ‘elementary-level’ explanation, it changes again. I don’t think the district will be able to stop people from using AI.”
story by katie murphy Students are increasingly using AI to cheat and getting away with it faster than schools can combat advancements in AI
story
EAST ENGLISH TEACHERS and librarian Jenny Robinson disapprove of recent book removals from the Gardner Edgerton High School library. For the first time in 10 years, a mom from Gardner Edgerton High School sent in complaints about 11 books over the span of several months. She argued that the books include sexual content, violence and self-harm that’s inappropriate for students. Of the 11 books, one has been approved to stay, three are still being reviewed and seven have been pulled from school libraries, according to the Kansas City Star.
“Kids should be able to check out whatever they want,” Robinson said. “I don’t feel like one parent should be able to tell the entire school building what they should and shouldn’t be reading.”
In her 20 years as a librarian, Robinson has never struggled with parents or community members being aggressive or unfair with
BY WILLIAM GOLDING
TEACHER
the library book selection. Following district policy, if there was a concern, Robinson would send the complaint to Principal Jason Peres, who would then send it to the district’s Chief Learning Academic Officer. The opposer could then formally challenge the book by filling out a form that is sent to the district board and then evaluated by the district review committee at a public hearing. This process usually takes several months.
However, Peres has never received a book complaint in his two years at East.
“We have a principal’s Professional Learning Community that we meet with every couple of weeks, and no one has brought [book complaints] up at our meetings,” Peres said. “It has not been a point of concern for any of us [at the district level].”
Robinson has also never had parents file official complaints, though she has had to address minor parent concerns.
“[Book banning] doesn’t really happen in Shawnee Mission,” Robinson said. “I
have parents email me every once in a while concerned about a book, but that’s the furthest they go with it, just that they’re concerned. Our parent community is really open to different viewpoints and want their kids to see all different types of people, so I think we’re lucky to be where we are.”
In order to retain parentteacher communication, the English department contacts parents about potentially concerning required reading English books over topics like suicide and sexual harrasment before students begin reading.
“We let [parents] know what is in the book, potential areas where a student could be concerned,” English teacher Kristine Tardiff said. “That way, if there was a concern, a parent could maybe approach the subject matter with the
Books banned at other schools in Kansas that East faculty members have read and resonated with
ANN FLURRY
TEACHER
‘CATCHER IN THE Rye’ is one of those quintessential novels that came out during a time period when its hero is an anti-hero, and he’s this kid with all these problems. He’s a teenager with an actual teenage voice. The use of streamof-consciousness writing is incredibly well done.
of teacher, parent and district communication.
“I think we haven’t had so many problems with books being banned within our classrooms because we follow a process and our district for the most part supports us pulling and getting relevant texts,” Tardiff said.
Senior and avid reader Delaney McDermed believes that removing a book from libraries when students could easily access the same book online is pointless.
“It’s kind of absurd because we’re all in high school and we can get these books anyways, everyone has access to the internet,” McDermed said. “At this point, banning books from the library is only a symbolic thing.”
LIBRARIAN
KIDS SHOULD BE able to check out whatever they want. I don’t feel like one parent should be able to tell the entire school building what they should and shouldn’t be reading.
JENNY ROBINSONby aanya bansal
IN ‘LORD OF the Flies,’ there’s a relevance to teenage life with bullying, fnding your place within a group, fnding your voice and having power in a situation where you might feel powerless.
KRISTINE TARDIFF
East English teachers and the librarian express disapproval for recent book removals from the Gardner Edgerton High School library
will be held on the lawn between Union Station and the National World War I Museum and Memorial from April 27-29.
Kansas City won the bid to host the draft in 2019, not due to the Chiefs success, but because of the city itself. Its centralized location and exuberant team spirit set it aside from cities that have hosted in the past, according to Executive Vice President of Arrowhead Operations and Events Matt Kenney.
story by addie moore VICE PRESIDENT OF ARROWHEAD OPERATIONS AND EVENTSdrafting approximately 255 new players to various teams. 355 players were invited to the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this year in Indianapolis, meaning there will be at least 80 players who won’t get drafted, according to bleacherreport.com.
Kansas City,” Kenney
“Kansas City is a destination in the middle of a country that would bring out a new event, profle and even constituency than what the league had seen previously with it being in Chicago and Philly.”
The draft is expected to bring more spectators than the 2023 Chiefs Super Bowl Parade, according to the Kansas City Star. Union Station security guard Jonathan Jackson expects two million spectators throughout the duration of the event.
The stage will be over the parking lot facing the hill, similar to the stage at the Chiefs Super Bowl Parade. Spectators will be on the hill, being entertained by the All Draft Experience presented by Panini Trading Cards with attractions such as music and concessions.
The three-day event is composed of seven rounds,
The draft was held in New York every year until 2015, but the location has changed each year since. According to profootballtalk. nbcsports.com, the draft was relocated in order to make it a much bigger event, with more attendees than would fit in the 5,960 seats at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
“[Getting the bid] was really about Kansas City,” Keney said. “Kansas City is a destination in the middle of a country that would bring out a new event, profile and even constituency than what the league had seen previously with it being in Chicago and Philly.”
Kenney is working with the Kansas City Sports Commission to plan the event, an organization which works to bring events to the city to drive the quality of life and economy for the region. Receiving a bid from the NFL is a more intricate process than hosting other smaller sports events.
“[The draft] was a little more nuanced because you had to have a team,” Kenney said. “The story
of that team, and an NFL presence is a little different than saying, ‘Hey, we have an arena. We’d love to host your NCAA event,’ It’s a different process.”
Union Station will be completely shut down to the public for the entirety of the draft. The players will be inside with their families, waiting to be drafted.
Those interested in attending the draft must register for a ticket through the NFL One Pass app. The tickets — although free — are a process used by the NFL in order to get data of event attendees as well as marketing and security purposes, according to Kenney.
Avid football watcher and senior Zach Sederquist plans on attending the draft with his friends.
I’ve watched the draft every year since I was little, so I’m really excited to finally get the experience in person,” Sederquist said.
There is expected to be a large number of football fans coming from all over the country. The high attendance brings pride back to Union Station and reminds people of its existence, according to Jackson. In an Instagram poll of 213 people, 23% plan on attending the draft.
“Definitely a lot more of the radical sports fans are going to be coming from out of town,” Jackson said. “As far as adding popularity to the city, it’s more going to bring to light like ‘Hey Union Station is still here, Union Station is still alive.”
Top picks from schools surrounding Kansas City
PROJECTED PICK
POSITION: EDGE 32
SCHOOL: KANSAS STATE
SCHOOL: KANSAS STATE POSITION: CB 51
PROJECTED PICK
ISAIAH MCGUIRE
POSITION: EDGE 73
PROJECTED PICK
SCHOOL: MISSOURI
DEUCE VAUGHN
119
PROJECTED PICK
POSITION: RB
SCHOOL: KANSAS STATE
The 2023 NFL Draft is being hosted the weekend of April 27 at Union Station[GETTING THE BID] was really about
said.
MATT KENNEY
Recent Instagram polls on this issue’s opinion stories
DO YOU THINK THAT THE MUSIC YOU LISTEN TO AFFECTS YOUR PERSONALITY AND BEHAVIOR?
*Instagram poll of 312 votes
YES NO 13% 87%
DO YOU THINK THAT USING AI TO CREATE AUTOMATED MODELS FOR CLOTHING IS MORALLY RIGHT?
*Instagram poll of 167 votes
YES NO 67% 33%
DO YOU THINK PROM SHOULD BE MORE IMPORTANT AT EAST THAN IT IS?
*Instagram poll of 311 votes
YES NO 57% 43%
cartoon by nora lynn
Finding a roommate may be easier for some than others
finding a roommate is so hard!
Students share which musical artists they think are overrated
FRESHMAN
I ACTUALLY USED to really like Taylor Swift and listened to a lot of her music, but nowadays I kinda fnd that her songs can be a bit repetitive.
REAGAN SOLENBERGER
SOPHOMORE
I HEARD SOMEONE say it sounds like he makes music for commercials, which makes a lot of sense cause they’re not much. It’s just like background music.
WHO SHOULD BE LISTENED TO MORE?
PHOEBE BRIDGERS
Follow the Harbinger on social media to participate in our polls
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BEYONCÉ
i’m Lucky to be a
L
Your most-played music affects your personality and behavior toward others after consistent listening
ALEXA, PLAY BEETHOVEN or Tchaikovsky by my baby’s crib so that it’ll be a genius by age 7.”
Over the past couple years, the claim holds that babies may turn into laser-blasting super heroes or Bob Ross painter buddhists by simply listening to the right music.
18 years later, past my non-Beethoven listening years, my playlist is a compilation breakfast buffet of rap, indie, folk, pop and techno tunes. Still, those mom blogs and parenting podcasts may have had a point — the genre of music you play can affect your behavior, mood and day-to-day actions.
Music is everywhere. You hear lullabies as a baby, learn the alphabet song and hum along to TV show theme songs. It plays in elevators, stores, earbuds and YouTube ads, but we rarely consider the impact of our own song choices.
Let’s start with rap — whether you blast it on the way to parties or in the post-game locker room moshpit, a recent UK study showed how lyrically and musically harsh rap music can actually increase aggression, according to CNN.
Translation? Your Spotify playlist that only shuffles NLE Choppa, Lil Baby and Polo G might be the reason you feel the need to punch holes in your bedroom wall instead of seeing a therapist.
The study also found that violent rock songs —by artists like Rage Against, the Machine or SlipKnot — can induce similar behaviors.
It’s like watching what you eat. Downing McDonalds burgers and shakes for every meal harms physical health the same way that music can impact your mind. So it’s your choice: a rap-Big Mac or R&B salad?
There’s also a correlation between preferred musical genres and our capacity for empathy, according to a study by Plos Ones. While listening to music, people use empathy when emotionally and physiologically analyzing different types of songs.
JUST BECAUSE YOU listen to heavy rock or intense rap music doesn’t mean you’re an aggressive or strictly logical and unemotional human. That all relies on how much value you choose to give those lyrics and how you are interpreting them in order for your brain to process.
The same study found that listening to gentle — even what some may consider as
sad music — sounds such as R&B and soft rock music with emotional depth correlate to greater empathy. Listening to my playlist named “Chill Drive” of Lumineers, Noah Kahan and Hozier, with lyrics like “Keep your head up love” or “I’ll love you when the oceans dry, I’ll love you when the rivers freeze” may make me cringe on the surface, but they provide meaningful, sympathetic messages.
Music like this leads people to not only think about the actual lyric, but when jamming out in the car, windows down arm out the window, physically speaking these words out into existence help replicate the same mood or lifestyle the members of Lumineers were trying to express.
The Plos Ones study also showed that those who listen to heavy metal or rap music tend to be more logical than empathetic in their behavior. In comparison to the previous study, these genres don’t only create aggression and punching-a-wall behavior
found in the earlier study — so maybe keep a few Waka Flocka Flame songs in your playlist.
I love my dose of Ice Cube, Kendirck Lamar and A$AP Rocky, but I choose not to absorb these lyrics like I do with more soothing bands like Caamp and Mt. Joy. When rapping my favorite Kendrick verse, I don’t allow myself to pick up on the lyrics. When humming the folky Mt. Joy tune, it’s simply more calming than the intense beat and bass vibrating my rear view windows.
Just because you listen to heavy rock or intense rap music doesn’t mean you’re an aggressive or strictly logical and unemotional human. That all relies on how much value you choose to give those lyrics and how you are interpreting them in order for your brain to process. The more consistently you only listen to one genre, the harder it is to subconsciously stop yourself from absorbing the aggressive lyrics.
Music is a universal language and can express emotions that maybe we can’t. So consider replacing a couple of your rap songs about snorting lines in strip clubs with songs about love and living a happy life if you’re in need for a positivity boost.
design by anna mitchell
FROM AMAZON’S ALEXA to McDonalds’ robotic ordering machines, robots are becoming integral to our everyday lives. But we’ve yet to find a stopping point.
10 years ago, no one would’ve believed that we’d have automated delivery robots, writers and even artists. So in another 10 years, we shouldn’t be surprised if artificial intelligence is running our banks’ financial reports, replacing waiters at restaurants and shuttling us in driverless Ubers.
AI may be revolutionizing work by replacing tedious tasks with automation — but when we allow employers to confuse real humans with robots, employee rights, benefits and working environments are at risk.
Take Levi’s Strauss & Co’s press release for example. On March 22 they announced a new partnership with Lalaland.ai — an AI-powered digital modeling studio — to “increase the number and diversity of their models for our products in a sustainable way.”
So they want to make their models more authentic by replacing them with automated characters?
Rightfully so, backlash surfaced on
Instagram and Twitter, urging Levi’s to explain that this pilot wasn’t intended as “a means to advance diversity or as a substitute [of real diversity].” They claimed it would expedite the creative process with no need for 12 hour photoshoot days and aid their customer experience.
Automation needs to stay away from recreating the human body. AI shouldn’t be made to form human bodies or mimic human emotions. If we allow Levi’s and future companies to use AI to physically replace the human image — humans will become out of mind and really out of sight in our own world. It’ll be a world replaced with and controlled by AI.
Using AI to build bodies, coloring skin tones and hand picking the “perfect model” is inherently wrong. Aside from its straightforward immorality, the new tech carries a string of harmful consequences.
The innovation has nothing to do with “strengthening the customer experience” and everything to do with a lack of respect for minority models.
Automation is efficient. It’s useful. And it’s our friend in the workplace when we build it to replace repetitive and dangerous jobs, like assembly line workers or data entry. But when does automation become
Artificial images subtract from the push to showcase real, unedited human bodies as models — by replacing the issue of unrealistic body standards from Photoshop with 100% inhuman features and characteristics. There’s no connection, and there’s no authenticity.
Behind every failed customer service chatbot is a real human responding to your questions and complaints. And behind every failed UberEats robot delivery, there’s a person clacking on their keyboard to ensure the robot can identify a lamppost from a moving car. Behind each and every AI are real, breathing people. These workers are coined “hidden humans” in the automation era.
But the whole idea of automation is keeping humans out of sight and out of mind, according to analyticsinsight.net. In Levi’s world, humans aren’t the ones wearing the products in advertisements — they’re the ones coding and editing the AI that’s wearing your new favorite jeans.
Even though this automation has proven harmful to human connection as it takes away the human-to-human conversations in the customer service world for example, it’s increasingly beneficial for employers.
Taco Bell HQ no longer has to spend time, money and resources to train their staff on drive thru etiquette. Buzzfeed is now hiring AI companies to create a surplus of content for their site and isn’t focused on their need for content.
Consumers and employers have to agree that the workforce can’t depend fully on automation. We can let AI sift out jobs that have aged past the new generations of technology, but we can’t let AI shift our workforce from employees to computers.
If we use it the right way, everyone can benefit. AI is expected to replace 85 million jobs worldwide by 2025, according to the World Economic Forum. But it’s also predicted to create 97 million new jobs, ranging from data sourcing to AI engineers. What’s wrong is that AI is replacing 85 million jobs relating to human labor, intelligence or connection. This includes factory workers, Investment Analysts and customer service employees.
We must distinguish assistive automation from blatant impersonation. If we let employers treat AI like humans and humans like AI, one day, there may not be a difference.
Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing the workplace, but we must not let employers take it too far by automating real humans
SPRINGTIME: THE SEASON of ungodly winds, pesky allergies and the depression that comes with shopping for a Prom dress.
Before that rock-bottom, I squeal in excitement when my TikTok For You page switches to southern girls sampling bedazzled maxi dresses, deciding between dozens of shades of neon and the puffiest dress shapes. I envy the girls with hair teased sky-high with rainbow-colored bouquets instead of wilting corsages.
Witnessing southern students prepare for their end-of-year dance — which is more akin to the Met Gala — I sometimes forget that East has Prom too. Minus the boujee limousines and fluffy ball gowns.
East kids are given extravagant Proms in beautiful locations, but we take them for granted.
We have over-casualized Prom so much that it feels like any other dance. We should change that.
East students prefer clicking through every page of Revolve for a basic-enough dress (wouldn’t want to look like we’re trying too hard), than spending hours in dress shops trying on outfits like a bride would on “Say Yes to the Dress.” Our Promposals are Snapchat texts saying “got a date yet?” No flowers, no signs, just a quick text to get it over with. We are so scared of being “extra” or looking “tacky.”
“The dance isn’t that fun” and “it’s all about the afterparty anyway,” are common remarks I’ve heard — and probably said myself. But in reality, Prom has the potential to be our version of the Oscars red carpet.
Anything can be special if you make it. Last year, Prom was held at Union Station, a classic Kansas City trademark location. And after months of planning and thousands of dollars funneled into the venue, my friends and I stayed for 20 minutes, maybe.
year’s dance, and most of us spent more time in our chartered bus than the actual dance. We bought $40 tickets, and then made fun of those who dressed up and actually stayed and enjoyed the dance.
Senior Prom is the last hoorah of our childhood — it’s the American comingof-age event. On par with quinceañeras and Bat/Bar Mitzvahs, it’s something that we anticipate our entire lives.
It’s nestled in virtually every coming of age movie — “10 Things I Hate About You,” “She’ll All That,” “Carrie,” the list goes on and on. It’s a staple of the American teenage experience — and for good reason.
OUR PROMPOSALS are Snapchat texts saying “got a date yet?” No fowers, no signs, just a quick text to get it over with. We are so scared of being “extra” or looking “tacky.” I mean god forbid we have fun at Prom.
We sit and make fun of the girls from other schools that take Prom seriously. Girls that spend hours in department stores trying on fancy dresses that make their mothers cry. Girls that get salon-grade ringlet curls in their hair and bedazzled acrylic nails, all so they’ll be able to proudly point to photos of teenage-them to their future children.
Prom. I spent hours drawing my future Prom outfit — a sparkly mermaid-cut dress, a curly up-do and 6-inch heels. When Prom actually came around, I settled for a plain brown dress and shoes from Forever 21. What a dream. My sixthgrade self would be devastated.
Not surprisingly, the event didn’t meet my expectations. Honestly, I wish I didn’t remember “the night you will never forget.”
I picked out my dress on a whim and tailored it haphazardly the night before.
I curled my hair 10 minutes before my date picked me up. I felt weighed down by the soggy pasta and bread we ate out of family style baskets at a cheap Italian restaurant. I felt rushed in and out of the actual dance, all because we were running “late” to the afterparty, which was just a bunch of kids in a basement — the same as any other Saturday night. It was Prom, and I was supposed to feel beautiful.
But I felt gross.
You can’t deny that East kids are spoiled — we had a live band, smoke machine and 360- degree camera at last
The girls that wait for Prom their entire high school careers, and behind their wedding day probably, it’s the most magical day of their lives — because it should be.
When I was little, I was obsessed with
It could have been different. I could have chosen a dress that I truly loved, spent time giving myself the makeover I deserved and ate at a restaurant that made me feel fancy. Just like the girls I obsess over every spring.
It’s not tacky, it’s not weird, and it’s not extra to want an extravagant Prom. I’m tired of trying so hard to look like I don’t care — because I do, and so should you.
Prom is over-casualized and taken for granted, and students should treat it more seriouslyTHAT? Comparing Prom in southern schools to the Midwest Corsages are small and expensive for their size Promposals are a sign of genuine thought and effort Bouquets can be placed in a vase after the dance Texts carry less emotion and are the lazier option PARTY BUS vs. LIMO Limos are a more formal form of transportation Party buses are seen as a club on wheels CORSAGE vs. BOUQUET
RIGHT Sophomore Thomas Casey paints his face with eye black before the game begins. Following the Lancer Lacrosse game, the University of Kansas Jayhawks played the Kansas State University Wildcats, consisting of nine East alumni. “These guys started my love for lacrosse a while ago, and it was really cool to see them play at a college level,” Casey said.
FAR RIGHT Junior captain Jack Hamilton catches a pass from a teammate in the second half of the Sunflower Showdown game. “It was pretty surreal to be surrounded by stands like that,” Hamilton said. “As soon as you walk through that tunnel at the beginning of the game it is a different experience and puts you into a different mindset.”
LEFT Carrying flags and their lacrosse sticks, captains Will Feagans, Jack Hamilton and Charlie Zwillenberg lead the team as they walk out of a tunnel onto the slanted field at the Kansas City Monarchs Stadium. “It’s really cool to be a captain, and I’ve always wanted to be one,” Feagans said. “I try to lead the team by example.”
BELOW Coach Peter Herreron, Jordan Schmidd and Patrick Schmitt review and discuss the first half of the game against the Owasso Rams. Playing the reigning Oklahoma State Champions, the Lancer Lacrosse team beat the Rams 17-11. This was the first year that Lancer Lacrosse was invited to play in the Sunflower Showdown.
AP and IB Chemistry students put on a “magic show” showcasing chemistry reactions to Westridge Middle School
ABOVE Students and parents of Westridge Middle School watch the dry ice and universal indicator experiment.
photo by I claire goettsch
TOP LEFT Junior and AP Chemistry student Matthew Yarlagadda pours potassium iodide to start the “Elephant Toothpaste” reaction. photo by I claire goettsch
LEFT Juniors Abi Limbird, Reese Algren and Brooke Gariss participate in the Chemistry 2 chant. photo by I claire goettsch
A few of the experiments performed
A mole puppet shot out of a cannon using isopropyl alcohol to generate an explosion.
The decomposition of hydrogen peroxide is sped up by the catalyst, potassium iodide. Using soap captures the gas bubbles created to make foam.
Different powdered metals have different carbon footprints. When burned, they will produce a different color fame.
The chemistry students that performed experiments share their experience doing the magic show
I REALLY ENJOY being able to interact with all the kids during the experiments. They’re always so excited whenever we do anything. [And] all the Chem 2 students normally hang out and eat dinner before which is also really fun.
FOR A CLASS so challenging, I think this gives us something really truly fun to look forward to. You can tell the kids think it’s magic when it’s really just science.
I REALLY ENJOY doing chem night because I can do a demonstration of my choosing. It’s fun to see the kids get excited over the different experiments. Also, it’s a fun bonding experience for all the Chem 2 students participating.
Students’ favorite songs from each of Swift’s albums
THE CONCERT OF a lifetime. A three hour set, 44 songs and one of the biggest stars at age 33 — Taylor Swift superfans were willing to wait in an online queue for hours to buy tickets.
CAROLINE BLACK
LULU MCKEE
MARY LONG
KATE NOLKE
Taylor Swift’s self-named fanbase
On Nov. 1st, Swift announced that she would be going on the “Eras” tour — featuring songs from each of her “eras”.
AS A TODDLER, now-freshman
Campbell Brinton stumbled around the living room, listening to the rising pop artist Taylor Swift while her parents played their favorite song, “Sparks Fly.”
Now, Brinton pays close attention to Swift’s lyrics and how each song has a deeper meaning beyond her peppy lyrics like, “Our song is the way you laugh.” Her favorite lyric is, “You drew stars around my scars” because of the personal connections. She connects this to growing up and growing apart from lifelong friends.
“I feel like she’s kind of tapping at every genre,” Brinton said. “[The songs] all hold a lot of meaning.”
On Spotify, Brinton has listened to over 100,000 minutes of Swift in
REPUTATION, RED AND 1989.
Junior Sofia Wehner danced by her mom’s side during all three of Swift’s past concerts in Kansas City. Taylor Swift was their absolute favorite artist.
Her last tour was in 2018, so Swift fans have been waiting, starved of a concert for nearly five years.
Swift’s fans who were lucky enough to score a ticket for one of her 52 shows now just have to decide on their concert outfit. Across the country, superfans have been dressing as Swift herself — more specifically, one of her iconic eras. Three self-proclaimed East “Swifties” can’t wait for her local July show.
2022. If it’s in the car on the way to school or getting ready to go to breakfast on weekend mornings, she’s a constant listener. She’ll analyze Swift lyrics to relate them back to her own emotions because she has a song for each mood like “this is me trying” or “illicit affairs.”
In July, Brinton will attend both concerts in Kansas City wearing a silver dress and cowgirl boots. Her outfit is inspired by Swift’s song “Mirrorball”, which depicts the features of a disco ball in it.
At the Red concert, Wehner held up a sign saying, “I love Taylor” while wearing red-framed heart sunglasses. She felt a strong connection to Swift who started her career at a young age.
“She started when she was a teenager,” Wehner said, “That’s why people like her music because she was their age. She writes about stuff that everyone goes through.”
SITTING IN HER Ford Focus on the way home from high school, now-history teacher Jenny Jordan turned on her radio to “Tim McGraw” by Swift. Her combination of twang and pop began Jordan’s obsession, leaving the same Swift song stuck in her head for days.
She loves how Swift has a song for every mood. When Reputation was released in 2017, Swift’s confidence inspired Jordan.
It isn’t just Swift’s music that Jordan loves though, it’s who she is as a person. It’s the fact that Swift can speak up and help others feel comfortable to talk about their own stories.
“She shows that you can just reinvent yourself all the time,” Jordan said, “I like that she’s really had some hard times with different things, and she always stands up for herself.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift released a surprise album, “Folklore.” For Jordan, the album couldn’t have been released at a better time. Feeling isolated because of the pandemic, Jordan related to Swift’s melancholy lyrics and felt less alone listening to songs like “Mirrorball.”
Plus Jordan is an eager follower of the hints that Swift drops before new releases.
The Easter eggs [are] so fun to talk about,” Jordan said, “She put this on Instagram, what do you think it means and how come the number five is in the picture?’
Wehner can recognize any Swift song in the first few seconds of it playing. Whether the songs are new or old, she can sing along to every word. Sitting in school or driving, she presses shuffle and lets any era play.
Wehner will be in Arrowhead stadium this July 7th, dancing in her black “Reputation” themed outfit with bedazzled black boots.
During Memorial Day weekend, Jordan will be attending her first Swift concert in New Jersey. She’s had her outfit planned since the day she got her tickets: a cropped t-shirt and mini skirt with bright pink heart-shaped sunglasses.
Lawrence was bouncing a ball at recess, walking on her toes. She
Being adopted from an orphanage in China only five months prior to her first day at Marian Hope Academy in Blue Springs, Mo. in March of 2014 was already a struggle for her. Enough to segregate her from the rest of the kids at school. But there was something more to it. Lily and her family wouldn’t know until a year later, after countless doctor’s visits and consultations trying to get doctors to see the signs, that she had autism. That day, her mother Cara had come by the school to volunteer during recess. She assumed that Lily had made some friends after a month, but the other kids weren’t even within a five-foot radius of her. Lily couldn’t bring herself to understand the complexities of their conversations — why couldn’t they just be direct? For the first time, Cara saw her daughter how her peers may have seen her — as a lonely, odd girl. Lily was diagnosed with “moderate” Autism Spectrum Disorder at 10 years old, a developmental disability characterized by a wide range of traits — from deficient social skills to sensory aversions — so diverse that no single mold can define the experiences of each individual on the spectrum. People on the autism spectrum tend to have wildly different perspectives of life that their peers often don’t understand, junior and ASDdiagnosed Annabelle Reda said. It’s a perspective she urges other students to
understand, not just during April — Autism Acceptance Month — but every day of the year. Because for her and thousands of teenagers nationwide, every day is a burning reminder.
But Lily never cared what her classmates thought of her. Even though she wanted so badly to be friends with them, they just didn’t see her in the way she and her family did. While her family sees a giggly, kind girl, her peers see her for her diagnosis.
When Cara asked Lily’s teacher if being alone was normal for her, the teacher thought about it for a second and said, “You know what? It is normal for her.” Lily hadn’t even been on her teacher’s radar.
“The burden is left on [Lily] to figure out the world, but the world doesn’t have to figure her out,” Cara said.
She’s memorized how to respond to certain phrases, something that her family helps her with, so that even the peers who throw food at her in the cafeteria feel more comfortable around her — they don’t understand how she can talk about horses for hours on end. She’s nice to the girls that never invited her over. She still hasn’t mastered sensing sarcasm — often coming home chatting about the “new friend” she made, who was actually making fun of her obsession with anime.
She’s learned to mask her autism so much that it almost becomes more noticeable to her peers, something her family started to recognize years ago when she would overcorrect her “mistakes.” For Lily, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time turns into often not saying anything at all when in public.
One in 36 children are on the spectrum in the U.S., according to the CDC. As autism has become more understood and diagnosed in the last decade or two, according to University of Kansas Medical Professor Rene Jamison, it’s not unrealistic that in an Instagram poll of 182 students, 18 said they were on the spectrum.
While many students wouldn’t expect the disorder to affect 10% of their classmates, autism is often misunderstood and
stereotyped, according creator of Girls NightOut,a assists ASD-diagnosed teen girls, she’s heardpeoplecommentthat someone “doesn’t seem spectrum” or that guessed.”
“Some of the perceptions that they would have someone has autism],orthey’re stand out in some otherway,” “I [have heard] people ‘they’re not interested social,’ which I don’t
Annabelle acknowledgesthatautismis more common at school and teachers think—theignoranceand judgment of her peers daily.
Every day, she headphones on — to cancel out the hundreds of conversationsbattlingfor her attention. Her slip them over her can hear the teacher’s of the distracting sound students’ music. Butclassmates accepting of her accommodations.
“[Students in the behind my back thinkingIcannothear them because I havemyheadphoneson,” Reda said. “Like reallyawfulthings.I’vehad people call me the in the hallway.”
Her 504 plan alsoallowshertomove seats when she needs when you feel like and under surveillance,asautismcan lend itself to higherlevelsofanxiety.But she rarely does becauseshedoesn’twant the additional judgmentthatcomes standing up and moving
according to Jamison. As the Night Out, a program that ASD-diagnosed and neurodivergent heard people comment that seem like they’re on the they “never would have perceptions I think [are] have been able to tell [that autism], or they’re going to other way,” Jamison said. people saying things like, interested in doing something don’t think is true.”
class.
Annabelle’s autism diagnosis came this school year when she transferred to East, requiring her to get an evaluation for a 504 plan. Though she knew some things about her were different — she couldn’t pick up on certain social cues — indicating she was on the spectrum, she was never officially diagnosed until now at age 16.
“A typical diagnosis for a girl with autism when they’re young [is] ADHD because there’s a lot of overlap,” Reda said. “I actually have ADHD and autism. But I kind of was marked as having behavioral issues when I was younger, instead of just being [on the spectrum].”
“I knew what that meant for her,” Cara said. “And, because I know her heart, and I knew how cool of a kid she was, and how she does have feelings, the diagnosis both was a relief, but also, it’s lifelong.”
A lifetime of learning the “right” behaviors, of staying quiet so that she can’t get judged for what she says, trying to find people that won’t dismiss her immediately, but rather give her patience and time to foster a friendship.
memorized all of the “right” answers just like Annabelle.
Since Lily’s younger sister Olivia has started attending East as a freshman, the family has become more aware of some hateful behaviors of Lily’s peers. Olivia has seen people’s looks when Lily gets loud and excited about the latest episode of her favorite anime and tries to explain to Lily what bullying can look like.
But Lily doesn’t really care.
acknowledges that autism is school than her classmates think — the ignorance and peers affects her almost walks the halls with not to play music, just the background noise of conversations battling for 504 plan allows her to ears during class so she teacher’s instructions instead sound of vents or other But classmates aren’t so accommodations. the halls] will say things thinking I cannot hear have my headphones on,” really awful things. I’ve had r-word behind my back also allows her to move needs to — it’s hard to work you’re entirely exposed surveillance, as autism can higher levels of anxiety. But because she doesn’t want judgment that comes with moving in the middle of
For Annabelle, her diagnosis confirmed what she’d thought all along, finally labeling some of her challenges — textural aversions like the gumminess of meat that made her go vegetarian, difficulty with numbers and — most impactful for her — overt honesty.
It never made sense to Annabelle to mask her feelings behind white lies. If someone asks “do you like my skirt?” and she doesn’t like it, her gut reaction is to say no — but that’s how she’s lost friends. She’s learned the hard way to repress that instinct. Saying “no” has become finding something she does like about the skirt so that she’s not technically lying.
Adjusting to Lily’s diagnosis was difficult for the entire family, forcing Cara to relearn some of her parenting. Lily hates hugs, which is hard for Cara, whose love language is physical affection. But they have a system now — celebrate when something good happens with some alone time, and then after about half an hour, talk about it together. That’s how Lily and Cara love.
Lily has always been an internal emotional thinker. She almost never cries about anything. Even when she left China after living there her whole life, she didn’t cry. Not once. The first time she did cry was after wiping out while riding her bike down a hill only a few months after she came home from China.
Cara had been in the home when Olivia, Lily’s sister, came rushing in saying that Lily had fallen. When Cara looked down at the scraped up, badly-bleeding arm, she looked into her daughter’s eyes and saw a mask. She was trying so hard not to show emotion. Only when Cara called out “Are you OK?” with genuine love and care did she know it was OK to cry.
“I don’t really think about it very much,” Lily said. “Like I don’t care what people think. You think what you want — doesn’t matter. As long as it doesn’t affect me, we’re good. There’s some good things and bad things about [autism].”
Even though it’s easy to brush off stigmas or stereotypes, Lily has made a habit of “putting on a show” for other people’s comfort, according to her. She doesn’t like to show weakness. She says that at her house or at the barn with horses is where she truly feels herself. Animals don’t have complicated, indirect and pointless social cues like the kids at school do, and the people at the barn reciprocate her love for talking about competition riding.
Riding, gushing over or just being horses is an immediate release for Lily. It’s one of the things she could have a two-hour conversation about with someone she just met.
Like Annabelle, Lily is challenged by social cues. It could mean being unable to read someone’s expression, understanding sarcasm or picking up on bullying.
Growing up adopted into a home with a language barrier already made her transition to the U.S. from China difficult. But being very quiet and unable to easily make friends worried her parents. Finding a doctor to finally agree that something more was going on with Lily was a long process. But for Cara, it wasn’t as hard as hearing her daughter’s diagnosis.
“I cry now thinking about it, because I could see that she wanted to [cry] but she didn’t know that it was appropriate or safe,” Cara said. “So that moment, when she cried, I gave her a huge hug, which then she stiffened so I had to let go, because love feels different to her.”
As she grew up, her siblings would teach her about handling social situations — what may be a wrong or right response to a joke, holding eye contact with her teachers and engaging in small talk when she’s paired up with someone for a class project. Lily
When stepping further into the autism spectrum, it’s clear that there’s no one way that it presents itself. Annabelle’s headphones don’t define her. Lily’s love doesn’t define her.
“I wish people would understand that I’m not a pet, or I’m not something to be treated delicately,” Annabelle said. “I’m like a full fledged human being, I’m really no different.”
Students and members of the East community share their often unrecognized perspectives on Autism Spectrum Disorder to bring further acceptance to the challenges they face
story by sophie lindberg
JUNIOR MILLIE NORDEN had always envisioned herself becoming a doctor — specifically a dermatologist. Ever since she was in elementary school, her plan was to get into a high-ranked college and then head straight to medical school, cementing her career and dream of working in the medical field.
But joining the Distributive Education Clubs of America changed that.
She’s been competing in DECA competitions since the beginning of the school year — placing second at Regionals, first at State and qualifying for Internationals in the Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series. To top it off, she was voted Kansas DECA Vice President by DECA students across Kansas on March 3-5 at Johnson County Community College state competition.
story by luke beilJunior Millie Norden earned the position of Kansas DECA Vice president, which has helped her become a more confident person and leader
exactly a routine feat either. To even be approved for candidacy, Millie had to take a test regarding the rules of DECA and give a two minute speech about her interest in the position to a thousand-person crowd at the State competition.
“We didn’t get to listen to any of the other speeches so I didn’t even know if I was in the same ballpark as everyone else,” Millie said. “I didn’t know if I was supposed to be cracking jokes or what the precedent was.”
“I think a great leader is someone who encourages others to be at their best and that’s the kind of person Millie is,” Mercedes said. “When we work on projects she always starts the coordination of everything.”
Millie’s mom Britton Norden, knew that DECA was something foreign to Millie and something she didn’t have a lot of experience with — which is why she couldn’t be prouder of Millie and the decision she made to join DECA. She’s pleased with Millie for pushing herself and becoming an officer.
All of her nerves were relieved when Millie heard her name called, and an uproar of applause and yelling from her friends ensued. She had gotten the second most votes out of seven others who ran, locking in the vice president position.
“I always thought she was going to be a doctor or go to med school,” Britton said. “Since taking Marketing, she’s really realized that she loves DECA and the business aspects of it.”
Millie will hold the vice president position until State the same JUNIOR
Millie learned about DECA through her Marketing Principles class when her teacher Mercedes Rasmussen encouraged everyone to participate at least for the first competition. And since Millie’s two older siblings enjoyed competing, she figured she would give DECA a shot.
After her first competition in Apparel and Accessories Marketing, she was immediately hooked.
“I don’t think a lot of people my age would say this, but I genuinely like public speaking,” Millie said. “Talking in front of a judge grows your professional skills a lot and [it] has made me a more confident speaker.”
Yet simply being a participating member of DECA isn’t fulfilling enough for Millie. After Mercedes announced the ability to become a State DECA Officer, Millie jumped at the opportunity to further engross herself into the organization.
“Once I got more involved in DECA, I realized that four competitions a year just wasn’t enough for me,” Millie said. Becoming a State DECA Officer isn’t
“I was honestly just surprised,” Millie said. “[State officer results were] the very last thing [during awards], so we had all been sitting there waiting for two hours and everybody was just ready to get out of there.”
During the stressful weeks leading up to State, Millie was in Mercedes’ room almost everyday after school. Whether it was practicing her speech or just having someone by her side who knows the details of being an officer, Mercedes was happy to help after 28 years of teaching.
“Without her I probably wouldn’t have been able to do this at all,” Millie said. “I probably texted her once every hour during that week of applications with questions.”
Mercedes had her eye on Millie ever since she stepped foot in her classroom. She saw her kindness, work ethic and leadership abilities right away — so much so that when it was time to start thinking about running for officer, Millie was the first person that popped into Mercedes’ mind.
ONCE I GOT MORE involved in DECA, I realized that four competitions a year just wasn’t enough for me
MILLIE NORDEN
CONTINUE TO COMPETE IN DISTRICT COMPETITIONSdesign
HAVE YOU EVER stopped by Mildred’s for a morning dark roast? Or Parlor to decide which part of the world you’ll eat lunch in?
Kansas City would agree they succeeded after 25 years of reaching around 80 businesses and organizations a year with their work.
You had to have noticed their iconic logos and branding on their menus — brought to life in “The Ranch,” Design Ranch’s office five minutes down the road from where you picked up that coffee.
Co-founded by East parent Ingred Sidie, Design Ranch is KC’s iconic design agency focusing on branding and graphic design. Their name is also recognized for opening their office up to high school students for internships, field trips and real world learning experiences.
Sidie, her partner Michelle Sonderegger and their team of one to three interns at a time have caught the city’s attention through their clean, bold typography and the witty play-on-words seen in their branding for Unforked, Happy Bottoms, the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures and many more.
“I would think it’s the clever side of language that sets us apart,” Sidie said. “A lot of people say it’s our use of color, and bold typography. We’re very Swiss in our approach, very clean and modern.”
Sidie’s interest in design stemmed from her mom’s interest in culture. While she lived a 40-minute drive away from the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, her mom would still take her to her summer art classes daily, which later translated into an interest in commercial arts in high school.
“But beyond that, [my mom] tried to do something culturally with [my sister and I] every month,” Sidie said. “A museum, or the theater or a musical, we were always doing those types of things.”
After graduating from Otis School of Design in Los Angeles, Sidie landed a job at Willoughby Design — a women-owned design agency — in KC near her hometown, where she worked for ten years. After her and Sonderegger began to receive most of the recognition for their work, they decided to try something different.
By starting their own agency,
“People have become more aware and appreciative of quality, good design,” Sidie said. “They come to us because they want that little special extra [touch].”
Sidie uses their modern, bright and naturally-lit office as a creative hub. Lined with open windows and scattered with mock-ups of a current logo her team’s working on, Sidie keeps her office open to schools for field trips and interns, with a presentation on-hand showing some of their best work.
Sidie connected with her daughter’s art teacher Jennifer Hensley, which created the opportunity for East digital design students to skip the Photoshop tutorial and instead tour an office similar to one they may work in professionally.
“You know, it’s surprising, because sometimes the college kids won’t even talk,” Sidie said. “But then the high school kids are like, ‘What’s this? What do you do? How do I do this?’ They just really want to learn.”
Foundation which helps students do a five-week paid internship over the summer at a real business. Sidie supports the program through having designed ProX’s brand and supporting high school interns during the summer and college students throughout the year.
“I do for sure think that all of the real world learning programs are paying off,” Sidie said. “It is very important for those kids because, in the past, you did an internship in college. It’s starting younger and younger now. So being able to have those opportunities in high school really opens up doors and allows you to try different things.”
Aside from providing opportunities for students, Design Ranch stretches their InDesign files and sketchbooks thin by doing work for hotels, restaurants, other businesses and, most uniquely, nonprofits. With Happy Bottoms diaper bank’s cheeky branding and the Charlotte Street Foundation’s mood-lit logo, Sidie stresses the importance of a quality product over profit.
WE’VE STARTED the frm with the idea that we would never compromise the quality of the work that we do. And we’ve stood my that for 25 years.
INGRED SIDIE
Senior Alex Meiners’ interest in digital design landed him a field trip with art teacher Jennifer Hair’s design studio classes. Meiners appreciated both the open-aired ambiance of “The Ranch,” and Sidie’s effort to apply skills learned in school to a realworld office. Through a tour of their space, a question-answer session and a sparkling water, Meiners and his peers were actually interested in a school field trip.
“You could take any class and it’ll explain how to do something, but it won’t really go in-depth, and you won’t be able to apply said thing,” Meiners said. “I feel like [Sidie] is really trying to help [fix] that with a lot of kids and broaden their horizons.”
That’s also the aim of ProX, a program for the Kauffman
“We’ve started the firm with the idea that we would never compromise the quality of the work that we do,” Sidie said. “And we’ve stood by that for 25 years. Now, that doesn’t always translate into tons of money.”
You may be surprised to hear that the Design Ranch team isn’t hunched over their desks designing one brand after the next.
With music playing, the snap of a spiked drink can opening and cornhole stocked in a closet for easy access, Sidie stresses the importance of staying motivated in a creatively-rooted profession. You may even find the team on an ice-cream break at French Custard, another brand they designed.
“I think it’s just trying to continue to expose yourself to new things and look at new things,” Sidie said. “And we always encourage our designers to go out and look at things and, you know, explore.”
AMONG THE TRADITIONAL literary and foreign language posters in the hallways at East lies the art hallway plastered with murals, sculptures and sketches — a student-made museum. Except during April and May, the main exhibition on display is made solely by International Baccalaureate art students.
“Up until now all of the art work has been in progress either on the table or in a sketchbook,” art teacher Adam Finkelston said. “The exhibits are a time to get art on the walls.”
The exhibition allows students to take their own creative liberties with their work as they have amassed an exhibit of eight to eleven pieces throughout their two years in IB Art.
“The class provides the ability to run a self-guided project, I’m not telling them what to create,” Finkelston said. “Usually the students who take the course are very motivated people.”
Ever since she was little, senior IB art student Audrey Morehead was inspired by her father and grandmother’s artistic take on the world, but it really took off when she was submitted to her first art gallery.
“When I was in the first grade, I got a piece in the R&D forum [district art show],”
Morehead said. “From that point, I knew I wanted to continue to create and use this freedom of expression.”
Morehead fed this passion throughout high school, taking as many art classes as she could, falling in love with dark room photography.
“I was into a lot of printmaking before, but then I leaned into photography, which has really taken over my art form,” Morehead said. “I started to learn all of these new forms of photography, and my exhibition focuses on utilizing them.”
Not only does Morehead’s exhibition focus on exploring new forms of art, but it also focuses on exploring self identity.
For one of her pieces “Stitch Together,” Morehead stitched together a self-portrait she had made to symbolize the process of looking inside herself and deciding who she wants to be.
“[During the pandemic] I spent a lot of time sitting around and figuring out who I was,” Morehead said. “This piece focuses on different aspects of myself that I love, like my physical beauty and realizing that you are good for this world.”
Morehead has also used her work to express emotions that she can’t put into words. One of her bigger pieces “Are You Seeing Me?” is intended to communicate
the exploration of her sexuality to herself and the people around her.
“[Art] has been an outlet for me to express what I think about,” Morehead said. “It’s a way for me to be like this is what I’m thinking and you can interpret as you go.”
For senior Anohita Paul, art was a social activity for her at a young age, starting as a popular playdate activity. It switched to a more serious ambition in seventh grade when Paul decided to start a challenge for herself by drawing something once a day for a year.
Paul was fond of drawing, but has always been more of an academic mind than an artistic one. Using her first two years of high school to focus on advanced core classes. she didn’t take many art classes until her junior year. IB students are required to take a form of art such as psychology, music or dance and IB Art. Paul saw this as a perfect time to go back to her roots.
“Usually, people are just told to keep making art in the form that they’re accustomed to, but with IB you’re made to explore with different ideas and mediums that you wouldn’t normally,” Paul said. “I feel like you gain a lot of the tools from those different experiments and into an art making process more natural for you.”
During her junior year, she was shown
different prompts and pieces from other artists and took notes of them in her sketchbook. While writing down the do’s and don’ts from each example, Paul came across mixed media, a medium that appealed to her.
Paul used mixed media to play with layers and texture on her pieces in order to express her topic of the emotional body and different inside and outside perspectives of the body.
One of her pieces “Breaking Open” starts with a painting of a woman cracking a pomegranate in her hand. Paul added a Tampax period pad to it, furthering her overall theme of the cracking menstrual cycle.
“The main thing I wanted to draw attention to here is who was breaking the pomegranate open,” Paul said. “This is talking about how a lot of women feel pressured to give parts of themselves away and mature quickly.”
Mainly being comfortable with onedimensional art before starting IB, Paul was introduced to more two-dimensional and even three-dimensional clay work, which she has two pieces of in her exhibition.
“Visual arts are a way for me to explore my emotions and understand what is going on inside my head,” Paul said.
LEFT Senior Audrey Morehead combines two passions — photography and sewing — to create a mix of textile artwork and prints.
RIGHT Senior Anohita Paul experiments with mixed media along with continuing traditional 2D art.
Scan here to purchase photos from this event
Senior
Paul stand with two of her pieces, “Breaking Open” and “Eye of the
The mixed media canvas is intended to depict the pressure women feel to mature earlier. “This was kind of more of a homage to growing up and how you feel as a women processing your emotions.” Paul said. “I think for me, the main inspiration was either my own emotional experiences or things I saw people that were really close to me going through.”
How Morehead prints photographs onto fabrics
ABOVE Senior Audrey Morehead stands in front of her completed IB art portfolio. “I’ve been into art since I can remember because my dad is an artist and my grandmothers are artists,” said Morehead. “It’s always been a part of my life. ”Morehead’s exhibition focuses on themes of self indentity and finding her place in the world. photo
LEFT ”Reality” by Anohita
is a mainly watercolor
Take a picture & make it’s negative — or an inverted photo
Cover your fabric in cyanotype chemicals
1 2 3
Place the negative on the fabric and expose it to light
I HAD TO RIG my own clothesline in the darkroom cause you have to let it hang and you need to keep it dark.
AUDREY MOREHEAD
SENIOR
uses the pink hues to hint at romanticized artwork. “I was trying to communicate how you desire for this relationship is going to take precendent over like any intamacy that you can actually have,” said Paul.
RIGHT Senior Anohita Paul’s piece “Medusa’a tragedy is a series of prints that depicts Medusa’s progression to human. The work is meant to focus on society’s perception of women and what can happen when they chose to defend themselves. photo by I lydia coe Paul piece photo by I lydia coe LEFT Senior Anohita Paul’s piece “Price of Obsession” shows the self-inflicted violence of giving yourself away in unbalanced relationships. “I wanted to emphasize that people are willing to give parts of themselves away super easily,” said Paul. photo by I lydia coeA word search containing Netflix series and movies — words can be horizontal, vertical, backwards and diagonal
Original Netflix series and movies coming out this month
WORD BANK
BIG MOUTH
BRIDGERTON
DAHMER
ELITE
GLASS ONION
HUSTLE
LUCIFER
MANIFEST
NETFLIX
PURPLE HEARTS
RED NOTICE
STRANGER THINGS
TALL GIRL
WEDNESDAY YOU
Staff determines the best recently-released Netflix original movie or series
MURDAUGH MURDERS
YOU
OUTER BANKS
GLASS ONION
DRIVE TO SURVIVE
MURDER MYSTERY 2
TOO HOT TO HANDLE
WEDNESDAY
SERIES
Sweet Tooth
April 27
Series based on DC comics that follows a young boy in a postapocalyptic world, who’s part deer
BEEF
April 6
In this comedy, a road rage incident between two strangers sparks a feud
FILM
A Tourists
Guide to Love
April 21
An American’s Vietnamese tour guide opens her eyes to an adventurous way of life
OUTER BANKS YOU
MURDER MYSTERY 2
WEDNESDAY
WEDNESDAY OUTER BANKS
OUTER BANKS
‘GLASS ONION’ SHOULD have won the bracket in my opinion because it’s much better. Another Netfix series I recommend is
‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,’ which is about a woman who leaves a cult and goes to New York. I think it’s really funny.
To celebrate April being national Brunch month, I gathered friends to finally decide on the best brunch place in KC that fits my definition of a perfect brunch — filling, delicious and peaceful
MANY OF MY friends thought Cozy’s would be too expensive and serve heavy foods doused in butter or runny gravy.
AFTER HEARING
how delicious Eggtc was from my friends, I knew it would be the perfect location to try for National Brunch Month. Even though I had to wait a good 15 minutes before being seated, my brunch trip was definitely worth it and the food arrived quickly, making up for the extended wait.
To start off my meal, I ordered the Honey Cream Latte, an espresso with half and half steamed with honey. It was rich with just the right sweetness. The espresso also wasn’t too overwhelming for someone who doesn’t normally enjoy strong coffee, allowing me to relish the tasty and warm drink.
For my main dish, I ordered the Sicilian which is a sandwich with hard
salami, prosciutto, fried egg, mozzarella, basil, lettuce and tomato on sourdough bread with a side of herb mayo. I also ordered a side of shredded hash browns. While I usually don’t choose breakfast sandwiches, I am so glad I did. The eggs and meat were perfectly cooked so that they weren’t runny or messy, but rather full of flavor. The bread was toasted to the perfect crisp adding a tasty crunchiness to my meal. Although it was a great savory dish and didn’t leave me in a complete mess, the food was kinda redundant and not as unique as Cozy’s.
Though this brunch was cheaper than Cozy’s, it was still my second choice because I didn’t get Cozy’s authentic taste that I often search for in a good, filling brunch.
BEFORE VISITING HEIRLOOM on 63rd St. I didn’t expect them to have so many different dishes. Not only did they offer a variety of brunch foods, but the lineup of pastries at the counter immediately caught my eye.
Pop-Tarts, scones, biscuits and breads looked delicious. I tried the blueberry Pop-Tart and the Earl Grey scone surrounded by beautiful wood tables and bright hanging lights.
The blueberry PopTart came full of sweet blueberry jelly and was topped with frosting and purple sprinkles. While many claim no Pop-Tart can beat the originals, this Pop-Tart did exactly that. The thicker, flaky crust perfectly balanced with
the perfect sweet treat to enjoy during a quick morning brunch run.
While the Earl Grey scone was not as sweet as the Pop-Tart, it had just as much flavor. There was a faint taste of Earl Grey tea — perfect for its name — that added just enough sweetness to the bready pastry.
To my surprise, Heirloom was my third favorite. It lacked the overall brunch experience I got from the other places, but still had an amazing selection of brunch pastries. I think that it was the perfect place to wrap up my search for the best bunch location.
The next time you pass by Cozy’s Cafe in Overland Park or Eggtc. and Heirloom by Brookside,
Walking into Cozy’s Cafe on 75th St. immediately transported us to to the past. The lights were dim with calming instrumental music playing in the background like we were in a vintage cafe. The menu had a broad selection of drinks and dishes to choose from, leaving me struggling to decide whether I wanted something savory or sweet.
I settled on the Nutella Crepes with a Nutella spread, bananas, walnuts and powdered sugar and the avocado toast with mashed avocado, poached eggs, red pepper and bacon. My friends ordered chocolate chip pancakes and a fruit crepe.
My Nutella crepe arrived covered in whipped cream and filled with just the right amount of Nutella. I normally steer away from nuts in my food, but the walnuts
While I could’ve finished both crepes that came with the dish, I luckily had enough willpower to only eat one so I could save room for my avocado toast.
The toast came piled with toppings covering my lap in crumbs and my fingers in bright green guac — but it was worth it. The pepper and avocado were perfectly mixed with the eggs and bacon. My only complaint was how runny the poached eggs were. The bacon was cooked super crunchy to mix with the avocado, giving the dish a prominent flavor that I never get out of my homemade avocado toast. This toast is an oldy but a goody that I’ll never get tired of.
Cozy’s definitely ended up being my favorite, not only for their delicious food but also their unique environment. While I heard complaints that it was a little pricey, I had no regrets spending my 30$ on such distinctive, rich food.
After passing the cafe for years without entering, I’ll be
WHEN LANA DEL Rey announced her new album, the thing that surprised me most — aside from the comically long title — was the diversity of the lead singles. The shift from the shimmery delicacy of the “Ocean Blvd” title track to the sultry, badass “A&W” and back to the pure hymnal beauty of “The Grants” nearly gave me whiplash.
The album walks us through Lana’s life, examining her identity both as an artist and a woman. Thematically, she plays with motifs of family and growth all while contrasting her troubled past with a domestic, loving future. Think tradwife meets Lolita. Musically, she achieves a similar effect by layering trap beats with soulful piano ballads — nothing short of musical genius.
Most notably, this contrast is seen on tracks like my personal favorite, “Candy Necklace.” She takes “Born to Die”-era lyrics like “Sitting on the sofa, feeling super suicidal / Hate to say the word, but, baby, hand on the Bible” alluding to her troubled past and combines them with modern, polished vocals and instrumentals to create a masterpiece.
did not disappoint either. When she released the tracklist with the features, I had to mentally prepare myself for her working with the likes of musical geniuses Jon Batiste, Bleachers, Tommy Genesis and Father John Misty — secretly, I just hoped the Father John Misty collab would be a sequel to “Buddy’s Rendezvous” single featuring him and Lana.
With each collaboration, Lana writes and performs with the artists to highlight their individual strengths while staying true to her own sound. For example, Lana’s signature rich vocals fit so masterfully over Tommy Genesis’ hip-hop-esque trap beats on “Peppers.”
As good as the album was, it’s important to recognize that it was disappointingly cheesy in some places as well. I couldn’t help but cringe at lines like “Pass me my vape, I’m feeling sick” and “My boyfriend tested positive for COVID.”
But aside from the occasional eye-roll-inducing line, any real mistakes on this album are minimized to one weird line a few times in the album. And if any “flaws” exist, they’re intentional. She even goes as far to set
design & copy by greyson imm
Reviews of three albums released in the past month
with the intro to “The Grants” being an outtake of her backing vocalists rehearsing — converting flaws into rawness.
“Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd’’ would be a magnificent achievement for any artist, but for Lana it’s more. She’s already proved her musical prowess in the industry, but now you can her comfort in creating. As she moves into this next stage, you can hear Lana’s contentment with life and her triumph: “It’s a beautiful life / Remember that too for me.” beautiful life
JUST A LOOK at my LastFM account of Spotify Wrapped and you would see the 2018 self-titled album by boygenius — a super-group of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus — clear at the top. I’ve spun the vinyl so much the corners of the record sleeve are well-worn and tattered. It’s safe to say I’m a little obsessed.
So when boygenius announced their reunion for a new album — “the record” — last month, I dug out my vinyl, threw on my Phoebe Bridgers hoodie and prepared to be blown away.
The four lead singles from the album reminded me just what I’ve been missing for five years: indie rock mastery. Julien’s raw vocals with a hint of rasp layered over a punk-y guitar riff and heavy bass on “$20” was the closest I’ll probably ever get to hearing a real-life angel. And Dacus’ sweet crooning “True Blue” was rich beyond words.
But of course, their strong suit will always be their lyricism. “Water freezing in your eyes / You were happy and I wasn’t surprised” on “True Blue” reminded me of the raw, often-nihilistic lyrics from their debut record.
Front-to-back, the harmony-soaked album is a shining reminder that all three are still growing in terms of musicianship and creativity. A prime example of this is when Phoebe sings about religion, Midwestern identity and “Unpacking God in the suburbs” — a hard-hitting line as I listened to “AntiCurse” driving through my suburban town feeling nostalgic and angsty.
The new record puts a more mature twist on themes from the original EP, and even references some of its lyrics. This is most significant in “Letter to an Old Poet” when she says “I wanna be happy / I’m ready to walk into my room without lookin’ for you / I’ll go up to the top of our building / And remember my dog when I see the full moon” — a reprise to “Me and My Dog” from the self-titled album.
While I’m still nostalgic for the original boygenius EP, I’ll always welcome fresh hits from the modern goddesses of indie rock.
from “Me and My Dog” from the self-titled album.
While I’ll always be nostalgic for the original boygenius EP, new music from the modern goddesses of indie rock is always welcome.
/ Remember that too for me.”
handful of hip-hop jams to blast on my hype playlist.
SINCE ITS 2021 release, “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” by Tyler, the Creator has been my go-to feel-good album for windows-down drives and summer walks.
So when Tyler released the deluxe version of this album “The Estate Sale,” I knew to expect another
“WHAT A DAY”
While this project isn’t a full standalone album, that doesn’t stop Tyler from diving into his usual wacky, fast-paced lyrical flow and occasional eyebrow-raising lines (See “I’m so conceited / Feeling myself, ego masturbating” from “WHAT A DAY”).
The only word that can be used to sum up this project is downright fun . Tyler’s pianosynth fusion instrumentals on “DOGTOOTH” and the harmonious backing choral-style vocals on “HEAVEN TO ME” are
“WHARF TALK”
sparkling finishing touches layered on Tyler’s impeccable verses.
This project is a prime example of what deluxe editions should be — preserving the feel of the original album while still adding theme-related content.
“ The
“$20” “Anti-Curse”
t
“Candy Necklace”
“Fishtail”
“A&W”
ere’ s a t u n n e l
SCATTERED ACROSS
MAIN Street in the heart of Westport are three chic European-inspired restaurants. The newest one is Enchanté, a bakery nestled in the bricks since Jan. 25.
All are owned by entrepreneur Heather White, and her section of Main Street has been nicknamed “Heather’s Village” and “The French Trifecta” by locals. So, I had to try the Enchanté — which only adds to her already stellar reputation.
From my car, Enchanté looked like a corporate office or locksmith shop. Instead of a typical LED sign inside the shop, the restaurant is more classically decorated with a small rustic candle-lit chandelier dangling underneath the entryway and olive trees in terracotta urns by the door. The inside features exposed brick walls, hand-picked antiques and small trinkets such as tea mugs giving a cobbled-but-classy European feel.
Although Enchanté is hard to access due to the streetcar renovations on Main Street, the hectic parking was forgotten when I entered the bakery and was hit by
the scent of newly-baked chocolate cookies mixed with a sweet tinge of fresh table flowers.
I passed on tiny macarons and 12-inch cakes before settling on a chocolate muffin, rosewater croissant and lemon tart cake for $18. I was delighted to enjoy my treats from a pillow-filled bench by a window.
I was immediately drawn to the presentation of the chocolate muffin as the top was adorned with a perfectly scalloped dot of cream cheese and milk chocolate flakes drizzled with salted caramel sauce. The muffin itself tasted more like a red velvet cake than dark chocolate, but I appreciated the twist and combination of flavors.
Then I had my first-ever rosewater croissant, an exciting menu addition in comparison to Starbucks or Einstein’s pastry choices. As a carbloaded bread and butter hater — the flavors are typically overly heavy and dull — I was skeptical to try Enchanté’s croissant.
Tearing off the end of my croissant, the paper-thin layers fell on my plate in one heap. But the scarce moist sections were a nice surprise, and I even enjoyed the edible dried rose
petals atop the sweet lemon glaze. Although it won’t be my go-to next time at Enchanté due to the crumbly nature of the dish, I enjoyed the creative spin on a basic dish.
After spotting a luscious lemon tart cake in the display case, I instantly felt at home. The savory treat coincidentally resembled my grandma’s famous lemon meringue pie — I had to try it. With small meringue crumbs and fresh raspberries positioned on top I felt as if I was sitting down for tea with a queen rather than in a bakery located in Missouri.
As a huge lemon fan, I cherished the genuine citrus taste rather than a genetically-engineered and painfully fake aroma that’s common in other bakeries. If I were to recommend one dish to indulge in as an after school snack, it would be this lemon tart cake.
Enchanté is a wonderfully chic mix of all my favorite things: cute decor and scrumptious food. It brings both of White’s other restaurants, Cheval and Tailleur, together into an easy quick-stop shop where I can have an entire European experience without the passport.
Senior Louis Prosser-Gebhardt collects Funko Pop! figurines and resells them at a higher price, following the price increases on online databases
THE
Bought an Attack On Titans Funko Pop for
Q A
: CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FUNKO POP COLLECTION?
: When I was in late seventh grade in middle school, I would buy whichever one I saw and it kind of accumulated. I collected whichever ones I thought was cool, from TV shows, music and art. My biggest one that I had for a while [was] “Attack on Titans” and I bought the entire set of the frst season, and then I got into reselling them.
Q A
: IF YOU COULD DESIGN YOUR OWN FUNKO POP, WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE?
: I think they need some for Studio Ghibli movies. I would love to like a Totoro one, a Princess Mononoke one. Those would be really good, and I haven’t seen those before. They make little keychains. I think they need to do more band members too. I have one for My Chemical Romance, but they need to have one for Billy Corgan.
Q A
: IF YOU COULD DESIGN YOUR OWN FUNKO POP, WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE?
: It’s kind of fun to see how you grow up because like a lot of it [are things] that I was really into when I was like younger, like in middle school. Like the My Chemical Romance one [I’ve had] for like forever. It’s like fun to look back and see what I was into, and it’s like physically there.
POKEMON
SKATEBOARD
Has over DECKS
cards and pokemon cards funko pops
KEEPS EACH ONE SEALED IN ITS
Updates, schedules and pictures from the spring sports season so far
Boys and girls lacrosse start off their seasons strong with both teams being undefeated
JV GIRLS LACROSSE
3/30 VS PARK
LACROSSE
3/22 VS STA
LACROSSE
3/22 VS JOHN BURROUGHS
VARSITY BOYS
3/25 VS CREIGHTON PREP
Senior members of the boys golf team share their expectations for this season
JACK SHELTON
SENIOR
MY GOAL IS to get a top ten fnish at state individually as well as our team win state altogether.
EDDIE LEOPOLD
SENIOR
THE EXPECTATION IS winning state individually, and the bare minimum for the team is to bring home the title.
VARSITY GIRLS
LACROSSE 3/30 VS PARK
UP & COMING APRIL
11
APRIL 14
Varsity girls swim meet Varsity Softball location: SMAC time: 3:30 p.m.
location: CBAC time: 3:30 p.m.
Don’t miss these events 18
Coach Dittemore leads the Varsity Softball team to their first victory of the season, and the first of her career
Varsity girls soccer
21 Boys tennis invitational
APRIL APRIL location: ODAC time: 7 p.m. location: LHS time: 1 p.m.
*photo courtesy of @smeastlancers on Instagram BLAKE HANSON JUNIOR PATRICK FLINT JUNIOR photo by tristen porter JORDAN PINDELL JUNIOR photo by amelie wong photo by amelie wong
story by
10’6”
MARCH 25
APRIL 1
SOUTH
ITHINK I want to quit baseball to go out for track.”
First year pole vaulting coach Eric Peters’ head started spinning. He had always let his son, senior Kyle Peters, play whatever sports he wanted. Although Eric taught him how to pole vault when he was six in the front yard, deep down he would have loved to see him pursue it, but it was usually baseball that had him hooked. Now, he would get to spend Kyles last year at home on the track.
Though Eric has been offered the coaching job at East multiple times, it was Kyle’s request that prompted his dad to finally accept the position. He came to coach at East this year, for Kyle.
“That was something that I’d been waiting 18 years for him to ask me,” Eric said.
After considering the amount of time he would be playing baseball, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to participate in a spring sport. But when he found out his dad was going to be supporting from the sidelines, he chose track to keep learning — this time with his dad as an official coach.
Senior Kyle Peter’s statistics from the first two meets of his first season on track
I WANTED TO try something new. It was always either going to be track or nothing at all. When my dad got the opportunity to coach, that solidifed my decision.
to coach, that solidified my decision.”
Since he chose pole vaulting in December, Kyle has practiced a couple times a week at Olympus — an indoor pole vaulting gym — with his dad before the season began. They worked on the basic’s — two, four and six step up drills, along with some bending drills to get back into the sport.
Even though Kyle has been coached by a competitive pole vaulter all his life, from tagging along in his dads high school practices when he was young and practicing drills in the front yard, he’s never wanted to have a competitive edge in the sport.
“I don’t think I have any pressure [to be great at it] because it’s my first year doing it competitively,” Kyle said. “I’m not like competing against the top people in the district or in the state. There is a little bit of pressure to perform in meets because I want to do well for my team, but I think it’s more fun than anything.”
I THINK THEIR dynamic is really fun to watch and I think it’s been a really good way to kind of see his coaching style.
CAROLINE GORMAN
SENIOR
Eric pole vaulted in high school, landing a 3A state champion in 1993. At Bethel College, he was a three-time All American — later inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame. In 2004, the year before Kyle was born, he began coaching pole vaulting at Shawnee Mission Northwest.
But it took 18 years and one sport for Kyle to finally land on Eric’s life passion. Kyle didn’t expect much playing time on the baseball field, and joining pole vault would make his dad happy.
“I didn’t really want to play baseball in college,” Kyle said. “After [club] season, I was just kind of done with it and I want to try something new. It was always either going to be track or nothing at all. When my dad got the opportunity
Despite being coached since he was six, he’s still a rookie in high school pole vaulting competitions because he never has had the experience of those meets.
“[I] Hit on my takeoff hard and inversions have been a couple of my bigger struggles,” Kyle said. “Also locking my arms out.”
Though Kyle hasn’t been on the team as long as co-captain and senior Caroline Gorman, she’s already seen his bond with his dad first hand when they talk about old stories or memories from the past.
“I think their dynamic is really fun to watch and I think it’s been a really good way to kind of see his coaching style,” Gorman said.
Pole vaulting coach Eric Peters and his son Kyle share their first and last season on the pole vaulting team together LEFT Peters directs pole vaulters during after school practice. Practice is held every week day as well as meets on the weekends. photo by I claire goettsch RIGHT Senior Kyle Peters runs with his pole in hand towards the pole vault bar as he prepares to jump over. Kyle is getting ready for the next meet of the season on April 15. photo by I claire goettsch RIGHT Coach Eric Peters and son Kyle Peters laugh while posing for a picture after pole vaulting practice. photo by I claire goettsch RELAYS KYLE PETERS SENIOR design by ava cooperUNDER ARMOUR ALL American, countless invitational tournaments and scouting from colleges and universities all over the country — more than just a list of accomplishments for Kansas City Christian junior and attackman Jack Hamilton. Proof of his success.
Jack is back on the Lancer Lacrosse team for his second season on the team in hopes to reach one of his biggest goals after years of uprooting in order to focus on the sport — winning the state title.
“I want to be holding up that trophy with the
guys. At the end of the year the end all be all,” Jack said.
Jack was raised in Kansas City but moved to Branson in 2016 to be closer to family. He didn’t start his lacrosse career until fifth grade when his football dreams were crushed by his mother who would not allow him to play.
“My dad was like, here’s a contact sport, where it’s not football, and you can kind of get your mom to agree on it,” Jack said “And so I started from a young age, and it’s been all uphill ever since.”
Jack played lacrosse in Branson from fifth grade until eighth grade when he began to travel to Kansas City every Saturday for games with the Prairie
Village Outlaws.
“Fourteen-year-old Jack, a couple of old ladies, and a bunch of dudes with teardrop tattoos,” Jack’s dad Tom Hamilton said.
These were the people Jack was surrounded by as he got onto the Greyhound Bus going from Branson to Kansas City for a single eighth-grade lacrosse game. If you asked Jack today, he’d tell you that the four-hour lonely bus ride was worth it every time.
It made Jack realize that Branson didn’t hold strong enough competition or opportunity for him. So, to gain a competitive edge he had to be playing in Kansas City, specifically at East.
“It was a great learning experience for me to kind of humble myself and be able to be like, alright, like, these are the things that I need to do in order for my team to win,” Jack said.
In 2021, East’s competitive edge could be seen in then-senior Cade Eldred — now a D1 University of Denver player — and a superb coaching staff led by three-time Lacrosse Association of Kansas City champion coach Will Garrett.
While living in KC, playing for East and playing club lacrosse with Top Gun Midwest, Jack got scouted and realized he wanted to capitalize off of Lancer Lacrosse and reclass — repeating a certain grade level twice and going back a graduation year. Unfortunately, East didn’t offer this.
Hamilton weighed his options and finally realized that Perkiomen School in
Pennsylvania was his best option. They were investing a lot of money into their program and had just brought in a brand new coach, and most notably they would allow him to re-class to the grade below him.
He continued to grow his skills and fine tune his stick to become an elite player, which is what Perkiomen did for him. That season, Hamilton accomplished one of his biggest goals by committing to play D1 lacrosse at the Air Force Academy.
He then quickly realized that his college experience was not going to be the same as others and knew he wanted more time with his family. So soon after his commintent his family came to visit, and he proposed the idea of coming home to his father.
“[It] was a hard decision because he loves those guys and had gotten really close with them.” Tom Hamilton said. “But ultimately, he was like, ‘Hey, if I come back I’d like to go to KCC with my siblings, so I can see them every day and drive them to school and home and all that stuff.”
After hearing the news about Hamilton coming back, the Lancer Lacrosse team was counting down the days until he could join the team with high hopes for his athletic success.
He has met those hopes by already leaving his mark in the record book breaking the all-time points record in a single game in only his third game back.
“Watching Jack play is truly amazing, like watching Jesus walk on water or hearing a beautiful symphony, he’s really good. I love watching him play and score,” Senior defender Charlie Zwillenberg said.
Hamilton hopes to reach another huge goal of his and lead his team as one of four captains to an LAKC title this season.
TO JUNIOR NOAH Cosgrove, the boxing ring is his place to be. The way the world goes quiet in the ring is a feeling that he can’t get enough of.
King’s dad, Scott King, mentioned that he’d heard of an opportunity to learn more about Cyclocross — a sport neither of them were particularly familiar with — they felt compelled to take it on. So a couple days later they went down Milhaven Dr., carrying their bikes.
the sport of racing on a bicycle over rough ground that sometimes makes it necessary to get off your bicycle and carry it
Sophomore Lincoln King walked into his neighbor’s backyard to find it full of sand pits, rocks and bikes. This set the stage for his first attempt at Cyclocross.
While it was initially just the Kings and their neighbors, their Cyclocross group expanded to over 25 people after a few years.
Cyclocross for the King family consisted of Thursday night training, originally in their neighbor’s backyard and then in parks around Shawnee, Lenexa and Overland Park for more space and variety, plus competitions on the weekends.
After about two months of training, Lincoln started competing. Competition days were a family affair — he, his brother and his dad all took turns racing the terrain track at various parks around KC. They raced against the people within the same four-year age group as themselves. For Lincoln, there were few competitors near his age, making him one of
the youngest in the age group.
“At this point they’ve all graduated,” King said. “They’re all off in college and everyone in my brother’s age group or my similar age, 16, have all just moved on.”
The age gap made it seemingly impossible to win, but didn’t stop him from getting the third place spot at a special series of races titled the Cookie Cross. He accumulated enough points to win third place, earning him the foot-and-a-half chocolate chip cookie, making it his most notable award.
After a couple of years since the original backyard practice, the organization “Donderdag!” — a reference to the word for Thursday in Dutch — was created by King’s original coach, Donald Jonas, with his dad, Scott King as the treasurer. It was made as an organization to promote Cyclocross as a sport and provide both bikes and bike repairs during practices and competitions.
Now that Lincoln is committed to various other things including Marching Band, Lincoln primarily volunteers.
“I’ve been trying to make an effort to go out to Donderdag more, trying to reconnect with everyone, get more involved,” King said.
“When you get into that ring you’re surrounded by hundreds of people so it’s a little nerve racking, but as soon as you hop in that ring, it just goes silent,” Cosgrove said. “You don’t hear anybody.”
He still remembers when he won his first boxing match. He had already lost his first couple of matches and was down after the first round. But after his coach helped calm him and reminded him he had the skills to win, he was ready to go back in.
Cosgrove got back in the ring, threw with everything he had and near the end of the fight, he knew he secured the win.
Since starting boxing six years ago, the sport has taught Cosgrove self-discipline, how to be a calmer person and improved his physical health.
SOPHOMORE SOPHIE LEONARD and her mom, Josie Leonard needed a new gym after moving from Washington D.C. in 2021. After checking out five gyms in the area, 2020 Fitness immediately stuck out.
“I didn’t know anybody and my mom started looking around for new gyms,” Leonard said.
“We were drawn to this one specifically because they offered classes for kids under
Sophie started lifting there, with her mom doing the CrossFit classes. After one year, Sophie was getting ready to go into CrossFit when she met Pembroke sophomore Anika Brim. They immediately clicked and after training for around another year, Sophie was ready for her first official CrossFit competition — “Fitober Fest” at 2020 Fitness.
“Boxing will really get you in shape physically, but you need to be there emotionally too,” Cosgrove said. “It teaches you a lot of life lessons about being stable, having that discipline and sticking to plans.”
Something that was important to him was the buildup to getting to box in matches and tournaments.
Cosgrove wasn’t allowed to officially spar until about a month into training, then after a year of training he was ready to compete. Now he competes in tournaments and is working to improve six days a week for two hours each day.
This particular competition required a partner, so Sophie and Anika powered through the three-part competition that lasted five hours.
Between the mile-and-a-half run, deadlifts, thrusters, biking and skiing, Sophie and Anika gradually built their friendship through their fitness and CrossFit training.
“It really cemented in our relationship,” Leonard said. “It’s such an intense and almost a bonding experience.”
Despite being the only two at that CrossFit location, Sophie feels like she fits in and is continuing to compete in various CrossFit Competitions, with the help of Full Time Coach and Operations Manager Kim Van Zandt.
“There are only two high school girls that are in our CrossFit program, Sophie being one of them,” Zandt said. “She is somebody to look up to, she works out with other adults and she sees them to look up to and keeps striving to be her best everyday.”
A digest of Lemon8, ByteDance’s social media app that soared past Pinterest and Tinder as the leading lifestyle app in the App Store
Refreshing qualities of the trending social media app
Cons of Lemon8 that might make you cringe
LESS HUMOR- & no place for memes or funny videos CEN TERED
content is sorted into specific, RIGID CATEGORIES: fashion, beauty, food, wellness & travel
more for INFLUENCER MARKETING than content creation
8 ways to use it
healthy recipes
style inspo travel hacks
home decor ideas
content creators can TAG
NON-VIDEO unlike TikTok’s short, clip-heavy CONTENT where they got their clothing & its price
Influencers have called Lemon8 the baby of Instagram and Pinterest, but what do you use it for?
makeup tips
workout advice
bedroom essentials
dupes & cheap buys
NOW RISING IN TRAFFIC
so the app is a blank slate for new influencers & trends
Security concerns against creators of TikTok and Lemon8
ByteDance Ltd. is a Chinese internet tech company that owns TikTok and Lemon8
Amid the Biden administration’s threats to ban TikTok over user data privacy concerns , ByteDance has paid American creators to promote Lemon8 in among U.S. audiences
However, Lemon8 would likely be banned along with TikTok for similar *according to the New Y o rk Times
Popularity of the app among your friends and classmates
96%
OF STUDENTS HAVE NOT USED THE APP LEMON8 OF STUDENTS WOULD RECOMMEND LEMON8 TO A FRIEND
7% MILLION ACTIVE USERS HAVE LEMON8 IN THE U.S., COMPARED TO TIKTOK’S 1.06 BILLION
4.25
*according to Instagram polls of 192 and 97 votes and Apptopia