Issue 16

INSIDE SECTION

SENIOR PROFILES SENIOR SECTION PAGES 8&9

SME CLASS OF 2014 SENIOR SPREAD

Junior’s travel plans for this summer and senior year mean she will be leaving home earlier than expected

Shawnee Mission East l 7500 Mission Road, PV KS, 66208 l May 9, 2014 l Issue 16 l www.smeharbinger.net

editorial.

CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Andrew McKittrick Katie Knight ASSISTANT EDITORS Morgan Krakow Sophie Tulp

“

CAN WE SEE PAST SKIN “HOW COLOR WHEN MINORITIES ARE

HARBINGER STAFF 2013-2014

STILL AT SUCH A DISADVANTAGE? Debating the importance of Affirmative Action

C

olorblind. The idea represents the views of the ideal American society. As kids of the ‘90’s, it’s been hammered into our heads time and time again that we’re supposed to see past each other’s skin colors and racial identities; we’re all the same underneath, and we should be treated as such. But we can’t be a colorblind society if every time we take a step towards equality, we end up taking two steps back.

A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court decided to uphold Michigan’s ban on affirmative action in higher education. Affirmative action was introduced in the 1960’s in the U.S. as a way to combat racial discrimination during hiring and college application processes, eventually expanding to include gender discrimination. This means that an applicant’s race could be a deciding factor in getting accepted into certain colleges or hired for certain jobs. The recent Michigan ban is not the first time the policy has been debarred; affirmative action has been taken out of the college application process in five states, and only a handful of universities. But for the most part, it is still in place. It’s widely-known that affirmative action could potentially affect the chances of many qualified students getting into colleges, even though it also gives disadvantaged minorities more opportunities in life. Even so, the Harbinger believes that the Supreme Court’s ruling is a step back, and that affirmative action should remain in place.

Affirmative action is an extremely relevant issue for high schoolers. As we are applying to colleges across the United States, we’re competing against other high schoolers from many different backgrounds. And as we are considered by countless admissions counselors, many of our attributes are under scrutiny -- including race. Whatever box we check on our applications, whether it’s “Caucasian,” “American Indian” or “Pacific Islander,” our checkmarks have enough bearing to possibly influence our chance of admission. In the words of anti-racism advocate Tim Wise, “[Affirmative action] merely presumes that whites have been afforded more-than-equal, extra opportunity relative to people of color, and that this arrangement has skewed the opportunity structure for jobs, college slots and contracts.” Because of this extra opportunity, race should be a determining factor in college admissions.

The United States has a long history of mistreating minorities. This tradition has continued through more than four centuries, from slavery and the oppression of Native Americans, all the way to the current lack of economic equality and overt racism that blacks,

Hispanics and other minorities face (an example of which would be racial profiling). Because of this awful legacy, many non-white children and teenagers growing up in America today lack the opportunities of their white counterparts. Although our attitudes towards race have changed, the consequences of our past attitudes have remained. Many non-white kids have to work through school, or are the first of their families to even apply to college. Many lack the background knowledge and resources that a good number of white kids have to succeed.

Being colorblind is the American ideal, but how can we see past skin color when minorities are still at such a disadvantage? According to the Pew Research Forum, the median wealth of white households is still 20 times that of black households. Nationally, according to the Chicago Defender and thinkprogress.org, school districts spend exponentially more on predominantly white schools than black schools and black men working the same jobs as white men earn 35 percent less per year.

Affirmative action has helped numerous minorities to get accepted into college, and eventually to achieve in their careers (including Barack Obama and Sonia Sotomayor, who have credited affirmative action with helping them get accepted into prestigious universities). Even though our society is far from becoming colorblind, it is undeniable that affirmative action has helped push us in the right direction by giving minorities more opportunities. But as more and more states and universities are turning against affirmative action, we end up denying capable students the chance to go to college, and the chance to have a better life.

EDITORIAL BOARD VOTES: FOR: 7 AGAINST: 5

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

HEAD COPY EDITOR Sarah Berger ASSISTANT HEAD COPY EDITOR Pauline Werner ART & DESIGN EDITOR Miranda Gibbs ART & DESIGN ASSISTANT EDITOR Phoebe Aguiar NEWS SECTION EDITOR Greta Nepstad NEWS PAGE DESIGNERS Mike Thibodeau Lauren Brown SPREAD EDITOR Caroline Kohring FEATURES SECTION EDITOR Maddie Hise FEATURES PAGE DESIGNERS Sydney Lowe Pauline Werner

Will Oakley

SPORTS PAGE DESIGNERS Tommy Sherk ONLINE HOMEGROWN EDITOR Hannah Coleman John Foster FREELANCE PAGE DESIGNERS Grace Heitmann Ali Lee STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Neely Atha Callie McPhail Kylie Relihan Annika Sink Taylor Anderson Katie Lamar Paloma Garcia James Wooldrige Tessa Polaschek Abby Hans Katie Roe EDITORIAL BOARD Andrew McKittrick Katie Knight Morgan Krakow Sarah Berger Lauren Brown Susannah Mitchell Morgan Twibell Sophie Tulp Julia Poe Grace Heitmann Mike Thibodeau Pauline Werner John Foster

COPY EDITORS ADS MANAGER Mike Thibodeau SOPHIE TOLP Clara Ma Andrew McKittrick ONLINE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Morgan Krakow Grace Heitmann Sarah Berger Julia Poe Sophie Tulp ONLINE ASSISTANT EDITOR Katie Knight John Foster Pauline Werner Caroline Kohring Julia Poe ONLINE HEAD COPY EDITORS Susannah Mitchell Susannah Mitchell Clara Ma Greta Nepstad ONLINE ASSISTANT HEAD COPY EDITOR FREELANCE PAGE DESIGNERS Lauren Brown Grace Heitmann Will Oakley ONLINE PHOTO EDITOR Marisa Walton STAFF WRITERS Madison Hyatt ONLINE ASSISTANT Ellis Nepstad PHOTO EDITORS Michael Kraske Hailey Hughes Hannah Coleman Callie McPhail Sophie Storbeck Ellie Booton Sean Overton ONLINE CONVERGENCE EDITOR Audrey Danciger PHOTO EDITORS McKenzie Swanson Maddie Schoemann ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITORS Annie Savage Tessa Polaschek OPINION SECTION EDITOR Morgan Twibell OPINION PAGE DESIGNERS Nellie Whittaker Aidan Epstein A&E SECTION EDITOR Phoebe Aguiar A&E PAGE DESIGNERS Audrey Danciger Leah Pack SPORTS SECTION EDITOR

ONLINE NEWS EDITOR Ellie Booton

ONLINE OPINION EDITOR Claire Sullivan ONLINE A&E EDITOR Audrey Danciger ONLINE SPORTS SECTION EDITORS Michael Kraske Will Oakley VIDEO EDITORS Sophie Mitchell Annie Foster PODCAST & RADIO EDITOR Leah O’Connor EASTIPEDIA EDITOR Maxx Lamb INTERACTIVE EDITOR Mike Thibodeau HEAD WEBMASTER Jack Stevens ASSISTANT WEBMASTERS Jacob Milgrim Tommy Sherk LIVE BROADCAST EDITORS Jack Stevens Andrew McKittrick BROADCAST TEAM Daniel Rinner MULTIMEDIA STAFF Jack Stevens Sophie Mitchell Matthew Bruyere Annie Foster Georgia DuBois Abby Hans Leah O’Connor TWEETMASTER Jacob Milgrim ONLINE BLOGGERS Corinne Stratton Katharine Swindells Brian Philipps Gaby Azorsky Scotty Burford ADVISER Dow Tate

The Harbinger is a student-run publication. The contents and views are produced solely by the staff and do not represent the Shawnee Mission School District, East faculty or school administration.

news.

F E I R B NEWS

A week in photos

IN

The Triple Crown series begins ANNIKA SINK Sophomore Parker Jennings performs a traditional Chinese dance at the Chinese Cabaret on April 29.

WRITTEN BY ELLIS NEPSTAD ART BY GRETA NEPSTAD

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The annual Kentucky Derby was held in Louisville, KY on May 3.

The winner of the 140th annual race was a three year old colt named California Chrome. He was racing with 2:1 odds, and was the favorite to win.

The Kentucky Derby was the first of the Triple Crown series, a series of races that consists of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. Each race in the Triple Crown are two weeks apart.

There have been a total of 11 Triple Crown winners. In order to win the Triple Crown, a horse must win all three of the races. The last winner was a horse named Affirmed in 1978.

Study skills teacher Kristen Carmody, who has been to the track where the Preakness race is held, loves watching all the horse races.

“If I could go to Kentucky I would go,” Carmody said. “You see the horses, and all the people and its just fabulous to see them and you can pick the ones you really like when you see them live.”

A LOOK inside the

KENTUCKY

DERBY

“The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”

Founded by Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., the Kentucky Derby officially began in 1875.

the numbers: fastest record

LEAH O’CONNOR Junior Natasha Kiel directs her show titled “Tough Break” for the Repertory Theater’s original one acts. The shows lasted from April 29 to May 1.

ELLIS NEPSTAD

During halftime of the girls’ soccer game against SM West on May 1, senior Calen Byrd kicks a ball around with other East students.

KATIE ROE Elementary orchestra teacher Jennifer Mitchell conducts her students during the String Fling, an orchestra concert for elementary schools, middle schools and SM East on April 24.

1:59

Man in OK dies 40 minutes after lethal injection

slowest record

Secretariat in 1973

A lethal injection was given to a convicted felon named Charles Warren on April 29 in Oklahoma. Warren suffered for 40 minutes and then died of a heart attack.

Warren was proven guilty for killing a woman. He injured his victim, then left her in a grave his friend dug while he went and fixed his gun. The woman’s friends were watching the whole time.

“For any capital crime, which is a crime where the death penalty is issued, you get a lethal injection,” AP Government teacher Ron Stallard said. “It is a concoction of drugs and it basically puts you asleep and you stay asleep.”

There have been different types of death penalty executions in the past, however the Supreme Court has considered the old ways a violation of the eighth amendment, and so they no longer exist.

“They are trying new cocktails with medicines to make sure they don’t suffer,” Stallard said.

According to Stallard the Supreme Court will likely make an end to lethal injections due to a violation of the eighth amendment.

East Video Announcements undergo changes The video announcements released on Fridays are expanding in length, as well as in the number of people on staff.

This year was the first year that a class was offered for students involved in the video announcements; in previous years, students on the staff worked after school and during seminar. This year the class met its maximum capacity of 13 to 15 students.

“Of course [the class] is going to grow because this was our first shot with the class,” video production teacher Jennifer Hunter said.

According to Hunter, all fourth hour classes have an extra five minutes built in to the schedule to allow for announcements.

The announcements will slightly change for next year. However they will still have the news and the Sports Pick’s sections, but some things will be changing for next year.

“We have some ideas for next year, however none of that will be official until the fall,” Hunter said.

2:52

Kingman in 1982

FACTS ABOUT THE [FOUR LEGGED] COMPETITORS

1) each hourse is a three year old thoroughbred colt: a young male horse

gelding: castrated male horses

filly: young female horse

2) race horses run faster than 35 mph 3)colts and geldings can run with 126 extra lbs, while fillies can run with an extra 121

Th

inner: California C hro ar’s W e Y me is Chrome is the first California-bred race horse to win the Kentucky Derby since 1962 time: 2:03 owners: Perry Martin and Steve Coburn trainer: Art Sherman jockey: Victor Espinoza

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Stolen Time

news.

Students have lost time in the art wing since a drawing tablet was stolen from the Digital Media room

WRITTEN BY MIKE THIBODEAU PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KYLIE RELLIHAN

A

n Intuos drawing tablet was stolen from the Digital Media room prompting a stricter enforcement of pre-existing policies barring students from working after school without a teacher. Students, who were used to working late after school, now have to leave when their teachers do. This has made it more difficult for them to finish projects.

“In theory, students in the classroom need to be under the supervision of a teacher at all hours of the day,” associate principal Britt Haney said. “We need to make sure we’re doing everything in our power to make sure that all students of East are supervised as much as possible.”

The theft in the in the Digital Media room has put the rest of the art wing under this rule.

Because students are no longer allowed in the classroom without teacher supervision. Students like senior drawing student Tony Jones have seen their amount of time they have to work cut.

“Usually I’ll stay in here maybe till 3:30 or 4ish, then one day they were like ‘hey you have to go. You can’t work on stuff, even if you have to get stuff done,’” Jones said. “So then I’m forced to find a different place to get my supplies, time to work and all that jazz.”

Junior Lizzy Roussos has also been affected by the new enforcement. Roussos used to stay after school until 5 or 6 at night, listening to music and working on pottery with a small, regular group of students. Now she has to at right after school at 3 p.m.

“We wouldn’t always leave at the same time, but it was like a rule that last person would turn off all the lights and make sure

all the stools were up. . . and make sure everything was locked and stuff,” Roussos said. “We knew what we were supposed to do or we’d get the privilege taken away, obviously.”

Roussos, also can’t put in as much work after school on the portfolio she’s trying to create for colleges.

“I used to stay after all the time and now I only have class time. I want to go to art school,” Roussos said. “I’m trying to create a portfolio and make all these works and I just don’t have as much time anymore.”

With less time, students have had to change the way they work. Drawing teacher Jason Filbeck pointed out that, in art, students work at their own pace, some slower than others. Other students take on bigger projects to work on, needing more time after school.

No items have been stolen since the rules were tightened. Filbeck can count on one hand the number of thefts he remembers at East. Something that doesn’t surprise pottery teacher Wanda Simchuk.

“My pottery students are very trustworthy,” Simchuk said. “The doors are locked when I leave and they used to stay and work and get a ton done. Now I cannot leave them there.”

The rule applies to more than after school also. Filbeck and Simchuk used to send advanced students into work on projects and print things off from the digital media room before fifth hour when Burdick arrives. Now they can’t send a student without them having supervision.

“If I’m running my class and I have an advanced kid that I want to send next door to get

an image, I have to find a way to go with them, but you can’t go with them because then that means I’m leaving kids in my room,” Filbeck said. “So that’s kind of a hassle.”

Haney believes that putting an emphasis on seminar time will help students make up some of that time lost.

“Take advantage of seminar,” Haney said.

“Get in there and do that and maybe you’re in here at 7:21 going all the way till 9:15 when seminar ends. We completely understand, we really can’t have them in a room unsupervised with thousands of dollars of equipment.”

Jones, among other students, spends most of his seminars in the art wing. But during seminar, Burdick isn’t teaching yet, so her students can’t come into work.

Jones and Roussos would stay after with other kids, regulars to the pottery and drawing rooms. With losing working time, they’re also losing time to work with friends in their shared interests of the arts. “[Junior] Sarah Cook and I would stay here after school last year, so we’ve kinda had this little home here after school,” Jones said. “We just had an area to work and then one day it wasn’t there anymore.”

The administration is trying to find solutions. Next year they’re looking into putting up a new security camera to cover more of the art wing and paying a teacher to stay late after school once a week to give kids a chance to work.

“We completely understand,” Haney said.

“I’m happy if they want to come in and sit down and maybe we can work something out.”

Equipment in the Digital Media Room

Intuos Wacom Tablet

$99

$1,299

$9

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opinion.

Let’s Get Down to Business Finals are never fun, but with a little motivation, they can be conquered ART BY TOMMY SHERK

This year has been a journey.

For some, a rather tough one, and it is nearing its end. But alas, why do we endure through the school year? It is an epic revenge tale.

And what must we do at the end of these tales? Defeat our enemies. an opinion of This year, Lancers, we will kill fiTOMMY SHERK nals. We will not just simply complete them. Is that what we’ve gone on this journey for? No. We will endure a week-long battle to the death. It is your choice whether to die or live to see summer.

In any week-long battle, the victor does not win with ease. He must train, and we must too, Lancers. I’m not talking about skimming chapters or leafing through review packets, I’m talking about analyzing text and putting pen to paper. We must thoroughly read the notes we’ve stuffed in our notebooks throughout the year. We must work through the math problems that have killed us on tests 20 times. Only when we do this will our minds be sharp enough to stab finals right in the gut.

Some of you may be frighted of one, two or all of your finals. You might be even too petrified to study, for the fear of a wave of huge stress. George S. Patton, Lieutenant of the Third Army, said these words to his soldiers the day before D-Day: “Every man is scared in his first action. If he says he’s not, he’s a liar. But the real hero is the

YOU GOT THIS to music that follows 1. Listening 60 beats per minute, such as

man who fights even though he’s scared.” So toughen up and endure, for you will be glad in the end. East is not a place for cowards.

Yet some of us are in deep — stuck in the irredeemable trenches. There is that final in that dreaded class that cannot repair your grade without a 150 percent. You can still escape with your honor.

You go to East. Lancers never have and never will simply lie down in the mud. If you wish to die in the dirt, transfer to South. Prepare.

Surprise your teachers, parents and yourself by blowing that massive warship of a Final right out of the water.

Why, you ask? Have you forgotten the reason you partake on this journey? We must persevere to make all of our hard work worth something. There is nothing more satisfying than well-deserved summertime laziness. However, we shouldn’t look at the prize before we’ve fought for it.

The time will come. You will be prepared for the greatest combat of your year. On the eve of battle, there will be a night of tranquility. The calm before the storm. On this night, you are at your peak; you’ve grown strong with the information you’ve gathered throughout the year. Your intense study sessions have sharpened what was once dull. Take comfort in your readiness, sleep like a baby.

The time has come. You face seven deadly opponents in a deadly stand-off. They have swords. You have a lance. You know what you must do.

Check out some last minute tips to help you do your best on your finals.

Mozart, has been shown to activate both the right and left sides of the brain. The stimulation of both sides of the brain can increase the likelihood that you will retain relevant information.

reviewing for your finals, try 2. While studying in different locations. It’s time to hit up the different coffee shops.

best way to study is to study in 3. The 20 minute increments. Give yourself a 5 minute break and then get back to studying.

INFORMATION COURTESY OF HUFFINGTON POST

Crushing Stereotypes

opinion.

People are far more than the stereotypes that they are given and no one’s sexuality defines them

AN OPINION OF SEAN OVERTON

“OH

PHOTO BY CALLIE MCPHAIL

MY GOD YOU ARE SO FIERCE!” “Like please can we go shopping together?”

“Will you be my gay best friend!?”

No, I am not “fierce.” No we cannot go shopping together. And I especially don’t want to be your “gay best friend.” Being one of the only out gay kids at East, I get annoying stereotypical comments about my sexuality every day. They come off as completely harmless, but the stereotype that the words entail is truly destructive.

Even in 2014 there is still prejudice towards Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) people. The intolerance and confusion is heightened when you’re going to an almost completely heteronormal school in Kansas.

Many East students may think “Oh I’m not unaccepting, I don’t have anything against anyone.” That is great to hear and I am sure a lot of students aren’t purposely cruel, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that half the time students don’t understand that their actions and words are offensive.

For example, the girls saying those stereotypical lines to me piss me off. They don’t understand that gay people are not everything like they see in the typical TV shows and movies. I am not saying there aren’t gay people who meet the stereotypes, there is nothing wrong with that.

You can be into football, or love shopping no matter your sexual preference. All effeminate boys are not gay, and not all masculine boys are straight. I’ve played football and danced and my sexuality didn’t tie into either of those things.

My friends tell me that they hear kids say they want to be my “gay best friend” or don’t want to be my friend just because I’m gay. That irks me. Why would my sexual preference define if I am a suitable friend or not? Being gay doesn’t give me any more advantages or disadvantages in the friendship world than anyone else.

It doesn’t help determine whether or not I am a good person.

Another thing I see around school or in society in general is boys being scared to be friends with gay people just for their sexuality. I hope they understand that gay people are not attracted to every boy they meet, and are not going to come onto them. You don’t see every straight boy in the hall grabbing girls’ butts, so why are gay people suspected of it? Straight boys shouldn’t be living with the fear that gay men are going to treat them the way guys treat girls.

Young people in general need to understand before they go out into the real world — the world beyond Perfect Village — that people are not defined by their sexualities. We are all more than the stereotypes that come

along with our sexual preferences. A lot of things make up and define a person, not just your ideas of them.

I have heard the excuse countless times, “People can’t help be scared of what they are not used to.” That is incorrect. They can change. It’s called actually getting out of their comfort zone and educating themselves, and it’s easier for them to change their behavior than it is for anyone to change their sexuality.

All I’m trying to get across with this is to have more faith in people. To look deeper in them, get to know them.

Find out what food they like, what music they listen to and what their dreams are. Know that we as humans all have the capability to love so many different things, and we can not limit each other by the molds implanted in our minds.

We cannot limit each other by the molds implanted in our minds.

SEAN OVERTON, 9

opinion.

Paloma

Eight Years and Counting...

I would say that my best friend Maddie’s number is on speed dial, but I actually have it memorized. In any emergency situation Maddie is the first to receive a call from me.

Last week after an argument with my mom, I called Maddie upset and on the verge of tears. By the end of the conversation I was fine and had forgotten why I even called. Maddie is always the one I call because I know regardless of the situation or who is in the “wrong” she won’t judge my actions and will talk me through the situation. Maddie has helped me learn not to sweat the small stuff.

Maddie is great at giving me advice because she knows me better than anyone else. We both rely on each other all the time. I know that Maddie will always be there for me, regardless of the situation or circumstance. In return she expects that I continue to deal with her random spazz attacks, give her rides everywhere and do her hair and makeup every weekend.

What makes our friendship work is that it’s equally give and equally take. Maddie will listen (or act like she listens) to me for hours about the same issues multiple times a week. In return for a listening ear, I am Maddie’s personal stylist and make-up artist. If it weren’t for me, she would just wear some random outfit from eighth grade every weekend. But luckily, that’s not the case.

For those of you who know Maddie, you know she’s unlike any person you’ll ever meet. She’s a mix of lazy, yet anxious. Maddie is, at times, too laid back and somewhat careless. But this also works in my advantage because of the fact that Maddie is usually laid back she’s able to calm me down when I’m stressed out. But, if you catch Maddie at a good time, (after her mid-day nap and a McDonald’s Coke) she’s an energetic, wild child.

Maddie’s laziness can get the best of me sometimes, but one thing she isn’t lazy about is helping me when I need it. Even though Maddie could sleep well past noon on a Saturday, if I really needed it she would be there in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t give up driving Maddie all over town for anything, because I love our daily jam sessions on the way to school. Despite the small annoyances, our friendship works extremely well, because we bring out the best in one another.

Leaving for college in 2015 without my best friend is going to take some major adjusting to. Maddie gives me a sense of security that I have yet to find in anyone else. I have a feeling we will be visiting each other at any chance we get and probably calling each other more than our parents. At the end of the day, the quirkiness of our friendship works wonderfully for us, and I hope that I’ll always be able to look at Maddie as my own personal Dr. Phil.

an opinion of

PALOMA GARCIA

Inseparable for eight years, Paloma and Maddie share how their friendship has grown

Maddie

For most of her life, Paloma, my best friend, has wanted to be a mom; she’s infatuated with babies. Whether it’s playing with baby dolls until we were in fourth grade, volunteering in the baby room at Operation Breakthrough or making weird smiley faces at babies for the majority of our AHAP study sessions at Panera, she’s obsessed. And I guess her mother complex transfers over into our friendship.

Since our friendship began, Paloma has been “mothering” me. This consists of her planning my outfits most weekend nights, driving me everywhere (I refuse to get my license, for fear I may kill someone) and doing my makeup 24/7 (I still have no earthly idea how to do my eyeliner). She’s the leader and I am the follower.

Although some may say this dynamic may be frustrating, trust me, it has its perks. Paloma forces me to go on random outings with her consisting of hot yoga, dinner dates and regular shopping trips.

These seemingly useless errands actually work to my benefit. She forces me to work out, eat healthy foods and buy new clothes (none of which I would be doing if she didn’t make me). I basically have a personal driver, chef, trainer and best friend all in one.

Before I had officially met Paloma, let me assure you, I had heard about her. Her sassy reputation with my elementary school friends had spread and scared me. From the start of her kindergarten career, she had “bodyguards”, AKA girls she employed at recess to follow her around. For those of you that know her, this is not atypical or surprising. But what’s most surprising is that these girls actually did it.

Although I was at first intimidated by Paloma, all this changed in third grade when I discovered we had a mutual love of playing “house”. We became fast friends, playing “house” together at recess every day on the green playground equipment. I was married to Keith Urban and she was married to Kenny Chesney. She had a Hummer and I had a convertible BMW. As our friendship has progressed in high school and middle school, I’ve realized I need the type of friendship we share. The fact that she bosses me around and mothers me 24/7 doesn’t bother me. It works out well with the fact that I lack motivation to do things on my own. I need this type of person in my life to ensure I even get out of bed in the morning (I’d rather sleep all day).

Our friendship is unique to most other relationships that I know. This is most likely because we became best friends when we were so young. The experiences we’ve shared as we’ve grown up, have built the strong foundation we share. The roles that we each take on in our friendship are what make it work. Throughout our lives we have stuck and matured together. From trips all over the country to bad breakups we have experienced it all.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MARISA WALTON

an opinion of

MADDIE HYATT

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spread.

THE QUIDDITCH ADDICTION

Kenney falls back after being tackled by an opponent during a game.

EAST ALUM CAPTAINS KU QUIDDITCH TEAM

A

WRITTEN BY MORGAN KRAKOW PHOTOS BY HANNAH HUDDLE

s he turns back for his dorm after an evening jog vide a much-needed slower pace for the game. around campus, University of Kansas (KU) fresh“Having a bunch of football players trucking into girls man and 2012 East graduate Wil Kenney passes and really skinny dudes probably wouldn’t end well [without by a large group of runners. When they rush beside him, brooms].” Wil said. someone in the pack, a guy from his dorm, calls out his name.

Other than the brooms, those accustomed to capes, wands The group invites him to run with them. Although exhausted, and flying wizards might want to check the library instead of Wil obliges and falls into stride. Suddenly he’s in-sync with the quidditch field for the Harry Potter version of the sport. one of the university’s newest club sports, the KU quidditch A game that once forced avid Harry Potter readers to cling to team. their books has morphed into something even J.K. Rowling The next morning he found himself at their yearly infor- didn’t expect: an actual sport. mational meeting for new members. The spellbinding sport, From that evening jog on, Wil was all in. First he would filled with flying broomsticks and Hogwartsian action, from become an active member, and then later the captain his J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” novels appealed to Wil on a sophomore year. Not only is the team new (formed in 2010), very basic level before he had even experienced it’s also one of KU’s most sucthe game. He, like so many others trying out for the cessful club sports, continually It’s sort of like the first sport, loved the books. ranking among the top college “In one day, I had gone from knowing nothing to hit of a really addicting quidditch teams in the country. pretty much being on the team,” Wil said.

KU ranked tenth at this year’s drug.

Once you get For Wil, this athletic experience was much difQuidditch World Cup in Myrtle going, it’s it’s hard to ferent from any he had experienced at East. In high Beach, SC, out of the 80 teams stop. school, he had always participated in individual who competed. sports including swimming and cross country. He KU Quidditch competed wasn’t really used to team sports, but quidditch was against other college clubs different. It levelled the playing field — he didn’t have ranging from Stanford to Texas to worry about the skills others gained at elite club teams in A&M. They played games every three hours, and in between high school. No one had to be worried about who was the games would watch others compete in the action. It was only “best” because no one had played the game before. Every- the seventh Quidditch World Cup in history and the fourth thing was new to each individual. time KU has competed. Wil said that the World Cup is un“At the end of the day, you’re all learning these fundamen- like any other sporting event — with broomsticks, wizardly tals at the same time.” Wil said. “It’s inspiring because you apparel and yellow-clad human “snitches” running around know you’re all the same.” the field.

According to Wil, quidditch isn’t the easiest thing to un“It’s somewhere between a musical festival and a baseball derstand, whether from afar or in the middle of the action. He game.” Wil said. describes it as a mixture of rugby and dodgeball. Tackling When Wil told his father, Kevin Kenney, about his new is legal, some teammates throw dodgeballs at others and in sport Kevin couldn’t help but feel proud. addition to that, the point is to score in one of three hoops “I played rugby in college and really never got any further at either side. However, the game has one markedly differ- than my university campus.” Kevin said. “So it’s very exciting ent aspect from any other sport in the world: every player when someone gets to travel all over the country to play a must keep a broom between their legs, at all times. While the college sport.” brooms are at many times finicky if not annoying, they proAccording to Wil, since quidditch is co-ed, physical and

WIL KENNEY, 2012 East grad

fast-paced, it’s the right combination of laid back fun and intense competition. The KU team practices four times a week, with light jogging and different exercises to stay in shape. As captain, Wil tries to ensure that everyone keeps up their athleticism at practice, even though most of the time, the teammates just want to play the game itself.

“It’s sort of like the first hit of a really addicting drug,” Wil said of the sport. “Everyone talks about how addicting quidditch is, and that’s totally true. Once you get going, it’s hard to stop. All it takes is one random night run.”

According to Wil, the sport has begun to distance itself from the magical and mystical Harry Potter name. Aside from the multiple lawsuits being thrown at the International Quidditch Association from Warner Brothers, the sport is becoming less tied to the book and more athletic. Quidditch is growing up.

According to Marketing Director of the International Quidditch Association (IQA), Logan Anbinder, that trend is being reflected across the country. The league is only ten years old, but has seen rapid growth, as teams pop up in colleges and communities across the nation. He said that it’s perfect for college campuses, with students who are willing to try new things and have a significant amount of independence. As it grows, it begins to naturally distance itself from the books and movies.

“It’s also really very much coming to its own as a sport.”

Anbinder said. “So not only do you have people who love Harry Potter, you also have people who are looking for a unique sport.”

Although he’d read each of the books, which had originally drawn him to the sport, the shear action of the game kept him there. And now, sometimes, the wizardly connection feels like more of a nuisance. During their three-times-a-week practices, someone will drive by and poke fun at the team, yelling phrases like “For Gryffindor” out their windows.

“A lot of people just sort of knock it immediately because of the “Harry Potter” thing and don’t ever give it a chance,” Wil said. “Which I think is their loss and not ours.”

THE PLAYERS a beginner’s guide to

QUIDDITCH

Rules of the game according to the International Quidditch Association (IQA) ART BY CAROLINE KOHRING

Players on the field have a broom between their legs at all times

3 CHASERS who score goals worth 10 points 2 BEATERS who knock out players on opposing team

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 95

IQA RANKINGS

1 SEEKER who chases after the snitch

Kenney attempts to throw the quaffle through the hoop and score.

Boston University Quidditch The Lost Boys Gee-Gees Quidditch NYDC Capitalists Maryland Quidditch Baylor University Emerson College Quidditch Lone Star Quidditch Club

10 Minnesota Quidditch 11 University of Arkansas 12 The University of Texas at Austin 13 Villanova Community Quidditch 14 University of Miami 15 Bowling Green State University

IQA

THE BALLS Harry Potter

The KU quidditch team huddles during a game.

“Something about our team just clicks,” Kenney said.

The Kansas quidditch team is currently searching for a new practice location

22 Kansas Quidditch

Harry Potter Players wear 1 KEEPER who colored guards the team’s headbands to hoops identify their position

Texas A&M Quidditch

Harry Potter

IQA

IQA

THE FIELD Goal line Starting line Keeper’s zone line Hoops

10 pts 1 QUAFFLE, a slightly deflated volleyball, used by the keepers and chasers to score goals

150 pts 3 BLUDGERS, dodgeballs, used by beaters to temporarily knock opponents out of play

30 pts

1 SNITCH, a tennis ball in a stocking, placed in the waistband of the snitch runner

Ball marks

spread.

spread.

THE QUIDDITCH ADDICTION

Kenney falls back after being tackled by an opponent during a game.

EAST ALUM CAPTAINS KU QUIDDITCH TEAM

A

WRITTEN BY MORGAN KRAKOW PHOTOS BY HANNAH HUDDLE

s he turns back for his dorm after an evening jog vide a much-needed slower pace for the game. around campus, University of Kansas (KU) fresh“Having a bunch of football players trucking into girls man and 2012 East graduate Wil Kenney passes and really skinny dudes probably wouldn’t end well [without by a large group of runners. When they rush beside him, brooms].” Wil said. someone in the pack, a guy from his dorm, calls out his name.

Other than the brooms, those accustomed to capes, wands The group invites him to run with them. Although exhausted, and flying wizards might want to check the library instead of Wil obliges and falls into stride. Suddenly he’s in-sync with the quidditch field for the Harry Potter version of the sport. one of the university’s newest club sports, the KU quidditch A game that once forced avid Harry Potter readers to cling to team. their books has morphed into something even J.K. Rowling The next morning he found himself at their yearly infor- didn’t expect: an actual sport. mational meeting for new members. The spellbinding sport, From that evening jog on, Wil was all in. First he would filled with flying broomsticks and Hogwartsian action, from become an active member, and then later the captain his J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” novels appealed to Wil on a sophomore year. Not only is the team new (formed in 2010), very basic level before he had even experienced it’s also one of KU’s most sucthe game. He, like so many others trying out for the cessful club sports, continually It’s sort of like the first sport, loved the books. ranking among the top college “In one day, I had gone from knowing nothing to hit of a really addicting quidditch teams in the country. pretty much being on the team,” Wil said.

KU ranked tenth at this year’s drug.

Once you get For Wil, this athletic experience was much difQuidditch World Cup in Myrtle going, it’s it’s hard to ferent from any he had experienced at East. In high Beach, SC, out of the 80 teams stop. school, he had always participated in individual who competed. sports including swimming and cross country. He KU Quidditch competed wasn’t really used to team sports, but quidditch was against other college clubs different. It levelled the playing field — he didn’t have ranging from Stanford to Texas to worry about the skills others gained at elite club teams in A&M. They played games every three hours, and in between high school. No one had to be worried about who was the games would watch others compete in the action. It was only “best” because no one had played the game before. Every- the seventh Quidditch World Cup in history and the fourth thing was new to each individual. time KU has competed. Wil said that the World Cup is un“At the end of the day, you’re all learning these fundamen- like any other sporting event — with broomsticks, wizardly tals at the same time.” Wil said. “It’s inspiring because you apparel and yellow-clad human “snitches” running around know you’re all the same.” the field.

According to Wil, quidditch isn’t the easiest thing to un“It’s somewhere between a musical festival and a baseball derstand, whether from afar or in the middle of the action. He game.” Wil said. describes it as a mixture of rugby and dodgeball. Tackling When Wil told his father, Kevin Kenney, about his new is legal, some teammates throw dodgeballs at others and in sport Kevin couldn’t help but feel proud. addition to that, the point is to score in one of three hoops “I played rugby in college and really never got any further at either side. However, the game has one markedly differ- than my university campus.” Kevin said. “So it’s very exciting ent aspect from any other sport in the world: every player when someone gets to travel all over the country to play a must keep a broom between their legs, at all times. While the college sport.” brooms are at many times finicky if not annoying, they proAccording to Wil, since quidditch is co-ed, physical and

WIL KENNEY, 2012 East grad

fast-paced, it’s the right combination of laid back fun and intense competition. The KU team practices four times a week, with light jogging and different exercises to stay in shape. As captain, Wil tries to ensure that everyone keeps up their athleticism at practice, even though most of the time, the teammates just want to play the game itself.

“It’s sort of like the first hit of a really addicting drug,” Wil said of the sport. “Everyone talks about how addicting quidditch is, and that’s totally true. Once you get going, it’s hard to stop. All it takes is one random night run.”

According to Wil, the sport has begun to distance itself from the magical and mystical Harry Potter name. Aside from the multiple lawsuits being thrown at the International Quidditch Association from Warner Brothers, the sport is becoming less tied to the book and more athletic. Quidditch is growing up.

According to Marketing Director of the International Quidditch Association (IQA), Logan Anbinder, that trend is being reflected across the country. The league is only ten years old, but has seen rapid growth, as teams pop up in colleges and communities across the nation. He said that it’s perfect for college campuses, with students who are willing to try new things and have a significant amount of independence. As it grows, it begins to naturally distance itself from the books and movies.

“It’s also really very much coming to its own as a sport.”

Anbinder said. “So not only do you have people who love Harry Potter, you also have people who are looking for a unique sport.”

Although he’d read each of the books, which had originally drawn him to the sport, the shear action of the game kept him there. And now, sometimes, the wizardly connection feels like more of a nuisance. During their three-times-a-week practices, someone will drive by and poke fun at the team, yelling phrases like “For Gryffindor” out their windows.

“A lot of people just sort of knock it immediately because of the “Harry Potter” thing and don’t ever give it a chance,” Wil said. “Which I think is their loss and not ours.”

THE PLAYERS a beginner’s guide to

QUIDDITCH

Rules of the game according to the International Quidditch Association (IQA) ART BY CAROLINE KOHRING

Players on the field have a broom between their legs at all times

3 CHASERS who score goals worth 10 points 2 BEATERS who knock out players on opposing team

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 95

IQA RANKINGS

1 SEEKER who chases after the snitch

Kenney attempts to throw the quaffle through the hoop and score.

Boston University Quidditch The Lost Boys Gee-Gees Quidditch NYDC Capitalists Maryland Quidditch Baylor University Emerson College Quidditch Lone Star Quidditch Club

10 Minnesota Quidditch 11 University of Arkansas 12 The University of Texas at Austin 13 Villanova Community Quidditch 14 University of Miami 15 Bowling Green State University

IQA

THE BALLS Harry Potter

The KU quidditch team huddles during a game.

“Something about our team just clicks,” Kenney said.

The Kansas quidditch team is currently searching for a new practice location

22 Kansas Quidditch

Harry Potter Players wear 1 KEEPER who colored guards the team’s headbands to hoops identify their position

Texas A&M Quidditch

Harry Potter

IQA

IQA

THE FIELD Goal line Starting line Keeper’s zone line Hoops

10 pts 1 QUAFFLE, a slightly deflated volleyball, used by the keepers and chasers to score goals

150 pts 3 BLUDGERS, dodgeballs, used by beaters to temporarily knock opponents out of play

30 pts

1 SNITCH, a tennis ball in a stocking, placed in the waistband of the snitch runner

Ball marks

features.

looking across the world

Junior Emily Perkins Rock will be spending next summer and school year abroad, which she realized will be her hardest goodbye

WRITTEN BY SOPHIE TULP

A CLOSER LOOK: MACEDONIA capital city: Skopje

Macedonia: 2,091,719 Kansas City metro area: 2,343,000

Macedonia

POPULATION

Kansas City

gained independence from Yugoslavia on Sept. 8, 1991

TOTAL AREA: 15,977 square miles

versus

slightly larger than Vermont

CLIMATE warm, dry summers and autumns with cold winters and heavy snowfall

LANGUAGES

Macedonian (67 percent of the population) Albanian (25 percent of the population)

NATIONAL SYMBOL

the eight-rayed sun (yellow and red have long been associated with Macedonia)

information courtesy of cia.gov and visitkc.com

When junior Emily Perkins Rock moved from Los Angeles to New York City, she clung to the railings of her porch.

She threatened to stay there, not allowing the movers to pack up her room until her parents had to physically carry her away from the house.

Since that first move at 10-years-old, Emily has relocated again from New York City to Prairie Village — an even more difficult adjustment — and traveled abroad five times. She craves new cultures and experiences, which makes moving around a welcome concept. Still, she says she will always have a hard time saying goodbye.

On June 30, Emily will pack a summer’s worth of clothing and gear into her 50 pound travel backpack to spend six weeks in Panama with the organization Amigos De Las Américas. But she will also be leaving home for the last time. After a one-week break when she returns from Panama, Emily will head to Macedonia to study abroad for her senior year. Following that, she’s off to college

The finality of those last goodbyes is what Emily says will make this the hardest move of all.

“The fact that I’m leaving so soon hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Emily said. “But no matter how hard it will be to say goodbye, it will be worth it to live abroad for a year. It’s fascinating to me that there are parts of this world that I don’t even think about existing, and it will be an amazing experience to go somewhere that I haven’t even really heard of.”

Emily was sprinkling glitter onto paper hats, surrounded by children at the Prairie Village Environmental Fair when she got the news. She was selected through a study abroad and cultural exchange program, YES Abroad. Emily was accepted as one out of 120 semi-finalists from the original 6,000 applicants.

PHOTO BY MARISA WALTON Emily dropped the bottle of pink glitter in her hands when she read the first line of the email: “Congratulations!” The bottle exploded across the gym floor, and she ignored the confused looks of kindergartners and concerned parents as she felt tears roll down her cheeks.

It was bittersweet. Emily was excited to fulfill that desire to travel, which she inherited from her parents who met and fell in love living abroad in Budapest, Hungary.

But the excitement was weighed down by a realization of what the trip meant for the rest of her year. It meant that Emily had very little time left to live with her parents and two younger siblings, and that she would soon be leaving behind the community of friends she had just made in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.

“I’ve seen IB bring out more of an extroverted side of Emily, from when she first moved here and now,” Emily’s friend junior Olivia Myers said. “I think IB helped create that because we are like a family. I’ll miss how we would snapchat constantly on the night before tests about how much we hate everything. It’s gonna be really, really different without her for everyone.”

Emily thought that leaving Kansas for the next part of her life would be the easiest move she had experienced. She now faces the fact that this could be the hardest.

“Initially in Prairie Village I noticed there seemed to be ignorance to cultures and differences outside of the community,” Emily said. “I resented it at first, but that’s a main reason I loved the IB program. All of the views are kind of like the ‘melting-pot’ atmosphere of New York, and the people in it have been so great.

I am sad to be leaving it right as I have found my place.”

Emily is confident that she will find a new place at her school in Macedonia, because a main emphasis of the program

is promoting relationships between youth from different cultures. Even though she doesn’t worry about finding her niche, she thinks the biggest challenge will be overcoming homesickness.

“I’ll miss coming home and having my dog jump on me, playing word games with my family at dinner and driving around on Friday nights blasting music with my friends,” Emily said. “But I remember that as much as I’ll miss all these little homey details, I know that I’ll have time to make up more little details in Macedonia that will make it feel like home too.”

Emily’s mom, Stacy, says that back home in Kansas, everything will be different. She thinks about how she will actually miss bickering with Emily at Savers over their conflicting fashion senses, and she tears up when thinking about Emily’s empty seat at the dinner table.

Without Emily as the ringleader, Stacy says the quirky things that illustrate their family dynamic won’t be the same. Emily is the one who can convince them to dress eccentrically for their formal church portrait, even letting her brother borrow a pair of cut-offs from her own closet. Stacy admits that thinking about these moments makes her need to reach for a box of Kleenex.

While the reality has set in for Stacy over the past few weeks, Emily says she hasn’t allowed herself to think about what next year will be like without her family and friends just yet.

“When I actually sit myself down and think about how I’m probably never going to live with my family again, and my friends will probably all have moved on, it will be heartbreaking,” Emily said. “What’s keeping me going is seeing a bigger picture and knowing I’m losing so much but I’m gaining so much at the same time. I feel so lucky to have the kind of relationships that make this goodbye so hard.”

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SME Sensational Senior Moments

as a whole went to more games. I “[Seniors] know it helped having a really success-

Seniors recount on the highlights of their final year at East and what sets their class apart

m goestroo ed it r a n i ys tart h of gu lad I s a bunc music. I’m g t s ju ano is ance st.

Club B uts to loud d , it was a bla r n a l e y ie y ing p this ayden W H back u

ful football team. When you want to storm the field after every game, it ink means you like being there, you I th or ni like being with everybody. r se reu o Joe Libeer s g ss i cla willin y l al lp e r. to h othe h eac elp h We ents, dd a u st hers, n, c atio a e t istr ho min ne w o y an s it. ier d M e e n a

“

“

“

PHOTOS BY MARISA WALTON MADDIE SCHOEMANN JAMES WOOLDRIDGE MCKENZIE SWANSON SARA BENSON ANNIE SAVAGE ANNIKA SINK

“

features.

“

sic

s Je

“ Ifeel “

udy

h Tsc Ben

“

ine Corr ton t a Str

I

ur nd thi urrou itive a ids. O bable. s k ell s r f n o ci wib bee ore p roup o indes T m n g as rga by a siastic ally w o M e u r h ent r class o i n se

“Itwas the

last event, the last person competing and we all broke down crying because I knew it was the end of my high school gymnastics career and these girls have been my best friends for four years. It was the final thing for us to do.

We were “ very involved

this year. Like our student section was so supportive, no matter who it was whether it was the student section or the football team or the cheerleaders, everyone was super into the game.

“

com“We’re ing up on the

“

“

end of the best 4 years of my life and I love everything about SME

“

he day is t Lancer rs g senio first thin rge of, ha are in c s, ever d a le e th ets to g e eryon at kind see wh we of spirit e. v a will h

“donnk’t I’ve evnedred

“

like this class compared to others really wanted to represent SME well and wanted to make the new administration proud.

INSTAGRAM OF THE YEAR lukehaverty31

Madi Lage

Mary Grekstas

Mitchell Tyler

“

TWEET OF THE YEAR

I wanted to be able to remember I the year so I brought think @MitchTyler1 a go-pro to every game. I what sets put together a video to resemble us apart from any Gonna miss being a #SMEnior other senior class is that how the student section was. We get a big turn-out and we are a lot louder than other student we have a very diverse group of people RETWEETS 3 61 FAVORITES and that generates a bunch of great ideas. I think we have done a sections. Our fans care about the game.

Luke Haverty great job considering we wanted to be the best senior class ever and I think we have accomplished that. Victoria Sabates

“

205 likes Student section video coming in a week or two.

It’s been real. @jayjoseph45

“

“

It’s about time we met.

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NUT Ddirection

Johnson Dr

Fluffy Fresh

WRITTEN BY SOPHIE STORBECK PHOTOS BY MARISA WALTON Local donut shops prove to have a large variety of options

Shawnee Mission Pkwy

LaMar’s

Nall Ave

Metcalf Ave

was a little dry, but the amount of Oreos masked the crumbling texture.

My favorite doughnut out of all three places I went to was the red velvet with cream cheese.

This surprised me because I thought that the cream cheese icing would taste weird on the glazed cake doughnut. But the combination of the cream, cake and sugar was rich and delicious.

LaMar’s ranked first in taste and variety, but got last in atmosphere because of the come-and-go feeling and lack of design. Also, their doughnuts aren’t made at the store -- they’re shipped in each day so they aren’t as fresh.

Lamar Ave

Antioch Rd

Contrary to Fluffy Fresh, LaMar’s looked fully stocked at eight. Although it didn’t have Fluffy Fresh or John’s homey feel, LaMar’s offered a lot of variety without getting too strange. They had powdered, candied, sugared, glazed and filled doughnuts in different flavors like devil’s food and lemon.

I bought a chocolate doughnut with crushed Oreos and a red velvet doughnut with cream cheese on top. LaMar’s doesn’t offer anywhere to sit either, so I sat outside.

The Oreo doughnut was good, but only because of the Oreos.

I’m not a fan of cake doughnuts unless they’re glazed. The cake

was a little dry, but the amount of Oreos masked the crumbling texture.

My favorite doughnut out of all three places I went to was the red velvet with cream cheese. This surprised me because I thought that the cream cheese icing would taste weird on the glazed cake doughnut.

But the combination of the cream, cake and sugar was rich and delicious.

LaMar’s ranked first in taste and variety, but got last in atmosphere because of the comeand-go feeling and lack of design. Also, their doughnuts aren’t made at the store -- they’re shipped in each day so they aren’t as fresh.

Mission Rd

W 75th St

Contrary to Fluffy Fresh, LaMar’s looked fully stocked at eight. Although it didn’t have Fluffy Fresh or John’s homey feel, LaMar’s offered a lot of variety without getting too strange. They had powdered, candied, sugared, glazed and filled doughnuts in different flavors like devil’s food and lemon.

I bought a chocolate doughnut with crushed Oreos and a red velvet doughnut with cream cheese on top. LaMar’s doesn’t offer anywhere to sit either, so I sat outside.

The Oreo doughnut was good, but only because of the Oreos.

I’m not a fan of cake doughnuts unless they’re glazed. The cake

W 75th St

Walking into John’s Space Age is like walking into the late ‘60s when the family-run business started. A window outside offers a look into the making of John’s doughnuts, although their specialty is apple fritters.

The shop has a friendly atmosphere. It’s the kind of place where you can ask for ‘the usual’ and get exactly what you want because the staff knows you so well. Families sit together at a bar that wraps around the store while the staff chats with the customers.

I ordered a coconut doughnut and a chocolate doughnut with rainbow sprinkles. The first was my favorite of

W 83rd St

the two. Unlike some doughnuts, this one had a generous amount of coconut shavings. The cake was sweet and sugary. The sprinkled doughnut was average -- there was nothing wrong with it, but it wasn’t exceptional like the coconut.

While I was eating, outgoing staff waited on me and asked if I wanted water. As a bonus, I was given a free warm glazed doughnut, which was even better than the coconut doughnut.

While John’s Space Age Donuts has the best atmosphere, I would rate it second in taste and variety.

Roe Ave

Lamar Ave

Antioch Rd W 83rd St

Nall Ave

John’s Space Age

G R A D U A T I O N PA R T Y chicken gets an A+

Forget Your Camera?

We Didn’t

Find photos for purchase on www.smephotos.com

sports.

Slower, but

WRITTEN BY PAULINE WERNER

STEADY

PHOTO BY HAILEY HUGHES

Sophomore Isabel Holloway starts swimming again after a year-long recovery from a serious shoulder injury

P

ulling herself out of BV North’s pool after the 500-yard freestyle, sophomore Isabel Holloway looks up at her time. 6:20.

It’s 42 seconds slower than her best time, 5:20. In a sport where fractions of seconds decide the difference between a first and second place, 42 seconds is huge. Even bigger because those 42 seconds represent a journey that began a year ago for Holloway, when she tore her left labrum — a vital tendon in her shoulder — and was forced to stop swimming or risk permanent injury.

Holloway was in eighth grade when she became serious about swimming for the Kansas City Blazers. She was in Senior, the top competitive level for her age group. In the summer after eighth grade, Holloway qualified for nationals in her age group.

Because of continuous use wearing it down, her labrum tore in April of her freshman year. The injury forced her out of the pool right before she would begin a summer that would be crucial if she wanted to swim in college. She would have spent that summer swimming in a longer meter pool and making her fastest times.

“I wanted to get back as soon as I could, I felt like I was just going to get way too behind,” she said. “I was really stressed out about that.”

Just before the high school season started, Holloway was cleared by her doctor to swim again. Deciding that she would come back despite nerves due to how long she was gone, she practices every day for the East girls’ varsity swim team. But things have changed. She can’t go as fast as she wants to; she’s kept back by her still-healing shoul-

TIME LS TRIA before the injury

200-yard freestyle 500-yard freestyle

2:00.10 5:21.80

ders.

While she was still unsure of whether or not she wanted swim again, Holloway emailed head coach Rob Cole thinking that she would swim JV because it had been so long.

She thought that her shoulder would keep her from going as fast as she wanted to. He wanted her to swim varsity, though, where she would be with girls that swim at the same level she used to.

As a distance swimmer, she was used to swimming up to 9,000 yards in each practice for Blazers. Now, the most she can do before her shoulder gives out and her arm goes numb is around 5,000. She’s not allowed to swim backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly — only freestyle. It takes some planning to make it work, whether they have to cut down the distance that she swims or decide that she should swim slower than she would otherwise.

“We communicate every practice at the beginning and after each set to see where her tolerance is for the training,” Cole said. “At times Isabel wants no modifications and just goes for the practice and tries to see what she is capable of doing. It’s always her call.”

Three full practices in a row might mean that Holloway takes it easy for the next one. Three is good enough, her coaches will tell her. Sometimes, it’s Cole that has to tell her to slow down or try to hold a pace instead of sprinting so she can finish a practice. That’s hard, though, because Holloway loves to go fast. So she reminds herself that she doesn’t want to injure herself even more, and she accepts it.

When she does need to sit out, Holloway isn’t idle.

She’ll help Cole take times or discuss her training or talk

about what she needs to do to improve.

Holloway has gotten better. It took surgery and weekly physical therapy appointments, but, this season, she’s been dropping up to five seconds from her 500 freestyle time with every meet. It’s a lot more than she expected when she thought she was only going to be able to swim JV. “I’m surprised with how far I’ve come in the water,” Holloway said. “When I started [this season], I didn’t think I was going to be at the level I’m at right now. I didn’t think I was going to be able to do as much and I didn’t think that I was going to be at the speed that I’m at.”

After surgery to fix her labrum in August, Holloway realized that she wasn’t ever going to be able to get back to her peak level, where she was before she was hurt. Recovery from surgery was worse than she expected — Holloway couldn’t lift her arm above her head and the tiniest physical therapy exercises would send stabbing pain through her shoulder. And she had missed training time that she wasn’t going to be able to make up.

She started this season at 6:02 for the 500-yard freestyle. On April 22, she swam it in 5:46. Though those are both varsity times, it’s not what she was swimming as an Elite Blazers swimmer — and it might not ever get there.

Now that it’s been over a year, Holloway can look back and accept that getting back the same level might not be meant to be.

“It came to my mind a couple times when I was first injured that I wasn’t going to be able to, and it was more sad than [anything else],” she said. “But then I realized, a little after I got the surgery, I had come to peace with it.”

A look at the time differences from before and after Holloway’s shoulder injury after the injury

2:07.10 5:49.80

before the injury 50-yard freestyle 100-yard freestyle

26.7 56.1

ART BY GRETA NEPSTAD after the injury

27.2 59.1

sports.

E

leven seconds left. Olathe Northwest leads 22-21. Senior quarterback Christian Blessen drops back, and finds senior receiver Mitchell Tyler. Tyler runs out of bounds at midfield to stop the clock. Six seconds left. Blessen snaps the ball and throws to junior receiver Alec Dean. Dean gets out of bounds at the 36 yard line. Three seconds left. The field goal is too far for inexperienced senior kicker Colin Burns.

Blessen drops back, and three East receivers sprint toward the end zone. Time expires. Blessen throws a hail Mary pass towards the goal line.

Five Raven defenders surround the three East receivers. The ball tips off the hands of a Northwest defender, and finds its way into the hands of Alec Dean in the back of the end zone. Touchdown.

Hail Mary to the back of the end zone!

The student section storms the field, chanting and wildly jumping up and down as East and Northwest players line up to wish each other a good game. It’s over. Final score: Lancers 27, Ravens 22.

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I

t’s all tied up at 31. The final seconds are ticking off the clock, and the Lancers need a basket to beat Shawnee Mission West. Sophomore Joey Wentz inbounds the ball to junior Gunnar Englund, who had the hot hand with 15 points on the night. Englund is told by coach Shawn Hair to take the last shot, but he is immediately double teamed as Wentz threw him the ball.

Double- teamed, Englund throws it back to Wentz, who is lined up on the perimeter. Feet set, squared up to the basket, Wentz fires up a three. In last years’ victory against SM West, Vance Wentz, (Joey’s brother) hit a game winning jump shot to beat the Vikings. Joey decides to keep that little tradition in the family, and nails the three. Nothing but net. With under three seconds left, West heaves up a last-second desperation shot, but it bounces off the backboard.

Joey “the sophomore stud” Wentz nails the game winner, one year after his brother did the same.

T

he gym is packed. Every inch of the bleachers are filled with screaming fans. Gunnar Englund had the hot hand, as everybody had seen in the SM West game. He had 14 points on the night. With the game tied up at 38, Englund was told by Coach Hair to simply drive to the basket. Englund drove, put up a shot, and missed.

Junior Lucas Jones grabbed the ball and slammed it in the rim. The whistle was blown. Jones’ dunk wouldn’t count, but Englund was going to the line with 4.2 seconds left in the game. Calm and composed, Englund sunk the second shot.

The lancers led by one. The second shot bounced off the rim, but senior Collin Burns grabbed the ball from a Rockhurst player out of the air. With possession in Burns’ hands, the clock ran down and the buzzer sounded. Lancers 39, Rockhurst 38.

TOP OF THE YEAR

W

ith 30 seconds left in the game, the Lancer boys’ lacrosse team is beating Blue Valley West 9-8. BV West wins a ground ball, runs it down and an attackman rips a shot which goes straight past goalkeeper Kevin Cole to tie the game up.

The game would go into overtime (OT). Right before OT starts, coach Kliewer approaches junior attackman John Aliber. He tells Aliber “You’re a big time player, and you make big time plays.” Right as Aliber hears these words, he knows he needs to step up.

In overtime, the first goal scored wins the game. To start OT, BVW has three great looks at goal, all which are stopped

by Cole. After that, the Lancers take possession. Aliber drives up the right side, burning the first defender. When he sees two defenders approaching him and a third on his way, he rips a shot as hard as he can in the top left side of the goal.

The ball flies right past the keeper, and the Lancers win the game.

HONORABLE MENTIONS 1. Girls soccer beats SM South 7-0 2. Football team beats ON to make it to state 3. Boys soccer beats ON 4-0 after retiring TR’s jersey

Michael Kraske recaps the top four sports moments from this year as voted on smeharbinger.net

The Catch

ALEC DEAN | 11 | JUNIOR

The Shot

JOEY WENTZ | 42 | SOPHOMORE

WRITTEN BY MICHAEL KRASKE

The Free throw

GUNNAR ENGLUND | 22 | JUNIOR

The Goal

JOHN ALIBER | 17 | JUNIOR

PHOTO BY MARISA WALTON, MCKENZIE SWANSON, TOM STRONGMAN, MADDIE SCHOEMANN

sports.

S

eniors Victoria Sabates, Taylor Norman, Quincy Hendricks, Kelly Pidcoe and Emily Dodd can’t look back on their soccer careers without thinking of a time when they weren’t being goofy together.

They remember the time in middle school when they took an extra long water break while head coach Jamie Kelly wasn’t watching so they could run around pantsing all of the other girls at practice. They also remember when Sabates and Pidcoe were forced by their parents to apologize to coach Kelly — the awkward letter saying “Sorry for pantsing people” and the stomach drop they got walking up to him before a game.

They remember the practice when they couldn’t stop laughing at Sabates, who could not head the ball in the net to save her life.

For Sabates it was the most frustrating feeling in the world as she kept getting tangled in the net, knocking over the goal post while attempting to head the ball in.

They remember the time during the breast cancer awareness game when they screamed “For Linda!” after they scored a goal, even though Linda — Sabates’ mom — didn’t have breast cancer.

They remember the goofy car rides blaring music through the speakers and making inside jokes nobody else would understand, as they made their way to the out of town tournaments together. All five of them packed into Sabates’ five seat Toyota Corolla, named Jeffahson, while the parents following them. On their trip to Colorado Springs, they ran around the hotel playing elevator tag going up and down the elevator for no reason and jumped into the hotel pool fully dressed to go for a swim.

They lost every single game in that tournament. They didn’t care.

“When we’re together we’re all just really crazy because we know each other so well,” Dodd said. “We don’t really care if we all act really stupid together. They make me 10

times weirder.”

Above all, Sabates, Norman, Hendricks, Pidcoe and Dodd remember the bond they shared and carried through their years playing for Strikers and East together, under the direction of Kelly.

“I think anytime you get to hang out with your friends besides like in a school setting, you get to go play something that they all enjoy,” Kelly said. “They enjoyed playing, they enjoyed getting better, they enjoyed learning and they always always had fun. It made it very easy to coach them.” * * * Most of the girls had played on a recreational soccer team in the early years of elementary school. After playing through Corinth, Brookwood, Prairie and Cure of Ars, the girls decided to challenge themselves to be better by joining a premiere team.

“I really liked my rec team and I just wanted to be better so I joined [Strikers],” Pidcoe said. “Victoria told me about Strikers, and that Kelly was her coach and said he was awesome, so I just tried out and I made it.”

Three years later, Dodd and Norman found out about the team through girls who were already on the team. Many of them went to Mission Valley and joined at the beginning of seventh grade. They found a perfect fit in the friendliness and goofiness of the other girls.

“The first time walking into tryouts everyone was super outgoing so that’s why I liked the team right away,” Dodd said. “The girls were all super friendly, and they were all going to go to East with me and just made us feel welcome right away.”

The girls quickly began to get to know each other and discovered a friendship developing between them. Dodd and Pidcoe created pregame rituals that they still use to this day — blasting “All Night” by Icona Pop through their headphones, having “dance parties” in front of teammates who can’t hear the music.

Later, when Kelly is talking to them right before the game, Pidcoe gives a blue Gatorade Chew to Dodd, while she eats the other five. Finally,

GOOFS

WRITTEN BY JOHN FOSTER

AND GOALS

Through many years and many soccer teams, five senior girls have become closer than just teammates

as they go onto the field, they kick each other’s ankles and say “Go get ‘em tiger,” a phrase taken from the movie “Kicking and Screaming.”

“It’s not just one story, every day was just something different and new,” Kelly said.

“The main thing that I remember is that I always had fun coaching them. Sometimes as a coach you can dread having to go to practice, and that was never the point with me. It was always I get to go to practice with these girls and watch them and see what they do and what they bring to the table today.”

“Kelly was really really crazy,” Dodd said.

“The first time I met her, she told me about all the detentions she got in Catholic school, and so I thought she was really weird, but she’s still really weird so it doesn’t matter because she’s one of my best friends.”

The girls did not know at the time the extent of team chemistry they would create throughout high school. Through playing club soccer, the girls got to know each other — they played well together, they figured out each other’s strengths and weaknesses on the field. And this chemistry transferred over when they started playing East soccer.

“I just think having that bond that we have since we’ve been playing for so long really just helps our togetherness as a team and the team chemistry,” Dodd said.

The bond between them does not just involve their group. It also transfers over to the rest of the team as well. The girls feel like they are more approachable because of the strong bond they have together.

“Since we all know each other so well and get along with each other so well, I feel like the underclassmen feel very comfortable around us because we’re so comfortable with each other so it makes it easier for them to come up and talk to us,” Sabates said.

With only two games left before regionals, the season is coming to an end quickly, meaning it’s almost time to part ways. But the girls won’t remember wins and losses. They will remember dance parties and Gatorade chews and long car rides. Most importantly, they will remember each other.

PHOTOS BY ABBY HANS

ATHLETE WEEK of the

sports.

SAVANNAH BELLEM PHOTO BY DARA O’CONNOR

Q: What is the best moment of the season so far?

A: Olathe East, when we hung in and played with them — we usually get crushed by them and I think we did a really good job and we didn’t lose by that many and we played a lot better against them.

We were hitting a lot better and our defense was doing really well. i think we felt good about ourselves.

I know we might have to play them again in regionals and I know that we can beat them the second time around.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about softball?

A: Being able to play with all of my friends that I’ve played with for like six years now and having the same coach that I’ve had for like my whole life. [The bond] is really strong, we just know how everyone plays Q: What sets this year apart from last year?

A: Well we lost one really good player, but we pretty much have the same team and so not much is different. We just kind of have to step up and take the place that we lost. I think we’re starting to do that now.

SPORT

OPPONENT St. James

DATE 5/12/14

LOCATION SM East

Softball Boys’ Golf Girls’ Soccer

SM North Leavenworth

5/12/14

Maranatha

5/12/14 5/12/14

SM Complex Trails West SM Complex

Girls’ Swimming

Free State

5/15/14

Free State

Track and Field

Invitational

5/9/14

SM North

5/9/14

UMKC TBD

Baseball

Boys’ Lacrosse

TBD

Girls’ Lacrosse

State Tourny

5/15/14

Boys’ Tennis

Regionals

5/10/14

TOPOF

ELLIOT RENFT

JACK SANTILLI

BROOKS KENDALL

*As of May 5

S I N N E T DER D A L 3

THE

Indian Creek

PHOTOS BY KATIE LAMAR

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photo essay.

The SM East vs. SM South rivalry game this year was a high intensity, unexpected blowout. The Lancers beat the Raiders 5843. The theme of the game was farmers.

In the middle of the spring pep assembly, the Lancer mascot takes a selfie in front of the senior student section.

PHOTO BY MCKENZIE SWANSON

PHOTO BY HAILEY HUGHES

The 2014 spring play was Shrek the Musical. Junior Austin Dalgliesh played the lead as Shrek, and senior Maddie Roberts was nominated for two Blue Star awards.

PHOTO BY NEELY ATHA

Teammates congratulate Senior Gunnar Troutwine on his first out-of-the-park homerun of the season during the Lancers’ first game.

PHOTO BY HAILEY HUGHES

TOP

Ph t s

OF THE SEMESTER

As the semester winds down and the year comes to an end, we look back on all the moments here at East. From basketball to the spring play, The Harbinger photographers have captured it all.

On spring break, the Choraliers toured many cities in Spain and performed for crowds up to 100 people. Students Adam Bowels and Peter Morgan enjoy local restaraunts Here are some of the most memorable moments of during their down time. PHOTO BY JORDAN HALL second semester.