Issue 16 Harbinger 2012

Harbinger ISSUE 16 | SHAWNEE MISSION EAST | PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS | MAY 11, 2012

Sophomore Morgan Twibell recounts the most embarrassing moments of her high school career cont’d on p. 8

SMEHARBINGER.NET

‘LANCERS WE WILL EVER BE’ art by Matti Crabtree

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

pullout

senior

THE SENIOR ISSUE

The annual senior section includes profiles, columns and a breakdown of the senior class

p. 14

feature

Math teacher Rick Royer retires, ending his 40 years at East

p. 19

a&e

Staff movie aficionado Alex Lamb gives his final preview of anticipated summer movies

THE

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK SCHOOL

NEWS IN BRIEF

written by Emily Donovan | art by Tom Lynch

Stefano Byer

The saxophone section of the Blue Knights Jazz Band performs a solo at the annual Jazz Night held on May 4.

Parents plan after graduation party

Marisa Walton

SENIOR DROSTE MILLEDGE cuts across in front of the Olathe goalie as he scores one of his team’s four goals in the game on May 2.

A casino, an inflatable climbing wall, Noodles & Co., Sheridan’s, karaoke, a DJ, prizes (including iPods) and more will be available to the Class of 2012. The After Graduation Party will take place Thursday, May 17 in the East gymnasium and cafeteria, from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Everything is free for seniors with their student ID. A committee of 10 Lancer parents solicited donations from families, local businesses and the Parent-Teacher Association throughout the year to raise a $12,000 budget for the event. These parents hope to provide a safe, fun party environment where the senior class can be together one last time.

COMMUNITY

Teachers and students look forward to art awards Artwork made throughout the semester will be awarded Wednesday, May 16 from 3-4:30 p.m. in the East cafeteria. The visual art department teachers will present awards to their students, finishing the two-weeklong art show outside the counseling office, the art wing, the gym hallway and throughout the building.

Artwork was judged by Kansas City artists, art teachers and art curators from local museums and businesses. Awards will be given for judges’ awards, teachers’ awards, the first, second and third place winners, and honorable mentions in each visual arts category.

With coordination help from the booster club, Friends of the Art awards ceremony will include snacks.

Students prepare for Lobster Landing The foreign exchange program at East is partially funded by lobsters. Saturday, May 12, foreign exchange students will distribute lobsters outside the counselling hallway at the Lobster Landing from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Over 800 lobsters have been pre-ordered for the event.

The Lobster Landing is a bi-annual tradition coordinated by former Lancer parents for the past 35 years. Profits from the sale go towards study abroad scholarships for East students who plan to study abroad and benefit foreign exchange students through purchasing yearbooks, activity ticket, and holiday gifts from the school.

STATE

Christian Wiles

JUNIOR CALEB MASON works on his swing during Team Games class on May 2.

Maddie Schoemann

JUNIOR DREW BROECKELMAN comforts SENIOR ABBY MOORE at the year’s last choir concert on May 3.

2 | NEWS

Corinth shops undergo construction

City prepares for annual PV Art Fair

Anti-abortion bill passes Kansas Legislature

Local Prairie Village shopping centers are getting a facelift. LANE4 Property Group, Inc. has already begun renovation of the main center structure at Corinth Square, planning to replace the current wood-shingled roof with clay tiles and recycle design elements and materials of Urban Table. Additionally, four “pocket parks,” or small sitting recreation areas, are scheduled to be constructed at each of the shopping center’s four corners. LANE4 will be doing similar renovation for Johnny’s Tavern exterior patio area and both of Hen House’s Corinth Square and Prairie Village Shopping Center façades.

Kiosks housing local and national artists will take over the Village Shopping Center June 1, 2 and 3 for Prairie Village Art Fair.

The Art Fair gives patrons the opportunity to walk up and down the village, entering booths to purchase artwork or speak directly with the artist, a special opportunity which connects the purchaser with the artist. Mediums include jewelry, ceramics, painting, woodwork and more.

The fair, however, includes more than original artwork. Friday and Saturday nights will offer live music from 7-10 p.m. performed by Kansas City musicians. In addition to food vendors throughout the event, Chris Cakes will offer a Pancake Breakfast Saturday morning from 8:30-10:30 a.m.

According to a 23-16 vote in the Kansas Senate, health care professionals should not be sued or have their jobs put in jeopardy for refusing to perform an abortion by following their consciences. The bill passed in both the Kansas House and Senate, despite concerns that giving additional legal protection to doctors would allow some professions to deny life-saving procedures and limit access to birth control. Critics worry that a patient will not know the doctor’s stance on abortion until he refuses to administer treatment and that the doctor will not have to refer the patient elsewhere.

The “conscience” bill, which is expected to be signed by Governor Sam Brownback, will go into effect July 1.

SLAMdunk

Four poetry slam contestants will move onto the district competition

written by Christa McKittrick | photos by Anna Danciger Sophomore Georgia Dubois crosses out “playing at”, ing to do it during seminar and then we switched that to scribbling “all about” above the blacked out words hur- after school.” riedly. She slashes through an entire line, quickly runThe five students that did compete in the East Slam ning over the new transition in her head. Her friend from are senior Elizabeth Mergen, sophomores Georgia DuShawnee Mission Northwest whispers advice and other bois, Hannah Swanson and Christopher Rodriguez, and small tweaks to Dubois. Just in time, Dubois puts the fin- freshman Cheyanna Atwell. A judge panel consisting of ishing touches on her poem and rises to take her place in Beachy, Knop, English teacher Spring Gehring-Lowery front of the parents and students gathered to watch the and three students selected four students to move on to fourth annual District Poetry Slam. the District Slam: Mergen, Dubois, Swanson and Rodri“Life is such a little tease, I mean none of us really guez. get what she’s playing at. We try to personify her, put her The small numbers were encouraging to Mergen, into like terms, measure this and that and see if it adds who was competing in the East Slam for her second year. up to life.”

“I try to stay as open minded as possible but there Dubois flutters her eyelashes and shakes her head. were only five people and four go on to districts so I was Her voice rolls up and down smoothly, growing in inten- really hoping I would make it,” Mergen said. sity as her first stanza comes to an end. She looks up At districts, the four East representatives ran into stiff when she pauses, trying to connect with the judges and competition from the other district high schools. None of the audience. Over two hundred attentive parents and the East poets continued on to the second round of the students fill the atrium at Horizons High School, listen- District Slam. In comparison, last year four East poets, ing and watching Dubois’s performance. graduate Chris Melvin, seniors Wil Kenney and Andrew Prior to the District Slam on Sunday, May 6, Du- Beasley and Mergen made it to the second round at Disbois got the chance to perform her own poem in front tricts. of a smaller crowd at the East Poetry Slam the previous Kenney and Beasley were unable to participate in Thursday. Dubois was one of five students who com- the East Slam this year due to International Baccalaupeted in the third annual East Slam. About 25 students reate testing. Beachy believes that the combination of a attended the East Slam in the library, hosted by librarian small turnout at the East Slam and different judges led Kathi Knop and English teacher Laura Beachy. to no East students qualifying for the second round at The East Slam was smaller than in past years; only Districts. five students competed compared to the 20 poets from “The judges are always really, really different from last year. year to year,” Beachy said. “They may be looking for dif“I think the timing was crazy and it’s just a busy time ferent things, different things may move them so who’s of year,” Beachy said. “Another problem was we were go- to say.”

Junior Hanna Bautz, a judge, recites Eitan Kadosh’s poem, “America (it’s gotta be the cheese),” as an introduction to the competition.

English teacher Laura Beachy and librarian Kathy Knop discuss which poems to advance to districts.

TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF UPCOMING

1 PRODUCTIONS THEATRICAL

Department Head Tom DeFeo and theatre teacher Brian Cappello announced the upcoming theatrical productions at the Theatre Banquet. Every year, the department produces a fall play, winter musical and spring play.

“Plan 9 From Outerspace” will be adapted as a play for the fall and will be done entirely in black and white. Often called “the worst movie ever made,” “Plan 9 From Outerspace” is a science fiction film about aliens who try to conquer the world by raising people back from the dead.

The musical is “The Drowsy Chaperone.” A show within a show, this comedic musical stars an old man reflecting on his favorite musical, which is about a woman who is the star of a show but is planning on getting married.

Her directors and producers try to convince her not to get married so she can continue acting, while others try to steal her role.

“Epic Proportions” will be performed for the spring play. It tells the story of two wacky brothers who take an adventure to Arizona and through a strange series of events, end up starring in and directing the film.

“This is the first season I’ve been really excited for in a long time,” Cappello said at the banquet. “I’m always excited for our shows, but this one will be fun.”

RAISED 2 LUNCH PRICES

The Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD) will be raising the prices of food in the cafeteria. Breakfast prices will change from $1.35 to $1.40 and lunch prices will go from $2.40 to $2.50.

Although the prices for regular meals are going up, the free and reduced meals will stay the same. Members of the Food Services Department are unsure of whether or not this will happen again in years to come, but it depends on the budget.

“Everything is government related,” the SMSD Food Services Department said. “The prices are going up because they are starting to require more vegetables and fruits in school lunches.”

Pawnee Elementary School teacher Laura Gray is unhappy with the changes because cumulatively the amount she spends will have a large impact on her family. She rarely brings her own lunch to school and neither does her daughter, junior Liz Gray.

“This has come as complete news to me, and I think it’s a big problem,” Laura said. “I don’t mean to sound like a nagging school teacher, but especially since we haven’t gotten raises in a few years, I’m going to have to be counting every penny.”

A look at three big changes going into effect next year written by Vanessa Daves

ADOPTION OF 3 COMMON CORE All schools in Kansas will be adopting the Common Core standards in their lesson plans. This policy that will “provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn” has been adopted by all 50 states except Nebraska, Texas, Virginia and Alaska.

The Common Core was created by the U.S. Board of Education in an effort to create voluntary national standards in math and reading.

Teachers in Kansas have been attending meetings about the Common Core curriculum. For English teachers across the nation including Shawnee Mission East’s Laura Beachy, this means that their class curriculum will include less novels and have a bigger focus on nonfiction and rhetoric material.

“The big issue that a lot of teachers have with it is that the tests for the Common Core aren’t written yet,” Beachy said. “So if they aren’t written yet, then how can we teach it?”

Next school year, teachers are going to try and incorporate it into their lesson plans, and by the 2013-2014 school year it will be required.

NEWS | 3

O EILL O EILL H O N D A

H O N D A

O’Neill Honda O’Neill Honda proudly supports the proudly supports the S.M. East Lancers S.M. East Lancers 2011-­2012 2011-­2012

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PLAYING THE BLAME GAME Parents and students shouldn’t blame teachers for students’ poor performance

photo illustration by AnnaMarie Oakley Missed homework assignment? Poor test grade? Not un- cluded that most American parents regard derstanding the material? teaching as a worthwhile profession for The increasingly common approach is to point to teach- their kids. In fact, PDK International Execuers — the scapegoats of student and parents alike. Howev- tive Director Bill Brushaw and Gallop Senior er, this method is too easy and too lazy, and it demonstrates Scientist Shane Lopez wrote that, “Not only the paradox of respect for the teaching profession but not do Americans understand the need for great The Harbinger staff thinks that teachers are confronted by for the individual teacher. Arguments by students and par- teachers, [but] they also trust and support parents and students about grades far too often. ents with teachers about grades and behavior foster a nega- teachers who are in classrooms now.” tive learning environment — one that could be avoided if However, the poll does not address how Teachers are much more likely to listen to a calm, comwe students assumed responsibility for our actions. students and parents act towards teachers. Respecting the posed high schooler than a stuck-up teenager with a strong In a poll of 44 East teachers, 26 beprofession does not equate to respectsense of entitlement. lieved the number of confrontations THE MAJORITY OPINION OF THE ing a teacher in the classroom.

If these steps are way over your head, remember this in which a student or parent held the HARBINGER EDITORIAL BOARD Finland, on the other hand, simple rule: empathy goes a long way. Teachers deal with teacher responsible for poor grades or showed that a classroom devoid of a lot, after all. With public school budget cuts, they have behavior was on the rise since they conflict and filled with mutual respect picked up more classes and more students. A new teacher FOR AGAINST ABSENT began teaching (13 had not noticed a fosters successful learning. Clearly, might be unsure at first how to handle a classroom full of difference and 5 believed that number heated confrontations about homekids, and an experienced teacher might be skeptical of had fallen). work, tests and grades can be easily prevented, but it takes your excuses because he or she has heard the same ones Now, not all teachers feel under-appreciated, just as not initiative on our part. Here are three simple steps to creatfor twenty years. Understanding is the first step to preventall students and parents attack teachers on a weekly basis. ing better relationships with teachers: ing unnecessary confrontations.

In the end, however, these confrontations continue to occur 1. Actually read the course handouts — knowing late But why bother improving your relationship with your — and they harm all parties involved. When conflict arises, work policies and project deadlines prevents any negative teacher? After all, we move on after only one year or even it is harder for teachers to teach and students to learn. surprises. “What does the syllabus say about that?” is a one semester.

To find a better learning approach, we should turn to common question teachers ask students who plead ignoWe should bother, though, because aside from our parEurope. Finland’s students consistently top the charts in rance. ents, teachers are some of the most influential adults in our science, math and reading scores, a fact which Scholastic 2. Meet with teachers before or after school to settle any lives. They affect everything from our political beliefs to our Administrator Magazine attributed in part to student re- disputes. Teachers are more flexible one-on-one than in communication skills, and that in of itself should demand spect for teachers. Julie Walker, a Finland educational sys- front of thirty sets of eyes, especially when they are not in respect. tem researcher, compared the degree of respect for teach- the middle of trying to explain how to write an FRQ. Disrespect from students should not just be “part of the ers in Finland to that of doctors in the U.S. 3. Keep a cool head. Tone and body language are just job;” instead, students need to take initiative. Grades are Some have argued that American teachers receive a as important as speech, so when a teacher calls you out usually based on merit, but our relationships with teachers similar degree of respect. The 2011 PDK/Gallup Poll con- for rolling your eyes, do not claim, “I didn’t say anything.” are based on effort.

11

Harbinger Editors-In-Chief Kat Buchanan Toni Aguiar Assistant Editors Emma Pennington Evan Nichols Online Editors-InChief Jeff Cole Duncan MacLachlan Online Assistant Editor Becca Brownlee Art and Design Editor Chloe Stradinger Head Copy Editors Chris Heady Jack Howland News Editor Tom Lynch News Page Editors Katie Knight Editorial Editor Matt Hanson Opinion Editor Ian Wiseman

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a publication of shawnee mission east high school 7500 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS 66208 October 31, 2011

Opinion Page Editors Morgan Twibell Mixed Editor Tiernan Shank Spread Editor Andrew Simpson Assistant Spread Editor Paige Hess Features Editor Christa McKittrick Features Page Editors Leah Pack Emily Kerr A&E Editor Kennedy Burgess A&E Page Editors Andrew McKittrick Will Webber Sports Editor Anne Willman Sports Page Editors Adam Lowe Corbin Barnds Mitch Kaskie Freelance Page Editors

Alex Goldman Vanessa Daves Kim Hoedel Haley Martin Photo Editor Grant Kendall Assistant Photo Editor Spencer Davis Online Photo Editor Brendan Dulohery Jake Crandall Assistant Online Photo Editor Hiba Akhtar Copy Editors Evan Nichols Emma Pennington Kat Buchanan Matt Hanson Anne Willman Chloe Stradinger Toni Aguiar Chris Heady Jack Howland Tom Lynch Erin Reilly

Will Webber Head Online Copy Editor Matt Gannon Kim Hoedel Online Copy Editors Sami Walter Vanessa Daves Ads/Circulation Managers Erin Reilly Leah Pack Staff Artists Sam Stevens Matti Crabtree Connor Woodson Webmasters Chris Denniston Christian Wiles Multimedia Editor Thomas Allen Assistant Multimedia Editor Dalton Boehm Convergence Editor Alex Lamb

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

Homegrown Editors Andrew Beasley Anna Dancinger Blog Editor Zoe Brian Video Editor Dalton Boehm Eastipedia Editor Sami Walter Podcast Editor Sami Walter Live Broadcast Editors Connor Woodson Assistant Live Broadcast Editor Andrew McWard Online A&E Section Editor Zoe Brian Online Sports Section Editors Adam Lowe Patrick Frazell Live Broadcast Producers Andrew McWard

Thomas Allen Patrick Frazell Connor Woodson Chris Denniston Anchors Patrick Frazell Marisa Walton Morgan Twibell Emily Donovan PR Representative/ Business Managers Joe Simmons Staff Writers Alex Lamb Greta Nepstad Hannah Ratliff Stephen Cook Emily Donovan Holly Hernandez Julia Poe Jeri Freirich Julia Davis Alex Stonebarger Grace Heitmann Nick May Photographers

Spencer Davis Emma Robson Christian Wiles Anna Danciger AnnaMarie Oakley Molly Howland Stefano Byer McKenzie Swanson Miranda Gibbs Marisa Walton Maddie Schoemann Multimedia Staff Andrew McWard Haley Martin Chris Denniston Christian Wiles Spencer Davis AnneMarie Oakley Miranda Gibbs 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.

EDITORIAL | 5

BITTERSWEET DEPARTURE Junior will miss seniors while also looking forward to taking their place

art by Matti Crabtree If you ask any Lancer what his or her favorite day of the school year is, he or she may say Lancer Day, or the homecoming football an opinion of ALEX GOLDMAN game or maybe the first day of school. For me, the last day of school is my favorite. It is the only day where you can finally unwind and begin your summer of relaxation without a worry on your mind. But this year, there will be one thing in the back of my mind on that last day: I will officially be a senior. It feels weird to type and even weirder to hear said by other people.

Becoming a senior means several things. It means sitting in the front row at basketball games and choosing the themes. It means being the rowdiest section at the pep assemblies even though all the other sections (excluding the freshmen, of course) are just as loud. Most of all, it means that I will be one of the oldest in the school for the first time since the Mission Valley days. For the past three years, the Class of 2012 has always been there to help me through high school and offer advice. Next year, instead of looking up to the grade above, the grades below will be looking up to me and my graduating class.

My senior status will give me the opportunity to run the school. I can park in the front row of the senior lot without getting tagged, go out to lunch

6 | OPINION

without teachers saying a thing, leave seminar without any chance of getting in trouble and best of all, I’ll have the responsibility of continuing East’s sacred traditions.

On the other hand, senior year means that my time at East is nearly over. In 12 months I will be walking out the doors of East for “the best four years of my life.” Even though I have been counting down the years until I become a senior since my freshman year, I am getting hit with the bittersweet reality that my days at Shawnee Mission Wonderful are very numbered.

With my last year at East, I want to make sure I don’t have any regrets and leave my stamp on the school. Senior year is about giving back to the school that has given you everything you’ve learned the past three years. Whether it’s through Link Crew, SHARE, sports, theater or in my case, journalism, it’s important to remember what you’ve learned the past six semesters and prepare to hand it down to the next class.

If the class ahead of the junior class doesn’t leave behind any of their experience or insight, the next class will just be a step behind, confused and unready for seniority. A senior class is only as good as its predecessors leave it to be, and I think it’s safe to say our senior class did a superb job.

Now, it is our job as seniors to take the torch and run the school like our prede-seniors would have wanted. Whether it’s giving the underclassmen advice on classes or teaching them what Club Baño

exactly is, it’s our duty to prepare the seniors of tomorrow. We will be the class looked up to and will be expected to be East’s role models. For some juniors, it will mean stepping up in STUCO; for others it will mean being the captain of the soccer team.

For me, it will mean helping incoming writers get the feel for working on the Harbinger, as well as taking over the holy pre-meet rituals in cross-country. No matter what it is, it is important to reflect on what we’ve learned and pass it on.

I can vividly remember the days when I was taken on a tour by my Link Crew leader and when I discovered what would be my home away from home for the next four years. I discovered the hallways I would stumble through every morning in a half-asleep coma. I also discovered the place that would shape me more than any school had before and a class of seniors that taught me what it truly means to be a Lancer. I’ve grown more at East than I ever have before and it is hard to believe that in a few months I will be saying goodbye to the school.

When I look back at high school I’m not going to want to regret any part of it. So, I would like to make the best out of my last year at East because I know I’ll never be able to be a high schooler ever again in my life.

In a couple weeks, I will be throwing my backpack in my car for the last time until the middle of August. Unlike my previous last days, I won’t just be thinking about my summer, but also how I want to spend my last year as a Lancer.

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AWKWARD THAT WHEN

MOMENT

I’ve always thought of myself as sort of an awkward or quirky person. I’ve done a lot of things in my lifetime that some people would probably consider excruciatingly embarrassing or painful to be involved in. Even though these moments didn’t phase me too much I thought you readers might get a little chuckle out of them. So here you go, four of my most awkward experience during my time so far at East. Enjoy. written by Morgan Twibell | photo illustrations by Mckenzie Swanson

RISING STARES

TRAFFIC JAMMED

A TRIP TO THE BOYS’ ROOM

It’s probably one of the most commonly portrayed scenes in TeenNick shows. It is a recurring nightmare for many kids before their first days of school. It’s something that you hear about and think, “That’s so stupid!

I would never let that happen to myself !”

Unfortunately, I let the inevitable happen.

Freshman year, I did in fact walk into the boys’ locker room. When I tell people, they usually think I’m just trying to get a laugh out of them.

I’m not joking. It is a true traumatic experience that I had to go through, it’s easy to talk about now but it was a very sore subject for awhile. Here’s how it went: It was a Friday afternoon in April of 2011 and I was rushing out of school to get ready for this phat rager I was going to (OK, just kidding — I was really rushing home to finish my Conjuguemos before my teacher closed the assignment.) I decided to take a different path than usual. I took the staircase all the way down on the first floor by the weight room, since I knew that it would be the least crowded. Of course, since I was a freshman I didn’t know the school very well yet, and I took a wrong turn: what I thought was the door to the stairwell turned out to be the back door of the boys’ locker room. I took one step in and got a huge whiff of B.O. and Axe body spray. I saw three confused, stubbly male faces staring at me with eyes full of disgust. I don’t know if they were more embarrassed than I was...

I mean, they were the half-naked ones in the situation.

Once I finally realized where I was and that I had probably been there for an uncomfortable 30 seconds, which felt way too long, I sprinted my behind out of there. To this day I have still not seen those three boys again (maybe they transferred schools?).

8 | OPINION

I know for a fact that everyone at one point in their high school career has caused a traffic jam on the stairs.

What separates my experience from many others is the fact that I stood in the middle of the staircase, stuck, with about 50 people surrounding me, for almost five minutes.

Let me tell you that five minutes could’ve easily been three hours because, being in my position, it felt so much longer.

It all happened because my stupid backpack strap got stuck on the railing of the stairs. It was literally intertwined with that railing — I don’t even know how it got so stuck, but it was like a little boy scout had tied it into one big knot around the railing while I wasn’t looking. I stood there with a face of embarrassment and pain because I was still struggling to unravel myself from that dang railing.

People were starting to get angry. I was being pushed and shoved and scratched. I felt like I was being attacked by a herd of cats -- except these weren’t cats. They were just some angry, judgemental highschoolers. After I was finally released from the railings grasp, I hustled away from my crime scene, because I was still afraid of an after-the-fact

TOILET TUNES I’ve always been quite the song bird.

I don’t think that there has ever been a day that I don’t randomly belt out the ohso famous masterpieces created by Nicki Minaj. I’ve always looked at my talent of singing as a blessing -- but in this case, it was more of a curse.

It was the beginning of the school year, I was getting into the flow of things. One particular day, I left my fourth hour for my routine three-minute roam of the hallways (which I did to keep myself from falling asleep during the lesson).

This day’s roaming session was one of the less interesting ones — until I walked into the bathroom. I hadn’t realized it, but I had been singing a song quietly to myself as I walked, and I kept on singing to myself.

Right as I was walking into the bathroom, I reached the chorus of the song “Dance (A$$) Remix.” I guess you could say I got a little overly excited and started loudly singing and shouting each word.

At the time, I assumed I would be the only one in the bathroom, but of course, with my luck, there was a timid little freshman standing in front of the sink. Her face got one of those expressions on it that only comes out when you see a teacher at the grocery store, or when your mom attempts Dance Dance Revolution in front of all of your friends at the arcade. There was no way for her to leave the bathroom without making awkward eye contact with me, so as she walked by I just stood there and smiled at her — I think it kind of freaked her out even more.

At first I just thought to myself, “Wow, that was uncomfortable.” Then I walked out and saw the same girl sitting on the floor, working on a project with her friend, and got a terrified look from both of them. I knew it was one of my not-so-shining moments.

I always thought that Choir was a place where I could be comfortable and open in front of all of my friends.

That thought changed completely after a rehearsal for our spring concert. We were practicing on the risers in the auditorium, which has always been a scary thing for me to do because I have terrible balance and a fear of fainting. We started off the rehearsal by singing one of our fun upbeat songs.

Mr. Foley had said, “I want you girls to end this song in a funny pose.”

Of course, my friend Victoria and I came up with this scheme that would help us achieve the most outrageous ending pose — which eventually put me in a bit of a pickle.

The incident went a bit like this: I had conducted a plan for me to jump into the Victoria’s arms since she was standing next to me. It was supposed to look very well-planned and humorous. Right as the end of our song was approaching, I took a big leap off the place I was standing on the risers and tried to swing my legs up high enough for Victoria to catch me.

Unfortunately, she forgot our “amazing plan,” and in turn left me on my hands and knees on the bleachers facing a room full of laughter coming from my peers, directed toward myself. Luckily, only about half of the people at rehearsal had seen me fall but I was still mortified.

The only good thing that came of that incident was that I got to sit out of cheer practice after school due to my “injured knee.”

THESPIAN IN THE PARK Freshman will continue her obsession with theatre at Shakespeare in the Park this summer

FAR ABOVE, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival’s front gate in Southmoreland Park.

ABOVE, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival’s production of “Much Ado About Nothing.”

KATIE’S ROLES

A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Faerie Antony & Cleopatra | Handmaiden “The faerie role will almost definitely be a more physical part than the handmaiden role. The handmaiden role will probably involve a lot of standing onstange and following the actress who’s playing Cleopatra.”

FRESHMAN KATIE SGROI

Freshman Katie Sgroi isn’t wearing her glasses today. She’s not going to jokingly brag about how she got them at Costco. She won’t have to push the big frames up off the brim of her nose. Today, Katie is wearing her contacts.

They normally cause migraines and rarely see the world outside of her medicine cabinet, but Katie is taking a calculated risk; she needs to pull out all the stops. She’s wearing her hair down instead of up like she normally does. She’s trying not to get too nervous.

Because today, for the first time in her life, Katie’s auditioning for Shakespeare in the Park. Specifically, for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Antony and Cleopatra.”

And Katie really wants to get a part.

She can’t even begin to think about a summer without Shakespeare. When she was in fifth grade, she was first exposed to “Romeo and Juliet” at the Heart of America production in KC. She remembers liking how the play was outside and it wasn’t a musical like at Theater in the Park. The next summer, she came to the Shakespeare camp offered to students and put on their own version of “Othello.” Then the next summer, she came back for “Merry Wives of Windsor.” And she kept coming back. Year after year.

But today, Katie is auditioning for the mainstage, professional show; the one that 22,000 people will come out to see. It feels kind of strange to her — after all, she is going out for something that she was always kind of around as a kid. She still remembers dragging her family to the shows every summer. She remembers begging her parents to let her do Shakespeare camp.

Today, Katie has the audition she’s always wanted.

It wouldn’t be until a week later, in the middle of a busy Journalism-1 class, that she would find out she got it. She would find out that she got small parts in both shows and that about 30 days of her summer will be dedicated to it. But Katie, who has spent most of her life around the theater anyways, can’t imagine spending her summer any other way.

“It really is hard for me to get away from theater,” Sgroi said. “I really have grown up with it.”

*** Katie loves theater more than almost anything.

As a matter of fact, she can’t really take a break from it. She says that it feels weird to go a couple of weeks without wandering into the Little Theater. She says getting home before it’s dark out is a rarity. She even says that her friends will often get mad at her for bailing on them for a show she has to work on. To her, theater is an addiction.

It started when she was 10 years old.

That’s when she went to see “Romeo and Juliet” and grabbed a front row seat. She loved the costumes. She loved the elaborate set.

She even remembers laughing when a fly landed on Juliet’s supposedly dead face and the nurse had to wave it off as if it was a part of the show.

“I remember thinking how cool it was that these people memorized all these lines and they made it seem so real even though they were just actors in costumes pretending,” Katie said. “But it seemed like they were real people actually just living their lives.”

Katie got really hooked in middle school.

When she got to Mission Valley as a frizzyhaired 12-year-old, she went out for “Beauty and the Beast.” She was cast as a spoon.

Looking back at it, she likes to say that it didn’t really qualify as real theater she says a lot of it was pretty simplistic. But she loved it nonetheless. She loved having to come in early on Saturday mornings to do tech work like building sets or painting scenery. She loved having pretend conversations with friends on stage.

She continued with it in high school. Katie says that most of her free time this year has been spent constructing sets, acting on stage or just watching rehearsals. Her theater friends say she was “bitten by the bug.”

She’s worked tech for the musical revue, was cast as a fairy in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” was assigned props crew chief for “Bye Bye Birdie” and was even given the job of Crew Chief for “Durang, Durang.”

“My hobbies are... pretty much just theater,” Katie said. “All I’ve done this year has pretty much been theater.”

Among other things, Katie loves the “social aspect” of theater. A lot of her memories of from theater come from goofing around behind the scenes of a show. Like the time she dropped the angel statue during “Durang, Durang” then joked around with her friends about super-gluing it back together.

Or how she hung around rehearsals for Bang Bang You’re Dead even though she wasn’t in the show. Or the time she was with sophomore Chloe Vollenweider backstage of “Bye Bye Birdie” jiving in a style that Vollenweider could only describe as “nerdy white girl dancing.”

Vollenweider says that Katie seems to just be happy around theater. She sees it everyday.

“She has this glow about her when she’s working in the theater. She’s so happy,” Vollenweider said. “Even on those days when you are exhausted and tired and angry at the world, she is so happy about it. Like, she’s happy she’s there, she’s happy she has an opportunity, she’s not afraid to go after stuff.

In the chaos of it all, she’s enjoying herself.”

It’s hard for Katie not to feel happy when she’s playing pretend. That’s the way it’s always been. Her mom, Mary Sgroi, still remembers when Katie would play “dressup” as a stumbling toddler and do different accents. She remembers how one day she tried to act out “Witches from Macbeth” with her babysitter. The dialogue probably didn’t have the right emotional depth and Katie maybe didn’t understand the play’s complexities, but she enjoyed babbling along to Shakespeare.

“Even at a young age when she was playing a character she was always able to stay in character even if I came down to ask if she wanted a snack or something,” Mary said.

written by Jack Howland | photos courtesy of Doug Hamer “She would stay in character even when answering me.”

For Katie, this summer is kind of like coming full circle. She will be acting on stage with the people that taught her growing up.

She may even be acting with people she has seen multiple times across Kansas City stages. She’s nervous for the shows. Just like she was in the audition, she worries about how people will receive her. And she has never done anything on this big of a scale: it’s scary for her to imagine going from Dan Zollar’s auditorium for East shows to an outdoor venue that seats thousands.

But, according to Katie, she has a “most definite” addiction to theater. She couldn’t really get away from it even if she tried.

*** Katie still can’t believe she got the part.

She says she will often go a little while without thinking about her upcoming summer, then she’ll read for Juliet in English or see something about Shakespeare in the paper and it hits her. It makes her feel giddy. Because even though she likes to stay modest, Katie can’t help but get a smile when thinking about her summer.

“It is a pretty big deal...for me,” Katie said.

“There was a fair amount of people there at the audition, and for me to be one of them [in the cast], it’s a pretty big thing.”

Katie knows that performing at Shakespeare in the Park on a professional show is impressive. She knows that thousands of people will come to watch her. But she also knows that when she tells people she made the show, they may stare at her blankly and say “Umm... you mean Theater in the Park?”

Katie’s OK with that, though. She likes things that are different. She likes sitting at home and watching “Doctor Who” on Saturday nights. She likes her thick-rimmed glasses and the silver emblem that separates them from everybody elses’. She likes drinking hot green tea in her “Rampallian!”- and “Fustilarian!”-covered Shakespeare insult mug.

Katie’s always been drawn to things that aren’t the norm. And this summer is going to be brand new for her.

“This is close to five or six weeks instead of two or three months,” Katie said. “That’s going to be much shorter and more compact than anything I’ve ever done before.”

This summer, she is going to be performing 30 shows in a little over a month. She’ll have Mondays off to hang out with her friends or catch up on TV. But she may have to rethink family vacations. She can forget about any sort of summer job. She’ll probably have to deny a lot of friends’ requests to hang out.

But Katie can’t wait until that first friend asks her if she can do something on a Saturday, or a Tuesday or even a Sunday. She knows exactly what she’ll say.

“So, [it will be] like, ‘Hey do you wanna go hang out?” Katie says with a smile. “No... if you hang out on a Monday I can see you.

Otherwise, no — cause I’ll be doing a show every night.”

FEATURES | 9

LOVE ‘LOCH’

A PRICEY PASSION

A LOOK AT THE PRICES ASSOCIATED WITH CAMP UNIFORMS $200 AIRFARE $500

DOWN

TUITION $7,585

Three juniors pursue their passions at Interlochen, a prestigious arts camp located in northern Michigan

written by Tiernan Shank | photo illustration by Hiba Akhtar and Anna Danciger For junior Lily Kaufmann, summers have always been spent on stage. Whether it was a dance recital or a musical at Baker University, Kaufmann has always embraced the heat and devoted those two long months to doing what she loves best: musical theater.

This summer, Kaufmann will not only be in a production of Legally Blonde the Musical at Theater in the Park, but she will also journey over 800 miles to spend three weeks at the prestigious Interlochen Summer Arts Camp.

Interlochen, a liberal arts camp in Interlochen, Michigan, has seen notable attendees such as Josh Groban, Norah Jones and Bob Dylan. The camp targets students of all ages, from juniors in elementary school, high school students and an “academy,” or boarding school, where high schoolers can take specific focus classes on their art of choice.

“I am looking forward to meeting so many people that are interested in the same thing as me and people that are as dedicated and want to go into it as a profession,” Kaufmann said. “I’m looking forward to being surrounded with competition so that I know where I fit in terms of when I get there later in life and so I can see where I really shine so that I can be successful.”

Interlochen provides a variety of programs based on length of time and intensiveness. These programs incorporate classes with specific instruction for their intended major from qualified professors like Jason Banks, who has designed lighting for A-List concerts such as Boys 2 Men and Smashmouth or Philip Dikeman, the associate director of flute at The Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University.

These professors factor into why Kaufmann was interested in the camp.

“My mom has gotten really good this year about researching things for me,” Kaufmann said.

“I’m going into senior year and she’s really big on wanting me to have all the credentials to A, get into the colleges that I want, B, get in to the musical theater programs that I want and, C, get the scholarships that I want.”

What sold Kaufmann on Interlochen, other than prestige of the camp, was her voice teacher and alumni of the camp, Melinda McDonald, who convinced Kaufmann to make Interlochen a priority for the summer.

“I went to her and she told me how she went there as a kid and how amazing it is and how much it will help me,” Kaufmann said. “She told me if there was anything else that you want to do to put it after Interlochen, make time for Interlochen, make money for Interlochen, do whatever you can to get to Interlochen.”

Unfortunately, when Kaufmann found out that

10 | FEATURES

she could still apply for Interlochen, she was about to embark on a ten day trip to Italy with the East Choraliers.

When she returned from Italy, Kaufmann started right in on her tape. She had to sing two 16-bar songs, one ballad and one more up-tempo Broadway song.

For her audition, Kufman sang the Alto’s Lament, an upbeat song that she has performed for auditions before. For her ballad Kaufmann sang “Simple Little Things” for the musical 101 and the Shade.

Then, since the application encouraged dance experience, Kaufmann used the East dance room and had her mom film a short choreographed dance to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” that showed off all her leaps, turns and fluidity.

Within five days the campus administration emailed Kaufmann with her acceptance into the three-week theater program and a merit based scholarship offer for $750.

With her acceptance Kaufmann also found out she would be overlapping programs with fellow junior Emma Reno, who will be attending the six-week Orchestra and Wind Ensemble summer program for the flute.

While on a family vacation to Michigan, Reno and her mom took a day to visit Interlochen and explore the campus.

“I had never heard of it before, I didn’t realize how prestigious it was,” Reno said. “But after I did all my research on Interlochen and found out it’s kind of a big deal, I was like, OK I need to do this now.”

For her application Reno, like Kaufmann, had to do a video recording of two songs that had to be selected from a list of specific repertoire that Interlochen provided.

Since Reno wanted the best sound quality for her audition she reserved time in UMKC’s White Recital Hall and hired a professional to record her performance.

Reno was accepted, but wasn’t given any of the financial aid or scholarships that she was hoping for. So, when Interlochen announced that they were holding an online contest for any accepted student, who hadn’t gotten any financial aid, Reno knew it would be perfect for her.

Reno made a video of herself performing “Strength” and added a blues solo that she wrote, naming it “It’s a Blue Day for Pan.” With votes pouring in Reno thought that she actually might have a chance at winning sound check which included full tuition, travel, uniforms and laundry—over $8,000 total.

Reno ended up not winning the Sound Check contest but still wanted to attend the camp.

She now had to figure out a way to pay for

{QUIRKS CAMP

Interlochen herself. Combining her life savings, donations from her grandfather and her parent’s friends, plus money she had saved up from working at the Tune Shop in Prairie Village, Reno was able to raise $6,300. Her parents agreed to pay the rest.

With her application turned in, Reno turned to fellow orchestra member junior Ali Felman who attended Interlochen last summer in the six-week Orchestra program for viola.

“I was excited for her when I heard because you know I want people at East to get the same experience that I had,” Felman said.

Felman had heard about Interlochen from a poster in her 7th grade orchestra class. When she got home that day and googled the camp it instantly became a dream.

“It’s really prestigious and I knew that I would learn a lot while gaining that camp experience,” Felman said. “I just kept reading about how it changed peoples lives and I wanted it to change mine.”

After applying Felman was fortunate enough to receive a $1,500 scholarship — something she knows really helped her out.

When summer rolled around and Felman had finally arrived at Interlochen she felt and immediate sense of welcome and companionship.

“Everyone there is so nice and welcoming,” Felman said. “You walked into the camp and felt an instant bond.”

Financially it didn’t work for Felman to go back again this summer but she hopes to return the summer after that or maybe in her college years.

“I learned to much technically about viola and about how to be more professional and how to be a better section leader,” Felman said. “I leaned how music can help people communicate and bring people together.”

All three girls know how much Interlochen will help them in the future.

“Interlochen is not only a great learning experience but is also definitely a good resume builder that can help me get into the colleges that I want,” Reno said.

Both Kaufmann and Reno know that although they might be some of the best for Kansas City, Interlochen will be a good reality check.

“Right now I’m kind of in this bubble where I get parts and I’m considered good,” Kaufmann said. “But when I get there I’m going to realize that this is what the real world is like and what I’m going to be up against on Broadway.”

At Interlochen this summer Kaufmann might be doing theater and Reno might be doing orchestra but in the end they’ll both reap the same benefits.

“I’m going to be at a camp with the world’s best,” Reno said. “And that’s going to be life changing.”

of

A look at what makes Interlochen interesting

ALI FELMAN viola

“One of my favorite traditions was the theme that we play at the end of every concert. It is four bars and it is really beautiful and after it no one claps they all just leave.”

“They are very strict on how you behave yourself.

They actually have a rule that the high note that we always sing is not written in the national musical theater anthem so you can’t sing it.”

LILY KAUFMANN

EMMA RENO flute

“I’m really excited about getting the flute professors I asked for. They are world renouned and are professors at Oberlin and Vanderbilt.”

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HARDCORE PARKOUR 12 | SPREAD

Juniors challenge themselves to perfect the art of parkour written by Adam Lowe | photos by Jake Crandall

In the eyes of junior Nick Lybarger, he is an artist. Not an athlete, but an artist. Not with a brush and paint or a camera and lens, but with his hands, his feet and his body. His art consists of running 10 feet and jumping into the air off of a 12 foot high brick wall. His art consists of a leap of faith and landing a front flip into a somersaulting roll off of the roof of Belinder Elementary School. And it consists of anything and everything he attempts with his body and his surroundings in his art. His art is parkour.

“It’s all about movement and motion,” Lybarger said. “You have to be moving toward a final destination but with no destination in mind.”

Lybarger and junior Taylor Smith have been best friends since fifth grade. They began their friendship playing games like Modern Warfare on Xbox, but by the time Lybarger was in seventh grade he had introduced Smith to a new activity. It was called parkour and through this “art” not only have they pursued healthy lifestyles but they have also learned more about themselves than they ever thought possible.

“My favorite part is envisioning something that was seemingly impossible and just making it happen,” Smith said. “When you have two things that just are not related but you still have the guts to jump across them, that’s amazing and that’s parkour.”

According to Smith, he was in seventh grade when one day after school Lybarger had an idea. This was a day that he says changed his life. Lybarger began showing him videos of parkour on YouTube -- immediately Smith fell in love.

“We both thought it was incredible but I was the one that actually took it seriously right then and there,” Smith said.

Three years later, Smith was finally able to convince Lybarger to give parkour a try. For Lybarger’s first time the two friends went to Belinder Elementary. As Lybarger describes it, the Belinder Elementary roof has several cool jumps and is one of the best places in the city to parkour.

“If it weren’t for this roof I may not be doing parkour today,” Lybarger said. “On this roof I learned not only how to do the basics but also how to get the most out of myself, mentally and physically.”

According to Smith, however, he knew Lybarger wouldn’t be able to stay away form parkour.

“The adrenaline rush you get is unreal,” Smith said. “No other hobby can teach you anything quite like this, not this creatively.” *** The lunch bell doesn’t mean lunch for Lybarger.

It doesn’t mean it’s time to sit down in the cafeteria.

It’s time for him to head down to the track. As he walks down the South ramp towards the cafeteria he continues down the stairs through the junior lot and onto the field. It’s time to take his shirt off and get to work in the warm heat of a late April afternoon. As he skips lunch he knows he only has 36 minutes. That’s 36 minutes to complete one of his many work outs for the day. But that doesn’t faze him. Every day he makes his way to the track and then back up to the fifth floor and Mrs. Kramer’s class just in time to walk in as the bell rings.

“I try to make sure I’m constantly working out every day,” Lybarger said. “When you can learn to make a schedule for your day and keep that schedule that’s when you start seeing results.”

Smith does agree that exercise is important but he stresses that a healthy diet is key.

“If you really want to be healthy you have to eat what was originally given to us, what any human being would have eaten when we first existed,” Smith said. “For example I eat just straight vegetables, fruits, nuts, meat, fish, no candy, soda, or school lunches [...] it won’t help me with parkour so I don’t eat it.”

The two friends usually work out separately because, like Lybarger said, they both have different schedules to keep. But they always come together with their common love: parkour. *** As Smith was flying through the air, he was confident. It had been just 24 hours since he had landed a front flip off of a 13 foot wall perfectly. However Smith knows better than anyone that just because you were successful once, doesn’t mean you will be successful again. As he hit the dewy grass in his worn down, soleless New Balance tennis shoes, something went wrong this time. His leg slipped out from under him and like the snap of a twig, his leg broke in half.

While Smith may have been in pain as he sat there with his bone popping out of his skin. He now

can look back on it and not only be happy to have the “sick scar” but also happy to have the experience.

“You know, I really don’t think any of it is dangerous,” Smith said. “You are going to learn something either way so at the end of the day it’s going to be positive.”

This “danger-is-my-middle-name” mentality is something Smith shares with Lybarger. Even though Smith has never had a similar sized injury, he believes it’s all about “natural selection” and proving to yourself that you can or can’t do something on a given day.

“The thing is, in parkour you have to think outside the box because it’s all about overcoming obstacles,” Lybarger said. “And if you’re afraid of the danger then it’s going to be really hard for you.”

That being said, they do both recognize that being uncomfortable with your next move is just a part of parkour.

“Parkour is urban freeflow and because you don’t go into it with any plan, there is a sense of apprehension,” Lybarger said. “But what makes parkour so special is that it’s about pushing yourself and working through that fear.” *** Although Lybarger and Smith know that the average age of a Parkour athlete, stated by the Jump Magazine, the official magazine of Urban Freeflow is 17 years of age, they don’t plan on quitting anytime soon.

“I would love to have parkour be my profession,” Lybarger said. “It’s not something I’m going to go out and pursue, but I love it and I plan to do it as long as I can.”

Smith agrees, because not only is it a great way to spend his time, but it has also taught him great habits for his life.

“Parkour has taught me how to live my life and be a part of my life. And because of that, it now is my life,” Smith said.

MAKIN’ MOVES

LET JUNIOR TAYLOR SMITH SHOW YOU STEP BY STEP HOW TO DO A FRONT FLIP

1. GAIN SOME MOMENTUM DOING A FLIP IS PRETTY HARD, AND JUST LIKE ANY JUMP, GETTING A RUNNING START WILL GET YOU FARTHER AND HIGHER.

2. UP AND FORWARD THIS IS WHEN YOU TRANSFER THE MOMENTUM INTO A JUMPING MOVEMENT. YOU WANT TO BE MOVING FORWARD, BUT HIGH ENOUGH YOU DONT HIT YOUR HEAD.

3. TWIST IN THE AIR

CLENCH YOUR ABS AND STAY TIGHT TO BE ABLE TO ROTATE THE ENTIRE WAY AROUND.

4. STICK YOUR LANDING Junior Taylor Smith , performs a precision dive at Windsor Park. “...you still have the guts to jump across them, that’s amazing and that’s parkour” Smith said.

Junior Jake Lybarger, climbs to the top of a tree. “Parkour is seen as a dangerous sport,” Lybarger said “but if you are smart and aware of your limits, it can be safe.

Lybarger, balances on a bike rack behind St. Anns school. “Balance is a big part of parkour,” Lybarger said.

WHEN YOUR FEET HIT THE GROUND, GO INTO A SQUAT POSITION. THIS REDUCES THE FORCE OF THE IMPACT, REDUCING STREES ON YOUR KNEES AND ANKLES.

SPREAD | 13

HARDCORE PARKOUR 12 | SPREAD

Juniors challenge themselves to perfect the art of parkour written by Adam Lowe | photos by Jake Crandall

In the eyes of junior Nick Lybarger, he is an artist. Not an athlete, but an artist. Not with a brush and paint or a camera and lens, but with his hands, his feet and his body. His art consists of running 10 feet and jumping into the air off of a 12 foot high brick wall. His art consists of a leap of faith and landing a front flip into a somersaulting roll off of the roof of Belinder Elementary School. And it consists of anything and everything he attempts with his body and his surroundings in his art. His art is parkour.

“It’s all about movement and motion,” Lybarger said. “You have to be moving toward a final destination but with no destination in mind.”

Lybarger and junior Taylor Smith have been best friends since fifth grade. They began their friendship playing games like Modern Warfare on Xbox, but by the time Lybarger was in seventh grade he had introduced Smith to a new activity. It was called parkour and through this “art” not only have they pursued healthy lifestyles but they have also learned more about themselves than they ever thought possible.

“My favorite part is envisioning something that was seemingly impossible and just making it happen,” Smith said. “When you have two things that just are not related but you still have the guts to jump across them, that’s amazing and that’s parkour.”

According to Smith, he was in seventh grade when one day after school Lybarger had an idea. This was a day that he says changed his life. Lybarger began showing him videos of parkour on YouTube -- immediately Smith fell in love.

“We both thought it was incredible but I was the one that actually took it seriously right then and there,” Smith said.

Three years later, Smith was finally able to convince Lybarger to give parkour a try. For Lybarger’s first time the two friends went to Belinder Elementary. As Lybarger describes it, the Belinder Elementary roof has several cool jumps and is one of the best places in the city to parkour.

“If it weren’t for this roof I may not be doing parkour today,” Lybarger said. “On this roof I learned not only how to do the basics but also how to get the most out of myself, mentally and physically.”

According to Smith, however, he knew Lybarger wouldn’t be able to stay away form parkour.

“The adrenaline rush you get is unreal,” Smith said. “No other hobby can teach you anything quite like this, not this creatively.” *** The lunch bell doesn’t mean lunch for Lybarger.

It doesn’t mean it’s time to sit down in the cafeteria.

It’s time for him to head down to the track. As he walks down the South ramp towards the cafeteria he continues down the stairs through the junior lot and onto the field. It’s time to take his shirt off and get to work in the warm heat of a late April afternoon. As he skips lunch he knows he only has 36 minutes. That’s 36 minutes to complete one of his many work outs for the day. But that doesn’t faze him. Every day he makes his way to the track and then back up to the fifth floor and Mrs. Kramer’s class just in time to walk in as the bell rings.

“I try to make sure I’m constantly working out every day,” Lybarger said. “When you can learn to make a schedule for your day and keep that schedule that’s when you start seeing results.”

Smith does agree that exercise is important but he stresses that a healthy diet is key.

“If you really want to be healthy you have to eat what was originally given to us, what any human being would have eaten when we first existed,” Smith said. “For example I eat just straight vegetables, fruits, nuts, meat, fish, no candy, soda, or school lunches [...] it won’t help me with parkour so I don’t eat it.”

The two friends usually work out separately because, like Lybarger said, they both have different schedules to keep. But they always come together with their common love: parkour. *** As Smith was flying through the air, he was confident. It had been just 24 hours since he had landed a front flip off of a 13 foot wall perfectly. However Smith knows better than anyone that just because you were successful once, doesn’t mean you will be successful again. As he hit the dewy grass in his worn down, soleless New Balance tennis shoes, something went wrong this time. His leg slipped out from under him and like the snap of a twig, his leg broke in half.

While Smith may have been in pain as he sat there with his bone popping out of his skin. He now

can look back on it and not only be happy to have the “sick scar” but also happy to have the experience.

“You know, I really don’t think any of it is dangerous,” Smith said. “You are going to learn something either way so at the end of the day it’s going to be positive.”

This “danger-is-my-middle-name” mentality is something Smith shares with Lybarger. Even though Smith has never had a similar sized injury, he believes it’s all about “natural selection” and proving to yourself that you can or can’t do something on a given day.

“The thing is, in parkour you have to think outside the box because it’s all about overcoming obstacles,” Lybarger said. “And if you’re afraid of the danger then it’s going to be really hard for you.”

That being said, they do both recognize that being uncomfortable with your next move is just a part of parkour.

“Parkour is urban freeflow and because you don’t go into it with any plan, there is a sense of apprehension,” Lybarger said. “But what makes parkour so special is that it’s about pushing yourself and working through that fear.” *** Although Lybarger and Smith know that the average age of a Parkour athlete, stated by the Jump Magazine, the official magazine of Urban Freeflow is 17 years of age, they don’t plan on quitting anytime soon.

“I would love to have parkour be my profession,” Lybarger said. “It’s not something I’m going to go out and pursue, but I love it and I plan to do it as long as I can.”

Smith agrees, because not only is it a great way to spend his time, but it has also taught him great habits for his life.

“Parkour has taught me how to live my life and be a part of my life. And because of that, it now is my life,” Smith said.

MAKIN’ MOVES

LET JUNIOR TAYLOR SMITH SHOW YOU STEP BY STEP HOW TO DO A FRONT FLIP

1. GAIN SOME MOMENTUM DOING A FLIP IS PRETTY HARD, AND JUST LIKE ANY JUMP, GETTING A RUNNING START WILL GET YOU FARTHER AND HIGHER.

2. UP AND FORWARD THIS IS WHEN YOU TRANSFER THE MOMENTUM INTO A JUMPING MOVEMENT. YOU WANT TO BE MOVING FORWARD, BUT HIGH ENOUGH YOU DONT HIT YOUR HEAD.

3. TWIST IN THE AIR

CLENCH YOUR ABS AND STAY TIGHT TO BE ABLE TO ROTATE THE ENTIRE WAY AROUND.

4. STICK YOUR LANDING Junior Taylor Smith , performs a precision dive at Windsor Park. “...you still have the guts to jump across them, that’s amazing and that’s parkour” Smith said.

Junior Jake Lybarger, climbs to the top of a tree. “Parkour is seen as a dangerous sport,” Lybarger said “but if you are smart and aware of your limits, it can be safe.

Lybarger, balances on a bike rack behind St. Anns school. “Balance is a big part of parkour,” Lybarger said.

WHEN YOUR FEET HIT THE GROUND, GO INTO A SQUAT POSITION. THIS REDUCES THE FORCE OF THE IMPACT, REDUCING STREES ON YOUR KNEES AND ANKLES.

SPREAD | 13

COUNTING HIS

BLESSINGS Math teacher Rick Royer retires from East after teaching for 40 years

RICK ROYER interacts with students at the annual Calculus BC barbecue held at his house. “We were totally removed from the academic setting and were just friends being friends,” Royer said.

written by Matt Hanson | photos by Hiba Ahktar He got the idea from a radio show. he’s normally somewhat antisocial. But Seven years ago, math teacher Rick Royer when he’s with his kids, you would never was listening to talk radio when an older know. man started talking about how he realized “I tell my students often that if I listed that his time left on Earth was limited and, my ten best friends at any point in my life, afraid he would take the remaining time for eight of them would probably be current granted, had filled a jar with marbles and students,” Royer said. was using the marbles to count down the Forming personal connections with weeks he had left in his life. students is an essential element of RoyThe idea clicked with Royer. He brought er’s teaching style. He does it through his two used coffee pots into room 408 and uniquely sarcastic sense of humor. He does filled one to the brim with marbles, each it by teaching life lessons in addition to representing a week remaining in his ca- math. He does it by being completely honreer. Every Friday since then, he’s had one est with his students. Regardless of how he of his students take a marble from one pot does it, students like junior Garrett Raibble and move it to the other. appreciate his personal approach to teach“It was just another way to make me ing. appreciate the finiteness of my time here “He just really cares about East students -- make me not take it for granted quite so so much [individually],” Raibble said. “He much,” Royer said. knows how to have fun, and just the way When he began seven years ago, he he jokes around, you can look at him as a had 400 marbles left to move. 400 weeks friend and not just as a teacher.” remaining. But last year, when changes For senior Tyler Germann, Royer’s efin funding and curriculum in the district forts to befriend his students has helped made him think it was time to go, Royer him do better in Royer’s Calculus BC class. readjusted, and took out about three years’ “[His personal approach] makes a difworth of marbles. ference because not only do you feel like As a result, three marbles now sit at the you would disappoint him as a student but bottom of his jar. Just three weeks remain. you’d disappoint him as a friend if you don’t And when that last marble drops into do well,” Germann said. the second pot on May 23, Royer’s 40-year Royer’s ability to connect to his students career teaching math at East will be over. largely stems from his honesty. At any point *** in time in class, he could be telling one of Now, with each successive marble, his famous stories that aren’t supposed to Royer wells up just a bit as the reality of leave the classroom, or playing the adjechis impending retirement dawns on him. tive game, where he says the first word that He’s taught more than 6,000 students, in a comes to mind to describe students in his career that spans 5 wars, 5 principals and class. He could even just be poking fun of 10 presidents. Walking away won’t be easy. students as he often does. But no matter He’s not just leaving a job that he loves. what he’s doing, Royer is always honest His greatest friends were made in these with his students. He holds nothing back halls, and in his classroom. And when he from them, and they appreciate him for it. says that, he’s not just referring to the faculRoyer has always tried to connect to his ty members who have stayed friends with students because for him, education is so him even after they’ve retired: he’s talking much more than the quadratic formula, or about the students. The ones whose pic- differentiating the cosine function. Teachtures shuffle through on a screensaver at ing, as Royer sees it, is about helping kids his desk computer. His wife Stephanie says grow up and realize what’s important in

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life.

“I’ve often thought that if at the end of my career I can look back and if there are 6,000 more students out there that know the quadratic formula [and that is the] significance of my footprint on this planet at the end of my career, then what a wasted life I’ve had,” Royer said.

Royer’s emphasis on teaching life lessons in addition to equations is one of the ways he connects with his students so well.

His lessons have helped students like junior Gracie Tapp relate to him for decades.

Tapp, like many students Royer has had in the last decade of his career, is a legacy.

Her father, Doug Tapp, had Royer as both a teacher and a basketball coach (Royer was an assistant coach for 20 years) when he was in high school. He describes Royer as a man of “integral character, loyalty, and courage,” and according to Gracie, urged his daughter to take higher math classes so she could have a chance to have him as a teacher. But when she saw his name on her junior schedule, he was surprised.

“I thought, ‘How can this guy still be teaching at East?’” Doug said. “But then I remembered how impactful Mr. Royer was in my life and thought Gracie was in for a treat that she might not realize until long after her year with Mr. Royer.”

Like her father and thousands of other students, Gracie has been impacted by Royer. Royer has made an impact even among the faculty at East. Math teacher Hannah Pence, who had Royer for Algebra II in 1989, credits his passion for teaching as one of the biggest reasons she became a teacher.

“I had never seen somebody who was more passionate about what he did and had more fun doing what he was doing,” Pence said. *** It’s 6 p.m. on a Monday, and a couple dozen high school students sit in a circle in Royer’s backyard. It’s Royer’s annual pre-AP test dinner, and as the 61-year-old-

man watches his friends play a tensely contested game of “Catchphrase”, you can see it in his eyes. He’s starting to miss them already. Every year at graduation, Royer says that he feels like he loses a hundred dear friends. Losing double that this year will weigh heavily on him.

He’s not sure what he’ll do without his students, without his work, to occupy his time next year. He’s not the type who likes to sit around and read a book or watch TV. He needs to be active. He needs to be with his students, with his friends. Stephanie, the woman who’s been with him since sixth grade, the one who he tells his students about all the time, worries about him.

“I don’t know how he’s gonna fill his time,” she says, as she watches Royer talk to his students in their backyard. “In the summertime, he takes care of the yard, he goes on runs, he does stuff around the house -- but when it comes time to go back to school, he’s ready. He can hardly wait to get back to school.”

But of course, next year, Royer can’t get back to school. He knows he can’t just sit around, but he doesn’t know what he’ll do yet. He suspects he’ll do some type of community service, but there aren’t many opportunities for service near his house in Olathe.

“He’s gonna drive us both crazy,” Stephanie said. *** It won’t be long now. The marbles are almost gone. The last day is approaching, and Royer still doesn’t know what to expect. It may just be like any other year, packing up and going home for the summer. Or he may break down in tears. He doesn’t know yet.

But whether he cries or not on that last day, this school has certainly meant a lot to him.

“I feel the greatest gift that one human being can give to another is to make them feel respected, appreciated and loved,” Royer said. “[That is] a gift that the community of Shawnee Mission East has given to me. I will be forever grateful for that.”

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“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

IN THE

LAND OF

LEGOS STAFFER REVIEWS RECENT OPENING OF LEGOLAND IN CROWN CENTER written by Chris Heady| photos by Jake Crandall

Never have I felt older than when I realized I was too old to go to LegoLand.

The new LegoLand Discovery Center opened its doors to Kansas City on April 29, making it the eighth LegoLand Center in the country. After a little research I realized there was an age limit: 2-10 year olds. But I didn’t care. I was going to find a way into that place.

So I kidnapped a friend’s six-year-old little brother, Blake, and drove off to Crown Center for the adventure the six-year-old me dreamed of.

Walking into LegoLand, I was extremely skeptical. The ticket prices were through the roof. $19 for myself and $15 for Blake, since he was over the age of three. I couldn’t imagine my $19 would even be close to worth it.

Stepping off an elevator from the first floor, you face the first room, which is full of exuberant Lego wall paper and large pillars that imitate what the underbelly of a Lego factory would be. You can press large Legos together by pulling levers and even place little Lego hands in separate containers by spinning another lever. The adult me scoffed at the pointless activities. And then I saw Blake.

Blake was a shy kid around me, but the moment he saw the opportunity to spin a wheel full of Lego hands, he seized it, and went to town spinning. The rest of the tour was the little kid’s paradise.

We walked down a hallway and entered a ride in which you and four other people ride around in carts, shooting lasers at monster Legos and protecting Lego prince and princesses. The cart calculates the number of kills you get and at the end of the ride a winner is awarded. To me, the ride was a childish way of showing off sweet Lego animation on a screen. To Blake? This was the ride of his life. He jumped around in his seat, trying to obliterate hologram rocks being hoisted at him by green monsters and targets on bad guy Legos’ heads.

The next part of the Lego tour was far and away the best. It’s called MiniLand, and quite frankly, it blew my mind.

The room was set up and had major Kansas City monuments and landmarks all made to scale, all around the room. It had it all. Livestrong Sporting Park. The Kauffman Center. The Race Track. The Plaza. Starlight Theatre. Every landmark in KC was depicted in Lego fashion, with brilliant attention to detail. Every fountain. Every street sign.

Every little detail you could imagine was depicted in the scene. Not only did they have KC landmarks, but they had famous scenes from the Wizard of Oz. I thought it was astounding. Blake thought it was boring.

Instead, he ran ahead to the large playroom area full of everything a six-year-old could dream of playing with. A build-a-car racetrack where you can recreate your favorite cars from the N64 LegoRacers video game. I tried to build a car with Blake. His Lego-building skills were far superior to mine, and his car just about reduced mine to rubble in our race.

The next area had an epic play area. A Great World Lodge jungle gym of some sorts, but smaller, minus the water, and plus foam Legos. They had an area where you could build up foam Legos, climb on a swinging wrecking ball and plow over the Legos. Blake laughed hysterically as we smashed the Legos. I watched from the waiting area, feeling like a dad at a play date.

The fact is, LegoLand isn’t for high school students. Of course it’s not. We wish it was, but it’s not. Luckily, that doesn’t mean it’s not a hell of a good time. We’ve all played with Legos. If you haven’t, you didn’t grow up right. As I was fighting Blake with our Lego dinosaur creations, it was hard to keep a smile off my face as the childhood memories came rushing back.

LegoLand isn’t a place for people like us to go to on a Friday night. It’s a place for us to take kids we nanny for, or our siblings when they annoy the crap out of us on a hot summer day. But regardless, no matter how old you are, you don’t go into LegoLand and come out upset: unless it’s because you’re leaving LegoLand.

DIFFERENT EXHIBITS IN THE WORLD OF LEGOLAND

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PRODUCTION

STADIUMS

EARTHQUAKE

Enter a factory and learn the process of making Legos, from mixing to pressing.

Epic depictions of Kauffman Stadium, Livestrong, Kansas Speedway and Arrowhead.

Your challenge: create a building that can withstand a shaking floor, or “earthquake.”

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E R U T U F E H T P U G N D I L N R E P O O W E H T O T

FUTURE

THE NEXT WORLDS FAIR WILL TAKE PLACE IN YEOSU, SOUTH KOREA

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Yeosu

ATTENDANCE

New art exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art showcases World’s Fairs of the 19th and 20th century

of art gave me a feel for the innovation that is brought by presenting a city’s culture.

The vase I was looking at reminded me of medieval times. I could picture myself looking at churches, castles and dark stone walls as I noticed the detail in the piece.

Once you turn the corner away from the video clips, cases of objects are organized by the dates in which they were presented. The Tennyson vase is the first piece you see as you enter the exhibit. King Arthur and his three queens are crafted into the front of the vase, made of hammered silver. Blue velvet covers the middle to the bottom of it. The start of the tour takes you through British culture and its pride from the London fair.

Before walking into the early 1900s exhibit, I noticed the Art Nouveau. An asymmetrical, silver plated vanity sat on a ledge in the corner of the tour. Its Japanese-inspired design stood out because of its sinuous lines and motifs. There was a vast amount of detail carved into the silver that made this piece so different from others. Every inch of the vanity had vines, flowers and animals arranged to represent a nature motif.

Amongst all of the decorative arts, there are cases full of jewelry including Rococo Art Nouveau -- a floral or animal pattern -- Christian mosaics and Japanese-inspired works, just to name a few. A Tiffany and Co. French locket displays a turquoise grasshopper perched on vivid yellow ground: these bright radiant colors started to show more in the later period artwork. I became more interested in these illuminating pieces -they weren’t dull like the other aluminum or silver necklaces and bracelets. It made the jewelry come to life, by nature features and bright shades of yellow and green.

As I moved farther down into the 1900s, I saw that the New York fair presented new ideas for modern technology, furniture and mass production. Clear glass remained a symbol for modern style. The “Z” clock made out of glass, enamel and chromium-plated steel emphasized the simplicity of the era. A circular glass table held up by three glass cylinders revealed the modernism of furniture along with a glass covered chair.

The world’s fair shows us visibly that from London to New York, art, furniture and jewelry transformed from the history of the country to a more modern structure -- within 80 years. Each city presented their culture and pride through their sophisticated pieces.

The theme for the World’s Fair in Yeosu is The Living Ocean and Coast: Diversity of Resources and Sustainable Activities

A PROJECTED 8 MILLION PEOPLE WILL VISIT THE NEXT WORLDS FAIR

THEME

The World’s Fair exhibit (above) at the The Nelson-Atkins is open untill August 19, 2012.

written by Jeri Ann Freirich | photos courtesy of Bob Greenspan

wo hundred shades of blue silk thread make up a violent ocean sea. Black wood lacquered with Japanese motifs line the outside of the screen. Gold pieces are arranged along the sides and cover the bottom corners. This piece, “Morning Sea,” is one that could be shown to an audience all over the world.

Morning Sea is one piece that comes to my mind when I think about the world’s fair, an exhibit of art pieces from all over the world. The intricate designs and features make each piece from each individual country come to life. By just glancing at the screen, I can imagine myself at the beach and listening to the waves.

The Nelson-Atkins museum is featuring pieces from different world’s fairs until Aug. 19. From decorative furniture to exquisite jewelry, this tour gave me a taste of the new innovative objects like different styles of chairs and aluminum necklaces.

Some of the most famous objects today came out of the famous world’s fairs. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, the London Eye Ferris wheel in London, Cracker Jacks in Chicago and the ice cream cone in St. Louis were designed to inspire the future and reflect national identity.

As I entered the maze-like opening to the exhibit, my attention was immediately drawn to the first wall of the maze: it was lit up by a projector, flashing images from fairs in London in 1851, Chicago in 1893 and St. Louis in 1904. Uplifting carnival music filled my ears. I already felt like I was at the London world’s fair in 1851.

A gothic style bookcase sat directly across from the opening. Its dark wood and red and blue glass made up the cabinets. A piano made out of paper mâché stood against the white wall.

Tiffany jewelry and teapots were placed in different cases that portray the Japanese interpretation of nature.

I thought I would end up looking at dull silver artwork, but I saw bright orange, lime green and yellow pieces of enamel sitting against a silver teapot next to a radiant colored locket. The vibrance made me look forward to seeing what the rest of the tour would bring.

The Nelson portrays the cultures of each city by century. It displays art, architecture and even food through the pieces that the various nations exhibited at past fairs. All of the vases, furniture and jewelry come with a story, or reflect on a leader’s life -- like King Arthur. Walking through the exhibit space, the overwhelming amount

photos courtesy of http://blogspot.com

Each box represents 482,299, the population of Kansas City

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6/1

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN To clarify, no, this isn’t a copycat of that fantastical Julia Roberts Snow White “Mirror Mirror,’ – that’s the copycat. This darker, action-packed telling of the classic story (closer to the Grimm brothers version) adds dwarves as fierce as those in “Lord of the Rings,” Kristen Stewart as a warrior princess Snow Kristen Stewart as Snow White White, and an ambiguous hunter (Chris Hemsworth) on her tail. Oh, and best of all, Charlize Theron as the ultimate evil queen.

I don’t usually get excited about Hollywood takes on fairy tales, but with this kick-ass cast, it seems like the rare time it’s warranted.

8/31

LAWLESS Director John Hillcoat’s “The Proposition” is my all-time favorite western, and with this all-star crime thriller, he’s aiming for nothing short of the best Prohibition-era western.

Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy lead a Robin Hoodlike group of bootleggers that control a small Virginian town, under the intimiTom Hardy as Forrest Bondurant dating direction of Gary Oldman. But when Guy Pearce enters the picture as a spinechilling special agent aiming to shoot them down, all hell breaks loose. Not only does this drama end the summer with a serious bang, but opens up an Oscar season for the ages.

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PROMETHEUS

Senior Alex Lamb previews the most highly anticipated movies of this summer

MOVIE PREVIEW S

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written by Alex Lamb photos from filmofilia.com

7/6

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES The epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s earthshattering Batman trilogy is nearly upon us. As high a precedent as “The Dark Knight” set, Nolan’s finale seems primed to blow even that modern masterpiece, the greatest superhero film thus far, out of the water. Taking place eight years after the last Christian Bale as Batman film, Batman (Christian Bale) has been exiled and Gotham rests at peace...until Bane (the insanely scary Tom Hardy) arrives, ready to tear it to the ground.

Nolan takes this story to a dark, dark place, so expect this to be the summer’s best.

Director Ridley Scott returns to the series that made him famous and turned space into the scariest place in science fiction, and fans of the “Alien” franchise couldn’t ask for more. This pseudoprequel follows a team of scientific explorers looking for the beginnings of the human race, but their Sean Harris as Fifield search only leads them to their own destruction.

With an international cast featuring the brilliant Michael Fassbender and the Swedish “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Noomi Rapace, this effects-heavy spectacle could wow audiences just as much as the original did in 1979.

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MOONRISE KINGDOM If you’re a Wes Anderson fan, you know that no other director can replicate his rapid-fire wit, detailed quirk and colorful characters. His latest gem takes place in the wistful 1960s as two young lovers hatch a romantic escape from the summer camps and adults around them, while all those adults – including Kara Hayward as Suzy Bishop Bill Murray, Bruce Willis and Edward Norton – run about like headless chickens trying to find them. Chances are this will be the funniest, most clever comedy all summer, so if you’re unfamiliar with Anderson’s genius, be prepared for a treat of pure delight.

7/6

TO ROME WITH LOVE

SAVAGES

After producing one of his career’s best last year with “Midnight in Paris,” Woody Allen continues with another light comedy of oddball romance in a city of love and adventure, this time in Rome. Featuring hilarious cast including awkward extraordinaires Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page, Woody playing Woddy Allen as Jerry his neurotic self, a sexy-asever Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin with lovable smarm, and a slew of other international actors.

With so many enjoyable performers, who cares if there’s little plot? Woody can do this in his sleep, but he seems to be keeping the bar high again.

Provocative director Oliver Stone steps away from his politically minded dramas and documentaries of late to embellish that wild, stylistic and violent side that he’s known for. This fast-paced thriller follows two marijuana growers/ dealers (Aaron Johnson and Taylor Kitsch) near the Mexican border as the carTaylor Kitsch as Chon tel comes to take over their operation. When they refuse to join, Salma Hayek and Benicio del Toro kidnap their shared girlfriend (Blake Lively) and give them no option but to go berserk on a berserk charge against the cartel to save the girl they love. It’s gonna be a wild ride.

A&E | 19

JUAN at a

Ramos jumps out of the blocks at the North Relays.

Ramos ran a 51.20 in the 400 meter run.

STEP TIME

Sprinter earns personal and team success after moving to East and recovering from a car crash

(Right) Ramos sprints down the last straight away in the open 400.

For 400 grueling meters, junior Juan Ramos sees nothing outside of his lane. He has his form on his mind and his goal — the finish line — in his sights. He doesn’t notice if the other sprinters are trailing or passing. He simply runs, lifting his scarred right leg with his scarred left arm and his scarred left leg with his scarred right arm. His drive will take care of the rest.

Juan was just a freshman in the backseat of his friend’s car when he went outside of the lane. The driver swerved into oncoming traffic, collided with a car and flew off the road.

Juan didn’t know if he would regain control.

“I knew from that second, I might not live from this,” Juan said of the accident.

Juan knows that life is not an individual sport. He has individual goals — goals of making it to state and running under 50 seconds in the 400 meter dash — and he does everything in his power to make these goals a reality. But life is a team sport; he can never forget how the actions of others can impact his goals.

He can’t forget the impact of the tree on the car. The glass on his skin. The way his friends laid motionless in the backseat. “[The driver]’s body was halfway out and he looked at me, tears and blood mixing in his face,” Juan said.

He can’t forget that. The driver made a mistake and they all paid for it — he had been drinking.

“Because of his mistakes, I’ve got scars on my body that will never go away,” Juan said.

Juan couldn’t feel his legs when he woke up in the hospital two days later. The doctors had put him under heavy anesthesia while they removed each individual shard of glass that had pierced its way into his muscles. He was banged up, bruised, scarred and numbed — but he was OK. He would run again.

Juan has been in the driver’s seat since the crash. His mother, Mary An Joers Pestano Ramos, doesn’t have to tell him what foods to eat anymore. She doesn’t have to tell him that quitting is unacceptable. She forced him into playing football, but no one told him to run track. Juan sets his own goals now. He runs out front during drop out 200s and speedmakers. He rides his bike to the gym because accepting a ride from his mom would mean losing an opportunity to get better. He runs another five miles after an hour long workout

written by Will Webber | photos by Maddie Schoemann and the bike ride home. Juan wants success as badly as he wants to breathe.

“A lot of times, he might not hit his own goals, even when he did great in my mind,” Mary An said. “But to him, it’s not enough. Since it’s not enough to him, I tell him it’s not enough. I know that’s what he needs.”

Juan needs to be pushed. Before moving to Kansas at the beginning of this year, he attended a school less than half East’s size in Hickman County, TN. He didn’t have people pushing him.

“I was the fastest guy at the school and there wasn’t much competition,” Juan said. “But when I got to sectionals, I met a lot of guys who were better. I wound up placing fourth and my time didn’t match up.”

Juan knew that being the best in a small town wasn’t good enough; he would have to be better if he wanted to make state. He got a fresh start when his family moved to the East area. It didn’t take long for him to make an impression with sprinting coach Brie Meschke.

“He came and visited me at the beginning of the year and told me that he had run at his previous school and his times were very competitive,” Meschke said. “I was super excited, but a lot of times you hear about kids and it doesn’t pan out to what you think it’s going to be — but he’s the real deal.”

Juan proved his talent at the very first time trial, running a 52 in the 400, but Meschke saw plenty of room for improvement.

“He had a lot of raw talent, but didn’t have much instruction before,” Meschke said. “It’s been really fun to help him with that.”

Juan was on his own in Tennessee. His coaches expected him to carry the team, but offered little support. And it wasn’t easy being a black athlete on a predominantly white team — segregation is still a reality in Hickman County.

“There was me, my cousin and a Vietnamese boy on the team,” Juan said. “And when we’d go into the locker room, everyone else’s locker would be on one side. Leaving me, my cousin and the Vietnamese kid by ourselves. We didn’t care, because we played our hearts out on the court.”

Juan isn’t just part of the team at East, he’s part of a brotherhood. Along with junior Carter Olander and seniors Joe Lewis and Jack Fay, Juan has achieved great success with the 4x400 relay team. The group of runners quickly accepted

JUAN ON THE TRACK BOYS’ 4X400

Juan’s personal bests this year

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200 meter

400 meter

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23.35 seconds 50.6 seconds

BEST TIME

3:25.04

6A RANK

7th

Sunflower Showdown Champions 1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Joe Carter Juan Jack Lewis Olander Ramos Fay 50.7 51.4 50.6 50.3

him.

“He’s really fit into the track culture,” Lewis said. “He works hard and the team loves him.”

Juan has developed into a far better runner this season because he now shares his goal with the entire team.

Lewis begins the race with a quick burst. Olander gains ground on the rest of the field. Juan chases down the leader.

And Fay holds onto the lead. Each runner has an impact on the outcome of the race.

“When you run by yourself and you don’t run your best, only you are disappointed,” Lewis said. “But if you run in the 4x400 and don’t run your best, you’ve let down three other people.”

Juan knows all about being let down. He’s experienced the helplessness of freefall and the unforgiving crash of a car. He’s learned from his scars; he’s changed his work ethic, rebuilt himself and taken over the driver’s seat. He knows about the impact that his actions have on his teammates. But he’s doing everything he can to make it positive.

Ramos walks with senior Joe Lewis and senior Jack Fay after the open 400 meter

IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR With a family approach, the Lacrosse team has had their best season in history written by Grace Heitmann | photos by Marissa Walton Having just beaten SM South 14-0, a sweaty, on to win the LAKS Championships spring of 2011. proud boys’ lacrosse team makes plans to continue After the success of his first season at East, Kliewtheir celebration at Mexican restaurant Don Chilito’s. er reapplied the same team motto for this season.

As one of a handful of freshmen on the varsity team, The players, especially the seniors, have continued Nic Bailey isn’t sure if he’s allowed to tag along. Bai- to embody the motto and showed their younger ley waits around a little bit, worried that he won’t be teammates not only how to become better players, invited. After all, he’s just a freshman. His worries but how to be better people. are soon forgotten when a teammate steps up and “They’re great leaders,” Bailey said. “They make invites Bailey. While sharing food with his team- me feel like I’m on the team and that I’m not an outmates, Bailey realizes that while he may only be a cast, which I was afraid of.” freshman, he’s still part of the team. He’s still part of Kliewer said that the family bond is apparent evthe family. erywhere in the team, during practices and games The lacrosse team has come a long way in the — even at tryouts. During the first week of tryouts, past several years to become the team it is today. Kliewer remembers watching his team go over to a Three years ago, the team lost to Rockhurst by 21 struggling athlete and support him as he finished a goals, but this year, under the direction of second rigorous drill. Some teams would have just easily year head coach Chris Kliewer, the team was finally stood there and watch the kid struggle on his own, able to beat Rockhurst 9-7. Using an emphasis on but not this team. This team was a family, and family family to drive them, the team has become the first must help each other out. ever undefeated team in the Kansas City area and “These guys don’t see each other in the halls entered playoffs as the number one seed. on a daily basis so when we’re here for our time of When Kliewer arrived at the Lancer lacrosse pro- practice or at games, it’s important to stick together,” gram last year, one of the first things he established Kliewer said. “We talk about family a lot just in terms was their sports motto, “family.” Coming from a large of helping each other out and when things are good, family, Kliewer understood the importance of being we are going to celebrate together, but when things not only a team, but a family as well. At first, the are bad we all are going to get there to pick each team was confused and didn’t understand the signifi- other up.” cance of the saying.

The record of past seasons 2007-2009 had been “We kind of looked at it as a joke [at the beginning a disappointing 20-21, but ever since Kliewer took of the season], but embraced the idea in the end,” ju- over the program, his record has been 33-7. This nior Connor McGannon. “It really brought us closer season, the team is 15-3. Having only lost to power together.” schools in St. Louis and Dallas, the team has been As the 2011 spring season progressed, the team ranked number one in the state. really started to understand the concept. Through “Everyone has taken it upon themselves to get countless amounts of practices, games, team dinners better in the offseason,” senior Droste Milledge said. and just joking around with each other, the team got “We want to be the best in the Kansas City area and what being a family is. Their off-game relationships I think that we have accomplished that this year. We had strengthened their playing and it was apparent just want to keep that up and start a tradition.” on the field. They went into the Lacrosse Association As the team continued beating team after team, of Kansas Schools (LAKS) State Championships as they were excited, yet apprehensive about playing the number two seed closer than ever and continued Rockhurst. In the 45 games against Kansas City

teams over the past 17 years, Rockhurst has outscored their opponents 816-106. Rockhurst is known for being a very physical and merciless team.

“The Rockhurst game was unbelievable,” Bailey said. “I didn’t think I could compete with those guys.

The defenders there are giant and really fast. And for years they’ve been top dog around here. And when we beat them, I really knew that [we were top dog].”

Kliewer is really proud of his team and the success they’ve had.

“The fact that these guys have done that [is great],” Kliewer said. “They’re kind of building their own tradition and we’ve only been here for a short amount of time. It helps with confidence and belief and believing in what they’re able to do.”

The Lancers took on St. Thomas Aquinas at 5:30 on Wednesday night at Livestrong Sporting Park in the semifinals and won 12-7. The team will advance to play the winner of the Pembroke Hill vs. Olathe game at 7:30 on Friday night at Livestrong Sporting Park. The team hopes to repeat history and win the championship again, but they know that no matter what, they will always have each other.

“I’m a loyal guy and I hope to not go anywhere but I want these kids to come back and know that they’ll always be a part of this family,” Kliewer said.

Unparalleled Success with Senior Droste Milledge

“

East 9 Rockhurst 7

Everything just kinda clicked for us, Rockhurst played pretty well but we just played that much better than they did that day and we came out on top. It’s a big deal to beat Rockhurst because they haven’t ever gotten beat by a Kansas City team. They won state last year and slaughtered all the St. Louis teams, they’re the best.”

“

East 4 Olathe 2

We don’t like Olathe, we’ve never liked Olathe. They were the top Kansas City team besides Rockhurst since I started playing Lacrosse. They are very cocky and b i g bruisers so we do not like them at all. It was a very sloppy game that day and both goalies played outstanding but we managed to put up three more goals then they did.”

“

East 9 Pembroke 8

Pembroke and us are very close in skill and competitiveness. Those are always really close games no matter how good either team is. It’s kind of like the MU-KU game, you’re always going to get both team’s best shot. We came out and were out 5-2 and we felt like we had it in the bag. They came out in the second half and scored four straight goals. So they were up but we just pulled through for the win.”

SPORTS | 21

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THE

SPORTS ROUND-UP

LOOKING BACK

TEAMS THAT SUCCEEDED. ATHLETES THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE. GAMES THAT MADE AN IMPRESSION.

BOYS’ LACROSSE VS ROCKHURST Going into William Jewell undefeated, the Lancers were ready to shock the world of midwest lacrosse. Having already beaten all their opponents by an average margin of six goals per game, East was hot and hungry to beat the Hawklets.

The game was hard fought and featured goals from every sophomore, as well as juniors and seniors. Sophomores Tommy Larson and Frank Esberg combined for three goals while junior Connor McGannon scored a hat trick to seal the game for a Lancer comeback win.

East’s team had faced Rockhurst in each of their 10 years as a club sport, and their previous closest finish was last season when the Lancers were defeated 13-6. Rockhurst had never lost to a team in the Kansas City area until the Lancers beat them 9-7.

BOYS’ SOCCER VS SM WEST

THE

PANEL

BOYS’ SWIMMING AT STATE

The boys’ swim team came into this season with a huge chip on their shoulder. They were looking to make a run at state despite only placing fifth place at state the year before. Before the season started, the team realized that to achieve their goal of winning state they would have to overcome their rival, Blue Valley North. The Lancers did just that.

Prior to the state tournament, East beat the Mustangs in two meets including the Topeka Invitational and a very emotional senior night.

Even though they were favorites to win state, East still had to beat a very self-confident Blue Valley North one more time. Although East didn’t win one individual event, they managed to claim the state title by 70 points. Senior Grant Minick and junior Troy Demoss each placed second in their category to help the Lancers crush the record for most points in Kansas state history by racking up 337 points.

FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS VS SM NORTHWEST For the last three years, the SM Northwest cougars have to tried to get revenge. After East grinded out a 13-12 win in 2009 to advance to the playoffs, SM Northwest tried to fight back. In 2010, the Lancers dominated in their first game of the season (240).

In 2011, East met with Northwest two more times.

It seemed with each additional game that the Cougars were more desperate for a win. But Sherman’s aerial attack and stifling defense proved to be too much to handle for them. Dakota Collins had a coming out party, with the Lancers defeating SM Northwest 28-3. Both teams suffered injuries, but were prepared for a first round showdown in the playoffs.

The Lancers cemented their position as the superior sunflower team with a 38-21 victory and advanced to the second round for the first time in school history.

Will lacrosse repeat?

Who is going to lead the student section next year?

GRILS’ SWIMMING AT LEAGUE

The girls’ swim and dive team won the Sunflower League Championship for the eighth year in a row. The meet preliminaries had a rough start when the East 200 yards Medley Relay was disqualified. This cost the Lancers 40 points, but motivated the team.

The Lancers won the meet with 281 points. Olathe Northwest came in second with 213.5 points and Olathe East was third with 192 points.

A highlight of the meet was the 50 yard freestyle finals. Juniors Tiernan Shank and Elizabeth Bittiker, senior Lanie Leek and sophomore Madeline Peters finished third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. The four girls combined to win the 200 yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:41:08.

The Lancers had two other first place finishes.

Shank, juniors Sarah Freshnock and Meg Stanley, and sophomore Emily Minick won the 400 yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:39:17 and set a new school record. Freshnock also won the 100 yard breaststroke.

Favorite sports moment of high school?

Best athlete since 2008?

ATHLETIC who made an AWARDS impression

Grant Minick

MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Shannon McGinley FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Lucas Jones

MALE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

Hannah Arspinger FEMALE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

Boys’ Soccer vs SMW GAME OF THE YEAR

Risky Business THEME OF THE YEAR

Chip Sherman COACH OF THE YEAR

Mick Simmons FAN OF THE YEAR

How many medals will Michael Phelps win?

Boys’ Basketball at State in 2009

Marcus Webb

Eight

Yes, family never loses

Bucky Kessinger

Throwing off Free State in free throws this year

Grace Pickell

Six

Yes, they have it in the bag

Patrick Simmons along with 2012 Fan of the Year, Mick Simmons

Football beating West in 2010

Shannon McGinley

Five. He is still good, but he can’t get eight twice.

No question about it

Morgan Twibell

Girls champion 4x400 at State 2010

Hanna Jane Stradinger

Six

SENIOR

CHRIS HEADY

SENIOR

EVAN NICHOLS

SENIOR

ADAM LOWE

TONI AGUIAR

SPEEDO

Harbinger

Anyone except Alex Goldman

Absolutely

SENIOR

GIRLS’ GOLF WINS REGIONALS AGAIN The girls’ golf team had a rough start to the season when they lost league. After losing four seniors from last year, the Lancers found it more difficult to shoot low team scores. Regionals was the time for the Lancers to prove themselves. With no seniors on the team, the team looked for leadership from juniors Anne Willman and Kelley Tomlin.

Regionals at Alvamar Country Club started with a steady rain that made the conditions difficult. The rain ceased after the first nine holes, and the team won by 47 strokes. The scores of Anne Willman (72), sophomores Jessica Young (79), Alex Maday (93) and Meghan Shirling (98) counted for the team score.

Regionals was the biggest win of the year for the Lancers. It encouraged the team to work hard for state where the Lancers came in third for the second year in a row.

DATE

Winning the first 11 games of the season, boys soccer had their best start in school history. However, after losing two of their last three games, the Lancers had a chance to bounce back against Shawnee Mission West on senior night. At halftime the Lancers trailed 1-0. Mid second half the Lancers faced more adversity. One of the players received a red card for a bad tackle. Down a man and late in the second half, the Lancers were in trouble.

The Lancers began putting more and more pressure on West, looking for that desperate late goal. Finally, with two minutes remaining, the goal came. Senior Jake Seitz dumped it off to junior Tyler Rathbun for the tap in goal. The Lancers now had momentum.

In high school overtime, the game is decided by whichever team scores first. Already winning one game in overtime, East did it again. Junior Austin Wilcox played a money ball into the box for Rathbun, who headed it past the goalie.

SPEEDO

written by Alex Goldman, Mitch Kaskie and Christa McKittrick

SPORTS | 23

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