The Harbinger Issue 1 2023-24

ZYN style

While Zyn and other tobacco-less oral nicotine pouches are perceived as “safer” alternatives to vaping, a recent rise in teen usage raises concerns about the new product

16... page 7...

SMSD bus drivers share how the bus shortage has affected them

Junior Ainsley Pyle supports her brother with Down syndrome

Sophomore Scarlett Stamos trains as a Kempo sensei

nationwide news

See what’s happening at a different U.S. high school through their newspaper editor

THE SHIELD

SCAN ME WEBSITE

View the article about the response of the Street Preachers on The Shield’s website

McCALLUM HIGH SCHOOL AUSTIN, TX

protesters gathered outside of the school shouting antitrans and anti-abortion slurs

sophomore Aristotle Balismo started petition to change laws concerning protests near public schools

McCallum parents held up PRIDE ags to replace the hate with messages of love

RIGHT After the Official Street Preacher demonstration on Tuesday, Mac parents decided to spread messages of love and support towards the LGBTQ+ community. Former McCallum teacher and parent Nikki Northcutt organized the meetup through the parent Facebook page. “Silence is not gonna work,” Northutt said. “We also need to be positive and showing support and that’s literally the only reason I’m here. If one kid in there sees these parents and feels validated then it’s worth it.” guest photo by lillian gray

staf list

PRINT EDITORS

Katie Murphy

Greyson Imm

ONLINE EDITORS

Aanya Bansal

Maggie Kissick

ASST. PRINT EDITOR

Addie Moore

ASST. HEAD COPY EDITOR

Ada Lillie Worthington

HEAD PHOTO EDITORS

Riley Scott

Liv Madden

Kenna Harrington

ASST. PHOTO EDITORS

Caroline Martucci

Clara Peters

Amelie Wong

PHOTO MENTORS

Ryan Dehan

Molly Miller

Paige Bean

VIDEO EDITORS

Abby Lee

Ryder Hendon

DESIGN EDITORS

Veronica Mangine

Bridget Connelly

online preview

Go online to view a gallery of the Link Crew Dance and online feature, opinion, news and sports stories from this issue

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Read an opinion about the relocation of Kauffman Stadium with over 20,000 views

SCAN ME WEBSITE

political cartoon

cartoon by larkin brundige

EDITORIAL POLICY

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

cover design by greyson imm

cover photo by kenna harrington design by addie moore

design

FREE THE

REPORTER PHYLLIS ZORN of the Marion County Record newspaper in Kansas looked into a tip about a local restaurant owner driving with an invalid license by going online to Kansas’ Revenue Department’s public search engine. She typed in the restaurant owner’s name, driver’s license number and date of birth — a legal and common practice for reporters protected by the First Amendment.

A week later, six police officers arrived at the Record’s newsroom with a search warrant. They raided the office space and home of the paper’s 98-year-old owner on the pretense that Zorn illegally obtained the driving records. However, Zorn was completely innocent. She never broke the law, and the paper never should’ve been raided in the first place.

Police shouldn’t be allowed to infringe on press freedom without a subpoena allowing the paper the chance to challenge their actions and be informed of the facts in a pending case.

FOR: 7 AGAINST: 2

The members of the editorial board who agree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by for, and those who disagree with the viewpoint are represented by against.

Police shouldn’t be allowed to forcefully obtain confidential information from a newspaper

Due to the controversy of the raids, ten days later, the county prosecutor reviewed the search warrant and determined that there was insufficient evidence to justify the raids, so the items must be returned. But not before the police copied Zorn’s personal data from her computer onto a flash drive, which they were legally forced to return — yet still possess.

It’s unacceptable and illegal for the police to retain information they gained by unlawful means. If we can’t trust the police to follow the law, we might as well live without rules.

about the mistreatment of this fellow newspaper by the police, and it’s not a story they want repeated in their futures.

And though the PRESS Act ensures reporters cannot be forced to disclose information to the government without the opportunity to challenge those demands in court, the Marion County Police did exactly that. There must be legal consequences for skirting the law. The Record has the full right to sue the police and magistrate judge that granted the search warrant for a violation of human rights, specifically First and Fourth Amendment rights.

The police shouldn’t have the right to raid a newspaper without first issuing a subpoena — whether that paper is innocent or not.

Marion County Record newspaper receives tip from civilian

Police of cers raid newsroom with a search warrant

Prosecutor declares that the police wrongly raided the paper

4th

sub•poe•na

a writ ordering a person to attend a court.

During the raid, the officers seized computers, servers, personal cell phones and files, according to The Washington Post. Due to this lack of devices, reporters were forced to work overtime — even pulling an allnighter — to turn their issue in on time. All because of a crime they didn’t even commit.

The police must’ve forgotten about the First Amendment’s guarantee of press freedom — safeguarding the right for newspapers to publish without restraint — because they didn’t seem to care that the devices they stole hindered the Record’s ability to publish.

They also neglected the Fourth Amendment — prohibiting unreasonable search and seizure — seeing as the police didn’t hesitate to aggressively search through a 98-year-old woman’s personal items despite her protests.

And even if Zorn had obtained information about the restaurant owner illegally, a subpoena — not a search warrant — is required by federal statute in order to obtain evidence from a newsroom, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

The Record has the right to receive a hearing to protest the search request of the police. But there was no way for them to exercise that right since they didn’t even know the police had a request in the first place.

If the police are concerned for public safety and require aid from a newspaper to collect necessary information, then by all means, politely knock on the door and ask them. However, barging into a newsroom unannounced to steal reporters’ personal devices and confidential files based on a biased complaint from a restaurateur and no prior subpoena? That’s an obvious no.

Zorn had looked up the restaurant owner on a public website — an act comparable to looking up a friend on Instagram or Googling a teacher. She did nothing that warranted a two-hour raid on her workplace, complete with snatching a writer’s personal cell phone out of her hand.

Journalists around the world are reading

A timeline of the events leading up to the newspaper raid

story

by

Briefs . . .

FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT Donald Trump and dozens of his associates were indicted on August 14, 2023 on 41 charges.

The 98-page indictment handed out by a grand jury in Georgia contains charges of election fraud, racketeering and accusations of possible efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump has also been accused of calling Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in an attempt to eliminate votes he felt were unfairly

Donald Trump indicted in Georgia

cast, according to the Associated Press. Trump allegedly pressured Raffenspberger to reduce the number of Biden’s votes, claiming that people voted more than once. Raffensberger stated the Georgia secretary of state’s office had reviewed the voter records and found Trump’s claims to be false.

East Government teacher Benjamin Hendricks thinks the current alternatives to in-person voting — mail-in and online — are good ways to increase voter turnout, as long as the results are not manipulated.

“Obviously, we have a situation here where someone is indicted for lots of different things,” Hendricks said. “I don’t know what evidence they have. I’m not a lawyer either. But I’d say that I hope it will take care of itself.”

Georgia officials have scheduled the trial against Trump to begin March 4, 2024 but that is subject to change based on his similar trials in New York, Florida and in federal court.

New petition aims to rename Troost Ave. to Truth

THE RISING CHANGE.ORG petition “TRUTH over Troost” aims to rename Troost Ave. to Truth Ave. due to the unjust background the current name holds.

Just a 14-minute drive away from East, Troost Ave. was named after Kansas City’s first resident physicist Dr. Benoist Troost — an owner of six slaves.

This movement was established by activist Chris Goode in June 2022. He argues that using the name Troost

doesn’t appropriately represent the current state of the street as many Black-owned businesses reside along the street.

“It seems like the fair thing to do is let the people of Kansas and Missouri make that decision by voting, though It would require education,” Race Project KC co-sponsor and English teacher Samantha Feinberg said.

Since the 1920s, Troost served as a racial dividing line with the majority of Kansas City’s white residents living on the west side of Troost and

the majority of Black residents on the east side.

Since then, Goode has taken his idea to the City Council of Kansas City and Mayor Quinton Lucas. Currently, Goode’s petition has received over 1,700 signatures from various supporters — most located in the Kansas City area — working towards its goal of 2,500 signatures. The more signatures the petition receives, the more likely the street will be renamed, according to Feinberg.

District implements new phone policy

A NEW POLICY restricting phone usage at school was implemented by the district at the start of this school year, with intentions of making students more present and attentive in class.

In previous years, teachers had their own classroom policies regarding phone usage. Many have used a phone caddy in the classroom or had a classroom “phone jail” but there was never a set school-wide rule about how phones could be

art by alex sanja

used appropriately in a classroom setting— until now.

The new policy states that cell phones are not to be taken out in the classroom unless explicit permission has been given by the instructor, according to principal Jason Peres.

“I think as a district we recognize the distraction that phones create for students during the learning process and we know that it’s not a good thing,” Peres said. “We want students to be engaged and

focused in school and this is a way to accomplish this.”

Math teacher Jenifer Horn has a creative approach to the new policy: if a phone is out when she is teaching, the student has two options: the student has to either bring treats for the entire class or serve a detention.

“I think kids are way too attached to their phones, because they’ve grown up with it,” Horn said.

photo from whitehouse.gov

story by katie murphy

MAP IT!

A map of the locations of the intense weather events

INTENSE

FORECAST

Turbulent national weather events impact students’ travel and activities over the past month

HEAT WAVE, KS

Unprecedented high temperatures in the Midwest cause disruption for athletes

FALL SPORTS

PRACTICES were moved inside or canceled through the end of August with games rescheduled as temperatures soared — triggered by a highpressure heat dome over the Midwest. According to NASA, a weather balloon released from northeastern Kansas in mid-August recorded the highest known U.S. measurement for pressure over Kansas. Football held practices at 5 a.m. on Saturdays to avoid heat. The boys’ soccer team resorted to running through the hallways to condition when the district canceled practices due to heat.

“One day we did laps around the school, sprinting up the lunch room ramp, across the third floor and up and down staircases to the fifth floor,” senior and

varsity soccer player Connor Neusel said.

Soccer team manager and senior Andrew Mun believes that the postponed games have “disappointed fans.”

Tennis player and senior Hallie O’Bryan transferred from St. Teresa’s Academy this year and is disappointed about the lack of team connection at the start of her first East season.

“It was hard to get to know the team at first because our practices were canceled the whole week after tryouts,” O’Bryan said.

According to WeatherBell.com, temperatures are forecasted to remain 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit above average through the first week of this month, continuing to affect practices.

WILDFIRES, HI HURRICANE, CA

Fires in Maui, HI impact students on vacation

WILDFIRES IN

HAWAII

created complications for students and their families during their island vacations on August 8. According to NASA, wildfires nationally have been increasing in frequency and severity almost consistently every year since the 1980s.

Junior Jackson Birch’s family arrived in Kihei, Hawaii at 2 p.m. the afternoon before the Lahaina fires started a 30-minute drive away. By 9 a.m. the next morning, Birch was loading his suitcase — which he had yet to unpack — back into his family’s rental car for evacuation.

“I woke up to the emergency alert on my phone going off, which is how I first heard about the fires,” Birch said. “We ran to the car, and as we were driving away from the area, we saw the orange glow of the fire which was scary.”

His family spent the night in a high school parking lot as directed by emergency officials. Freshman Esther Walker’s family, who was also

in Hawaii for vacation at the time, also slept in a parking lot that night, but outside a nearby Target.

Birch’s trip was cut short because most of their planned sightseeing and beach activities had been canceled due to fire damage. But Walker’s family stayed three more days as originally planned, even as their hotel ran out of electricity and food.

“There was only one restaurant that was still open, and it was like $60 for a family to get four hot dogs and a three-hour wait per meal,” Walker said. “So we ate packets of oatmeal mix in our hotel, and my sister and I actually split a block of dried ramen at one point.”

Emergency highway closures delayed Walker’s trip home, and once her family did arrive at the airport, there were no airport staff to be found.

“The whole experience made me realize how much of an effect wildfires have on local communities,” Walker said.

An East alum experiences repercussions of an unusual hurricane in California

HURRICANE HILARY

WAS the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years on Aug. 20, impacting recent graduates as college begins.

East alum Anohita Paul experienced a seven-hour flight delay on her way to UCLA due to the hurricane. When she arrived, flash flood warnings were being sent out every few hours and there was a 5.1 magnitude earthquake on campus.

“The streets were super empty due to extremely poor visibility, and all restaurants were closed besides fast food,” Paul said.

Rainstorms lasted 14 hours before clearing right before Paul’s college orientation started. At the same time, alum Emma Kate Squires had just arrived on campus on Aug. 19

for University of San Diego’s pre-orientation camping trip when the hurricane hit the next day — forcing her to take shelter in the school gymnasium to avoid power outages.

“It was kind of scary just because I’ve never experienced a hurricane before,” Squires said.

“The highways were all flooded, and the winds were so strong.”

She was reminded of pandemic times as local stores shelves became empty of water and food.

“I stocked up like a 19-year-old girl,” Squires said. “I had my sour patch kids, dried apricots from Trader Joe’s, protein bars and peanut butter and tortillas.”

designed by clara burdick

NEEDED HELP

BUS DRIVER NUMBERS across the Shawnee Mission School District are declining due to the national bus driver shortage during this year’s back-to-school season.

Coordinating rides to get kids to school has become difficult in the Kansas City area since the transition from COVID virtual learning to in-person classes, according to Principal Jason Peres.

“[The bus driver shortage] has been ongoing for quite some time for [East],” Peres said. “We really struggled with this and have never recovered.”

Finding buses to take kids to extracurriculars has been an issue because the drivers that would normally be assigned to take students from East to sports games in the afternoons or field trips in the mornings are assigned to different schools for pick-up and drop-off.

According to Peres, a bus from DS Bus Lines — the bus company used by SMSD — is not available for 30 minutes before or after pickup. For example, if a school bus picks up kids at an elementary school at 3:30 p.m., that same bus driver isn’t available to do any routes from 3 to 4 p.m. DS Bus Lines did not respond to requests for a comment.

“Our bus company currently does not have enough staff to guarantee us routes in the afternoon [to sports games] because they have to

take kids home from school,” Peres said. “So what we’ve had to do as a school is bump up [extracurriculars to leave] much earlier in the day and get to their location much earlier and wait to play.”

This issue is the same for academic field trips. Buses are only available to transport kids at 8:45 a.m. and are required to be back by 2 p.m.. Social worker Emily MacNaughton planned a field trip for her Social Skills students at TimberRidge Adventure Center — a facility used to help groups build teamwork — starting at 9 a.m., but the buses can’t take the group until 8:45 a.m..

Social skills cadet teacher and junior Naomi Kincaid thinks that the late arrival to the field trip will be more complicated since there is less time to arrive at the destination.

“It’s definitely a little bit difficult with timing just because it takes like 20 to 25 minutes to get there,” Kincaid said. “I know normally before the bus shortage we would be leaving earlier around eight so it’s just different now.”

Kevin LeManske, a bus driver for DS Bus Lines for 11 years, believes that the root of the problem lies in a lack of certified bus drivers. Nearby school districts have experienced this, such as Park Hill School District who changed their bell schedule — with a 55-minute earlier start time and 10-minute later end time — and bus routes for

this school year to accommodate for unavailable buses. Even the Blue Valley School District voted to eliminate 10 bus routes last spring — impacting approximately 764 students throughout the district.

“I’ve been [with DS Bus Lines] 11 years and I can’t remember a time where there wasn’t a shortage,” LeManske said. “I think it’s a law of supply and demand. You just can’t get enough [drivers] qualified.”

In order to become a DS Bus Lines driver, one has to pass a background check — including having a good driving record. After passing this appraisal, the applicant must then go through a series of driving tests. Once hired as a bus driver, an annual check-up is scheduled to keep healthy habits.

“[You have to be] physically fit,” LeManske said. “I know a lot of us don’t look physically fit, but we’re healthy or we wouldn’t be driving.”

According to Indeed, DS Bus Lines is ranked 2.9 out of 5 stars for “Job Security and Advancement,” but bus drivers such as LeManske and DS Bus Lines driver Barry Bennett don’t do it for job security — they do it for the love of the job. The kids. The driving. The bus drivers who are still driving think bus driving is so much more than the stereotype of a child wrangler.

“I love what I do,” Bennett said. “As soon as I drove a school bus I [realized] driving a bus was something that I loved to do. It’s not like working to me.”

BUS DRIVER

Q&A

East bus drivers explain why they still drive despite the shortage of workers

KEVIN LAMANSKE DRIVER SINCE 2012

FOR ME, IT’S

the kids. If somebody comes up and asks me ‘What do you do for a living?’ and I say ‘Bus driver,’ they say ‘How do you handle them kids?’ That’s not me. I’ll tell them they don’t know who they’re talking to becasuse I love the kids.

BARRY BENNET DRIVER SINCE 1995

BECAUSE I LOVE

what I do. As soon as I drove a school bus I realized driving a bus was something that I loved to do. It’s not like working to me.

SMSD and nearby districts feel the affects of the current bus driver shortage

story by ada lillie worthington

design by sydney eck photo by paige bean

INSIDE the CUBICLE

Reasons why staffer opened her mind to corporate desk jobs after working an internship over the summer

SINCE THE FIRST time I was not-so-subtly prompted by my mom to start thinking about my post-high school life, I’ve had a knee jerk reaction to the word “corporate.” I shook my head when she started suggesting summer internships that had even a hint of a desk job. Wasting my life in a cubicle? No thanks.

The negative connotations I

boring commute

no natural light cubicles

that it felt like my whole life was on pause when I was sitting in that office.

I couldn’t believe that this summer internship was so many people’s reality.

But somewhere in this quotidian of 9 to 5s while my friends frequented lifeguarding, babysitting and tutoring, I learned something about my coworkers that wasn’t in the internship application. Perspective.

password and placing bets on the Royals — loser buys donuts.

These people were friends. I mean, they really liked each other. And maybe I prejudged the typical silence of the Human Resources department I sat in as being made up of boring people. But these expectations were chewed up and spit back out — the people were the best part of the job.

working at. I attended a panel with one of the creators of Google Earth, and actually asked him questions.

The beauty of the diverse group of people I got to observe wasn’t just that I was exposed to different personality types or cultures. It was that I got to actively work with them.

We were an eclectic group. The only common ground between us was our

in-person meetings bene ts on top of salary

build relationships with coworkers

design by katie murphy

photo by caroline martucci

story by neva hudson

SHE CAN DO IT

N THE SIDE of my mirror, I have a collection of stickers — a yellow van, a wave and a tattoo shop. Clashing with them all is a pink font decal screaming “girl power” with a place of the letter “I.” bubbly petals and rounded on the sticker remind me of used to think being a woman all about — acting “girly” Liv from “Liv and Maddie” or Emma from “Jessie.”

I wish I could go back, put my hair into a sporty high ponytail and tell my 12-year-old self to stop trying to fit into an idealized feminine standard. I didn’t need to wear the black leggings everyone else wore or have my hair down because my friend did.

I used to wear the same outfit every day because I didn’t want to be seen as different from other girls — plain colored tank top and leggings. I wanted to be viewed as intelligent and beautiful. As a girl, I relied heavily on the opinion of others of how I look. It wasn’t until high school that I realized that deciding that you’re beautiful and intelligent on your own accord isn’t selfish. Looks aren’t something I can change, but personality is something I can easily adjust off of advice.

Girl power is taking back your power. Girl power is embracing who you are as a

woman and uplifting every other woman around you to do the same.

Don’t get me wrong, I love embracing being feminine in my own way. I love sitting down at my desk and doing my makeup on the weekends or taking as much time as I want on my five-step night skin care routine. I lay my outfits out on the floor the night before I wear them — not to impress other people, but to make myself more confident and my life more stress free.

Those things make me happy. It doesn’t need to be anyone else’s routine — just my own.

Girl power is also sticking up for yourself, enforcing boundaries and telling others they’re wrong — especially when it comes to you. I used to let people walk all over me by saying “I’m sorry” when I didn’t need to but now I don’t let people talk down to me. I even the playing field.

Female standards exist to please others, but I don’t have to live under them simply because I am a woman. It aggravates me when a man tries to explain female inequality to me, mansplaining the Pink Tax — products marketed towards women cost more than those marketed towards men — and saying they understand. They don’t and they never will.

The Barbie movie had one of the most beautiful montages I’ve seen of growing up as a girl. So yes, I cried during the Barbie movie. Did the man sitting next to me look at me funny? Yes, but being a girl is fragile, emotional and empowering. The

movie portrayed girlhood so beautifully and highlighted the most important part of girlhood — happiness. That’s worthy of my tears.

The most precious part about growing as a girl is finding who you are and what makes you the happiest. I’ll go to the gym or hike even when it’s pouring rain. It doesn’t matter what it is or what you do, it will never take away from you being a woman. Whether that’s spending every day on a sport, shopping for hours or studying on Friday nights. No one can take that away from you as long as you remember you aren’t meant to live under a standard. Standards that were imposed on girls were made to keep women under restraint from what they love — I don’t accept that.

So when that boy in my English class shushes me during our discussion or pushes past me in the hallway, I won’t stop being loud — women matter and our opinions matter.

I want to be confident for the sake of myself — getting a new set of nails or taking an “everything” shower makes me feel confident. I want the confidence to wake up every morning and tell myself I’m beautiful because I don’t need anyone else to do it for me.

I look up at my girl power sticker that I’ve had for three years as a reminder to myself what girl power means to me

It is important to know the meaning of girl power and how it improves self-image

Feminism is the most important movement you could embrace because it’s basically another word for equality.

TAYLOR SWIFT KAMALA HARRIS AMERICA FERRERA

Mr Vice President I’m speaking, I’m speaking.

I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us.

Inspirational quotes by powerful celebrity female figures that inspire Brundige

design by zane laing photo by maggie condon

story by larkin brundige

images courtesy of IMDB

POWERFUL WORDS

SCAN ME PHOTO

See more photos from

FAMILY SPIKE

For the first time, volleyball held a family fun day consisting of activities for kids, a raffle and a tournament between the volleyball

BELOW Senior Emma Thomas helps little girl find the fight song during a scavenger hunt. “It was fun to see the girls play with the balloons and this girl actually did my face paint for the scrimmage which was fun,” Thomas said.

BELOW Family fun day participant writes down her name on raffle tickets giving her the chance to win various prizes provided by the volleyball team

ABOVE Sophomore Molly McDonald can’t hold her laugh in while getting her face painted by her teammate.

photo by liv madden

RIGHT Sophomore Adeline Clifford applies face paint to JV coach Anthony Winkelmanns daughter before the scrimmage between Freshman and C team.

photo by liv madden

the volleyball fun day event

photo by liv madden

photo by liv madden

ABOVE Sophomores Becka Slaughter and Molly McDonald congratulate each other at the end of the JV/Varsity scrimmage. “The program wanted us to come together and make us feel like we are one team instead of four seperate teams,” Slaughter said.

photo by liv madden

Feature . . .

smeharbinger.net/category/feature

photos THIS ISSUE IN

A look inside student life at East in the first weeks of school

design by veronica mangine

SELFLESS

SUMMERS

Students who spent their summers volunteering

TRIP

LAUREN PEUGEOT | senior

- Traveled to Trinidad and Tobago

- Week-long trip

- Went with Leawood Presbyterian

- Visited orphanages and schools

- Taught Bible school

SERVICE TRIP

FAITH GRECIAN | junior

- Went to the Dominican Republic

- One week long

- Through Village Presbyterian

- Helped in schools

MEET YOUR

CLASS

REESE ALGREN SENIOR REPS

A quick word from newly elected class officials

ANNE BOWSER FRESHMAN

I WANT TO involve the freshman in more school-oriented activities. They want to be involved in volunteering or clubs, but no one knows how. I want to learn and help other people.

MY GOAL FOR StuCo this year is to help bring my grade and the school closer together, get everyone involved and have more fun events for everyone.

I’M SO EXCITED. I love being on StuCo. It’s so much fun to work with everyone in different grades. I have so much fun planning all the events.

FINA KESSLER SOPHOMORE

“

TOP Senior Zoe McDonald starts to knead and mold her clay to make a pinch pot in ceramics.

photo by amelie wong

ABOVE Ceramics teacher Marty Arnold divides up a block of clay for her students to start making pinch pots.

photo by amelie wong

BOTTOM Juniors Isabel Baldassaro, Sophia Beedle and Parker Paben show Marketing teacher Amanda Doane a TikTok they filmed for marketing.

photo by amelie wong

photos by amelie wong, liv madden, caroline martucci & maggie condon

DANCING through the decade

A gallery of photos from Elliott’s past shows

“Hearing the applause on stage for the first time is something that blew me away,” Elliott said. “That was the moment I was like, ‘This is what I want to do, this is what I’m meant to

After that moment, he started dedicating all of his time to his craft. Classes ramped up to five days and 25 hours a week, he chose to say goodbye to his other sports — baseball and soccer — to fully embrace dance. But this was a trade-off he was willing to accept. According to his father Mark, what Elliott loved the most about dancing was the physical storytelling aspect. Over time, now-senior Elliott has shifted away from taking strictly ballet classes and involved himself in other types of performing, like acting and singing.

Mark noticed that Elliott was interested in theatre when their family went to see Kansas City Repertory Theater’s “Around the World in 80 Days” when he was in kindergarten.

“The lady in front of us was sort of rolling her eyes at the idea of sitting in front of a kindergartener,” Mark said. “But [Elliott] was completely obsessed with the show going on in front of him. And I think at that moment, I was like, ‘Oh, he gets this at a much deeper level.’’’

As he involved himself more in theater, Elliott was performing with seasoned actors in shows like “The Wizard of Oz” with Starlight Theatre and “Christmas Carol” with KC Rep when he was in middle school.

Suited up as a petite, well-dressed “Wizard of Oz” munchkin, Elliot realized he wasn’t completely immersing himself into his characters. It was while observing an actor portray the scarecrow effortlessly that Elliott recognized an opportunity to learn authenticity

Former East student Elliott Daggett is enrolled in the University of North Carolina’s School of Arts to pursue dance

from the performance he was witnessing.

“Being able to sit there and watch him in the way he acted, it just felt so fluid and natural,” Elliott said. “I was able to use him as a foundation, something to compare myself to, to make sure that I was performing in a way that the audience truly believed me. Over time, I kind of turned it into my own thing.”

Eventually Elliott’s approach to embodying characters evolved from simply putting on a costume to fully inhabiting the character. This evolution was particularly evident when he tackled the role of Angel as a junior, a flamboyant drag queen in the show “Rent” with Spinning Tree Theatre.

“

For Elliott, Angel was uncharted territory — a character far removed from his own reality. After numerous rewatches of the movie “Rent” and working with his directors, Elliott learned how to leave himself and his mannerisms behind while playing another character.

“If he wasn’t totally committed to the role, then it’ll just look like Elliott onstage wearing makeup and dresses,” Mark said. “This character was the furthest thing from Elliott, but he really gave himself fully to that role.”

Now, Elliott is completing his senior year of high school at University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Since there are no performing arts high schools in Kansas, UNCSA was the next step in furthering his performing career.

Along with taking normal classes like math and english, he will work among college students who attend the school and faculty members who have worked in the performing industry.

Out of around 500 applicants, only 20 were accepted — Elliott being one of the few lucky ones. Since he is a triple threat — actor, singer and dancer — he believes this earned him a spot into the highly competitive program.

“I’m just really here to learn and absorb all that I can,” Elliott said. “I hope to pick and choose what works for me and apply it to myself moving forward.”

design by lyla weeks

story by maggie kissick

first applause that echoed throughout the Kauffman Center during then-fourth-grade Elliott Daggett’s Nutcracker performance, something clicked. The spotlights, the applause, the energy — it all combined into an undeniable realization as he danced around the stage dressed up like party boy: performing was what he wanted to do.

“BUT [ELLIOTT] WAS completely obsessed

with the show going on in front of him. And I think at that moment, I was like, ‘Oh, he gets this at a much deeper level.’’’

MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, AGE 17

YAGP, AGE 13

...

A SISTER’S PUSH

Junior Ainsley Pyle supports her seven year old brother through all of the challenges of his Down Syndrome CROSBY’S DICTIONARY

THEN 10-YEAR-OLD Ainsley

Pyle walked through the entryway of her mom’s house. She went into the kitchen to give her mom Sara a hug after coming home from her dad’s house and then into the dining room. Immediately she noticed that the dinner table was strewn with books, packets, pamphlets and DVDs instead of the usual toys and decorations.

Ainsley froze.

She didn’t have to squint to read the words “Down syndrome,” plastered across every surface.

“Mom, what are these?” Ainsley asked. The two of them went to the living room and sat down as Sara delivered the news — the little brother Ainsley had been looking forward to for months was going to have Down syndrome.

Ainsley felt the panic rising and the tears begin to well up. She’d heard the term Down syndrome before, but she didn’t know what it meant. Would she still be able to play tag with him in the backyard? Talk to him about his day? Get ice cream with him?

“He may have some developmental delays,” Sara said, struggling to find how to explain it while dealing with her own fear as well. “He’s going to look different and he’ll have health issues.”

Even as Sara tried to explain, Ainsley’s fear and confusion only grew.

“How about this?” Sara announced. “We’re gonna go on Amazon and we’re gonna order you some books.”

They bought an excess of chapter, picture and informational books and gave the extras to Ainsley’s 13 cousins. She put aside her reading of Magic Tree House to learn about the developmental effects and causes of Down Syndrome, and she began to understand.

And when Crosby Orlando — an energetic, fun and happy boy — was born she started volunteering. She volunteered at Down Syndrome Innovations — attending their Step Up for Down Syndrome event — and helping her parents run Everything But Typical, an organization supporting families of children with Down syndrome. This included selling merchandise, raising awareness about Down syndrome and raising money to help parents of kids with Down syndrome.

Seven years later, now-junior Ainsley is Crosby’s biggest supporter. While people in public will give Crosby judgemental glances and whispers, Ainsley ignores them. She has never let his differences be an excuse.

Crosby is non-verbal — only able to communicate through a computer, clicking on symbols of the words he wants to say or by using sign language. He also has a low muscle tone meaning it takes more effort to move his muscles properly and he has alopecia. He has been going to physical, occupational, speech and eating therapy since he was four weeks old.

One exercise he often does in speech therapy is blowing through a tube into a milk jug filled with water. It’s hard and tiring, ending in exhausted screams. The speech therapist will try to convince him to complete the exercise. Then Sara will try. Then his dad will try. But it’s only Ainsley’s — “Hey bubby, I need you to do this for me.” — that will do the trick.

“If [Ainsley] engages and claps for him and gets excited, [Crosby’s] like ‘Oh, absolutely,’” Sara said. “[He’ll do something] all day long to make her happy.”

At age two, Crosby was behind his peers — still working on sitting up on his own. His parents would brush it aside, “Oh, it’s harder for him. We’re working on it.” Not Ainsley.

“He’s going to do it,” she would say. “Yes, [sitting] is harder for him. But I know he can do it.”

Eleven-year-old Ainsley took the energetic little Crosby up to her room and placed him in a seated position. She gently placed her hand on his back to hold him up: then she let go.

Crosby started to fall, but she caught him. And then did the same thing again and again — for 45 minutes.

Until she shouted to her mom downstairs.

“He can sit!”

Sara was skeptical as she trudged up the stairs. No, he can’t, she thinks he can do something he can’t.

But Crosby was sitting up on the bed, looking around, laughing. He wouldn’t sit up for any physical therapist, but of course, he would for Ainsley.

Today, Ainsley continues to challenge him to do the things she knows he can do. She pushes him to work on his sign language and communication whenever possible.

If he ever needs help or wants his favorite food — a ‘Bomb Pop’ or a frozen ‘Go-Gurt’ — there’s no cutting corners. Ainsley tells him to sign it.

Crosby’s teacher at Tomahawk Elementary for the past two years, Alexa Cocolis Scarlett, has seen him grow up and learn to communicate and has seen his relationship with his sister grow.

“I think peers see Crosby and think he’s gonna need help, [but] he doesn’t,” Scarlett said, “The best thing [Ainsley] can do is push him to be the best person that he can be, just like she would if he didn’t have Down syndrome.”

Crosby will always have challenges. He may never be able to sign a full sentence. He will continue to get odd looks in public from little girls mumbling to their parents ‘Why does he look so funny?’ But that doesn’t matter because he will always be able to sign “sister.”

“He can find sissy,” Sara said. “It’s the most complicated sign he knows, but he’ll sign it for her.”

Ainsley and Crosby use sign language to communicate instead of words

“I LOVE YOU”

“HELP” “SISTER”

photo by molly miller art by caroline daniels story by libby marsh

story by lucy wolf

design by riley scott

photos by caroline martucci

MEET THE

MENTORS

PERSONALIZED H

Meet three of the nine student mentors

P L AY

EY GRACE, DOES your back hurt from carrying your team?”

A smile immediately shot over sophomore Grace Rayfield’s face as everyone in her Personalized Physical Education class gathered around her and started smiling and laughing, declaring her team the winner.

Two teams separated by a volleyball net: Team Grace and Team David. The game of beach-ball volleyball had begun.

I LIKE HAVING fun with everyone in the class and helping people get out of their comfort zones along with building friendships.

Laughter and comments like “Great serve!” echoed the court as the group began playing. Grace served the beach ball over the net with a wide grin across her face. As the ball flew to the other side of the court, sophomore David Chavez Cabello struck it back over, resulting in multiple “Yay David! Great hit!” comments from the student mentors around him.

EMMY BARRETT JUNIOR ITS REALLY FUN bonding with each of the kids everyday and seeing how each one comes out of their shell.

EMMY BARRETT JUNIOR

This was the class — constant positivity and encouragement. A smaller and more engaging environment for students with special needs.

After two years of Physical Education and Health teacher Maggie Archer and Special Education teacher Sarah Maas requesting the new class, it was finally accepted this year by the district.

“To get any class approved it’s always a process,” Archer said. “When you are trying to combine two big fields — P.E.

I LOVE MAKING new friends and pushing myself and others to reach new goals.

and special education — you need to make sure all your T’s are crossed and I’s are dotted and that we follow all the rules that are in place.”

Once the class was approved, Archer and Maas hit the ground running — the first step was finding student mentors.

They chose nine students to help with the class after consulting with other coaches and wwwteachers in the P.E. department, to find students who work well with others. The perfect candidates for the job were seniors, Jack Kessler, Joey Hoffman, Wes Lyerly and juniors Emmy Barrett, Caroline Martucci, Reggie Ingram, Kate Kounkel, Rachel Condon and Zane Laing.

“When we were signing up for classes this year, that was when I first heard about the new Personalized P.E. class,” Barrett said. “So far it’s been fun to see some of the kids come out of their shells, even if they’re just dancing when the music comes on.”

After the first few weeks of school, the class started gearing into motion. Archer starts class every day by turning on music as everyone enters the gym. Once the music stops, the class heads to the middle of the gym and forms a circle for warm-up. Both the students and the mentors get to lead their own stretch for 10 seconds before starting an activity to get their heart rates up, like a tic-tac-toe relay — where students run to a cluster of hula hoops, place rubber spot markers down and attempt to get three in a row before the other team. Finally, they move into a game or a skill set, like volleying beach

RIGHT Senior Jack Kessler and sophomore Grace Rayfield reach for the ball as it comes over the net during volleyball. “The genuine excitement that everyone has to be in class and the joy that the class has is my favorite part,” Kessler said. “Everyone’s very outgoing and just excited to play games. So it’s easy to talk to people about the games we’re playing.”

balls and working on spatial awareness.

“One student — David — came to me on the first day saying how excited he was to exercise, three days in he came to me saying how sore his legs were,” Kessler said. “It was cool to see his mindset and for him to realize how good it is to actually exercise and to feel his body getting stronger.”

The new Personalized P.E. class is another option to choose from to complete the required P.E. graduation credit. According to Archer, she has always hoped for a P.E. class that could work for all students — by offering this new class, she believes that East is allowing her goal to be attainable.

“There’s always a place for students in P.E. regardless of what it looks like,” Archer said. “There should be a place for

A new physical education class, Personalized PE, began at East this year

WES LYERLY SENIOR

JACK KESSLER SENIOR

photo by riley scott

SO FAR IT’S been fun to see some of the kids come out of their shells, even if they’re just dancing when the music comes on.

TOP LEFT Senior Joey Hoffman sits next to senior JJ Kline before the class begins playing volleyball. “When they don’t want to play the game that we’re playing, a lot of the time we’ll just ask them if they want to walk around and usually they are down to do that,” Hoffman said.

RIGHT

hoops and floor dots were spread across the gym floor for one of the games played at the beginning of class.

MIDDLE RIGHT

Before playing beach ball volleyball, juniors Rachel Condon and Blake Danforth practice hitting the beach ball with each other. Later, Condon and Danforth joined a larger group and started passing the ball in a circle.

BOTTOM LEFT The students and mentors split into teams after stretching and begin playing beach ball volleyball. This was the last activity before the class went to lunch. Each team was composed of two mentors and one student.

SCAN ME GALLERY

Scan this QR code to view pictures of this event

photo by riley scott

photo by riley scott

TOP

Hula

photo by riley scott

photo by riley scott

eath

WHEN DID YOUR LOVE OF CREATURES START?

MY MOM READ me lots of books with animals as a kid, my neighbor made a terrarium with me every year, in 8th grade I learned that it was possible to keep tarantulas as pets, and my collection has grown ever since.

WHAT’S YOUR MOST EXPENSIVE ENCLOSURE?

MY VAMPIRE CRABS

and gecko tank probably cost about 300 dollars for plants and the actual tank and another 200 for the crabs and geckos.

DO YOU SELL ANY ANIMALS THAT YOU BREED?

I HAVE SOLD only 2 or 3 tranchulas before, but I mostly buy, the most I’ve ever bought a tarantula was 300 dollars. My rst tarantula will turn 3 years old next month.

TANGLED IN THE WEB

Fun facts and care managment of every animal that Heath owns or takes care of

TARANTULA (theraphosidae)

-$20-$3000 depending on species

- Tarantulas are easy to care for and need little but consistent attention to survive

-A taranchula human kill has never been recorded

VAMPIRE CRAB

(geosesarma dennerle)

-$10-$20 per crab

-Easy to keep as long as they have a healthy diet and have their tanks clean

- Vampire crabs’ body grow to only 2 inches long when fully grown

GECKO (gekkonidae)

-$30-$100

-Depending on the gecko propper heat and a good-sized clean tank with proper food

-Geckos can detatch their tails as a strategy for escaping predators

Junior Heath Gariss has an impressive collection of over 30 animals in his room

design by kai mcphail

photo by amelie wong

A E . . .

&

smeharbinger.net/category/a&e

NEW RELEASES

MY BIG FAT

GREEK WEDDING 3

Release Date: September 8

Where:

Theatres

Genre: Drama

Rated: PG-13

THE NUN II

Release Date: September 8

Where: Theatres

Genre: Horror Rated: R

UPCOMING EVENTS

This summer’s top hits and fan reviews

I THOUGHT THAT

Spider-Man was so well done, and I absolutely loved it. It took about four years to animate, and I could de nitely tell all the work that was put into it, which was super impressive. I really appreciated all the art details since I have been designing since I was in eighth grade. Although I’m not a crazy Marvel fan, I thought the storyline was easy to follow and owed really well from the rst to the second movie.

I LOVED THE

movie especially because it was a conversation starter for younger and older generations to bond over their common experiences. There was a monologue I liked about how women have to be nice, but too nice and smart, but not too smart. It was scenes like this where I was really impressed with the director for having the guts to include lines that people might disagree with.

HOLLY by Stephen King

Release Date:

September 5

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 464

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT I TOOK THE

GUTS

by Olivia Rodrigo

Release Date:

September 8

Genre: Pop Rock

photo for Lay To Rest when I was at the park with my friend Audrey Harbert and she was laying down on the slide. I thought it was a cool pose so I took the photo and made it into a paper print for my Dark Room Photography class. I started by reversing the photo on my computer and then printing it off onto a piece of super thick paper. After covering the photo with Scotch tape I washed all the paper off with water and put the inktape combination onto a different piece of paper. I took chemicals and covered the new piece of paper which made the photo blue.

BARBIE

SPIDERMAN: ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE

EMMA KUHLMAN SENIOR

design by sophia brockmeier photo by paige bean, maggie condon, amazon & imdb A look at an East student’s art

DON’T GET ME wrong, I love fried chicken as much as anyone else. But when I saw the line out the door at Dave’s Hot Chicken, I couldn’t help but scratch my head. “What’s so special about Dave’s? Haven’t KFC and Raising Canes been doing this for years?” I now realize how Dave’s sets itself apart from the flock.

FAVES FROM

The venture started in 2017 when Dave Kopushyan and three friends scraped together $900 to buy a portable fryer and opened a pop-up in East Hollywood — the line wrapped around the block. The California-based chain finally arrived in KC earlier this month. While I waited in line, the group in front of me couldn’t help but complain about the wait

SPICE SPECTRUM

outside in the 100-degree heat.

When I finally got to the front of the line after 45 minutes, I was greeted by the ice-cold AC on my skin. The place was so crowded, I truly wondered if it was a fire hazard.

The interior was exploding with color, with walls covered in murals by local artists and prominent KC-themed displays, from “The Wizard of Oz” to legendary Chiefs touchdowns. To top it off, a rubber chicken resides in the place of a fire extinguisher. — definitely a fire hazard. I couldn’t look away, as Dave’s definitely makes an effort to be visually appealing.

I had no trouble ordering, considering Dave gives you two choices: fingers or sandwich.

I ended up spending $40.44 on six chicken fingers with fries served on a slice of plain white bread and Dave’s signature sauce with each tender a different spice level as I worked my way through the menu.

I first dug into the fries, and while I’m not a huge fan of the crinkle-cut variety, Dave’s Cajun-style seasoning coated my fingertips and provided a spicy jolt of rich pepper spice to the otherwise average side dish. Dave’s

Every spice level offered at Dave’s Hot Chicken

special sauce, a combo of mayonnaise and chipotle sauce, paired well with a tangy and slightly tart aftertaste.

Next, I dove into the basket of tenders, starting with the “no-spice” level. While the chicken on its own was — dare I say, a little stringy, there was nothing that stood out to me. So, if you want to order “no spice” at Dave’s Hot Chicken, I’d recommend you go to Chick-Fil-A instead.

As I moved on to the light-mild level, I was underwhelmed after the first bite, with less spice on the tender than I would have preferred. But the mild flavor had significant improvement with the signature cayenne pepper spice blend, bringing the heat that Dave’s surname promised. Still, I was ready to kick it up a notch.

The “medium” was just as I expected from Dave’s most popular seasoning—a balance between the extreme spice and underwhelming mild flavors. I was pleased by how the spice didn’t overpower the taste of the chicken, adding a distinct spicy and smoky flavor to my taste buds.

I then built up my courage and moved on

to the “Hot” tenders. Two bites in the spice coating made my entire mouth go numb. I dreaded even attempting the next spice level, but powering through with my large Sprite as a palate cleanser, I finished the strip before moving on to my final conquest of the day.

The “Very Hot” flavor was as advertised. I had to refill my drink after just one bite. I was quite literally eating my words after calling the last level spicy. It was nothing compared to this. I swallowed too fast— probably because I was trying to end this experience as quickly as possible — and ended up getting the spice stuck in the back of my throat, making my eyes water.

The Nashville-style fried chicken’s final spice level was the mighty “Reaper,” rightfully accompanied by a waiver. This beast had made many throw up their hands in defeat. I knew I couldn’t in good conscience subject my colon to anything even one level hotter, much less The Reaper. In the end, you could say I chickened out.

design by veronica mangine

photos by mason sanja story by connor vogel

Dave’s Hot Chicken, a Nashville-styled hot chicken place, brings the heat with seven heat levels to try

The 2003 Korean thriller Oldboy, finally debuts in the U.S

REVENGE IS A dish that is best served cold, especially in the freeze of a movie theater. When it comes to South Korean director Park Chan-wook’s 2003 revengethriller “Oldboy,” there’s no colder place to feast.

The re-release of “Oldboy” debuted in the U.S. for its 20th anniversary with additional special features and English subtitles on August 16. Now that “Oldboy” can be legally viewed in the U.S., it’s been met with nothing but positive reviews — from both critics and viewers — and sold out theaters. I thoroughly enjoyed “Oldboy” and love nearly every aspect of the film.

I spend countless hours watching movies from all over the world, so I was thrilled to learn that “Oldboy” was coming to the U.S.. These films are a personal interest of mine, however, the addition of subtitles and the need for undivided attention while watching causes the loss of mass viewership among the general public.

For the last 20 years, the only way to watch “Oldboy” was by illegally downloading it. Pirating films is always a challenging task that is not very pleasant for the viewer — with low quality and small screens, it doesn’t compare to the experience of a large screen theater — which makes the film’s return

Yet this re-release of “Oldboy” isn’t its first time in the U.S. — it had an American version made in 2013 directed by Spike Lee. However, its immediate reception was quite

Park

negative — both critics and viewers disliked it, and was quickly buried in the vast ongoing avalanche of the modern film industry.

The movie features protagonist Oh Dae-su, played by Korean actor Choi Minsik, as a man who has been held captive for 15 years, with no clue as to why. The man has only one goal — to get revenge on his captors and unravel the mystery of his own life. The premise is simple, yet captivating and extremely enjoyable, with overarching themes of revenge and passion that go beyond the burden of a language barrier, making a recipe for a stellar film that I adore.

The witty delivery of lines like “Revenge is good for your health, but pain will find you again,” and modern aesthetic make for a relatable film as well, placing the viewer in the perspective of Dae-su, creating character depth and a relation of vengeful rage.

As the film continues on, the more dense and thick the plot gets. The cinematography creates incredible tension between characters with long one-take fight scenes and emotional character interactions that left me dazed. These characteristics of constant action and suspense display the deep and motivated tone of the writing accurately, with Dae-su’s need for justice being twisted and accompanied by dark humor throughout.

Possibly the most iconic part of the movie is its twist ending, something that is so demented and unpredictable, it stays in the viewer’s head for days after exiting the theater, as it did for me.

Foreign films are not as popular in the

MOVIE: Lady Vengeance GENRE: Horror RELEASE

DATE: 2005

U.S. as Hollywood produced films, “Oldboy” navigates these issues by keeping the viewer engaged with fast pacing and lots of emotional action as well as an overall stylistic tone. My favorite aspect has to be the personal character development of Daesu and his transformation over the 15 years he is held captive.

“Oldboy” is a rewatchable film, too, making its value increase tenfold. Due to its expeditious and high-octane nature, the film creates an atmosphere of destruction. With the combination of well-choreographed fight scenes of flying fists (or hammers) and utter destruction — once you start, you won’t want to stop, as I didn’t.

The film is also a loose adaptation of a manga by the same name, though there are many significant differences throughout the film — the tone is much darker and story elements have more depth and overall development with Dae-su’s relations between characters, such as Dae-su’s relationship with his family due to his 15-year absence, as well as the motives of his captors and the malice behind it.

The experience of going to a theater is something that continuously brings people together, and with the international aspect of foreign films, cinema can bring nations together. It’s important to not let “Oldboy’’ be overshadowed by blockbuster films like “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer” — it’s a oncein-twenty-years special that shouldn’t be missed.

MOVIE: The Handmaiden GENRE: Horror RELEASE

DATE: 2016

design by avery anderson photo by amelie wong

story by preston hooker

Chan-Wook, the director of OLDBOY

tryouts recap

A rundown of the Aug. 14-18 boy’s soccer tryouts

BOY’S SOCCER’S week-long tryouts began on Aug. 14 and ended Aug 18. After five days of tough heat, the 110 boys who started out had been quickly lowered to 80 as they were put on the Varsity, JV, C Black, or C Blue teams. According to Senior and varsity forward Beck Rettenmaier, the hardest part of tryouts was playing in the heat the first few days, but it was all worth it when he saw his team members coming ready to play each day of tryouts. While he is still adjusting to new faces on the teams, he is excited for the season ahead and to work toward his teammate’s goal — win state.

DID YOU TRY OUT FOR A FALL SPORT THIS YEAR?

*Instagram poll of 268 votes

JUNIOR SHOUTOUTS

The varsity soccer coach’s opinion on tryouts

I WAS pleasantly surprised with the players who were returning to Varsity who weren’t starters last year and how quickly and comfortably they played. Quinn McCarthy, George Hartman, Lars Alsin and Ben Perkins look great.”

JAMIE KELLY COACH

Coaching East’s Soccer teams for the past 23 years

Led Varsity Soccer to victory at Regionals and KMO

BOTTOM RIGHT Senior Conor Neusel high fives teammate Alex Tiedt after Neusel finished a cross served by Tiedt.

photo by kenna harrington

LEFT Senior ALex Tiedt dribbles towards his goal, as sophomore Hudson Bennish follows in attempt to defend.

photo by kenna harrington

story by isabel baldassaro

BELOW Senior Blake Hanson cuts towards the goal, attempting to score.

photo by kenna harrington

design by isabel baldassaro

SPENCER’S

STATS ...

Rundown of Spencer’s golf statistics

CAREER STROKE AVERAGE: 72.25

TIED FOR THE THIRD-LOWEST 18HOLE SCORES IN KANSAS MEN’S GOLF HISTORY

TWO-TIME ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12 FIRST TEAM SELECTION

THREE-TIME CHAMPION AT THE WATSON CHALLENGE

*according to ku athletics

AT TWO-AND-A-HALF years old, East alum Andy Spencer had one goal: drive the ball into the neighbor’s yard.

He’d spend hours outside with his Little Tikes golf set while his mom kept watch from the porch.

Twenty years later, Andy traded in plastic toy clubs for metal ones and backyard “driving ranges” for Professional Golfer’s Association courses.

Growing up, Andy spent his time chasing after haphazard golf balls and hitting home runs over the nearest tree. After a baseball game in eighth grade when his coach said his swing looked more like he was playing golf than hitting a home run, that was it — Andy sat his parents down that night and told them he wanted to play Division 1 golf in college.

Andy became focused on becoming the best, taking lessons every Monday at Milburn Country Club with golf pro Rob Shipman.

“You can always see he was going to be special, even as a little kid,” Shipman said.

PRACTICE

“He’s just bigger, faster, stronger, [and] had the desire. He practiced and played all the time.”

Once he got to East, Andy made varsity his freshman year. He played alongside thensenior and now-professional golfer, Chase Hanna whom he respected but also used as competition to get better — eventually beating him, according to former East golf coach Ermanno Ritschl.

“He probably surpassed many of Chase’s records [when] he finished his senior year,” Ritschl said. “He set an example for the rest of the team, which really showed up by winning many tournaments and winning a couple of state tournaments as well.”

They lost state his freshman year, which Andy and his team used as motivation to win his sophomore and senior year, along with an individual state title his junior year. He also won the Kenneth Smith award in 2015 for the best high school golfer in the Kansas City metro area.

After graduating in 2016, he went on to play for the University of Kansas. Andy stood

TIMELINE

Spencer’s golf timeline from when he was two years old to now

out on the roster by leading the team, shooting 71.63 on average per round — 72 being the average par per course. Followin a long list of successes including Academic All-Big 12 First Team sophomore and junior years, Andy was ready for a new challenge: going pro.

During his senior year at KU, Andy decided to enroll in the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying School to better his chances of going pro. Out of the 154-man final stage field, there were only two amateurs — one was Andy.

Once he left Q-School, he had Korn Ferry status — the first major step towards the PGA Tour. He played in six events during the 2020-21 season, making the cut in one.

After the Korn Ferry Tour, Andy played on the Latin America PGA TOUR from late 20212023. He played on courses all over South America — Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Peru. But he only made seven out of 19 cuts.

“Every golfer that ever plays golf you run through patches where [they] play good and bad,” Shipman said. “Even him playing ‘bad’ is still very good, it’s just that so many players are so good today.”

He took six weeks off of competing this spring to recharge his battery. He spent more time with friends and family, stepping back from constant practices and tournaments.

“I get bored if I don’t touch a ball for two days,” Andy said. “It was just time to step back. I hadn’t taken time off for over two years to step back and do some other stuff here with some friends that I don’t usually see. Stuff like that kind of recharges the batteries and gets the mentals back home on par.”

His first event back was the Monday Qualifier for the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Michigan in late June. In order to get into PGA events, players must be top four in the gauntlet known as a Monday Qualifier and receive a top score from a pre-qualifying event.

“He kind of went through an entire reset with not only his golf game, but his nutrition, workouts and mental game,” his mom Jenny Spencer said. “It just kind of did a total reset. So for him to Monday qualify in Detroit was really rewarding because he saw the fruits of his labor.”

2016 East alum Andy Spencer has trained since age nine to work his way to the majors

photo courtesy of ku athletics

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ROAD TO BLACK BELT

SENSEI

SCARLETT

EMPO KARATE

uncommon version of karate that includes joint locks and grappling that ordinary karate does

“I fell in love with it right away,” sophomore Scarlett Stamos said. Scarlett was born and raised in London before moving to Kansas at age 10. She waited only a year before starting her Karate journey, sparked by the love she and her sister, senior Mia Stamos shared for their Taekwondo 5thdegree black belt grandpa. Hearing thrilling stories of him breaking boards and becoming head instructor for the Golden Kick Taekwondo studios in LA made both sisters eager to learn the art of Kempo. Scarlett wasn’t able to start as soon as Mia did due to a medical complication forcing her to be unable to take any physical hits.

Mia got the head start in London practicing Zendo — a type of karate that includes

more kickboxing. Scarlett was always jealous of her sister’s skills because she was unable to start and was counting down the days until she could learn herself.

After recovering from surgery, 11-year-old Scarlett began training and instantly found her dojo, Aplomb Martial Arts in Corinth Square, as a second home. Quickly moving up in belt degrees due to her determination and work ethic, she fell in love with the art of Kempo and its flank headlocks and shoulder grabs.

Scarlett quickly realized Karate was something she could see herself doing for the rest of her life, so when her sensei offered her the chance to become one herself — a martial arts instructor — she took the opportunity instantly.

“The training was a lot more intense than I expected but it was a super special opportunity for her,” Scarlett’s mom Chantal Stamos said. “Only a few students were asked to be a part of the program, so it was an honor for her to be asked.”

Scarlett started the three-month training at the beginning of this summer. The training consisted of going in three times a week on top of normal training and working on the specific moves, skills and ways to train the students. Scarlett taught them the correct way to hold position

and do kicks.

Three months later, Scarlett was officially a sensei, receiving her red teacher belt with pride with her family there watching.

“It’s very cool,” Mia said. “She knows quite a bit more than me. It’s a little annoying having a little sibling know more, but I’m very proud.”

Scarlett hasn’t burnt out of the sport since. Training large and small groups of people each week has made her appreciation for the physicality and mental strength of Kempo grow.

She’s currently a green belt with

Kem•po

a brown stripe — only two belts away from a black belt. A brown belt and three degrees within it stand between Scarlett and accomplishing the highest rank of a black belt, which she expects to take a while.

Still, Scarlett hopes to turn her love for Kempo into her job one day and open her own dojo.

“She is the most determined and hard-working girl. I know she may be shy but when she needs to be outgoing and helpful she is amazing.” Scarlett’s sensei said.

The path that Scarlett took in order to become a sensei

design by drew trucksess photo by ryan dehan

story by christian gooley THE HARBINGER

Sophomore Scarlett Stamos’ journey to becoming a sensei in Kempo

A pathway martial artists can take in order to earn their black belt

translates to “Fist Law” from Japanese, style which employs low kicks, hand movements, angles, strikes and tuite jitsu

Learn more about Scarlett’s martial arts studio — Aplomb Martial Arts — by visiting their website

DOUBLE

THEN-SEVENTH-GRADER

Anthony Mazza arrived for yet another baseball team tryout. He’d been to numerous tryouts, playing the sport since his dad pushed a ball into his hand But this one was different. He got into his pitching stance. Wound up. And released the ball— right into Scotty Fegen’s spine.

But even after nailing the coach’s kid right in the back during tryouts, Mazza still made the Minsky’s Orioles.

Six teams later, now-seniors Mazza and Fegen are still on the field together — with a few less hits to the back. They have been on and off together on teams ever since that seventh grade tryout, but have always found their way back to the same teams.

They began to build a friendship on and off the field during their sophomore year at East while on the Varsity team together. Outside of practice or games the two maintained their close relationship, grabbing Chipotle or simply going to the nearest park, like Meadowbrook, late at night.

“We go hit together or hang out pretty much everyday,” Mazza said. “We rarely have fights or anything, we get along really well and I don’t think that’ll change.”

But, as their senior year approached the two prepared to lose both a teammate and a friend. But luckily for the duo, they don’t have to face it quite yet.

Mazza and Fegen both committed to Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas over the summer to continue their baseball careers and they plan on rooming together

“We received our offers at the same time, then I was the first one to commit,” Fegen

...

HITTER

said. “So I wasn’t sure if he was coming yet but I was always very hopeful. Then about two weeks after I committed, he committed [too].”

However, Hutchinson wasn’t always the plan for Mazza. Originally, he committed to Tarleton State University in November of 2022 but after their coaching staff changed he decommitted in June.

“My choices were down to a couple of [Division 1 schools] and a couple junior colleges,” Mazza said. “[Fegen] committed, which obviously helps because it’s not a huge deal, but it helps if I go there and have someone I know, especially someone I could room with like [Fegen]”

Hutchinson was Fegen’s top pick since it met two of his main priorities — a relationship with the coaches and an environment he feels welcomed in.

“I just felt like I was wanted there,” Fegen said. “It was somewhere I could succeed and better myself. It was always really clear that it was a priority of theirs to land me and they were always available to talk and make sure that I was comfortable with the whole process.”

The two want to play in the professional leagues one day, planning to go to a D1 school after Hutchinson in hopes of getting drafted. For baseball, going straight to D1 out of highschool you run a high risk of getting little play time — one of the reasons why just 2% of highschool baseball players go D1 straight out of highschool. This makes for many to go to a Junior College and eventually try to transfer into a D1.

While Mazza keeps his hopes high of getting drafted out of Hutchinson, he plans to

head to a D1 school after Hutchinson.

For Fegen, he will likely end up putting his baseball career first. While he isn’t as passionate about getting drafted as Mazza, he’s interested in seeing where his talent can lead him, while keeping the professionals still in mind.

While the two are good friends off the turf, their relationship truly thrives on their mutual love of the sport. Fegen noted Mazza’s unwavering confidence, describing him as someone who never cares what anyone thinks when he’s on the field.

Senior Will Conkright — teammate and friend of Fegen and Mazza — says the two are constantly pushing each other on the field. Mazza noted how they both share the same goals and are passionate about winning as well as always wanting to see the other succeed.

ANTHONY MAZZA

BATSPEED:HANDSPEED: 60-YARDDASH: TRAVELTEAM:6.98 SEC COMPETITIVEEDGE 23.9 MPH 67.9 MPH

“They have a good balance of being good teammates and sort of role models to each other and then also being good friends on top of that,” Conkright said.

According to Conkright, the two constantly joke around off the field, but immediately become serious when they put their cleats on.

“They’re both very uplifting,” Conkright said. “And even when we might be losing or things might not be going the way we want, both continue to play their hardest, [that energy’s] fun to play with.”

While the two don’t see themselves drifting apart in college, they may find themselves growing closer to people in their same position. However since they are rooming together, they’ll stay close — both literally and figuratively.

FEGEN

23.3 MPH 72.4MPH

design by sophia brockmeier photo by will griffith

Seniors Scotty Fegen and Anthony Mazza are both committed to Hutchinson Community College to play baseball

STARLIGHT

UP KC m c ed

Past

Tickets are on sale now for Beyonce, join the queue.

AUDREY SQUIRES

I’VE SEEN A LOT of videos of Beyonce online. But I’m also trying to like avoid spoilers because I like to be surprised

SENIOR ADDISON JONES

THE ATMOSHERE WAS amazing. It was obvious everyone was excited to see him. The concert was sold out, and I was so happy and grateful to be there.

TAYLORswift

LORIEN

AT MY SHOW, She brought out Maren Morris to sing “You All Over Me”. I was on [the] oor. So I had really good seats. And I could see both of them. And seeing them interact as people was really fun to like watch [them] sing.

october

COLUCCI SOPHOMORE

design by bridget connelly

GEHA FIELD AT ARROWHEAD STADIUM

and future concerts in the KC area

photos by caroline martucci, amelie wong & imbd

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