The Harbinger 19-20: Issue 6

the harbinger.

S H AW N E E M I S S I O N E A S T 7500 MISSION ROAD PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS 66208 N O V. 1 1 , 2 0 1 9 VOLUME LXII ISSUE 6

WO RT H T H E R I S K ?

The rise of the wildly popular app TikTok has taken the halls of East and teenagers everywhere by storm, but its growing influence has led to a national security investigation regarding its potential risks ­— but its users don’t seem to care.

PEEK INSIDE

0 5 | S PAC E I N FO G R A P H I C

1 O | T H E R A PY O P I N I O N

3 1 | H I D D E N G E M S O F KC

02 | INSIDE COVER

cover design by | lila tulp

ONLINE

PREVIEW @smeharbinger

@smeharbinger

@smeharbie

CARTOON | RIVER HENNICK

S TO RY

VIDEO

NEVER TOO EARLY FOR CHRISTMAS MUSIC

SUCCESS AT THE AMERICAN ROYAL

Christmas music brings feelings of joy, making it appropriate even weeks before Thanksgiving. by | kelly murphy

Paige Lynch’s time and dedication to riding horses allowed her to find major success at the American Royal. by | maggie schutt

IN FOCUS | PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

L E F T Juniors Samuel Davis and Elle Vuillemin build a muscle model in anatomy. photo by | annakate dilks B O T T O M Seniors Elli Tucker and Henry Harrison dump cans of tomato soup on each other at the can drive pep assembly photo by | megan stopperan

STAFF LIST PRINT EDITORS Lila Tulp Carolyn Popper Caroline Chisholm ONLINE EDITORS Ben Henschel Jackie Cameron ASST. PRINT EDITORS Catherine Erickson Rose Kanaley ASST. ONLINE EDITORS Lauren West Riley Atkinson HEAD COPY EDITORS Carolyn Popper Jackie Cameron ASST. HEAD COPY EDITOR Natasha Thomas PHOTO EDITORS Aislinn Menke Ty Browning Kate Nixon ASST. PHOTO EDITORS

Sarah Golder Trevor Paulus Julia Percy MOBILE MEDIA PHOTO EDITOR Elle Karras VIDEO EDITORS Maggie Schutt Ryan Gossick ASST. VIDEO EDITOR Lawder DeSantis VIDEO TRAINING EDITOR Sydney Williams BROADCAST EDITORS Alex Dinyer Lucia Barraza ASST. BROADCAST EDITOR Sophie Henschel PHOTO MENTORS Taylor Keal Megan Biles Megan Stopperan STAFF WRITERS

Natasha Thomas Ben Henschel Caroline Chisholm Lily Billingsley Lauren Dierks Lydia Underwood Thomas Paulus Campbell Wood Sydney Decker Rose Kanaley Allison Wilcox Lilah Faye Gabby Caponecchi Brynn Winkler Lauren West Jackie Cameron Kelly Murphy Maddox Mogenson Winnie Wolf Jilli Foley Lila Tulp Catherine Erickson Lucia Barraza Carolyn Popper Sydney Newton Celia Condon

Elizabeth Mikkelson Sophie Henschel Annabelle Moore Anna Stover Sarah Bledsoe Emma Brown COPY EDITORS Lila Tulp Carolyn Popper Caroline Chisholm Ben Henschel Jackie Cameron Natasha Thomas Catherine Erickson Lauren West Lydia Underwood Brynn Winkler Allison Wilcox Rose Kanaley Lily Billingsley Riley Atkinson Maddox Mogenson Campbell Wood Lucia Barraza Sarah Bledsoe EDITORIAL BOARD

Lila Tulp Carolyn Popper Caroline Chisholm Ben Henschel Jackie Cameron Natasha Thomas Catherine Erickson Lauren West Rose Kanaley Riley Atkinson Lilah Faye Brynn Winkler SECTION EDITORS EASTIPEDIA ONLINE Annabelle Moore EDITORIAL PRINT Lilah Faye NEWS PRINT Alison Wilcox ONLINE Brynn Winkler OPINION PRINT Maddox Mogenson PRINT Annabelle Moore

ONLINE Sophie Henschel ONLINE Gabby Caponecchi FEATURE PRINT Natasha Thomas ONLINE Lily Billingsley A&E PRINT Lauren Dierks ONLINE Thomas Paulus SPORTS PRINT Sarah Bledsoe ONLINE Lucia Barraza PAGE DESIGNERS Natasha Thomas Caroline Chisholm Carolyn Popper Lily Billingsley Lauren Dierks Lydia Underwood Thomas Paulus Rose Kanaley Allison Wilcox Lilah Faye

Brynn Winkler Lauren West Jackie Cameron Kelly Murphy Maddox Mogenson Jilli Foley Lila Tulp Catherine Erickson Sydney Newton Celia Condon Elizabeth Mikkelson Sophie Henschel Sarah Bledsoe STAFF ARTISTS River Hennick Lilah Powlas STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Reilly Moreland Annakate Dilks Noelle Griffin Hadley Hyatt Phoebe Hendon Bella Wolfe Elise Madden Grace Allen

Morgan Woods Lucy Kostner MULTIMEDIA STAFF Olivia Olson Natalie Scholz Lawder Desantis Evelyn Roesner Ryan Gossick Maggie Schutt Max Patterson Alex Dinyer Sydney Williams Ally Talge PODCAST EDITOR Sydney Williams ADS MANAGER Sydney Newton CIRCULATION MANAGERS Campbell Wood Anna Stover

EDITORIAL | 03

design by | lilah faye editorial illustration by | river hennick

DON’T GET IT

TWISTED The convenience of modern news isn’t worth the trade-off of half-baked stories

FOR: 15 AGAINST: 0 The individuals on the editorial board who agree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by for, and those that disagree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by against.

S

ince the rise of online media, it’s undeniable that print journalism has been on the decline. From 1970 to 2016, the nation lost over 460 print papers, according to the Pew Research Center. Between the Internet, social media and efforts to reduce the global carbon footprint, print newspapers are becoming a rarity largely outnumbered by online news outlets and primetime coverage.

While there are advantages to the way information is spread in our modern age, online news outlets have been using promotion tactics that misconstrue reality in order to get clicks, retweets and forwards.

These methods of promotion — clickbait, sensationalization and vague summaries of complex stories — cause the spread of false information. Whether it’s a story about Elizabeth Warren’s healthcare plan or James Charles’ latest YouTube drama, the inadequate, quick-and-dirty communication needs to stop.

Miscommunication thrives in our society.

Like a game of telephone played by kids at a Saturday-night sleepover, people will share details of stories over their social media until the thread of information has become so twisted, the focus completely strays from the original story. Luckily for 6-and-7-yearolds, misunderstanding what your friend whispers into your ear and passing it on doesn’t have any negative long-term effects.

But when national news stories are manipulated through the modern chain of command — retweets, reposts and reblogs — the impact can be more severe. Crucial details and vital background information being omitted can lead to misinterpretation

of complex narratives and even character defamation.

A prime example of these social media promotion insufficiently informing the public is the BuzzFeed News’ Instagram account. Their trademark posts of textbox and eye-catching image combos have taken over our DMs and can be seen reposted on the stories of everyone from “woke” activists to celebrity drama fanatics.

Whether it be the recent arrest of “Supernatural” star Jared Padalecki or Kanye West’s recent conversion to Christianity, BuzzFeed reduces journalism to bite-sized, easy to digest posts. The objective is to give a quick look into what the website’s articles contain. But with the allure of the TikTok your friend just texted you or a looming APUSH study guide, the reality is that most people stop digging further into stories after a brief summary. Other news Instagram accounts, like Huffpost, follow a similar model of laying pull-quotes or summaries over images in an attempt to quickly recap larger stories to readers.

This method of advertising — while beneficial to the outlets and their efforts to make a profit — fails to connect readers to the full story. For example, a recent BuzzFeed News Instagram post that reports 16 people being sentenced to death for the murder of a sexual harassment reporter is written to draw peoples’ attention, but insufficient information leaves the audience with questions. What country was this in?

What was the motive? Why were there so many people involved?

When news sites omit the fine-line details of a story, viewers reading the

summaries are left to either disregard the news completely, or fill in the blanks with whatever background information suits their ideologies best.

In a world where “fake news” and “alternative facts” have made their way into our daily intake of media, journalism should be the bridge that brings opposing parties together through the legitimacy of facts — not furthering the divide through a lack of concrete reporting.

With the mass amount of online content available for people to spend their time consuming, news sites have to get their point across in the quickest way possible in order to maintain audiences. People’s short attention spans are being bolstered by news sites that publish headline news as opposed to in-depth coverage of intricate issues.

Due to the quick pace of content on the app, outlets such as DailyMail and NowThis use this tactic frequently on Snapchat. Most of their posts use various methods of clickbait such as sensational headlines and red circles over pictures of Kylie Jenner to draw the viewer’s eye to an over-dramatized story.

These sites show the effect of prioritizing quantity over quality in journalism — most would barely even consider these outlets “journalism.”

In our country’s current climate — both political, literal and other — news outlets cannot afford to bend on their principles: to always deliver the truth, no matter the occasion. Instead of prioritizing profit over principle and ad clicks over accuracy, news sites need to uphold their promise to the public by writing and advertising news that puts the needs of the readers first.

Young people are especially affected by the implications of quick coverage, especially given that teens make up a large portion of social media’s user base. Some of us are getting ready to vote in 2020. Some of us are passionate about climate change. Some of us just want to know how our favorite celebrity is doing after their breakup. As we seek to inform ourselves about the world around us, news outlets need to uphold the principles of journalism to deliver us the full truths we deserve.

No matter the situation, news sites need to use social media to advertise in a way that connects audiences to the full coverage journalists work so hard to craft. But until then, when you’re looking to inform yourself, it is vital to search beyond the headlines.

EDITORIAL POLICY The Harbinger is a student-run publication.

Published editorials express the views of the Harbinger staff. Signed columns published in the Harbinger express the writer’s personal opinion. The contents and views of the Harbinger do not represent the student body, faculty, administration or Shawnee Mission School District. The Harbinger will not share any unpublished content, but quoted material may be confirmed with sources.

The Harbinger encourages letters to the editors, but reserves the right to reject them for reasons including but not limited to lack of space, multiple letters of the same topic and personal attacks contained in the letter.

The Harbinger will not edit content though letters may be edited for clarity, length, libel or mechanics. Letters should be sent to room 521 or emailed to smeharbinger@gmail.com

04 | NEWS

design by | allison wilcox

NEWS

EAST

by celia condon

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

SHARE IS HOLDING their annual Dodgeball Tournament to benefit the Johnson County Christmas Bureau on Nov. 13.

After previous years requiring canned goods for entry, SHARE coordinator Krissie Wiggins asked a service worker what items were donated the least and cereal was the answer. So, instead of a monetary entry price, the fee is one cereal box, which will be donated to the Bureau’s food drive to help families in need.

For each additional cereal box brought, the player gets an extra life during the tournament.

With up to nine members on a team, and about 20 teams competing each year, the competition is always fun, according to Wiggins.

“It’s just one of those things that’s been

LOC A L

T O P Sophomore Tate Nicholson collects money for the Johnson County Christmas Bureau during one of StuCo’s Can Drive month events. photo by | annakate dilks

M A R K YO U R CA L E NDA R SME DEBAT E TO U R N A M E N T | N OV. 1 5 / 1 6

STU CO TA L EN T S H OW | N OV. 1 9

IB IN FO M EET I N G | N OV. 2 1

POLL Are you planning to participate in the SHARE Dodgeball Tournament? INSTAGRAM POLL | 213 VOTES

77% NO

B R E A K I N G N E W S : A U. S .

FEDERAL JUDGE HAS B LO C K E D A L A BA M A ’S N E A R - TOTA L BA N O N A B O RT I O N S F RO M TA K I N G E F F EC T N E X T M O N T H . O P P O N E N TS O F A B O RT I O N WA N T T H E C A S E TO R E AC H T H E S U P R E M E CO U RT .

T H E N E W YO R K T I M E S | 1 0/ 3 0/ 1 9

SCAN ME | NEWS Scan to read about Sheridan’s temporarily closing for renovations

23% YES Did you know Paseo Boulevard was changed to Martin Luther King Boulevard? INSTAGRAM POLL | 242 VOTES

55% NO 45% YES

SHARE holding dodgeball tournament fundraiser going on forever and it has a reputation,” Wiggins said.

After the teams are signed up, a bracket is made of all the teams. Teams are allowed to play their games in themed outfits. Themes range anywhere from one specific color to 90’s rappers and zoo animals.

“The seniors especially get into the themes,” Wiggins said.

Winners of games play each other until only two teams remain for the final game.

The first place team gets a dozen donuts and a Chipotle gift card for each team member. In addition, “Best Dressed Team” wins another surprise award.

The tournament will take place in the Main Gym at 5:30 p.m. and sign-up sheets are outside the SHARE room.

After local vote, MLK St. will change back to Paseo Blvd

IN JANUARY OF this year, the Kansas City, Mo. City Council voted to rename Paseo Boulevard to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. In response, “Save the Paseo,” a group of locals, fought to restore the original name.

The group felt that the name change was a dishonor to the history of the Boulevard, disregarding how long it was there and its meaning in the city.

A vote was held Tuesday, Nov. 5 to decide whether to keep the new name to honor Martin Luther King or to change it back to its historical name.

After eight hours of voting, it was decided to change the name back to its original, ‘Paseo Boulevard.’

Jennifer Hair, an East teacher who lives near Paseo, has mixed emotions about the name being restored.

“It would be awesome to have something that a large amount of people interact with on a daily basis with that honors Martin Luther King,” Hair said. “But Paseo is so historical to Kansas City.”

This, once again, makes Kansas City one of the rare major American cities without a street named for MLK. Opinions are mixed, but about 65% of voters preferred the name Paseo Boulevard, according to unofficial election results released by the city.

N A T I O N A L Abortion ban in Alabama has been postponed ALABAMA’S BAN ON total abortion was postponed on Oct. 29.

The “Human Life Protection Act,” was meant to go into effect Nov. 15, but after a preliminary injunction was issued by a judge, the process was paused and taken back a step.

The law intended to ban all abortions in Alabama except for special cases of “necessary abortion in order to prevent a serious health risk.” There would be no exception for cases of rape or incest. The ban would have criminalized the procedure, and would be punishable by up to 99 years in prison for doctors.

President of the Young Republicans Club Junior Charlie Birt stands Pro-Life and was upset to hear the news of the ban’s postponement.

“I’m a little bit disappointed in some

regards,” Birt said. “Although it’s really up to the Alabama Legislature to decide how they go about their laws.”

The goal was to attempt to overturn Roe v.

Wade, the part of the Constitution that protects a pregnant woman’s choice to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. The bill was postponed because it goes against this part of the constitution.

“I wasn’t overwhelmingly surprised,” senior and Co-President of the Young Democrats Club Margaret Veghlan said. “When the ban initially came out, it had a lot of blatantly unconstitutional parts to it, if you read the whole bill.”

The case is still in trial, but will no longer become active Nov. 15 because of the injunction.

NEWS | 05

design by | lilah faye

ORION THE TRANSPORT

NASA’s Artemis program plans to return humanity to the moon

BACK

M

N

TO THE

IN 1969, NASA traveled to the moon. Now, 50 years later, we’re going back – and this time we’re staying.

NASA’s newest lunar program, named Artemis after Apollo’s twin sister, lays out plans for a lunar and martian future.

Through this mission NASA will send the first woman to the

Moon’s South Pole along with another man.

With the first trip set for 2024, there should be semi-permanent human presence by 2028 according to NASA. The plan leads up to the next giant leap for mankind – sending astronauts to Mars.

ARTEMIS THE MISSION

ORION GENERATION THE SUITS

SCAN ME | ARTEMIS Learn more about NASA’s Artemis program

THESE MODERN SPACESUITS will allow astronauts to explore safely in the harsh environment of space. These new suits will include NASA’s advanced exploration extravehicular mobility unit. A second suit, the crew survival system unit, will provide protection during launch and re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

MOON MONEY THE ECONOMY

MINING TOURISM RESEARCH

ORION WILL TRANSPORT up to four astronauts to the Gateway in orbit around the moon. Launched using the Space Launch System (SLS), the spacecraft will allow astronauts to travel thousands of miles from home, and return home in hours instead of days.

GATEWAY THE LUNAR OUTPOST

BUILT IN TWO separate trips over the course of two years, the Gateway will allow for access to the entire lunar surface and allow new opportunities for space exploration beyond the moon.

250,000 MILES FROM EARTH

SLS

THE ROCKET

THE SPACE LAUNCH System is a powerful, advanced rocket designed to propel humanity into deep space, and allow for complex missions.

322 5.75 8.8 FEET TALL

MILLION POUNDS

INITIAL CONFIGURATION CAN SEND MORE THAN

MILLION POUNDS OF THRUST

FUTURE UPGRADES WILL ENABLE TO SEND MORE

57,000 99,000 POUNDS

POUNDS

LUNAR LANDERS THE LANDING SYSTEM

IN COLLABORATION WITH American companies, NASA is preparing to build a landing system that will detach from the Gateway and let astronauts reach every part of the lunar surface.

BEYOND THE FUTURE

What the next few years

ARTEMIS I THE FIRST HUMAN SPACECRAFT TO THE MOON IN THE 21st CENTURY

ARTEMIS II

SUPPORT

SUPPORT

FIRST HUMAN SPACECRAFT TO ORBIT THE MOON IN THE 21st CENTURY

FIRST HIGH-POWER SOLAR ELECTRIC PROPULSION (SEP) SYSTEM

FIRST PRESSURIZED MODULE DELIVERED TO GATEWAY

look like for Artemis

SUPPORT HUMAN LANDING SYSTEM DELIVERED TO GATEWAY

ARTEMIS III CREWED MISSION TO GATEWAY AND LUNAR SURFACE

06 | NEWS

design by | kelly murphy photos by | julia percy and megan stopperan

YOUTH AND GOV RECAP

A breakdown of this year’s YMCA Kansas Youth and Government conference

by tommy paulus

Y

outh and Government club attended the YMCA’s Kansas Youth and Government conference in the Kansas State Capitol building on Oct. 28 and 29.

The premise of the conference is to replicate the process of Kansas bicameral legislature, particularly in passing bills. Prior to attending the program, each student is tasked with researching any issue that needs reform, like juuling bans by Aislinn Kinsella or increased bathroom space from Sam Huntley. The bill then is crafted and submitted on the deadline of Oct. 6.

Another item on the conference’s agenda was voting on the new Presiding officers – the students in charge of running the conference – for the program next year. Junior Charlie Birt will be Youth governor, Sophie Rice will be lieutenant government, Glory Obi will be President of the Senate and Hananeel Morinville will be Speaker of the House.

Before reviewing and debating their bills the students split into two groups: the House, for people with with less YAG experience, and the Senate, for those with more experience. From there, they split into committees for related topics and decide the most promising bill to present in front of the chamber they are in.

Of the 70 students who attended, 30 of them came from East. According to Lieutenant Governor Sophie Rice, the reason for this heavy concentration is East’s previous

Presiding Officer’s involvement and promotion of the club at East.

“We try our best to go to every social studies class and give them the opportunity to be apart of a governmental process, and it’s very helpful to bring in more students,” Rice said.

If a students bill passed, it goes to the opposite chamber for another debate. Once that debate has finished, the fate of the bill is in the hands of Sophia Menhert, this year’s Youth Governor, who can either pass or veto the bill, which will be sent directly to the real Kansas Senate.

The program isn’t just prevalent at East — Shawnee Mission Northwest also had 24 students in the program.

However, the presiding officers have been trying to reach out to other schools around the state of Kansas, to expand the program.

“We reach out through friends and other leaders around our communities, in addition to direct contact with school districts,” next year’s Speaker of the House Charlie Birt said “It’s quite a bit of networking.”

On the last full day of the conference YAG holds elections for the preceding year’s Presiding officers.

There, the potential candidates hold elections campaigns and have a debate similar to the Democratic Presidential debates, according to Birt. The students in the audience are encouraged to ask relevant topics about relating to the

program, covering things like future reform and improving the program.

After a night of political campaigning, the following morning saw the election of the future Presiding officers.

Along with spreading, running and campaigning for the program, Presiding Officers make sure everything from the bill debates to the peer reviewing of bills stayed true to the actual Kansas legislature, while still having some room in the chambers form jokes and companionship.

According to President of the House, Sophie Fairchild,

I think the program is a very good experience for anyone who might be considering seeing how the government works or just wants to try something new.

sophie rice | junior the YAG trip was smooth and exciting and a higher amount of bills past than previous years she has been apart of it.

“This year was so much fun, for the most part, we had a great balance of seriousness and fun because we all communicated with each other.” Fairchild said.

S T U D E N T R E P R E S E N TAT I V E S A N D T H E I R B I L L S

$ ANNA HEIDE BILL | Student athletes should be paid because of their time and effort FATE | Didn’t pass in the House or Senate, but was awarded with the YMCA award for sports bill

MAC MUEHLBURGER BILL | All KS Private Prisons should be Public and under the government FATE | Passed all three stages and made it to actual KS legislature

L I LY T U R N E R

AISLINN KINSELLA

BILL | The legalization of dueling in Kansas FATE | Passed through the House, but refused in Senate

BILL | The banishment of flavored Juul pods FATE | Passed through the House, but refused in Senate

2019 CONFERENCE LEADERS

CHARLIE BIRT

POSITION | Speaker of the House DUTIES | Lead the House and gave each person a chance to speak

SOPHIE RICE

POSITION | Lieutenant Governor DUTIES | Helped the Youth Governor and decided the future of the bills

A B O V E Youth and Government Club at the Kansas State Capitol photo courtesy of | sophie rice

NEWS | 07

design by | sydney newton photos by | noelle griffin

OPEN FOR BUSINESS The newly unveiled Wassmer Park held an opening celebration to enjoy the park’s unique features

by elizabeth mikkelson

W

assmer Park opened in Prairie Village on Oct. 26 in honor of the former mayor, Parks and Recreation Committee Chair and environmental advocate, Laura Wassmer.

Wassmer Park is one of the two newly opened parks in Prairie Village along with the recent opening of Meadowbrook Park this summer.

The land for Wassmer Park was originally the site of the Faith Lutheran Church, which closed in 2017 and went up for sale. While the city of Prairie Village didn’t offer the highest bid, the Church accepted their offer to turn the land into a community park space, as opposed to the highest bidders’ plan to develop the land for housing.

However, according to Ward 1 (Northern Ward of Prairie Village) City Councilwoman, Jori Nelson, there were people who adamantly opposed the purchase of this land for a park in the community. Those who opposed felt that the community didn’t need any more greenspace or parks since there was already one down the street.

Although this was deliberated upon in council meetings, the city ultimately agreed on building the park — considering the additional greenspace it would provide. After the purchase of the property in 2017, they began construction in early 2019.

Similar to Wassmer Park, Meadowbrook Park was originally planned to be completely developed,

but the city proposed to turn it into a multi-use property in order to further the land opportunity. According to KCUR News, the land at Meadowbrook Park was significant in terms of greenspace in the neighborhood and “more than doubled Prairie Village’s park acreage.”

“I’m very hopeful that those parks will be continued for a very long time,” Wassmer said. “And that the community will also take good care of them.’’

In 2009, the city of Prairie Village hired a market professional for the specific issue to help improve the parks system and received back a Parks Master Plan. The master plan stated that since the city is landlocked, they should act on any greenspace opportunities. For the past decade, Prairie Village has sought out these opportunities to collaborate with the Johnson County Parks and Recreation District.

Nelson remarks that since the Parks Master Plan in 2009, the acreage has significantly increased in parks like Meadowbrook and Wassmer in the past ten years and provided the city with more greenspace.

“We have really built a magnificent park system within our city,” Nelson said. “It reaches all the way from the northern part of Prairie Village to the southern part.”

In order to celebrate the added greenspace of Wassmer Park, the opening celebration was held on Oct. 26 with face painting, food trucks and a zipline.

T O P R I G H T Two little girls swing together on Wassmer Park’s new swingset.

Over 100 residents came to support T O P M I D D L E Sophomore Grace the opening, including senior Jessica McCamy gets a pumpkin painted on her Hickey. Hickey lives a few blocks away face while visiting the park. from the park and has watched the T O P L E F T Project Initiatives Manager, process of it being constructed, which Bob Lindeblad, gives a speech during the opening sentiments. began with the destruction of the previous church. Along with attending the opening, Hickey and her friend took part in some of the park activities. “[My friend and I walked] down there and got some food from the food A look inside some of the new truck and then we started joining in on features of Wassmer Park the games,” Hickey said.

One of the main advocates for the BOCCE BALL land being used as greenspace instead located to the right of commercial use was Wassmer. of the parking lot When the discussion was brought up of what to name the park, Wassmer became the decided choice. This naming commemorates her time as mayor of ZIPLINE Prairie Village and her prevalence in l ocated next advocating for environmental progress in the city. to the front of There are personal touches in the parking this park that are unique to some lot of Wassmer’s interests, including a public garden space. Gardening has been in her family for generations and something that is valued.

WALKING TRAIL “My mom loves to garden and her located around all mother loved to garden,” Wassmer said. sides of Wassner “So there’s definitely family history revolving around plants and nature and all of that.”

Wassmer felt honored to have the GARDEN park named after herself. located next to the “I’m really overwhelmed and just bocce ball court extremely grateful,” Wassmer said. “It’s a very fitting tribute to the time I put in and my particular passions.”

LETS PLAY

08 | OPINION

design by | maddox mogenson

OPINION

HIGHLIGHTS

THE WEEK IN 280 C H A R AC T E R S DA N I C A RO E M M A D E H I STO RY AGA I N O N T U E S DAY,

A look into student opinions and the opinion section

B EC O M I N G T H E F I R ST T R A N S G E N D E R L AW M A K E R I N V I RG I N I A ’S STAT E H I STO RY TO W I N H E R R E E L EC T I O N

FA L L O P I N I O N S

C A M PA I G N F O R T H E G E N E R A L A S S E M B LY. H U F F P OST | 1 1 /0 5 / 1 9

WERE YOU PREPARED FOR THE SUDDEN TEMPERATURE CHANGE?

I love summer and cold just sucks because you have to wear a lot of layers, so I did not like it.

B R E A K I N G : T H E U. S . S E N AT E L A ST N I G H T U N A N I M O U S LY A P P ROV E D L EG I S L AT I O N I I N T RO D U C E D W I T H @ R E P T E D D E U TC H TO M A K E A B H O R R E N T AC TS O F A N I M A L C R U E LT Y A F E D E R A L O F F E N S E . T H E P R E V E N T I N G A N I M A L C R U E LT Y A N D

sydney beck | sophomore

TO RT U R E ( PAC T ) AC T I S N OW O N I TS WAY TO T H E P R E S I D E N T F O R H I S S I G N AT U R E .

R E P. V E R N B U C H A N A N | 1 1 /0 6 / 1 9

WHAT’S ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE FALL ACTIVITIES?

T H E M A K E R O F A N G RY B I R D S I S C A P I TA L I Z I N G O N F I V E Y E A R S O F M AC H I N E L E A R N I N G TO D E V E LO P I N D I V I D UA L LY - TA I LO R E D GA M E S BY 2 0 2 2

Running. The fall is the best time of year weather-wise for running, and it’s also cross country season.

B LO O M B E RG T EC H N O LO GY | 1 1 /0 5 / 1 9

kai achen | junior

O P I N I O N AT E D DO YOU LIKE GIVING PEOPLE HUGS? | 334 VOTES

I T ’ S N E V E R T O O E A R LY

A

by kelly murphy

s soon as I have to turn my seat warmer on in my car and take my Uggs out of my closet, “Last Christmas” by Wham! and “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande make their way to the top of my Spotify queue.

Some of my friends may think I’m crazy for jamming out to “Jingle Bell Rock” before post-Halloween candy is on sale at Hen House, but it’s never too early to start listening to Christmas music.

Actually I take that back — Christmas music shouldn’t be

Staffer shares opinion on the correct time to start listening to Christmas music

playing in the spring or summer.

Don’t get me wrong, Christmas music is great and all but that doesn’t mean anyone should be sitting by the pool singing Christmas carols on a hot July afternoon.

Nothing makes me happier than listening to Michael Bublé’s Christmas album on shuffle while snuggled up in a fluffy blanket with my favorite light green fuzzy socks — even if it happens to be a couple of weeks before Halloween.

Some people say, “It’s Halloween so why don’t you just listen to Halloween music?” Let me make myself clear — I don’t patiently wait half a year to listen to Halloween music. I wait half a year to listen to the far superior Christmas music.

Christmas music brings feelings of joy and cheer: spending time with family, sipping hot cocoa on a chilly

day, decorating the house and tree.

Halloween music makes you want to stop whatever you’re doing and do the monster mash or walk like an Egyptian.

Maybe I’m a little biased because Christmas is my favorite holiday and Halloween is one of my least favorites. But then again, how often do you hear someone say, “I can’t wait to hear “Purple People Eater” again this year!”

Of course I listened to Halloween music on Halloween while I passed out candy with my friends, but that doesn’t mean it’s better than Christmas music. And you can bet that the day after Halloween I went right back to singing “All I Want for Christmas is You” on repeat with Mariah Carey because it’s (almost) never too early to start listening to Christmas music.

81% YES 19% NO DO YOU THINK PEOPLE WITH MENTAL PROBLEMS SHOULD SEEK HELP? | 353 VOTES

95% YES 5% NO HAVE YOU EVER BEEN SCARED TO TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT A MENTAL PROBLEM? | 313 VOTES

61% YES 39% NO DO YOU TRY TO BE PRODUCTIVE AT SCHOOL AND AT HOME? | 345 VOTES

88% YES 12% NO

B U G G E D BY T H E

OPINION | 09 design by | lila tulp photos by | aislinn menke

by jackie cameron

M

y natural instinct when anyone comes within a couple inches of my body is to flinch, scrunch up my face and throw my hands out to stop them. You’d think I’m being attacked by a feral dog or that someone’s trying to mug me, but they’re not — they’re just going in for a hug.

Every time my mom says “Bye sweetie, have a great day at school!” and hugs me so tight my backpack straps leave an imprint on my skin, I enter panic mode. I stand with my arms at my side — the spitting image of a Buckingham Palace guard. Not because I don’t love my mom, but because I hate hugs.

There’s no reasonable explanation for my disdain for hugs — no cruel childhood or lack of affection. Hugging is basically squeezing someone’s body to your’s and I don’t think it’s so crazy that I’m trying my best to avoid that. I feel awkward giving and receiving hugs — how long are they supposed to last? Where do I put my hands? Should I pull away first? The internal agony is not worth it.

I shouldn’t have to ironically say “wow you know how I love hugs” every time my mom hugs me goodnight.

I shouldn’t have to endure sarcastic air hugs because my friends know I’m not a hugger. I shouldn’t be forced to hug relatives at Thanksgiving because I’m “thankful” for them (you know what I’m not thankful for? Hugs).

Now, I’m used to congratulatory hugs from my friends for getting into a school or playing well in a soccer game — but it’s the hugs that leave no time to mentally prep that I loathe. My aversion to hugs definitely stems from the unexpected hugs. Throw in the time a stranger went in for one without warning when I was walking in Times Square and you could say I’m a little scarred.

According to Suzanne Degges-White, a Counseling and Counselor Education professor at Northern Illinois University, people’s tendencies for physical touch are a product of their early childhood experiences.

That’s not necessarily true — bear hugs were an everyday occurence from my dad growing up and I can barely give my eight-year-old sister a hug without feeling uncomfortable (I sound like a monster). Plus, my mom, as you’ve probably figured out by now, is an avid embracer.

Even though they’re my family, I still get the handsclenched-at-my-side feeling when there’s hugs involved.

I understand that for some people any sort of physical touch can bring up traumatic past experiences, but can’t a girl hate hugs without people thinking that her hug aversion is the product of hellish circumstances?

I just don’t want my personal space invaded, and having my own air supply without someone latching onto my body and breathing down my neck is a necessity. Ugh.

Shudder.

My fr ie nd s ’ excuses for springing hugs on me is because they assume I’m the type who would love hugs, all because I rarely get mad and have the demeanor of a second-grade girl scout. But that doesn’t mean you can give me hugs willy-nilly.

Of course I still value affection. It’s important to tell loved ones you care for them, but maybe skip the hug for me. Verbal cues and pats on backs work just fine for me, and I’d much rather hear someone say something nice than have them lean in for a hug.

Yet despite my best efforts to shy away from anyone with open arms, I’m learning to live with my obvious dislike for hugs. While I think it’s important to maintain my anti-hug values, it’s getting a little awkward to tell every new person to keep their distance.

The Huffington Post claims that hugs lay the biological foundation for connecting to other people, and Oxytocin — a hormone produced when embracing — is the main way to generate trust between people. But, if someone tries to hug me, I’m way less likely to trust them with my iPhone password.

The Huffington Post makes it sound as if this is the only way to establish bonding — haven’t you ever heard of liking the same episode of “Parks and Rec” or shared a hatred for Mexican food? Connecting through mutual interests is typically the first step in creating a friendship, not going in to cuddle.

Although I preach a no-hug life, I have been trying to force myself to dole some out. I’m working on making myself more accustomed to them so I can conquer my fear.

One hug a day is the goal. The only reason I’m putting myself through this living hell is because I’m the one in control — I can choose if it’s Lila who’s going to get one during Harbinger announcements or if Reilly will get a semi-awkward (I’m still getting the hang of it) one during passing period.

I can’t keep making my mom feel bad when I don’t hug back and I’m pretty sure my extended family thinks I hate them due to my unenthusiastic embraces, so it’s time I learn to hug (just not all the time).

J A C K I E ’ S H U G H AT E R 1 0 1 Jackie’s top tips for hug haters — whether you decide to accept the hug or politely deny

F I N D A N A LT E R N AT I V E Make up a handshake with someone (this way you always have something to do when saying goodbye that’s NOT a hug)

D O N ’ T STO P CO M P L E T E LY Try a different type of hug, sidehugs are more comfortable and less invasive, give it a shot, you’d be surprised

TIP

1

TIP

2

EX P L A I N YO U R D I S DA I N Simply tell someone you’re not a hugger and make sure they know it’s nothing personal, they’ll understand

TIP

3

10 | OPINION

SAFE

design by | caroline chisholm art by | lilah faye

TO STRU GG L E

Although it may seem intimidating to talk to a complete stranger about your endless nights crying for no reason, therapists are professional for a reason.

Therapy should be something that people embrace, not something people avoid

by maddox mogenson

S

itting on the blue-gray couch, I poured out my entire life story to someone I had just met. After my hour-long monologue with zero interruption, the woman in the chair thought for a moment, opened her notebook and started writing. She looked me in the eye and said, “It’s going to be okay.”

Those five words spoke volumes into the ears of someone with diagnosed depression.

Therapy is something that many people avoid — they don’t want their mental conditions to become a reality. But therapy should be something that people with a mental illness embrace, not something that they’re ashamed of.

Six years ago in October, my stepmom passed away in a car crash. The first few months after the accident were rough — my family and I were in a broken state. I went from being a constant chatterbox with vibrant emotions to silently locking myself in my pitch-black bedroom. I eventually grew tired of suppressing my tears and putting on a positive facade pretending everything was fine. I needed change.

I got the change from therapy. Being someone who has experienced three years of therapy, I can say that nothing helps more than talking to someone who is unbiased and nonjudgmental.

Although it may seem intimidating to talk to a complete stranger about your endless nights crying for no reason, therapists are professionals for a reason. They’ve studied the brain and know how to alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety, and each treatment is unique — mine consisted of drawing my emotions and listening to music. I would walk through the wooden doorway after each session feeling a little more like my outgoing and social self.

Of course therapy wasn’t my first step in my healing process.

I tried talking to my mom, who knew me better than anyone in the world, but without psychological expertise she had no idea how to help me. So she looked for a therapist who had experience treating my symptoms and found one that helped me with my own problems — everything from stress over a bad test grade to a loss of self-worth.

But despite my obvious mental growth from attending sessions, my father was very against therapy. I thought that someone who had gone through so much mental trauma would need someone to talk to who could understand the situation and give options for help. But my father persisted that therapy was a terrible way to deal with depression without providing any concrete reasons, but

that didn’t stop me.

According to Psychology Today, the idea of getting help from a therapist or psychiatrist strikes fears of being crazy or no longer being themselves when they walk out of the room in many people’s minds. As much as I understand these concerns, as a therapy veteran, I know they’re not true.

Before I started therapy, I was worried that there was no way someone could make me get back into my usual daily routine of screaming Beyoncé at the top of my lungs or playing Pokémon until my mom came into my room and took my Nintendo 3DS away.

I didn’t understand how someone who knew nothing about me, my family or my situation could ever help me. I thought I would never get back to my happy-go-lucky way of life.

If anything, therapy makes you more yourself when you walk out of the room. Psychology Today also states that most people don’t go to therapy for a serious mental illness, but instead for an out-of-the-ordinary event that interrupts the flow of daily life like getting fired from a job or a huge fight with a spouse. Talking about those problems helps you get back into the rhythm of how life was before, it doesn’t disrupt it.

For more serious cases like depression or anxiety, therapy can help control the chemical imbalance that exists in the brain.

Depression messes with your personality, mindset and judgement.

Therapy exists in order to help you get back to who you are without the cloud of depression or anxiety looming over.

After completing three years of therapy, I walked out of the room every week more confident and happy, knowing my mindset was in a much better place. My problems weren’t completely erased — that’s impossible. But I learned to channel my depression into outlets like dancing and songwriting. By that time I had outgrown my Pokémon binges and scream-singing concerts, but I was genuinely happy with my state of mind.

While therapy can’t fix every problem a patient has, talking to someone on a weekly basis helps diminish the severity of the hurricane that is life. Even after going to therapy for so long, I’m still not happy every day. But through counseling, I’ve learned how to deal with my depression in active ways so I can continue to be the most authentic and happy version of myself.

So if you’re struggling with a large-scale mental illness or stressed about a school project, go get help. Don’t be scared to talk to someone about your life, you’ll be thankful for the results that come from it.

lila tulp | senior

WA RNI NG S I G NS Loss of interest or loss of pleasure in all ac tiv ities Change in appetite or weight Feeling agitated or feeling slowed down Feelings of low self-wor th, gu ilt or shor tcomings

1-800-273-8255 n at io n al s uic id e prevent io n h ot lin e is open 2 4/ 7 to prov id e co n fid ent ial s uppo r t

DE PRE SSION IN THE U.S. IN AD U LTS 1 in 5 | U.S. adults experience mental illness each year 17.7 | million adults experience a major depressive episode each year

I N YO U T H 1 in 6 | U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year 50.6% | of U.S. youth aged 6-17 with a mental health disorder received treatment in 2016 2x | High school students with sig nificant sym ptoms of depression are more than twice as likely to drop out com pared to their peers information courtesy of | www.nami.org

OPINION | 11

design by | annabelle moore photo by | kate nixon

HUSTLE OR Staffer voices her opinion on hustle culture by attempting to live three perfect days

TUSSLE

TIME TO STOP THE CLOCK Lydia’s morning schedule she followed on her three perfect days

6: 00 A . M . WA K E U P

6:1 0 A . M . M A K E U P

6:30 A . M . D R E S S U P

6:45 A.M. BREAKFAST

7:1 0 A . M . S C H OO L

by lydia underwood

I

always see videos on YouTube of girls with pastel gel pens beautifully marking every event for the next two weeks in their planners while vlogging their perfect productive day. They made it look so easy, I figured it would be a breeze to replicate.

But after trying to match these unrealistic expectations by trying to keep my hair and clothes perfect at all times and checking neat boxes off my planner with sparkly pens, I realized I can’t hang.

For three days, I tried living a “hustle” lifestyle: being productive 24/7. I set expectations for myself that I had to meet each day: looking nice for school, limited social media time and starting homework immediately after school — not stopping until I was forced by swim practice.

The three days of perfection didn’t prove that constantly being “on the grind” is ideal — it was just the opposite. As I lay on the floor in my robe for the last day for thirty minutes, too tired to get up, I realized that if humans need anything, it’s balance.

The first day was a shock to the system.

Waking up at 6 a.m. to straighten my hair and do my makeup left me feeling sick with headaches for the rest of the day. All I wanted to do was throw my hair up into a messy bun and fall into a TikTok black hole.

Despite my social media withdrawal, the productivity had its benefits. I started my English book, put away the laundry and cleaned my room all before 5 p.m.

Then I hit my slump.

I ended up checking Instagram for a solid 30 seconds until my dad reminded me that I had to be productive. He was able to keep me on track with more clothes to put away, athletic clothes to hang up and reluctantly helping with dinner-time preparations.

It’s physically impossible for us to run like machines 24/7, because eventually we’ll break.

lydia underwood | senior I powered through swim practice, but when the realization hit that I couldn’t watch Shane Dawson’s new video when I got home, my mood plummeted (it falls under the leisure category which was forbidden). Operating at high-speed for a while is one thing, but if there’s no break, it only leads to resent and no down-time to look forward to.

With my energy already drained from day one of non-stop productivity, I felt like I was going to pass out from mental exhaustion. I

was running on an empty tank — I couldn’t control what was about to happen when I got home.

After doing my homework, I found myself stress watching “The Great British Baking Show” for about an hour. It wasn’t even enjoyable — the whole time I felt guilty about not being productive.

Just having unrealistic goals set made everything more stressful, even if I wasn’t sticking to them. By that point, I was ready to give up and I knew that I needed a balance of leisure and productivity.

The third day didn’t begin with the extreme drag I felt on the second, but without any sort of brain-break, it soon devolved.

But by the time I got to seventh hour, I was a mess. I handed out the wrong test forms to Appier’s Chemistry class (sorry Appier) and struggled to answer questions about the electron configuration of iron.

I felt like a five year old who had just experienced a sugar crash.

I fought through lifting weights after school with my nonexistent energy and even brought my backpack to the gym to muddle through my Calculus homework in the 30 minutes I had before swim practice. By the end, I used every single one of the 30 minutes to work. After that. the last thing I wanted to do was go to swim practice.

It was easy for me to be productive for an hour at a time, but my brain needed short breaks about every other hour. Otherwise there’d be consequences — terribly-done homework and feeling like I was about to collapse at swim practice are just two of many.

Once I got home, I was so tired I fell asleep on my floor wearing a robe for about 30 minutes. I was hotter than a hot mess. I woke up and had to get ready for bed, but I ended up sleeping in my robe. I didn’t have enough energy to put a shirt on.

The progression from the first day to the third was night and day in terms of my energy levels and attitude. I endured three miserable days of a hustle culture lifestyle and what I learned was that humans need balance between productivity and leisure.

It’s physically impossible for us to run like machines 24/7, because eventually we’ll break.

SCAN ME | VIDEO Scan to see vlog footage of Lydia on her three perfect days

Creating Peace of Mind Serving Your Investment Needs

Satu Stechschulte, CFA Kristin Patterson Bryant Barnes Stuart Berkley, CFA Andrew Muther Peter Greig, CFA Jeff Ream, CFP® Matt Montgomery, CFA

fciadvisors.com 800-615-2536

FEATURES | 13

design by | natasha thomas

F E AT U R E

HIGHLIGHTS

SYDNI WILLIAM F EAT U R E D ARTIST

LANCERS CAN DO IT

S Y D N I ’ S FAV O R I T E MEDIUMS

B E L O W Sophomore Maya Salas laughs as the Lancer mascot comes up to the sophomore section and dances during the Oct. 24 StuCo Can Drive pep assembly. photo by | annakate dilks

PRINT MAKER D R AW E R / P H O T O G R A P H E R S C U L P TO R

.4 AND .8 mm PENTEL PENS AKUA INKS

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE AS AN ARTIST? “I like using lines and details to create different values.

That’s not necessarily all my work, but with my drawings for sure.”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RECENT PIECE?

T O P Senior Reilly Moreland announces senior Maddy Slaughter as the winner of the Hauberk vs. Harbinger cold soup-eating contest. photo by | megan stopperan

“I started on this landscape drawing, it was a highway scene. The reason I started it was because I’d kind of been lacking in mark-making, and I was like ‘I need to build back up some hand muscle.’ But it was interesting, because after starting it I realized it was really similar to one of the first ever pen drawings I ever made, and it was cool to see the growth over those two or three years.”

R I G H T Junior Sophie Rice, dressed in her jelly toast costume in the spirit of the Morp Halloween Dance scheduled for that weekend, runs towards the junior section to collect money for the Johnson County Christmas Bureau. photo by | megan stopperan

NOVEMBER

14 21 25-29 ST

C l u b P i c t u re D ay 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

TH

Check out Sydni’s instagram @sydniwilliam to see her latest art pieces

“It was around my freshman year that I found this old

SCAN ME | CLUB SCHEDULE

Ye a rb o o k P i c t u re Reta kes 8 a . m . - 1 1 a . m . | L i bra ry

SCAN ME | INSTAGRAM

WHAT INSPIRED THE STYLE OF PEN MARKING IN ‘UNEXPECTED RETU RN’?

MARK YOUR CALENDAR TH

UNEXPECTED RETURN | photo courtesy of sydni william

Don’t know when your club’s photos are? Check out the schedule at @ thisishauberk’s Instagram highlights

SCAN ME | ORDER Happy with your first pictures? Order them on Interstate Studio’s website

N o S ch ool | Tha nksg iv i ng B re a k g ra d es K-1 2

artist named Franklin Booth. He made these really beautiful pen-and-ink line drawings, sort of mimicking etchings — because he didn’t really know what etchings were when he started drawing. I didn’t know what etchings were either. But I starting mimicking his work, and that got me on this path of working with line and texture.”

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO TAKE ART AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? “My plan right now is to get my BFA in Visual Art from KU with a concentration in print-making, then I hope to get some experiences in some print shops. It might not be my main source of income, I doubt I’ll ever get to that point — maybe one day If I’m super famous. But there are a lot of hands-on jobs you can do [...] I definitely know I won’t stop making art anytime soon.”

14 | FEATURES

design by | rose kanaley photos by | bella wolfe

HELPING

R I G H T Scripts that Niven has donated to the school annotated with his markings for the shows

TH E S H OW

GO ON East alum and actor Kip Nivens donates library of scripts and theater memorabilia to the theater department

E

B E L O W One of Niven’s annotated scripts marked with blocking and lines for the department to use as a resource for teaching.

F A R R I G H T Kip Niven standing with Nancy Opal, another inductee into the SME Theater Hall of Fame.

M I D D L E A shot of the already existing theater library stored in the drama.

by carolyn popper

ast Alum Maggie Niven carted in two dollies and seven cardboard boxes full of scripts, scores and books from her father’s lifework. Kip Niven had died suddenly from a heart attack six months before, and she knew the best spot for his collection was where both she and her father graduated 50 years apart, and where he was inspired to pursue his acting career.

“Shawnee Mission East is where he first became an actor, and what inspired him to pursue a lifelong career,” Maggie said.

After contacting East Director Brian Cappello, she donated her father’s material to East hoping other students can find their passion in theater just like she and her father did. To her, the scripts, music sheets and stage instructions have better use existing where future actors, directors or stage managers will be able to read the source material.

“Maybe the material will make someone realize they want to direct someday,” Maggie said.

Niven graduated from East in 1963, studied theater at KU and went on to pursue an extensive acting career appearing in movies, TV shows, commercials and plays. He acted in movies and TV shows in the 70s and 80s such as “Magnum Force” and “New Years Evil.”

When he moved back to Kansas City from New York City in the 90’s so Maggie could grow up in the East district, Niven continued to involve himself in the theater community, working with Starlight, KC Repertory Theater and other local organizations. Before he died, he was scheduled to perform in “The Wizard of Oz” at Starlight.

While Maggie was still at East, he led musical theater workshops for the drama department, spoke with the students about life as a professional actor and coached some of Maggie’s friends for their upcoming auditions.

Senior Margaret Veglahn met Niven on a comedy sketch radio show when she was eight. She remembers how he made everyone feel at ease. When someone went in for a handshake, he went in for a hug. He wore a different bowtie every day, and smiled like crazy. At local shows, Veglahn remembers how he would offer to hold the doors and greet audience members as they arrived.

“He was so supportive,” Veglahn said. “I think everyone in the community felt that.”

On the front of the door to the library in the drama room is a gold plaque that reads, “Kip Niven Memorial Script Library and Theater Archive.” The donations will add to the already existing theater library located in the drama room. Cappello still hasn’t finished unloading and placing the contents of the six boxes since Maggie wheeled them in last month.

There are TV scripts and film scripts, and what Cappello likes most — about 30 of Niven’s own working scripts.

Some of it’s pretty obscure stuff, according to Cappello.

Only information a theater student would understand, like ways to integrate character roles into other characters and blocking how-to’s.

On the pages, Niven’s notes, dictations and dramaturgy are found scribbled in the margins and on the back of script pages, giving advice like to laugh on certain words and mumble on others. He includes blocking instructions, as to when an actor should drink from his pretend cup and how not to sound so “sing-songy” in a specific scene.

For certain projects in drama class such as writing scripts, analyzing scripts, directing plays and designing shows, Cappello believes the new addition to the library will provide resources to the student actors. When he sat down and flipped through some of Niven’s notations, Cappello was

in awe of his patience and thoroughness. When a student comes to Cappello who wants to pursue theater after high school, he knows the library will offer a primary source.

“Mr. DeFeo and I can teach these kids until we’re blue in the face, but for them to actually see it, that’s when they’ll get it,” Cappello said.

When directing a show, Cappello could sometimes realize himself becoming immune to the lines and blocking. He remembered when Niven would sit behind his chair, asking why Cappello had a student move in a certain direction or deliver a line a certain way. His fresh set of eyes that had seen years worth of professional theater offered Cappello the same insight he hopes the library can offer.

He was someone the local community was really lucky to have because of his high calier of talent. Because talent spreads more talent.

margaret veglahn | senior Nivens founded the Equity Actors’ Readers’ Theater, a local group where actors perform classic plays, script-inhand. In 2010, Cappello and DeFeo began the SME Theater Hall of Fame and inducted three people, one of which was Niven.

“He was someone the local community was really lucky to have because of his high caliber of talent,” Veglahn said.

“Because talent spreads more talent.”

design by | maddox mogenson photos courtesy of | ellie and ava peters

A PAS S I O N I N A

by jilli foley

KINDNESS Twins develop a passion in taking part in social skills class and helping students with special needs

T O P Junior Ellie Peters poses with senior Jack Waters during their homecoming pictures.

R I G H T Juniors Ellie and Ava Peters smile with freshman Evie Rogers before the homecoming dance.

B E L O W Junior Ava Peters takes a selfie at homecoming dinner with freshman Evie Rogers.

t 11:50 a.m. each day, while students are racing down the school ramps and salivating at the thought of their Welch’s Fruit Snacks and whole grain Pizza Hut slices, juniors Ellie and Ava Peters are already plopped down opening their lunch bags in the cafeteria.

The girls wave hello to their friend group’s corner table and reach for their Ziploc full of green grapes and talk to their everyday lunch buds — their social skills class.

The twins have developed a passion for working with kids with special needs since their days of dropping Goldfish on the ABC carpet in Kindergarten. Surrounding themselves with lasting friendships and programs like Matthew’s Ministry, Ava and Ellie have found happiness and a positive mindset towards everyone they meet.

“They give us a different view on what really matters, these kids aren’t worrying about how many likes they got on Instagram or what party’s on Friday night,” Ellie said.

“They’re just happy.”

The then-first-grade twins made their way around Manchester Park Elementary School’s wood chip-covered playground, trying to meet as many of their classmates as they could. That was where they met Isabella Napper.

Not knowing anything about Isabella’s special needs, the girls began a friendship with Napper as any other first grader would — Hannah Montana playdates and bike rides.

Summers filled with pool parties in Isabella’s backyard, with Ava and Ellie showing continuous love towards her daughter from childhood all the way to high school, is something Isabella’s mom, Tricia, is very grateful for. “[Ellie and Ava] never made her feel like she wasn’t a typical developing kid and she was just a normal friend like everybody else,” Tricia said.

As the twins aged through elementary school, they continued their interest in working with kids with special needs through various volunteer opportunities. Beginning with the fourth-grade adventures playing soccer and various sports with kids with special needs at the local YMCA, their Sunday-night volunteer work full with “Mamma Mia” movie nights lead them to a Saturday-morning job at Matthew’s Ministry.

Within the ministry, the girls interact with people with special needs of all ages from toddlers learning to count to grown-ups applying for jobs. The girls have volunteered at the ministry since freshman year and the program offered them a paying job at the start of junior year, because of the impact they had made on the kids.

“The fact that we can have such a cool job at 17 that’s a different job than everyone else and that we can make such an impact at a young age, we are very grateful for,” Ellie said.

Throughout their lives at Matthew’s Ministry, the girls have seen growth in kids who have all different needs and personalities.

FEATURES | 15 No two kids are the same, so the girls challenge themselves to deliver a safe and fun time during coloring hour for each one of them.

“They are just like you and me, just with different needs,” Ava said. “We see them as individuals who have different obstacles than a typical person would have.”

Instead of marching down the Lancer Day Parade on the juniors’ “early 2000s” float, the sisters strapped on their gogo boots and lipsynced disco music with their social skills class.

The ultimate highlight of the Peters’ school day is when fourth hour English ends and they head on down to the social skills classroom for dinner-table role-plays and field trips to Oklahoma Joe’s.

It’s a class where the motto is “everyone is working on something” — whether you are a leadership student or a student with special needs, everyone is working on strengthening social skills like talking to strangers and friends, ordering food in public and using manners.

Highly interested in this program, the girls bonded with as many kids as they could at school. The kids and instructors love how emotionally connected they are to every kid that walks into fifth hour with them.

“They put a high priority on finding everyone’s strengths and passions,” social skills teacher Emily MacNaughton said. “They just keep at it with getting to know people and building trust in those relationships.”

The Peters girls are eager to learn more and more each day — from munching on Cheetos in the lunchroom with their fifth hour class to passing the bread basket to classmate Jack Waters at their extravagant homecoming dinner, the girls are always working on strengthening their own skills while creating bonds with the members in their fifth hour class.

“We all want to feel happy and each person feels happy from different things,” Ellie said.

“Yeah, some just need extra assistance to help them reach their fullest potential,” Ava added.

Through experiences like Pack of Pals “friendsgiving” and lunch-period conversations with students, Ellie and Ava have been graciously impacted mentally and emotionally due to their involvement in the program.

“They’ve learned to truly appreciate all types of people and have compassion for people of all abilities,” Ellie and Ava’s mom, Jessica Peters, said.

The girls try each day to show that everyone should be treated equally and be loved for who they are — even if they have disabilities. And throughout a lifetime of swimming dates with Isabella in the summer to the countless giggles in social skills class, the girls couldn’t imagine where they would be without social skills.

“Ellie and Ava have learned so much from the kids that they are working with,” Mrs. Peters said. “There’s just so much compassion and understanding to be gained from anyone who participates in any type of program with

16 | NEWS FEATURE

RUNNING THE

R I S KS by | lila tulp & ben henschel

BYT E DAN C E

TikTok, a 15-second video publishing app, has captivated East students and teenagers everywhere, but its growing popularity has led to a national security investigation regarding risks that root from the app’s Beijing-based owner — but East students are willing to take the risk

CHINESE INTERNET TECHNOLOGY COMPANY OPERATING SEVERAL MACHINE LEARNING-ENABLED CONTENT PLATFORMS, HEADQUARTERED IN BEIJING

EAST STATS HAVE YOU EVER USED INSTAGRAM? | 348 VOTES

DEMOGRAPHICS T IKTO K’S GEND ER D IVID E

73% YES

44%

OF US ERS AR E FEMAL E

27% NO

56%

DO YOU THINK TIKTOK IS SAFE? | 330 VOTES

OF US ERS AR E MAL E

77% YES 23% NO

1 BILLION GLOBAL US E RS

ARE YOU AWARE OF THE RECENT NATIONAL SECURITY INVESTIGATION ON TIKTOK? | 340 VOTES

66% YES 34% NO *i nfo r ma ti on cour tesy of oberlo and @smeharbinge r’s i n stagram

110 MILLION

D OWN LOAD S S IN CE QUARTE R 1

155

COUN TRIES R ECOGN IZ E D

TIKTOK TERM S #FYP

the main feed channel where people see videos. If your video makes the for you page, you’ve made it

TIKTOK FAMOUS

If you’ve made it on the for you page multiple times and gathered a mass following, you’re famous

EBOY

a type of tiktoker who wears silver chains, black clothing, skater brands and full of angst

TIKTOK TIKTOK TREND TREND

when a certain song, dance move or makeup look floods your feed

design by | carolyn popper

T

ikTok was like a drug to senior Camryn Gossick — one that tightened its grip with every like, every post, every click.

It knows what she likes and what she doesn’t better than half the people she’s gone to school with since kindergarten — and it only took a month.

For senior Will Green, it’s a competition. There’s always a chance his TikTok, an editable 15-second video clip, could go viral after he posts one — and on his 24th attempt, one did. For the next three days his eyes were glued to his phone, watching as his 116,100 likes rolled in.

Sophomore Sydney Beck considers it her mental break, just mindless scrolling with her friends and when she’s bored. But the app still consumes a good two hours of her day, and she wishes she could cut back.

All three can recognize that they’re hooked, but

[Teens} feel a false sense of security online because it is a ‘bubble’ where things aren’t real because they are sitting safely in their rooms.

Detective John Stirling | Shawnee PD aren’t ready to act on it — even with the knowledge that their information on the app isn’t just theirs.

Recent security threats — including the collection of profiles, IP addresses, location-related data, cookies and other sensitive personal information — regarding TikTok have been discovered. The youth-majority app and its Beijing-based corporate owner, ByteDance, have caused the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment to launch a federal investigation. The data collection could translate to users’ profile information — such as names, phone numbers and locations, being stolen without their knowledge.

The uncovered risks have led Congress to call TikTok to testify, to which the company declined under reasons of late notice. And despite the potential vulnerability of their personal data, East students are invested enough in the app to run the risk.

“There is a sense of blinders with teens where they either are not educated on the dangers or they choose to believe that ‘This can’t happen to me,’” Detective John Stirling, who specializes in computer and cell phone forensics, said in an email. “They feel a false sense of security online because it is a ‘bubble’ where things aren’t real because they are sitting safely in their rooms.”

Bought by ByteDance in August of 2018 — under its former name, Musical.ly — TikTok’s affiliation with the Chinese government, given its billion-user platform and growing popularity, has raised questions of whether or not China has access to the app’s users’ data. Although other technology companies and apps like Facebook and WhatsApp store personal data, TikTok differs because their Chinese ownership allows them to operate outside of U.S. control and laws.

“I would believe the main concern here comes in the fact that a foreign government is in control of this particular app,” Stirling said in an email. “Other used apps like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, etc. can

potentially expose just as much information, however, these are American held companies... with a foreign government presiding over the company which runs TikTok, they will have different laws which dictate what information can be used and what for.”

TikTok claimed in a statement Nov. 6 that all U.S. user data is stored in the states, with a backup server in Singapore.

But according to an Oct. 23 letter to the U.S. Office of National Intelligence sent by U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Tim Cotton (R-AR), TikTok has censored content deemed politically-sensitive to China — particularly regarding the recent Hong Kong protests — and has potentially stored American user data. In the letter they claim the app is “a potential counterintelligence threat [they] cannot ignore.”

TikTok has also been a platform for propaganda videos released by terrorist organizations, with over two dozen accounts affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) identified and removed by the app in October. ISIS and other organizations target TikTok in hopes of recruiting the uniquely young user base and inciting potential enthusiasts globally, according to District Police Officer Tony Wollen.

The recent claims denouncing TikTok’s safety and security came after the app violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act in February by illegally collecting personal information from children under the age of 13 without parental consent, and paid a settlement of $5.7 million to the Federal Trade Commission.

But the recent allegations and investigations haven’t cut down the app’s popularity among East students — and a substantial portion are unaware of them. 77% of the East community polled on Instagram believe the app is safe, and only 34% answered that they were aware of the investigation.

And those that know seem to be willing to run the risk.

“People don’t realize how much internet addiction [and the question of safety] overwhelms people,” Green said. “Too many people care about it and are hooked on it for it to just...go away.”

To Green, the app’s ability to reel users in and connect them with kids “just like them” curbs the fear of students lost interest — TikTok’s unique community is built through shared interests without richer, more famous users dominating viewership like YouTube and Vine. Everyone has a shot at going viral on TikTok, Green said, which incentivizes users to create and watch more videos — all tailored specifically to them.

“Your ‘For You’ page is based on everything you’ve ever liked before, so it brings up more and more content that would pertain to you,” Green said. “TikTok knows what you want to see.”

“The more you use it, you can’t get off of it — one day, I was on it for like seven hours,” Gossick said.

When Gossick first downloaded the app in August, her suggested videos showed a wide range of personalities — 40-year-old cowboys, comedians, “e-girls.” But as she spent more time on the app, TikTok recognized who she was through her liked posts. Within a few days of constant usage, her feed featured teenage girls dancing in their bedrooms and competing for TikTok stardom

around their high schools — each video mirrored Gossick and her group of friends.

TikTok’s algorithm continuously combines users’ views, likes, profile information and post shares to narrow down the types of videos they’d be interested in, and directs those videos to their ‘For You’ feed — the more you use the app, the better it gets to know you, according to Green and Gossick.

The algorithm’s ability to silently profile their users and pique their interest speaks to its danger, according to Woollen. The “15 seconds of fun” from videos can mask the potential threats, such as private groups that invite minors into them to send pornographic videos and promotional material for terrorist groups, Woollen said.

The dangers lying within are veiled by the app’s communal sense of shared interest, Sydney Beck said. “‘You’re into [this subject]? You’ll have that side of TikTok,” Beck said. “And if you’re just looking for a fun time, you’ll be into that side. There’s just so many different sides to it that anyone can enjoy it and end up spending a lot of time. It’s so much at this point that there isn’t really, like, a stopping point.”

Whether or not they care to stop, students should be taking every action to protect their information and digital safety, according to Stirling and Woollen.

There are a variety of ways to do this, Woolen and Stirling said — but to them, more important than any is realizing that the information and occurrences in the posted videos affect more than just themselves.

“When you go on TikTok and you put anything like name, address, phone number, whatever is in there could affect you, it could affect family, it could affect school” Woollen said. “ You think, ‘Hey, if I put that out there, who’s it really going to affect?’ That’s why we really want the young people of East to basically be policing themselves with this.”

Users should think “big audience” when posting videos on TikTok, considering its foreign ownership and global user base, Woollen and PVPD Detective Seth Meyer said. With the concerns of whether or not the data could be funneled to the Chinese government, the

It doesn’t seem like it would affect me personally, even though they can access that information...I’m still going to watch them.

georgia cook | junior advice is most important now, they believe.

Green is trying to cut down the time he spends on the app. He’s aware of the investigations, the risks, but other than the app being taken down, he — and all students interviewed for this story — see no end to TikTok’s influence at East.

“I don’t really know [what it would take to stop using TikTok],” junior Georgia Cook, who watches TikTok frequently, said. “But I mean, if that isn’t going to stop me from watching TikTok, I don’t know what will. It doesn’t seem like it would affect me personally, even though they can access that information...I’m still going to watch them.”

16 | NEWS FEATURE

RUNNING THE

R I S KS by | lila tulp & ben henschel

BYT E DAN C E

TikTok, a 15-second video publishing app, has captivated East students and teenagers everywhere, but its growing popularity has led to a national security investigation regarding risks that root from the app’s Beijing-based owner — but East students are willing to take the risk

CHINESE INTERNET TECHNOLOGY COMPANY OPERATING SEVERAL MACHINE LEARNING-ENABLED CONTENT PLATFORMS, HEADQUARTERED IN BEIJING

EAST STATS HAVE YOU EVER USED INSTAGRAM? | 348 VOTES

DEMOGRAPHICS T IKTO K’S GEND ER D IVID E

73% YES

44%

OF US ERS AR E FEMAL E

27% NO

56%

DO YOU THINK TIKTOK IS SAFE? | 330 VOTES

OF US ERS AR E MAL E

77% YES 23% NO

1 BILLION GLOBAL US E RS

ARE YOU AWARE OF THE RECENT NATIONAL SECURITY INVESTIGATION ON TIKTOK? | 340 VOTES

66% YES 34% NO *i nfo r ma ti on cour tesy of oberlo and @smeharbinge r’s i n stagram

110 MILLION

D OWN LOAD S S IN CE QUARTE R 1

155

COUN TRIES R ECOGN IZ E D

TIKTOK TERM S #FYP

the main feed channel where people see videos. If your video makes the for you page, you’ve made it

TIKTOK FAMOUS

If you’ve made it on the for you page multiple times and gathered a mass following, you’re famous

EBOY

a type of tiktoker who wears silver chains, black clothing, skater brands and full of angst

TIKTOK TIKTOK TREND TREND

when a certain song, dance move or makeup look floods your feed

design by | carolyn popper

T

ikTok was like a drug to senior Camryn Gossick — one that tightened its grip with every like, every post, every click.

It knows what she likes and what she doesn’t better than half the people she’s gone to school with since kindergarten — and it only took a month.

For senior Will Green, it’s a competition. There’s always a chance his TikTok, an editable 15-second video clip, could go viral after he posts one — and on his 24th attempt, one did. For the next three days his eyes were glued to his phone, watching as his 116,100 likes rolled in.

Sophomore Sydney Beck considers it her mental break, just mindless scrolling with her friends and when she’s bored. But the app still consumes a good two hours of her day, and she wishes she could cut back.

All three can recognize that they’re hooked, but

[Teens} feel a false sense of security online because it is a ‘bubble’ where things aren’t real because they are sitting safely in their rooms.

Detective John Stirling | Shawnee PD aren’t ready to act on it — even with the knowledge that their information on the app isn’t just theirs.

Recent security threats — including the collection of profiles, IP addresses, location-related data, cookies and other sensitive personal information — regarding TikTok have been discovered. The youth-majority app and its Beijing-based corporate owner, ByteDance, have caused the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment to launch a federal investigation. The data collection could translate to users’ profile information — such as names, phone numbers and locations, being stolen without their knowledge.

The uncovered risks have led Congress to call TikTok to testify, to which the company declined under reasons of late notice. And despite the potential vulnerability of their personal data, East students are invested enough in the app to run the risk.

“There is a sense of blinders with teens where they either are not educated on the dangers or they choose to believe that ‘This can’t happen to me,’” Detective John Stirling, who specializes in computer and cell phone forensics, said in an email. “They feel a false sense of security online because it is a ‘bubble’ where things aren’t real because they are sitting safely in their rooms.”

Bought by ByteDance in August of 2018 — under its former name, Musical.ly — TikTok’s affiliation with the Chinese government, given its billion-user platform and growing popularity, has raised questions of whether or not China has access to the app’s users’ data. Although other technology companies and apps like Facebook and WhatsApp store personal data, TikTok differs because their Chinese ownership allows them to operate outside of U.S. control and laws.

“I would believe the main concern here comes in the fact that a foreign government is in control of this particular app,” Stirling said in an email. “Other used apps like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, etc. can

potentially expose just as much information, however, these are American held companies... with a foreign government presiding over the company which runs TikTok, they will have different laws which dictate what information can be used and what for.”

TikTok claimed in a statement Nov. 6 that all U.S. user data is stored in the states, with a backup server in Singapore.

But according to an Oct. 23 letter to the U.S. Office of National Intelligence sent by U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Tim Cotton (R-AR), TikTok has censored content deemed politically-sensitive to China — particularly regarding the recent Hong Kong protests — and has potentially stored American user data. In the letter they claim the app is “a potential counterintelligence threat [they] cannot ignore.”

TikTok has also been a platform for propaganda videos released by terrorist organizations, with over two dozen accounts affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) identified and removed by the app in October. ISIS and other organizations target TikTok in hopes of recruiting the uniquely young user base and inciting potential enthusiasts globally, according to District Police Officer Tony Wollen.

The recent claims denouncing TikTok’s safety and security came after the app violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act in February by illegally collecting personal information from children under the age of 13 without parental consent, and paid a settlement of $5.7 million to the Federal Trade Commission.

But the recent allegations and investigations haven’t cut down the app’s popularity among East students — and a substantial portion are unaware of them. 77% of the East community polled on Instagram believe the app is safe, and only 34% answered that they were aware of the investigation.

And those that know seem to be willing to run the risk.

“People don’t realize how much internet addiction [and the question of safety] overwhelms people,” Green said. “Too many people care about it and are hooked on it for it to just...go away.”

To Green, the app’s ability to reel users in and connect them with kids “just like them” curbs the fear of students lost interest — TikTok’s unique community is built through shared interests without richer, more famous users dominating viewership like YouTube and Vine. Everyone has a shot at going viral on TikTok, Green said, which incentivizes users to create and watch more videos — all tailored specifically to them.

“Your ‘For You’ page is based on everything you’ve ever liked before, so it brings up more and more content that would pertain to you,” Green said. “TikTok knows what you want to see.”

“The more you use it, you can’t get off of it — one day, I was on it for like seven hours,” Gossick said.

When Gossick first downloaded the app in August, her suggested videos showed a wide range of personalities — 40-year-old cowboys, comedians, “e-girls.” But as she spent more time on the app, TikTok recognized who she was through her liked posts. Within a few days of constant usage, her feed featured teenage girls dancing in their bedrooms and competing for TikTok stardom

around their high schools — each video mirrored Gossick and her group of friends.

TikTok’s algorithm continuously combines users’ views, likes, profile information and post shares to narrow down the types of videos they’d be interested in, and directs those videos to their ‘For You’ feed — the more you use the app, the better it gets to know you, according to Green and Gossick.

The algorithm’s ability to silently profile their users and pique their interest speaks to its danger, according to Woollen. The “15 seconds of fun” from videos can mask the potential threats, such as private groups that invite minors into them to send pornographic videos and promotional material for terrorist groups, Woollen said.

The dangers lying within are veiled by the app’s communal sense of shared interest, Sydney Beck said. “‘You’re into [this subject]? You’ll have that side of TikTok,” Beck said. “And if you’re just looking for a fun time, you’ll be into that side. There’s just so many different sides to it that anyone can enjoy it and end up spending a lot of time. It’s so much at this point that there isn’t really, like, a stopping point.”

Whether or not they care to stop, students should be taking every action to protect their information and digital safety, according to Stirling and Woollen.

There are a variety of ways to do this, Woolen and Stirling said — but to them, more important than any is realizing that the information and occurrences in the posted videos affect more than just themselves.

“When you go on TikTok and you put anything like name, address, phone number, whatever is in there could affect you, it could affect family, it could affect school” Woollen said. “ You think, ‘Hey, if I put that out there, who’s it really going to affect?’ That’s why we really want the young people of East to basically be policing themselves with this.”

Users should think “big audience” when posting videos on TikTok, considering its foreign ownership and global user base, Woollen and PVPD Detective Seth Meyer said. With the concerns of whether or not the data could be funneled to the Chinese government, the

It doesn’t seem like it would affect me personally, even though they can access that information...I’m still going to watch them.

georgia cook | junior advice is most important now, they believe.

Green is trying to cut down the time he spends on the app. He’s aware of the investigations, the risks, but other than the app being taken down, he — and all students interviewed for this story — see no end to TikTok’s influence at East.

“I don’t really know [what it would take to stop using TikTok],” junior Georgia Cook, who watches TikTok frequently, said. “But I mean, if that isn’t going to stop me from watching TikTok, I don’t know what will. It doesn’t seem like it would affect me personally, even though they can access that information...I’m still going to watch them.”

18 | FEATURES

H

by campbell wood ead custodian and building manager Dale Clark picks up two Dum Dum wrappers, an abandoned hall pass and someone’s leftover bag — still full — of Cheerios from the ground. He doesn’t roll his eyes or groan — just smiles.

For the past three years, Dale has come in every day at 9 a.m. to manage the 11 custodians that work at East. Whether he’s picking up the food left in the bathroom after every lunch or showing up at 6 a.m. the day after it snows to salt the sidewalks, Dale doesn’t complain.

Throughout his life, whatever situation is thrown his way — even the most unimaginable of circumstances — Dale’s optimism has prevailed. He never hesitates when a light bulb is dead or a pipe is leaking. Something needs to be fixed, he fixes it. Something needs to be cleaned, he cleans it. With a smile.

Assistant principal Britton Haney says that even when the administration is frustrated with an event they need to set up or something that needs to be fixed, Dale stays calm and gets to work.

“Dale does a good job rolling with the bumps in the road,” Haney said. “With all of our jobs throughout life, there’s always things that pop up that you don’t expect. And he does a great job of just going, ‘Okay, we’ll get it done.’”

design by | natasha thomas photos by | megan biles

When Dale first came to East, he noticed that a lot of the custodians didn’t enjoy work.

To combat the negative mentality, he started to share compliments and thank you notes from teachers and families to show that their work doesn’t go unnoticed.

“If you [had] seen this building eight years ago, [you would know that] the staff has just done an amazing job of cleaning it up and brightening all the halls and everything, making it a better place for students to feel proud that they go to East,” Haney said.

His optimism has been with him since he attended Prairie View A&M on a full-ride football scholarship. Even when his team went 0-10 his junior year, Dale wouldn’t let it discredit his attitude towards the game and he encouraged his teammates to enjoy the sport even if they weren’t winning.

Dale would motivate his teammates through leading by example — something he’s carried into his role at East. His attitude towards the game led him to be selected as team captain his junior and senior years of college. Since his teammates were the ones that voted him into the position, it made it more special for Dale. Through phone calls, college reunions and tailgates, Dale and his teammates are able to keep in touch and reminisce over the good times back on the field.

Dale’s father was never there to support

him growing up, so when he became a dad in 1980 to the first of his six kids, Dalerick, he found that it made him a better father since it allowed him to rise above his circumstances.

He chose to interpret not having a father as an opportunity to be the dad he always wanted.

The one who was there for his kids.

And he was. He was there at every track meet for his daughter Takisha — or as Dale calls her, “Pumpkin.” He was there at every football game for his sons, Dalerick and Dale Jr. Daleick called his dad during the summer before his junior year in college to tell Dale he had meningitis. Dale and his son said a prayer over the phone together, followed by the family leaving that morning to see him.

Dalerick died before they got there.

On May 16 this year, Takisha had the idea to release an assortment of blue and black balloons in her brother’s honor — they were close. The family gathered together to watch the few dozen balloons float away. It was Dalerick’s 39th birthday.

Whenever someone asks Dale about his son, he has one response: “About two weeks before he passed, he and my daughter had a conversation and he told her, ‘You know, if God called me home right now, I’m ready.’”

Dale has turned to God in all the hardships that have come his way. Whether it

was financial difficulty or when he had a rare lung disease and was told he had two weeks to live — God was there.

Dale took this as a form of acceptance and channeled his grief towards his religion.

He’s sought religion as another way to make a difference and spread positivity. He teaches adult Sunday school classes and is an ordained minister at his church, and every once in awhile he preaches a sermon.

“It’s just your life walk with Christ, and they can see you living what you’re talking about,” Dale said.

And you can see Dale living the life he

I wanted to be there for my kids and do the things that weren’t done with me by a father — it made me a better father and a better man.

dale clark | head custodian talks about. A happy one.

“I think the best part is Dale usually comes to school every day with a smile on his face and he just has a happy heart,” Haney said. “He’s you know, family first kind of guy.

It’s all about people, he doesn’t let the other stress in our lives get in the way.”

U N WAV E R I N G

POSITIVITY DA L E ’S T I P S F O R S E E I N G

THE BRIGHT SIDE

1 ) T h in g s co u l d al ways be worse 2 ) Ch an ge w i l l co me, w hether i ts good or bad is up to you 3) “Always look to the hills to w h e re my help comes from (it comes from the Lord)”

No matter what challenges are thrown his way, head custodian Dale Clark always finds the positive in every situation

M E E T DA L E I ’m a t o t a l o p t i m i s t .

T h e wo r d s a ys ‘ we e p i n g e n d u r e fo r a n i g h t b u t j oy c o m e t h i n t h e morning’ Psalm 30:5.”

Dale Clark

SCAN ME | DALE’S VIDEO Scan to learn more about Dale’s passion and past in football.

FEATURES | 19

design by | riley atkinson

CURTAINS CLOSING

T

by anna stover

he room fills with chatter as the performers begin rehearsal. They answer the question of the day to take attendance and get ready to begin singing.

The seniors rush to the front row to grab seats together. The recording starts to play and the group begins their warm up song — “Shallow.”

Stage Right Performing Arts is a company that trains elementary to high school students in performing arts.

They work on three areas of performance — singing, dancing and acting. Additionally, it also provides a place for the students to feel comfortable and form a community.

Each of the seniors joined the program at different points in their life, but they all spend Thursday nights from 7 to 9 together performing — no matter if it’s Halloween or finals week. The students love the program so much they still choose to go with hours of homework and college essays to write. For the directors, attendance is just as important — one of them even missed his child’s first Halloween to be there with the students.

With their final year as Stage Right performers almost half over, the group is savoring what little time they have left together by attending as much as they can.

One of the seniors, Janie Carr, finds joy in every part of practice, especially the attendance questions.

“It’s nice to really get to know everyone,” Carr said. “I love coming into the room at the beginning of rehearsal and seeing my friends and giving them hugs. I have never had that at any other place.”

Donna West, the founder of Stage Right, created the program to give students this sense of community.

“It is a place where everyone belongs,” West said. “We have people that are so crazy talented and we have people that just want to try and sing and dance, but they can’t tell their left from their right. We don’t turn anyone away.”

For performer Paige Lynch and others, Stage Right is a place where people can find a community of people who care for them.

“It has given me time with them outside of school,” Lynch said. “I would have never thought I would be friends with the people I am now, and it is thanks to Stage Right that I have these friends.”

Part of their special connection stems from inside jokes. The connections come from bonfires at Lynch’s house or intense conversations at 2 a.m. about their lives.

They usually involve making nicknames for each other and revolve around traditions like a group chat named

“Boom,” which includes every guy in Stage Right and inspired a dance move that mirrors the disco dancing emoji. They try to incorporate the dance move into every choreographed dance.

Another inside joke is the group has nicknames for each other such as Janious, Paigious, and Lucious. The inside jokes are constant and there are too many of them to count.

One of the seniors, Lucy Brock, believes that no one can truly understand what it is like to be in Stage Right unless they are a part of the program.

“Performing together is really special and it forges a special connection because you are all doing something you love with people you love,” Brock said.

The connection goes beyond just the performers to the directors. Aggie Williams believes that Stage right has given her a place where adults other than her parents care for her — they see a gift in her and continue to push her. One of these motivators is Donna West, aka “Don Don” or “Mamma Don”.

“They are all like my own children,” West said. “All five of these kids are a piece of my heart.”

Her mentality towards students is what creates such a welcoming environment. According to Aidan Connelly, West is someone for students to turn to for guidance and encouragement.

“I don’t think I would be half the performer I am if [West] hadn’t believed in me and given me confidence,” Connelly said.

It isn’t just Connelly that feels this way. Kala Christian has also grown from her experiences in Stage Right.

“I am more of a quiet, shy person,” Christian said. “It’s gotten me to step out of my comfort zone a lot, and it has given me so much confidence. I went from being this super shy third-grader, who didn’t talk to anyone ... and now I am the president [of Stage Right].”

West feels the same love and gratitude towards the seniors. She will never let them truly leave.

“I still keep up with so many of our kids.” West said.

“They come to our house, they come to rehearsals, we go to weddings, we go to wedding showers. I will never ever be out of their lives.”

The seniors will never truly leave Stage Right. They will always have the memories from their time spent together and all hope to come back in the future, whether it is to watch future productions or direct their own.

A group of Stage Right seniors will miss the community next year

L E F T “The squad,” as they called their friend group, posing after the 8th grade annual spring choir concert. photo courtesy of | janie carr M I D D L E Janie as Sandy and Kala as Patty perform “Summer Nights” in the musical “Grease” over the past summer. photo courtesy of | janie carr R I G H T Performers bundling up during a Vocalocity and Vocapella show choir performance at Mission Farms in the winter of 2017. photo courtesy of | janie carr

WHERE TO NEXT?

What the seniors are planning on studying in college

PAIGE LYNCH political science or pre-law

AGGIE WILLIAMS musical ed. & vocal performance

JANIE CARR musical theater

LUCY BROCK law

AIDAN CONNELLY political science

KALA CHRISTIAN psychology & special education

Congratulations for 25 years of success to Michael J. Brown (Chairman, CEO & Founder) and Euronet’s 7,000 worldwide employees!

www.euronetworldwide.com Copyright Š 2019. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. All rights reserved.

9201 W 133rd St, Overland Park, KS

A&E | 21

design by | lauren dierks photos courtesy of | trevor paulus & spotify

A&E

HIGHLIGHTS

STEPPED UP SUSHI Staffer reviews the sushi burrito from Komotodo

The Harbinger hub for all things trending in the arts and entertainment world Staffers review new album release in the latest podcast

by lily billingsley

JESUS IS KING “I feel like this is one that’s going to have to grow on me. Because with Kanye albums you have to give it about five years and it’ll end up changing the industry.” ben henschel | senior

SCAN ME | PODCAST Scan to listen to the podcast over Kanye West’s new album

by Ben Henschel, Ty Browning and Alex Dinyer

H A R L E Y ’ S & H AWA I I

SCAN ME | ONLINE Scan to read the rest of Maddox’s music review

RAISING HELL

L O O K AT H E R N O W

“Picture this: I ’m sitting on my couch watching “Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie” unfold on the TV screen. “Magic” by Selena Gomez starts playing as the end credits roll. I couldn’t be happier. Ten years later I felt the same way when Selena Gomez, Ke$ha and Katy Perry all released music in the same week. 2019 is starting to feel like 2009 — and I ’m here for it.” maddox mogenson | junior

TRENDING TV DO YOU/HAVE YOU WATCHED GAME OF THRONES? INSTAGRAM POLL | 272 VOTES

in my shrimp tempura roll. My friends ordered a sushi burrito, along with avocado fries. And for dessert we got churros — which were very different than the rest of the menu.

I had skimmed over my bowl’s ingredients without seeing the jalapeño — which made me realize pretty quickly why “fiery” was added to the name. I only order the mediumspiced salsa at Chipotle on my brave days, so this left me desperately drinking water from every cup in reaching distance.

The sushi burrito worked better in theory than as a meal. The seaweed was soggy and ripped apart after the first bite, leaving it essentially the same as the bowl.

The avocado fries were by far my favorite part of Komotodo. The large slices of fried avocado were probably the simplest thing on the menu, but they were still a little heavy for an appetizer.

My years of begging my mom to buy me a Costco churro have caused me to order them just about anywhere, but these were about as good as you would expect sushi restaurant churros to be.

They were dry and not crunchy — a far cry from my cinnamon sugar favorites.

If I’m craving sushi and somehow find myself at 135th street, I might stop by Komotodo again. But next time I’m in the mood for Asian, you’ll find me speeding down Shawnee Mission Parkway on the five-minute drive to Blue Sushi.

L I LY ’ S B U R R I T O B R E A K D O W N

22% YES 78%

AS SOMEONE WHO spends most of my meals rotating between Chipotle and Blue Sushi, I was immediately intrigued when I heard about Komotodo — a restaurant that serves sushi burritos. Despite the 30-minute drive, I assembled my least-picky friends and made the trek.

The interior looked much more like one of the rolled ice cream shops that will close two months after opening than a sushi restaurant — the small room had lots of empty space and slathered with only white and silver.

We were greeted by the sound of EDM music that sounded like it was straight from my 2015 Just Dance game — not exactly the mood that I was expecting.

The menu had about every sushi topping I could think of — from imitation crab to crunchy jalapeños.

Each menu option came in both burrito and bowl form. I decided to opt for my burrito in bowl form, since I still haven’t quite reached the level of hand-eye coordination to make a burrito a practical meal.

I ordered the Fiery Crunch bowl, the only bowl I could find featuring my go-to tempura shrimp. The plastic container was stuffed to the very top with the bowl’s toppings, many of which didn’t mix well with my tastebuds.

Not to mention that seaweed wrapping the entire outside of the burrito seemed like a much bigger commitment than the usual appearance

NO

ARE YOU PLANNING ON WATCHING THE PREQUEL “HOUSE OF THE DRAGON” INSTAGRAM POLL | 225 VOTES

KO M O T O D O | 5 S TA R S 1 3 7 1 3 | M E T C A L F AV E WA L K I N | Q U I C K B I T E

***

TA S T E | 3 S TA R S “Sushi bowls and burritos are an interesting concept, but the poor execution and surplus of toppings left me underwhelmed.”

14% YES

lily billingsley| junior

86% NO

$ $ $ C O S T | AV E R A G E

22 | A&E

design by | allison wilcox photos by | morgan woods

T E E N A G E - A P P R OV E D

by catherine erickson

DURING MY ELEMENTARY school summers, my mom took me to all the classic spots — Ceramic Cafe, Kaleidoscope, Wonderscope — to keep me from bingeing “Good Luck Charlie” all day. Wanting to see if my past scenes still live up to the hype, I decided to return to two of my old go-to’s: Build-a-Bear and Fritz’s.

BUI LD-A-BEAR ****

M

y seventh birthday was legendary — all 10 of my friends gathered in the Oak Park Mall Build-a-Bear trying to decide between the white Halloween ghost or the purple bunny with Hannah Montana-esque blonde bangs.

Considering the stuffed animals craze died down after I stopped relying on my stuffed lamb — Lamby — to fall asleep, my expectations were pretty low when I decided to return. Although Build-a-Bear was overpriced and a little childish for teens, their creative business model which included printable birth certificates, clothes for all events and vibrating hearts to mimic an animal heartbeat made my outing more of a hands-on experience than aimlessly roaming the mall.

Walking in, I was directed to 10 bins full of animals from a holiday-themed sloth to a Darth Vador bear lined up in order of price full of un-stuffed animals.

Living on a $40-a-week-nannying budget, I made a beeline to the cheaper end of the bins and picked out the least expensive animal I could find — a brown teddy bear with “Happy Birthday” patches on the feet. It wasn’t my birthday, but for $12.99, it’ll do.

The college-age employee who introduced herself as “Kimbearly” then guided me and my bear corpse over to a glass machine to fill it with cotton. After

B U I L D - A - B E A R | 4 S TA R S 11465 | W 95TH STREET STUFFED ANIMALS | ACTIVITY

getting the perfect fluff-to-bear ratio, the worker walked me through the “crucial” process of rubbing the cloth heart over my heart, lips and head and instructed me to insert the heart into the bear before sewing it up — as a 17-year-old, that childish process felt more uncomfortable than sentimental.

Next, my bear was ready to be dressed. The flip sequin Santa dress was enticing, but the $16 price tag turned me away. Instead, I found the cheapest clothing item in the store — a grungy red button down for $7. Having to sacrifice the purchase of a pair of pants to spare my bank account was disappointing, especially since the overpriced clothes are made out of about 10 square inches of fabric.

After waiting behind a little girl and her mom as they rung up a $67 unicorn equipped with fairy wings, a dress and carrying bag, the cashier announced my total as $22.

Although I didn’t rack up the price by getting 20 extra accessories like a voice recording or the iconic Build-a-Bear carrying box, I don’t think it took away from my experience. However, since I was the only one in the store who wasn’t a mom or girl under the age of eight, I felt very out of place and I won’t be getting too much use out of my bear now that my fantasy tea party days are over.

F RITZ’S

I FRITZ’S After stacking up napkins to have somewhere to squirt my ketchup, I dug into the bacon cheeseburger.

Staffer reviews typical childhood activities around Kansas City to see if they are “teenager approved”

**

’m six years old, perched on the blue Fritz’s booth, pointing at every train that rattles by above my head and hoping one of them holds my cheeseburger and crinkle fries. After returning 10 years later, my hands hovered over the greasy table and everywhere I looked there was a middle-aged mom angrily shushing her kids.

My first concern walking in was a sign asking for people aged 12 and up to pay for the conductor’s hat.

But, trying to get the full experience, I forked over the 25 cents and followed the hostess to our table.

Without looking at the menu, I already knew I wanted to order my old go-to — the bacon cheeseburger, crinkle fries and an Oreo shake.

Picking up the landline-style phone used to order, my hands shook a little with anxiety — something about actually having to talk over the phone threw me for a loop.

After the waitress asked me to repeat my order several times due to the clattering trains and overlyexcited kids, all I had to do was watch the trains above and wait. The milkshake was brought to my table after a quick five-minute wait and was exactly as I remembered it — thick, but not so thick that it

BUILD-A-BEAR After getting the perfect fluff-to-bear ratio, the worker walked me through the “crucial” process of rubbing the cloth heart over my heart, lips and head and instructed me to insert the heart into the bear.

F R I T Z S | 2 S TA R S 2 4 5 0 | G R A N D B O U L E VA R D HAMBURGERS | SIT-DOWN

can’t get through the straw, and rich with chunks of Oreo and vanilla ice cream.

I eagerly stood up on the booth (which apparently is not as socially acceptable once you pass the age of six), to grab the cargo box, immediately noticing the lack of plates. Eating a burger off of wax paper at a sit down restaurant was a little repulsive — something I never paid attention to as a six year old.

After stacking up napkins to have somewhere to squirt my ketchup, I dug into the bacon cheeseburger.

It was good, but not anything special — similar to a Freddy’s burger. The crinkle fries weren’t much better as they were a little dry, but the problem was quickly solved by dipping them in my milkshake leftovers.

The price of the meal was reasonable at $12.38, but the atmosphere hits a little different as a teenager.

Instead of being engrossed in the trains weaving in and out of the walls, I was constantly yelling, “What?” over the rattling tracks to my friends on the other side of the table. And with a meal I can find at almost every fast food place, I don’t think it’s necessary to take any special trips down to Crown Center for a mediocre-at-best burger.

A&E | 23

design by | lila tulp photos by | trevor paulus

T RO P I C A N A

H O L E - I N - T H E - WA L L

TACO TO U R

T RO P I C A N A

Staffer reviews three of Kansas City’s best hidden Mexican restaurants

T H E I N T RO D U C T I O N by riley atkinson

IT’S NOT UNCOMMON to find me sitting on my friends’ couch on a Saturday night watching “This Is Us” while scooping some to-go Salty Iguana Iggy Dip into our mouths. I’ve gotta admit, I find myself sticking to the Prairie Village classic a little too often — it’s my comfort food. This week, I decided to change it up and try out more authentic, hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurants. Here’s what I thought:

E M PA N A DA M A D N E S S SALVADOR PEREZ doesn’t go here for nothing — Empanada Madness is the restaurant of my dreams.

When I took the $4 golden-brown beef empanada out of the styrofoam to-go box, it literally glistened in the sun. I thought I was in some sort of cheesy movie.

*****

H O LY G U A C A M O L E | 5 S TA R S 9 0 6 | S O U T H W E S T B LV D FOOD | LUNCH, DINNER & DESSERT

The outer shell was as flaky as a Krispy Kreme donut while the beef was perfectly moist. I finished the whole thing so quickly I didn’t even think about the fact that it was still really hot from being made fresh.

My friend also got an order of churros. Thinking nothing could beat my usual Costco snack, I was left in amazement after eating one. The melt-in-my-mouth texture mixed with the strawberry sauce on top made this one of my favorite desserts I’ve ever had.

Yep, the parking situation down on Southwest Blvd. isn’t exactly ideal (especially for my barely-passed-drivers-ed self), but I will be coming back down to get these empanadas and churros many times to come.

*****

P O N A K ’S

| H O LY G U A C A M O L E

****

EMPANADA MADNESS

PA L E T E R Í A T RO P I C A N A TO SWITCH IT UP a little bit from the smell of beans and meat, I decided to go to the Mexican dessert restaurant called Paletería Tropicana.

I drove down Mission to the Shawnee location while there was snow on the ground and the sky was dark — the strip mall looked eerily like a scene out of “It.” There wasn’t anyone else inside — no one really wants to get the well-known Mexican Ice Cream when they can’t feel their fingers.

I ordered the strawberry-filled churros and Mexican Elotes with the intention of picking two incredibly different things. And I don’t think I’ve ever tasted two foods so different from each other.

The Elotes, which is usually Mexican grilled corn, came in a styrofoam cup — corn on the bottom, mayo in the middle and parmesean cheese on top. Not knowing it wasn’t all combined, I spooned only mayo and cheese into my mouth. As someone who always tells the Goodcents workers to make my sandwich without any toppings, the mayo was an absolute no-go. This spoonful made my lips curl. I couldn’t get myself to mix it all together and try it that way.

The churros were incredibly redeeming. The warmth and familiarity of the cinnamon sugary delight was something I didn’t even realize I’d crave after shivering outside and spooning mayo into my mouth. The pop of strawberry sauce through the middle of each churro added a refreshing, fruity touch.

But I really felt like I had to do their ice cream justice. A few days later, since KCMO weather is as unpredictable as the

****

S P E C - TA C O - L A R | 4 S TA R S 1 0 9 2 8 | 7 4 T H T E R R AC E FOOD | DESSERT

P O N A K ’S R E STAU R A N T THE DECOR OF the restaurant broke up the dreary November weather — the building was coated in a deep red and the yellow neon signs inside only added to the wow-factor. But the energy was low and there were only two or three full tables scattered around.

****

S P E C - TA C O - L E R | 4 S TA R S 2 8 5 6 | S O U T H W E S T B LV D F O O D | B R E A K FA ST , L U N C H & D I N N E R

Judging solely off the queso, though, this place is a win. I’m picky when it comes to queso, like really picky. The crunchiness of the chips combined with the medium-spicy queso made my eyes go wide. I couldn’t stop myself — I kept taking bites until only crumbs were left in the chip bowl and my stomach was way too full.

I ordered one Flauta — a tortilla that is rolled around a filling of meat and cheese and then fried. It only cost me five dollars because I wasn’t hungry enough for a full plate with rice and beans. The pork had a nice savory flavor and was warm like it had just come out of the pan. But the intense, crunchy texture wasn’t my favorite. It took me a solid ten seconds until I had fully chewed through one bite.

My friend shared their food with me so I could get a good feel for the menu. The fish taco definitely took me by surprise — the texture of the soft shell and the full-flavored Mahi Mahi fish worked well for my taste buds.

SCAN ME | VIDEO Scan this QR code to watch Max Patterson’s video review over Riley’s three hole-in-thewall taco tour reviews

school’s wifi, the sun came out and I went to the other location of Paletería Tropicana on Southwest Blvd.

The Yelp reviews were not wrong. Their ice cream was incredibly creamy and I downed a $3 scoop of “Masita,” or cookie dough, way too fast. My friends and I agreed: this is a place for sunny days only. | S P E C - TA C O - L E R

***

| THEY’VE BEAN BETTER

**

| N AC H O B E ST

*

| CRASH AND BUR-RITO

A&E | 24

design by | caroline chisholm photos courtesy of | imdb

S A R A H ’S TO P 3 EPISODES

CRAZY MODERN LOVE

EPISODE 1 | WHEN A DOORMAN IS YO U R M A I N M A N EPISODE 3 | TA K E M E A S I A M , WHOEVER I AM EPISODE 7 | HERS WA S A WO R L D O F ONE

E P I S O D E CO U N T | 8

Staffer reviews Amazon Prime’s new series Modern Love

AVG . E P I S O D E L E N GT H | 3 0

A N E W TA K E

R AT E D | T V- M A S TA R R I N G | A N N E H AT H AWAY, A N DY GA RC I A , J U L I A GA R N E R , T I N A F E Y & MORE

O R I G I N AT E D I N T H E N E W YO R K T I M E S

B AS E D O F F O F T R U E P E R S O N A L E S S AYS

W E E K LY P O D C AS T A N D CO L U M N

B E E N A RO U N D F O R 15 YEARS

COV E R S A L L D I F F E R E N T F O R M S A N D TA K E S O N LOV E

by sarah bledsoe

R

olling my eyes at the latest boy ghosting me on Snapchat, I turned on the TV and put on something, anything, that would make me believe in love again. Okay, that was a little dramatic. But you get the point.

After a 15-minute search through Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Video, I finally found my answer: “Modern Love.”

“Modern Love” is an Amazon Prime original based on the weekly column published in The New York Times that reports a new love story each issue. So, each episode is loosely based on a true story of two people. The show follows a total of eight stories on the trials and tribulations of love.

The episodes range from love at first sight to rediscovering love in a lifeless marriage. There’s even stories about the stress of adoption and rekindling an old romance.

However, the variation of love stories presented leaves the audience with a lack of depth and understanding. I mean, come on — it took “The Office” four seasons for Jim and Pam to go on a date. But somehow, the “Modern Love” producers expect me to fall in love with the individuals, root for their romance and watch them live happily ever after in only 30 minutes.

The first episode starts off with a young woman struggling to find ‘the one,’ and she brings home a lot of different men, all of whom her doorman-turned-best-friend disapproved. The doorman represented the father figure she never knew she needed —

which definitely made my dad tear up while watching. She ends up getting knocked up and feeling all alone until the doorman, Guzmin, helps watch the baby. But sadly, she ends up moving to LA before flying back five years later with a new man she finally fell in love with. And all that was just one episode of “Modern Love.”

The next story followed a tech genius who lost his first love and reminisces about past loves, all during an “off-the-record” interview with a newspaper journalist.

After he talked about the love of his life cheating on him and leaving, we learn the journalist has a complex relationship with love as well. Apparently she had a steamy romance with a military man, but of course they got separated and now live completely different lives. Yet, they come together in the end.

While I watched these crazy love stories, I realized that my mundane life of school and policy debate needs to be spiced up. I

****

S A R A H ’ S R AT I N G | 3 . 5 S TA R S

quickly learned that a lot of the “Modern Love” episodes depicted loveless marriages where the spouses pined for their first love — I mean, no wonder 50% of marriages end in a divorce.

The show also touched on important issues like hardships of adoption, especially for same-sex couples, what life is like below the poverty line and true happiness coming

from who you surround yourself with. In the episode “Hers was a World of One,” a free-spirited woman — homeless by choice — gets pregnant and decides to put up her child for adoption to a loving couple. It looked at love in every light, not just what society says is right.

The show is also perfect for either an entire season binge or watching one episode a month — it’s really a take-it-how-youwant-it situation.

While I think the idea of the TV show was obviously adorable and I enjoyed learning about different love stories, there wasn’t any longevity. Just as I would get interested in a couple and the final scene would play moments before the couple would kiss, the show was over. That being said, at least the show didn’t do any major damage to my bank account. The only cost required was the nine dollars a month we, and by we, I mean my parents, pay for the Amazon Prime membership.

The show is also perfect for either an entire season binge or watching one episode a month — it’s really a take-ithow-you-want-it situation. Because each episode had a different plot with different characters, it was easy to skip around and watch whatever episode my heart desired.

It was also easy to multitask — it doesn’t require my full attention to find out that the

couple will be together at the end yet again.

The only episode that actually took me by surprise was “Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am,” which starred Anne Hathaway, who played a woman who spent her whole life hiding her bipolar disorder. When she meets a boy in a supermarket during one of her good days, she immediately falls in love.

But by the time of their date on Thursday, she’s back in bed, unable to even fathom going on a date, no matter how much she loves him. The story felt so real that I ached to be by her side and tell her everything is going to be okay. She spends the whole episode fighting with herself to get this boy to love her; but, in the end, learns that she can only grow if she accepts herself.

She realizes this by breaking down in a diner to her work friend who takes her for who she is. This just further enforced the universal truths that you don’t need a man and honesty is the best policy. Now I’m not usually a fan of shows telling me how to live my life, but “Modern Love’s” subtle approach made me smile when the good guy always prevailed.

In the end, I learned a lot about love in my four-hour binge. I discovered that “Modern Love” could have easily broken up each episode into different seasons and I realized that I truly am a sucker for a good romantic comedy. But nevertheless, when season two comes out in 2020, I will be the first to pop some popcorn and waste a whole Sunday consumed by the love lives of others.

PHOTOSTORY | 25

design by | kate nixon

P U P PY

LOVE Junior Sydney Herpich’s family takes in puppies to foster

t h e foste r i n g ex p e r i e n ce by kate nixon

East parent Angela Herpich considered fostering dogs for years — and on Oct. 14, she finally gave in. Angela picked up four puppies and their two-year-old mom from Unleashed Pet Rescue in Mission, KS. Her daughter, junior Sydney Herpich, was surprised at their new houseguests, especially when her mom walked into the kitchen carrying a crate full of puppies. The Herpichs have loved watching the puppies grow — taking their first uneasy steps and developing their personalities.

The dogs must be microchipped and spayed or neutered in order to be considered for adoption. After these steps are taken, the Herpichs will return the puppies to the Unleashed facility.

A B O V E L E F T Angela Herpich sits with Leena and dogs Lucy, Lester and Luca. photo by | julia percy F A R A B O V E Lester rests on his mother’s head. photo by |julia percy A B O V E Angela Herpich gets kisses from Lester and Luca. “It has been fun watching the puppies grow; get their balance and develop personalities,” Angela said. photo by | megan biles F A R L E F T Junior Sydney Herpich sits with Luna. “[Having the dogs] really distracts me from homework ... I like playing with them and it’s a distraction from doing homework and studying,” Sydney said. photo by | kate nixon L E F T Angela Herpich sits with Luna and Lester. photo by | noelle griffin

We Hang Christmas Lights (so you don’t have to) Design | Installation | Maintenance | Removal | Storage LIGHTS

ANIMATED DISPLAYS

GARLAND

DECORATIONS

WREATHS & BOWS

BUSHES & TREES

WANT TO RECEIVE

EVERY ISSUE OF THE

HARBINGER?

SUBSCRIBE

FOR MAIL DELIVERY

Call / Text 913-585-4700 FOR A FREE ESTIMATE & DESIGN CONSULTATION

2816 W. 47th Avenue Kansas City, KS 66103

EMAIL

SMEHARBINGER@ GMAIL.COM

FOR MORE DETAILS

SPORTS | 27

design by | sarah bledsoe

S P O RTS

HIGHLIGHTS A photo recap of the fall sports season during buffer week

ST U D E N T ’S P O L L ARE YOU TRYING OUT FOR A WINTER SPORT? | 319 VOTES

23% YES 77%

NO

DO YOU PLAY MORE THAN ONE SPORT FOR EAST? | 320 VOTES

R I G H T Junior Preston Reynolds dives for the first down. photo by | ty browning F A R R I G H T Senior Eleanor Hlobik and freshman Colleen McAlister cross the finish line. photo by | sarah golder

41% YES 59% NO ARE YOU EXCITED FOR THE WINTER SPORTS SEASON? | 297 VOTES

63% YES 37% NO

AT H L E T E ’ S TA K E DO YOU HAVE ANY PREGAME RITUALS OR SUPERSTITIONS?

I always have to wear the same extract outfit in warm-ups before cross country and right before I go I have to shake my legs which is kinda weird. And I always eat a graham cracker and a half plus a pretzel right

eleanor hlobik | senior

Sydney Crane and I sometimes to got QuikTrip before the games and get some gummy worms and listen to [rap] music like 21 Savage.

anabelle merchant | junior A B O V E Senior Abby Gorman congratulates freshman Jill Rice after Rice performs her beam routine. photo by | kate nixon R I G H T Senior TJ Libeer runs down the field with the ball looking for an open pass. photo by | elise madden F A R R I G H T Senior Simon Robinson kicks the ball up the field to the forwards. photo by | bella wolfe

SCAN ME | VIDEO Recorded live coverage of Round two of the KSHSAA Soccer Playoffs Oct. 31.

28 | sports

design by | lauren dierks photos by | taylor keal

PLAYER PREVIEW

TO N Y F R I E N D S

BASKETBALL | SENIOR What do you think will be different about this upcoming season compared to last season?

A look into winter sports from players’ point of view

by lauren west

AS THE FALL sports season comes to an end, the cardio, preseason weight-lifting and mental preparation begin for winter sports — boys swim and dive, boys and girls basketball, bowling and wrestling. Check out how these varsity returners are prepping for the upcoming season:

J E R A L D YO U N G

“Last year as a team we did pretty poorly. The good thing about this season is that a lot of the people that were high JV and low Varsity are going to start to work their way up varsity because of the experience since freshman year.”

GAV I N M C L I N E Y

DIVE | SOPHOMORE

What are your thoughts on the upcoming season?

WRESTLING | J UNI OR

What do you think will be different about this upcoming season compared to last season?

“Last year, as a team, we did pretty poorly. The good thing about this season is that a lot of the people that were high JV and low varsity are going to start to work their way up through varsity because of the experience since freshman year.”

“Heading into the season I’ve really been mentally preparing. We lost some really good seniors last year but I’m hopeful there are good divers and swimmers coming this year. I think we all need to focus and work on learning new dives.”

K AT H L E E N STA N L E Y

BASKETBALL |SENIOR

What are your thoughts on the upcoming season?

E VA N D E E DY

SWIM | SOPHOMORE What are your personal and team goals for the upcoming season?

“My personal goal is to try and set a school record in the 100 breast because I’m only two seconds off right now. As a team I think one of our main goals is to continue our streak of winning the league.

One of our main competitions [Olathe East] will be at league this year so it will be really hard to win it.”

“Our goal is to be above 500 [meaning more wins than losses] and hopefully beat where we were last year. I think that this season will rely a lot on our bench. We have a really strong starting lineup but it will be dependent on people stepping up on the bench and knocking down shots.”

V I C TO R I A L E A L

B OW L I N G | S O P H O M O R E What do you think will be different about this season compared to last?

“It’s always a fun experience when meeting new people who come on the team. It’s hard to say how the team will do with so many new people joining, but I’m hoping to make it to state again this year and place well.”

SPORTS | 29

design by | lily billingsley photos by | grace allen

F RO M T H E N TO N OW

Married East coaches met through playing college sports and continue to implement their competitive nature

by emma brown

T

hen college freshman Maggie O’Neal grabbed her school-issued coat and hat — the clothes all athletes were given — and stepped into the negative 30 degree weather. She looked at what her date, Doug Archer the 6’8” basketball stud, was wearing, and there was an awkward pause — they had on the same outfit. Both were athletes at the University of North Dakota and both were extremely uncomfortable standing out in their identical outfits at Taco Bell on their first date.

Neither of them expected that awkward coincidence to be the thing that led to a connection, and eventually a marriage.

And neither expected to find a person, let alone their future partner, up in North Dakota.

The two had a love for sports in common, from watching Doug post up for the North Dakota fighting Sioux games to Maggie running the softball bases.

Now, Maggie is the new Aerobics and Weights teacher, while Doug is a para at Belinder Elementary School and is the new JV coach for girls basketball at East.

We are still very competitive,” Doug said. “There are times when she will win and I won’t talk to her for a little while for like an hour maybe, then after that I’m over it.”

doug archer

MEET THE ARCHERS MAGGIE ARCHER

- Played college softball at North Dakota - Aerobics and weights teacher - Assistant Varsity softball coach

DOUG ARCHER

- Played college basketball at North Dakota - Para at Belinder - JV Boys basketball coach

They met in the University Life class — a class all athletes had to take. She still remembers turning in her seat and introducing herself to him.

“When we first met in the class that we had, I thought that she was very pretty,” Doug said. “And in the few conversations that we had, I felt that it was somebody that I could hangout with and connect with.”

The two chatted a bit, and spent time together — only with friends, but the relationship didn’t go further than that until yet another coincidence happened over winter break.

They unknowingly booked the same flight to Kansas City and their seats were right next to each other. She was on her way home to Shawnee and he was heading back to his small town outside of Maryville, Missouri. They spent the entire flight talking, and by February they were dating.

Doug was, and still is, special to Maggie.

He was a guy that could understand what road trips for games were like. He knew what it was like to get up at 5 a.m. to work out and make it to an early morning class. Someone who had experienced the judgmental looks from other students when they had to crawl up the stairs after running too hard at practice the day before.

Doug understood — and that is what Maggie loved about him.

She went to his games. He could never see her — the crowds were always filled with hundreds of people, but he knew she was there. She was just one in a crowd of hundreds, but she was the most important of all.

When she had home games, Doug was always there with the entire basketball team to cheer her on, showing Maggie that he was different from the other guys her friends dated. He was supportive of her and her passion.

The team didn’t stop cheering on Doug and Maggie — they even showed up when Doug proposed.

Maggie said “yes” to the movie theatre marquee with “starring Maggie” on one side and “Will you marry me?” posted on the other, the whole team came to celebrate along with them.

Even today their competitive pasts are brought up — especially with board games (Doug’s frustration can build up).

“We are still very competitive,” Doug said. “There are times when she will win and I won’t talk to her for a little while for like an hour maybe, then after that I’m over it.”

“It’s all fun and games, but I know he will come back to me,” Maggie said while laughing.

They are both happy to have returned back “home” and be close to family. They are hoping to begin new roots here in the district, and they are both excited to be wearing identical spirit wear again — except this time it will say SME.

30 | SPORTS

design by | catherine erickson

HIT THE GROUND

RUNNING

Susan Leonard ran the New York Marathon after training with longtime friend and running partner

PREVIOUS RACES KANSAS HALF MARATHON LOCATION LAWRENCE, KS

13.1 MI

A

A few of Dr. Leonard’s previous races

LOCATION SAVANNAH, GA

13.1 MI ROCK ‘N’ ROLL

SAVANNAH

HOSPITAL HILL

LOCATION KANSAS CITY

10K & 13.1 MI

A B O V E Dr. Leonard and Dr. Eck run alongside each other in the Plaza 10K last year photo courtesy of | luke hoffman

by rose kanaley

ssociate principal Dr. Susan Leonard was never a runner. She thought her high school soccer team’s two-to-three-mile loop around the school was torture and that her friends who ran cross country were insane.

But Nov. 3, Leonard finished the New York Marathon — her first marathon — alongside her running partner of nine years and East parent, Leigh Eck. Leonard learned to love running for the closeness it brought her with Eck and other friends she’d run with. As a young teacher, Leonard started running because it was the easiest and cheapest workout option to fit into her schedule, plus it brought the social aspect of running with a friend.

Even after finding an appreciation for running, a marathon still seemed completely out of her scope. She made up every excuse she could think of not to, from not being in good enough shape to saying she’d only do a marathon in New York (she is a Jersey girl after all). She knew entering the drawing to get in the New York Marathon — the main process used for people out-of-state with less serious intentions to enter the marathon — has about a 16% success rate.

But Eck pushed her to at least keep submitting her name to the ballot, and when Leonard got the email last January — she knew it was a sign they had to begin the hard part: training. They’d been running together before the marathon training, but began running a few days a week after finding out Leonard was accepted in January and officially started training in June.

The two used Hal Higdon, a renowned runner’s, famous marathon training program to find a schedule to train that worked for them. Both with busy work schedules as an associate principal and endocrinologist, Leonard and Eck went with a three-day-aweek training plan with the more intense runs on two weekdays and longer runs

leading up to 20 miles on Saturdays.

“What was kind of exciting was that once we had passed 13 [miles] on those Saturday long runs, every single time I ran on a Saturday, I was running further than I’d ever run in my whole life,” Leonard said. “And we would laugh, the adrenaline is amazing.

You’d finish it and the rest of the day would be crazy — I’d crash and probably go to bed at 9 p.m. or something, but I would be so happy.”

Even with wakeups as early as 4:30 a.m. to run before a day of work at East, Leonard felt energized after the runs and excited to keep going. Running wasn’t a chore, it became something she looked forward to.

Not just looking forward to the run, Leonard looked forward to building her friendship with Eck and other friends she ran with. She’s been able to find importance in the strong female friendships that running has helped her form, especially with Eck. Whether it was just showing up to meet for a run while it was still dark or pushing the other to keep a faster pace even when they were tired, their friendship motivated them.

“As far as good girl friendships, I am running faster than I’ve ever run before and I know it’s because of her,” Leonard said.

The training took up three of their mornings every week, but Leonard’s son CJ didn’t find that it changed their family dynamic very much, saying she was gone and already home before school.

While it was hard for Leonard to drag herself out of bed as early as early as 4:30 a.m. on a weekday morning, she knew she had to go meet Eck. “There are mornings when I don’t want to get up, but Leigh is waiting for me,” Leonard said. “And I hope that some days she doesn’t want to get up and she knows I’m waiting for her.”

The two’s training went from five miles that had become their favorite route around

Mission Hills and through the Village to planning 20-mile runs through the area, asking friends to leave water bottles or Gatorade on their door steps so they wouldn’t get dehydrated.

Leonard and Eck found how supportive their friends were with this, finding kind notes and snacks left along their running route along with the drinks.

The adjustment of running and pacing herself wasn’t easy for Leonard. She was often hard on herself about maintaining a faster pace, but once she stopped focusing on the details, she learned to enjoy running.

“There were days that it felt terrible and there were days that it felt good, but most of all it gives you confidence to not overthink it, like if there are bad days,” Leonard said.

“There’s good ones coming too. I’ve gotten a lot better about not beating myself up when the pace is bad, like whatever, it was a hard day. Move on.”

The hard training and fast paces weren’t the only hard parts of the preparation for the marathon.

Eck didn’t get into the marathon through lottery like Leonard did, and since the two knew they had to run it together Eck decided to get in through one of the alternatives — raising $3,000 and running for a nonprofit organization.

With Eck working as an endocrinologist and Leonard’s niece having Type 1 Diabetes, the nonprofit choice was easy: the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

“So then it became a cause we really cared about too,” Leonard said. “We raised money so she got her entry and we’ve been training since.”

They reached out to friends and family via texts, letters and emails to ask for support and donations for the JDRF. Although both felt uncomfortable asking for money, they knew raising money to run with the JDRF was Eck’s only other opportunity to get in

the marathon, and the marathon wouldn’t be the same if only Leonard could run it.

They wanted to commit the time and effort to raising money for the JDRF, and their friendship through running the marathon.

“There were times when I’d see [Leonard] from our runs more often than my kids or family, “ Eck said. “But we’ve been friends for a long time now, so it’s a big deal that we’re doing this together.”

Leonard was especially excited for the marathon on Nov. 3, to run through all five boroughs and see the city in a way she’d never seen it before during her run. But most of all, she couldn’t wait to pass the iconic “Last Damn Bridge” sign on the Madison Avenue Bridge — and know that she was almost to the finish line of her first marathon. Leonard and Eck’s husbands came to support them, while their kids stayed at home.

They decided to set A, B and C goals for their marathon time so they would have optimistic and realistic goals for the race.

Their goals were under four hours, under four and a half hours, or just to finish it overall. The two ran the first 13 miles together before drifting apart for the second 13. Leonard finished in four hours and 20 minutes, meeting their B goal, and Eck was just within their A goal with a time of three hours and 58 minutes.

For Leonard and Eck, the mornings of sweating through Mission Hills were worth it. But in the end, it was about more than just the marathon.

“Now that I’m at the end of it, looking back, I’m nostalgic like the journey has been as good as the marathon will be in a lot of ways,” Leonard said. “I can’t believe I did that but I did it! It just kind of teaches you that sometimes things seem impossible, but you can do it.”

design by | aislinn menke photos by | aislinn menke, reilly moreland and annakate dilks

PHOTOSTORY | 31

HIDDEN GEMS O F KC We went out to uncover some of downtown Kansas City’s finest “unknown” places so you didn’t have to

*****

K AW P O I N T PA R K

L I B R A RY RO O F

KC P U B L I C L I B R A RY R O O F TO P ABOVE ALL THE traffic of Main St., the KC Public Library boasts a great view of the city, making you feel as if you’ve teleported into the heart of NYC. This quiet place is the perfect hideaway to leisurely read a book or cram for your next Chemistry test. With a plentiful array of seating, you can admire the native plants from the shade or in the sun. Parking was a challenge, but the cityscape view makes up for it.

P I R AT E ’ S B O N E B U R G E R S

***** P I R AT E ’ S B O N E

IN BETWEEN THE Crossroads and Crown Center, this burger joint beats Shake Shack any day. The retro vibes and inviting atmosphere are a perfect combo for dinner (just not a late-night bite since they close at 7 p.m.). The unique burgers with creamy sauces and charcoal buns are a hit, but the fries are on the soggy side so make sure to ask for them to be fried extra-crispy. With the food being on the pricey side – $9 for a burger and extra for fries – this restaurant should be reserved for a girl’s night out or birthday dinner.

*****

K AW P O I N T P A R K

AFTER TAKING A confusing route of lefts and rights, you can find Kaw Point Park nestled in-between industrial warehouses on the bank of the Missouri River. Although it may be difficult to find, this park is full of historic landmarks and walking trails, and hosts an instagram story-worthy view of Kansas City. The colorful fall leaves make the trails even more appealing and the park even has a little wildflower garden for flora enthusiasts.

O U R DA I LY N A DA

*****

O U R D A I LY N A D A

THIS QUIET COFFEE SHOP located by the River Market in downtown KC has a lot to offer — two dollar creamy hot chocolate, a diverse menu and an aesthetically-pleasing industrial-minimalist design concept. Save a seat here on one of their vintage couches to study for winter finals or finish last minute college applications.

There’s even a little bookstore inside the cafe for all you bookworms out there.

The only downside to this cafe is the limited amount of seating and hard-to-find parking.

32 | ALT-COPY

butternut squash soup

The look of this butternut squash soup fits the fall theme with its photo-worthy bright orange color. Perfect for your Friendsgiving as a side or main dish.

design by | caroline chisholm photo by | megan stopperan

apple pie bite

dessert If you’re already running late to Friendsgiving, whip together this twist on a classic fall pie recipe in 20 minutes with ingredients you can find around your kitchen.

crostinis a p p e t i ze r Even with a 30-minute prep time, these appetizer crostinis are a fancier alternative to cheese and crackers — sure to start your Friendsgiving off right.

thankful FOR NEW NOMS

by winnie wolf

Your phone vibrates twice in your hand — the first notification shows the reminder of your Friendsgiving in an hour and the second one tells you to bring something to contribute. Here are some last-minute easy food ideas so you don’t show up empty-handed.