Harbinger Issue 1 2024-2025

SMOKING AWAY

The legalization of marijuana in Missouri creates an easier route for minors to use the products while softening view points on the substance and overlooking side effects

02 THE HARBINGER

SEPTEMBER 4, 2024

online preview

staf list

PRINT EDITORS

Avery Anderson

Addie Moore

ONLINE EDITORS

Larkin Brundige

Connor Vogel

ASST. PRINT EDITORS

Sophia Brockmeier

Libby Marsh

ASST. ONLINE EDITORS

Luciana Mendy

Lucy Stephens

HEAD COPY EDITOR

Ada Lillie Worthington

ASST. HEAD COPY EDITORS

Libby Marsh

Luciana Mendy

HEAD PHOTO EDITORS

Caroline Martucci

Molly Miller

Clara Peters

Amelie Wong

ASST. PHOTO EDITORS

Will Griffth

Paige Bean

PHOTO MENTORS

Addie Clark

Mason Sajna

Molly Scott

VIDEO EDITORS

Alex Sajna

Mason Sajna

ASST. VIDEO EDITOR

Preston Hooker

Visit smeharbinger.net to view additional stories, galleries, podcasts and videos

SCAN ME WEBSITE

Read about the new pep club app, East’s new associate principals and senior Elizabeth Starr’s summer youth group trip

SENIOR ELIZABETH

STARR sat at a convention in Warsaw, Poland, listening intently to a young Ukrainian woman relaying her biggest struggle during the ongoing Ukrainian-Russian War.

“Her biggest complaint was there are no single men around between the ages of 25 and 50,” Starr said. “They’re either in the war, hiding because you can just

get drafted off the streets or they’ve fled the country.”

Over the summer, Starr spent 10 days touring and volunteering in Poland with nine others from the Church of the Resurrection’s youth group. They spent half of their time sightseeing in Krakow and Tarnów and the other half at a Methodist church conference in Warsaw.

STAFF WRITERS

DESIGN EDITOR

Kai McPhail

ASST. DESIGN EDITOR

Sydney Eck

DESIGN MENTORS

Clara Burdick

Zane Laing

PAGE DESIGNERS

Ben Bagby

Evelyn Bagley

Avni Bansal

Caroline Beal

Vanessa Blades

Ellen Bowser

Ella Hargens

Ashtyn Ingram

Miranda Liberda

Christopher Long

Francesca Lorusso

Addy Newman

Tillie Paisner

Ava Slocum

Lucy Swope

SECTION EDITORS

EDITORIAL

Julia Campbell

NEWS

Clara Burdick

OPINION

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS

Caroline Black

Katie Cook

Sylvie DeGalan

Emery Engle

Anastasia Flower

Evelyn Geheb

Vivien Glenski

Rubi Hakes

Caroline Hoffman

Francesca Lorusso

Lexi Madden

Tyler Russell

Zac Russell

Alex Sajna

Simon Shawver

Ava Towner

Annie Trenkle

Emma Weidman

MULTIMEDIA STAFF

Ben Bagby

Paige Bean

Mary Gagen

Alex Sajna

Emma Weidman

Avni Bansal

Caroline Beal

Vanessa Blades

Ellen Bowser

Reese Dunham

Mary Gagen

Preston Hooker

Christopher Long

Addy Newman

Grace Pei

Mya Smith

Carl Sutton

COPY EDITORS

Avery Anderson

Isabel Baldassaro

Sophia Brockmeier

Larkin Brundige

Addie Moore

Lucy Stephens

Emmerson Winfrey

Lucy Wolf

Connor Vogel

Michael Yi

ART EDITOR Kai McPhail

ASST. ART EDITOR

Francesca Lorusso

STAFF ARTISTS

design by libby marsh cover design by avery anderson cover photo illustration by amelie wong

political cartoon

Avery Foster

Preston Hooker

Miranda Liberda

Tillie Paisner

SOCIAL MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS

Isabel Baldassaro

Lucy Stephens

ASST. SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR

Sydney Eck

SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF

Paige Bean

Bella Broce

Clara Burdick

Ella Hargens

Ashtyn Ingram

Zane Laing

Luciana Mendy

Mya Smith

Connor Vogel

Mya Smith ADS MANAGER

FEATURE Reese Dunham

EQUIPMENT MANAGER

Mason Sajna

Evelyn Bagley

Bella Broce

CIRCULATION MANAGER

Reese Dunham

CONTEST COORDINATORS

Sophia Brockmeier

Addie Clark

editorial policy

The Harbinger is a student run publication. Published editorials express the views of the Harbinger staff. Signed columns published in the Harbinger express the writer’s personal opinion. The content and opinions of the Harbinger do not represent the student body, faculty, administration or Shawnee Mission School District. The Harbinger will not share any unpublished content, but quotes material may be confrmed with the sources. The Harbinger encourages letters to the editors, but reserves the right to reject them for reasons including but not limited to lack of space, multiple letters of the same topic and personal attacks contained in the letter. The Harbinger will not edit content though letters may be edited for clarity, length or mechanics. Letters should be sent to room 400 or emailed to smeharbinger@gmail.com.

art by preston hooker

campbell

SHADOWED VICTORIES

Having transgender girl athletes compete in high school sports doesn’t threaten cisgender girls

SALLY SUE WAS ahead by a lot.

Her feet pounded on the track one after another as she used her naturally stronger build to push herself in front of her cisgender competitors. She glanced over her shoulder at the competition.

The seven other girls running the 400-meter race with her were behind. Not just a few feet behind or even a couple yards. They were so far away their features began to blur together, creating three blobs struggling to catch up.

Sally was sure this would be another record-breaking time in the books. Another scholarship offer. Another win.

Except that didn’t happen — and it never will.

In the wake of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the conversation about how transgender athletes should be categorized in sports has reemerged. And while the Olympic Committee has taken its stance on the matter by having athletes test their testosterone levels before competing, high schools around the country are still in a debate over the subject.

But at the high school level, it really shouldn’t be a debate at all. Allowing transgender girls to compete in high school sports that align with their gender identity doesn’t signal the end of cisgender women winning competitions or the beginning of stories like “Sally Sue’s.” In fact, it doesn’t even pose a threat.

According to the National Library of Medicine, boys after puberty have testosterone levels 10 to 15 times higher than girls. But females with higher levels of testosterone aren’t necessarily a new concept.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS raises testosterone levels in biological females. According to the World Health Organization, this condition allows those affected, in certain cases, to build muscle more

easily.

An estimated 5 up to 15% of women are affected by PCOS, according to the National Institutes of Health.

And while being transgender and having PCOS aren’t the same, those with PCOS aren’t even close to being banned from their sports for fear of “unfair competition.”

For comparison, an estimated 1.4% of 9th through 11th graders in the US identify as transgender, genderqueer or genderfluid, according to a study done by the National Library of Medicine. Of this group, an estimated 38.5% identify as transgender women. While transgender youth is a prominent group, it isn’t even close to an overwhelming majority.

The flood of transgender girls swooping in to knock cisgender girls out of high school competition is not only highly exaggerated but statistically impossible. According to the Center for American Progress, only 13.4% of athletes aged 13 to 17 identify as transgender. With those numbers, it’s hard to even entertain the delusion that trans women are “taking over” high school sports.

But it’s not just the unlikeliness of the circumstance that transgender girls begin dominating high school sports, it’s also a matter of students’ mental health and wellbeing.

According to an article by the Scientific American, banning trans athletes from competing in the sport that aligns with their gender identity causes unnecessary amounts of stress and anxiety in a population of students who likely are already struggling with these issues.

Transgender youth experience more anxiety and depression than their cicgender peers, according to a study done by the National Library of Medicine. Transgender and queer youth also experienced higher rates of depression, bullying and anxiety than the cisgender youth tested.

There’s no reason to escalate the

problem and force transgender youth into situations that may make them feel out of place or uncomfortable.

While it can be easy to forget that the people making such lifealtering decisions, such as coming out as transgender, aren’t adults, it’s important to remember that each one is a child trying to find their place in high school.

Hormone blockers before puberty have been proven to leave postpubescent transgender girls with similar levels of testosterone as cisgender girls of their age — according to the National Library of Medicine. The argument that transgender athletes should be forced to take these hormone blockers is also flawed. Ethically, coaches shouldn’t force any team member to take supplements or alter their body in ways that could potentially affect them for life. Neither should transgender teammates.

It can be difficult to understand the situations transgender youth, especially transgender girls, experience when they’re forced to play on a team that does not align with their gender identity.

But think of it this way: if we reverse the roles, it’s the same as forcing cicgender athletes to play on the sports team opposite to their gender. All it does is make the athlete in question uncomfortable and can lead to unnecessary anxiety or stress.

Both parties are put in uncomfortable situations every day involving locker room anxiety, cliques on teams and even discrimination from coaches and teammates.

As educators, parents, peers and coaches, it’s important to let transgender youth and girls decide where they belong and what they enjoy doing without the added pressure of having to fight to play on the team where they feel they fit in.

Let’s face it, that form of exclusion is just plain discrimination.

for: 12 against: 1

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

SET IN STONE NOT

A set of informational stats connected with transgender athletes

Scientists have repeatedly said there is no single biological factor that determines sex

A person’s sex assigned at birth does not inherently advantage or disadvantage them in a competition

Transgender athletes have been allowed to openly compete in the Olympics since

2003

Out of 905 adolescents and young adults, 47% felt that transgender athletes should be able to participate in competitive sports based on their gender identity according to JAMAnetwork.com

art by francesca lorrusso

THE HARBINGER

news

SecurelyPass

This year’s seminar passes will be through SecurelyPass

THE PAPER SEMINAR passes will be replaced with SecurelyPass — an electronic hall pass — on Sept. 10.

On Sept. 5, seminar teachers will conduct a mini-lesson teaching their students how to create and accept appointment passes and navigate the SecurelyPass website.

According to Associate Principal Tara Mahoney, the main goal of the electronic passes is to ensure student safety by letting teachers know where students are.

“When you’re in [a] classroom, you’re [that teacher’s] responsibility,” Mahoney said. “Making

FIRST FOOTBALL

PV jazz festival

sure that you’re getting what you need in a safe, respectful and responsible way [are] main priorities as a classroom teacher.”

Along with safety, the passes will collect data about which classes students constantly visit, providing administration with struggling areas for students. The passes are supposed to make sure students’ time is being used correctly, but students will still be able to have freedom when using them.

“We definitely need the student feedback, and not on how we can make it meaningful and purposeful, but also not making it so locked down that you feel that [school is] not an enjoyable place to be at that moment,” Mahoney said.

THE ANNUAL PRARIE Village

Jazz Festival will take place from 3-10 p.m. at Harmon Park on Sept. 7. Admission is free for children under 18

The event consists of five acts ranging from 35 to 90 minutes. East’s Blue Knights jazz band is performing the opening number, to be followed by the local bands Sons of Brasil, Back Alley Brass Band, Pete Fucinaro Quartet and Adam Larson Band.

Six food trucks will be available providing dinner options, and alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages will be offered as well.

The annual Prairie Village jazz festival is on Sept. 7

Special Events Coordinator John Kinney predicts the crowd will be around four thousand people.

Kinney says the 2011 Jazz Festival was the first Prairie Village event of its kind. The Festival aims to bring together various musical acts that reflect the deep jazz roots that are present in the Kansas City area.

The festival has happened every year since 2011, excluding 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19.

Kinney hopes that the festival will be a pleasant day with neighbors enjoying each other’s company and appreciating the music.

“We’ve gotten wonderful musical acts,” Kinney said. “If we get nice weather, then the park will fill up with people who are just enjoying being outside and being in the community in a lovely setting.”

OVER THE the main gym was repainted for the first time in 10 years. The new design features a black statement wall on the south end of the gym with a black board displaying East’s 109 KSHSAA team state championship wins.

According to Principal Jason Peres, the statement wall gave the gym a facelift.

“Our school has so many

SecurelyPass will start small, primarily being used for appointment passes, before it extends to making coffee shop, library, nurse and bathroom passes.

Mahoney and her 10-teacher team plan to start using the passes throughout the entire school day if the feedback is positive.

“We really want to tailor it to the needs of our building, the needs of our teachers and the needs of our students,” Mahoney said. “That will mean that we’re taking small steps so that we’re really good at the small steps and have time to reflect and revise.”

SCAN ME WEBSITE

Scan this QR code for more information on

The main gym got repainted this summer

state titles that should be celebrated at all times,” Peres said.

Tucker Trotter to design the threedimensional board.

“No other school that we know of has a piece like that,” Johnson said. “It’s a big deal when we walk into the gym [and] see it.”

Athletic director Ryan Johnson collaborated with East father and CEO of Dimensional Innovations

Along with the board, the previously all-white ceiling is now black and a 12-foot tall rectangular strip of black surrounds the gymnasium. Above the black strip, the wall is painted white with a stripe of Columbia blue.

The black ceiling contrasts with

the basketball court below it and brings energy and focus to the playing surface, according to Peres.

“The black ceiling just makes you feel like you’re on a stage,” Peres said.

Both Peres and Johnson have gotten positive messages about the repainting from students, teachers and district officials.

“People love it and they feel like it’s new and refreshed and truly reflects who we are and what we’re about,” Peres said.

design by clara burdick

the Prairie Village Jazz Festival

LEFT The banner, hung up in Franklin Park, is one of many seen around Prairie Village promoting the festival.

photo by zac russell

RIGHT The new 3D mural features East’s 109 state championships. photo by zac russell

NO PHONE ZONE

With the rise in changes of phone policies in schools across the country, SMSD is working towards an updated phone policy starting this quarter

THE SHAWNEE MISSION

Mission School District recently formed the Cycle II Steering Committee. It consists of Superintendent Michelle Hubbard, board members, parents, students and staff members from across the district. The Strategy 4 team of the committee will review and create a policy concerning the use of personal devices in schools, starting this quarter.

They oversee Strategy 4.1.3 — a new strategy implemented this school year in order to, “Create a developmental guide related to age-appropriate usage of technology (to include the use of personal devices) with consideration for students who may require individualized support,” according to the Cycle II strategic plan implementation schedule.

School districts across the country have placed partial or full bans on phone usage in schools, with eight states having already enacted legislation of partial or full restrictions on phone usage during school hours, according to the Washington Post. In Kansas, the Blue Valley and Olathe School Districts have also placed partial bans — where devices must be put away during instructional time.

According to Kansas Representative Stephanie Clayton, the state will leave these decisions to school boards.

“A lot of our general philosophy is that this isn’t so much a legislative decision as it should be a decision that is made by the local school district,” Clayton said.

The subject of phone policies has been brought up before during public comment but this is the first time it has been suggested within the school board. With these recent nationwide changes and statistics against having phones in schools, this issue was brought to the school board’s attention by at-large board member David Westbrook at the June 10 board meeting.

Westbrook proposed a policy where

students lock their phones away at the start of school and are only able to access them after school. He believes that implementing a policy where students can access devices is difficult for teachers to enforce.

“What I think now needs to be done is to take a look at what would be the most sensible way to execute a policy like this,” Westbrook said. “I frankly think that more kids and more parents will welcome it than resist it.”

On the other hand, students believe that a phone ban should not be implemented. In an Instagram poll of 347 people, 94% believe that a phone ban is not necessary, the majority of respondents being students.

Westbrook believes, however, that if students and parents were to look at the statistics surrounding phone usage in schools, they’d change their minds.

Over 50% of teenagers in the US spend an average of 7 hours and 22 minutes a day on phones, according to Cosmo Technology. And over half of kids get 237 notifications a day, 23% of these are during school hours, according to Common Sense Media.

Last year, a phone ban was enacted at Indian Hills Middle School, where students were required to leave their phones in their lockers during the school day.

Associate Principal Tara Mahoney, who just transitioned from Indian Hills to East, noticed that students were more engaged and had fewer distractions. However, she doesn’t notice a big difference in behavior of students at Indian Hills compared to East.

“At Indian Hills, you could have access during passing period, you had access at lunch, so that’s really where I’ve seen [phones] in the hallways and during lunch,” Mahoney said. “Here, it really doesn’t look a whole lot different.”

Kim Whitman, the founder of the Phone Free Schools Movement — a national organization advocating to remove phones from schools — and a SMSD parent, agrees with Westbrook that phones harm students’

TECHSCHOOL

Pros and cons of phones in schools

Good to have in case of emergencyKids can contact parents in school PROS:

Can be used to be creative in class

CONS: Is a distraction during class Increases depression and anxiety

design by vanessa blades photos by mason sanja

story by libby marsh

FEATURE

SEPTEMBER 4, 2024

Cafeteria Shake Up

NEW LUNCH POLICIES

were implemented at East on Aug. 14. These policies include having administrators around all exits of the cafeteria making sure students don’t eat their lunch in the hall or roam around during their assigned lunch period.

Associate Principal Kristoffer Barikmo helped make these decisions along with the rest of the administration at East.

“There’s always been administrator supervision inside the cafeteria,” Barikmo said. “This year because of the way the schedule was made, we didn’t have as many teachers available for hallway support. So then administrators had stepped in to provide that supervision.”

In addition, administration reduced previously 30 minute lunches down to 25 minutes and the use of reusable plastic lunch trays that students have to turn in at the end of their lunch period.

According to Barikmo, the time change was made to have an equal amount of time as other schools in the district.

For some students, including sophomore Skye Welch, these changes have made it difficult for students to use their lunch time effectively. Limited entrances and exits for students to use have made the lunch rooms more crowded, according to Welch.

“At one point I was at the end of the lunch line,” Welch said.“I only had 10 minutes to eat and there was no spot to sit anywhere at all. So I just ended up sitting outside on the ground and the tray drop off ended up making me late to class.”

These rules still affect seniors who are allowed to leave school for lunch, according to senior Lilly Greenstein.

“When I do leave I have to be really quick because the lunches are shorter now,” Greenstein said. “I have to order food ahead of time.”

Greenstein also doesn’t agree with students not being able to leave the cafeteria after being used to sitting in the choir hall during lunch, or sitting with friends in other areas besides the cafeteria.

“It just feels unnecessarily harsh,” Greenstein said. “There are bigger issues going on in the school. More important ones than students sitting in the choir hall during lunch or people going to lunch a few minutes early.”

According to Barikmo, it has always been a rule that students cannot leave the cafeteria during lunch. Administration has decided to reinforce more this year, due to respecting health codes and preventing disruption in other classrooms.

“One of the promises that we make to

TIME

Lunch has been shortened by five minutes and is now 25 minutes.

Use time wisely, and no horse play will be conducted.

LOCATION

Eating will not be tolerated in hallways.

Lunch must be eaten in the lunch room.

TRAY RETURNS

Reusable trays are now in use.

Students must bring them to tray return window before exiting cafeteria.

design by julia campbell &

students and teachers is that we’re going to create an environment where it’s not disruptive,” Barikmo said. “Having to keep people in the lunchroom is because we want to make sure that our learning environment isn’t disrupted, but also because it’s a health code requirement.”

Although students have disagreed with some of these policies, the reusable lunch trays have been beneficial in making sure that there’s no trash left in the lunchroom, according to Barikmo.

“

HAVING TO KEEP

people in the lunchroom is because we want to make sure that our learning environment isn’t disrupted.

KRISTOFFER BARIKMO ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL

The use of reusable lunch trays also reduces the amount of paper waste that could come from paper trays while also reducing trash from food.

“I think they allow us to keep a cleaner space,” Barikmo said. “If kids are eating lunch in the cafeteria, it allows our building to be cleaner, but I also think it allows us to fulfill the promise to our teachers that the learning environment isn’t going to be disrupted.”

LUNCH LINE

Only one lunch entrance to the food area.

Students and faculty must wait in line.

TRASH PICK-UP

All trash must be picked up.

If student does not throw trash away, student will be tracked down.

tillie paisner

ABOVE Last lunch students wait in the cafeteria line to purchase their school lunches.

photo by annie trenkle

ABOVE Sophomores Aubrey Massoth, Bianca Thornburg and junior Sophia Yanics eat lunch together after their fourth hour classes.

photo by annie trenkle

Shawnee Mission East’s lunch staff takes on new lunch room policies

story by mya smith

story by luciana mendy

THE SHAWNEE MISSION

The Shawnee Mission School District released the second cycle of its strategic plan on June 25, with six strategies to improve education and experiences in the district throughout the 2024-2029 school years. East is implementing the beginning stages of the plan this quarter.

The plan includes strategies of Learning, Belonging, People, Technology, Mental Health and Facilities, along with steps to accomplish the goals of each strategy. The plan is a way for the district to work towards its mission of creating “an inclusive culture, an engaged community and robust opportunities that challenge learners to achieve their full potential.”

The plan was brainstormed by a committee consisting of administrators, parents, teachers, students and community members from across the district. English teacher Samantha Feinberg was a part of the committee and assisted in discussing and revising the plan.

NEW YEAR NEW POLICIES STEPS TOWARDS BELONGING

“I like to believe that the [committee] was really a microcosm, an educational sample of people in the community,” Feinburg said. “On the basis of age, race, occupation, interests, socioeconomic background, I think everybody was represented.”

The “Belonging Strategy” aims to foster a sense of belonging within the SMSD community. Actions for this strategy include streamlined district-wide communication, reviewing disciplinary policies, new staff training and strengthening minority support groups.

The district-wide proffessional training within the plan will be specifically on restorative practices. Restorative practice is a disciplined approach focusing on fostering a sense of community within classrooms to prevent conflict. The practice also includes reacting to misconduct by encouraging students to accept responsibility and rebuild relationships.

According to Feinberg, resolving

conflicts through restorative practices will help achieve one of the strategy’s goals of reducing discipline referrals.

“A lot of the student issues lead to or are caused by [students] maybe feeling pushed out of school like ‘I’m not wanted’ or ‘I don’t belong here’, what we want to do is work on conflict resolution rather than just punitive measures,” Feinberg said. “That restoration offers a greater opportunity for inclusion and creates an increased sense of belonging.”

Another common theme throughout the action steps of the strategy is improving communication policies. According to SMSD coordinator of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Kaitlin Shulman, developing unified communications allows the district to get feedback from all perspectives and create goals that align with the community’s concerns.

“The plan is truly coming from the people in our district, and it’s their voices, and then we as administrators are the facilitators of that plan,” Shulman said. “So sometimes it feels like a lot of communication loops, but that is our way of truly making sure we have diverse voices represented.”

One of the changes to improve communication includes different feedback cycles to measure the schools’ progress in this strategy. According to Principal Jason Peres, East will be using randomly selected student focus groups to understand students’ perspectives.

Starting in September, groups of 1315 students will meet monthly with Peres to discuss East’s belongingness — giving students a voice in the school. According to

- Ensure accessible communication for all community levels through translation or assistive technology

Steering Committee member, senior Hazel Ecklund-Johnson, student voice will be an important factor in any success in this strategy.

“Students are the ones who are most aware of racist comments and other things that are going on,” Ecklund-Johnson said. “Students are also more aware of current societal norms, so they could be really informative in how the staff could form plans on how to effectively deal with certain things.”

Along with enhanced communication and feedback policies, the Belonging Strategy also includes a goal of reviewing and revising disciplinary policies to ensure equitable approaches.

However, even before releasing the plan, due to community feedback, the district made changes to the disciplinary matrix by adding the language “jokes, slurs and other derogatory or demeaning comments” under the “significant disrespect” category.

According to the Chief of Student Services and DEI Dr. Christy Ziegler, the district will be flexible and continue to respond to community feedback, so the timing of implementation can be adjusted depending on the circumstance.

The change in language does not mean any change in the level of punishment. However, according to Peres, this specification will allow the school to analyze the annual disciplinary data for the frequency of derogatory comments. The data will then be used to determine whether the Belonging

GROUP WORK

- Gather randomized focus groups of 12-15 students for discussions

- Strengthen support groups for minority groups of staff and students

initiatives are working.

In past years, the district has made progress in efforts to foster belonging, such as now having DEI teams in each high school and establishing support groups for minority students and staff. Peres believes that this goal of belonging is a way for East to continue its progress.

“We are far from perfect, as our community is far from perfect,” Peres said. “We just have to do a better job, I think, as a school, communicating to everyone so that we can be a beacon of belongingness, hopes and dreams. That’s what East has always been. We just have to do the best job possible, making sure that East leads our community, not the other way around.”

Upcoming plans the SMSD district is implementing

IN SCHOOLS

- Implement training for staff members on restorative practices to foster relationships and address conflicts

- Review and revise district disciplinary policies to ensure an equitable effective discipline approach

SMSD’s new strategy to foster beloning throughout the district

opinion comic strip

hot take

While visiting Vail or Aspen is fine, experiencing Colorado like a local in a small town allows for an authentic experience

WITH COLORADO’S STUNNING

of Americans own dogs

“Beetlejuice 2” comes out on Sept.

landscapes, hard charging locale and captivating wildlife, no wonder it is a popular vacation spot. So, when I see people spending their time in gimmicky towns such as Aspen and Vail, it hurts to see the state’s natural beauty has less of a pull than Aviator Nation and Lululemon stores.

While these locations are only flight away and have comfortable accommodations, their focus distracts from the true spirit of the Rocky Mountains: experiencing the mountains like a local.

Their touristic atmosphere makes them less authentic than a mountain vacation in towns like Leadville or Gold Hill, both of which are genuine mining towns with a prevalence of locals, not tourists.

The former old-mountain charm created by authentic local stores has been replaced by corporate bigwigs such as Moncler and Loro Piana.

As much as I love shopping for $200

striped sweatshirts, I think I’ll take a hike instead. While the luxury chain storefronts are popular outfitters which offer a familiar experience, the importance of supporting local businesses can get lost in the sea of trendy stores.

The only way to truly experience a mountain vacation is to be one with nature and spend time amongst the undisrupted scenery. While there’s a place for luxury on any vacation, it should take a backseat to meaningful, mountain experiences on any true Colorado excursion.

Instead of staying at a luxurious resort with a pool and spa, rent a house in a small town such as Silverton or Ouray. Switch out the 24-hour room service for a hike to a waterfall.

Experiencing Colorado in a town where locals are the priority can be truly-lifely if you choose to experience the authentic glory of Colorado.

Pizza is a go to at lunch when there are no other good options, but having it so often makes it depressing to go to lunch and seeing that the only decent option is pizza.

Harbinger staffer ranks school lunch foods 2

3 of people support Blake Lively in the “It Ends With Us” drama

*Instagram poll of 315

French toast sticks are the superior lunch food by far. The sugary coating and rubbery sausage patties top off the whole thing.

The cheeseburger is last place in my opinion because the bun can be stale and the cheese can be a little plasticky, but otherwise it’s a good option.

Follow the Harbinger on social media to participate in our polls

*Instagram poll of 221 votes

*Instagram poll of 242 votes

SYDNEY ECK JUNIOR

PIZZA IS MY favorite thing to get in the cafeteria because it’s one of the only good options.

story by christopher long

art by avery foster

IT ENDS

WITH BLAKE

Blake Lively deserves as much hate as she can get for the negligence of addressing domestic violence in the press tour for “It Ends With Us”

WEAR YOUR FLORALS!”

“Bring your friends!”

These are some of the bold ways Blake Lively marketed her most recent film, “It Ends With Us” — a movie adaptation of the popular Colleen Hoover novel that explores the topic of domestic violence.

Lively has shown how little she cares about addressing the matter of domestic violence while promoting the movie — and it’s disgusting.

Lively — with very little character judgment — promoted the movie like it was just a chick flick such as “Legally Blonde” or “Clueless”, with zero mention of the sensitive topic it covers.

I’ve been a diehard Blake Lively fan since my sixth grade “Gossip Girl” phase. But now that she has made her priorities clear, it’s hard for me to have a soft spot for the actress.

When the topic of domestic violence was finally brought up in an interview with Fox 32 Chicago reporter Jake Hamilton, she responded in a sarcastic and bratty manner saying when people asked for advice on the topic, she would offer her “address, phone number or I could just location share you.”

In addition to the mockery in the interview, Lively, along with the rest of the cast, emphasized the importance of dressing up and wearing florals to the movie. This movie is about domestic violence — it’s not “Barbie.”

And to make it even better, Lively

released her haircare line Blake Brown only five days before the movie’s premiere, using the attention from the movie for her own financial gain.

While Lively only seemed to focus on promoting the movie for her own benefit, her co-star and director of the movie Justin Baldoni took a different approach, using the platform to raise awareness for domestic violence.

All of the movies Baldoni has directed center around serious subjects — and the press tour does too. “Five Feet Apart” follows a couple with Cystic Fibrosis, “Clouds” is a true story about a boy with osteosarcoma and now he’s endorsing “It Ends With Us.”

He also opted out of the baking and bouquet-making lessons with the rest of the cast, instead doing interviews with news outlets such as Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight to promote the issue.

In those interviews, when the topic of domestic violence came up, Baldoni gave very heartfelt and educated responses on the message the movie is trying to send.

He’s made an effort to do it the right way.

Baldoni’s Instagram bio has the hotline for domestic violence. Lively’s mentions her three brands: Betty Buzz, Betty Booze and Blake Brown.

Baldoni stood off to the side during the premiere. Lively wore a custom Versace gown originally worn by Britney Spears in the early 2000s, making sure she is the center of attention.

Baldoni posted clips of interviews and the trailer for the movie, captioned with

positive messages. Lively posted a video of her and other co-star Brandon Sklenar playing “flower pictionary” with the caption mentioning how she “is going to need therapy after this” — joking about how her drawing skills were humbled.

In an Instagram poll of 148 people, 70% said they think Baldoni’s promotional method is better than Lively’s. People all over TikTok are publicly siding with him, while simultaneously pulling evidence from years ago that Lively has always been an influencer first, genuine human after — and I couldn’t agree more.

It wasn’t until four days after the movie was released and people started noticing the negligence of the press tour that @ itendswithusmovie on Instagram began posting about domestic violence. Baldoni had initially spoke out on the topic at least a week before Lively and the rest of the cast even acknowledged it.

But of course, they only posted any of the press that Lively did regarding the topic — who cares about Baldoni anyway, right?

The “resources” highlight on the movie’s instagram account is an obvious attempt at covering up the drama.

I hope that this PR nightmare is a lesson for Lively and other actors to care less about filling the theaters and take time to consider the actual content of the movie — because if not, TikTok cancel culture will Take. You. Down.

WHICH SIDE?

East students share their views on “It Ends With Us”

TEAM BLAKE

“ RACHEL DAVIS JUNIOR

I PERSONALLY THINK cancel culture is very prevalent, she didn’t do anything wrong. Like a month ago everyone loved her and all of a sudden everyone hates her and doesn’t have a reason why.

TEAM JUSTIN

“ LILY IVES JUNIOR

I’VE SEEN A lot of his interviews and he seems a lot more genuine. I’m more impacted by his words compared to Blake’s interviews which are more shallow.

design by miranda liberda photos courtesy of

STADI DUMB

Using public funds to build new sports venues only hurts the taxpayers and the economy

THE CLOSING CEREMONY

of the 2024 Olympic Games was held in Paris, France on Aug. 12. It was a celebration of the largest organized sporting competition in the world — and a total economic disaster.

After France spent over $8.9 billion on infrastructure, security and tourism, the country was left with nearly $4 billion in debt.

Now, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly approved measures to fund the construction of new stadiums for the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs that may leave the government with a similar deficit of up to $2 billion just to have a home team.

But these funds would be better spent on local infrastructure and social aid programs that will actually benefit the community. Instead, we are giving taxpayer money to an organization with no intention to pay it back in an attempt to lure the two teams downtown and across state lines.

I hate that my own taxes — which is a very small percentage compared to actual voters — are being used to build something that will grind traffic to a stop, take years to finish and potentially go way over budget at my expense.

The bill, which took effect July 1, will allow municipal bonds — which are exempt from federal taxes — to cover 70% of the new stadiums’ cost. Kansas would then have 30 years to pay the bonds off with revenue from sports betting, state lottery ticket sales and sales taxes generated in the area surrounding each proposed stadium.

While the city claims these projects will create hundreds of new jobs for stadium staff, grounds crew and construction work, a typical national football league team might employ only 125 to 175 full-time people in its front office regardless of the location. And the majority of any other employees would be part-timers working four hours only once a week, according to EconoFact.

The rationale that teams are helping the economy has long been proven false, with cities like Arlington and Buffalo proving that new stadiums tend to shift economic activity toward sports and away from local businesses.

After spending $200 to drive 30 minutes and spending more than three hours at a stadium, the last thing I want to do is spend even more money in the area. This drives the small boutiques and local diners to shut their doors for good.

I think about this every time I drive up to Arrowhead or Kauffman Stadium. Passing through Jackson County, it’s painfully obvious that the area has failed to capitalize on the opportunity for economic growth that the now 60-yearold stadiums were supposed to offer. Today, I’m not driving past new shops and restaurants but a junkyard swap shop and long-gone drive-in theater next to the freeway.

When looking at the impact new stadiums have in Kansas CIty, how can anyone say usage of public funds on these sports venues “benefits” the community? Yet over the last few years, these types of projects have skyrocketed in popularity and local governments are more than willing to get on board, by any means necessary.

These billionaire owners don’t need help to finance these projects, nor do taxpayers want to help. This became clear after attempts to raise taxes in Jackson County to fund renovations in Kansas City, Missouri stadiums were shut down by a 58% voter majority, according to KCHB 41.

I’m glad people won’t willingly accept throwing away tax money in exchange for traffic from years of planned construction and an increase in taxes, despite millions the city spent on ads and emotional blackmail from the Chiefs threatening to leave the state.

As seen with sports teams in cities similar in size to Kansas City, such as Buffalo, a study conducted

BUDGET BREAKDOWN

The funding cities have given to new NFL stadiums in the last year

by the private consulting firm Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Operations, and Management — AECOM for short — showed that the team only generates around $25 million a year in various taxes. The bulk of that money — $19.5 million — is state income tax paid by players, coaches and staff. In order to offset this loss, cities make use of Tax Increment Financing — a special tax district surrounding the stadium and adjacent streets. The city uses the tax revenue collected within this district to pay back the debt gained funding it.

Maybe this is why most, if not all of the surrounding area for Arrowhead is populated with half empty strip malls and empty lots for sale. With TIFs only driving away potential new businesses with the increase in tax collection on purchases completely unrelated to the stadiums, leaving citizens unequivocally worse off no matter how you cut it.

Communities are better off spending on the areas with the most impact returns — like education and infrastructure — instead of supporting new stadiums. Stadiums can only be paid off in a timely manner by cutting public services or raising taxes, something no one wants.

Local representatives should stop helping the Hunt family add one more zero to their net worth and work to fund projects that actually benefit the voters who put them in office.

Billion

design by ashtyn ingram

photos by ava towner

story by connor vogel

Sophomore Chase Jehle signs a poster at lunch in honor of Gomez Regalado. “I’m sad for his family, it’s super tragic. am friends with people who were super close to him and it has been challenging to support their loss,” Jehle said. “It has been an eye opener for me and my [football] teammates to focus on hydration and sleep to make sure we stay safe and ready to compete. Ovet will be missed.”

SUPPORT LANCERS COUGARS

On Aug. 19, students wore orange to school to show support for the SM Northwest community after sophomore Ovet Gomez Regalado passed away following a medical incident during football practice

RIGHT Students in second lunch wear orange, SM North’s school color, for the Cougar community. Pep Exec senior Porter Stein texted in the “Pep Club” GroupMe on Aug. 18, to pass on administration’s request that students wear orange. “Let’s show Northwest they have all of East’s support,” Stein said. The @smeastlancers Instagram account also posted to let students know to wear orange.

SCAN ME PHOTO

Scan this QR code to view a gallery of SM East showing support for SM Northwest

Seniors Emory Naylor, Espie Lemon and Madi Moorman talk in the cafeteria. “While I didn’t personally know [Gomez Regalado], feel for the situation and for the family,” Naylor said. “Despite [SM East] being competitors [with SM Northwest] in sports, we are still a part of their community and are keeping the school in our thoughts.”

photo by caroline martucci

RIGHT

photo by paige bean

LEFT

photo by caroline martucci

LEFT Senior Lars Alsin shows support for SM Northwest by wearing a “Cougars” T-shirt. “I had the shirt because my dad worked at SM Northwest back in the late 90s as a teacher,” Alsin said.

photo by clara peters

18% of East students are bilingual new teachers and staff members joined East this year

who’s who in the ofce

Meet the staff members who work in the front office

KATHY JOHNSON CLERICAL AIDE

JEANNE DUSEK

ADMIN ASSISTANT ATHLETICS

JOAN

BURNETT

BOOKKEEPER

D’ANN WOODWARD

PRINCIPAL’S ASSITANT

MARY

JENKINSON RECEPTIONIST

OFFICE RESOURCES

athletic director’s secretary I need to turn in my physical forms

clerical aide I need to turn in outside dance forms

bookkeeper I need to make a fnancial transaction through the school principal’s assistant I need to know something about the school

this week in photos

LEFT Junior Ava Carroll focuses on finishing her newly crafted piece of pottery in ceramics class.

bilingual spotlight

iris chabinis

“

WHEN I WAS younger me and my brother, who also speaks French, would go into the grocery store and pretend we were French to everyone around us, and it was really funny.

salvador miranda-mota

“

I’M DEFINITELY HELPING

people, especially in my job, since I work at McDonald’s, so essentially, there’s lots of people who don’t really know the menu, who can’t really speak English, and it just defnitely helps for those people, or when I’m at the store, even here at school.

BELOW During the first day of their lab in Honors Chemistry, sophomore Vada Walsh uses a wash bottle to transfer water into a test tube.

design by reese dunham

photo by annie trenkle

photo by molly scott

ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING

NEW MOTHERS

SENIOR GRACE DEMETRIOU

never have been able to anticipate the ending to a one-night babysitting job for four kids of varying ages, a baby and a pregnant dog.

Like the advanced babysitter she was, Demetriou had asked to bring her friend with her, understanding that five children would be too much for one teenager.

Before walking out the door, the parents had one piece of parting wisdom for the babysitter duo.

“The dog is pregnant and may give birth soon, so if it behaves oddly, text us.”

Any worries of the dog disappeared as the girls divided and conquered — taking turns holding the crying baby and wrestling the other four kids into their beds.

panicked and overwhelmed, she can now look back at it and laugh, knowing she ultimately gained vital lessons.

Later, as Demetriou attempted to change the baby’s diaper before bed, a toddler ran into the room frantically with a landline in hand, dialing 911 despite an obvious lack of emergency.

“Patience is key,” Demetriou said. “Just take a deep breath and reassess the situation.”

SOMEONE’S BLUE

ALMOST EVERY MONDAY evening, senior Kate Rose would go over to her neighbor’s house to babysit their two kids — a two-year-old and four-year-old. They cooked a pot of Kraft Mac and Cheese and watched Bluey episodes comfortably on the couch.

One night while Rose was babysitting, she decided to take the kids to her house to play with her cat — a routine activity for

the trio.

When they arrived, the kids were deadset on finding the best toy to entertain Lou, her cat. But inevitably, the four-year-old grew disinterested.

If there’s one thing the boy enjoys more than bothering his neighbor’s cat, it’s his favorite show — otherwise known as the source of all his toddler adoration.

The pair continued playing with the cat,

years old.

Smith and Wikoff have been begging for sleepovers and sharing popcorn at Royals games since grade school.

Naturally, with their new summer nannying jobs located within five minutes of each other, they passed their shenanigans onto the next generation of family friends, taking trips to the zoo and their local pool.

At eight years old, one of Smith’s nanny kids had started gymnastics. Regretfully,

rattling toys and handing treats to him, until suddenly, a panic washed over Kate when she realized the 2-year-old was the only one playing with Lou.

“He was nowhere to be found,” Rose said.

Living every babysitter’s biggest nightmare, Kate rushed upstairs and out the front door, quickly looking around her yard and the surrounding area.

The child was nowhere in sight.

bragging rights among the children.

“Kennedy and I would get in trouble whenever we didn’t do it correctly,” Wikoff said.

After training Kennedy and Georgia on how to perfect handstands, she lined up the three other kids while they scored the two clumsy nannies on their routines.

“I usually won,” Smith said proudly.

Rose’s stomach dropped as she dashed across her yard, hoping to find the boy playing in the cul-de-sac. Rose ran into her neighbor’s living room, where she found the four-year-old sitting quietly and watching Bluey — of course.

Rose walked out of that job with a sigh of relief, knowing if it weren’t for Bluey, she would have needed a larger explanation for her neighbors.

design & art by kai mcphail photos by addie clark

THE HARBINGER

Senior Kate Rose had a kid run away from her and had to look around the neighborhood

Senior Grace Demetriou had a dog go into labor while babysitting

Seniors Georgia Wikoff and Kennedy Smith babysit families of best friends

CAUGHT

FOG THE IN

The legalization of marijuana in Missouri has made it easier for east students to access and use marijuana products to self-medicate, regardless of side effects

story by emmerson winfrey

SITTING IN BIOLOGY

class, then-freshman Blake Peters* was overthinking every word that came out of his mouth — the high was pushing his social anxiety into overdrive. His eyes were bloodshot. His brain couldn’t process a single arrow in the photosynthesis chart ahead of him.

His marijuana cartridge was still tucked away in his pocket from his last “bathroom” break.

Young Peters had always been an advocate against drugs and alcohol — calling himself a “D.A.R.E kid” — as a product of his parents’ struggles with alcoholism while he was growing up.

Missouri has made it possible for students to cope with their daily stress with a 10-minute drive across state lines, the flash of a fake I.D. or whispers of what stores will sell to minors. This creates an uprising of THC cartridges being snuck into students pockets for bathroom breaks in math class or shoved into the bottom of backpacks — all while softening views on the drug and causing an overlook of possible negative side effects, according to administration and law enforcement.

After that first hit, Peters began increasingly using the drug more and eventually every day by the start of his freshman year. He used it to escape.

Escape his social anxiety, escape his struggles at home, escape being the “weird new kid.”

Missouri legalized all forms of THC for recreational — including cartridges and edibles in February 2022. However, all forms marijuana are still illegal to possess, use or sell in Kansas.

School Resource Officer and Prairie Village Police Officer Tony Woollen agrees the legalization has softened how people view the drug and of it.

But, when 13-year-old Peters saw his friend pull out a marijuana cartridge he got from an anonymous app selling marijuana from Missouri to minors, Peters decided to take a risk and try it.

“There was so much adding up,” Peters said. “Just everything I didn’t really want to think about anymore and avoidance of actual issues.”

“It felt like I was dreaming — I was like holy s---,” now-senior-Peters said. “That first hit definitely changed my perspective.”

Legalization of marijuana in

Prior to its legalization in Missouri, people had more negative views the drug, Woollen said. Now hear students justifying the use products with, “Well, it’s legal there.”

“It’s kind of a new perspective even though it’s not applicable here since we’re so close to where it’s Woollen said.

He also hears students talking how easy it is to access weed. Students are able to talk freely about anything his office, and one of those is how easier marijuana is for them to now.

Since the legalization and de-stigmatization around the drug, Peters said it’s “no-big-deal” for high schoolers to use marijuana — even while in school.

Senior Avery Bennett* bought marijuana through shops that I.D. in Missouri or sold Delta 8 products to avoid having to I.D. She said used marijuana cartridges as medication for her stress.

Bennet said she couldn’t without THC in her bloodstream, she used it to ease her anxiety around school. That was, until she over her toilet one night vomiting uncontrollably, grasping her stomach to soothe the piercing abdominal She was rushed to the hospital she was diagnosed with Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome — a condition

design by addie moore photos by amelie wong

caused by long-term use of marijuana.

Bennett had never heard of the condition before and upon learning the only cure was to stop using marijuana completely, she was disappointed.

“I barely ate for two weeks because I was so nauseous all the time, even on prescribed nausea meds,” Bennett said.

recreational use edibles — forms of possess, Prairie Woollen softened usage Missouri, views on Now he’ll of the legal over perspective — here — legal,” about Students anything in much access bought her didn’t products said she selfsleep bloodstream, and around leaned vomiting stomach abdominal pain. where Cannabinoid condition

Her self-medicating coping mechanism turned into her worst enemy in just a few hours.

In an Instagram poll of 219 East students, 29% percent said they have possessed marijuana before, and 18% said they have used it at school.

“I BARELY ATE for two weeks because I was so nauseous all the time, even on prescribed nausea meds.

AVERY BENNETT

SENIOR

Principal Jason Peres said after access to THC vape pens, or cartridges, became more accessible, he noticed it became more prevalent at East.

“I think vaping itself has become more popular, because it’s easy to conceal and doesn’t smell like marijuana,” Peres said. “And I think because of that we have seen an uptick in THC, because that’s now included in vape pens.”

Peres also agrees with Woollen that the legalization has changed students’ perspectives on the drug.

Legalization on the drug made students more apt to use since it’s been lessened in the criminal justice system and treated more like alcohol than an illegal substance in our state, Peres said.

“They don’t pursue it as a crime like they did, and I think that does give a green light to some students,” Peres said.

However, prosecution for having or being under the influence of weed has stayed the same here at East, according to both Peres and Woollen. Penalties include an automatic 5-day, out-of-school suspension from administration before turning it over to law enforcement. Most first-time offenders are sentenced to a diversion — a 4-6 month supervised program for juveniles in which they work on counseling and drug treatments to avoid going to court and being prosecuted.

Johnson County Assistant District Attorney Donald Hymer found use of marijuana through cartridges also rose as legalization continued and the public’s views softened. Hymer believes cartridges gave minors an easier and more discreet way to use the drug.

“There was definitely a culture shift in the adults, and that impacts the views of juveniles,” Hymer said.

Marijuana is still illegal for minors to possess anywhere and “there should be appropriate accountability for juveniles using it,” Hymer said.

A 2021 JAMA Pediatrics study found that within 1-year of trying marijuana, 11% of adolescents had become addicted to it. They struggled to stop using their substance as it changed their brain chemistry compared to 6.4% from older age groups. They also found within three years of first using marijuana, 20% of adolescents became dependent — where their body physically relies on the drug — which was double the amount of older groups.

Another East senior, Jayden Taylor*, quickly became dependent on the drug. He was able to access a cartridge through his older brother who knew how to get products from Missouri.

Taylor, like the others, would use the drug to cope. In his sophomore year, he began falling behind in school with dropping grades and lack of motivation to do work. He said marijuana helped him avoid his struggles.

Taylor would be high practically all day at

school, and he was unable to pay attention to a single lesson. He simply did not care about the lesson on radicals his math teacher was giving, the English essay he was supposed to be working on or the bad grade on his latest science test when he was high.

Taylor’s academic struggles due to daily marijuana use aren’t abnormal though. THC in the adolescent brain can cause cognitive issues affecting memory, attention span, problem solving and learning, according to American Addiction Centers.

“I THINK VAPING

itself has become more popular, because it’s easy to conceal and doesn’t smell like marijuana. And I think because of that we have seen an uptick in THC, because that’s now included in vape pens.

JASON PERES PRINCIPAL

“I started because I was falling behind, but it made me just keep falling even more,” Taylor said.

OF CANNABIS STRAINS

Popular strains of marijuana and what people use them for, according to healthline.com

ENERGY

SLEEP

PAIN

RELAX

CREATIVITY

acapulco gold sour diesel pineapple express purple kush bubba kush northern lights blue dream LA condential super silver haze afghan kush fruity pebbles grandaddy purple maui wowie golden goat white widow

OF A THE Uncovering

Junior

DIG LIFETIME

Katherine Piraquive traveled to Spain to become an archaeologist for the summer

story by sophia brockmeier

JUNIOR KATHERINE

PIRAQUIVE’S hands were coated in dirt.

Head down, brush and pickaxe in hand, she was chipping away at over 2,000-yearold dirt in central Spain.

Katherine stared down at a collection of 25 clay pot fragments buried in the coarse dirt and gawked at the pieces — she had just found a pot used by Ancient Romans over two millennia ago. A pot similar to the ones she had learned about in her AP European History class was finally in her hands.

She named the pot Marvin.

Later that evening Katherine would give Marvin his “first bath in centuries” with flowing warm water and soap.

She had the opportunity to discover Marvin through her two and a half weeks in Carrascosa del Campo, Spain from June 26 to July 13 through the program ArchaeoSpain — a field school and summer program. Acting as an archeologist for the summer, Katherine uncovered artifacts and combined her love for history and Spanish with eighteen other teenagers.

“Marvin was our baby,” Katherine said. “We loved him. It set the tone. You’re out there for the second day, it’s hot, you’re digging in the dirt. You’re like, ‘What am I doing?’ And then you find Marvin and you’re like ‘That’s why. That’s why I’m doing this.’”

The Pulpon-Spain Roman fortress, Katherine’s dig site for the program, was three hours away from Madrid, and contained dozens of rooms the size of East’s cafeteria.

After digging up Marvin, Katherine found hundreds of artifacts including rabbit and goat bones, iron pickaxes, a wine-yielding amphora, centuries-old dried seeds and ancient dice.

art by francesca lorusso

Based on her findings in one corner of the Roman fortress, Katherine was able to infer that the Romans had gambled and drank in a room that was also used for storage.

ancient pottery shards

TRIP IN SNIPPETS

Pictures from Katherine’s trip

Such discoveries occurred on weekdays when Katherine would dig from 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the hot sun and learn more about the history of the Romans. She has always considered history one of her favorite subjects, reading history novels for fun and taking classes like World Regional Studies and AP European History at school.

Katherine’s friend, junior Sophia Yanics, remembers Katherine helping her with her World Regional Studies class during their freshman year.

“I remember we had a history class together and I would be like, ‘I don’t want to do this work,’” Sophia said. “She would say ‘Come on, it’s fun’ and talk about more interesting sides of it. So not only did she get to talk about what she loved, but she also helped me.”

But Katherine’s love of history didn’t start when she began Mr. Klein’s World Regional Studies class. According to her mom Christina Piraquive, it started when she was a little girl first starting to read.

“When a lot of kids her age were reading [young adult fiction], she would pick out various books about different civilizations or conflicts going on in the world,” Christina said. “So I think she really is interested in learning about what’s happening in the world, but also what has happened, so learning about the past.”

The ArchaeoSpain program offered an opportunity for Katherine to apply her love for history in a new country; she found it a perfect fit for her summer.

She learned how to identify the artifacts and safely remove them from the ground without damaging them from the two founders of

An amphora, or ancient vase, that Kathrine Piraquive discovered

ArchaeoSpain — Catalina Urquijo and Dr. Dionisio Urbina.

“They had this little trick to identify if [a fragment] was a bone,” Katherine said. “I think it’s just a joke, but they would make you lick it. If your tongue stuck, then it was a bone. But if it didn’t, then it was a rock. Some kid did it but he got sick the next day.”

Teenagers from the United States, United Kingdom and China joined Katherine in Spain after an application process including a teacher recommendation letter. Katherine and her peers took part in activities such as trips on weekends that heightened her Spanish skills.

Toledo, Segobriga and Cuenca were some of the cities where she was able to talk to small shop owners and locals in Spanish — applying her knowledge from four years of Spanish throughout middle and high school.

“I was totally nervous thinking about conjugations and grammar,” Katherine said. “But I was like, ‘Okay, I’m not that bad.’ I can understand what they’re saying and I can reply in a decent way, which is really cool.”

After gaining more Spanish and historical knowledge at ArchaeoSpain, Katherine’s certain that she wants to study anthropology in college.

“I think it was a great idea for her to be on this trip,” Christina said. “I’m really just proud of her that she took a chance to find something like this and go out on her own and really do it. I think it’s a great skill to learn and get her ready for when she goes to college in a couple years.”

design by evelyn bagley

photos courtesy of katherine piraquive

TEACH-TOK TEACH-TOK TEACH-TOK

story by lucy stephens

THE WHITE FRAMED letter board reads, “Science, very cutesy, mindful, demure” in crisp black letters behind new chemistry teacher Joshua Parker’s desk.

Most students ruffle their brow at the board when they approach Parker’s desk or walk out his door. They expect their teacher to know scientific nomenclature and atomic masses — not what demure means.

When students ask Parker about the latest catchphrases and trends he spells out on his letter board, he perks up. He always gets excited to talk about his TikTok account — an account with almost 300k followers and more than 12M likes.

“One day we were finishing up class and students were grabbing their phones, and one showed my account and asked if it was me,” Parker said. “Sometimes I deny it even though it clearly looks like me.”

With his presence on TikTok, Parker keeps up with the latest teenage phrases and influencer drama, weaving them into class discussions. The goal, Parker says, is to get his students to see him as a real person.

Once, sophomore Haliey Stuber was scrolling through TikTok when she saw a very familiar conversation on one of Parker’s “How students walk into class” skits. Parker had acted out a conversation he overheard between Stuber and a friend.

Stuber thought this was crazy and immediately tagged her friend in a comment telling her to watch Parker’s video.

Because his posts are public, he doesn’t feature any students or teachers in his videos. But, to make his TikToks more relatable to students, he includes real conversations and moments he overhears in his classroom.

Science teacher Joshua Parker has a viral TikTok account, which helps him stay current with high school trends and understand his students

“It’s definitely added to how well the kids know me and join my class because they find it relatable,” Parker said. “It has helped me have a little bit of advantage of knowing people because they all kind of knew me from my

— a way for him to get paid for the content he creates. The program occasionally sends him a monthly check, giving him a couple of cents for every one thousand views — an amount that can reach several hundred dollars on a

Parker said. “It’s kind of intriguing to see how far you can get.”

Once Parker broke 10k followers, he was eligible to apply for TikTok’s Creator Program

knowing what they need to succeed,” Parker said. “I’m their teacher, but I can also talk to them about random stuff outside of school.”

BEN

Where did you go to college?

“I ran [track and cross country at Pitt State for six years using extra COVID eligibility.”

Who inspired you to be a teacher?

“Coach Mike Wallace, [he] coached at Olathe East for a long time and was a super amazing coach that cared a lot about kids, you could go to him for anything. In 2020 he passed away […] there were over a thousand people who showed up to [his memorial], even in the middle of a pandemic.”

Favorite math class you took?

“Discrete structure. [You do] modular arithmetic, combinatorics and more proofs.”

What’s “Song-of-the-day?”

“I’m a really big music person, […] that’s one of my favorite things. In high school there were a couple teachers who had their ‘thing.’ One of them had a designated color shirt for each day of the week […] and I was like I want to have one of those things. So I’m gonna have a song-of-the-day everyday.”

Running

& e

picture perfect

Photoshoot locations for Homecoming groups

HARBINGER

The Sunken Garden Mission Hills

*According to the New

68% of people are lactoseintolerant

local spotlight

DONUTS ARE EASY to get wrong. The batter can be too runny, there can be not enough frosting and too much dough or too much frosting and not enough dough. Because of this, I was anxious to try Duck Donuts. I’d never heard of them, but with a new location opening right next to my house, it was too tempting not to try a chocolate-sprinkle donut.

what I would be tasting in just a moment.

First they mix batter to a perfect consistency, then bake them before putting on the glazing.

After seeing the process, I couldn’t wait a second longer to sink my teeth into the powdery donut

The balance between dough and frosting was perfect, with every bite being nearly 50/50. The size of the donut itself gave me just as much as I wanted without being too much or too little. The pricing was great as well, especially for the quality — coming at just under a cup of coffee.

*According to NIH 21st billion times

In April, Duck Donuts unveiled their hot and fresh new store in Corinth Square. There’s been a location in Leawood since 2020, but this was less accessible to students like me in the northern-parts of the East area.

*According to Deadline

*According to Spotify $1k Minimum price to see Taylor Swift in America is

The fact that it’s so close to East is incredibly convenient — if I’m hungry before or after school and don’t feel like waiting till lunch or dinner, I can swing by Duck Donuts for the perfect-sized snack, even if it’s pretty sweet.

I’m excited to go back in the future, as I’ve only had donut so far. And I find it oddly comforting knowing I now have a definitive place where I’ll be getting my donuts from now on. “Grey’s

One deviation from your average run of the mill donut shop is the ability to watch the workers make the donuts with fresh batter in real time. I found it fascinating to be able to see exactly

pop & popcorn

Look at recent and upcoming movie and album releases

Genre: Action/Comedy

“ “ LOLA STINSON JUNIOR

I THOUGHT OVERALL [Deadpool & Wolverine] was good, especially for the hype it got.

A new Duck Donuts store opens in Corinth Square

“Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter has been streamed

The Columns Mission Hills

photos by tyler russell

story by preston hooker

design by caroline beal & zane laing

cucumber fanatic

A review of three of TikToker Logan’s cucumber salad recipes that have taken over social media

story by isabel baldassaro

ITALIAN DRESSING

CUCUMBERS ARE MY favorite snack to eat after school — usually paired with a side of ranch to dip them in or a dash of salt and pepper sprinkled on the top.

It wasn’t until I saw the surge of Logan X’s cucumber salads trending on my TikTok For You Pages that I was introduced to the various pairings that could be made with cucumbers.

Growing hungrily curious about the different recipes, I was desperate to make one of these nontraditional salads for myself.

Your grocery list for this salad will include olive oil, pepperoncini pepper juice, extra white vinegar, honey, sea salt and pepper. As instructed in all of Logan X’s videos, I added an entire horizontally sliced cucumber to a mixing bowl and threw my ingredients into a plastic container before shaking it aggressively to mix the liquids together.

I was skeptical. I couldn’t piece together how sweet honey and violently bitter vinegar could possibly create an

PEANUT BUTTER JELLY & HONEY

AFTER MY SIMPLE, savory salad, I decided it was time to try something more unusual, like the PBJ&H Salad recipe. This salad called for peanut butter, strawberry jelly, honey and a pinch of sea salt. Immediately, the thought of mixing a clammy vegetable into sweet spreads made me queasy — but people seemed to be surprised at the unique yet tasty flavor.

So once again, I chopped up a cucumber, added the spoonfuls of peanut

butter, jelly, honey and salt, and got to shaking.

This one took a lot more time to mix, as the spreads and salt all stuck together and separated from the cucumbers. After five minutes of violently shaking my tupperware, I had completed my sticky PBJ&H concoction.

I grabbed a fork and scooped up a chunk of cucumber. One bite left me conflicted. The crunchy and chewy

BAKED POTATO

THE REQUIRED INGREDIENTS for the Loaded Baked Potato Salad seemed more appetizing mixed with cucumbers in theory. The list included onion and chive cream cheese, diced jalapeno peppers, sour cream, diced red onions, shredded cheese, bacon bits and salt and pepper.

I chopped up my final cucumber for the day, added the list of ingredients and screwed on the top to the full container.

appealing taste.

As soon as I tasted this dish, I was reminded of a fresh Italian salad. It had just the right amount of savory ingredients to overpower the sweet hint of the honey. The salad wasn’t only extremely easy to make but was also, so far, my favorite of the bunch.

With all the ingredients easily accessible in my fridge at home, this salad will be an easy yet healthy dish, unlike the usual grease-filled snacks I see trending on my For You Page.

vegetables covered in the toppings made me nauseous.

After the previous success, this salad was my least favorite. If the contrast in texture didn’t bring me to tears with disgust, I might have found it more tasty.

If you enjoy a sweet, smooth garnish with a crunchy, bland vegetable-like texture, you would definitely like this salad. However, I don’t see myself trying it again in the future.

Following my five whole minutes of shaking the container until my arms went numb, I decided the toppings were dispersed enough.

Biting into my loaded baked potato cucumber salad, the creamy, crunchy and salty mixture enticed me.

But, the jalapeno overpowered the dish. I don’t usually mind spice, but the entire dish made my mouth feel like it was

Rating each salad based on smell, taste and how visually appealing it looks

smell: 1/5 visual: 5/5 taste: 4/5 smell: 1/5 visual: 5/5 taste: 4/5

2

melting off from the heat.

However, I would make this salad again without the jalapenos so I could enjoy the rest of the flavors in the salad more. This was my second favorite salad overall.

In the future, I’ll definitely be trying more of Logan’s recipes to see what fun creations I can make next.

3

smell: 1/5 visual: 5/5 taste: 4/5

photos by katie cook

4, 2024

THE NEXT PICKLEBALL

story by christopher long

Racket sports latest arrival, padel, opens up in a new club in Overland Park, and it’s unique experience is a can’t miss

CALLING ALL RACKET sports fans. Mark your calendars and book a court at La Casa Del Padel.

I recently visited La Casa Del Padel — the first padel club in Kansas City — for the first time. It has two of the 300 padel courts in the US. After opening on Aug. 5, it’s safe to say the club was an immediate success. All of the courts were booked. In order to actually play, I had to book a court four days in advance for $40 per hour, plus the cost of renting rackets and purchasing balls.

Padel, unlike most racket sports, is played on an artificial grass court surrounded by glass walls.

Doubles are played more often than singles, even professionally, adding to the game’s uniqueness.

While it originated in 1967, it gained traction in 2023 due to its reputation as a social sport in Europe. Since then it’s become the fastestgrowing racket sport — surpassing even pickleball. The International Padel Federation currently recognizes around 25 million active players worldwide.

When I arrived at the establishment, I instantly appreciated the stunning facilities. The courts were surrounded by pine wood accents with muted colors and plush couches giving a certain desert-like feel. It had a welcoming atmosphere similar to an open floor plan in a modern apartment.

Beside the courts, they have simple outdoor seating and two large, lush sectionals with a fantastic view of the courts for those who prefer watching. Forest green artificial grass covers the courts — both of which have lights and speakers blaring reggaeton.

The sport itself definitely caught

me by surprise. It took an immense level of foresight; in order to succeed, you had to predict the spin, velocity and height of the ball when it ricocheted off of the glass walls surrounding the court.

And for my slice-happy tennis players out there, slicing is the main shot you hit in padel.

With overheads slamming off of the glass walls that surround the court and balls bouncing with such backspin, you can’t tell which way the ball is going, this sport is unbelievable no matter what level you are. It’s the fast pace of pickleball mixed with the classy nature of tennis.

I was shocked to see how much longer the rallies went on compared to other racket sports. Playing the ball off of the wall lengthens the rallies, adding a piece of endurance in addition to a grind mentality to the sport.

Overall, my favorite aspect of La Casa Del Padel was the design. It emphasized the view of the courts just as much as being on the courts themselves.

Most racket sport facilities squeeze out as many courts as possible within the limited space they have, often resulting in 4-6 court facilities with viewing on one side, creating a harrowing experience for spectators.

This facility only has two courts. However, space-wise, there could have been three. This results in the viewer’s perspective being valued more than the turnover rate of an extra court, which is rarely an ideology used in a racket sport business.

Unfortunately, this means that scheduling a court ahead of time is extremely important.

The trade-off is that you get premium viewing of the courts.

Padel is similar to racquetball as both are played on courts enclosed with glass walls. However, while aiming for the wall in

racquetball is considered standard, aiming for the wall in padel could seriously annoy your partner.

While the entire court is technically open, the player still has to hit the ball well enough to keep it from hitting the wall out of the air.

Adjusting to the serve in padel was another unexpected challenge. The ball must bounce before you hit it underhand — similar to pickleball. The difference is, in padel the player is allowed to add spin to their serve, which is considered illegal in pickleball.

The best part about this rule is that you can add unfathomable amounts of sidespin to make your opponent’s life miserable.

In addition to having glass walls, a padel court has wire cages next to the service boxes that bear a similarity to a tightly woven, chain link fence. This rule debunks the strategy of running your opponent into the cage off of your serve. If the serve hits the wire cage, you lose the point.

Padel is essentially platform tennis on fake grass with a paddle that has more holes in it than a sponge. But as long as you’ve seen tennis scoring at some point during your lifetime, you’ll catch on fairly quickly.

La Casa Del Padel hit like an overhead smash. It was outstanding, not only due to the rarity of padel courts in the surrounding area, but also that they offered the most luxurious yet simplistic racket sport experience I have ever had. Bar none.

Fast facts about the new and growing sport Padel

design by ava slocum & libby marsh

photos by ava towner

FACES OF THE MANY

GLEN

has seemed Since “Top Gun Maverick” was released in 2022, Glen Powell has been swarming through my social media feed. From fan-made edits of Powell in “Top Gun Maverick” to funny scenes from “Anyone but You,” Powell is shown to be one of the most versatile and talented He’s received so much fanfare due to his acting ability and I’d love to see him in many more lead roles,

especially more thrillers. If he acted in more thrillers, he would add comedic relief, where he can diversify the different characters he’s able to play.

His first claim to fame was the film

“Top Gun Maverick,” an action movie, followed by “Anyone But You,” a rom-com and “Twisters,” a suspenseful film. Each movie has received large amounts of media attention, with lots of interviews to get viewers excited for the release.

As someone who loves the original “Top Gun” movie, I had high expectations for the sequel, “Top Gun Maverick,” and they were completely exceeded by the plot twists, emotional turns — and obviously seeing Powell flying fighter jets as Hangman.

Powell was the best actor to play Hangman — his cocky and highenergy which complemented the highthrill dynamic of the movie perfectly. I appreciated Powell’s character growth throughout the movie and his ability to commit to the annoying co-worker/ opponent persona. Whether it was because of the incredible film quality or watching Powell in a dogfight, saving the slightly-less beautiful Tom Cruise in the sequel, it did its award-winning prequel justice.

Just one year later Powell starred in “Anyone But You,” which ended up being one of my favorite rom-com movies of all time. The plot line follows characters Ben and Bea who spend the night together after a run-in at the same coffee

Glen Powell’s recent movie successes have soldified him as one of the best actors of recent years

shop. Then they don’t end up seeing each other until six months later at the same wedding in Sydney, Australia. The two start fake dating and ultimately fall in love.

The media buildup and the rumored relationship between Powell and co-star Sydney Sweeney before the film came out made me thrilled for the movie’s release. I couldn’t wait to see how they’d interact and complement each other on-screen.

Although the chemistry between Powell and Sweeney was very apparent, I enjoyed the comedy so much more.

There were many times throughout the movie when I was doubled over and wheezing from laughing so hard at the way Powell executed funny quips. Like when Powell and Sweeney were looking out on a cliff and Powell got a huge spider in his pants, then threw all his clothes into the tree or when Powell couldn’t swim and Sweeney had to drag him back to shore.

“Anyone But You” was incredibly entertaining and I’ll never get sick of the humor no matter how many times I watch it. Powell’s ability to execute the banter and have a hilarious personality to match Sweeney’s made the movie even more delightful.

The most recent of his movies that have hit theaters is “Twisters.” Which was an outstanding sequel to the movie “Twister” that came out in 1996. The movie had great information about how tornadoes are formed and the weather

RECENT RELEASES

About tornado wranglers in Oklahoma who gather data to try to control the tornadoes

using graphics —without sounding like Bill Nye the Science Guy.

I loved how they started out as rivals. Powell gave off an egotistical and arrogant energy but then eventually he changed to help Kate fulfill her dream of destroying tornadoes. It was impressive how easily he was able to channel those different characteristics into his acting.

Daisy Edgar-Jones and Powell have such astounding chemistry throughout the plot, that I could see the connection. When I was watching it I was waiting for the kiss at the end — but it never came. This left me disappointed, but I also understood the producer’s reasoning for removing the kiss scene so it didn’t end up feeling cliche.

The “Twisters” movie made me laugh so much because the way Powell and Kate’s mom interacted was just hysterical. In one scene, he gave her a branded t-shirt with his YouTube channel and his catchphrase “Tornado Wrangler” on it. On the flip side, there were also a lot of moments where I was on the edge of my seat to see if they’d get sucked up in the tornado or not.

In these popular movies from recent years, Powell has done an incredible job committing to his roles and making the stories feel even more real to the viewer. I hope to see him in many upcoming movies with his remarkable talent for bringing energy to the screen.

Three movies that Glen Powell has starred in in the past two years

About two people that are pretending to be a perfect couple at a destination wedding

About a pilot teacher that comes back for one last mission with his team

State Championships up for grabs this year

time trial recap

THE CROSS COUNTRY TEAM

held their 5K time trials on a rainy morning in Roe Park on Saturday Aug. 24.

Girls and boys ran together at 7:30 a.m. after an hour-long weather delay. Senior Jack Broghammer had the fastest boys time at 16:32, and sophomore Charlotte Hardy had the fastest girls time at 18:17.

“We got stuck with some rain delays, so we didn’t quite get the start that we wanted,” Broghammer said. “But everyone dialed back in, and we ended up having a good day of finishing times.”

The time trial started sooner after practice started than in previous years, with runners having only one week of practice beforehand.

The girls team had consistently fast Varsity times, with six girls running sub

SCAN ME PHOTO

Scan here for

A recap of the cross country time trials on Saturday, Aug. 24 days until the Lancer Day parade

21:00 times — some of the fastest top six girls’ times in recent history.

“I think the girls are set to be chasing a championship,” Broghammer said. “And the guys, though we’re not quite in the same position, we’re all still after the same goal.”

With many of the varsity boys runners gone, previously JV runners like William Meyer and Jake Winfield were able to take varsity roles. Meyer is excited to compete on a higher level, though he knows he still has a lot of time to grow.

“It’s not all about winning the State Championship or going to State,” sophomore William Meyer said. “It’s about the team as a whole getting better and progressing.”

nessidena, quam ius aperopu blibuscere

MIDDLE Senior Lola Condon holds her arms out and pivots away from the crowd during their second performance at the pancake breakfast.

photo by paige bean

athlete highlight “

JACK BROGHAMMER

VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY

IT’S MY SENIOR YEAR, so at this point I know a lot of my local competitors. I’m really excited to see who I get to compete with every race and try to go after those guys. But also, I’m just excited to have fun with the team again — meets and carbo loads are always fun.

SCAN ME SCHEDULE

Look at SME’s athletic calendar for a look at upcoming sports events

design

LEFT Freshman Will Maher throws the ball to one of his teammates after catching the ball while playing goalie.

photo by zac russell

ABOVE Freshman Sydney Feldman returns the ball back to her opponent in attempts to put the ball away.

photo by annie trenkle

ON THE SIBLINGS

SWEATY MATS, RISK of ringworm, a knee to the face and blood dripping to the floor.

To outsiders, it may be hard to understand the appeal of wrestling when faced with these risks. But, to freshman Lucy Bircher and senior Abi Contreras, they can overlook these inconveniences to pursue their passion.

Both Lucy and Abi’s older brothers grew up wrestling. After years of watching them, they both started the sport in middle school and developed their own love for the sport apart from their older brothers’ legacies.

All three of Abi’s older brothers placed at least once at the state championships, while two of them are two-time state champions.

While Abi admired her siblings, their legacy came with some high expectations once she joined the team at East her freshman year.

“The first year I started wrestling, a lot of people were like, ‘Oh, we’re gonna have another state champion,’ this and that,” Abi said. “I don’t think they realize how hard it actually is to become state champion.”

Abi and Lucy encourage each other after meeting two years ago at wrestling camp during the summer. The girls have been friends ever since. Even though they’re in different weight classes, they’ve practiced wrestling against each other several times in the past.

Lucy’s wrestling career began, not only by following in her brother’s footsteps, but with a sport she’d done her whole life: Jiu jitsu.

Jiu jitsu is a sport like wrestling, both involving fighting on your feet and on the

ground — some skills can be used in both sports. Lucy’s dad, Jason Bircher started a dojo — Kansas City Brazilian Jiu Jitsu — six years ago. As a black belt, he teaches jiu jitsu to students of all ages.

Lucy goes to her dad’s dojo around five times a week to practice jiu jitsu and help her dad teach younger kids.

“There’s been days where at school it’s just really frustrating,” Lucy said. “And then I come [to practice jiu jitsu], I let all my anger out through other people.”

As an alternative to daycare, Lucy and her brother, senior Jackson Bircher, were brought along to their dad’s dojo five to six times a week, four hours a day. From before she could walk, Lucy would watch her dad teach adult classes.

“I remember Lucy was super tiny, and she had no idea that she had to stay off the side while [our dad] was teaching,” Jackson said. “She’d run out onto the mat, just jump on his back and try to choke him, which I thought that was really funny for like, a 4 or 3-yearold to do.”

Over the last few years, skills that Lucy developed in jiu jitsu like knowing how to take someone down and creating her own strategy proved to be useful in her wrestling matches in middle school. This ultimately led to her placing sixth at state last year, despite an MCL injury.

Throughout the years, Lucy often injured her shoulder or knee at wrestling matches, bringing her close to quitting, but the one thing that kept her going was setting goals for herself.

Her goal this year? To win state.

Though Abi didn’t qualify for state last

story by grace pei

Lucy Bircher and Abi Contreras develop a passion for wrestling after both of their parents and older siblings did wrestling as well

year, her goals for wrestling on the girls’ varsity team this year is to build more muscle and, like Lucy, to win the state championship.

“I think, because it’s my last year, I want to do the best that I can,” Abi said. “If I win state, that would be literally the biggest blessing ever.”

Last year, Abi returned home after a trip to Mexico the night before a big tournament. She almost wasn’t allowed to wrestle. She weighed in on her scale, and she was one and a half pounds over the specifications of her weight class of 115 pounds.

“I was sweating, I was spitting, like I was going to the bathroom, everything, and I was even considering cutting my hair a little bit,” Abi said.

They allowed her to weigh herself on three different scales after the first time. She got on the first scale and she was 0.2 over 115 pounds. When she stepped on the second scale, she was still 0.2 over.

“So...I got on the third scale, and I prayed, like, I prayed so hard, and took out as much air in my body as I could, suffocating myself,” Abi said. “And then that one said I was 115 on the dot.”

Though some may attribute the younger siblings’ skill to their family’s genetics, to Lucy and Abi, it’s all hard work and discipline.

Whether it’s cutting weight in order to meet their weight class requirement or attending wrestling practice 12 hours a week to practice drills and learn moves, they work hard to achieve their goals with help from their parents and siblings.

“I’m there to be rough and tough on [Lucy], so therefore she doesn’t feel rough when someone else [wrestles with her],” Lucy’s

started at THE MAT

Background on Lucy’s dad’s dojo, Kansas City Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Located in Mission, Kansas City Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been around for six years. With several locations in the past, the dojo itself started 14 years ago For the frst few years, only adult classes were offered until 2012, when kids classes began. A large part of the reason was because Jason, Lucy’s dad, and the owner of the dojo, wanted kids to have training partners.

brother, Jackson said. “My dad always says it looks like we’re trying to kill each other, but then we get up and laugh, so it’s light hearted.”

Both of their families have shown up to almost every one of their wrestling matches to support them. Jackson uses his wrestling experience to help Lucy improve her technique and skill by being there to support her, while still trying to beat her.

Crossface! Double leg! Chin strap! Through the voices of the crowd and her coaches during a wrestling match, Lucy can always pick out her dad Jason’s voice as it rises above the others — giving her advice for certain moves based on her situation. At the same time, Jason doesn’t want to put too much pressure on Lucy to practice jiu jitsu or wrestling.

“I think that I have to be very cautious that my obsessiveness with [jiu jitsu] isn’t something that makes them feel like they have to have it in their lives,” Jason said. “I’ve always given them the space to take breaks

Similarly, Jahir Contreras, a two time wrestling state champion who attended East two years ago, and Abi’s youngest of her older brothers, tries his best to alleviate pressure

“[Abi] doesn’t have to be me, she isn’t me,”

photos by caroline hoffman

photo by caroline hoffman

ABOVE Lucy Bircher pretends to wrestle brother Jackson Bircher.

SEPTEMBER 4, 2024

VANDY

design by addie moore photos by will griffith & caroline

BOYS

Seniors Nate Schlote and Colton Sims recently committed to play Division 1 baseball at Vanderbilt University story by addy newman

locker room and fields — to his surprise, they gave him an offer right on the spot.

“I took [the offer] the next day,” Schlote said. “I didn’t need any time to think about it.”

When Schlote thought it couldn’t get any better, his close friend and teammate Sims committed there as

Vanderbilt seemed eager to recruit Sims considering he got a call on Aug. 1 — the first day colleges are allowed to begin the recruiting process — going into his junior year.

“

I TOOK THE

offer the next day, I didn’t need any time to think about it

NATE SCHLOTE SENIOR

After weeks of talking back and forth with the coaches, Sims decided to commit in October, a few months after his first call.

“My mom and dad always just told me that once you get on campus, you have a different feeling,” Sims said. When I got on campus, it hit me, and I knew [I belonged there].”

With family and friends giving the duo an abundance of support and encouragement over the years, Scholte and Sim’s former highschool coach Will Gordon, has been a major role model in both of their baseball careers.

“Anytime [Sims] is on the field, he’s going to have a smile on his face,” Gordon said “That is the coolest

thing. He really enjoys the game.”

According to NCSA, less than 2% of high school baseball players are selected to play college baseball. Additionally the class of 2025 for Shawnee Mission East has a recruiting class of 13 people. The last East commit to Vanderbilt dates back to 2015.

Schlote and Sims have been playing baseball together since youth. They’ve gone from sweating at East baseball camps to playing on varsity together since freshman year.

“I think Vanderbilt is a good fit for those two, and the discipline and the style of play that they have at Vanderbilt is perfect for both those guys and their personalities,” Gordon said. “I really think they’re going to compete at a very high level.”

Along with support from their coaches and teammates, their parents have been a major help in the process by showing up to games, taking them to practice, paying for new equipment and more.

“It kind of goes unseen how much my parents do, they sacrifice so much for my dream,” Sims said. “It’s really amazing.”

Now, as they begin this new chapter in their careers to eventually reach their end goals of the MLB, this commitment is critical to the process.

“It’s just everything happens so fast,” Schlote said. “And once you take a step back, it’s like ‘this is crazy.”

“I won’t really feel [it] till I get there, and I’m like holy crap, this is insane.” Schlote said.

Stats about Vanderbilt baseball recruits

recruiting class of PLAYERS the last Vanderbilt recruit from East was in BY THE NUMBERS

acceptance rate for normal applicants

martucci

MCO MOTION PR TION

MIDDLE Senior Francie Garrison anchors the race for the design team. “We always have a way to introduce the entire store to social media at the beginning of the year,” Garrison said. “So we wanted to do it in a big way this year.”

Student Store held a relay race in the SM East pool on Aug. 23 to create an Instagram video, announcing the staff’s teams

“[There is] definitely so much

ABOVE Seniors Sophia Beedle, Maggie Condon and Porter Stein all wave to a camera while sitting on the shoulders of the other student store members. “There was a lot of competetiveness within all of the teams”, Condon said.

school spirit on the student store staff, it was a lot of fun.”

photo by molly scott

photo by molly scott

BELOW Senior Addie Moore, member of the promotion team, swims with a pool float to the opposite end of the pool before the race.

photo by addie clark

ABOVE Senior Maggie Condon floats underwater after jumping off the diving board. Condon and other sales team members jumped into the pool after the relay race in celebration.

photo by molly scott

SCAN ME PHOTO

RIGHT Senior Lola Condon cheers for Garrison with pom-poms as she swims in the relay race. Condon and Garrison raced for the store team.

photo by addie clark

story by mary gagen

AS SENIOR Jonas Pastine sat down with his family to watch Monday night football — a ChiefsGiants matchup — he found that instead of seeing an eagle-eyed camera angle of MetLife Stadium with a scoreboard plastered on the bottom of the screen, he was left staring at an empty screen.

His family had subscribed to the National Football League’s PrimeTime on ESPN specifically to watch the NFL’s three weekly night games. Pastine felt dreadful knowing his night of intense cheering for the Chiefs had been reduced to checking the score on ESPN each quarter.

“It was an awful night,” Pastine said. “I just wanted to watch the Chiefs play.”

Since the NFL began expanding their streaming options beginning in 2023, fans like Pastine’s family who purchase multiple services, aren’t guaranteed a chance to cheer on their favorite teams. For those who watch NFL games three or more times a week, streaming has proven to be a challenge recently. According to Pastine, this hasn’t been an issue for him with other sports — just football.

Pastine isn’t alone in this experience. According to an Instagram poll of 162 voters, 66% of respondents say their families use multiple streaming services or TV channels just to watch NFL coverage.

The variety of streaming services available means games are no longer being streamed on one platform. This causes dedicated viewers to need multiple subscriptions or streaming services in order to watch all preseason, regular season and postseason coverage.

While the NFL offers its own streaming packages — NFL + and NFL + Premium — those packages are offered through satellite channels including CBS, ESPN, Fox, ABC, NBC and NFLN. Since those channels are preestablished, the streaming packages don’t actually provide one sole place to watch coverage.

One popular package is the Sunday Ticket, which is an out-of-market option for viewers.

This means that the games aren’t televised in the local viewing area, instead they are sold to various streaming companies and larger cable channels.

This summer, the NFL was facing liability for violating antitrust laws for $4.7 billion, but it was overturned this month by a federal judge after the NFL appealed. The accusation stemmed from alleged violations of antitrust laws due to the exclusivity that restricts competition when they only allowed certain channels to stream coverage since it was catered to satellite providers, according to AP News.

Ultimately, consumers were being charged higher-than-needed prices for the Sunday Ticket package since the platform had limited potential for usage.

But for some students such as freshman Garrett Wilkerson, having to pick and choose from so many options hasn’t been beneficial at all — rather more difficult.

For Wilkerson, the range of options has proven to be more of an inconvenience, beyond the basic costliness. His family has struggled to find the correct games due to the complexity of streaming.

“For Thursday night football we were looking for it on [cable],” Wilkerson said. “But then we had to look it up to find what channel it was on, and it was on Prime instead. Watching it on satellite was easier.”

Having subscriptions to each streaming service adds up quickly. For individuals with cable, all streaming services combined cost $519.92 for one year of preseason, regular and postseason coverage. For those without cable who are instead using Youtube TV in addition to all streaming services, the combined cost is $857.86 for total coverage of one season according to NBC,

Despite attempted recovery by the NFL, the current streaming strategy is largely not benefiting the consumers.

“I love everything about the sport,” Pastine said. “Watching these professional athletes do what I do drives me even harder. It sucks missing it because of streaming issues.”

design by michael yi photo by mason sajna

COACHES

ON THE BLOCK

Meet the new Shawnee Mission East coaches

SYDNEY WALLICK

ASSISTANT DANCE COACH

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THIS UPCOMING SEASON?

OUR GOAL IS TO WORK on achieving a higher placement at State and Nationals. Beyond the external accolades, I think being able to have a team that works well together and is bonded on both aspects, JV and Varsity, and to be all united I think is a great goal and a way to build camaraderie with all

FROM 2016-2020 DANCED FOR IOWA STATE

LAURA BUCKMAN

CHEER COACH

WHY DID YOU WANT TO BECOME A COACH AT EAST?

I THOUGHT I WAS DONE COACHING, but when the need arose for a coach, it just seemed like this was the right time. I missed coaching, and I really love this school and the people here. I thought this would be a great way to get more involved and have more relationships with more people.

TOTAL YEARS

COACHING

ASSISTANT GYMNASTICS COACH BROOKLYN BECK

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO BECOME A COACH?

HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASTICS

was a big part of my experience at East. It’s such a small, tight knit community, and I just wanted to be able to get back into the sport of gymnastics and cultivate that experience that I had there.

4 YEARS OF EAST

GYMNASTICS

JAMIE FOURNIER

ASSISTANT FOOTBALL COACH

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON?

UNLIMITED EXPECTATIONS. I BELIEVE that this team has what it takes to go as far as you

a culture of winning, and a culture of work ethic. I think we be disappointed if it was anything except for a winning season.

COACHED AT BLUE SPRINGS SOUTH FOR

24 YEARS

NEW TO THE HELEN JONES

COFFEE SHOP

“ “

BLUE

Get to know these East students and their new roles in extracurriculars

SENIOR

I REALLY WANTED to give back to the school in a fun way like selling coffee and drinks. I really like coffee so it’s always fun to come up with new drink ideas.

MANAGES

WORKERS SCHEDULING TEAM THERAPIST 17 WORKS WITH

BO MORRISSEY

SENIOR

STUDENT STORE

IT’S GREAT INVOLVEMENT in school, Lancer Day and the Rock game are some of the biggest days of the year for us. Right now Student Store is getting even more involved, we made jerseys for Lancer Day. Being involved in stuff like this is super fun and great to be a part of.

DESIGN SPREADS

EDIT

PHOTOS &

GEORGIA BOYD

JUNIOR

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HAUBERK

I ALWAYS LOVED looking at the book and wanting to be a part of it and help create something so special that people will hold on to it forever.

PROMOTES NEW & CLOTHES

CREATES INSTAGRAM POSTS

design by kai mcphail

photos by emery engle