NW PASSAGE ISSUE 6
JANUARY 25, 2024
VOLUME 55
SOMETHING TO SWIM FOR
Swim team honors Will Ensley’s legacy at new Invitational pg. 3
THE NEXT TAYLOR SWIFT Sophomore Clare O’Malley works hard to make State auditions pg. 10
el apartamento vs. el piso
el camión vs. el autobús la alberca vs. la piscina
la computadora vs. el ordenador los lentes vs. los anteojos el celular vs. el móvil
el suéter vs. el jersey
la torta vs. el bocadillo
la papa vs. la patata
el elote vs. el maíz
el refrigerador vs. la nevera el jugo vs. el zumo
la pluma vs. el bolígrafo el mesero vs. el camarero la chamarra vs. la chaqueta
ONE LANGUAGE, TWO TONGUES The American Education system should teach more of the Mexican Dialect of Spanish pg. 5
NW PASSAGE Issue 6 January 25th, 2023 Vol. 55
TABLE OF CONTENTS
03 NEWS BRIEFS 05 EDITORIAL 06 COLUMNS 09 SOMETHING TO SWIM FOR 10 THE NEXT TAYLOR SWIFT 13 PERCY JACKSON REVIEW 15 MONTH IN PHOTOS
NEWS OPINION OPINION SPORTS FEATURE FEATURE
OUR PASSAGE
The purpose of the Northwest Passage is to relay important and interesting information to the community, administration and students of the Shawnee Mission Northwest High School. As a news magazine, the Northwest Passage will cater to the interests and concerns of the student body. Outside concerns and activities will only be covered if they somehow affect the school or students. The Northwest Passage is a news magazine. The paper will be distributed monthly. Subscriptions will be available to the community for $25. The Northwest Passage firmly supports the First Amendment and opposes censorship.
The content of the newspaper will be determined and created by the entire staff. When questions concerning word choice, legal problems or ethics arise, the editorial board and adviser will discuss the problem to find the solution. In these cases, the editor-in-chief and editorial board will have the power to make the final decision. Letters to the editor will be accepted and encouraged. The staff reserves the right to edit for grammatical mistakes, length and good taste. Letters may attack policy but not people. In no way will ideas or viewpoints be changed. The editorin-chief and editorial board reserve the right to refuse any letter.
PUBLICATION OVERSIGHT Editor-In-Chief
Ashley Broils
CONTENT MANAGEMENT Copy Editor Design Editor Photo Editor Photo Editor co-Social Media manager Ads Manager
Grace Rau Greta Grist Alec Griswold Kara Simpson Bella Alvarado Will Fandel
WRITERS
DESIGNERS
Sofia Ball Emma Wyckoff Jesus Lara Rivera Yohanna Ayana
ADVISER
Bella Alvarado Kennedy Woolf Stella Miyares Will Fandel Cain Kempf
Chris Heady
Cover by Kara Simpson
@smnwdotcom
WIND CHILLS BRING SMSD SUPERINTENDENT NEGATIVE TEMPERATURES RETIRES TO SHAWNEE stories by Grace Rau
On January 11th, Shawnee Mission School District superintendent Dr. Michelle Hubbard announced her resignation. Hubbard plans to retire after 33 years of working as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent and a superintendent. “It is with mixed emotions, I plan to retire June 30, 2024,” Hubbard wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I am grateful for my 33 years in education! So proud I have been able to serve two amazing communities and so many great kids. Not counting days, rather I plan to make the days count.” Hubbard has served as the SMSD superintendent since July 1st, 2021, and was named the 2024 Kansas Superintendent of the Year by the Kansas Superintendent Association. Over the coming weeks, the SMSD Board of Education plans to contract with a consultant to search for superintendent candidates within the SMSD community. “We are confident that we have qualified internal candidates to serve as the next superintendent of the Shawnee Mission School District,” Board of Education president Dr. Mary Sinclair said in an email to SMSD staff. The Board of Education plans to hire a new superintendent in early to mid February. “[Hubbard] has led with wisdom and distinction,” Sinclair said, “touching the lives of countless students in Shawnee Mission and across Kansas.” Story by Grace Rau
design by Greta Grist
Dangerously cold wind chills with temperatures as low as negative-35 degrees swept across Kansas and much of the Midwest, canceling school at Northwest for five total days. In addition to wind conditions, heavy snowfall and risk of black ice made it difficult for students to attend school. According to the National Weather Service, wind chills were capable of causing frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes. As a safety precaution, Shawnee Mission Northwest canceled school on January 9th, 10th, 12th, 16th and 22nd in hopes of keeping students safe. “As badly as I want our kids to go back to school, we just can’t do it safely,” SMSD superintendent Dr. Michelle Hubbard said on X, formerly known as Twitter, on the afternoon of January 15th. Twice school was canceled in the morning of, and three times it was canceled in the evening before. All after-school activities were canceled three of the five snow days, forcing students, teachers and coaches to postpone and reschedule events such as the SMSD Journalism Showcase. Future Cougar Night and the Northwest K-12 Feeder Art Show were both rescheduled twice. The district has now used all four allotted snow days that are built into the schedule. If any more school cancellations occur, the end-of-school date will likely be pushed back.
DEPTH OF SNOW IN INCHES IN JANUARY
7
5
DEGREES IN FAHRENHEIT
18
11
9TH 10TH
Photo courtesy of the SMSD website
4 3
4
5
12
-9
12TH
14TH 16TH
January - news | 03
ONE LANGUAGE, TWO TONGU story by Jesus Lara Rivera
I
magine a student: 16 years speaking, writing and reading Spanish. Yet as the first minutes of a high school Spanish class begin to unfold, he immediately notices this isn’t his Spanish. Words like vos, bolígrafo and piso both annoy and confuse him; like learning English all over again. Every new word or old word that means something completely different than what he learned as a kid hits him like a cannon. One right after the other. As the class finishes, his head throbs with pain as it was just hit with a sudden but powerful blow, a blow that brings a quick realization: he’s not good at his own language. Throughout the district, students learn the Spain dialect of Spanish, which confuses much of the non-Spanish population at schools who normally speak the Mexican dialect of Spanish. This leads many students to feel left out or not smart enough to understand a language many of them grew up with. This is how many Hispanic and Latino students feel in Spanish classes at Northwest and around the district. They find it difficult to understand and comprehend the school’s Spanish classes, which is why the school should strive to change its curriculum. Spanish has many dialects that spread all over the world, each one different but similar, much like American English is similar but different to British English. For instance “chips” in Britain means what American English speakers call fries. Here in the U.S., Spanish is taught as the Spain dialect, which in a way makes sense right? It’s the more proper and formal version of the language, yet it isn’t the most spoken. According to Rosetta Stone,
THE VOTE
Peninsular Spanish, which refers to the Spain dialect, is only spoken by about 43 million people in the world. This number is dwarfed by the overwhelming majority of people who speak other dialects. There are 210 million people who speak the South American dialect, and about 124 million people that speak the Mexican dialect, and lastly 39 million people speak the Central American dialect. Even without the numbers, the Spain dialect of the language doesn’t really help here in the U.S., mainly because Spain is an ocean away while Mexico is in the same continent. According to the US Department of State, the number of Americans living in Mexico is estimated to be 1.6 million, and they listed Mexico as the top travel destination for US travelers. The United States and Mexico are far more intertwined than the United States and Spain, which is why it makes sense that the Mexican dialect should be taught in schools rather than the Spain dialect. To resolve the Spanish issue, the district should change the dialect that it teaches and make it so that more Hispanic or Latino students feel included. For starters, the people who teach the language should truly understand it. Having someone who grew up around or engulfed themselves in the language would make it so students could ask questions and get a sure answer rather than a “maybe”. Technically, the school has already kicked off this process; they hired a native speaker, Josue Aguilar Bautista, who knows and teaches the language as is. But this is a small step to truly promoting change, and there are still many classes here that don’t have more
January - opinion | 05
Disagree
knowledge in the dialects that truly matter at our school. But nowadays, there aren’t a lot of teachers, and trying to find one that meets these requirements is going to be practically impossible, but it can be done. There are people out there that are qualified to teach Spanish in these ways but they are rare, and the district needs to concentrate on hiring these people. Changing the dialect would make a big difference, but one that is needed. Now, there is a class that teaches the different dialects of Spanish, but sadly the class is not open to people who seek to learn Spanish — the class is only open to people who already speak Spanish at home. This is a great step towards integrating other dialects but this is a small change that doesn’t affect the grand cause. After all, the dialect is only taught to those that already speak the language which doesn’t really help the grand masses from learning. Change needs to happen.
design by Bella Alvarado
14 / 0 / 0 Agree
ES
The American Education system should teach more of the Mexican Dialect of Spanish
Abstain
A staff editorial is an opinion piece crafted by a single writer and voted on by the entire staff of the NW Passage. It is not an unbiased news article, but an opinion piece tackling a major issue. Here is how the NW Passage voted on this editorial.
NIGHT SHIFT 06| column-NW Passage
The ever-losing battle between school, work and life.
T
he clock is five minutes away from 4 p.m. I walk through the lobby of the restaurant. The smell of oil and fries fills my nose as I get closer to the kitchen — it’s a smell I’m all too familiar with. I’m inches away from entering the kitchen. I lay my hand on the door, ready to push it open, but I take a second to gather myself. I’m tired, after all. I’m only working off four hours of sleep. Last night I got too caught up doing my homework, and maybe today I’ll do the same. This is the life of someone who doesn’t know when to say enough. My eyes are heavy, my muscles are numb, and my legs feel weak. I want to lay down and take a nap, but I can’t. I have a duty to do. I push the door open. The walk to clock in is quiet, I’m too tired to wave or even greet anyone, all I wanna do is clock in and out, easy as that. I know that I’m gonna have problems — no one likes a silent shell here. I’m the first one to arrive. Orders have come in and out throughout the night. Some customers are too busy to even look at the menu and force us to read everything to them. Some want to buy half the menu and are surprised when it costs over 30 bucks. The clock approaches 7 p.m. and I’m just finishing my job. Today I’m coordinating, meaning I’m the one you can blame for half your fries being at the bottom of the bag. I grab the fries and the burger and gently place them inside a bag before handing them to the window man Joe, the boss’ son. He treats me like a brother sometimes, but sadly no one at the window is gonna get that same treatment. He’s silent and cold to them, only wanting them to get in and out as quickly as possible. My phone vibrates inside my pocket. It’s my friends, they want to play a game. Warzone, Apex, Fortnite, it doesn’t matter, I can’t play. I wish I could but I can’t. The amount of times I’ve said no to them, told them another day or another time are too many to count. So once again I tell them I can’t, and turn off my phone before
story by Jesus Lara Rivera designed by Kennedy Woolf
they even have time to respond. I have to get back to work. Maybe it’s because I was raised to see life like a machine. A machine that never stops working, because if it does everything falls apart. Without work, you get no money, which means you can’t buy anything, which means you can’t survive. I turned on the machine, and I can’t turn it off. Somewhere deep down, I don’t want to turn it off. Hours have passed, and the clock is showing 10 p.m. It’s time to close the lobby. I grab the lobby keys from the office before taking them to the doors, locking them one by one as I walk. It’s time for me and Joe to work the next two hours all by ourselves as we slowly close the Wendy’s. As I shut the final door I take a minute to breathe, a minute to myself where I can gather my thoughts and get a peace without people, without work, without school. It’s like being in the middle of a calm sea. Suddenly the sea is thrusted into a frenzy, waves that push and pull me underneath, all with a sudden beep that rings throughout my headset, alerting me that there’s a car at the drive-thru outside. It has been 32 minutes after closing, and I am just finishing the trash. As I walk out of the gray door in the back the cold air hits me like a cannonball. I close the door and walk back to the kitchen, Joe has finished his task and I have finished mine. We look at each other. Without saying a word we both walk over to a computer and clock out. I look at my receipt, 43 hours this week, in a sad way I’m proud of myself. “I’m over by three,” I tell him. “I’m over by five.” We share a laugh before reality hits a little too hard. As we open the door and walk into the night, we both look up at the sky for the first time. Joe sighs and looks over at me. “Keep it up kid, make that money. See ya tomorrow kid.”
ALL FOR AN I’ve Always Craved Academic Validation
E
veryone has heard the stereotype of immigrant parents who push their children to get perfect grades and to one day become a doctor, lawyer or engineer. Obviously not everyone is the same, but in my case this stereotype was true. My parents always pushed me and my older sister to get all A’s and to become a doctor or lawyer. And it worked. We grew up consistently getting good grades. We were always getting glowing reviews from our teachers during parent-teacher conferences. Our parents were always so proud of us. And if we got a lower grade, they would try to help us. They were never the type to get angry with us over a grade. They never put an unhealthy amount of pressure on us. However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel it. Experiencing all this academic validation only made me crave it more. I began to obsess over my grades and what my teachers thought of me. I would sob over a B — which is a great grade — because I could not fathom not being the perfect, smart daughter. I would panic if my teacher told me and my friends to be quiet because I had to be the best student. Over the years I began to despise school. The days felt longer, and I felt like I was on auto-pilot, just doing the bare minimum. It felt like I was dragging myself through school, just waiting to go home. The pressure began to feel like a physical weight on my chest, slowly dragging me down. The thing is, I didn’t know where all of this pressure had come from. One day, one of my previous teachers and I were talking,
and she asked me if I ever felt like the reason I thought I had to do so well in school was to show my parents that everything they did to get us here, and all their hard work, was not for nothing. After that, I realized that I felt like I had an obligation to do well and succeed in school to prove to my parents that all that they had done and sacrificed to build a good future for us was not a waste. That their efforts to get us here weren’t taken for granted. That was when I realized that the burden I felt on my shoulders for so long had been placed there by me. I felt the need to be perfect all the time because I didn’t want my parents to feel like they wasted their efforts. My parents never led me to believe they felt that way, but once I got into that headspace I could not get myself out for the longest time. It was not until school started getting harder and I got lower grades than I usually did that I realized always having to be perfect was not healthy or sustainable. I realized that I was the only person expecting me to be perfect, and that my family only ever wanted me to do my best. story by Yohanna Ayana designed by Kennedy Woolf
Studying, freshman Yohanna Ayana writes down notes Jan. 18 in the Northwest Lwibrary. Photo by Cooper Evans
07| column-NW Passage
SOMETHING to SWIM for Swim team honors Will Ensley’s legacy at new Invitational story by Grace Rau design by Will Fandel
T
he air in the SMSD Aquatic Center was heavy. Condolences and hugs were exchanged as the Jumbotron lit up with an image of the smiling face of Will Ensley as he held a swim medal. Quotes appeared beneath him: There were records left to be broken. One team, one dream, live like Will. The concrete stands were filled with supporters wearing t-shirts that bear his name. Tears were in the eyes of those who never knew him. A sign with the words “Will Ensley Invitational” hung by the pool. The Invitational was held on Sat. Jan. 6, and was dedicated to Will Ensley, a Northwest swimmer who passed away last July in a car accident before his senior year. Northwest competed against Bonner Springs, Piper High School, St. James Academy and Washburn Rural. “Coach Ryan [Lee] came up with the idea and then we jumped on it because, of course, we wanted to honor Will in any way we can,” Sharon Ensley, Will’s mother, said. “Will just loved swimming so much, and I just think it would be the right thing to honor him by naming the Invitation after him,” swim coach Ryan Lee said. The Ensley family hopes the Invitational will continue in years to come as a way to remember and honor Will’s passion for swim and his organ donation. When Will was sixteen, he got his driver’s license and his parents encouraged him to check the box to become an organ donor. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ensley were registered organ donors as well. “He chose to be an organ donor — and of course, you never really think
Will Ensley’s family poses for a photo Jan. 6 at the Shawnee Mission Aquatic Center. Photo by Cooper Evans that’s going to happen,” Sharon said. “But once it did, and he was in the ICU, we reminded them that he was registered to be an organ donor,” she said with tears in her eyes. “And they brought in a team to do surgery once we knew that he wasn’t going to make it.” Will gave his kidneys, corneas, heart valves, blood vessels, tissue and bone. His donation has already helped save the lives of a 42-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman. The Ensley’s haven’t met the people who received Will’s donations, but Sharon hopes that the opportunity will come in the future. “So to us that’s a very important part of [the Invitational] because he was a good kid in life and he was a good kid in death,” Sharon said. At the Invitational, a table was dedicated to sharing more about organ donation. Volunteers from the Midwest Transplant Network passed out green wristbands with the slogan “Give hope. Share life.” The Ensley family also created the Will M. Ensley Memorial Scholarship Fund in their son’s name. The scholarship will be awarded to Shawnee Mission Northwest swimmers who display the same attributes as Will: strong leadership skills, positive work ethic, good grades and a passion for what they love. “The idea for that is to continue on as many years as possible and to continue to bless other swimmers that have a passion like Will did,” Sharon said. At the end of the meet, people were
encouraged to donate to the Memorial Scholarship Fund through a Venmo QR code displayed on the Jumbotron. Will’s legacy will live on through the Invitational and the Memorial Fund, but most importantly in the hearts of those whose lives he impacted. “His memory,” said senior Tyler VandenBos, one of Will’s swim teammates. “It’s a great motivation.” “It’s something to swim for,” junior Gabe Cavin said. “It makes me want to go faster,” said freshman Trey Deheaven. “And honestly, he makes me just want to win every race I swim. You know, make him proud.” Will is a motivating factor in many of their successes. They are doing everything they can to remember him, including wearing swim caps emblazoned with the Ensley name. “We’re really just trying to dedicate this season to him,” VandenBos said. “[Will] cared a lot about the team,” Julian Gonzales said. “He had a picture of the team in his room. Swimming meant a lot to him, so it’s a big deal.” At the Invitational, Gonzales won the 100 yard breaststroke, a race that was dedicated to Will because it was his favorite, and one he was well known for. “It was definitely an emotional moment,” Gonzales said. “And it’s something I’ll remember for a long time.”
January - feature | 09
So
06 | profile - NW Passage
ore m o ph
re Cla
y works hard O’Malle to ma ke st ate a ud
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he smell of rubber soles, Trident wintergreen and dusty violin cases filled her nostrils. On the 13th of January sophomore Clare O’Mally froze out of fear. Before her stood well over 300 student orchestra musicians in the poorly lit middle school gymnasium. O’Malley and her mother had driven three hours to Salina, Kansas for the State auditions. For anyone else this would be a regular Saturday, fit for vacuuming rugs, sleeping in or watching the latest episode of Percy Jackson. But for O’Malley this was big. Where hours of practicing Bach, Brahms and Mozart, sleepless nights spent pouring over sheet music and days lost to the orchestra room would come to fruition. She heard footsteps, then the screeching of a microphone. “Basses Group D,” a woman called. O’Malley looked down, then took a breath. *** A year ago O’Malley placed 16th out of 16 in District tryouts, which leads to State auditions. Though despite coming in last, spirits remained high as she was one of few freshman to do so. “State is one of the most competitive auditions,” O’Malley said. “So you’ve gotta go and be ready, ‘cause if you mess up there’s not a good chance of making it.” O’Malley’s optimism was unshakable, so focused on the excitement of a state competition at such a young age and the chance to put her talent to the test. She was nervous, but relaxed all the same, repeating the exact words her mother had told her, and her father, and orchestra teacher Brittany Wasko, and friends, and professors and so many more. You’re gonna give it your all, and that’s pretty good for a freshman. “I think when she has struggles, it’s usually self imposed stress,” Michele O’Malley, Clare’s mother said. “Last year we went to state and she did not place. I think she was a little disappointed for a beat and took a stride in realizing it was her first [time]. I think she’s always been a perfectionist when it comes to academics and music, not in every [area], she is somewhere between being [precise] in what she does and having OCD.” Michele practices law from a metal card table in the basement when working from home, so O’Malley can have a music room. Shawn, Clare’s dad, built a bass rack with her brother and grandfather for her, as well as helped set up five guitar stands, her library of music, mic stand, amp and move the piano. Both parents have been supportive every step of the way, to say the least. At the age of nine, O’Malley received her first guitar. After mindlessly plucking at the same strings, she never saw lessons as more than a pastime. But it didn’t take long to learn a song, then another, pick up a new instrument, then another, take a class, a camp, win an award, become a part of the Kansas City Youth Symphony, fly to New York City, perform at Carnegie hall, then the Kauffman.
itions
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y ste ign b
B u t it was never enough. She continues to strive for improvement, in hopes of attending one of the most renowned music schools in the country, Curtis Institute of Music, then to become a professional bassist. Sophomore Clare O’Malley can play the double bass, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, autoharp, cello, violin, viola, recorder, piano and ukelele. “I don’t think we’ve ever had to tell Clare to practice,” Michele said laughingly. “In fact, there are times where I’ve had to tell her ‘please take a break because your fingers are bleeding.’ O’Malley says that her grandparents have made the largest influence on both her life and music career. Her grandmother on her Dad’s side passed from ovarian cancer in 2020, and played a huge part in introducing O’Malley to music and offering encouragement when was least expected and most needed. Her grandfather is currently a Bluegrass Bassist, who also inspired O’Malley to make the switch from cello to bass in the 6th grade. She’s stuck with it ever since. “When I lost my grandma, that was probably the lowest time in my life,” O’Malley said. “Cause she meant everything to me. She got me into music. What hurts the most is that she isn’t here to see me go on and play in Youth Symphony or at Carnegie.” Every concert O’Malley makes sure to wear her string of pearls, gifted by her grandmother. Where every years she would gift O’Malley two to add to the string, one every birthday and Christmas. O’Malley even believes “it brings luck.” As of now, she has 30 pearls. As of now, she’s played in over 400 concerts. “Last year I started in the incorrect place on my excerpt, “The Elephant”,” O’Malley said. “That was my nerves taking control, causing me to mess up on my scales going up and coming down. All in all it just wasn’t a very good audition. My tempo was even off and my intonation wasn’t what it usually is.” Two weeks ago, O’Malley made the three hour trip to Salina, Kansas. Her skills were stronger, posture straighter and mind sharper. She’d taken more lessons, put forth every effort with Wasko, taking all criticisms and molding them into strategies. At this point, everyone in O’Malley’s line of sight was competition. “I think she’s improved a lot,” Wasko said. “She’s took that as a she knows exactly what she needs to practice, what she needs to focus on and, you know, after you’ve done everything for a year it’s easier to go into that knowing what you need to do. She still takes lessons with the same teacher and they’re working on more things together. It’s been good for her.” O’Malley waited in the middle school gymnasium, when a woman called from the scratchy mic “Basses Group D.” O’Malley watched as those around her began packing up, it helped and frightened her to know that she was surrounded by next to 400 others who were going through the same thing. She was ready. ***
O’Malley laid back on her eggshell bedspread, reading chapter five of “Lord Of The Flies.” She had washed her face, showered, paced the stairs and stared at the array of corsages and scholarship certificates taped to her bedroom wall. O’Malley did everything to ignore her phone. *Ding. She couldn’t help it. - Message from senior Julian Jones. The results are out. She read it twice, mentally pinching herself while remembering the prank senior Wolf Gang Sell had played a week prior using a similar line. O’Malley took a fast breath, grabbed her MacBook, switched tabs and searched for the official KMEA website. She clicked on 2023-24 KMEA All-State Instrumental Ensembles and read the publishing date in tiny print. January 16, 2024. This wasn’t a prank. O’Malley found String Orchestra and started swiping through the finalists. Violin I. Violin II. Viola. Cello. She kept scrolling. Bass. O’Malley shut her MacBook and walked to the living room. Her mom was busy in the kitchen and dad and brother in the basement. She took another breath, and out flew her next words. “I made it.” That night O’Malley lay awake, a smile plastered on her face as a feeling of pride and residuous anxiety swept her mind. But she couldn’t help feeling somewhat sad as she ended the facetime with her boyfriend. “I just think my grandma would be so proud of me,” O’Malley said. O’Malley’s family and friends congratulated her, overjoyed by the news of second place. “She has this gift that she was born with,” Michele said. “We like to joke that she got all the musical talent in the family. She just understands music in a way that with the musical notes, that there’s, I don’t really know how to explain it. She kind of just has it.”
Playing her cello, sophomore Clare O’Malley practices Jan. 18 in the Orchestra Room.
STRUNG TOGETHER
Sophomore Clare O’Malley and her mom stand with her concert Cello Jan. 18 in the Orchestra Room.
October - profile | 07
PERCY JACKSON REVIEW My thoughts on the new Percy Jackson series
I
f I’m being honest, I don’t think any show could actually live up to the book “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan. This was one of my favorite books as a kid, and won’t receive any bad talk about it, so I might be biased. A book has the opportunity to describe characters’ thoughts and emotions, the stress or panic of a situation and the setting with any variety of words. I’m well aware of the fact that series and movies actually show the setting and the characters, but with those, you’re robbed of creating your own mental image of them. But despite this, the Disney Plus show of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” truly did an amazing job bringing one of my favorite books to life. Aside from the obvious difference in appearances, I thought the characters were very well cast. The casting for Luke Castellan was spot on with Charlie Bushnell, and Walker Scobell plays the awkward and a little overwhelmed but brave and heroic Percy Jackson with ease. The editing on the show was great. All the monsters they face are very realistic and don’t look like
My one piece of criticism has to be the flow of the series. The pace is too fast, especially in life and death or extreme situations. I don’t get to feel panic for the characters or actually experience the stress of those moments. There’s no build up or suspense that really pulls me into the story. Percy and Annabeth’s relationship grew too quickly and without enough emotions, so I didn’t giggle and kick my feet when Annabeth hugged Percy in St. Louis. In the show’s defense, each episode spans multiple chapters in the actual book, so I can see why it’s a little rushed. I wish they would’ve added more episodes or made each episode a little longer. The actors for Percy, Annabeth and Grover are also very young at ages 15, 14 and 17 years old. I love how the show cast actors who are similar in age to the characters they play to maintain the integrity of the show. The show also has yet to release the final episode, but I’m excited to see how the directors are gonna end the season.
straight CGI.
review by Emma Wyckoff design by Cain Kempf
Photo courtesy of Rick Riordan
Photo courtesy of Rick Riordan
January - review | 12
14 | Month in Photos - NW Passage
MONTH IN
1. With coach Ryan Lee’s hand on his shoulder, junior Macalister Herbst discusses his performance Jan. 6 at the Shawnee Mission Aquatic Center. Lee builds relationships with his team through hard work and a shared love of swimming. “He treats everyone on the team as family,” Herbst said. “He has taught me the power of hard work and what can be accomplished with effort.” Photo by Cooper Evans 1.
2. Girls Varsity Basketball Coach Tyler Stewart encourages the team during a time-out, Jan. 12 at SM East. In a close game, the Lady Cougars beat the Lancers by one point. Photo by Sidra Sakati 2.
Senior Lily Rieff greets the crowd Dec. 14 in the little theater. Rieff was the first female host of Thursday Night Live, an event hosted by KUGR that is a parody of the comedy show Saturday Night Live. “My goal in life is to be on Saturday Night Live or on the stage somewhere, so this was an amazing experience, and it felt like good practice for if I ever make it to the real thing,” Rieff said. “I’m so glad I got the opportunity to prove that women are just as funny, if not funnier than men.” Photo by Ashley Broils 3.
3. Freshman Trey DeHaven dives into the pool Jan. 6 in the SM District Aquatics Center. DeHaven competed in heat 2 of the 100 fly. “During a race, all you can think of is winning,” DeHaven said. Photo by Ashley Broils 4. Sophomore Tyler Looze plays the cello Jan. 17 in Room 37. The cello is the second largest instrument played in orchestra. Photo by Ashley Broils
N PHOTOS 6. Juniors Aiven Riley and Tyler Salmon pull teammate junior Keaton Wagler off the ground Jan. 12 at SM East. Coming into the game, both teams were undefeated. Photo by Sidra Sakati 6.
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5. Senior Violet Cottini plays the bass Dec. 14 in the little theater. Cottini’s band, KTOF-Kings to Fiends, played an original song called “Daddy” at Thursday Night Live. “I really love music, so making our own music gives a lot of freedom and it’s just fun to play instruments,” Cottini said. Photo by Ashley Broils
January - Month in Photos | 15
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The most stressful part of my position is the physicality, which is mostly on the rebounding and defense. It can determine the outcome of the game. I also think it’s the most fun part though. - senior Vincent Nixon
Senior Vincent Nixon jumps to make a shot, Jan. 12 at SM East. Nixon plays as a power forward on the boy’s varsity basketball team. Photo by Sidra Sakati
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