Students and teachers react to the dismantling of the Department of Education pg. 04
Northwest’s plant sale begins April 25, here is what goes into preparing for the sale pg. 07
April 5 Anti-Trump rally sparks huge turnout in KCMO pg. 05
OPINION
I forgive you, dad. pg. 09
Always There pg.10
FEATURE
The government class is impacting students’ lives, and government teacher Christin LaMourie is standing at the forefront pg.11
Charles Lin and his culinary journey pg. 13
Double standards in education impact female teachers pg. 16
PHOTO OF THE ISSUE
With the help of his teammates, senior Keaton Wagler gets up after falling Feb. 7 in the Main Gym. The Boy’s Varisty Basketball Team competed against SM South.
Photo by Kara Simpson
A review of the AppleTV show, “Severance” pg. 19
Spring sports briefs to recap the season so far pg. 20
MONTH IN PHOTOS
The highlights of March & April featuring baseball, basketball state sendoff, and all things prom pg. 22
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On March 20, president Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to begin dismantling the Department of Education.
The order, “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities,” outlines alleged inefficiencies and suspected wrongdoings of the Dep. of Education itself. Trump stated that the department has not only done nothing to improve student outcomes like graduation rates and test scores, but also wastes billions of dollars in taxpayer money, creating regulations that “redirect resources toward complying with ideological initiatives, which diverts staff time and attention from schools’ primary role of teaching.”
Government teacher Christin LaMourie expressed frustration at what these executive actions symbolize in regards to how educators are already being treated today.
“It feels like an attack on teachers and public education,” LaMourie said. “There’s a lot of people that dedicate their working lives trying to make the future better for students.”
According to an Instagram poll posted by the Northwest Passage, 71% of students who responded were very concerned about Trump’s announcement to dismantle the Dep. of Education, and 17% were unsure.
“What I’m worried about is that you get rid of funding [that makes] it easier for people going to college with scholarships and student loan forgiveness,” senior Eli Marvine said. “I filled out FAFSA. And I’ve seen a lot of people posting their opinions online who rely on FAFSA to pay for their college.”
On March 11, officials said the Dep. of Education would be cutting half of its staff. This also resulted in the termination of contracts
Students and faculty have mixed reactions over Trump’s announcement to dismantle the Department of Education
dedicated to maintaining the Free Application For Student Aid, or FAFSA website, and helping users navigate complicated forms and answering questions.
Marvine said he believes that these barriers to seeking and receiving financial aid will discourage students from seeking higher education altogether, and this will end up having a negative cascading effect on the school system.
“If [Trump is] right and the Dept. of Education was bloated, then you would never see a difference,” LaMourie said. “Because they would still be able to fulfill their function without those extra workers. If he’s wrong, then it’s a matter of, ‘Are those people working overtime? Is one
on college campuses across the nation, will be effective immediately.
The federal government provides Kansas with 16.6% of its educational funding, according to the Education Data Initiative. Kansas K-12 schools receive $777.8 million, or $1,594 per student from the federal government, whereas state and local funding combined averages $8,379 per student.
Extracting federal funding that directly supports students with disabilities and poor K-12 schools has the potential to directly impact Northwest.
LaMourie said that the state of Kansas already doesn’t fulfill their obligation of providing enough fiscal support to help students with disabilities.
“Legally, you have to serve those students with special needs,” Lamourie said. “So you have to make up those costs from somewhere. If you’re losing that federal funding from the Dep. of Education, that’s even more money being pulled from general funds, which means less money for everyone.”
Data from an Instagram poll by the Northwest Passage of students are “very concerned” about Trump’s announcement to dismantle the Dep. of Education
person doing the job of three people?’ And how long can they sustain that?”
Trump has begun distributing functions of the Dep. of Education to other federal agencies.
On March 21, Trump announced his plan of moving all student loan portfolios to the Small Business Administration. This transfer, which has instilled confusion in financial aid advisers
Without federal guidelines on how to disperse those funds, states would have the deciding power on where this money goes. Teachers like Matthew Wolfe have pointed out how historically, certain states have weaponized funding in a way that revokes civil rights from certain groups or individuals.
“If you start putting that funding back to the states maybe we see it pop up again,” Wolfe said. This order, and Trump’s actions facing heavy scrutiny and legal intervention regarding the Dep. of Education have complex implications. No one is really sure which schools will be impacted, where or how. Some teachers have said the only thing they can do now is “wait and see.”
“Maybe I should be more worried,” Wolfe said. “But that can’t change anything.”
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s New Exhibit Sheds Light on Future Renovations
On March 15,, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art opened their “Building Belonging: Designing the future of the Nelson-Atkins” exhibit that features six potential designs for an extension to the museum.
The exhibit is a part of a contest hosted by the Nelson-Atkins to determine which design will be chosen and then built. Each design includes approximately 61,000 square feet of new additions, as well as partial renovations to the existing museum building.
The project is expected to be the “single biggest investment in the arts in Kansas City
in recent years,” according to the museum’s website. With it, the Nelson-Atkins hopes to “attract new audiences by creating vibrant spaces to host more art, and new immersive and interactive creative experiences for the community.”
The exhibit features 3D models of each potential design, as well as written statements from the designers who made them. The final six designs were selected from 180 submissions. The exhibit is open through June 1, 2025, and the community is invited to share their thoughts on which design should be chosen.
STORY BY GRACE RAU
To share your thoughts on which design you like best, visit:
To view the six final designs, visit:
Thousands Protest Trump Administration on Plaza
On April 5, thousands gathered around the Plaza Fountain in Kansas City, Mo. to protest President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s recent acts in office.
This rally was a part of a nationwide “hands off” movement, and over 600,000 people in total signed up online to attend at least one rally according to Indivisible, an organization established in 2017 after President Trump’s initial inauguration. In Kansas City, another protest arose in front of a Tesla dealership near 103rd and State Line Road to protest Musk’s role in the government.
On the 5th at the Plaza, the crowd moved to the music rising from a circle of musicians drumming “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley. A woman with a GoPro danced in the center. The protesters lined the sidewalks and chanted “This is what democracy looks like,” with signs that read “When injustice becomes law resistance becomes duty” and “Trump + Musk = unconstitutional.”
Several attendees spoke about the sense of community and safety created at the rally, with people standing on trash cans and electrical boxes with crowds surrounding to catch them if they fall. Children could be seen bundled up in coats and mittens in strollers or on the shoulders of their parents.
“Democracy only works if you participate, so I want to set an example for my children that participation is mandatory,” Lenexa resident Thomas Cocollette said with his hands on a stroller holding his daughter and son, both children grasping small cardboard signs.
While most attendees were bundled up with red faces and frozen hands clutching onto their signs, some protesters found more creative ways to stay warm while expressing their anger. Three women, who wanted to remain unnamed, stood in long red robes with white visors, mimicking “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
“We decided we wanted to make a bigger statement than just having our signs,” one woman dressed as a handmaid said in an interview with the Passage, who requested to be anonymous.
“It’s amazing how fast one man can dismantle so much that we have built, it just pisses me off,” Kelly Ledwig said, standing next to her friend, Marian Brown while they held matching signs warning protesters about fascism.
In a city between two historically red states, each voting for Trump in the recent election, most weren’t surprised by the turnout.
“A lot of times it feels like I’m the only one screaming at my TV,” Sarah Thomas said, “It’s nice to know you’re not the only one.”
Another rally will be held on April 26 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. outside of the Tesla dealership on State Line Road and 103rd Street, organized by volunteers from invisible.org.
Protesting President
Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s acts in office, thousands gather April 5 on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo. This rally was part of a nationwide “hands off” movement.
All photos by Sofia Ball
Good to Grow
The plant sale, hosted by science teacher Michael Pisani and his students, is approaching
For almost 35 years, there has been an annual plant sale held in the green house. This year the plant sale is being held from April 26 through May 7.
“First day is just for parents,” environmental education teacher Michael Pisani said. “It starts like April 25, that’s a Friday, so we just have a parents night for a couple hours just because everything gets picked off really easily. It just gives them parents an opportunity to look at (the plants) while everything’s still there.”
With the sale being led by students, it has been described by Pisani as “controlled chaos.” With students running around the greenhouse, selling plants, helping customers and asking questions during their two and a half hour shifts, Pisani just tries to manage the chaos of students, parents, and community members going in and out of the greenhouse.
Students have been preparing for the plant sale the whole year, learning their plants, how to grow them and doing constant trips to the green room. With this assignment being mandatory, everyone in environmental education is going to serve a role in the sale.
“We’ve been using the class periods to get ready for the plant sale,” junior Ethan Patton said. “Moving down to the greenhouse, planning stuff like all the different plants. In class we learn about the different types, like perennials, biennials and stuff like that in class, and more about the plants. So that in the plant sale itself, we can tell the customers on our own, so we have that knowledge that way we don’t have to lean on the teacher.”
The plant starts Friday April 25, and will be running every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday for the next couple days. Wednesdays are three to
by
Juniors BJ Matthews and Guillermo Cruz-Castro repot plant plugs March 28 in the Greenhouse. Matthews and Cruz-Castro are getting ready for the annual plant sale.
“They’re 100% decomposable,” Pisani said. “This is an environmental ed class, instead of doing plastic, people can just plant it in the Manure enriches the soil and helps to prevent transplant shock.
“I think they’re pretty cool,” junior Charlotte Millard said. “It’s cool that we’re reusing stuff and making it environmentally friendly.”
Juniors Maggie Lamons and Claire Reed pot a plant
March 28 in the Greenhouse. Lamons and Reed are preparing for the Environmental Education 1’s annual Plant Sale. Photo
Photo
Photo
Sofia Ball
Photo by Sofia Ball
OI forgive you, dad.
My journey to understanding and forgiving, even without a full apology
ne year ago, I re-met my dad. Well, technically, second time meeting him in 3 years. He picked me up from my mom’s house to grab coffee in his white SUV, listening to some of his 90s rock music. We arrived at this local coffee shop called Station 3, 30 minutes away from home. I ordered the sweetest drink on the menu, some caramel-vanilla-whatever, and he ordered three espresso shots. He talked about his job and things I didn’t really understand, like finances that he has to do in his job. In the back of my head I couldn’t help but think, why hasn’t he asked about my life yet?
After a long car ride of looping around my neighborhood — I guess he wanted to spend more time with me — it was time for him to drop me off.
Before dropping me off, my dad asked, “Will I see you again?” ***
Casey’s pizza slices for dinner, his sculptures from old art classes comfortably cluttered in the house, teaching us how to paint on canvas in the basement floor; this was life at my dad’s growing up. His nickname for me was Ladi Dadi, and he would play the intro to the song “La-DiDa-Di” by Doug E. Fresh and sing it to me. My parents got divorced when I was in third grade. I still got to see my sisters, and my parents had 50/50 custody. At his house, we swam in the pool in our backyard, ate donuts for breakfast, watched movies as a family on Friday nights — mainly Marvel movies — and ate sloppy joes for dinner. It was home.
It’s a very blurry line between when I was close with my dad and when I wasn’t. Maybe it was when I grew my own opinions and turned 12.
I guess little arguments over time grew. They became larger, about bigger issues, like politics. Most of the time those arguments weren’t even about us. Looking back, we were pretty dramatic. We yelled a lot. I was dealing with lots of emotions and taking them out on my dad. I wasn’t eating, so my brain wouldn’t process everything properly, and I was more irritable. I didn’t have many friends because I transferred to a different district in middle school. I was alone.
One day, my dad picked me up from school and dropped me off at moms to pick up my ballet stuff.
I decided I didn’t wanna go back in the car.
So, I ran up to my room, locked the door and started panicking.
My phone wouldn’t stop buzzing. I kept declining his calls. My mom was on the other side of the door, trying to convince me to go.
“Mom, please don’t make me.”
My mom didn’t want to get in trouble, so for legal reasons, she tried her best to get me back into his car.
But I didn’t want to go back over there. I didn’t like the way my siblings and I were being treated, and when I would challenge that, suddenly I was “disrespectful.” My opinions were taken as controversial. Whenever my sister, Noa, wanted to dress the way she felt comfortable in, like shorts and masculine clothes. He would have her wear dresses and bows.
I was fed up.
I distinctly remember what happened the last day I was in dads car.
I’m in 7th grade and we were on our way to school, once again, arguing.
He caught me recording the conversation. I wanted to be heard, because for years I was told that I was being over dramatic, and overreacting, and I just wanted someone
to listen to what I was experiencing. So, I recorded.
We both got very upset, and the fight escalated. Things got physical. The moment I got out of that car, I knew I didn’t wanna go back. I sent the recording of the conversation to my lawyer, and it was official. Under my terms, I did not have to see him again. ***
It’s hard when you don’t remember things your dad does and how he acts. So one day, about a year ago, I got coffee with my uncle about how I wanted to rekindle the relationship with my dad. At that point I had forgotten what his voice sounds like. That in itself, bothered me.
“I love you.”
“I miss you.”
“Wanna go out for coffee?”
A few times a week, I get these messages from my dad.
No apologies, though.
It took a lot of courage to see my dad again. He texted me, asking if I would be open to go to a pottery café. Eventually, I said yes.
Four years have gone by, and I believe both my dad and I have changed as people.
I texted him a few days ago, asking to call about this story, and it went very well. I expected us to not get along, but I was surprised by his softness and openness to talking about things we put each other through.
It felt like I was talking to a different person.
I decided it’d be best to talk with him versus talking about him.
A few weeks after pottery, we went out for that cup of coffee.
After my dad dropped me off from coffee he asked if I’d see him again.
I paused.
“Yes, yes, I’ll see you again.”
Always There
At six years old I had open heart surgery which permanently changed my health and who I am
The day I turned six, I laid on a hospital bed on the fourth floor Children’s Mercy, the cardiovascular floor, with my arms out.
Machines were plugged and taped into what felt like every inch of my body
I had been here, in this same hospital bed, for two weeks.
Two weeks was considered a fast recovery for open heart surgery, but it felt long to me. My days consisted of PediaSure and crackers that I couldn’t keep down. One time I threw it all up on my moms engagement ring, I felt so bad. Next to my bed was a little pink bell that said “ring for ice cream.” I rang it all the time.
Walking was extremely difficult for me, so my parents pushed me around in a blue wagon. One time they pushed me down to an area to pet poodles and blow bubbles. I felt trapped not being able to stand up or walk around.
Most of my time was spent in bed.
To my left, my mom held my hand, always. To my right was Mr. Monkey. This worn out, veteran of a stuffed animal has been through everything with me. Every surgery, every orthodontics appointment and every yearly check up. I wasn’t very creative with his name.
When I went in for my open heart surgery, the doctors took him with me.
They cut a small slit from his neck to the middle of his torso. Someone, or rather something, that has the same exact abnormal spot on his chest.
It was like he was a monkey version of me, down to the scar.
Mr. Monkey didn’t have to go back to kindergarten. But I did. ***
Growing up, it felt like this scar was there to point me out.
I don’t like standing out, but I always am because of my scar. It looks like a bunch of zigzags and is a flushed-rose in tone. People are always curious about what happened to me. Once I was asked if I was mauled by a bear.
Now people ask less, but their eyes say a lot.
When I went back to Mrs. Wagner’s kindergarten class, around November of the same year, the whole class sat in a circle around me. We talked about what happened to me so students were aware of my “situation.”
Talking about my heart was common in classes growing up. At Ray Marsh one year, the PE teacher had me stand up in front of the class and just stand there while she talked about Jump Rope for Heart.
Like, they were jumping for me?
I’m not sure.
I wasn’t ashamed of this defect on my chest, because it wasn’t like I could have covered it up, it was just there. On one school picture day and I wore a top that showed my scar, which I didn’t do often.
That’s when I got my first school bully.
“Ew… oh my gosh, that thing looks so weird. Can you cover that up?”
The second I got home, I cried hysterically. I’d never had someone comment on my body, let alone something I can’t control.
That one little, impolite comment played in my ear for years getting ready for school each day.
I would occasionally get those brief comments about how I looked —
What is that?
Are you OK?
What happened?
— and I started to ignore them.
But soon, those comments turned into self criticism.
Because I would get those remarks often, they really stuck with me. I didn’t think that there was something wrong with me, but others seemed to think differently. So if I had a top that even remotely had the pink wound peaking over it, I would put a high neckline tank top to conceal it.
When I got home from school, I didn’t hear that voice. My family didn’t see me any other way, because why would they? And that’s what confused me the most; my health is my everyday life, but, to others, it’s out of the ordinary. An echocardiogram to take pictures of my heart was scary to others; to me it was time to just watch Nickelodeon with weird jelly on my chest.
Though it’s been ten years, I don’t go a single day without noticing my scar, or thinking about my surgery, but now it’s not always in a negative way.
Getting older, I think I’ve grown to feel more comfortable wearing whatever I want.
Still, each night I pick out two outfits; one that shows my scar and one that doesn’t.
I have to decide if I want my scar to show, or stay blended in.
I have to decide whether I have the energy to talk about it.
Regardless, every night at least my routine is the same. I tuck in bed, and I find Mr. Monkey, just like when I was younger.
Even though I’m 16, I can’t fall asleep without knowing Mr. Monkey’s nearby. At least he is always there.
Hope Hunt at six years old after open-heart surgery. Next to her is Mr. Monkey.
Photo courtesy of Hope Hunt
What was wrong with my heart
When you think about heart disease you probably picture a 50 something year old man who isn’t active and smokes, not a newly born baby. The reason I had to have open heart surgery was because when I was born, I was born with Omphalocele, which according to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, has 1 out of every 4,000 to 7,000 births.
Omphalocele is when your abdominal organs move to the outside of your body, near the umbilical cord. This occurs when the abdominal wall fails to correctly form, causing it to shift outwards. This isn’t a genetically induced condition, it just happens.
Once Omphalocele develops, things like your kidneys, heart or lungs are affected by it.
Unfortunately for me, my heart was altered. That was a cause and effect situation, and the effect was my pulmonary valve, a part of your heart that moves oxygenpoor blood to your lungs was damaged.
Mine was missing a piece, which made it difficult to run or play around, because I had to put a lot of effort into breathing.
When I was younger I used to say that I had a huge hole in my heart, now I know it really isn’t that big of a hole, but it causes lots of problems within the body.
and Justice With For With and For Justice All All Liberty Liberty
Government class is impacting students’ lives, and government teacher Christin LaMourie is standing at the forefront
When Christin LaMourie was hired at Shawnee Mission Northwest 20 years ago, she didn’t want to be a government teacher. She assumed she would be a history and geography teacher, but the school administration had other plans.
“I came in to give a tour of the building with Dr. Gruman, and she handed me a government and sociology book, and I went out to my car and I cried,” LaMouire said.
But when she came back, the previous government teachers were there to help, and a slew of ideas and plans that had worked for them were sent LaMourie’s way. After her first year of teaching, she knew she had found her subject.
“I was like, ‘I love this, I never want to stop,’” LaMourie said.
Now, in 2025, LaMourie understands the need for government class in high school more than ever. This school year was an election year, and because of this, LaMourie has seen more conversations regarding politics.
“After the Harris vs. Trump debate, it was interesting to come in and hear students’ perspectives on who won the debate,” LaMourie said.
She also noticed that the media her students consumed impacted who they thought won.
“It seemed like students who were getting their information from certain sources were
believing one thing, and students that were getting it from other sources were believing different things,” she said.
Her role is not to tell students what to believe but to give them the correct information to form opinions.
“It was really interesting to tie that together and talk about media influence, especially non-traditional media influence, because a lot of kids are getting things from podcasts or influencers.”
In this class, students learn about how the government works and discuss the philosophy surrounding it. LaMourie applies this knowledge to the real world through civic engagement. In her AP class, LaMourie gives each student a menu of civic activities such as going to public hearings, city council meetings and voting to show them how to interact with government and democracy.
Government teaches lessons through bringing in different legal professionals.
In AP government, a Shawnee Police officer came to talk to the students about their rights regarding the police and the fourth amendment. These lessons help students better understand their rights and responsibilities as active members of society.
“The most helpful thing I’ve learned is probably happening right now, which is just reaffirming our civil rights and our civil liberties,” senior Reese Irwin said. “A lot of my peers coming into the class didn’t know
what the real, in-depth responsibilities were of all our different branches, or how these branches end up translating into the state government.”
“It’s been really cool to see my peers and myself learn more about how on a state level we are impacting policy in our government.”
Because government is a senior level class, most of LaMourie’s students are voting this year. Since voting is an important responsibility, she likes to address it and teach the students about the process and about the promises candidates make.
“I want you to be able to confidently walk into that voting booth and say, based on the basic knowledge of how government is set up, this is who I think would do the best job,” she said.
Students after senior year will go out into the world, go to college, get jobs and start families. They will decide whether or not to be active in our democracy, but what LaMourie wants to leave all her students with is this:
“I know it’s a lot right now, it’s hard when you have a lot of stuff on your plate,” she said. “You have classes, and sometimes the news is boring, but the more we can pay attention to what’s going on in the world and make those connections in government class, I think the better off we’ll be as potential voters.”
Photo by Kara Simpson
Coaching
Different
Junior Charles Lin is on a new path to self discovery after quitting the culinary program
Junior Charles Lin is no stranger to the inner workings of a kitchen. In second grade, every day he would walk home, alone, from the bus stop.
And on those days he had the same routine.
Slip off his shoes in the garage. Set down his black backpack. Check the fridge.
His older brothers Aaron and Elvin were in middle school at the time, and didn’t get out until 3:45 p.m. His mom was busy waitressing at the Mongolian Grill. His dad was prepping sushi at Jun’s Japanese Restaurant in Prairie Village, by Shawnee Mission East High School. Both parents worked long shifts and weren’t home till around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m.
So the house was always empty when Lin got there.
He’d rifle through the fridge’s contents; boy choi, green onions, garlic, mushrooms and day old rice sitting in styrofoam takeout containers that his dad brings home from work.
Then the large white chest freezer: pork, shrimp, chicken.
He takes out whatever he’s in the mood for and waits for it to defrost before his brothers get home.
And once they do it’s always the same question. What are we making tonight, Charles?
Six years later he’s sitting in the computer lab at Trailridge Middle School. Business education teacher Jody Fangman had assigned a scavenger hunt on the CAA website so that her students could explore different classes and local opportunities before going into highschool. That’s when Lin sees the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Program — something clicked.
In the fall of sophomore year, he competed in his first competition through the culinary program, at JCCC.
“I remember noticing that I’d gone overtime,” Lin said. “I literally put my hands on the counter and just stood there, silent. I needed to stop
cooking. I wasn’t even surprised with the way things had gone in practice. I was very disorganized and frustrated.”
Even after driving home, scrolling, reading and laying in bed he couldn’t shake the feeling of disappointment that was gnawing at his stomach.
“I just wanted to quit,” Lin said.
But he ignored the feeling and kept cooking and showing up to the CAA on time in his chef’s uniform. He spent hours after school perfecting pastries, wiping down stainless steel countertops and plucking the individual leaves from cilantro stems on prep nights. He helped make menus for the Broadmoor Bistro.
Most evenings after Lin got home, he was a cocktail of exhaustion, stress and nervous energy. Something was keeping him going, but he wasn’t sure what.
Obligation?
Passion?
His parents wanted him to do anything else, especially since they had clocked so many draining hours
“
Was all the suffering, time and energy I put into this competition worth it? Was I meant for this program?
- Junior Charles Lin
“
in kitchens and restaurants for little pay after immigrating from Fuzhou, China.
“They didn’t want me following in their footsteps,” Lin said. “It became a sort of controversial topic with my relatives as well, and it’s something I sort of hide now.”
Last November, Lin hesitantly signed up for the JCCC cooking competition once again, and after another two months of preparation, he won second place. There’s a medal, and scholarship prize. He
was completely ecstatic, but that didn’t last.
“Later that night, I just sat at my dinner table thinking,” Lin said. “Was all the suffering, time and energy I put into this competition worth it? Was I meant for this program? I knew being a chef would require so many light nights, a lot of labor and standing and working long hours. Did I really want to be a chef?”
He had deep conversations with friends over winter break debating what he was going to do.
“We kind of unpacked what it meant to him emotionally,” junior and close friend Amber Quint said. “It was this realization of ‘Should I do culinary for fun or because I have to?’ That’s whenever he decided to change over.”
Staying in culinary might mean being absolutely miserable. On the other hand, quitting would mean going back to square one.
Staring at the course card for senior year, Lin was making one of the hardest decisions of his life.
He was going to quit.
What next?
“It was a feeling of being left behind in life,” Lin said. “I had a real issue with comparing myself to others. I was gonna enter my last year of high school starting over, and
that terrified me.”
Lin still hasn’t told his parents — he doesn’t want to prove them right — or most friends and classmates yet. For a while, everyone had associated him with culinary. He was the kid who loved baking cookies and bringing brownies to calc study dates. He ate paella in the back of math teacher Elissa Ojeda’s honors Algebra 2 class while she complained about how it smelled. He loved making steamed cabbage rolls and fried rice for when his friends came over. He gave homemade chocolate chip banana bread to the person interviewing him for this story.
Food will always be a way of how Lin expresses love and gratitude. It’s a life skill rooted in core childhood memories.
He just won’t be pursuing it after graduation like he’d always hoped.
“In 8th grade, I really thought this was what I’d do with the rest of my life,” Lin said.
Now things are different.
“He’s a happy dude,” Quint said. “I think he’s a lot less stressed. I don’t know. A lot has happened in the last four months, right? He’s figuring out what he wants to do. And what will make him happy. I just want to see him happy.” He is.
Smiling, junior Charles Lin cuts a green onion April 4 in his house.
Photo by Cooper Evans
Female teachers face disrespect not extended to their male counterparts
Freshman world regional studies teacher Stacey Delay struggles to retain the attention of her class. A group of boys sit clustered in the middle, and no matter how loud she speaks, what she says or what she shows on the board, they simply will not listen.
A male teacher walks into room 14 to discuss sophomore year social studies options. The second he begins to speak, Delay notices the class’ volume ease. Macbooks closed. The male students who, just seconds ago weren’t even listening, sit up straight.
“The way that the attention in the room shi ed toward him so effortlessly,” Delay said. “That really was the moment where I was like, ‘Oh. This is very much a thing.’”
Delay’s experience isn’t unique. Many female teachers at Northwest notice the same patterns of students challenging their authority, responding differently to male teachers, having to fight for respect that is guaranteed to their male counterparts and being expected to be a nurturing figure in the classroom.
In an Instagram poll by the Northwest Passage, 60% of student respondents said that they noticed a difference between the treatment of female and male teachers.
“I’ve definitely noticed it,” junior Zaiden Robinson said. “People say things about my female teachers they definitely wouldn’t say about men.”
In a study of the effect of online misogyny on treatment of female teachers in Australia published by Stephanie Wescott, Steven Roberts & Xuenan Zhao (2024), they “suggest boys’ sexist practices towards their teachers and girl peers forms part of a strategy of gender inequality legitimization, stabilizing and reinvigorating a regressive ‘male
supremacy’.” In other words, because of the rise of online misogyny, male students are becoming more disrespectful of female teachers and peers in school.
“Adolescence,” a British miniseries that follows a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering his female classmate, started airing on Netflix on March 13. The show has been well received by both critics and fans. It earned a 99% Rotten Tomatoes score, and a voucher from Anneliese Midgley, member of the British Parliament, who said that the show should be “screen[ed] in Parliament and
- Rebecca Anthony “ “
The only assumption I can make is that, just as any sort of authority fgure, they don’t take females seriously.
schools,” to “help counter toxic misogyny.”
Among multiple themes depicted in the series, the disrespect toward the forensic psychologist, a woman assigned to uncover Jamie’s view towards women, has resonated with audiences. Following the effects of misogynistic internet atmospheres, Jamie is le angry and distrustful of females around him, and completely unwilling to listen to women in any authoritative or leadership role.
For Delay, being a female teacher is a push and pull between avocation and
authority. She constantly faces the expectation to be nurturing instead of authoritative.
“There’s an expectation that we’re supposed to take care of everyone,” Delay said. “We have to waste all this time by apologizing for asking for what we need.”
As a woman in a leadership role, Delay encourages her female students to not say unnecessary “sorrys,” and to not let disrespect go in the name of being undifficult. She doesn’t let disrespect towards her or to students on the basis of gender go unnoticed.
“If you’re a male teacher, I think that you have more credit just by the virtue of being a male,” Delay said. “And for a female teacher, and for a female intellectual, it feels like banging your head against the wall.”
Delay isn’t alone in noticing these patterns.
Rebecca Anthony has been a social studies teacher at Northwest for 17 years, and has experienced first hand the double standards between male and female teachers’ treatment.
“It’s like, ‘Oh, you’re a female teacher. So you should be nice [and] nurturing,’” Anthony said. “And I feel like students, male and female, let male teachers get away with saying things that people’s jaws would be on the floor if I said.”
A few years ago, a group of male students in Anthony’s AP US History class played clips of Andrew Tate — a podcaster known infamously for misogynistic messaging and sexual assault — directly in front of her. She didn’t think they would do that in front of a male teacher.
Anthony has also noticed differences in responses between female and male students when she tells them to do something.
“If I were to be like, ‘Hey guys, can we please close our computers?’ I’d say most of the time, [a] female student is pretty likely to do that,” Anthony said. “Whereas, o en, when I ask male students, ‘Hey, can we not be watching basketball games?’ they hear me, and they’re like, ‘No.’”
“The only assumption I can make is that, just as any sort of authority figure, they don’t take females seriously.”
Yeah, You Should Be Watching
A spoiler free review of AppleTV’s thriller/sci-fi show, “Severance”
It’s your fifth hour, and the relatively quiet but suddenly most insufferable person in your class walks in, goes straight to another girl’s desk, slams her palms down and says:
“Have you seen the new episode of ‘Severance’?”
That girl’s me, and I have seen all the new episodes of “Severance,” but I haven’t gotten less annoying about it.
“Severance” is a thriller/sci-fi limited series on Apple TV centered around a group of four “macro-data refiners” who have been surgically divided from their work selves (innies) and life selves (outties). Their “innies” job is on the Severed floor (white walls, fluorescent lights, water coolers, hallways. Imagine an office, really, but more sinister. And sometimes there’s goats) of mass company Lumon.
The four refiners sort numbers based on how it makes them feel. When they clock out and go up the elevator everyday at 5:00 P.M., they switch back to their “outies.” Season two started releasing weekly on Jan. 17, and the season finale aired on March 21.
That is the briefest, least spoilery and insane part of the show I can give you. If you look it up, I feel pretty confident that the first video you’ll see says What is Severance even about.
The truth is, nobody knows!
Up until the very last episode, half the plotlines don’t make any sense. The show is smarter than all of us,
and it’s so refreshing. It’s not playing an attention-deficient race of what will hold your attention? My phone has been down every episode. It’s not trying to convince you to like it. It’s just good. And people like it because it’s good.
My best friend started watching it because me and her sister kept telling her too. (For a show about a cult company, everyone who watches it really wants you to join). Her dad started keeping a journal about everything he knows, his theories, observations. It’s an insanely nerdy experience, but at the end of the day, no other show is offering the opportunity to keep a journal about it.
The other thing, besides the what is going on of it all, is that the show is genuinely heartbreaking.
The first thing we really know from the first episode of season one is that Mark Scout’s wife died, and put him in an extremely depressive state he would do anything to be free of. That guides his entire character. And the character guides the show. It doesn’t just answer questions because we want them to do, it answers questions when it makes sense for the character to get answers.
There’s one episode in the second season that made me sob. I’ve been saying that the greatest thing a man can do is grieve his dead wife, and there was a perfect dead wife episode.
It’s also funny. And brutal and odd. It’s nothing like anything I’ve ever read or seen or watched. And I can’t remember the last time I’ve talked about a show by episode all week. I’ve seen things saying that “Severance” brought back water-cooler conversations, and I think that’s true. Since the finale aired three weeks ago, I’ve had a complete lack of things to talk about.
Photo courtesy of AppleTV
SPRING SPORTS RECAP
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity baseball team has a record of 5-7 as of Monday, Apr. 14
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity baseball team has a record of 5-7 so far in their season.
“So far we’re doing pretty well,” head coach Domenic Mussat said. “The guys are battling and fighting hard and getting better, and that’s all we ask.”
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity baseball team beat Turner 11-0 on March 22, Wyandotte 18-0 on March 27, SF O’Gorman 10-0 on March 28, SF Roosevelt 4-1 on March 29 and Olathe North 6-5 on Apr. 8.
Junior Kanoa Cobb pitched a perfect game, where not a single runner was on base, against Turner.
As of Monday, April 14, Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity girls soccer team has beaten Piper High 8-0 on March 25, BahsorLinwood 8-0 on March 29 and Lawrence 3-1 on April 8. They lost 0-4 to De Soto on March 28 and 1-3 to Olathe Northwest.
They also played Tuesday, April 15, at the Olathe District Athletic Center against Olathe South.
“[There’s] a lot of talent and the girls are really starting to come together as a team,” head coach Sarah Love said.
“I think we’re really good this year and we have a lot of potential,” senior Elizabeth
Lockett said.
Their next game is on Thursday, April 17, at Shawnee Mission South against South.
They lost to Park Hill South, Wamego, Olathe East, Lawrence 2-5, Blue Valley Northwest, Gardner Edgerton and Shawnee Mission East.
A er the losses, junior Jett Smith says, “You have to move on and play the next game with as much intensity as you have. Just have fun because that’s the whole point of high school sports.”
They also played on Tuesday, April 15, against Olathe South, and Thursday, April 17, against Shawnee Mission North.
Their next game is Monday, April 21, at 3&2 Field 1 against Mill Valley at 7:00 P.M.
DIVE RIGHT IN
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s swim team has started their season, placing third, then rst in their rst two meets of the season
KICKING
As of Monday, Apr. 14, Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity girls soccer team has gone 3-2 so far in their season
As of Monday, April 14, Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity girls soccer team has beaten Piper High 8-0 on Mar. 25, Bahsor-Linwood 8-0 on Mar. 29 and Lawrence 3-1 on April 8. They lost 0-4 to De Soto on March 28 and 1-3 to Olathe Northwest on April 10.
They also played Tuesday, April 15, at the Olathe District Athletic Center against Olathe South.
“[There’s] a lot of talent and the girls are really starting to come together as a team,” head coach Sarah Love said.
“I think we’re really good this year and we have a lot of potential,” senior Elizabeth Lockett said.
Their next game is on Thursday, April 17, at Shawnee Mission South against South.
FIGHTING HARD IT
Photo by Kara Simpson
Photo by Andie Berg
Photo by Lucy Wilson
IN FULL SWING
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity softball team has, as of Monday, Apr. 14, started their season o with a 1-9 record
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity so ball team has played a total of ten games so far. They won their first game against Bishop Miege on March 24, 5-4.
“It doesn’t matter what the score is at the end of the game,” head coach Shelby Bonn said. “It’s that they’re having fun [and] they’re improving.”
They’ve lost to Piper, Blue Valley North, St. James Academy, Olathe East, Olathe Northwest, Blue Valley Northwest, Lansing, Shawnee Mission North and Olathe North.
They also played Monday, April 14, at Lawrence High School, and Tuesday, April 15, at Shawnee Mission Sports Complex.
BLUR
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity boys tennis team has had six matches as of Monday, Apr. 14
In their fourth game against St. James, Senior Aubri Croom started pitching and got two strikeouts in the second inning.
“We haven’t won very many games, but I think we’ve just been busy, and once we get some practices in again, this season will be a lot better,” said sophomore Ryliegh Bendure. “I think we just need to go in with confidence that we’re gonna win a game.”
Their next game is April 17, at the Olathe District Athletic Complex, against Blue Valley North and Bonner Springs.
PUTTING AROUND
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity boys tennis team has had six matches in their season so far.
“We have some strong players, probably more on the doubles side, but it’s just trying to figure out who works well with others and can win,” head coach Morgan Moberg said. They had a match against Blue Valley Northwest on March 25, a quad at Spring Hill on Mar. 26, a quad at Mill Valley on March 27, a match against Olathe North on April 2, a quad at Lawrence on April 7 and a district tournament on April 8, where they placed third at districts. They also went up against Shawnee Mission East on April 14, and on April 15, they played Gardner Edgerton.
“I like playing varsity because there are a couple more matches and they’re more competitive,” sophomore Eli Cohen said. Their next match is Monday, April 21, at College Boulevard Athletic Center.
Photo by Lindsey Tola
NON - STOP
With three meets, on Thursday, March 27, Tuesday, April 7 and Friday, April 11, Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity track and field team has started the season. There was also a meet on April 16.
“It’s been good,” junior Lovie Dubbs said. “We don’t have as many people this year, so I’m our only varsity girl runner, which has been a change because last year I had a lot of friends.”
At their first meet, the boys’ four-by-one, run by junior Trevor Deel, senior Dominy Woodruff, junior Traimyre
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity boy’s golf team has taken eighth and fth in their rst two tournaments of their season
A er hitting golf balls at the simulator in the weight room, Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity boy’s golf team took eighth out of sixteen places in their first tournament on March 31 at Lawrence. They also placed fi h at Trails West.
Senior Jack Makkyla got an individual tenth-place medal a er swinging a seventy-six.
“So far we’re off to a good start,” head coach Jim Bamburg said. “I think we’re going to have a good year.”
They also had a tournament on April 14, at Falcon Ridge Golf Course.
“It’s been going great, I really enjoy playing golf and we got a great group of guys,” freshman Sam Buseni said.
Their next tournament is on Monday, April 21, at Sunflower Hills Golf Course.
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s varsity track and eld team kicks o the new season with three meets
Woodruff and junior Amari Anderson, finished in 42.88 seconds. Senior Carter Tomac placed first in the boys’ two-mile with a 10.12 time.
“We’ve had a really good start,” said coach Elissa Ojeda. “All the kids have PR’d a little bit, and that’s pretty early; they have good attitudes and work ethic, so I’m really excited to see what they can achieve.
Their next meet is Friday, April 18, and Saturday, April 19.
Photo by Ali Albertson
Photo by Cooper Evans
MONTH IN
Right- Junior Souleye Bodian points at junior Shanice Fisher April 12 at Children’s Mercy Park. Bodian and his friends went bowling before prom. “It was so much fun dancing with Fisher. Throughout all the dances that we’ve been to, I don’t think we’ve actually danced in the middle together,” Bodian said. Photo by Maddi Roof
Below- Senior Dylan Swords hits the ball March 26 on the tennis courts. Swords and his doubles partner senior Hallan Tupas won their doubles match against SM south 8-1. “Hallan is a close friend and I’ve been playing doubles with him every year in some capacity so I always enjoyed playing with him,” Swords said. Photo by Maddi Roof
Right- Senior Claire Woods hugs her mom April 12 at Children’s Mercy Park. Woods was crowned this year’s prom queen. “It was already just so cool to be nominated, to even be nominated, to be on court and winning, I just can’t believe it,” Woods said. “Actually, like, experiencing it personally being on court and then winning was totally different than seeing it, but all the years I’ve seen like the crownings and stuff, I just looked up to those people. It’s just really cool.” Photo by Maddi Roof
Right- Junior Mallory O’Neal waves at some elementary school students during the boys’ basketball state sendoff March 12 near Benninghoven Elementary School. The dance team got to be a part of the state sendoff, where they walked around and waved at everyone before they left. “[The kids were all] so excited that the basketball team was going to state,” O’Neal said. “It was just really cute to see their excitement.” Photo by Jack Pischke
smnwphotos.com
IN PHOTOS
blackjack in the lunch room during After Prom. After Prom is an event hosted by the
Northwest where students can play games to win prizes.
Below- A car drives by protesters at an antiTrump rally April 5 on the Plaza. This protest was a part of the nationwide “hands off ” movement, which speaks out against President Trump and Elon Musk’s acts in office.
Left- Senior Henry Hoge cheers for his teammates March 12 at the 3&2 Baseball Complex. Hoge and the Varsity Baseball team support their teammates from the dugout. “We cheer for our team and our team only,” Hoge said.
Photo by Claire Reed
Photo by Sofia Ball
Left- Junior Brodie Thomas plays
PTSA at Shawnee Mission
Photo by Raegan Irwin
N W P N W P
Senior Brayden Klahn gets crowned prom king by junior Lovie Dubbs April 12 at Children’s Mercy Park. Klahn was nominated by Stuco and boys’ golf. Photo by Claire Rogers
“ “
“I
was definitely shocked knowing that a lot of people voted for me. It was a great feeling”
“I was definitely shocked knowing that a lot of people voted for me. It was a great feeling”
