The Lake - March 2016 by The Lake - Standley Lake's News Magazine

the lake

M ental illnes s : The M as k ed Pandem ic

THE PEOPLE Editors-in-Chief | Nicole Heetland Olivia Koontz

the lake THE FORMALITIES Opinions or expressions made by students in this publication are not expressions of board policy. The district and its employees are immune from any civil action based on any expression made for or published by students. The Lake is an open forum for and by the students, faculty, and community of Standley Lake High School. The Lake is willing to accept and print any appropriate articles submitted by the students of SLHS and reserves the right to edit any of these articles. We will not print letters sent to us without a name and signature. Submit letters to standleylakenewspaper@gmail.com

2 March 2016 | Issue 4

Team Editors | Esteban Arellano Hannah Jensen Emily Leo Christina Rudolph Patty Sokol Website Editors | Emily Leo Gordon Saur Staff Writers | Sara Cooley AJ Ehrhardt Kevin Han Jenna Hines Grace Johnson Hannah Laughlin Meg Metzger-Seymour Ty Milliken Kayla Pray Gordon Saur Sophia Stimpfl Maxin Uhrich Cartoonist | Dechen Chhenmorito Anna Nelson Adviser | Lynn Schwartz

SOCIAL @thelakenewsmag facebook.com/standleylakenewspaper @thelakenewsmag thelakenewsmag thelakenewsmag.com

ISSUE 4 | CONTENTS

7 10

14 24 30

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hey, you. We need to talk about mental illness. It affects approximately 20% of teenagers but is still widely stigmatized (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was cited in 2013 to have reported that 79% of people with depression are not receiving help from a mental health professional - over two-thirds). In investigating this issue, the staff went out to discover how the stigma of mental illness affects those who have it. We ended up discovering an issue that is deeper and more severe than most people know, and we collected more information than we knew what to do with. There is so much more behind mental illness than a chemical imbalance in the brain. Mental illnesses bring on a lethal cocktail of poisonous feelings that is difficult to verbalize or comprehend. With time, our society seems to be edging more and more into the realm of acceptance of diversity: issues with ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and religion have been realized and their state of discrimination has remarkably decreased. But mental illness is something that too many people are still afraid to talk about, and it leads to the problem we are left with today: a poignant sickness that is greatly misunderstood and negatively connoted. Because this topic is so multifaceted, we strongly felt that to ignore some of the more graphic details was to deny some of the worst aspects of mental illness, so the final article is emotional and loud. There are far too many suffering, and something needs to change. This story, and this issue of mental health is an important one. We hope it starts the conversation.

xoxo, NICOLIVIA A.K.A. THE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF OF THE LAKE P.S. Take care of yourselves.

THE RIGHT ANGLE UFOs have been a part of our pop culture for a long time, capturing the imagination of even the sternest of people. No matter your opinion on life beyond earth, you cannot help wondering, could it be real? Appearing in movies, books, and TV shows, everyone knows about UFOs; but what about the people who claim to have seen a UFO in person? Apparent UFO sightings have been cited around the world, coming from people of all walks of life. Here is an idea of aliens’ favorite cities in the US, that is, the cities with the most UFO sightings.

Earth Invasion

Tacoma, WA

Clio, MI North Canton, OH

Middle Village, NY Levittown, PA Asheville, NC

San Diego, CA

| Hannah Jensen | Grace Johnson | Patty Sokol

Ponte Verda, FL

Scottsdale, AZ Dallas, TX

School of Mines University of Oregon

179/204

Wyoming

CU Boulder

6/11 31/47

Front Range

531/556 426/480

Standley Lake High School

407/435

147/160

461/468

CSU

0/4 Harvard Stanford

1/3 1/21

6 March 2016 | Issue 4

Yale

2/16 NYU

Accepted

2/16 USC

Metro

University of Denver

Rejected With the graduation date for this year’s Class of 2016 coming quickly, there is a scattered amount of our past seniors either graduated, in college, or those who went straight into the adult life. Thanks to Naviance, we were able to tell where the Class of 05’ through the Class of 15’ went to college. Within each circle is the fraction of kids accepted into the college out of those who applied (Accepted/Applied). | AJ Ehrhardt

REAL LIFE STAR WARS Math teacher designs stellar lasers

Sci Fi icon returns to big screen, revives public’s adoration On May 25th, 1977, a movie about a “galaxy far, far away” quickly rose to prominence. The franchise’s inventive design elements and breakthrough visual effects were just a few of the multiple factors that launched the movies into worldwide recognition. 38 years later, Star Wars released it’s newest installment with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The seventh episode to the Star Wars series was confirmed to be in production in 2012—nearly 10 years after the release of the final movie in the franchise’s prequel launch. In October 2012, The Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm and announced that Star Wars Episode VII would be released in 2015. The change of ownership soon became a topic of controversy amongst many fans who worried whether Disney will continue the legacy of the previous films. Nonetheless, hype started to surround the newest installment to the Star Wars series as Disney successfully spread word of the much-anticipated movie. “They are the masters of advertising and marketing,” Nadia Seymour ‘17 said. “It got a little obnoxious how you couldn’t go anywhere without Star Wars being shoved in your face.” The public’s adoration for elements the films had introduced so long ago

had been reinvigorated, reviving Star Wars as a cultural icon. The saga has become one of the defining points of modern-day culture. It has shaped technology, the ways films are made, entire industries, and has dominated the realm of household names and pop-cultural references.

“I think it’s become an icon because it connects the

generations together”-Nadia Seymour’17 “I mean first of all, it’s just one of the quintessential Sci-Fi movies,” Sam Manzanares ‘16 said. “I mean it created the light saber, and that’s just iconic,“Not to mention other things that almost everybody recognizes, like the Death Star, stormtroopers, and the force.” When The Force Awakens was finally released in December last year, it garnered a whopping 1.871 billion dollars in box office sales.The movie prompt-

ed people to flood the theatres, even those who didn’t necessarily like Star Wars, but wanted to experience the excitement. The first showings sold out in minutes. Soon, it was as if all at once, everyone’s inner fan came out. “You see someone walking down the hall and you wouldn’t guess they are a Star Wars fan and all of the sudden the new movie comes out and everyone’s wearing Star Wars t-shirts, Star Wars stuff, and you’re just like, huh, I didn’t know you liked them,” Greg Neubauer ‘17 said. The already large cult-following surrounding the original movies gradually gained additions as new generations became introduced to Star Wars. “I think it’s become an icon because it connects the generations together,” Seymour said. “From the adults who were there when A New Hope first aired, to the new generation captivated by The Force Awakens. It has something for everyone. A little comedy, action, Sci Fi, friendship, romance, drama. It appeals to such a diverse audience.” | Hannah Jensen | Ty Milliken | Patty Sokol

n a galaxy not so far, far away, a teacher is assigned to the Strategic Defense Initiative, or what is more commonly known as, the Star Wars Project of the Cold War. Math teacher Ms. Sheila Humphreys worked on this project to intercept any sort of warhead missiles that might enter our atmosphere. “The idea behind [the Star Wars Project] is that it’s a system in place and when we see that missile launch then you can launch your countermeasures and you can get these warheads in the atmosphere away so they don’t do any harm.” Humphreys said. Humphreys was in charge of making sure the simulations were accurate enough to hit the missiles and if they weren’t, what changes were to be made. “[The project] gave me a lot better perspective of what things are going on,” she said. Now, as a math teacher, Humphreys applies what she learned on the project to help her students. “It also gives me a better idea when you guys have questions or you don’t know what you want to,” Humphreys said. When it comes to the Star Wars movies, Humphreys herself is a fan.

THE RIGHT ANGLE Taylo r La utner JUS TIN

BIE BE R

Celebrities: Real or Nah?

Gigi

Mile yC yr us

k Mali n y Za

t Taylor Swif

s Harri

Ellie Gou lding

all Jenner Kend

Niall

nas Nick Jo

Horan

did Ha

Celebrity relationships take over social media, news blogs, and tabloid magazines. A lot of the time, the relationships get intertwined with each other and many celebrities date their famous friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ex. So how many of these celebrity relationships are related? Well The Lake is here to show you. | Hannah Jensen

Broken Up Used to be Rumored

s yle

vato i Lo Dem

Go me z

Joe Jonas

Selena

8 March 2016 | Issue 4

| Hannah Jensen | Kayla Pray

vin Cal

Harr

Writing on the Ceiling

Students around the school have painted ceiling tiles in different class rooms. We photographed a sample of the amazing art displayed around the school, to showcase the scribblings of inside jokes and detailed compositions that adorn our classroom ceilings, giving us something pretty to stare at when weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re bored in class.

Currently Rumored Currently Dating

THRIFTIN’

TIPS

From vintage jackets to killer sunglasses, we have tips on how to find unique clothing from the second-hand shop around the corner.

Passing Notes Teachers take relationship from hallway to the aisle The letters just kept coming, a little bit like Harry Potter getting his invitation to Hogwarts. Except this time, the letters told a love story. On November 18, 2015 math teacher Mr. Andrew Moores and English teacher Ms. Rachel Rufenacht got engaged.

She said yes. The new fiancées are off on a new path in preparation for their wedding and a bright future together, but some things will remain routine, like their jobs. They both enjoy the little things that come with being co-workers and being in a relationship, from eating lunch together, to exchanging stories about the students they share.

“Even though the

Mr. Moores was the man behind the letters—handwritten cards that served as part of his intricate proposal to Ms. Rufenacht, but his messengers weren’t exactly owls sent on a mission. “I wrote all the cards, but I had help delivering,” Moores said. “I sent a student out of class, I sent some other co-workers, some members or the cheer team—everyone who helped me were people who we both knew, just to make it more tricky.”

future is scary

and unknown, it's exciting that we get to face it together.” -Ms. Rachel Rufenacht

They were well-received. “Each card had different topics, like different thing he loves about me, and some of his favorite memories with me, and looking forward to the future and new adventures together,” Ms. Rufenacht said. “Even though the future is scary and unknown, it’s exciting that we get to face it together.” Though they had talked about marriage beforehand, the proposal itself was a surprise, and an ongoing one at that. Mr. Moores continued to send Ms. Rufenacht cards throughout the day before taking her for a drive and ultimately pulling out the ring.

shows that.

“Passing [her] in the hallway... it’s a nice little refreshing ‘Ah there you are’ [feeling],” Mr. Moores said. “It feels like we’re both in high school again.”

Don’t fear the term “used” - Stop giving “used” a negative connotation. So what if those jeans aren’t straight from the original store, they’re comfortable and half the price of retail. Shop the whole store - Scour every nook and cranny of that thrift shop. Search the men's, the kids, and the women's sections. There are lots of versatile things hidden amongst other sections. Look at things with their potential in mind - Instead of

turning away from that quirky blouse, try imagining the unique ensembles that you could make from it. Go thrifting to experiment Because thrifting is so cheap, you can afford to try a new style or trend that you aren't sure will look good. Take your time - There are a lot of ugly things you have to sift through in order to strike gold. Be sure to take the time to go through the racks thoroughly so you don't miss the diamond in the rough. | Patty Sokol

Love can make you feel young again, or so they say. It can be magical, adorable, really, whatever you make of it. And this Gator romance certainly

Getting to see the person you love the most at work every day, makes going to work effortless. “My favorite thing about her is her smile,” Mr. Moores said. Like the seemingly ceaseless letter deliveries, the smiles will continue to show up on these two faces. A glance in the hallway will lead to a gaze down the aisle on that special day in the future. The smiles are just the beginning. | Olivia Koontz | Hannah Laughlin | Kayla Pray

THE RIGHT ANGLE

Inner Strength Wrestling coach encourages team to be strong individuals Diversity and commitment encompass what it means to be a member of Standley Lake’s wrestling team. Rich Talmich, head coach of the team, strives to push these athletes to be the best they can possibly be — during and after each meet. “We talk about a lot of different things, we talk about school, family, we talk about God a lot in our workouts and competitions,” Talmich said. “I [want] them to take a big look at their high school career because it doesn’t last very long. Take ownership of yourself and strive to be the best human being that you possibly can. It’s not about wrestling, it’s about who you are inside.”

and how we are trying to get better, how we are perfecting our moves, how we are able to change to get us to that point where we can achieve those winning ways.”

The whole team collaborates with one another and embraces each other’s strengths and differences. Leah “...Be The McCoy ‘16, who joined the team her best human freshman year as one of the first ever female wrestlers at Standley, is being that a prime example of that.

you possibly can. It’s not about wrestling, it’s about who you are inside.” -Coach Rich Talmich

The team is comprised of 13 underclassmen and four upperclassman, meaning a majority of the athletes are first-time wrestlers. With an immense amount of new members this year, each league match and competition has also transformed into a learning opportunity.

“They’ve been like a second family to me now,” McCoy said. “I feel like I’m not as shy as I used to be and I’ve learned about myself from being on this team.” The team is currently 18-5 in dual meets, with a major win at their meet in Michelle, Nebraska, and is looking to finish their season strong.

“This year, more than anything, these athletes [taught me to have fun again],” Talmich said. “To just relax and smile. We are going to get the job done and we are going to work together and just be happy.”

“I look forward to each competition,” Talmich said. “I look at each individual match

HOCKEY The team is coming to the end of the season with a 5-14 record. Brett McClure ‘16 led the Gators with 5 goals on the season and also had an assist. The Gators won one league game with a win at Mullen.

10 March 2016 | Issue 4

| Patty Sokol

Weston Short ‘18 holds his opponent in a headlock at the match against Valor Christian. Short looks forward to being a leader on the team.

GIRLS BASKETBALL The girls basketball team finished out strong with an 11-6 record. Haley Davis ‘17 led the team and finished 4th in 4A Jeffco with 8.3 rebounds per game. The team will be preparing for the state playoffs as the regular season comes to an end.

Clean It Up

Professional athletes need to set the right example A sports column:

BY MAXIN UHRICH Photo courtesy of Chase Tennison Girls swim had their last meet at the 4A Jeffco League Championships and placed 9th overall. Anna DeRocchi ‘16 placed 40th in the league in the 100 free with a time of 1:06.24. Emma Smith ‘18 placed 40th in the league in the 500 individual medley with a time of 6:52.74

GIRLS SWIM

BOYS BASKETBALL Basketball finished off the season with a record of 5-14. Garrett Martin ‘18 led the team with an average of 15.5 points on the season. The team had struggled with injuries throughout the entire season but continued to manage and even pull out a couple of wins.

This is football, not MMA. You, the pro athletes, are there to play the game—not to pick fights with your opponents. The NFL is struggling with on-field altercations. Something needs to change before this becomes more frequent. Giving a player a fine or small suspension is not working. We see the fights appear more often, and the athletes that we all glorify are getting involved. Athletes who set an excellent standard are people like Peyton Manning, the most humble athlete in the world. Or, NBA superstar Tim Duncan. The traits they possess are what other athletes should strive for, but do not. The athletes that do set a great example receive credit for it, but not enough. In week 13 of the NFL season, Odell Beckham Jr. received a one game suspension following a loss to the Carolina Panthers. Beckham participated in a game-long fight with Josh Norman, a defensive back for Carolina. The fight took so much away from a close game that could have gone either way. Instead, we were analyzing the fight between the two players. It’s not just the NFL either: young NBA players have been getting in altercations both on and off the court. Philadelphia 76ers rookie Jahlil Okafor was involved in a fight with a fan of the Boston Celtics in the middle of the street and Blake Griffin broke his bone while punching a Clippers equipment staff member. These athletes have so much power. We pay so much attention to what they do that it has an influence on our own daily lives. Professional athletes, the things you say and do are looked at by everyone. Do positive things to draw people to like you rather than to draw them away in a negative way. Act like a professional; the way you present yourself has a heavy impact on your career. Be responsible, and do the right thing. Set the right example and have America look up to you in a memorable way.

THE RIGHT ANGLE

emojicology

MOST UNDERRATED

MOST OVERRATED

MOST MYSTERIOUS

MOST FLIRTATIOUS

MOST COMPATIBLE

This emoji may seem basic, but when was the last time you used this simple smile? Don’t let this friendly little guy get left in the dust. Add one next time your friend makes you grin—it might be contagious!

This emoji has simply become the equivalent of “lol”. When you use it, let’s be honest, you didn’t actually cry of laughter. A giggle, a chuckle, or a chortle probably aren’t worth the use of this emoji. There are so many emojis to express your laughter, why not be original about it?

Ah, the smirk emoji. So many different uses, varying from “I just got away with something I really shouldn’t have” to “I know how wrong you are.” This emoji sends so many mixed messages it could be packaged as trail mix.

This emoji is simply the best way to address the bae (i.e. “Hey boo!”) and add a bit of adventure into the mix with the addition of the winking and the tongue. If you want to target your significant other through text while conveying some extra flirtation along the way, this is the emoji for you.

Neither of these emojis are especially exciting on their own — when put together, however, they make the perfect pair for all your nosy needs! They can be used to emphasize a savage burn or show how ready you are for the latest piece of gossip. Either way, you’re sure to make Kermit proud.

EMOJI DEFINITIONS: “I just said something that was prob= ably really offensive, but I’m just going to send this and problem solved! Right?”

“I’m trying to make the = fact that my life is a mess seem relatable and hip.”

= “*passive aggressive noises*”

= “Sorry not sorry”

“What you really mean: I’m using = sarcasm to veil my intense rage about what’s happening right now.”

12 March 2016 | Issue 4

“~Everything you = have in a box to the left~” -Beyoncé

“I’m totally going to keep your secret...after I tell my mom, my sister, my best friend, my other best friend...but they’re like basically the same as me, so if you tell me, you’re basically telling them. *hairflip*”

THE I AM A WITNESS CAMPAIGN ADVOCATED BULLYING AWARENESS. THE WEBSITE STATES, “NOW, TAKING A STAND AGAINST IT AND SHOWING SUPPORT TO SOMEONE IN NEED CAN BE AS EASY AS A STROKE OF THE KEYBOARD.” IF YOU SEE AN INSTANCE OF CYBER BULLYING, USE THE EMOJI ABOVE

FACES NUMBER OF FACE EMOJIS

FOOD & DRINK

13 14

16%

84%

75% YES

YES

FEMALES

MALES

STANDLEY LAKE FAVORITES

OTH ER

ETA B LE S

V EG

FR U ITS

DES S ER TS ASI AN CUI SIN E B EV ER A GES

25%

FREQUENT EMOJI USERS WHO THINK EMOJIS ARE BETTER EXPRESSIONS OF THEIR FEELINGS THAN WORDS, BY GENDER:

OTH ER

RY GU EO UT

TO N

AN G

/ CR

YIN G

SAD

/ FL I RT Y

LOV EY

ILIN G

NUMBER OF FACE

1 2

7 6

“I would use it if a bird pooped on my car and I wanted to complain on twitter. It would definitely be a twitter post.” -Michael Ramirez ‘16

BASED ON STUDENTS SURVEYED “I use it a ton because it gets across in your text that you are actually laughing. It’s hilarious. If you don’t use it, how do I know if you’re even happy?” -Anessa Goff ‘16

“You use the 100 emoji when you’re all in. Going hard. Or if you have a 100 day streak in snapchat.” -Hannah Rose ‘16

ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ALL IN YOUR HEAD INVESTIGATING THE DEPTHS OF MENTAL ILLNESS

14 March 2016 | Issue 4

the student photographed in this article is only a model and is not mentioned in the article itself

he could be dead. Sometimes she thinks she might as well have died.

Ava, who has been given an alias for her privacy, struggles with clinical mental illness, and her thoughts have taken her to the brink of suicide. She is plagued by depression, a disorder that many people don’t even believe in. “No one around me believes that it’s real,” Ava said. “It’s hard to be experiencing something that doesn’t exist to other people, and I can’t even explain to them how I’m feeling or what’s happening because they’ll just blame it on me.” Even though she is still alive and resuming life as normal, and no one except for a couple of her closest friends knows about her desire to die, her mind and emotions are in a state of decay. The things she feels on the worst of her bad days are impossible for anyone else to understand. Ava’s illness inhibits the lives of many teenagers. Approximately one-fifth of adolescents aged 13-18 suffer from severe mental health problems, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. If this demographic is broken down, 11% of teenagers have a mood disorder, 10% have a behavioral disorder, and 8% have an anxiety disorder. Mental illnesses are not simply caused by moodiness or inability to behave correctly. They have a biological origin in imbalances of hormones such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, anomalies in brain circuitry, and environmental triggers. These disorders vary greatly in severity, but ultimately, they are illnesses that come with a pain of much more depth and complexity than is often attributed to them. They can become a question of life or death. Arguably the most significant barrier to improving the state of those with mental disorders is misunderstanding—social attitudes that cause many individuals to trap their illness inside of themselves, ashamed.

STIGMA A deep-rooted and long-standing stigma lurks behind every victim of mental illness. There are claims that depression is self-inflicted or just feeling overly sorry for oneself, that obsessive compulsive disorder is just pickiness, that eating disorders are a pathetic result of giving into societal pressure, or that nothing a teenager has experienced in their short lifetime could possibly give them posttraumatic stress disorder. These statements lead many of those who are mentally unhealthy to internalize their illness. Ava has shown symptoms of depression for al-

most five years, but only recently has she started receiving help in the form of therapy. “I just didn’t want [my family and friends] to always be worried about me and have to put my burden on top of theirs,” Ava said. “So that’s why I avoided telling people for so long, because I’m not their responsibility.” Although Standley Lake clinician Carolyn Hull from the Jefferson Center for Mental Health referred Ava to someone who could prescribe her antidepressants after meeting with Ava weekly for an extended amount of time, Ava is still not receiving medical treatment outside of weekly therapy sessions. Unlike a disease that affects any other body system, mental illnesses are so complex because they affect the brain—they affect personality, who a person is in the most fundamental way. They become much more personal than other illnesses. Consequently, mental health issues are often perceived—both by outsiders and the victim himself—to be a weakness within the person suffering. Often, this blame leads to the idea that mental illness is completely made-up. Ava’s family and boyfriend believe this is the case. “[My mom] doesn’t think it’s real, she thinks I’m just super stressed and have bad anxiety,” she said. “[My boyfriend] doesn’t think it’s real either. He thinks it’s his fault. I’m like, it’s not your job to make me happy. It kind of is, but if I’m not, you shouldn’t take that personally. I don’t have the capability to be happy.” Her boyfriend assumes that if she wanted to, Ava could simply make the decision to be happy. However, psychiatrist Theodore Henderson, PhD, MD, said, “Mental illness is really a biological thing. It’s not a character flaw or personal weakness.” Still, so many people who suffer from mental altercations do so in silence or are treated differently because of it. Psychologist Kristin Rusk, PhD, attributes the stigma to a lack of knowledge. “It’s not something that is taught,” she said. “You have to take psychology class to really learn about that.” Rusk argues that the presence of mental illness in the media can be partially to blame. “When mental illness gets so severe that it is a harm towards others, that’s when we hear about it, and it has a dangerous stigma associated with it through the media.” she said. Stigmatization not only causes a fear to pursue medical help in the face of possible mental disorders, but it also is anathemic to those suffering.

WHAT YOU THINK YOU’RE SAYING VS. WHAT YOU’RE REALLY SAYING Mental illnesses are not words to be thrown around OCD:

ANOREXIA:

what you say: “I have OCD” what you think you say: “The volume on the

what you say: “She’s, like, anorexic” what you think you say: “She’s really skinny.” what you’re really saying: “She has a neu-

TV has to be on an even number and my room has to be clean.”

what you’re really saying:

rological fear of gaining weight that has led to an unhealthily low weight, and the distorted perception that she has of her own body is extremely damaging to her emotional state.”

DEPRESSION:

BIPOLAR:

what you say: “I’m so depressed” what you think you say: “Sometimes I’m super

what you say:

what you’re really saying:

moment and angry the next because someone did something to make him mad.”

“I have strong impulses based on irrational thoughts or fears that lead to distress, so I try to suppress my anxiety with repetitive behavior.”

sad and just want to be alone.”

“I have a major mood disorder which traps me in a constant feeling of sadness, hopelessness, and helplessness, and it might lead me to the point of where I would rather die than continue feeling the way I do.” Hailey, another student who chose to remain unidentified, has been diagnosed with a myriad of mental disorders that includes major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, anorexia, insomnia, and PTSD. “It kind of makes you feel like you’re ‘less than’ a lot of the time,” Hailey said. “Like having mental illnesses makes you softer than others around you or you shouldn’t be treated as well as everyone around you.”

ROOTS OF THE STIGMA The stigma of mental health can principally be credited to the fear of what mental disorders are capable of and the inability to fully cognize them — nobody can get inside someone else’s head. Even afflicted individuals have difficulty comprehending their own mental pain. The intrinsic complexity of neurological illnesses causes natural unease that comes with anything unknown. “That unpredictability and the variability of mental illness is tricky,” Rusk said. “It’s not clearly defined and understood.” “[There is also] the ‘What’s wrong with me?’ phenomena,” Rusk continued. “People have this shame about having emotional problems. It can be a huge barrier to accessing support.” “I think [people who have no experience with mental illness] have issues believing forces besides things that happen to you can make you sad,” Ava said. “[People ask,] ‘Well, what made you sad?’ And it’s like, nothing specific happened to me that made me sad, I just got sad. They don’t understand that I just feel sad all the time.” Apart from being difficult to understand, mental illness is by no means simple to treat. There is no standard treatment because each case is so unique, but it is usually best to use a combina-

16 March 2016 | Issue 4

with him”

“He’s so bipolar, you can never tell

what you think you say: “He was happy one

what you’re really saying: “He suffers from severe or unpredictable mood swings ranging from emotional euphoria to depression.”

tion of medication, support groups, or counseling such as cognitive behavioral therapy, which changes negative thought patterns and is most commonly used to treat depression. Using medication for mental disorders is often met with criticism, however. Anti-depressants, for example, often make patients feel ashamed that they ‘have to take pills to be happy’ or that their happiness is fake. Many parents express concern about the side effects, and it is a commonly-held belief that medications are overprescribed. But medication helps in a majority of cases because mental disorders are neurobiological. Some people take medication over the length of their entire life; their brains need extra stability in maintaining emotional and behavioral well-being.

it is shamed and somewhat taboo, and yet there is a simultaneous popularity of claiming to have mental disorders.

DOWNPLAY AND FASHIONABILITY It is common for teenagers to mistake normal stress for an anxiety disorder. OCD has become a popular way of explaining quirks. Many people throw the word “depression” around lightly; trending social media phrases such as, “stressed, depressed, but well-dressed,” lend the idea that anyone who experiences prolonged sadness has depression.

“Mental illness is really a biological thing. It’s not a character flaw or personal weakness.” - Theodore Henderson, PH.D, MD

Ultimately, recovery is not quick, and it requires dedication and hard work. Some people diagnosed with mental disorders get frustrated when they don’t see results. “A lot of the patients I treat are patients who have failed medications and have gone to three, four, five other doctors,” Dr. Henderson said, “So a lot of them come to me hopeless.” The breadth and intricacy of any mental disorder ultimately contributes greatly to the overall suffering that comes with problems of mental health. The stigma, in a way, has become paradoxical;

Many would argue that these phrases and comments are meant lightly, but, regardless, the use of such a loaded term about a major illness can be hurtful to those who actually are clinically depressed.

“It’s become kind of fashionable to say, ‘Yeah, I have OCD.’” Rusk said. “It’s like a fad, and that’s dismissive also, very much so. We don’t take it seriously and I think that that discounts the pain and the true angst, that it can become disabling for a lot of people. It can be demeaning.” To Hailey, this trend is difficult to escape from. “I think everyone in high school has this mindset like we’re all depressed and we’ve all been depressed at some point,” she said. “And, sure, a lot of people in high school have experienced a lot of negative things and we’re going through a lot of rough things in our life, but I don’t

“I feel like it can be hard to talk to someone about it because they try to relate, and then they make your problems feel really insignificant.” think everyone in high school has experienced depression to its fullest extent or anxiety to its fullest extent. I feel like it can be hard to talk to someone about it because they try to relate, and then they make your problems feel really insignificant.” “The other thing that I think is really scary with adolescents as young as 11 and 12 is that they start throwing around the suicide word,” Dr. Henderson said. “It’s hard to tell when someone really means it or they’re just doing the culturally accepted way of expressing, ‘I had a bad day,’ or, ‘My boyfriend broke up with me,’ or, ‘My girlfriend was talking to some other guy.’” Another obstacle to understanding and empathy is the fact that it is often hard for most people to distinguish between being human and being genuinely mentally ill. It isn’t black and white. Everyone is allowed to feel lonely or helpless or scared at times—it is something everybody inevitably deals with. When emotions and behaviors start to prevent an individual from functioning normally, this is usually when it becomes obvious there is something more going on. And mental illness isn’t just destructive for the people who have it. Undoubtedly, it is also incredibly hard on the people close to someone with mental health issues to see someone they care about suffering in such an abstract way. Sometimes, this second-hand pain is expressed in a manner that seems unsupportive: getting annoyed with someone for “moping around” so much, for being overly-dramatic, for being picky. Doctors and therapists feel the impact of dealing with such an emotional problem. “It impacts me dramatically, and I think because I have that empathy,” Rusk said. “And with that empathy

comes the burden of that pain. So it has required me to be very balanced as far as my own self-care.” On the subject of it being difficult for people to handle the illness in a loved one, Rusk said, “I think that becomes so scary and unpredictable that people kind of shy away when people are having emotional problems. It is so critical just to ask that question, ‘What do you need right now? How can I be of support?’”

“Cutting myself just wasn’t feeling bad enough anymore.”

“We have to have that respect and sensitivity towards recognizing that we will never fully appreciate their reality, their pain,” Rusk continued. “But I think that we can still try to understand, we can still ask questions and we can still want to understand. And I think that’s the key: just wanting to be present, wanting to listen.”

The emotional weight of mental illness lends itself to the idea that, perhaps, the best way of overcoming societal misunderstanding is for people to try to understand what goes on inside a mentally ill brain.

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE The intensity and cacophony of pain can never be fully understood by someone who has not experienced it. The

emotional aching is extremely tough to deal with. After all, Advil doesn’t help. Often times, it isn’t until something really scary slips out that people notice what is going on inside the minds of affected adolescents. In Ava’s case, her teachers and friends only recently became aware of her depression. “I told [my teacher] that I wanted to die, and she didn’t like that,” Ava said. “She cried. I felt like crap.” What is essential for people to understand is the onslaught of competing emotions that come into play. Self-hate for having unreasonable feelings or for wallowing in self-pity or not getting better with therapy. Fear of never getting better, fear that people (especially in high school) think you’re psychotic, fear of yourself. Numbness. Hopelessness that comes in the worst moments and makes recovery seem impossible. Panic. Knowing that no one else can ever know exactly your feelings and thoughts. The burden of carrying this weight around every day in a normal routine is, needless to say, exhausting. It leads to a lack of purpose and motivation. “I don’t find purpose behind anything anymore,” Ava said. “That’s why it’s so hard for me to do homework or go to practice because I’ll just die in the end.” The misperceptions people have of mental disorder drives people deeper into their illness and supports the idea that no one understands. Hailey, especially as a teen with PTSD, knows how much these illnesses can be perceived as no big deal. “It’s really irritating because I don’t think people really understand the weight of what PTSD really does to people,” Hailey said. “You have nightmares every night if you’re not treat-

ing it with medication, and you have flashbacks that leave you paralyzed in public and it’s a lot heavier than what people take it to be.” Some people resort to self-harm as a way of manifesting their internal pain, distracting themselves with physical pain. “It is a coping strategy for them to sort through these intense emotions that they’re not able to articulate or handle in any other way,” Rusk said. “And it can be a way to calm a lot of the intensity of their internal pain, by making it a source of true, observable pain, physical pain that compartmentalizes some of the emotional pain. And it can be a source of ‘I can heal this much more easily.’” It is difficult for a lot of people to sympathize with self-harm. It seems useless and some say it only seeks attention. “It absolutely can be a way to fit in—‘Oh yeah, I cut’—and try to find a way to belong or get that social attention,” Rusk said. Because this behavior sometimes comes from people who are not dealing with deep mental strife, this further complicates the moral and emotional questioning behind self-harm. “But then, for folks that are doing it because of true mental illness issues, they would not be sharing their cutting behavior,” Rusk went on to say. “This is a source of great shame.” There is a point, though, where selfharm, as well as other coping methods,

BRAIN BALANCE COMPARING ACTIIVITY IN A NORMAL BRAIN TO THOSE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS NORMAL BRAIN SCAN

18 March 2016 | Issue 4

DEPRESSION BRAIN SCAN

BIPOLAR BRAIN SCAN

OCD BRAIN SCAN

are not strong enough to counteract the agony. Ava used to self-harm, but recently quit. “Cutting myself just wasn’t feeling bad enough anymore, so I would start using alcohol wipes and lighters,” Ava said. “And I was like, this literally is not doing anything, the only thing that is gonna make me feel better is dying. That’s it. It’s hard, it’s so hard to feel like that at night and then cry yourself to sleep and get up the next day and go to school, just back into the system and doing it all over again.” Now, Ava’s respite is sleep. “I like sleeping so much because when I’m sleeping, I don’t have to think about life,” she said. Where coping methods fall short, suicide promises a quick way to end all suffering forever. Why do people commit suicide? This question is a source of major contention and electrified arguments. In our society, suicide is predominantly seen as a way of escaping temporary problems, selfish. But Ava became stern when asked about the supposed selfishness of suicide: “No one kills themselves for attention. They’ll be dead. If someone kills themselves, it’s because they truly believe that life would be better for everyone else if they weren’t there.” Ava has been suicidal for a while, but has discarded suicide as an option because she couldn’t stand to be the source of her family’s grief. “The desire to die is still there but the desire to kill myself...I would just feel too much guilt and blame with that,” she said.

As with many mental illnesses, nobody can understand the initial instinct to kill oneself unless they have been in that place themselves. People are driven to suicidal thoughts and actions when they can no longer stand the state of pain they are perpetually stuck in, when they feel as if they are such bad people that the world would be better off without them in it—when they are simply searching for anything, anything, to end their intense pain. Every mental illness is different for each person, so there is a limit to how well people can articulate their every thought in attempt to make others understand why they cry every night, why they need to keep their house as clean as possible, why they binge and purge, why they have anxiety attacks, why they have trouble focusing in class. But a sincere attempt at understanding is essential in learning to accept the severity of mental illness, and making improvements in how it is handled.

Mental health moving forward Kristin Rusk has seen the emergence of programs in schools that mirror LINK at Standley Lake. “It’s a beautiful model to kind of get that, at least at the beginning of high school, and kind of destigmatize some of this emotional stuff that can lead into heavier duty mental health issues,” Rusk said. However, it seems that LINK in many ways falls short because students are not comfortable talking about these topics and their own experiences in front of an entire study hall class. There

is no easy solution, but perhaps splitting up freshmen into small groups of their choosing, so that they are relatively comfortable disclosing information, and having LINK Leaders take an oath of confidentiality as therapists and counselors do, would lead to more open discussion. Rusk proposed, “Maybe it is through even them having do some mental health assessments,” as a way of making mental health education more effective. “If there was more empathy, sympathy, and understanding in school systems I think it wouldn’t be as big of a problem as it is now,” Ava said. It must be remembered that mental illness is not anyone’s identity. It can seem consuming, but there is always a person under their symptoms, someone with hobbies and pet peeves and fears and dreams. When asked what she wants to do in the future, Ava replied, “I want to travel and see the world.” The anonymity in this article only reinforces how deep the stigma really goes. It is imperative to empathize, and to understand how the mind can decay into a wasteland of hopeless thoughts, how destructive mental illnesses are, and how detrimental the lack of understanding and support really is. l |AJ Ehrhardt | Nicole Heetland | Hannah Laughlin | Ty Milliken | Kayla Pray | Christina Rudolph | Sophia Stimpfl

WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE A FRIEND THAT HAS AN HAS PANIC ATTACKS The best way to help a friend or family member who is having a panic or anxiety attack is by keeping their stress as low as possible through a safe, quiet, and private environment, and helping them to slow their breathing. Speak in short, simple sentences, saying things such as “tell me what you need right now.” Do not command things, like “calm down,” but instead take a more supportive approach and say, “I’m here for you,” and assuring them that they are safe. It’s important to stay supportive throughout the process and not freak out over their episode. Just listen to what they are saying and help them with what they need.

IS SUICIDAL

EATING DISORDER

It is often difficult to know that someone is suicidal, but the most important thing to do is to be aware of the emotional state of those around you. When someone says things asserting that they are a burden, there is no reason to live, or that they are trapped, this could signal suicidal depression. An increase in the use of drugs and alcohol is also a red flag for possible suicidal thoughts. Telling a depressed person, “you should be thankful for what you have. You could have it so much worse,” is harmful to them and does nothing to help. If they admit to being suicidal, it is very important they receive professional care. If you can be 100% that they only wish they could die and are not planning on hurting themselves, make sure their immediate family and friends is aware of the problem and look out for them. In the occasion that they are threatening to kill themselves or indicating that they plan on doing so, call 911 immediately so that they can be given immediate care and protection.

If you notice that one of your close friends or family members is showing symptoms of Anorexia, Bulimia, or another eating disorder, it is important that you talk to them about what you’ve been noticing. Be gentle and explain that you’re worried about their health because you care about them. If they open up to you, ask them how you can help; be supportive and understanding. Do not tell them that they are already skinny enough. Telling them to just eat more and work out less won’t make them want to get better or seek help. It is important to know your limits and but offer to go talk to a medical professional with your friend or family member so they know you’re there to support them.

stories from the diner Silverware scratching across plates, dishes clattering in the kitchen, lone figures occupying the stools at the counter. Anything a typical diner would look and sound like. But thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more than just hash brown grease and black coffee. We wiped away some of the grill smoke to uncover the intricate lives of the people inhabiting the Denver Diner at the wee hours of the night. Here are some of the stories that were served up to show you that there is more to strangers than glances in passing.

20 March 2016 | Issue 4

5:05 A.M. When I first met Jim Hopkins, he was sitting quietly, drinking coffee at 5:05 on a Saturday morning. I asked him what he was doing and he replied that he was taking a break. As the conversation continued, he explained that he was a part-time driver for Uber and was taking his mid-shift break just before the sun appeared over the mountains. By the end of the conversation, it became clear that he was also taking a break to consider the possibilities for the next chapter of his life. “I was born in Denver and I had a courier service where I delivered prescription meds to skilled nursing facilities, assisted living homes, and Alzheimer’s units,” Hopkins said. Things seemed pretty stable for Hopkins until 2008 rolled around and shook up his entire life. “After the downturn, for the next few years after that, it was as though I was getting hired to get laid off and then hired to get laid off again,” Hopkins said. “Looking back, it’s like my thirties, forties, and fifties sucked.” Hopkin’s work in IT and running a courier service were important parts of his life, but they don’t come close to rivaling his true passion. For 18 years, Hopkins spent part of the year teaching handicapped kids how to ski at Winter Park. The job wasn’t easy, but it gave Hopkins a sense of purpose and inspired one of his most cherished memories. “Not all of the students could communicate with you verbally,” Hopkins said. “This one student just obeyed me to a fault—all of my verbal instructions or hand gestures or whatever. But he never said anything, so it was hard to gauge if I was getting through to him. Well, we were required to eat lunch with our students and then when we were ready to go, he offered me his chips. It was really a recognition that everything was okay and that there was communication—even if it wasn’t in a conventional sense.” Now retired—from his old job and from skiing—Hopkins takes a few hours a week to drive people around the city he loves. Above: Jim Hopkins sits at the diner and talks about his life. He spent eighteen years teaching handicapped kids how to ski and now works as an Uber driver.

“I feel like I’m an ambassador to the city,” Hopkins said. “I actually get kind of choked up about it because I’m really pleased how much people like Denver. It’s a nice feeling.” As Hopkins mentioned he should get back on the road, I asked him a final question that seemed to stop him in his tracks: what are your plans for the future? Hopkins paused for a few moments and then responded in a hesitant yet assured manner. “I think they’re probably still being formulated,” Hopkins said. “I look at it as I’m in my third trimester. 0-30, 30-60, and 60-90. I just want to live it in comfort and enjoy it.” As Hopkin’s break came to a close, he finished his coffee and walked back to his car. I’m not sure that he knows exactly where he’s headed, but I’m sure Hopkins will end up right where he, and everyone else, needs him to be. l | Christina Rudolph

1:26 A.M. He was silent when I asked him his name. Based on his broken English, I assumed he didn’t understand my question. “Oh, I can’t,” he said after a long pause. “Just call me...Mike.” Initially I was confused by his pseudonym, but after speaking with him for a few minutes, I learned that he gave it because “Mike” was not living his true life. He has always been on the road. As a kid, he went on the road all the way from Mexico to the States, chasing the American Dream to forge a better world for himself. In doing so, he completely shed his past life. By the age of 27, he took a job as a truck driver, pushing himself onto the road again. He started out locally, and then as he gained more experience, he asked for longer and longer routes. Six years into work he bought his own truck, spending weeks away from his family. “I got two kids, and I want them not to forget about me,” he said. “I want them to call me ‘daddy’ still.” Mike tried to return to Denver and his family, but when his pay was cut, he had to go back on the road. But still wanting to be with his family, he decided to bring his oldest with him. “When my oldest kid was five, he worked with me for six months,” he said. “I liked it, and he used to like it too.” But being a parent on the road became difficult. “One time we drove to Tennessee and we were at the Driver’s Lounge in Tempe, there were no other drivers,” he said. “I put the TV on SpongeBob SquarePants. A couple of drivers came in, and asked, ‘Are you watching that?’ They asked me if I was a driver and laughed. I said yes. It was embarrassing.” That was the tipping point for him. When he made a stop back through

Above: There is an empty stool where “Mike” previously sat. The real “Mike” was never there, only the ghost of who he once was and the possibility of who he may become. Right: Scott Marlowe shares his perspective on life and how the Air Force brought him to Colorado. After another ten years, he found his passion in computers and realized that life is never set in stone.

Denver, he left his son at home to start school, and continued on with the long routes that he still works today. I asked him if he wants his son to ever join him again in the future. “I want him to have more choices than just that,” he said. “It’s the American dream. I am not sure it’s possible anymore.” Beaten down in America, Mike is now considering returning to Mexico, where his father has a ranch. He wants to go back to his true home. “People are humble [there],” he said. “They’re free to the world. They’re free to do whatever they want.” He wants to return to a world where he can be himself. “I just don’t know if I am the real me here,” he said. “It’s been hard to come here to the US, because I had all of these big dreams. But I can tell you, driving a truck all my life with my son wasn’t a part of it.” So at the diner, I didn’t get to see the real Mike, who is still left in Mexico. When I asked him if I could take his picture, he got up, put on his coat, told me to take a picture of the empty stool, and got back out on the road. l | Esteban Arellano

22 March 2016 | Issue 4

“ Yo u k n ow wh at yo u’re d o in g ev entually—it picks yo u alo n g the way . ” - Scott Marlowe

11:00 p.m. Scott Marlowe seemed content, as he sat reading a paperback book in his flowery hawaiian shirt. As I approached him and introduced myself, he greeted me with a warm smile. At first he was somewhat hesitant to answer my questions, but as we continued on, he became more vocal, sharing what drew him to Colorado. “The Air Force brought me here,” he said. “I like planes.” Marlowe quickly moved through the military flight ranks. “I got a job working at Lowry as an instructor after three years, which is really crazy because normally you have to be five or six years in before you become an instructor, but that was a strange set of circumstances,” Marlowe said. “I learned a lot. I’d say if you ever have the chance to be an instructor, do it.” He said that in itself, teaching is just as much of a learning experience for the teacher as it is for the students.

In spite of the pressures that are on our plates, Marlowe realizes that we can never really judge the value of issues other people deal with. “A lot of things that you think are just kind of crazy and stupid end up being things that people really have to deal with sometimes,” Marlowe said. “That dog meant a lot to that kid and I had to sit him down and explain to him that you can’t go home because your dog died.” After spending several years in the military, Marlowe decided he wanted to pursue something different, and this brought him into a world he had never really experienced. “After ten years I had to make a lot of decisions,” Marlowe said. But he emphasized that adjusting to a civilian life wasn’t particularly challenging. “I don’t think I’ve really had a whole lot of hard decisions outside of my job, which is kind of nice,” Marlowe said.

in the realm of technology, where he now resides as a database administrator and systems engineer. He said he wasn’t always completely sure which direction his life would take, but that his passion revealed itself over time. “What you’re good at kind of picks you along the way,” Marlowe said. “For me that was computers.” Marlowe recognizes that in life, things reveal themselves over time. “You know what you’re doing eventually—[it] picks you along the way,” Marlowe said. With that, Marlowe went back to his book and his coffee, leaving me with the realization that even when we think we’ve got a locked plan of what our future is going to look like, life can turn around and surprise us with a new opportunity that just might send us in the direction we were hoping for. l | Emily Leo

He went on to pursue a college degree,

“If you really want to master something, you have to teach it—no matter how many times you’ve already done it,” Marlowe said. “You learn so much. Teaching anything—no matter what it is—it helps you a lot with how to interact with people on a regular basis and it expands your horizons hugely.” With this, he made it easier to understand that even when you reach positions of authority and merit in life, you still have room to grow and evolve. Though he was appreciative in his reminiscing of his time as an instructor, Marlowe mentioned that sometimes there were difficult situations that were not always easy to maneuver. He spoke of the strict rules regarding periods of leave from the air base. “About six weeks in as an instructor, a student came to me and told me his dog died and he wanted to go home on leave,” Marlowe said. “I was in equal parts, [thinking] ‘that’s so terrible’ and also wanting to laugh because it’s so ridiculous, but you can’t laugh because it’s real.”

is our food really that frightening? WHAT GOES INTO MEAL PREPARATION IN SCHOOLS

t’s 8:05 am and the morning announcements begin to blast through the speakers. After sifting through the sports updates and club activities, they reach the digestive details of the day: lunch.

It has almost become routine to see students around the room cringe at the mention of fruit compote or garden patch salad. But why? Elijah Luevano ’18 shared his experiences with the cafeteria food. “The vegetables taste like they’ve been in the fridge way too long and the pizza looks like it’s been in the oven too long—you just eat it because you’re hungry,” he said. Cafeteria head Ms. Karen Ramos made it clear that much effort goes into the daily production of breakfast and lunch for the students and staff. In doing so, they must not only consider the mass production of a number of items, but they must also consider whether they are providing sustainably healthy foods. Even though the popular belief is that all of the food consumed at school is pre-packaged and frozen, Ramos said that it’s quite the contrary. “We do baking and cooking, preparing everything so we can get it out on time,” Ramos said.

Ramos added that, for her, it is important to stay ahead of schedule when it comes to making meals for over a thousand people. “Usually we try to get everything, like the breakfast, prepared the day before, so that we’re always one day ahead of ourselves,” she said. In spite of the effort the cafeteria staff puts into their work, there is still a deep rooted dislike for the foods that are served during the lunch rush. Yet, there are many students who recognize that the decisions made about what is served are not in the hands of the cafeteria staff. Jasmine Romero ’17 shared her insight, as someone who regularly eats the cafeteria food. “The lunch ladies are really nice and I’m sure they do care, [but] I don’t know whether they have a set list [of what] they have to

24 March 2016 | Issue 4

put out,” Romero said. “And I’m sure they do care about what the students have to eat, I’m just not sure whether it’s them personally putting their own input [into] the food.” Holly Camp, Administrator for Food Service Operations in Jefferson County, spoke in great detail on how much has changed with the food industry—especially in the last six years. She mentioned that the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 had a lot to do with implementing specific measures that were taken to improve the eating standards of current schools. “We had to have all of our grains be whole grains, we had to have fruits and vegetables, and we had to have specific colors on the fruits and vegetables,” she said. Specific colors refers to how appealing fruits and vegetables have to be in the eyes of students and staff. Some of these include dark green, red, or orange. These standards are set by the USDA, and then expressed accordingly for different places around the nation in a meal pattern put out by the National School Lunch Program. These guidelines are stark in comparison to the standards that stood thirty years ago when Camp first entered the realm of food services. “We still had a meal pattern that we had to meet,” Camp said. “It wasn’t as restrictive because there wasn’t the obesity crisis then. We used to be able to serve desserts everyday, we used to put butter on the vegetables, we could serve whole milk, [and] we mainly served white bread and white rolls. We don’t have that any longer—the tortillas that we have are even whole grain.” Camp notes that this has been an important step for schools, not just in Colorado, but around the nation. “There is this ‘obesity crisis’, and we need to make changes in the way people eat,” Camp said. “We have to eat foods in variety [and] we can’t just single out one thing. So I think the entire pattern is what’s important.” Camp is not alone with her concern for health. In this day and age, a healthy diet and exercise are becoming increasingly important for both teens and adults. “I play a lot of sports, so I would rather have something that

healthiest schools in the nation the calhoun school - new york, ny Eat Right Now program began in 2002 Cooking done with oils that are not harmful Goal of providing kids with habits that will help shape a healthy future

sidewell friends school - washington d.c. Food For Thought program Students involved in farming and learning the basics of composting Students and staff can volunteer to work in the kitchen

kimberton waldorf school - phoenixville, pa Green cuisine since 2004 - food is environmentally and ethically sound Sourced locally, with minimally processed ingredients Roof gardens for fresh herbs and vegetables source: onegreenplanet.org

I won’t feel bad about putting in my body,” Emma Smith ‘18 said. The issue is that food which holds up to the district’s standards isn’t always appreciated by the students. Despite the fact that the food meets these strict nutritional guidelines, students are often unimpressed by the quality of the food or the variety of options. District food executives aren’t oblivious to the difficulties that strict regulations can cause when it comes to the preferences of the student body. Dave Kroeger, Food Services Project Manager for Jeffco, acknowledged that balancing student opinion with nutrition can be quite the tightrope walk. “Even if it’s a healthy product and a good product, if students aren’t gonna eat it, it doesn’t matter that we serve it,” Kroeger said. However, change could be on the horizon for food services in Jeffco schools. Kroeger was also very excited to announce that he and his colleagues are working to re-introduce student taste testings within the district. This would serve to improve students’ reaction to the food, which would ultimately increase the impact of healthy school meals greatly. “If we were looking at putting a new chicken nugget on the menu, we’d like to test that with the students so that we have input. So if we have one that thirty percent of the students like but seventy percent don’t, that’s not gonna make the menu,” Kroeger said. In reality, behind the seemingly unappealing and dissatisfying meals, there are many hours of work and many hands that go into filling those hours. At Standley Lake, much more effort goes into working as a cafeteria staff member than manning the cash register. Ramos shared the daily routine of her staff. “I would say it’s about 6 hours [a day], because we come in and as soon

Top: Ms. Karen Ramos prepares foods in her daily routine. Bottom: Gator Alley serves as an extension of the cafeteria, as students have more of an opportunity to interact with the cafeteria staff.

26 March 2016 | Issue 4

as my girl gets here, she goes straight over and starts with lunch,” Ramos said, referring to one of her staff members. “And in between lunches, is when [we] start preparing for the next day. We pull everything that we’re gonna cook for the next day, count it up, put it in the freezer so that when I come in, I pull it out so [the girls] can put it in the stove. And it just repeats itself, day after day.” When all’s said and done, the cafeteria staff works on tighter deadlines than The Lake. They face the consequence of hungry and unhappy teenagers if their stock isn’t set out on time. Aside from the physical effort, there are also the books to consider—documenting how much of each item is sold. “It’s a lot of paperwork,” Ramos said. “You don’t think it is, but at the end of the day, see, everything we sell goes on paper. Everything [the staff does], they write down—exactly what they’ve made.” One upside to the work that goes into preparations in the cafeteria is that the staff gets help from the special needs students. “They do the stuff that’s very time consuming for us,” Ramos said. “Like cupping up the fruit—we do 5 trays or 6 cans a day. And that’s time that my girls can do other things.” Weekly, the staff gets around two to three helpers. “We get them 3 days a week now. We used to get them 4 days a week. But I’m even happy for that,” Ramos said. She also added that there are specific guidelines for how the foods are prepared. So in addition to finding the time and people to make everything, there are crucial steps that are taken to ensure that the foods are adequate for consumption. “We have temperature charts, and the girls have to put what their temperature was when they pulled those ham-

burgers out, what those temperatures were when they put them on the line. At the end of the serving day, they check what’s left. So yeah, it’s a process.” In addition to the specific procedures within the cafeteria, Kroeger mentioned that there are also state and nation-wide regulations backed by the USDA. “The USDA makes the standards for every school that participates in the National School Lunch Program,” Kroeger said. He also added that some of the guidelines filter in from the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act. This act was focused on improving child nutrition and has also allowed the USDA to take a bigger role in reforming the breakfast and lunch standards in schools by keeping a closer eye on hunger of millions of children. In spite of the elbow grease that goes into preparing these specific meal standards, there is still doubt within the student body. “For the past few years, you hear garden patch salad every day. But when you look at it, there’s nothing that looks like an actual salad,” Taylor Zangari ’16 said.

“Everyone wants better food,” Romero ’17 said. “I would say that maybe not serving pizza every day, having pasta bars, nacho bars, or burrito bars, and having like a salad bar or something different would help [students] make better choices eating.” It is possible that Kroeger and his colleagues are onto something with their tasting tests, as it would provide students with the opportunity to decide what they want to see on their plates at school. But a reformed way of thought may be needed on both sides—not just from those operating at an administrative level. With new ideas and feedback from students, those with control over the food and nutrition standards might have the chance to cater directly to the food standards that students expect from their daily meals, instead of upholding the atmosphere of the unintentional griping that often surrounds school food.

“you know, it’s all about the way it looks. kids aren’t going to take it if it doesn’t look good,” -ms. karen ramos

“You know, it’s all about the way it looks. Kids aren’t going to take it if it doesn’t look good.”

It may be a matter of students developing a more eclectic taste for different ideas and changes. Mothers tell their children to try new things for a reason, because there’s always the possibility that they end up liking what it is they would have never tried without a push.

Students stand apart from cafeteria staff and administrative staff—one side putting lots of time, energy, and thought into what makes it to the cold metal trays each day, while the other experiences the results first hand with their taste buds.

And maybe the students need to meet administration and lunch staff halfway, by trying to understand the work that goes into producing the things that schools serve, while also trying to evoke the reform that is still wanted and needed. l

Aside from the criticism of the cafeteria food, some students suggest that a more obvious attempt to provide healthier options would be beneficial.

| Sara Cooley | Kevin Han | Emily Leo | Meg Metzger-Seymour

Ramos emphasized the thought that goes into the display of the food before it is served.

OPINIONS

being like my cat

I could be a better person by

A COLLECTION OF MINI-EDITORIALS

learning to love myself I could be a better person if I took time to worry more about my own problems than focusing on others’. I could be a better person if I put myself down less. I always try to bring people up and tell them everything I love about them and then when they try to do the same, I don’t believe them. There are many things that could make me a better human, like focusing on what is really important, rather than focusing on the petty stuff that happens. I need to work on speaking my mind, giving ideas, and being more extroverted than introverted. I need to ask for help when I need it. When talking about myself I see more flaws than I can point out. But in the position I’m in, I’m still working toward where I really want to be in life. Only seeing flaws is a huge confidence disaster. In attempting to listen to what Justin Bieber told me: “I need to love myself more.” I still have time to work toward the person I truly want to become, starting with accepting who I am now. I will learn and try every day to be the best I can. One day I will get there. | Grace Johnson

28 March 2016 | Issue 4

asking questions Too often we are satisfied with the information given. BREAKING NEWS! OBAMA BEHIND ISIS ATTACKS! IMPEACH HIM NOW! And then that “news” becomes truth. In reality, most things we believe to be facts are often times just the fictions of others. Our problem as a society is that we are too easily swayed to one side or the other without delving deeper into the subject. People who ask a lot of questions and counteract what they’re told usually gain the stereotype of being tedious and annoying. We are stuck in a rut where ignorance holds more weight than insight. And I for one don’t want to be in that rut. Instead of accepting our place in the dark we need to climb up to where we can see. | Emily Leo

having faith This year my stress has increased dramatically. As a result of sports, newspaper, and AP classes with homework galore, I don’t have a lot of time to stop and breathe. All this stress builds up and I have this pressure to be successful. My life becomes dependent on “this has to happen”. I have to pass my AP test, I have to keep my GPA up if I want to get into the college I want, I have to win this race, I have to make varsity. I put so much pressure on myself, that I often lose sight of the things that really matter in life. I need to remember that if something is meant to happen, it will. We have to trust ourselves that we will be successful and that everything will be okay. We all need to have faith that one day all the pieces will fall into place. | Hannah Laughlin

My cat, Ellie, is 15 weeks old. And with only 15 short weeks of kitten life under her belt, she’s already a pro. She wakes up purring, and jumps up on my bed to let me know that it’s time to take on the day. And even when it’s way too early, I don’t mind because she’s just a sweet, purring furball of love and happiness. When life gets tough, like when she falls off of the couch during her nap, she just walks it off and starts playing—like it was all part of her plan. I know that I can’t forget all of my responsibilities just to nap the days away, but I think if I took some time to find more joy in restful sleep and good meals and great people, then the routine of chemistry problems and no sleep would be more doable. | Nicole Heetland

ignoring the “what if’s?” We all look back and think, “What if such and such didn’t happen?” or “What if I had done this differently?” But living in the land of “if only” can be detrimental to you now and in the future. Stop living in the regret of what you didn’t do or what could have been. The past is not the world we live in (and thank God, because the 6th-grade-me was absolutely cringe-worthy). By accepting the decisions we have made leading up to the present, we are more susceptible to living better, healthier lives. We shouldn’t let the bitterness of yesterday alter the sweetness of a new day. Life unfolds in the present, yet so often, we let the present slip away, allowing our past to consume us. I am a firm believer that every individual has the ability to learn from his or her mistakes and failures. That being said, let’s all just embrace our decisions that led us up to this point because people, we still have a whole lotta life ahead of us. | Patty Sokol

FRESHMAN EDITORIALS

hemline harassment

You’ve heard it time and time again: girls getting dress-coded for something as silly as showing their shoulders. They are asked to change, punished, or even sent home under the pretense that their attire was “distracting to others’ education.” Although dress policies may have been put in place for good intentions, they do more harm than good. Nobody should have the power to tell someone how to dress, including schools, and the justification of these unrightful policies are belittling to students of public schools. One of the main statements used in defense of school dress codes is that they help keep everyone’s focus purely on their education. Dress code supporters think that high schoolers are not old enough to handle the sight of a simple bra strap. Dress code regulations are clearly

based on someone’s subjective view of “modesty” and nothing else. Speaking of “modesty”— although it may not be obvious—dress codes tend to be sexist and do not promote gender equality. When you tell a girl that she needs to change her clothing because it is “distracting” or “immodest” you are dictating what parts of her body are considered inappropriate and telling her that if her body is sexualized, it is her fault. When a boy sees a girl wearing something that might not fit dress code he might perceive her as “asking for it” because that is the message that strict dress codes support. How are males supposed to see females as more than just objects when we are teaching them that a girl’s worth is based upon what she wears?

As time passes, more problems seems to arise with strict dress codes. So many feel like dress codes are unfair and sexist. It calls into question what is really distracting these young people’s education: their clothing or the protests and upsets that school dress codes are causing all over the country? All this controversy of attire seems to be distracting many from the reason they go to school in the first place. No matter what your personal opinions are on how people should dress, everyone should agree, strict dress codes should be a thing of the past so everyone can focus on what really matters: their education. | Solana Brito ‘19

what’s a condom? “Mrs. Stewart, what’s a condom?” the girl asked. The teacher grew noticeably flustered. “It’s nothing, you don’t need to know about it.” And just like that, the issue was avoided, and never spoken of again. It wasn’t until about one year later when I learned what a condom was (from a friend, not an education program, mind you) and another year later until I had a hazy image on how and when to use it. This is scary. “Well, of course!” you may think. “What business does an elementary schooler have learning about birth control?” Well, what business does an elementary schooler have learning about the life cycle of a butterfly? Why is that more important? The truth is, sex, whether we like it or not, is an important part of human life. And sex education doesn’t teach kids about essential things like birth control or consent, leaving their lives open for problems like teen pregnancy and sexual assault. The states with the highest teen pregnancy rates in the U.S., including Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, employ abstinence-only programs or worse: no required sex education whatsoever.

Sara Seims, president of the Alan Guttmacher institute, says, “Abstinence messages are very important, but clearly the coverage of contraceptive topics is also crucial in helping our youth prevent unplanned pregnancy and STDs.” There is no nationally-required standard for sexual education. Only 13 states require that the information given is medically accurate. 13! You wouldn’t tolerate a math class not being mathematically accurate, so why tolerate this? Not only that, but teens are lost on more meaningful issues, such as consent and sexual orientation. Ten states discourage or forbid discussion of homosexuality in sex ed courses, leaving many kids wondering about their orientation. A Washington Post study showed that in college students (where cases of sexual harassment and assault are extremely high), 40% thought nodding was a sign of consent, while 40% said it was not. This split in the idea of consent is at the core of sexual assault, and the result of an education gap. But kids can be taught to be comfortable with engaging in safe, consensual sex. Advocates for

youth said that experts attributed up to 75% of the 21 per 1,000 drop in teen pregnancy rates from 1991 to 2004 to increased contraceptive usage, encouraged by rigorous sexual education programs. Colleges with affirmative consent programs showed drops in sexual assault cases compared to those that didn’t. With a more rigorous sexual education program in the U.S., teens can feel more comfortable about an important part of human life. With that knowledge comes a decline in teen pregnancy—a halt in the spread of sexually transmitted infections, and fewer cases of sexual harassment and assault. Until teens learn more about sex, the teen pregnancy rates will stay high, and the sexual harassment will continue. Schools must be encouraged to teach about the more important aspects of sex, and teens willing to listen, for their own sakes. | Jackson Heetland ‘19

OPINIONS

Y ear of the v ictim millennials’ political correctness goes too far 2015 was the year of political correctness. At least that’s what our generation’s “activists” called it. In reality, it was inarguably the year of the victim. Between racial, gender, and emotional issues, we as Milliennials tried our absolute best to dissect every mildly uncomfortable event into personal attacks.

a man criticizes a woman’s intelligence or lists traits that he finds attractive in a woman he is labelled as a sexist. Meanwhile on BuzzFeed, an online mecca for the politically correct generation, women publish articles such as “Dear Men, Please Stop Wearing Cargo Shorts” and “Dear Men, Never Shave Your Chest” which clearly objectify men.

The “Black Lives Matter” movement, which originated as a legitimate racial concern, quickly grew into a wave of bogus claims of cultural appropriation. For those of you that don’t know, cultural appropriation is the adoption of pieces of one culture by another. Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg accused us of cultural appropriation by our adoption of typically-black hairstyles and hip-hop. At Oberlin College, students accused the school of cultural appropriation when dining halls served Vietnamese banh mis with non-authentic ingredients.

Finally, the most ridiculous display of “political correctness” was the rise of the microaggression, which is an action, phrase, or content delivered without malicious intent but still causes harm. We are unable to ask immigrants their country of birth because it insinuates that they aren’t true Americans. Universities should not display a statue of Thomas Jefferson because he was a “racist” forefather. We should not be forced to read The Catcher in the Rye because it discusses suicide. It’s become a custom to issue so-called “trigger warnings” to alert us of possibly upsetting content.

Just like problems surrounding race, feminism initially started with real problems and quickly grew into an idiotic frenzy. Equal pay for equal work is a legitimate issue. But vocal “feminists” have extended this same mantra to include any possible acknowledgement of women, and it’s entirely unfair. If

30 March 2016 | Issue 4

What cultural appropriation, faux-feminism, and microaggressions all have in common are their low stakes and irrelevance. Offense-seeking Millenials have grown to attribute any situation to a larger trend. Maybe it’s our strong need to be constantly coddled and immersed in strictly comfortable situations. Maybe it’s our need to establish contemporary political movements similar to the glorious civil rights and peace movements of the Baby Boomer generation. With cultural appropriation, it’s ridiculous (and even racist) to forbid others from harmlessly

appreciating and celebrating a custom that “belongs” to a specific race or culture. Modern day “feminists” need to understand the meaning of their title and that equality cannot be built upon the attack of men. What’s more, they also need to learn that with equality of the sexes, women should be allowed to be criticized without playing a sexist card. Microaggressions are just that: micro. Not everything is a personal attack, and psychology even says that avoidance of uncomfortable material is not healthy. The “activists” of our time wish so strongly to assemble any scrap of injustice into a force to topple our social structure. But what sensitive Millennials don’t realize is that we have created a national environment where we must constantly walk on eggshells lest we offend someone. Who cares if people wear cornrows? Who cares if men and women critique each other’s bodies? Who cares if we don’t give trigger warnings? Obviously Millennials do. But true activists don’t need trigger warnings and don’t make themselves into victims; they grow up and make themselves into sources of strength. | Esteban Arellano

Invisible injuries We don’t blame people for the bones they break or the scars they have, but we expect them to be able to prevent or cure their own mental wounds. We expect this even though the invisible injuries are the ones that hurt most, and that are the hardest to recover from. Mental health is just like physical health. The brain is an organ, just like the heart and liver and lungs. Yet, this organ that controls our entire body, that houses our every thought, emotion, and memory, is not seen as something in need of careful, meticulous healing when it is injured. Bipolar Disorder can’t continue being attributed to simple moodiness. OCD is not eating the green M&Ms first or needing the volume to be set on an even number. Depression should never be met with, “are you even trying to get better?” or, “so many people have it worse than you.” Our brain is strong in its abilities, but fragile in how easily it can be broken. And once it breaks, it can never be mended to be the same as it once was. So many people are suffering. So many are suffering. We, as a collective society, need to heighten our awareness and wake up to

someone has borne endless mental agony, it is disgusting that so many people view their suicide with so little sympathy.

the reality that mental illness is real and it is powerful. Let’s expand our idea of what mental illness looks like. The teenagers struggling with mental disorders are not always the dark, brooding students who keep to themselves. Bipolar disorder looks like the outspoken, laughing boy in class. Bulimia is the girl who is always surrounded by friends. The next step is activating one of our most primal instincts: empathy. With knowledge and understanding of mental illnesses, we can attempt to see the pain that individuals with mental health problems go through. The compassion in our society for suicide, especially, is overshadowed by the claim that it is one-dimensionally selfish, cowardly, and attention-seeking. It is, in many ways, the easy way out; suicide is the choice of uncertainty—nothingness or damnation or something else—over intense suffering. But one moment of weakness does not determine someone’s character. After

In war prisons, where people are tortured for information or because of unadulterated nefariousness, it is said that everyone breaks eventually—it’s just biology. The mind can only endure so much before a person’s spirit crumbles beneath the pressure. Mental illness often deteriorates into raw emotional torture. The self-loathing, hopelessness, desolation, frustration, and stony sorrow inside of a person will eventually overpower them without the outside support they need, through a combination (most likely) of medication, understanding, and help. It’s only natural for people to eventually cave in. Instead of blaming people for the mental afflictions they have, everyone should try helping the people they care about and preventing that point of mental collapse from ever being reached. Time to stop taking these things lightly. Time to understand. Time to start saving lives.

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