TheLittleHawk Iowa City High School Iowa City, Iowa volume LXX-issue V April 13, 2012 www.thelittlehawk.com
The boys’ team is back on track by Kris Kindl
kriskindl@thelittlehawk.com
photo by ELI SHEPHERD Protestors hold up signs in the downtown Iowa City pedestrian mall as part of the Trayvon Martin ‘Million Hoodie March.’ The march was in protest of the lack of legal action taken against the killer, George Zimmerman, in the shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.
Trayvon Martin case brings protests to I.C.
On February 26, 2012, a Florida teen named Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. The killer has gone unprosecuted under Florida’s self-defense laws, which has drawn nationwide protest, Iowa City being no exception. by Oli Peters & Sonora Taffa
olipeters@thelittlehawk.com sonorataffa@thelittlehawk.com
Clad in colorful hoodies, teenagers scaled the metal ladders of the ped mall play structure to overlook hundreds of Iowans, some waving signs, others standing quietly with their families, all protesting one incident. On Monday, March 26, the one month anniversary of the shooting of Sanford, Florida teen Trayvon Martin, a protest march took place in downtown Iowa City, contesting the lack of legal action taken against the killer, George Zimmerman. “Living in Iowa City, you don’t think about things like that happening,” Fas Trac member Jordan Sullivan ’12 said. “I hope that it’s an eye opener for others. I think African Americans are completely aware of what’s going on. Other people know about it, but I don’t think it’s necessarily affected them as much.” Sullivan was one of five City High students and Fas Trac members who
gave a personal speech at the protest march. Fas Trac is a non-school affiliated program, made to help minority students succeed. The club’s advisor, Henri Harper, heard about the case a week before the march and instigated the students’ involvement in the protest. “I just brought it to their attention. I told them what I was planning for the protest, and they wanted to be part of it. They jumped right on it and started doing research,” Harper said. “The more they learned about it, the more they realized that it could have been their big brothers, cousins, anyone.” Fas Trac member Jasper Washington ’12 felt a strong connection to the Trayvon Martin case and spoke emotionally at the rally. “(George Zimmerman) should be tried, and it shouldn’t have taken this long. If [the trial] had happened when it should have, then none of us would be here,” Washington said. “I’m also grateful that it’s taken so long, as much as I am sorry that it happened, because I have this opportunity to make a change.”
Fas Trac was originally a City High club, however in 2010 it was separated from the school and is now a community organization. “...we had a lot of black kids fighting and they were out of control, so we sat down and created Fas Trac,” Harper said. “[Fas Trac] is about the fact that we have an education program that can bring people up. It’s about the fact that we can learn from one another and help each other succeed. We want everyone to think that if one of us is failing, then all of us are failing.” Harper believes that this attitude should extend into the entire Iowa City community. In the past five years a large relocation of Chicago residents to the Iowa City area has thrown social issues such as these into the limelight. “People assume that we’re doing well but that’s not the case. In this population we have two Iowa Cities,” Harper said. “We have the side that has been here for a while and they’re doing well, and then we have the side of people whose families and students haven’t been, and are
not, doing well.” The Trayvon Martin case sparked outcries across the country, and Iowa City experienced its own social upheaval due to the diversity of the town. “I think that people in the community care and they think it’s sad, but maybe not to the extent that they should,” Sullivan said. “I hope that [George Zimmerman] gets sentenced to life in prison. You should never kill someone and get away with it, no matter what the situation is.” On April 10 the Seminole County grand jury of Florida decided if files against George Zimmerman should be charged. Check thelittlehawk. com for recent updates. “If we don’t talk about this case, we’re going to forget about it and then it will happen again and nothing will change,” Harper said. “There’s going to be another killing, or just another injustice. We need to talk openly about biases, about racism, about equality for everyone... It’s time to start.”
The coming of spring not only marks the beginning of warm weather, shorts, and short-sleeve shirts, but also the start of a new track season at City High. This season, the Little Hawks are preparing to achieve their ultimate goals both as a team and individually. “My goals for this season are just to get better, get faster and stay healthy, and to just help this team win and do as well as we can and get a state championship for this team,” Joey Kebschull ‘13 said. Last season the boys placed 19th at the state track meet to complete the season. Many of this year’s athletes are returning members from last year’s season, and have high hopes of seeing the team bring back a state title. “A state title would really mean a lot to this team. This is a hard working team, one of the hardest working track teams in the state. I know that this team is hungry for that state title,” Kebschull said. The letter-winners and seniors returning to lead the team include Javon Duarte, Peter Krumm, Quinn McNutt, Dwight Donahue, Jeremy Johnson, Mason Greer, and Kody Dailey. “There is always things to be improving on so I’m always constantly working on everything to improve myself and help improve the team,” Kebschull said. “The team itself has improved just with maturity and there’s a lot more leadership this year. We’ve all gotten better and we had a young team last year so we have a lot of good guys back and a lot of depth.” The varsity boys team will compete in 10 meets this season. Two of these, the Forwald relays on April 19 and the MVC divisional meet on May 4, will take place at Rafensburger Track. “I’m excited to see what this season holds. There is a lot of competition amongst the team right now, so it keeps everyone going and pushing. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a few guys come out of the wood works this year and really blossom later on in the season,” Kebschull said. “It’s going to be an interesting season, I have no doubt about that.”
For more coverage of boy’s sports, visit thelittlehawk.com