FEB 2016 Volume 65 No. 1
The Official E-Newspaper of Maplewood Richmond Heights High School
District says Prop Y needed to meet rising enrollment Story by: Grace Rasche and Samantha Schaffner
A tax levy called Prop Y will be on the ballot for Maplewood and Richmond Heights this April 6th. Prop Y would increase the operating tax levy ceiling by 55 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. Prop Y will be used to pay dayto-day expenses in the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District. Most of the revenue will goes towards teachers salaries which were already freezed for the 2015-2016 school year. MRH Board President Mr. Nelson Mitten, discussed his thoughts on how the tax levy will influence the future of the school and what will happen if the tax levy is not passed. “Similar to what happened when a tax levy was not passed in 2007, certain programs are probably going to have to be cut completely or backed off. For example, we talked about the teachers that we have not hired. We are still having additional
growth and not only those teachers, but other teachers that we may need to hire to maintain low class sizes will not be hired. I can anticipate certain extracurricular activities going, especially maybe some of the sports programs or performing arts programs. They may be cut back or eliminated in certain circumstances,” said Mitten. Mitten continues to have faith in the people of the community. “We also have benefited from the very strong support of this community so I am very confident that they will again come forward and basically agree to support the fine schools that we have created here in the district,” said Mitten. Principal Dr. Kevin Grawer discussed why he thinks an increase in the tax levy is needed. “I think what happens in public education nowadays is that we get an amount from the state, we get an amount from local tax base, which keeps us afloat and provides everything,” said Dr. Grawer.
School Board President Nelson Mitten says passing proposition Y will benefit student education, including small class size.
Grawer added that, “this [the tax levy] is one of those ways to keep things normally smooth running. It is always the same when you are doing a tax levyit is getting people to understand your needs and hopefully to support those which, usually I think, are for the greater good of all.” Some MRH students are very supportive of this tax levy because they believe it will help to continue the great work going on in the district. “We want to make Maplewood the best it can be. The community, I think, should be very proud of our school district,” said Michael Langston, an MRH Junior. MRH teacher and community member
Rebecca Flynn commented on how the community’s perspective of the school district has changed. “The perception outside of Maplewood Richmond Heights has changed too, because when I saw that I work for MRH, people say ‘Ohh, those are good schools!’. Now people move here for the schools, they are incredible,” said Flynn. The attendance in the Maplewood Richmond Heights Schools district has increased 37.8% since the 2005-2006 school year. With this great increase in number of students, the school district has become concerned about keeping the class sizes small. “When you have more students, See “Prop Y” p 3.
Food Pantry Growth Requires Move Story by: Ramone Agard
Weekend on Wheels, our MRH-born organization, has big plans for the future and that starts with relocation. The MRH administration has recently decided that Weekend on Wheels food pantry will be relocated from its current location into the teen kitchen. We spoke to Weekend on Wheels head, Patrice Bryan, as well as intern Molly Newport, for more on the subject. “The movement of the food pantry just indicates how much we’ve grown, and now that we’re serving 42 families a week, up from an average of like 30 in the
past couple of years, we just really need to accommodate that better with better space,” said Bryan. Newport added that the pantry will be different because there’s going to be less room for people to actually pack in the pantry because it’s a long hallway. “We’re going to have to move stuff out into the cafeteria to pack and were not going to have the upstairs anymore, the fourth floor, we’re going to have the downstairs and the teen kitchen, so it’ll be a lot easier to move stuff around,” said Newport. This event also marks a turning point in how Weekend on Wheels plans to carry out its day to day operations in the
Fourth floor food pantry before movement to Teen Kitchen.
future. “We’re trying to do prepacking, so we’re going to pack the boxes like two weeks in ahead so in case any big, major event happens that we can have all those boxes packed and go out on time,” said Newport. Bryan said the team was implementing ‘packing parties’ as well. “A food packing party is when you
invite an organization in, whether it’s a sports team or a club from another school, and you teach them how to pack a box and you teach them about our mission and our mindset in serving people,” said Bryan. Who knows MRH, maybe you’ll be in the next packing party.
Hats are more Lax at MRH Story by: Henry Seymour & James Tipton
Good News MRH, The rules on hats are becoming more lax. That’s right you can now wear hats indoors. We talked to principal Kevin Grawer about how he personally felt about the change. “When I first got here seven years ago, there was a big push for ‘no hats’ and a lot of it revolved around colors and neighborhood affiliations and avoiding some problems that certain kids in this area of the town would wear this color and
other ones wore this color and so let’s just eliminate that whole thing,” said Dr. Grawer. “And let’s not even worry about that in school, because part of the job of running the school is making sure we have the best possible learning environment with minimal distractions.” But times have changed, and now it’s the opinion of Dr. Grawer that students are able to learn despite their hats. “I would say it’s been like a three - four year process, of numerous conversations with staff, students, parents alike. I thought to myself
Dr. Kevin Grawer discusses the new MRH hat policy
is it worth my time, is this battle worth fighting, and is it really even a battle? Am I making one up? So all those things come together conversations happen, and we say well let’s try it and see how it goes, with me not
enforcing this, and seeing how, we’ve had a week, it seems fine to me,” Grawer added. Dr. Grawer added that he has a closet full of hats, and may need to return them.
New Year, New Me Story by: Emma Bright & Matt Green
“New Year New ME!” That’s the motto for every New Year, yet no one seems to ever stick with their resolution. Some are confident in sticking with it, others are `not so sure if they will be able to keep up with their goal. “Get back into the gym and stay fit,” senior Isaiah Gray said. Most believe that you don’t need a new year to be Isaiah Gray (12) discusses his plan on getting fit for his New Year.
Prop Y, continued from p 1.
it is hard to have that one on one connection or just help from your teacher, because your teacher has to help so many kids,” said Jiyra Walker, an MRH Senior. “It is that small feel that Maplewood has, it is very- I don’t want to say unique, but it is different. It is good different. In Maplewood you just go up to the teacher and ask them that calriflying question that you need in order to advance your learning. In Maplewood, that is the best part about it. And losing that is losing probably one of the best parts of the school,” added Langston.
a better person or change who you are. They say that you should be able to make that change at anytime or be a better person all year round. “Personally I don’t think you need a new year to define who you are... you can change whenever you want,” junior Lauren Wismann said. No matter what people say they are going to do, one thing is consistent: we all like reinventing ourselves. We will see who actually sticks with their resolutions.
MRH Troupe dominates in KC Story by: Emma Bright and which is a huge humbling Matt Green
At the annual Theater Conference in Kansas City the MRH Thespian Troupe made a name for themselves. The improv team took 3rd in the state, while Stephen Tronicek and Ben Speed will be going to nationals in the spring for their superior Individual Events. Senior Ben Speed took 1st in the state for his monologues from Taming of the Shrew and Death of a Salesman, “I was also asked to perform at Nationals
honor,” said Speed. Junior Steven Tronicek who performed a musical number from Les Miserables received a superior rating for the performance. “Both of those boys have been asked to attend Nationals if they want to which is a huge deal…” said Theater Director Holly Potthoff. Along with the great individual performances and the improv troupe they couldn’t do it alone. They had great support of all of the members from the troupe to help them through their
Ella Cort (11), Brittany Moseley (11), Maxx Diebold (11) and Ben Speed (12) perform improv at ThesCon 2016
performances. “It was crazy how we worked together as a family to accomplish something and all of the other
teammates from our troupe came out to support us. It was great to have their support which fueled us to do better,” said junior Ella Cort.
No one suspects Old Ladies... Story by: Olivia Arias
It’s play season here at MRH, and the actors and tech crew are working vigorously to create a performance of a lifetime: Frank Capra’s Arsenic and Old Lace. Junior Ella Cort said she was excited for her stage debut in Arsenic and Old Lace. “From Arsenic and Old Lace, I’m looking forward to all the jokes and laughs that come along with the cast and crew, and since this is my first high school acting experience I’m excited to really understand what acting is all about,” said Cort.
As the actors and actresses are memorizing lines, the tech crew is working hard to build the set. This year the theater department has began to welcome middle schoolers into the tech crew, adding a lot more hands to help. Assistant stage manager, junior Travion Howard said he uses the skills he has learned from being a part of last fall’s Anne Frank to help others who aren’t as experienced. “Being in a higher position in this play has really taught me how to take the things I learned doing “Anne Frank” when I was first coming in to incorporate that and help everyone else. I’m just an assistant stage manager so I assist everybody else. If they
Ella Cort (11), Brittany Moseley (11), and Mitchell Matthews (12) rehersing their lines in the Green room.
need help, or if they’re new and they don’t know what they’re doing I definitely know what to do because I’ve been in that position before,” said Howard. Veteran actor, junior Brittany Moseley said theater has influenced her
high school theatre career. “Theater has influenced my high school experience because I was really shy freshman year and theater has forced me to come out of my shell and be involved in something,” said Moseley. Arsenic and Old Lace runs March 3-5, 2016 at 7 pm.
WWLA Visits City Museum Story by: Ramone Agard & Jiyra Walker
Women Who Look Ahead also known as WWLA is a woman leadership group currently ran by Kim Hagemann and Cindy Martin. Recently the women took a trip to the City Museum for some team building. Sponsor Kim Hagemann says the group is a great way to introduce women into civic responsibility. “Women Who Look Ahead is a group of young women from the grades 9-12th grade here in the high school. We give back to the community, we do teamwork, there’s twentythree young women here in the group and we also do volunteer work and have a
lot of fun,” said Hagemann. Freshman Tajahnay Adams said she had a lot of fun on the WWLA trip to City Museum, but she also learned teamwork. “My favorite part about the field trip was going on the scavenger hunt because we got to work together and learn more about each other and we went through like a lot of different obstacles during the field trip and we were doing a race so we all got to go really fast and just run and see who could get done the fastest,” said Tajahnay. Hagemann added that the WWLA group focuses on team building activities. “We put the girls into random groups and then they interacted with those groups for the first half of the City Museum trip where
Denise Lyons (12), Krystal Zimmerman (10), Brianna Carter (10), Juanita Fiddmont (10), Jailyn Goliday (10), Briana Smith (10), Tamar Crump (9), Kim Hagemann, Cindy Martin, Julianna Serritella (11), Jiyra Walker (12), Gwen Donnell, Brennae Chaney (9), Da’Kira Robertson (9), Jalia Conner (10), Latyria Watley (10), Kendra Dickerson (9), Tajahnay Adams (9), Elizabeth Sanders (9) Kylee Goodman (9), Shonte Bass (12), Agatha Wortham (10), Alea Morris (10).
they did team building activities involving cell phones. It was a really neat thing to see the different girls interacting with different groups which they usually don’t interact
with and then they had some fun after lunch,” said Hagemann. Sophomore Jailyn Goliday added that on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most fun, “I had a ten,” said Goliday.
New Features for MRH Yearbook
Story by: Grace Rasche & Samantha Schaffner
This year the MRH yearbook team is implementing the use of the Aurasma app. The Aurasma app combines the text of the year book with
virtual reality. The process is easy, simply go to the App Store or Google Play store and install the free Aurasma App. Once the app is downloaded f o l l o w “MRHYearbook’s Auras”. You can then use the app to hover over the pictures in the yearbook marked with the blue devil. The Aurasma application will open secret videos that you can explore with the screen of your phone. “The thing about Aurasma
is that it enhances the reader’s experience reading the yearbook. Instead of there just being photos and words for people to look at, now they are able to use the app on their smartphone and they can see additional content like videos or hyperlinks to other websites and what it does is it uses the picture kind of like QR code,” said Otto Schultejans, the Tech Educator at MRH High School who decided to implement Aurasma into the yearbook. Danny Kennedy, the
Editor in Chief of the Yearbook, explained that, “I like using Aurasma because I like that it really shows where our school is at in terms of technology, we are always using the latest stuff and Aurasma is the latest technology, especially when you are talking about the fact that it is free.” These augmented reality enabled yearbooks are now on sale and can be bought from any of the yearbook staff or Danny Kennedy for twenty-five dollars. See the Yearbook Aurasma Ad on page 3!
Eernisse Signs to Harris-Stowe Story by: Emma Bright and most in. Her ability to Ramone Agard
MRH volleyball player, Maja Eernisse signed with Harris-Stowe University on February 3rd, 2016. Athletic Director Dennis Love spoke at her signing: “5% of students actually get scholarships, the fact that Maja is getting a scholarship is really a big deal,” said Love. Volleyball Coach Cheryl Carmon is very impressed and proud of her player Maja. “Volleyball is not just about physical power but mental toughness, and through her four years of playing that’s what I’ve seen Maja grow the
overcome the mistakes she makes in a game and that’s huge because I always say volleyball is 50% athleticism and 50% mental, and it’s the mental game that she has grown and worked in,” said Carmon. Love also added, “Something that I always remember about Maja is many times Maja would go for kills and a few times she would make a mistake. I’ve never seen her get in her feelings or get down on herself, she would always play the next play… As you go forward at Harris Stowe and life always keep that going forward, the toughness the not getting down on yourself just keep
fighting.” all the support they have Maja would like to thank given her over the past 4 her teammates and peers for years in high school.
Doors Honor Black History Story by: Jonah Fndley & Jose Verdia
Fast becoming a tradition at MRH, our Black History Month door decorations are back. “It was an idea that I read about, and I kind of tweaked it to fit our school,” said Principal Dr. Kevin Grawer. Teachers felt a need to improve from their doors last year. “This year I’m going to make my door even better. We’re gonna have a lot of visual elements that make the door pop, and things that really separate me from the competition,”
said Spanish teacher Nicole Vinson, who won last year. “Our theme last year was Buffalo Soldiers and African American cowboys,” said teacher Pam Withers, “Actually this year it’s going great. Amber King has spearheaded the whole door. She has gotten everybody interested about telling stories about African American women that are strong in history, especially ones that people might not know about.” “It’s kind of like a billboard, you can walk down the halls and look left and right and see different eras of Black History,” said Grawer.
“Oh this year I think that we’re going to do a lot of paintings on the door. LOOK, LOOK at my door it’s brilliant!” said Vinson (in Spanish). “The Idea is to make awareness and promote knowledge of African history,” said Grawer. The winner was once again room, who barely edged Nicole Vinson, who took out English teacher Kris first place again this year. Roudebush. A close second was math teacher Cheryl Carmon’s