The Rock — May 2016

SPORTS Track team hopes to make districts page 14

INDEPTHS That was then. This is now pages 7-9

FEATURES Activities, jobs and trips to explore over the summer page 16 @rbhsbearingnews Bearing News Bearing News

Rock Bridge High School • 4303 S. Providence Rd. • Columbia MO, 65203 • Vol. 43, Issue 7 • May 12, 2016 • www.bearingnews.org

Media Center takes hit on losses thomas white

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s the end of the school year approaches, the Media Center will experience losses when items go unreturned or destroyed. This problem leads to severe financial damage, however, it is getting better as compared to previous years, Media Center specialist Dennis Murphy said.

Yet, this improvement is being offset by the emergence of a new issue of students vandalizing the computers.

Most of the casualties the Media Center experiences come from missing laptops and books. While the school undergoes losses every year, the issue of laptops and books being lost has improved, Murphy said. He believes the cause of the new positive trend has to do with a better system of keeping track of the inventory, which came into effect about five years ago. “[The Media Center] started to use a new inventory system called ‘Destiny’ several years ago, and it automatically keeps track of the inventory,” Murphy said. “Since then, it has been much easier to keep track of our items, and it has prevented items from being lost.”

The system helps to organize the records by sorting the catalog when books, laptops, calculators and iPads are scanned, checked in and checked out.

In addition to tracking items, the school also looks to prevent more losses by imposing fines on students who fail to return items to the Media Center. With the help of the inventory manager, the school has been able to easily identify the students who have unreturned items. Throughout the years, the school is reducing the losses of its property, although the negative costs are not completely eliminated, Murphy said.

“We really have not had big issues with laptops and books being lost for the past few years,”

photo by Ben Yelton

Check out and go: Sophomore Layla Kheiralla checks out a laptop from media specialist Beth Hempke Shapiro. The Media Center uses an electronic inventory system in an attempt to combat annual damages to media equipment.

Murphy said. “The students and the school are doing a good job to safely return things.”

Though the loss of items has been decreasing over the years, the Media Center is facing a number of new problems this year, with students vandalizing computers during school hours. Every day a lengthy amount of computers and laptops have to be fixed by Information Technology manager Jeremy Young.

The main problems surrounding the computers are the students tampering with the cords,

monitors and mouses. Junior Dawit Casete first noticed this trend. He said he has seen people purposely plug in cords from a computer into different monitors so that it causes trouble for those using the computers.

Although the intent of the vandals may simply be a prank, some students have felt frustrated with people damaging the equipment.

“It gets really annoying when people mess with computers, especially when other computers in the Media Center are not available,”

Casete said. “It really becomes a setback for things I want to do considering that I sometimes try to get work done in a short period of time.”

While most problems are minor, some of the more severe difficulties include laptop and desktop screens being damaged or cracked, which then need to be replaced and adds to the financial damages.

“These problems come up daily, and I usually fix several screens, hard drives and chips a day.” Young said. “But that’s my job.”

6 teachers to leave Numerous departments say a big farewell kennedy grieman

S infographic by Katie Whaley; source: Principal’s Secretary Denise McGonigle

RBHS to appoint new staff entirely new makes the process of hiring the right teacher crucial.

Although the school principals and department y the end of May, the six teachers who are chairs hire teachers, Columbia Public School deleaving will be replaced. The principals, determines the decisions made on staffing, and they partment chairs and a district coordinator are mainly based on the enrollment of students and make the decisions that will affect both students programmatic decisions. and staff.

Dr. Jennifer Rukstad, principal, chooses people Schools primarily consist of teachers and stuto interview based on the materials that the applidents, and the former have cant provided. a responsibility to educate “We conduct interviews the next generation. and reference checks.

Freshman Alison ScrivWithout a proper Sometimes we interview a ner’s previous geomeducation, students candidate more than once. etry teacher, Peter Willett, Occasionally, we have a cannot be expected moved during the middle to continue the lega- representative watch the of the year. Because of this, candidate teach, if we can,” she understands the imporcy of the U.S. Dr. Rukstad said. “When tance of hiring new teachwe have made a decision, ers.

Alison Scrivner I make a recommendation “Students are the future freshman to hire the candidate with of America,” Scrivner said, Human Resources, which “and without a proper eduverifies the applicant’s cation students cannot be expected to continue the credentials and references and then makes a job legacy of the U.S.” offer. If the job is accepted, I am notified.”

The many ups and downs of losing a teacher in Continued on 3 the middle of the year and adjusting to someone

emily oba

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UPCOMING EVENTS

News • • • • • • 1-3

know that progress comes from learning from your mistakes, not perfection.”

AP World Studies teachers Katherine Sasser and Rachel Proffitt have also focused their teachings on learning through the textbooks and through each other.

“My students, year after year, have impressed me with their talents and diverse perspectives,” Sasser said, who has been part of the Rock Bridge community since 2011. “The value Continued on 3 Ending a long journey: Six teachers will be concluding their career at RBHS at the end of this semester.

Appreciated by many, they have had a lasting impact on this school.

Clockwise: Erika Miller, Junior Savannah Davis, Michelle Ebberts, and Rachel Proffitt, and Katherine Sasser

photos by Emily Oba and Alice Yu

May

There aren’t many days left of school, but RBHS’ athletics, arts and academics look to finish strong during the last months of the year.

INDEX

ix faculty members are saying goodbye to teaching at Rock Bridge. Health and Fitness teacher Wendy Sheehan, Michelle Ebberts and Erika Miller from the math department and Lee Franklin, Katherine Sasser and Rachel Proffitt from the world studies department will not return after the summer break.

Ebberts was named teacher of the year and “outstanding educator”

this year at RBHS. She has been a teacher at RBHS since 2010 and has spent this time teaching her students that almost any word or phrase can be turned into a catchy song and that math jokes can be funny. Ebberts hopes to leave her students with a positive message of feeling confident in themselves and their learning.

“We are all works in progress,” Ebberts said, who is moving to Kansas City and will continue teaching there. “I want the students that I teach to

June

The Spring Choral Concert takes place in the PAC.

Editorials • • • • • • 4

12

RBHS baseball plays its first game of districts at Battle.

16

Commentaries • • • • • 5

Baccalaureate takes place in the gym at 7 p.m.

18

In-Depths • • • • • • 7-9

Mizzou Arena hosts Graduation at Mizzou.

21

Last day of school!

Goodbye school, hello summer!

25

Features • • • • • • 10-11 A&E • • • • • • 13

First day of summer school.

6

Sports • • • • • • 14

2

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Black Cone retires, leaves impact ann fitzmaurice

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ith every class of graduating seniors goes a handful of retiring teachers, or in the case of RBHS’s 2016 senior class, just one.

For 49 years, Jennifer Black Cone has been a member of CPS. At the age of five, she traveled through Parkade Elementary School, then to Jefferson Jr. High School and finally to Hickman High School, where she graduated. During college she stuffed and licked envelopes for the superintendent’s secretary, then student taught at JJHS. Cone graduated from the University of Missouri — Columbia and got a job at RBHS, where she remained for 31 years.

Another staff member left a job mid-school year just as Black Cone was leaving MU, so the former Kewpie found a home as a Bruin and began her teaching job Jan. 2, 1985.

“I thought it would be a good chance to practice interviewing,” Black Cone said. “To my amazement, I was offered the job.”

She started as a drama teacher, but this year she began teaching creative writing, public speaking and speech and debate. Although what she has taught over the past three decades has changed, her desire to connect with students and her peers has not.

“You fall in love with Rock Bridge when you work here,” Black Cone said.

When senior Shray Kumar first met Black Cone, he wrote her off as just another teacher who lived in her own bubble. However, as Kumar spent more time with her as his debate teacher, he discovered there was much more.

“She not only understands stu-

dents, but actively tries to make things better for them,” Kumar said.

“She’s a teacher that will give you the tools you need to succeed and grow, but will allow you to do so at your own pace.”

As a debate coach, Black Cone took a hands-off approach, Kumar said. She knew what was best for the team and let the students take charge, but offered help if needed.

Not only did Black Cone have the professional aspect of her job locked down, she also made an emotional connection with students that made her classes all the more enjoyable.

“She’s always in a good mood and elevating everybody’s mood with her,” Kumar said. “She understands that a small smile can make a person’s day, and I admire her for that.”

Black Cone said she likes to stay positive, but that retirement has come with a bittersweet taste because she is leaving a job she loves, despite moving on to something new.

“I’m retiring from full time,” Black Cone said, “not because I want to but because it’s financially responsible.”

If Black Cone stayed at RBHS, she would make less money than if she took her full retirement income and started working a different job.

With money coming from both retirement and a part-time position, she said she will be in a better place economically. Still more than ready to continue her teaching career, Black Cone hopes to work an hour or two at RBHS. If no openings are available, she said she has connections at Columbia College.

For now, when she looks back on her memories, it brings tears to her eyes. While she’s sad to leave, she said she is happy to have experienced

RBHS to hire new teachers Continued from 1 During interviews, different traits a person possesses stand out when looking for potential teachers.

“Confidence, humility and a motivation to always improve [are important,]” Dr. Rukstad said. “The future teachers need to be able to meaningfully engage all their students to strive for the best.”

Not only do teachers need to have all those qualities, but they also have to meet the standards of their department chairs.

“I want to see a passion for kids and for learning,” said Social Studies Department Chair Austin Reed, who is searching for one English teacher and a part time social studies teacher. “I am less concerned with number of years and more concerned with their passion and enthusiasm.”

In Dr. Rukstad’s estimation, it’s also necessary that the teacher have similar philosophies to RBHS. “[I look for] a student-centered approach, [a] belief that relationships lay the groundwork for elevated student learning, a collaborative approach, a drive to learn and improve and a command of their content,” Dr. Rukstad said.

She also said another essential quality she seeks is a love for students.

“If the answer to the question, ‘Does this candidate love kids?’ is ‘No,’ then we don’t worry so much about the rest of their qualifications,” Dr. Rukstad said.

The interviewers take their job seriously, and they realize the importance of the teachers as the foundation of the school.

“It is always important, and it is a job that I do not take lightly,” Reed said. “The teachers we hire today will end up leading the school in five to 10 years.”

For teachers to be with a group of students five days a week from August to June makes them a significant part of the teen’s lives.

“Our teachers are the heart and soul of what makes Rock Bridge a great school,” Dr. Rukstad said. “Hiring is an immensely important process in ensuring our students have the highest quality experience.”

Scrivner also recognizes the importance of teachers and that the connection between the teacher and students are what makes the school run like a well oiled machine. Scrivner believes how a teacher works and cares about the students is what sets them apart from other educators.

“The most important quality in a teacher is that they are understanding and they want me to get better,” Scrivner said. “If you are struggling, they will help you understand.”

photo by Cam Fuller

Positive support: Jennifer Black Cone helps Person A with their schoolwork May 6. them. Remembering adventures with past teachers and students takes Black Cone all the way back to her first year of teaching.

She was returning to school after a speech and debate tournament. It was late at night, and after all students left, she was alone with Terry Overfelt, who taught Children’s Theater and Readers’ Theater at the time.

Overfelt had an ice pick in her hand to make it easier to get the bus in the tight space during the winter months.

“Back then we had to park the bus behind the Career Center,” Black Cone said. “While we were back there, we noticed a car parked on the sidewalk.”

She and Overfelt drove to the car in the bus, and the car sped off.

“So we started chasing them in the

bus,” Black Cone said. “We took the circle drive and cut them off.”

The car stopped, and its window rolled down revealing a couple of students. Overfelt rolled down the window on the bus and confronted the teens.

“No malice, I assume?” Overfelt asked.

“Huh?” one of the kids replied.

“No malice?”

“Huh?” “No trouble?”

“No!” the driver said.

Black Cone and Overfelt let the kids go. As she reminisces on the incident, Black Cone realizes what it must have looked for two teachers driving a bus to chase down a car, but what really must have seemed ludicrous was the sight of Overfelt carry-

ing an ice pick.

“If it wasn’t for those moments,” Black Cone said, “I wouldn’t have been here for 31 years.”

From chasing kids in the parking lot her first year to preparing for retirement in her last, Black Cone says she knows she’ll fall out of the loop of current CPS teachers, but she looks forward to seeing her former retired friends at what she calls ‘the retired teachers’ cult.’ Black Cone said the ‘cult’ is just a group of retired teachers that get together for book clubs and other activities.

“They don’t let you be a part of it until you retire. I just can’t wait to go be a part of it with them,” Black Cone said. “I’ve still got another 20 years in me. I’m just looking for the next adventure.”

6 staff members to depart next year Continued from 1 placed on relationships is truly special and what I have loved most in my time here.”

Sasser is thrilled to welcome her third child into the world, but will miss her students greatly and all of the relationships she has built with them.

Proffitt feels she has had a chance to teach wonderful students who rise to the occasion in her AP World History and AP Psychology classes.

“All of the students that I have taught have shown remarkable growth through the courses they take,” Proffitt said, who has taught at RBHS for 14 years. “They have showed me how to take freedom with responsibility to the next level. They learn to use it as a privilege that teachers can trust them with.”

Proffitt is excited to teach in Singapore but will miss the unique culture and community that RBHS has to offer. Sophomore Britton Stamps, who had her in AP World History this year, said he is thank-

ful to have been her student in the ferent and offers its own new possibilities.” class.

Franklin says he will take with “Ms. Proffitt was fun and easy to get along with,” Stamps said. him the connections he has built “I’ll miss her easygoing and kind with his students and faculty at RBHS. personality.”

Like Franklin, Algebra 2 teacher World History teacher Lee Erika Miller Franklin is has made lastalso leaving memories ing to teach through the at a differThe value placed extraordinary ent school, on relationships is students she and looks truly special and has taught forward to and the other growing as what I have loved faculty she an educamost in my time quickly betor there. He here. came friends hopes that katherine sasser with. he can estabAP World History teacher “As an edlish unique ucator I wantrelationships ed to teach with his future students like he did at RBHS. my students more than just math,” “This school has developed said Miller, who hopes she has left a one-of-a-kind environment,” students feeling loved and empowFranklin said, who started teaching ered after her first year at RBHS. at RBHS in the 2013-2014 school “I also wanted them to learn about year. “The good thing about teach- hard work, collaboration and coming is that each school year is dif- munication.”

Miller will be moving to Oklahoma after the end of this school year. She believes the teachings of life skills along with mathematic curriculum will aid her students in flourishing in all aspects of life.

These six teachers have made an impact on RBHS and its students and have lived out the saying, “Where learning is for life.”

By providing daily instruction and help in order for their students to achieve success, they have shown how to be a great leader to their students and peers around them, as Sheehan demonstrates in her teaching.

“I strive to teach all of my kids how to behave in a way that keeps them safe,” Sheehan said, who began teaching at RBHS in 2013.

“My job is to show them how to make good decisions for themselves. I teach a multitude of lessons in the health curriculum, but overall I hope that students can walk away from my class knowing what to do to keep themselves on the right track.”

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editorials

therock • www.bearingnews.org • 5.12.16

Give me credit or give me death Athletes put enough time, effort into sports to earn physical education credits ji-sung lee

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ver since I could walk, sports have been a vital part of my life. Whether it was ballet at age three, swimming at five, softball at nine or cross country at 10, I was continuously enrolled into some form of a sport.

In elementary and middle school, physical education classes were the highlight of my day. I looked forward

to the class where I could run around and compete in a game of dodgeball or capture the flag. However, as high school came next, and classes started to count for credits, I was annoyed to see that P.E. was a required class for graduation. If I already participated in a sport, I saw no benefits in the recreational games that were performed in the 90-minute class.

In middle school, sports were nothing more than a couple practices a

week with games consisting of no one in the stands except for parents of the athletes. But in high school, it's serious business. With 6:15 a.m. practices and games weekly, the atmosphere of high school sports is sure to leave sore muscles that can not be compared to the middle school world of athletics.

Why would jogging around the gym, mixed in with some stretches and a game, count as credit while mile repeats at the crack of dawn don’t count

art by Emma Cross

for anything? Conditioning or speed workouts on the track are far more intensive yet are not acknowledged for the time and effort put into them.

The 90 minutes filled with games of ultimate Frisbee do nothing to build up stamina or strength. Never in my years in a physical education class have I found myself drenched in sweat, breathing in gulps of air the way practices drain me.

The National Association of Sports and Physical Education recommends that school children participate in 150 minutes a week of physical education.

For student athletes, most practices are least an hour long, usually longer. Many students spend five days a week working out from after school practices alone. These athletes would be completing 300 minutes, double the recommended amount. On top of practices, tournaments, meets, and games fill the weekends for student athletes. The extra minutes in gym classes could result in overuse of muscles and increase the chance of injuries.

In a five-day school week, most students get two to three classes of P.E. per week depending on the schedule and day. This calls for around three to four and a half hours of physical activity per week. After a semester of these classes, students are able to gain a half credit of P.E. For extracurricular sports, practices are usually held every day, lasting as long as three hours. Already in a week, student athletes could be taking on 15 hours of practices — around five times more than required classes in school. Still, that student athlete receives no credit.

While physical education classes are not training you to be star athletes, do the P.E. courses add anything to students who are already participating in an extracurricular sport?

Physical education classes are

meant to promote healthy lifestyles and ensure good health of students so they can meet the recommended minutes of physical activity per day. To student athletes, the mile walk probably feels like a breeze and the core workout just a fraction of what is done in sports practices. If P.E. classes are supposed to help get heart rates up, these slow paced, tedious sessions of so-called physical education don't actually benefit our health.

If a sport could count as a physical education credit, it would free up one block for athletes, allowing for new class options. It would open up opportunities for student athletes to branch into fields of study that can only be experienced during one’s high school career. Whatever the option, being able to add a new class that could count as a credit toward what would help in the future would be more useful than the speed-walking around the gym or the recreational game of flag football.

When next year rolls around and you are forced upon another class schedule form sheet, choose the classes first, not the unwanted P.E. course. Save that for later or take it as a summer school class. Instead, replace the unnecessary course with a more desired and applicable course, which could help one to not only veer towards a specific career goal but also enable all students to enjoy a variety of classes.

A current goal for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is to become a top 10 state for education by 2020. Becoming a high ranked school across the nation calls for a range of approaches to gain credit — something our state currently lacks.

With the potential to gain P.E. credits through sports, students would be able to higher their level of education by selecting new courses that have been high on their list.

Don’t be trashy christina holt

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ecycling is one of the best ways to help our environment because it saves energy, conserves natural resources and prevents pollution.

Many people know this, yet there is not as big of a drive to recycle as one would hope. Recycling is available in each classroom at RBHS. The school only recycles paper, not cardboard, plastic, tin or glass. But by only recycling paper, the school is not recycling as much as it could.

We must start making more of an effort by recycling everything we can.

Almost all students have disposable bottles that could be recycled. If bins made specifically for bottles or cans were around school, then students would always be able to recycle. We have 33 trash cans set up around the hallways and common areas, which are necessary for trash, especially at lunch time, but if we had more specific recycling bins around the same spot, all the students and faculty would have the opportunity to recycle everywhere at RBHS. By having each bin labeled so that everyone knows what goes in all of them, recycling can be an easy process.

According to a report by Heritage Environmental Services, the five reasons people don’t recycle is because they view it as inconvenient or confusing. Also, they say it doesn’t make any overall impact, “I’d do it if someone paid me,” and “I don’t want to be green.” Currently, fewer than 35 percent of households and fewer than 10 percent of businesses in the United States recycle, according to a report by Recycle Across America.

With so few people recycling at home, it is not surprising that there is not a lot of recycling at school. If there are two recycling bins, one for paper and one for bottles by every trash can, it would be just as easy to recycle as throwing trash away.

Many people think the sorting part of recycling is too confusing, so they just avoid the process altogether. By having recycling bins for paper and bottles, people would know what to put in each bin, causing less confusion. If people knew that recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators, preventing pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials and reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change, is more motivation to recycle.

photo by Ji-Sung Lee

Helping hand: Junior Jessica Clark tosses a bag of recycling into the bins in hopes of helping the environment of her school.

photo by Ji-Sung Lee

One stop shop: The Media Center offers computers, laptops, books and a place to study, but only between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. For some these hours are simply not extensive enough.

Media center hours insufficient abby still

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t’s 4:30 p.m. on a dreary Friday evening and I’m stuck at school waiting for the baseball game to start. In desperation to complete my online homework, I rush to the Media Center in hopes of finding a computer, only to figure out that the Media Center had closed just a few minutes earlier. I need to finish my Math XL, and there’s no way I’m going to complete it here.

The library is a hub for student life at RBHS. The room, lined with books, bustles with activity day-in, day-out. Computers are constantly occupied with the faces of worried students who forgot their visual essay was due that day.

Media Center specialists Dennis Murphy and Beth Hempke Shapiro help classes check out laptops. It’s not a quiet place, as students pass through to get to their next class even though the sign clearly says to stay off cell phones and keep their voices down.

“School library media centers in the 21st century can, and should be, hubs for increased student achievement and positive focused school reform,” Kathleen D. Smith, an award-winning advocate for the usage of libraries

The Rock Rock Bridge High School 4303 S. Providence Rd., Columbia, Mo. 65203 Vol. 43, Issue 7 May 12, 2016 Population: 1884 Students, 170 Faculty Circulation: 1,500 Contact Information:

Phone: 573-214-3141 Contact us at bearingnews.org Advertising: $50 - -1/4 Page $100 - - 1/2 Page $150 - - Full Page $200 - - Backpage The Journalism Newspaper and Honors Seminar classes produce The Rock,

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said. Now that a new era of technology has risen and will continue to rise, we need media centers more than ever.

With homework, tests and quizzes being online, it’s hard to access those things without a computer, and that’s when students begin to see the importance of libraries.

Books are abundant and computers sit at a standstill once closing time comes around and honestly it confuses me. Why would a media center, so keen to provide for their intellectuals in every way possible, lock its doors only half an hour after school lets out? Plenty of students stay after school, yet none have access to the most convenient, resourceful part of RBHS. I understand the librarians have lives and families to be with, but as a learner it’s frustrating to need a place to go after school to complete homework and not have the resources you need.

Students and faculty use the Media Center all the time. We should increase the amount of time the library is open after school by at least a half hour. As students, we need to advocate for the after school usage of the library by asking administration to begin keeping the Media Center open a little bit longer at the beginning of next year.

Southpaw.

The paper’s purpose is to accurately inform, educate and enlighten readers in an open forum.

The Rock is a member of the National Scholastic Press Association, Columbia Scholastic Press Association and Quill & Scroll.

Adviser: Robin Stover Staff Writers: Mackenzie Baehr, Ann Fitzmaurice, Alyssa Gibler, Kennedy Grieman, Jaydn Hollis, Christina Holt, Ethan Howard, Siena Juhlin, Julia Koldobskiy, Ji-Sung Lee, Emily Oba, Allie Pigg, Margaret Pingelton, Abby Still, Katie Whaley, Andrew

Whitaker, Thomas White, Ben Yelton Editors: Grace Dorsey, Skyler Froese, Cameron Fuller, Rochita Ghosh, Elad Gov-Ari, Tyson Jamieson, Faaris Khan, Ji-Ho Lee, Joy Park, Katharine Sarafianos, Nikol Slatinska, Grace Vance, Cassidy Viox

commentaries

5.12.16 • www.bearingnews.org • therock

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Breaking a fast? Maybe not katie whaley

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arly Saturday morning, Mom fries 12 thick pieces of bacon, bathing the kitchen with light grey smoke and that tantalizing pigbelly aroma. Across the marble-countered island, Dad hovers near the griddle peeking over at the television as the pancakes blacken. There aren’t any eggs today, but this doesn’t ruin the meal.

The improvised grits sizzle in the pot, begging to be taken off the heat. My brother tosses the pancake toppings, a dozen cut-up strawberries and a container of plump blueberries, into a bowl.

WebMD, an online medical dictionary, says a heart-healthy breakfast full of vitamins and proteins like this one my family makes, is the most important meal of the day, but it isn’t. Breakfast isn’t and never was the most important meal of the day.

When Europeans first moved to America and brought along their thrice a day eating, breakfast was just a small meatless meal that used to tide people over until the midday feast.

It wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution where workers went off to the factories for nine hours without much of a lunch break, when breakfast became a bigger occasion. People started consuming large calorie-saturated breakfasts every day, which caused waistlines to grow. This breakfast phenomenon led to the creation of corn flakes, the first cereal.

It grew more popular as it was advertised as more nutritious than the traditional eggs and bacon meal. The main selling point the creators used was a catchy slogan still said today, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

A slogan isn’t a trustworthy source of information and doesn’t provide the factual evidence an experiment or study done by professionals does, which proves dinner and lunch can be just as important as breakfast.

Breakfast isn’t crucial to eat. Skipping it doesn’t prevent energy levels from falling or slowing down metabolism. It makes no difference whatsoever.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information, with the help of 52 volunteers, conducted an experiment on whether breakfast was important or nonessential.

Half of the volunteers ate breakfast while the other half did not. Both groups consumed the same amount of calories each day.

After 12 weeks, the center concluded breakfast had zero effect on weight loss, metabolism and insulin levels. This proves breakfast is not necessary in order to be healthy.

In addition, in 2014 the University of Bath did its own study as to whether breakfast is essential to the daily diet. The university concluded that it did not matter if a person ate breakfast or not. It had

zero effect on the overall calories they consumed in a day.

Therefore, even when one group ate breakfast and another did not, neither group ended up consuming more than the other.

So, in the end, we should eat breakfast whenever hunger strikes, not because it’s “the most im-

portant meal of the day.”

Also, breakfast should not be skipped because of the “breakfast will make you fat” rumors. Neither idea is true. Breakfast should be eaten based on hunger, not a schedule or belief that it must or must not happen. It’s flexible like that. The idea that our meals should be dictated by times regardless of

hunger is impractical and unhealthy.

Mom finishes the bacon just as Dad guiltily plates the pancakes. My brother and I sit down and dig in, not because we feel obligated to or because we’re afraid of not having enough energy for our soccer game later, but because we’re hungry. That’s when we eat.

art by Dzung Nguyen

Food in class offers A cleaner oval office for school no food for thought ben yelton

thomas white

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hen I walk into a classroom and get to my seat, it is not unusual that I need to clean food off the table.

I am also usually paranoid to put my backpack on the floor because I have had my bag soiled from food on the floor. Since then, I have never felt safe in rooms where food and drinks were allowed.

Once class starts, I hear people munching on snacks or eating whole meals, which is distracting for a person trying to learn.

Not only that, but I can sometimes smell the grease of the food, which makes me feel sick and want to throw up.

Given the various negative consequences it has, it is about time that the school bans food consumption during class or in classrooms.

While I have experienced different classroom policies on food and drinks, most classes I have taken allow students to eat in the rooms.

One thing that frustrates me about people eating food during class is that it becomes extremely distracting.

While someone eating quietly in the corner of the room may not disturb me, people often chomp on their food and slurp their drinks when they eat or drink. Someone eating in class usually prompts me to ask for some of their food or makes me hungry, which also disrupts me from learning.

The next problem, which is probably the worst for me, is that the stench of the food can pollute the classroom and make it an uncomfortable place to be in. The odor is particularly a massive issue because I cannot stand the smell of any kind of greasy food such as school lunch or fast food. The foul odor of food

often makes me want to vomit and can give me headaches.

The most appalling problem about eating food in classrooms is that it seems as if people in general do not know how to eat without creating a mess or how to clean up after themselves.

People dropping food is seen in various places across the whole school.

After lunch, there is typically a load of trash and remnants of food on the floor/benches in the hallways and commons.

Considering that RBHS is not a zoo, food should be disposed in proper places and not all over the floor and rooms.

The worst part of food being all over tables and floors is not that it makes me uncomfortable, but that I have to clean up the mess other people create.

When I walk into a class and see food or liquid on my table, it enrages and repulses me. I don’t feel safe to touch things around me.

In general, food and drinks in the classroom make learning and comfort a difficult thing because it can distract students in multiple ways. It is about time that teachers and administrators ban food during class, and at least make them clean it up, if they allow it.

Even if the school does not implement that, students must make an effort to eat quietly and cleanly. One simple step to avoid making a mess during class is to eat during lunch, and not during class time.

Another easy solution is to eat snacks and refreshments before and after class, during passing time.

Those simple changes would make school life a much more comfortable and pleasurable experience for students who are sensitive to a clean learning environment.

A

photo by Thomas White

photo by Thomas White

photo by Ben Yelton

photo by Ben Yelton

Cleaning Up: Freshman Grant Bentinganan washes his hands in the boys’ bathroom amidst the surrounding trash and waste.

s I walk into the room, I am immediately greeted with the aroma of human waste.

I continue my journey to the urinals and find there is a liquid on the ground, most likely urine.

I go into the stall in hope for a clean place to use the restroom but instead I find that someone forgot to flush. Welcome to the boys’ bathroom.

Boys’ bathrooms in this school are gross, and it is not the janitors’ fault.

There is urine on the tile. It smells, and water lies in puddles all over the sink area.

Sometimes I would rather not go to the bathroom than enter the washrooms in this school.

It is our fault. Boys, we need to step up our lavatory game.

Step one: leave your phone in your pocket. 75 percent of people use their cell phones while in the restroom, according to nymag.com.

As a result, as many as one in six people contaminate their phones with human waste while in a public restroom. The phone can wait, but your bladder cannot.

Step two: more effectively manage the paper towels.

They go in the trash can — not on the floor, not in this sink, not in the bathroom stall. I use one to two paper towels and then I throw them away.

Paper towels are bought for us by the school, so they should be used as conservatively as possible. I don’t believe I’m taking a bath in the sink, so I don’t need to use all the paper towels.

Step three: see your clean-

liness as a civic responsibility.

According to japan-talk.com, public restrooms in Japan are extremely advanced compared to American restrooms.

When you enter a public restroom in Japan, there is an information board on the wall, showing the different types of stalls and whether or not they are occupied.

There is complete privacy; every stall and urinal has a wall from the roof to the floor on all sides. They are also indisputably clean. If Japan can do it, we can too.

Step four: flush. When I go to the bathroom, whether it be in the urinal or stall, I flush whether it be with my hand or my foot. According to citylab.com, two thirds of Americans flush public toilets with their feet.

Even if I flush with my feet, at least I don’t leave the toilet there for someone else to flush.

It literally takes one second. I think it is gross when anyone doesn’t flush, and you’re the one responsible.

Step five: wash your hands.

It might seem silly, but according to WebMD, only 85 percent of Americans wash their hands after using the restroom.

I wash mine for about 30 seconds, which is about the time one should, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Your hands are one of the body parts that touch other people the most, so in theory you should try to make them as clean as possible.

We are in high school, not elementary, gentlemen. Leave the phone in the pocket, throw away the paper towels, flush, and wash your hands. Let’s make it easier for everyone and clean up after ourselves.

6

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indepths therock 5.12.16

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unior Sydni Heavin is in her Chemistry class, watching the clock tick.

Sitting in the same chair for an hour and a half is annoying, and she can feel herself losing focus.

The teacher releases the students for a five minute break.

Heavin comes back more alert and ready to learn than ever.

“I always find myself more involved and content in a class where we move around and take walking breaks,” Heavin said.

“It’s unbearably boring to sit still in a chair for a 90-minute class period.”

Studies show that giving students even a five minute break can greatly increase how excited they are to learn and how well they retain information. In a 2009 study from the University of Illinois, Dr. C. H. Hillman found that after taking a 20-minute-long break, students’ brain activity lit up like a Christmas tree. Breaks create more blood flow and provide more oxygen to the brain, two things pertinent to learning.

And while adding in more break time is certainly something that will continue to benefit learners in the years to come, there’s still more that can be changed at RBHS. “I feel as if everyone only has a certain amount of attention they can give to one task,” civics teacher Amanda Schirmer said.

“I would rather give my students five to seven minutes to go to the bathroom, text someone [or] just stand up, because I feel like that gives the rest of our class time richer learning.”

Hands-on activities at RBHS seem to be making a difference on some students’ learning. Freshman Kai Ford made it clear that they were a huge benefit to his learning. In his Civics class, they had just finished simulating how a bill gets passed in Congress and all the steps it has to go through.

“It’s easier to remember when I’ve done something rather than when I’ve read something,” Ford said. “As we better our education, we definitely need to be moving to more simulated, hands-on activities.”

As schools like RBHS consider classroom simulations, they have to take into account how technology will be affecting to-

day’s classrooms in 10-15 years, and how the cell phone policy might evolve.

“If I were to create a perfect [cell phone] policy, it would be that students should be trusted with their cell phones until they give you a reason not to,” Heavin said. “We’re constantly reminded that we’re young adults, so I believe we are mature enough that we know when we can glance down at our phones and send a quick text versus when we need to pay attention.”

In the future, the cell phone policy might become more lenient, and classwork traditionally completed on paper might move online. Just last year, education technology in the U.S. for pre-K through 12th-grade cost around $7.9 billion, according to a report by the Software and Information Industry Association.

This cost will only continue to rise, and the amount of technology in classrooms will increase vastly. Paper tests will be moved online. Paper homework will be forgotten and replaced with an online turn-in. But maybe this isn’t a leap in the right direction.

“I honestly prefer things on paper,” Ford said. “It’s been proven that writing things out helps comprehension. And there’s none of that online, it’s all ‘I’ve typed it in, I’m done now.’”

Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer, researchers at the University of California, did a study on college students. The study attempted to determine how well those who took notes on a mobile device retained information compared to those who took notes by hand. They found that both groups of students memorized about the same number of facts, but when it came to conceptual thinking, those who took notes on a mobile device did worse than those who took notes by hand.

When the time comes for changes to be made at RBHS, such as moving paper assignments online, device involvement within classrooms, and simulated activities, faculty should listen to the voice of the students and adapt in accordance to what they believe will be most beneficial for the school.

“Right now we’re pretty well off,” Ford said. “We just need to work with what we have. That’s what I believe Rock Bridge should do.”

Freshman Ca his homew rter Foust finishes ork in the media cen ter. “When I was in c ollege, we had to wa it in line to use the on computer, e ” media sp ecialist De nis Murph ny said. “No w studen can do wh ts atever the y need to when they d o need to do it. They are learning o n their tim e.”

Art by Julia Koldobskiy

B4 8 indepths

therock therock• •www.bearingnews.org www.bearingnews.org• •3.3.16 5.12.16

Performing arts inspire

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photo of the Emerald Regiment hangs in a thin, black frame on the wall just to the right of practice room D. The green uniforms are shown as black and white in the photographs, with a black sash lined with gold stitching hanging diagonally across the wearer’s torso.

Faces are blurred, but still show smiles and instruments held up proudly.

The photo is from 1977.

Just outside, in the main performing arts hallway, lies glass cases containing achievements of the choirs and show choirs past. Directly across the hallway are pictures of all the show choirs RBHS has obtained dating all the way back to 1988. The basics of RBHS history are known to most, but the details are a foreign language.

The marching band has been at RBHS for more than 36 years, but the history and origin of the name is an aspect known by few.

“The marching band was going to be called the “Marching Trolls,” band director Steve Mathews said.

“The uniform was green, and on the back there was a little bridge with a troll under it because trolls live under bridges.”

Although the “Marching Trolls” never had their reign as the RBHS marching band, director Phil Wood led what was the RBHS marching band until his term ended.

The Emerald Regiment made their 2010 debut after the name was suggested by Mathews. Before the marching band was created, the band without uniforms was called the “Marching Munchkins.”

“I’m honestly scared they would ever even suggest that name, both Marching Trolls and Munchkins,” senior Allie Rodgers, drum major of the 2015 Emerald Regiment said. “No one would take us seriously.”

Although new drum majors and students arrive each year, they have all been relatively the same, Mathews said. He describes the students he’s encountered in the band program during the six years he’s been teaching as always talented, but small in comparison to the band now, with the relatively new addition of freshmen.

“Freshmen have brought our band up for the better,” Mathews said. “Both in numbers and with more talent.”

Mathews, the third band director at RBHS, succeeded Rich Hadfield. Hadfield is a freelance percussionist and took part in the RBHS band program.

“RBHS’ facilities and faculty fostered my growth and encouraged experimentation in a crucial time of my development,” Hadfield said.

Hadfield felt relaxed during his time at RBHS, but also stimulated to work creatively. RBHS percussion also prepared him for his future at New York University (NYU). and his appearances in Saturday Night Live’s live band and the musical pit of several Broadway shows. Hadfield’s musical legacy inspires sophomore Reuel Braid.

“It’s pretty cool because when you think of Al Chez, Tom Garling and other successful musicians who we have had here as guest artists,” Braid said. “They started in towns our sizes and bands like ours,” Braid stood by as freshman Savannah Wittman squealed as she discovered Rob Benedict graduated from RBHS in 1989, and now he’s an actor in Los Angeles, California. Benedict plays Chuck Shurley in the wellknown CW television show Supernatural. He also hosted sketch comedy show “Die Laughing” of which well known actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis performed in. But before all this, Benedict was a RBHS student, who found his calling in his theater class, with teacher Jennifer Black Cone.

“Theater is a tough profession,” Black Cone said.

“But Rob understood it. He had the traits needed to make it in the industry.”

Black Cone said Benedict has always been very different. Both his mother and father were involved with other performing arts. He was always very busy both inside and outside of school.

“He was involved in so many things I felt like I had to fight for his attention,” Black Cone said. “Even with everything going on, he had the drive he needed to do it all.”

With RBHS’ production, The Night of the Living Dead, showing for three days with four shows and having rehearsal each night before, the theater program has not slowed down with the drilling of young actresses and actors. These students are trying to make it big, just as Rob Benedict has, sophomore Roz Eggener said.

“He makes me feel like I can do it,” she said. “He gives me the motivational push to keep going through the program even if I feel like stopping.”

Benedict isn’t the only RBHS student turned star. Justin and Melissa Bohon were also shown in light at RBHS during the reign of their father, Bob Bohon. He was the vocal instructor for nearly 30 years and worked to establish the performing arts program at RBHS. Justin and Melissa Bohon both went through the choir and show choir programs at RBHS, and both used that experience to guide their futures. Justin Bohon won the Astaire Award, an award for exceptional dancing in a Broadway production, in his starring of Oklahoma, while his sister Melissa Webel was the lead role in the National Tour of Wicked. Justin Bohon graduated RBHS in 1996, and Melissa in 1999. The Bohons are just two examples of the talent walking through RBHS halls and out the doors to a brighter future.

“They show how kids who have been to RBHS can make it far in the world due to the choir program,” freshman Adam Vincent said.

The father of Justin and Melissa Bohon, Bob Bohon was the vocal instructor for nearly 30 years and worked to establish the performing arts program at RBHS. Bohon was also the director when Dr. Jennifer Rukstad, the current principal, was in show choir.

With 18 students in 1993 and 20 in 1994, show choir has dramatically grown with every year. This year, there are more than 60 performers in City Lights and Satin n’ Lace combined. In show choir’s early days, there were no risers and no Performing Arts Center. They were built in 1993, Rukstad’s first year in show choir. Now there is a new set built for each new show in both Satin n’ Lace and City Lights along with two or more costume changes.

City Lights earned its name in 1993 after their show about traveling and cities. Their attire was green sequin dresses with black gloves for the girls and black pants with a green vest for the boys. These costumes remained for the years 1993-1995. Now, the Show Choirs have new clothing for each new show.

“We had boas,” Dr. Rukstad said. “My second year we took off jackets for our costume change.”

Not only were the costumes different and less elaborate than the current ones, the whole show choir name was different.

“Before that, we were just the RBHS Show choir,” Dr. Rukstad said. “City Lights just stuck, and 20 some odd years later it’s still here.”

Satin n’ Lace was created in 1995, a year after Dr. Rukstad graduated. Twelve years worth of students have graduated under the eye of current director of choirs Mike Pierson. Although Pierson notices students have grown in maturity and whole-mindedness, they have all been relatively the same but with a generation of personalities.

“In general, the performing arts programs look very similar to how they did,” Pierson said. “The only real change was the addition of freshmen.”

Mathews has also seen performing arts programs change and grow over his 30-plus years of teaching music. From Northern California to Missouri itself, Mathews has instructed thousands of students and taught a range of youth and high school concert bands, jazz bands and marching bands.

“Students are getting more serious and responsible, they’re taking more ownership of the program,” Mathews said. “That’s probably the biggest difference in the program.”

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Athletics continues dominance kennedy grieman

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irls basketball wins four state championships in four consecutive years — a record in Class 5.

Boys and girls basketball collectively have been district champions for 10 combined seasons.

Girls tennis are 10-time state champions in the 2015 season.

Welcome to the world of sports at RBHS. Each year students work to improve their skill and talent levels. Their coaches push them harder every day to achieve their goals.

Teams travel to state championships, compete for national titles and come out on top.

Past classes have set a high precedent with nearly 50 conference, district, state and national titles. Dr. Jennifer Rukstad recalls that the athletic program’s successes stemmed from the girls’ basketball state championship title in 2008.

“This title seemed to raise the level of expectation for our athletes,” Dr. Rukstad, who played basketball and softball at RBHS and graduated in 1994, said. “From that point, things changed and we started to see num-

bers of great athletes and many successful true, selfless teamwork is hard to beat.” teams.”

Senior Bruin Girl Megan Sherman has exIn the 2011-2012 school year RBHS re- perienced her most memorable year through ceived six state championship titles and was being on the team this season. named the 8th-ranked high school athletics “Competing with my teammates this last program in the counyear has been incredtry. ible,” Sherman said.

These successes “The times spent on “The times spent have not been cut the stage brought us so short. RBHS has won close and lots of memoon the stage five State Championbrought us so close ries were made.” ships just this year.

The traditional sucand lots of memoAlong with the cesses that come from physical successes of athletes and teams at ries were made.” trophies and awards, the school do not only RBHS has also cremegan sherman stem from talent and a ated victories. Former senior previous background RBHS Cheerleader with succeeding. Ultiand current Coach of mately, it depends on the Bruin Girls, Lyria Bartlett, recalls her the hard work and drive of the students and collection of fond memories being a team- their coaches that will carry them to a lifemate and an athlete. time of success.

“Experiences are meaningless without Boys’ soccer coach Scott Wittenborn bepeople to share them with. I love being a lieves that the RBHS tradition of performing part of a team, even if it is a tangential role,” as one unit is being carried on with his team.

Bartlett, who graduated in 1998, said. “Suc“We emphasize picking each other up cessful teams have to sacrifice a lot for each during rough times just as much as we celother and the pride and joy that comes with ebrate our successes together,” Wittenborn

said. “This translates into victories through a hard work ethic that our players can take with them.”

Through RBHS athletics, players have learned that many life lessons come along with the championships they achieve.

“As people grow up they will take the life lessons of teamwork and sacrifice with them, not the trophies,” Bartlett said.

Freshman volleyball player Emma Wilson has experienced similar feelings through her first season as an RBHS athlete.

“My team has become a family to me,” Wilson said. “They helped me learn that you can’t do everything on your own. You need the support of your teammates and coaches to work together to achieve success.”

Since its opening in 1973, athletes at RBHS have come together to set records not only in trophies and titles, but in the memories they have created through being a team.

“The key components that we used as a team — commitment, respect and a hard work ethic — made the time practicing and competing unforgettable,” Bartlett said.

“The experiences I’ve had with performing as a whole team were meaningful, memorable and critical to our success.”

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10 features

therock • www.bearingnews.org • 5.12.16

Submitting to pressure

art by Joanna Yu

stubborn and mean people. They’ll say, ‘You have to do this, and if you don’t, I’ll be disapeer pressure is like dominoes. One pointed.’”

Passive — or positive — peer pressure usudomino knocks into another, and the process continues until every domino ally comes from friends or family, where somehits the ground. It’s contagious, like a one suggests a person to do something that is cold infecting every student through the pass- beneficial to them. “[Positive peer pressure] is a good thing,” ing of dry coughs and snotty sneezes.

Remember those videos they showed in freshman Isabel Thoroughman said. “It could health class? The old ‘90s ones with the so- stress you out, having to do work or trying to so acting that tried to shine some light on peer get good grades on tests, but it’s good peer pressure and it’s something you should do anyway.” pressure or smoking?

Thoroughman has friends Those videos, in honors and advanced though helpful if one placement classes who work were pressured in a [To overcome peer and study every night. They school bathroom to pressure] you have talk about their habits often, smoke, aren’t as effective as they used to be. to have a positive which influences ThoroughThey’re missing two support system man to achieve more through her high school career. very important types of trusted friends She believes this type of of peer pressure — in[and] parents.” support system and positive direct and positive — which happen in real rachel reed peer pressure betters a perlife just as much as dicounselor son and their actions mainly because the tasks they’re berect and negative peer ing “pressured” to do are repressures do.

Freshman Erich Untershutz, a debate stu- warding in the end.

Guidance counselor Rachel Reed said infludent, knows the difference between the two.

“There are two categories of peer pres- ences from peers can have a positive or negasure: passive and aggressive,” Untershutz said. tive impact, depending on the situation.

“There are positive influences from your “Passive is more like ‘Hey, you should see this movie!’ It’s in a nice way, something my peers that you can label positive peer pressure,” friends would say. Aggressive is pressure from Reed said. “I’ve had students before who are

katie whaley

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trying to stop doing something negative like smoking, for example, and they have friends that are there to be an accountable group for them to make sure they stop that negative behavior. You can sort of label that positive peer pressure.”

Positive pressure influences teens as much as negative pressure does. People give in to hanging out with friends over studying just the same as kids listen to their parents and study instead of hanging out with friends. Its impact on a person is just as strong. “[Positive] peer pressure brings out my competitive side,” freshman Anusha Mishra said.

The other type of peer pressure that isn’t taught in health class is indirect peer pressure, or what “everyone does” without people specifically telling others to do it, too.

“To me, peer pressure isn’t direct,” Mishra said. “People don’t just walk up to you and say, ‘You have to do this.’ It’s more like you see someone wearing or doing something and you feel like you have to [do it too].”

High school creates the biggest “everyone’s doing it” lies of all places.

Because this stereotype reaches students who are a part of a small range of ages from similar backgrounds, it fabricates a perception that if so many people in one school are doing something, then everybody must also be doing it. “[Peer pressure to me is] mostly just when everyone else doing something and me being

the only one not doing it,” junior Tanya Ramadoss said. “I tend to feel left out and awkward if I’m not doing what everyone else is.”

The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Community conducted an experiment about the matter and found out 22 percent of 600 volunteers were swayed to pick one picture of an object over another based on how many “likes” the pictures had.

This proves indirect peer pressure influences decisions just like direct peer pressure. With these statistics, many question whether education on the warning signs of positive and indirect peer pressures in classrooms is enough. “[To overcome peer pressure] you have to have a positive support system of trusted friends, parents, counselors, teachers or coaches,” Reed said. “You have to have enough confidence in yourself, in your standards and your goals, so that you can realize that even though other people are choosing to do certain things or certain behaviors, you know that’s not what you want to choose to do.”

Mishra is someone who knows what she wants and doesn’t want in life.

She prides herself on being a strong-minded student whose opinions and beliefs come from her own mind and is too confident in them to change them.

“I don’t give into peer pressure,” Mishra said. “If it seems like I do, it’s because I actually like it, not because someone pressured me into it.”

Family ties works into franchise Restaurant mixes drama, compromise into business christina holt

J

unior Brenda Hernandez’s family owns a chain restaurant, La Tolteca. With locations set up in Jefferson City, Lebanon, and as of this year, Boonville, their family business is booming.

Despite fewer than one third of family businesses surviving the transition from first to second generation ownership, Brenda hopes to not be on the majority side of that statistic.

“Working in a family business is tough. Everyone wants to do what they think is right, which leads to arguments and drama,” Hernandez said. “Many times you’ll have a family member do something wrong or something that my dad doesn’t like and he’ll try to tell them that they need to fix whatever they did wrong.

The family member would get mad and leave.”

Disagreements occurring in family businesses are not uncommon. Ac-

cording to the Family Business Alliance, 36 percent of family businesses said their family quarreled about the performance of family members employed within the firm.

“Drama is big when working with family. There’s not a day that goes by that drama doesn’t exist,” Hernandez said. “Half of my family doesn’t even talk to each other because of family business and drama.”

Although there are many negative aspects to working in a family business, there are attributable benefits.

Research even shows that family businesses help society by promoting economic stability for the community.

According to A. Bakr Ibrahim and Willard Ellis’s book, “Family Businesses as an Economic Phenomenon,” approximately 90 percent of the businesses in the United States are family-owned and controlled.

“The benefits [of owning a family business] are that you can be your

own boss and get paid well,” Hernandez said. “If you need time off, you can take it and you don’t have to ask anybody. You make the rules.”

Freshman Alyvia Swearingen’s family owns the Bonkers Buttonwood Dr. location. She goes from school to Bonkers for work every day.

“It’s my first job, so it’s really convenient. It’s really nice because I’m always surrounded by my family and friends to guide me through [it.] It’s always a fun time,” Swearingen said.

“My dad guides me through what getting paid is like and getting scheduled, but also joking around and trying to scare each other at work.”

The identity of each family member is defined by his/her relationship (or lack thereof) with the family business.

Family issues, thus, place restraints on the businesses.

“I think our businesses are very successful, though there are some

photo by Evelyn Nuñez

Juggling tasks: Junior Brenda Herdandez, an employee at La Tolteca, waits tables at the Jefferson City location. She said her favorite part of working there is spending time with her family. days that are slow,” Hernandez said.

“No one comes in, but that’s every

business due to the weather [or] any activities going on in the city.”

573.875.0060

features

5.12.16 • www.bearingnews.org • therock

11

feature photo by Caylea Ray

Students struggle to manage time emily oba

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ime is many student athletes’ worst enemy when it comes to school. There is never enough time when it comes to finishing homework, studying for an upcoming test or sleeping.

According to a Harvard School of Public Health parent survey, 16 percent of parents said their children were stressed about the amount of homework given to them. Specifically with high school students’ parents, 24 percent said that homework was the leading cause of their children’s stress.

Sometimes finding time for schoolwork can be hard. Students who balance playing a sport and school have to use their time wisely if they want to be successful in both.

As a pole vaulter, part time gymnast and student in five advanced placement (AP) classes, junior Jordan Banker often finds herself swamped.

“This is always the most stressful time of the school year for me. I’m trying to juggle all my classwork, while going to offseason track practices every day after school and while making it to gymnastics practice a couple times a week,” Banker said. “I also have competitions most weekends, sometimes for gymnastics and sometimes for track. The other most stressful time is second semester finals because I’m trying to study for all my exams, and the most competitive part of track season is around the corner.”

The University of Phoenix College of Education issued a survey on how much time is spent on homework for high school students.

They found from the 1,000 teachers surveyed

that the average amount of homework given was three and a half hours per week. With RBHS students having at least five teachers, that could add up to 17 and a half hours of homework each week.

Freshman Emily Litton’s biggest worry is time. She has to travel to an indoor facility in Excelsior Springs, MO because it’s preseason.

After practice she has to endure another long car ride before she can eat, take a shower and finish homework.

“We get out of school so late and practice is after school, so sometimes there isn’t a lot of time for homework,” Litton said.

The stress that comes from this responsibility can take a toll. According to the American Physical Association, stress can lead to muscle tension and chronic stress. This can cause stress related disorders such as tension-type headaches, migraines and muscle tension in the neck and shoulders.

“School gives me stress when I have a large load of homework or projects to work on, as well as tests to study for,” junior Aliyah Blackburn said. “The most stressful time is always the constraint I have after track practice.”

According to the American Psychological Association, teens can reduce stress by exercising with some friends so that it is more of a fun activity rather than work.

Teens should try to get more sleep at night, avoid looking at electronic screens in the evenings, refrain from drinking caffeinated beverages at night and avoid stimulating activities right before bedtime. They also need to realize that school is not everything and do something that makes them happy, like music, drawing or writing.

Lastly, teens should talk to a trusted adult,

parent or teacher so that they can help figure win the game is so strong.

People’s love of sports keeps them from out more ways to cope with the stress, the APA quitting and the necessity of school forces stusaid.

“A little stress is a good thing. It can mo- dents to handle the responsibility.

“School stresses me more than sports,” tivate students to be organized, but too much stress can backfire,” clinical psychologist Mary Banker said. “I think it’s because I value school Alvord said. “Just basic time management will over sports. I feel like my education is more important to my future.” help reduce the stress.”

When the most important time of the school Learning how to spend time efficiently is different for each person, but Blackburn be- year collides with an important time in sports, it can put even more stress on students. lieves that skill is the key to her success.

“Last year we had a big week of baseball, “Time management is how I manage to do both sports and school,” Blackburn said. “It and I had finals to study for which was stressful,” sophmore varsity doesn’t leave me a lot baseball player Brant Scrivof free time, but the few ner said. “I had to go to hours I have after pracpractice and deal with finals tice, and in AUT, I deat the same time.” vote to homework.”

To deal with all of the Although playing a activities in her life, Banker sport entices many and is said she tries to plan ahead. used for fun or to relieve “You can’t be doing your stress, students always homework and practicing a seem to get stressed from sport at the exact same time, the thing they love. so you have to manage your A report from the time well. I get ahead on as American Academy of much homework as I can Orthopedic Surgeons during the weekends, so I said that teenagers feel have minimal work during pressured to play their the week,” Banker said. “I high school sport, realso try to plan when I do gardless of pain or injury. homework. For instance, I Teenagers see backing know that I have two workout of a game because of outs every Wednesday and an injury as being weak, that I’ll be super tired afterand that is not an option wards, so I try to get most for them. The pressures of my stuff done Tuesbefore a game can lead infographic by Kennedy Grieman; source: day and leave the rest for to loss of sleep or anxi- State University of New York college of EnviWednesday night.” ety because the desire to ronmental Science and Forestry

Trying to fit in jaydn hollis

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Ghosting ends relationships that lose their integrity, spirit ben yelton

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n Nov. 2015, freshman Daniel Favela’s relationship with his girlfriend was as happy as it could be. They hung out every day, holding hands in the hallway and going to just about every social event together. Then, about a month later in December, their relationship started to deteriorate.

Their texting and calls started to slow down, and their communication was at a bare minimum.

“It eventually just got to the point where I didn’t talk with her,” Favela said. “She didn’t talk with me, and it was over like that.”

According to the New York Times and Psychology Today, Favela’s relationship ended by ghosting. Ghosting is defined as when a friend or partner disappears without any explanation at all: no more texts, calls or any form of communication.

In Oct. 2012, YouGov/Huffington Post ran a poll about ghosting based on 1,000 American adults. They concluded that more than 10 percent of those American adults had “ghosted” someone. Nowadays there is basically unlimited communication, and dating is more online than ever.

“With the technology we have now,” freshman Erica Mingus said, “most people honestly talk more on their phones than they do in person.”

When Mingus’s boyfriend moved to a different state, their relationship started to go downhill. Their communication was slowing down to a halt, ending three months after he moved.

“I was, unfortunately, afraid of how [he] would react,” Mingus said. “So I just kind of slowly faded out.”

According to Vogue.com, ghosting can happen at any stage in the relationship, but sometimes it doesn’t work.

Some people would rather assume that their partner is in a coma or dead than accept the fact that they are being ignored.

Some see ghosting as a polite way to end a relationship while others see it as a rude action. RBHS counselor Dr. Jordan Alexander thinks ghosting is not a healthy way to end a relationship, especially when exes see each other often.

“The standard that I would offer is this: If you had a face-to-face relationship with someone, friendship or romantic, would you be comfortable walking right past that person and acting as if they did not exist? If the answer is ‘no,’ then ghosting is not appropriate for an electronic relationship,” Alexander said. “For me, the decision stems from two factors: one, what is the nature and quality of the relationship? And two, how comfortable is the person with direct communication?”

For number one, Alexander said that if the person believes that an electronic relationship is somehow less ‘real’ or the person is less emotionally invested in it, then ghosting might seem acceptable. The person might be more inclined to ghost if they are uncomfortable with direct communication.

Favela also believes that ghosting is not the ideal way to end a relationship.

“I think [ghosting] will change the way I think about communicating with my partner in the future, but I don’t want it to have to come to that again,” Favela said. “Although less communication is less work, I think it is easier for everyone if you just be straight up with your partner.”

hen freshman Ali Rachell moved from a school of only 313 students in Jefferson City to RBHS, a school of nearly 2,000, without knowing anybody, she was terrified. In Jefferson City, Rachell knew who everybody was and had all her friends whom she had grown up with. Moving to RBHS without knowing one person, she was nervous about not finding friends and not being able to find a group she connected with. At her old school she didn’t have to try to be friends with anyone.

“I was so nervous,” Rachell said.

“It was big, really big, and I didn’t know anyone.”

Dan Mcfarland, a professor of education at Standford Graduate School of Education, reports that the school size and opportunities ultimately affects the cliques in high school. High schools that have more electives and more variety of classes to choose from are more likely to be rank ordered, cliquish and segregated by race, age, gender and social status, he said.

“Schools that offer students more choices and more ways to complete requirements often means that there is a bigger range of potential friends,” McFarland said.

When Rachell came to RBHS not knowing anyone, she tried to find a group of friends.

“I didn’t want to have zero friends,” Rachell said, “so I tried to fit in with this group of people that had been in a few of my classes.”

At her old school, Rachell only noticed four stereotypical cliques compared to RBHS, which has infinite cliques because of its size.

“Children who tend to dress, act or otherwise express themselves in similar ways gravitate to each other,” P.C. Broderick P. Blewitt, an author with Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall publishing company, said. “Together, they form a type of social group that provides some identity to its own members and a basis of comparison to, and for, others. A group’s identity is based on

shared activities, values, clothes and behaviors,” After Rachell had been at RBHS for a few months, she began to finally bond with the group of people she had classes with and feel comfortable in her surroundings. They all had the same interests and wanted the same things as her. She said she fit in perfectly.

“Thinking back to my first day, I’m honestly so happy I put myself out there to my friends that I have now,” Rachell said. “I don’t think I would fit in with any other clique.”

Katharine Mehle, a freshman who had spent her previous school years at a Catholic school, can relate to Rachell. Mehle was starting at RBHS all alone because most of her friends went to Tolton Catholic High School. As anyone could imagine, she was beyond scared.

“It’s the most awkward feeling walking around so many people at your school and not knowing anyone,” Mehle said.

Mehle was determined not to be the quiet, shy girl in her classes anymore. She had been dancing ever since she could remember, so she decided to try out for Bruin Girls, the school dance team. She ended up making the team and having a lot in common with the fellow dancers who had also made it.

“I had never been so happy to finally find people, not only in my grade but also older grades,” Mehle said. “Being able to have older friends in school is really helpful to prepare you for high school.”

Rachell and Mehle had similar problems, both moving to a whole new, not to mention big, school without knowing anyone.

Luckily, RBHS is filled with endless opportunities and courses to take that the girls were able to find their own group of people that got along well and had the same interests.

“I remember how I felt since it really wasn’t that long ago and going into my sophomore year, I wouldn’t want any of the new freshman to feel like I did,” Rachell said.

“I think everybody should have their own group of friends they fit into.”

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arts & entertainment

5.12.16 • www.bearingnews.org • therock

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Theatrical showcase debuts finale jaydn hollis

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cenes ranging from arguing about Shakespeare to making it big in New York are at the core of the Theatrical Showcase, which ran last weekend.

Mike Pierson, director and Musical Theater instructor, says he and his co-director Holly Kerns, Advanced Acting teacher, develop a process for choosing an over-arching theme for the whole performance and then look at different scenes that will fit with the theme but also will work with the actors’ skill sets. The cast has put together nine different scenes from a variety of musicals, combined to follow one main theme.

This year’s theme was “Show Business.”

“We, as a staff, have worked hard to find the scripts and music to put this together,” Pierson said. “Each student is taking ownership of their many roles they are playing.”

Freshman Dani Barnes took Musical Theater this year. She appeared in three scenes and loved being able to play different characters. Barnes wanted the audience to be able to get a grasp of what the showcase was like.

“It’s really cool to show the audience how hard theater really is and to get to show them kind of a behind the scenes almost but also be doing the show at the same time,” Barnes said.

Barnes couldn’t be more thankful to have developed incredible friendships in theater who she can be serious with when needed, but also are able to goof off.

“In one scene, we have to do a British accent, which is just hilarious, and we all die laughing because we can never get it right.” Barnes said, “[I] seriously can’t even tell you how many new friends I’ve made and how many people I’ve gotten so close to because of how much time we’ve spent on this showcase. It’s crazy but fun.”

Junior Grace Jonas was also excited to perform this as the last show of the year.

Jonas, who played in “God, I Hate Shakespeare” from Something Rotten, thinks this was a great opportunity.

“You get to be so many different characters because there isn’t the same few characters,” Jonas said. “So you really get to grow as an actress and singer because each song you’re a different person, and it’s challenging. This is really a great last bonding time with the seniors before they go. Out of all the plays throughout this year, this is the first showcase. What a better way to end the year with something new?”

Junior Sarah Merrifield thinks the theater department ended the year perfectly.

“This is what everyone’s been working for all year throughout these classes,” Merrifield, who played in a scene apart from all of the chorus numbers with four other people called

“Opening Doors” from Merrily We Roll Along, said. “So it’s a culmination of how everyone has grown in the class.”

Merrifield has realized that having this showcase is a great resource for the freshmen to experience to prepare them for their future. She thinks the advanced acting class and seniors in both are able to help and mentor the young and aspiring actors in musical theater for in the future. Being able to have different experiences of acting in Merrifield’s life has helped her grow not only as an actress, but as a person as well.

“The guidance of the directors and choreographers that we work with have helped me immensely,” Merrifield said.

Pierson agrees, as he thinks the students are able to develop a wide range of characters that they can utilize in the future. Having never

played multiple roles in completely different scenes was challenging for Merrifield, but she was able to get through it with help from her peers.

All different levels of acting and ages get to come together and work on what they share a passion for.

“Everything goes a lot smoother because, I mean, these are classes that you’ve had all year working together and getting close,” Barnes said. “We know how to help each other and build each other up since we’ve watched each other all year long and we know how to support one another as a group to make a great show, and I think having that background of being together will help a lot for making the show smoother to show an audience and just making it really have that group feeling that theater is all about.”

Acts of the Theatrical Showcase “Another Opening, Another Show” “God, I Hate Shakespeare”

“The Song that goes like this”

“I Wanna Be a Producer”

“That’s Entertainment” “I Hope I Get It” “Opening Doors”

“Gotta Get a Gimmick” infographic by Elad Gov-Ari

photo by Julia Koldobskiy

photo by Julia Koldobskiy

photo by Alyssa Gibler

photo by Ty Jamieson

Dancing it up: Freshman Anna Ostempowski, sophmore Andrea Baker, and junior Grace Jonas perform “I Hope I Get It.” Proud of their performance, Baker boasts their success.

“We had great responses from the audience and I think it was a great show, but that was thanks to the entire cast and amazing directors and choreographer,” Baker said, “Everyone did fantastic.”

Top: Senior Gabrielle Jones, sophomore Erin Kravchick and senior Riley Martin debut their act, “Gotta Get a Gimmick.”

Bottom: Senior Sean Garfias and sophomore Andrea Baker open their hearts to each other in their theatrical opening performance of “The Song That Goes Like This.”

Acting it out: Senior Kyle Shearrer and junior Cole Walker talk it out during their scene of “That’s Entertainment.” Preparing for theatrical showcase can take up a lot of free time and wear the actor out. “It is always a challenge when you combine two classes of work together in only a couple days of practice. The beginning of it was rough but everyone quickly sorted things out. In the end we [finished] out on a performance that I was very proud of.” Shearrer said.

Students perform at local venue siena juhlin

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efore every performance, the low rumble of voices fills the dark, crowded room.

The audience listens to the muffled taps on the microphone and the tuning of the instruments while they anticipate the first chord.

Senior Mickey Jamieson remembers a recent performance at The Bridge. At midnight, he said a “decent sized crowd” waited for his band, Chickawa, to step on stage.

“The smokey, early morning bar vibe actually made for a pretty cool show,” Jamieson said.

The Bridge, located in downtown Columbia, does have a small bar in the corner, but, more importantly to RBHS students, there is

a stage in the back. Minors are allowed to watch the shows as long as they pay an entrance fee and have their hand stamped so that they can’t receive liquor.

“It’s always interesting to see who shows up,” Jamieson said.

“While we all do have friends that support the group, late shows like that usually draw in people from the bar crowd.”

Jamieson’s band is not the only set of RBHS students to perform in that venue. In June of 2015, two current freshmen, Kylie Williams and Chandler Schramm, got ready to open for the band, 9th and Elm, at The Bridge. The room went quiet and all attention was directed towards the stage.

“I was really nervous before, but that’s normal,” Schramm said.

“A lot of people came and watched us and recorded and took pictures.

It made me so happy to know people cared.”

They showcased the songs “Say Something,” “Battlefield” and other originals in their act.

Mostly close acquaintances attended and supported Williams and Schramm, which left them ecstatic.

“Many of my friends and family came, and it meant so much to me to see that they would go out of their way to come support me,” Williams said. “It was such a fun experience.”

Schramm and Williams are only two of the many freshmen to showcase their talents at The Bridge. The Blue Hearts Club is a small local band that just recently performed at The Bridge. The band

consists of RBHS freshmen, Bradley Snyder, Hallam George, Wolf Schaefer, Seth Hodder, Eli Marshall and Hickman High School freshman Luca Morpurgo. The band performed a 30-minute gig, which received great reviews and praise.

“Overall it was a good night, and we had a blast,” Snyder said.

The Blue Hearts Club had an exciting night with lots of love.

“The support we got from family and friends was awesome and motivated us to perform better,” Schaefer said.

But, the Blue Hearts Club didn’t just perform for the fun of it.

“We performed at The Bridge because we want to get ourselves out there, and personally because playing gives me a rush,” George

said. “Lots of effort was put into this gig, and we loved being there.”

Jamieson said his neo-soul band, Chickawa, knows the time and energy that has to come before a performance.

“This particular time, we had been booked for the headlining act of a three band show,” Jamieson said. “By the time we went on it was about midnight, and there was a decent sized crowd.”

The Bridge is a place where a diverse group of people come together and share a love for one thing: music.

“I really appreciate everyone who cares about our band and the local music scene in Columbia, especially young musicians,” George said. “We are all truly grateful for the support.”

14 sports

therock • www.bearingnews.org • 5.12.16

Freshmen to lead varsity in districts abby still

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photo by Levi Smith

Causing a racquet: Freshman Zach Grueber focuses on the ball during practice in preparation for districts. Grueber is one of the four freshmen on varsity representing the RBHS boys’ tennis team this season.

hen it comes to playing in important sporting events, nerves run high and adrenaline courses through the athlete’s body.

Regular season games typically aren’t as high-stakes; however, nerves aren’t as prevalent, and the excitement and anticipation for the game isn’t as high.

“District matches are more about finding your game and improving it for the offseason,” freshman boys’ tennis player Zach Grueber said. “You need to prepare so you can compete as well as possible.”

This attitude has taken the team a long way. With the team winning districts from years 19992015, it has a dynasty to uphold.

This week marks the beginning of the team’s post season games.

Even though they have been successful in post season matches in the past, they have to live in the moment, and find the perfect balance between being too cocky, yet positive in their play.

“There is a fine line between being confident and arrogant,” coach Ben Loeb said. “Our sport is more individualistic, like golf and wrestling, so it really depends

on the individual. I try to get them Loeb said. “Some of them live in to focus on maximizing what they the moment, and others prepare are capable of doing. If you are for the upcoming moment. If the a comparer, you can fall into the opponent is a real challenge, then arrogant trap more easily. If you the attitude will probably reflect a are a maximizer you are a striver.” more refined focus.”

Having a mainly freshmen team With the goal being to finish first in state, the Bruins have to has its ups and downs. There’s amp-up their practice regiment inexperience in the players who haven’t played and put their in these higheyes on the stakes tournaprize when it ments, but the comes to this We have a young potential of time in the seagroup. Some of having a young son.

“We realize them live in the mo- varsity team is promising for that districts ment, and others the organizaand state are prepare for the uption’s future. big tournacoming moment.”

The reguments,” freshben loeb lar season has man varsity tenhead coach treated the team nis player Jake well, with a Fraunfelder said. “Our practices are more winning record of 20-1. Now, the intense, and we are working on challenge is going to be transfercertain skills to further better our ring all of that good play into the post season. The focus of the new tennis game.”

The Bruins’ have had a tremen- and returning players has to gel dous season, starting off the year together to make sure they secure with playing four games at the the state win.

“Our mentality going into state Deco Turf National Tournament against some of the hardest teams is to work our hardest and give in the nation and only losing once. our best in every match we play,” There’s no doubt that the Bru- Grueber said. “We have high stanins have one powerful team. Four dards for state and we do expect out of the six varsity players are to win, but we still accept that it won’t be easy and that we will freshmen.

“We have a young group,” have to work hard to win.”

Golf swings for state

infographic by Andrew Whitaker and Cassi Viox

Boys hope to grab title after mid-season losses katie whaley

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he boy’s golf team placed second in sectionals Monday and will compete at state next week on May 16.

Losing by only six strokes to Glendale High School in districts, the team aimed to perform better in sectionals, which they won last year. A week later, the team evened out with a combined score of 315. Only seven strokes higher than they performed in districts, the team found a way to squeak into the top two teams and earn them-

selves a ticket to state.

For both districts and sectionals, the team was seeded at number one and expected to take home the gold. In a Cinderella fashion, however, Glendale High School pushed ahead and took the titles. The dispiriting finish did not startle head coach Doug Daniels; rather, he sees it as a good stepping stone back to the state tournament.

“Even though we are disappointed by a second place finish, we are excited to be moving on to the next round,” Daniels said. “Things are all even again.”

And so they are.

In districts, senior Stephen Sowers, sophomore Hudson Dubinski and freshman Ross Steelman all placed in the top eight with scores below 80.

Sophomore Sam Rentschler and junior Ben Knoesel were not far behind, helping round out the varsity squad. As for sectionals, the team carried their heads high and fought like true Bruins, as Sowers, Dubinski and Steelman were below 80 again. Rentschler and Knoesel were even closer to breaking.

After winning state last year by 18 shots, the team is working

to go back and win again.

Coming off an 8-1 winning season and training at golf course L.A. Nickels every day after school, the boys had their eyes set on the prize all year.

Steelman, who finished last week’s tournament as district champion, is filled with excitement for state and has a plan to keep climbing.

“I won individually, played pretty well [and didn’t make] any totally stupid mistakes,” Steelman said. “[We] didn’t photo by Levi Smith do so well as we wanted as a team, but we made it to the next On the green: Junior Ben Knoesel lines up a tee shot during practice as he prepares for his round.” team’s trip back to sectionals and a trip to state.

sports

5.12.16 • www.bearingnews.org • therock

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Bruins seek fifth straight district title andrew whitaker

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nder the direction of Head Coach Justin Towe, the Bruin baseball team has experienced success in recent years, winning four consecutive district titles and seeking their fifth in 2016.

A fifth consecutive victory, however, will not be an easy task.

The Bruins, who play in Class 5, District 9, are stuck in perhaps the most competitive district in the state.

In the most recent rankings released by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association (MHSBCA), three teams in District 9 were in the top 10, including the Bruins, who boasted a secondplace ranking.

The competitive nature of the district has been a result of an equally competitive regular season.

The Bruins were 8-2 in the first 10 games, which featured five games in the competitive Rawlings Select Classic.

Despite winning their next eight games, RBHS was hit with adversity as senior shortstop Curtis Holliday went down with an injury. As a result, underclassmen such as junior Jordan Smith and sophomore Trevor Twehous were forced to fill into larger roles.

The Bruins hit a rough patch in the season following the winning streak. Losing three of four games, including a defeated district rival, the Smith-Cotton Tigers, the Bruins were 17-5 on the season.

Eleven days later, however, the

Tigers would lose to the Jefferson City Jays, 7-1. The Bruins would then defeat the Jays, 6-3, on senior night as the game ended on a double play started by Twehous. RBHS then blew out Hickman, 11-0, the following day. As a result of the two impressive victories, the Bruins had locked up the first seed.

“It’s always fun playing a crosstown rival,” senior Brandon Goins, the starting pitcher in the game against Hickman, said. “That night just felt good knowing it was my last chance to throw against them, but it was even better to . . . shut them out.”

On top of the district victories, RBHS’ regular season campaign featured two wins against Francis Howell and wins against Blue Springs and Christian Brothers

College (CBC). Riding a 25-7 record into district play, the Bruins endured a difficult final stretch to achieve not just the top-seed in the district but also the claim of being the second best team in the state.

“It’s good to get down to the last two weeks of the season and play two of the top teams in our district,” Towe said about the season.

“We have one of, if not the toughest schedules in the state and [it was difficult] having to play Staley and Blue Springs in one of our last weekend series, plus the two district worthy games the following week.”

With the top seed, the Bruins receive a first-round bye and will play the winner of fourth-seeded Hickman (18-9) and fifth-seeded Camdenton (8-16). Third-seeded

Senior Avery Jennings stares down the pitcher during his at-bat in the Bruin’s game against Smith-Cotton. The Bruins fell 7-5.

Don’t miss Girls’ soccer districts: Who? RBHS v. Jeff City When?

May 17 Where?

Rock Bridge Field Why should you come?

Support the Bruins to help them get their first district win since 2012.

Smith-Cotton (23-4), ranked eighth in the state, plays last-seeded Battle (13-10). Jefferson City (21-6), ranked fifth in the state, also receives a bye in the first round.

“This year we really had to work for that number one seed,” senior Taten Lyngstad said. “Our district is not easy this year, and the tournament will definitely be a difficult challenge.”

Despite the competitive district tournament that awaits the team, the Bruins look to carry the momentum from a successful season into the tournament.

“We have played well and as a team all season, and that has allowed us to reach our goals,” Smith said. “Hopefully, we will be able to continue our success during the postseason.” photo by Ann Fitzmaurice

Track athletes continue to prepare for district meet ji-sung lee

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hile some athletes complain of shin splints, soreness and the daily trips to the training room for ice baths, the top runners of RBHS are beginning to peak. With personal records set weekly and seconds shaved off of each lap, the top athletes are just starting to see the results from a season’s worth of training.

In fewer than three weeks, the best of the Bruins will be tying their spikes for the Class 5, District 6 meet held in Russellville, Missouri on Saturday.

“Even though we have one of the most difficult districts in Missouri, I’m confident our boys and girls will both be in the top three,” junior distance runner Aliyah Blackburn said.

“Districts, especially in our specific district, has some of the best runners in Missouri, so it’s already a pretty tough meet. Not only that, but there’s the thought of your season ending if you don’t move on to sectionals.”

With the smallest of factors potentially affecting the spot to sectionals, athletes can’t help but be nervous when they know they could be competing for the last time.

“It’s sad because your career is almost over but also exciting because you’ve been training for the entire season or for several years at this mo-

ment,” senior distance runner Quinn Miller said. “It’s also pretty nerveracking just because you want to do your absolute best so that you can move on to the next round and end on a positive note.”

Beyond performing well as individuals, RBHS athletes know each point counts for the team competition.

“Overall, we are always looking to win the district meet. The landscape of Missouri track and field has really changed over the last few years with the addition of five classes,” jumps coach Patrick Sasser said. “From top to bottom, we have someone capable to get out of districts in every event. As a coaching staff, we are excited to see the way things shake out with different relays and individuals.”

After every event, standings are determined by tallying each school’s points. The top eight athletes in each event receive points. The winner of the event gets 10 points; from there, the athletes receive eight, six, five, four, three, two or one point depending on how they finish. Ultimately, at the end of the meet, the team with the highest score wins or is the district champion.

“Districts is a meet that you have to do well to move on. That makes it seem more stressful, but I try to remember to do my best like I would do at any other meet,” junior distance runner Rebecca

photo by Siena Juhlin

Push it: Junior thrower Ben Lopez begins his load before throwing a shot put at practice in preparation for the track’s district tournament.

Rubinstein said. “Many of our relay teams have broken school records this year, and we also have a number of vaulters, jumpers, hurdlers and runners, who can all score points.”

As the date approaches, the nerves and excitement settle in. Senior Faramola Shonekan, however, knows the drill.

“I feel more prepared this year because every year I get wiser when it comes to postseason and the particular races that I run,” Shonekan, a mid-distance runner, said. “We’ve done consistently well so far, and I don’t think our performance will be any different.

We have to stay calm and not get too overwhelmed with the upcoming pressure and competition.”

While Shonekan represents leadership to the team, some underclassmen will get their first taste of competition

for a district title.

“It’s a little unlikely that I’ll qualify for districts this season, but the possibility of being a part of the team that RBHS always sends to districts is exciting in itself,” freshman vaulter Emily Litton said. “As a freshman, I’ve never been to a high school district meet, but I know we have some people on our team that could definitely advance to the next level of competition.”

Ultimately, it comes down to preparation. Districts represents an accumulation of hard work and dedication throughout the entirety of the season.

“The work’s been done. The biggest thing going into postseason is making sure they’re in a good place mentally,” sprint coach Lauren Flaker said. “That’s half the battle in track making sure you’re mentally in the race.”

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16 features

therock • www.bearingnews.org • 5.12.16

Summer is here photos by Cassi Viox

Start

MAY 20 MAY 28 MAY 30 Billy Currington w/ Kelsea Ballernini West Broadway Memorial Day Run for the Veterans The Blue Note Swim Club Opens Flat Branch Park $30 in advance or $35 day of show $300-membership $25 for 5k WED, THURS, SAT Farmers Market JUNE 4-5 Art in the Park 1200 East Broadway Free

JULY 28-31 Dog Days Sidewalk Sale Downtown

JULY 4 Fire in the Sky Flat Branch Park 6:30 PM- activities 9:15-fireworks

JUNE 22-24 Show Me State Games Rock Quarry Center

JUNE 17 Finding Dory Premiere Forum 8 and Hollywood

JUNE 6 Ampitheater Concert Series Stephens Lake Park Free

infographic by Joy Park

$15 per person

AUGUST 20 Kaleidospoke Glow Bike Ride Flat Branch Park

AUGUST 17 Family Fun Fest Cosmo Park Free

AUGUST 12 Movies in the Park: Inside Out Cosmo Park Free

AUGUST 9-14 Boone County Fair Fairgrounds $5-6 per ticket

infographic by Joy Park

When lemonade stands just don’t cut it anymore margaret pingelton

A

lthough freshman Kai Ford has done yard work for neighbors and helped out around the house, he hasn’t yet had a job. Ford is anxious to get his first work experience over the summer and has already applied at Holiday Inn as a banquet server.

He is also considering applying at Andy’s Frozen Custard as a store associate and is now waiting for a response.

“I’m very excited to start bringing in my own source of income and take the first steps towards independence,” Ford said.

Ford, like many other teens, is looking for a summer job. Although summer is a great time to relax and take a break after months of tests and schoolwork, not all plan on having complete leisure throughout their summer. According to Junior Achievement USA, two-thirds of teens ages 14 to 18 plan on getting summer jobs, which are a great way to earn extra money, learn skills and gain experience.

Though getting a job may at first seem daunting, it is well worth it.

“I’m glad to have a summer job as a lifeguard because it’s nice to have something to do over the summer,” sophomore Jillian Vessell, a worker at Ashland Optimist Pool, said. “Also, having money to do stuff with and to save for things like college are a big bonus for me.”

There are many benefits of holding a job, but first, people have to find ideas of where to apply. Some jobs, such as being a lifeguard or working at a summer camp, are seasonal while others are available year-round. Non-seasonal jobs would al-

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low for working part-time throughout the school year. Internships are also recommended, according to Forbes, and can help get experience and a way into the company. Sometimes teens have to take the leap and ask around for jobs, but other times the people they already know can provide help.

“My step-dad owns a pool so that was my first idea of where to work,” Vessell said. “It helps to contact people you know if you think they can help.”

After brainstorming ideas, it’s time to send in a resumé along with the application. Typically, employers need a resume so they can see who would be best for the job. But if someone doesn’t have any work experience, that could be okay, too.

According to Livecareer.com, it’s best to include leadership roles, awards or skills, besides just past job experience.

Those looking for jobs should show off all of their abilities and why they’re the best candidate.

“Complete the application, meaning do not leave blank spaces. Make sure to complete employer name, supervisor name, dates of employment and reason for leaving or wanting to leave,” Mark Nistendirk, Hiring Coordinator at MBS Textbook Exchange, said. “This information is being reviewed, and you are using it to sell yourself to a potential employer.

Leaving areas blank gives the reviewer the impression that the applicant is not taking the process seriously. Complete the comments or notes section to give the reviewer more information.”

After sending in a resumé, employers will either ask for an interview or choose someone else. It’s a good sign to receive

AUGUST 28 Cattleman Days Rodeo $13 per ticket

photo by Yousuf El-Jayyousi

Slicin’ up freshness: Junior Gretchen Cone starts her early morning shift at B&B Bagel Company, a job she has worked since July, and plans on continuing throughout this summer. a call or email to schedule an interview.

When corresponding to plan a time and date, make sure to be professional and polite and keep in mind there are most likely others in the same position, so saying something rude or unacceptable is not a good idea. According to The Guardian, it can help to practice rehearsing questions in advance and to research the company.

“I was very anxious before the interview,” sophomore Devon Garcia, who applied and got a job at Hyvee, said. “But during [the interview], I was relaxed.”

For the interview, employers typically desire applicants dressed in a professional way that will reflect the business. Applicants should be honest with each answer and show their personality without making themselves look bad. It may be stressful, but keep in mind that the employer

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has been in the same situation at some point.

Not getting the desired job isn’t the end of the world. If multiple people apply for the same job, it makes sense that most will get rejected, according to The Muse. It isn’t a reflection of who they are as an individual and there are always other chances. It’s nothing to get too worried about to not have a summer job, especially in high school when many students don’t.

“I feel like people with a positive outlook and a ‘can do’ attitude can be taught any skill they may need, but it is very hard to change a bad attitude,” Lori Mann, Chief Nursing Officer of Rusk Rehabilitation, said. “People who step up and make a difference are extremely important.”

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