Anna Danciger | Harbinger Online

“Life is such a little tease, I mean none of us really get what she’s playing at. We try to personify her, put her into like terms, measure this and that and see if it adds up to life.”

Dubois flutters her eyelashes and shakes her head. Her voice rolls up and down smoothly, growing in intensity as her first stanza comes to an end. She looks up when she pauses, trying to connect with the judges and the audience. Over two hundred attentive parents and students fill the atrium at Horizons High School, listening and watching Dubois’s performance.

Prior to the District Slam on Sunday, May 6, Dubois got the chance to perform her own poem in front of a smaller crowd at the East Poetry Slam the previous Thursday. Dubois was one of five students who competed in the third annual East Slam. About 25 students attended the East Slam in the library, hosted by librarian Kathi Knop and English teacher Laura Beachy.

The East Slam was smaller than in past years; only five students competed compared to the 20 poets from last year.

“I think the timing was crazy and it’s just a busy time of year,” Beachy said. “Another problem was we were going to do it during seminar and then we switched that to after school.”

The five students that did compete in the East Slam are senior Elizabeth Mergen, sophomores Georgia Dubois, Hannah Swanson and Christopher Rodriguez, and freshman Cheyanna Atwell. A judge panel consisting of Beachy, Knop, English teacher Spring Gehring-Lowery and three students selected four students to move on to the District Slam: Mergen, Dubois, Swanson and Rodriguez.

The small numbers were encouraging to Mergen, who was competing in the East Slam for her second year.

“I try to stay as open minded as possible but there were only five people and four go on to districts so I was really hoping I would make it,” Mergen said.

At districts, the four East representatives ran into stiff competition from the other district high schools. None of the East poets continued on to the second round of the District Slam. In comparison, last year four East poets, graduate Chris Melvin, seniors Wil Kenney and Andrew Beasley and Mergen made it to the second round at Districts.

Kenney and Beasley were unable to participate in the East Slam this year due to International Baccalaureate testing. Beachy believes that the combination of a small turnout at the East Slam and different judges led to no East students qualifying for the second round at Districts.

“The judges are always really really different from year to year,” Beachy said. “They may be looking for different things, different things may move them so who’s to say.”

The Common Core was created by the U.S. Board of Education in an effort to create voluntary national standards in math and reading.

Teachers in Kansas have been attending meetings about the Common Core curriculum. For English teachers across the nation including Shawnee Mission East’s Laura Beachy, this means that their class curriculum will include less novels and have a bigger focus on nonfiction and rhetoric material.

“The big issue that a lot of teachers have with it is that the tests for the Common Core aren’t written yet,” Beachy said. “So if they aren’t written yet, then how can we teach it?”

Next school year, teachers are going to try and incorporate it into their lesson plans, and by the 2013-2014 school year it will be required.

Although the prices for regular meals are going up, the free and reduced meals will stay the same. Members of the Food Services Department are unsure of whether or not this will happen again in years to come, but it depends on the budget.

“Everything is government related,” the SMSD Food Services Department said. “The prices are going up because they are starting to require more vegetables and fruits in school lunches.”

Pawnee Elementary School teacher Laura Gray is unhappy with the changes because cumilatively the amount she spends will have a large impact on her family. She rarely brings her own lunch to school and neither does her daughter, junior Liz Gray.

“This has come as complete news to me, and I think it’s a big problem,” Laura said. “I don’t mean to sound like a nagging school teacher, but especially since we haven’t gotten raises in a few years, I’m going to have to be counting every penny.”

“Plan 9 From Outerspace” will be adapted as a play for the fall and will be done entirely in black and white. Often called “the worst movie ever made,” “Plan 9 From Outerspace” is a science fiction film about aliens who try to conquer the world by raising people back from the dead.

The musical is “The Drowsy Chaperone.” A show within a show, this comedic musical stars an old man reflecting on his favorite musical, which is about a woman who is the star of a show but is planning on getting married. Her directors and producers try to convince her not to get married so she can continue acting, while others try to steal her role.

“Epic Proportions” will be performed for the spring play. It tells the story of two wacky brothers who take an adventure to Arizona and through a strange series of events, end up starring in and directing the film.

“This is the first season I’ve been really excited for in a long time,” Cappello said at the banquet. “I’m always excited for our shows, but this one will be fun.”

The administrators are waiting for the Shawnee Mission School District to issue a statement before speaking about the incident.

Individual awards include:

-Chris Carey/Jack Mitchell- second in Duo Interpretation
-Sam Bernard / Alec Armer- fourth in Duo Interpretation
-Chris Carey- third in Humorous Interpretation
-Bridgette Beasley- fourth in Humorous Interpretation
-Hanna Bautz- fourth in Oral Interpretation of Poetry
-Justin Armer- sixth in Oral Interpretation of Prose
-Ali Dastjerdi- fifth in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking
-Jayden Robert/Nick Kraske- semifinalists in Duo Interpretation
-Liam Murphy- semifinalist in Humorous Interpretation
-Anna Danciger- semifinalist in  Dramatic Interpretation
-Alex Ritchie- semifinalist in Dramatic Interpretation

Participants contributing to sweepstakes:
-Brian Philipps in Informative Speaking
-Jayden Robert in Original Oration
-Ada Throckmorton in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking
-Henry Walter in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking
-Melanie Fletcher in Dramatic Interpretation

“I found out while I was in the middle of writing an essay and then I couldn’t focus!” said Kaufmann. “My heart is still pounding and I feel so honored!”

Brian Cappello, the director of this year’s musical and drama teacher at East, felt proud of the individual nominations but could not contain his excitement about the ensemble recognition.

“I am really happy for everybody. It is really great that they recognized everyone’s effort as an ensemble,” Cappello said. “And that includes leads, extras, everyone which is fantastic.”

East is distinguished as one of very few schools to receive multiple nominations. The nominees will be invited to attend the Blue Star Award ceremony on Thursday, May 24th.

Check back later for additional coverage.

Shawnee Mission East Chamber Choir 2012-2013
Chase Ainsworth

Nate Anderson

Bridgette Beasley

Drew Broeckelman

Emily Colebank

Vanessa Daves

Ryan Dugan

Max Duncan

Ian Harmon

Chandler Harrison

Cole Harrison

Nichole Hine

Lily Kaufmann

Madison May

Liz Orr

Mason Pashia

Thomas Petrie

Connor Richardson

Mark Ronning

Rob Simpson

Meg Stanley

Abby Sweeney

Sally Sweeney

Elena Wickstrom

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“What we’ve currently been doing [to prevent underage drinking] hasn’t worked,” Dr. Krawitz said.

But a relatively new program may be coming to Shawnee Mission East next year — a program that has already seen success in reducing underage drinking and increasing alcohol-related knowledge among high school students across the country. Dr. Krawitz is considering implementing AlcoholEdu, an alcohol prevention program used by hundreds of high schools across the country, for next year’s incoming freshman class. Shawnee Mission South has announced they will be using the AlcoholEdu for their incoming freshman class — South received a grant for the program from the Johnson County Regional Prevention Center (RCP) earlier this year to fund the program.

AlcoholEdu is on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices, meaning the program is based on research studies that support its methods. Dr. Krawitz hopes the program would help cut back on what he considers a “gross violation” of the school’s drug and alcohol contract.

The 120-minute online class relies on an interactive, multimedia format that both educates students and encourages them to make safe decisions when it comes to alcohol. The course begins with an anonymous survey that polls students’ previous experiences and mindset concerning alcohol. Using the student’s responses, the course is tailored to meet each individual user’s needs. According to John Boynton, National Director of EverFi. Inc. (the company the runs AlcoholEdu), this aspect of the course helps it to be more receptive to users.

“We want to be relevant,” Boynton said. “If you say you’re a non-drinker, and I say, ‘well a good way to cut down on your drinking is X,’ [you’re going to say] ‘What the heck, I just told you that I was a non-drinker, you assume that I drink?’ And vice versa.”

The program’s effectiveness is limited by students’ honesty while filling out the survey — “If students lie, they lie,” Boynton says — but the confidentiality of the program encourages honesty.

The college version of the program, introduced in 1999, has been adopted by over 500 college campuses and universities, including KU, KSU and Emporia State — these schools require their incoming freshman to complete the program on their own time before starting classes. Bill Arck, director of KSU’s Alcohol and Other Drug Education Service (AODES) said the program has provided “significant changes in knowledge level, perception of drinking and drinking intentions and behavior” among students.

“I think [AlcoholEdu] is the best prevention effort I have been a part of during the 26 years I have been the director of AODES,” said Arck. “There is no proven ‘silver bullet,’ but AlcoholEdu seems to be the very best available today.”

According to Boynton, 35 percent of all incoming college freshman in the country (approximately 600,000 students) took AlcoholEdu last year. Although the statistics support the program’s success, former East student and current KSU freshman Andrea Donahue* completed the course last summer and felt it had little impact on her drinking habits and perception of alcohol. Donahue still drinks 3 days a week.

“AlcoholEdu made me think that all college students who do consume alcohol are out of control with their drinking habits,” Donahue said.

Another former East student Bill Thompson* took the class before starting classes at KU last summer with similar experiences to Donahue. The class, although a “solid resource” of information about alcohol, did not change his perception of alcohol or his drinking habits.

“It did not change [my views] at all,” Thompson said. “Honestly, I feel that experimenting with drinking in high school has its benefits. If I had gone into college without ever having a sip of alcohol before it would have been a disaster. I’m not saying I promote underage drinking, I just feel that experiencing it beforehand has its values.”

AlcoholEdu also uses what it calls “Population Level Prevention,” that is, focusing on the community as a whole rather than only students who have gotten in trouble because of alcohol. The program strives to make a change within the entire community by offering the program to drinkers and non-drinkers alike.

SAMHSA’s 2008 study of the high school AlcoholEdu program found that it decreased the acceptance of underage drinking — the percentage of students reporting that drinking underage is never acceptable increased from the baseline 37.8 percent to 47.5 percent after course completion. It also reduced the number of students who said they had ridden with a drunk driver from 27.1 percent to 23.5 percent.

Dr. Krawitz  remains skeptical about the program’s potential for long-term success. Not only is the program still relatively young, Dr. Krawitz worries that it may slowly loses its effectiveness.

“A program over time will lose its novelty,” Dr. Krawitz said. “[They might be] good programs, but when kids are constantly exposed to the same program over and over, the opposite effect starts to take place.”

On top of that, the program comes with a heavy price tag — a one-year agreement costs almost $5,000, while a 4-year agreement is close to $16,000. Like Shawnee Mission South, Dr. Krawitz is considering applying for a grant through the RCP, which pools the taxes from the county’s liquor sales to provide grants to local preventative agencies such as the United Way, AAA and Alateen.

“If I can’t get the money through grant organizations, then I feel at least it is important to initiate [the program] ourselves and then pursue as many opportunities for grant money possible,” Dr. Krawitz said. “I really think it’s needed. This is a tough topic.”

Dr. Krawitz is determined to see this program through after witnessing the shift over time in how teens approach alcohol. His own experiences with drinking as a teenager are a stark contrast to the the type of drinking that happens he sees among youth today. Growing up in New Jersey, Dr. Krawitz would go to parties to have fun with friends, not get drunk.

“On Saturday nights, we would be on the beach, and there’d be people who would bring beer, and people would drink, but I don’t remember people getting ‘stoned,’ or drunk out of their mind,” Dr. Krawitz said. “Binge drinking wasn’t even a term I was familiar with.”

Today, binge drinking — 5 or more drinks for a male for 4 or more drinks for a female in a two hour setting — is become a national epidemic. According to the 2005 Monitoring the Future (MTF) study, 75 percent of 12th graders, 66 percent of 10th graders and about 40 percent of 8th graders had consumed alcohol. On top of that, 11 percent of 8th graders, 22 percent of 10th graders and 29 percent of 12th graders had binge-drank in the past two weeks.

With East having, according to Dr. Krawitz, a “pretty active drug and alcohol student body,” he sees AlcoholEdu as the best available option to increase students’ alcohol awareness and cut down on underage drinking.

The Little Theater Stage as well as an audience of over 70 people was a different environment for students to perform in. At tournaments, students typically perform in classrooms in front of one judge and sometimes a few other competitors. Junior Hanna Bautz performed her Prose piece “A Collection of Cheesy Poetry” and found the experiencing rewarding and fun.

“I think we had a really great crowd,” Bautz said. “I wasn’t quite sure because it was the first year that we were doing something like this, but I was happy with the turnout and the audience was really responsive. They laughed at appropriate places and clapped and that kind of gets you going when everyone else is into it, it’s easier for you to be in to it as well.”

The Showcase turned out to be a success with over $500 raised in donations as well as a beneficial practice time for students who are going to state this weekend. The Forensics teacher Trey Witt was happy with the response to the show and hopes to make this an annual event.

“This show was a good time for students who were in between the end of the season tournaments and state to continue to practice their pieces as well as was a great opportunity for their own parents and friends and classmates to see them perform in an actual audience theatrical setting,” Mr. Witt said.

“We go because it’s kind of a nerd-fest to hang out with other kids from around the state who are also interested in Latin,” Orr said.

Orr along with eight other classmates managed to place at this year’s convention on April 20th, attended by 250 competitors from 10 schools in the area. Meeting for a day of dionysian revelling, the students competed in a variety of Latin themed activities with individual prizes being awarded as well as a total score for each club.

“There are academic tests people take beforehand, a sight-reading competition, oratory, costume contest, art and certamen, which is like a Latin trivia game,” Orr said. “East kids participated and did well in almost every category, but because there were so few of us we didn’t win. “

East’s club was led by senior Kristen Shedor, who looks at their defeat with mixed emotions.

“We didn’t really place very well in any competition,” said Shedor. “ On the plus side, we had a hilarious skit called ‘Stuff Latin Kids Don’t Say’ and we rocked the mixer at the end of the convention. We were the only school to really start dancing and SM Northwest and BV North were super lame. So as far as coolness factor goes, East won.”

Since Shedor was a Kansas Junior Classical League officer this year, she was largely responsible for helping plan the convention and make sure it was a fun event for all the clubs involved.

“In general, the convention is a really fun way for Latin kids who aren’t really social find something social to do on a Friday night,” Shedor said. “ It seems kind of lame to be competing in Latin trivia, memorized speeches, sight reading, and costume contests but it really is an interesting night for everyone.”

Below is a list of East students who placed in their categories:

Derivatives, Level I: Phillip Olsen – Second

Mottoes, Abbrev. & Quotes, Advanced: Jean Orr – First; Sarah Goldman – Third

Mythology, Level II: Yizhou Li – Second

Mythology, Advanced: Jeemin Kim – Third

Reading Comprehension, Advanced: Kristen Shedor – Fifth

Vocabulary, Advanced: Kristen Shedor – Third; Madison Hattaway – Fifth

Sight Reading, Advanced: Aidan Robbins – Fourth

Costume – Hypnos: Isaac Halberstadt – Third

Costume – Uranus & Gaia: Jeemin Kim – Fourth; Madison Hattaway – Fourth

The four new  leaders are: Parker Johnson, Will Cray, Grace Cantril and Riley Hunter. They will be in charge of coordinating the PALS events and activities for the upcoming school year. Although it is a lot of responsibility, junior Parker Johnson feels that this will pay off in the end.

“I’m most looking forward to the Power Play event because it’s always the most fun,” Johnson said. “It’s cool because next year I will get to be in charge of it.”

Mitch Kaskie | Harbinger Online

A total of five police cars, including an Olathe Police Department cruiser carrying a drug dog, blocked the entrance of the junior parking lot while the car was searched for stolen items and the passengers waited handcuffed on the curb. Since the incident was not related to East, Dr. Krawitz knows nothing more at this time.

“The police told us none of the items reported as stolen were found in the vehicle,” Dr. Krawitz said. “But I can suspect it kept a few juniors from leaving for lunch.”

The conference hosts many different competitions, with over 25 areas of business for Marketing I students to choose from. In one event called roleplay, students are given a business-world related scenario that they must then try to problem solve. Then they have 15 minutes to brainstorm and plan before they present their idea to a judge. In addition, competitors take a 100 question test related to their topic.

Students attending the conference who are in Marketing II develop projects which include a thirty page paper on a business-related research area and a 10-20 minute presentation that they then pitch to a judge. Marketing teacher Mercedes Rasmussen said that these projects take a lot of time and planning in order to execute them well. These projects can cover topics such as advertising campaigns for a business, customer loyalty plans, fashion merchandising, international business plans and even community service projects.

“The process of writing the paper, studying for tests and developing business professional presentations and visuals takes three quarters to accomplish,” Rasmussen said. “We spend a great deal of time perfecting and practicing.”

Senior Heather Hartong will be competing at internationals for the first time and will be competing in the Business Operations Research Event.

“My project is about creating a Loyalty Rewards Program for the Sprint Center,” Hartong said. “Like any other rewards program you earn more points with the more that you do, specifically the more events that you attend in this case. The reward is more customizable the higher level that you choose to do, the bronze level is free, silver you pay a yearly fee, and gold you pay more.”

Rasmussen has helped the students develop and improve their skills over the year, and thinks that all of their hard work is going to pay off. She is optimistic and feels “very positive” about this year’s group.

“For the students to make it to the competition is amazing. They have worked very hard and are very motivated to do well,” Rasmussen said. “It all just depends on the competition and if they bring their “a” game.”

The following students will be competing at Internationals:
Heather Hartong
Samuel Gilman
Jeremy Young
Caroline Wooldridge
Elizabeth Wooldridge
Jade Delgado
Molly Jennings
Madeline Sniezek
Andrew Herst
Aidan Conley
Takanori Sawaguchi
Preston Vaughn
Logan Dalgleish
Abigail Jones
Sophia Hitchcock
Emma Pennington
Logan Rose
Jack Sayler
Spence Andresen
Adam Lowe
Alexa Janey
Joel Anderson
William Cray
Parker Johnson
Joseph Simmons
Mary Grace Diehl
Trenton Barnes
Emma Meara
Helen Dinkel
Emily Stanley
Catherine Sterbenz
Abigail Symes
Rachel Kephart

Under the first year direction of science teacher Nathan Southwick, the team met once a week throughout the year in his classroom. Their practices would rotate off with research practices one week, where they would find information on different topics like presidents, capitals and scientists, and quizzing practices the next.

“Mr. Southwick finds some questions online and we just have fun and do trivia,” sophomore Brian Phillips said.

The team competed with the other Shawnee Mission schools and the Blue Valley schools. Because these are the only school districts that have a categories team, their regular season consisted of only four matches. East’s categories team went 3-1, losing only to Blue Valley West. They did however, tie with BVW with percentage of correct answers, 61%.

“We’ve had some games that have come down to the wire,” Phillips said. “But we won the championship for that speaks for itself.”

Each dual against an opposing team consists of two rounds. During the first round, a question is directed to one team. If they don’t get it right it goes to the opposing team for a “steal”. After a quick break, the second round, or the “Lightning Round” begins. Each question is worth a point.

“The second round is where things get a little more exciting because anybody can buzz in for any question,” Southwick explains. “Whoever has the highest score [after both rounds] wins.”

The top eight teams qualified for regionals and East was second place. The regional matches were played over the course of two weekends. East went up against Blue Valley High School in the first round and advanced to play in the finals against BVW, the team that had beaten them during regular season.

Students Matt Williamson, Mark Towster, Polly Haun, Aidan Conley and Brian Phillips all participated in the final match, which was televised. East won the first round with a score of 17-10 and won the second round 27-19. The team will be losing seniors Mark Towster and Aidan Conley but are still expecting a successful season next year.

“I expect that we will have a very strong team next year,” Southwick said. “We are going to do a lot of recruiting and hopefully we’ll get some younger people and we get them going early on so that we can keep winning every year.”

The category matches can be viewed on the SMSD TV channel on April 18, 20, 23, 25, 27 and can be viewed here.

After three months of countless rehearsals, production meetings and hundreds of notifications in the “Rep Class 2011-2012” Facebook group, the 25 Repertory Theatre students are ready to reveal their Original One-Acts. Produced and cast within the class, these shows are completely student driven, giving the student a directorial experience in preparation for the Frequent Fridays they will be directing next year in Advance Rep. Each student was given three months to write, direct and construct their own show from the stage floor, up. Each of the 25 shows last roughly 10 minutes, including shifts, and will span over a four-day period from Monday through Thursday. Each day will consist of 5-6 shows. Ranging from comedies to dramas and even horrors; each show reflects a student’s vision, all their own.

Monday
“The Most Fantastic Things” by Jessie Burnes
“The Oneironaut” by Michel Anderson
“All I Need” by Roberto Sada
“Puzzled” by Maddie Rowe
“The Therapist’s Therapist” by Madison May
“Do You See Dead People?” by Beth Liu

Tuesday
“Graceful” by Dani Mader
“Inside Columbine” by Hannah Dahlor
“50%” by Chase Ainsworth
“Henry Potterfield and the Most Important Day of His Life” by Ali Felman
“Just Like Old Times” by Jacob King
“Adopted” by Ryan Dugan
“Suppressed” by AJ Orth

Wednesday
“I Give You My Heart” by Chloe Vollenweider
“Kiwi Branch” by Evan Reed
“The Greatest” by Nichole Hine
“The Untold Story of the Midnight Ride” by Alyssa Amos
“Saving Spirit” by Liz Wilson
“Allure” by Jamie Leonard

Thursday
“Big Time Reflection” by Kim Hoedel
“As I Lay Lying” by Josh Light
“Discovery” by Grant Kendall
“Plane of Thought” by Maggie Niven
“Peter FAN” by Sarah Beigelson
“Memorized Memories” by Annie Sullivan

NFL National Qualifiers:

Chris Carey/Jack Mitchell: first in Duo Interpretation

Karl Walter/Henry Walter- first in Public Forum Debate

These four students will join the following who have previously qualified for NFL Nationals at earlier tournaments this year: Ada Throckmorton/Utsa Ramaswami (Policy Debate) and Ali Dastjerdi (Congressional Debate).

Finalists:

-Chris Carey: Second in Humorous Interpretation (Students can only attend nationals in one event so Carey’s spot in HI was deferred to the third place contestant)

-Erika Levy: fifth in Humorous Interpretation

-Liam Murphy: sixth in Humorous Interpretation

-Jayden Robert/Nick Kraske: fourth in Duo Interpretation

-Jayden Robert: fifth in Original Oration

-Ali Dastjerdi: second in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking (Students can only attend nationals in one event so Dastjerdi’s spot in FX was deferred to the third place contestant)

-Henry Walter: fifth in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking

Semifinalists:

-Jackson Bonk/Denisa Butas: Duo Interpretation

-Alec Armer/Sam Bernard: Duo Interpretation

-Jack Mitchell: Humorous Interpretation

-Karl Walter: Dramatic Interpretation

-Alex Ritchie: Dramatic Interpretation

-Hanna Bautz: Original Oration

-Brian Philipps: Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking

“I got involved simply because Ms. Fishman made an announcement to my History of the Americas class,” said junior Andrew McWard. “I really like international relations, so I thought it would be pretty fun. Luckily, only four of us showed up for the first meeting, which is the maximum size for a team, so we didn’t have to cut anyone that would have wanted to join.”

The team met regularly to discuss topics they would be encountering at competitions. Each member was assigned an area of study which could vary from US economic policy to Chinese Relations.

After competing against fifteen other teams from the Kansas City area at Districts, the East team was chosen to represent the district at the national competition on Saturday. While competing, the contestants will go through ten rounds, each containing ten multiple choice questions on a given topic. The questions can be drawn from one of six categories: US Education (or other governmental policy), China, NATO, UN Millennium Goals, Azerbaijan or Current Events. The competition will involve a conference, the actual testing rounds, as well as receptions at the Chinese and Saudi Arabian embassies.

“I’m not really feeling too nervous,” says McWard. “We’ve already come a lot farther than we thought, and while it would be great if we won nationals, I won’t be too heartbroken if we don’t.”

The judges were given a score sheet where they graded each performer on intonation, tone, expression and several other aspects of the performance. They scored everyone out of 80 points. A one, the highest score possible, is means that a group was given a score between 69 and 80. Each group performed two to three songs, one of which was required to come from a state approved list.

Both band and orchestra took two different groups to compete and performed two songs. Band brought its Symphonic Band and the Concert Band to compete. The Concert Band is mainly for freshmen and the Symphonic Band is audition-only and is available to everyone. The concert band got a three and the symphonic band got a two-plus.

“We got a 65, 68 and 69, so we were really close,” senior band member Kellyn Harrison said. “If one of the other judges had given us one point higher, we would have gotten a one.”

The Symphonic Orchestra as well as a combination of its Philharmonic and Concert Orchestras competed at the contest, as well. Concert Orchestra is for freshman and Philharmonic is for sophomores, juniors and seniors. The Symphonic Orchestra is the elite group of players. Symphonic Orchestra got a one and the combined orchestras got a two.

“I think we did a really good job,” junior symphonic orchestra member Emily Colebank said. “We hadn’t played the songs in a while, and considering that I think we did really well.”

Choir took three groups to contest: the Varsity Choir, Chansonettes and the Choraliers. The Varsity Choir is for sophomore boys and the Chansonettes are sophomore girls. The men and women of Choraliers joined together with the gender choirs to perform, and all three groups got a one.

“I was really pleased,” Choir Director Ken Foley said. “We had some very difficult music and we’d been doing it for a very long time, so it was nice to put some closure on it.”

Over the past few weeks seniors have gone with their English classes or were pulled out of other classes to take the second part of the Kansas state assessment for social studies – a required test from the state department of education. Students took part of the test last year and, contrary to some student rumor, they were not retaking the test, but rather just completing it before they graduate.

Since taking the tests, rumors have been surfacing from students and teachers that the school lost the students scores, causing the students to have to retake them. Myers has heard rumors through students that the school lost the scores and was surprised by the abrupt nature of the test.

“I thought I remembered taking it last year and then I heard that the school lost all of our scores so that’s why we had to take it again,” Myers said. “Maybe that’s the cause but maybe they lost them for some reason out of their control and it wasn’t their fault.”

Although the school did not lose the students scores, seniors should have finished the assessments last year, but didn’t. According to assistant principal Jeremy Higgins, the changes that took place in assessment policy last year are to blame.

“The students simply had to finish the test,” Higgins said. “Last year as juniors they should have taken both parts of the assessment.”

The social studies assessment consists of two parts, world history and US history. A certain number of students are required to take both parts of the assessment before they graduate as part of the No Child Left Behind act. The tests are also geared to make sure the school is teaching students what they need to learn and making adequate yearly progress (AYP). Every two years the socials studies assessment scores will be examined by the state for AYP.

“This year’s seniors’ scores will count and this year’s sophomores scores will count when they are seniors,” Higgins explained. “This year’s freshmen and juniors will never have to take the social studies test.”

Since sophomores will have to take the assessments, the administration is planning in advance that the students will not have to take the assessment their senior year.

“This year sophomores will be taking the world history part of the test because many of them are in world history right now,” Higgins said. “Then next year when they are juniors, they’ll take the US history part of the test. Then when they are seniors they’ll be all done and won’t have to take anything.”                                                               

Since taking the assessment, some seniors, including Myers, have expressed frustration over taking these assessments. Although Myers was frustrated she believes it is nothing to be upset about.                                         

“It was a little annoying at first but I didn’t really think it was a big deal,” Myers said. “The test took 15 minutes or less. You just go in and you take it and it’s really nothing to worry about. I don’t think people should be making a big deal about it.”

The following participated in contest:

Alec Armer 2
Justin Armer 2
Regina Basse 2
Sam Bernard 2
Clara Bernauer 2
Amy Bonds 2
Lauren Brown 2
Merit Christensen 2
Emily Colebank 1
Abby Cramer 2
Austin Dalgleish 1
Jenna Davis 1
Max Duncan 2
Kellyn Harrison 1
Madison May 2
Abby McNitt 1
Abby Moore 1
Colin Peck 2
Maddie Roberts 1
Olivia Rogers 2
Meghan Spivak 1
Maddie Sullivan 2
Abby Sweeney 2
Sally Sweeney 2
Elena Wickstrom 2
Chamber Choir 1

“It was one of those ‘dream big’ schools for me,” Kate said. “I didn’t expect to be considered for [it] or even consider applying because of the cost.”

Despite the fact that both Emily and Kate have been accepted to USC, they admit that without substantial financial aid, the two will turn to either Drake University or Kansas State University, where they have already received financial aid packages. This is a decision many college applicants face – whether or not to risk going into debt for the prestigious college of their dreams.

“It’s really just something the applicants have to ask themselves,” said Wayne Larson, the Recruitment Coordinator at the Kansas University School of Journalism. “And that is, do [you] want to pay that high mark, and will that give [you] the clout so that [you] will be able to reasonably pay that off?”

The difference in tuition costs between Kansas University and the Forbes list of the top 10 colleges in the U.S. is an average of $21,772. The list includes high-caliber universities such as Harvard University, Stanford University and MIT.

View College Costs Across the U.S. in a full screen map

But is that esteemed education worth the price? That is a question that the Kulagas struggle with daily as they wait for news of whether or not they will be receiving a financial aid package from USC. Kate would rather attend USC than K-State, one of her back-up plans if the USC aid falls through. However, she knows that she and her sister won’t even consider attending USC at full price, since four years at USC would cost the twins almost half a million dollars.

“Do [you] want to pay that high mark, and will that give [you] the clout so that [you] will be able to reasonably pay that off?”

East alumni and USC freshman Logan Heley believes that after a year, the cost of tuition he has faced is worth the education, experiences and internship opportunities the school has given him. Like the Kulagas, he would not have been able to attend USC without the financial aid he received. Heley opted to go to USC instead of accepting better scholarship offers at schools he deemed less prestigious, and is grateful for his decision to do so.

“It was definitely worth it,” Heley said. “I must say, though, that I am a person who tries to take advantage of the opportunities that come to me and someone who’s less active in pursuing those opportunities will probably be less successful.”

Therese Bagsit, a recruiter for USC, agrees that the school is a center for hardworking individuals striving to rise to a high level in their profession. Due to their small class sizes and high end technology, she says that the school is a place for students who want to get ahead.

“Living in the Los Angeles area, applying for internships there, you just naturally are able to make more connections than you would somewhere else,” Bagsit said. “It’s important for people to make decisions based on what they can do financially, but in the longrun, USC is a place that is going to help you succeed.”

Larson believes that a student’s success is reliant on their ability to seek opportunities and push themselves, regardless of whether they are attending a state school or an Ivy League university. Because of this, he believes that a student’s willingness to pursue success is more important than the name of the college they graduated from.

“Sometimes what a school offers: it looks really attractive, and really cool,” Larson said. “And sometimes a school has got a really good name, but you’ve got to look past that. Other places can offer the same opportunities.”

The following video shows how admissions officers and East students approach the college application process.

Stefano Byer | Harbinger Online

Jeff Katz is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with Freirich & Katz, LC who helps families and individuals through the process of filing taxes. He offered some helpful advice to teenagers on how to know if they need to file taxes, what forms they need to complete and some precautionary notes.

Question: Do I need to file taxes for 2011?

Answer: The answer is maybe. If you are a dependent (living with your parents and they pay for more than 50% of your living expenses), then you must file a return if any of the following apply:

1) You earned more than $5,800 in wages
2) You earned over $950 in interest income or dividend income (called unearned income, i.e. owning stocks or interest from a bank account)
3) Your gross income exceeded your unearned income over $950, or you earned income of $5,800

Question: What if I have unearned income over $950, but nothing else, do I still need to file?

Answer: If you have interested and dividend income only of more than $950, your parents may elect to report your income on their tax return instead of a separate filing. However if you owned and sold stocks you will generally need to file your own return.

Question: I have a job, what does that mean for me when filing taxes?

Answer: If you work for an employer, all payments you receive for services are taxable by both the federal and state government. Your employer will give you a W-2 form or wage statement which you want to hold on to for preparing your return.

Question: I work at a restaurant, do I need to report tips on my tax return?

Answer: All tips are considered income and thus subject to income tax. If you earn over $20 in tips in a calendar month you should report this to your employer using Form 4070. (from irs.gov)

Question: I mow lawns and occasionally babysit, do I need to file taxes?

Answer: If you are self-employed, such as mowing lawns or babysitting, you need to account for all your income received and report it on your tax return. If your net earnings (income minus business expenses) are over $400 you must pay self-employment tax and will need Form 1040. (from irs.gov)

Question: Do I deduct myself as a dependent on my tax form?

Answer: It is very important that if you file your own tax return and you live with your parents who provide your support (over 50% of expenses) that you do not deduct yourself as a dependent, but rather check the box: dependent of another.

The last bit of advice Katz had was to communicate and work with your parents as you file your returns. It’s highly recommended that your parents or tax preparer review and approve before you submit your paperwork. Even though they make look very simple, they are much more complicated when you get into it, Katz said.

If you have any further questions, you can consult the IRS website where they have a section dedicated to high school students.

It didn’t take long for the Kony 2012 video, produced by Invisible Children, to go viral. The movement received massive support in its first few weeks as the video received hundreds of millions of views, retweets, shares and comments. However, Invisible Children and the Kony 2012 movement have recently come under fire.

Critics are mainly worried about how Invisible Children spends their money, whether their facts are true and whether this movement will actually bring about Kony’s arrest. Due to waning support for the movement, members of Coalition are struggling to keep attendance high while continuing to support the movement.

“When the video first came out, everyone knew what it was, everyone knew about it,” said junior Helena Buchmann, a Coalition leader. “Everyone I knew was like, ‘We’ve gotta do this, we’ve gotta cover the night’ and it was gonna be a really big deal. Now people are just trying to argue against it.”

These arguments slowed the movement, Buchmann said, but they didn’t stop it. It wasn’t until March 15, when Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell was rumored to have been arrested and hospitalized for being under the influence of drugs, that Buchmann really saw the Kony movement begin to face challenges. It was then when Buchmann began to hear more dissent over Kony 2012 from fellow East students.

“It’s not that I’m completely against it,” said junior Gabi Magalski, a Coalition member. “It’s just a very complicated issue. It’s not as black and white as it’s made out to be, and there’s a lot of problems with it.”

Magalski disagrees with Invisible Children’s approach towards arresting Kony, because although Kony is currently in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Invisible Children is calling on the Ugandan government to aid in Kony’s arrest. This is a common concern for critics of the Kony movement. Another major concern that Magalski raised is how Invisible Children spends their money because only 32% of their funds go to direct services. Buchmann, along with fellow Coalition leaders, worries that these widespread concerns could cause a drop in participation to any Coalition events connected to Kony 2012.

“I’ve had friends say, ‘Oh, you’re watching the Kony video? I’m not coming’,” Buchmann said. “And that’s really frustrating for me, because I support it, it’s still a big deal in my eyes.”

Buchmann has been a supporter of Invisible Children for over three years. She admits that she was upset when reports about Invisible Children first surfaced. However, after doing her own research, Buchmann has decided that she is still in support of Kony 2012. She quotes the fact that Invisible Children is an awareness organization, not an aid organization, as a major reason for her support. Buchmann also believes that while Kony 2012 is not a perfect solution to the problem, it is the best one available.

Coalition still plans on taking part in Cover the Night, and they are meeting again on April 11 to discuss further plans for raising group involvement. They will also watch the latest Kony video, which was released April 5 with the aim to respond to claims made against the movement.

“I hope people come-I’m going to do it no matter what,” Buchmann said. “All they’re asking is for Kony to become the most famous man in the world, which isn’t too much to ask, in my opinion.”

Jake Crandall | Harbinger Online

This year the team decided to spice up by using an idea that has been done in the past to attract a wide audience: adding boys of their choice to certain dances. In addition to the JV and Varsity dances, the boys will appear in their own dances sporting an “I Love Lancer Dancers” cut off t-shirt. The group of guys will have their own separate dance by themselves which will be followed by a dance where the girls will come out and join them.

Each Varsity dancer chose one boy who they thought met the criteria as the most enthusiastic, funny, and dedicated. In addition to those three traits, the guys must also have the guts to shake their butts and do other moves often used by the dancers.

“I chose Zach Jacobson and he just loves to dance and is really energetic and funny,” junior Kaitlin Morgan said. “He has a really good toe touch.”

According to senior Maddie Sullivan, boys like Jacobson have more than met her expectations. Surprised by the boys’ dedication and energy during their weekend and seminar practices, she has no nerves for the upcoming performance.

“Even if [the boys] mess up, it’ll be funny,” Sullivan said. “I’m not really that worried about them. I think they’re more worried than we are.”

When junior Emmy Hadley first asked junior Chase Ainsworth, he was in disbelief.

“[When she asked me] I was kinda skeptical,” Ainsworth said. “I was wondering if she was joking or something but after the first rehearsal I could tell it would be a ton of fun. It’s a good group of guys.”

The squad received second place out of 20 schools in sweepstakes at the Bishop Miege Forensics Tournament. Results are as follows.
Liam Murphy/Ada Throckmorton: first in public forum debate
Karl Walter/Henry Walter: third in public forum debate
Chris Carey: fifth in humorous interpretation
Jack Mitchell: fourth in humorous interpretation
Melanie Fletcher: first in dramatic interpretation (State qualifier)
Emily Lang: fifth in dramatic interpretation
Utsa Ramaswami: fifth in domestic extemporaneous speaking
Melanie Fletcher: first in oral interpretation of prose (State qualifier)
Ty Nanos: sixth in oral interpretation of prose
Sophie Poppie: third in oral interpretation of poetry
Emily Lang: fifth in oral interpretation of poetry
Sophie Poppie: second in informative speaking (State qualifier)
Ali Dastjerdi: first in foreign extemporaneous speaking (State qualifier)
Chris Carey/Jack Mitchell: second in duo interpretation (State qualifier)
Liam Murphy/Henry Walter: third in duo interpretation

Art by Kat Buchanan

But on Feb. 12, a few days away from the deadline, she was well into her fifth hour of typing in a sequestered cubicle at LatteLand, her iced mocha now melted to a mixture of light brown liquid and a few stray ice cubes.

She hadn’t so much as opened the Word document that contained her paper since last year. She still had eight pages to go, and had drastically underestimated the time the essay would take.

“I really wanted my essay to be good since we had so much time to work on it and since I really cared about my topic, but I ended up writing most of it at the last minute,” Samadi said. “It was sheer panic.”

Procrastination has become a prominent factor in students’ lives in the past few years, according to Principal Karl Krawitz. According to DePaul psychology professor and author of “Still Procrastinating?” Joseph Ferrari, 20 percent of Americans are chronic procrastinators, up 15 percent from 1970 — a higher percentage than those who suffer from substance abuse, depression or phobias. This indicates that although procrastination has been prevalent in years past, the number of people who procrastinate as a way of life is on the rise.

For students, increased use of technology, mounting obligations and an acceptance of procrastination in school have contributed to the widespread effects of procrastination. At East, in a survey of 150 students, 92 percent reported that they have procrastinated at least once in the past month as a result of being too busy, being bored with the subject matter or simply lacking the motivation to start projects.

The ubiquity of procrastination has been most noticeable within the past few years, according to math teacher Rick Royer who has spent more than 35 years at East. In his time teaching IB and AP students, he has noticed a change in the pattern of the students’ assignments. With two-week assignments, he’s seen the same questions about directions being asked as a decade ago — except now, he’s seeing those same questions two days before the deadline, whereas he got them in the first few days of the cycle in years past.

“I didn’t notice it so much in the first 35 years I was teaching. Maybe [it happened] a little bit, but nothing like the way it’s been for the past 4-5 years,” Royer said. “There’s no doubt that procrastination is a more rampant problem than it ever was.”

Royer has also seen an increase in students coming to him with excuses about long-term assignments such as take-home tests and other IB assignments. In a 1998 study done by Dr. Ferrari, he found that more than 70 percent of college students had admitted to giving their professor a fraudulent excuse if they didn’t have an assignment finished. Furthermore, the students reported that only 9 percent of professors asked for proof of the excuse — whether it was a death in the family, a printer malfunction or the insistence that they didn’t have time to get it done.

While students such as Samadi cite fatigue from being over-worked and boredom of classes as reasons for procrastinating, teachers such as Royer attribute the root of the upswing in procrastination to deeper forces such as cultural expectations and changes in the way students work, namely with technology.

In an Ohio State study, procrastination and lower grades were linked to the increase in use of social networking sites. While such studies have emphasized the link between distracting websites such as Facebook and Twitter and decreased quality in school work, another impact has risen out of the popularity of the Internet in the past 10 years.

“Facebook and Twitter are always more interesting than my homework and are always updating themselves,” Samadi said. “I think that while social networking makes concentrating hard, the Internet has made homework a lot easier. It’s made the quality of work a lot worse.”

Not only does technology pose the threat of distraction, it provides a sense of false security for students, according to Dr. Krawitz. With the rise of sites like Questia and Google Scholars, legitimate academic journals and other types of information are easily accessible to students at all hours of the day. According to psychologist Mike Hanson, procrastination often represents a thought misfire, when students simply inaccurately estimate the time required or overestimate their own skill set based on an amount of time. With information more accessible than ever before, it becomes feasible to write a pivotal paper, like Samadi did, in a few days — much less in a few hours.

“We didn’t have the luxury of procrastinating in the way that students do now,” Royer said. “Procrastination, I feel, is a part of human nature. But when you have to go to the library during the hours that it sets and search for information in the stacks of books, it’s different. Procrastination is easier to turn to with the Internet.”

According to Dr. Ferrari in a phone interview, procrastination is not simply a result of technology. He believes that the underlying problem within the relationship between technology and work ethic is that students simply use technology in the wrong ways. He believes that technology has always existed that has made procrastination easier, and that in turn there has been the development of a culture that allows procrastination.

“As a society we need to stop excuse-making, and we need to stop accepting the excuses. We need to start giving the early bird the worm. That doesn’t happen anymore,” Dr. Ferrari said. “In the age of political correctness, we cut the worm up and give it to everyone. Give the worm to the early bird.”

Dr. Ferrari believes that widespread and chronic procrastination is a phenomenon that is made light of by society, and that there has been an erroneous move to accommodate these procrastinators. These cultural expectations stem from the school setting where academic and social influences are tightly woven, according to sociology and AP American History teacher Vicki Arndt-Helgesen.

“In fact, right now with the seniors, if they’re still doing their work, they’re hiding it. Until junior year we have another social aspect which is ‘I’m so busy’ which gives permission to procrastinate. And there’s almost a bragging aspect to it,” Arndt-Helgesen said. “We don’t really celebrate the person who plans.”

Yet what concerns educators such as Dr. Krawitz and Royer about the rising trend of putting off work until the last second is its the seemingly universal pull. Procrastination is no longer a practice left to low-achieving second-semester seniors. According to Royer, he now sees students in his Differential Equations class procrastinate profusely, whereas the difficulty of the course prevented it in the past.

Though the difficulty of certain courses may deter students from procrastinating,  according to Arndt-Helgesen the trends in education such as No Child Left Behind, a focus on getting into the “right school” and the changes in the schedule set students up to procrastinate. Block schedule can force juniors and seniors to manage their time, and that it is more similar to a college experience according to Arndt-Helgesen.

With a system in which checking off assignments is the focus, procrastination is positively reinforced. From the survey, 85 percent of the 138 students who procrastinated reported that they finished the assignment and received a good grade on it, reinforcing the idea that procrastinators can be successful. According to psychologist Mike Hanson, procrastination for higher-achieving students may come from the thrill of working under pressure or late at night, while others want the ego boost of boasting about how much work they got done in one night, and the subsequent good grade.

“Unfortunately sometimes students procrastinate and then are rewarded on the other end,” Dr. Krawitz said. “Then they get this thought that ‘I did it once I can do it a second time and a third time’ and that is compounded and creates habits.”

For highly-involved students like Samadi, getting over 100 service hours for IB and doing daily 40-minute math assignments often take the backseat to non-negotiable yearbook deadlines that may last for eight hours after school and imperatives such as picking up her little sister from school each day.

“For me, stuff like that is always more immediate than tomorrow’s homework,” Samadi said. “It’s definitely a conscious decision for me to put homework off.”

Aside from the practical aspects of procrastination for some students, it can serve as a method for dealing with extreme stress and perfectionism. According to Dr. Ferrari, procrastinators are “extremely concerned about what other people think of them.” The fear of producing an inadequate product or simply the stresses of schoolwork can result in a desire to delay working on it. Chronic procrastinators also might see their to-do list as an overwhelming cloud of work, instead of being able to see the list as a collection of smaller tasks. This can make even starting on an assignment seem impossible for the procrastinator.

Procrastination, for some high-achieving students, may simply be a factor of prioritizing. For Samadi, her busy schedule has taught her to watch teachers and learn which classes she can and can’t procrastinate, and activities such as yearbook for her are assignments that lack flexibility.

One thing that also characterizes procrastination in its modern form is that it often results from not the presence of laziness, but with a change in values. For students like freshman Molly Gasperi, her passion for viola and involvement with East lacrosse overshadows her drive to succeed in high school.

“We make a huge deal about being amazing at all these different things like sports and music,” Gasperi said. “I’ve become addicted to them in a way that I would always rather being doing that than homework.”

According to Hanson, teens today don’t view academics and learning as top priorities. While some may have building a sharp resume as a goal, he insists that this is not the same thing as learning. Others may prioritize an extracurricular activity, dating or even video games such as Call of Duty. When surveyed about what they do instead of their homework, East students most often responded they spent time either on the Internet and talking to friends, or taking care of themselves with activities such as exercise and napping.

Despite these changes in the characteristics of procrastination, Dr. Ferrari believes that prioritization and therefore procrastination has always been a part of society.

“Everyone procrastinates, but not everyone is a procrastinator,” Ferrari said. “So people need to learn not how to manage time, but how to manage themselves. Because it’s not going away, it’s just changing.”

SM East’s principal Karl Krawitz believes class rank should be dropped because it can harm students in the college admissions process as well as cause student’s stress. Students can earn all A’s for their high school career in regular classes and may not even be in the top third of their class. The class ranking system uses a student’s culmulative grade point average to decide how student’s stack up to one another. Because the difference between some students’ GPAs is more than two decimal places away, Krawitz believes class rank gives a skewed perception of the academic ability at East.

“Right now rankings in our school are misleading,” Krawitz said. “We could take the students from the top ten and go out all the way to the 30th student and see that the difference in their GPA is out to the thousands position. That doesn’t mean that the 30th student is less academic than the first in the class.”

A student’s GPA is based on the formula that their district has created. According to East counselor Laura Carter, East calculates it by how many classes you have taken, your grades in those classes and the rigor of the classes. GPAs can be inflated causing the class rank to be skewed, since honor classes are worth 5.0 points and regular classes are worth 4.0 points.

“The situation that we have at Shawnee Mission East is that we have a very small fish bowl with a lot of really talented fish swimming around,” Carter said. “Consequently, you will have students that will have a 4.0, perhaps never taken an honors class and they won’t even be in the top third.”

GPAs of students can be the same from school to school but their class rank may be different. This has led to some East students to receive consequences for their low class rank even if their GPAs weren’t low.

“In this particular building, class rank will hurt you,” Krawitz said. “We have come across situations where students have been placed on academic probation for a semester (in college) because their class rank was too low. However, a kid with the same GPA but ranked higher may not have been placed on probation.”

Sophomore Jasmin Deng has a different outlook on class rank than Krawitz. She finds class rank to be a motivator for her to do well in her classes, however she also sees it as something that causes her stress.

“I think it’s a good way to keep up with yourself and keep you motivated, but at the same time it’s kind of bad because if you don’t meet your expectation you feel bad about yourself,” Deng said. “Personally, I wouldn’t be as motivated if we dropped it.”

Senior Jessica Harmon agrees with Deng in that class rank serves as a tool to keep motivated. However, she said that looking back at her years at East, she doesn’t value it.

“It’s nice to know where you stand among your peers, but it’s not really necessary,” Harmon said. “It’s neither a positive nor negative thing, it’s just there.”

Some colleges use class rank as a requirement for admissions. University of Missouri Kansas City admissions officer Mary Adams says that UMKC uses a student’s ACT test score and the class rank to determine admissions.

“We have a sliding scale for admissions and the scale goes from if you have a 24 ACT, then we don’t look at your rank, but if you have a 23 on the ACT then you must be in the top half of your class and this scale continues all the way down to if you get a 17 on the ACT then you must be in the top five percent of your class,” Adams said.

“School is about preparing you for your future, whatever you choose to do,” Krawitz said. “I don’t think it is about putting students against one another to see where they fall in a class ranking as if that means that they are somehow less important. That’s not our purpose.”

Adams also said UMKC  will look at a student’s class rank before considering their grade point average. However, if the school does not give the class rank then they will evaluate you based on their formula of a core GPA.

“If the school does not provide the class rank, then we work up what we call a high school core GPA,” Adams said. “That is where we take the classes that UMKC requires you to have taken such as 4 English, 4 Math, 3 Science, etc. and we total all of the grades of those classes to create a GPA to go off of.”

According to Communications Associate Superintendent Leigh Anne Neal, class rank is not a district requirement nor a Board of Education policy. It is a common practice throughout the district. Therefore the decision to drop class rank is an individual school by school decision. However, Krawitz would like to get the other high schools on board as well as the Board of Education’s approval in order to create uniformity throughout the district.

“We have five high schools, all very different,” Krawitz said. “Some may not have problems with class rank. However, if East dropped it the district would have to explain why East is different from the rest. The district has been trying to promote uniformity, that is why we all switched to the common schedule.”

SM West uses the class rank system but unlike East, they have not seen any issues with the system. According to West’s principal Charles Mclean, ranking is a part of life and doesn’t think that the West student body would have an opinion on dropping class rank.

“Most students wouldn’t care one way or another,” Mclean said. “Ranking is simply a status symbol and of some use to colleges and universities. However, I don’t believe it is a true indicator of one’s future potential to make the world a better place.”

Krawitz agrees with Mclean in that class rank does not determines a person’s potential and believes that the system causes a competitive environment that can cause stress for students and sends the wrong message of what the purpose of school is.

“School is about preparing you for your future, whatever you choose to do,” Krawitz said. “I don’t think it is about putting students against one another to see where they fall in a class ranking as if that means that they are somehow less important. That’s not our purpose.”

Although Krawitz believes that class rank is harmful to students, he still thinks students should be recognized for academic success in some way. He is considering starting an academic signing day similar to the athletic signing day, where students who are signing with a school or for a scholarship are displayed and celebrated in the gym.

“When you start talking about what people get for their academic endeavors, people are sitting in the stands and saying ‘Wow, I can be there,’” Krawitz said. “Then you are recognizing the right thing and everyone has a chance at that recognition.”

Krawitz believes that the chances of getting class rank dropped by all schools may be slim but that he will be looking into dropping it at East alone.

“It’s an unnecessary system, it doesn’t define you as a person. The diploma you get and the diploma number 375 is going to look and read the exact same way,” Krawitz said. “Your class rank won’t matter.”