Jack Howland | Harbinger Online

After two hours, he felt something. It was like somebody flipped a switch. Peterson noticed that every touch or brush against him felt “amazing.” People looked more attractive. He felt like he had goosebumps that wouldn’t go away. But Peterson, who in September got his first high from a drug sold by the name “molly,” said the feeling could best be described as “blatantly happy.”

“It was, like, intense,” Peterson said. “I just felt happy. I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s not like being drunk or high [from marijuana]. You just are happy and you feel cool. You feel good — you really just feel good.”

Molly, a street term given by the DEA to an alternative of Ecstasy called TFMPP, is among the newest drugs that has gained considerable name recognition at East. In a poll of 107 students, 43 percent say they’re aware of the drug, 32 people in that group know someone that has done it and 9 percent have tried it. In October, The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) labeled it as a “chemical of concern” and reported it is most common among youth and young adults.

At East, Peterson points to “good old fashioned peer pressure,” as the main reason it’s on the rise.

“I had friends that had done it so that kinda opened me up to it,” Peterson said. “So now that I have friends who have never done it, [they] maybe would be more open to it because I think it’s a thing that you’re definitely reassured that your peers are doing it too.”

Barbara Carreno, a public affairs officer at the DEA, says that the main appeal for TFMPP is that it is legal in all 50 states. While there are some misconceptions that illegal substances are molly — like a pure form of Ecstasy called MDMA — the DEA says the actual drug is not a controlled chemical under the “Controlled Chemicals Act” and there are no legal repercussions for possessing it.

A website that provides comprehensive information about drugs on the street called Erowid claims that MDMA is synonymous with molly, but Carreno says that this shows how “people can sell something as whatever they want.” She notes that a certain school or area can sell their product by any name they see fit — for instance, Peterson claims he was sold MDMA on both occasions he tried the drug.

But even by the DEA’s definition of molly, Carreno points out, it’s unsafe.

“Among other things, molly can slow your heart and breathing rates, impair your ability to move, and impair your body’s ability to regulate its temperature,” Carreno said. “Sometimes [this results] in dangerously high fevers, similar to ecstasy, which can cause fatally high temperatures that can’t be reversed, leading to heart, liver and kidney failure.”

Molly is also often mixed with a chemical called BZT to enhance its effects. BZT, more commonly referred to as Legal E or Legal X, is a controlled substance banned by law. Carreno often warns youth that with molly and any drug it’s easy for a dealer to slip something else in or hand out something entirely different. The most important question for a buyer to ask, according to Carreno, is “what’s in it for them?”

“Many suppliers want to make money at [teens’] expense and don’t have [their] best interests — health, safety, success, happiness, good relationships, personal and social growth — at heart,” Carreno said. “Sometimes they don’t even know you; they are in business to make money for themselves.”

Clinical addiction counselor Kevin Kufeldt from the Johnson County Mental Health Adolescent Center for Treatment said he has multiple drug dealers in session who have pawned off other substances as molly. For the most part, he sees a lot of kids selling capsulated bath salts — a more dangerous substitute for TPFMM. Kufeldt, whose job requires him to counsel troubled youth who have turned to dealing, notes that it would be surprising if pure form molly was surfacing around East.

According to Kufeldt, drug dealers from the Blue Valley School District have been known to pawn off black and blue gelatin capsules filled with bath salt as molly. He explains that they can buy and capsulize 14 grams of bath salt for around $300 and sell all of it for around $600 to $700. Individually each pill will be priced around $40. A lot of dealers even have a “hook-up” for cheaper prices so they can turn a bigger profit.

“Money is a driving motivator for a lot of these kids,” Kufeldt said. “Because in order to finance their own drug use, they need money; so they’re pushing [bath salts] off to people who are unexpectedly taking something they’re not aware of.”

He explains that while kids who get molly may expect a “heightened sense of euphoria,” bath salts give a much different sensation. He points out that the salt of choice, “Pump-It,” can create hallucinogenic feelings. Like alcohol, it can make someone black out or not feel cognizant of what they’re saying. It may make healthy people entertain the idea of committing suicide. And the reason that it has this effect, Kufeldt said, is because it causes a lack of sleep.

“If you have someone who has been sleep deprived for three days, the brain starts to play tricks on you,” Kufeldt said. “You can tie it back to military-type interrogation stuff where they’ll keep someone in custody awake for several days — it’s kind of like that type of deal where they almost become delirious.”

Kufeldt, who meets with teens in session four days a week, says that he’s spoken with kids that have dealt capsulated bath salts as molly in the Shawnee Mission School District. He explains that the Blue Valley District and around Rockhurst make up a lot of the area where he typically runs into bath salts. Kids, he said, will lie and sell their product as molly because students typically are hesitant to try something filled with “Pump-It.”

“Most people who are taking drugs are kind of weary about taking bath salts,” Kufeldt said, “because they don’t know what’s in them — they don’t know what it is.”

According to Kufeldt, this drug swapping and mixing often is what leads to negative reactions.

“It’s very dangerous [to the buyer] because they know their tolerance level for Ecstasy or molly,” Kufeldt said. “When they’re taking something that’s not molly, that’s when you’ll see a lot of overdoses or even death.”

Junior Angela Potter*, who was told that her molly was MDMA, says she had suspicions that she didn’t get the right drug about an hour into her first usage. The pill, at a concert, only helped her focus more on the music. Her friends told her that the drug would make her feel “completely happy” but she felt like it was kind of a letdown. According to her, there was never any strong sensation. She thinks it may have been an ADHD pill.

According to Potter, this kind of thing happens all the time. She said that naive kids who are looking for something fun to do may be easily coerced into buying something that is not what they wanted. Potter, who has tried the drug multiple times, says sometimes the powder in the pill has looked white and crystallized while other times it’s been more like “powder sugar.” She says it’s often hard to tell what you’re getting.

“I think that definitely by the time it gets to Johnson County, it’s probably been mixed with a ton of stuff and, like, I’ve heard of Tylenol being added to it, I’ve heard of Adderall being in it,” Potter said. “There aren’t a ton of people that are huge drug dealers in Mission Hills and Prairie Village, so I’m sure it’s not necessarily as clean and pure as it would be somewhere that’s a big drug capitol.”

Potter, who was “so scared” the first time she tried it, said that before she did the drug she asked her dealer a list of questions; she wanted to make sure she wasn’t getting “random powder in a pill.” She says that she inquired about everything from the drug’s effects to the person’s background. It made her feel better. She said that as long as she was with people she trusted, she didn’t see why not to give it a shot.

“You know, you only have one life to live,” Potter said. “Might as well try it.”

Carreno counters this point; she says that using any form of molly is reckless and can, in fact, waste a human life.

“Legal doesn’t mean safe. Molly is an industrial chemical that was not made for human consumption, and you put your health and safety at risk when you use it,” Carreno said. “And it’s important to think critically about things people want you to do or to buy — don’t just accept anything that anyone has to say, because it may not be accurate or in your best interests.  You live your life through your body, and you only get one — take as good care of it.”

While there have been efforts by the DEA to make TFMPP illegal, Carreno says that it comes down to Health and Human Services (HHS). Back in 2002 when molly first made a name for itself, she says the DEA temporarily made it illegal and sent their recommendation to the HHS that it be a “controlled substance.” After they conducted scientific studies, however, the DEA was overruled.

“When Health and Human Services sends us a recommendation that says don’t control it, we can’t control it,” Carreno said. “So it had to go back to being just a regular legal substance, we had to lift our temporary control on it — so the DEA did try [to make it illegal] but Health and Human Services didn’t agree with us.”

But dealing illicit substances like bath salt is a completely different story, according to Carreno.

“If someone is dealing bath salts, they can get in trouble for that — that’s illegal,” Carreno said. “And especially if it’s anywhere near a school, there’s extra penalties for doing something around a school on top of the basic penalties.”

Student Resource Officer Joel Porter said that while he hasn’t run into any cases of students buying or selling anything referred to as “molly,” it doesn’t surprise him that it may be at East. He points out that drugs often can move from district to district as kids get bored with alcohol or marijuana.

“It doesn’t surprise me if [molly] is here and if it’s not here, I would expect to see it show up,” Porter said. “It’s always a revolving door, things are always coming through and going out.”

Although he accepts that the drug may be at East, Porter stresses to kids that they can’t trust anyone. He points out that in the past he has run into students who have told him they got a different drug than they expected — especially with molly, he said that drug dealers will do “anything to get their money.” But Porter, who knows he may see and hear more about molly in the coming future, feels there’s no reason at all why students should waste their time on it.

“My advice to people getting involved in [molly] is…don’t get involved with it — obviously there’s the legal side to it but there’s also the health side of it and the dangers it presents to you,” Porter said. “It’s not worth it, you’re throwing a lot of your life away for that stuff.”

“When I found out, I was really happy,” Ridgway said. “My family is really proud of me.”

Ridgway received the letter confirming his success two weeks ago and is required to fill out applications and write multiple essays for the chance to be chosen as one of the 141 finalists.

Principal Karl Krawitz considers having students in the running to be Presidential Scholar’s an honor. East has had finalists for this scholarship program in the past and Dr. Krawitz is proud to be a part of that.

“They reflect on the entire student body and the school and the staff,” Dr. Krawitz said. “And in turn, their honor becomes ours.”

Wiles and Ridgway have to turn in their applications by Feb. 23 and the final results will be announced on April 18.

On Jan. 26, Governor Sam Brownback proposed to the state Senate a bill that aims to completely rework the way state education is funded. When the recession hit in 2007, the state tightened its belt and started making cuts, and the amount of money allocated for Kansas education plummeted. Districts statewide have felt the effects of the decrease in funds, and the Shawnee Mission School District is no exception.“There are almost 300 school districts in Kansas,” Principal Karl Krawitz said. “And a year ago Shawnee Mission was fourth from the bottom of money received. The current formula that’s in place, it doesn’t help Shawnee Mission at all.”

Shawnee Mission’s lack of funding has become increasingly noticeable to patrons throughout the last year. Last semester, students watched and often protested as Mission Valley Middle School was closed and fellow Lancers suddenly became Raiders and Indians due to budget cuts. The same cuts have caused class sizes at East to grow to 30 students a class, and teachers are having to take on heavier workloads without any change to their salaries.

Dr. Krawitz hopes that Brownback’s new bill will solve these problems. The bill proposes that the state do away with its current formula for school funding, replacing it with a program that will increase spending across the state and give each district the freedom to raise money locally for its own budget needs.

The first change it would make is the amount of money spent per student. Since 2004, the amount spent on each Kansas student has dropped from $4,492 to $3,780. Brownback’s proposition will require the state to raise the amount spent per student back to $4,492 by the 2013-2014 school year. The second change allows local governments to raise taxes to fund education. Craig Denny, the SMSD Board President, has been hearing this idea for years, and believes it can solve many of the state’s school funding problems.

“I had so many patrons coming to me saying, ‘Please, don’t cut this program, we’d be happy to pay more,’” Denny said. “I had to tell them that we couldn’t, that we weren’t allowed to… People here will pay for it, so let them.”

Brownback’s proposition would do exactly that. The bill allows districts to levy local taxes to raise money for their district. A percentage of the money raised will be given to the state education budget, which will in turn spread the money evenly throughout state schools. The rest of the money can be spent freely on education by the district that raised the funds. Denny believes that this will bring in additional money to the Johnson County area, and help the district to avoid future budget cuts and job losses.

The chairman of the Kansas Board of Education, Dave Dennis, agrees that the bill would give the Shawnee Mission School District more funds, but he cites this as one of the Board’s concerns. The state of Kansas strives to provide statewide equality in education, Dennis said, and the new bill would not allow that standard of equality to be continued.

Since 2004, the amount spent on each Kansas student has dropped from $4,492 to $3,780.

“If you’re living up around the Kansas City area, by raising your property tax one mill (one tenth of a cent) you can raise millions of dollars,” Dennis said. “But in Western Kansas you’d only raise a couple thousand dollars. Rich school districts can give a Cadillac version of an education, while poorer districts could only give students a Model T version.”

But Dr. Krawitz and Denny say that statewide education is already unequal. They both cite the fact that larger, wealthier school districts such as Shawnee Mission are falling into the bottom 10 percent of money received. Dr. Krawitz says that SM East struggles with major inequality in special education funding. He said that the state education budget guarantees to pay for 75 percent of special education costs, yet SMSD receives only 67 percent funding from the state. While SMSD has to find a way to pay for that extra eight percent Dr. Krawitz said, other districts are being given over 200 percent of their special education costs in funding from the state. The state attributes these extra funds  to the higher poverty levels and lower test scores in other districts, but Dr. Krawitz still believes they are unjust.

“You know, we can’t spend as much on special education students at East,” Dr. Krawitz said. “But in other districts, they might be spending two and a half times what we’re spending. Is that fair? No.”

Dr. Krawitz also worries about the quality of education that East and SMSD can offer if budget reforms are not made. He notes that, since he became principal at SM East four years ago, the average core class sizes have grown from 20 to 30. The number of teachers teaching six periods instead of five has also increased dramatically. When Dr. Krawitz first came to East, only nine or ten teachers taught the extra period, but currently 44 teachers have had to add the sixth period. Dr. Krawitz wishes for more funding so that the teacher-to-student ratio can drop back to its original place, and he believes that the new bill is the best available solution.

The state Senate and House of Representatives are now in the middle of a 90 day session of reviewing and revising the bill. During this time, Dennis said, the bill could be altered to a point of being “unrecognizable”, or be vetoed completely. Despite general SMSD and Johnson County support, Dr. Krawitz is not optimistic about the bill’s chances of surviving this session.

“There is practically no support,” Dr. Krawitz said. “So who knows where we’re going to end up after this session.”

Dennis agrees that the future of this proposition is undecided. The state Board of Education has not even been able to agree on which side to take, he said, so the outcome of the session is impossible to predict.

“Will there be something at the end? Yes,” Dennis said. “Is there a possibility of the formula we have right now being kept? Certainly. Could the Governor’s bill be passed? Possibly. It could be anything right now. It’s gonna be an interesting session, and everyone needs to keep an eye on it.”

Lowe and Ator’s dance was chosen for the performance and they began teaching it to their teammates this past Monday. With only a week to learn, the dance had to be kept short and the team had to work hard to have their steps perfected by half time of Friday’s game.The girls described their dance as a “mixture of sassy hip-hop with a ghetto part in the middle.” The dance is to a mash-up of the songs “You’ll Find a Way” from the movie Fame, “This Instant” by Sophia Fresh, and “WOP”. Ator and Lowe both feel as if they have learned a lot from this experience, both about choreographing itself as well as teaching their contemporaries.

A group of thirty students entered Arndt-Helgeson’s first hour class and Morgan Satterlee made the announcement. Satterlee said the vote was close but Arndt-Helgeson edged out several other close contenders.

“Yoda deserved the teacher of the year because she enveloped the four pillars that NHS is all about. She is committed to developing not only the mind of her students, but their character as well,” Satterlee said.

Arndt-Helgeson will accept the award at the National Honor Society induction in February.

January marks a time which can be stressful for college-bound students – enrollment. Students must decide whether or not to take rigorous courses or easier courses which would allow them to explore their interests.

“Here at East, we’re expected to be top tier, taking the hardest classes, getting spots on varsity teams or the leads in the play,” junior Ali Felman said. “But really, if we do that, we have to choose two of the following: sleep, success or relationships.”

To make this decision, there are academic, social and emotional issues that students must take into account. School counselor Diana Griffey said that a student’s junior year is the most important year in high school because colleges look at your most recent grades and whethr or not you took advanced placement classes when evaluating their resume. Sophomore Kevin Xu made the decision to fill his schedule with AP classes. Xu believes that colleges will appreciate an ambitious schedule more than an easier schedule because it shows that the student really wants to challenge himself. He says that extracurricular activities have a similar impact as well, because it shows that the student is involved and is a dynamic person.

Kansas University admissions graduate assistant Alisa Tate recommends that students take more challenging classes if they are looking to become eligible for scholarships or wish to be considered for the honors program at KU. Also, on collegeboard.com, almost every college cites that a rigorous schedule is of crucial importance for colleges when they are evaluating a student.

Another route for rigorous study is through the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. According to senior Leyann Dahlgren, the program pushes you to be more involved with the added the class of Theory of Knowledge, and the community service requirement and a test score requirement to graduate with an IB diploma.

“I feel like it was worth it,” Dahlgren said of her experience with IB. “Even though it was hard, I feel like it helped develop better study habits that I can use in college.”

Dahlgren said that these study habits stemmed from the fact that most of her time was consumed by classwork and the Creativity Action Service program. C.A.S. is required for the IB diploma and requires the student to complete 150 hours of creativity, action and service activites. Dahlgren says this left little time for social interaction.

“Sure, you may lose sleeping time, but if you really want to hang out with your friends, you’ll make time,” Dahlgren said.

Wiseman says that students need time for themselves; while it is important to maintain a decent GPA, it is more important for them to keep healthy relationships in high school.

Because it is just that – high school.

“Students are in crisis mode all the time,” Wiseman said. “They’ll be freaking out over a test, homework that’s due or a project they need to work on but don’t have time for because they have practice or rehearsal. Students are constantly like produce, produce, produce, produce, produce. It’s not a healthy, and students won’t learn or perform as well under that kind of stress.”

Like Dahlgren, Felman also finds it hard to set aside personal time. Her schedule is “50 percent school, 30 percent viola, 10 percent work and 10 percent theater stuff.”

She says that if they get into good study habits now, the transition into college life will be a lot easier. Although she enjoys theater and her viola lessons, it isn’t the relaxing time she needs. Both activities require serious effort and attention.

“I can be social possibly one night a week if I’m not working,” Felman said. “My schedule forces me to be flexible if I want to be social. Saturday isn’t always hang-out-with-friends night. Sometimes it’s let’s-do-homework night or let’s-go-to-bed-early night. It’s mostly let’s-go-to-work night.”

Wiseman said that because students are constantly in this blur of producing, they have no down time. They should take time to relax and find out what they’re good at. While Dahlgren opted to take the challenging IB schedule, senior Cassie Sterbenz has decided to mix it up. While she has taken every visual art class that East has to offer, with the intention of pursuing a career in art, she believes that she has balanced them out by taking a few AP classes throughout her high school career. She says that even though her classes weren’t all AP, her future isn’t jeopardized.

“I have a pretty solid GPA without a bunch of AP classes and I still got accepted to all the schools I applied to,” Sterbenz said. “It’s really important to balance out both [interests and academics]; you should find what you’re passionate about so that you can explore it and study it in college, but also take harder classes to prepare yourself for [college].”

Ultimately, Felman feels that exploring her interests in high school will be much more useful than taking tougher classes for the sole purpose of impressing colleges.

“I won’t need to know about calc when I’m 30, but I’ll want to know these things about viola when I’m 30,” Felman said.

But the fact remains, according to UMKC law professor June Carbone, that colleges value GPA points over knowledge in the application process.

“Concerning admissions, it really doesn’t matter how much you learned,” Felman said. “It’s sad but it’s true. So I guess, as students, we’ll just have to work for the points.”

Matti Crabtree | Harbinger Online

Second semester has begun and so has senioritis. After seven busy semesters, many seniors are finally taking a deep breath and are coasting through their remaining months as the days until graduation count down.

Senioritis, according to senior Alex Fanning, is “a highly contagious, highly contaminative disease that plagues the modern high school senior; a great lack of energy to complete schoolwork; downright laziness. Antonyms: Honor student, Over-achiever.”

At East, many seniors have already begun the fight against senioritis. Although often disregarded as an excuse for apathy, this mindset that seniors adopt during their last year of high school is actually a unique combination of mental and emotional factors.

“[Senioritis] seems [to be] a complex interplay between developmental issues: students uncertain about who they are and where they are going in life,” Director of the KU Psychological Clinic, Sarah Kirk said. “Motivation is low if they are uncertain about the future, [there is] some resistance to becoming an adult, [as well as] personal factors.”

Senior Emily Frye says she caught senioritis during second semester of her junior year, but it wasn’t until last December that her study habits started to be influenced by procrastination and apathy. Unlike her previous years in high school, Frye isn’t as motivated to focus on school work as she once was. She believes that senioritis can be attributed to a student’s exhausting junior year and the college application process during senior year.

“Junior year of high school is the hardest academically by far,” Frye said. “Between American History AP and Calculus BC, there was little time to enjoy school. Because it was so academically challenging, I became burnt out and therefore lost all motivation to challenge myself when it came to school.”

Frye believes that once students have applied and have been accepted into college, the drive to stay on top of grades starts to decrease, leaving seniors just going through the motions for the remainder of the year.

However, senioritis hasn’t always been such a big issue. Whereas Frye’s senioritis began during her junior year, there used to be a time when the talk of senioritis didn’t start until much later.

Vicki Arndt-Helgesen, sociology and American History AP teacher, saw a significant change in the mentality of seniors she taught when the district changed from three to four year high schools in the late 80’s.

“We really did not have kids talking the language of ‘senioritis’ until after spring break, until we went to a four year high school,” Arndt Helgesen said. “In middle school two years is too short to commit, four years is just too long.”

According to Arndt-Helgesen, senioritis is not only caused by the amount of time spent in high school, but also the rigor of the core years that has a consequential impact on students.

“Quite frankly, when else are you carrying five to six to seven solid classes [as well as] doing activities?” Arndt-Helgesen said. “[Students] will never again try to do as much—part of it is kind of like ‘I’ve worked really hard, don’t I deserve to enjoy this?’”

Disengaging is also a large part of the equation for students leaving high school. Senioritis often goes hand-in-hand with the realization that four years of an era are coming to an end and that universities and careers await in the very near future.

“Sometimes the word senioritis really has to do with ‘I’m backing off of the commitment to’ list or it’s like ‘I recognize I’m leaving,’” Arndt-Helgesen said. “It’s a way you almost [handle] some of those aspects of loss.”

Even though students may be enjoying an activity or class, often the repeated daily routines start to have a negative effect. Senior Madeline Pigeon sees the constant repetition of day to day schedules, school work and activities as being detrimental to the morale of the student.

Pigeon says her case of senioritis started after Thanksgiving break. She has known since October where she was going to college, and feels that discussing the future has been distracting her from the present.

“Senioritis can also result from discussions at home,” Pigeon said. “Talking about future plans for college [can make you] forget about the present.”

At its core, senioritis is a way to deal with anxiety. Students may be excited to move on to college, but also may be apprehensive about leaving the familiarity of high school behind.

Senior Taylor Crane says she’s ready to start a new chapter of her life, even though she is going to miss the teachers and people she’s been able to meet at East.

“Senioritis, the way I see it, is the urge to want to get out of this place and move on with our lives,” Crane said. “The idea of getting out there and starting living our own lives just excites us.”

Crane really started to think about high school coming to an end after completing the senior paper and receiving a 99 percent on it.

“After stressing and working non-stop on the paper, I just got tired off all the school work and effort I have to keep putting in to the rest of the year,” Crane said. “I think because I did receive a good grade on my paper, It made me feel like school should be over.”

Arndt-Helgesen believes that the effect of senioritis can be relieved if seniors find something that they are passionate about to focus on during their remaining time in high school.

“We find our little niches, whether [it’s] photography, running or whatever we’ve got,” Arndt-Helgesen said. “We find our places that give us sustenance—well, that sustenance ought to be the meat of what we do.”

According to Arndt-Helgesen, making senior year count is important, but leaving a familiar place and looking forward to the future is simply a normal process of life.

“There’s a distancing, an exiting that we have to do,” Arndt Helgesen said. “God forbid this should be the highlight of anyone’s life. You know if it is, I’m really sorry.”

While some students believed the switch was due to budget cuts, in reality, it was made in an attempt to teach the same curriculum throughout the district so that the high schools will be more in sync.

“We’re teaching the same stuff, we’ve just condensed it down so that you as an artist will have a broader range in knowledge,” Wanda Simchuk, the Division Coordinator of Art said. “We’re trying to introduce more to you.”

Although there are fewer art classes in which to enroll, Simchuk believes there will be just as many classes to teach because the art classes are enrollment based–meaning that as long as the same amount of students sign up, there will be the same amount of classes to teach.

Simchuk’s only concern about the switch is that students won’t be fully aware of what’s happening to the art department, and they won’t sign up.

“We could lose numbers because if the students don’t understand why or how it’s changed, they might think ‘Well, I wanted to take Jewelry. I’m not taking Jewelry if it’s called Jewelry/Sculpture,” Simchuk said. “Hopefully we do a good job of promoting it and we’ll get a lot of kids in art classes.”

There are currently 14 art classes offered at East. Next year, after dividing some topics into other classes, there will only be eight. Next year, when the switch is enforced, the eight classes will be Drawing, Painting, Jewelry/Sculpture, Ceramics, Digital Design, Photo 1, Photo 2 and AP/IB/Studio art, Fibers, Watercolor and Printmaking will cease to be individual classes, and will instead be merged into the curriculums of other classes.

“We’re still teaching the same things, it’s just reorganized in a different way,” Simchuk said.

These “different ways” that Simchuk speaks of include offering different assignments for students. For example, in the painting class, students will have the choice to do assignments under the category of painting or watercolor.
Drawing and Ceramics will feature some Printmaking, Painting will include fibers and watercolor, and Jewelry/Sculpture will also include some fibers.

Students should not be under the impression that the new art department is forever changed. James Meara, who teaches Print Making, Commercial Art, Design and Introduction to Studio Art, does not think that the change will be a permanent one.

“It seems like we change stuff pretty frequently,” Meara said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if in two or three years we change it again.”

Simchuk believes the switch will help students in the long run when they are deciding what to study in college.

“It’ll help when you go to colleges and get it real narrowed down and decide ‘I’m going to be a painting major or jewelry major,” Simchuk said. “In high school you need a wide range of information. You need to be able to experience it all.”

The proposed changes have not been well received by some students.

Senior Sarah King, who is one of the co-presidents of the National Honor’s Art Society (NAHS), was upset when she first heard rumors last year about the switch.

“I’m still upset,” King said. “It’s taking away from kids who are really interested in one type of art.”

Junior Lauren Alvey is not optimistic about the future changes in the art department, attesting to the lack of variety.

“There will be a lack of variety and we won’t get as much variety in our forms of art,” Alvey said.

Senior Natalie Pierce, another co-president of the NAHS in addition to King and senior Amy Franklin, thinks that students won’t take the classes that they might have originally wanted to take due to the change. Another concern of hers is that there will bee too much material taught in one class.

“You sign up for Painting, but you’re going to do Fibers, too,” Pierce said. “A lot more material will be crammed into that class.”

Simchuk, who currently teaches Ceramics and Intro to Studio Art, likes teaching classes that are focused on one subject, and neither of the classes she teaches will be greatly affected. Her Ceramics class will teach some Fibers, but she doesn’t feel like this will alter her teaching methods too much.

Meara thinks that the art classes will be “more interesting” due to the merging of classes.

“It should make art classes more available to students,” Meara said. “Sometimes students get bored of just drawing, but we’re combining Drawing with Print Making, so students will do something other than draw.”

Simchuk feels that the switch will work for both the students and the staff.

“I think it’ll be fine,” Simchuk said. “I can’t say I really like it because I haven’t taught it yet, but think ultimately it’s going to be fine.”

“It doesn’t matter how many classes you take on education, you don’t learn too much until you teach,” East choir director Ken Foley said as his student teacher, Sam Green, conducts the women’s choir behind him. “I always let my student teachers have the class, let them succeed or fail, because they have to learn that process. I had a great teacher who just gave me the choir and said ‘Here ya go, figure it out.’ Its so important because that’s how you find out how to teach.”

This is Foley’s second student teacher this year. As always, he looks forward to mentoring someone going through the same process he had years before. As with the other teachers that have taken college students under their wing, he understands that this is the best possible training for those hoping to succeed in education.

“I’ve been fortunate to have two great student teachers this year,” says Foley. “Its important to me that they figure out what works, and especially what doesn’t work.”

Here’s a quick run down of the student teachers currently at east:

Stefano Byer | Harbinger Online

Lauren Phillips
Mentor: Adam Finkelston
Currently studying at: University of Central Missouri in Warrensberg – Graduate School
Why SM East:“I listed the Shawnee Mission school district in my top choices of assignments, and then they in turn chose me and assigned me to East.”
What have you learned so far: “I am really impressed with everything you guys have here. The art teachers are really involved and give the students a lot of opportunities that I didn’t have in high school.”
Reason for student teaching: “I want to be a high school art teacher, and this is giving me the experience to get a job as a teacher.”

Stefano Byer | Harbinger Online

Mentor: Ken Foley
Schooling: Graduated from Webb City High School in 2007, Currently a student at UMKC
Why SM East: Assigned to East by University advisor.
Experience so far: “It’s a great fit. I mean, Mr. Foley’s great and I think we work together really well. I am really enjoying learning from him.”
Current Residence: “I live in a house with three other room mates so I’m living cheaply and driving every day.”
Reason for student teaching: “Music has always been a passion of mine, and being able to share it with other people and being able to teach it to younger students is just an incredible opportunity that I feel very lucky to be able to do.”

Stefano Byer | Harbinger Online

Bryce McElroy
Mentor: Mercedes Rasmussen
Currently studying at: Kansas State Univerity
Why SM East: “ I knew I wanted to come in the Johnson County area somewhere and Mercedes went to KSU and happened to have worked under my advisor.”
Current Residence: “I really love the area of Kansas City. I have an older sibling who lives here so I have free rent and that’s really nice.”
Reason for student teaching: “I would like to teach any kind of high school business courses. Marketing, accounting, computer classes, financial literacy or finance classes.”

Carey/Hill finished fourth out of 36 teams with a 5-2 record at the tournament run by members of the SM East debate squad at East. The team of Seth Myers/Max Werner went 2-5.

Junior squad member Liam Murphy worked in hospitality and thought the tournament was a success.

“It was definitely run well and went according to plan. Chris and Michael, who are arguably one of the top five or even best teams in the state, ended up getting fourth, which they weren’t happy with necessarily, but that’s still the fourth best in Kansas,” Murphy said.

The novice state tournament held at SM West also brought success for the squad with two teams going to out-rounds, where the teams with the best sixteen records and speaker points were put in a bracket. Jack Werner/Will Oakley upset the number one seed in the first round of out-rounds, but lost the following round. Walter/Walter lost in the championship round.

“It was a long day and it was tiring but I felt that it was rewarding in the end. It was really rewarding to beat so many good teams and to be able to advance so far in the tournament,” Karl said.

East librarian, Kathi Knop, was the one who submitted the grant request for the Nooks. With the approval of the grant, the door was opened for the library to get 15 Simple Touch Nooks and five Color Nooks.

Knop would like to see the Simple Touch Nooks used for a new book club in the near future.

“Then everybody will have the same [book] title,” Knop said. “But they’ve all got it on their Nook. Then if we’re not having book club, then they’ll just be available to anybody for check out.”

The Simple Touch Nook readers will be able to be checked out like any other book in the library. They will have a standard bar-code and will be able to be checked out for three weeks at a time, but there will be no renewals. The Nook Colors will remain in the library and will be loaded with content such as magazines for students to view.

The total cost for the grant comes to about $4,000. This includes the 20 refurbished Barnes and Noble Nooks, protection plans, cases, some e-book titles and even a Barnes and Noble credit card for future purchases.

Knop got the idea after learning how other schools have been implementing the new technology in their systems.

“I’ve been reading about other school libraries that have gotten Kindles or Nooks,” Knop said. “I thought, ‘Ok this would be something fun to check out,’ so I investigated [and found out that Nooks are more suitable for a library].”

Instead of another e-book reader, such as Amazon’s Kindle, Knop says Barnes and Noble’s Nook was chosen because it is easier to use in a library setting. Currently, if a title is purchased for one of the school Nooks, then it will be synced to all of the other 19 Nooks. However, Barnes and Noble may change this in the future, requiring that one copy is bought for each device. Initially, the Nooks will come loaded with 10 titles, including books such as “Hunger Games”, “City of Bones” and “Maze Runner”.

Even with the draw of new and interesting technology, Knop thinks that the e-book readers aren’t going to affect the library in a negative way.

“I just think it’s a part of the evolving nature of libraries today,” Knop said. “I don’t think it’s going to hurt book checkout, I really don’t. I think it’ll just be another opportunity for reading, just on a different venue.”

Grant Kendall | Harbinger Online

East started off this school year with a number of students on suicide watch that was somewhere in the teens, according to Krawitz.

“I think that number has shrunken considerably,” Krawitz said.

When students are on suicide watch, the administration intervenes and tries to get at the situation early on so that they can provide the services needed. They offer up names of therapists and teen counselors that work in the community. Krawitz and other administrators in the building want to be able to offer these supportive outside services to parents and students.

“Especially in the last year or two, we have been having a lot more training being given to our staff about all of the signs of suicide,”  Krawitz said. “This has been extremely helpful to our staff.”

Over the past two years, the Shawnee Mission School District has began giving their staff “Gate Keeper Training.” Gate Keeper training has been around for the past 10 years but is new to our district. This training program trains the staff at the beginning of the year on identifying warning signs of suicide like depression and other stress factors. It also teaches the staff how to address the problem by telling them who to talk to and what kind of discussion to have with a student.

According to Becky Wiseman, one of East’s counselors, a big part of the process is teaching the staff how to follow up with the kids by finding resources in the school and in the community. This is important because in some cases these students will go to a staff member when they want to open up.

“We do this training so that the staff will know all the warning signs and risk factors and what to do if they are concerned about a student,” Wiseman said.

Jane Smith*, who has been through suicide watch, has confided in the school nurse during her struggle. She is the one that Smith has opened up to the most since she is in her office a lot to take her various medications.

“I don’t want people to know, and I really didn’t feel comfortable telling a lot of people,” Smith said. “I felt really comfortable talking to the nurse, though.”

From Wiseman’s perspective, if administrators, parents, students or teachers are concerned about someone they will go to her and say things like “I’m really worried about my friend” or “I’m really concerned about this student, can you check in with them?” Wiseman’s role is to have this student in and speak with them.

“I have a checklist that I go through of questions to asses their risk factor,” Wiseman said. “If a student is at risk, it’s my role to contact parents and offer community resources; sometimes that means immediate mental health screening, sometimes that is just a list of counselors or support groups that the student and their family can seek help from.”

In addition to the checklist that Wiseman goes through with these students, East has a service called the Student Intervention Team (SIT). SIT is a team of professionals who review cases that are brought to them and they then try to make an action plan for these students with the information they are given.

According to Wiseman, each student that meets with her has their own unique story. In Smith’s case, she recently attempted suicide—she has been suffering depression because she has been bullied since elementary school. Smith recently returned to school after seeking an outside therapy and rehabilitation treatment.

“I was just at the point where I felt like I was hopeless and I was hurting a lot,” Smith said.

When students go to Wiseman to get help, one of the main pieces of advice she gives these students is to look to their support systems. Whether that is looking to their friends, their family members or even their teachers, they have to be able to know that there are a lot of things out in the community that can be helpful to them.

“I have to go to therapy once a week and I’m on really heavy anti-depressants,” Smith said.

The only reason Smith feels she is able to keep her spirits up while she’s at school is because she doesn’t want her peers or her friends to see her as “weak.” She feels she will be ill-perceived if she is constantly down and emotional.

“I just act like nothing’s wrong and I just tell myself that,” Smith said.

In most cases, when a student is feeling unsafe in their environment and is worried about the actions they might make, either the student or their parents will go to Wiseman.

Once Wiseman has worked with a student and she has determined that some resources, like outside therapy or a mental health screening needs to be put in place, she will do a follow up with the student to see how things are going for them.

“A lot of times that communication will continue but that truly is up to the student,” Wiseman said. “If the student has gotten therapy or counseling set up and they do not want to do it here at school then I will definitely respect that.”

After realizing all of the help that the suicide watch program has brought to East, Krawitz believes it is something that should be heard about and spread throughout other schools in the district as well as the country.

“I think from this point on not only in this school, but in schools across the country, it’s going to become something that will be a yearly discussion and training will be given,” Krawitz said. “It has become very much a reality.”

***

Habits to Fight Depression

Sleep
Research has shown that people who go without enough rest, 8 hours for teenagers, are six times as likely to become depressed.

Exercise
Evidence indicates that to prevent, and even to treat, depression with exercise requires three thirty minute sessions of exercise per week.

Food
Lots of seafood is key! Omega-3 fatty acids as well as vitamin B12 are thought to contribute to mental well-being. Salmon, tuna, dark green vegetables and nuts. You can also find B12 in seafood and some dairy products.

Meditation
Practicing regular meditation has been shown in studies to improve overall mental health and effectively treat depression.

Do you often see Facebook impacting kids in a negative way?

Definitely, I think that’s the thing that most students aren’t aware of because what we are seeing is colleges, corporations, companies and military personnel doing background checks to get a sense of the person they are trying to hire. If someone has a negative page, then chances are that company or university will most likely not consider their application. We are seeing more of that lately.

Do you think it is fair to decide on whether the applicant should be accepted by their Facebook?

No, because at the same time I think you’ll see those companies trying to get a sense of that person. They can get an idea of a person, but they will be reluctant if they know people can hack into the sites and create phony situations. I have a perception of all of the students. I will say in my mind that they wouldn’t be out there doing stuff they do, but reality tells me I am living in a fantasy world. It is such a tough issue because you are trying to guard yourself. Unfortunately, it will never go away and I think that’s what haunts kids.

Do you ever worry about what students put on their Facebook?

I really do, I don’t know why students put their personal life on social media. Right now, I think students really have to go back and assess what they have on Facebook. You only have to have it backfire on you and then it seems like these people are trailing you. I have seen more negative than I have seen the good and maybe that’s being magnified too much.

KU Assistant Director of Communications – Lauren Erickson

Does KU look at an applicant’s Facebook?

It is not a part of our application review process. We do a lot with the social media, but it is not related to a students admission to KU. Our admission is solely based on students applications, materials and whether or not they meet our criteria. We engage students and get to know them through Facebook and Twitter, but we don’t look at their profiles on whether or not they should be accepted.

What is your main concern when it comes to Facebook?

Is it OK to not let a student into a university based off something you have seen on Facebook?

I think it’s only fair that colleges and universities make it clear what they are considering when they look at a student for admission. If a school said they were going to look at everything they can find on students and the students knew that was how they were being considered then I think it’s fair game. I think it’s important for schools to be up front with what they are requiring.

Senior – Camille Goehausen

Why do you have your profile on private?

It’s been on private because I get creeped out sometimes. I don’t know all of my friends and I don’t want them to be able to see my pictures. I haven’t worried about colleges looking at my Facebook until this year, but I don’t think I have anything on my page that would hurt me too bad if colleges did look at it. I am also friends with a lot of parents and possible future people I could work for in the future so I think that’s another reason why my friends and I are on private. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Have you thought about the consequences that can occur because of Facebook?

Yes I have, especially now because I know there have been multiple instances of people getting in trouble with the school because of pictures, but I personally don’t think I have anything inappropriate. I just think it’s better to be safe about it.

Do you think Facebook affects kids in a negative way?

I think it can. People can take things out of context on Facebook and be bullied through Facebook, but I also think there are a lot of positives to it. Sometimes people post things without really thinking about what they are posting.

What is your opinion on colleges looking at Facebook?

Kat Buchanan | Harbinger Online

These recent events in the media are only the jumping-off point for the conversation that administrators, students and professionals are having concerning students’ online conduct.

“I really think that if people become so aware of the negative side of social networking, it will implode itself–because no one will want to do it,” principal Karl Krawitz said. “I think people will back away from doing it, because there’s nothing out there to make them feel good about the way they can protect themselves.”

Dr. Krawitz has taken interest in the current lack of social media education among high school students for the upcoming spring semester. Dr. Krawitz said the administration has been sending out emails in hopes of bringing specialists into the school to present a new perspective on the world of social media, due to students’ lack of knowledge on acceptable online conduct.

“I think [students] somewhat still think that they’re confined in this vacuum that’s somewhat safe within the framework of individuals who they’re communicating with,” Dr. Krawitz said. “But it only takes one person to take that [username] and exploit it, at just the drop of a hat. Before you know it, anything you might have been saying about something or somebody is now everywhere.”

Similar to a panel of corporate specialists presented to the PTA this past semester, Dr. Krawitz hopes to bring in professionals to offer insight on social networking and how to operate within personal rights and ethics when using sites like Twitter and Facebook.

“I don’t see any downside to teaching social media etiquette,” attorney advocate at the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) Adam Goldstein said. “The wrinkle is that you always have the right to use bad etiquette. The school has the right to teach you what good etiquette is, but the only way to really learn a lesson like that is to have the option to do it wrong.”

Students do, however, already have that right, according to Goldstein. The online transgression has to be something illegal or an event that stops the operation of school–but, as Goldstein put it, “you can’t legally be punished for being disrespectful online.”

“First Amendment rights exist on social media,” Goldstein continued. “At least at the minimum, you have just as much right [to free speech] as you have sitting at home–legally, it’s the same as saying things out loud.”

Law professor at the University of Missouri, Kansas City (UMKC) June Carbone agrees, insisting that “posting offensive comments on Facebook is much like putting up a sign in your front yard”–it may be frowned upon, but you have every right to do it.

The administration’s concern lies in the fact that students are tweeting from school and school-sponsored events–not from home.

Students at East are allowed access to smart phones and electronic devices during passing period, lunch and before and after school–this, according to Krawitz, doesn’t likely deter students from using such technology during class hours.

“We all know that the system is so grossly abused,” Dr. Krawitz said. “Just like those who get to go out to lunch is abused–but we don’t have the personnel to manage it.”

Social networking during class can hold negative connotations from a student standpoint as well, providing an unwanted distraction from lesson plans. Junior Eden McKissick-Hawley feels that more than anything, social networking during class hours is counterproductive.

“Sometimes I think Twitter is a funny place where kids can say what’s on their mind,” McKissick Hawley said. “But there are a lot of negative repercussions that come when kids are reading what’s on Twitter more than they’re reading what’s in class–I think that, overall, it’s not a helpful thing for schools.”

However, high schools around the United States have taken strides toward embracing social media in the classroom setting, according to the New York Times–one of which is Silver Creek High School in Longmont, Colo.

“Silver Creek unblocked many social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter, two years ago after recognizing that they could provide learning opportunities,” Phil Goerner, a librarian at Silver Creek told the New York Times in September.

Dr. Krawitz feels that the goings-on of social networking sites like Facebook are better practiced at home, hoping to keep home matters and school matters separate.

“It’s none of our business,” Dr. Krawitz said. “It’s none of our business what a person says, does, whatever. I think the only time [what a student does outside of school] becomes our business is if it’s happening out there and it’s affecting an individual here–and as a result of what’s said out there, it turns into something real, a disagreement here.”

His care for the matter does, however, detail the conduct of students when representing or reflecting the student body as a whole in any given setting.

“If they’re representing the school–anywhere, at any time–especially during the day hours, then those things fall under the guidelines of the school,” Dr. Krawitz said. “Whether it’s here in the actual building or somewhere else.”

Carbone says while there isn’t necessarily a concern with “image” when it comes to the reflection of the school, there is still the matter of correct behavior.

“I think that schools have some ability to insist on a behavior code for students that emphasizes consideration for others and appropriate behavior in public settings,” Carbone said.

The potential of actually writing up a social media policy–outlining rules for web usage during school hours and events–is not on the administration’s to-do list, according to Dr. Krawitz, due mainly to a lack of personnel and manageable technology. Students’ rights advocates also show opposition to a potential content-tracking system that would keep social networking content under the administration’s eye during school hours.

“The school can monitor whatever it wants, although, frankly, I find the idea of grown people spending time doing nothing but reading teenagers’ social media sites a little creepy,” Goldstein said. “But, if that’s what they think the best use of their time is, they are legally entitled to do it.”

The idea of a lockdown on web surfing receives negative responses from the students involved, as well as the administrators and professionals.

“I think if I knew that my school was looking over my shoulder at what I was saying online, I’d probably be more careful–but I’d also think that that’s not their place,” McKissick-Hawley said.

Dr. Krawitz is also opposed to strict monitoring of networking content. He feels that while implementing a social media policy for the district or even East is out of reach, the more effective way to enforce change is to educate the student body on the consequences associated with social media usage, to the best of the administration’s ability.

“Education’s job is to help students understand what they’re getting into,” Dr. Krawitz said.

Dr. Krawitz hopes to further the wave of social media knowledge by adding the topic to class curriculum.

“I could see it becoming a part of our Legal Studies program,” Dr. Krawitz said. “In all essence, because of the nature of it, I think it probably needs to be.”

SRO officer gets arrested, resigns
School Resource Officer (SRO) Richard Pacheco resigned from his post at East just before Thanksgiving. Several days before, he was arrested after being accused of aggravated assault, and was released shortly afterwards. This, according to KCTV 5 News, was not his first run-in with the law–in 2003, two of his ex-wives filed for protection orders and he had been charged with a domestic assault. Three months ago, Pacheco was appointed Chief-of-Police in Mosby, Missouri, just outside of Kansas City. Pacheco was unavailable for comment.

Students prepare for new finals schedule
Finals week will be split up over two weeks this semester, with a weekend break in between students’ third and fourth hour exams. On Thursday, teachers will administer their first hour finals in a normal hour-and-a-half time period–after their first final, students will go to the rest of their shortened classes for quick reviews and study sessions. On Friday, students will take their second and third hour finals followed by an early dismissal where students can stay for lunch or leave after their last exam. Then, students will have a weekend to study and relax before the rest of their finals, with winter break officially beginning for 9-12 grade on Tuesday, Dec. 20, afternoon.

NATION

Court approves new race-based admission guidelines
The Obama Administration recently sent public universities court-approved guidelines detailing the act of admitting students based on their race. The guidelines state that schools are close to as diverse as they were in 1960–so they are taking action. The administration believes that students need to learn in racially diverse communities in order to be prepared to live and work in an interconnected world. It has also been suggested that secondary schools redraw their boundaries to become more diverse. Thus, students can be admitted by their race and other admission qualities to create a diverse community that will contribute to the learning atmosphere of colleges.

COMMUNITY

Johnson County Christmas Bureau sets up in KC
Gift-giving, cozy fires, enjoying the first of many snowfalls–the Johnson County Christmas Bureau aims to give every family a chance to enjoy these traditional holiday exploits without having to worry about making ends meet. The organization gives students a chance to contribute to their community by providing assistance to low income families in the area. Giving away donated toothbrushes, soap, bedding, toys and other common household necessities, they hope to improve the life of someone less fortunate. Donation boxes have been set up around the community including the Commerce Bank at 83rd and Mission.

PV City Council discuss tax hike
Prairie Village Council members had a meeting on Monday, Nov. 21 discussing whether or not a tax should be placed for the up-keep of local parks. The plan would be to increase the cities sales tax by a half of a percent which would produce $1 million in revenue to go to the parks. They would like to make improvements to the parks similar to the recent reconstruction and landscaping of Weltner Park. Council member Ruth Hopkins told the PV Post that she would rather focus on maintence and basic services before working on the city park plan. The council is working on coordinating a city-wide vote on the tax.

City honored for energy conservation efforts
The city of Prairie Village was recently honored as a 2011 Honoree for their Geothermal Project/Energy Conservation Measures from the Mid-America Regional Council’s (MARC) Sustainable Success Stories held at the Kauffman center this year. The city is working on weatherizing their buildings and installing a geothermal heating pump which will conserve 33,484 gallons of gas according to the project’s website. The city council approved the building contract in July of 2011 and they are in the middle of the contruction process. Once completed, the council is hoping to save the city a substantial amount of money.

The district made the choice to ban the option of soda in both the cafeteria and vending machines. Now, the only place soda can be found in the school is a vending machine in the teachers’ lounge. Since the ban, the district has been taking steps to make drinks healthier.

According to Jill Funk, the district’s nutritional analyst, East, like all the other schools in the Shawnee Mission School District, follows a school wellness policy that includes goals and specific nutritional guidelines to promote student health.

Sophomore Ellen St. Clair feels the cafeteria does give students the opportunity to be healthier, and even says she prefers water to the other unhealthy alternatives. St. Clair believes students can still make their own decisions and bring soda in from home or when they go out to lunch.

“I think the choices are pretty good since there are no sodas and they serve drinks like water and Vitamin Water,” St. Clair said. “If students do still want soda they will just bring it in themselves.”

Even with steps the cafeteria making to improve students’ health, students still crave sugary drinks. St. Clair believes the problem isn’t the choices offered, but the according to St Clair students still crave for sugar.

“I think the good taste of sugar just draws them in,” St. Clair said. “And then it just gets them addicted.”

Funk believes the new alternatives are healthier for students; even though they contain sugar, all the sugar is natural and not artifcial.

“Since the cafeteria has juices, and not juice blends, the natural sugar is not all bad and will just come with the concentrated fruit,” Funk said.

According to Dr. Karen Stephens, a dietitian at Children’s Mercy Hospital, the average teenager needs about 125 grams of glucose a day, and all of this can be easily obtained by eating a balanced diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, carbohydrates, and milk. She believess the extra sugar in drinks is just unnesscsary.

“Drinking sugar is like putting water in your gas tank and expecting it to run,” Stephens said. “It just doesn’t work.”

According to the CDC the average amount of sugar in a regular soda is 28 grams, compared to the average amount of sugar in an orange juice which is also 28 grams. The consumption of sugar, according to Stephens, is still too much. Because of this, the concesquences are still the same.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity rates have tripled in past 30 years. The overconsumption of sugar can be linked to this statistic because kids are choosing to drink too much sugar.

“We are seeing an extra amount of weight gain in children because of these drinks,” Stepehens said. “As well as brittle bones in these young, teenage girls.”

The average teenage boy drinks around 22 ounces of soda and other sugary drinks a day. This more than doubles the average 10 ounces of milk they consume a day. Teenage girls usually drink around 14 ounces of sugar-filled drinks compared to the only six ounces of milk they drink a day. The student’s choice to drink the sugar offered in schools is one of the main causes for this.

Even though soda is eliminated from the school, juices and sports drinks are still offered and have high natural sugar contents. These natural sugars are an improvement and healthier than their artificial, high-fructose corn syrup counterparts, but still supplies students with sugar. Drinks ranging from Gatorade to V8 V-Fusion to apple juice hide large amounts of sugar behind presumably safe names and labels. For example, a small bottle of orange juice has, on average, 30 grams of sugar. This is about the same as that of Pepsi or Sprite. Even milk has a high sugar content; the small jug of chocolate milk sold in the cafteria also has 30 grams of sugar in a serving.

Though high doses of sugar are written in the fine print of many labels, tasty and healthy alternatives do exist and are offered in the school’s caefeteria.

“We’ve been making gradual changes over the years,” Funk said. “We now only serve skim or one percent fat content milk and one hundred percent juices and not juice blends.”

Stephens also reccomends the healthier alternatives that the East cafeteria offers.

“I would recomend water and skim milk for kids,” Stephens said. “There are also some good sugar free alternatives out there.”

The healthy alternatives that are offered still taste like their sweet competitors. Propel flavored water has only six grams of sugar and also contains no artificial coloring. Nestle Pure Life flavored waters are also a very healthy alternative; this water has no sugar in it at all and is completely flavored naturally.

No matter if students love sugar or see the danger in it, if the sugar is natural or artificial, Stephen thinks it is the cafeteria’s responsibility to keep students well-nourished.

“Kids eat lunch and sometimes breakfast five days a week in the cafeteria,” Stephens said. “They are getting a signifigant portion of thier meals from there, and nutritious options should definitely be offered.”

The incident occurred on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. around I-670 and Central Avenue and he was later arrested at 4700 Parallel address, a Kansas City, Kan. police report stated.

“Placing employees on administrative leave is a standard practice,” said Leigh Anne Neal, Associate Superintendent of Communication for the school district. “It allows the district to look into the situation.”

The administration at East received notice of Pacheco’s resignation from his supervisor, Lt. Steve Beck.

“We did not receive any other information other than the fact he had resigned, effective immediately,” said Molli Armstrong-White, Associate Principal at SM East.

Going 35 miles per hour and with slippery conditions due to snowfall, Filbeck was unable to avoid the oncoming vehicle, “and I T-boned her– pretty bad.” After the initial crash the 2004 Ford Sport Trac spun 180 degrees and collided with a third car. The driver of the third car remained stationary, but the second car was more severely displaced. The sedan from the initial accident continued on to collide with a house on the corner of that intersection, puncturing the wall of the house and throwing the sleeping resident from her bed. She visited the hospital, but no one else involved in the crash was injured.

Photo Credit: Jason Filbeck

Prior to last week, senior Emma Sullivan had never been to the principal’s office.

After tweeting “Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot,” from Topeka on the annual Youth in Government trip, Emma found herself face-to-face with SM East Principal Karl Krawitz upon returning to school.

“As Dr. Krawitz sat there and lectured me for thirty minutes, I realized that [getting in trouble] wasn’t right,” Emma said in an exclusive interview with Harbinger Online.

“What he kept saying to me was, ‘Are you listening to me? I don’t think you get it.’” Emma said. “I really wanted to say, ‘I don’t get it,’ because I was pretty sure I couldn’t get in trouble for tweeting something.”

Observers across the nation have voiced their opinions on the situation after it was reported that a staffer from Governor Sam Brownback’s office contacted Youth in Government officials who contacted Krawitz about the tweet in emails. Many sources also stated that Krawitz insisted upon an apology letter, a fact that Emma claims was fabricated.

According to Emma, Krawitz told her about the consequences of her tweet and told her about who would have to face the public on the issue. He suggested a letter of apology, but never required one. Sullivan thinks the sources that believed the letter was mandatory simply misunderstood her previous statements.

The main source of much of the initial publicity stems from Emma’s sister, Olivia Sullivan.

“As a family, we decided that I should contact the media to give Emma some voice,” Olivia said.

Olivia called area publications, including The Kansas City Star and The Wichita Eagle, to alert them of the situation.

As the story was picked up by more publications, Emma saw her number of Twitter followers jump from 61 close friends to 12,000 people from all over the world. Emma thinks the jump in followers played a large role in the misunderstanding the tweet brought up.

“I feel bad in a way because I didn’t mean to put Dr. K in the middle of the situation.”

“In a way I wish I had changed my wording. At the time I only did have 60 followers and they were all my friends,” Emma said.  “Most of my friends aren’t into politics and if I had tweeted about this and that policy it would have been different. No one would have read it and no one would have cared. The way I worded it was towards my audience.”

After much apprehension, Brownback apologized on behalf of his staff, posting a statement on his website.

“My staff overreacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize,” Brownback said.

The Shawnee Mission School District also issued a statement.

“Whether and to whom any apologies are issued will be left to the individuals involved,” the release statement said.

Looking back, Emma recognizes how big the issue has become and how many people it has affected.

“I feel bad in a way because I didn’t mean to put Dr. K in the middle of the situation. I am trying to steer it away from him as much as possible.” Emma said. “People keep saying radical things about him getting fired but that is too extreme. What would you do if you were principal of a school and the governor of your state emailed you pointing out what one of your students said?”

Students held a rally to show support for their school and all students in the face of controversy.

America has already had a difficult time increasing interest in the areas of math and science, but now things are getting even worse. Despite national efforts made by President Obama and other prominent leaders, enthusiasm for fields such as science, math and engineering is waning.

According to a report by the National Center for Education Statistics, students getting bachelors degrees in engineering have only increased slightly, as compared to other majors, such as business, which have grown a great amount in the past couple of years. More and more students are dropping out of science, technology, engineering and math (abbreviated as STEM) majors, and instead changing them to subjects such as business.

Whitney Molloy, Director of Student Affairs for the UMKC School of Computing and Engineering, believes that the first semester sometimes just isn’t as exciting as students think it will be, causing them to lose interest and consequently drop out.

“[I] think that often students do not get to do enough of the ‘cool stuff’ in their first couple of years that attracted them to engineering in the first place, such as FIRST Robotics,” Molloy said. “They spend time in math and science classes trying to get the pre-reqs out of the way, and engineering schools lose them because we don’t keep them engaged.”

Jesse Sharp, who graduated from East last year, is currently going to New Mexico State University to work on a major in Aerospace Engineering. Although he is aware of the challenges facing him, he isn’t concerned that it will be a problem.

“I have heard of several people who have dropped out of the Aerospace Engineering major and head for a easier subject of study,” Sharp said. “The most noted reason is that the classes seem to be to hard after the first semester; sometimes it’s because it’s just not their thing.”

But the reasons don’t stop there. Sharp also sees how the money related to a job in engineering can skew the approach that students take when entering the program.

“I think there is an ever present thought that money will get you anything in life and so people foresee engineering to be a route that will achieve a high monetary status,” Sharp said. “However when they are done with a semester and start to realize the time commitment and the time that you will need to spend studying and what not, it comes to realization that they won’t be able to keep up with all the classes.”

Similar to the ideas of Sharp, Molloy has also seen how part of the reason could possibly be due to a lack of knowledge of what it really means to go to college to become an engineer.

“One of our students was just talking about this during a presentation,” Molloy said. “From a student perspective, he thinks students may not understand how rigorous the curriculum will be, the amount of math and science they will have to take, and what it really means to be an engineer.”

However, even though the economy is going through a recession, Molloy doesn’t think it is affecting STEM fields in a negative way at all. In fact, she feels that the economic situation is actually causing students to consider a career in technology or engineering. She has seen professionals return to college to get a degree in the field because there is an actual need for more engineers in the jobs realm.

“When you look at the top degrees employers are hiring for, or the top jobs that will see growth over the next 10 years, or even the top paying jobs, it never fails that at least seven of the 10 will be related to engineering and/or technology,” Molloy said.

Senior Christian Wiles plans on majoring in Mechanical Engineering, despite the challenges that will face him in the program. Wiles has a strong interest in math and science, and is actually looking forward to getting a degree that will allow him to explore these fields. Although not one hundred percent sure of what exactly he will be doing as a career, Wiles knows that his degree will allow him to do what he enjoys most.

“It’s a really flexible major; you can do a lot with it,” Wiles said. “in terms of designing parts to [working on planes], it basically lets you do anything.”

Due to engineering degrees being able to be used in a variety of professional settings, they really help to open up the door of opportunity for graduates.

“[Working in engineering is] really a lot of fun,” Molloy said. “You can apply engineering to anything you are interested in: the environment, airplanes, cars, health care. It’s pretty amazing all of the opportunities that are out there.”

The popularity of jobs that use STEM subject degrees can be attributed to the current need for more professionals who have studied in these areas.

“Our society is in great need of more STEM professionals,” Molloy said. “You hear it from everyone, including President Obama. There is no doubt that America needs to strengthen our education in these areas and produce more innovative thinkers to enter our workforce.”

However, in order for this to happen, there is a consensus amongst college and university leaders that changes need to be made in the way people approach engineering — both from a student and teacher perspective.

At UMKC, Molloy says that in order to make sure prospective engineering students stay in the program, they have done a number of things that aim to prevent students from switching out of STEM subjects. Some of these include first-year introductory courses, which help to give students a impression of what it is like in the professional world of engineering as well as become introduced the faculty, other students, and become encouraged to explore different disciplines of engineering.

“We also really encourage our students to join our student organizations or competitive teams, such as Robotics, Steel Bridge and Baja Buggy,” Molloy said. “[That way] they are able to have hands-on experiences while connecting with upper-classmen students who can serve as great mentors.”

In order for students to better prepare themselves for the challenges of an engineering major, Molloy thinks that it is important for students to have a realistic expectation of what they are signing themselves up for. Also, preparation in high school plays a significant part in getting a student ready to enter a program.

Wiles, who is currently at the top of his class, has been doing his best to get prepared for the difficult course work experienced in an engineering program. He has made sure he’s taken lots of math and science classes as well as kept on top of all his studies.

“I think [students should] spend time during high school talking to professionals, visiting colleges, meeting with college students and really understanding what it means to study engineering,” Molloy said. “There is absolutely a lot of math and science, and you need self-discipline and great study skills, but we too often scare students off from even trying it. They not only need to be encouraged to take more math classes, but to understand the value of what they are learning in those courses.”

Forget about First Fridays at the Crossroads. Come and see artwork created by your peers at the annual SME Art Fair.

The show will officially commence at 7 p.m. on Monday Dec. 5, but art teachers will be setting up displays throughout the week prior to the fair, allowing students to view the works, even if they are unable to attend the fair.

The Art Fair will feature artwork from students of all grade levels and art classes. Displays will be scattered throughout the school, but will be primarily occupying the second and fourth floors.

The pieces will be judged by outside judges and awards in the categories of photography, painting, drawing, sculpture, jewelry and digital art will be given out at an awards ceremony on Dec. 8.

Student Council gets ready for Culver’s Night

Student Coucil will be hosting a Culver’s Night this Wednesday Nov. 30 at the Culver’s on 7953 State Line Rd.

Members of the Student Council will assist the Culver’s staff by serving food to attendees. Students will be working from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. with 15 percent of the proceeds from all sales going to the Can Drive benefitting the Johnson County Christmas Bureau (JCCB).

This Culver’s Night is the penultimate event benefitting the Can Drive and represents the end of StuCo’s largest fundraiser of the year.

So far East has reaised 6,053 cans, while the money will not be totalled until after the Panda Express Night on Dec. 6 where 15 percent of the proceeds for the entire day will be donated to the JCCB.

COMMUNITY
PV City Council places zoning moratorium

The Prairie Village city council voted 11-1 on Nov. 10 to put in place a nine-month moratorium on all rezoning requests for the site of former district middle school Mission Valley and its surrounding properties.

The vote comes along with a formal Request for Proposal from the city seeking firm to coordinate public input of the planning process for the site.

Prior to the vote, commercial real-estate development company RED backed out of an agreement with the city to fund the planning process.

Some members of the council as well as the surrounding community hope that the land may be still used as a school. RED and Kansas City Christian have supposedly met, but no agreements have been made public.

New Wal-Mart coming to City of Mission

A new 150,000-square-foot Wal-Mart store is planning to come to the city of Mission. Wal-Mart plans to build the store at the $200 million Mission Gateway development that will take the place of the former Mission Mall (Johnson Drive and Shawnee Mission Pkwy).

The plan comes six years after a 2004 plan by Wal-Mart to buy and tear down the mall and to build a 203,000-square-foot Super Wal-Mart. A petition against the purchase garnered 1,970 signatures by Mission residents, and the Cameron Group of Syracuse, N.Y, instead bought the mall.

Gateway will also have a 70,000-square-foot, 2.5 million gallon aquarium as well as 150,000 additional square-feet of retail, 150,000 square-feet of office space, 300 apartments, a 35,000-square-foot movie complex and a 45,000-square-foot fitness center.

STATE
Brownback readies for new budget proposals

Gov. Sam Brownback wants to change the way Kansas distributes around $3 billion of state aid to its school districts.

The changes to the funding formula being discussed include calls for a new baseline for state funding per pupil to school districts without the complicated weighting factors that are in place. Most importantly, the bill proposes lifting the cap on how much districts can raise for their schools is being discussed.

Other legislation for the upcoming session includes moving away from Kansas’ reliance on income taxes as well as the drawing of new district lines after the 2010 Census.

WORLD
Euro zone in crisis

The focus of Europe’s debt crisis shifted last week, from Greece and Italy westward to Spain and France.

New coalition governments were formed in Greece and Italy who are now enjoying a brief truce in their battles with the markets. Now all eyes are on Spain, who is experiencing a struggling economy emerging from elections, and also to France where a new austerity program is being implemented and watched closely.

The Euro Zone debt crisis is very troubling for the United States and to markets around the world as the International Monetary Fund asks the U.S., who is it’s largest contributor, for more money to help fund euro bailouts.

Meanwhile the U.S.’ national debt reached the $15 trillion mark on Nov. 16 according to USdebtclock.org.

The National Honors Society (NHS) seniors recently worked with Operation Breakthrough for their required service project outside of school. One of the NHS presidents, Morgan Satterlee, chose this program because she thought it would be a good way to get people excited about doing volunteer work.

“It is a fun way to do community service because there is a direct relationship with the kids.” Satterlee said.

Operation Breakthrough’s mission is “to help children who are living in poverty develop to their fullest potential by providing them a safe, loving and educational environment.”

Five members went this past week and were each assigned two kindergarten boys to focus on. Satterlee had planned activities involving counting and shapes to keep it educational, but ended up teaching the kids how to play down by the banks.

“You should always keep an open mind when going into Operation Breakthrough because the kids are the ultimate bosses,” Satterlee said. “One minute we will be playing one game and the next the kids will go off to something else.”

The NHS seniors will be going back to Operation Breakthrough in December. According to Satterlee, next time they go they want to do one big group activity to try and burn some energy and then split up individually so the kids can do what they want.

Duri Long, an NHS president, thought it went well for their first time and thinks it will only get better since they now have a good idea of what activities to work on. While she was playing dominoes with the kids, one girl sat next to her and Long could definitely tell that she enjoyed have someone give her individual attention and care.

“Although it can be hard to see progress in the group as a whole since the kids can be really rowdy and hard to control, it’s the individual successes that really shine and show you what a valuable thing you are doing for them,” Long said.

According to Long, this program is important because a lot of the kids don’t have good home backgrounds or places to go after school. By planning educational but fun opportunities for them, the kids won’t get involved in the wrong things.

Satterlee hopes that the members gain more of an appreciation for charity after working with the kids at Operation Breakthrough.

“Most of the time when you think of charity work you think of counting cans or raising money, but really it can be something as simple as hanging out with a kid every so often after school and just making their day better,” Satterlee said.

Principal Karl Krawitz thinks that a large percentage of East students don’t take advantage of scholarship or grant opportunities that are offered.

“Some students say, ‘well it’s not a lot of money,’ and so I say to them ‘in the big scheme of things it’s not, but let’s just stop and think about this,’” Dr. Krawitz said. “’Say you get a scholarship–for the 15 to 20 minutes it takes to fill out the application, you’ll never have a job the rest of your life that’s gonna pay you $1,000 bucks in 15 to 20 minutes.’”

This year senior Atiyeh Samadi is planning to apply for multiple scholarships pertaining to women of Persian background because she feels the pool of applicants is smaller and that she’ll have a better chance of being awarded one.

“I’m applying for merit based scholarships at all of the schools I’m applying to,” Samadi said. “And I think [applying for scholarships] is something every college-bound senior should take advantage of because it has the potential to lighten the financial load.”

According to the non-profit organization Project on Student Debt, 67 percent of college graduates had debt from paying for their education. They also have concluded that student loan debt is growing at a rate of  $2,853.88 per second and the Federal Reserve Bank in New York states that the debt will surpass 100 billion by the end of this year.

Dr. Krawitz thinks that there are similarities between credit card debt and college tuition debt and that students can prevent this by utilizing resources they have access to.

“With credit cards we use and have to pay for it, with scholarships somebody is giving you money,” Dr. Krawitz said. “So why is the college debt greater than credit card debt when you’ve got so many annuities out there that want to pay for your college?”

The local scholarships are ignored because students continue to think that a couple hundred dollars here and there won’t be enough in the long run.

Senior Tori Holt is applying for the Kelly Lutz Memorial Scholarship which is a four year renewable scholarship for one who has lost a parent to cancer before they are 22. She also plans on applying for a scholarship to the University of Arkansas or Truman State.

“I think scholarships are very important because college is very expensive and any little bit of money helps,” Holt said. “Without scholarships it would be very difficult for some people to afford college, and it is great that with scholarships people can go.”

Samadi and Holt both agree that the main benefit of applying for a lot of scholarships is that you never have to pay the money back.

“Even if you’re going to good ole’ KU up here, you’re going to pay for over four years in tuition, board and books–minimum $50,000,” Dr. Krawitz said. “I don’t think there’s too many people even attending this school, that could sit down and write a check and take care of that.”

In addition to merit, local and regional scholarships there are an array of scholarships pertaining to fields of study like business or law you can apply for. But there are also obscure scholarships like the Potato Industry Scholarship which awards $2,000 to two high school seniors who are going into a field of study related to potatoes and the Vegetarian Resource Group Scholarship which awards $10,000 to a high school student that has promoted vegetarianism in their school.

If you have the last name Van Valkenburg, you can attain $1,000 from the Van Valkenburg Memorial Scholarship. There is even a scholarship for the art of candy making. The American Association of Candy Technologists awards $10,000 to high school students interested in confectionery technology.

Dr. Krawitz doesn’t see the hurt in taking advantage of applying for as many scholarships as possible, even the weird ones. Though it’s the simple ones, he says, students look over.

“There are so many websites available that you can go to to get scholarships to pay for your education,” Dr. Krawitz said. “Students are so good at technology yet they miss the ones that are right under their nose.”

The day long excursion is called the “Chipotle Tour” because the group of singers travel from school to school, “touring the district”, and then stopping at Chipotle for lunch. The combined group of sophomores, juniors and seniors sing upbeat and fun songs, such as ‘SpongeBob Squarepants’ and ‘30-Second Falala’, at each stop.

“The idea [behind the tour is] to try to get young guys involved in choir at an early age, get them excited about it,” choir director Ken Foley said. “[The goal is to] just make everyone know that it’s cool to be a guy and be in choir.”

The mini-concerts at each school last around 15-20 minutes, allowing the choir to travel around to all the East feeder schools during the day. Five songs are performed at each school, including a choral arrangement of the school song and the popular song that is sung every year, “Silhouettes.”

Although the day is all about letting kids know how much fun it is to be in choir, it is also a good way for the East choir students to once again visit their elementary alma maters.

“My favorite part [of the tour] is watching the teachers see the kids that they taught when they were in elementary school and see them grown up.” Foley said. “Seeing [the teachers] come running up and saying ‘hi’, that’s the fun part.”

“It goes along with the saying “small noble acts of courage can make a big difference,” ” Krawitz said.

Originally the installation plans didn’t even include the addition of solar panels. Lockard applied for a grant to finance the installation of a wind turbine in the middle of the parking lot. However, the cost of installation for the wind turbine was equal to the actual cost of the turbine, making it far too expensive. So Lockard opted for a more affordable route with solar panels.

The total cost of these six panels, including installation, ended up being a little over $10,000. This was funded primarily through a grant through the East Fund. The part not funded by the East Fund was paid for by a generous donation from the new branch of the UMB bank in Prairie Village.

Although these panels seem a bit pricey, they will end up “paying for themselves” because the initial cost will paid be back in money saved. One solar panel produces more than a kilowatt of energy, which is close to that of a microwave. So in total, the amount of energy produced from these six panels is equal to the amount of energy produced by 30 lights.

For Lockard, these alternative energy sources are extremely important.

“[Solar panels] are the future, and we need to show our students what the future is going to look like,” Lockard said.