News Briefs: Catch up on school and local news

Student Council is considering changing the process for dance court nominations

The student council has discussed changing the process of school dance king and queen nominations for the 2026-27 school year. This proposed method would help increase representation for every activity and make it similar to other high schools.

Every coach or activity sponsor would nominate one senior. That list of nominations would then be sent to seniors to vote for the final ballot, which would consist of the five boys and five girls who receive the most votes. Then, the entire student body votes from the final ballot to determine the king and queen.

“The other high schools do it that way, so it’s nice for us all to kind of be similar in that respect,” student council sponsor and math teacher Chanelle Dieckmann said.

Students might favor this way of doing nominations instead of the current method, according to Student Body Vice President and senior Fina Kessler.

“I think at first they might be a little confused because it’s new, but I think if you think about it, they would favor it because it will add more variety of people to get selected,” Kessler said.

Currently, seniors get a list of the entire senior class, and then they can vote for people they would like to see on the final ballot. That list would then be distilled to the five boys and five girls who had the most votes. After this, the entire student body can vote on the king and queen.

“Our senior class does a great job of nominating people who are involved in different things, but this way it just ensures that because every activity and athletic group would be represented,” Dieckmann said.

The decision to change nominations to this proposed method or keep them the same will be up to the class of 2027. 

“They’re the ones that make up the court, so I feel like it should be their decision,” Dieckmann said.

Reading Explorations, a new elective, will be offered next year

Reading Explorations is a new class taught by English and philosophy teacher Meredith Sternberg, starting in the 2026-27 school year. The class is offered to all students, and targets those who have a passion for reading. The class will allow students to read a book of their choosing, rather than one book chosen for the class.

“[This is] a class that’s designed for somebody who loves reading and doesn’t want the strictures of reading on a certain curriculum,” Sternberg said.

Since students would be reading different books, the grades will not be based on tests or quizzes.

“I envision grades being check-ins,” Sternberg said. “Doing presentations every now and then about books that they feel need more exposure.”

The class was originally at SM Northwest, and after seeing the success of the class, Associate Principal Kristoffer Barikmo introduced it to SM East. Barikmo says he wants to give students an opportunity to explore electives that they’re passionate about.

Reading Explorations helps give students a sense of autonomy, purpose and engagement according to Barikmo.

Sternberg has taken it upon herself to promote the class. She has put posters up around the school and requested her department coworkers to advertise the class.

“[Reading Explorations] is you going out and doing what you love to do, which is to read,” Sternberg said. “[It’s] being with a community of readers, talking about the act of reading, what reading does, how reading feels [and] recommending books to each other.”

AP Art students showcase their work in SM East’s on-campus art gallery

The AP Art class is hosting a gallery in the art wing that features the AP students’ quarter-long projects. The gallery was first opened last week on Thursday, and is open to students and staff during seminar.

The gallery features large multi-media pieces, mostly drawing-centered but also including sculptural elements and found objects, according to art teacher Adam Finkelston. This is Finkelston's first year directing this project, and each piece featured in the gallery follows a prompt given by him.

The project originally came from University of Central Missouri art professor Melanie Johnson. Johnson visited the class as part of the AP Art class program, where artists will come and work with the students, and then the class completed their assignment based on Johnson's own original idea.

According to Finkelston, groups consisted of about two to three students. Their job was to take a "familiar space” and then transform it into a large-scale drawing. That drawing would then be turned into a mixed-media installation, which is an artwork using various materials or techniques. 

Senior Catherine Beltrame’s group chose the SM East courtyard as their "familiar space," put up paper on the art gallery wall and then used oil pastels to color the papers into trees, grass and a brick wall — all things you would see in the SM East courtyard. Along with that, they used the art gallery TV and played real class footage to represent a window looking into a class.

The art gallery gives other students a chance to see artwork made by the AP Art class, according to Beltrame. It also gives students a chance to see the creative side of their classmates, rather than just viewing them in an academic setting. 

“It’s another side of me that wouldn't be exposed otherwise,” Beltrame said.