Author Spotlight
Maggie Kissick
The Freelancer — East’s student-run literary arts magazine — is formatting their final pages and choosing what artwork will go in the magazine after their final submission deadline for artwork on Feb. 29.
“We can’t take any more pieces [after the 29th] because if we do, we’re not going to be able to get this publication finished,” Freelancer Design Editor Roslyn Carle said. “So if you’re a junior or sophomore or freshman, you can still submit stuff after the deadline, but it will be in next year’s publication.”
The publishing date is not set but the 20-person staff hopes to finalize the publication by the middle of April and publish in the first few weeks of May, mirroring the schedule from past years. The staff also chose the theme of their magazine in November, but the theme remains a secret.
“We did pick our theme, but it’s always top secret,” Freelancer sponsor Amy Andersen said. “And one reason for that is that we don’t want the theme to influence the nature of the submissions. So the theme is always broad enough that it can be applicable for anything.”
Editors and staff will spend the next few weeks rating the artwork submitted and deciding what goes into the publication. The artwork is rated on a scale of one to five and the strongest-rated pieces will end up in the magazine, according to Andersen.
“Most of the time, we’re just looking at [the] quality [of the work],” Freelancer Editor-in-Chief Cil Hoch said. “Is this well written? Is there attention to detail or basics of composition? Does this look nice or not?”
This year’s magazine will be available to preorder in early May.
The Kansas House and Senate will hold a hearing for House Bill 2732 in March. This bill would allow religious chaplains — religious leaders who provide spiritual support and guidance — to provide religious counseling in public schools.
If enacted, the bill would allow individual schools like East to employ a chaplain to provide religious support, services and programs.The bill doesn’t specify whether or not schools would have to hire a chaplain for every religion. The chaplains would not be required to obtain any form of teaching license, according to Kansas House Bill 2732.
Spanish teacher Dr. Anna Thiele believes that this bill infringes on the right of freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. Additionally, she believes public schools shouldn’t provide religious counseling to students.
“It’s not [a public] school’s responsibility to provide religious support to students,” Thiele said. “We’re here to educate kids and get them ready for the real world.”
Thiele believes that if schools have the money to hire chaplains, they should utilize that money toward hiring someone who’s trained in mental health.
Sophomore Elijah Wilson believes that it’s fine for schools to hire religious chaplains. Wilson transferred from Bishop Miege High School this year, and he believes these chaplains would give similar religious resources like the daily prayers and monthly masses provided at Miege for students who don’t go to private schools.
“[Hiring chaplains] won’t mean that [public] schools will be forcing religion on people,” Wilson said. “Students who want to talk about religion at school should be able to.”
In Kansas, clergy members aren’t mandated reporters. Thiele believes that hiring chaplains would create a space for abuse to be hidden. She’s also concerned about how religious minorities will be represented.
“If we hired a Christian chaplain, how do you think that would make an Atheist, Muslim or Jewish student feel?” Thiele said. “It seems exclusionary, not inclusionary.”
The Blue Knights jazz band performed at the Kansas Music Educators Association state music conference in Wichita from Feb. 22-24. They were one of five high school jazz bands from across the state chosen to perform.
In order to qualify for this event, the band had to send in an audition video. Band director Alex Toepfer submitted videos of the band playing four songs from their spring jazz concert last year, and the videos were reviewed by band directors and board members.
“It’s a really big deal for us to be selected,” Toepfer said. “I was really proud of how [the Blue Knights] performed and a lot of the music teachers there were really impressed with how we played, and I got a lot of compliments all weekend about them.”
Alongside the performance, the band had 16 members audition for the all-state band and seven members qualified. Four students qualified for the all-state jazz band — junior Brennan Barnes, sophomore Nash Ohlund, sophomore William Barcus and senior Hudson O’Neill, the most from any school in the state. Three students qualified for the concert band: sophomore Eli Moon, senior Anson Tippie and sophomore Max McMahon.
“[The all-state musicians] performed really well,” Toepfer said. “The clinician was really happy with how they did. Those were two of the best high school Allstate bands I’ve ever heard. So they played really, really well.”
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