News in Brief: Catch up on school news

Business teacher Jennifer Hair introduced the Business Professionals of America Conference at SM East this year to increase student involvement in business and marketing-related fields through competitions.

The BPA organization allows students to compete online and in-person in various categories, such as finance and digital design, both at state and national competitions. BPA is similar to DECA; however, students can compete online and don’t have to be currently enrolled in a business or marketing class to participate.

According to the BPA website, these competitions give students across the country the opportunity to develop, compete and lead through group projects as they prepare for careers in today's modern business environment.

Twenty-two East BPA Conference members, the majority being from students in Hair’s Digital Design Project Management class, attended the Fall Conference at Johnson County Community College on Sept. 29 to learn about the BPA organization as a whole.

“There were six sessions and each one had a different agenda,” BPA member and senior Phoebe Kaneda said. “I went to one on visual learning, which was like presentations, and then I went to another one about awards and competitions you can enter from doing BPA.”

Students can get involved in BPA by scanning the QR code on posters around the school. This makes the program more flexible and approachable for all students, according to Hair.

“We want to give all Lancers a competitive advantage after they leave in four years,” Hair said. “Also, a secondary goal is that they would know how a business runs, be interested in it and have the background knowledge and practice of how to present yourself and the business.”

The International Baccalaureate program experienced the highest enrollment since its establishment at SM East in 1994, with over 100 students enrolled in IB courses in 2024 and 263 IB subject tests given in 2024, according to a post on the @smeastlancers Instagram account on Oct. 13. 

The IB program has been growing in popularity due to the international prestige and course rigor, according to principal Jason Peres. 

Junior Claire Rosen is enrolled in IB Diploma, committing to six IB classes, because she wanted to do creative projects, such as designing her own chemistry labs. Now, she’s experiencing the larger class numbers that coincide with the increase in IB interest.

“We're a lot closer to the teacher in our smaller classes,” Rosen said. “On Tuesdays, I go straight from math, where it's literally just [18] people in diploma, to History of the Americas, where we have over 25. It’s really jarring.”

Due to the increase in IB popularity, East has been able to steadily add three courses: Environmental Systems & Societies, Philosophy and Film Studies, according to the @smeastlancers Instagram post.

“It’s a growing program, and I think many of our students see it as an opportunity to challenge themselves at the highest level and really build a high school resume that qualifies them for some of the most elite universities in the country,” Peres said. “It helps students who really want to challenge themselves currently and in the future. I'm proud of their work.”

The Student Council Trunk or Treat took place on Oct. 26 in the main parking lot from 5-6:30 p.m., where local children could get candy. 

Special Events Committee co-chairs and juniors Braxton Jeffrey and Zac Russell organized the event in hopes of bringing together the SM East and feeder elementary school communities.

“The idea is that organizations like soccer would have a specific theme like soccer zombies or something like that,” Jeffrey said. “And, if people want to dress up, they can. If they don't, that's okay too.”

Clubs, activities and sports teams completed a Google Form sent out through Instagram to register and brought candy and decorations for the event.

Senior Fina Kessler came up with the Trunk or Treat idea last year at a quarterly StuCo meeting, but wasn’t able to hold the event due to limited time. Jeffrey and Russell were able to organize the event for this school year by starting earlier.

“What I was envisioning for this was Lancer Day,” Kessler said. “[Lancer Day] is a community event, but the kids are just watching from the sidelines. At Trunk or Treat, they're able to go up and meet the football team or the drama club.”

As of Oct. 20, 10 groups had signed up for Trunk or Treat.

“I am the most proud of how everything came together,” Jeffrey said. “It’s a great sense of community — seeing the clubs and all the sports unite for one event.”