Author Spotlight
Sami Walter
Grant Kendall:
Involvement: Theater, Advance Repertory Theater, Photo Editor for Harbinger
Favorite Thing About East: “How East is so forward in the sense that it helps you prepare for the college experience by giving you options, extra-curricular activities, and the AP and IB programs.
Waking up experience: “I was already up and was going out to get breakfast from bagel to bagel and my parents kept giving me lame excuses of why I couldn’t go like ‘they aren’t open.’”
Favorite possession: Stuffed polar bear. “My mom gave it to me. My dad had given it to her before was born, and it helped me a lot because I was shy.”
Evan Nichols:
Involvement: Harbinger, Varsity Cross Country, Varsity Track, Swimming, Choir, SHARE Chair: Pack of Pals
Pet Peeve: When people say seriously and literally; over exaggerating
Free Time: Nichols helps out with the middle school newspaper at Cure of Are. “I love working with the kids and teaching them. I think it’s great to help them so that they will be more prepared for journalism and writing for high school.”
Fact: “I was in Greece during the beginning of the financial crisis and got out the day before the transportation strike.”
Kristen Shedor:
Involvement: Band: Trombone, Jazz Band, Symphonic Band, Marching Band, Concert Band, STUCO PR Commit Chair, Pep Club Secretary, President of Latin Club, Founder of the Ukulele Club, IB
Pet Peeve: When people who don’t participate in spirit week
Fact: Shedor collects gnomes. All 13 have names and are displayed on a shelf in her room.
Tucker Styrkowicz:
Involvement: Varsity Soccer, Varsity Track
Favorite Snack: Cheez-Its
Free Time: Hang out, exercise, run, play video games, watch football, pick-up games
Fact: “I was adopted from Ohio.”
Corbin Barnds:
Involvement: Harbinger, SHARE Exec, Swim, Established Gentlemen’s Club
Pet Peeve: People who are pessimistic.
Fact: “I plow snow. In the winter, my snow plower is always on my car.” Barnds is sometimes out for 36 hours straight. “I miss out of sledding but its peaceful moving so much weight and the power. I love just rocking out and plowing snow.”
Nathan Are:
Involvement: Cross Country, Track, Coalition, Choraliers, Chambers, Musicals, National Honors Society, Spanish National Honors Society, SHARE Chair: Project Warmth
Favorite Thing About East: “The academic environment. There are a lot of opportunities to take really hard classes and students want each other to succeed and help one another.”
Fact: “I really enjoy the feeling of sneezing.”
Emily Kerr:
Involvement: Harbinger, Cross Country, Track, SHARE Chair: Pack of Pals
Favorite food: Mint chocolate chip ice cream
Fact: In Pack of Pals, Kerr helps kids with disabilities at East. They go on many activities usually twice a month. These ventures include picnics, bowling, swimming, and a trip to Skateworld.
Emily Frye:
Involvement: STUCO, Senior Class Secretary, Co-President of Pack of Pals, SHARE Chair: Project Warmth, National Honors Society, Track
Pet Peeve: When people chew with their mouth open
Fact: “I’m working on getting my scuba diving license. It was scary at first but I really like all the different kinds of fish.”
Louis Ridgeway:
Involvement: IB, Table Tennis Club, Categories Team (hopefully)
Free Time: Recreational Soccer in Brookside, Martial Arts
Fact: Ridgeway got second in the weapons category of a Martial Art tournament in Germany.
Michael Hill:
Involvement: Debate, National Honors Society, National Spanish Honors Society
Waking-up Experience: “When they woke me up, I had just gotten out of the shower and dressed and still didn’t have my glasses on so I didn’t know what was going on and was still groggy.”
Fact: Hill lived in Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina hit. He and his family moved to Kansas the following year.
Atiyeh Samadi:
Involvement: Portrait Editor for Yearbook, IB, Link Crew, National Honors Society, SHARE Chair: SHARE Garage Sale and Children’s Place, STUCO
Favorite Food: Alligator rolls (sushi)
Fact: “I’m physically unable to sled, but I can snowboard.”
Christa McKittrick:
Involvement: Harbinger- Feature Section Editor, Senior Vice President, IB, Cross Country, Swim Team, SHARE Chair: Operation Breakthrough
Free Time: “A lot of my free time is spent with extracurricular activities, like running for cross country or working on my newspaper page, but I love spending time with my friends and family. We can really do anything and have fun, go to ice cream or watch Friends. This summer I spent a lot of time watching Friends with my sisters and playing Yahtzee and other board games.”
Amy Sachse:
Involvement: IB, Choir, National Honors Society, Link Leader, Swim Team, SHARE Chair: Project Warmth
Favorite Thing About East: “I love the teachers and the school spirit. I love how many people attend the dances and games and I feel like we are a really cohesive school with the best in mind for each other.”
Fact: Sachse loves to volunteer and is a tutor at Operation Breakthrough. “I want to be a teacher so it is fun for me to be with kids and help them with homework its kinda like a mini teaching experience.
Jeff Cole:
Involvement: Football, Harbinger: Online Editor, Baseball, Lacrosse, SHARE
Waking-up Experience: “Definitely was surprised and honored. Funny story, I was pretty much naked on my couch when they came to wake me up and my parents made me shake their hands, so I covered up with one hand and shook with the other.”
Pet Peeve: Foot tapping or pencil tapping during a test
Molly Jennings:
Involvement: STUCO Student Body Secretary, SHARE Chair: Harvesters, National Honor Society, Choir, Cross Country, DECA
Favorite Thing About East: “I love when all the students are involved at games and just getting up and no one is too cool to cheer.”
Fact: Molly collects stuffed animals and figurines of hippos.
Billy Kirkpatrick:
Involvement: Baseball, FCA, Link Crew
Favorite Snack: Peanut Butter Pretzels
Reaction: “It feels good that my peers respect me, and what I do. I’m glad they like me for who I am.”
Free Time: Baseball, Table Tennis
Paige Kovarik:
Involvement: STUCO, Harbinger, Cross Country, Cheer, Track, SHARE Chair: Kaboodle for Kids.
Waking-up experience: “They came in banging on pots and pans, it scared me. I was still shaking afterwards when I was brushing my teeth.”
Fact: I don’t like to touch doorknobs. Sometimes I pull my sleeve down to open a door to the grocery store.”
Carolyn Welter:
Involvement: Student Body President, Yearbook, SHARE Chair: Operation Breakthrough, Tennis, Track
Pets: Four cats, a dog and a cockatoo
Fact: “Two years ago I won with Kraft Mac and Cheese a trip to Washington DC. There was a huge blizzard so we didn’t get to do much but I also got $2000 in spending cash.”
Sarah King:
Involvement: Co-Editor for Freelancer, Co-President for National Art Honors Society, Theater House Crew Chief, National Honors Society, Coalition
Free Time: Art, cooking, writing, shopping at thrift stores, reading, dance, sewing my own clothes
Fact: King lives 40 minutes away from East in Edgertown, Kansas and transferred to East for the IB program.
Lanie Leek:
Involvement: Cheer, Swim Team, Share Exec
Favorite snack: Strawberries and Blueberries
Fact: Leek is a fifth generation Kansan.
Danielle Norton:
Involvement: Yearbook Photo Editor, National Honors Society, Varsity Basketball Team
Favorite Thing About East: “School spirit, being at a huge event with the whole group supporting the game.” At one game, the varsity girls went into triple overtime. Everyone was standing up cheering and the stands were full because a lot of people were there for the varsity boys’ game after. “No one ever goes to girls’ game, so it was a big deal.”
Free time: Norton runs a photography business; Danielle Norton Photography, watches the T.V. series “Bones” and watches the news in Spanish.
Andrew Beasley:
Involvement: IB, Drama, Harbinger
Favorite Thing About East: “The fact that all of the programs rock; Drama, Choir, Drumline.”
Favorite food: Cheesecake
Fact: “I live in an attic.”
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