thereporter

Paola High School • 401 N. Angela • Paola, KS 66071 March 2012

4 8-9 15(news)

Day in the life Retaining Roots

(sports)(arts)11

Pride in facial hair

(features)

Grading : see page 2

Junior Graham Wicks said this plan won’t affect him because he’ll be graduating in two years. But changes are coming in one form or another.

On Jan. 10, Governor Sam Brownback released his newest addition to his Road Map for Kansas—his education plan. The addition to this plan was a change in career and technical education courses. According to the Kansas National Education Association website, under Brownback’s bill career and technical education courses would only be offered at community colleges within a 30 miles radius of the high school. It would establish a fund at the Department of Education that would be distributed to school districts based on enrollment in technical programs. The Kansas Board of Regents would pay the tuition for all

high school students enrolled in a career and technical education course/program in a community college, technical college or university. Transportation to these colleges would also be provided.

Wicks said these changes could be beneficial because they would result in a lower cost for college.

“It’s a head start on life,” Wicks said.

Despite these positive components, Wicks also said there were negatives. He said it would lower interest in classes and would take too much extra effort.

“People should just go to college,” Wicks said. “They should take their time and learn.”

Wicks also said there could be fewer teachers and therefore fewer classes offered in high school.

World history teacher Lesley Wilson said she felt it is good that students are being pushed more into math and

science careers, but she was not necessarily supportive of the change.

“I think it will be difficult to fund and organize this change,” Wilson said. “Where is the money going to come from? He is wanting to cut income taxes, which help fund our schools now.”

Wilson said some better ways to prepare students for a career out of high school would be through career fairs, apprenticeships, job shadowing and independent studies.

Another change apart of Brownback’s bill are teacher evaluations. According to the Kansas National Education Association, the bill was originally based 50 percent on student performances on state assessments, 40 percent on evaluations by supervisors, peers, parents and students and 10 percent on the teacher’s contribution to the profession. These evaluations would have

Fighting for her dreamsBeing diagnosed with cancer doesn’t stop drive for success

Jenna Goodheart, senior

hope waisner design editor

Grading the teachers?Rachel Dougherty, science teacher, assists junior Jared Moore with his chemistry homework on Feb. 21.

Photo by Caleb HeckerPhoto illustration by Hope Waisner

New plan in Topeka c h a n g e s t e a c h e r evaluations, classes

hope waisner design editor

Gaining relationships

“This situation has completely turned my world upside down and I have been having a really hard time with it,” senior Jenna Goodheart said. “What was supposed to be one of the best years of my life, senior year, prom, graduation, the best summer ever, has now been turned into a nightmare for me.”

Lymphoma, Non-hodgkins, Stage II cancer.

Goodheart was diagnosed with cancer when she woke from surgery to remove a lump under her armpit.

G o o d h e a r t u n d e r g o e s chemotherapy on alternating Thursdays. For the first three weeks after her diagnosis, Goodheart had Friday appointments for spinal chemotherapy. In this type of chemotherapy, Goodheart is put to sleep and the chemotherapy is put into her spine, where it goes into her brain. She now has a two week break and will complete the remaining three when the two weeks are up.

Goodheart said chemotherapy has affected her both emotionally and physically. She said she suffers from severe migraines from the spinal chemotherapy that can last for several weeks. Goodheart has also had to drop all of her classes except for English 4 College Prep.

“Her treatments and appointments are way more important than school right now,” ’09 graduate Dallis DeGrande, Goodheart’s boyfriend, said. “But she still needs to be able to graduate and her teachers are working

with her to make that happen.”Goodheart said the community

has reached out to support her and her family through the Stick-it-to-the-Man fundraiser on Feb. 17. The students bought duct tape to stick athletics director Jeff T. Hines to the wall. The event raised $1,440.

Freshman Jacob Goodheart, Jenna’s brother, said he wished to thank the community for their help.

Another benefit for Goodheart will be May 5 at the fairgrounds: a dinner, silent and live auction, smash a car and cake walk for a $5 entry fee.

Despite the emotional and physical toll, Jenna said she tries to stay positive and said her friends and family have been supportive.

“I’m so lucky to have them and I really don’t know what I’d do without them,” Jenna said.

Jenna said DeGrande has been the most supportive of her. He has taken her to all of her chemotherapy appointments and she said he has been there for her through everything.

“It has made us a lot closer because no one would ever expect to have to go through this,” DeGrande said. “But we are sticking together.”

Jacob said Jenna’s personality has not changed because of the cancer.

“She’s been optimistic,” Jacob said.

DeGrande said after Jenna’s treatments over the next year, she should be fine.

“Jenna is a strong girl, she's doing great through all of this,” DeGrande said.

After graduation, Jenna said she plans to attend Johnson County Community College for two years and then she wants to transfer to another school after graduating from there. She plans on majoring in psychology and counseling.

“I want to be successful in life and I'm going to stay as strong as I can through all of this to get what I want,” Jenna said.

The Reporter • March 20122(quick news)

quickpicks3.19-23

4.21

4.13

2nd HM

No SchoolInservice

3rd

PromWalk-in starts at 6 p.m.

No SchoolSpring Break

KSPA regional contest

1stCaleb Hecker, yearbook sports writing Lexi Loya, student life photo

Marrisa Bergman, academic photo

Rosalyn Lucas, editingCaleb Hecker, newspaper sports writing

Jenna Ratzlaff, editorial cartoon Jacinda Dent, academic photo

Compiled by Caleb H

ecker

Information from KSPA Twitter

Photo by Journey Capettini

The dance team performs during the boys’ varsity game on Feb 22. Dancers pictured (front) senior Colleen Stallbaumer, junior Samantha Smreker, (2nd row) se-nior Lindsey Shirk, junior Kami Crawford, (back) sophomores Tera Brandt, Lizzy Schreoder and Sarah Ludwick.

The mock Prom Crash will take place on April 19 at the beginning of second block. Junior Lucy Staats, who is coordinating the event on behalf of the Developmental Leadership said the crash is staged to show the juniors and seniors who will be attend-ing Prom on April 21 the consequences of drunk driving.

Developmental Leadership sponsor Cris-tie Sims said the crash will occur along Pan-ther Lane on the south side of the building so that everyone will be able to fit on the lawn.

She said the event will last from 30 to forty-five minutes.

Officer Adam Hale, who is also helping coordinate, said the Paola Fire Department, Miami County Sheriff’s Office, Paola Police Department, Miami County EMS, and the EMS LifeNet helicopter will be involved.

Students will decide what they want to take away the crash, Staats said.

“It’s up to the person,” she said. “You de-cide whether or not to drink and drive.”

-rosalyn lucas

Dev. Lead. crashes prom

Possible seminar changesNext year students might see new chang-

es to the way seminar is structured. Instead of having a different seminar teacher each year, students will be assigned to one teacher for four years. Principal Phil Bressler said the changes will allow for better monitoring of students.

Bressler said it will reduce the amount of students who “slip through the cracks.” By this, Bressler was referring to students who fall behind by a credit or two. Bressler said with one teacher monitoring a few kids con-stantly they will be able to have better contact with the students.

FFA adviser John Menefee said he would love to see some changes to seminar.

“If I could have my FFA Officers and Active Members in my seminar it would be

far more productive and students would get more done,” Menefee said.

The seminar changes could possibly af-fect specialized seminars such as, IHT, De-velopmental Leadership and Mentorship. Bressler said the changes are not set in stone, it’s just a possibility.

Junior Ayla Fedor said the changes would be horrible. Without a Journalism seminar Fedor said she doesn’t believe that she’d get any of her work done for yearbook.

Junior Carl Schmidt doesn’t think the seminar changes will affect him too much. Schmidt said he can work on his IHT home-work in other computer classes or get it done in IHT.

-jessica allison

been posted on the Internet for anyone to view.

In the current system, teachers are evaluated by administrators, who come in and observe teachers several times a year and conduct evaluations based on observations made.

There is then a one-on-one consultation between the teacher and the administrators.

The results of these evaluations are not made public.

Sophomore Burgess Butler said there were a few good reasons to make changes to the current teacher evaluation system.

She said public teacher evaluations would help teachers feel pressured to prepare students for life and not just tests.

Butler also said she felt the plan was a good idea because it meant students would be reviewing teachers.

“It gives students who are in the classroom all the time the power to decide whether a teacher should continue teaching,” Butler said.

Wilson said she was not supportive of this component of Brownback’s bill at all.

She said teacher evaluations should be personal and used for personal improvement of the teacher.

“Why are we targeting teachers?”

Wilson said. “Why would we let people evaluate who have no background in the field?”

Wilson said students do not perform the same way every year in state assessments so to base student success on teacher evaluations is ridiculous.

“They’re expecting there to be a 100 percent efficiency rate by 2014,” Wilson said. “What other job demands perfection? Why are we held to such a high standard when no other job is? This would make no one want to become a teacher.

No one wants to have to undergo public scrutiny.”

Butler and Wicks also saw the possible negative effects of teacher evaluations.

Butler said students might give teachers a bad evaluation because of their level of performance.

“Lazy students would bring down a teacher that’s a good teacher,” Butler said.

Wicks and Wilson said students could be dishonest in their evaluations because they don’t like the teacher.

“Popular teachers who give no homework and gives students A’s might get rated higher than a teacher who challenges students, enforces school rules and gives hard tests,” Wilson said.

Grading: contd. from page 1

The Reporter • March 20123(news)

“You can be totally out of shape and still get good grades. ”

-Natalie Franz, sophomore

Sophomore Andrew Henn said his fondest memory in sports was when he won sixth place at state throwing javelin as a freshman. Henn maintains a 4.0. Benefits Henn, Lauren Frederick, soph-omore, and Josiah Hadle, junior, said exercise positively influences them. “If you work hard in the weight room, you will work hard in class because you want to go some-where,” Henn said. “You want to do something. You want to show everyone what you can do in sports and in the classroom.” Hadle, junior, was awarded the Jeff Allen award for astounding athleticism and sportsmanship in eighth grade. He maintains As and Bs. Hadle said exercise is something a person needs to do. “It makes you feel good about yourself,” Hadle said. Frederick broke the 4x400 meter relay record in track last year with three other runners. She also keeps As and Bs, and said sports moti-vate her to keep her grades up. “If I don’t get good grades, I won’t be able to be on the team--be able to participate in that sport,” Frederick said. “That’s my motiva-

tion behind it.” Assistant oftball coach Jennifer Page said exercise is her “go-to” to keep her sane. “Yesterday I didn’t exercise, and didn’t get my house cleaned,” she said. “I was very frustrated at the

end of the day because I didn’t get done what I wanted to get done. I was unmotivated and lethargic. Just bleh.” Henn said one might have a clearer head after working out, but he is sometimes exhausted after strength class. “When you work out, you’ll start thinking more because your brain will start going.” Frederick said exercise can keeps a person awake. “I think exercise makes you more energized and makes you more enthusiastic and kind of opens your mind more,” she said. Page said exercise relaxes the muscles and helps one sleep. “I don’t think people function at maximum potential with lack of sleep,” she said. “You can’t even make healthy food choices when you’re tired.” Frederick said she runs track in the city at night, and does not get home until 10 or 11p.m.

“I think it actually helps me get more sleep because I’m more tired when I get home,” she said. “I just eat and go to bed and I fall asleep more easily.” Henn said sleeping will help a person think easier.

“The more sleep you get, the bet-ter your brain will be able to perform,” he said.

Down the road “If you have a good work ethic now, and you’re in shape later in life, you’ll probably keep work-ing out and go to the gym,” Henn said. “But if you don’t really work out now, you won’t see that in the future and you could get obese.” Frederick said someone who is involved in a sport will have fun and not want to quit. “It’ll motivate them to keep their grades up and stay on top of it,” she said. Negatives Hadle said exercise might make someone feel tired and cranky and is not for everyone. “It’s frustrating,” he said. “You can’t think straight sometimes be-cause you’re so exhausted. Still, Page said exercise does not have to be just running or weightlifting. “I think there’s always some

form of exercise you can be doing,” Page said. Frederick said sports haven’t af-fected her grades. “Whenever I get on the court or on the track I don’t thnik about school or anything,” she said. “I don’t let stress affect my performance.” Natalie Franz, sophomore, said turning assignments in and doing well on tests is the best way to get good grades, and exercise is not completely necessary. “You can be totally out of shape and still get good grades,” she said. “I think it would be better for the person if they were in shape.” Personal choice Franz said exercise may help a person do more.“If you can succeed at sports you

probably feel like you can suc-ceed at other things like grades and homework,” Franz said. Frederick said people should be more open to exercise. “You can run,” Frederick said. “You just don’t want to, like [peo-ple] should just be more open be-cause it’s not as hard as they think and it’s a lot more fun than they think it is.” Hadle said people should be more open to exercise be-cause exercising improves one’s confidence. “If people exercise a lot they’ll probably feel better about them-selves,” Hadle said. “They’ll be able to do better at the things they want to do.”

exercise affects grades, sleep

lane harris reporter

Athletes sayPhoto by Lane Harris

Sophomore Andrew Henn benches in weightlifting class. “After strength you’re pretty tired,” he said. “You’ll go to your next class and you’ll just want to pass out and just sleep instead of actually working.”

Photo by Jessica Allison

Juniors Josiah Hadle and Patrick Kennedy experiment in Chemistry 2 on Nov. 28. Hadle said exercise was something a person needs to do.

Henn, Hadle tie grades to sports; Franz does not

The Reporter • March 20124(news)

Month in the life of a... Student actor

Auditions, set construction and countless rehearsals go into making a great play. Jordan Malone, junior, had a main part in the play You Can’t Take it With You, per-formed March 9 and 10. Malone said most of his time is spent doing or think-ing about something theater-related. Leslie Coats, director, said Malone is in the theater help-ing her quite often. “If he doesn’t have some-place he has to be, he’ll be there,” Coats said. To get the part he wanted, Malone auditioned and went through callbacks. During auditions, he said Coats made them do some unusual theater exercises such as pretending they were monsters. Malone got the part of Tony Kirby, vice president of Kirby & Co., the company owned by his father. “We watched the show my freshman year and that’s one role I thought I could

and wanted to play,” Malone said. Malone’s character falls in love with Alice, played by sophomore Libby Mc-Cormack. Nina Lopez, soph-omore, said she thought Malone and McCormack would get the parts from the beginning. “I think [Jordan] relates well with Libby and they’d be great together in those roles,” Lopez said. Even though they are good for the parts, Malone said it is awkward having to pretend he is in love with one of his best friends. Once Malone got the part, he started memorizing his lines. When he first started memorizing them, he said he would read them over and over and then wean himself off of the script, sentence by sentence. Malone said getting into the character of Tony Kirby was a little tougher than nor-mal because Tony has a more serious personality than Malone. Rachael Ludwick, junior,

and Lopez both said when-ever they see Malone, he is goofing off. “He’s always doing some-thing to get a laugh out of somebody,” Lopez said. Coats said the hardest part for every teenage actor is trying to make the character real. “Earlier this year the char-acters were so much like me, I didn’t really have to do anything,” Malone said. He said he has to “turn down the goofiness.” Even though Malone’s personality is different than Kirby’s, Ludwick said it is a good fit. “His talent would be best used as Tony,” Ludwick said. So far, Malone has been memorizing his lines, getting into the character of Kirby and going to play rehearsals. Malone said rehearsals two to three weeks before the performances are very different from the rehears-als the first week after audi-tions. He has to start using props, working around the

set and knowing his lines pretty well. Malone said that right be-fore the play opens, everyone gets stressed out. “It gets hectic and stress-ful, everyone is freaking out, the crowd is big, there are problems with the set, there are technical issues,” Malone said. Even with Malone doing all of his preparations, he still has time for school, Madri-gals, band, and improvisa-tional shows. His day can be full from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. Malone deals with his stress by taking some time to himself. “Every now and then, you just have to stare at a wall to get away from everything,” Malone said. Even though it gets stress-ful, everyone knows their lines now, he said, and that is Malone’s favorite part of pre-paring for the play. “When everyone gets off book and experiments with their characters, lots of fun stuff comes out of that,” Ma-lone said.

Malone’s passion for acting keeps him busy

Malone stars in the play You Can’t Take It With You on March 9 and 10. Malone also starred in Taking Sides in September and The Frogs in November.

Photo by Natalie Franz

marissa bergman reporter

The Reporter • March 20125(features)

This is the story of a jacket. This poor jacket was un-loved by its first owner. She was stuffed into a dark closet with no food or water. Every day she could feel her-self falling out of style. She had want-ed so much more then this. She want-ed to feel the wind, the sun, to be worn and compliment-ed. After years of ne-glect a ray of hope ap-pears, her owner rediscovers her. This ray of hope is quickly crushed by her owner’s dis-tain for her. In one swift moment she is thrown into a box and car-ried out of the house. She hears the purr of an engine, the hammering of construc-tion, the honking of impa-tient horns, the steady rhyth-mic click of a turn signal and finally the tense silence of a parked car. She wonders where she could be. Soon her worst nightmare is real-ized, she has been taken to a

second hand store. She had only heard whispers about clothing that went there. They were insane, barely being held together by their stiches. This is where cloth-ing goes to die. Dread and despair filled her to the very fibers of her being. She lost all hope. Life became a blur of shifting

clothing. She was surround-ed by hundreds of voices yet suffered in silence. For Ellie Jones, fresh-man, this story holds some meaning. She found her favorite jacket amid the racks at a secondhand store. The jacket is tan with a floral lining and two cute pockets in the front. It was barely worn and dirt cheap. Jones couldn’t understand why anyone would want to get rid of it.

Sadly clothing, as far as science can tell, is not sentient. Yet. The reality of the situ-ation remains though, the average American throws out 68 pounds of clothing every year according to Live Strong.

We also only buy about 10 ten pounds of recycled clothing.

People have many rea-sons for want-ing to buy secondhand.

For Jones buying sec-ondhand is a matter of tradition.

S h e i s used to get-ting hand-me-downs f r o m h e r older sister Sarah Jones. Their moth-er also keeps

old clothing to reuse. “I love second hand cloth-ing,” she said. “If you re-ally need it [clothing] and don’t want to spend a lot of money just go to a second-hand store.” Jessy Shriefer, senior, is also used to secondhand clothing. He grew up get-ting his older brothers hand-me-downs. After his family’s house caught fire he got second-hand clothing from people. To this day he is extreme-ly grateful for that clothing. In fact his favorite article of clothing came from those secondhand gifts. “I had a sweatshirt that said Billabong on it,” he said. “I wore it at least three times a week. I think I liked it because it gave me com-fort that people cared after I lost everything.”

Try on cloth-ing if possible. This works best at secondhand stores and not yard sales. If you cannot try them on eyeball to see if they will fit.

Haggle, bargain and negotiate. Most major sec-ondhand stores will not allow you to haggle but yard sales probably will. Start at half the asking price and work up.

Tips to buy secondhand

Step 3

Step 4

Scope out po-tential clothing items. Try to make sure they are your size and fit your personal style.

Check items for inperfections. (holes, stains, yellow armpits, streching, and strange smells)

I had a sweatshirt that said Billabong on it...I think I liked it because it gave me comfort that people cared after I lost everything.

- Jessy Shriefer, senior

“

wondersPhotos by Chrystal Thompson

chrystal thompson reporter

Students find treasure from others’ cast offs

Step 1

Step 2

staff editorialThe Reporter • March 2012

6(opinion)

Have a story idea?

Talk to a member of the news-

paper staff.

Walking violations

Camping

Traffic Jammers

Comedian Mitch Hedberg argues that if you have legs and are flammable, you are never blocking a fire exit. Our fire chief disagrees. The laziest and most annoying violation of hallway etiquette are (tada!) people who sit or lie down in the hallway.

“They’re in the hallway doing nothing, instead of standing to the side they’re in the middle blocking ev-erything,” said sophomore Seth Slayman. “It’s stop-ping other people from where they’re trying to go.”

Solution: The school has conveniently positioned classrooms along every hallway and even has a com-mons area filled with tables. There are plenty of places to work and/or relax without being a danger to others.

You’re strolling through the hallways, feeling pleased with yourself, your friends and the universe in general. Then it happens. You should have seen it com-ing, the perfect way to ruin a perfectly good pace: the person ahead of you stops dead in their tracks.

“It drives me insane,” said senior Sydney Stamp-er. “I wish they would go to the side or get out of the way.”

Stamper said this behavior is just rude, because they know people are trying to reach their other classes. Solution: One option is to move against the lockers, as far from the flow of traffic as possible. However, this could also block other people from getting to their lockers. Option two is to multi-task, walk and talk at the same time. Option three is probably the best: to hold it in and wait for a more convenient time.

Most annoying hallway behaviors; quick fixes.

rosalyn lucas co-editor-in-chief

ClottersLike the tiny, harmless pieces of plaque that clus-

ter and cause heart failure, so do students form masses that completely choke off all traffic in the hallways. Clustering in the hallways was voted the third most annoying behavior.Solution: If you absolutely have to feel like you’re part of a herd then move to a larger area. Better yet, don’t cluster at all.

Walking RageRated the fourth most irritating feature of the hall-

way are people who cuss, push, yell and generally act like Neanderthals.

“If you’re in the hallway, don’t cuss because other people will hear and that gives them a bad opinion of you,” said freshman Brayden Pearce.

Solution: While you might not care what your peers think, teachers also populate the hallways. Teachers have a huge influence on your high school years. Save the colorful language for practicing English outside of school.

“It should be kept to yourselves,” said junior Sa-mantha Smreker. “Hand holding is fine, but making out is disturbing and should be kept in private.”

PDA

Eaters

Solution: Abstain altogether. What you may think is romantic and cool is actually making someone else sick- and not with jealousy.

Eating in the hallway was rated as the least irritat-ing, however that would probably change if students were responsible for cleaning up the school. It’s disre-spectful to the janitorial staff who have enough on their hands without added messes.

Solution: Stick to the commons area before school with all food stuffs and act like the empathetic person you’re supposed to be and pick up your trash. Would you want to pick up someone else’s mess? Exactly. Pick up your own.

*Information from a random Reporter survey of 100 semi-nar students

To be perfect. It’s something we all strive for in at least some aspects. Whether it’s by spending hours on our hair every morn-ing, staying up until all hours of the night studying for a big test or by practicing our favorite sport in every spare moment; even if it’s just in small ways, everyone aspires to be perfect at something. For some, however, that as-piration goes much deeper. It turns into a sick obsession to be perfect…at everything. It is an obsession that we will stop at nothing to achieve because, let’s face it, we’re just never good enough for ourselves. We are perfectionists. Now I’m not here to hate on perfectionists and say that try-ing to be perfect is a waste of time, because I am a perfection-ist and I know enough people in the world already tell us that. No, on its own I don’t see perfectionism as a bad thing at all. It can serve as motivation to always strive to put your abso-lute best out there. The place where perfec-tionism becomes a problem, though, is when society turns it into a problem. Because didn’t you know that mediocrity is the standard now? Yes! Our society has made it so underachievement is perfectly acceptable.

More than once I have been looked down upon for always trying to do well in school and in life. More than once I have heard teachers say that a 4.0 isn’t important. More than once I have seen people scoff at the kid who al-ways puts in extra work. Too many times I have seen perfectionism get frowned upon, and for the life of me, I cannot understand why. I’m not saying everyone should kill themselves in an ef-fort to be perfect, because I un-derstand complete perfection is unachievable. I’m just saying that our standards for what is consid-ered acceptable should not be lowered. It seems as if everyone is perfectly fine with being subpar nowadays. If we keep up the attitude that mediocrity is ok, I think we’ll be on the fast track to failure. We need people around who will encourage perfection, or at least the next closest thing to it. We need to break the mold of being just average. And that will happen when society begins to accept the idea that striving to be perfect is actually OK.

Aiming to be perfect

Cartoon by Jenna Ratzlaff

The Reporter • March 20127(opinion)

Volume 87

The mission of the Paola High School Reporter is to inform and entertain its audience in a broad, fair, and accurate manner of all subjects that affect read-ers. The publication seeks also to provide a forum for the opinion of students, the staff of the paper, and the faculty, thus encourag-ing an exchange of ideas and opinions on issues of importance to the read-ers.

mission statement

It is the policy of the Paola Report-er, to provide a forum for student expression, voices in the uninhibit-ed, robust, free and open discussion of issues. The Reporter encourages students to write letters to the edi-tor or submit articles for the edito-rial page. We reserve the right to edit content. Material that contains libelous or obscene information will not be published. Material that will cause a disruption of school activi-ties is also prohibited. Authors must provide their full name. No articles will be published with an alias.

editorial policy

Co-Editors-in-Chief: Rosalyn Lucas, Riley SawyerDesign Editor: Hope WaisnerSports Editor: Caleb HeckerReporters: Marissa Bergman, Katey Col-well, Lane Harris, Aly Johnson, Shelby McDaniel, Jenna Ratzlaff, Libby Rayne, Chrystal Thompson, Hali Wimbush Ad Manager: Jessica AllisonPolitical Cartoonist: Rosalyn LucasAdviser: BriAnne Chayer

thereporter

Issue 5

the staff

Jersey Shore. Keeping Up With The Kardashians. The Real Housewives of Orange County. I’m sure you’ve heard of these. These are horrendous shows about supposedly real life experiences fueled by pure drama. Oh, and the newest songs heard on the radio? Most people don’t consider the depth of content or the character of the singer when they’re listening to the song. These types of entertainment have one main purpose of course; for people to continue to watch the TV show or listen to the artists songs. And if you’re one of those people record-ing the newest episodes of reality TV shows or buying the newest songs on the radio from iTunes the moment it’s avail-able, then pull on your big girl (or boy) pants and get ready. It’s about to get real. More than 1,100 girls around the country were surveyed by the Girl Scout Research Institute where they found that 70 percent of girls who watch reality TV shows thought it was OK to treat others badly. If this sounds like you…something is wrong. We’ve been told since kindergarten to treat others the way

we want to be treated. No one wants to be treated badly. This is a concern for society as a whole. The Girl Scout Research Institute also found that 37 percent of girls believe that some-times being mean earns someone more respect than being nice. This is just one of multiple negative effects of watching reality TV shows and admiring some not-so-great influential figures. It’s been three years since the Chris Brown/Rihanna do-mestic violence case and Chris Brown is still a popular artist. According to the Chris Brown website, Brown was rated No. 10 on the “Top Artists” category for the 2011 Billboard Year End Charts. This is a little disturbing. Three years isn’t a long time and we have already moved on. His music has blinded teens to his past of violence. According to the Communities That Care survey, 7.12 percent of students in Paola responded that they had attacked someone with the idea of seriously hurting them at least once in the past twelve months. Maybe this doesn’t seem like a lot to you, but in a small town like Paola one violent incident is a

big deal. And it shows that violence is more acceptable in our society. As for reality TV stars, such as Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi from Jersey Shore, alcohol consumption has negatively reso-nated with teens. According to the Communities That Care survey, in Paola 48.98 percent of students responded that if they were at some-one’s house for a party and were offered a drink containing alcohol, they would drink it. The survey also reported that 8.53 percent of students said there was a very good chance they would be perceived as cool if they began drinking alco-holic beverages regularly, at least once or twice a month. It’s obvious that watching reality TV shows affects how teens act. When you see Snooki drinking, you think it’s cool, and it makes you think if you drink, you’re cool too. Our influential figures aren’t always the best people to look up to. If you like it when Snooki gets drunk or you think it’s OK to be mean to others, or even violent towards others, then take a break from mass media and reconsider the influences you have in your life.

FalseinfluencesReality TV, celebri-ties have negative influence on youth

hope waisner design editor

The Reporter • March 2012(features)

The Reporter • March 2012

Beats headphonesJackson Setter, sophomore“Well, I probably couldn’t live without music because it’s all around, inspires me to be a better person, and I can con-centrate better when I have music.”

Stuffed rabbitAmelia Sample, sophomore“[It] helps me remember the good times. When I take it to college, I plan on putting it on display for all to see. Don’t be afraid if it’s like a stuffed ani-mal or a blanket, whatever your item is that you have memories with it and that’s the cool thing about it.”

Sketch booksEric Qualls, freshman“They hold memories and moments for me and keep me occupied. They give me something to be creative with. I fig-ured that maybe I can give these to my kids someday and they can look and see what kind of person I was when I was a child.”

Beanie babiesMallen Trull, senior“My grandma had a lot of them and I thought they were cool so it became a tradition for her to give them to me on birthdays and Christmas. My favor-ite is a blue dog with a tye-dye bowtie and I will probably take that one to college with me.”

Box o’stuffHannah McFarland, senior“I have a chest full of everything I am sentimental about. It has baby blan-kets, childhood jewelry, small chest used to collect dimes, Statue of Lib-erty bear, my great grandma’s com-pact, the lace my grandma made for my baptism gown, an elephant statue and paperweight from my uncle who died in 2004, all of the medals and buttons I have gotten, one dirt bike glove, my eighth-grade graduation diploma, a plastic toy holder with a ninja, monkey and two dogs in it; and a mini snow globe with an angel in it that has a secret compartment.”

The other side...Journey Capettini, junior“I am not a sentimental person any-more. I lived with my grandma for 13 years then she died and I realized things don’t matter. People matter more and I don’t care as much for material objects.

They are not the same as the emotion, they are just a placeholder. I kind of put sentimental value in pictures of family and friends, but I would not be upset if I lost them.

I pretty much got rid of all of my sen-timental stuff because everything is re-placeable. I used to plan for things and put them in a fireproof box by the door. I used to be really sentimental but I’m not anymore.”

Students place value on everyday items to hold onto childhood memories and maintain closeness with relatives.

riley sawyer co-editor-in-chief hali wimbush reporterPhotos courtesy of Hali Wimbush and Riley Sawyer

Dress code taken off leash

The Reporter • March 201210 (academics)

Junior Jared Stauch said that wak-ing up early, some teachers and heaps of homework are the main reasons he doesn’t like school. Stauch sees both the positive and negative aspects of going to school. “It’s very boring, but you need an education,” Stauch said. Stauch said it’s likely that his nega-tive outlook on school reflects poorly on his grades because his dislike of school causes him to be unmotivated to try his hardest in some classes. Science teacher Todd DeYoung said kids who hate school are less likely to do well because they don’t have the drive to do the things they’re supposed to do. DeYoung said most students don’t

like to come to school because they don’t yet see the value in it and they don’t understand the consequences of not trying in school. “It limits your choices in life for the future,” DeYoung said. “School is a proving ground that you can accom-plish the things required from a future employer.” Junior Faith Johnson said she loves school because it allows her to learn new things and expand her knowledge. Johnson said her whole family has been raised to appreciate school and she has loved school since she was little. She also said she always tries her hardest in school. “It’s something I enjoy, so why wouldn’t I?” Johnson said.

However, Johnson thinks that stu-dents who have a negative outlook on school are more likely to slack off, thus resulting in worse grades. Sophomore Kenji Brock said he doesn’t hate school, he just thinks it’s a waste of time. “I feel like I have better things to be doing,” Brock said. Contrary to Stauch, however, Brock doesn’t think that his negative outlook on school negatively affects his grades, and he said that he tries in school to some extent. “Well, I have to pass,” Brock said. DeYoung said it kills him when he sees students not trying in school. “It’s very painful to see because they don’t realize how much they’re hurting themselves,” DeYoung said.

aly johnson reporter

Outlook on school affects GPAStauch, Johnson differ on whether school is worthwhile

39.9% of students have a positive outlook on school

90% of the students with a posit ive outlook on school, report having either straight A’s or all A’s and B’s

22% of students have a negative outlook on school

27.3% of the students with a negative outlook on school, report having mostly C’s

15.4% of the students with a negative outlook on school, feel unmotivated to do well in school

44.1% of all students feel indifferently about school

62.7% of all students are self-motivated to do well in school

Results from a Reporter survey of 10.8% of seminar students

It started out as a trend. Dog collars were no longer just apparel for dogs. Some students wore them as a fashion statement. However, this called for clarifications in the dress code to be made in early Febuary. According to the student hand-book, “…all styles of clothing de-signed for specific non-school activi-ties or designed to call undue attention to the wearer are not appropriate at school.” Michael McGee, senior, disagrees. He said there is no logic behind the clarification. “They’re no more distracting than clicky pens or glass windows,” McGee said.

He said it took teachers a week to notice the collar he was wearing. De-spite what the handbook says, McGee said he wore it to express himself. He wore a blue collar with skulls on it to represent how people view their re-lationship with death, and to convey how comfortable he is with the idea. “It’s just a fact of life,” he said. Jeff T. Hines, assistant principal, said he believes it is his job to interpret the dress code. He also said students need guidance on whether or not dog collars were acceptable as attire. Hines has heard two complaints from students on the issue; however, he has heard “dozens” of complaints from staff members who thought the collar drew “undue attention.”

“I understand that they [the students] feel that some of their rights have been taken away,” Hines said. Phil Bressler, principal, said he received no complaints, however, he still believes the collars are a health hazard. The biggest issue was wear-ing the collars were a health hazard. They have no way of giving if caught on anything. If something like that would happen, a student could be se-riously injured or killed, he said. Hines said those who still wear the collars will be punished. Their collars will have the collars confiscated for a day. If the student continued to wear them, the collar could be kept for a lot longer than a day, he said.

shelby mcdaniel reporter

Enforcements in dress code policy affect McGee, rest of student body

Hats-Wearing hats inside many public places are considered rude, and they have never been allowed in Paola High. The rule was just not enforced as frequently in the past.

Trench Coats-Due to the increase of school shootings in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, these have been banned.

Why D

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The Reporter • March 201211(entertainment)

Match the ustache

rating: PG-13

casting:

runtime: 2 hr. 22min.release date: March 24

intense violent thematic material and disturbing images

Information from the IMDB website

Let the games begin

Jennifer LawrenceJosh HutchersonWoody HarrelsonElizabeth Banks

On March 23, Suzanne Collins’ novel, The Hunger Games will make its big screen debut. Let’s hope Hollywood doesn’t deviate too far from the story so many of us, including myself, fell in love with. The Hunger Games is a fight to the death with 24 kids, ages 12-18, two from each of the 12 districts, called tributes. Collins captured the at-tention of many with the first book in the trilogy, which follows Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl living in District 12, a region of post-apoc-alyptic North America. Katniss volunteers to enter the Hunger Games after her younger sister is chosen at the Reaping. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) hunts every day to get food and money for her family to live. Be-cause of her time in the woods, she is very good with bow and arrow and uses that to survive in the games. Katniss only hangs out with her hunt-

ing buddy Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), she plays with the idea of a relationship with him throughout the book. Lawrence is a relatively new actor and hopefully can portray the role of Katniss close to the outdoorsy type who will do anything to protect her family. Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) is the male tribute from District 12 and is one of the few people in District 12 who won’t have to work in the mines when he reaches the age of 18 be-cause his family owns the bakery. Peeta makes things complicated for Katniss, the night before the start of the games, by confessing he has had a crush on her practically all his life. Hutcherson, unlike his counter-part, had much more screen time in movies. Hutcherson is usually in the role of someone who is socially awkward and should playing the part of Peeta. Each district’s tributes are given a mentor for the games. Katniss and Peeta’s mentor is a for-mer winner of the games, Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) District 12’s last winner, is

always drunk and is rarely ever aware of what is going on around him. Harrelson is perfect for this role because he is best at acting like he is not all there. Harrelson should deliver an award-worthy performance in his role. For people who have not read the books, you should expect lots of action and violence to keep the movie moving quickly. Hopefully the actors in the movie can portray the underlying tone of depression and hopelessness the characters have their lives. Collins also managed to keep the reader interested in the love triangle playing out in Katniss’ head. I hope for this movie Jennifer Lawrence can do a much better job at showing her affection for the two guys than Kristen Stew-art did. Whether this movie sticks to the book closely or not, it will be a good movie and more than likely be up for a few awards when the time comes. All audiences should enjoy the book because it has romance, action. Hopefully the movie will do the book justice.

caleb hecker sports editor

What made you want to grow your facial hair so long?“It’s what was left after I shaved my beard.” How long did it take you to grow it out? “I have had a beard since 1983.” How long has it been since you shaved or snipped? “Shaved the beard two or three years ago, left the mustache.” How do you care for your hair? “When I eat, I trim it but I don’t shampoo it.”

What made you want to grow your facial hair so long? “My friends told me to.” How long did it take you to grow it out? “Three weeks.” How long has it been since you shaved or snipped? “Just recently shaved.” How do you care for your hair? “I like playing with it and feeling it.”

What made you want to grow your facial hair so long? “It started out being because I was too lazy to shave.” How long did it take you to grow it out? “It usually takes a week and a half for it to get to the length I like.” How long has it been since you shaved or snipped? “I trim it up about once every three days.” How do you care for your hair? “Washing and trimming it when needed.”

What made you want to grow your facial hair so long? “It makes me look older.” How long did it take you to grow it out? “Not very long.” How long has it been since you shaved or snipped? “About a week.” How do you care for your hair? “[I don’t do] anything at all.”

What made you want to grow your facial hair so long? “Just didn’t shave for three to four days, my wife liked it so I kept it.” How long did it take you to grow it out? “Took about three to four days.” How long has it been since you shaved or snipped? “I trim it every day.” How do you care for your hair? “I wash it every day and run a razor over it every couple of days.”

Students and teachers talk about how they care for their facial hair. Can you guess who’s is who’s?

Q:A:Q:A:Q:A:Q:A:

Q:A:Q:A:Q:A:Q:A:

Q:A:Q:A:Q:A:Q:A:

Q:A:Q:A:Q:A:Q:A:

Q:

Q:A:Q:A:

A:Q:A:

Answer:

preveiw

1. Duane Lintz , English teacher 2. Barrett Davis, junior 3. Kevin Rayne, senior 4. Quentin Garrison, sophomore 5. Phil Bressler, principal

hall talk“Katniss. She is a dynam-ic character. A lot of the surprise endings hap-pen to her”-Tyler Heiber,senior

“Peeta. He’s clever and strong.”

-Brennan Haley, sophomore

“Katniss. She reminds me a lot of myself” -Mollie Hart, junior

“Katniss. She always does the right thing”-Jacob Boehm, sophomore

Who is your favorite “The Hunger Games” character

and why?

Compiled by Lane Harris

katey colwell reporter

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Photo courtesy of cambio website

The Reporter • March 201212 (entertainment)

Then and now

‘Paola High School past’ may someday be forgotten.

Teachers, traditions and classes are on the road to becoming some-thing less than a memory.

For former students and teach-ers, this past was the present.

Current students and teachers know of stories of ‘the old high school’ or ‘the old greenhouse’.

Realms of thought often range from now to then. Not very often do we let our minds venture into what was.

Paola High School had many features to it that are now different. Some changes have been as simple as classroom size.

“I used to never have over 20 students,” said Rachel Dougherty, chemistry teacher. “In this class I have 26.”

Over the years, budget cuts have played a major part in some of the changes that have taken place.

“Ten years ago we had 15 peo-ple that worked in this building who have still not been replaced after they either retired or were eliminat-ed,” said Mary Beth Rayne, com-puter and technology teacher.

Some of the classes no longer

offered at PHS include culinary arts, photography, building trades and motors class. Classes like Ward’s have only had to make cur-riculum changes in order to either be more cost effective or keep up with the times.

“We don’t sew anymore,” said Janet Ward, family and consumer science teacher. “We went from having 20 sewing machines to two.”

Other changes are simply for-gotten traditions such as a school-wide bonfire in which a Trojan was burned.

Other commodities of the past included cruising the Square and chilling at Sonic.

The Square was known as the weekend hang out in the 90s ac-cording to past yearbooks.

Sonic still remains a popular dwelling spot amongst youth. Now, rather than a weekend hang-out, it lies more along the lines of after-school get-together.

*Photos courtesy of past Paola High yearbooks.

Leslie Coats1985-2011

Susan Blankenship 1985-2011

Todd Weaver1986-2011

Sarah Allison2005-2012

Mike Smith1988-2011

Justin Elliot1990-2011

Steve Gorsuch1992-2011

Past yearbooks tell forgotten stories

1989

2009

2011

2011

2011

2011

Paola High (now Firehouse Gym)

Shorts grow longer by 12”

1989-2012

2000

1966

Student parking lot of the old Paola High School 1995

1995

libby rayne reporter

The Reporter • March 201213(sports)

Springing back into action

Sophomore Kelsey Slawson and head track coach Mike Smith are preparing for the upcoming season. The teams plan on building off of last year’s regional wins. The regional win was the boys fifth in a row and decades-old re-cords were broken. Slawson said she expects a strong season from both boys and girls. “Girls have a lot of new people along with the ones coming back,” Slawson said. “Guys lost a lot of people, but they always seem to do well.” Slawson said the team does have some weaknesses to improve upon from last year. “Our long distance has to get better be-cause Baldwin is always good in that cat-egory,” Slawson said. Smith said the team does however have

strengths that are a Paola tradition. “We have the ability to go out every day and every meet and compete,” Smith said. “They hate letting their team and teammates down.” To improve upon their finish, the team has to find a way to replace graduates. Smith said he expects seniors to fill the gap. “You never really replace seniors, but hopefully there be another group ready to step up and put their own mark on the pro-gram,” Smith said. Smith’s expectations for the season are simple, but high. “This year’s team will work hard and represent Paola well,” Smith said. “They are very unselfish and want to continue our strong track tradition.”

Track

With winter sports all but a memory, spring sports start practice in hopes to improve

With all but one state golfer back from last year, the team looks to improve upon last season as a whole. Junior Matt Bergman said there are things to build off of. “Our top three varsity golfers will be good, but others have to step up and get bet-ter for varsity to win,” Bergman said. Golf coach Greg Cartwright said he has high expectations. “We will be more competitive as a team this year,” Cartwright said. “We have a lit-tle more experience and freshman players who can compete.” Bergman said some things need to im-prove before they can win consistently. “Our short game needs work because

we lose too many strokes on the green if we want to win,” Bergman said. Cartwright said the team does not have the challenge of replacing a lot of seniors like in other sports. “We only lost one senior that qualified for state, but there are golfers on the team that can play as well as he did and be as competitive,” Cartwright said. Bergman said he has one goal. “We just need to play our best and get better every day,” Bergman said. Cartwright said he has a few expecta-tions for a successful year. “Seeing golfers get better and qualifying golfers for the state tournament make the year worthwhile,” Cartwright said

Golf

After coming up one game short of state last year, junior Steven Beets said he wants to help the tennis team go all the way to state. Beets said he and the team have some strengths to help them have success. “My forehand is pretty good, but to get better I need to work on my serve,” he said. “Our doubles team is always good and our singles is improving.” Beets said last season was a good year for the team. “We all got better as the year went on,” Beets said. “I lost in the third round of region-als and got third at league in singles.” Tennis coach Todd Weaver said he has high expectations. “We have a veteran team with four of our top six players back from last year,” Weaver

said. “We had a successful and balanced JV team last year.” Weaver said the team faces the tough task of replacing graduates. “We prepare our JV team with a lot of matches in anticipation for varsity,” Weaver said. “But replacing last year’s second best player is no easy task.” Beets said replacing the graduates isn’t as hard as it seems. “Jobie Debrick is good and can replace Kreston Debrick,” Beets said. Weaver said for it to be a good season only one thing needs to happen. “We just need to go out and keep com-peting at every tournament we go to,” said Weaver.

Tennis

State titles are what many high school sports teams aspire for, but the baseball team has its sights set on winning league for the first time under Curtis Murdock, head coach. Senior pitcher Sam Schneider said he is ready for a good season. “We have gotten better the previous three seasons and we want to continue to get better this season,” Schneider said. Murdock said he has high expectations for a few reasons. “We won four games my first year here and improved to nine wins last season,” he said. Murdock also said there are seven starters returning. Schneider said the team has some strengths to build off of from last season. “We are solid defensively up the middle

and we also have some good hitters coming back from last year’s team,” Schneider said. Murdock agreed about the team’s strengths, but said there are also some weak-nesses to improve upon from last year. “We need more depth at pitcher,” Mur-dock said. “We need some guys who can come in and give us some innings and eat up time.” Schneider said the team needs a better un-derstanding of what they are asked to do. “For example some people need to hit for an RBI [runs batted in] not a home run in situations with people in scoring position,” Schneider said. Murdock said he has one goal for the year. “I want us to get farther and possibly win regionals this year,” he said.

Baseball

Softball Being third at state two for years in a row is an accomplishment, but head softball coach Troy Collier and senior Cheyenne Rankin have their sights set on the state championship. Rankin said the team has a few weakness-es to improve upon if they want to win state. “We need to work on our mental tough-ness and the fundamentals,” Rankin said. “We also need to overcome the mental block we seem to develop at state.” Collier said he thinks the team has similar weaknesses. “We have to learn in key moments to over-come adversity,” Collier said. “Fear of failure plays a huge part in this.” Rankin said one of the team’s strong points is the players returning.

“We have a close bond and a strong group of freshman coming up,” Rankin said. “Our pitching will help us replace last year’s se-niors because all of our pitchers are back.” Collier said last year’s seniors have been missed. “We have some holes to fill,” Collier said. “We have depth and younger girls ready to step up and prove what they can do to help our team win.” Collier said he has expectations for a suc-cessful season. “Every game is a stepping stone. We have to continue to improve every practice and game,” Collier said. “Everyone will be gun-ning for us. We want to continue our tradi-tion, this is what we expect, this is what these girls work so hard for.”

Girls’ swim Most teams enjoy home-field advantage in some of their games, but the girls swim does not have the luxury, because they swim in Osawatomie. Even with no comfort of home they still have managed to represent Paola by placing tenth at state. The team looks to improve upon it’s mark from last season. Even with losing two swimmers to graduation, junior Kaylee Farmer has high expectations. “Everyone needs to work and we should go to state with as many as possible,” Farmer said. Head coach Sarah Dorsett said she also has the bar set high. “I am sure we will have a good showing again at the league championship and at state,” Dorsett said. Farmer said the team has some weakness-es to improve on to finish better. “We need to get better starts,” Farmer said. “We also need everyone to be going to prac-

tice every day.” Dorsett said the team has strength with experience. “Many girls have been swimming compet-itively for a number of years,” Dorsett said. “They know what to expect from me and how to handle the nerves of competition.” Farmer said she expects a successful season. “Knowing our team has worked hard, and we have had some fun,” Farmer said. “We also need to make a dent at state.” Dorsett said a few things need to happen for the season to be a success. “When I see girls staying the course, fin-ishing the season and not quitting and they can look back and see the improvements they have made,” Dorsett said. “A success-ful season includes great team chemistry, where everyone supports each other without all the drama and works hard to achieve their goals.”

caleb hecker sports editor

The Reporter • March 201214 (sports)

Favorite TV show

Favorite sport to play

Favorite sports team

Favorite music

Favorite food

Place of college

Years as coach

SportsCenter No ideaSportsCenter SportsCenter

K-StateKU

Football/BasketballBasketball

KU Country

Anything2

WisconsinKU

FootballBasketball

80’sKU

Spaghetti2, first year back

1-0

5-1/2

4-1/2

3-1/2

2-0

Winner: Jake Robison

Oshel’s Guesses

Robison’s Guessesabout Oshel about Robison

Coach vs. playerSophomore Jake Robison, coach Ryan Oshel compete to see who knows the other better

Photo by Katey Colwell

katey colwell reporter

The Reporter • March 201115(sports)

Teammate or Friend? After practice, two teammates walk away hand in hand. Two others wave goodbye to each other as they get into their cars. When it comes to teammates, some get close to each other and stay in their lives even after the season ends. Others sim-ply enjoy each other’s company. Juniors Madison Waltrip and Makenzie McNutt became friends when they joined the high school swim team. They don’t spend time with each other outside of swim team and both agree that it is because they have different groups of friends. “They don’t mesh together,” Waltrip said. Since Waltrip and McNutt hang out with different people, they might not have become friends if it weren’t for swim team. “It’s good because you can get to know people that you might have judged outside of swim team because you didn’t know what they were like,” Waltrip said. McNutt said she likes being friends with people on swim team because she becomes closer to people she wouldn’t nor-mally hang out with. She said she enjoys Waltrip’s company because she is fun to be around. “I think Maddie is an awesome person regardless of if we’re on the team together,” McNutt said. Sarah Dorsett, swim team coach, said the girls on the swim

team can bond because they have a common in-terest in swimming. She said it sometimes takes a while for the girls from the different schools to get close. “I have a few girls who are outgoing and will-ing to meet new people,” Dorsett said. “I use them to lead the way to crossing the bridge be-tween the two schools.” Dorsett said. Dorsett said having bonds on teams makes

for less drama and more support of the team. This is why she helps the girls get to know each other. “After practice occasionally I will have snacks so they can mingle and get used to each other,” Dorsett said. While Waltrip and McNutt went separate ways when swim team ended last

year, Seth Roberts, senior, and Sarah Rourke, junior, developed a closer relationship this year. After running cross country in the fall, they started dating. “We were never in a relationship during cross country, but once we got out we started to talk and then started dating a month after,” Roberts said. Rourke said even though they weren’t dating during cross country, her friends thought they should. “They say my sophomore year they could tell he had a

thing for me,” Rourke said. Whether people stick together after the season ends, new friends are made through teams. “Our freshman year we were both on swim team and that’s when we started talking and being more friendly toward each other,” Waltrip said.

Photo courtesy of Penny Roberts

Seth Roberts, senior, and Sarah Rourke, junior, pose for a picture at the State Cross Country meet in Wamego. The boys placed eighth and the girls placed third.

marissa bergman reporterAthletes make new relationships through sports

“They say my sophomore year they could tell he had a thing for me.- Sarah Rourke, junior

“

The Reporter • March 201216 (features)

How

orStudents and teachers shine a little light on the sub-

ject of grades, the amount of effort it takes to receive certain grades and the expectations of teachers in their grading system. Mike Smith, history teacher, looks for students to show knowledge of the concept.

“I look for the understanding and application of the concept we have been learning about,” Smith said. “Examples from readings, discussions, and other ma-terials from the unit show great understanding of the concept.”

Personality also plays a large role in grades said sci-ence teacher Karl Schmidt and Smith.

“The personalities of A and B students are a realiza-tion that education is important to their future success,” Smith said. “They have goals and an agenda they want to follow. Often these students care about their work, are highly organized, self-motivated and hardworking students.”

Schmidt referred to a quote often said by his grandmother.

“‘Only boring people are bored,’” Schmidt said. Schmidt also looked at personality as a factor while

grading. “There’s a certain spark in their eyes, an enthusiasm

not just for learning but for life,” Schmidt said. Some students are more dependent on effort than

personality, depending on the grading level.

“To receive an A you have to focus more on atten-dance and assignments,” Addison Vance, junior said. “To get an F you don’t have to put out any effort or show up basically.”

Cory Weaver, senior, has a system for each subject’s homework.

“Science, read the book and have friends help you with the homework,” Weaver said. “For math, ask to see someone’s paper or use a calculator. For English, go to spark notes or read the book and the back cover, and for history read the book.”

Weaver prefers to go to Mrs. Collier for assistance with math and recommends her to other students.

Vance prefers Mrs. Dougherty for science assistance.

“I typically go to Mrs. Dougherty, she’s my every-thing.” Vance said.

Smith doesn’t look at history class any differently than taking any other core class.

“History is like any other class to improve your grade attendance and organization is vital,” Smith said “High attendance and organization leads to less missed assignments and better concept retention.”

Taking on grades is a challenge that all students have to face, it’s just a matter of the approach.

The grading system and some advice from students and teachers.

hali wimbush reporter

to getan

Mr. Schmidt , Science teacher thinks that any students can re-cieve at least a B in every class.

Students and families

need

to make ed

ucation a prior

ity

at home as well a

s school;

and

come to

the realization

that the

greatest corr

elation to h

ow stable

one’s career

and income is

later

in adulthood is t

he amount of

education one has. -S

mith

A- Finish the work that night

B- A little every night and some on the due date

C- Do it on the due dateD- Do half of the homeworkF- No work

Cory Weaver’s list of grade how to’s