THE HARBINGERShawnee Mission East l 7500 Mission Road, PV KS, 66208 l December 3, 2012 l Issue 7 l www.smeharbinger.net

Flip for a remembrance of senior Tyler RathbunPG 24

Varsity swim coach Wiley Wright isn’t going to yell at his swimmers if they don’t work hard.

That’s not his style; it never has been. He will never say that winning is the most important thing even though he’s won 16 league championships and eight state titles in his 28 years as a coach. He won’t even pester them with questions, asking where they’ve been if they missed a practice.

But he will push them. He’ll make them do your best, and more than that -- he’ll make them want to do their best.

“We work hard because we want to work hard for Wiley and we want to work hard for each other,” East graduate and former swimmer Corbin Barnds said. “If you don’t work hard, you’re not going to get better. You’re going to be hurting yourself and hurt-ing the team, so we hold ourselves accountable. We wanna work hard because Wiley has done so much for us, so we wanna pay him back.”

It’s not his coaching expertise or even the stream of talented swimmers that flow into East each year that has made Wright successful as a coach. It’s the way he runs down the side of the pool at state, yell-ing “Go, go, go go!” every time his swimmers’ heads bob out of the water to be sure they can hear them. It’s the way he makes every single swimmer feel im-portant by taking each of them aside at some point during practice to ask how school is going. Or how he pulls the group of guys together and forces them to act as one team rather than individuals.

* * *

Beloved swim coach changes the lives of his athletes, one by one

continued on pg 14

written by Katie Knight photo by Jake Crandall

‘Tis the giving season. The SHARE Mega Drive was rescheduled from last week to this week; bins will be placed outside of the main office to collect donations for SHARE projects. Bring sports equip-ment, coats, diaper packages and pillowcases. Sports equipment will go to the Boys and Girls Club, a so-cial center for inner city youth. Diapers will go to Safehome, a foundation/shelter for survivors of domestic violence. Warm clothes — hats, mittens, coats, blankets -- will be distributed around Kansas City through Project Warmth. Pillowcases will be made by East SHARE volunteers into dresses which will be sent to Africa with Dresses for Africa.

After Hostess Brands Inc. reached an impasse with the Bakery, ConfectIonary, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union, the company declared bankruptcy Nov. 21. Union workers (about 30 percent of the employees) went on strike Nov. 9 over wage and benefits and couldn’t work out an agreement with the company by a deadline. Hostess lost production time that sent them over the edge; this isn’t Hostess’ first time facing financial trouble, but it will be the last. According to the company, “The wind down means the closure of 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers, approximately 5,500 delivery routes, 570 bakery outlet stores and the loss of 18,500 jobs.”

While the election talk in the United States is finally cooling down, political unrest in Egypt is heating up. After 30 years of repression and military violence under President/Dictator Hosni Mubarak, citizens protested and forced his resignation. Af-ter his removal and a provisional military govern-ment that pledged to restore democracy, Mr Mursi became the first freely-elected leader last summer. With his win came promises of a new era. Then on Nov. 22 Mursi signed a decree that essentially gave him unlimited power — an act characteristic to Mubarak. The Egyptians aren’t happy: over 100,000 protesters in Cairo are looking to overthrow yet an-other dictator-like leader.

Don’t forget to rummage through your things for abandoned tennis rackets, too small mittens or a soft pillowcase. You have all week, and your contri-bution will go along way — it will help keep some-one in Kansas City warm or a girl in Africa clothed. Dresses for Africa SHARE Chair Helena Buchmann encourages students to bring what they can, espe-cially pillowcases.

“I think it’s important because pillowcases aren’t very cheap if you buy them new,” Buchmann said. “If you have an old one that you’re not using, we can use them in a new way to help people.”

There are nearly 11,000 active listings for “twinkies” on eBay. Though the beloved snack soon won’t sit on store shelves anymore, you’ll be able to find them online next to other near-extinct sweet products, including CupCakes, HoHos, Do-nettes, Mini Muffins and DingDongs. CEO Gregory Rayburn told The Associated Press that there is no one looking to buy and save Hostess. However, the company will continue to sell off its assets, meaning some of their thirty brands may stick around.

Citizens worked tirelessly to get one repressive leader ousted only to have another repressive leader put right back in power. They were lied to — Mursi promised an end to corruption and instead gave himself ultimate authority that can’t be checked by the judiciary. Though the U.S. isn’t directly involved, the nation is an ally in Middle-Eastern conflicts. The people have suffered through a rough time of false promises and constraining leaders.

NEWS BRIEFSDecember, 3 2012

SHARE MEGA DRIVE HOSTESS CLOSES DOWN UNREST IN THE MIDDLE EAST

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE WHY YOU SHOULD CARE WHY YOU SHOULD CARE

Above: Junior Andrew McKittrick does the freestyle stroke during a swim practice.

Above: The Choraliers sing on the main stairwell to honor senior Tyler Rathbun.

photo by Stefano Byer photo by Marisa Walton

written by Chloe Stradinger art by Akshay Dinakar

Above: Sophomore Gunnar Englund and junior Luke Havarty pracise during a basket ball scrimmage.

photo by Maddie Schoemann

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DANCING REDEMPTIONTOAfter getting into legal trouble at Drill Team Ball, the Lancer Dancers rally as a team to focus on the future.

The evening of Drill Team Ball began like any other dance night. The girls primped before going to pick up their dates before they headed off to a home-cooked dinner held at ju-nior Melissa Ator’s house. The night was off to a great start filled with live music in the background and an abundance of pictures being taken. After dinner, the carloads of girls drove to the house where the after party was held to be picked up by the party bus they had hired to take them to and from the dance at Blue Valley North. When they arrived, the team got off the bus as usual and made their way into the dance.

“It seemed like there were a lot of police there to begin with, more than I recognized from past years,” senior drill team captain Lilly Kauffman said.

While standing in line to check their coats, junior and team member Kate Rumsey was pulled away by a police of-ficer and another officer searched their bus. The team had no choice but to enter the dance without knowing what would happen to their friend. Shortly after they arrived, it was an-nounced over the microphone that the SME drill team bus was ready to leave. At past dances, they have done this to gather the team members before leaving, but the announce-ment came much sooner than they had expected.

“I don’t know exactly how long we had been there but not as long as we were planning on staying,” Kauffman said. “I was just like who told them to say that? I don’t know who would have told them to say that.”

After the announcement was made, the majority of the team exited through the front door where they were asked what school they went to. Those from East were then asked for their name. The police at the entrance attempted to give each of those students, although they didn’t reach them all, a sobriety test which consisted of shining a flashlight in their eyes and having to touch the tip of a pen with your fingers. If they were unable to pass that, they had to take a breathalyzer test. To avoid exiting out the front door, some students found other rides home.

“I think people were just worried,” senior drill team cap-tain, Britney Hinote said. “They were worried about the con-

sequences of what is now going to happen, it wasn’t necessar-ily paranoia that cops were around.”

After leaving the dance all of the team members and their dates went to the after party except for Rumsey, who had re-ceived a minor in possession (MIP). The team members did their best to set aside their worries about the consequences of Rumsey’s MIP and made the most of the rest of the night, but it wasn’t until the next day that everything registered in their minds.

“We had a big long talk as a team the day after and talked about what our priorities were, how lucky we are to still have Nationals as an option, and how much potential our team has,” Kauffman said. “Making a pact to be responsible is the biggest thing I think.”

As soon as they found out one of their teammates was in trouble, the girls looked up the consequences written in the athletic contract every athlete signs at the beginning of the year.

“All athletes representing East at any event are asked to sign a tobacco and drug and alcohol contract and we expect that they will abide by that contract,” associate principal John McKinney said. “The expectation for all students, par-ticularly those who sign that contract, is that they will abide by the contract and refrain from use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco.”

SRO Joel Porter declined an interview about the circumstances of the situation.

Rumsey will be benched for basket-ball season, including all competitions and performances that take place dur-ing that time. But she will but be able to compete at the a national drill team competition in spring because it’s not in the season .

“I learned a good lesson and I have to

accept my punishment,” Rumsey said.The Tuesday after the ball, the drill team and their par-

ents had a meeting with the administration about the events of the weekend. The meeting was held to talk about what happened and clear up rumors, rather than discuss concrete punishments.

“Surprisingly it wasn’t completely focused on that night,” Hinote said. “It was a typical lecture about the fascination with teen drinking.”

Following the meeting with the administration the girls headed to their first hour, drill team, where the discussion was continued by the coach, Alexis Close. The girls had a confessional session where those who participated in the teen drinking apologized to their teammates, bringing them closer together. Small privileges that the team originally took for granted like being able to get a drink of water or trav-el about the building without permission were taken away, but as of now, they will still be competing at Nationals and performing at basketball games and pep assemblies.

“We all realize Nationals is obviously our biggest thing and we all want that but it’s also are reputation as a team,” Hinote said. “Just things like that made us realize this is a lot bigger than us and we need to stop being selfish and realize this affects a lot more people than the 21 of us.”

Along with being much more restricted during class, the team has written letters of apology to Blue Valley North, the administration, Dr. Krawitz, parents and their coach. They also think it is very important to give back to the community and are planning a day to volunteer as a team.

“My plan at this point is that instead of going to the two competitions like usual, I would like for one of those week-ends instead for us to all go work at a soup kitchen or we all go volunteer somewhere together as a team,” Close said.

All of the actions they have decided to take are all in hopes of rebuilding their reputation and learning from their mistakes.

“I think this was a good lesson for us to learn at some point in time because now all the people on the team know what it really means and know the consequences and know first hand what could happen and I think they will pass that down to the girls,” Hinote said.

Through all of these events the team has ultimately be-come closer. They have realized the importance of support-ing each other, and the possibility of getting their privileges taken away has put into perspective how much they have to lose.

“We realized how much we all want for everyone to be successful and it has brought us closer since we all cried to-gether, apologized together and hugged each other and as much as it is terrible, it is unifying,” Kauffman said. “Drill team over everything.”

written by Leah Pack

photo by Caroline Creidenberg

HOMECOMINGDRILL TEAM BALL

Casual dinners before the dance at places like Chipotle or a friend’s house.

BEFORE Dinners typically take place at formal restaurants like Capital Grille.

BEFORE

Atendees actually dance with each other.

DURINGA Homecoming Queen and King are announced. Most people don’t stick around to dance.

DURING

Girls wear dresses and boys wear suits and ties.

DURING

The dance is held at BVN

LOCATIONThe dance is held at SME

LOCATION

Girls pay for the boys and don’t wear corsages. Only cheerleaders and dancers from across KC school districts are invited.

DETAILS

Everyone takes pictures before dinner.

BEFORE

People attend an after-party.

AFTER Only East students or registered guests with I.D.s are allowed in to the dance.

DETAILS

Above: Lancer Dancers perform at the fall pep assembly.

NEWS4|

Editors-in ChiefAnne WillmanChloe Stradinger

Assistant EditorsAndrew McKittrickKatie Knight

Art & Design EditorPaige Hess

Photo EditorJake Crandall

Assistant Photo EditorsCaroline CreidenbergEmma Robson

Head Copy EditorMatt Hanson

Copy EditorsAnne WillmanChloe StradingerAndrew McKittrickKatie KnightErin ReillyMorgan TwibellLeah PackSarah Berger

Ads ManagerSophie Tulp

Circulation ManagerGreta Nepstad

Editorial Board

Chloe StradingerAndrew McKittrickErin ReillyAnne WillmanJennifer RorieKatie KnightGrace HeitmannMatt HansonJulia PoeKim HoedelDuncan MacLachlanSami WalterZoe Brian

Staff WritersJulia SeidenSophie TulpTaylor BellNellie WhittakerPauline WernerCaroline Kohring

News Section EditorSarah Berger

News Page EditorsEmily Perkins RockGreta Nepstad

Editorial Section EditorJennifer Rorie

Opinion Section EditorKim Hoedel

Opinion Page EditorsMaggie McGannonMorgan Krakow

Feature Section EditorErin Reilly

Feature Page EditorsJeri FreirichMaddie Hise

Spread EditorMorgan Twibell

Mixed Page EditorLeah Pack

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A&E Page Editors Phoebe AguiarHannah Ratliff

Sports Section EditorGrace Heitmann

Sports Page EditorsAlex GoldmanMitch KaskieG.J. Melia

Freelance Page EditorsVanessa DavesJulia PoeAudrey Danciger

Staff ArtistsMatti Crabtree

Akshay DinakarStaff Photographers

Katie SgroiAnnie SavageConnor WoodsonTaylor AndersonMiranda GibbsMeghan ShirlingMaddie SchoemannMolly GasalStefano ByerMaddie ConnellyPaloma Garcia

Online Editors-in-ChiefSami WalterDuncan MacLachlan

Assistant Online EditorsJulia PoeZoe Brian

Head Copy EditorsJennifer Rorie Vanessa Daves

Multimedia EditorDalton Boehm

Convergence EditorErin Reilly

News EditorPauline Werner

Online Photo Editors Marisa WaltonMcKenzie Swanson

Assistant Online Photo Editor

AnnaMarie OakleyVideo Editor

Nathan WalkerLive Broadcast Editors

Connor WoodsonAndrew McKittrick

Homegrown EditorMorgan Krakow

A&E EditorMaggie McGannon

Sports DeskAlex GoldmanMitch Kaskie

Blogs EditorSusannah Mitchell

Podcast EditorThomas Allen

Eastipedia EditorTaylor Bell

Interactive Design EditorsJames SimmonsMitch Kaskie

Social Media DirectorMaddie Hise

WebmasterChris Denniston

Live Broadcast ProducersGrace HeitmannChris DennistonPaige HessConnor WoodsonAndrew McKittrickThomas AllenKatie KnightJulia Poe

Multimedia StaffMaxx LambThomas AllenChris Denniston Dalton BoehmTessa PolaschekNathan WalkerEmily Perkins RockWill BrownleeMiranda GibbsMeghan Shirling

AdviserDow Tate

Letters to the editor may be sent to room 521 or smeharbinger@gmail.com. Letters may be edited for clarity, length, libel and mechanics and accepted or rejected at the editors’ discretion.

THE HARBINGERSTAFF 2012-2013

The Harbinger is a student run publication. The contents and views are produced solely by the staff and do not represent the Shawnee Mission School DIstrict, East faculty or school administration. a publication of Shawnee Mission East high school

7500 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS 66208

The Kansas Board of Education is debating whether or not cursive writing should be a required part of the elemen-tary school curriculum. The issue surfaced in the November Board of Education meeting, but they voted to postpone a decision on the matter until the next meeting on Dec. 11 and 12. It was originally a response to an inquiry from several of the board members about how handwriting is being taught in Kansas schools.

Cursive is not required in the Common Core standards; instead, Common Core focuses its writing requirements on keyboarding skills. In Kansas, individual districts have the power to decide whether or not to include cursive in the cur-riculum. Some schools argue that the skill is no longer neces-sary. Schools should include cursive in the curriculum, but it shouldn’t be a top priority.

These days, college applications, tests and assignments can be done without pencils or paper. As technology be-comes a bigger part of everyday life, kids are writing by hand less and typing more.

According to Kansas Board of Education member Walt Chappell, “Technology is great, but it doesn’t always work.” He says that there are some situations in which knowing how to read and write in cursive is necessary. For example, a basic understanding of cursive is necessary to sign your

name, read documents like the Constitution and commu-nicate with people who still use cursive. The next genera-tion wouldn’t be able to read old journals or recipes without knowing cursive.

One argument in support of cursive is that it adds person-ality and individuality to writing.

As California high school language and composition teacher Eldra Avery told the associated press, cursive is “part of your identity and part of your self-esteem.” With-out knowing how to write in cursive, the next generation would not be able to sign their names in cursive. This leads to another potential problem: the increase of forgeries. Since print writing can be more easily reproduced, people would be able to more easily copy a printed signature.

According to Steve Graham, an education professor at Arizona State University who has studied handwriting in-struction, people judge work on the quality of handwriting. However, Avery described her students’ handwriting as “de-plorable.” According to her, a major cause of this is that stu-dents aren’t writing in cursive anymore, and she adds that although they learned to write in cursive in second grade, very few of them do anymore. Avery thinks writing in cur-sive would benefit her students because it would allow them to get more words down when they have to write three es-

says in two hours in her class.In an experiment conducted by neurophysiologist Jean-

Luc Velay at the University of Marseille, two groups of adults were taught a foreign alphabet: one group learned it writ-ing by hand, while the other learned it on a screen. Several weeks later, both groups were tested over the alphabet. The results revealed that the adults who learned the alphabet by hand did better on the test than the ones who learned it on a screen. Brain scans of the hands-on adults showed more ac-tivity in the part of the brain that controls language compre-hension and fine motor skills.

Teachers need to continue teaching cursive and encour-aging more pen-and-paper writing. Cursive should be taught so that students are able to read and write cursive and so that they do not rely on t e c h n o l o g y to fix their mistakes. We shouldn’t let cursive be-come a thing of the past.

FOR 121

EDITORIAL BOARD VOTES

AGAINSTABSENT

EDITORIAL 5|

CurbingThe Kansas Board ofEducation is considering taking out curisve inelementary schoolcirricilum, but it should continue to be taught.

photo illustration by Maddie Schoemann

0

an opinion of Sarah Berger

OPINION6| photo illustration by Maddie Schoemann

I place a smile on my face, and make polite small talk as a seventy-year-old woman gushes over how much she has

heard about me from my grandma. How I’m smart. How I’m pretty. How I seem perfect. The smile grows larger and faker. I laugh and thank her.

Perfect. I hate that word. I hate that expectation I have created for myself. I hate the way that word can make me feel like the biggest failure in the world. It’s the word that has led me to lie to every person in my life.

Perfect is the word that made me stop eating.* * *

I was dreading this moment all week. It was Wednes-day and I knew I had to go back to my mom’s house. As we pulled into the driveway almost every part of my 14-year-old self didn’t want to go inside. I didn’t want to step inside that house with its dirt all over the floors or moldy dishes cover-ing every inch of counter top. But I had to.

My mom’s depression was at its lowest point and there was nothing I could do about it. For a while I tried to help her. I would try my best in school to make straight A’s. I would try to stay home with her and spend extra time with her. None of it worked. All she would want to do is just lay in bed all day.

The days I was with her I would be stuck on the couch watching TV or in my room that was starting to overflow with the laundry she didn’t want to do. The house was dark and quiet so I would turn the TV up as loud as possible to get some kind of noise going through the house. I avoided the kitchen at all costs. It was full of dirty dishes with half eaten dinners still on the plates. Garbage was filling the counters and falling off onto the floor since it hadn’t been taken out in weeks. Our house looked like this and my mom couldn’t care less. She was too depressed to get out of bed.

I thought that my perfection would actually make my mom happy. My brothers had called me the golden child for years because they thought I was perfect. It was always something I thought people expected from me. For as long as I can remember I have been a perfectionist. But with my mom’s depression, things were too out of my control to per-fect, no matter how hard I tried.

I thought I wasn’t enough for my mom. Once again I didn’t know what to do or how to deal with it. I couldn’t ad-mit that I could never gain perfection no matter how hard I tried. I could only perfect one thing: my diet.

I stopped eating. Again. This wasn’t the first time it hap-pened. Two years earlier when my older brother’s drug use was its worst, I tried it as a coping mechanism. But this time, I stuck with it.

* * *I sit there looking at my full plate of food. You can do this. You are strong enough.I lift the fork and stab it through the macaroni noodle,

but my thoughts are interrupted. That voice in my head comes back. It reminds me of everything. It reminds me of the time my dad called the police on my older brother and made him leave the house. It reminds me of when my mom was hospitalized for her severe depression. It reminds me of all the times anyone ever said something bad about me be-hind my back. Then it wins and I throw the food away and just go lay down.

The voice in the back of my head started out as my friend. It gave me a sense of stability and comfort when I thought my life was falling apart. It became a way for me to try to achieve the perfection I thought I needed.

This was becoming my routine at every meal I tried to eat.

I cut out breakfast completely, convincing myself that I never had time for it in the morning anyway. At lunch I would eat two cookies and that was it. Dinner was the chal-lenge. With my mom, all I had to do was throw away what-ever fast food she bought for me that night. At my dad’s, it was not so easy.

I would sit at the table and make sure to talk as much as I could. That way I wouldn’t have time to put food in my mouth. I would move food around the plate to make it look like I ate or I would use my left to hold my fork so it would slow me down. I would count the number of times I chewed my food before swallowing. Usually I would try for anywhere between 10 and 15 chews, that way I could slow myself down and reduce the food to being mushy and flavor-less causing me not to want anymore.

* * *“Come to dinner with us tonight,” my best friend Claire

said. “We’re going to Italian Delight.”I wanted to go. I wanted to eat a plate of fettuccini alfredo.

But I couldn’t. It was carbs. A huge serving of guilt. I wanted to spend time with my friends, but I couldn’t. Going out to dinner meant eating which meant losing control.

“My parents want me to stay home,” I lied. “They are mak-ing me clean my room.”

A few months had passed since I went back to living with my mom and life was beginning to settle down and things were going back to normal. My mom worked hard on ap-plying a new daily routine in our lives so I would feel more structured. She was back to the mom I was used to having around. My brother was becoming more mature and easier to get along with. Everyone in my family was getting better, but my eating problems were getting worse. I had become so dependent on the sense of control not eating gave me that I didn’t know how to continue on without it.

Not eating started as my coping mechanism, but in the end, it just made everything worse and spun out of control. It killed my self-esteem. I would look at my reflection and only see my flaws. My self image had become so distorted be-cause of my low self esteem. I would see big teeth and round

cheeks that I wanted to get rid of. I would look at myself for close to 30 minutes trying to pick out every single thing that was wrong with me. I would hook my feet under bed and do sit ups until I was on the verge of tears just to make the fat that I thought was around my stomach go away.

One night when I looked in the mirror, I didn’t see my-self. I saw a small, scared looking girl who was extremely pale and weak. I got as close up to mirror as I could to try to figure out what was happening, squinting my eyes and try-ing to look at my face from every possible angle. For the first time I actually saw what I was doing to myself. I knew that I couldn’t continue this for much longer and I knew that at some point I would have to weigh more than 100 pounds. For the first time I realized how consumed and obsessed I re-ally was. I saw how much I was hurting myself.

I stepped back and just stared at the reflection in front of me.

Is this worth it?No. After looking at that reflection, I realized how much

of my life I was wasting, how much I was hurting myself. I was doing all of this just to chase perfection. Perfection that I was learning didn’t exist.

After that night I started to do little things to make my-self better. I would try to go out to eat with my friends more. I would try to focus on the small things I could control rather than my family members.

I still struggle with the voice in my head that comes out every so often when I look at my food. I still strive for per-fection in almost everything I do. I still think I owe it to my parents to be their golden child. But there is a part of me that knows I can’t be perfect.

I know that starving myself was wrong. So why did I do it in the first place? Why did I skip that first meal back in sixth grade? Why did I suffer through constant headaches and pain? Why did I isolate myself from my friends? Why did I lie to my family?

Because I’m not perfect. But I am learning to accept that. Because I now know that even if I’m not perfect, I am enough.

Defining

Staffer discusses her struggle to gain perfection

SME SOCCER WILL NEVER FORGET YOU

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WE ONLY PART TO MEET AGAIN.

BROTHERSFOREVER

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BEFORETHE END

THE DOOMSDAY

An illustration of the Tzolk’in, a 260 day calendar that the Mayans used.

Ever since my freshman year I have always wanted to do this. I’m not talking about putting a few mats down and pouring a few buckets of water on it. I’m talking about the ultimate slip n’ slide. After putting the maximum amount of padding on the stairs and walls I will hook up a hose from both water fountains to create a waterfall similar to the Niagara Falls. There are multiple ways to ride this rapid. The safest way would be to grab whatever textbook you use the least and put it under your bot-tom. Simply push off and enjoy the slide. Then there is the classic bareback technique where you would lay down and let the water guide you down. Finally there is the face first option. This is where you lay on your stom-ach and just hope you don’t get hit in the head. Helmets are optional. The incred-ible amount of fun and excitement down the slide will definitely outweigh the im-mense risk of severe injury.

THE STAIRWELL SLIDE

The cafeteria is a perfect battlefield for an epic food fight. Elevated sides of the lunch room offer perfect opportunities to snipe down a freshman with a meatball. The open area of the middle of the cafeteria would allow easy hand to hand combat, whether your smear-ing a banana or a Cici’s pizza slice against your enemy. With artillery ranging from Otis Spunkmeyer’s choco-late chip cookies you can use as ninja stars to Schlotzky’s subs that double as a club. Personally I would go with the Bosco stick sling shot, where I would wrap a noodle around two of the gourmet mozzarella sticks and fling either an orange or an apple to knock my foe out. A Shawnee Mission East food fight will not only be legendary but edible and yummy as well. Hopefully the casualties will be to a minimum.

As always I save the best for last. My fourth and final stunt would be to flood the third floor and fill up the pond with every type of fish ranging from rainbow trout to

catfish. I’d toss in some bait from the Environ-

mental room and have a fishing outing with my

friend Tyler Rathbun. We’d hang out for one last time

and talk about everything ranging from his World of War-

craft obsession to his favorite goals of the soccer season. After reeling in a

catch, Ty would take the bass and skin it to perfection on top of Dr. Krawitz’s desk (sorry

about the mess Dr. K). We’d split the fish in half with Bun’s pocket knife and cook it in the Bunsen

burners in the chemistry room until it was golden and ten-der. Finally, we’d delivered it to two of Tyler’s favorite teachers to joke

around with, Mr. Muhammad and Ms. Leslie. It would be the greatest fishing outing ever with the greatest Lancer ever.

Water - 2 Week’s Worth

FOOD FIGHT

4

RING OF FIRE2If you’ve ever seen the classic comedy “Old School”, you’ll recog-

nize my next stunt. It would only require the school Lancer mascot suit, a hoop, a trampoline, gasoline and matches. Using these materi-als I will pull off the ultimate halftime show for a home boys’ basket-

ball game. First, I would light the hoop on fire using the gasoline in the middle of the court. Then I would arm myself with

the mascot suit before I proceed to jump through the “Ring of Fire”. I will sprint up, get a clean jump

off the trampoline, close my eyes and pray. Whether I succeed or not, one thing will

be for sure, the fans will get a heck of a show.

3

1

CAST AWAY

As you are aware, we are less than a month away from doomsday — according to the Mayans, the end of the world is in just a few weeks and there’s nothing we can do about it. Instead of building an underground shelter or stocking up on preservative packed snacks, I have chosen another way to take on the armageddon. If they’re right, I would like to spend my last few days on this planet pulling off the stunts I have only dreamt about over my years at Shawnee Mission Wonderful.

an opinion of Alex GoldmanOPINION8|

Canned Food

RIP Tyler Rathbun, We all love you.

Staffer Alex Goldman explains what he wishes he could do before the supposed apocalypse this month

SURVIVAL CHECKLISTIf you want to follow a different approach than Goldman here’s what you should start stalking up on to boost your chances of survival during an apocalyptic time.

First Aid Kit

Driver Educationat Johnson County Community College

Drive Safe, Drive Smart• Kansas Board of Education certi�ed instructors

providing comprehensive training

• 6 hours of driving

• 6 hours of observation

• 30 hours of classroom instruction

• Optional at-home pick-up/drop-off service for driving portion of training

• Automobile �eet includes a Toyota Prius hybrid car, which lessens the program's carbon footprintwhile promoting sustainability

Course fee: $349. Register now for classes thatbegin in January and March!

For class dates and times visit www.jccc.edu/driver-training or call 913-469-4446

Johnson County Community College12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66210

John Lennon

“and we all shine on, like the moon, the stars, and the sun...”

best wishes for a magical holiday season

• massage • nail care • body treatments • waxing • facials • hydrotherapy • steam • sauna • gift certifi cates •

www.shinespakc.com • 4143 Pennslyvania, Kansas City, MO • 816-531-8600

What students say about College Now

College Now at Johnson County Community College is the only nationallyaccredited concurrent program in Kansas. See your school counselor for details or visitwww.jccc.edu/collegenow

“Great way to earn college credit in high school!”

“It is a wonderful, invaluable opportunity.”

“Stay ahead and get a head start for college credits.”

Getting ready for bed, sophomore Fannie Berlau’s phone rings. It’s a picture message from her sister, Rachael, of 116th street in Rockaway Beach, New York. Water reach-es storefront windows. Fires blaze on rooftops, reflecting on the water in the street.

Berlau didn’t see this coming. She didn’t think that Hur-ricane Sandy would hit her sister’s small town this hard.

* * *Water going down, fires all around and the fire trucks

can’t respond — with the wind the fires are spreading.Sophomore Fannie Berlau reads the text from her sis-

ter from over a thousand miles away. Her other sister, Elise Heeran, is stranded. She’s stranded in her brother-in-law’s house in Rockaway Beach, New York, where Heeran has lived since 2006.

Flood waters from Hurricane Sandy tear through Rocka-way’s streets. Fires rage across buildings and 70 mph winds rip the town apart. Heeran is scared. Scared that any minute they will have to go into the raging flood waters with two babies to find other shelter if the water rises. The babies are blissfully ig-norant to the dangers that swirl around them; Heeran sings songs like “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” to keep them calm.

Berlau is scared, too. She texts her sister from her living room in Prairie Village.

u ok?She’s worried about her sister and

her nieces — 2-year-old Brielle and 5-month-old Jillian — who are spend-ing in the night in the middle of the storm.

Sitting in her living room, Berlau has her laptop on her lap in the dark-ness. She’s listening to police radios to see what they say about the fires, any deaths and where the major flooding was. She was texting her sister any news as she receives it.

Meanwhile, Heeran, in the dark, checks Facebook on her iPhone for information that friends have messaged her, like where the fires are, the closest being three blocks away. Heeran has no information besides what friends and fam-ily have sent her.

Before the storm, Heeran bought a life jacket for Brielle in the event that they had to get in the water. She knew she would have to carry five-month-old Jillian.

While other families in the area had to take surfboards into the water to try to get across, Heeran just tried to keep her daughters calm. One of Heeran’s neighbors even had to put her 3-month-old in a kayak to get across the street to other shelter.

“It’s just scary, especially with two young kids,” Heeran said. “It’s just hard to stay calm for them. We had to totally be normal for them, but we were freaking out inside.”

Water rose up the basement so fast that the group had to move to the second floor. Heeran wasn’t sure it would stop. When high tide stopped and the water began to re-cede, the wind threatened to tear the roof from over their heads, sending them back to the first floor.

Elise you’ll be fine. I promise everything will be okay Eventually Heeran’s phone battery, and her conversa-

tions with Berlau come to an end around 1 a.m. * * *

Heeran’s apartment building had their power back as of Nov. 23, 25 days after the storm. The devastation caused by Sandy left Heeran no place to live, much less take care of her daughters. Rockaway’s streets were covered with sand and the boardwalk had been uprooted and thrown up the

coast. Their apartment was deemed unlivable. Heeran and her daughters left the next day with her

sister-in-law, Lynn, and her two kids. Their dad had to stay in the city to work.Taking the time only to go to Brooklyn and get the car, settle four toddlers into car seats and take a look at the apartment, Heeran departed with her sister-in law, headed for their cabin in upstate New York. The cab-in is in Hunter Mountain, NY, about three hours north of Rockaway. Rockaway Beach is on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, about twenty miles southeast of Manhattan.

“[We’ve just been] taking care of the kids,” Heeran said. “It’s a lot of work with the four young kids that all out of whack. They were all out of their daily schedules; at that point we had no idea how long we would be here.”

Heeran’s husband, Billy, splits his time between his job as a firefighter in Brooklyn and being with his family. He is there about once a week, for a day or two at a time.

For 32 years, Billy’s family owned The Harbor Light, a restaurant in town that burned down in the hurricane. The Harbor Light was where birthdays, christenings and other events were celebrated. It was where Heeran had all of her baby showers. It held memories of Billy’s twin brother, Charlie, who was killed on 9/11.

Several other businesses and about 12 houses in town burned down during the hurricane. Many families in the area found themselves working with insurance companies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to see if the combined aid can make up for the damages. But insurance doesn’t cover everything, like their car that was submerged.

Due to several feet of sand in the lobby and water dam-age, Heeran doesn’t know when they will be able to move back in. They’ll be in Hunter Mountain for the next few weeks, except for when they visit Ber-lau and her family.

Rockaway, a community deeply af-fected by 9/11, is again finding itself relying on its members for support. In the days following the storm, aid from the government and the Red Cross and organizations like it poured into New York City. It wasn’t felt all too strongly in Rockaway, however.

“I don’t even know if they really made a big presence there,” Heeran said. “It was kind of just the commu-nity, everyone was helping each other, orchestrating the recovery.”

Heeran and Berlau’s sister, Rachael, along with several of Heeran’s close friends, set up a website where people can donate money to help the recovery

effort at giveforward.com/rescuetherockaways. They have so far managed to raise over $12,000.

The next few months will be focused on rebuilding. In the next month, Heeran hopes to be back into her apart-ment and job; she wants a sense of normalcy back. But that doesn’t mean that life will get back to normal soon.

“The news is probably almost done reporting about it, but there are still homes with no electricity,” Heeran said. “Recovery is still going on and it’s not getting easier for anybody at this point. We still need help. Life is not back to normal for anybody.”

WAVE OF WRECKAGE

TRACKING THE STORM

AB

C

A.) The storm formed off of the coast of Ni-caragua where it was named Tropical Storm Sandy.

B.) The storm began to move up the Eastern

coast of the U.S. offshore and became categorized as a hurricane.

C) With swells reach-ing 11-12 feet, Hur-ricane Sandy reached New York. In total Sandy’s wind reached over 1000 miles of coast.

SOPHOMORE FANNIE BERLAU’S SISTER LOSES HER HOME AND FAMILY BUSINESS IN THE PATH OF HURRICANE SANDY

Information courtesy of http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com

written by Pauline Werner photo courtesy of www.mctcampus.com

Above: A boat lays stranded in Rockaway Beach in New York, the home of Elise Heeran.

FEATURES10|

STANDINGTALL

FEATURES 11|

photo by Annie Savage

written by Julia Poe

Sophomore Lauren Gibbs participates in SMA research study

Above: Lauren Gibbs stands next to her wheelchair.

Strength.It’s something sophomore Lauren Gibbs struggles

with. Weak arms. Weak legs. Weak core.It could be worse. She reminds herself of that as

she holds onto the rail beside stairs and wrenches herself up, slowly, step by step. As she examines a sidewalk curb to decide whether it’s too high to go over without help.

It could be worse. Again, as she leaves class five minutes early in her green Racer wheelchair to avoid having to wind through the crowded halls on her way to the elevator. As she’s woken up in the middle of the night by her freshman sister, Claire, calling for her parents to help her roll over.

It could be worse. As she drifts off into a medi-cated sleep in a hospital bed in Salt Lake City, Utah, praying that she’ll wake up soon. Praying that the in-jection she is about to receive will help her to walk. Help her to climb stairs. Help her to be strong.

Becoming strong is why she’s missing over a week of school to be in Salt Lake City.

Lauren is part of a study that 24 other Americans are participating in. A study meant to improve the lives of the 1 in every 6,000 people in the United States who are diagnosed with Spinal Muscular At-rophy (SMA).

Lauren is afraid of being put under. She doesn’t want to get behind in school, or get lost in lectures or fail tests when she returns.

But Lauren has hope — for improvement and a future where she can walk for longer than a minute and climb stairs without a rail.

Hope. It’s a powerful word for the Gibbs. Hope has defined the last 13 years of their lives. So has SMA. The two go hand in hand for Gibbs.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy is an inherited disease that causes muscles to form improperly and then to deteriorate. That, Natalie says, is the medical way to classify SMA.

Then there’s her emotional way to describe it. A mean, unforgiving disease attempting to define her daughters, Lauren and Claire, since they were tod-dlers. A daily obstacle for her family to conquer. A monster that she refuses to let win.

Natalie and her husband, Tim, have limited ways to fight the monster. SMA is currently incurable and its diagnosis promises a deterioration that can’t be slowed by any known medication.

So Natalie fights by hanging posters and register-ing runners for an annual 5K fundraiser, sending the proceeds into SMA funds. She also scans the internet for new studies that the girls can participate in, new medicines that might become cures.

That was how Natalie came across Isis Pharma-

ceutical Co.’s most recent clinical study for SMA. It was at the beginning of 2012. The study involved removing spinal fluid and replacing it with an injec-tion that would strengthen nerves affected by SMA.

She contacted Isis to see if Lauren and Claire could participate, but both were turned down.

With the study’s cut-off age set at 14, Lauren was just barely too old. A metal rod in Claire’s back that had corrected the 90 degree spine curvature prevent-ed the younger sister from participating as well.

But that was only the first phase of the study. When Phase 2 was approved, the age range was extended to include 15-year-olds. The Gibbs were personally contacted by Kathryn Swoboda, a family friend and the doctor in charge of the Salt Lake City branch of the study.

That was in late September. The study began in November and in a little over a month, Lauren had a decision to make.

Committing to the study involved attending three sessions in Salt Lake City, each 11 days long. During each session, she would receive an injection of fluid into her spine.

Lauren was nervous. Not about the injection — a life of doctors’ visits and searching for cures had tak-en that fear from her. But Lauren knew that missing school could be costly.

Vice Principal Jeremy Higgins offered to record Lauren’s core classes and upload them to YouTube for her to watch from the hotel. With this solution found, Lauren felt more comfortable with leaving. By mid-October, the Gibbs had bought plane tickets for Natalie and Lauren to go to the first session of the study.

The majority of the medical procedures were done in the first two or three days that Lauren was in Salt Lake City. At first, she went through baseline physical tests so that the doctors could track the im-provements they hoped the injection would make.

Then came the procedure. The injection it-self didn’t scare Lauren — it gave her hope of new strength and possibilities for the future.

Being put under was a different story, and Natalie nervously comforted her daughter as Lauren drifted into a medicated sleep.

She received the injection on her fifth morning in Salt Lake City and spent the rest of the day lying down as the fluid settled in her spine. That was the worst day of the week.

The remaining days were spent watching her classes on YouTube and exercising with a physical therapist. On the last night, Lauren was put through the same physical tests as before.

Then, unsure of the results of the first injection, Lauren and Natalie flew back to Kansas City.

Claire and Tim were glad to have the pair back home after a week of being on their own in an un-usually quiet house.

Lauren immediately assured the family that her legs felt stronger, but the Gibbs were unsure wheth-er the new strength was real or just hopeful think-ing.

“It’s not like this drug can fix us entirely, even if it works,” Claire said. “Our bodies are almost too messed up for it. We’re not perfect, and we’re never gonna be perfect. But we’re okay with that. It’s who we are.”

If the drug doesn’t work, Lauren won’t be phased for long.

She won’t have time. She’s too busy living, be-cause Lauren isn’t satisfied with just attempting to live an ordinary life. She wants an extraordinary one.

Lauren and Claire fight everyday to free them-selves from the pitying glances and aggravating ques-tions that SMA brings them. From their chairs. From the weakness.

That’s why Lauren will be going to China next summer with her Chinese class, pulling ahead of her sister in their competition for number of countries visited. That’s why she’s zip-lined through rainfor-ests in Mexico and parasailed in the Caribbean.

That’s why she stays committed to her wheelchair basketball team. Even though they have to drive for hours to find another team to play. Even though she’s too exhausted to lift her arms from her sides after the three hour practices every Saturday.

“You can’t let the disease win every time,” Natalie said. “Sometimes, I wonder why Lauren pushes her-self hard, but I know why. She’s beating it. You have to beat it sometimes. That’s how Lauren does it.”

Her classmates recognize those big triumphs. What they don’t always see are Lauren’s little every-day triumphs, like playing violin in the East orches-tra, despite her underdeveloped nerves that make rapid fingerwork difficult.

Like planning to go to college and live indepen-dently in a dorm, hopefully at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Like joking with her parents that she wants to get as far away from Kansas as possible when she leaves high school.

Dreaming and planning on fulfilling those dreams. That’s a triumph. It’s something the Gibbs are thankful for.

It could be worse.That’s a common thing to hear from the Gibbs.

There are four types of SMA. Lauren and Claire have Types 3 and 2, respectively. Claire’s condition is one of the more severe stages of SMA.

But at least it’s not Type 1. At least their diagno-sis didn’t include an expected life-span of 2 years. At least they can walk, attend school, ride in airplanes. And have hope for extraordinary lives. And have hope for winning this fight.

The Gibbs have been searching for a cure for SMA since they received the diagnosis 13 years ago. For those 13 years, they’ve been part of a cause that fights SMA.

But Lauren isn’t just settling for fighting SMA. She’s beating it.

Every time she shoots a basketball. Every time she visits another country. Every time she plans for her future, for attending college and living indepen-dently.

She’s currently part of a study trying to find a cure for her diagnosis. But beating SMA?

Lauren Gibbs does that every day.

theULTIMATEPowderPuffTeam

Kassey’s got a great arm and she’s a college commit. She would bring her leader mentality from softball to QB since it’s the most important position.

QuarterbackKassey Hughes

WideReceiverGrace PickellGrace is quick and she can jump really high, which is great for a wide receiver.

The Harbinger Sports Desk selects their top picks for a Fantasy Powder Puff football draft

Anna Colby

RunningBackAnna is fast and agile from soccer, her time in IB also shows that she’s really smart and could think of some strategic plays

KickerSarah SpradlingSarah can boot it. She can literally kick the ball a whole soccer field.30 304040 50

photos by Caroline Creidenberg & MCTCampus SPREAD 13|SPREAD12|

photo by Marisa Walton

photo by Molly Halter

photo by Mckenzie Swanson

photo by Jake Crandall

Sophomore Brett Faulconer sits in a leather chair, facing the computer in his dad’s office. He scans the list of players left, comparing it to the projections. He is the last pick in the draft this year so he scrambles to match the computer pro-jections against the available players. He finally settles on Peyton Manning, someone he hoped will come back from neck surgery.

For Faulconer, much of the week-to-week strategizing and planning comes from looking at projected statis-tics. He uses websites such as Yahoo! and ESPN to find the best possible players for each match-up.

According to Faulconer, he some-times spends a lot of time on his line-up while other times he completely forgets about it.

When he does remember to work on his lineup, Faulconer normally puts a lot of thought into which players to start. He looks at projected points along with the match up for that week to at-tempt to find the best combination of points and reliability.

Faulconer is working to return to the playoffs after reaching the champi-onship during his first year. According to Faulconer, his draft this year yielded both star players such as Peyton Man-ning but also duds such as Reggie Bush.

Another difficulty for Faulconer to overcome is his injury-plagued season.

“I actually use [waiver wire] quite a bit,” Faulconer said. “Because my team always has a few injuries. I always need to update that so I have used the [free agency] quite a bit. Willis McGahee and Rob Gronkowski got injured last week so I think it’s going to hurt my team quite a bit because I can’t replace them with anyone as good as they are.”

According to Faulconer, one of the key motives for playing fantasy foot-ball and updating his roster is the drive to make the playoffs each year. This is largely due to the fact that he doesn’t want Fantasy Football to stop.

“Making the playoffs is really impor-tant to me,” Faulconer said. “I don’t want the season to end that early. I like to set my lineups and keep the season going.”

SMEANTAS

For many boys at East, their Sundays are spent intently watching their TV and computers simultaneously. Browsers are open to Yahoo! and ESPN Fantasy Football games. Big plays from players are both teams are cheered for as points begin to add up.

Each player they chose to start that week earns points in categories such as touchdowns, yards, interceptions etc. The points for each member of the league are added up and compared each week. The top league members at the end of the season advance to the playoffs.

East fantasy football leagues span every grade; some leagues play for money, oth-ers play for trophies and bragging rights. But what they all share is the love for the game.

Junior Luke Haverty sits on the couch, Fantasy Football magazines rest on his lap. The smell of Papa John’s Pizza and homemade sugar cookies fills the air of his friend Chuck Deay’s living room as Haverty and 11 other juniors draft their fantasy football teams. A 12-by-5 whiteboard filled with each league member’s name and his picks rests front-and-center in the living room.

To prepare for this year’s draft, Haverty spent an hour and a half pour-ing over fantasy websites along with working out draft scenarios. He com-bined his gut feeling with projected sta-tistics to create what he hoped to be the most effective team possible.

“I usually find out what the experts are predicting,” Haverty said. “I just go with my gut and draft players that I like and that I think are going do pretty well…It’s kind of hard for me to trust the experts all the time but I do think they know about it more than I do so I’ll use them.”

Haverty started playing fantasy foot-ball as a freshman when his friends Jay

Anderson and Mitchell Tyler convinced him to join. During his first year, Haver-ty taught himself the ropes of fantasy football. He learned how to set his week-ly line-up, prepare for drafts and the art of picking up free agents.

Haverty has experienced success from the beginning. He made the play-offs each of his first two years and is working to make the playoffs for the third straight time. To make the playoffs in Haverty’s leagues, he must finish in the top six out of his league of 12.

Along with making the playoffs, Haverty loves the competitive spirit that forms each year amongst him and his friends. This is something that Haverty says is a large part due to the league commissioner, Deay.

“I really like the competitive aspect that it brings and being able to trash talk,” Haverty said. “Last year Chuck won and he always talks about his reign that he has. It’s just another way of being competitive with your friends.”

The printer whirrs as fantasy foot-ball draft sheets begin to spit out. Se-nior Alex May grabs a sheet and heads over to his friend’s couch. He begins to go over his plans for the draft, thinking about who he wants to grab with his picks. He wants to find the most consis-tent players -- not the flashiest

This is May’s third year playing fan-tasy football. According to May, his first season was not the best as he was still learning the basics and developing his own strategy.

“I had no idea what I was doing,” May said. “I just tried to pick the names of the big guys like Calvin Johnson, people that you just hear of. I think I won two or three games out of 13 games…I just went through the list and picked who I recognized and that’s who I took.”

An extra benefit for May and the oth-er members of his league is the friendly week-to-week competitions. Although May’s league is similar to many other high school fantasy football leagues, his doesn’t play for money. Instead his

league plays for bragging rights and other lures.

“My friends and I have little incen-tives for it,” May said “Like the TV show, “The League”, we have a Shiva thing which is a trophy for winning and the last place [trophy] for whoever is the worst so it’s competitive in the fact that you want to win and be like ‘Oh yeah, I beat you in fantasy.’”

Going into his game against his friend, Jason Pugh, May was almost certain he was going to lose. He was outmatched by Pugh who had a seem-ingly perfect draft with the majority of his players turning out as stars and only one injury.

May began to look for players with the biggest chance of earning points. Hoping to find players with as high of projected statistics as possible. After set-ting his lineup, May began to wait.

And then his players went off. Adri-an Peterson had 31 points. Carson Palm-er had 28.

May beat Pugh 127-115.

BRETT “THE ROOKIE” FAULCONER

ALEX “THE COMPETITOR” MAY

LUKE “THE VETERAN” HAVERTY

written by Andrew Mckittrick

theULTIMATEPowderPuffTeam

Kassey’s got a great arm and she’s a college commit. She would bring her leader mentality from softball to QB since it’s the most important position.

QuarterbackKassey Hughes

WideReceiverGrace PickellGrace is quick and she can jump really high, which is great for a wide receiver.

The Harbinger Sports Desk selects their top picks for a Fantasy Powder Puff football draft

Anna Colby

RunningBackAnna is fast and agile from soccer, her time in IB also shows that she’s really smart and could think of some strategic plays

KickerSarah SpradlingSarah can boot it. She can literally kick the ball a whole soccer field.30 304040 50

photos by Caroline Creidenberg & MCTCampus SPREAD 13|SPREAD12|

photo by Marisa Walton

photo by Molly Halter

photo by Mckenzie Swanson

photo by Jake Crandall

Sophomore Brett Faulconer sits in a leather chair, facing the computer in his dad’s office. He scans the list of players left, comparing it to the projections. He is the last pick in the draft this year so he scrambles to match the computer pro-jections against the available players. He finally settles on Peyton Manning, someone he hoped will come back from neck surgery.

For Faulconer, much of the week-to-week strategizing and planning comes from looking at projected statis-tics. He uses websites such as Yahoo! and ESPN to find the best possible players for each match-up.

According to Faulconer, he some-times spends a lot of time on his line-up while other times he completely forgets about it.

When he does remember to work on his lineup, Faulconer normally puts a lot of thought into which players to start. He looks at projected points along with the match up for that week to at-tempt to find the best combination of points and reliability.

Faulconer is working to return to the playoffs after reaching the champi-onship during his first year. According to Faulconer, his draft this year yielded both star players such as Peyton Man-ning but also duds such as Reggie Bush.

Another difficulty for Faulconer to overcome is his injury-plagued season.

“I actually use [waiver wire] quite a bit,” Faulconer said. “Because my team always has a few injuries. I always need to update that so I have used the [free agency] quite a bit. Willis McGahee and Rob Gronkowski got injured last week so I think it’s going to hurt my team quite a bit because I can’t replace them with anyone as good as they are.”

According to Faulconer, one of the key motives for playing fantasy foot-ball and updating his roster is the drive to make the playoffs each year. This is largely due to the fact that he doesn’t want Fantasy Football to stop.

“Making the playoffs is really impor-tant to me,” Faulconer said. “I don’t want the season to end that early. I like to set my lineups and keep the season going.”

SMEANTAS

For many boys at East, their Sundays are spent intently watching their TV and computers simultaneously. Browsers are open to Yahoo! and ESPN Fantasy Football games. Big plays from players are both teams are cheered for as points begin to add up.

Each player they chose to start that week earns points in categories such as touchdowns, yards, interceptions etc. The points for each member of the league are added up and compared each week. The top league members at the end of the season advance to the playoffs.

East fantasy football leagues span every grade; some leagues play for money, oth-ers play for trophies and bragging rights. But what they all share is the love for the game.

Junior Luke Haverty sits on the couch, Fantasy Football magazines rest on his lap. The smell of Papa John’s Pizza and homemade sugar cookies fills the air of his friend Chuck Deay’s living room as Haverty and 11 other juniors draft their fantasy football teams. A 12-by-5 whiteboard filled with each league member’s name and his picks rests front-and-center in the living room.

To prepare for this year’s draft, Haverty spent an hour and a half pour-ing over fantasy websites along with working out draft scenarios. He com-bined his gut feeling with projected sta-tistics to create what he hoped to be the most effective team possible.

“I usually find out what the experts are predicting,” Haverty said. “I just go with my gut and draft players that I like and that I think are going do pretty well…It’s kind of hard for me to trust the experts all the time but I do think they know about it more than I do so I’ll use them.”

Haverty started playing fantasy foot-ball as a freshman when his friends Jay

Anderson and Mitchell Tyler convinced him to join. During his first year, Haver-ty taught himself the ropes of fantasy football. He learned how to set his week-ly line-up, prepare for drafts and the art of picking up free agents.

Haverty has experienced success from the beginning. He made the play-offs each of his first two years and is working to make the playoffs for the third straight time. To make the playoffs in Haverty’s leagues, he must finish in the top six out of his league of 12.

Along with making the playoffs, Haverty loves the competitive spirit that forms each year amongst him and his friends. This is something that Haverty says is a large part due to the league commissioner, Deay.

“I really like the competitive aspect that it brings and being able to trash talk,” Haverty said. “Last year Chuck won and he always talks about his reign that he has. It’s just another way of being competitive with your friends.”

The printer whirrs as fantasy foot-ball draft sheets begin to spit out. Se-nior Alex May grabs a sheet and heads over to his friend’s couch. He begins to go over his plans for the draft, thinking about who he wants to grab with his picks. He wants to find the most consis-tent players -- not the flashiest

This is May’s third year playing fan-tasy football. According to May, his first season was not the best as he was still learning the basics and developing his own strategy.

“I had no idea what I was doing,” May said. “I just tried to pick the names of the big guys like Calvin Johnson, people that you just hear of. I think I won two or three games out of 13 games…I just went through the list and picked who I recognized and that’s who I took.”

An extra benefit for May and the oth-er members of his league is the friendly week-to-week competitions. Although May’s league is similar to many other high school fantasy football leagues, his doesn’t play for money. Instead his

league plays for bragging rights and other lures.

“My friends and I have little incen-tives for it,” May said “Like the TV show, “The League”, we have a Shiva thing which is a trophy for winning and the last place [trophy] for whoever is the worst so it’s competitive in the fact that you want to win and be like ‘Oh yeah, I beat you in fantasy.’”

Going into his game against his friend, Jason Pugh, May was almost certain he was going to lose. He was outmatched by Pugh who had a seem-ingly perfect draft with the majority of his players turning out as stars and only one injury.

May began to look for players with the biggest chance of earning points. Hoping to find players with as high of projected statistics as possible. After set-ting his lineup, May began to wait.

And then his players went off. Adri-an Peterson had 31 points. Carson Palm-er had 28.

May beat Pugh 127-115.

BRETT “THE ROOKIE” FAULCONER

ALEX “THE COMPETITOR” MAY

LUKE “THE VETERAN” HAVERTY

written by Andrew Mckittrick

After having a mediocre experience swimming for KU in college and choosing not to swim his senior year Wright knew that once he graduated and started coach-ing, he would be doing the opposite of what he had experienced. In his 28 years at East, he’s taken special care to make his program an enjoyable one.

“I wanted to make [swimming] a fun ex-perience, something that they’ll look upon and say ‘God, that was the best time, I thor-oughly enjoyed my time at East’ you know, not ‘I hate getting up and going to practice. I hate getting in the water. I hate this, I hate that’.” Wright said.

To keep the atmosphere fun and upbeat, Wright celebrates things like his self-creat-ed Turkey Shoot practice: each swimmer, starting with the seniors, draws a piece of paper that could contain anything from a set like three sets of four 75’s to releasing the all freshman an hour early from prac-tice. After they complete what’s written on their paper, they keep returning for more until practice is done.

Yet another tradition Wright has created is his famous “cookie and Coke” relay the weekend before state. The swimmers must first swim one lap, chow down two cookies and chug a whole Coke, spin around on a kickboard five times and swim back as fast they can. The challenge: trying to keep it all down. Junior swimmer Jackson Granstaff proudly admitted that he has never puked while doing the challenge, but has had to resort to pretending to chug his Coke when Wright wasn’t looking when his stomach began to churn.

The easiest way for Wiley to keep it fun — and the thing he’s most famous for — is his pranks.

It’s 5:50 on a chilly February morning and the 20 varsity boys are gathered in the East locker room. Some sit on the floor, star-ing off into space. Some lay strewn across the benches, eyes closed, begging for an ex-tra five minutes of sleep. It’s nearing the end

of the swim season and the grogginess has begun to set in, when, suddenly:

HOOOOOONNNNKKKKK!Around the room boys jolt up from

where they lay, confused by the loud air horn; some even covering their ears.

“Time to get up everybody!” said Wright as he comes around the corner. “Let’s go! Get ready! Here we go!”

Dazed, the boys wrangle their goggles, towels and swim caps and head out. Wright stands by the door still holding down on the horn, ushering them out, stifling a grin.

It’s pranks like those that relieve stress not only for the swimmers, but for Wright himself. Carrying the public’s heavy expec-tation of bringing home another back to back state championship on their shoulders is no easy task, and joking helps them get through it.

“There’s a time and place to be serious, and I think there’s a time and place for it to be enjoyable,” Wright said. “When they come back, they’re not going to remember Yeah, we won state or we got second or third, they’re going to remember the experi-ence that they had while being on the team.”

Although hav-ing fun is a big part of Wright’s coach-ing philosophy, it’s not all fun and games for the coach of 28 years. He also makes a point to let his players know that he cares about every one of them.

* * *Barnds, who watched and broadcasted

many high school sporting events during his time at East, says Wright is different from the high school coaches he saw be-cause he cares more about his swimmers’ well being than their success as an athlete. By being a great listener and advice giver

when his guys are struggling, Wright works hard to make himself available for them whenever he’s needed.

“You see [all these coaches] and they are cutthroat, eat sleep and breathe their sport; that’s all they care about,” Barnds said. “All they care about is their athletes. Wiley cares about all of us individually. Honestly he cares more about how we’re doing outside of the pool than what we’re doing inside the pool.”

From the sidelines, senior manager Meg Rowley knows that Wright cares equally about everyone from the way he treats each of the three managers just like he would a swimmer. During team pictures this year, Wright even insisted that Rowley get in with all the seniors so that she would be fea-tured in the yearbook with them.

“[Wiley taught me] just to care about people,” Rowley said. “Wiley cares no mat-ter what they swim, no matter who they are. you don’t know what they’re going through, so you’ve gotta be nice and be a good per-son.”

Whether a swimmer is on JV or varsity, Wright makes an effort to get to know all of his 68 athletes personally.

“I try to mention their name every day at practice, call them out,” Wright said. “I think it’s important that you try to con-nect with them so they think ‘he knows me’ and trying to get to know them. I’m always ask-ing them, once they become ju-

niors or seniors, Where are you thinking of going to school? How’s school going? What other sports do you participate in? How are your parents? I try to express to them that I do care.”

Another way Wiley connects with his athletes is by acting as a constant supporter. If they need advice, he’s there to talk. If they are struggling with something, he’s there to talk.

Barnds, who struggled with an ongoing shoulder injury and a bad case of the stom-ach flu that kept him from swimming at state, constantly leaned on Wright for sup-port as he was struggling. When Wright was forced to switch another swimmer in for Barnds in a medley relay, he took it to heart. Barnds even credits Wright with help-ing overcome his disappointment and using the situation to come back and become a team leader.

“He knew how much it hurt me,” Barnds said. “Wiley came up to me after he made that decision and he told me how much he knew that I wish I could’ve been there, he knew how hard it would be to come back and watch. For him to acknowledge that, and really to be completely honest about it, you could tell that he was entirely serious and entirely sincere about the way he felt regarding me, the way he felt regarding the situation; he hated situations like that. It killed him.”

It’s this kind of thoughtfulness and car-ing that keeps swimmers from two, three, four, five and even ten years ago coming back to visit him on their Thanksgiving breaks. Barnds’ brother and fellow swim alum, 28-year-old Brandon, has been com-ing back to visit every year since he gradu-ated East in 2006.

“[Seeing players return is] rewarding,” Wright said. “I would say I’m somebody that if you’re a friend of mine while you’re on the team, then you’ve got me for life. I like to think that once they’re done here they feel welcome to come back.”

Even knowing all these things about their coach, varsity swimmers still have trouble describing Wright. According to Granstaff, he’s a person so special and so valuable that there isn’t one way to label him.

“You literally cannot put words to it,” Granstaff said. “He’s just Wiley Wright.”

”“Junior Jackson Granstaff

You literally cannot put words to it — he’s just Wiley Wright.

FEATURES14|

forWildWiley

continued from cover

Above: Wright jokes with senior swimmer Chris Watkins

Above: Coach Wright paces by the pool, skimming over his practice plans

photos by Jake Crandall

HOLIDAY RECIPESsomething about

MIXED 15|MIXEDingredients

For the coating:• 3/4 cup powdered sugar • 1/2 cup corn starch or potato starch For the marshmallows:• cooking spray to coat the baking pan • 4 1/2 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin• 3/4 cup cold water• 3/4 cup granulated sugar • 1/2 cup light corn syrup • 1/8 teaspoon fine salt• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Marshmallowsingredients

steps

1 Mix gelatin and 1/2 cup water with whisk and let sit for 30 minutes.

2 In a separate bowl mix sugar, corn syrup, salt and vanilla and heat until sugar has dissolved.

3 Cover the pan with powdered sugar and corn starch.

OREO’s Eggnogingredients

• 4 cups eggnog • 18 OREO’s• 1 cup thawed whipped cream

steps

1 Pour eggnog into blender.

2 Add OREO’s and whipped cream to blender.

3 Blend until cookies are completely crumbled.

4 Divide OREO eggnog into cups and keep refrgierated.

written by Taylor Bell photos by Molly Gasal

Try our recipes and send in pictures to smeharbingeronline@smeharbinger.net!

HOLIDAY RECIPES

4 Mix both bowls together and pour mixture into pan. Cover with powdered sugar and cornstarch and let sit for 2 to 3 hours.

Brownie Strawberry Christmas Tree

• 1 box (18 to 21 oz. box) brownie mix• green Icing • sprinkles or candy for Christmas tree decorations • 24 whole small to medium sized strawberries

1 Mix brownies according to package. 2 Pour mix into cupcake pan. 3 Bake brownies according to package.

ingredients

steps

4 Decorate the strawberries with icing and candy or sprinkles to look like a Christmas tree.

5 When brownies are cool, place strawberries on top.

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A&E 19|

Above: a black Friday shopper eyes shopping carts full of merchandise at Walmart.

fridayI’ve heard the horror stories about Black Friday

when people get trampled while trying to get their hands on the last Tickle-Me-Elmo or how people camp outside in tents for hours, waiting for stores to open in the middle of the night. Despite all of the craziness that happens around this “holiday,” I felt the need to experience it for myself.

My night started at 8 p.m. when I got picked up in a silver Toyota minivan by my friend, junior Annie Foster and her close family friend, Aunt Penny. Aunt Penny is a brave lady — she took seven teenagers, shoved them in a minivan and carted them around shopping for around 10 hours. The car was stuffed with Starbucks coffee to-go dispensers, leftover rolls from Thanksgiving dinner and store catalogs sprawled all around the car.

We arrived at the Roeland Park Wal-Mart on a mis-sion to get about 30 pairs of pajamas for a kindergarten class’ pajama party at the inner city school, Gladstone Elementary, just to help out. When we got there, there was not a single cart left. We ended up following a couple out to their car while they unloaded their items just to snatch their cart.

“Hello Kitty”, “Tinkerbell”, “The Hulk”, and “Go Diego Go!” pajamas were thrown all over the aisle while we tried to find the correct sizes for the kiddos. I shoved my way through people with their children shoved in the remaining cart space and grabbed a few pairs, then I picked up a few more that I found scat-tered on the floor. Hopefully there are a lot of small kids because all of the larger sizes were for the most part gone. Who knew that boys Avengers pajamas size 7-8 were so popular?

While waiting in the checkout line Aunt Penny in-formed me that there were pillows on sale for $2.50, I had to get them, who passes up pillows for that cheap? Not me! I got my pillows, Aunt Penny got her pajamas. We finally made it back to the minivan where items began to pile up in the trunk.

I can always waste time and money at Target, so I was excited to see how Target measured up to Walmart. Considering that most of my random items come from Target and not Walmart I was expecting Target to do better, I don’t buy princess band-aids from anywhere else. The line waiting to get into the Target in Mission wrapped around the front of the building and all the way down the side when we arrived at 8:45 p.m. Aunt Penny let us all hop out of the car and run across the intersection to get a spot in the line of more than 500 people.

Target was way more organized than Walmart; they allowed about 25 people in every minute or so and had arrows of blue duct tape on the ground of show which way to go. They actually had staff passing carts out so, needless to say, almost all eight of us grabbed a cart considering our past cart experiences. We were on a mission to the back of the store for Aunt Penny where they would be handing out 50-inch widescreen TVs for incredibly low prices. I got stuck behind a slow, el-derly woman and was separated from my group, but it

did allow me to pick up an enormous blanket that felt like a big, fluffy cloud — it was half off the original price of $40 (score!). Good thing all of those people were crowded around the giant buckets of blankets and towels or I would have never noticed that my new favorite blanket was only a few feet away.

On my journey to the back of the store to find my group again Annie’s little brother, sophomore John Foster decided to throw a 32-inch TV into my cart for himself when he saw me. Af-ter about 10 minutes of struggling to not crush people while having an obstructed view from the huge TV box, I made it to my destination. Too bad you actu-ally needed the voucher that was given out before the store opened to get the 50-inch TV at all. That would have been nice to know before I wasted my time run-ning into people to get back there.

The checkout line was insane; we had to zigzag through the line for the check out that went through the cosmetic and pet aisles. It wasn’t a long wait (thank goodness); they had an employee set up at every other row to help guide the crazy shoppers. We only waited for about five minutes, and during the waiting Annie found “The Lucky One” with Zac Efron on sale for $4 and you don’t pass up a Zac Efron movie for that price--especially one based on a Nicholas Sparks book. We didn’t even mind that we were totally spazzing out in front of so many people that were giving us strange looks.

We returned to Walmart later to get a camera dur-ing their electronic sales. Shoppers, mostly teenage or a bit older guys, that were lined up around the elec-tronic checkout waiting for their new iPad or any other electronic that they couldn’t wait until morning to pick up. Even though this was the place we bought the least, it’s where we spent the most time because of the insanely long lines. We got the camera for Aunt Penny’s son and instead of waiting in the lengthy lines of more than 150 people at the front, we checked out extra check out lanes in the back along with 25 other people for at least a half hour.

As we waited, we attempted to fill out an applica-tion as a way to pass the time in the line that didn’t seem to move for 10 minutes. I have never seen such weird questions on a job application, such as “What’s your shoe size?”, “What part of the newspaper do you read first?” and “What pets do you have?” Aunt Penny paid for the camera and we weaved our way back to the front of the store to get out of all the chaos. By that time everyone agreed it was time for a midnight snack at QuikTrip.

We woke up at 4:30 a.m. after a power nap at Aunt Penny’s and piled into the minivan once again, but this time without the boys. We made it to Home De-

pot 15 minutes before it opened at 5 a.m. Aunt Penny let us sit in the warm car until she saw the few people in line moving and we ran over to only find out that it actually wasn’t moving at all. We waited in the 30 degree weather for a shivering 10 minutes, which was the worst experience of the night. The nice employees ended up letting us in five minutes early, good thing too or I would have left considering how bad I was shivering (oh, the things I do for The Harbinger). We were on a mission to get 40 poinsettias for 99 cents each. I made sure they were full of life and looked Christmas-y enough.

We accomplished that and made it to the checkout line where I almost bought a giant stuffed bear for $20, but I had to resist the temptation for the sake of room in the car. While in the checkout line we realized that we forgot to unload the car before we left to make room for all of our new stuff. Fitting 40 poinsettias in the car was a challenge, but after a few minutes of squeezing, we fit them all in with each of us carrying six poinsettias on our lap. The night was finally over, we made it to Annie’s house and basically fell asleep as soon as our heads touched the pillows.

I would advise anyone who is planning on going on this crazy adventure next year to definitely wear tennis shoes (not Sperry’s), socks, jacket, gloves and a hat. Waiting outside in only a thin jacket and ear warmers was not great planning on my part. Definite-ly know what you are going to buy before you head out for your night of shopping. A lot of stores send ads in the newspapers and mail a few weeks before Black Friday, those will help you to know what you’re going for instead of getting caught in the whirlwind of peo-ple. Make sure you clear out room in your trunk for all of the new goodies you will be bringing home before-hand or else you will end up like me, with pounds of flowers on your lap for the ride home.

My experience was pretty great, even being as tired as I have ever been I still ventured out during the day for some more crazy shopping. But nothing beats go-ing all out at insane times of the night just to elbow people in the face for the perfect looking poinsettia. It really shows peoples’ true holiday spirits when they can trample someone for a certain item they want when hours before they were thankful for what they already had. Yes, my feet hurt by the end, but it was definitely an experience worth going through.

Their music invades radio sta-tions, their fans exist in massive numbers and their faces appear

on the cover of every dippy teen maga-zine that looks like it was put together on Microsoft Paint. One Direction, the British/Irish boy-band, managed to take over the United States of America over-night with colorful skin-tight trousers and irresistible accents.

Yes, the boy-band you hate to love is back (didn’t notice they had left?) with their new album “Take Me Home.” The boys’ rush-job album came out just over a year after their debut album “Up All Night”: which sold 12 million copies in the U.S. last year alone. The speedy album release is a testament to the world’s high demand for those five European lads as well as the managing capabilities of 1D’s “Uncle Si” (Simon Cowell).

Cowell put One Direction together on his British X-Factor in 2010. Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson sung their way to the live shows and were eliminated in third place. However, the band’s success had far exceeded that of any X-Factor winner in his-tory, selling more copies of their album in America than any British band in history. Credit where credit’s due, but while 12-year-old fans like to remind us that 1D outsold the Beatles, that it is in complete disregard of modern technology. In addition, for every album 1D puts out they force their fans to drive to two different location and purchase three separate versions. The Deluxe version, available exclusively at Walmart, includes two bonus songs, while the Yearbook edi-tion, exclusively available at Target, in-cludes two different bonus tracks, on top of the regular edition with desirable cover art.

The boys’ new album seems to flip-flop between two tried-and-true musical styles. The first, being the ever-so-classic-with-today’s-teens spaztic rage song, with hy-peractive bass, objectification of women and screaming synthetic guitar noises to accompany the boys shouting in unison about “getting some.” Then it switches gears and hits musical style number two: the slow, wishy-washy ballads meant to make any young Directioners in Crocs swoon at the thought of being Harry’s “princess.”

It becomes exceedingly apparent that the album lacks a certain consistency, like when it jumps from “Little Things,” the over-emo-tional confession about the imperfections 1D loves about you, to “C’mon C’mon,” a er-ratic fist-pumpin’ song about ditching their girlfriends they brought to the club to dance with you instead. This is inevitably the re-sult of contracting out to 20 or so different songwriters who aren’t One Direction then asking One Direction, five 19 to 20-year-old guys, to sing about “the dimples in [a girl’s] back at the bottom of [her] spine” as if they actually care. This time around the band has let their accents slip through the songs in an

attempt to emulate British singer and song-writer Ed Sheeran’s sincerity and passion. While two of the their tracks were written by their good friend Edward, they stick out farther than Harry’s hair with their infec-tious acoustic guitar and rasp raw tone.

Ridiculous lyrics make the disconnect between the band and the songs they sing blatant and awkward. In their track “Rock Me,” (take a gander as to which style that falls under) the opening lines begin with Harry as he sings “do you remember sum-mer ‘09? Wanna go back like press the re-wind.”

Harold. You were 15 years old in summer ‘09. Who were you “rocking”? Also, I’m not sure if I buy the fact that a world-famous multi-millionaire who performs in different cities every night is longing for those mid-dle school days he spent back in Cheshire.

Their latest single, “Live While We’re Young,” is an impressive rephrasing of the inspirational term You Only Live Once. The song’s beginning guitar riff is the catchi-est part, and wrongfully stolen from The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” Get past that and you’ve basically got a group of guys bragging about their causal rela-tions with various women. But don’t rush to judgement girls, at least they’re will-ing to “pretend it’s love.” Oh yes, and all of this from the same sweet, innocent boy band that wooed us with their breakout hit “What Makes You Beautiful.”

To their credit, Modest Management responded well to the outcry of tweens ev-erywhere when “Up All Night” seemed to be more like “Liam and Harry featuring Zayn” rather than the band as a whole. In their newest album, while Harry still ranks king of the solos the margin of difference has been significantly reduced making “Take Me Home” a true One Direction album.

Here comes the plot twist: I absolutely adore it. Is it great music? No. Do I care? You bet your impending judgment I don’t. The CD has been on replay in my car since be-fore it came out and I bop around listening

to it every morning when I cruise down Mission Road to school. While they are nowhere near as innocent as they have fooled our mothers into believing, I can’t help but love each and every one one of those little dweebs.

Like the most of America, I was smitten when “What Makes You Beautiful” first blared through my car speakers. I couldn’t get enough of the British-Irish boy-band that, despite losing the X-Factor, persist-ed to becoming a worldwide phe-nomenon. Since then, I have exited the warmth of the honeymoon period and have realized that the boys probably did little to no work to earn their fame other than being cute, foreign and having a manager like Simon Cowell.

I have since seen their angry Twitter breakouts over hurtful

rumors. I have tracked their endless sleazy scandals. I have met the type of fans that make it embarrassing to be called Direc-tioner (mainly the ones who bought the 1D dolls). I have hated them as if I actually knew them and been disgusted with their unearned fame.

However, I will never not love them. Regardless of musical merit, their voices are near heavenly. Now, taking those five heavenly voices and adding harmonies and echoes is enough to make millions of girls go gooey-eyed.

“Take Me Home” is similar to the very essence of One Direction in that it is easy to fall in love with. Massively-catchy tunes such as “She’s Not Afraid,” “I Would” and “Heart Attack” are the perfect soundtrack to a classic midnight bop-around-your-bed-room jam sesh. The gorgeous slow sweep-ing melodies of “Change My Mind,” “They Don’t Know About Us,” and “Back For You,” are mellow and calm, there to lull you to sleep or relax your mind. The harmonies and multi-part duets have a sense that they surround you and you can just forget every-thing and listen.

Regardless of whether you hate One Di-rection or have 1D folders in your backpack and posters in your room, it’s hard to deny One Direction Infection. The sheer amount of fans who fall head-over-heels at the men-tion of them, speak volumes. Literally, just walk into the nearest crowded area and whisper “Harry Styles,” and I guaranteed: heads will turn. The one thing that makes 1D so irresistible to girls worldwide is their relatability as the boys-next-door. While so wildly famous, the boys have done a re-markable job at remaining cheeky teenage boys who shoot Nurf guns at the paparazzi, change their lyrics inappropriately in con-cert and know how to set up permanent camp in a girl’s heart. And in case you were wondering: yes, I do infact own 1D folders and a poster above my bed, but I will forever remain 1D doll free.

WHAT MAKES THEMBEAUTIFUL

NIALLHORANA natural brunette.The only member from Ireland.Has Invisiline braces, which he got after getting voted off the X Factor.

HARRYSTYLESCredited for naming the band ‘One Direction’Has over 30 tattoosMusical heros are The Beatles, Elvis Pres-ley, and Coldplay.

Favorite book series is Harry Potter.Pakistani.

Can’t swim and has Aquaphiobia, the fear of open water.

ZAYNMALIK

The oldest member of the band, at the age of 20.

It takes him over 30 minutes to get his hair ready in the morning.

Dating Manchester University student, Eleanor Calder.

LOUISTOMLINSON

Has a fear of spoons.Said to be the best dancer of the group.

Favorite movie series is “Toy Story”

LIAMPAYNE

written by Kim Hodel photos courtesy of mctcampus.com

1FUL

Staffer reviews new One Direction album “Take Me Home”

A&E20|

facts courtesy of thehitsradio.com

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CONTINUING GAMETHE

12

345

67

89

University of Colorado

University of Tennessee

Kansas State University

University of Illinois

University of Connecticut

Emporia State

Texas Christian University

University of Virginia

Colorado State

John Schrock (football)

Henry Simpson (golf)

Mimi Fotopoulos (tennis)

Ross Guignon (tennis)

Shannon McGinley (softball)

Mollie Cooper (tennis)

Marston Fries (swimming)

Caroline Nick (basketball)

Connor Wilkins (track)

Four more years. Senior Ashley Allegri is just happy to play four more years. Four more years spent shagging, spiking and setting. Four more years of playing volley-ball at Division II school, Missouri Science & Tech.

The recruiting process was long for Al-legri, but paid off. While visiting Missouri Science & Tech, Allegri connected with the coach and other recruits.

“A lot of the coaches I was talking to, we just emailed,” Allegri said. “But this coach, we text so I feel like I know him and I really like him.”

Allegri has already been able to meet and connect with some of her future team-mates. All the recruits visit at the same time, with the next meeting scheduled at the end of February.

“A lot of other girls want to play longer and they can’t,” Allegri said. “It’s really nice that I can play four more years.”

When most 3-year-olds were learn-ing the alphabet, senior Connor Knabe was learning how to play golf. Taught by his dad, Knabe quickly started playing in bigger tournaments as he continued to improve.

“The biggest [tournaments] are AJGAs, which stands for American Junior Golf Association,” Knabe said. “I’ve played in about five of those and they’re just major tournaments that just kind of help you get recruited by colleges.”

Knabe continued to improve, espe-cially from his freshman and sophomore years and placed second at regionals his junior year. Knabe is looking forward to keep improving his game.

“I really hope we can compete in some of the big tournaments and hopefully compete for a Big 12 title and make it to the National Championship,” Knabe said.

Hard work pays off. Senior Vance Wentz understands that -- after all he’s been training to play Division I basket-ball ever since sixth grade.

“In sixth grade I don’t think any of the guys I was hanging out with were getting extra shots or extra ball handling, things like that,” Wentz said. “It was just kind of in the back of my mind that that’s what I want to do and so I worked hard.”

And Wentz has been improving ever since. Wentz didn’t stop working, even when some of his friends got called by recruiters earlier than him. Although the recruiting procedure was hard, Wentz felt it got easier as he got deeper into the pro-cess. While visiting Montana State, Wen-tz couldn’t wait to be a part of the Bobcats.

“The whole community is really built around the school and it’s a really cool at-mosphere,” Wentz said. “It’ll be different culture.”

Golf wasn’t what senior Anne Will-man wanted to play when she was little. Willman wanted to play college basket-ball.

Once Willman starting playing in tournaments, she grew to like the sport.

When Willman’s brother, Scott, signed with Nebraska in 2007, Willman started thinking that maybe she could also play college golf.

“To visit all the schools and go to the sporting events and seeing all the facili-ties was really, really interesting,” Will-man said.

Willman will be joining East alumni Henry Simpson and Connor Schrock, along with classmate Connor Knabe on the K-State golf team.

“I’m just excited about the competi-tion and I’ll get to travel to a lot of differ-ent places around the country,” Willman said.

Starting out as a Belinder Brave, senior Clint Dunn will continue his soccer ca-reer as a Hobart Statesman in New York. Dunn started playing on the Belinder Elementary School recreational team in kindergarten and hasn’t stopped playing since.

When Dunn started playing club soc-cer in fourth grade, he played a grade up with the “big boys”. His experience play-ing up gave him the confidence to try out for the Olympic Development Program (ODP).

Dunn played varsity high school soc-cer for three years and will be playing Di-vision III soccer for Hobart College.

Senior Kassey Hughes hasn’t wanted to be an engineer for long, but she’s known that she wanted to play college softball ever since starting in third grade.

“I was always thinking ‘I’m going to play softball in college,’” Hughes said.

Hughes started the tedious process of recruiting when she sent out letters to college coaches. In the end, she was con-tacted by the Colorado School of Mines.

“[The coach] saw me playing and she liked my attitude on the field and what I brought to the team,” Hughes said.

Hughes is excited to experience the difference between college softball sea-son compared to high school softball.

“There’s a lot more time dedication cause it’s almost year-round with all the conditioning and everything,” Hughes said.

Senior Chase Hanna has always known that he would be playing col-lege golf. His grandfather, an avid golfer, taught Hanna how to play when he was young. Hanna plays in tournaments mainly across the Midwest but occa-sionally plays in tournaments across the country.

“I just like [that] it’s an individual sport,” Hanna said. “You don’t really have to rely on anyone else but yourself.”

Hanna was in contact with about 10 schools and decided KU was the place for him.

“I’m looking forward to the competi-tiveness and just the jump of playing with so many different players,” Hanna said. “And just getting with the team and just improving every day.”

CHASE HANNAUniversity of Kansas

KASSEY HUGHESColorado School of Mines

Conner Schrock (golf)

34 5

Seven athletes signed their National Letters of Intent to play collegiate sports

written by Grace Heitmann

SPORTS22 |

PURSUING THEIR SPORTSa look at some of the places lancer graduates play sports

photos courtesy of families

61

9

82

7

CLINT DUNNHobart College

Missouri S&TASHLEY ALLEGRI

Kansas State UniversityCONNOR KNABE

Montana State UniversityVANCE WENTZ

Kansas State UniversityANNE WILLMAN

written by GJ Melia photos by AnnaMarie Oakley

SM WEST

Like the Lancers, Rockhurst has 10 seniors on the ros-ter and a deep bench.

“We may have three, four, five subs at a time, almost like two different units,” coach Mark Nusbaum said. “It’ll depend on how the night goes.”

With 10 seniors on the team, there is experience. But playing time is going to be one decided by who’s playing well on a game to game basis.

“We have some kids that have some experience, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be the ones play-ing,” Nusbaum said.

For the Hawklets, expectations are like every season: high. Last year, the season ended in a disappointing fash-ion, with a loss to Lee’s Summit West.

But this year, the team returns five letterwinners, two of which are returning starters, three more letterwinners, and two players who have some varsity experience.

None of the players they lost went on to play college basketball, and Coach Nusbaum believes this year’s senior class are the ones going on to play in college.

“What we lost was senior leadership, kids that worked hard,” Nusbaum said. “They created a really good team

atmosphere. We’re going to miss that. Hopefully these younger guys saw how that worked, and carry that on through this year.”

Kyle Wolf, a 6-foot-5-inch senior, was last year’s lead-ing rebounder and leading scorer. This year will be his third year on the team. According to coach Nusbaum, he will be the team’s “go to” player. Senior Bradley Wilkins is one of their best shooters. He started at point guard in a few games last year, but this year he will most likely fill in his role as shooting guard.

The player who Nusbaum calls the best athlete on the team, senior Michael Jones will be back after knee injury that sidelined him last year. After the football season, se-nior Tommy Keller will play either the small forward or power forward position.

Rockhurst will have a very tough schedule this year.“Not being in a league makes it fun because we can go

out and play some people,” Nusbaum said. “It seems like we’ve got four or five games a month against quality op-ponents and are going to raise the expectations and qual-ity of play.”

With South’s move to 5A, the Lancers will only have one shot at them this year. The two rivals face off on Feb. 22 at East. It will be the senior night for the East’s 10 se-niors.

For this year’s Raider team, expectations are higher than last year. While the team is still very young, they re-turn four of their top six players.

“We have numerous new players on the roster this year and it will take time for them to learn everything we are doing, it will be a long process at the beginning,” coach Brett Mcfall said. “Last year we had very high expectations and were very successful, but now we want to build on that and keep improving.”

The Raiders lost two key players from last year. Dylan

Christie graduated, and Colson Bayles who transferred Kansas City Christian. Christie, a four year starter, is fourth all-time in scoring in school history.

The Raiders will be counting on sophomore Dainan Swoope and senior Josh Pederson for leadership and scor-ing. According to coach McFall, they also carry a great work ethic that the team abides by. Newcomers DeAn-gelo Bruster and Ra’keim Abdul should also be keys to the Raider’s success this season.

In addition to their rivalry game with East, South will face SM West, Leavenworth, Olathe East and Olathe South for the toughest games on their schedule this year.

“The players know what they want to do this year and are intent on being successful,” McFall said.

SM SOUTH

Even after his team was picked to finish eighth in Sun-flower League by the coaches, coach Mike Brinsko feels the Vikings can compete with any team on their schedule.

The reason for his confidence is the team’s experience. They are returning seven letterwinners, five of whom started at least four games. They have senior Jay Temaat, who was the leading scorer on last year’s team averag-ing 17 points per game. In late game situations, the ball will be placed Termaat’s hands. Also, senior point guard Chris Linner has experience on the varsity level and is the team’s best ball distributor.

Senior Kyle Summers is the team’s strongest player and can play four of the five positions on the floor. Junior Nick Banman as a forward started every game last year and is their best rebounder, defender and is an effective scorer inside the paint. Another junior Justin Fetzer, can play both guard and forward, and is what Coach Brinsko

calls the team’s “energizer bunny.”“[Fetzer] plays very hard and makes things happen,”

Brinsko said. “Sometimes good and sometimes not so good.”

Even with losing seniors from last year, the Vikings have depth, they can play nine players consistently.

While they will face many formidable opponents, coach Brinsko believes their toughest opponent will not be a team on their schedule.

“I believe our biggest opponent will be the man in the mirror because it has been four years,” Brinsko said. “We have been really good and our young men must have confidence in themselves and their teammates for us to be good.”

Coach Brinsko will be completing his 12th year at West and his 45th year as basketball coach. He will be re-tiring at the end of the 2012-2013 season.

THEY ARE IN THE WAY

ROCKHURST

SPORTS 23|

TYREMEMBERING

PHOTO ESSAY24 |

Students from schools across the country gather to

support Tyler

#RIPTR

photo by AnnaMarie Oakley

photo by Stefano Byer

photo by Jake Crandall

photo by Jake Crandall

Left: Students set up a board for others to write notes to Tyler. “I wrote to his parents telling them about how his humility and kind heart inspired me.” senior Will Cray said.

Above Middle: Hundreds gathered at Hillcrest Covenant Church on Nov. 26 for a service celebrating the life of Rathbun, including a candle-light vigil. Messages were written to Tyler and pinned on a cross. The family will later receive these messages.

Left: The Soccer team gathers behind the student-built memorial for Tyler. “After I composed myself, I called all the boys individually to tell them - we decided we needed to get together to hug, talk, cry, laugh and tell stories,” Coach Jamie Kelly said.

University of Missouri

Kansas State University

University of Kansas

University of Nebraska

Rockhurst High School

Pembroke Hill

Above Left: The Choraliers gather together to sing during 5th hour where Tyler would have regularly been in class.“We sang [“Old Irish Blessing”] for the seniors every year when they graduate, to bless them,“ Junior Danya Issawi said. “Tyler was never going to get that, but he deserved it.”

Above: Tyler hugs his dog, Herman.

photo by Jake Crandall

READ MORE ABOUT TYLER’S LIFE ON SMEHARBINGER.NET

After senior Tyler Rathbun passed away in an ATV accident on Nov. 25, the East community rallies to remember Tyler.

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