hieldSS a i n t T h o m as A q ui n as Hig h S c ho ol

the

December 16, 2013 Volume 26, Issue 5

InsideSpirit Club Looks

to Increase Attendance at Winter Sports

Page 2

Behind The Scenes: Sports

Recruiting

Page 6

Spring Sports Athletes Begin

Winter TrainingPage 7

Christmas At Aquinas

Page 8

Students Share Concerns About

Dress Code

Page 2

Dillingham Wins Key Club

Moderator Award

Page 3

Seniors May “De-Mature” As Year Goes On

Page 3

Take a Break From Finals

Pages 4-5

Photo by ANNIE SCHUGART | The ShieldStudents in Paula McCarthy’s STA Period wrap gifts to donate to their Christmas family at an inner-city Catholic school. Pictured left to right: Maggie Yuille, Megan Tokic, Sarah Gerner and Nick Battaglia. “The gifts provided by the students and families of Aquinas provide parents a chance to make a wonderful Christmas for their families,” Holy Name principal Denise Perry said.

WRAPPED IN LOVE

by ANNIE SCHUGARTEditor-in-Chief

At Holy Name Catholic School, one mother was incapa-ble of buying a new pair of ten-nis shoes for her child, let alone pay for tuition. She glued the rubber sole back onto the pair of shoes for her child, hoping to find a way to keep her children at Holy Name.

Eventually, a benefactor was found, and her children were indeed able to stay at Holy Name, yet the family still lives in poverty.

While Aquinas students and staff participate in the Nation-al Honor Society Christmas Project, many do not realize the impact the project has. This is one of the families—along with others at both Holy Name and Resurrection Catholic School, both in Kansas City, Kan.—the project will be helping this year, chosen by administration at the schools who know which fami-lies are struggling.

“Life can be challenging for many of our families,” Holy Name principal Denise Perry said. “Often, they are struggling to make basic ends meet, so the

holidays are especially hard.”The holiday season for

many Aquinas students is spent in a warm home with more than sufficient amounts of food, clean clothing, and probably plenty of gifts underneath the tree. Yet for other families near-by in the community—families who don’t have internet connec-tion or new shoes—Christmas is entirely different.

Many families at Holy Name “pay tuition instead of buying groceries,” so Holy Name keeps sacks of food in the office to help out families who can’t provide food on the table.

“Our par-ents work so hard to provide their children with a Catholic education that they often go without things that we all take for granted, while working two jobs,” Perry said.

Perry said that many of the students at Holy Name are raised by single parents or grandparents or have fathers who are incarcerated, and most live right at or above the poverty

line. Resurrection principal Lyn-da Higgins said many parents work seasonal jobs such as the working in the construction in-dustry, so parents may be out of work because of winter weather.

The gifts also benefit families who are just settling in America from other countries. Higgins said that some families have just recently came from Mexico and others are refugees

from Burma, all who “are work-ing hard to find jobs and be part of our society.”

“Paying for Catholic educa-tion is difficult, but the families feel that it is a priority,” Higgins said.

NHS moderator Chris Berg-er, who has been coordinating the Christmas project for 13 years, believes that it is Aquinas’ duty to give back to these impoverished members of our own commu-

nity—especially since most stu-dents don’t really understand just how little the students at Holy Name and Resurrection have.

“As the Bible says, that which much has been given, much is expected—as shown in the canned food drive,” he said. “The school as a whole has been given a lot so we should be able to help these families.”

“The gifts provided by the students and families of Aquinas provide parents a chance to make a wonderful Christmas for their families,” Perry said. “We are so grateful for your thought-fulness, and your students and staff are in our prayers.”

Although Aquinas students may never truly know who or how the families were impacted by their contributions, both principals said they receive plenty of thanks.

“The Saint Thomas Aquinas Christmas program means so much to our family. Your contributions help our kids have presents from Christmas that otherwise they wouldn’t have,” an anonymous family said in a quote to Higgins. “You are a blessing sent by God. Our children are fortunate to have your program available to them. Thank you and God bless you.” g

“You are a blessing sent by God. Our children are fortunate to have your

program available to them.

ANONYMOUSChristmas Project Recipient

Tweets of the Month Weekend Weather

Countdown

9 days until Christmas

16 days until New Year’s

88 days untilSpring Break

Friday

38 28

38

26 14

26

Saturday

Sunday

Recipients of the NHS Christmas Project explain just how much the love and generosity of Aquinas students and staff means to them.

2 The Shield December 16, 2013

Campus News

Students at Saint Thom-as Aquinas have had trouble supporting their athletic teams this year. Whether the team is struggling or students just have better things to do, it has been a problem this season as the crowd has thinned out and participation is at a low.

“Whatever it is, it needs to change!” Spirit Boy Pete An-drews said.

Saint Thomas Aquinas has lost it enthusiasm and energy at sporting events—whether it’s not showing up at all, or it’s showing up and leaving at halftime be-cause their team is losing, or even going and spending the whole time on the phone texting your friends and not cheering at all.

Junior Ben Walberg said, “The soccer and volleyball teams play during the week. I have homework and things to do.”

This is something that can’t be fixed. Walberg also said that if there was some sort of bribe, he would definitely go—for instance “no homework,” or class competition points really seem to work well.

Activities Director Sarah Burgess said class competition really works to get the students to the games.

“When they get bribes, they go,” she said.

But going and participating are two different things and that’s where we have our main conflict.

Burgess said when kids get the chance to miss school, they don’t think twice about it. An-

drew said Aquinas also has had trouble teaching the chants and reaching out to coordinate what cheers are going on. He suggest-ed getting together and going over the chant before the game so everyone is on the same page. Another idea he had was to have people who cheer loudly spread throughout the crowd.

The three mostly agree: students are overwhelmed on weekdays, there is no time to go to a two-hour long game, cheer, get home late and then be tired the next day. Students are willing

to do that if there is a bribe it seems or miss school. The ideas that have been presented have all sounded like they have some po-tential to be good for the school Aquinas.

“It can be easy if we com-municate with the underclassman who don’t know what’s going on,” Andrews said.

Andrews would be willing to step up and coordinate these practices.

He said, “The ideas are out there it’s up to us to fix the prob-lem.” g

by COLE YOUNGERReporter

by BRIANNA GIESELMANReporter

Spirit Club and Spirit Boys seek ways to fire up crowd during the coldest seasonATTENDANCE, ENTHUSIASM WANING

STUDENTS SEEK DRESS CODE OPTIONS

Photo by TROY HILDERHOF | The ShieldJunior Adam Kutney shoots a free throw in the 2nd quarter Tuesday against Central while only being supported by a handful of students.

Most students agreed the least likely option (a night without homework or studying) would also be the most likely to get them to go to a weeknight game. As many great Saints teams have real-ized, being successful is the least likely reason to attend a game.

A spirit day + pep rally: 125

A good rivalry: 80

A good theme: 86

A great Saints team: 77

Class competition points: 108

If others go, I’ll go: 96

No homework: 174

What would help drive attendance to non-Friday night winter events?A poll was sent to all Aquinas students and faculty via e-mail on Dec. 3. More than 300 responded.

JCCC Honors: Dig deeper. Aim higher.

“The Honors program enhances your college educationand provides opportunities to gain hands-on experiencein areas of interest.”

Amanda, JCCC Honors student and Gardner Edgerton High School graduate

Johnson County Community College’s Honors Program stimulates and challengesacademically talented students. An Honors application is required for admission. For moreinformation, call Pat Decker at 913-469-8500, ext. 2512, or visit www.jccc.edu/honors

Senior Ads!

*Email: AquinasYearbook@gmail.com

Don’t forget to buy your senior ads!

Compared to other schools such as Bishop Miege, some aspects of the Saint Thomas Aquinas dress code are less strict. According to the Bishop Miege school newspaper, the school is much more strict about skirt length this year. The students at Miege are required to have their skirts measured during the first few weeks of school. The administration decided to enforce the two-inch skirt rule more this year. Staff at Miege is helping to enforce these rules. If a girl’s skirt does not meet the two-inch rule at Miege, she will get a warning. The warning means she must get the skirt fixed before the following Monday. Not fixing her skirt will result in a detention, followed by more and more detentions. But Bourquin, a stylish senior at Aqui-nas, said she thinks Aquinas girls could wear boots with their skirts. Activities Director Sarah Burgess, who is also in charge of enforcing the dress code, said, “Boots just do not look good with skirts, at least not in my eyes.” Maddie Woolway, also a fashionable cheerleader senior at Aquinas, said she wishes girls could wear leggings and socks

together underneath their skirts. She also would like to wear “illegal” Aquinas sweat-shirts during school hours. “I wish we could change that the students could wear any kind of Aquinas sweatshirt we want,” Bourquin said. This is a popular opinion from both Woolway and Bourquin, but the school no longer allows students to wear Aquinas sweatshirts with their uniforms. “The point of our dress code is to eliminate the competition of clothing brands among students,” Burgess said. “Our dress code is meant for us to look like a community,” she said. “Not a bunch of hodgepodge put together.” Bourquin understands that reason. “I think Aquinas bans sweatshirts besides the designated styles because they all would look different with the colors and styles and we should match since we are in uniforms.” Some Aquinas students do and do not like Aquinas’ dress code, but at least they would like some rules to be changed. “I like the dress code because private schools can wear polos,” Woolway said, “and Aquinas’ dress code allows us to wear sandals. ” Bourquin said, “I like our dress code because it makes it easier to get ready in the morning.” g

The Shield 3December 16, 2013Features

KEY CLUB WINS STATE AWARDFor moderator Susan Dilling-

ham, Key Club is more than just an activity to her. Her dedication paid off when she was named the Kansas Moderator of the Year.

“She is the most deserving person I can think of for this award because she has really made Key Club a part of her lifestyle,” said Key Club editor Natalie Mayer.

Moderator nominees for the award came from all areas of the state. The judging criteria for the award was based entirely on an essay written by students from the clubs. Last year’s Key Club President, Paige Adamany, wrote the essay nominating Dillingham. Adamany said the decision to nominate her was obvious.

“I read the re-quirements and knew Ms. D was more than perfect for it because our club would not be what it is without her,” Adamany said.

Adamany wrote in the essay about everything Dillingham has done for the club at Aquinas, including the time and work she contributes and about how she “really turns [service] work into

something that is enjoyable.” Dillingham received the

award at the state convention last March, although it was just recently announced at Aquinas. The essay was read when she received the award.

“The award is really nice, but the bigger award was Paige’s words more than anything else,” Dillingham said. “That meant so much more to me than getting a little plaque.”

Key Club President Matt Genilo spoke highly of the work Dillingham has done in order for her to receive the award.

“Key Club has grown into a club of [almost] 200 members because D is a friend to every one of us,” Genilo said. “She makes the events fun to go

to, like dressing up in costumes to go to Ronald McDon-ald house on Hal-loween or starting

karaoke at the Hunger Banquet.”Dillingham, who—with the

help of a seminar student—kick started the Key Club at Aquinas in 2005, after it had fizzled out earlier in the years at Aquinas. She said she didn’t realize fully how much she enjoyed commu-nity service until being involved in Key Club, and she believes the Key Club at Aquinas is unique.

“I love that our Key Club does so much to interact with people,” she said. “It’s not just raising money or collecting clothes or something. We get to work one-on-one with [people].”

She also attributes the success of Aquinas’s Key Club to the students. She said she “get[s] to work with really amazing students, people who genuinely enjoy doing community service,” and that many of the students don’t even turn in the

extra service hours but rather just do it because they love it.

Yet the students attribute the success to Dillingham’s dedication and attitude.

“She’s more than just like the person in charge. She is pretty much a volunteer with the stu-dents,” Mayer said. “She’s really positive, really outgoing, and makes an effort to know all the Key-Clubbers. Her attitude rubs off on everyone else.”

Genilo agreed.“She makes such a positive

impact on each of our lives and our mindsets about helping the community,” he said. “I don’t think anyone can even contend with D for the award.” g

Key Club moderator Susan Dillingham was named “Kansas Moderator of the Year.” by ANNIE SCHUGARTEditor-in-Chief

Senior boys across the country enjoy their last year of high school as the head of the school, while looking forward to the exciting but scary experience that is college.

As college gets closer to a reality, this can change some of them into “de-maturing” or “just losing focus.”

English and theology teacher Phil Farnan teach-es seniors in his theology courses.

“I don’t know if I would call it de-maturing as much as them just losing focus,” Farnan said. “The potential is still there but their thought is, ‘We are almost out of here, none of this matters.’”

The amount of seniors who are affected by this can vary.

Academic Principal Brian Schenck said, “It is definitely not widespread, but it does happen.”

Farnan said, “I feel like roughly 30 percent of senior boys are affected in some way by this. Howev-er, it is not as high of a number as some of the other schools that I have taught at.”

Between school, sports, activities, applica-tions, friends and just the idea of college, seniors can be overwhelmed at times. Sleep no longer becomes a habit that is done plentifully every night, but a luxury that is cherished above almost everything. It is also the last year of living at

home. From society’s point of view, it is also the end of childhood. All of this put together can be a culture shock and make them “de-mature.”

Farnan said, “A lot of what these boys do in high school is set goals for themselves and then figure out what they need to do to reach them.

Late in senior year some just get the wrong idea that what they do during second semester doesn’t matter, and it does.”

Farnan has seen the consequences.

“I have seen people lose scholarships because of what they do or don’t do at the end of senior

year,” Farnan said.Schneck said, “They become more like

middle schoolers. If you look down senior hall you will see people hit or push each other a little bit. It’s not that they’re being mean, it’s just them

showing affection in a weird way.”

It is the last year of living at home with their family and it is the end of high school.

Schneck said, “It’s not a conscious effort but with them leaving home some

of them start acting a little childish. Most of them won’t admit it but my theory is that it is because they will miss their mom and dad.”

Some of them will go to a college where many of their fellow classmates go but others may be the only one from Aquinas going there. This can cause some people who don’t want it to end and causing a few to act out. g

Photo courtesy Susan Dillingham Dillingham and the 2012-2103 Key Club officers (left to right: Matt Genilo, Paige Adamany, Susan Dilling-ham, Tiffany Nguyen, Christopher Schilling, and Robert Skevington) attended the Key Club State Conven-tion in March, where Dillingham received her award, although it was just recently announced at Aquinas.

“She is the most deserving person I can think of for this award because she has really made

Key Club a part of her lifestyle.”

NATALIE MAYERKey Club Editor

By th

e NUMB3RS+Other awards

receivedat the state convention

KEY CLUB150 Aquinas students are

officially a part of Key Club this year

3rd place in “Year in Review Scrapbook” category2nd place in “Single Service Project” category

1st place in “Club Achievement” category9

1,973years have passed since Dillingham first became Key Club moderator at Aquinas

service hours have been completed by Key Club

members since June

A Q U I N A S K E Y C L U B

“She makes such a positive impact on each of our lives

and our mindsets about helping the community.”

MATT GENILOKey Club President

Symptoms include loss of focus and discipline, “weird” displays of affection, and reverting to childish roles

by JORDAN BARTZOpinions Editor

“I don’t know if I would call it de-maturation as much as

them just losing focus.”

PHIL FARNANEnglish and theology teacher

“My theory is that it is because they will miss their mom and dad.”

BRIAN SCHENCKAcademic Principal

“SENIORITIS” ON HORIZON

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6 The Shield December 16, 2013Opinions

Saint Thomas Aquinas High School

hieldSthe

11411 Pflumm RoadOverland Park, KS 66215

913-319-2460www.stasaints.net/shield

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFAnnie Schugart

CAMPUS NEWS EDITORBryan Zack

OPINIONS EDITORJordan Bartz

SPORTS EDITORTroy Hilderhof

LAST LOOK EDITORAnnie Schugart

CENTERSPREAD/FEATURES EDITOR

Annie Schugart

ADVISERMatt Hallauer

MISSION STATEMENTThe Shield is a newspaper sponsored by Saint Thomas Aquinas High School and produced by its students to provide information, enter-tainment, and open forum, as well as a learning experi-ence for its staff members. The goal of The Shield’s staff is to meet professional journalism standards. Staff members are responsible for the content of the news-paper and strive to report news accurately, objectively, and completely. The Shield is an open forum for stu-dent expression and aims to communicate the concerns of the student body as well as the faculty, staff, and Aquinas community.

ADVERTISINGThe Shield sells advertisements to help with publication costs. All ads will be subject to the same scrutiny as stories. The Shield will not print any obscenities or any ads promoting products illegal to those under the age of 18. For advertising, please call (913) 319-2460, send an email to mhallauer@stasaints.net, or visit www.stasaints.net/shield

SUBSCRIPTIONSSubscriptions to The Shield are $2 per issue. Subscriptions can be sent to Saint Thomas Aquinas High School c/o Matt Hallauer.

LETTER POLICYLetters may be accepted by The Shield, provided that they are signed and do not contain libel-ous statements. The Shield re-serves the right to edit the letters for grammar, obscenity, or space consideration, and also reserves the right to not print a letter.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Opinions of Aquinas students, based off 316 student and faculty

responses to an email poll.

A strong and close community is the key and best way to decrease drinking in teenagers.

The influence from a student’s family, friends, and associates from school activities is a huge factor in determining whether a teen will use drugs or alcohol. It can be positive peer pressure.

Teenagers who are involved in an activity usually want to belong and have a fear of letting down their group. Drinking often gets in the way of activities and will decrease their performance, causing their teammates and associates to suffer.

A close community is aware of the challenges facing teens today and takes the time to educate their youth about the dangers of drug and alcohol use. Teenagers have more opportunities to get information about the effects of drinking and what it can do to their bodies and brain development. They also are made aware of the legal consequences that can affect them for years to come.

Teenagers in a strong community are educated about alcohol by listening to speakers or attending special programs targeting the problem of underage drinking. An involved community

is more likely to arrange these programs. Special groups and clubs are worthless unless they are given the time and attention of the community.

Underage drinking is not just a teenage problem but a responsibility of the adults in the community to make it mandatory to attend meetings and give teens the opportunity to learn about

the dangers and consequences of their actions.

Some say being in a chal-lenging activity will make the teens more stressed because of the amount of time they have to devote to the activity, but a strong community knows that those ties and responsibilities can actual-ly decrease stress and increase self-esteem. The responsibility that students feel toward others in the group and the satisfaction of accomplishment can build the confidence necessary to resist the negative pressures teens face

everyday. Strong communities raise strong teens who know how to say no.

To make Saint Thomas Aquinas a stronger community, we need to increase our involvement in programs that increase aware-ness and educate our students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. We need to bring in speakers and make attendance mandatory. We need to partici-pate more in our school’s SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) chapter and make this part of our education.

We have been blessed to have never lost a student here at Aquinas but the pressures and the influences just get worse every year. Our community needs to work together to take the glamour out of underage drinking and ed-ucate about the dangers. We are a communion of Saints and we can make a difference. g

Underage Drinking Factsfrom the City of Overland Park’s website at opkansas.org• It takes an adult about five years

to develop into an alcoholic. In an adolescent, addiction takes only 6-18 months.

• Alcohol kills 6 times more youth than all other illicit drugs combined.

• Traffic crashes are the single greatest cause of death for young persons. About 45 percent are alcohol-related crashes.

Saint Thomas Aquinas stu-dents are too stressed because of the expectations they are held to by teachers.

Students should be able to spend more time and energy on extracurricular activities while attending Aquinas.

Students at Aquinas do not have time to spend on sports or clubs after school because of school work.

Students can get sick from too much homework. According to William Crain, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at City College of New York and the author of Reclaiming Child-hood, “Kids are developing more school-related stomachaches, headaches, sleep problems, and depression than ever before.”

Students already spend seven hours a day at school. Adding hours more of school work over-

works them and causes them to get sick.

With spending hours on school work, they do not have the time for physical activity. Kids are suggested 60 minutes a day of ac-tivity, but instead they are spending their days sitting in desks. This leads to childhood obesity and lack of motivation.

Teachers are concerned students will not learn everything

they need to. Teachers are expected to teach stu-dents the full curriculum by the end of the year, but they can do that with less homework. To help, students

will have to prove they can learn everything in class by excelling on exams.

Students need to focus better in school and score higher on tests. They need to prove they can do good in school while doing less work and using their extra time on physical activities and clubs. g

Our community needs to work together to take the glamour out of underage

drinking and educate about the dangers.

Teachers can still reach their goals with less

homework if students focus better during school and score higher on tests.

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PRESSURE POSITIVELY IF YOU WANT LESS HOMEWORK, PROVE WHAT YOU KNOWThe path to fewer hours of homework may lie in con-vincing teachers that students understand the content.

Communities within our Communion of Saints can decrease teen drinking by letting students know they are valued and needed at full potential.

by MEGAN GREGSONGuest to The Shield

by EMMA FERGUSONGuest to The Shield

“My family adopted a family for Christmas and we got to personally give the mother and her children their Christmas presents. Seeing the looks on their faces when they got so many presents under the tree was so humbling and it was the greatest feel-ing ever.” - senior Mikaela Hult

“When my dad dressed up as Santa to surprise my cousins, one of my cousins was staring at my dad and said to him, ‘Santa, you look like my Uncle Bobby.’” - junior Allison Lubbers

“My brother farted during Christmas Mass and blamed it on the kid in front of us. The kid then got reprimanded by his mother.” - senior Kelsey Beasley

“My older brother and I told our two little brothers that Santa wasn’t real, so our parents took both of our main gifts away until we convinced the younger boys that Santa was real.” - junior Anna Biggins

The Shield 7December 16, 2013Sports

WINTER TRAINING TAKES OFFAs the cold winter sets in, spring sports teams begin preparing and training for their seasons.

by TROY HILDERHOFSports Editor

As the blistering cold sets in for the winter, the spring sports teams begin to prepare for their seasons. The spring will be here soon enough. The players realize that start their tough conditioning and training during the winter months.

The 2013 Saint Thomas Aquinas girls’ soccer team was without a doubt a success. Howev-er, the team lost a strong talented senior class after the season. According to the junior Olivia Meyers, the team has some big shoes to fill.

“Right now we’re working on trying to build up as a team again because we lost so many seniors,” Meyers said. The team lost 10 of 23 players on the team due to the se-nior class leaving.

Work-ing out and get-ting into shape early is vital to filling these big shoes. Meyers said the team’s conditioning is very important. The winter training for the soccer team got right down to

business after Thanksgiving. The team’s main focus right now is getting good cardio workouts in. “Usually the team tries to run outside, but if there weather gets bad we have to stay inside,” Mey-ers said. “We get the girls together and run two or three times a week.”

Out-side of the Aquinas girls’ soccer training, Meyers is on a club team and also goes to SoccerFIT twice a week, which is a soccer training program where helps increase players’ speed and agility.

The soccer team isn’t the only team that goes on runs. The track teams gets in their work run-ning many

miles a week. To prepare for the season, senior Joe Linder and the rest of the distance runners go on runs outside.

“Right now since we’re just

starting out winter workouts, we’re only running five miles a day,” Linder said. “Then every two or

three weeks, we’ll bump up our runs up another mile.”

The team is run-ning roughly 35 miles a week. By the time the season rolls around, the team plans to run 55-60

miles a week -- eight miles a day with a 13 mile long run sprinkled in one of those days.

In addition to the rigorous running, the track team also lifts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. “We usually come up for mileage, stretch, lift, and then go home,” Linder said.

Since the weather is cold and miserable, sprinters and short distance runners train inside. The sprinters would often run circuits inside the school.

However for rugby, it’s more about improving skills. “We don’t run as a team until the season starts,” senior Jack Casey said. “Before it gets too cold the team will get together and have touch practices outside.” Touch practices are where there’s no hitting, and the team works on skills like team

formations and passing. “But in January when it’s too cold the team will go to indoor facilities to get practice in before the season starts,” Casey said.

Above all things, training for a spring sport can be difficult when already playing a winter sport. Senior Austin Kruse tries to play as much golf as he can while currently playing for the basketball team at Aquinas. “It can be tough to manage time between sports,”

Kruse said.Of course, the winter doesn’t

present that many opportunities to play golf. Kruse goes to indoor driving ranges just to swing the club and visualize golf shots. However, getting outside when it’s nice is key. “I try to play outside whenever I can and get into the feeling of playing in tourna-ments,” Kruse said. “Hitting on grass is the best and necessary way to get the feeling back.” g

Photo by JORDAN BARTZ | The ShieldThe distance mileage track team leaves Aquinas and starts to begins their frigid 5-mile run, which will be lengthened to a 15-mile run.

Photo by JORDAN BARTZ | The ShieldHead Coach Justin Wrigley talks to the students before they run.

RECRUITERS REACH TO STASaint Thomas Aquinas student-athletes share their stories behind the recruiting process.

by BRYAN ZACKCampus News Editor

Every year, hundreds of university and college coaches go searching for a new group of talented athletes to recruit. Every year, hundreds of top schools award athletes more than $1 bil-lion in sports scholarships.

Saint Thomas Aquinas stu-dent-athletes have to go through the process of finding the right college program for them. Aqui-nas athletes choose many different colleges all around the country from NCAA Division I schools with more than 30,000 students to NAIA schools and junior colleges with as few as a few hundred students.

Everybody’s process to com-mit is a little bit different.

“I felt like it was going to be the best opportunity for me academically and athletically,” said Nick Pascuzzi who will play base-ball at Rockhurst University..

The location of the of the school can be very important.

“Lipscomb is in a really cool city so when I am not playing volleyball I want to be able to do something fun,” said senior Brittany Thomas, who is commit-ted to play volleyball at the Div. I school in Nashville. “And one of my friends is going there. When I went on a visit, I loved it and I could totally see myself there.”

Students have to take into account more than just the athletic program itself.

“I was looking between Baker and Benedictine,” said distance

runner Joe Linder, who verbal-ly committed to Baker . “Both had the major I wanted (exercise science). I realized Benedictine had more flaws than Baker such as dorm rooms and food. So the decision came down to which had a better running program.”

And Tia Weledji said “They have really good academics and ranked number one in the Ivy

league.” And other athletes choose

more based on the program. “I really liked the atmosphere

there coaches were great and just very welcoming,” said Ellie Boring who is rowing at Kansas State University next year.

And Alex Van pelt said, “ They’re (Wichita State) a good program and they offered me a

preferred walk-on spot.” Wichita State has the fourth best winning percentage in NCAA history.

Much more goes into the col-lege recruiting process than many may realize. Most people have to do a lot of work on and off they playing field. There is more to the recruiting process than just playing and having coaches watch.

“I spent a lot of time e-mailing coaches, making highlight videos, and keeping in contact with coaches,” Thomas said. “It’s a long process. I wanted to be done as soon as I started.”

Pascuzzi also did not enjoy the process.

“It was hard. A lot of it was coaches coming to see me and go-ing to their camps,” said Pascuzzi.

For some athletes, the pro-cess can be difficult.

“It was kind of stressful be-cause I knew I was going to have to work hard to make it to the Div. I level,” Van Pelt said.

For other athletes, the recruit-ing process is a lot easier.

“It was pretty simple,” Linder said. “I showed my interest by fill-ing out a recruiting questionnaire in the summer. Then I started meeting with admissions people and teachers. I got to eat lunch

with the cross country team then ran with them.”

Sometimes students even get recruited for a sport they do not even play.

“I got recruited for row-ing through volleyball,” Boring

said. “They noticed I was a tall athlete that is going to work hard. I have never actually been in a boat before. I am going to redshirt my freshman year along with all of the other freshmen.”

Tips for othersThese athletes have some

good advice for future college student athletes.

“Make sure it’s a college that has the academics you want to go into,” Linder said, “because you won’t be playing sports the rest of your life. Also, make sure you can see yourself there.”

Weledji said the process requires some self-confidence and self-awareness.

“Stay persistent and don’t doubt yourself,” she said. “Make sure you know what you really want in a college.”

Many of them said to start the process early. It makes things much easier. and finally “Keep chugging it’s a long process, but its worth it,” said Thomas. g

“I try to play outside whenever I can and get into the feeling of play-

ing in tournaments. Hitting on grass is the best and necessary way

to get the feeling back.”

AUSTIN KRUSEsenior

“Right now since we’re just starting our winter workouts, we’re only running five miles

a day. Then every two or three weeks, we’ll bump our runs by

another mile.”

JOE LINDERsenior

Photo by HOPE THOMPSON | The MedallionSeniors Brittany Thomas and Makenzie Elder have their eyes on the volleyball to save the point.

“I spent a lot of time e-mail-ing coaches, making highlight videos, and keeping in contact with coaches. It’s a long pro-cess. I wanted to be done as

soon as I started.”

BRITTANY THOMASsenior

8 The Shield December 16, 2013

Last Look

CHRISTMAS AT AQUINAS

Photo by ANNIE SCHUGART | The ShieldSeniors Grace Geist, Joe Kelly and Brooks Bonham wrap presents for their Christmas family during STA Period.

Photo by HOPE THOMPSON | The MedallionSanta visited Aquinas last Wednesday to take pictures with students. Seniors Sarah Whitney

and Sarah Brekke pose with Santa (Phil Farnan) and elves (Student Council members).

Photos by ANNIE SCHUGART | The ShieldAbove: German students Lindsey Perz and Hannah Leiker decorate the German Club tree downstairs in Herr Thelen’s classroom with traditional German ornaments.

Below: Senior TJ Eccles labels presents for his STA Period’s NHS Christmas family.

Left corner: Seniors Lindsey Perz and Sarah Clark set up the German Christmas tree.

Left: Senior Julia Shields, a member of the National Honor Society STA Period, finishes wrapping a present for the NHS Christmas family.