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The April issue of Johnston High School's student run newspaper, the Black and White
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April, 2013
the black and white. april 2013. volume 21 issue 8. 5152780449. 6501 NW 62nd ave. johnston, ia
follow us @jhsnewspaper Find us on Facebook! t f Friend and like us on Facebook Jhs Black and White Find us on Twitter! www.jhsblackandwhite.com
Carico leaves JMS The deal with Drake RelaysJMS principal Brian Carico will leave the district next year
pg. 4
Sports practice changesHow early dismissals and a new rule will affect practices next year
pg. 15pg. 13
Why Drake Relays competition trumps the state track meet
Thoroughly
MillieModern
See pictures from the JHS musical pg. 3
the b&w index
The Black and White is published solely by the Johnston High School newspa-per staff. Its goal is to inform, enlighten and entertain Johnston students. It is an open forum. In accordance with Iowa law and board policy, students assign and edit material and make all decisions of content. The paper is published ten times per school year. The paper will avoid material that is libelous, obscene or an invasion of privacy. The law does not require parental permission to use student quotes. Ethically, we believe students can speak for themselves. Staff editorials represent the opinion of a majority of the editorial board. Editorial and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the adviser, school officials or the district. Letters to the editor must be signed. Like all material, letters may not be libelous, obscene or an invasion of privacy. Bring letters to room 413 within one week after publication to be considered for the next issue. The Black and White strives to report accurate and timely information. If you believe that an error has been printed, please contact the editors at [email protected]. The Black and White is a member of CSPA, NSPA, Quill & Scroll, and IHSPA. Recent issues of the paper earned these honors: Colum-bia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist, National Scholastic Press As-sociation First Class rating, Quill & Scroll Gallup Award, IHSPA state placings and sixth in the National Best of Show.
PHILOSOPHYLaura Scieszinski
Austin BuschClare FarrellNiki FergusonMonica GagneAaron GrayMollie GreenwoodMyles GlandorfTaylor JoensKatelyn LundersEthan MarshallCourtney Mithelman
Staff writersmeet the staffEditorial boardHannah Soyereditors in chief
Paige Cramerdesign editorKenzie Foldessub-editorsSarah Margolin- CopyAnne Rogers- SportsSarah Ross- Feature
Zoe WilsonJeremy Caracci Kevin WuSenad BesicDaisha McAvaddyEllen BennettAmra DevedzicMedina Jusufovic Carly KinningAshleigh Edwards
Mallorie Goodale- News
in this issue
]april 2013ne
ws 3Photo essay
4
Poster contro-versyDesign II art class post-er taken down due to its message
5
Rumor busters- New grinding policies- GSA club up and run-ning
To Bear or Not To Bear
feat
ure
Sub talk
JHS Ambassadors
All you ever wanted to know about the substi-tute teachers
A program for new stu-dents starts up to make them feel more comfort-able at school
edito
rial
Be happyThings to smile about as the school year ends and life seems sad
12 Study tips
Carico goes to Indianola
11
Helpful hints on how to ace your next test
Brian Carico announces his decision to leave the district
back
page
7
10
heal
th
98
Prestigous studentsTwo students are ac-cepted into two of the Ivy League schools in the country
Coat Drive
6
Animal scienceAdvanced Life Science: Animals is filled with ani-mals provided by Kyla Burns
[See a dress-rehersal of the the musical “Thoroug-ly Modern Millie”
Do not pass up the pope The pope stands not only as a leader of faith, but also a moral role modelop
inio
n
opin
ion 13 Drake vs.State
The state track meet does not show athletic ability like the Drake Re-lays do
14Wisdom teethThe process of getting wisdom teeth pulled and what one should expect
15 Athletics change for next yearNew football regulations and early out Wednes-days affect practice schedules
16
the b&w photo essayp.3
words & photos Katelyn Lunders
Trevor Graydon, played by junior Craig O’Keefe, searches for
more of his beverage at the bottom of his cup. Graydon was stood up by another character, Miss Dorothy Brown, and is using alcohol to drown his sorrows.
Members of the cho-rus, from left to right, senior Joscey Min-
er, sophomore Autumn Askew, and junior Morgan Jensen are passed out in jail. The cast was arrested at a party and are waiting to be bailed out of jail.
Junior Drew Grill dips
freshman Gre-ta Hammond in a musical number. The two actors appear in several scenes as mem-bers of the chorus.
Millie Dillmount and Jimmy Smith, are played by seniors
Laura Smalley and Alex Kaptain. The two are dancing on the edge of a building. Both Smalley and Kaptain were in The Wizard of Oz, last year.
ThoroughlyModern
Millie in p
hoto
s
Mrs. Meers, played by senior Amelia Ham-mond, kidnaps Muzzy,
played by senior Melia Black. Muzzy pretends to be an orphan in the hopes of finding Miss Dorothy Brown, who is an orphan that Mrs. Meers kidnapped.
“Thoroughly Modern Millie” was performed
April 19 at 7:30 p.m., April 20 at 2:00 and 7:30 p.m., and April 21 at 2:00 p.m.
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the b&w newsp.4
words & layout Ethan Marshall
You got ‘em. We bust ‘em.
RUMORBUSTERS
GRINDING AT A PROM RESULTS IN A WARNING FROM CHAP-ERONES
BUSTED
CONFIRMEDGSA (GAY STRAIGHT ALLIANCE) IS ACTIVE
GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) is a club that engages in support groups, discussions, and posters to stop using words with nega-tive connotation towards people of all sexual orientations. “It can make a lot of difference being there for someone,” junior and presdient of GSA Jack Kapustka said.
GSA meets in Mr. Walker’s room, room 504, every other Thursday. Kapustka revived the club after winter break. The first meeting was Thursday, February 7th. “It’s fun to be in,” Kapustka said. “Everyone is really excited and nice to each other.”
Current middle school principal Brian Cari-co has accepted the offer of Indianola High School principal starting in the 2013-2014 school year. He officially starts July 1.
It is hard for Carico to leave Johnston, but he knows it’s best. “I love it here,” Carico said. “The school is great, the kids are great, the community is great.”
Even though he loves Johnston, he feels that it is best for him to leave for personal rea-sons.
“I see every 15 year-old boy as a 15 year -old boy and I don’t get to see the growth,” he said. “I don’t get to watch them move to the next stage of their life. I need to be able to see the growth, and continue watching kids grow.”
Carico’s favorite part about Johnston is the students. When asked what he will miss the most, Carico said, “Probably the kids. That’s why you get into this, that’s why you do this job. And to see some of the kids that have been really, really close to me, I won’t be able to see them as much, so that’s going to be hard.”
Sophomore Kelsey Caffrey is sad that Cari-co is leaving Johnston, but she knows that the students at Indianola will enjoy having Carico there just as much as the students in John-ston do. “Mr. Carico has inspired me by be-ing a good role model with a positive attitude,” Caffrey said. “He is a man with great character and only good in his heart.”
Principal Brent Riessen also thinks that he will like his future job. “I am excited for him. He will do a great job in his new position,” he said.
Carico is also very comfortable with John-ston. “I know exactly where everything is, it just feels comfortable here. With that being down there [Indianola], I didn’t even know where to park the first day.”
Even though Carico will miss some things at Johnston, he is looking forward to working
Carico leaves districtMiddle school principal Brian Carico prepares for his new job as principal in Indianola
at Indianola. “A new chance, a new start. I’ve already got some things lined up to do some training for mental health awareness.”
He is also looking forward to the high school activities.
The job offer was posted, and some people told him about it, so he eventually applied on-line. Then he had a screen interview through Skype. “The sound didn’t work, so I had to call, while I was Skyping!” Carico said.
The district interviewed three people, and they went to Indianola for a full-day interview, lasting from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Carico inter-viewed with district administration, building ad-ministration, certified staff, classified staff, and students. He also observed a teacher giving a lesson in the classroom and then gave feed-back to the teacher in a conference.
“I really am kind of torn about leaving, but it’s just best, personally, for me to go and do something different for a while,” he said.
words & layout Courtney Mithelman
Grinding
Administration says no grinding of any kind will be allowed starting with prom. No warnings. People grinding will be thrown out. No reimbursment or refund.
Face-to-face dancing is the only kind of dancing now allowed. However, Congo line and dances like it are allowed even though they are face to back. “We want people to feel comfortable and have a good time,” principal Brent Riessen said. “Some kids follow along because they don’t know what to do. They grind because they don’t want to feel dif-ferent,” Riessen said.
Specific movements strictly pro-hibited include bending over with hands and knees on the ground, leg and hip riding, pelvic thrusting, forcefully pressing against each other, inappropriate grabbing or any sexually suggestive act. Brian Carico is excited to accept his
new job at Indianola.
the b&w newsp.5
The school’s administration took down a con-troversial poster on display in the art case by the lunchroom earlier this semester. Senior Sara Thim-mesch created the poster in the Design II art class.
The Design II teacher Daniel Weiss assigned the project to create a piece that reflected a spe-cific message. “You wanted to disorient the viewer and grab their attention, and raise awareness about an issue,” Thimmesch said. “I actually wasn’t going to show that idea to the class, but then [Mr.
Weiss] saw one of my sketches and made me show it to them.”
The poster’s mes-sage was about lift-ing stereotypical la-
bels. Thimmesch associated de-grading labels with pictures of everyday people. “I presented my ideas to the c l a s s
and then I sent around
a list of words I might want to use,” Thimmesch said. The names
or labels were de-grading by race, ori-
entation, lifestyle or mental health status.
Cutout letters of the words revealed parts of the pictures.
Lifting the word flap to reveal the pictures
was meant to symbolize the act of lifting the ste-
Poster taken down due to controversy words & layout Paige Cramer & Daisha McAvaddy
reotypical labels off a person. “That was the hardest part, choosing which pictures to use because you are against stereotypes, but you have to stereo-type to make the project.” Thimmesch strategically chose each picture she used from the Internet. “I tried to pick people who looked self-determined and you would be shocked if someone actually called them that.”
Thimmesch wanted to use words that students might hear someone say around the school, be-cause the words would have more impact. “If some-one were to call them that, if they wanted to offend them, they wouldn’t say ‘hey you’re an n-word.’” However, Thimmesh did realize that these words might offend some people. “I was really understand-ing about it because it’s a public building and those are really bad words. We have rules against that in school, so I knew it would be taken down.”
There were many reasons the administrative staff felt that the poster should be taken down. “I don’t want to have any bad reflection on her, the class or the school,” principal Brent Riessen said. “In no way, shape or form did she do anything wrong and I wouldn’t want it to be portrayed that way.”
Riessen said he must balance different perspec-tives held by students, parents, staff and others. “What you have to do is think about those people who aren’t large in number,” he said. “You think about what most people look like around here at Johnston, what their views are ... the majority is al-ways well represented so we always try to put on the lens of others and see how it’s going to be re-ceived by this group or that group,” he said.
Riessen explained that because the poster was housed in an enclosed case, students were not able to “lift the labels,” and some might not understand the message. “I think you always run the risk of that when putting up something without an explanation,” Riessen said. “When something goes up without dialogue, without a conversation, how’s it going to be received? That’s kind of the test that we use.”
Riessen sought input before deciding the poster should come down. “Typically I run it by a lot of peo-
ple,” he said. “I run it by the counselors, I’ll run it by our other administrators and in some cases I’ll talk to other people and say ‘Hey, what do you think?’ Because I’ve got my set of opinions, I’ve got my set of views and I know sometimes that might not be what other people think.”
Most items posted in the school need to be ap-proved by the administration and hung in desig-nated areas. For certain items, like the art display case, the administrative staff allows teachers to use their own discretion as to whether an item should be posted. “When Mr. Weiss said he was going to put it up, I said it was going to get taken down right away,” Thimmesch said. After it was taken down, she put it up on the Internet so that people would still be able to see it. “I put it on Facebook; everyone responded positively,” she said.
Not every item that might offend someone would be taken down. “Let’s say you find Christians of-fensive,” Riessen said. “To have every Fellowship of Christian Athletes sign come down would not be something we would do because that’s a school-sponsored club. Now if they put something on there that was over the top, we would deal with that.”
The intent of an item that is to be posted would also be measured. “If the desire is to it up in the building, then it would be my desire that we work with them ahead of time to make sure it meets the requirements,” Riessen said. “If the desire is just to do a project, then we don’t need to do that.”
Reissen found no fault with Timmesch doing the assignment. “I think what I’m pleased about is that she had an assignment, she did the assignment, did a great job on the assignment and that’s great.”
Everyone involved in the decision agreed this was the best option for the school. Weiss had no comment on the issue.
“When it comes to specific classes,” Riessen said, “I talk to the teacher, I talk to the student and work through that, and I would say in this we’ve done that and we’re in a good spot. I think every-body understands, everybody’s is comfortable with that.”
the b&w newsp.6
words Ellen Bennett
adopts an ambassador program JHSAmbassador Responsibilities
1
New students will no longer be alone during their first days at the high school. Next year, the school is implementing a new program, the JHS Ambassadors. Ambassadors will help students new to the high school feel welcome.
“The goal is to facilitate or make easier for new stu-dents at the high school,” guidance department secre-tary Sarah Marckmann said.
Marckmann has felt a need for the program since her start at Johnston. She never knew whose responsi-bility it was but one day things just clicked.
“I have seen too many brand new students sitting in the library because they are afraid of the cafeteria,” Marckmann said. “It just breaks my heart.”
She knows how these students feel. She moved ev-ery three years growing up because her father was in the military.
Looking back, Marckmann said that she would not always be true to herself because she just wanted to blend into groups.
“I want the new kids to be able to find a connection and feel comfortable here as quickly as possible,” she said.
Marckmann sent an email to all of the current sopho-mores and juniors encouraging them to apply for the program. Applications for this year were due April 19.
”Ambassadors should be those that care about Johnston and really have a heart for helping other stu-dents,” Marckmann said.
Those selected to be ambassadors will help provide a positive representation of Johnston and also assist new students to feel comfortable during the transition.
“I want the new kids to be able to find a connec-tion and feel comfortable here as quickly as possible,” Marckmann said.
Several metro schools have a similar program in-cluding Urbandale, Southeast Polk, Valley and Dowling.
Marckmann looked to other schools for inspiration of how to form the JHS Ambassadors. High school guid-ance counselor Tracy Edwards leads the ambassador program at Urbandale.
“I found the idea for the program at a conference I was at,” Edwards said. “Many other schools had am-bassadors and I thought it was something we needed at Urbandale.”
Next year will be the Urbandale program’s fifth year.
Sophomore Sarah Caporelli, a new student this year, said that she sat alone in the commons for lunch on her first day. She agrees that it is hard when you move dur-ing high school because everyone has already made friends.
“Everyone is shy when they are new,” Caporelli said. “It’s a scary experience.”
Caporelli also said that it is difficult because most people do not know whether a student is new or not, and that a little bit of kindness goes a long way.
Ambassadors would assist new students in becom-ing a part of the community. Each ambassador would be assigned several students who they would help get to and from classes, navigate the lunch scene, and in-form them about Johnston for the first several days.
Because new students come at different times dur-ing the year, ambassadors would help whenever new students arrived.
“We will have families that come to me and say we are enrolling today,” Marckmann said
Other ambassador duties would include taking prospective families on tours. Marckmann sees sev-eral cases of families who say they are “shopping for a school.”
In these cases, ambassadors would give a tour im-
Giving school tours
Assisting with sophomore orientation
Helping new students during their first days of school
Available to help all students with questions
mediately and promote Johnston by being aware of sport teams, clubs and the community.
Marckmann was looking for about 20-25 ambassa-dors because she does not want their responsibilities to become a burden. Ambassadors will be juniors and seniors and also will provide help to sophomores.
Caporelli thinks this will be successful because one-on-one attention makes her feel more welcome than being placed into a large group of people she does not know.
The application process included filling out the ap-plication and typing a response as to why the applicant would make a good ambassador. Marckmann plans to interview the applicants to make sure that they are per-sonable because they will be talking to new students and their families. She also hopes that ambassadors are involved in a variety of activities.
Many students have applied. Sophomore Zach Walker is one of them. “New students can trust me to be someone they can go to for anything,” Walker said. He wants to become a student ambassador because it will give him the ability to better assist those who are new.
Caporelli has also applied to be an ambassador next year because she said it sounded interesting.
“I know how they will feel in the beginning,” Caporelli said. “I want to change the bad things and make the good things better.”
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4
layout Sarah Ross
Caporelli works on school work while eating lunch in the commons. She no longer eats alone and sits with two other friends.
Anne Rogers/BW
the b&w newsp.7
Students go to Ivy LeaguesUse Helvetica Neue LT Std Light Condensed for subhead
words Katelyn Lunders
Senior Vivian Wu was accepted by her first choice for a college, the University of Pennsylvania’s famous Wharton school of business. Penn-sylvania is also a part of the Ivy League.
In her applications Wu focused on academics, community service and extracurricular activities, such as music which she is passionate about. “A lot of people try to enter into a ton of clubs like all over the place, but I think it’s better to focus on one thing and stick with it,” Wu said. “It shows dedication and passion and drive towards something that you know you want.”
Wu learned that she was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania March 28. “I freaked out and started jumping around my house,” Wu said, “Then I called my dad because he was out of town and we were really happy over the phone.”
Wu’s father, Guisi Wu, is proud. “My first reaction was ‘I knew I had good genes.’ But in all seriousness, it was the best outcome we could’ve hoped for because Wharton is such a great place to study business,” he said. “I was really excited and relieved when I found out she was ac-cepted. And then I thought ‘Wow more than 60 grand a year, I’m never going to retire.”
Wu had to do several interviews for the multiple colleges she applied
Harvard University is one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Senior Jiahui Huang will be attending there next fall.
Harvard is a group of eight private institutuions of higher education in the northeastern United States caled the Ivy League. Approximately 30,000 student apply to the school each year.
Ivy League schools release their acceptance notifi-cations March 28, so Huang knew it was coming. She received acceptance or waitlisting emails from several schools, including Cornell. Yale University rejected her. “After I got my rejection letter from Yale I thought ‘I’m going to Cornell’ because I didn’t think I would get re-
jected from Yale and still have a chance at Harvard,” Huang said.
But when she opened her email from Harvard University at home, it said, “Congratulations,” she
screamed. “I was screaming at the top of my lungs and I was jumping up and down,” Huang said. “I
read the letter several times just to make sure it was real.” When she received the actual, concrete package in the mail from Harvard it finally began to sink in.
“I want to go into medicine and Harvard has one of the best pre-
med programs,” Huang said. “My decision [of which college to attend] was actually pretty easy because Harvard was my first choice.”
Huang does not believe that her acceptance to Harvard University was based solely on grades or test scores. “The thing that got me in would probably be my essay and my activities,” Huang said. She partici-pates in debate, speech, mock trial and yearbook.
Huang believes students should apply to several schools if they want to get into the Ivy League or other top 10 or 15 colleges. “I mean if you get accepted to all of them then you must be a genius,” she said. “But most likely you’ll get wait listed at some and rejected to some.”
Harvard interviews potential students as part of the selection process. Huang interviewed at the Urbandale Public Library. Her interview was about an hour long. “The interviewer told me that tons of people want to get into Harvard and a lot of people are qualified, but because Harvard will only accept 2,000 people from the 30,000 candidates, they have to pick and choose,” Huang said, “No one really knows what Harvard looks for so you can only hope for the best.”
Huang is both excited and scared for next year. “I’m kind of nervous about the kind of people that are going to Harvard because I joined a Facebook group for the Harvard class of 2017 and one of the guys was saying, “I want to become president’,” Huang said. “He’s serious; he’s not just like a little kid saying I want to become president, so I’m just very interested to see what kind of people are going to make up the class of 2017 at Harvard.”
for, along with intense application processes. “I wanted to quit,” she said, “but then looking back I think it was a good experience because it really challenged me to work hard and get everything done on time.”
When applying to prestigeous colleges, Wu believes you need to have it all. The people applying to the schools are ex-cellent in every category so a student has to show that they can keep up with her academics and at the same time excel in other activities. “If you get accepted you should know that everyone that got accepted is probably smarter than you so you have to try really hard and harder than you think it takes to get in,” Wu said.
Although Wu was accepted into many colleges she still recognizes her rejections and understands them. “There’s nothing you can actually do to make sure you get in,” Wu said. “When somebody reads your application they might like it but another per-son at the same school might read it and think that another person is better.” She believes that the review process is subjective. “It’s really what the per-son thinks about your application.”
Harvard Princeton YalePennsylvaniaCalifornia Berkeley California Los Angeles
attending
rejected
wait listed
rejected
accepted
accepted
did not apply
attending
rejected accepted
acceptedrejected
Wu picks Penn
Huang heads to Harvard
layout Hannah Soyer
A look into the behind-the-scenes of Johnston subswords & layout Sarah Ross Amra Devedzic Medina Jusufovic
Jake ErndWhile subbing for AP Literature and Composition teacher Sarah Wessling, sub-
stitute teacher Jake Ernd told his class that if they got their work done, he would let them in on how to get an A on a college paper. “It was the first story I’ve ever heard him tell,” senior Stephanie Phillips said. “I thought I was going to get the key to college success but instead I just heard about him passing out and it was just funny.”
Ernd started subbing for the district last fall. He tries to relate to students by telling them stories.
“It’s my reward process,” Ernd said. “If you do what I ask you to do I’ll tell you a little something about me.”
One thing many students may not know about Ernd is that he was once a boxing champion. In Chicago they have a tournament every year for boxing, for amateurs and professionals, Ernd was in the amateur division. Ernd’s father also competed in the tournament when he was 18 years old. “I wanted to be a cham-pion too and I thought it’d be cool to have our names kind of identical or posted somewhere, so I went into boxing when I was about 16,” Ernd said.
After two years of boxing, Ernd was able to enter the tournament. The tour-nament can be compared to college basketball’s March Madness which has 64 teams in the bracket. In the Golden Glove tournament there are about 32 com-petitors. Ernd ended up coming up on top. “I beat [my opponent] in 12 rounds, he knocked me out once and I knocked him out twice,” Ernd said. “The last one was the final; it was a one-two combination - that’s what I knocked him out with.”
Before Ernd moved to Iowa he lived in Indiana where he played college base-ball for Ball State. After moving to Waterloo, Iowa so he could work at his uncle’s golf course and pay for the rest of college. Ernd decided he was not happy in medical school. Ernd attended Hawkeye Tech and recently finished his education and English at UNI.
After Ernd graduated with a major in English and Education he completed his student teaching in Waterloo. When he was finished, he decided to move to Des Moines. “I didn’t want to be stuck in Waterloo, I felt like there was a little more out there, and I really love Iowa because I’m new to it still.” Ernd said. “I wanted to stay in Iowa so I figured lets go to the capitol, let’s move to to a place where there’s a little more people.” He first filed his paperwork out in Johnston to be-come a substitute, but later on got the job for the new ninth grade English teacher. Ernd will be taking ninth grade English teacher, Kate Leo’s spot and Leo will be taking eigth grade english teacher Lisa Boge’s class. Boge will be heading on to be one of the new counslers. Ernd is also the new assistant tennis coach for girls and boys tennis here at Johnston.
the b&w subsp.8&9 april 2013
Kelly BoonMost students know her for her bright red foam nose. Others simply refer to her as “the clown
lady.” For substitute teacher Kelly Boon, it is all a part of her mission to make people smile. “I was raised with, ‘if you can’t laugh at yourself, we’re going to have to do it for you,’” she said.
For Boon, living “happy” is a choice. “There is a good story just waiting to happen, even if it doesn’t seem so at the time,” she said.
Boon is long term subbing for Katie Black, the art teacher at the middle school. She also clowns and owns several businesses. When her fifth period seminar class signed up for dodgeball, the team named itself Boon’s Loons. She provided them with clown noses.
In addition to subbing, she started a business called CHAOS, a company centered around making the world a more happy place. “By inviting a little chaos into your life, you can reduce stress, be more productive and purposeful and become healthier and happier,” Boon said. “I teach people how to laugh, be more creative and choose to live happily ever after.” When she speaks to large groups as a CHAOS coach, she introduces wearing a red nose.”
Before starting CHAOS, Boon founded the non-profit pARTners Unlimited. “This was a statewide program employing performance and visual artists to provide long-term arts residencies in prisons, detention and alter-native school programs,” Boon said. “The arts utilize all learning styles and intelligences, engaging students in an environment where they are scarcely aware they are learning.”
Her current venture is called The PEARL Project [People Engaging in the Arts Rejoicing in Life]. “We project my paintings onto the sides of mountains and skyscrapers accompanied by 1st Nations drummers (Native Americans) from all over the continent with the focus on uniting cultures while honoring 1st Nation’s people in bringing world peace,” she said.
She has worked as a professional artist for over 25 years and has a studio downtown in the Fitch building. She describes her paintings as large and colorful, some as large as 10 feet. Boon’s art is very colorful and abstract. You can view her art at www.whitefeatherart.com.
“Yeah. she’s a pretty cool teacher no doubt. She illustrates children’s books and her sketches are out of this world,” senior Casey Halder said.
Boon hopes her motivational speaking takes people to better places in life. “Wherever I go, a trail of gover-nors, presidential candidates, accountants, attorneys, correctional staff and inmates, administrators, doctors, professors, race-car drivers, ministers and other respectable people have been seen wearing bright, red clown noses,” Boon said.
SubTalkBilly JeanJackson-Stone
Substitute teacher Billy Jean Jackson Stone views her job as chance to connect with students in a better way than her teachers connected with her and her classmates when she was in high school. “When I was in school all the teachers, I thought, were really mean to certain students,” Stone said. “As I was sitting back in the third grade I thought gee-wiz I want that person’s job but I don’t want to be mean. I want to be a kind, free-spirited person.”
Stone was born in 1950 in Des Moines, Iowa. She attended St. Joseph’s Academy, an all-girls Catholic school. “The all-girls school gave me my zest, my energy,” Stone said. she graduated and attended Centerville College, Parsons College, and later Dubuque College where she graduated with a teaching degree.
Growing up during the Civil Rights Movement was not easy for Stone. “In my schools they tried not to be racist, but they were extremely,” Stone said. “When it came time to do things I always ended up at the back of the line.” Stone said that she was not allowed to go in certain restaurants growing up, and had to sit in the balcony at some theatres because she was African American. “It was something we knew we had to do, we couldn’t buck the system,” Stone said.
Stone started teaching in the Des Moines Public School District in 1972 and taught there for 33 years. After nine years of teaching, she had the impression that teachers were still being mean to students. She decided to become an administrator. “I’d crack the whip, I put some fire in somebody’s belly and I get rid of those teachers or put them in a program where they can be more sensitive,” Stone said.
Outside of subbing, Stone enjoys playing games, watching movies, and talking with her daughter and husband. “This is a cold and cruel world and I want to make sure inside my family there are as many hugs and high-fives,” Stone said.
Although Stone has nothing she dislikes about subbing, she thinks it is difficult. “There is always one student in there that wants to challenge you and the bottom ground I say for subs is to stand your ground,” Stone said. “Be open, be honest and be good. Move around a lot. Establish who’s in charge. Ask permission that you’re in charge for the day from the students.”
Students and teachers who have met Jackson agree she has a distin-guished personality. Senior Monica Caporelli, who had Jackson for AP Lit-erature said, “Her attitude is so infectious, she just brightens the room.”
Sophomore Alec Kuehn said Jackson brings her “southern sass” to the table as a sub. “She seems like a very energetic and positivie women.”
If Stone wants students to understand that she knows what she is talking about. “I want them to take away that I am intelligent, I know my material.” Also she wants students to understand that all minorities are not the same. “As a teacher I don’t want to be pigeon-holed,” she said. “I don’t want to be like everyone else. This is my mission in life. Everything comes in different packages. Respect people.”
the b&w featurep.10
Burns
Kyla Burns handed in her Advanced Life Sciences: Animals proposal after two years in the Johnston district.
Animal science is a one semester class that counts as a .5 credit of science. “We do count it for science credit,” guidance counselor Sue Baker said. “Occasionally there are some four-year colleges that may not count it as a sci-ence credit but consider it more of an elective.”
Worms, corals, reptiles, mammals and more are cov-ered in animal science. “A lot of it is mostly evolution of animals and we kind of look at how animals live and their environment so I think it’s good to know since I want to go into veterinarian (schooling),” junior animal science student Sarah Birkett said. The class starts with simpler animals, such as worms, and works its way up to mam-mals. “Learning about the worms threw me off,” former student and service credit of Burns, senior Taner Burns said. “I just didn’t know we were going to learn about all these different types of worms.”
Burns has a total of 30 animals in her classroom in-cluding snakes and a hedgehog. She also has 13 animals at home.
A unique feature of the animal science class is the visit to an elementary school. Each semester, every class divides into groups and one to two students feed and research an animal. After their research is finished, the class presents the animals to elementary classes.
The number of animals in Burn’s care has fluctuated through the years. Burns estimates the maximum number of animals she owned was 35.
“I think I’m at a good spot right now (with animals),” Burns said. “If someone happens to offer something re-ally cool I’m sure [my husband and I will] take it because we can’t resist.”
While Burns was presenting all the ani-mals to the class, she pulled out her tarantula, Rosie. Burns continued to explain the tarantula as Rosie started to walk across her hand. Sud-denly, Rosie hit the floor and died. “Well I blame her,” Burns said. “She walked out of my hand.” One week after, Burns confessed to her class. “I didn’t tell the class right away that I knew she was going to die,” Burns said. “I didn’t want to make them sad the first week of school that I killed one of the animals but I knew that fall was too high for her and that she was going to die.” That same month, Rosie was replaced by the current tarantula, Charlotte.
Burns’ hamster obsessionBurns first pet was a white fish she named “Cupcake”.
“My first real pet-pet that I could snuggle with was a ham-ster,” she said “and I got obsessed with them in like third grade.” Burns would receive hamsters without her par-ents permission. “My parents got kind of upset with me,” Burns said, “because I kept acquiring them from different places like a friends mom said ‘you can take so-and-so.” Now, Burns daughter owns a white hampster as her first pet, that stays in the classroom during the year, which her daughter named “Cupcake”.
shares heranimals
Tarantula trauma
Senior Jordan Galle sprays Abe the bearded dragon after feeding him lettuce for the Friday feeding day in animal science.
Senior Simmone Doswell tries to feed Sunny the gecko mealworms as animal science teacher Kyla Burns holds him in place.
Animal science overview
Animal science teacher Kyla Burns attempt to feed Abe the bearded dragon mealworms while senior Paige Dixson and sophomore Kristen Stucker watch.
words Laura Scieszinskilayout Kenzie Foldes
Laura Scieszinski/BW
Laura Scieszinski/BW
Laura Scieszinski/BW
the b&w editorialp.11
It has been raining for days on end, homework is not getting any easier, and the end of the school year seems ages away, even though it is less than five weeks out. Here are some things to make you happy
The administration will support
any same-sex couple wishing to
attend prom. At this school at
least, gay students do not have
to file lawsuits in order to be
treated equally.
The music department is on its
third musical. People get to sing
and dance, and others get to
watch people sing and dance.
The Dragon Cafe on Wed. morn-
ings allow us to sleep in and eat
a great breakfast.
Lazer tag is happening at after
prom. On top of all the other fun
activities like karaoke, inflatables,
the money walk and the hypno-
tist.
We only have to go to school for
half of a day Wed. April 24. Do
not use this time to do home-
work, use it to hug your friends
and family.
Turn that frown upside down!
The newspaper is online. Our
pictures are in color. Go see baby
pictures of your teachers.
French students are gracing our
presence this week. Make sure to
say “bonjour”.
VanDees is open! There is a new
owner. The time is now to grab
your friends and head on over to
devour some ice cream.
Art teacher Daniel Weiss takes
one day out of his year to take
students to Minneapolis to
view art. Fun, friends and pretty
things.
Running shoes: $100
Water bottle: $15
Protein shake: $5
T-shirt: $20
Our fitness center: priceless
Librarians give coffee and tea
for 50 cents everyday. Use the
money you saved from their am-
nesty week that sets you free of
any library debt to pay for a cup.
Student council’s Big Give was
able to give $3,500 to the Part-
nership Place. Pat on the back
to everyone who helped and
participated.
equality
musicals
after prom
yummy food
short days foreign friends
online news
ice cream cheap drinks
fitness center big give cool art
the b&w opinionp.12
Sitting in advisory, the KCCI app on my iPad alerted me that there was white smoke coming out of the chim-ney above the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Most people would laugh to know that this mere fact had me jumping up and down, tweeting and texting my family members that there was white smoke.
After the College of Cardinals vote on the pope, they burn the ballots. The smoke comes out of the chimney above the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The smoke alerts the people outside the outcome of the vote. If the smoke is black, a two-thirds vote was not reached. If there is white smoke, there was a two-thirds vote and a new pope.
This was a big deal for me because I grew up Catholic and knew that this was something that would only hap-pen a few times in my life. I found a website that was live streaming the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica where I could watch the new pope appear. All through class it was very hard to contain my joy when the world found out who the new pope was.
For freshman Megan Crotts, this was an exciting day as well. “It’s not like electing a new president where it hap-pens every four years,” Crotts said. “It could happen every year, it could happen in one year it could happen in 30. So it’s something really beautiful for the faith to experience.”
While I was beyond excited for the new pope, not every Catholic shared my enthusiasm.
Junior Ethan Moran, who is Catholic as well, was one of those who did not find the election of the new pope special. “I wasn’t very excited about the new pope,” Moran said. “It is cool how Pope Benedict XVI was the first to resign in a long time. I think Pope Francis will do a great job and pro-mote the Catholic church very well.”
When I could not find someone Catholic to share my excitement with, I told anyone who would listen. A re-sponse I received from a Christian friend of mine was, “I’m not Catholic so I don’t really care.” Most people feel that if you believe in the Catholic faith, you should celebrate the Catholic traditions. If not, then there seems to be no need to care about the election of a new pope.
However as Christians, Catholic and Protestant reli-gions have more similarities than differences. There is a general unity among the churches’ views such as abortion, gay marriage and peace. There is also the common belief that Jesus came from Heaven and died for our sins.
The pope may not seem to have much of an effect on high school students, but he has a bigger impact on our
Habemus Papam:
lives than we realize. Pope Francis is the leader of the 1.2 billion Catholics around the world who are apart of the Catholic church. Maggie Schopp, youth director at Saint Mary of Nazareth Catholic church, explained that even if you are not Catholic, Pope Francis is still a leader.
“The Catholic church is the universal church which means it’s the church for everyone,” Schopp said. “So even if people aren’t Catholic he’s still the spiritual leader of all people.”
According to the Bible, Jesus appointed Peter as the first pope and said that Peter was the rock that the church was built on. The line of popes can be traced all the way back to Peter and the pope today is still considered the rock of the church.
“It’s kind of like Jesus was handing the reins over to Peter,” Schopp said. “So Peter is now, in a sense, like the Christ on earth for us to see. Now, we have Pope Francis who is like Christ to us, in a sense. He is the spiritual leader that brings the truth and brings an example of virtue and holiness and doesn’t waiver.”
There are many ways to keep up with Pope Francis. On the official Vatican website, all his sermons, speeches, messages, prayers and much more are available at your fingertips. There is an app called The Pope App where you can live stream Mass and other speeches he has given. Pope Francis even has a Twitter account.
Father Greg Leach, priest at Saint Mary of Nazareth, sees Pope Francis and his message as a challenge to Catholics. “The way he has reached out to people and the less fortunate has been part of his life and ministry prior to being elected pope,” Leach said. “Maybe we can learn from some of those gifts and by that example of reaching
out to those less fortunate.”During his teenage years, Leach, like many high school
students today, did not realize the importance of the pope. “When I was in high school I didn’t see direct connections,” Leech said. “Looking back I can see more how things had that big picture that maybe I didn’t see right in front of my face when I was younger.”
I get it, the pope is in Rome, which is more than 4,200 miles away and it is hard to feel a connection with a 76 year-old man from Argentina. Having more than 1.2 billion followers may make Pope Francis seem like a celebrity, but more people like to keep up with the Kardashians. The pope is a figure of faith; however, his messages can apply to anyone. Pope Francis has given speeches about com-plaining, world peace and helping the poor.
Schopp said Pope Francis will not change anything as far as what we believe, but in the way we live out our faith. “The media has been pointing out how much he goes out and he serves some of the different kinds of people,” Schopp said. “In that sense he is an example to us. He is so pastoral and in his ministry he just cares about people a lot and I think through that example he will be a light to give us strength and courage.”
The day the pope was elected, made me realize how many people did not see this day as very important. The pope should be a big deal for everyone. “He’s the pope for all people,” Schopp said. “He’s not just some irrelevant old man.”
I encourage you to get in touch with our pope, no mat-ter your religion. He serves as a model for all of us. He will become more than that guy in Rome. He can be a model of faith, charity and so much more.
The election of the new pope is more im-portant than most realizewords & layout Mallorie Goodale
Mallorie Goodale/BW
Latin for “We have a pope”
the b&w opinionp.13
ly by time. They take the fastest times from the very first meet to the cut-off date, no exceptions. This is often very stressful because you can literally see how good you are compared to everyone else in the state. All the times are posted on quikstatsiowa.com. Matt Jaschen, boys’ distance coach, explains how stressful it can be. “When you get down to those last couple of meets things get dicey.” Jaschen said. “We’re looking online all the time making sure we don’t get bumped out.” The track team is feeling that pressure now with the cutoff being 11:59 on the 18th of April.
The Drake Relays are bigger and better than the State track meet
It is the final game of the season, what everyone has been waiting for. You build up everything for this and for many sports this would be some sort of state competition. Whether it is the playoffs or just a quali-fying game to get into the tournament, most sports strive to compete at the state level.
In track there is something different. For me, there is something that is bigger and better than the state meet. It is a meet that you work toward the whole sea-son. It is the Drake Relays.
The state meet and the Drake Relays are very similar in the way the meet is run. Each is three days long with different events each day, and they are both extremely hard. The main difference between the two is the competition.
What makes the competition so much better at Drake is that there are no classes. 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A do not exist and it truly is the best runners in the entire state running at the same time. The races are also much more limited. The 400 hurdles for example only allow the top eight runners in the state to compete at Drake. At the state meet the top 24 runners from each class compete, plus there are four winners instead of one.
Girls’ track head coach Chris Siewert explained how for them, State is the important meet for the sea-son. “Drake isn’t the focus, it’s great if we make it, those girls have earned that spot,” Siewert said. “But when it comes down to the end the focus is the state meet. It’s the best of the best at that time. I would hope everybody is peaking and focusing on that last meet.” Pat Mattingly, boys’ track head coach, has a dif-ferent view. “Our focus at the beginning of the season is Drake because it comes first,” Mattingly said. “But if you qualify for Drake you usually qualify for State so the focus transfers right after Drake.”
For me Drake was unlike any other meet I had ever experienced. I ran at State my freshman year and got the opportunity to run at both Drake and State my sophomore year. Don’t get me wrong, running at state is an awesome experience, but it’s nothing compared to Drake. The atmosphere is crazy.
The one thing that is better at State than at Drake is the anticipation. The way you qualify for Drake is strict-
words & layout Jeremy Caracci
State track not living up to Drake’s standards
Which do you prefer?
Drake has more competition be-cause it’s every class, not just 4A. You also get to run on the same track as the college and pro athletes. But I got more nervous at State with it being the last meet and all.
Bryon Christensen
Jordan WeddingtonI like State. It’s more of a chance to become a champ ion. For State we’re going for a title and at Drake it’s just good to be there.
Photo by Jeremy Caracci
Photo by Jeremy Caracci
Sophomore Jack Bergstrom runs the anchor leg of the boys’ varsity 4x400 meter relay. The team placed 1st in the event with a time of 3:25:72. That time current puts the team at 1st place in the state and the highest seed at Drake according to quickstatsiowa.
Senior Ben Garlock runs the open 200 meter run. Garlock placed 4th with a time of 23:52. Garlock also ran the 4x100 and 4x200 meter relay.
the b&w healthp.14G
ETWISE AB
OUTWISD M
TEETHA breakdown of the process of the removal of wisdom teeth
words & layout Zoe Wilsonwords Niki Ferguson
“I felt a lot of excru-ciating pain in my lower jaw, way in the very back, in the beginning when they were first coming through,” sophomore An-nalee Anderson.
“[The roots] were touching the nerve so they said that there was a chance that I could lose feeling in my lip if I didn’t get them out,” sophomore Carlyn Waetke said.
“The swelling didn’t hurt; the worst part of the swelling was the ice was really cold and uncomfortable,” sopho-more Zach Walker.
“I was really scared that I wouldn’t go com-pletely unconscious and wake up in the middle of it,” sophomore Samantha Wilkinson.
“When I came out I just kept bawling my eyes out. Everyone was trying to take pictures of me and I just got really mad at them,” senior Rachel De-Carlo said.
“I didn’t have to rinse (my teeth) but I still did. I had lost two of the stitch-es and still had the other two,” senior Jake Randall.
“I had really bad pain for a while after. I didn’t really listen to the warn-ing about the hot stuff, be-cause I’m addicted to tea,” junior Laura Schwartz.
“The first actual food I ate was a french fry from Burger King and I’d have to smash it all the way down,” sophomore Jas-mina Amidzic said.
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5 6
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ONE WEEK LATERA COUPLE MONTHS LATER
THE NEXT FEW DAYSA COUPLE HOURS LATER
RIGHT AFTER SURGERY DAY BEFORE
THE CONSULTATIONTHE REALIZATION
the b&w sportsp.15
New three-hour practice regulations to start in August
Wed. late start to be changed to early outs
A new regulation made by the Iowa High School Athletic Association sets re-strictions for all high school football teams in the state of Iowa.
Main components of this regulation in-clude restricting practices to three hours in length, no pads the first two days of prac-tice and no full contact until the sixth day of practice.
As a part of the football players’ weight training, the regulation does not consider their time lifting to be a part the three-hour long practice. “As long as you are open-ing [the weight room] in the morning, for all sports and non-sports to lift, it’s okay,” athletic director and member of the Board of Control Gary Ross said. Head football coach Brian Woodley plans on having players continue their morning weight lift-ing session on Wednesday at 6:15 a.m. as a team.
The Board of Control approved this on March 8 and will take effect in the upcom-ing football season. The regulation was made to prevent injuries induced by the heat, and such changes will affect practice times as well as how practice is held.
“The regulations were adopted because of new scientific information related the ac-climatization and heat-related illnesses,” Assistant Executive Director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association Alan Beste said. Each year new adaptations are made to prevent any heat related injuries or deaths according to a consensus state-ment written by medical and environmental organizations.
The regulation for the most part did not have a big affect on football practices. “The changes that have occurred are really no different than what we already do,” Ross said. “The (no) contact until day six (of practice) did affect us to a degree, because typically on day three they would actually hit.”
Woodley plans to adapt football prac-tices to the standards set by the new reg-ulation. Previous practices consisted of two hour two-a-day practices, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Foot-ball practices will begin Aug. 12 for three hours each. Woodley plans on structuring practices to begin with in-class lessons, weight lifting, and finally the players will hit the field for the three hours with breaks when needed.
“What we need to do is focus and de-cide each day what we want to accomplish in three hours,” Woodley said. “You just have to balance your time wisely.”
Adaptations to football practice being discussed
The decision to change late starts to early outs was made by the Board of Edu-cation on Feb. 25. These early dismissals next year will affect practices after school.
“I don’t like it,” sophomore Keely Larkin, member of the volleyball and track team, said. “It’s going to be a hassle to go home and come back.”
The change was based partially on a survey that was sent to teachers and par-ents across the district to vote for either early out or late start. The results favored early outs, and the change made is the faculty meetings held every Wed. will now be scheduled after school at 1:50 p.m. un-til 3:30 p.m. versus 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.
The schedule change will affect most after school practices and extracurricular activities. “Anytime we talk about anything that has time factored into the day we al-ways take into account the extracurricular activities,” Board of Education member Jill Morrill said. “Part of the discussion at the board table was that there would be some type of supervision provided for those stu-dents who would be participating in ac-tivities after school.” The schedule change will result in the high school students be-ing dismissed at 1:50 p.m. Athletic Director Gary Ross believes it will be the younger age groups who will struggle with this ad-justment the most.
“The biggest thing concerning the schedule change is the 7th, 8th and even 9th graders who don’t have the mobility,” said Ross. “The first year we are looking into having a supervised study hall for stu-dents to do their homework and then go to practice.” The option of canceling practic-es for 7th graders on Wed. is a possibility. A 30-minute addition to practice through-out the week is a way to accommodate for this. Finalization for younger age group
practices are still being looked into, while high school practices are making adjust-ments in order to schedule around a later starting time. For some, the schedule change does not pose much of a concern.
“Much of what we already do (Wednes-day afternoons) isn’t going to change,” head volleyball coach Rick Brooks said. “Instead of starting at 3:00 we will start at 3:45.” Head football coach Brian Woodley feels the same about the time change. The football team lifts Wed. at 6:15 a.m. until 7:00 a.m., so the schedule change will not affect that portion of practice.
“I like to lift as a team Wednesdays so it should be good,” Woodley said. “I won’t feel as bad sending them home and mak-ing them come back in the morning.”
Most practices will begin around 4:00 p.m. resulting in a later finishing point. This raises concerns for students who take part in church youth groups. Head boys cross country coach Matt Jaschen finds the time change troublesome. “I personally believe
that having early outs is not beneficial to students who participate in after school activities,” Jaschen said. “Wednesday nights are church nights and if practices are pushed back, so are student’s ability to attend religious classes or youth groups. That’s not cool.”
Some students athletes who attend youth groups also agree with Jaschen’s point of view. “I liked getting done with practice early Wednesday nights so I
Replacing late starts with early outs poses conflicts for practices
Time
could get a start on my homework and not stay up late doing it,” junior Jordan Boge, a member of the boys cross coun-try and track team. “By the time I get done with practice most Wednesday nights I go home, I shower, I eat then go to the church. When I’m done, I don’t get home until 9:30 at night.”
Jaschen plans on having practice be-gin while the faculty meetings are still in session. “I may have the captains take at-tendance and start at 3:45 so when I get there we can start right away,” Jaschen
Time changes for the next year causes student athletes and coaches to rethink practice scheduleswords & layout Kenzie Foldes
“Wednesday nights are church nights and if prac-tices are pushed back, so are student’s ability to at-tend religious classes or youth groups. That’s not cool.
Matt JaschenHead Boys Cross Country Coach
said. Other coaches are following suit and making adjustments to the time change in order to accommodate for the athletes’ religious as well as academic life. Brooks hope to see the fitness center open for stu-dents to lift during free time before practice can begin after the faculty meetings.
“We are going to expect the athletes to be working on their school work dur-ing that time if they are going to have less time in the evening,” Jashen said. Student athletes will have to practice time manage-ment in order to adjust to the new sched-
CrunCh
the b&w backpagep.16
With finals just around the corner, here are some basic study habit tips to help you get the most out of your studying.
words Mollie Greenwood layout Kenzie Foldes andHannah Soyer
Study to help you tips &
tricks
Succeed
“Another part about studying too is if you can talk about it with friends, the material you could both read the same paragraph, and your friends are going to pick up something differ-ently than you. Face to face conver-sations are good.”
“”Michael A. Couvillon, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
An hour before you go to bed is a re-ally good time to study. As you go throughout the day, things you learn later in the day can interfere with things that you learned earlier in the day. So its good to learn about an hour before bed in and then don’t learn any-thing new after that. Go to bed and then it sticks in your brain.
“”Jesse Dowell
AP Psychology teacher
chunkingmemorize things in groups of 3’s
Ex: If you’re trying to remember the phone number to order pizza, remember the phone number in 3 chunks.
mnemonic devicessilly sayings to remember words
Ex: King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk- way to remember the units of measurement
image associationsit’s easier to remember a picture than words
Ex: If you’re trying to remember a fact about Lincoln, think about the image of a penny also. Chances are, when you about the penny, you’ll remember the fact.
personal connectionscome up with your own examples
Ex: If you’re learning about stressors in psychology, think about the thinks that make you stress out. Then, the learning will have a deeper and personal connection.
recreate the situationmentally go to the place you were studying
Ex: If you study at a desk in your room, think of your desk before and during your test.
