TitanScroll Sept. 18, 2009

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Lee’s Summit West High School 2600 SW Ward Road Lee’s Summit, MO 64082 Volume VI Edition 1

Scroll Friday, Sept. 18, 2009

S wine Flu – the virus that has West taking

preventative measures to keep the students in school.

Ally McEntire Pg. 5

Photo by Martin SteelePage design Ryan Babcock and Kayla Cambers

2 •News •Opinion •Feature •Arts&Entertainment •Sports • Titan Scroll

The new lunch schedule brought both conflict and convenience for students. “This way lunch only interrupts one class hour,” said Principal Dr. Cindy Bateman. Last year with five lunches, fourth and fifth hour were interrupted. Also students were forced to eat at early hours starting at 10:30 for the first lunch shift. With the new lunch schedule, students will be able to eat at regular lunch times and their school day will not be interrupted as much. However now that the number of lunch shifts have been narrowed, there are more people in the commons during the lunch shifts. “I don’t like it, it’s too crowded,” said Junior Alexis Perkins. Bateman said students still have time to eat. “Everyone is to be

through the line within 13 minutes so they have 13 minutes left to eat.” There are teachers who supervise this and keep the line flowing. “It takes forever to get through the line. But, I’m glad we have more time to eat,” said Perkins. Lunch Supervisor Jay Meyer said, “Sure there are more bodies, but we get 500 plus people through the line in six minutes.” Also, to avoid traffic jams in the hall, the students have been instructed to go to their next class through the courtyard after finishing lunch. Bateman said this rule will have to be evaluated once the weather is not as nice. “There is a seat for everyone who wants a seat,” said Meyer. Meyer said that the first couple of days it was difficult to adjust but by now “everyone’s gotten used to it, it’s routine.”

More time to eat; more kids to seat

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With the new 3-shift lunch schedule the commons is now more crowded. Photo by Elisa Cox.

Sydnee Owens

•News •Opinion •Feature •Arts&Entertainment •Sports •Sept. 18, 2009 3

Swimmers splash into new aquatic center The first dive of practice made a splash into a new season and a new pool. Along with the Boys Swim and Dive teams from each Lee’s Summit school, some of the girl swimmers and divers showed up to check out the new pool as well. A girl and a boy were chosen from each school to swim an honorary two laps in the pool as well. From West, Seniors Libby Pike and Sam Hassler were given the honor. “It felt good to be chosen. I think [Head Coach Colleen] Gibler chose me because I’m a senior and a leader for the team,” said Hassler. Both Hassler and Pike won the heat they were in against the other schools. Hassler said that it wasn’t an actual race, so the other swimmers weren’t treating it as a race. But he

did think it was cool that West won both of the races, saying‚ “It showed the pride that LSW has.” W i t h the new p o o l , c o m e s m o r e space. Last year, the boys and the girls swam at Longview R e c r e -ation Cen-ter, where they had only two lanes. This year, the boys have six lanes, with six or seven people in them. “We more than doubled the size of the team,” said Gibler. “This way,

you can develop swimmers for the future.”

Sophomore Drew Adams and Junior Ryan Dake both agree the new pool provides more space than Longview. Gibler said that she really enjoys

the gutters. “They are designed to bounce back

and not hit the swimmers,” she said. At the beginning of the season, the pool lacked one necessary element. “There are no lane ropes,” said Dake. Adams added that they now swim in the ocean and Gibler agreed. She ex-plained, The pool is like an ocean, with waves hitting swimmers this way and that. Since the swimmers had nothing to steer them straight, they had to use imaginary lane ropes. That problem has been corrected.

The lane ropes for the swimmers are now installed to guide them in the right direction, and to more State times

New starting decks, and under-water radios are a few amenities at the new aquatic centers. Photo by Jean Madison

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The error with the desks in the new addition of the school caused annoyance and discomfort for students and teachers. Spanish teacher Veronica Scott contributed her two cents about the smaller sized desks. “It’s annoying. I’m a really organized person and I can’t teach my students to push in their chairs because the chairs don’t fit in the desks.” “The desks disturb my academic mission,” said Sophomore Alec Stanke. Sophomore Jon Gibson

said “It’s okay that the desks are smaller, but the chairs are inconveniently mis-sized. I can’t push in my chair. It’s annoying.” “I think the desks are annoying, disruptive, and peevish,” said Stanke. “The chairs don’t push in properly because the desks are too small; I feel like I’m in elementary school learning about fractions.” Some people look awkward sitting in the kindergarten sized desks, so the situation could be looked at as humorous. “I think it’s funny when there’s really big kids sitting at the small desks and their knees

hit,” said Scott. “My knees bang against the bottom of the desk and I’m leaning over constantly,” said Stanke. “The students think it’s funny, but the bigger kids look extremely uncomfortable,” said History teacher Vincent Careswell. “I am a very large person and I need my space,” said Stanke. Principal Dr. Cindy Bateman said that new desks are on the way. “It’s better to have some desks than no desks.” The desks were replaced Wednesday with normal sized ones.

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Like in previous years, Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer are the norm for every classroom. It is all part of the effort to prevent the spread of disease, whether it is the Swine Flu or something else. “Avoid hand shaking and drink swapping,” said Principal Dr. Cindy Bateman. “We have a protocol for room cleaning at night,” she added. “A routine we will be doing in all of our classrooms and restrooms.” The Health Room has a protocol for all sicknesses within the school as well. “We have a communicable disease guidelines we have to follow no matter

what sickness it is,” Head School R.N. Jill Dusing said. Any student with a fever, cough, vomiting, or diarrhea should remain home from school until symptoms have subsided for 24 hours. Dusing states that student mentality has a lot to do with fighting disease within a large school like West. Students often think they will fall too far behind in classes or will lose credit if they miss too many days. “We will back any student who was out sick and is afraid of losing credit,” said Dusing. “We’re watching for any spike in the flu-like symptoms.” Secretary Dottie

Accurso said that attendance has been running a little lower than normal for this time of year. “Usually we don’t have as many absences this early in the year,” she said. “We start to have the flu season in October and early November. This feels like that.” Accurso said that in the last month, she has had anywhere from three to seven people call in on a daily basis. Local Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Sherri Quick clarified some of the basics when it comes to the H1N1 virus, also known as the Swine Flu. “It’s a subtype of Influenza Type A,” she said. “The symptoms are similar to seasonal Influenza; so fever, cough, upper respiratory symptoms, sore throat, and body aches” are part of it.

Preferred Pediatrics, where Quick practices, has seen about ten known cases of H1N1 since this summer. Missouri doctors are no longer testing specifically for H1N1. “We’re following recommendations from the infectious disease center at Children’s Mercy,” said Quick. “Their recommendations are that normal, healthy children who have standard symptoms are not going to be treated, so there’s no reason to test.” Quick said the reason is due to the fact that they’re trying to save their anti-viral supplies for people who are at higher risk, which includes people with heart conditions, breathing

issues, and other more serious ailments. Quick recommends that anyone with flu-like symptoms keep themselves away from school and other public places. She said people should treat their symptoms with standard medications, as well as lots of fluids. She also encourages disinfecting home surfaces daily and regularly washing hands as preventative measures. The main concern, Quick said, is the medical professionals are afraid the strain will mutate. “The biggest fear is that there is going to be a pandemic,” said Quick. Over the summer, some students

and faculty were exposed to the Swine Flu. Theater Director Ben Martin along with Seniors Erin Huffman, Chloe Gibbs, and Kelsey Hladik were all exposed while at International Thespian Festival in early July. Huffman and Martin were lucky enough not to catch it. Gibbs and Hladik were not so fortunate. “I got sick first,” said Gibbs. “And then Kelsey got sick, because we were roommates.” Martin said that at the festival there were six confirmed cases. “One girl got it really bad and had to be quarantined,” said Gibbs. Hladik said, and Gibbs agreed, “It felt like the regular flu.” At one point, Hladik had to be hospitalized because her temperature rose so high. Gibbs said “At first, it was just a sore throat and I didn’t really think anything of it.” She said that as the symptoms worsened, she felt disoriented. “You’re in a daze. I don’t even remember half the days I was sick,” said Gibbs. Because of the exposure the Longview sponsored theater camp was cancelled. Martin said that even though the administration at West was okay with continuing and just being cautious. Longview did not feel same. “Longview said I think we should cancel it,” said Martin. “Parent notification wouldn’t be enough.” Hladik said that even with all the hype, she doesn’t see it to be as big of a concern as the media is making it out to be. According to Quick “Right now, everyone just needs to get their regular influenza vaccine.”

Ally McEntire

Flu scare spikes major use of disinfectants

Reward comes with hard work and dedication, and this year, thanks to the new privilege card system, LSW students will receive even more privileges. This year, there is a whole new meaning to the term ‘privilege day’ thanks to rewards students will get through the new card system. “Our first privilege day is the 29th of September,” said Parson. “After that point we will have privilege day at least three times a month.” “You will see it more second semester than first. We just wanted to get advisory rolling and then capture some six week grades so we can establish some mandatory tutoring,” he said. Last year, the only two options for privilege day were to either hang out in the commons or stay in advisory and do homework. “Students wouldn’t even go because it wasn’t worth their time,” said Administrator and former teacher, Brad Parson. “My advisory, nobody went. Ever. They just stayed. It didn’t work very well because we didn’t have time to do anything of value.” This year is different. “We will give them the options on places to go,” said Parson. “They won’t always be exactly the same.” “Students can go back to their classroom teacher and get help on their own, or they can go take a makeup test,” Principal Dr. Cindy Bateman said. “Or they can play Rolfball, or watch a movie, or play a video game, or whatever other things we deem as privilege during that time.” Bateman said, for the most part, every faculty member will be in their classroom when the privilege period begins. “Some teachers could have four students or twenty students,” said Bateman. “There will be places if you don’t feel like getting help that day or really aren’t behind, you can go hang out in the PAC and watch improv

theatre. You can shoot baskets in the field house, go to the tennis courts and play Rolfball, go to the computer lab and work on ACT prep work. The list goes on.” However, students are not allowed to just roam aimlessly around the hallways during privilege time. “It’s not a continuous walk,” Bateman said. “You will have to go to some kind of activity center.” Not everyone is allowed to go to privilege day, though. “Students who have discipline issues at the time and have a red card do not get to go to privilege day, they have to stay in their classrooms,” said Parson. Just as a clarification: a student obtains a red card by having two Ds or one F on the progress report or semester grade card and keeps that red card until the next progress report. Any student who comes into the office with an offense that gets them a four hour detention or above receives a red card for one week. So for those students worried that minor o f fe n s e s , l i k e

b e i n g t a r d y w i t h o u t a planner, which is a two hour detention, would get them a red card, rest assured. The only thing that demotes a student to a red card, in regard to detentions, is a four hour, and they only keep it for a week. “If there is someone who is

habitual, say they are here once before and they get a second four hour, then we make that a two week period,” said Parson. “So those are kind of moderate offenses. If someone comes in and gets a one hour or a two hour, they don’t get a red card; four hour or above does.” Parson explained if a student gets suspended, meaning ISS or OSS, for any length of time, they keep the red card for six weeks. He also explained, at this point, no one is on a red card for grades. “Right now nobody is on a red card because of academic reasons, but that will change first semester,” said Parson. “Those kids will appear on the mandatory tutoring list when we start doing the privilege.” The whole idea behind the card system, according to Bateman, is to reward those students who meet the academic, attendance, and citizenship expectations, and provide help to those students who do not meet those

expectations. “What we are trying to do is

make it a reward maybe to increase people’s interest in

doing better academically,” said Bateman.

According to Bateman, LSW did

not just come up with the

idea of the privilege cards on

their own. “We have

watched other schools that are

professional learning communities unfold

different programs that have a lot of success and one of those

programs is privilege,” she said. “The model is the Park Hill School District model and both of their high schools do it and both are amazingly successful with it.”

Titan Scroll 6 •News •Opinion •Feature •Arts&Entertainment •Sports •

Titan Scroll 2009-2010

Page Designers

Brooke Admire Zach Harris

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Writers Krista Kern

Jenna KeebleSydnee Owens

Staff Columnist Katey Stoetzel Rylee Webster

Managing Editor Clayton Kelley

Content Editor Ally McEntire

Copy Editor Emily Argotsinger

AdvertisingManager

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The Scroll is a student publication of Lee’s Summit West High School. It welcomes all letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit for libel and for space. No unsigned let-ters will be printed. Letters may be dropped off in Room 2048 or mailed to 2600 SW Ward Road, Lee’s Summit, MO 64082. Volume 6 of the Scroll is published 13 times during the 2009-2010, as well as special edi-tions. The opinions contained do not in any way represent the Lee’s Summit West faculty, administration or the R-7 school district ad-ministration or school board.

Adviser Carol Ullery

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Students can look forward to privilege days

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Cultures and ethnicities of the world impacted three students at West in different but similar ways. At the end of July, Junior Julia Fleenor traveled to Liberia, Africa. “I went with a church group to do some mission work and we worked with kids who had fought in the war that ended in 2003 and we worked with girls who were raped and were prostitutes,” said Fleenor. A big surprise, Fleenor said, was that she ended up teaching sex education to the kids. “The big reason we went was to educate them. I got to talk with a lot of the girls and some of the guys about their stories and their life during the war and what it’s been like afterwards,” said Fleenor. Many situations Fleenor saw were heart-breaking, yet the Liberians outlook on life gave her hope. Fleenor said that the children‘s stories were “sad and it kind of makes you wonder if there’s any hope for anything because the whole country is torn apart and everyone has had to start over. But they’re so joyful and they have so much hope for their future, it’s just really cool to hear them talk about it.” Fleenor attends Woods Chapel United Methodist and her missions trip consisted of people from her church as well as two others. There were thirteen people total in the group; Fleenor being the youngest, and a sixty-two year old man being the oldest. Traveling to Africa, “gave me a totally different perspective on how you’re a stronger person after you go through a struggle. In America, we go through struggles financially, or maybe our parents get divorced–and I’m not saying it’s not hard, it is–but they’ve gone through a totally different level of struggle and hardship. It sounds cliché but it just really reminded me of how good I have it,” said Fleenor.

Junior Ryan Dahmer went on a missions trip as well, however his journey led him to Cantel, Guatemala. Dahmer has been on missions trips before, however this was the first one out of the country. Dahmer’s church, Colonial Presbyterian, started Colegio Mark; a school for elementary to middle school age kids. For about three years, the church has been digging a fresh water well for the school because the water

in Guatemala is contaminated. Citizens of Cantel could only use and drink bottled water, until the recent completion of the well. “On the last day we had a giant ceremony and at the end of it we went and handed out cups of the fresh water and all the parents came. They all dressed in their traditional Guatemalan clothing and were drinking from the pure water, it was just really cool,” said Dahmer.

Much of Dahmer’s time was also spent putting on skits for the children, and doing dental work. Dahmer did a quick “crash course in dentistry” and then began helping with the kids teeth on his own. “I think we cleaned over 300 kids teeth. We just brushed their teeth really well, and flossed them. Most of the kid’s gums are so weak that the moment you touch floss on their gums, they bleed. Then we did a simple fluoride treatment,” said Dahmer. Dahmer’s trip to Guatemala changed some of his perspective on

life. “I read “Into The Wild” while I was there which isn’t the best combination because I was very tempted to just hand off my passport and stay in Guatemala forever. But it definitely made me want to travel more, and probably not live in America. I felt like I really just want to not have a permanent place to stay, more just like a traveling around, counter-culture hippie lifestyle if you will,” Dahmer explained.

Sophomore Gracie Wiberg trekked across Europe with the Kansas Ambassadors of Music. Her trip included stops in London, France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy, and Liechtenstein. “We toured all around Europe and sang in amazing places, like St. Paul’s Cathedral,” said Wiberg. The group consisted of about 150 choir, band, and orchestra students. The group toured many different attractions such as The Louvre,

Big Ben, and The London Eye. “The Eye is the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe. Everything is lit up at night and the city looks incredible,” Wiberg explained. Wiberg said that, “We would stay in really little towns and everyone in the town knew that we were coming, and were so excited when we arrived. We helped bring in lots of profit to the towns. I remember in one town seeing little old ladies wearing all red, white, and blue and waving American flags to welcome us, it was so cute!” Although the three were in different places , they all agreed that their trips were great ways to learn about different parts of the world. “It just gives you a whole new experience and makes you

a wiser person. Once you’ve experienced other countries, it helps you understand your own better,” Fleenor reflected on her trip to Africa.

“I was only there like nine days, but I definitely could’ve stayed there a couple months easily. I loved it,” Dahmer said of Guatemala. “I learned a lot about all the different cultures and got to see how people’s lives around the world are different, but not in a bad way. We see our ways in America as the best, but their lives are much different but it all works out, and in the end everything is okay,” said Wiberg.

West students make a global impactJenna Keeble

Junior Julia Fleenor (upper left) traveled to Africa with her mission group last July and worked with kids who had fought in the war that ended in 2003. Photo courtesy Julia Fleenor


Preferred Pediatrics

James K. McEntire, DO, FAAP

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Noel M. Graham, M.D. FAAP Sherri Quick CPNP

Sara Cox MPAS, PA-C


Sophomore Jamie Ward is hoping to make her dreams a career. “My dream someday is to just be on a big stage somewhere with a lot of people and I can play in front of them,” she said. Ward started playing the guitar and learning to sing about three years ago. “My brother wanted to learn to play guitar so I wanted to learn to play guitar too, and soon after that I started to take singing lessons,” she said. “I also have been playing the violin since the fourth grade,” she said. Ward specifically sings country music. “I’ve always listened to country music, and my parents always listened to it so I’ve always loved it. It’s been my favorite type of music,” she said.

In previous years, Ward participated and played at many events. “I’ve played at Summit Lakes, O’Brians, and I also played at the State Fair,” she said. “I’ve also played at many places in showdowns, and I won a preliminary this summer, but I didn’t win the whole competition,” she said. Most of the time when Ward performs she sings alone but at competitions and random shows a band will preform with her too. Most of the time when Ward preforms, she sings alone, but at competitions and at random shows a band will perform with her. “I have written songs with my dad and I can sing covers too,” she said. Not only does Ward’s dad help her write songs he helps her get the gigs. “My dad is like my manager so he gets all the connections for my gigs, and when I play places other people

will see me and ask to play for them,” she said. Ward enjoys playing at shows but at times she feels like it’s just her and her guitar. “Sometimes when I play I feel like I’m just playing for myself, but I really enjoy when I manage to pull a crowd,” she said. Recently, Ward had played at a party and earned $300 for playing, “It was fun but long,” she said. “A good thing about it though is that a person there watching me play really liked me and asked me if I wanted to make a demo CD with him,” Ward said. Being paid $300 was a big step for Ward because at most shows she usually just gets $100 for a couple hours. But for Ward, it’s not all about the money. “It depends, usually for a couple

hours it’s $100 but for that one gig it was $300 for six hours, it just depends on what they want to pay I don’t really mind just as long as I get to perform,” she said. Most of the time, Ward’s money gets put in the bank. ”It depends, my mom likes to put it in the bank, and the rest is for whatever,” she said. Sophomore Rachel Winter is a fellow friend and supporter of Ward. “Her performances are really good,” Winter said. “The first time I heard her perform was at one of Megan Jackman’s birthday party and I was surprised because she was so good,” she said. Winter has also traveled with Ward to various performances. “I went to the Country Showdown, a show in Belton, and I also went to State Fair and saw her perform in a talent show,” she said.

Krista Kern

Sophomore Jamie Ward is hoping to turn her tal-ent and love for singing into a future performance career. Photo By Elisa Cox

Ward sings out and dreams big

Every kid dreams of becoming a rock star once in their life. For one student at West, this dream is very

close to reality. Sophomore Zack Hames started his musical career like many do; he picked up a guitar. “My cousin played the guitar. I was like, ten, and I thought it was really cool,” said Hames. Although Hames’ cousin was influential, Hames looks up to his dad the most. “My dad is the single most

influential and supportive dad I could ever have. He’s the reason I am what I am,” said Hames. “My dad has been throwing music at me since I was born.” Hames typically plays progressive metal and says that it is not “Bring me the Horizon-esque.” “It’s not typical, it’s more expressive. It expresses how I want to express things. It’s innovative and more difficult to play,” said Hames. “I want people to hear the sounds of it, and question ‘what is it?’.”Hames enrolled at Paul Green School of Rock, which used to be Rock University, in Kansas City three years ago. Finally, he got his chance. “The manager of that school, Mark Ballard, thought I had what it takes,” said Hames.

The school has locations around the U.S. where students are taught. Over the summer, Hames was chosen to go on tour with three other students around the Midwest. “They pick the best of the best from each school and then they basically give us the set to learn it before we left,” said Hames. “We went to Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Lawrence, Kansas, we went to two cities in Texas. We went pretty much everywhere up and down the Midwest.” The tour lasted about two months,

and Hames was surprised about one thing. “It was a lot cleaner than I expected.” Hames said that the touring experience had a big impact on him. “It gave me a taste of what I want to be doing in the future,” he said. “It gave me a pretty good example of

what it’s like.” When Hames found out he had been chosen to go, he was thrilled. Hames described it as feeling “every emotion possible.” He said, “I was worried I wouldn’t be up to par, excited that I was gonna see what I would be doing. I couldn’t believe I was given that opportunity.” The hardest part for Hames was just making sure everything sounded right. “Just playing the songs themselves and not messing up. These weren’t easy songs. They were difficult for a reason.” Even with the challenging songs, Hames still managed to have fun. “I love playing live,” he said. “If I could, I would still be on that tour.” When asked if he writes his own

songs, Hames said, “yes, yes, yes, and yes.” However, all of his music is solely instrumental. “I try to convey how I want people

to feel the music,” he said. Hames added that he has “at least 100 songs written and recorded.” Currently, Hames is not in a band simply because he has “a hard time finding the right people who want to do what I like doing. People are more into that roar roar metal.”

“I want people to see my vision of music, but I want them to be able to relate it to their life when they hear it,” said Hames.

Hames has his music on Myspace at www.myspace.com/zackhamesmusic as well as on his Soundclick: www.soundclick.com/jazack. Zack plans to keep rocking. “Stay tuned, cause things are about to get real,” he said.

rockin’ around the midwest

“...I want them to be able to relate it to their life when

they hear it.” –Hames

Sophomore Zach Hames music can be heard at Myspace at www.myspace.com/zackhamesmusic. Photo by Elisa Cox.

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•News •Opinion •Feature •Arts&Entertainment •Sports •Sept. 18, 2009 1110 •News •Opinion •Feature •Arts&Entertainment •Sports • Titan Scroll

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•News •Opinion •Feature •Arts&Entertainment •Sports • Sept. 18, 2009 13

Even those who aren’t huge supporters of Obama should be able to see that the speech he made last week was one of positivity and encouragement. First there was a follow-along worksheet, an idea that was quickly rejected. Then, there was a permission slip. To watch our president of the United States speak about school, while we were in school, we had to get a form signed. We can watch any number of dictators speak, discuss various art forms, or enjoy “The Wave,” but we can’t watch our President give an on-topic speech? It’s absurd. Just presidents before him, President Obama was making himself clear on a very important point that all the nation’s schools should support. While some believe that the speech was a way for President Obama to campaign and influence younger children to earn votes, the points he made were valid, and that should be something we recognize. Even if the speech was “brainwashing” as some have said, is it really a bad idea to instill in schoolchildren’s minds? That they should try their hardest and stay in school? What is the harm in that? As students we are the future of our country. What

we do as the next generation affects the world. We should be the kind of generation that people say “Wow- think of what they did,” not the generation who is losing it’s ability to communicate because of texting, or the generation who can’t make it in the real world. That is what our president was saying. We have a president who supports education. He’s not telling kids to do whatever it takes to get ahead, or pushing them to thoroughly research his health care bill. He merely said that everyone should value their education. At West, the faculty and administration work their hardest to give us the best learning environment to better our futures and they deserve a round of applause. We are given so much, and often we find ways to complain instead of valuing what we have. Many kids don’t have the privilege to take advantage of the things we have at our fingertips. As students, it is our job right now to take what we are given and make the best of it. No matter what anyone says, what you know, learn, and your personal thoughts are your own, and you have to make something out of them.

So here I am. Awake at one o’clock in the morning with my eyes weighing down to the lustrous sounds

of Iron & Wine and My Morning Jacket. And I begin to type these words. Nothing planned. Nothing special. Just...words. And I would like to tell everyone about my life plans. “Oh no! A life story!” Is what you might think, but no, it’s much more deep. When my educational career is over, be it high school or college, I plan to live in the wilderness for the rest of my days. I tend to go to the mountain towns such as

Carbondale and Meeker. When I’m there I intend on buying a small house tucked away into the mountains, surrounded by Ponderosa trees and Bristlecone. And in my house, I plan on reading many books by famous transcendentalist writers. But not just writers, I’m talking about poets, bandits, cross makers, and trapeze artists. And with these books will be a warm fire to keep me warm in the cool mountain air. Every weekend I will go down to the town and buy my supplies. My income will be writing and making films. “Montana , this is stupid. How the heck are you going to do this? Why not just buy a safe house in the Midwest?” One thing you may

not know is that I am one with nature and one with myself. I see flaws in society such as people living fake lives. Lives they hate and want to escape from. But I intend on breaking free from the herd. Living a life of simplicity and ease. What I want everyone to do is change his or her life. So many kids in our school plan on doing what their Personal Finance teacher tells them to. 1) Save money. 2) Buy a car. 3) Buy a house. 4) Get a job that pays for a car and house. 5) Retire. For one second think of your life as the opposite. Think about living in a small house on the shore of Oregon with the sweet and cold mist kissing every inch

of your face. You stand on a large rock with waves crashing and going every which way and being in the middle of all that force you feel invincible. And there you go. What I believe. I believe that Government officials should not turn human beings into sheep. We need to develop intuition and perseverance and conquer all mountains and achieve all dreams. I KNOW that everyone reading this can do so. “Oh while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to me will ever take command of me.” -Walt Whitman

Ally McEntire

Staff Editorial:

The simple life is the good life

No child left behind ... unless your parents call you out

This I Believe:

Montana Rex is a Junior involved in Yearbook and swimming. He is inter-ested in film direction.

Montana Rex

Leanna Perry


The definition for retirement, according to Webster’s Dic-tionary, is to withdraw from one’s career. I don’t know

about you, but I’m pretty much think-ing that Brett Favre’s career is playing in NFL. Now, I’m also speculating that he doesn’t understand the meaning of this word, considering that he has once again come out of retirement and joined the Minnesota Vikings with a 2 yr/$25M contract. This is about the third time Favre has done this, and I am getting sick of it. I say that Favre just should have kept to his decision the first time he made it, three years ago. It’s like a nev-er ending relationship with football. You know those dramatic breakups that couples have, where they have a tiny fight and break up, then like an hour later, they’re back together? And then they repeat that cycle about 200 times a year? Well, it’s like Favre and football.

At the end of each football season, he always has a decision to make, should he stay with whatever team he happens to be on at the moment, or retire? And he always chooses the latter. So, throughout the whole sum-mer, it’s ‘Bye-bye Brett Favre. Have fun with the billion dol-lars you have made just for playing foot-ball. You’ll get by fair-ly nicely, I say.’ Then pre-season starts. The football excite-ment is back in the air. All of the memo-ries from last year come flooding back and you just get even more pumped to see your favorite team, and it doesn’t even matter how poorly or well they played last year (okay, that’s a lie. It totally matters, especially with the Chiefs).

Then one day, you’re at cross coun-try practice and you hear your coach say that Brett Favre has signed with the Minnesota Vikings. For a second, you’re not sure that you heard him right. So you stop mid-push up and

go and ask him to confirm it. And he does. First, you’re shocked. He retired at the end of last season. That can’t be right. But then you remember the last few years and realize, of course, he‘s going to keep repeating this same

pattern. Now, you’re just an-noyed. So why does Brett Favre keep changing his mind? I think he doesn’t want to give up all of the glory he gets on the field.

According the Kansas City Star, on August 31, 2009, Favre was fined $10,000 for an illegal block on Hous-ton Texan Eugene Wilson. Wilson in-jured left knee on the illegal play. Favre said he wasn’t trying to hurt him, just trying to help out his running back. But what does this fine really mean? Is it a sign, saying that Favre should just stay in retirement? Because now he is $10,000 less rich than if he had just stayed retired. Favre can’t keep up this little cha-rade for long. He turns forty in Oc-tober. Will this year with the Vikings prove to him that he’s too old to be doing this anymore? There’s a point in your life where you just have to tell yourself that enough is enough, I’ve had a good nineteen years playing football in the NFL, I’ve made a lot of money. Favre’s time is long since passed.

Months ago, a teenager hit a police car while texting. This is probably the worst possible

situation that could happen to someone fairly new to being “behind the wheel”. This could even possibly be higher on the rare and unusual scale than on the stupidity scale, but nevertheless, it spurred a reaction in the quick-to-react Missouri Government. Their course of action was to ban texting and driving–but only for us “kids” under the age of 21. How likely

is it that a 22-year-old could get into accident while texting? Just as likely as a 30–year–old or an 80–year–old, in my opinion. If you take a look at the Missouri Legislators, each and every one of them are above the age of 21 which makes them immune to accidents on the road, right? I think not. Teenagers are the ones who have the ability

to react quickly and we are the ones who have the ability to text with our eyes on the road, which gives us even more time to react in sticky situations. I think that if legislators wanted to make the roadways safer, they should at least do us a favor and do a thorough job and keep the age

discrimination to a minimum. Just because we’re teenagers and we send an average of 3,000 texts per week doesn’t make us the only ones to make stupid choices. Technology is growing to the point where it has no age limits or boundaries. So, these days, an adult could– AND SHOULD–just as easily get busted for texting while driving as a teenager. If the person who hit the police car was 45 instead of 16, I wonder if legislation would have taken a different approach to this problem...

Rantings of Rylee: texting teens aren’t the only drivers on the road

Stoetzel’s Soap Box:is Favre forever?

Sophomore Columnist Katey Stoetzel

Sophomore Columnist Rylee Webster


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Dig for the Cure sets up the ‘09-‘10 Titan volleyball season with it’s second annual match. Set for Tuesday in the LSW Fieldhouse. JV begins at 5:30 p.m. and the Varsity match will immediately follow. The first 600 paid entries will receive a free Dig for the Cure t-shirt. “Dig for the Cure is an event where we’re trying to raise money and awareness for breast cancer and trying to get the girls involved in a community service project where they’re not just playing volleyball but they’re involved in something bigger than just our volleyball team,” said Coach Mark Rice. “We try to bring more awareness into the city of Lee’s Summit; each year we either play LS or LSN, this year it’s LSN. We try to fill the stands to get people to not only come in to watch,

but also to try to raise money to give back to the organization,” he said. At the end of the ‘07 season Rice and volleyball parent Karen Vanderpool began working with other parents to try and find a good cause in which the girls could get involved. Their solution was the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. “Unfortunately all of these girls will be hit with breast cancer somehow; whether it’s their grandmothers, their mothers, themselves, or their daughters. So hopefully by getting them involved so early in their teenage years, they’ll want to continue giving back,” Rice explained. As for the feedback from last year, Rice said, “I don’t know how it could be anything but positive. The kids are working to help raise money and they’re working with another team. We have the other team come in and we have a pizza night and listen to

a speaker from the Komen Fo u n d a t i o n .” B e s i d e s helping the F o u n d a t i o n , another positive outcome of Dig For The Cure is the involvement the team has with the other schools. Rice said, “I think it builds bonds with the other high schools that I don’t think we had before because it’s more than just a match; it’s also an opportunity to get to know the other teams and work together for a bigger goal.”

For the rest of the season, Rice said he doesn’t predict anymore. “With 16–and 17–year–old girls, they’re hard to predict. I think if the girls keep attitudes in check and keep playing hard for each other, I think really good things can happen. I’m really excited,” Rice said. “I think losing those four seniors, a lot of people aren’t p r e d i c t i n g a whole lot from us, but I’ve told them since we started getting ready for this season that I’m really excited and ready for them to get a chance to shine and really show what they’re capable of doing out on the court at the varsity l e v e l , ” said Rice. Someone to keep an eye out for this season is Senior Paige Vanderpool. “She’s a four year starter so she has lots of experience, but she’s kind of played in the shadows of some of

these girls. I really expect her to step up and shine this year,” said Rice. Middles Haylee Gregory and Megan McGehee will surprise spectators this season, Rice said, because they are athletic, versatile, and can really beat the ball down.

Dig for the Cure returns to West

Junior Kaitlyn Drawe helps raise awareness for breast cancer. Photo by Martin Steele


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“We’re a work in progress.” That is the way head coach Royce Boehm described this

year’s Titan Football Team. After a tough 35-14 conference loss to the Fort Osage Indians last Friday, the team looks to improve as the season progresses.

“What we’re looking for is the Titan tradition,” said Boehm. “The first step is caring about

each other when you step on the field.”

One of the goals for the team, he said, is to bring the team back together as a family. Boehm said, “We’re trying to bring back the family atmosphere.

We’re trying to refocus on the little things and doing the little things right.” Doing the little things right will move the team toward another

goal. “You always want to be a conference champ,” Boehm said. However, the loss to Fort Osage last Friday put the Titans one win behind in the Conference ranking. “Now we have to hope someone else knocks off Fort Osage, so we have a shot at being conference champs,” said Boehm. As far as preparation for games, Boehm said, “ We haven’t changed our philosophy. We haven’t changed our outlook on the way that we coach. ” The difference this year may be having an underclassmen share the role as quarterback with Senior quarterback Zach

Harris. Sophomore Luke Knott made

a big transition into taking the role as varsity player. “At first I didn’t know how it was going to work out, but they were open to having a Sophomore

come in and it made it easier,” said Knott. Playing a Varsity sport is stressful enough in itself, but being an underclassmen in a leadership role adds even more pressure. However, Knott said his teammates helped him deal with everything. “The older players on the team were real nice, they kind of eased me into the whole thing,” said Knott.

Emily Argotsinger Brooke Admire

Titan football team – ‘a work in progress’

The Titan football team is going into tonight game with a record of 1-2, they are away tonight at Raytown highschool. Photo by Martin Steele.

Senior Wayne Martin will be among the powersquad looking to defeat Raytown at tonight’s game.


Running many miles a day does not seem like the average person’s idea of a good time. But West Cross Country Teams somehow find a way to make practice and meets enjoyable. The girls on the team try to entertain each other as much as they can while they run. “We play games like ‘Guess the Song’, ‘Would You Rather’, or ‘I Spy’ while we run,” said Junior Alex Moase. “We listen to music and jam on our ipods while we run and have karaoke,” said Moase. “Chelsey and I tried to name all the states once but it didn’t work.” “We all get along really well and that makes it more enjoyable,” said Sophomore Nicole Roe. “Chelsey’s dance moves are hilarious, we all joke that she will become a professional aerobic

i n s t r u c t o r ,” said Roe. “We go out to eat with each other after meets, we always have smiles on our faces and tell jokes. We all have inside jokes with each other.” The boys have also d i s c o v e r e d dancing to be a way to make practice interesting. “They will turn their car radios up loud and just dance, if that’s

even what you want to call it. It is more just moving around, swinging, and throwing their arms and legs in the air. For some reason, Indian music is their music of choice,” said Coach Shortino. “You might see us at the starting line dancing,” said Senior Kevin Colon. They also like playing games to keep things entertaining.

“We play four-square or frisbee or whatever we have to mess around with,” said Shortino. “I set goals and do things to keep it fun. We mess around and have water balloon fights,” said Colon. “We try not to get too stressed during meets, we have fun racing.” But even with all the joking around going on , the runners are very focused on competing. “When it comes to working out and running the meets we are all business. We have has some success lately and our bar is set high. We all know that if we let our guard down, we will not reach our goals,” said Shortino. The runners this year have many goals set for themselves. “I hope to win state and get the course record,” said Colon. Senior Jake Shepard said, “We take no prisoners on the Titan cross country team.”

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The season is looking up for the softball girls, as they claimed victory against North Kansas last week. Senior Brooke Plummer was excited for this win. “It put a positive input for the rest of the week,” she said.

Unfortunately, the rainy weather forced the Belton game to be cancelled, causing disappointment to the team. However, the weekend brought happy faces as the girls took a road trip to Ozark, Missouri for their second tournament of the season. They came home proudly with a

win in their Constellation Bracket, bringing their record to 8-7. Plummer hoped for a big win in this tournament and she was happy with the outcome, as was Head Coach Whitney Morehead. “Our first goal is to stay focused through every game,” said Morehead, “and our second goal is to win

Conference.” So far, the girls are staying focused, while working hard to improve their record, but there are still Conference games throughout the week. The girls take on Fort Osage, Belton, and Raytown South this week. Scores can be found in By The Way next week.

Rylee WebsterGirls softball reaches for conference

Sophomore Ryan Argotsinger turns the corner while he runs in his race. Photo by Ryan Babcock.

Elisa Cox

Cross Country team strides for a laugh


Girls tennis does not miss a beat A different head coach and a new varsity line-up presented the West girls’ tennis team with major changes as they transitioned to the new sea-son. Former assistant girls tennis coach, Todd Wilson, took up the position as head coach this year after Math teacher, Paul Klene, stepped down. “I have been head coach before at other levels,” said Wilson. “I’ve coached basketball, golf, and cross country. This is my first experience as a varsity head coach.” Along with a new head coach, the varsity line-up also changed signifi-cantly from last year. “We only have one girl return-ing from last year’s varsity,” Wilson said. “We lost five of our six from last year.”

This year’s Varsity lineup consists of lone Senior Chay Mehl, Juniors Taylor Joseph, Emmie Andres, Kylie McCullum and Elizabeth Spurny, and Freshman Brandi Vollmer. Spurny said the girls worked hard over the summer to improve and take one for last year’s strong team. “Over the off season we all made ourselves as good as we can be to fill in the gap that the seniors left us,” Spurny said. The team also received a fresh face to the coaching staff with the addition of Math teacher Tammy Slavens. “Coach Wilson asked if I would be his assistant,” Slavens said. “I told him I still had a lot to learn and if he was patient with me I would be will-ing to help out.” “Coach Slavens is new to the whole tennis thing, but she picks up on de-tails and is very observant,” Spurny

said. “She is picking up on things very quickly and helps us to stay positive.” With new coaches and the loss of five seniors, the lady Titans had big shoes to fill with big expectations, but ac-cording to Wilson, they rose to the challenge. “The girls that moved up from JV have done a fantastic job,” he said. “It’s kind of like we haven’t missed a beat.” Spurny credits Wilson for their early success. “We have to do a lot of condition-ing with him but I think it motivates us to do our best,” Spurny said. “Var-sity will do some road runs to keep our endurance up. So when you are in a tough match you’ll have the extra desire to win.” Tuesday the girls took on a tough Liberty squad, with the only wins coming from Joseph and Vollmer for the singles matches. “We knew it was going to be a tough match coming into it just from the years past,” said Spurny. “We did

make improvements from last year which is good especially losing those seniors.” Slavens said the girls had a great matches, especially considering the situation. “Liberty lost one person from their top six last year and we only returned one person from our top six. They did a really good job,” she said. Going into yesterday’s match against Fort Osage, the team’s record was 4-3. With a great first start of the season, the coaches continue to push the girls to improve. “I think we have a good group of girls who want to learn and I think Coach Wilson has a lot to teach them,” Slavens said. “I expect that we come out and play hard every day,” said Wilson. “I expect that we will get better as the season progresses.” Today the Varsity squad will com-pete at the St. Joe Central Tourna-ment.

Emily Argotsinger

Junior Tay-lor Joseph smacks the ball across the court in an attempt to score some points. The Titans record was 4-3 going into yester-day’s match against Fort Osage. Photo by Jean Madi-son.


With a change of season, some boys soccer players found a transition in their position. “The only difference is the transition from a Junior to a Senior where you feel you have to step up into that leadership role more than last year,” said Senior Kasey Fulmer who plays center midfielder for the team. Senior Andrew Bramble agreed. “It’s a big difference because we want to win state and we want to go all the way because this is our last year,” Bramble said. “Not one person really has stood out but Andrew Bramble and Clayton Kelley have had nice games,” said Coach Mark Lutman. For Bramble, leadership is not the only change this season. “I play defender regularly, but since

our forward got hurt, I actually play forward now,” he said. The boys have lost three games but have come out on top against O’hara, Fort Osage and Harrisonville. “I don’t know why we’ve been on this losing streak, but we have been playing really tough teams,” said Bramble. Even with the losses they still have a positive attitude. “I think that this will be a very successful season as long as the guys stay positive and continue to work hard,” said Lutman. At practices, they continue to work on their skills to hopefully win future games. “Practices are all different because we work on what ever part of a game that Coach feels that we need to improve on,” Fulmer said.

Senior Andrew Bramble settles the ball and sets up his team-mate for a shot on goal. Bramble made the move up from defense to forward after Senior Forward T.J. Moore broke his ankle in pre-season practice. Photo by Leanna Perry.

Senior soccer guys step up gameKrista Kern

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