Tiger News » Features

Pinterest creates interest in student body, staff member explains

webeic — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:52:38 +0000

Hello, my name is Anna Wonderlich and I am addicted to Pinterest.
You’ve probably never heard of it before, but Pinterest is an increasingly popular website where members can make virtual “bulletin boards” of whatever they want. Basically it lets you “pin” pictures from the Internet onto boards of various categories and “repin” pictures that other people have posted that you like or want to share.
If you still don’t understand what Pinterest is, just break up the words. Pin and interest; therefore, pin your interest. Get it now?
Back in December, Pinterest was named one of the best five social media sites by TIME magazine and I can understand why.
I first heard about Pinterest on Twitter when someone was tweeting about how obsessed they were with the site. I had to see what it was all about. A few days later, I had a friend send me an invite to join and, before I knew it, I was pinning like a natural.
Pinterest was created about two years ago, but it’s just now becoming popular, especially with high school girls.
Like many other social media outlets, Pinterest allows you to follow other people to see the things they’re pinning show up on your newsfeed. Pinterest easily connects with your Facebook account to help you find and follow your friends.
Currently, joining Pinterest is by invite-only so you have to request to join on the website or get invited by a friend who already has an account –– sounds pretty exclusive to me.
Pinterest appeals mainly to females of all ages. I’m following people from middle and high school students to older family members like my cousins and aunts.
Let me just say, this website is highly addictive, but is a great way to find common interests with friends and get inspiration for all sorts of things through pictures. The best part about it is that Pinterest is never-ending. As you reach the end of a page, new pins are automatically loaded. All you have to do is keep scrolling and scrolling continuously.
So what can you do with Pinterest anyways? You’d be amazed at all the different things people can use it for: redecorating a house, planning a wedding, finding recipes, looking at fashion, making a bucket list, planning exercise routines, getting beauty tips, and sharing handy ideas –– the list goes on.
I like to use Pinterest to get ideas for clothing, because it helps me know what styles to look for when I go shopping. The problem is, it makes me want to own all the clothes I pin.
By searching in one of the 32 different categories or looking on your newsfeed, you can find pretty much anything. Type in a keyword in the search bar if you’re looking for something specific.
Pinterest also helps you find other websites that you might enjoy. When a picture is pinned off of a website, the link is connected to the site. If you see something you like and want to know where it’s from, click on the picture and it will take you to that website –– usually it’s from Tumblr, a craft or how-to blog or a clothing store’s website.
So what are you waiting for? Go make a Pinterest account and start pinning!

Son’s condition inspires teacher to share story with students, demonstrates life lessons

enteditor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:26:19 +0000

Editor’s Note: This is the extended version of the story that appeared in the January 2012 edition of the Tiger Print.

Taking your first steps.
Saying your first word.
Attending your first day of school.
All these ‘firsts’ are monumental steps in a child’s life.
Spanish teacher Tina Martinat realized each of these accomplishments is a miracle with her youngest son Joe.
“With the other four [children], I took for granted that they were going to reach all of their developmental milestones,” she said. “Kids do that. The four did it. Not that they reached them at the same time, but they all did it. With Joe, that didn’t happen. It took extra effort on all of our parts. It took us educating ourselves as to what could we do to help Joe reach those milestones.”
Martinat is the mother of Joe, a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome.
Prior to Joe’s birth, there were no complications, but he was diagnosed with Down syndrome and leukemia at birth, and focal seizures a few months later.
“We didn’t know anything, but that was also a personal choice,” Martinat said. “Now they have so much pre-natal testing, but for me and my faith, it wouldn’t have changed anything except make me worry very much.”
Down syndrome caused Joe to have other health issues, but Martinat said she stayed positive by looking at all the things he didn’t have.
“It didn’t cause the leukemia, but that is one aspect of it that only one percent of kids with Down syndrome are born with, and Joe was the unlucky one that got it,” she said. “Thank goodness for the great doctors at Children’s Mercy, because he was followed with a hematologist-oncologist for six years, and was declared free of any other problems. At that point, he said there was no greater risk of Joe developing that than any other kids his age and that was all I needed to hear. A lot of kids with Down syndrome, about 65 percent of them, are born with heart defects. Joe had a good, strong heart. About 35 percent of them have blockage in their intestines that they have to go in and do surgery for –– Joe didn’t have that.”
Though his cognitive delays and communication problems make it hard for Joe to have typical pastimes, he finds joy in music.
“Music is his life,” Martinat said. “He has no boundaries of the types of music that he enjoys –– everything from country to rock. If you put anything to music, Joe’s there.”
Martinat said Joe learned how to turn on music by himself just by watching others do it. She said Joe also enjoys dangling his feet in their pool and swinging –– even during winter because they moved the swing-set into their basement.
Martinat said Joe enjoys the little things in life and spending time with others. She said Joe will sit in between his brothers while they play video games because he likes the action happening.
“He just loves the enthusiasm and excitement that goes on within the group,” she said. “I look at it as such a very simple thing in life, and he feeds off of that. He feeds more off of what we all take for granted, and that’s just being together with friends and family.”
Martinat said Joe has taught her more than she will ever teach him and that she can’t imagine life without him.
“When Joe was born, I pretty much thought I had it all figured out, and I was totally wrong,” she said. “I teach him life skills and how to do in life and how to be productive, but what he’s taught me is intangible. He’s taught me patience, compassion and absolute, undeniable acceptance of others –– and that’s not something that I can go and buy at Walmart. It’s not something that anybody is going to physically hand to you, but just by his very being here and on a daily-basis he teaches me something, even if it’s just ‘Mom, be a little bit more patient with me.’”
Joe currently attends Prairie Star as an eighth grader, where he has a para with him at all times. Some of the activities he does at school include recycling and helping arrange chairs in the cafeteria. Every day after school, a bus drops Joe off at BV, which allows Martinat to stay and help students.
“The district has really helped me out a lot, because when he was in elementary school, Joe got out a little later then I did, so I would leave here at 3:30 and go pick him up and that was perfect,” she said. “Now in middle school and high school we’re both let out at the same time. It enables me to stay here longer to help kids, to have BIONIC meetings and to finish up here as a high school teacher.”
Next year, Joe will attend BV Southwest. Martinat said it’s always a big step when he transitions to a new school but believes Southwest will be the perfect fit for him.
“The Blue Valley kids are loving, welcoming, protective and accepting,” she said. “I think it will be a big step because he’ll be in high school per say, but since I have visited Southwest, I have seen the teachers and the awesome facility that they have. With Joe you always worry if he’s going to do OK, but Joe will adjust really well.”
Martinat said the challenges of balancing work and taking care of Joe are huge, but that her family, teachers, occupational therapists and the Internet have helped her out a lot.
“I try to do my job here at 110 percent, but then I also realize I have a child who needs me,” she said. “But, I have a very supportive family, and my husband is absolutely tremendous because he gets him ready in the morning, he takes him to school.”
By teaching her to be more patient and positive, Martinat said Joe has made her a better teacher.
“He has helped me to realize that those thirty-plus kids that sit in front of me on a daily basis might not get to conjugating ‘-AR’ verbs at the same time as their elbow partner, but they’re going to get there,” she said. “I might have to work a little harder with each one, but they’re going to get there.”
Martinat said Joe always maintains a happy personality, rarely cries and isn’t a negative person.
“Joe is always in a good mood,” she said. “Sometime’s he’s a little bit crankier than others, but that always has to do with other factors, like if he’s tired or hungry. He’s just a very happy-go-lucky child who loves life to the fullest.”
Joe has one sister and three brothers. When he was born, Martinat’s oldest child was 10 and the youngest was 3.
“They really viewed Joe as just a baby,” she said. “He had medical issues that we were dealing with, of course with the leukemia and the seizures, but they didn’t see Joe as any different. They know now that they need to help him more when they can, but he’s just a kid, he’s just their brother –– they wrestle, they play video games, they hang out, they take him out to McDonalds, they take him to Taco Bell.”
People living with Down syndrome are known to have special relationships with animals. Martinat said when Joe was born they had a dog, but it had eventually passed away. A few years ago, social studies teacher Andrew Unrein sent out an email to the faculty asking if anyone wanted to have his dog Riley, and Martinat decided to take the offer for Joe.
“[Riley] and Joe are the best of friends,” she said. “She puts up with so much irritation from him, like he’ll kind of pull her hair. I’ll say ‘Joe, be nice,’ and he’ll lay his head down by her. Riley sometimes needs some energy let-out, so she’ll start running around the house –– Joe loves it. She just runs back and forth and he’s clapping and it is so awesome to see their connection together. Our little Riley is wonderful. Thank goodness Mr. Unrein gave her to us.”
Martinat said her hopes for Joe’s future are to take care of him with her husband as long as they can or as long as he wants them to.
“If Joe wants to go and live in a group home setting with a buddy or with friends, then we’re all about that,” she said. “We really do hope that we’ll be able to take care of him, but we realize there’s going to come a point where we might not be able to. Johnson County has a plethora of programs for kids like Joe after he graduates from high school. We do hope that Joe can be as productive as he can be –– only time will tell.”
Martinat said she wants teenagers to know that kids with special needs are just like everyone else and that they have feelings, too.
“Most of them are very, very aware of other kids and how they treat them,” she said. “Sometimes I look at my little Joe, and think he’s luckier than most. You know why? He doesn’t know hate. He doesn’t know hurt. He doesn’t know hurtful words. He will never produce them, and he doesn’t know when somebody is being hurtful. There are so many kids with special needs that know when someone is being hurtful towards them, so I want kids to know that they’re people, too.”
She said Joe isn’t a Down syndrome boy –– he’s a boy who happens to have Down syndrome.
Although Down syndrome is a genetic disorder that’s a random error in cell division, Martinat said she still thinks Joe was put into her life for a purpose –– to share Joe’s story and why he’s here. Martinat does this every year on freshman Class Day at the beginning of the year.
“I realized after the first time, and this is thousands of kids ago, I knew that I couldn’t stop [telling his story],” she said. “I get kind of emotional, but it’s like, if we don’t realize this opportunity in life to touch another’s life, then what are you here for? I know I can teach Spanish, but I’m also teaching love and compassion. I’m teaching life lessons that are not in our textbook.”
Martinat keeps all the notes from students thanking her for telling Joe’s life story.
“I’ve told my husband, at my funeral, put them out,” she said. “That will tell my life story. I go back and maybe on a day that’s been kind of rough, I read it and I go, ‘Yup, that’s why I go back to school everyday.’ That’s what Joe does for me, too. I may have had a rough day, but when they drop this little boy off every day at my doorstep, no matter how bumpy my day was, he rights my world. He puts everything in perspective –– no matter how cranky I might be, he makes everything right.”

16-year-old completes majority of AP classes offered at BV

enteditor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:48:03 +0000

AP Calculus BC. AP Statistics. AP Physics B. AP European History. AP Chemistry. AP English Language. AP Biology. AP U.S. History. AP Spanish Language. AP U.S. Government and Politics. AP Psychology. AP English Literature. AP Microeconomics.
Sixteen-year-old senior Allen Zhu has taken every Advanced Placement class BV offers, with the exception of AP French.
By the time he graduates, he will have completed 12 AP classes.
Allen recently received the Siemens Award for Advanced Placement in the state of Kansas for 2011. This award is given to one male and one female in each state who earned the most fives on math and science AP exams.
Allen scored five fives on math and science exams — AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP Statistics, AP Biology and AP Calculus.
Allen is currently taking AP English Literature and AP Microeconomics.
“This year I have been light on homework, but last year I had around five hours of homework every night,” he said. “I really wanted to do extracurricular activities, so I really had to work at my efficiency and even then I still stayed up until 1:30 or 2.”
With all the homework, Allen said he had to give up a few extracurriculars.
He participates in Scholars Bowl, debate, forensics and tennis.
“There were some I had to pick and choose at,” Allen said. “The ones I feel were the most time-consuming were debate as well as tennis because those have tournaments and practices that would last up to 5:30 for tennis as well as half of your entire Saturday. So whenever I wasn’t doing anything like that, I really had to devote my time to homework because I didn’t have time for anything else.”
Allen said he doesn’t take AP classes to wear himself down.
“I am taking these classes because it’s something I have to try at, and it’s a great way to prepare for college,” he said.
Allen’s dad, Daming Zhu, said he encourages his son to take hard classes.
“In some ways, I must have helped influence him,” Daming said. “I basically push him a little bit. You want to take the classes that challenge you rather than take classes that are easy.”
Allen said his desire for knowledge motivates him to take AP classes.
“I just love learning, and I want to learn throughout my entire life and never stop learning,” he said. “AP classes provide the most material you can get out of a class, and that’s probably why I take those classes. I just want to build up a broad academic knowledge just to get the most I can out of high school, as well as building up a strong work ethic.”
Although he hasn’t decided on a college yet, Allen said taking many AP classes will benefit him.
“I feel like since I did a bunch of extracurriculars, as well as all these difficult classes, I’ll learn how to manage my time more,” he said. “I will become a better studier, and that will definitely help out in college.”
Daming said he is pleased with Allen’s achievements.
“We are happy about how much he has accomplished in high school,” he said. “I am proud of what he has done academically and socially, but there is always room to improve. But I’m satisfied, and he’s a good kid.”
To manage his time, Allen completes worksheets and handouts first and then the more time-consuming reading work.
“After a while, I started building up an AP class work ethic,” Allen said. “The stress is a motivator. I worked hard and eventually turned stress into a helping factor.”
Daming said Allen spends much of his time doing homework.
“He handles all the work, and pretty much everything, very well,” he said. “We help him out a little bit in the time management. He has a tendency to do too many things, so we try to keep him focused on things he should be a part in.”
Allen said he is able to take so many AP classes because he took Honors Geometry and Honors Algebra II before high school and tested out of Pre Calculus.
“Once I could do that, I had room for more AP classes,” he said. “It’s like I am the architect of my own education.”
Allen started kindergarten one year early. Halfway into Allen’s sixth-grade year, he was moved up to seventh grade.
Allen said receiving the Siemens award made his hard work worthwhile.
“It makes me feel like the effort has paid off,” he said. “When I look back on the classes I took, I had to do a lot of studying, and now it’s really paid off. I got out what I put in.”

Sibling birth order affects personalities, relationships

enteditor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:46:35 +0000

The Kuharich sisters — senior Megan, junior Lexi and freshman Kelli — all have different personalities and agree the order in which they were born plays a factor in who they are.
Megan said certain stereotypes are used to classify the oldest, middle and youngest children.
“Youngest is kind of the princess,” she said. “The middle one, I’ve heard and experienced with other families, is the problem child — usually the individual will just like to be independent. And the oldest, I guess they get a lot more things since they get it all first. They’re the guinea pig.”
Megan said she is the responsible, motherly type out of the three girls.
“I’m kind of protective,” she said. “I watch after them like my mom watches after us. I like being the first born because you get to experience everything before all the others.”
Lexi said Megan acts most like the care-taker.
“My older sister kind of worries more than I do,” Lexi said. “So growing up with her, I just kind of felt like she’d worry about it, or she’d do it for me.”
The mother of the three girls, Betsy Kuharich, said Megan is the typical first born.
“She’s very organized and a leader,” she said. “I think that’s pretty typical for first borns. She’s more involved and outgoing than Lexi and Kelli.”
Lexi said she likes to have fun rather than take things seriously and believes it is because of her sisters.
“I’m kind of lazier than my sisters in some things, like with schoolwork,” she said. “I just feel like being chill and laid back, and they’ll take care of everything.”
Lexi said if she was not the middle child, her personality would be changed to match her sister’s personalities.
“In my family, we call it middle-child syndrome,” she said. “I’m just the middle child. I’m not the oldest. I’m not the baby. I just feel if I was the oldest, I’d be more responsible and set a good example for my sisters. If I was the baby, I feel like I’d be more of a brat like, ‘Oh, I’m the baby. I get whatever I want.’”
Betsy said Lexi is her own person and is not guided by her sisters.
“Lexi has a very strong personality and is active, but not quite as active as Megan,” she said “She stands her ground very well.”
Kelli said she’s definitely the most shy of the sisters.
“Megan and Lexi are much more out there,” she said. “If we’re all out together, I’ll just kind of stand there, and they’ll go do their own thing.”
Lexi said Kelli is the typical youngest child who gets whatever she wants.
“She likes to get her way a lot, but I think that’s because she’s the baby of the family,” Lexi said. “If she doesn’t get her way, she’ll find a way to get it.”
Kelli said the youngest can be treated like royalty and is given more privileges at a younger age.
“People say that being the youngest is the easiest,” Kelli said. “I got a cell phone earlier than my sisters did, and they always tell me that when I’m their age, my curfew will probably be later than theirs is now.”
Betsy said Kelli can sometimes act like a princess.
“She was the child that was dragged everywhere and had to follow the other girls to all of their activities,” she said. “She likes to copy her sisters a lot, and that makes them mad. She’ll try to copy what they wear, what they do and who they are.”
The sisters said going to the same school has made their relationship stronger.
“It’s made us a lot closer than we were last year,” Kelli said. “They’ll help me with my homework sometimes and help me choose which classes to take.”
Lexi said although their relationship has been strengthened, there is still some tension between her and Megan.
“Me and Megan have a class together, Yearbook, and she’s the editor, so she’s kind of the boss of me, which I don’t really like sometimes,” Lexi said. “We kind of fight, a little bit — not very often — but we do.”
Megan said there have never been full-out brawls between the two during Yearbook, but they have had “creative discussions.” She also said one of the benefits of being in the same school is knowing what’s going on with each other throughout the day.
“When our parents have something to say to one of us, we’re just like, ‘No, don’t say anything because this happened today, so give her a free pass, it’ll be fine,’” Megan said.
Betsy said the girls have grown much closer this year, especially Kelli and Megan.
“It’s a challenge to have three girls all in a row,” she said. “We try to keep track of everything each of them get. It’s a challenge, but they’re all good kids.”

Teachers spend time outside of school to assist with multiple clubs

enteditor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:44:49 +0000

It’s 2:45.
Students know school is almost over.
They can’t wait for that final bell to ring, symbolizing freedom and a time to relax.
For many teachers at BV, this is not the case.
They know that at 2:50, students will start piling into their classrooms to participate in the many different after school activities which they sponsor.
It’s stressful.
It’s loud.
It’s hectic.
The question is: Why do teachers do it?

Jill Gouger
Spanish teacher Jill Gouger sponsors Bollywood Club, Dungeons and Dragons, Gay Straight Alliance and Young Progressives. She also teaches Spanish 2.5 and 3.5.
Gouger is not paid for any of the after-school activities she sponsors.
Gouger said through sponsoring, she hopes to help students feel accepted.
“I want everyone to be involved in the school and a part of the community,” she said. “Everyone should have a place where they can belong. If I can provide an outlet for someone to feel more connected here at BVHS, then that’s what I want to do.”
The time commitment of each club varies.
“I basically have to delay everything,” she said. “I have to delay my planning and grading since [the clubs] always meet in my room. I want to be involved in what they are doing, so I can’t start my work until the meetings are finished.”
Gouger said she hopes to have an impact on the lives of the students in her clubs.
“I am a pretty friendly, positive and open person,” she said. “I hope that I’ve shown them that there are adults in this world who encourage them to be themselves and who accept them for who they are. I also want them to see that, regardless of their interests, there will always be someone with whom they can gel.”

Adam Wade
Math teacher Adam Wade sponsors Relay For Life, coaches Categories and Scholars Bowl and takes students to math competitions a few times a year. He also teaches Honors Algebra II, AP Calculus AB and Pre Calculus BC.
Wade is paid for coaching Scholars Bowl and Categories, but is not paid for the other activities.
He said the clubs and activities he helps with take up anywhere from one to five hours a week.
“I can do a lot of the work anytime I want,” Wade said. “The good news is that the majority of the activities that I do don’t cut into the weekends, so I can still do a lot. I found activities that fit around my schedule.”
Wade said for him, teaching would be boring if he didn’t help with any clubs.
He said all the activities he sponsors are unique.
“[Relay For Life] is definitely more challenging from an organizational and emotional standpoint,” he said. “But Scholars Bowl and Categories are more challenging from a mental standpoint. It’s a different kind of dynamic.”
While he does not have a favorite activity, Wade said Relay For Life has impacted him the most.
“Initially, it was something that I just agreed to do,” he said. “I didn’t necessarily know how much it would mean to me. My philosophy with that is that, at some point, cancer affects everyone in some way. I really feel that, with Relay, I am contributing to a very positive thing in society.”

Jessica Janish
History teacher Jessica Janish helps plan Tiger Time lessons, co-sponsors Student Council and coordinates prom. She also teaches AP European History and U.S. History.
Janish has a pay incentive for all three of the activities she helps with. But she said being involved with different groups of people is the main reason she sponsors.
“I do them to get to know students outside of the classroom setting,” she said. “It allows me to be involved with different students that I wouldn’t have on an everyday basis. I also like being involved with other faculty in the building.”
Janish said sponsoring activities has its ups and downs.
“[Sponsoring] has exposed me to lots of different personalities, lots of different talents and abilities that we have here at BV,” she said. “The other way it’s impacted me is it really is a lot of work. Teaching an AP class, I already have a lot on my plate. It’s a lot of hard work, and it’s really demanding.”
While sponsoring can be stressful, Janish said she hopes to show students she cares.
“I would hope that I have a positive influence on them and that they would see me as a positive leader in their school,” she said. “I would hope that it shows them that I do care and want to be here. I think sometimes students see you as a teacher, and that, for some of them, means that all you do is give them homework. I think it’s nice sometimes to have them see me in a light where they know that I care and that I want to be there and want to be involved.”

New club inspired by online video discourages bullying

enteditor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:42:20 +0000

It’s another typical school night in December.
Sophomore Kelly O’Donnell sits at her computer and clicks on a link to a YouTube video that keeps showing up on her Facebook newsfeed.
She wonders what this could be about and who the boy in the video is, so she clicks play.
The video that she watched, titled “Whats Goin On,” was made by 14-year-old teenager Jonah Mowry who shared his story by holding note cards he wrote on in front of his webcam about how he had been bullied since the first grade.
This would be the video that inspired O’Donnell to create a new bullying-prevention club at BV called “One Life.”
“I literally didn’t do my homework that whole night — I just wrote out all these ideas for this group,” she said. “I wrote out who, what, when, where, why and how. I know it took a lot of notebook paper, but I finally got a final copy down.”
The next morning, O’Donnell took her idea to Principal Scott Bacon, where he approved the club and told her all she had to do was find a sponsor.
She picked social studies teacher Jessica Janish and communication arts teacher Teresa Schulte as sponsors.
O’Donnell said starting this club took a lot of thinking, dedication and hard work.
“It took a lot of thought because I wanted it to be good,” she said. “I didn’t want it to sound corny. I wanted people to join, and I wanted to show everyone the point of having this club. You need to put a lot of dedication into it because you can’t just put half your heart into it.”
O’Donnell said she chose the name “One Life” because of how bullying can affect someone’s life or lead to suicide.
“You only have one life — you don’t want to live it by putting other people down to make you feel better,” she said. “Sometimes bullying can get to a point where you have suicidal thoughts. Everyone only has one life, and they don’t want to remember all the bad times from when they were bullied.”
O’Donnell said the bullying she’s seen and her own personal experiences with it also led her to start One Life.
“I see it so much all over Twitter and Facebook, and it’s just never going to stop,” she said. “It’s never going to go away unless we really do something about it. I was bullied in fifth grade verbally, always at the playground, so I think from my experiences and then looking at other people’s [experiences], I wanted to do something about it.”
O’Donnell said she thinks this club will take a different approach by having students become more involved in bullying prevention.
“We’ve tried so many things to prevent bullying already,” she said. “We’ve had Bacon talk. We’ve had speakers come in. We’ve had things in the newspaper about it. People always say to go tell an administrator, but I think we need to help each other out — we need to stop it ourselves, too. We can’t just sit there. Most people are scared if they say something that they’ll get judged, but once you tell them, they’ll be like, ‘Wow, I really was bullying that person.’ You need to put yourself in [the person being bullied’s] perspective.”
O’Donnell said she thinks bullying is awful and that it gets to a point where she’ll call the bully out on what they’re saying or doing.
“When I see stuff on Facebook, I just have to say something about it,” she said. “People need to just let people be how they want to be without getting picked on. People say things here and there. I’m not perfect either — that’s not what I’m trying to say at all. But sometimes they just have to be more careful about what they say or do.”
She said she hopes this club will spread to elementary, middle and high schools in the district, so the club will visit and talk to other students about bullying.
One Life will start sometime this semester and will meet on the first Monday of every month.
O’Donnell said the first meeting will consist of lots of planning and brainstorming with everyone involved.
“We’ll talk about what we want to do for the rest of the year, visiting-wise, talking at assemblies and putting out happy quotes all over the lockers like what [Fellowship of Christian Athletes] did last year,” she said. “I don’t want only my ideas. I want to hear from everyone else, too.”
O’Donnell said One Life is open for everyone to join and will put up posters around the school when the first meeting date is decided.
“I want people, not just on Twitter who are following me and not just my friends, but everyone to be a part of this,” she said. “If you are a bully, or you were a bully or you have been bullied, you just need to see what it really is doing to people’s lives. There’s still people that are going to make fun of others, but I just want the bullying to decrease. Bullying has always been around, but for people who get involved, they can make lives change.”

Performing arts seniors participate in shooting stars competition

enteditor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:09:08 +0000

The Shooting Stars Recognition, Scholarship and Awards Program is a merit-based competition for seniors run by the Arts Council of Johnson County. The competition consists of nine different categories. A teacher may nominate one student per category. Once nominated, the student fills out a résumé-like document which includes a short answer question about why the category is important to them. The Arts Council will take into account the information on these résumés while determining the winners. Each category winner will receive a scholarship worth $2,000. The winners will be announced at The Arts Council’s Annual Shooting Stars Gala on April 1.

Evelyn Davis
Senior Evelyn Davis will compete in the Photography category of the Shooting Stars competition.
Davis said she appreciates the fact that the winner of the scholarship is not based on talent alone.
“Winning the scholarship is also based on merit,” she said. “Also, to win they are looking for community service and achievements in a sort of balance.”
Davis said her interest in photography began in high school.
“It was the first time photography became a big part of what I do,” she said.
She submitted eight choice photos in a portfolio on Jan. 20.
Five of these eight photos had to be available to be put into the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, one of which will be displayed at the museum.
“I’m excited and honored to be in the Shooting Stars competition and to have my work in the Nerman,” Davis said.

Alex Petersen
Senior Alex Petersen will compete in the Musical Theater category. For this category, he will sing two songs of his choice at his audition on Jan. 28.
Judges for the Shooting Stars competition will determine the recipient of the scholarship.
Petersen said he has been performing in musical theater since he was seven.
“My mom asked my brother and me if we wanted to audition for this one community theater show,” he said. “My brother said no, and I said, ‘Sure, why not?’ And now here I am, 11 years later, still doing it.”
Petersen said Shooting Stars is a good way to bring in money for college.
“I’m all for making college more affordable,” he said. “It’s a friendly competition with people from a bunch of schools. It really makes you raise your game and work hard.”

Mollie Chesis
Senior Mollie Chesis will compete in the Literature category.
Chesis said she enjoyed seeing the competition become a reality rather than just something she heard about at assemblies.
“When I heard about it I was just thinking ‘I love creative writing, it’s for a scholarship, so why not?’” she said.
She submitted one piece of writing on Jan. 9.
Chesis said writing allows her to put her experiences into words.
“We can channel our experiences into literature to make it ‘re-experienceable,’” she said. “Writing is a powerful way of expression. But sometimes words can’t describe some emotions and everything perfectly.”
She said her connection with writing started at a young age.
“I have been interested in writing forever,” she said. “The moment that really stands out, though, was in elementary school when we had a children’s book author come talk and show the books to us. I vividly remember it. I turned to my neighbor and, for some odd reason, I was just like ‘I have to go start writing a book.’”
Chesis said the fact that her sister won the Shooting Stars contest fuels her desire to win.
“This is a really cool scholarship I want to reach,” she said. “It was either fate or hard work that brought me to being in this competition.”

Lauren Reardon
Senior Lauren Reardon will compete for the 3-D art category scholarship. She prepared a portfolio consisting of a required eight pieces of art.
“It depends on the artist what they want to make for the 3-D category,” Reardon said. “You can do sculptures, you can do ceramics or just anything that’s 3-dimensional. I mostly do sculptural things and some ceramic pieces, but for this competition, it will be mostly sculptures.”
Reardon began preparing her pieces for the Shooting Stars competition before knowing she was a nominee, but found out in October that she qualified.
To work on art pieces for her portfolio, Reardon took an independent studies art class third hour.
“It’s hard because something like writing you could do at home on the computer, but for my sculptural pieces I need the tools at school,” Reardon said. “I don’t have the ability at home to cut wood.”
Reardon said she became interested in art at the age of four or five.
“My mom, my grandmas and my great grandma — everyone that I looked up to — created art, and I didn’t know any different,” she said. “I wanted to be just like those people.”
She said it looks really good to win a competition against some very talented students.
“Just being able to be in this is great because it helps to push you to make things you have never seen or heard of before,” Reardon said. “If the judges see something similar to something they have seen before they will just pass right over it. You have to think of new, unique things the judges would like.”
Reardon said she is looking forward to hearing the results at the Gala.
“I’m really excited to do this,” she said. “I can’t wait until April 1 when I get to hear what they thought of my pieces and if I won the scholarship.”

GSA writes letters to state representatives, hope to legalize gay marriage, adoption, civil unions

webeic — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:47:15 +0000

On Wednesday, Jan. 18, members of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) at BV came together to write letters to Kansas representatives. They were writing because they wanted to enforce the idea of legalizing gay marriage, gay adoption (adoption by gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender partners) and civil unions (a partnership similar to marriage).
Currently in the state of Kansas, gay marriage, gay adoption and civil unions are all prohibited by a law passed in 2005.
Since then, lawmakers have tried to repeal laws prohibiting gay marriage, gay adoption and civil unions. After representative of Hutchinson Jan Pauls and representative of Olathe Lance Kinzer rejected these ideas, the repeal was stopped.
Now the GSA is taking charge.
“It’s going to be a formal letter that we share our views,” GSA president senior Clinton Webb said. “We are going to be very respectful in going about it.”
The GSA based their letters off facts to try to persuade representatives.
“One member looked up facts about how gay marriage can be positive,” Webb said. “Hopefully by showing the facts we can get our opinions heard. By showing that states that allow gay marriage are prospering and not in turmoil or something, it will help back up our reasons.”
GSA vice president Archana Vasa said she hopes to make the representatives think hard about this topic.
“Everyone should have the ability to say what they feel,” she said. “So we are expressing to the representatives that gay marriage should be legalized. We want to influence them to change policies and have them recognize this issue.”
Vasa said she is glad she is a part of the GSA.
“I didn’t want to join at first because I thought it would be strange, but I realized that if I actually support equality and gay rights I needed to join,” she said. “Being in GSA shows all homosexuals we approve and support them.”
GSA sponsor Jill Gouger said the club will mail the letters to representatives a few at a time.
“We are going to stagger out the mailing so it is always on the forefront,” she said. “We want them to think about it more than just one day.”
Gouger said the representatives need to truly represent the people.
“I always think it’s important that you let your voice be heard,” she said. “Everyone is supposed to be heard. The representatives are supposed to represent the people, so we are bringing it to attention that there are people who think gay marriage should be allowed.”

Finals and Winter Break Survival Guide

webeic — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:28:38 +0000

TIPS ON TACKLING TESTS:

Communication Arts finals:

Look back over the learning targets teachers have given throughout the semester.
For literary skills, review the terms and know their definitions. Think back on examples of each literary term also.
For grammar, do any review sheets for practice.
For vocabulary, study the definitions and know how to use context clues and roots and stems.
CA finals are skill-based so there isn’t exact content to study. It is just showcasing the skills you have been practicing all semester.

Information from Head of Communication Arts Department Teresa Schulte.

Math finals:

Work problems. The only way to learn math is by doing the problems.
If you have a review guide, do it.
If you don’t have a review guide, find old problems in the textbook that look familiar and work them out. If the answers are in the back of the textbook, it works out really well.
Don’t forget the skills learned early in the semester.
You have to know how to work problems, whereas for other classes it is usually multiple choice.

Information from math teacher Adam Wade.

Social Studies finals:

The only way to prepare is to make a venue that you can think about and discuss the content.
Don’t just read over the chapter or notes. Have a study group that you can discuss what you have learned.
Think about all the content of the semester in a story format.
Visualize vocab words. Once you can get a mental image of the word, you know it well.
Know the main concepts and themes of the chapters.

Information from European history teacher Jason Peres.

Foreign Language finals:

Take advantage of the websites teachers give for extra practice. Some good Spanish websites are spaleon.com and conjuguemos.com, which can help with conjugation and vocab in context.
Memorize vocabulary words.
Don’t put off studying for the last minute because it takes time to memorize and practice.
Ask questions in class.
Make flashcards.
Get a good nights sleep — it is hard enough to take a test in English while you are tired, so it’s that much more difficult in Spanish.

Information from Spanish teacher Jill Gouger.

Science finals:

Study well in advance. Don’t cram all the information in your head the night before.
Pick different topics in advance to focus on.
Know roots and stems. The more roots and stems you know, the better.
Know how to apply knowledge.

Information from Anatomy and Physiology teacher Larry Hare.

Make sure to bring:

Pencils
Pens
A calculator (for math and some science finals)
If the teachers collects a review guide, make sure to bring it.
Books, other study materials, etc. for after the test is over.

WHILE ON BREAK:

Head to the County Club Plaza and enjoy the 82-year tradition of lining the Plaza buildings with colorful lights from Nov. 24 – Jan. 15.
View the nearly 100 ft Mayor’s Christmas tree at Crown Center from Nov. 25 – Jan. 1.
Visit Zona Rosa to see their live reindeer and massive, ornate crowns hanging over the shopping center. Or, take a carriage ride then visit Santa Claus from Nov. 19 – mid Jan.
Drive through a winter wonderland at Longview Lake Park where the park is transformed to hold 200 lit animal decorations and lights from Thanksgiving – Dec. 31
Take a drive through Christmas Card Lane, you’ll wind through festive neighborhoods to see their elaborate decorations from Nov. 25 – Jan.1.
Go see the Kansas City Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker at Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts from Dec.3-24.
Go ice skating at Town Center Plaza ($7 admission and $3 skate rental) or at the Crown Center Ice Terrace ($6 admission and $3 for skate rental).

THE FIRST WEEK BACK:

Mon. Jan 2. – Girls BB vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (Soph/Fresh) -4 p.m.
(No School) Boys BB @ Aquinas (Fresh) -5:30 p.m.
Girls BB vs. Aquinas (JV/Varsity) -5:30 p.m.
Tues. Jan 3. – Boys BB @ Aquinas (Soph/JV/Varsity) -5:30 p.m.
(No School)
Wed. Jan 4. – First day back (Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors at 7:45, Seniors at 9:30)
Boys BB vs. Shawnee Mission South (Fresh/JV) -5:30 p.m.
College Panel – PAC
Enrollment Fair
Senior Class Photo
Thurs. Jan 5.- Girls BB vs. Blue Valley Northwest (Soph/JV/Varsity) -5:30 p.m.

Boys Swim vs. Turner -4 p.m.

Fri. Jan 6. – Boys BB @ BVNW (Soph/JV/Varsity) -4 p.m.
Boys BB – BVW Tournament (Fresh) -5:30 p.m.
Wrestling @ BVNW (JV/Varsity) -6 p.m.

Students make “winter tree” in senior hallway

webeic — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:43:12 +0000

The Wednesday after Thanksgiving break, a plant in the senior hallway got some new decoration.

While following school regulations of no religious decoration, group of seniors decided to adorn the plant outside of room 502 with tinsel, lights, red yarn, red bandanas and ornaments.

“I went from classroom to classroom and told teachers the situation and what we were doing with teh plant and asked if they wanted to contribute anything to it,” participant senior Dakota Behrman said. “I made a dedicated teacher branch. They got really excited about it. The one I like the most was Dr [Nerov] Shah gave me a periodic table. And Mr [Denny] Brand got me a tape they used to film that had ‘Tiger TV Staff’ written on it.”