1901 Louisiana St., Lawrence, KS 66046 Vol. 123, Issue 1, Sept. 12, 2012 Budget the Lawrence High School lhsbudget.com Est. 1897 twitter.com/lhsbudget BY SHELBY STEICHEN Two new faces greeted choir students at the beginning of the school year. Since the departure of choir director Cathy Crispino and accompanist Joyce Jordan, Dwayne Dunn and pianist Vanessa Thomas have inherited the choral program. Dunn taught in Texas public schools for seven years and spent five years teaching at the University of Arizona. Dunn came to LHS from Olathe East High School, where he worked for 11 years. “When the opportunity came, I was anxious to move closer to home,” Dunn said. “[LHS has] a fabulous choral program, so I knew I was stepping into something good.” Although Dunn has experience with choir, transi- tioning to a new school is always difficult. “You don’t know all the things you need to know, so it’s a learning process,” Dunn said. “[I have to] learn all the students’ names, and what their singing ability is like and how well they sight-read, how [to] order a bus and all that kind of stuff.” Thomas came to LHS from the Choral program at Free State. “I decided to try something new,” Thomas said. “It kind of fell into place.” Playing piano is only one of Thomas’ musical talents. “I actually got my degree at KU in vocal perfor- mance as an opera major. That’s actually mostly what I do,” Thomas said. Every year Thomas travels to Minneapolis, Minn., to perform in a holiday show called Jingle Bell Doc. “I sing with Minneapolis Symphony, and then Doc Severinsen plays,” Thomas said. “He’s like 85 so no one has heard of him, but he used to play trumpet on the Tonight Show.” Becoming a new member of the Choir depart- ment was slightly nerve racking for Thomas. “I was a little concerned about [changing schools] because I thought, ‘What if nobody likes me here?’ because I had a lot of student friends at Free State,” Thomas said. “But so far everybody’s been great.” Thomas has also taken on the job of managing the music library at LHS. “It’s been a learning experience just learning about the library filing system, figuring out where everything is located and getting music out to various people,” Thomas said. “Even middle school teachers will email me for music.” Choir students also faced their own difficulties with adjusting to a new teacher. “My first impression of [Dunn] was at state choir,” senior Cal Young said. “He was talking to a huge group, and honestly, I was a little intimidated. He just seems really important, and he is.” Despite the large shoes Dunn had to fill, students have positive outlooks. “Dr. Dunn seems like a great man for the job,” Young said. “He was Mrs. Crispino’s first choice, so I have a lot of faith in him.” Singing along, choir teacher Dwayne Dunn directs his fifth hour A Capella Choir class. Photo by Shelby Steichen Choir welcomes new staff with open arms With no returning faculty, choir department begins year with a new leader and accompanist Features pg 6-7 Continued on page 2 Building renovations provide positive learning environment through bright colors, new esthetics and more.
Two new faces greeted choir students at the beginning of the school year.
Since the departure of choir director Cathy Crispino and accompanist Joyce Jordan, Dwayne Dunn and pianist Vanessa Thomas have inherited the choral program.
Dunn taught in Texas public schools for seven years and spent five years teaching at the University of Arizona. Dunn came to LHS from Olathe East High School, where he worked for 11 years.
“When the opportunity came, I was anxious to move closer to home,” Dunn said. “[LHS has] a fabulous choral program, so I knew I was stepping into something good.”
Although Dunn has experience with choir, transi-
tioning to a new school is always difficult. “You don’t know all the things you need to know,
so it’s a learning process,” Dunn said. “[I have to] learn all the students’ names, and what their singing ability is like and how well they sight-read, how [to] order a bus and all that kind of stuff.”
Thomas came to LHS from the Choral program at Free State.
“I decided to try something new,” Thomas said. “It kind of fell into place.”
Playing piano is only one of Thomas’ musical talents.
“I actually got my degree at KU in vocal perfor-mance as an opera major. That’s actually mostly what I do,” Thomas said.
Every year Thomas travels to Minneapolis, Minn., to perform in a holiday show called Jingle Bell Doc.
“I sing with Minneapolis Symphony, and then Doc Severinsen plays,” Thomas said. “He’s like 85 so no one has heard of him, but he used to play trumpet on the Tonight Show.”
Becoming a new member of the Choir depart-ment was slightly nerve racking for Thomas.
“I was a little concerned about [changing schools] because I thought, ‘What if nobody likes me here?’ because I had a lot of student friends at Free State,” Thomas said. “But so far everybody’s been great.”
Thomas has also taken on the job of managing the music library at LHS.
“It’s been a learning experience just learning about the library filing system, figuring out where everything is located and getting music out to various people,” Thomas said. “Even middle school teachers will email me for music.”
Choir students also faced their own difficulties with adjusting to a new teacher.
“My first impression of [Dunn] was at state choir,” senior Cal Young said. “He was talking to a huge group, and honestly, I was a little intimidated. He just seems really important, and he is.”
Despite the large shoes Dunn had to fill, students have positive outlooks.
“Dr. Dunn seems like a great man for the job,” Young said. “He was Mrs. Crispino’s first choice, so I have a lot of faith in him.”
Singing along, choir teacher Dwayne Dunn directs his fifth hour A Capella Choir class.Photo by Shelby Steichen
choir welcomes new staff with open armsWith no returning faculty, choir department begins year with a new leader and accompanist
Features pg 6-7
Continued on page 2
Building renovations provide positive learning environment through bright colors, new esthetics and more.
Course name changes cause confusion
By Louisa HoLLand
At the beginning of each school year, students flood the LHS student services office for schedule changes. More schedule drama was expected this year than most due to new class titles being added or
previous titles being changed. Turns out the amount of traffic was pretty stan-
dard. Jeff Kuhr, the LHS film production teacher, was
expected to have many students transferring due to video production class titles changing. Fortunately, the name changes didn’t cause too many problems for him.
“I don’t think this year was different from any other year,” Kuhr said. “I got a few new students the first week. I [also] lost a few. They might have left because of my hair.”
When asked about why class titles were changed in the first place, counselor Lori Stussie said, “The state is adopting core class standards and state course codes. The names of the classes were changed to better fit with state standards in the career/technical education pathways.”
Even though this year’s traffic was pretty typical, students still had a hard time communicating with their counselors when they needed some schedule changes.
“I changed from advanced physics to AP physics because I wanted to challenge myself,” junior Anna-
Kate Kleibohmer said. “[But to get that] I met with my counselor twice, had my mom email, and came in one day before school started.”
Regardless of which school year it is, Natalie Konkel, LHS’s newest counselor, has some advice for avoiding student services all together during enroll-ment.
“We encourage students to take the [scheduling] process seriously and carefully select courses that fit what their academic and career goals,” Konkel said. “In doing so, students could potentially avoid the need for schedule changes.”
Even though the Choral program has been placed into new hands, Dunn still expects the con-certs to meet LHS standards.
“Our concerts are like our final exams [but] we take them in public,” Dunn said. “There’s a lot of musically literate, interesting people in Law-rence that come to the concerts here, and we want to do a good job.”
To meet these standards, Dunn has set requirements for his students.
“The biggest thing that [the students] have to contribute is their effort,” Dunn said. “The thing I stress to [my students] is that I don’t mind if you make a mistake. I’d rather you try something and make a mistake, and I can teach you how to make it better.”
Although the first year may be bumpy, the stu-dents are enthusiastic to work with Dunn.
“I’m just excited to see what he can bring to LHS choir,” Young said.
On top of it all, Dunn is excited about becoming a member of the LHS community.
“All the traditions, events, and things that [LHS students] do here to try and build camaraderie and unity... not every high school has that,” Dunn said. “That’s something I
think is really special and really important.”
“We hope to make [the Choir program] awesome,” Vanessa Thomas
Choir: new year, new directors
Joining the choir, new accompanist Vanessa Thomas plays piano with fifth-hour A Capella choir. Thomas works with the choral program alongside Dwayne Dunn. Photo by Shelby Steichen
Continued from Page 1
Yearly schedule chaos amplified this year due to changes of class names
Sept. 12, 20122 | The Budget Page Design By Shelby Steichen and Candace Barnes
Sept. 12, 2012 3 | The Budget Page Design By Yu Kyung Lee
By yu Kyung Lee
Returning to school after a long summer break, students noticed a change in school lunch: either students got bigger or the entrees shrunk.
Until last year, students enjoyed “supersized” entrees — meaning the pizzas and subs students ate were twice the amount of food recommended by USDA’s MyPlate program, which promotes healthy food choices.
However, with the reauthorization of the National School Lunch Act, which provides free or reduced lunches to quali-fied students, participating schools were required to follow the updated nutritional standards set by the USDA.
“Every five years the USDA looks at the food nutritional analysis, and they felt that this was the year for a change,” lunch worker Pam Alt said.
Under the new nutritional standards, the district’s cafeterias are required to serve a limited amount of calories and sodium, resulting in the reduced sizes of lunch entrees. In addition, cafeterias must offer at least four fruits and vegetables and provide whole grains when serving pizza, subs, pasta and biscuit at lunch.
Meeting the standards meant new, healthier recipes and new ways to prepare the lunches for the cafeteria staff.
“We had some little classes we had to take before school started,” Alt said. “Our recipes have changed and our compo-nents have changed to more whole grains.”
Once the new menus are certified as meeting the new require-
ments, the district will get an additional 6 cents per meal, said Lindsey Morgan, the district’s food service supervisor.
Besides the smaller, pre-portioned meals, students find they have to take a side of fruit or vegetable to complete their meal — even if they don’t want it. If they do not have a side of fruit or vegetable, lunch workers add one to the tray at checkout.
“The policy aimed to foster the kind of healthy changes at school that many parents are already trying to encourage at home, such as making sure that kids are offered both fruits and vegetables each day, more whole grains, and portion sizes and calorie counts designed to maintain a healthy weight,” Morgan said.
In the previous years, students had to take a main dish and one side for a meal. This year, students have to take three items. One of those three must be a half a cup of fruit or vegetable. Most students already met the “healthy” fruit or vegetable requirement by taking tri-tators as a side dish.
Yes, tri-tators count as vegetables.“They are baked not fried and they are portioned to an ap-
propriate serving size,” Morgan said. “There is always a balance at the high schools when competing with off-campus places to eat.”
Some students question whether the changes will make a difference.
“They are promoting more healthier food but [I think] selec-tion hasn’t changed. They are just presented more differently,” senior Michael Latham said.
However, the regulations will become more stringent each year, and the district hopes the changes are beneficial.
“It’s a good change. You know, if you’re looking out for a person’s long-term life, this is a good place to start watching what you eat, learning your healthy plate,” Alt said. “Healthy choices are what we hope they [students] make.”
Lunch changed to comply with MyPlate
National School Lunch Act imposes healthier changes to school lunch
Taking tri-tators, senior Tori Ritchie meets the require-ment of a having a serving of vegetables that makes a “healthy” meal. Photo by Ashley Hocking.
At least four fruits and vegetables are offered with every lunch.
The district offers non fried fish at least once per week.
The district has been spending an extra $15,000 per year to pay for whole grains.
Tri-tators count as a vegetable.
USDA’s MyPlate at LHS
Frozen juice bars count as a serving of fruit.
The district provides fat-free and low-fat milk.
VegetablesFruits
GrainsMilkMeat or alterna-tives
Graphic by Zach Spears. Sources:: Lindsey Morgan and www.usd497.org
The district adopted USDA’s MyPlate, which is made up of five components: protein, dairy, grain, fruits and vegetables. Three out of the five make a meal. Below is how the district meets the requirements of MyPlate.
Sept. 12, 20124 | The Budget Page Design By Ella Magerl
by mara mcallister
A number of dedicated individuals work on a daily basis to make Lawrence High School a safe learning environment. But, only school resource of-ficers Mike Cobb and Harold Grady can arrest a student when something goes wrong. Fortunately, that is the last thing they want to do.
Usually, Cobb and Grady can be found near their office in E-2 talking with students or patrolling the halls.
“As a school resource officer, obviously, my number one job is that of a police offi-cer,” Grady said. “But being that you work in a school it’s not always just about the police work. It’s about trying to establish relationships with the kids.”
Rarely are they seen making an arrest or break-ing up a fight, and that’s the way they like it.
Grady was a school resource officer for four years at South Middle School, but the Lawrence Police Department made the decision to move him to LHS
this year. While Grady is no longer stationed at South Middle School, he still visits the school regularly and is responsible for its well being. Cobb is responsible for Liberty Memorial Central Middle School in addi-tion to LHS.
The relationships Grady made with students at South Middle School helped him transition to LHS this year.
“The thing that has made my job being here (at LHS) a little bit easier is the fact that I came from South Middle School, and my first seventh graders are juniors here now,” Grady said. “So I know a lot of kids here and it’s made my job a lot easier as far as transitioning here because a lot
of relationships have already been established.” Bringing Grady up to the LHS has also helped
make Cobb’s job a little easier, both with the work load and getting to know students.
LHS experienced more than 200 thefts last year alone, and Cobb was the only school resource officer around to manage them.
“I wasn’t, as [the only] SRO, able to get around
and meet a lot of students last year,” Cobb said.The transition from one officer to two has been
relatively easy in part because the pair are friends. Grady helped train Cobb when he was first starting out as a police officer, and the two have remained close friends since.
“I think having Officer Grady here... we’re going to be able to do more proactive and interactive type things than we were [able to] last year because we have two [officers],” Cobb said.
Although leaving South Middle School wasn’t something that Grady had hoped for, both he and Cobb understand the vitality of their roles at LHS.
“You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes,” Grady said. “There’s a need for me here, and I’m gonna be here, and I’m gonna make the best of it.”
Two heads are better than onePolice department stations an additional school resource officer at LHS this year
Wanted:New this year is an anonymous tip line with cash rewards. If stu-dents respond to a request for tips with information that results in prosecution they could be re-warded with as much as $100.
Working with a student, SRO’s Grady and Cobb talk in E2. The officers said it is important for them to interact with students. “We need to be able to educate the students...on laws and rules and standards,” Cobb said. “Also people have a lot of questions for us because a lot of things we do are interesting and a lot of things we do people don’t know about.” Photo by Mara McAllister
Sept. 12, 2012 5 | The Budget Page Design By Abby Gillam
By Kendra Schwartz
As seniors commence their final year of high school, exclusive opportunities arise for their class. One of the most exciting benefits for seniors is the chance to have more personal photos to take away from their senior year other than the traditional photos taken for the yearbook.
Senior portraits are often taken outside of school by a local photographer. Students gather their favorite outfits, get primed and prepped and pick the perfect location. In a matter of hours, a student will pose for 20-100 pictures and will eventually end up choosing 10 or less photos to give to friends and family to document the final year of high school.
Choosing A Photographer With the wide array of choices for talented pho-
tographers, seniors face the challenge of choosing just one. Although many opt to pick the larger companies in Lawrence, some choose student photographers to take their senior portraits.
Senior Morgan Schneider is a student photographer. Schneider has already taken the pictures of senior Arthur Hall and Brianna Krull, as well as pictures for Sidney McBride and Taylor Augustine’s graduation party. Schneider intends on either taking her senior pictures herself or getting them taken by local photographer Amy Dye.
As a student photographer, Schneider has taken on a mature role while working with her peers.
“It’s always going to be awkward because there’s a camera stuck in your face but just act casual,” Schneider said. “Have ideas ready in your head and different poses you can do.”
For senior Chandler McElhaney, the company Crys-tal Image was an obvious choice for her.
McElhaney is a senior spokesmodel for Crystal Image. Through a recommendation from a friend and a short application process, McElhaney was hired after a quick interview.
“The good thing about Crystal is she made it fun,” McElhaney said. “She wasn’t just like, ‘Okay, stand here, pose here, do this, do that.’ She was having fun with me, and I had a lot of fun because of that.”
Other students had the opportunity of meeting their photographers through friends. Senior Hunter Haralson was introduced to Tracy Rasmussen of Insight Photogra-phy by a friend’s recommendation.
Haralson advises other seniors to get in contact with their photographer prior to the big shoot for the best end results.
“Make sure your photographer knows who you are and tell [them] about yourself before you take your pictures so then [they’ll] get a better idea of how to take a picture of you and make it the best possible,” Haralson said.
Locations and Photo ShootThe location chosen to shoot senior pictures is nearly
as important as picking the right person to take the photos. This place will serve as the backdrop and can make or break any picture.
Most photographers will make suggestions as to where to shoot the pictures based on seniors’ outfit
choices, but the senior makes the final decision. Although some photographers’ proposals may seem
peculiar at times, often these pictures will turn out the best.
McElhaney was taken on what seemed to her like a wild goose chase on a highway, to an old barn and a trash can.
“We went to Dillons and she took pictures of me by a blue trash can,” McElhaney said. “But you couldn’t see it was a trash can. It was just the blue of the trash can.”
Schneider also tries to shoot in unusual, artistic loca-tions. She personalizes each photo shoot to match the senior’s style and aesthetics, but keeps in mind what will flatter them best.
“I like to take them up against interesting back-grounds or walls that bring out their eyes or walls that match their clothes, so its all color-coordinated,” Schnei-der said. “Also [I like] places where the light shines in.”
Despite many photographers’ clever ideas, it is important for seniors to remember that these are their photos and to speak up if the photographer suggests a location or pose that doesn’t fit them.
“There were a couple of poses I made Arthur [Hall] do that I feel like weren’t really him, but we just kind of worked around that, and I kind of let him make some decisions,” Schneider said. “I had some in mind, but he was like, ‘I don’t really like that. It’s not me.’ When they are just sitting there and not really doing anything and you look up and they’re doing something, you’re like ‘Hey, I like that pose. Just stay where you are.’ Then it just comes natural.”
Dress to ImpressWhen choosing what to wear for senior portraits,
many students struggle with selecting attire that truly represent their personality. Often, seniors choose just a few outfits that range from casual to dressy.
Photographers only give one piece of advice when choosing outfits for senior pictures: choose outfits that you would normally wear and that you are most comfortable in. For some this may mean the comfort of jeans and a T-shirt, but for others this could mean the confidence that a nice dress brings.
However, choosing outfits that are timeless can be another good tip for trendy students.
“Don’t wear anything with names on it, just keep it plain,” Haralson said. “Don’t have writing on your clothes or holes in your jeans.”
Another obstacle seniors face in choosing what clothing to wear for their pictures is finding the most flattering pieces.
Schneider suggests picking clothes that match your location or background.
“[Choose] things that bring out your eyes,” Schneider said. “Also, depending on what season it is, dress for the season, like you wouldn’t wear a maxi dress if you’re planning on getting them done in the snow.”
The most important tip given by seniors is to “be yourself” in senior pictures.
“I had five outfits and those five outfits completely matched me,” McElhaney said. “I didn’t try to do any Lady Gaga outfits.”
Whether it is location, clothing or poses, senior portraits are a representation of each individual’s high school experience and will forever be a memento of their memorable time at Lawrence High.
Seniors plan for perfect picturesStudents aim to make the right decisions regarding their last memento of high school
what you never knew about homecoming court
Tristan Alfie Lindsey Fangman
Do you scrunch or fold your toilet paper?“Fold.”
Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?“Halfway.”
Erick Mayo Alexis Mountain
What’s under your bed?“A lot of clothes and random toys and stuff. I don’t know.”
What do you dip your chicken nug-gets in?“Ketchup, duh.”
Mackenzie Owens Audie Monroe
What store would max out your credit card at?“Nordstrom, I think I could live there.”
What was your childhood nick-name?“Squeakers. Because when I cried I squeaked.”
Brad Strauss Zoe Reed
What’s your favor-ite song to sing in the shower?“ ‘Hey Juliet’ by LMNT.”
What color tooth-brush do you use?“I don’t know, I think it’s white. Or blue, maybe. I don’t know.”
Sydney Watson Shane Willoughby
What’s the last thing you watched on TV?“The Democratic Convention.”
Do you take shampoo and conditioner from hotels?“No, I do not.
compiled By Keyty aShcraft
Chandler McElhaney Adam Edmonds
What do you drink with your dinner?“Chocolate milk.”
What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?“Cherry Garcia.”
meet the candidates
Sept. 12, 20128 | The Budget Page Design By Ella Magerl
Gymnastics team prospers with new coach
Despite threat to cut gymnastics program last year, team has risen from the ashesBy Ashley hocking
Although threatened with cuts due to a tight budget, team size and coaches, all 13 gymnastics programs in the state of Kansas are still active, including the LHS girls gymnastics team.
The girls gymnastics program is thriving this year after last season was threatened by budget cuts looming over gymnastics programs statewide. These cuts were due to a decreasing number of gymnasts. This was especially true of the LHS team which consisted of a meager six girls.
The program’s existence was also in danger because of the lack of coaches. Over the summer, Jessica McMurray was hired to replace Danielle Hayes, who spent one year coaching both city high schools’ gymnastics programs, which continue to practice together.
Last year, practices were held at Free State, but the location of practices change every year.
“We’re just kind of going back and forth to make it fair,” said junior Allison Williams, a second-year returner to the gymnastics team.
Cheryl Gleason, the assistant executive director of gymnastics at the Kansas State High School Activities Association, said participation rates for gymnastics in the state of Kansas have been steady recently.
“Participation rates have been pretty constant,” Gleason said. “In years near the Olympics, the num-
bers have spiked a little bit.” At the end of the season last year, three of the six
girls on the team graduated. This was a minor speed bump for the remaining half of the gymnastics team.
Five experienced gymnasts have joined the team this year, including junior Jessie Abernathy. Abernathy has been doing gymnastics at Lawrence
Gymnastics Academy (LGA) since she was two.“I think we’re gonna do better than the team did
last year,” Abernathy said. “We have a lot of new girls on the team who are talented gymnasts from LGA.”
Girls on the team have expressed their confi-dence in their new coach’s ability to shape them into an extraordinary team for the new season.
“She’s a lot stricter than Danielle was,” Williams said. “But I think that’s good for us because she’s trying to get us in good shape and she really want us to do good this year.”
With a brand new team, coach and confidence in the program, excitement courses through the veins of the gymnasts who faced their season opener on Sept. 6 at Shawnee Mission East.
“I’m really excited for this year especially because I’m a returning gymnast,” Williams said. “I was glad that there was still high school gymnastics. I can’t live without gymnastics.”
Loosening up before practice, freshman Ashley Ammann stretches in a straddle position. Photo by Ashley Hocking
“[Coach Jessica McMurray is] trying to get us in good shape, she really wants us to do good this year and show that gymnastics is a good sport.” - junior Allison Williams
This graph shows the number of girls involved in the gymnastics program at LHS from 2005 - 2012.Gymnastics participation
Source: Emily CatesGraphic by Ella Magerl
Pom squad works with new changesLack of seniors, smaller squad and a new coach cause adjustments for dance teamBy Keyty AshcrAft
Eight girls in black uniforms with red and black pom-poms take to the gym floor with the cheerlead-ers. Flips, jumps, high kicks. The crowd goes wild.
They dance to songs like Katy Perry’s “Part of Me” and “Glad You Came” by The Wanted.
Swinging their hips and shaking their pom-poms, they smile at the student section, which doesn’t seem to be bothered by the smaller routines and the girls missing.
This year, the pom squad is smaller and, without any seniors, younger.
Senior Mackenzie Owens is one of two dancers who decided not to return to the squad at the end of last year.
“It was a really big time commitment, and it
didn’t allow me to be involved in anything else, like any other sports or clubs,” Owens said. “So for my senior year I really wanted to make sure I was in-volved, and I wanted to try new things, so I decided pom wasn’t for me.”
Another change squad members are adjusting to is their new coach, Loralea Wood, who relocated from Free State.
Wood has several goals for the squad this year, including “to get better as a whole, to increase skill level, to prioritize performances and make them better quality than quantity,” Wood said. “And just learning our roles on the team ... I think that we’re in that learning process of leadership versus seniority and how we even that out where everyone feels like an equal part of the team.”
Squad members said they are happy with the
new coach. “I really like her,” said junior Katie Lomshek,
team captain. “I’m glad she came to LHS... [She’s] way more efficient.”
While last year’s squad had 10 members, this year, the squad was initially worried they would be down to only six. A second round of tryouts was offered in April and two more members, sophomore Haley Hobbs and freshman Nadia Laytimi, were added to the team.
“They were looking for more people, and I was thinking about doing it my freshman year, but I decided to wait,” Hobbs said. “Once I found out that they were allowing other sports I decided to try out, because if I could do more than one thing then I wanted to do it.”
However, Wood still believes the size of their
squad will be challenging.“I think the biggest difficulty is how small we
are with just eight,” Wood said. “Building on that, and finding your strengths, and being creative with formations, and being creative with making them look bigger and dancing bigger [are some] of our goals for this year, and increasing the number of girls interested in our program.”
Despite these challenges, Wood already feels optimistic about the squad’s ability to adapt.
“They’ve really been working well together and meshing well together,” Wood said.
Turning in sync, junior Anna Meissbach and the pom squad perform at the first pep assembly of the year. Photo by Keyty Ashcraft
senior girl tries to renew history at LhsSydney Watson took a chance when she tried out to be a kicker for the varsity football teamBy hArLey PheLPs
Slightly different than your typical 5’9” 180 pound kicker, senior Sydney Watson walked toward the field for her official football tryout Aug. 24.
After hearing Coach Dirk Wedd announce he was seeking a kicker for the varsity football team, Watson started jok-ing about trying out for the team. Soon, it became reality.
“It started off as a joke, but then I thought, ‘It’s my senior year, why not?’ and I ended up being really good,” Watson said.
Although rare, it was not the first time LHS has had a girl tryout for the football team. In 2006, Abby Vestal was the main kicker for LHS.
“Obviously my track record says I will have a girl kicker,” Wedd said.
Standing on the 25 yard line during her rainy try-out, Watson was nervous to take the first kick.
“It was raining, so I thought I was going to whiff it and fall on my butt,” Watson said.
Football players lined up by the end zone, and coaches stood behind Watson waiting and watching to see what kind
of a foot this girl had on her. Watson wasn’t phased by the mass of people standing by to watch, she actually found it encouraging.
“Everyone was supportive, and when I messed up they would say, ‘It’s OK Syd.’ And when I did good, they would cheer,” Watson said.
Although the weather conditions weren’t ideal, the support of her friends and the rest of the team helped Watson give her best effort under the conditions.
“I thought it went really well,” Wat-son said. “I probably could have done better, but I was really nervous.”
Walking off the field slightly uneasy and definitely nervous, Watson eagerly awaited Monday afternoon when Wedd would announce the results.
“[Her tryout] was good,” Wedd said. “She was nervous. I think the biggest thing was her leg strength wasn’t what we were looking for. She was more in the 30-yard range without pads, and we are looking for more 55-60 yard range with pads on.”
Wedd also worried that by the time Watson would be able to play, the boys would be used to playing without a kicker.
“She was disappointed [when she
couldn’t be kicker], but that showed competitiveness in her, which is good,” Wedd said. “I hope she gained something from this. I admire her for trying.”
But Wedd hopes that there aren’t any hard feelings.
“I hope shes still a friend of mine,” Wedd said.
Despite the end result being less than ideal, Watson held her head high and looked for the positives.
“It was such a cool experience,” Wat-son said. “Being able to say I tried out for a boys sport is not something most girls can say.”
Sept. 12, 2012 9 | The Budget Page Design By Lily Abromeit and Mallory Thompson
Sept. 12, 201210 | The Budget Page Design By Mallory Thompson
Football pays tribute to ‘mother of team’Football players will remember Cindy Murray by wearing her initials on their helmetsBy ABBy GillAm
Football coaches and players were faced with shocking news to kick off their season. Cindy Murray, LHS nurse from 1989-2009 and “mother figure” to the football team, passed away on Aug. 3.
“I was shocked,” senior Drake Hofer said. “It’s a real tragic story how everything happened, and no
one was expecting it.”Tom Murray, Cindy’s husband, still works with
the LHS football players during their off-season. Both Tom and Cindy are close family friends to Coach Dirk Wedd and were very supportive of the football program as dedicated Lion’s fans.
“Tom doesn’t miss a football game, and Cindy was always there with him,” Wedd said.
The Thursday after Murray’s death was the first football meeting of the season, as well as Murray’s funeral. Wedd popped up to the meeting late and in a suit, something that puzzled football players: their coach in a suit and arriving late.
“As a team we discussed why I was late, where I’d been and what she meant to Lawrence High,” Wedd said.
Wedd wanted to honor her in some way because of the large impact she made on LHS. To remember
Murray, football players will wear a sticker on their helmets with her initials, “CM.” This decision was made by Wedd, but the players were excited to hear about the new addition to their gear.
“Everyone immediately was very happy to [wear the stickers],” senior Josh Seybert said. “Coach Wedd was very involved with their family. It was his idea, and everyone wanted to support it.”
Wedd also intends on having Tom’s close friends, football moms who were close to Cindy and faculty wear buttons with a picture of the initialed helmets on them. Wedd has done similar things in remembrance of other important people who had an impact on LHS but said it isn’t done very often.
Wedd also believes that Murray’s spirit will bring the Lions some luck this season.
“Maybe she’ll be that guardian angel for us,” Wedd said.
Business classrooms were filled with student athletes clicking away at computer screens on the afternoon of Aug. 15.
These athletes were participating in the first Immediate Post-Concussion and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) session at Lawrence High.
ImPACT is the first computerized concussion evaluation test to be widely used. It measures at-tention span, working memory, reaction time, sustained and selec-tive attention time, non-verbal problem solving, and response variability.
Junior Laura Nielsen suffered a concussion about a year ago after taking a soccer ball to the head. Immediately after the hit, she felt dizzy and had a headache. For the next four days, she had a difficult time concentrating. She did not immediately take ImPACT. If she would have taken the test, “I would have done badly,” Nielsen said.
She did take it one year later, and it was a breeze. Nielsen didn’t notice any long-term effects from her concussion.
The test does not detect concussions, but “pro-vides a baseline of where the brain is currently,” said Adam Rolf, a sports physical therapist and athletic trainer for Lawrence Memorial Hospital Therapy Ser-vices, who helped oversee testing at LHS. ImPACT is designed to assist physicians in making sure a concussed athlete is safe to return to play.
Developed in the early 1990’s, the Pittsburgh Stealers were first to use this test, later expanding to 24 NFL teams and all MLB teams as well.
“The test itself is not very new; it has just taken it some time to trickle its way down,” athletic director Ron Commons said. “Now it’s down to the high school level.”
This year, LMH donated ImPACT to LHS, Free State High School and Eudora schools.
“As a community health provider, we are com-mitted to the prevention as well as treatment of
sports-related concussions in our community,” Rolf said.
LMH donated ImPACT for free, but the test is also available for a fee at Mt. Oread Family Practice and Eudora Family Care clinic.
A student suspected of a concussion is advised to take ImPACT with a trained physician within 24 to 72 hours after the concussion occurs. The results, if the athlete had taken the test pre-concussion, would be compared to the first test.
Senior football player Ryan Schroeder has been diagnosed with two concussions, one of which was officially diagnosed just two weeks into this school year. It’s not clear exactly when Schro-eder received this concussion, but he had been having headaches for a few days when he took ImPACT the first time.
“The first time, it was pretty hard,” Schroeder said. “I didn’t think I did very well.”
Then, after being illegally tack-led at practice and colliding with someone’s knee, Schroeder felt off.
“I started feeling stupid and having worse headaches,” Schro-eder said.
He then took the concussion test again.Using Schroeder’s ImPACT results, doctors
concluded he would be back on the field after eight days with no concussion symptoms.
Doctors now have a look into the brains of all athletes who participated in the fall sports ImPACT session.
With this information at hand, the school hopes “to be proactive, to help our students so that when we suspect that someone has had a concussion, they can be properly evaluated and to speed up or enhance the recovery so that they can get back to competition,” Commons said.
State-of-the-art test given for first time at LHS, helping judge when it is safe to return to play
Sidelined with a concussion, senior Ryan Schroeder tosses the football during the Jamboree on Aug. 22. Schroeder took ImPACT before and after his concussion, aiding doctors in deciding when he will return to play. Photo by Joseph Anderson
The “CM” sticker premiered the night of the first football game. Photo by Abby Gillam
Details about ImPACT●There will be win-ter and spring sport testing sessions.●In 2013, all in-coming freshmen athletes and next year’s juniors will be tested.
Sept. 12, 2012 11 | The Budget Page Design By Lily Abromeit
Facebook page goes too farA group of LHS students abuse their online social media rights
The Budget is published every three weeks and distributed free of charge to students and faculty at Lawrence High School, 1901 Louisiana, Lawrence, Kan. 66046-2999. The Budget is produced by students in the Digital Journalism and Digital Design and Production courses with occasional contribu-tions from 21st Century Journalism and guest columnists. The newspa-per’s goals are to inform, entertain and present a forum of expression for students, faculty, administrators and community members. The newspaper is financed through advertising and staff fundraising. The editorial staff is solely responsible for the content of this newspaper, and views expressed in The Budget do not necessarily reflect those of the administration of Lawrence High School or USD 497.
Staff:Kaitlin Ashcraft-Galve Candace BarnesIsaiah Bell Jordan Brown Ashley Hocking (Managing Editor)Louisa Holland (Opinion Editor)Vail MoshiriHarley PhelpsNathaniel ReynoldsGrace RinkeTiffany RobbinsKendra Schwartz (Assistant Online Editor)Zach SpearsShelby SteichenMorgan Wildeman
Adviser:Barbara Tholen
Budgetthe OPINION
By LILy ABrOmeIt
Words are powerful, and we are a generation that easily misuses this power.
Websites such as Facebook and Twitter, which were intended to bring people together and to share ideas, were captured by teens and drastically altered.
A group of seven anonymous stu-dents were some of the many to misun-derstand what these websites are for and use them for destructive purposes.
On Aug. 12, this group created a Facebook account, registered under the name “Lawrence HS Halls,” to share the riveting gossip of Lawrence High School.
“Loving is hard, hating is easy,” is the first thing that greeted visitors to the page and otherwise encouraged hateful behavior.
In the information bar, the group pledges they are “a group of friends that has this page to post all of LHS’s latest gossip going around the halls. If something is going on, it’ll be soon posted on here so you don’t have to waste your time going around trying to find everything out.”
The “profile picture” is a picture of Chesty Lion. This picture does not just represent the people who started the
page but the rest of the people associated with Lawrence High, past, present and future.
In its first few weeks, the page housed inappropriate pictures that seemed to be copied and pasted from Google searches. The pictures had noth-ing to do with LHS and were disgusting. There was no information about the first weeks of classes or Lawrence High in general posted on the page.
After seeing these pictures, students attacked the page with hateful comments of their own.
Junior Chelsea Sinay is a Facebook friend of Lawrence HS Halls and was one of the few to post on the wall defend-ing the group’s right to free speech.
“Well, I saw the gross pictures and everyone was hating on it, and I was just like ... you guys shouldn’t be putting that much hatred on someone for wanting to have fun on a page,” Sinay said.
She posted to the people who were commenting on the page that fighting hate with hate wouldn’t get anybody anywhere.
“I [commented] that the pictures
were absolutely disgusting, and I told them that just commenting and being jerks about it was just a waste of every-body’s time,” Sinay said.
Facebook is a public site and because of the First Amendment, people have the right to express themselves through it. But what you can do and what you should do are two very different issues.
Partly, the blame should be put on the media.
Our generation has grown up watching shows like “Gossip Girl” and “Pretty Little Liars” — shows that encourage gossip, hateful behavior and secrets. Many teenag-ers see the glamorous
lives the characters lead and want to simulate the drama and excitement in their own lives.
People may not realize that those kinds of lives are not realistic and spreading gossip can create more prob-lems, drama and backlash.
The Lawrence HS Halls group stated that they “will post anything that [they] think is true.” However, how will they know if something is true? They would just be spreading rumors and gossip.
The way they present themselves
also makes it seem as though they are aimed at only presenting the bad, or most dramatic, information.
Is this really how we want our school represented to everyone else? LHS is not a bad school, but having a Facebook page dedicated to its drama and mishaps doesn’t draw the right attention.
We, the population of LHS, and es-pecially the creators of this page, need to remember that this page can potentially be seen by the rest of the world, and this means judged as well. How LHS should be judged needs to be considered.
The creators of this page, and anyone else doing something similar on a social network, need to be careful to utilize their free speech rights correctly. If someone posts something that is untrue, it is libel. Free speech does not include posting lies that hurt reputations.
Recently, Lawrence HS Halls has been unfindable on Facebook. But, this page isn’t the only problem on social media sites. Students need to remember everything they post on the internet is permanent, and if they make the mistake of posting something untrue or hurtful they could cause more problems than spreading fun drama. We have the power to preach to the masses, and we need to use it for good, not evil.
Why vote? Here’s why
By LOuIsA HOLLANd
2012 is a big year in history. Not just because it’s the year of the impending doom of our world as we know it, but because of the upcoming elections.
Every senior that is able to should vote come Nov. 6. Elections determine who is making decisions for a community — whether local or national.
Elected officials make decisions about many things that impact you. They decide how much money your school gets, the types of food served at lunch, what you’re taught and how old you have to be to drive. If you go out to vote, you have a say in who makes those decisions for you, and that’s a pretty big responsibility. As Uncle Ben from Spider Man once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
You can help better the world. Voting is one of the simplest ways you can and should.
Graphic by Gracie Rinke
Do you have something to say? What do you want everyone to know? Are you frustrated? Do you love LHS? Do you have a lead for a good story? Write a letter, send it to us and we’ll stick it in the paper for the whole school to read. E-mail your letters to [email protected] or drop it by room 139.
...what you can do and what you should do are two very different issues.
WHAt’s yOur OPINION?
Seniors should embrace their first chance to hit the poles
Sept. 12, 2012 12 | The BudgetPage Design By Ashley Hocking and Kendra Schwartz
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Students AVID to prepare for collegeNew program inLawrence helps students excel in advanced classes, prepare for future beyond LHSBy CandaCe Barnes
AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determination, allows students to ex-pand their learning horizon by helping them with advanced placement classes they wouldn’t have taken otherwise.
“Our goal is to both prepare to get to college, but also prepare to be suc-cessful in college,” assistant principal Mark Preut said.
Students apply to AVID by pick-ing up an application from program coordinator Barbara Williams in room 222.
“The biggest requirement is indi-vidual determination, which is part of the AVID acronym. We’re looking for students who are willing to take high-level, advanced AP courses, or maybe already are but are struggling to meet the requirements of them,” Williams said.
Twice a week students work togeth-er in tutorials to answer questions they had about homework from the night before. A tutor from a nearby college will come and assist in the tutorials, guiding the students and keeping them on track.
One of the things the tutors do in tutorials is help students solve prob-lems collectively. A student writes the
question on the board and demon-strates what they already know about the problem. Then other students help with the problem, adding what they already know until the problem is solved.
Another studying technique used in AVID is the Cornell note-taking strategy. The student must write questions down and as they read, and then answer the questions in class. At
the bottom of the page, the student summarizes what they read. At home the student studies the notes for 10 minutes each night for the first week, four minutes the next week, then two minutes the final week to make sure the material stays with the student. This allows students to raise questions about the material they read to ensure they understand it.
“[AVID] helps you kind of get into
the mood for college and get into stron-ger classes,” freshman Darrian Garcia said. “It puts me in higher level classes, so it kind of makes me work harder. So I need to keep up my grades.”
AVID motivates students to enroll in AP classes, challenge themselves and prepare for college.
“I believe this program helps stu-dents learn to organize, manage their time wisely,” Williams said. “It teaches
them study skills and how to work in tutorial groups, how to take notes, everything that you need to actually succeed when you get to college, not just get to college, but actually gradu-ate once you get there.”
AVID teacher Barbara Williams explains the Cornell note-taking process to her third-hour class. Photo by Ella Magerl
