Prom assembly captures attention of students
Senior Scott Bolton demonstrated what could happen if you get caught drunk-driving on prom night.
On April 15 the junior and senior classes viewed a mock car crash depicting what happens after a drunk driving accident. Senior Daniel Reardon watches as Med-Act prepares to take his date to the ambulance.
Students from the Reparatory Theater department showed what devastating events can occur on prom night when poor choices are made. All photos by Haley Hickman.
Please be safe on prom night, don’t drink and drive.
Board finalizes ’10- ’11 budget cuts; music, sports spared.
List of the finalized budget cuts
The Board of Education announced more than $6 million in budget cuts for next year in their meeting at Blue Valley Northwest on Monday, April 5. Middle school sports as well as elementary school band and strings programs were not cut, but activity fees will be doubled to $120 per high school student for the 2010-2011 year.
The board was faced with making cuts to keep pace with the dropping Base Student Aid Per Pupil (BSAPP) number, which left a $6.25 million deficit for next year.
Along with the doubled activity fee, class sizes will increase on the elementary, middle and high school levels.
Board member Pam Robinson expressed concerns at the meeting Monday about some of the cuts, especially one that will take away four certified curriculum and instruction specialists.
“The elimination of this program is very shortsighted,” she said. “It causes me concern for the future of our district.”
Board member Sue Matson spoke at the meeting about the increase in average class size. Board members justified the augmentation of class size because of its high-dollar savings and minimal effect on students.
“We cannot get to our $6.25 million amount without raising class size,” Matson said. “This means the guideline will be changed and it will affect 15 percent of elementary school students. We need to look at the impact across the district.”
The board members took parent and student suggestions into account when making their decisions, and said they read more than 1,200 e-mails and letters throughout the reduction process. Many parents and students stressed the importance of keeping sports and music programs available.
However, the board warned that the programs will still be at risk for being cut in the future, if the Kansas legislature does not allocate more money to schools.
Board President Steve Klika anticipates the budget shortfall for the 2011-2012 school year to be around $3 million.
“We will depend on the legislature and may expect future cuts down the line,” he said at the budget meeting on Monday.
Elementary band and strings teacher Daniel Kirk, who also assists the high school band, argued that music programs are vital because students can’t get the same performing experience outside of school.
“There is no BV Rec for band,” Kirk said. “Our kids don’t have any other options.”
BV band director Avian Bear added she believed cutting elementary school band and strings programs would result in fewer student musicians moving up to the high school band and orchestra, which reflects poorly on the program.
“Kids perceive numbers as quality,” she said. “When numbers go down, kids perceive the quality is going down.”
Bear also said since kids wouldn’t receive band instruction until middle school, they would not be prepared to play the same difficulty level of music as most 6A high schools.
“As a 6A school we’re expected to play a certain level of literature,” she said. “We’ll have to come down on that level.”
Blue Valley Middle School head boys’ track coach Kyle Kunard said middle school sports are important because they offer all kids the opportunity to participate and gain team-building skills.
“I hate to think of the way it would be without middle school sports,” Kunard said.
Kunard also said without sporting events to attend, students won’t have the same enthusiasm for their school that they do now — and that affects kids inside the classroom as well.
“It knocks down school spirit big time,” Kunard said. “They [sporting events] become a place where the 6th, 7th and 8th graders can all cheer for their team. It becomes a school identity.”
At the community meeting at Blue Valley North on March 25, board members considered establishing a scholarship fund for students who won’t be able to pay the doubled activity fees. The district also established a $250 activity fee cap for families with multiple students.
by Caitlin Holland
Since fall of 2009, five rapes have taken place in the Waldo-area of Kansas City, Missouri. Police believe that the same man sexually assaulted all of the women, but the man still has not been arrested or even identified.
Communication Arts teacher Britt Qualls lives in Waldo and she finds the situation very frightening.
“It’s really scary that they have no idea who the man is,” Britt said. “They have a picture but that’s not much. He has hurt so many women, but they still haven’t found him.”
Britt’s husband Brad Qualls believes that the rapists’ method of stalking the women is extremely disturbing.
“What scares me the most is that he really knows his victims,” Brad said. “He obviously spends some time learning their movements and when they will be alone.”
Britt agrees with her husband.
“This man is stalking women,” she said. “He figures out their schedules and he knows when the men aren’t home.”
For the most part, Britt feels protected.
“I feel pretty safe,” she said. “I don’t live alone and that seems to be who he is targeting.”
Despite feeling relatively safe, Britt and her family are taking a few extra precautions to ensure their safety.
“A couple weeks ago my husband had to go out of town so he really wanted me and the kids to spend the night at my mom’s house, so we did,” she said.
Brad said he makes sure to lock the doors at all times and keeps an eye out for strange behavior nearby.
“In the morning, I leave before my wife, so I have to make sure I bolt the door,” Brad said. “Also, if I am out of town for a weekend, I won’t let my wife stay at home by herself even if she has the kids. When I see someone strange walking around the neighborhood, I definitely take notice more now than ever.”
Along with the $15,000 award being offered to whoever can identify the rapist, many people in the Waldo area are coming up with their own methods to track him down.
“In every corner of the neighborhood there are pictures of the man,” Britt said. “Lots of businesses in the area have their own rewards for finding the man, along with the state reward.”
Britt believes that the rapist situation doesn’t affect the children of Waldo as much as it affects older people.
“I have young kids so they see the pictures, but they don’t really have a clue,” Qualls said. “They just say ‘look mommy, it’s the guy!’ It’s complicated, but they understand he’s a scary, bad man.”
The Qualls are trying to sell their house and wonder if the rapist situation will affect the sale.
“The house has only been on the market for about two weeks, so it’s a bit too early to tell if it’s being affected by this situation,” Britt said. ”I don’t really think it is.”
Brad believes the sale of the house is being affected.
“I am sure it has had some effect on the house,” Brad said. “Especially if single women are looking to buy a home.”
While the Qualls don’t know any of the women who have been assaulted, the closest attack was only 5 blocks from their house. Despite this, Britt fears for her neighbor.
“I have a neighbor who is middle aged and single and she has a little first grade boy,” she said. “She is a strong and smart woman but I just worry about her. She has a very predictable schedule and she just seems like the ‘prime candidate.’ She always has her German Shepherd at her house, but I just can’t help but worry about her.”
Brad has his own ideas about where the authorities should look to track down the Waldo Rapist.
“One thing that they have said is that the perpetrator smells of exhaust fumes,” he said. “Sounds to me like he might ride on the back of a garbage truck or something. Those types of people aren’t ‘seen’ by the public much because they are outside all day.”
by Jordan McEntee
Varsity basketball girls play up team chemistry in games
Head coach Andy Unrein first noticed his team’s capability for success at the end of the 2008-2009 school year.
“I knew they’d be talented even with losing the seniors,” he said. “I just knew they had the tangible parts necessary to be good.”
After making it to the first round of the state tournament, BV lost by 11 points to Olathe South.
However, it would take more than a loss at state to damage the friendships made between the girls.
Unrein said the thing about this team that sets them apart from others he’d coached is how well they get along.
“There aren’t any personality clashes, which can be hard to say about 18 girls,” he said.”They spend a lot of time together. A lot of them were on JV or varsity when they were younger, so they have more years around the same kids.”
Senior Lauren Wormington said she felt the team was lucky in what types of girls made the team, which aided in the team bonding.
“There was no butting heads,” she said. “As seniors we did a good job of doing this as a team off the court, like team dinners and team sleepovers.”
These activities helped promote closer friendships.
“I have done things like this in other teams, but those were mandated by the coach,” sophomore Taylor Leathers said. “We did these just to hang out. We didn’t have to talk about basketball. It was just like hanging out with friends but more fun.”
The girls spent time together on and off the court, going to other school events as a group.
“We all went to S.W.I.T.C.H. together,” Leathers said. “It made it 10 times more fun with all the basketball girls together, just having a blast. We don’t care if we look like fools while we’re dancing together.”
Even with the loss of the seniors, Leathers said she doesn’t feel the team will lose the compatibility in future teams.
“We’ll miss them but we have to carry on without them,” she said. “We’ll take qualities they had and try to pull them out of ourselves. They lead without being negative in any way. They tell us what we should do, not [what we] have to do, and we listen.”
Though the team fell short of winning state, Wormington said she couldn’t be happier with how her final season at BV turned out.
“I feel so good about this season,” she said. “Yeah, we lost in state but it was a huge accomplishment to make it to state.”
Senior Nicole Berry has mixed feelings about her last season with the team.
“It was bittersweet,” she said. “We did lose but I was glad at how far we’d come.”
Wormington thinks the tight-knit atmosphere will help continue BV’s success.
“I think team bonding and chemistry are important,” she said. “We need to emphasize the importance of no drama and to always be working hard.”
Berry hopes future BV teams will continue to receive the support their team got this year.
“I loved the fact that the band played at so many games,” she said. “I hope that continues and I hope the teams still get the crowds we got. I hope they [the players] are all devoted.”
Berry said the closeness is what helped them achieve their goals.
“It is what helped us win games,” Berry said. “I definitely think the friendships we made will carry on through the years. I know some girls I won’t lose touch with.”
by Maegan Kabel.
The faces of the middle school students light up as glow-in-the-dark liquids illuminate the classroom and bright, colorful fires burn.
This is the Science Outreach Club.
Science Outreach gives high schoolers the opportunity to present science-related demonstrations to younger students.
“This club introduces kids to things they’ve never seen or heard of,” senior Emily Huff said. “We let them know that when they’re in high school, they can join the club and do all these experiments and more.”
The purpose of the club is to get the younger students interested in science. For club members, interaction with the children is key.
“My favorite part of the club is seeing the younger kids’ reactions when we do all of the demos in front of them,” Huff said. “I love working with children. They’re always enthusiastic, which helps both us and them have more fun learning.”
The club meets every Thursday to discuss what kind of demonstrations they will do for the next presentation. The amount of presentations vary each month and there are field trips about once a month.
“I learned a lot of the demos we do in AP Chemistry, but we try to look up new demos we’ve never heard of so I learn a lot about those and more about chemistry in general,” Huff said. “We just try to figure out which experiments are the most interesting.”
Club sponsor Charlena Sieve said members learn many different skills.
“They obviously learn the theory behind scientific experiments but they also learn other things like how to get along with others, tolerance, presentation skills,” she said. “Hopefully, they become interested in science careers along the way.”
Huff’s interest in the medical field was the reason for her joining the club.
“I joined because I love science, so I figured the more I learn, the better off I’ll be,” Huff said. “It’s also just a fun club to be involved in. It’s exciting, entertaining, interesting and a good way to meet other people and learn more about science in general.”
Sieve said that any kind of student can join the club.
“So many students have embraced Science Outreach,” Sieve said. “It captures the interest of all kinds of students.”
by Emily Brown
Tiger TV, BV High April, 1 2010
Blue Valley High’s, Tiger TV April 1, 2010 Show
Five BV girls sign for college soccer
On the Wednesday before spring break, five senior girls signed to different colleges around the country to play soccer. Those five girls were Brooke Lickteig, Alysha Palacio, Jay Palm, Evan Palmer and Sally Stromme.
“These girls have the opportunity to play at the next level because they have put in many long hours,” head soccer coach K. Dean Snell said. “Opportunities like this don’t come without hard work.”
Brooke Lickteig signed to play soccer at the University of Central Missouri.
“Brooke is one of our varsity co-captains,” Snell said. “She is a very unselfish player and she demands the best from herself and her teammates.”
Alysha Palacio will soon be an Eagle at the NAIA school, Oklahoma Christian University.
“She really shows great attitude, skills, and leadership on this team,” Snell said. “We will miss her greatly.”
Jay Palm signed with the division one school, Stony Brook University in New York.
“Jay is a four-year varsity player,” Snell said. “She is a great leader and is also very unselfish. She even stepped up to play goalie one year when our goalie was injured.”
Evan Palmer will be attending the University of Arkansas.
“She is one of our co-captains and also a four-year starter on the varsity squad,” Snell said. “Evan sets a great example with her leadership and she truly cares about her teammates. She will certainly be missed.”
Sally Stromme signed to attend and play soccer at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
“She is a really great teammate and player,” Snell said. “We will really miss Sally a lot.”
by Jordan McEntee
Sophomore Taylor Leathers catches the basketball after Olathe North scores a basket. Blue Valley lost to Olathe North 55-44.
Seniors Nicole Gloor and Nicole Berry watch the game from the side line during the last minute of the game. Blue Valley was down by ten points.
Varsity girls basketball coach, Andy Unrein, contemplates the lost game. Photos by Jackie Lippert.
Kansas City area offers various St. Patrick’s Day hangouts
36th Annual Kansas City St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Where: Broadway from 33rd to 43rd Street
When: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
What: This world-famous parade will have a “going green” theme this year. The parade is always a classic event to go to on St. Patrick’s day and a fun time. Viewers will find some of the greatest floats in Kansas City, the most outrageous crowd and more people out of their minds then you can count. This parade is a crazy, fun experience for anyone who goes and an exceptional “people-watching” event.
Flannigan’s Right Hook concert
Where: Llywelyn’s Pub, 151st Street and Metcalf Avenue
When: 4 p.m.
What: A Kansas City Irish rock band will perform what gets classified as “Celtic Rock.” Flannigans Right Hand is one of the bands that always represents this genre. Their music is traditionally performed in Ireland, but they sometimes incorporate the rap-and-rock environment of Kansas City. Their playlist for concerts include many classic Irish Ballads, U.S. country songs or even a little bit of U2.
Eddie Delahunt concert
Where: Mike Kelly’s Westsider, Mo.
When: Right after the Parade
What: A one-man Irish rock musician, Eddie Delahunt is a soulful Irish singer-songwriter and musician in the folk tradition. He is known as the best Irish performer and singer in Kansas City by his fans, and they have a good reason to say so. Most say if you only buy one Irish CD, or go to any Irish concert, he is the guy to see. He combines acoustics with Irish classics to make a sound of music most never hear of. This will surely be a packed house beginning immediately after the parade. This is sure to be a good concert to go and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with your friends.
by Chris Roche
It’s that time of year again. It’s time for current sophomores and juniors to apply to be Tiger Mentors for the 2010-2011 school year.
Social studies teacher and mentor coordinator Courtney Buffington said that the application process is extremely competitive.
“It is tough competition because we have so many wonderful students at BVHS, but we are looking for a variety of personalities and leadership styles,” she said. “We don’t just want the ‘usual suspects.’”
To become a Tiger Mentor, you must first go through a unique application process.
“You complete a written application that is electronically submitted,” she said. ”I request teacher feedback on applicants from the school’s faculty, and finally an interview and lesson performance are done by each applicant.”
Current Tiger Mentor, senior Kaitlin Long says that the application process is pretty competitive.
“So many people apply because it’s an awesome program,” she said. “But there are only so many spots.”
Because this process is so competitive, Buffington has a few tips for students looking into being mentors.
“Advice I would give is to be a model student inside and outside the classroom,” she said. “Show you have a strong ability to communicate with both teachers and students.”
Long has some advice of her own for future mentors.
“When you go into the interview, be yourself,” she said. “Don’t try to act like ‘the perfect mentor’ because there’s no such thing. Mrs. Buffington and the other teachers in there are looking for a wide variety of people.”
If you get accepted to be a mentor, you acquire a number of responsibilities.
“Mentors are required to attend a summer training day in August as well as serve as leaders during Freshmen week in August — that time period is my favorite for the mentors,” Buffington said. “After that, you do the Thursday Tiger Time classes and communicate with fellow mentors to plan your lessons each week.”
Long believes that it is the responsibility of the Tiger Mentors to make the freshman feel like part of the BV tradition.
“You become responsible for letting the new freshmen know how amazing our school is,” she said. “You have to fill them in on traditions and things like homecoming. It’s a big responsibility. You want them to feel welcome and at home from the get-go.”
According to Buffington, there are many benefits to becoming a Tiger Mentor.
“As a Tiger Mentor you have a chance to develop relationships with kids not in your grade and make a positive impact on a freshman’s first year of high school,” Buffington said.
Buffington said for students who are attending Blue Valley Southwest next year, information about the BVSW mentor program should be released later in the spring.
Long believes that overall, being a Tiger Mentor is a very beneficial
“Being a Tiger Mentor is a really awesome experience,” she said. “I still remember my mentors from freshman year and I really did look up to them. So being a mentor for other people is something that maybe they’ll remember too.”
by Jordan McEntee
