Issue 10

The Northmen’s LogWednesday, May 19, 2010 Oak Park High School Issue 10, Volume 45

Relay advances to cure for cancer,

see p. 8

by Alex Mallinsports editor

When assistant principal Mark

Maus first received word he had gained the position as principal of Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Mo., begin-ning in fall of 2011, several thoughts came to his mind.

The first thought, according to Maus, was the overwhelming excite-ment that comes being named the prin-cipal and leader of a school.

The second;“Oh my gosh. I don’t have anyone

else to ask for advice,” Maus said.Maus began teaching at Oak Park

in fall of 2001 after applying for open teaching, assistant football coach and assistant track coach positions. He re-ceived all three and for the next six years taught math while coaching track and mentoring the defensive backs and wide receivers on the football team.

Maus eventually transitioned to becoming assistant principal in the 2007-2008 year. After working along-side Principal Fred Skretta, Ed.D., for two years, Maus applied for a position at Rock Bridge at the beginning of this school year.

“I had a strong desire to become a principal and I knew that Rock Bridge was a very respected high school throughout the state,” Maus said.

Rock Bridge’s current principal Kathy Ritter decided to retire after four years as principal. Despite there being more than 30 other candidates, the dis-trict eventually made its decision and chose Maus to take over her position.

“I think they made an excellent choice,” Ritter said. “The district had several outstanding candidates and I think Mark will be great for this school.”

According to Maus, his promotion will provide him advantages not only in his career but in his home life.

“The excitement overwhelmed any-thing I worried about,” Maus said. “Its going to be great for my family.”

Maus’ family recently celebrated their youngest daughter’s first birth-

day and his wife planned on taking a part-time job to allow her to stay home with her and their older three-year-old daughter. With his promotion, Maus said his wife will now be able to stay home full-time.

Despite the advantages of his pro-motion, Maus said the most difficult part will be the relocation in a city two hours away.

“I certainly hate to leave Oak Park,” Maus said. “It’s the first place I ever taught and the place I’ll always love.”

When Maus first arrived, he coached alongside head football coach Keith Ross. Ross said he has benefited through Maus’ time spent at OP.

“Hes a very intelligent young man; and he’s going to do quite well as a prin-cipal,” Ross said. “He loves his job and he likes doing what he’s doing.”

Just as Skretta has mentored Maus through his years as an assistant princi-pal, Maus said he has also advised him in his transition to a principal.

“Before I even put my name in I made sure and go talk to him [Skretta],” Maus said. “I talked to him very early on this year and asked him how old he was when he started looking because I’m 32 years old and that’s fairly young to be a principal. I really looked to him for his advice because he was a young principal too when he started.”

While Rock Bridge awaits the ar-rival of Maus, Ritter said she has had several chances to interact with him and help him in his conversion to the new environment.

“I’ve noticed that he’s a great listen-er and that would be my No. 1 tip to be a successful principal,” Ritter said. “He should also get to know the students and enjoy them and support teachers who are already dedicated and very professional to support the work that they are engaged in.”

Maus said that after several visits to Rock Bridge he doesn’t anticipate his teaching values to have to alter much.

“There are a lot of things Oak Park has similar to Rock Bridge that I made

sure of before I ever even put my name in,” Maus said. “I’m not planning to go in and make drastic changes. That’s not me and you really can’t do that as a first time principal.”

Other similarities include Rock Bridge’s financial climate. Once Maus arrives in Columbia he will be facing a school suffering similar budget cuts as the one’s in the NKCSD over the past three years. According to Ritter, Rock Bridge has had to cut several teaching positions even though class sizes range from an average of 28-30 students, a number that is projected to continue growing.

“In spite of the budget cuts, we are still a very positive environment,” Rit-ter said. “If he [Maus] keeps involving teachers in this process, and we need to do additional cuts, he will be fine. We are going through difficult times but that can be eased some by keeping teachers informed.”

Ritter said while she will greatly miss her student body, she feels they will be left in good hands with Maus.

“I have heard people say Mr. Maus and I have a lot of the same character-istics,” Maus said. “My personality is to enjoy every day, say ‘yes’ to kids and understand that schools are about stu-dents not just about rules. I know I re-ally enjoy kids and I think he seems the same way.”

In a year Maus will be celebrating the end of his first year as principal. He said while he holds excitement for his new position, he hopes he has left a last-ing impression inside the halls of Oak Park before he walks through the doors of Rock Bridge.

“I realize I’ve only been here nine years and there has been a whole lot of people here a lot longer but I hope when I leave that people know that I always tried to support them,” Maus said. “I hope the students, staff and the community knows I was always genuine with what I did and I was passionate for my job and for my role regardless of it being a coach, a teacher or an adminis-trator.”

Rock Bridge marks new destination for MausYour thoughts:

What are your plans

for after high school?

by Mandy Nicholsentertainment editor

Debaters from across the nation will flood the area June 13-18 to compete in the annual National Forensic League national convention. Various venues, including Oak Park, Staley and Park Hill high schools, will host some of the competitive events.

“This will be the largest convention ever hosted in the Northland,” said debate spon-sor Arianne Fortune.

Fortune jumped over some hurdles to get this national competition in the area, but not without the support of key members of the National Forensics League.

According to Fortune, the national di-rector suggested Kansas City’s hosting of the tournament six years ago, and the national office would like to hold it here every four years.

“Kansas City is within an eight- hour driving distance of 90 percent of NFL mem-bers,” Fortune said.

Fortune started the process four years ago when, working with former Park Hill debate coach Don Crabtree, she requested a bid packet for the location which the ex-

ecutive council in the NFL’s national office would have to approve. Former associate superintendent of high school programming Leigh Ann Taylor-Knight helped as well.

To put together the bid, Fortune needed approval from school boards and superin-tendents from NKCSD and Park Hill along with the use of school resources during the

week of the tournament. They also had to secure 2,500 hotel rooms in the area for NFL member usage during their potential stays.

“The bid process was quite extensive, ev-ery detail had to be accounted for, including building maps,” Fortune said.

Once Fortune finished it, the national office received the bid in the mail before vot-ing unanimously in favor of it, marking a first for such a decision.

Junior Devon Whitton has qualified to compete this year at this national event.

Whitton’s event, original oratory, has her reciting a 10-minute personally-written persuasive speech entitled, “Oh My Gosh Audience, Look at My Butt.” Oak Park will host this event, allowing Whitton to compete on native soil.In order to help out, debate students will work on organizing concessions at tournament locations, creating and order-ing merchandise and signs and nominating judges for panels among other things.

“The team is doing a lot in preparation of the upcoming tournament. We are selling ads to surrounding establishments, stuffing bags and other agenda items,” Whitton said. “As for me, I’m organizing the team officer meetings and trying to jazz up my speech to

give myself a competitive edge.”Other debaters like president senior

Brandon Wood will do their part to make the event a success.

“Basically I am in charge of facilities,” Wood said. “I will set up all of the rooms at Oak Park like the tab room for the coaches and the actual rooms for the competitors.”

In order to bring in some extra man-power, the debate team has set it up for oth-er students to receive Gold Medallion hours working shifts timekeeping or otherwise helping run things during the tournament.

Wood thinks this will bring in extra help to run things smoothly.

“We have around 5,000 competitors coming from all over the country, and I think it will be a lot of fun helping out our team and teams we know from this area,” Wood said.

Fortune has confidence in the positive experience this convention can bring to her students and the area.

“This is a great opportunity for our stu-dents and a wonderful event for them to be a part of,” Fortune said. “It is certainly a, ‘once in a lifetime,’ for most of our students, and probably for me as well!”

National debate conference arrives in Northland

by Samantha Colhourcopy editor

Imagine walking into your favor-ite class without the teacher you have grown to love and respect being there.

Six teachers, including math teacher Tracy Andrews, A+ coordina-tor Sharlaine Hemmingsen, advisory/achievement coordinator Ken Corum, art teacher Lindsey Doolittle, drivers ed teacher Tom Stout and resource specialist Kathleen Poehlman, were reassigned to new positions because the administration was told they had to reduce the staff.

“Basically they are trying to cut down on the cost of the total budget,” Poehlman said. “They are looking at me, saying they are going to figure out something for me, they just don’t know what yet.”

With Poehlman gone that would only lessen the budget a small amount,

so the district had to look towards oth-er departments to cut, including the math department.

“They felt our math department could handle one less teacher,” An-drews said. “Since I am one of the newest teachers in our department, I was chosen because of less tenure. “

While teachers are leaving be-cause of budget cuts others are leav-ing for personal reasons. Three of these teachers include theater teacher Stephanie Siers, communication arts teacher Gretchen Carroll and assistant principal Mark Maus.

Siers’ departure stemmed from her husband’s Marine duties.

“My husband is an active duty Ma-rine,” Siers said.

“He received orders to Camp Pendleton in California. He will be working with Wounded Warrior Bat-talion.”

With her departure, theater stu-

dents have to get used to a new teach-er.

“The students in the drama de-partment have gotten used to the way I run things and the production schedule,” Siers said. “We have a rou-tine and have formed our own family, so it is very difficult to leave. Students will have to adapt to the change and welcome a new teacher into their fam-ily.”

The communication arts depart-ment will also lose a teacher. Carroll will be leaving because of a desire to further her education in grad school.

Along with these changes in staff because of budgets and personal rea-sons, three teachers have chosen to make this year their last and retire. The three staff members include Spanish and German teacher Michael Ramirez, special education teacher Jan Swenson and attendance secretary Pam Glenn.

“Go to college, have fun and hopefully

become a pharmicist.”

- senior Abel Teferi

“Going to Maple Woods for two

years, then going to a technical

school in Minnesota to learn how to

repair instruments.”- senior Kayla Koch

“I’m going to go to Drake, to study

actuarial science, with Joseph [Mar-

tin].”- senior Tara

Baumgartner

“College, but I’m undecided.”

- senior Gibson Whitaker

“JCCC, getting my culinary arts

degree.”- senior Iana

Newton

“I’m going to MU, and I’m going to major in nursing.”

- senior Laura Hulfeld

“I’m going to Blue River to become a

fire fighter..” - senior Cole Bradley

Staff changes cause forced adjustments

National Forensics League officers, sophomore Me-gan Wood, junior Devon Whitton, sophomores Jas-mine Scott and Sierra Scott, junior Carly Evans, and debate coach Arianne Fortune make decisions, Tues-day, May 11, about the upcoming NFL national tour-nament, hosted by Oak Park, Park Hill and Staley high schools. photo by Gina Drapela, editor-in-chief

Moving on, leaving the OP family

Finishing the current school year Friday, May 14, vice principal Mark Maus works towards conclud-ing his legacy at OP, which includes planning graduation, while transitioning to his new home, Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Mo. photo by Gina Drapela, editor-in-chief

resource specialist Kathleen Poehlman

CA teacherGretchen Carroll

theatre teacherStephanie Siers

math teacherTracy Andrews

sportspage2

Sports wrap-up; a year in the books

Boys Basketball: 16-10

Girls Basketball: 10-15

Wrestling: 2nd in state, 7-2

Football: 3-7

Volleyball 16-16

Softball: 14-13

Boys Soccer: 6-16

Boys Cross Country: 5th in districts, 4th in conference Girls Cross Country: 5th in districts and conference Boys Swim and Dive: 1-14

Fall Season Winter Season Spring Season**(as of Tuesday, May 11)

Boy’s Golf: 6th in districts, 4th in conferenceGirls Soccer: 11-11-1*

Boys Track: 3rd in districts, 6th in conference*Girls Track: 3rd in districts, 6th in conference*

Baseball: 4-15*

by Jessica Nicholsfeature editor

For the first time since its creation, OP teams faced off against Staley teams at the fifth annual Spike Night on Fri-day, May 14. With the split of schools some students wanted the opportunity to play against their old friends.

“The event has been strictly an Oak Park event, but many of the partici-pants were asking to allow Staley teams to make it bigger, so we decided to try it out this year,” said event coordinator Ken Corum.

The teams came up with their own names, ranging from “Goon Squad” to

“Spiked Punch” to “The Team That Never Loses…Ever.” Senior Mark Wopata and his team “Victorious Se-cret” marked this year as their fourth and last year in the tournament.

“It’s the best night of the year.” Wopata said. “It’s really competitive and something the guys don’t get to do a lot so it’s a unique thing.”

The tournament began with 18 teams in six pools of three teams. In each pool, teams played one another and the main bracket was arranged ac-cording to wins and losses.

Once in the tournament the teams played with single-elimination rules. In order to be a champion one would have

to win three games to 15 points and win the finals match to 25.

In the end the finals came down to “Victorious Secret” and the Staley team “Naughty Dogs.” In a hard fought match, “Victorious Secret” claimed a 25-23 win and a Spike Night Champi-onship.

This year the money from Spike Night will go to benefit Synergy Ser-vices which, according to Corum, is “an organization designed to help teens and their families via counseling, cri-sis intervention, and transitional living programs.”

Falcons enter 5th annual Spike Night


With five years under her belt, varsity cheer coach Lesley Martin led the girls to various victories including: third at Regionals and State this year, as well as many camp awards they received.

“I think the team has built a very strong founda-tion this year, which I am very thankful for,” Martin said.

While the cheerlead-ers had grown to look up to Martin, she knew that it was time to step down for per-sonal reasons.

“I have a lot of fam-ily things happening next year,” Martin said. “Be-ing coach requires so much time, and I just knew I had

to so many personal things I needed and wanted to do next year, but I really feel like the coaches stepping in next year will work well with the teams.”

With Martin step-ping down and leaving a spot open, junior varsity coach Megan Ives, who had coached with Martin for four years, applied to be the new varsity coach. After receiv-ing the position, Ives hoped to make a smooth transition into head coach. With cheer clinics underway, her hopes became true.

“We have started our cheer season by now,” Ives said. “Cheer is a sport that never sleeps. I think the transition has been smooth sailing so far. The cheerlead-ers miss her but are focused

on the next year and becom-ing an even stronger squad worth of a state champion-ship.”

With Ives prepared to take over as varsity coach, her position as junior varsity coach was left open with no takers. As time went by, wor-ry spread that no one would want to take on the job. This would all change as commu-nication arts teacher Lisa El-der walked through the of-fice one day.

“I was walking into the office when Coach [Keith] Ross stopped me and told me about the position,” El-der said. “It sounded really fun and like something I would enjoy a lot. This year I did Color Guard and loved it, so I figured why not try the new opportunity? I am

very excited for next year.”With little experience,

Elder has no worries about making the transition from Color Guard to cheerlead-ing.

“For Color Guard, we had to put in a lot of time,” Elder said. “We practiced all the time. So I am not wor-ried about the strenuous na-ture of cheerleading. I am also so excited to work with the coaches and girls.”

Many of those going onto the junior varsity team next year felt as though El-der would be a good fit.

“I’m excited to work with her,” said sophomore Samantha Burtrum. “I knew her from this year, and I like her a lot, so it should be a good time.”

Martin steps down as head cheer coach, Ives moves up

Working together as a team, freshman Amy Lindhorst and senior Blaire White celebrate a point with the rest of the players on Tuesday, Oct. 6. photo by Kim Shields, photographer

Cheering on the football team, senior Carissa Mitchell shows her excitement on Friday, Sept. 25. photo by Der-ek Byrne, special to the Log

While leading the pack at the JV Grandview Invitational on Thursday, Sept. 24, freshman Kaila Orr charges up the hill. Orr found cross country a demanding sport. photo by Kaitlyn Mc-Manus, special to the Log

Preparing for the next scrimmage at the Jamboree, quarter-back sophomore Eric Ross limbers up his throwing arm in anticipation of the defense. photo by Jordan Cook, special to the Log

Top-Left: Senior Devin Claypool narrowly clears the bar as he practices the high jump on Thursday, May 13. Claypool practices with the bar at heights of up to 6’6, the height he reached last year at the state meet. photo by Alex Mallin, sports editor

Top-Right: Junior Gage Harrison holds his opponent’s position during the championship finals match on Saturday, Feb. 20 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. His victory in this match marked his first state title. “There was so much going through my mind after winning,” Harrison said. “I’ve wrestled for 11 years and this was my first year even making it to finals.” photo by Alex Mallin, sports editor

Bottom-Right: At the North Kansas City School District natatorium on Tuesday, Dec. 9, sophomore Lunden Michel practices her butterfly stroke in the pool. According to coach Marlene Nay, each girl swims an average of 6,000 yards in the two-hour span. photo by Lindsey Colner, special to the Log

Bottom-Left: Sophomore David Wingerson jumps for a lay up against Lee Summit on Tuesday, Dec. 15. This was his first year as a varsity starter. Last year, he played as a transition player between varsity and JV. “We are doing better than everyone thought we would,” Wingerson said. photo by Kim Shields, photographer

opinionpage3

Your Views:What are your

summer plans?

“I’m sleeping for a week, then hi-jacking a car, and finding the

nearest coast. If I come back, gold on the regular and taking Lauren,

my girlfriend, to Omaha Zoo.”- senior David Long

“Working on my piano lessons for MAMA (Mid America Music Association), and then going to

Tennessee with my family.” -freshman Megan Clarke

“I plan on getting a job, getting a car, and saving my money the

whole summer.”- sophomore D’Ashley Toombs

As students face an upcoming school year with stricter budget policies and a smaller list of teachers and staff to absorb information and attention from, they could easily plummet into angst-filled pit falls keeping them from get-ting the most out of their high school experience.

One must remember high school served its purpose long before students clutched mini-notes to their chests as they went to their classes. A tattered geometry text book can do the same for any dedicated student-teacher team as a fancy 3D demo program of an oc-tagon. The vital tools for learning will

remain after year’s end.Keeping these things in mind,

these budget cuts challenging the dis-trict don’t mean desks will instanta-neously start creaking and new books lose their binding.

The school will keep most of its quality resources utilized by students and teachers alike. These resources will just have to work on overtime as they won’t have too many to join them. Posi-tive attitudes and willingness to adjust within the student body can make this transition smoother for everyone.

No amount of positive thinking will bring some of the budget back, but it

can, coupled with resourceful spirits and mindfulness fill the void. If peo-ple focus on what they don’t have, they won’t be able to focus on what they do, or how to use what they have most ef-ficiently.

A student valiantly raising funds for their club’s t-shirts after they’ve fought for the continuation of the club will have more pride than the student whining about reusing jerseys on a var-sity team due to budget cuts.

The proactive student won’t just feel better about what they’ve fought for, they’ll have accomplished more as well.

Log’s View: Resourcefulness drives fulfillment

by Gabrielle Young editorial editor

Only a couple of years

ago green used to represent a feeling of envy. When re-ferring to green today, the mind has received alteration to automatically think of the three “Rs:” reduce, reuse and recycle.

Each person has to do his or her part in going green for the earth to re-main a healthy and safe en-vironment. With Summer right around the corner people have an easier way to go green.

The first “R” of reduc-ing probably will be the most difficult way to go green for most people. People have found a fascination in learn-ing how to reduce their car-bon footprint.

A carbon footprint rep-resents the total number of carbon dioxide (CO2) a person produces in his/her daily activities by burning fossil fuels for transporta-tion, electricity, and more according to Buzzle.com. A

carbon footprint calculator measures the footprint of each individual.

An easy way to start re-ducing a person’s footprint would be to turn off all lights when currently not in use. With the sun out, natural light can illuminate a whole house. Each time a person finishes using an appliances they should immediately be unplugged.

Many harmful chemi-cals are released into the air when people drive or fly. The best way to keep these chemicals from harming the environment would be to ride a bicycle, car pool, walk, or public transportation.

The second “R,” reuse, promotes a way for people to go green while helping oth-ers. Everyone has them, the clothes stuffed in the back of their closet never to see the light of day again. What better way to go green then to donate the clothing to a thrift store or goodwill?

The last “R,” recycle, gives people the simplest way to go green. To start off

students’ should recycle old worksheets and homework, if a person knows they will only end up stashed some-where as just another piece of trash. Every water bottle or pop can one uses should be recycled.

Going green for most people remains a hard task but people can take small steps to become a greener person. The earth holds much beauty and we should

want to take care of our planet. Going green will save people money and best of all benefit future generations in living in a healthy planet.


Seniors, their friends and families face weeks of party food and attire this time of the year. They put in time, effort and cash for these end-of-the-year cel-ebrations. Cash flow gravi-tates especially towards graduation parties.

These last few days for seniors have students receiv-

ing in their e-mail, facebook pages or even directly from their old-fashioned friends a flood of graduation party invitations.

The idea of a graduation party shifts from person to person, with a set definition impossible to find. While some act as an actual celebra-tion of four years’ comple-tion of high school, others stage a show, serving finger sandwiches and urging thick

wads of cash toward the col-lection box.

The completion of 13 years of school deserves some congratulations, but a donation box wrapped in tablecloth and served with cake hardly constitutes a par-ty. Students can ask for cash, but doing so in the midst of a party makes for a frustrating experience for guests.

Of course some pull out the fancy dishes, line the

tables with Egyptian cot-ton and cook a five-course meal for guests after they’ve played paintball, ridden the pony or jumped in the moon walk. With all these expen-sive props, guests may have a good time, but the focus shifts away from the gradu-ate’s accomplishment. Plus, no one wants a giant bill right before going off into the real world.

Graduation parties

should have guests reminisc-ing and playing games with their graduating friends. Rather than acting as a con-test to see how many people one can shove in their house, these occasions should have a more intimate guest list.

This way, graduates can share their joy with people who they have had conver-sations with going beyond asking for the answer to a science question.

With a party group that fits in one’s living room, the collective group could all to-gether join in some sort of activity, rather than spread out into clusters talking about miscellaneous topics. If the focus goes away from celebrating what the title de-scribes, how far can “gradu-ation party” truly detail the event?

Green will better the futureStudents follow 3 Rs to help environment

“Summer baseball and my job, summer lifeguarding.”

- sophomore Jake Majors

Scam opportunities deceive studentsby Gina Drapela

editor-in-chief

When students get older and school comes to a close, they start the search for a job. Either to save money for col-lege, or just earn extra cash, students are looking for their lucky break; the ideal situ-ation that will roll in the big bucks. But when students are confronted by big companies such as Vector Marketing, offering an over-minimum-wage salary, with loads of benefits and instant employ-ment, is it the real deal? Few say yes, but the majority would say no.

Big companies like Vec-tor have a goal, to offer tre-mendous benefits, but no re-ward, and require a payment of some sort to even be hired for the job. Before employ-

ment, one is required to take training to learn how to mar-ket the product sold by said company, in Vector’s case, Cutco Cutlery.

The company heads ex-plain how successful one will be after selling so many pieces, after taking so many classes, but do not explain what the company is really about. I was personally in-volved with an interview, and was shocked from start; the atmosphere, the interview, then ultimately, employment.

I was called by the compa-ny, saying I had been recruit-ed by an old friend of whom I had not spoken with since my sophomore year. The mes-sage said they were interested in me and would like to set up an interview, and stated that there was an open interview soon. I happened to attend,

and the atmosphere seemed stark. Blank walls with only a couple rooms and a wait-ing room made up the com-pany’s building, where upon arrival I was instructed to sit, keep silent, and fill out an ap-plication.

I filled out sections about a company I knew nothing about and included traits about myself that I thought suited me for an occupation I knew nothing of, except that it was a marketing firm, known to help thousands of students by providing schol-arships and dependable cut-lery, but nothing else.

We later were subject to a presentation, explaining what the company was about. A marketing firm, designed to sell cutlery by appointment, where employees travel door to door and demonstrate the

product. The catch; each new em-

ployee had to buy the instruc-tion kit and attend training classes before making any money. Employees had to suggest others to recruit for an interview as well. This un-derlies the scam.

Students are deceived by unattainable goals, and re-wards that you have to buy before even obtaining. Com-panies design the scams to hire a large number of peo-ple, taking the money gained from buying the demonstra-tion kit, and expecting a large amount of employees to fail or quit during training.

Not all companies and re-tailers are scams, but students need to be aware that not all are as good as they seem, and even if they seem reliable, do research.

Recycling bins were found throughout the hallways during locker cleanout day, Friday, May 14. photo by Gina Drapela

Graduation parties drain bank accounts

Editor-in-Chief & Photo EditorGina Drapela

Editorial EditorGabrielle Young

Sports EditorAlex Mallin

Entertainment EditorMandy Nichols

Lifestyles EditorCourtney Kelley

Feature EditorJessica Nichols

Copy EditorSamantha Colhour

CartoonistJohnna Hensley

WritersTah’keeyah GordonKim ShieldsKayla Smith

PhotographerAlly Sansone

AdviserChristina Geabhart

“The Northmen’s Log”

is published 10 times during the school year. “The Log” is a student forum for ex-pression; it is produced by students for students.

“The Log” accepts let-ters to the editor in rooms E133 or E134 or [email protected]. Let-ters cannot exceed a length of 350 words. We will not

run letters that are libel-ous, obscene, or that may cause a verifiable disruption of the education process of Oak Park. Letters must be signed.

Advertisers may con-tact the business manager at 413-5352, or 825 N.E. 79th Terrace, Kansas City, MO, 64118.

Opinions expressed in “The Log” do not reflect staff endorsements of that product or service.

“The Log” is a member of NSPA, MIPA and Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists. “The Log” is affiliated with JEA and JEMKC.

The Northmen’s Log Staff &Policies

Contributing to the reduction of plastic waste in the school, senior Kelsey Merrigan takes the time to recycle used water bottles during locker clean out Friday, May 14. Merrigan does her best to con-tribute as much as she can to the effort in her everyday life. “I feel like it’s pretty exciting that we’re saving the world, and it’s good that we’re making an easy option for everyone to recycle,” said Mer-rigan. photo by Gina Drapela

CORRECTION:Mistakes were made in the front page story, “Revolution

splits mother-daughter,” in the Friday, April 30, 2010, edi-tion of The Log:

Laurie Jacobsen hosts foreign exchange student, Madi-na Damir Kyzy. Damir Kyzy’s mother, Elmira Damir Kyzy, was pictured with the story. Junior Schyler Tate was also in-terviewed.

featurespage4

Q&A with Jean Ann Hart by Samantha Colhour

copy editor

Q: How have you liked the mini-notes? A: “When I see what it does for the students, I think it’s a very good thing. It has com-

pletely changed the essence of my job. I used to be able to help kids. I could roam around, now I don’t get out of the technology room. I miss it.”

Q : What have been the problems?A: “Our biggest problem is getting the students to understand it’s an educational tool

and not a toy. Students don’t necessarily understand that it makes so much more work for us to take these programs off their computer.”

Q: What’s the difference between when we first got the mini-notes and now?A: “I think the students and teachers are getting better at solving small problems. The biggest thing we have seen

throughout the year constantly is that we’ve seen a couple hundred computers that have had to be reimaged. The kids know they shouldn’t do it, so that’s getting better.”

Q: Do you think there will be less problems next year?A: “Yes, I think so. Everyone has learned lessons from this. This year was about learning how to deal with this process.

Students have started to learn.”

Q: Will any of the policies change next year?A: “We aren’t sure yet. We just know that next year we will have to be more direct with the freshmen.”

by Courtney Kelleylifestyles editor

Throughout the year, teachers in all areas explain why they choose not to use them in their classes often. Each class uses the laptops in a different way.

The departments such as math and science do not use the laptops very often. For instance chemistry teacher Katie Gerhold only uses the laptops at the beginning of every class.

“Students very rarely use them in my class, only for the starter questions.” Gerhold said.

In the math department, MIB teacher Julie Coffey ex-plains that in the MIB room students hardly ever use the laptops because they come in for math help. And tech-nically doing math online is

very difficult unless students need to make up a test or quiz. The only reason stu-dents would need their lap-tops would be if they forgot their book and needed to

use the online textbook.“If the teachers use the

laptops in class then they are likely to use them in MIB, if the minis aren’t used then they will mostly likely not be

used,” Coffey said.Other departments also

avoid using them.“The students do not

use their laptops in AP lit because the curriculum does not really call for them.” said AP liteature teacher Timothy Rupp.

Rupp explains that the class involves student’s hand writing essays and reading books.

“On the AP lit exam, stu-dents are required to read passages, complete an essay, and fill in bubbles. Once the test is online then we will begin to use the laptops,” Rupp said.

As the first year with the laptops, teachers and stu-dents will adapt differently to the mini notes over time and find more use depend-ing on the curriculum of the class.

Desktops deem influential, reliable

by Gina Drapelaeditor-in chief

The transition from dream to reality has changed my whole technological world in my high school ex-perience. Mini-notes have become the standard when homework is involved, whether it has been typing up a paper, or Photoshopping photos, completing tasks were a breeze. Now, one could do all those things, but in the comfort of their own home. With a flash drive handy, less time is spent waiting for a school computer to warm up, when all one needs in a mini, and possibly a charger to complete assignments. But if one is a journalism stu-dent, like I, the minis are sometimes small, and limited to complete work.

To complete a paper, all content is contained and organized in workgroup folders in the shared drive. There, staff members have access to a large amount of storage to store stories, and photos for the current is-sue of the paper, and past. All staff members can see activity of newly added content, and can place specific files directly from the drive, to the page to design and edit. All staffs in the journalism department depend on this service, due to our training and ultimate conve-nience. While one can see the staff folders on the mini, this plethora of content can only be accessed when in the building. Only when working under the server can the staff folders be accessed. This becomes inconvenient and very frustrating when trying to place stories and pictures on a page when there are none to be placed. It is almost like leaving a valued text book at school in one’s locker.

But these problems can all be avoided, with flash drives and blank CDs, to hold and transfer files. Using the minis has really impacted my life in school, when completing homework, and polishing the paper. With a little more polishing to the plan, the minis could ad-vance even more in the lives of students.

OLD VS New

Your Views: Did you miss desktops and why?

“Old” computers seem easier to trust

by Jessica Nicholsfeature editor

From the beginning of my learning experience, the desktop computer has always been there. The large ma-chines sat on desks and plugged into the wall seemed like a great breakthrough in technology for a young mind. All of the small learning games for young chil-dren were easily accessible. Nothing was complicated and everything was always safe.

I remember PAWS and Oregon Express on the el-ementary school desktops in the small computer room next to the library. Computer lab days always seemed like a fieldtrip. In middle school, updated versions of the computers with even more software were used. We still went to computer labs to work on in class projects and essay writing. Now with laptops, the desktop com-puters seem to have been forgotten about, but there are many things about them that I miss.

The small keyboard and mouse pad on the mini-notes can become a hassle sometimes. If your thumb is a little off the space bar you run the risk of turning of the touchpad. When the touchpad is on, it is extremely sen-sitive. Every little touch sends the mouse in another di-rection and takes time to get used to. You can purchase wireless mice but even they can be sensitive at times and at other times low batteries can affect whether they will operate or not.

On the desktops, you never have to worry about hitting a button that will turn off the mouse or acciden-tally deleting something because of a touch to the mouse pad. The mouse seemed easier to control. It didn’t take much to scroll up or down on a page. All you had to do was roll the ball at the center of the mouse. Opening up documents seemed simpler, too. One left click was all it took.

The mini-notes have small screens. Sometimes this causes the writing to appear smaller, trying to fit the same amount of words that a desktop would show. After staring at the screen for a long period of time my eyes become tired and strained.

With the desktop, it was possible to see everything at once. Instead of having to scroll up or down a word document in order to edit things, you could see an en-tire page. With the minis you can see a third of the page.

I always felt safe working on a desktop without sav-ing assignments until the very end. You never had to worry about whether or not the computer was going to die. It was always plugged in to an electrical outlet. It always had power, unlike the mini-notes which seem to have short battery lives.

Even though a desktop computer cannot be carried around with you, I still prefer using them. Technology can continue to change and develop. Laptops are not the only things advancing. Desktops receive improve-ment too. So, though I don’t want to rely solely on the laptops, I know I’ll always have a back up if I search hard enough.

Desktops prove useful only in screen size

by Courtney Kelleylifestyles editor

Growing up in a generation with the big boxed screen and the obnoxious keyboard desktops, nobody knew what to do when technology improved and intro-duced the world to laptops.

The desktops never got misplaced or uncharged. They are always on a table and can never be misplaced. The laptops came with a case and a charger that take up most of the room in backpacks. Many students also asked for a “fashionable” laptop strap.

The desktops were difficult to get things done for The Log, because they are not portable and students would have to leave classes to work on the paper to meet deadlines. The screens on the desktops are a lot easier to read, and allow the work time to be 10 times faster than on the mini notes.

Teachers stray away from mini-note usage

Log staff blogson desktops

Seniors Phyllis Ferrara, Greg Dowd, and Anthony Ryan work on desktops during third block ecampus class Friday, May 14. “I don’t have to wear glasses to see the screen, it’s too small,” said Ferrara. photo by Gina Drape-la, editor-in-chief

“Not, particularly, no. They’re just not up to snuff. They just can’t do what

we need anymore.” -senior Kylor Greene

“No, the mini-notes are easier to use and faster too.”

-sophomore Mark Anderson

“Absolutely not. They are a huge hassle. But I also do not enjoy the

mini-notes either, but the desktops are worse.”

-freshman Aggie Rieger

“No, it isn’t portable. I’m able to do things at home or on the road. That’s

why I like laptops better.”

-coach Ken Corum

“No, I just wish the mini-note screens were bigger.”

-junior Schyler Tate

featurespage5

R3+ program provides

instruction to help teachers

prepare for mini-notes

by Jessica Nichols and Gabrielle Young

feature editor and editorial editor

When mini-notes were implemented into our school, teachers had to find ways to adapt towards the change and incorporate the usage of the computers into their lessons. They wanted to find a way to create a more appealing learning en-vironment for the students.

All high school teachers throughout the district must go through the R3-plus pro-gram within the next four years. By the end of their year-long course, they learn how to really incorporate technology and how to make the content real for the stu-dents.

“The way we teach and learn has to change to in-corporate technology,” said principal Fred Skretta. “Teachers need to learn and

keep up with it to benefit students learning.”

Teachers were given an opportunity to apply for the R3-plus program in the spring of last year. The training process for nearly 90 started in the fall.

“There have been five-training sessions during the 2009-10 school year, starting in September, and then two more sessions coming up this summer,” said foreign lan-guage teacher Nicole King.

The program focuses on the effective use of technolo-gy and in general discussions of teaching philosophies.

“We’ve spent most of our time focusing on technology driven teaching techniques and project development designs,” said science teach-er Bill Dennis. “In addition, we have studied a variety of student-centered question-ing techniques.”

The lessons taught in the program give teachers ways to use their mini-notes in the classroom.

“Teachers have on -go-ing support on how to in-tegrate Blackboard, blog-ging, wikis, use of Internet resource web and 2.0 tools,” said coordinator Carrie Bai-ley. “Any kind of softwares on the student mini-notes and how to incorporate

those.” The program also helps

teachers realize how many resources have become avail-able to them and their stu-dents.

“My biggest problem was simply not knowing what resources are available. I needed ideas that I could take back to my classroom,” King said. “It has introduced me to different resources that I can use, and have my students use, in class. Most of them are fairly general tools, such as an on-line polling site where students can elec-tronically submit an answer or comment that will show on the screen for everyone to see.”

The R3-plus program helps others become more comfortable with the tech-nology they may have known a little bit about.

“I had been making excuses to avoid working with Blackboard for the last couple years,” Dennis said. “Halfway through this pro-gram I started shifting my curriculum to Blackboard and I am embarrassed about how easy it has been. I wish my students had had this ac-cess much sooner. Without R3-plus I would still be hold-ing myself back.”

Though the program

can prove beneficial to teachers and how they oper-ate their classrooms, some feel that there are still a few rough patches to work out.

“I feel that it was not accurately or thoroughly described when we applied to participate,” King said. “Most of us were expect-ing a program that was 100 percent about technology, so we were frustrated with the time that we were spend-ing talking about teaching philosophies. I don’t mean that those conversations are a waste of time, but they did not correspond with my ex-pectations. It took me a while to really understand where the program was heading.”

Even with some of the rough spots in the course, the R3-plus program pro-vides a step towards the goal of a paperless environment.

“The key concept that I have taken from it is to re-ally think about why I’m using the technology that I use,” King said. “In some cases, it simply replaces pa-per and pencil to accomplish the same task. Instead of stu-dents writing their answers on paper and turning them in, they can submit them electronically. This is fine. It saves a tree, but the learning process is the same.”

Teachers go through technology training sessions

Q&A with Todd Beeckby Samantha Colhour

copy editor

Q: How do you think the mini-note process has gone?A: “I think Oak Park has done, all things considered, an excellent job of implementing

the mini-notes.”

Q: What do you think has been the biggest problem with the mini-notes?A: “Getting the students to see that they need to treat their computers like a textbook.

They can’t install whatever they want and make the changes they want.”

Q: How do you think the mini-note process is now?A: “I think both students and teachers had grown more comfortable with them. There is definitely a smaller percentage

of kids with issues with their computers. Teachers are able to help out more now with the computers as well.”

Q: How do you think next year will go?A: “I think we will hit the ground running. We will be in a better position to really get the process going.”


With the institution of mini notes, many teachers didn’t see the need to use them in their classes; how-ever others recognized the opportunity being presented to them.

Many of the teachers came from the modern lan-guage classes. Spanish teach-ers Stacey Stowers and Cathi Postma used the mini-notes almost every day.

“I have all the kids do interactive practice with them,” Stowers said. “With the upper level kids I step that up a notch. I have them look up Spanish newspapers and magazines.”

While Stowers used the

mini-notes for the interac-tive process, Postma used hers for quizzes and allowed students to take notes on them.

“What I like most about the mini-notes is having an extra resource to use in the classroom,” Postma said. “It’s been absolutely perfect for things like Quia to take quizzes on.”

With the contrasting habits in the use of the com-puters, both agreed on one thing; the computers be-came essential to the school.

“I love them for one main reason,” Stowers said. “I can almost make little clones of me, so it’s like ev-ery student gets to have me.”

Students in the Spanish classes agreed that the mini-

notes had changed the way they learned in the class.

“I like them a lot,” sophomore Lauren Colling-sworth said. “I am glad we

get to use them all the time in Spanish because it’s easier for notes, and I just feel like I learn better.”

With Spanish teach-ers dominating in using the mini-notes, other depart-ments stepped up as well. Communication arts teacher Derek Noll used the mini-notes for warm-ups every day and for finals.

“We do a warm up ev-ery day called ‘Word of the Day,’” Noll said. “I also have my challenge students sub-mit their study guides on e-campus as well as some journal topics. My finals for Challenge Communication Arts II and mythology are through e-campus as well.”

Mini-notes, convenient but small

by Gina Drapelaeditor-in-chief

Desktop computers have advanced my education exponentially. Specifically in high school, the desktops are always there, and reliable in providing the software I need to produce homework or the paper. When other technology is down, the desktops are there to back one up, so that student can print that paper at the last min-ute before the due date, or just to get on the OP home page, for an emergency grade update, the desktops are always there.

Regarding the paper, I always use the desktops to write, photo edit, and design the paper. I can see things blown up on a monitor, and have a bigger stor-age in the drive to store content. Designing becomes more accurate, due to the spacing constraints are set on the desk top. Those computers have been with the Northmen’s Log for a long time, and have grown to know how the publication works, and how it should be completed correctly.

Despite the advances in technology in Oak Park, the desktop computers are still the standby, and are re-liable to the student body, and should be permanent, just in case.

OLD VS New

Students adjust well to laptops


I think when the mini-notes arrived each student felt unsure about just how they would impact the school.

I know for a fact when most of the student body opened them up for the first time their educational use was not the first thing they looked for.

As the year continued though I believe more and more students truly felt that they were being given a privilege that truly enhanced their educational experi-ence. The mini-notes gave each student an opportunity they had never had before. Some students had never even owned a lap top prior to their mini-note which I felt was the greatest part about the distribution of them.

When a mini-note was on a students’ desk they were able to type out notes, complete an assignment, check their e-mail and even find their current grade in their class and were given an access to their education never seen before. I believe the inclusion of mini-notes gave the district an upper-hand on other schools. The ability to access instant information without having to flip through a text book is an advantage teachers will point out that most students take for granted.

My experience with the mini-note has been over-all a positive one and I believe it is truly important for students to continue being trusted with this responsibil-ity. High school is an experience designed to prepare students for the outside world and without experience on a computer a student would be entering society at a distinct disadvantage.

Minis used for games, distract from classes

by Gabrielle Youngeditorial editor

Seven months ago students were “gifted,” with compact size laptops that they would either come to love or hate. Maybe the love for them came before they realized that almost all their test would be taken online and 15 minutes into the test their computers crashed.

For some the love still remains, when they some-how came up with devious ways to trick the teacher into thinking that they have not been playing a game of Te-tris for the whole class time. Even better the many flash drives passed around harboring video games to waste time with for the remainder of class or advisory.

Although the laptops still receive mixed reviews they have forced everyone to learn to manage working with technology even if they have loathed every second of having the mini-notes. Technology only becomes more advanced each day.

We live in a society that lives and breathes anything about technology. Some student’s live on facebook; even in the classrooms they can never leave, or the end-less text messaging. The district has used a way to reach out to our generation through mini-notes they have learned to speak our language. Although the mini-notes can be a hassle at times we will learn to appreciate having these even a couple of years from now.

Since e-campus receives much use in college and universities, we will be ahead of the game already hav-ing maybe a couple of years under our belts to get fa-miliar with the program. Those days will soon return when every student has an urge to yell at their mini-note for whatever reason but, mini-notes will never go away. We should appreciate that they give us a wonder-ful opportunity to grow with our changing society and the advancement of technology.

Student instruction moves to mini-notes

Log staff reflects on mini-notes

Journalism adapts to mini-notes


With the mini-notes at hand, I don’t even both-er grabbing a notebook to start on my stories. I take quotes and information for my story and mesh it to-gether on the screen. Cyber cutting and pasting saves paper and my hands from cramps. The minis have made designing more accessible despite the negatives that came along with them.

Journalism students have their machines loaded with Adobe Master Collection, which comes with Pho-toshop and InDesign-both crucial for page design. Be-cause of these measures, designers could work at home on their pages. We simply logged on to a significantly smaller screens and got to work.

While this saved time and some frustrations, the smaller screens and hard drives made for lengthy load-ing periods, battery drainage and squinted eyes.

Journalism kids have become great partners with their power cords because of this, but can’t help but relish in the wide screen capabilities in a larger screen.

Seniors Jesse Hagel and Hona Jones work together on mini-notes to complete various tasks during advisory Friday, May 14. photo by Gina Drapela, editor-in-chief

lifestylespage6

by Tah’keeyah Gordonwriter

There comes a time when one must say their goodbyes and farewells. Seniors this year are say-ing goodbye to home and hello to college life.

Venturing off away from one’s family and home has its ups and downs, so parents and se-niors need to be well pre-pared.

According to gifted teacher Lori Dameron, a student needs to bring keepsakes from home

such as pictures, favorite pillows, stuffed animals, etc. to avoid being home sick.

She said students can make sure they’re com-fortable as possible, and be sure to plan home vis-its. Bringing things that make a home-like envior-ment often help.

Dameron said some affordable and inexpen-sive ways to get a student ready to move from home to their college dorm are discount stores like Wal-Mart for new items and Craig’s List for used items.

compiled by Tah’keeyah Gordonwriter

-Alarm clock -Bed linens/towels

-Chair/bean bag -Compact refrigerator

-Medicine -Microwave (one cubic foot) -Rolls of quarters for laundry

-School supplies -Toiletry items/soap dish

-TV/VCR/DVD player


On Friday, May 21, graduation will be held for the class of 2010. The ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Municipal Auditorium and will com-memorate the end of the senior class’ tenure at Oak Park.

Commencement re-hearsal will take place to-morrow morning, Thurs-day, May 20, in the main auditorium at 7:30 a.m. for seniors.

There will be a pre-

commencement concert by the symphonic band followed by the proces-sional and national an-them.

The five senior class officers will speak to rec-ognize the students, fac-ulty and community.

Each graduating member of the senior class along with Gold Me-dallion honors graduates, George Washington Carv-er Award Winners will be specially recognized and diplomas will be handed out to all graduates.

Lifestyles Brief: Students soon to be graduates


After 12 years spent in the North Kansas City School District, senior Da-vid Badami’s road to gradu-ation will end on Friday, May 21; or so he hopes. As of press time Thursday, May 13, Badami joins a number of other seniors suffering various circumstances which may restrict them from gain-ing their diploma with the rest of the senior class.

“My situation is do or die,” Badami said. “I’ve done everything for my Gold Me-dallion diploma except, to my dismay, a practical art credit. I was unaware of this until the end of January this semester so the rest of my grades are good, but my two online e-campus classes I have had to catch up on. It is required to have one practi-cal art credit just for a basic diploma so I need both these classes to graduate.”

According to guidance

counselor Judith Wake, more seniors this year are finding themselves strug-gling to graduate.

“This year I think more students are stressed,” Wake said. “It depends on the rea-son why, but its varying right now. Some have waited un-til the very last minute to do anything at all and they are just tremendous procrastina-tors. The other is some have counted on things to happen that just didn’t.”

Badami said procrasti-nation contributes to his sit-uation along with the over-whelming sense of pressure to complete all his classes.

“When my counselor first called me down and told me I needed the prac-tical arts credit she enrolled me in the two online classes,” Badami said. “At the time I figured they would be easy but I just kept putting them off.”

Wake believes part of the stress derives from altered graduation requirements re-cently put in affect.

“For the college prep diploma we now have many more graduation require-ments to achieve that,” Wake said. “There are also the stu-dents that generally aren’t

stressed out thinking they would only have to have two math credits to graduate and now they have to have thee and that is huge. Both Alge-bra II and personal finance

are big obstacles and we [the counseling office] keep re-minding them [the students] that if they can’t pass them then you can’t walk.”

But this anxiety plagu-ing students potentially held from graduation is not a predicament centralized in the college prep and North Kansas City School District diplomas. It has even been seen throughout the candi-dates in the Gold Medallion Honors Diploma program. “That part has been hampered because of [com-munication arts teacher] Mrs. [Carrie] Marcantonio being gone due to her baby,” Wake said. “Otherwise she would have been there and been on top of them; and they kind of let things slide. Some of them just didn’t take the responsibility and initiative to turn stuff in and some have even let grades slide and now all of a sudden reality is striking.”

According to Wake, there have been several se-niors questioning what they

can do to save their diploma. This late in the year Wake could only offer one piece of advice for these struggling students.

“Practice being in col-lege and do a few all-night-ers,” Wake said. “That’s what some kids have to do and you will find yourselves doing this in college.”

Despite graduation be-ing days away, the total num-ber of seniors set to walk has yet to be determined.

With many in a similar situation, Badami must re-vive his classes to graduate and has to maintain a mini-mum 3.2 GPA to receive his Gold Medallion diploma; all with only one week left.

“All of a sudden it seems reality has struck and they are so far behind that they just let it slide,” Wake said. “Now people are going in and begging ‘can I make up missed papers’ and they are realizing that all these peo-ple are coming to town to see them graduate and they may not be able to walk.”

Senior anguish arrives prior to diplomas

10 items to bring to your dormStudents prepare for collegeMaking dorms feel like home

Diligently working, senior David Badami strives to complete e-campus courses, multi-tasking between several other priorities, such as partici-pating in orchestra Friday, May 14. Badami has been involved in orches-tra for four years, and has balanced several other school activities. “I feel this year’s been really challenging because I’ve made it that way, but something goes over such as a practical art credit, which has made it even more overwhelming,” Badami said. photo by Gina Drapela

entertainmentpage7

Action“Response” by Paul Volponi

An African-American teenager Noah visits a predominately white neighbor-hood with his friends in hopes of stealing a car. They never succeed, instead Noah is beaten and gets a fractured skull. The questions swirling around the boys heads is whether Noah was attacked be-cause he was black or the attacker had other motives?

Toy Story 3As Andy heads off to college, his toys nervously await

their fate as they accidently end up on their way to a day care through their apparent inclusion in a goodwill do-nation. A pink stuffed bear, a triceratops, a Ken doll, among others greet them despite their insistence on leav-ing. Some of these cuddly toys pack something more sin-ister than cotton stuffing within, as Woody and friends will soon find out.

Since when has Pixar failed its viewers? Old or young, most who see Pixar films don’t walk away disappointed from the clever visual elements and sturdy-yet-simple plots. While the status this film holds as a second sequel might scare some off, one should remember fondly the first two films they grew up with. The second one didn’t have families storming out of theaters in disgust; most would say they enjoyed it as much as, if not more than, the first.

If not simply to reconnect with nostalgic characters, people should see the film to experience what Pixar can dish out next.

Release date- June 18

Shrek: The Final ChapterHow would the world fair if Shrek

didn’t find the three blind mice or big bad wolf in his house so long ago? Rumplestiltskin makes this happen as he tricks Shrek, leaving him to rule the kingdom of far far away. In the result-ing chaos, ogres fear extinction, Fiona among them. Shrek must meet his fam-ily and friends again for the first time, in order to get his true love’s kiss again. This kiss will break Rumplestiltskin’s spell, but he’s determined to keep that from coming to pass.

After one sequel too many, “Shrek” creators ask the audience if they can stand one more. Good news though: this one seems to have a decent idea for a plot line. Many remember the spoof-filled jabs at Disney, pop-culture and fairy tales throughout the first films as charming, magnetic and the only real reason they liked a film about an ogre, a donkey and a cursed princess. Hope-fully this next film can deliver this new spin to viewers while bringing back what had them singing the “Duloc song.”

Release date- May 21

A-TeamRelatively well-known names like Liam Nee-

son, Jessica Biel and Bradley Cooper star in this homage to the 1980s action show where army veterans wrongly accused of a crime go around helping out the public with near-cartoon vio-lence.

The new “A team” looks like it has enough military gadgets and explosives to keep today’s audience entertained. Though iconic characters will return to the screen, the fresh spins on char-acters the filmmakers attempt to portray should have the American teenage population on board for the ride.

Release date- June 11 Karate KidWill Smith’s son, Jaden Smith re-

vives the karate kid role with a twist as 12-year-old Dre Parker whose move to China with his single mom has left him in culture shock and trouble with kung fu-proficient bullies. Jackie Chan plays maintenance man Mr. Han who, of course, teaches Dre the true meaning of kung fu, making one wonder what the title really means this time around.

Fight-filled action and summer go hand and hand. This will join the hand-ful of action-packed summer novelties. Curiosity will prove the most magnetic advertisement for this film as it takes on the task of remaking a martial arts classic with blaringly obvious twists and possible game-changers. Many will see this just to affirm their love for the first. What they think of this film depends on them, but whether they love it or hate it, it will give them something to talk about during the weeks of summer without math homework on their minds.

Release date- June 11

Sorcerer’s ApprenticeSeemingly ordinary college student Dave

Stutler, played by Jay Baruchel, becomes sorcerer Balthazar Blake’s, played by Nicolas Cage, ap-prentice to save the world. This premise draws in-spiration from Disney’s “Fantasia” segment of the same name. With Disney doing the action thing again, the result could prove disastrous or great. A dopey but classic concept on its own, special effects and performances could make the film sparkle. If all else fails, at least viewers will get a taste of some quirky character role played by Cage.

Release date- July 16

Girly“Rules of Attraction”by Simone Elekeles

Carlos Fuentes is sent to live with his brother’s college professor to keep him from being sent to jail. He feels out of place in the new town but starts to devel-op feelings for the professor’s daughter, Kiara. They soon learn how to put their social differences aside to notice their love for one another. But not without danger coming their way.

Mystery “The Uninvited”by Tim Wynne -Jones

Mimi, a freshman in college, goes home to the place that her father offers her, she finds a man, Jay, living there. The man accuses Mimi of leaving items in the house. Since Mimi had just arrived she knows that the items are not hers. Together they search for the intruder to discover what they want and why they are leaving mysteries objects behind.

New genre novels fill upcoming free time

Summer offers promising flicks

by Gabrielle Youngeditorial editor


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The Log wishes good luck

to the Class

of 2010!

8photo essay

page

Walk toward a cure

Relay for Life benefits fight against cancer

Before the track opens to the Relay for Life teams, cancer survivors took a victory lap Friday, May 7, at Win-netonka High School. all photos by Gina Drapela, editor-in-chief

Keeping warm by eating hot dogs, junior Tay-lor White and Staley junior Logan Cox enjoy friends at the Relay for Life event. Oak Park, Staley, North Kansas City, Winnetonka and Park Hill South high schools students partici-pated in the night.

Junior Gage Harrison plays a pick-up game of football on the infield. To keep students awake all night, Winnetonka Student Council planned several games.

After the survivor walk, Principal Fred Skretta, Ed.D., poses for a photo before the official start of the Relay for Life event. Skretta is a five-year survivor of cancer in his lymph nodes.

Junior Nicholas Phillips walks quickly around the track. Each team had one member of the team walking around the track from start to finish to represent how cancer never stops and nei-ther will those who fight it.

After dark fell, white paper luminaries were placed around the track in honor of and in memory of people who fought or who are fighting cancer. Glo sticks lit the luminaries far into the night.

All the teams from Oak Park pose for a group picture before the relay walking begins at the Friday, May 7, Relay for Life event, hosted at Winnetonka High School.

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