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NewsMENTORtheM
C o n s t r u c t i o n n e a r in g e n d
Renovated North Gym shows significant improvement after summer construction.
Naomi McClendon, photographer
John Rockeystaff writer
Over the summer, Manhattan High School lost a member of its staff. Steve Barnes passed away July 10 at Geary County Hospital due to com-plications from surgery. Barnes was the Automo-tive Technology teacher at MHS.
Barnes married Jo Schiffelbein Aug. 14, 1974, and had two sons, Aaron and Matthew. He graduated with a bach-elor’s in education from Emporia State University in 1977 and became the automotive instructor at Highland Park. He later went on to get his mas-
ter’s in education admin-istration and taught at MHS as the Auto Tech instructor from the fall of 1990 until his death.
Barnes’ colleagues and students said he did a great deal of work during his time here to get the department where it is today. He was a very in-volved and very beloved teacher and man. As a teacher, he made abso-lutely sure that the auto-motive department was current, up to date and had whatever students needed if they wanted to go into an automotive career.
“He was solid in every aspect,” principal Terry McCarty said. “As a man,
as a teacher, as an edu-cator, and as a mentor.” McCarty knew Barnes for 16 years and said he was honored to have him teaching.
Barnes had made a great impact on his stu-dents and they loved him just as much.
“Mr. Barnes was pretty amazing,” Ty Stewart, a former MHS student. “He was the reason I chose to further my education in automotive.”
Barnes was always thrilled by what his stu-dents had to offer. “He would always reassure me that I could do anything I put my mind to,” senior Fahim Anwar said.
Faculty member leaves impact after death
Maddie Rosstrending c0-editor
Construction at Man-hattan High West Cam-pus is coming to a close after two years. A project still left on the to do list includes the completion of the south parking lot.
During the teachers’ back-to-school convoca-tion on Thursday, super-intendent Bob Shannon said the west campus project was completed a year sooner than origi-nally planned, and the
entire district’s construc-tion expense was kept within budget.
Over the summer, crews completed the renovations of both the North and South gyms and locker rooms and finished F Hall. At East Campus improvements in security, addition of air and heating units, window replacement, asbestos re-moval and many minor improvements have been started. Both campuses include new fire alarm systems and emergency
notification systems.“These things may be
behind the scenes but they’re things we’ve nev-er had before,” Shannon said.
Many think the im-provements will accom-modate the growing needs of MHS.
“We added many classrooms, so teach-ers can now have their own rooms. We took an old structure and made it new. We did the best with what we had to work with,” assistant principal
David Holloway said.With this new building
comes new responsibility regarding the care and treatment of the schools.
"A footnote here is to take care of our facilities as we have never done before,” Shannon said. To help take care of the new buildings, at Wednes-day’s Board of Education meeting they approved a maintenance person at MHS West and the addi-tion of five more custo-dial positions throughout the district.
Sarah Shinews editor
Eight foreign exchange students, who have come from places such as Ger-many, Sweden and Ice-land, will be joining the Manhattan High School Indians for the new school year. The eight are Katarina Zdolsek, Swe-den; Louisa Friedrich, Germany; Florian Wirs-en, Germany; Stefanie Wimmer, Austria; Jakob Borgen, Norway; Thora Omarsddottir, Iceland; Anthony Lefourt, Bel-gium; and Helene Dew-ilde, Belgium. With most of them arriving just two weeks ago, the students are currently adjusting to their new host families and creating new experi-ences in Manhattan.
“The process of be-coming a host family is long,” host parent to Wirsen, Julie Kiracofe said. “They put names and the profiles for the eligible students that want to come to the U.S. They usually give us the ones
who match what we pre-fer, like whether they’re a girl or a boy, or what country they’re from. From then, we receive a letter that they have writ-ten about themselves and we chose two or three from that.” Afterwards, they were given photos and more information about these students and later contact American Field Service for finaliza-tion and a selection.
“He’s really funny and makes us laugh a lot,” Kiracofe said of Wirsen. “He tried out for soccer and made the team so he’ll be playing for the Indians this year.”
Elaine Dhuyvetter and her family went through a similar process before hosting Dewilde at their home. “We had to get ap-proved as host family first and then we received bios of the students we could choose from. But before that we went through an orientation and guide-lines of the specifics.”
“Our house was get-ting quiet after two of our
kids moved to college and I thought it would be a great experience for our family to be introduced to another culture. Plus, we have plenty of room,” Dhuyvetter said.
Dewilde admitted that she enjoyed the sincerity of people in the U.S. in-cluding strangers. While at school she hopes to further her love in pho-tography, ceramics, and cooking.
Lefourt, an avid musi-cian, left his own DJ busi-ness back at Belgium. “He would play for wed-dings and parties,” host parent Bonnie Messmer said. “Our family is very music oriented and we are very happy that he plays the drums.” Lefourt will pursue his interest in the marching band and possibly the musical from the Messmers’ encour-agement.
When asked what he was most looking for-ward to during his year abroad, Lefourt said, “All of it.”
Sarah Shinews editor
Last Wednesday, the USD 383 Board of Educa-tion declined to approve the Manhattan High School schedule plan that included a continu-ation of the Tribe Time advisory period for 2012-2013. The schedule was presented to the Board by Terry McCarty, MHS principal, for formal ap-proval but a motion failed to get a second, and fol-lowing discussion Tribe Time was dropped, leav-
ing the allotted time for teachers to discuss post-secondary careers and bullying in the dust.
“I’ve always person-ally believed for a long time that because we have such a diverse and transient school where many students come and go, that we need a sys-tem that can help them achieve in school,” Mc-Carty said about the ef-fort he and MHS faculty have put into developing Tribe Time. “Advisory is a time where we can treat the students like individu-
Tribe T ime on back burner
the back lot and Egypt. Instead, entrance to these lots is through the south faculty entrance on Poyn-tz and around the back of the school.
Students also need to be aware that between 2:45 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. they cannot turn right onto Sunset from the cemetery wall spots and can only turn left towards Anderson. Traffic signs are placed throughout campus to help avoid confusion and direct driv-ers.
“Parking has always been an issue at MHS West because we are limited on space,” princi-pal Terry McCarty said. “With the construction going on we continue to
Kayla Diekercopy editor
Parking will be chang-ing yet again for stu-dents at Manhattan High School West Campus. Due to completion of construction projects over the summer, alterations to the parking plan are necessary for the 2012-2013 school year.
Students should be ad-vised that the traffic flow will be changing for those entering and exiting the campus. The road along the cemetery wall is now one-way heading east towards Sunset and can only be accessed through the big lot. Cars are also not allowed to turn left from the big lot towards
Construction affects parking situation again
try and find the most suf-ficient and effective way of meeting the needs of all associated with Man-hattan High School.”
Those who plan to drive to school will still have access to the big lot, the back lot and Egypt. In addition, the triangle lot across the street is now open for student use.
“We are hoping that in the near future there will be additional parking to the south of MHS,” Mc-Carty said.
Administration expects that traffic will now flow more smoothly for stu-dents and staff as well as provide adequate park-ing.
als and personalize their learning as well as ac-knowledge their needs.”
MHS was given grants to raise and promote bul-lying awareness and now that Tribe Time may not be used as an outlet, Mc-Carty said he was unde-cided as to what the alter-native would be.
“Right now, the main goal for our school is to make sure the students feel safe and secure,” Mc-Carty said. “I really think Advisory Period can help students feel comfortable at school.”
Exchange students: behind the scenes
Aug. 21, 2012 Manhattan High School, Manhattan, Kan. volume 100 issue 1
New parking plan prohibits right turns onto Sunset Avenue from 2:45 to 3:30 p.m. Students and teachers will also notice several new one-way roads within the parking lot, as well as the loss of some area of parking that were available last year. Accommodating fire lanes and keeping traffic flowing after school are some of the reasons for the changes.
Kayla Dieker, photographer
OpinionsMENTORthe2
Ben Shieldseditor-in-chief
The new construc-tion at Manhattan High School that has taken place over the last two years has been conduct-ed with impressive speed and competence. At the same time it has man-aged to mostly avoid be-coming an inconvenience or distraction for students and faculty. The lack of parking spaces and occa-sional noise problem can be irritating, but they are unavoidable, and both our school administra-tion and the construction workers have made the
Environment affects socializing, learning
process as easy to cope with as possible.
Yet somehow, amidst all of the formidable proficiency, very few aes-thetically-pleasing aspects have been incorporated anywhere in our newly-renovated school.
To be sure, the archi-tecture is aiming for a sleek and simple modern look: all white walls, glass railings, not much decor. But simple doesn’t have to mean devoid of any character. This school has various high-level art classes with very gifted students whose work
ought to be hanging in other places besides the library. And artwork does not need to be limited to pieces by students. Why not hang up a Klimt or Monet painting instead of that Bill Macy photo-graph instructing us all to read (thanks for the reminder)?
I know I am not the only one who misses the trees in the old courtyard. It would be nice if there were some plants around the building. And the grounds outside of the building could look bet-ter than they do.
Some people would say that the above places too much importance on the aesthetics of our school. But this overlooks the fact that an environment with character makes for more ease and connectiv-ity of different zones of the building and campus. The aspects of the new layout that do work (a li-brary at the heart of the building, increased natu-ral light) already improve socialization and learn-ing. An appealing work environment in a school is as important as the classes taught within it.
Fellow students,I hate to break it to
you, but if you’re reading this, school has started and summer is over. No more going to the pool, hanging out with friends, or spending 12 uninter-rupted hours in your basement on the Internet. Although we like to com-plain, let’s admit it—we’re all at least a little excited to be back.
With the start of a new
school year, there are tons of things you’re go-ing to be encouraged to do: make a new friend, work hard this year ‘cause college isn’t gonna pay for itself, and enjoy your brand new school (as long as you don’t touch anything…).
But no matter how much encouragement is thrown at you, it’s mean-ingless without a driving
force behind it. So this year, I encourage you to be that force -- to take ac-tion.
By “take action,” I don’t mean to go plant a tree or join a protest, but simply to put meaning behind the things you hear every day. If you wear a “Just Do It” T-shirt, actually do it. If you call someone a “friend,” treat them like a friend. If #YOLO is
Eli Redekerguest columnist
People are coming to Manhattan High and stepping through those doors for the first time. They have a look of won-der on their faces as they discover what will be their home away from home for the next four years. Friends are to be made and lost, lives will change for the better, or for worse. And it all will happen right here.
Some people may mesh with the group. Some people may not fit in. They will be os-tracized and ridiculed, but they will be eventu-ally become something greater than a cell in a larger sociological organ-ism: they will become in-dividuals. The individual is a scary entity, a person who refuses blind devo-tion to anyone, teacher or peer. The individual thinks for himself. Do not think you are on the
right road just because it is a well beaten path. Cut your own swath through life.
I am not insulting friendship, I am just criti-cizing those who refuse to think for themselves.
The normal sucks. Be-ing average sucks. What do you want to do with your life? Sit around listening to Carly Rae Jepsen, wear Aeropostle and eat at Denny’s until you are 40? At some point a person must make the
"To make it feel like home again we could hang posters on the walls, expressing things we miss. I think the school should also allow at least one hallway for each year's seniors to decorate or something like that.”
- Taylor Bonnette, se-nior
"I prefer the way Man-hattan High School looks right now."
- Isaac Blankenau, sophomore
"Get people more in-volved in many school events like sports and clubs in which will in-crease involvement and people usually feel more comfortable when they're involved."
- Ellen Feng, senior
"Having pillows in ev-ery class."
- Pat Zenk, senior
"I think that decorating is the biggest thing that means for me, it seems harsh, so if it was softer it would be homier to me."
- Taylor Warner, se-nior
“If everyone started to include everybody, every-body would feel at home. Also, if people helped to maintain the school by throwing away trash and treating it with respect, it would be clean.”
- Patrick Day, senior
“I like how they kept some old things from the old school. Like the senior stairs and in the North Gym they still kept some of the old blue. Those things help it still feel homey to us that re-member the old school.”
- Jenna Stigge, senior
“A student lounge with television and a soda ma-chine.”
- Amanda Frakes, se-nior
“Flowers in the court-yard would be nice.”
- Lauren Wankum, ju-nior
“Couches in the class-rooms”
- Katherine Culbert-son, junior
“Longer lunches, lon-ger passing periods, and shorter classes.”
- Ethan Parker, junior
“More school dances and more activities.”
- Nick Dyer, senior
“Help new students and longer lunches.”
- Emily Besette, senior
Naomi McClendon, Cartoonist
Question of the Week
Fireside Chat with Naomi
Do more than conform
editor in chief/opinions -- Ben Shields
news editor -- Sarah Shi
entertainment editor -- Naomi McClendonsports editor --
Nick Bandyfeatures editor --
Liz Logbacktrending co-editors --
Connor Bliss Maddie Rosscopy editor --
Kayla Dieker multimedia editor --
Dheepthi Perumal
The Mentor staff
The Mentor is published each Tuesday that school is in session at Manhat-tan High School, 2100 Poyntz Ave. Manhattan, Kan. Telephone (785) 587-2114. More than 1,500 Mentors are printed each week and distributed free of charge to all faculty members and students. MHS journalists are members of the Scholas-tic Press Association. The Mentor is an open forum that accepts contribu-tions from the public. E-mail us at [email protected].
copy editor -- Kayla Dieker
advisor -- Kristy Nypstaff writers -- Julie Harkness John Rockey cartoonist -- Naomi McClendoncontributing writer -- Eli Redekercirculation -- Stephan Shimkus Kristyn Baker Pixie Khan Austin Tatum Andrew Klimek
your motto… you should probably consider a new motto. If you want some-thing fixed, fix it. If you want something changed, change it. If you want to have a great school year, make it one.
So let’s decide to take action -- and have the best school year yet!
Naomi McClendonStudent Body President
choice to stray from the flock and take a chance. Everyone takes a chance in life, but the people who do it sooner have a sizeable advantage.
People work harder just to appear normal than at any other task. I say instead of wasting your time and energy on that, do something that will help you, or others. It takes some energy and some guts to decide to go your own way. The toughest decisions that
one has to make are the ones where the right choice is the opposite of the norm.
Enjoy this year, wheth-er it is your first or last, and remember, don’t do anything anyone tells you to do (unless they have a warrant for your arrest).
If you would like to be a guest columnist for The Mentor, please con-tact editor in chief Ben Shields at [email protected].
How can MHS feel like home?
Want to comment about something you’ve seen in The Mentor -- or something you haven’t seen? Email us at [email protected] or send us a tweet @mhs_mentor.
Aug. 21, 2012 Manhattan High
Entertainment MENTORthe3
Connor Blisstrending co-editor
For many Manhattan High School students, the first few weeks of sum-mer weren’t spent sleep-ing until 2 p.m. and hang-ing at the pool all day. Instead, they spent their afternoons working on the Manhattan Parks and Recreation summer musi-cal, “Into the Woods.”
“Into the Woods” is an award-winning Broad-way musical that weaves several well-known fairy tales written by the Broth-ers Grimm into one plot. Most of the characters are extremely familiar, universally recognized fictional icons such as Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel. There is also an original story in-volving a baker, his fam-ily and a curse put upon them by a wicked witch.
“‘Into the Woods’ was probably the most chal-lenging show we’ve ever
done in summer theatre,” director Chad Pape said.
Cast members agreed there were many aspects of the play that were dif-ficult to master. “I would say the dancing and cho-reography [were hard-est],” sophomore Haleigh Cross said.
Despite being a chal-lenging show, it was still a positive experience for those involved. “[My fa-vorite part was] probably being able to see all the hard work we had put in to turn it into an amaz-ing production and being surrounded by friends while we were learning
everything,” sophomore Katherine Hwang said.
“Into the Woods” opened on July 27 at Nichols Theatre and closed the following night. Both nights were sold out shows. Those who wished to see the performance and were
unable to get tickets were permitted to come watch a rough per-f o r m a n c e during the dress re-hearsals.
“The re-action was very posi-
tive,” Pape said. “Stu-dents seem very proud of how the show went. Lots of faculty members of [Kansas State Univer-sity and Manhattan High School] have stopped me to say how well the show went. As directors we are extremely proud of our kids this year.”
Kaitlin Wichmannphoto editor
Just as the summer was beginning and students were quickly dismissing any thoughts of school, a large number of them were doing anything but that.
Instead, they were headed to band camp. C a m p e r s from 5th grade through high school seniors gave up five days of their sum-mer to brave the sweltering heat and play their instru-ments.
As soon as the students arrived at camp they au-ditioned and were placed in one of two bands; one for advanced kids and one for younger or less experienced. They were
Students challenged by summer musical
then given chair orders to determine what part they were to play. Outside of practicing for that band, they were also placed in either small ensembles or a jazz band (advanced or beginner).
The camp wasn’t just packed with band re-hearsals. There were also various activities scat-
tered through-out the days, including two visits to City Pool and the K-State Stu-dent Union. Students got to experience what K-State was really like
and had an option to stay in the dorms and eat at Derby Dining Center, just like a college student.
“My favorite part of the camp was getting to eat at Derby and going to the Union after lunch to
play pool and bowl,” se-nior Anna Brokesh said. “I also really liked the music choice in the jazz band and the concert band that I was in.”
For seniors Carly Tracz and Anna Brokesh, this was their last time at band camp as a student.
“Every year I look forward to meeting new people [at camp],” Tracz said. “I hope to come and help out next year at the camp, even though I won’t be taking part as a student.”
Brokesh had similar thoughts.
“I’ve gone for the past six years, and since I’m not going to be a music major I decided that I should focus on getting ready for college next summer,” Brokesh said. “It has been great getting to go to the camp and it has taught me a lot.”
Connor Blisstrending co-editor
A new small group choir has been added to the Manhattan High Performing Arts Depart-ment. It is made up of 25-30 sophomores, ju-niors, and seniors. The new choir, called Varsity, is led by Chad Pape. The choir was mailed four pieces ahead of time and had to use practice files that Pape had put up on YouTube to learn their parts.
“The music isn’t ex-
tremely difficult but it’s not easy,” sophomore Levi Jones said.
On Aug. 6, Varsity and Pops, the other small group choir at Manhat-tan High, got together for a week of rehearsals and concluded with a concert for family and friends.
“Camp was awesome. It was super cool hearing us all together for the first time,” Stenberg said.
Sophomore Kylie James agreed with Sten-berg and said, “We bonded and became bet-ter friends and learned a
What happens at band camp.. .
T he very best vocalists of MHS
Student-produced musical ‘wows’ the community, sparks controversy
Senior Da’Merius Ford sings as “Peter.”
Jason (Alex Tolar) and Peter (Da’Merius Ford) share a stage kiss.
Dressed as angels, Ashlynn Kleinbeck, Macy Lanceta, and Paden Smith mourn a death.
The cast sits around a table in serious discussion.
Alex Tolar, Wesley Tenese, and Paden Smith sing a hymn-style song with a rock-and-roll feel.
Peter (Da’Merius Ford) argues on the phone with his mom.
Liz Logbackfeatures editor
While many of us were swimming and hang-ing out with friends this summer, Pops choir has been working hard to get ready for their perfor-mances this school year. They were assigned three pieces of music to learn over the summer and also met for five days during “Pops camp”.
Pops camp consisted of two rehearsals a day. The morning practice saw the choir learning some dance moves and practicing their partner-ing steps. The afternoon
then was spent on per-fecting their vocals and learning some additional songs. By the end of the week senior Brady Kira-cofe said he was “pretty tired, but it had been a blast.”
Not every hour of Pops camp was spent working on their performances, however. An ongoing tradition of pranking be-tween the girls and guys of the group continued. Many of the female mem-bers were quite surprised to wake up one morning with toilet paper hanging from their trees and sticky notes spelling out “The Pops dudes” on their
houses. In return the la-dies fired back by cook-ing 72 packages of ramen in a bathtub and flinging it across the yards of the men.
“The pranks really brought us together,” said Kiracofe.
At the end of the week a show was performed at McCain Auditorium for all of the parents and friends of the Pops mem-bers. They will continue to work hard this semes-ter and are looking for-ward to their first perfor-mance at Purple Power Play on Poyntz later this month.
lot about each other but waking up early is ex-hausting.”
Varsity’s first few pub-lic performances will be at Purple Power Play on Poyntz on Aug. 30 and then at the Kansas State Fair on Sept. 7.
Varsity and Pops Choirs make name for themselves
Aug. 21, 2012 Manhattan High
“It has been great getting to go to the camp and it has taught me a lot.”
-- Anna Brokesh
na Stigge said. The first Varsity meet
is Aug. 27 against Tope-ka High at home and the first Junior Varsity meet is Aug. 23 at the Emporia Invitational.
train hard. I think we will make it far.”
When it comes down to practice, the boys mean business, running drill after drill to im-prove. “This is the first year we have done Cross-fit. The guys this year are the most prepared, com-mitted and fit than I have seen in years of coaching here,” Alonso said.
“We have gotten faster and more serious,” senior center-back Killian Gor-man said. Besides the addition of Crossfit, the boys have also started to focus on specific skills and not just the overall game.
SportsMENTORthe4
Football players walk to the practice field for training. After a summer of strength and conditioning work the Tribe’s first game is next Friday at home against Mill Valley.
Photo by Madison Ross
Football prepares for seasonNick Bandysports editor
Manhattan High School football is facing one of its toughest years yet as it tries to continue its regular season win-ning streak from the past three years. In the pre-season rankings the Indians are placed 41st in the state, compared to 9th two years ago and 8th last year.
“We’re clearly not get-ting the respect that we deserve,” head coach Joe Schartz said.
The team began con-ditioning one week after
school ended. The first week was the team’s own camp, followed by a week of camp held at Pittsburgh State in which several teams from Kan-sas participated. They then began eight of weeks of strength and conditioning.
There are only three returning starters from last year’s team- junior Winston Dimel, senior Brandon Valez and se-nior Jacob Holloway. Holloway will also be the starting quarterback for the Tribe this year. “We will need underclass-men to step up,” Schartz
Nick Bandysports editor
For those who love baseball but do not want to play for a traveling team over the summer, there is the option of the local parks and recreation baseball teams that are held over the summer. Anyone could join and play against the other high school teams.
“It was a lot of fun,” junior Zach Minton said. Minton played second basemen for the Astros. The Astros won the championship tourna-ment and only lost three regular season games.
The season started af-ter school ended and the final game was played in late July. There were sev-en high school teams this year, with between 10 and 20 players on each team.
said. “We’re really going to have to earn it this year.”
Despite losing three very good seniors from last year, Schartz said
the goals and expecta-tions for the team would remain the same. “We’re always going to lose se-niors,” he said. “This year is no different.”
The Indians open their season with a home game at Bishop Stadium against Mill Valley on Aug. 31.
Summer givesbaseball options
Tennis excited for first meetKayla Diekercopy editor
The Girls Tennis team has been busy getting ready for the new season by working on serves and volleys and awareness of the court at their summer practices. To comply with the Kansas State High School Athletic Associa-tion, official team practic-es began Monday, Aug. 13, from 3:30 to 5:00 and were continued five days a week. Optional get-to-gethers were held every Sunday evening through-out the summer for any-one who wanted to at-tend and stay in shape for the season.
The team expects to do well this season, de-spite the graduation of a few key seniors.
“We’ve had to make some changes, but I think we’re going to do okay,” head coach Joyce Allen said.
There are also new
girls who are excited to be a part of the team.
“It’s a lot of fun be-ing on the team. We get along well and they were very welcoming since it’s my first year,” senior Jen-
Claire Freeby practices her shot at practice. The Indians season starts this Thursday.
Photo by Kayla Dieker
Cross Country runs into new yearConner Blisstrending co-editor
The cross country team has been working hard this summer preparing for their first meet. The team has been running together several times a week since June 11. On days where no organized meeting is scheduled by coaches, many students practice independently.
Cross Country mem-bers run a range of 20 to 70 miles a week. A majority of people have been doing 30 to 50.
The team has already elected team captains.
Dheepthi Perumalmultimedia editor
The Manhattan High School Girls Golf team started the season with tryouts on Aug. 13. Of the 11 girls who tried out, all made either Varsity or JV (six on Varsity and five on JV). The girls’ goal is to be consistent and to go to State and score high.
“This season I want to go to state and help oth-ers on the team,” varsity golfer Kelsey McCarthy said.
The girls have also started their season off with a strong captain, senior Blake Fingalsen, who has been on the golf team since her freshman year. With Fingalsen as the captain and Chris George as the coach, the team believes they can easily make it to State.
The teams’ first games are on Monday, Aug. 20, at Shawnee Heights for the Varsity and Tuesday, Aug. 21, at Clay Center for the JV.
Girls golf
Maddie Rosstrending co-editor
Summer workouts of open gyms and scrim-maging helped 23 girls prepare to earn spots on the Manhattan High School volleyball team.
Tryouts started Mon-day, Aug. 13, and wrapped up on Thursday. The try-out process consisted of drills, general fitness test-ing and scrimmaging to get a more realistic idea of a match or game. The work the girls did over the summer helped them prepare to be competi-tive this season.
“I think the team looks
Volleyball begins tryouts Cheer and dance dominate camps
They have two Chiefs, Amanda Frakes and Chris Melgares. The team also has five Braves, who also act as team leaders with-out the level of author-ity the Chiefs have. The Braves are sophomores Michael Melgares and Isaiah Koppes, juniors Nick Bandy and Alaina Schroeder and senior James Leblow.
“We expect to run our fastest and work our hardest,” Michael Mel-gares said. The team had a time trial last Saturday, and on Sept. 1 have their first meet at Warner Park at 9 a.m.
Sarah Shinews editor
Even during the sum-mer, Manhattan High School cheerleaders and dancers were hard at work, attending camps and learning choreogra-phy to new cheers and dances.
From July 6 through 8, freshman, JV and Varsity cheerleaders appeared at the National Cheer Asso-ciation Camp at Kansas State University where they gathered with other cheer squads from across Kansas. They attended sessions to improve their
really good so far,” sopho-more Matty Mahan said. “We’re just going to keep working hard and see where things end up.”
The team will con-tinue with after-school practices in preparation for their first triangular. The Indians kick off their season on Sept. 6, with the Varsity team travel-ing to Seaman to take on Shawnee Heights, Silver Lake and Seaman. The Junior Varsity will head to Junction City, and will play both Seaman and Junction City. The first home game for Varsity is on Sept. 11 and for JV, Sept. 15.
technique, jumps and stunts as well as com-pete for awards. MHS Cheerleaders managed to snatch the Spirit Stick Award, the Herkie Award and the Supreme Rib-bon, the highest achieve-ment award presented at the camp.
The MHS Dancers also spent many hours at their dance camp, held at An-thony Middle School and the K-State Rope Course from Aug. 6 to 10. There, they organized their half-time dances and caught up their beginning mem-bers about the sideline routines.
Julie Harknessstaff writer
The Manhattan High School boys soccer team practiced several hours a week this summer, hop-ing to start the season off in the best way possible.
“The optimism is high this year,” head coach Frank Alonso said. “The goal for the season is to have a good start. MHS has a history of having a bad start.”
Varsity players also have high hopes for the upcoming season. “[This season] should turn out pretty good,” senior goal-ie Kai Reever said. “We have a lot of great play-ers. I’m expecting great things.”
The freshmen are also enthusiastic and excited to start playing. “I think we have a good team,” freshman midfielder Austin French said. “We work well together and
Soccer seeks good start
Photo by Julie Harkness
Aug. 21, 2012 Manhattan High
