in this issue may

the black and white. may. 2011. volume 19 issue 8. 5152780449. 6501 NW 62nd ave. johnston. iowa one copy free

Read about two students who make and wear their own clothes through a program at Central Campus.

thirteenIt’s Grad party time. Check

out some helpful tips before you venture out to congradu-late grads and eat their food.

nineSay good-bye to principal

Bruce Hukee! Staff members say a few words about Hukee and the time he spent here.

fourA student and his mom

share their personal account of escaping a war-torn country and immigrating to America.

sixteen

BWthe black and white

backpagesenior photos

in th

is is

sue.

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Fashion14 Two students break into the world of fashion

Health13 Learn all about different types of vegetarians

Doubletruck10-11 Created in Johnston

may 2011

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Want the B&W online?Send us an e-mail, to jhsblackandwhite@gmail.com and we’ll send you a PDF of the paper every month, and follow us on twitter: @Johnston_BW

*THE BLACK & WHITE

STAFF WRITERSIsabella Engblom, Wes Monroe, Alexa Anderson, Sarah Margolin, Mallorie Goodale, Ashley Enger, Elisabeth Lowe, Mirza Besic, Christopher Coble, Hannah Soyer, Paige Cramer, Taylor Mithelman & Ashley Shay

NEWSMike Shi

OPINIONKristine Hayes

EDITORIALZach Winjum

ENTERTAINMENT/REVIEWEvan Culbert

FEATURELauren Coffey

FASHION/HEALTHSpencer Vasey

SPORTSRyan Smaha

BACKPAGEEthan Meng

DISTRIBUTION MANAGERIan Dunshee

PHILOSOPHYThe Black and White is published solely by the Johnston High School newspa-per staff. Its goal is to inform, enlighten and entertain Johnston students. It is an open forum. In accordance with Iowa law and board policy, students assign and edit material. The paper is published nine times per school year. The paper will avoid material that is libelous, obscene or an invasion of privacy. The law does not require parental permission to use student quotes. Ethically, we believe students can speak for themselves. Staff editorials represent the opinion of a majority of the editorial board. Editorial and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the adviser, school officials or the district. Letters to the editor must be signed. Like all material, letters may not be libelous, obscene or an invasion of privacy. Bring letters to room 413 within one week after publication to be considered for the next issue. The Black and White strives to report accurate and timely information. If you believe that an error has been printed, please contact the editors at jhsblack-andwhite@gmail.com. The Black and White is a member of CSPA, NSPA, Quill & Scroll, and IHSPA. Recent issues of the paper earned these honors: Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist, National Scholastic Press Association First Class rating, Quill & Scroll Gallup Award, IHSPA state placings and sixth in the National Best of Show.

On the cover: Senior Rachael Sorci poses for a senior picture taken by senior Monika Sehic.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFKelsey Kruse

DESIGN EDITORKelly McGowan

PHOTO EDITORMichael Knoedel

16 Student escaping war torn conditions

17 Film festival held to raise money for student with cancer

FeatureEighth grader lends a helping hand15

News3 Relive the past month through photos4 Principal Bruce Hukee has left the building

News briefs

IllustratorsRosemarie Freymark, Trevor Fisch & Austin Smoldt-Saenz, Lisa VanWiel

Entertainment12 How to make the most out of grad parties

10

5 Why you need to learn self defense todayThat’s what Shi said

Opinion

6 Going over your tests: it’s actually importantHiding your final test grade helpful in the end

7 Seniors share one last piece of advice for you to enjoy

EditorialThank you counselors8

Review9 Fun day trips to take this summer

Backpage20 Get tips on how to take great senior pics

Sports18 Senior softballl players soon to be rivals

19 Ultimate frisbee takes flightFull Court press

news may 2011 the b&w p.3

may inphotos

2 Juniors Chris Caracci, Amanda Teel and Megan Vaughan disect a cat during Anatomy and Physiology. “I have dissected a cow eye, a shark, a frog, a bug and now a cat,” Carraci said, “The cat has been the most interesting because I feel like we are actually learning something by identifying the parts instead of just cutting (the cat) open.”

3 Junior Scott Syroka snaps a photo of sophomore Karly Palmer posing with a dish she prepared in Culinary 3. The class held a luncheon for the visiting French exchange stu-dents on April 27 during B lunch.

4 Senior Sarah Schulte hops towards a bucket with a golf ball between her knees for a Senior Challenge game. Senior Challenge was held on Wednesday May 4. Eleven teams of 12 students participated and teams were eliminated as the night went on. The champi-onship game was between the top 3 teams, in which each member had to break apart a T-shirt that had been frozen into a ball and wear it for the duration of the game.

words & layout Kelsey Kruse

Kelsey Kruse/BW

Kelsey Kruse/BW

Kelsey Kruse/BW

Morgan Riessen/TheDragon

1 Junior Molly Thuente laughs as senior Emily Mentzer pretends to fan herself with a few raffle tickets while waiting for carpoolers. The Environmental Club sponsored Carpool to School Week April 18-22. Club members set up a table on the sidewalk outside the gym doors, handing out raffle tickets to participat-ing students and staff.

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Mr. Hukee spends countless hours, outside of the school day, here at JHS for the students. When most people are home or relaxing, Mr. Hukee is always working to help students: nights, weekends, even Sunday mornings. - Curt Larkin It amazes me how Mr. Hukee can walk down

the halls and greet nearly everyone by their first name and a smile. Impressive. - Susan Krebs Mr. Hukee has been such a great supporter of our library. He didn’t bat an eye when I started rearranging shelves, hanging things from the ceiling, instituting

the Cafe Read a Latte for Staff breakfasts. Our library couldn’t be what it is today without Mr. Hukee. -Jane Behrens As most folks know, I open the library everyday at 7:00 a.m., but I most often arrive by 6:30. Mr. Hukee’s car is always here when I arrive - no matter what time. I just can’t beat him! -Cookie Cranston My most memorable moment is when Mr. Hukee would be sitting at my desk and staff members would come into the office and make a comment about how different I looked. -Lois Faley Mr. Hukee has always been very supportive of the office support staff and secretaries. -Liz Sullivan Hukee’s car is always the first one here in the morning - no matter how early I get here, his black car is here and he’s working away at his desk. It’s probably the only time he can get any work done without being disturbed! -Sarah Marck-mann Mr. Hukee and central administration enticed me from retirement to teach the Spanish upper levels which I said that I would follow him if he would lead. Mr. Hukee has been a fine leader and model, and I have followed him for the past five years. I thank him for his consistent and positive leadership and hope that his retirement be much longer than what mine was, since now I have forty-four years in the classroom. -Gerald Hollingsworth Bruce—thanks for being a great boss! -Kayla Bousum Mr. Hukee always offered an ear and often asked about me and my family. He always thanked me for anything I did, big or small, that was part of my daily teacher routine. -Daniel Weiss Mr. Hukee, Thank you for your leadership and support. -Thomas Griffin When I think of Mr. Hukee I consider the many hours, before school, after school and on the weekends, that he puts into doing his job. -Rich Gradoville Mr. Hukee always takes time to ask me

about the movies I’ve seen recently. -Ed Walker Mr. Hukee does a good job of listening to concerns and always keeping the interests of our students at the front of his decision making process. -Patrick Kearney Every time I see Mr. Hukee, he

always asks questions about my family farm. Cows, corn, anything like that. Will farming be his next occupation? -Matt Jaschen I appreciate Mr. Hukee’s tremendous support of all of the activities and athletics. He has truly been a

leader and positive influence on many students and staff. He will be greatly missed and he moves into his newest chapter of his life. -Gary Ross I would say-If you can’t think of anything nice to say about someone, ask Mr.

Hukee. He always has something positive to say about someone. -Kelly Coleman The Big Ten recently split into the Legends and Leaders conferences and Mr. Hukee’s favorite team, the Iowa Hawkeyes, were placed into the “Leg-

ends” conference. However I think most people will remember Mr. Hukee as BOTH a Legend and a Leader at Johnston High School. -Brad Hurst Remember the Ackworth Golf Course!!!! -Vickie Borich Thank you, Mr. Hukee, for

you dedication to the students and staff of JHS. You will be missed! -Jennifer Rollings Mr. Hu-kee arrives before everyone else, stays later than everyone else, and attends JHS events almost nightly. He never takes a day off. He even gets his haircut over winter break and spring break! -Audrey Bell Thank you for taking extra time to meet with students and families to show you care and help students be successful! -Stepha-nie Guthrie Bruce, Thank you for all your help and support. ¡Buena Suerte! -Nora Olguin No matter what time of day or day of the week I came to the high school I would always see Mr. Hukee

working ungodly hours in his office preparing for the next school day. I’m going to miss his leadership! Thanks for nine wonderful years Mr. Hukee and good luck in the future! -Brian Woodley His dedication to the students and staff of Johnston High School is both genuine and unsurpassed. -Sarah Wessling I would like to thank Mr. Hukee for his all of his time and dedication to the Johnston School District and to enjoy retirement. -Debra Nicholson I have been here almost twice as long as Mr. Hukee, but I think he has put in almost as much time at work that I have! For his first 8 or 10 years, he was ALWAYS here when I arrived and ALWAYS here when I left, no matter how late it was. I’m glad to see that he occasionally goes home now – family IS important, too! -Sue Cline

the b&w newsp.4 may 2011

new

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words & layout Mallorie Goodale

Leo’s Legacy beat Wacka Flocka Kleve in the fresh-man dodgeball champi-onshipion May 5. Teacher Kate Leo’s team had never

made it past the first round. There were 18 teams in the tournament. “We smoked them, we had like 15 people left and they had one,” said freshman Abby Nelson. “The game was pretty intense. The legacy begins here,” said Karisa Cuneo.

The school bought a master control panel to solve the problem of synching up all the

clocks. The clocks were all a minute off for a few weeks after spring break. The new clocks were timed to see if they were the same as the old clocks by the newspaper staff and they are less than a second off. No longer when you are tardy can you use the excuse “Well, the clocks are off.”

A Baccalaureate will be held May 22 from 1-2 p.m. in the high school auditorium. The Bac-calaureate is a Christian

graduation service held for seniors and their families. “Me and Andrew Vander-zwagg are giving our senior encourage-ment,” said Katie Lashier, “where we read from the Bible, tell a little about what FCA has meant to us and then give some ad-vice to seniors going to college. I encour-age everyone to come.”

Compiled by Michael Knoedal

Freshmen dodgeball Graduation baccalaureate School clocks fixed

Illustration/Yiming Qin

the b&wopinion p.5may 2011

words Mike Shi

That’s

wha

t

said For our senior service project, the re-quirements for senior picnic weren’t all that strenuous. Simply spend $5 on school supplies and then safely skip school, easy. Though that may seem like a joke of a vol-unteering project, it’s better than the alter-native, forced volunteering.

By forcing people to volunteer, doesn’t that take out the whole point of donating your time in the first place? The SLP, ser-vice learning project, was probably one of the most hated parts of senior year. Pretty much everyone loathed it, myself included; I ended up not even finishing my hours and half-wording my write-up. For a project designed to teach us the values of volun-teering and citizenship, it’s done only the opposite. By forcing students to do a cum-bersome and banal project, government class has taught us to resent volunteering.

You can’t force someone to volunteer, it doesn’t work that way. You either want to volunteer or you don’t, giving someone a grade isn’t going to change anything. I’ve volunteered plenty, both before and after the SLP. I even volunteered at a second place while the SLP was going on. Honestly, if the

SLP was my first taste of volunteering, as it likely was with many others, I’d probably be a lot more hesitant to do it again.

Though it may have seemed like a good idea on paper, forcing people to volunteer, especially jaded seniors, will only lead to contempt and resentment. If government class really wanted to teach us the merits of volunteering, maybe we shouldn’t have to write a twelve-page paper about it and in-stead focus on the real motivations behind volunteering, helping your community and helping yourself grow as a person.

So with that, I’m finally done with this column. Nine columns, or rows I guess, of varying quality from pretty terrible to half-way decent all in the name of one glorious pun. It figures that Michael Scott, the king of that’s what she said jokes, is leaving The Office right when this column wraps up.

Illustration/Rosemarie Freymark

Every year, Deb Nicholsen’s Track 1 PE class watches a series of basic self-defense veidos in an effort to better prepare students for the future. Students also fill out an awarness checklist.

Learn to defend yourselfwords & layout Kristine Hayes

“BACK OFF!” Pause. Cue the Super-fake-attack and “BACK OFF!” If you have been in Track 1 P.E. you know what I’m talking about. The self-defense movie with that chick with the Jersey accent. Yes, the lady is super entertaining and you will be hearing other students mimicking her voice for days. But what you might not recognize is the value of what the video was teach-ing. One day those who have taken Track 1 and participated in these exercises may be thankful for that New Jersey accent. Be-ing able to defend oneself should be a skill everyone has.

Self-defense is one easy way to confront and possibly even stop crime. According to neighbordhoodscout.com Des Moines has approximately 1,082 violent crimes per year (armed thefts, personal attacks and rapes). While this number is not huge, the risk is still there. Therefore, everyone still needs to be able to protect themselves. For every 1,000 people five of them are victim of a violent attack. Let’s bring this to a school level. We have around 1,200 students so think of it as five to six students being vic-tim of an attack yearly. With that kind of a visual how can you not feel the need to at least know something that could help.

Some students understand this. “Know-ing how to defend yourself can never be a bad thing,” senior Mitch Langos said. Lan-gos has participated in both the Karate and Muay Thai disciplines, both of which teach effective ways to defend oneself.

There are many types of self-defense training and they vary from a class or two all the way to formal martial arts training which can translate to a hobby. Some mar-tial arts disciplines are karate, aikido, jujitsu and kick boxing. All of these forms provide classes and demos on self-defense locally. Aside from traditional martial arts practice facilities you can go to the YMCA, local seminars are provided by the police and most gyms have self-defense classes.

If safety isn’t reason enough to learn self-defense, think of all the other good things that come along with just knowing the skills. Besides generally feeling more in control and safer, self-defense training can improve your self-confidence, physical fit-ness, and is a natural stress releaser.

Any way it’s spun there are benefits. On top of the mental and physical gains there is also a set of ethics guidelines that al-most every form of martial arts endorses. In Taekwondo, for example, as a part of the pledge and class openers there is a set of Aims to Achieve that all members strive for.

Forced volunteering

Those Aims to Achieve are: honesty, mod-esty, integrity, self control, perseverance and indomitable spirit. Just being reminded of and practicing those qualities in daily

life is worth the effort. All you have to do is try one out. There aren’t ANY downsides to learning to defend yourself and with this many advantages, why not?

Illustration/Lisa VanWiel

the b&wopinion p.6may 2011

words & layout Wes Monroe

Check your tests: They actually matterwords & layout Mirza Besic

There was once a day when grades were all important to high school students. Believe it or not, that day has passed. How-ever, grades are forever part of being in school, no matter how much you want to pretend they don’t matter.

There are classes where tests are about a third of your grade, and classes where tests make up a hefty 70 percent of your semester grade. So they are important. However, the grade isn’t what should mat-ter. It’s knowing the material that should be considered the real issue.

There are a lot of people that aren’t great at taking tests. If that’s the case, studying before the test might not always be enough. Getting a good night sleep and eating a nutritious breakfast isn’t always the key to acing the test. Going over it again is needed.

Biology teacher, Sara Kate Howe is the kind of teacher that lets students correct their tests to get points back. “We are work-ing towards the end of the year’s AP test,” Howe said. “Students come to learn from mistakes. It’s just one way for them to rein-

force information and fix misconceptions.” The whole point of the test corrections

is not to give kids free points back on tests. They exist to encourage students to look over material they weren’t familiar with a second time and place it even deeper into their brains.

While these test corrections are only for the AP students, Howe also goes over tests with her Biology students. They may not get points back, but that isn’t the point to begin with. The whole point is to learn from mis-takes made and crush the final.

The generous test corrections offer is taken by many students who want to help their grades out and prepare for the four-day final. Senior Ahmed Shaharyar has AP Biology first period, and he takes full ad-vantage of these test corrections.

“I love the test corrections,” Shaharyar said. “I do horrible on tests, so test correc-tions help me get the grade. Not to mention the final has a lot of repeats, so now that I’ve gone over it three to four times, so I’m better prepared.”

We know that colleges are going to look

If anyone has been in a blocked science class the last couple years, they would have experienced the idea of hid-ing semester final grades. This means that when students take their first semester final the results will not be revealed until after the second semester test.

The results of both tests will then be put into infinite campus at the end of the year. “It’s about students doing their best,” science teacher Chris Beguhn said.

They believe that by hiding the final grade, kids will try harder and be more prepared for semester exams.

In most classes students can figure out exactly what percentage they need to get in order to maintain or raise their grade. “Kids like to play how low can I go,” Beguhn said. Hiding the final grades doesn’t allow that to happen.

Say a student has an 85 percent in math. If they have their first final grade, they would be able to calculate how low they can go on their second final to maintain the B or to raise their grade to an A.

Basically they are stuck and don’t feel like studying is

worthwhile. With this idea of hiding the results to the first exam students will not know exactly what their overall per-centage is going into the final exam, so they might be in-clined to put more effort into studying and preparation.

Also it is a great way to keep students more attentive during the home stretch of the year. Many students have summer on their mind and put aside the fact that the final weeks of school are still extremely important.

If the final grade is calculated into your grade as a whole right away, then you might get discouraged and get into a hole that you can’t dig yourself out of as far as grades go. Students should use strategies and be more prepared, regardless of their final, to help them do the best they pos-sibly can on the second final.

If students have uncertainty about their grade they are going to want to do well on their final exam to ensure that their grade doesn’t drop significantly due to the combined final exam scores. This idea is a great way to make stu-dents to put in the effort.

Illustration/Lisa VanWiel

at your grades, so keeping an eye on how you are doing in classes, and more specifi-cally, tests will give you the best shot.

So take a look at that test you didn’t do so great on. Don’t just ignore it and pretend it never happened. Just because the test is

over doesn’t mean you should stop study-ing that chapter. This advice probably falls on deaf ears for most of you upperclassman with crippling cases of senioritis, but there is still hope for juniors and sophomores and even freshmen still hanging in there.

Hiding final grades helps

Kristine Hayes/BWJunior Alyssa Vuckelich works on her chemistry final on May 6.

check name!revise: don’t use I’s or You’s

the b&wmay 2011opinion p.7

Take classes because you are genuinely interested in the subject, not just for an easy grade or for the credit.

Too many times, we take classes or don’t take classes because of the grade we may receive. Most times,

students who are interested in the topic they are study-ing tend to do better in those classes. So when you go to

change your schedule next year because you don’t like the teacher or you think you would get a “C” instead of a

“B”, give it a chance, because that challenge is going to better prepare you for college. For example, don’t drop

AP Chem just because it will be a lot harder than any other class. Give the class you want to drop a chance,

because you may love it in the end.

First impressions are everything, especially in the

professional world that most of us will be entering

within the next few years. The job market is rough,

and with so many people vying for jobs, it is crucial

to make a good impression for potential employers.

A series of experiments by Princeton psychologists

reveal that it takes a tenth of a second to form an

impression of a complete stranger. That’s a tenth of a

second that you have to show your employer, or any-

body else, that you are worth their consideration..

The best piece of advise for your high school experience that I can think of is to not get caught up

in the trap of fake success. I would recommend that you instead do something that you are very pas-

sionate about and make yourself seam like a unique individual, after all that’s what most colleges look for.

Don’t spend all your time pouring over textbooks and staying up late to write that essay, do something that

you enjoy doing and makes you who you are. Try as hard as you can to not to be like everyone else.

In the end, it doesn’t matter. GPA, ACT, twenty years from now, no one’ll care. Why go through school obsessed

with numbers when they’re are just that, numbers. I know the life, I’ve lived it. Instead of focusing on getting A’s, take

the time and enjoy the little things. For me, one of these was Plursday. It’s simple, each Thursday–party Thursday,

get it?, me neither–we bring a cake to AP Lit. Though it may not seem like much, this weekly ritual is one of the

bright spots in the few weeks left of senior year. Instead of worrying about grades, take a moment to sit back and

enjoy the little things. Whether it be cake, cane toads or Krispy Kreme caps, take the time and take in the everyday tidbits that make memories worth remembering.

Do as much as you can and don’t worry

about failure. I still remember the poster in

Mrs. Pippert’s room, “You miss 100% of the

shots you don’t take.”

Too many stu-dents are basing their college deci-sion on whether they “bleed” black and gold, or yellow and red. How ludicrous! This life-changing decision should probably be taken a little more seri-ously. College if for learning, leave the rivalry on the field.

Ryan Smaha

Mike Shi

Chris Coble

Elisabeth Lowe

Michael Knoedel

Kelly McGowan

Spencer Vasey

Kelsey Kruse

Opinions

J-LabSenior

When it comes to politics, we all need to learn how to form educated opinions instead of mindlessly believing what the liberal or conservative media tells us to. Keep an open-mind and not adhere entirely to only one political party. No single person shares the exact same views; so why do we vote like it?

Some 15 tardies and then 7ish hours of detention in the art room this year has taught me a simple, but important lesson: be where you are, when you are supposed to be there. You start your day badly, show disrespect and send a message that your time is more important than the teacher’s which it simply isn’t.

editorial theb&w p.8may 2011

Top: Senior LaBria Gates checks in to the office while being greeted by guidance secretary Sarah Marckmann Middle: Sophomore Brennen Woods waits in the guidance office for guidance coun-selor Sue Baker. Bottom: After a meeting with his counselor, sophomore Brennan Woods signs out.

They didn’t earn a degree on scheduling, but feel free to thank the people who deal with everday issues.

counselorsThank you

They do it all: scheduling, personal issues, grades, college prep, or casual chatting. The counselors are here to ensure our success. Some students do not utilize Curt Larkin, Steph-anie Guthrie, Susan Baker and Audrey Bell, but the ones that do are a step ahead.

Success in and outside of class is the prima-ry reason we have counselors available at the school. Our counselors do their best to point stu-dents in the right direction. “We want you to be on a path to explore. Your society is so much more fluid than any society, ever,” guidance counselor Curt Larkin said.

The counselors set aside time each spring for junior and senior meetings. At the meetings students’ futures are the prime topic discussed. Some students skip their meetings. That trend correlates with the students who miss out on op-portunities such as scholarships and deadlines. “We have access to a large amount of resources that even colleges might not have,” Larkin said.

Another resource that often goes unused is the scholarship page on the high school web site. This page gives access to multiple scholarships

that include organizational and university based scholarships. Counselors have had scholar-ships to certain majors that students haven’t ap-plied to. Instead of the money going to waste, why not stop in and check out the benefits.

The four aspects of the guidance office con-sist of personal, social, academic and career goals. Just because a student is called into the guidance office, doesn’t imply there are issues that need to be dealt with. “I make it a point to seek students out, it might be for various things.” guidance counselor Stephanie Guthrie said.

One way to take advantage of what the coun-selors have to offer is by attending the Study Skills small group. The counselors contribute their time for students so that the guidance of-fice is welcoming and resourceful.

“They’re so helpful when I’m having a bad day. They’re all so happy and cheerful, plus they all know your name,” senior Emily Welch said.

For everything the counselors do that is in their job description and everything that goes beyond, take the time to give a simple thanks to them.

Audrey Bell

StephanieGuthrie

Curt Larkin

SusanBaker

The editorial board votes on the opinion behind the editorial. A simple majority is needed to pass. This month’s vote was 11-1

Ashley Enger/BW

Ashley Enger/BW

Ashley Enger/BW

the b&wmay 2011entertainment p.9

words & layout Evan Culbert

Grad party season. It’s finally that time of year again, and as invites clog our facebooks, many of us may feel overwhelmed by the multitude of parties departing se-niors want us to attend. Having plenty of graduation par-ties are nothing to get stressed over. Follow these five easy tips to ensure a quality grad party experience.

Be prepared

Don’t feel like you have to bring some-thing for every grad. Let the relatives and grandparents do the spoiling, you just worry about showing up and congratulating them. If you absolutely feel weird walking in emp-ty handed (which you shouldn’t), print some

Who knew they wrapped Twinkies in ba-con!? Is this heaven? No, it’s the food table at a grad party. While your stomach may tell you to go to town on those delicious artery-clogging Twinkies, try to restrain yourself. Although it will most likely take every bit of willpower you have, you will be thank-ful when you get to the next party and see something like a chocolate bar wrapped in bacon wrapped in more bacon. Whatever the food may be, stick to one simple rule: at each party, stick to a small portion of the best thing offered. That way, you won’t be too full to get a bit of each delicious food during the day.

Keep in mind the morning of a grad par-

don’t let graduation parties catch you off guard

While you may feel right at home going alone to your best friend’s graduation party, the kid you know just enough to make a quick stop by their party may end up ex-tremely awkward if you waltz in alone. Hav-ing a friend or small group accompany you to grad parties is always a good idea; no one wants to be stuck at a grad party full of people they have never met before. Hav-ing a companion also gives you someone

tip#1 Have a plan.

With gas prices on the rise, grad party tip number one becomes even more important; always have a plan. No one likes driving back and forth to each corner of Johnston. Planning out your route and “schedule” for the day will save gas and time, and guarantee making it to all the parties you want to. Before you embark to your many grad parties, take ten minutes or so prepare.

First, make a list (or print off your facebook events) of the grad parties you want to go to. Make sure to include the times and addresses, and orga-nize the parties in order of the time they will be going on. Next, MapQuest each address and print off the map with the parties addresses marked. Group the parties going on at the same time, and plan the order you will be attending each party within each group. Make sure to go to all of the parties in one area before moving on to the next area for that time group. That way you won’t have to worry about driving back and forth or forgetting someone.

Don’t get stuffed in one place.ty day how much you will be eating. A small breakfast, like a bowl of cereal or granola bar is always a good plan. It may not be a bad idea to get your jog on either, or do some kind of physical activity.

One final food pertaining tip to ensure your wellbeing: Be weary of the crème puffs. Sure, crème puffs are great. Until you realize how many of those bad boys you’ve popped into your mouth, but by that point it’s already too late. As long as you keep your crème puff intake below around three or four, you should be okay. Just know that once you get closer to ten, the queasiness will begin to set in, and it will last the whole day.

Get ready for some tough parking.tip#2

Remember thinking in Driver’s Ed that you will never ever have to parallel park in Iowa? Well, you were wrong. Plan on experienc-ing several tricky parking situations on a day of grad partying. Ex-pect some tight squeezes, trouble backing out, and yes, there will be some parallel parking. Since you won’t be traveling as a lone wolf, try to convince the best driver to drive. If a group is all equally bad at driving, drawing sticks or rock, paper, scissors might be necessary to determine the driver. Shotgun seat should take the responsibility of navigation.

tip#3

to talk to, so you won’t be that awkward kid sitting in the corner eating crème puffs by themself.

Grad party weekends also involve a lot of driving, and carpooling will save you some gas and save you from boredom. If you don’t have a GPS, having a naviga-tor will make finding the parties easier and save you plenty of turnarounds. So don’t be the crème puff kid, bring a friend or two.

Don’t be a lone wolf.tip#5

graduation cards off the internet. There are plenty of websites that have free printable cards, and if you really can’t find one you like, just make one. A homemade card will be appreciated just as much as the most expensive Hallmark card you can find.

You can’t gift everyone.tip#4

the b&w made in johnston p.10&11 may 2011

To some people, sewing is just a fun hobby, but to Hannah Troung, it’s a lifestyle. Troung first learned to sew at 15 years old from her mother, who is also a tailor. “When I was little I wish I could be a doctor but the more I grow up I want to be a tailor,” Troung said.

Troung is originally from Vietnam but moved to Atlanta in 2001. She then moved here to Iowa in 2005 to be with her family. Although the shop she works in is small and quaint, she would never think of moving. Tailoring is a way for her to get to really know the people. “We talk to everyone, and it’s a good way to speak English,” Troung said.

Troung works ten-hour days, six to seven days a week. Her days involve fitting the customer, measuring, cutting, sewing, pressing and steaming. “I like to do a hard job because after I’m done I feel good,” Troung said. All the clothes and outfits she makes or fixes are all by herself; with the occasionally help from her mom on the weekend. “I’m by myself all the days,” Troung said. “I do it all myself.”

Her cozy shop is piled with clothes she hems or makes, mainly formal dresses for weddings. A very detailed wedding dress with beads and layering stands out up front for everyone to see. “If I work on nothing else except the dress, it will take about a week.” She is currently working on making clothes for an entire wedding party, which would be seven bridesmaid dresses. Each dress only takes about two days.

In Troung’s family, tailoring is a hard-working job that’s been passed down. Her niece who is 12 also wants to be a tailor. However it is also something that Troung enjoys doing and couldn’t see herself doing anything else. “I want to make people happy and to look good,” Troung said. “I never want to stop doing this.”

It’s a fine summer day and Marv Van Ausdall opens the door to his barbershop on the corner of 62nd and Merle Hay. He walks in and greets his employees. Some are giving old-er gentlemen a shave, others are giving haircuts and others are just standing around talking. A familiar customer walks up to him and they start talking about the most recent little league game. Then Ausdall’s young daughter Moni Hart bursts in and jumps into his arms. They look happy as can be. This was when Johnston was just growing, today Hart herself has taken up the barbershop from its humble roots.

“Not much changes around here,” said Hart. And she’s right. Scattered over the walls are old pictures of Johnston as well as vintage posters and products. “Once something goes up it stays there,” said Hart. It is basically a museum where you can get a haircut.

One of the more defining qualities of the Johnston Bar-bershop is that they do straight razor shaves. This is the kind of thing seen on old movies where the barber lathers

Senior Mason Johnson takes a seat at the Johnston Barber Shop while Moni Hart cuts his hair.

the man up and shaves him clean. It works and it gives the closest shave every time. Not many salons or hairstylists can say they do this; in fact there are only around 180 regis-tered barbers in the state of Iowa.

The most exciting part of this place is that it brings cus-tomer service and friendliness to a whole new level. “We know you when you walk in,” said Hart, “we even remember what kind of haircut you want.” They do not use computers to remember someone, they actually know them.

“We get a lot of military men here,” said Hart. With Camp Dodge only a few miles away many National Guard soldiers depend on the Johnston Barber Shop for keeping their crew cuts in shape. Senior Mason Johnson who plans on enlist-ing in the Air Force recently got his hair cut by Hart herself. “The people were nice,” said Johnson, “but I don’t know how I feel about how short it is.” Even so, Johnson has plans to go back because he needs to keep it short for entering the military.

atmosphere makes Johnston Bait and Tackle what it is.If you need help Darcy thinks she can bring it. Their motto

is, “Great fishing starts here.” Darcy can often be seen teach-ing someone how to set the drag on a pole or how to use a net to catch a fish. “Our business is bait and tackle,” Darcy said, “that’s what we’re good at.” Darcy also ties rods and bait hooks for single moms so they can go out and have fun with their kids. “We’re trying to [give them] a good time,” Darcy said.

The bait shop also does many things for this community. “We really appreciate it when the Johnston community sup-ports us,” Darcy said. And for this support they often give a little back. Many kids around Johnston take pride in the fact that their first job was as a worm packer for the bait shop. The worms have to get into those boxes somehow and Johnston Bait and Tackle gives younger kids such as senior Drew Jack-son the opportunity to make some quick cash.

So this is what defines Johnston Bait and Tackle and makes it unique in comparison to something like Bass Pro Shop. “We pay our property taxes,” Darcy said. “We have all the bait you’re going to need, people are pleasently surprised.”

traditionsThe B&W investigates stories behind places that make Johnston what it is. Locally-owned shops Johnston Tailors, El Mariachi, The Barber Shop and The Bait Shop are traditions in the Johnston community.

Head-chef Elias gets ready to cook up a homemade chimichanga on the grill. A tortilla is loaded with meat and cheese, then gets a nice deep-fry for a minute or so. Some lettuce, veggies, rice and beans to go with and this meal is ready to go. This popular dish is one of many from Johnston’s own El Mariachi. However, there is more to this Mexican restaurant than just the chimichnagas.

It all started when two brothers, Carlos and Miguel Mendoza, moved here from Tulsa, OK and found a job at El Rodeo, another Mexican restaurant in Johnston. After working there for a while, the two decided they wanted to find a new space to start their own restaurant. After looking around, they found an old vacant building that used to be a Hardees until it went out of business. With a drive-through and all, they decided to take the for-rent building and begin the making of El Mariachi.

Shortly after, Carlos and Miguel hired their other brother Salvador Mendoza, to be a waiter. Salvador faithfully worked as a waiter until becoming the manager of the restaurant. Carlos and Miguel then went off again to start another restaurant in Indianola called La Casa. “It’s the same restaurant, just a different name,” Salvador said.

Inside hangs Mexican-themed banners, Mariachi music and on the TV there are even Hispanic shows. “It might look like a Hardees, but it’s very different on the inside,” Salvador said.

Salvador really enjoys his job being a manager at El Mariachi. “It’s a great place to work,” he said. “There’s a great atmosphere.” Lately, most of the workers hired have been family members or close family friends, so it is no wonder why it would be a good place to work.

With its good, close location and the fact that all its food is homemade, folks in Johnston really enjoy eating here. “People in Johnston seem to be really nice. I like the fact that they support us,” Salvador said. “Apparently they like our food.” Fajitas and Chimichangas are the favorites for many customers. But when it comes down to it, “They like anything from the grill!” Salvador said.

Walk into the Johnston Bait and Tackle shop in the morn-ing and you may be greeted by two older gentlemen enjoying their coffee and socializing with the other customers. They call you over and talk about the huge fish they just caught over on Saylorville Lake. You learn about their secret fishing location and decide to check it out. A great start to a great morning of fishing, all at Johnston Bait and Tackle.

The shop is one of the oldest businesses in Johnston, it has been around for 30 years. The current managers, Darcy and Mike Olson, have had it for 11 years. “When we got [the shop] it was a mess,” Darcy said. The former managers of the shop had gotten into trouble with the law after a drug bust in 1999, but the Olsons revamped the store and made it what it is today.

Often when Darcy sits in the shop she finds herself im-mersed in the conversations of customers. “We are grateful for every customer,” Darcy said. Whether it be talking about a recent fishing excursion or teaching their customers the best way to fish, Darcy and Mike always believe that the friendly

compiled by Chirs Coble, Paige Cramer and Lauren Coffey

words & layout

words & layout Spencer Vasey

the b&w reviewp.12 may 2011

Decorah, Iowa, is the perfect town for a weekend trip with its many charming family-owned shops and restaurants. In addition to shops, there are places to enjoy the views of scenic Decorah and spend some time outside canoeing or kayaking on the Upper Iowa River.

Fun: Decorah Hatchery (Buy $3 baby chickens!) 406 W. Water St • Decorah, IA 5210

Explore: Rent Canoes or Kayaks. Chimney Rock Canoe Rental, Campground and Cabins 3312 Chimney Rock Rd, Cresco, IA 52136

Food: The Train Station is a restaurant known for their famous “Flashburger:” a burger with hash browns and melted cheese on top. 202 N. Maryville, Calmar, IA 52132

Take a three or four day trip to explore the music scene in Chicago. There are a few big concerts making their way to the Midwest this summer, including the Dave Matthews Band Caravan, Lollapalooza, and the Revolt Tour 2011.

Dave Matthews Band Caravan: Dave, with artists like Kid Cudi, OAR, The Flaming Lips, and others.July 8-10 Lakeside Chicago, ILTickets: $195 for a 3-day Pass

Lollapalooza: Eminem, Foo Fighters, Cold-play, Muse, My Morning Jacket, DEAD-MAU5 and other artists form the line-up of this 3-day music festivalAug. 5-7 Grant Park Chicago, ILTickets: $215 for a 3-day pass

Not too far from Johnston is Ames, a place surrounded by fun summer activities like eating out and river tubing.

Food: When thinking of places to eat in Ames, everyone suggests going to the restaurant Hickory Park, but next time try something new, like Café Shi. All the food is made fresh and from scratch and the chefs love to add new dishes to the menu each week. 823 Wheeler Street Ames, Iowa.

Activities: Drive about 20 mins out of Ames to Boone; there is a Seven Oaks where for $22 a person you can rent equipment and go tubing down the Des Moines River.

When summer seems to drag on and it seems like everything to do in Johnston has been done, consider taking a spontaneous day or weekend trip and see what else the Midwest has to offer.

drive-

336

mile

s (5

hou

rs 3

8 m

ins)

drive- 211 miles (3 hours 48 mins)Decorah

drive- 38 miles (48 mins)Ames

Get away for a weekend trip to Omaha and check out the farmers market, one of Omaha’s popular summer attrac-tions. Then go see new things coming up at the zoo.

Food: Try the Midtown Crossing Outdoor Market, where food is harvested as fresh as possible and there are all different cultured and variety of things to eat.

Fun: We all know about the Omaha Zoo but sometimes it can drag on and on, so this summer there are new attrac-tions, such as the first cheetah cubs ever born at the zoo, and Ocean Day on June 8th where there are new activi-ties to do and sea animals to see.

drive- 136 miles (2 hours 22 m

ins)Om

aha

layout Kelly McGowan

words Ashley Shay and Kelly McGowan

Provided/trout run trail

Provided/Decorah Hatchery

Provided/Lollapalooza.com

Provided/Midtowncrossing.com

the b&wfashion may 2011

words & layout Spencer Vasey

The lights flash and the music blares as senior Dahlia Gordon struts down the runway. When she reaches the end, she pauses, giving the crowd time to admire the silk flower dress she has spent months constructing, before rushing backstage to change into her next creation.

Gordon spent eight months hard at work to create the six complete outfits she showed May 4-5 at the Central Campus Fashion Show. As a member of the Fashion Design and Mer-chandising class, Gordon was required to design, construct, and model clothing that fit into six specific categories.

The class began last fall by teaching students basic sewing and construction techniques. “It’s a lot harder than you’d imag-

ine,” Gordon said. “A lot of the girls came in here without much previous sewing knowledge and struggled

a lot at the beginning. I’m lucky that I already had so much

experience. I made

my junior homecoming dress, and countless other pieces of clothing before beginning the program.”

One student that did not have as much experience as Gor-don was junior Elin Tegels. “Before the class, I knew how to sew, but I’d only ever made simple stuff,” Tegels said. “I could make bags and simple skirts, but nothing as complicated as I’m making now.”

Tegels now hopes to pursue fashion design as a career. “I want to continue to get better so that I can have my own line one day,” she said. “If I see something I like, I try to incorporate it into something I can make. I love the freedom of designing your own clothes, you really get to do whatever you want.”

Both Gordon and Tegels say that the program has helped them become more creative designers. “I’ve learned a lot through the program,” Gordon said. “When you have more advanced skills, you can be more creative with your designs. It just gives you a whole new level of freedom.”

p.13

This is a cookie monster costume I made for my sister to wear on Halloween. I reconstructed a kids’ cookie monster costume I wore when I was little to create this costume.

-Dahlia Gordon

Sew talentedTwo students share a love for creating clothes

“”

I made this dress out of fabric that I inherited after my grandma passed away. It meant a lot because I know she would want it to be put to good use. I also wore her necklace with the dress in the fashion show.

-Elin Tegels

“”

The whole top of this dress is made out of fake flowers that I put together. It took forever to make, especially when the flowers started falling off.

-Dahlia Gordon

“”

the b&w healthp.14 may 2011

words Elisabeth Lowe words Ian DunsheeAs someone who grew up in a quasi-

vegetarian household, I’ve always been interested in vegetarianism. When I was in middle school, I watched a video online that exposed the harsh realities of factory farm-ing. That very day, I went vegetarian and haven’t looked back since.

Even though I was able to do this with ease, I advise anyone who is seriously con-sidering going vegetarian not to. By going vegetarian overnight, I put myself at risk for both meat relapse and various dietary im-balances.

The best way to go vegetarian is to slowly eliminate meat from your diet while assimilating in vegetarian substitutes. This allows your taste buds and body to adjust. It also helps eliminate cravings.

Proceed with caution, prospective veg-etarians. While there are many health ben-efits associated with the removal of meat from ones diet, replacing your meat intake with dairy can be just as hazardous.

As a young boy, I considered myself a car-nivore, and was quite proud of it. My father was my role model, and tenderloins were the main food group at his apartment. With my mother a lifetime vegetarian, I wasn’t given much incen-tive to go down her path as I hated vegetables, and saw the lifestyle to be nothing more than unnecessary starvation.

Then a life-long friend of mine went on a health kick a year ago, and somehow I got pulled into the vortex of door-frame workouts and health-consciousness with him. As we treated high fructose corn syrup like the black plague, I added meat to that list, though semi-unsuccessfully at first.

That lack of success led me to sneak burg-ers like I was an addict in rehab, which weaned me off meat slowly so I had time to adjust to the soy, whole grain, and Vitamin B-12 supple-ments I would soon call my usual diet.

A brief exposure to the hardships of veg-anism (lets put it this way, I went a week on coffee and peanut butter), led me to see how easy vegetarianism actually is and solidified my new lifestyle.

In the time of your life that most rely on par-ents, it can be hard to be vegetarian when you don’t buy the food and the only thing for you at school is grilled cheese and peanut butter and jelly. The important thing to know is that if you can do it in highschool, you can do it almost anywhere.

Burger King - Veggie Burger $6?

Java Joes - Ginger Curry: $5.95, Veggie Canadian bacon: $5.95, Garden Burger: $7.25, “Not Italian Sausage” sandwich: $7.25.

Out and About?Restaurants that cater to vegetarians

Bandit Burrito - Vegetable Chorizo Burrito: $5.95

No meat? No problem.

PescatarianVegetarian aka lac-

to-ovo-vegetarian Lacto-vegetarian Ovo-vegetarian VeganWhat is avegetarian?

Pescatarians don’t consume any meat except for fish. The benefit of this diet is the exclu-sion of the fats found in other meats, and compliments your diet with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Vegetarians don’t eat animal flesh of any kind, includ-ing fish. They do consume dairy and eggs.

Lacto-vegetarians are vegetar-ians who don’t consume eggs, but do consume dairy. Many lacto and ovo vegetarians go further by only consuming the less fatty versions of eggs and diary such as egg whites and skim milk.

Ovo-vegetari-ans are vegetar-ians who don’t consume dairy, but do consume eggs.

Vegans don’t consume meat of any kind, eggs, dairy products or any other product that contains ingredients derived from ani-mals. This includes gelatin in fruit snacks, as well as dairy powder in most seasonings and snack bars (including most protein bars).

No matter where you come from or how you are raised, it’s neer too late to start

feature may 2011 the b&w p.15

words & layout Ethan Meng

Harrison’s helping handRECOGNITIONA few days before

Christmas, while most 13 year-old boys were making plans to play over break, Harrison Kruse was going door- to-door at the Youth Homes’ Ross Cam-

pus. This whole philanthropic story began around a year ago when Kruse’s father began his involvement with Youth Homes. It sparked Kruse’s interests in helping the boys who lived there.

Two years ago, during his sixth grade year, Kruse’s father Paul began his in-volvement with the Youth Homes of Mid-America on the board of trustees. Youth Homes, whose organization helps young men who come from troubled backgrounds develop the skills needed to become in-dependent adults, has its Ross Campus

on the north side of Johnston. Several boys who live at the Youth Homes

attend school at Johnston, which brought the cause

closer to home for Kruse. Hear-

ing about t h e

boys who lived at this campus made Kruse want to do something to help out. His fa-ther asked Robert Mackenzie, Director of Development, what needed done. Mack-enzie told Paul there was a strong need for winter coats.

Immediately Kruse began to organize a coat drive. Before doing so he joined the local Lions’ Club. Since members usu-ally have to be 18, a rule change permit-ted his membership and he discovered a large network of people who were willing to help his cause. Kruse asked his fellow members to bring in as many new or gen-tly used coats as they could. “I would just ask them and several people would bring around 15 coats from work,” Kruse said. Over the next few months, through dona-tions and discounts at Good Will, Kruse was able to collect 40 coats to donate to the Ross Campus.

Kruse was not finished after the coat drive. A few weeks later, he again contacted Mackenzie who suggested another way he could help. “He said that these kids come with all of their stuff in a garbage bag and I thought this was not right,” Kruse said.

Kruse began devising a year-long plan to get the boys from the Ross Campus luggage so they would no longer have to

transport their possessions in garbage bags. He went to the Wal-Mart in

Grimes and asked the manager to purchase 40 bags for the boys

at the Youth Homes. The manager told Kruse to fill out a form with all of the Youth Homes’ information and they would get back to him.

Soon after, Kruse received a call from the store manager who told him he would be given a $1,000 grant from the Wal-Mart Association to purchase the luggage. “I went back and asked for 40 duffle bags and we did price check, then they told me we still had $700 left to spend,” Kruse said.

With the left over money, he decided buying the basic necessities for the boys would be the best option. He bought each boy a bottle of shampoo, deodorant and a bar of soap. But, Kruse was not done yet. “I then went to my dentist and I asked him if he would be willing to donate 40 tooth-brushes, tubes of toothpaste, and dental floss,” Kruse said. “He just handed them to me right then and there.” When Kruse felt he had the basic needs of the boys cov-ered, he once again returned to Wal-Mart to purchase a jacket for each of the boys.

As his project was nearly complete and Christmas just a week away it was time to deliver the gifts. Kruse went from cottage to cottage with Youth Homes employees to give the boys their gifts. “Everyone was just so thankful and I thought that was pretty cool because I didn’t ex-pect them to be that happy,” Kruse said. “I just wanted to do something for them.”

Besides a small article in the paper and through word-of-mouth around the campus, many people did not know about what he had done. There are not many students at Kruse’s school that know about his philan-thropy projects. “I don’t really know even if people around school know what I have done,” Kruse said. “I mean I don’t even care, because I don’t do it for the fame.”

Kruse was nominated to receive a 2011 Friend of Youth Award earlier this year for his efforts over the past two years. “No one has approached us with an idea quite like [Kruse’s],” Mackenzie said. “From time to time a church youth group or Girl Scout group will do something like provide cupcakes or Christmas gifts for the boys, but that is not a sustainable event.” Kruse was one of three others who received the honor this year, but in the 68 years the Youth Homes have been around, Kruse is the youngest to have received this award.

LUGGAGE DRIVE

COAT DRIVE

the b&w featurep.16 may 2011

Seventeen years ago in December, Ivanka Lastro gave birth to her son Danijel in an enemy hospital in the middle of a war raging itself through her home country, Bosnia. Her husband, Mario Lastro, was being kept in hiding so as to avoid being caught, and was not able to witness his child’s first day. Despite this, the woman would hold her child up to the window everyday, to wave to his father and the rest of his family, who were somewhere out there in the war-torn country.

Five months later, after Ivanka had left the hospital and returned to her husband, they decided to try crossing the border into Croatia. This would entail crossing three bor-ders in all: one out of the city, one being held by UN troops, and one into Croatia. “We were fighting to survive,” she said. “We needed to do something--either stay and die be-cause we did not have food, or go to the border and try to cross it. If you survived, you survived, if not, either way you would be killed.” Ivanka and Mario decided to cross on the day people were permitted to visit their relatives on the other side of the border. “I told my mom and my husband’s mom that I might not come back. If I crossed [the border], I would just go to Croatia.” That morning, they took a bus that was designated for people visiting friends on the other side of the border. They were packed minimally, to say the least. “I didn’t have anything, I just took my purse, my docu-ments, and that’s it,” Ivanka said.

On this day, however, soldiers would only let women

and children cross, because they knew that if the husbands and fathers went with the families, they would most likely not come back.

The Lastro’s plan was for Ivanka and Danijel to cross the border on the road, and for Mario to cross the border through the forest, so that he would not be caught. Un-fortunately, this plan did was not as successful as they had hoped. “When he was going to the woods, there were some soldiers that caught him,” Ivanka, who was watching this entire scene from the other side, said. The soldiers told him to go to the actual border, and if they would let him cross, so be it. “That soldier was very nice, because usu-ally they grab you and you are done.”

Knowing that he would have no chance at the border, Mario sat down, waiting for a miracle. Little did he know, that miracle would come in the form of rain. “Suddenly, it started raining hard,” Ivanka said. “It was like a bad storm.” When the storm hit, all the soldiers began running to their tents and shelters, leaving Mario to fend for himself. “As they started running for their tents, he started running for the border,” Ivanka said. Mario’s running drew the atten-tion from the Bosnian soldiers guarding the border, causing some to run after him, guns pointed. Soldiers from other side in Croatia warned them not to shoot, saying this would cause their soldiers to shoot in return. “It was God’s will that he could cross and survive that moment,” Ivanka said.

That night, they stayed in a building that had a grenade

on the roof. They watched it, scared to death that it would fall, but it never did. In the morning, they took a bus out of the territory, finally safe. For the next four years, they lived in many different countries surrounding Bosnia, and then came to the United States in 1998.

Of course, living in America comes with it’s challeng-es as well, most commonly the difference in languages. Danijel’s family arrived in America the summer before he started kindergarten, allowing him to begin schooling with other children his age. Normally, this would mean that Danijel was on the same page as every other kindergart-ner, except for one major difference - the language. “I had no idea how to speak English,” Danijel, now a junior, said. “I remember coming home and [telling my mom] ‘Everyone is stupid, they don’t know how to talk.’” After a year of “just being thrown in here and not knowing anything,” however, Danijel was speaking just like his classmates.

The family still in Bosnia always has visits to look forward to, although those are becoming less and less, due to the rise in prices. When it does work out, they are bittersweet. Danijel, whose entire extended family still lives in Bosnia, admits that living here is “kind of lovely.” He said, “Every-one over there knows each other and knows who you are. I remember walking up my grandma’s street. She lives on this big hill, there’s a bunch of houses, and everyone would be like ‘Who are you? Who’s your dad? Your mom?’ and they just know right away. ‘Oh, you’re from America.’”

We were fighting to survive.”

words Hannah Soyer layout Ryan Smaha

Seventeen years ago, the Las-tro family crossed the border from Bosnia into Croatia. Now, the family lives in the United States, and recaps the story of their crossing.

“

Provided/Paalso

The Bosnian War took place from 1992-1995 in Bosnia, as a result of the breakup of Yugosla-

via. This conflict of religion and territory led to between 100,000-200,000 deaths and over two million people being displaced from their home

country. From 1991-1996, over 30,000 Bosnians immigrated to the U.S., with 5,695 settling in

Iowa, according to the 2000 U.S. census.

Film

s fo

r a c

ause

feature may 2011 the p.17b&w

words Christopher Coble layout Kelly McGowan

Standing in a huddle, ten-year-old Josh DeLanoit gets ready for the big cheer. Basketball practice is over and sweat pours down his face. Next to him are a few of his friends and teammates that he has grown fond of over the time they have spent together. “Go Dragons!” Everyone shouts as their hands go up. Just as Josh raises his hand, he feels someone’s elbow slam into the side of his face. From the ground he looks up and stares into the face of Ed Hepplewhite who quickly apologizes and helps him up. Little did Josh know, this small event would lead to one of his greatest friendships. Fast-forward to today, Josh and Ed are the best of friends.

In the spring of 2008, this friendship became a little more complicated. Ed was diagnosed with a form of lung cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma and was pulled out of school for chemotherapy. As many would expect this put major strains on Josh and Ed’s friendship. “It made me think a lot about losing a friend,” Josh said. It put a huge financial burden on the Hepple-white family as well.

Josh was always there for Ed throughout the chemotherapy. “Josh told everyone I was in Sweden,” Ed said, “He’s an awesome friend for doing that.” A penny drive was also started in Ed’s name that raised enough money to help pay for part of the costs of treatment.

Through all this Ed and Josh tried to keep positive. “I didn’t really think about it much, just looked on the positive [side],” Ed said. During this time, Ed had to keep confined to his bed. He was home schooled during the year by a teacher provided by the school. “It was easy,” Ed said. The point was to pass not to learn. Because of the cancer, Ed was under constant stress and couldn’t find time for much else. “I was always tired,” Ed said, “Usually I didn’t feel up to hanging out.” Even through all this though Ed’s friends remained by his side. “They understood what I was going through so it wasn’t bad.” He said.

After battling his cancer for about a year Ed was declared in remission on January of 2009. He began going back to school and living a normal life. “I missed pretty much an entire semester of school so it was a bit hard to come back to,” Ed said, “[but] my second semester was fairly normal.”

During April of this year Ed’s cancer came back, hard. After more than a year of being cancer free Ed had to go through the whole process again. “[The doctors] told me it might be very difficult to treat this time,” Ed said.

Josh found this as his invitation to act. He went to the administration and asked if he could raise money for Ed, but they declined because they had already done so with the penny drive. So he took it upon himself to start something else. He began a film festival that would be completely devoted to paying for Ed’s chemotherapy.

The festival is going to be held on June 3 and will cost $3 for admission. Mike and Josh Shorts, MJS for short, is the name of their group starting the drive. They are accepting all types of films and will be setting up in Dave Van Brocklin’s barn.

Throughout it all there is now more hope. Ed’s cancer is not as bad as many would think. “They caught it early,” Ed said “it was worse before.” Ed believes there are a few positives from all this. “[I] just have a better outlook on life.” Ed said. “I feel more sympathy for people.”

Seniors host a fund rais-ing film festi-val with for a friend strug-gling with cancer

“Just a better outlook on life”-eddie hepplewhite

1) Josh and Ed hang out Camp Hantesa.2)From left to right, Josh, Ed, Collin Ward, Ben Adams at the DeLanoit house.3) Ed pictured with his Rock Around the Clock team.4) The fund raising film festival’s poster.

1

2

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All Photos Provided/DeLanoit

the b&w dungeonp.18 may 2011

words Sarah Margolin and Alexa Anderson

Lauren Goodale and Erica White stormed the softball field after winning state tournament, 5-0. That was their sophomore year and now they are the only two seniors left on the team.

They first started playing together in seventh grade and would have never been as close as they are now if it were not for those five years. The girls continued on in their softball career when they were 14 playing together

for the Jaguars. “[We] played all our games and went to state--and we got last place,” White said. After

losing at state they went to regionals in Kansas, got second and went to nationals in Indiana,

“It was a nine hour car ride to Indiana and when we got there we got to walk on

the basketball court with all of the ASA [Amateur Softball Asso-

ciation] teams,” White said. They ended up getting

second in regionals. “We were all dirty

in the 100 de-gree heat,

a n d w e

got back to the hotel in our uniforms and jumped into the pool and the water turned black. It was funny and people got annoyed cause we got the hotel wet,” Goodale said.

Freshman year Goodale and White both played for the Outlaws, which is an 18 and under team. “[We] could only play in the fall and were with completely new girls. [One time] we were up till twelve-thirty because of a lighting de-lay while playing. It was pouring out and we were sliding down a hill. We got home around one-thirty, two o’clock,” White said.

Most people do not have the time to give up some of their school and summer life for one sport. Their practices are from two-thirty to six o’clock, and games can be from three to ten o’clock. The time commitment that the sport takes has led to many upperclassmen leaving the team. “It takes up a lot of your summer, if its not your main sport than why would you put all your time to it when you could get a job, sleep, have a life,” Goodale said.

Being the only two seniors on the team means Goodale and White end up spending a lot of time together through-out the year, “We have played together since seventh grade, and we roomed together and stayed together at nationals and at state. When you hang out with someone that much you become friends,” Goodale said.

Now that Goodale and White are just weeks away from graduating, they both have decided to play

softball at a community college. Goodale is going to Muscatine and White

to Marshalltown, which are rival schools.”

I think it will b e

funny [playing Lauren]. We are both competitive, when she runs past me I will be trying to trip her. It will be nice to know someone on the other team,” White said. “ I know how she plays, so I will have to play harder to do good against them,” Goodale said.

The rigors of softball will be different once they hit the community college level. “I am guessing it will be more fast-pace, it will just be weird not playing for coach Merical cause different coaches have different coach-ing styles and different philosophies on things,” Goodale said.

Neither Goodale or White knows how far they want to take softball, whether it be just through community college or to a four-year school to continue play-ing in college. However, both are very excited about go-ing to college. “I feel like I was born for the sport,” White said. “My fam-ily has been do-ing it [softball] for genera-tions.”

Seniors face a divided fieldlayout Ethan Meng

sports may 2011 the p.19b&w

Left: Senior Brandon Miller catches a frisbee mid-air Top: Senior Brandon Miller looks for a teammate to pass to during a pickup game. Middle: Senior Thomas Winkleman tries to bypass a defender. Bottom: Senior Jake Foutch catches a pass from Ben Stensrud.

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Full-court Press

By: Ryan SMAHA

ence decided on April 26 to split into three four-team divisions and one seven-team division, as opposed to three six-team divi-sions, the current format.

The new divisions however, undermine the overall athletic mission of the confer-ence because of the pairing of multiple large schools in a single division. In 2013-2014, Johnston will be apart of a division that includes Dowling Catholic, Urban-dale, and Valley. My question is, why pair the largest school in Iowa with two of the largest (Urbandale and Johnston), and a private school known for its athletic excel-lence (Dowling Catholic)?

Isn’t the point of high school athletics to

Starting in the 2013-2014 school year, the CIML Conference will undergo a mas-sive shift in power. With Ankeny splitting into two different high schools, the confer-

promote competition and athletic participa-tion? With the new divisions, it is inevitable that one of the four teams will fall to the per-petual basement, while the teams that fin-ish second and third in the conference will struggle to receive high sub-state seeds because they didn’t win their conference.

Hypothetically, if Johnston were to fall to the basement of this new division, it would be reasonable to think that athletic partici-pation would fall as well as attendance at games. Like it or not, high school students like to be apart of a team that could chal-lenge for a state berth or even a state title, not a team that will be consistently domi-nated by the others in their division. No-

New conference realignment hurts competition

body likes to lose, so it would be inevitable for athletic participation would fall off. Also, fan attendance would fall off because it is harder for a city to get behind a team that consistently loses.

Now, do I think Johnston will fall to the basement? No, growing class numbers will definitely help to challenge for a division title every year. However, what the CIML should have done is keep the current division for-mat, just added the new Ankeny school to the CIML Central. I’m sure the 12-member board that decided the division put a lot of research into their decision, but the clear dominance of one division shows that ge-ography was prioritized over competition.

ULTIMATE FRISBEEFor the past three years, a group of students have met on Mondays

and Wednesdays at the gazebo in Green Meadows West to play Ultimate Frisbee. These gatherings, known as Ultimate Mondays and Ultimate Wednesdays, have grown from a group of kids playing for fun into a group vying to become a school club.

Senior Ben Stensrud has been instrumental in the process of trying to promote Ultimate Frisbee as an official school club. He has drafted an official set of procedures for the proposed club, met with principle Bruce Hukee, and will meet with the Board of Education to discuss the club. “We wanted a way to promote the sport, and also gain some field space so we would be able to host some competitions,” Stensrud said.

Recently, Stensrud said as many as 30 students and staff have sup-ported the recognition of Ultimate Frisbee as a student club. “It used to be something for just the kids in show choir on Mondays, so it would be nice for other kids to have the opportunity to play,” junior Chase Fiedler said.

To become a club, the organizers must first meet with principal Bruce Hukee to present their idea. “Basically they have to follow our require-ments so they have to state a purpose, turn in a list of possible people that would be involved in it, and they have to make sure they are following the requirements that the board sets out for them,” Hukee said. “If they have all that information turned in, and it looks like it’s complete, then my next step is to turn that over to the board.”

Once it gets to the board, organizers will have to answer any concerns that the board may have, and the board votes on the potential club at the meeting after.

If approved, Ultimate Frisbee will become only the second school club hosted out of school. The other club not currently hosted on school grounds is FCA.

“Ultimate is one of the best ways to meet new people not only from Johnston and Johnston alums, but people who play at other schools too,” Stensrud said.

takes flightwords & layout Ryan Smaha

photos by Ethan Meng/Ryan Smaha

the b&w backpagep.20 may 2011words & layout Taylor Mithelman & Isabella Engblom

Senior Monika Sehic started taking senior pictures when she de-cided she wanted to start collecting photography for a portfolio. “I like photography that’s interactive. When you work with people as your sub-jects then there is so much more you can do with the photo.” Sehic started developing her own photo style as she took senior pictures.

“You are a lot more comfortable having a peer take pictures rather than a professional you don’t know,” Sehic said. Sehic works with the student to determine price based on how long they want to take pic-tures. She does not charge for outfits and edits a few pictures of the customer’s choice as part of the price of the session.

Getting senior pictures taken by a student is ultimately much cheaper. “It’s cheap enough that you can use it as a trial and see what you like,” Sehic Said. “You can always go get more taken by a professional.”

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Senior Snapshots8Tips to

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“Wear what you look good in. If that's jeans and t-shirt, go for it. If it's a sizzling skirt and heels, that's great, too. Plan to bring several outfits. Keep in mind you may be asked to sit on the ground or lean against a building. We always want our seniors to look youth-ful and fun! No lame mottled muslin backdrops or awkward studio poses. We want to see your authentic you! Rock your own style.”

“Avoid branding / writing on your clothes. It pulls the eye away from you and will totally date your image. We know you want to wear your Bieber Fever or Team Jacob or Palin in 2012 shirt - but your future kids will absolutely give you grief.”

“Do not over accessorize. These are portraits of who you are, not an ad for a jewelry company. You can get the modeling style and feel to your portraits without all the extras.”

-Huffaker Photography

-His&Hers Photography

-His&Hers Photography

“I would suggest that the senior not only consider where their friends have gone or are going but that they consider if that photographer will capture their individuality and who they are. Senior portraits are about celebrating who you are as a unique individu-al, not about being photographed on the same set of stairs that everyone else has been.”

“I always suggest, for the yearbook photo, something more traditional, and for the outdoor segment, wear what will look good and you will be comfortable in. If you have a favorite outfit that is wild; go for it in one of your images. It’s okay if it dates your image because in my book, senior portraits are about capturing this time in your life , your rite of passage.”

-Portraits by Deena

-Huffaker Photography

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Tim McConnell Fine Photography 1, 8, 9, 11 Monika Sehic Photography Portraits by Deena2, 5 3, 4, 6, 7, 10Photos Credited to:

“Bring full gear, all the way down to the ball for sports pictures. You never know what you’re going to need or want to use. Anything you bring might make the pictures better, a headband here or a hat there can really make a picture.

-Photojeania

-Mullica Studio

“Get at least two nights of good sleep before your photo session so that you will look fresh and won’t have bags under your eyes. As for hair care guys, let a new hair cut grow out for at least a week before your pictures. Also, take the time to get a close shave. Girls, if you plan on coloring your hair or getting a new style, also allow at least a week to get used to the style.”

-SeniorPictures.com

Starting to think about getting senior pictures taken? When preparing for senior pictures there are some basic tips to follow. Also look into all your options when picking your photographer, including student photographers.

No Sun Burns. The camera loves a little color in your skin tone, but we live in the mid-west and our winter hidden skin tends to burn easily. Please protect your skin and avoid sun burns prior to your photo shoots.