We ECHO the newsECHO the

April 2015 Volume 100 Issue 8 100 Selma Ave st. Louis MO 63119 Photo by Perrin Habecker

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2015-16 ECHO STAFFEDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Jack KilleenJUNIOR EDITOR: Andy KimballBUSINESS/ADS MANAGER: Ashli WagnerOPINION EDITOR: Abby BotanNEWS EDITOR: Jake CollinsFEATURE EDITOR: John BinderSPORTS EDITOR: Bennett DurandoENTERTAINMENT EDITOR: Irene RyanGRAPHICS/VIDEO EDITOR/ WEB EDITOR: Caroline FellowsCIRCULATION EDITOR: Kadifa TabakovicADVISOR: Donald Johnson

SOME MATERIAL COURTESY OF AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NEWSPAPER EDITORS/MCT CAMPUS HIGH SCHOOL NEWSPAPER SERVICE

The ECHO is a monthly publication of the newspaper staff of Webster Groves High School, 100 Selma Avenue, Webster Groves, MO.

To contact staff members, call 314-963-6400 ex. 11157 or write wgecho@wgmail.org.

Unsigned editorials are the opinion of a ma-jority of staff members; signed articles are the opinion of the writer.

Letters to the editor of 300 words or less are welcome; submit letters by the 10th of the month to wgecho@wgmail.org, or room 155. All letters must be signed, although the name may be withheld from publication if requested. The ECHO has the right to edit letters for publication as long as intent remains unchanged.

The ECHO is a member of SSP, Quill and Scroll, MJEA, JEA, MIPA and CSPA.

April 2015

For only $30 any third party can get any students’ directory information and do anything with it. The ECHO would like students to learn their privacy rights.

The district is required by law to dis-tribute the following student information to any third party: parent name, address and telephone number; student name, birthdate, address and telephone number; school attended; student’s photograph in yearbooks; student’s extracurricular par-ticipation; student’s achievement awards or honors; student’s weight and height if members of athletic team.

When told about the sharing of his in-formation, junior Cross Vitale said, “Wow, I didn’t know that.” Obviously the school is failing to inform its students.

“That’s just violation of privacy, and the information could get out to the wrong

hands. That could lead to dangerous en-counters or altercations. Like maybe the K.K.K. (Ku Klux Klan) will come after me,” junior Nathan Weiskopf said.

In one year the school gets under 10 requests, according to Chief Communica-tions Officer Cathy Vespereny, so realis-tically students aren’t in danger of being hunted down by the K.K.K. In the past year, the only third parties to request for directory information have been Fort-nightly, Yucando Art Studio and DeMolay.

The ECHO feels the school should be able to distribute students’ information, but it also needs to raise student aware-ness of privacy rights.

Information about students’ privacy rights can be found on the back page of Webster’s annual school newsletter. The school mails this newsletter out to every household and business in Webster, but one document once a year isn’t enough to inform students about their privacy rights.

Vitale learned for the first time that the district hands out his directory informa-tion, and he said, “I think they should tell us. They should inform students when their information is being handed out. Maybe they give a page of our rights out during class, and the teacher reads it.”

Vitale poses a good idea. If the district took only 15 minutes out of the whole school year to have every teacher read students their privacy rights, students would be well aware of what happens to their directory information. At the least the district should put an online version of students’ privacy rights on the school website.

If students would like to keep their di-rectory information private, they can write a letter to the district requesting to “opt out.”

Vespereny said, “We will try to publi-cize this more.”

EditorialSchool should better share students’ privacy rights

Talk to your counselor and sign up for The ECHO today!

Also, follow the ECHO @wgecho.

Cartoon by Jack KilleenWith $30 any third party can access students’ directory information, which in-cludes street address and email.

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April 2015

Andy KimballJunior Editor

When career counselor Karen Vers-traete was asked about the high school not having a valedictorian, she was surprised saying, “Really, we don’t have a valedic-torian?”

I have the same feeling. After making a call Verstraete told me the reason there is not a valedictorian is because the high school doesn’t rank students based on GPA.

In Verstraete words, “(WGHS) doesn’t rank because we want to recognize more

students for their academic achievement.” Verstraete told me the high school rec-ognizes students with Latin honors cum laude, magna cum laude and suma cum laude. The honors are determined by GPA.

There are eagle awards and book awards, but something should be said for leading your class in GPA.

The school should do this because it would help the students who received the valedictorian awards. Winning valedic-torian is a very good thing to have when applying to colleges, especially when ap-plying to very selective universities or colleges. Also, there are scholarships of-fered to valedictorians.

The school might not want to create too competitive of an environment for students academically, but having a vale-dictorian would also bring out the best in students academically, and that should be a goal for the school’s administrators.

Having a valedictorian would also show students the real world truth that there are winners and non-winners. Students can

still be recognized with the Latin honors, but not everyone can be valedictorian.

A possible issue could be that students would choose a class strictly because it is honors or that one honors class could make a thousandth of a point differential to decide the valedictorian. An example could be if a student had a 4.1232 and an-other student took one fewer honors class and had a 4.1231.

A solution to that problem could be by rounding off to the hundredth decimal point so both students would have a 4.12, and award them both as co-valedictorians.

Also, if the school doesn’t want to rank all of its students, it does not have to. It can just take the student, or group of stu-dents, with the highest GPA and award him/her with valedictorian and leave the rest of the students unranked.

The main point is that the high school should specifically award its best and brightest students for their outstanding academic achievement.

Willie’s Comic Comic by Willie Zempel

Kimball KonceptionSchool’s best, brightest should be rewarded

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April 2015

EOCs are nuisance but importantNathan EppsContributing Writer

Almost 70,000 Missouri students take the standardized End of Course exams, which test their learning capabilities and the strength of their schools’ curriculum.

The test results are used to determine how well each school teaches its students. However, because the tests do not depend-ing on the schools’ individual curricula, many see them as mismanaged and point-less, and a poor assessment of the schools’ practices. The schools form their curricu-lum without knowing what will be on the EOC, so it’s possible students will be test-ed on something they’ve never covered.

Vice principal Angela Thompson said while the test can be a good assessment, especially for the economically chal-lenged schools that need it, the data it pro-vides is a tiny slice of what schools, teach-ers and students do. She added WGHS tries to go beyond the tests when making their curriculum.

Thompsons described the EOC’s evalu-ative ability as a narrow assessment of a school’s performance. The tests are a good assessment of a student’s ability to learn, not the “full picture” they’re sup-posed to be. These tests take results from individual students’ performance on one specific test, rather than the year’s cumu-lative results from work and tests, or the performance of students and teachers.

However, it helps staff make decisions, despite being “the opposite of 21st centu-ry learning,” in Thompson’s words. Some consider standardized tests rote, “drill and kill” teaching, a mostly pejorative label.

About whether tests assess the schools fairly, Thompson said they are a small piece of the picture. However, she also said they are a good gauge for “curricular

achievement,” the success of the curricu-lum at teaching students.

The test results are sent to the state, superintendent (and assistants), adminis-trators and teachers. It’s used mostly to monitor trends in learning, graded by the percentage of correct answers.

Departments use the tests differently, each looking to gather different types of data. For instance, one department might use these results to gauge student achieve-ment, while another department will use the same data to gauge college aptitude.

About the data’s use, Thompson said it’s good for struggling schools, and it makes sure the same content is being taught across schools. She added, “We should be expanding our picture of a quality school” saying schools should be judged by what the students do with their lives after high school. After all, education’s success is usually measured by how it’s applied.

Using test results to decide a school’s budget is a controversial issue, with many schools speaking publicly against it.

Thompson said DESE’s accreditation certainly plays a role, but that tests are not the only factor, or even the most impor-tant. DESE also tests attendance, gradua-tion rate and other important factors.

According to Thompson, adhering to these standards “puts good and bad pres-sure on schools.”

Standardized tests have gained infamy for the anxiety they cause in teachers and students, and the uses of the results in evaluation and accreditation have upset teachers, students and parents alike. How-ever, they do encourage staff and students to work towards success and can give much needed accreditation to schools that lack funding.

About the relationship between schools’ curricula and the tests they’re assigned,

Thompson said WGHS “thinks beyond the assessment.” She added the curriculum is “all about skills, not questions” as it’s built for “big picture learning.” WGHS’s curriculum is “informed, not controlled by” the tests. It’s made independently but meets testing requirements. WGHS cov-ers the listed requirements but can’t see what the tests specifically ask.

About whether schools should have more control over the tests and how they would go about gaining said control, Thompson said DESE’s process has teach-ers elected to represent in the democratic process of academic decision making.

This ensures that the people voting on these things have experience in the field they’re making decisions for.

There are still many hotly debated is-sues in the academic field, and it’s impor-tant to keep an informed perspective when casting a vote or taking a stand.

Standardized tests may be the bane of the student’s existence, but they’re cer-tainly valuable for schools and teachers.

Letter to the EditorClub invites writers submissions for magazine

The Coffee Mug Creative Writing Club is beginning to put together the high school’s literary magazine, Reflections.

There will be a contest for the end of the year issue, with the theme of “inspiration.” Any interpretations of this

prompt are welcomed, and all students are encouraged to submit! The deadline for submissions is Friday, May 8. There is a word limit of about 5,000 words.

Please submit to coffeemugclub@gmail.com.

In addition to contest entries, Reflec-tions is currently taking general submis-sions as well.

-The Coffee Mug Club

Photo by Donald JohnsonSigns outside of classrooms such as this one indicate when EOC testing is taking place.

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Officers share plans for 2015-16 yearIrene RyanEntertainment Editor

Six 2015-2016 student council officers were chosen March 26, from 22 candidates. None ran unopposed.The officers for next year shared some of their plans for next year with the ECHO. Photos by Phoebe Mussman.

President: Junior Maggie Parker “I wanted to be president because I had

been involved in STUCO since freshman year and seeing someone having that lead-ership role really stuck out to me, and I would like to have that leadership role.

“Missouri has a charity of choice for all STUCOs in the state, and it’s Special Olympics, and so one of my goals is to let that be known to the student body and do more things to help the Special Olympics. I also want STUCO to be broadcast to the school more. It is a very open club, and I want people to realize that and realize that they have a voice.”

Vice President: Sophomore Kurt Krautmann

“My brother and sister both went through student council, and it helped them a lot and they had a lot of fun. I really enjoy Webster, and I want to do something to be part of it as much as I can.

“I want to have a more active first week of school (like other schools have.) They have themes for the week, and they have student council members in the hall to help freshmen.”

Secretary: Junior Daphne Armstrong “It’s an important job to record every-

thing that goes on. I have to record every-thing that happens and tally votes.

“My goal is to help establish student council’s prominence in the school and to increase participation from students in STUCO-led events.”

Treasurer: Junior Maddie Winkelmann “I wanted the position because I wanted

to be more involved in STUCO, and I re-ally enjoyed it.

“One of my goals for having a position is to make the dances more fun and en-joyable and to get more kids involved in STUCO also.”

Historian: Junior Erin Wieselman “I really enjoy photography so as histo-

rian I will get to do that a lot while I re-cord STUCO activities. I wanted to have a voice in student council and be more a part of it, more involved. You know how I do.

“I hope to make student council bigger in our school.”

Public Relations: Junior Anna Dodson“I want to do marketing/public rela-

tions/advertising stuff in college and this is a good opportunity to gain experience for it.

“I want student council to be a more involved thing because people usually don’t know what’s going on with it.”

Congratulations, Seniors!

Good luckin yourlifelongpursuits!

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April 2015

Jake CollinsNews Editor

Eleven teachers received notice their contracts will not be re-newed for next year because of cuts made necessary by Proposi-tion S’s failure to pass on April 7.

The 11 teachers leaving include Academic Lab teachers, sup-port staff workers, and the Japanese/French teacher Patricia Pow-ers. Powers leaving will effectively end the Japanese program.

Other classes and clubs will need to find new teachers and sponsors.

With Prop S failing 3,696 to 5,122 and Prop W failing 3,853 to 4,983, the district’s plans for building additions have been postponed until it can pass another bond or tax issue. For now the district’s will focus on cutting over $1.6 million in expenses, which include staff cuts, some of which were made at a board meeting on Monday, April 13.

Propositions S and W were a part of proposed tax and bond issues the district pushes every five years. The two combined would have raised property taxes 65 cents for every $100 of as-sessed value.

The bond issue (Prop. W) was to take out $28 million in bonds to build on Hixson to accommodate the influx of students the district has coming through the elementary schools. The bond issue also would have paid for the renovation of Moss Field,

Webster cuts staff after Props. S, W fail

an addition to Clark School, and converting Steger Sixth Grade Center to a full elementary school.

The tax issue (Prop. S) was going toward pay for teachers and other support staff members.

Natalie Johnson Caroline FellowsContributing Writer Web Editor

Superintendent Dr. Sarah Riss announced at the April 13, school board meeting she will retire at the end of the 2015-2016 school year.

Riss has been superintendent of the Webster Groves School District since 2009, after being assistant superintendent for sev-en years.

Before leading at Webster, Riss was a principal in the River-view Gardens School District, and the principal of the Metcalf Lab School at Illinois State University.

“I have been in education for over 37 years and have been an administrator for over 27 years. It is time to let someone else lead this great organization,” Riss said in an E-mail to the community.

About Riss retiring, assistant principal Dr. Shiree Yeggins said, “I’m sad that she’s leaving, but happy she’s able to start a new chapter in her life.”

After Riss’s departure, the district will still hold it’s same val-ues due to the strong foundation conducive to learning Riss has set, Yeggins said.

The Board of Education will work with the school community to find Riss’s successor, and Riss said she will be available to help as much as necessary. She also gave assurances that every-one will be informed in the process.

Photo by Nathan EppsIn light of Props. S and W, the school district must make over $1.6 million in budget cuts. One of the first steps toward this was eliminating 11 contract positions for next year.

Superintendent Riss announces retirement

Photo by Kevin KilleenPrincipal Dr. Jon Clark, 2012 student body president Dana Sell, superintendent Sarah Riss celebrate the addi-tion of the North Wing to WGHS on Aug. 23, 2012. Riss announced her retirement at the school board meeting on April 13. Her retirement begins at the end of the 2015-16 school year.

Your Times.facebook.com/WebsterKirkwoodTimestwitter.com/WKTimeswebsterkirkwoodtimes.com

April 2015

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Natalie JohnsonContributing Writer

Sororities are often assumed to be an undergrad activity. However, Webster once had a Greek life of its own.

The sororities were not sponsored by Webster schools but were asso-ciated with them. There were three Webster sororities, Delta Alpha Del-ta (DAD), Delta Gamma Delta and Kappa Alpha Psi. These were na-tional sororities, meaning there were different chapters not only around Missouri, but also around the coun-try.

When the sororities were running, there were only three grades at the high school, 10th-12th. There were roughly 100 girls in each sorority, around 35 from each grade.

“It was an automatic group of friends of different ages where you were accepted,” Betsy Wacker, alumna from the graduating Class of 1964 and a former DAD member, said. She added the sororities were very similar to the ones at colleges.

To get into a sorority, girls had to make it through initia-tion, during which they were assigned a “big sis” to guide them through. There were both service components and religious components to the rush process; members most likely had to be Christian, needed 50 service hours and had to complete tasks for superior members like making copies, baking, sewing, etc. Keep in mind, copy machines were not around, Wacker said.

Wacker remembered baking cookies and giving them out at the Bethesda on Big Bend Boulevard, along with visiting with and assisting the elderly.

During initiation, rush parties were held, each having themes. Girls would go to each other’s houses and work for hours on

decorations for the dances and parties. Girls would get invita-tions delivered to their houses inviting them to sorority activities, Wacker’s older sister Barbara Keane, Class of 1956 and former Delta Gamma Delta member, said.

Keane said, “You hoped you would get invited to the next par-ty.” Keane described it as being very fun for the girls who were invited, but most likely hurtful to those not included. It was very competitive.

Why the sororities ended is not certain. However, it very well could have been due to “social justice,” as Wacker said. There were only white girls in sororities, all Christians. Due to the time, the sororities could be as exclusive and inclusive as they wanted without anyone giving it a second thought.

Wacker said, “[Sororities are] organizations that thrive off of people who are alike.”

Keane and Wacker both said looking back on it, the selection criteria was very unjust.

Wacker said undoubtedly the sororities were not open to ev-eryone.

“[My] class was on the cutting edge of a lot of things… times were changing, and I think people began to notice that,” Wacker said.

Although the exclusiveness of the sororities was very hurtful to many, they meant well, Wacker said. The experience of being in a sorority really helped her blossom and gave her something special to be a part of, she added.

Wacker also said the same experience can be had through clubs like the ones at the high school today.

Photo provided by the Webster Groves School District Alumni OfficeThe Kappa Delta Psi sorority is one of three sororities serving Webster Groves High School in 1945.

Greek life flourished at WGHS

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April 2015

Last Dance...

Women:“The last shabang with your classmates, a night to never

forget.”“A time to have fun with the people you’ve gone to school

with for the last time before you graduate.” “Our last chance to dance with our friends and close out

senior year.” “Spending time with people before we never see each other

again.”‘Fun with all my friends.”“It’s a special tradition that helps signify the end of senior

year.”“Fun time to celebrate accomplishing high school with

friends and entire class.”“A dance that is traditional with sequin dresses and bad

music.”“A fun night to celebrate the end of high school.”“The best night of my life.”

What does prom mean to you?The ECHO surveyed 30 seniors asking what prom means to them. This is what they said.

Men:“I’m going to be a princess.”“It’s just another dance.”“A noun meaning formal dance, especially held by a class in

high school or college at the end of the year.”“Not much.”“Morp backwards.”“Its just a dance.”“Dancing.”“I’m almost done with high school.”“A fun time.”“It’s a once in a lifetime thing.”

The dress code for the night was billed as formal. Normal school dress code applied so no head coverings, no bare midriffs, and appropriate skirt length was required. Shoes and sandals were required at all times, no jeans of any color, shorts, extremely short skirts, or low cut dresses in the front or back were permitted. Men were required to wear a coat and tie, no jeans of any color, shorts, T-shirts, or baseball caps could be worn. There was no sagging or bagging allowed at the prom.

What’s the Dress Code?

Photo by Perrin Habecker.Seniors Jarred Hall and Elyse Gilmore pose in front of Union Sta-tion April 18.

Photo by Perrin HabeckerSeniors Jonathan Carter and Courtney Degroot arrived for prom early and had the first dance all to themselves. Prom was held April 18, at Union Station.

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April 2015

Ashli Wagner, Perrin Habecker, Jeremiah Stutte Contributing Writers

“It’s a final Farewell to those that I love,” senior Joey Azar said about what prom meant to him.

However, one senior said she couldn’t care less about prom in an ECHO survey of 30 seniors.

This year’s senior prom was at Union Station on April 18,

Menu: An assortment of cheesecakes, brownies, cookies, fruit,

baguettes, assorted cheeses, chocolates and other snacks were served.

Soda, water, tea and coffee were served as refreshments.

from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.There was no overall theme this year, and the DeeJay was

Complete DJ from a previous dance. The dance cost $55 per ticket including food and refresh-

ments.The photographer for the night was Lifetouch, and they sold

pictures for $15 a sheet with special pricing for more than one purchase. There was also a photo booth that was free. There were two beautiful light shows during the prom.

Seniors enjoy final dance with food, photos, music

Photo by Perrin Habecker.Sophomore Kate Scheffing and senior Robert Enyard stand in line to enter prom, April 18, at Union Station. “I had a lot of fun. I’m so glad I got to go,” Scheffing said.

Photo by Perrin Habecker. Junior Margret Englert and senior Joe Klein dance together during a slow dance at prom.

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April 2015

Faith, trust and a little bit of pixie dustFormer Disney princesses share experiences

Photo Credit: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/MCT)Princess Tiana, center, greets local girls dressed as little Princess Tianas during her debut day in the Magic Kingdom, at Walt Disney World, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009, at Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (c) 2009, Orlando Sentinel. Distributed by McClatchy/Tribune Information Services.

Caroline FellowsContributing Writer

Rachel Hankle, Jennifer Oakes and Kristen Sotakoun may have grown up dif-ferently, but they all shared the same ex-perience: acting as princesses at Disney World.

“It’s very cool; you take on something amazing,” Oakes said.

According to these three women, be-ing a Disney princess can be harder than people may think. All day auditions with hundreds of people, dance routines and several cuts all could make auditioners nervous, including Oakes, who had never danced before.

“Maybe the dancing was for everyone

else, not me,” Oakes said, reflecting on her feelings before her audition.

During most Disney character audi-tions, there is also a script for auditioners to read to see how they portray a certain character, and there are even costume fit-tings of characters to make sure they can fit into the costumes.

Once Hankle, Oakes and Sotakoun got the job, however, there was still much to be done before they could greet families.

There was training, first with those who would portray “fur characters,” or charac-ters that don’t talk or show their faces. “Face characters” had to be “fur charac-ters” sometimes as well, and then each had to watch her own movie over and over to perfect her mannerisms.

According to another former Snow

White, princesses are paid anywhere be-tween $13 and $16 an hour.

After training, the princesses work in less busy places like EPCOT or the Char-acter Palooza at Hollywood Studios to work on their interactions before heading to the most visited Magic Kingdom.

Hankle and Oakes, who were friends, enjoyed telling people to go see the oth-er, especially at EPCOT. “Go tag Snow White for me; tell her I [Jasmine] said, “Hi!”” Oakes would say frequently as Jasmine in Morocco.

Hankle and Oakes also confessed the burning Florida heat, heavy costume lay-ers and children’s’ sticky hands were the not-so-magical moments.

Some creepy dads also would hit on the princesses, especially Pocahontas, ac-cording to Sotakoun.

While acting as Pocahontas, Sotakoun was told by an embarrassed boy that he had just visited her grave with his class, and she was also accused of being a liar while being the fairy Silvermist because she couldn’t fly.

Some parents have even encouraged their children to hit, kick or somehow injure the characters, especially the fur characters, according to Hankle, Oakes and Sotakoun.

There also were re-looks, which were held every few months with the purpose of making sure the characters’ silhouettes hadn’t changed or they had gotten too tan because the Europeans princesses are sup-posed to be fair-skinned. Characters like Snow White and Mulan cover up a lot of skin and therefore are forgiving of a little body shape change, but Jasmine revealed quite a bit, so Oakes had to stay on top of her frame.

All in all, interacting with little children and seeing the delight on their faces was enough to make up for the crying, one-way conversations and accusatory marks, according to Hankle, Oakes and Sotak-oun.

“One thing that I’ll always take with me is when you’re hugging a child, always be the last to let go because you never know how long they need it,” Hankle said.

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April 2015

Jake CollinsContributing Writer

“So if your question is if the KKK or any group like that can receive the students directory information, then my answer is, ‘Yes,’” Cathy Vespereny, WGSD Chief of Communications, said.

Directory information is a set of information the school is allowed to give out without breaking privacy laws. Some ex-amples include a student’s name, address, phone number, email address, photograph, date and place of birth.

Any source can request and receive this information. Some of examples of groups that have requested this information are Fortnightly organizers, Yucandu Art Studio and DeMolay, a group for young men run through the Masonic Temple.

“There are under 10 requests made a year,” Vespereny said, “It’s usually local businesses... Fortnightly uses us to get its in-formation out.”

At a fee of $30, anyone can get the information. All of the money goes into the district’s business department, where it is put back into funds.

“With a formal request, you (students) can opt out of the mail-ing program,” Vespereny said.

In the district publication, “Our Schools,” there is a section explaining the law. “We will try to publicize this more,” Ves-pereny said.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects students privacy but also obliges the school to give requesting groups directory information.

Organizations may request student information

Related to FERPA is the Sunshine Law. A Missouri Uni-versity article, “Top 10 Things You Should Know about Your Sunshine Law” said, “The Sunshine Law deals with whether a public body’s records must be open to the public, but it generally does not state what records the body must keep or for how long. A body cannot, however, avoid a records request by destroying records after it receives a request for those records.”

With a formal request anyone can ask for information regard-ing spending and certain records. This also means most meet-ings, except those regarding staffing issues, must be open to the public. The public must be given 24 hours notice about meetings, except for emergency meetings, which are in a different class.

The ECHO Family are some of the most benevolent members of our community, who with their donations support high school journalism and help make publications such as the ECHO possible. To become a member of the ECHO Family, please contact Alex Ring at ring.alexlee@gmail.com.

Laurie MurphyKathy WhaleyJulie Harrelson

Mary Ann & Don SchaferDugan Family

James WilliamsDr. Sarah RissCurtin FamilyKevin Killeen

Webster Groves Baptist ChurchZychinski Family

Cross VitaleThe Jeffries

Mickey HayesBilly Johnson

Jameson HowardGavin Turner

Isaiah Oesterlei

ECHO FAMILY

Photo by Nathan EppsRequests for student directory information must be made through the WGSD Central Office.

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April 2015

Bennett DurandoSports Editor

Webster’s men’s track team is coming off an impressive performance at State in 2014, and is looking to return with a result at least as positive as last year’s.

Webster is returning most of the relay team that in their best event placed fourth at the State meet last year.

It was the fou r-by -800 relay where the Statesmen had their most success. Then juniors Tyler Lawson and August Bont, s o p h o m o r e

Lucas Bennett and senior Miles McMillan placed fourth in State with their running of the event.

With three of the four staying, the relay team could get back to where they were last year, and even have a chance to win the event. The relay team plans to fill the

hole with junior Billy Howells.Webster’s opening home meet of the

year was Tuesday April 7, in the Dan Sebben Invitational. Sebben, who used to double as a counselor, will be retiring from coaching at the end of this year.

In the meet, junior Jerry Yates won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.61 seconds. Lawson won the 800 and 1600 meter runs, and the defending fourth-in-State relay team won the 800-meter relay with a time of 8:24.96. The four-man team continued to experience success with the addition of Howells.

The Statesmen are assigned to District 2 for this year, which also includes Aff-ton, Confluence Prep Academy, Gateway HS, Lutheran South, Miller Career Acad-emy, Rockwood Summit, Roosevelt, St. Mary’s, and Windsor.

The Statesmen will compete in the up-coming Suburban 12 Conference Meet, which takes place May 7-8, at Parkway West.

Track team looks to repeat success at State

Photo by Willie Zempel(Then) junior Tyler Lawson runs in a cross country meet in 2013. Lawson and his three teammates in the 4x800 relay for track all double as runners of cross country.

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April 2015

Bennett from the BleachersWomen’s soccer nationally ranked, has State title potential

Bennett DurandoSports Columnist

Webster’s women’s soccer team has always had high expectations. This year especially, why shouldn’t they?

The Stateswomen made a statement to open the season in the Gulf Coast Clas-sic in Alabama, taking home the tourna-ment title in convincing fashion. They went 4-0 in the tourney, including a 9-0 win in group play that sent their message loud and clear from Gulf Shores all the way back to Missouri, where they will be chasing after a State championship.

The team is currently ranked third in stltoday’s large school area rankings and

is nationally ranked 14th, according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The team dropped nine spots in the national poll after losing 2-1 in double overtime versus Rockwood Summit. St. Joseph’s Academy, ranked first in the area and ninth in the country, poses the top in-state threat to the Stateswomen.

Despite losing their undefeated re-cord, the Stateswomen are 13-2 and last Wednesday defeated the rival Kirkwood Pioneers 2-0 to win the Shapleigh Cup for the third straight year. Their heartbreak-ing defeat to Summit won’t take away from the threat Webster poses to other top teams in the state. Unshaken by the loss, the team turned around and won 5-1 at Parkway West the next day.

The Stateswomen have a goal that is not at all unrealistic: win a State champi-onship. In a school year where the men’s team has already captured its first State title, it would be a legendary year for Webster soccer if the women’s team could join them.

Rivalry week for the team started with

the victory over Kirkwood at Selma Field. Three days later (with another game sand-wiched in between), the Stateswomen went down the street to Nerinx Hall to meet the nemesis neighbor to all women’s sports at WGHS. Nerinx, ranked fifth in the area, defeated Webster 2-0 in the Bat-tle of Big Bend. Still, they and Summit have been the only bumps in the road.

Webster is a team led by talents like senior Maddie Pokorny, who has commit-ted to play Division One college soccer at SLU next year.

The team has a winning formula, and its balance from upper to underclassmen is spectacular. The team includes senior leaders like Pokorny and star goalie Char-lotte Kennedy, and upcoming underclass-men such as sophomore Jacqueline Baetz who are already proving impactful in a starting role. As a freshman, Baetz was fourth on the team in points with 19.

Sitting in the national rankings, the Stateswomen hope to make this a two times as special year for Webster Groves High School.

Photo by Aerin JohnsonFreshman Colleen McLaughlin works with sophomore Emma Kerbler to move the ball for the JV Stateswomen in their game versus Kirkwood on April 22 at Selma Field.

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April 2015

Loui wins State , Regionals, keeps eye on WesternsAndy KimballJunior Editor

Sophomore Meredith Loui started gymnastics by going to a friend’s birth-day party at the Saint Louis Gymnastics Center. Now she is a back-to-back State champion.

Loui won the all-around title in the Level 9 skill level and the Sr. 5, Sr. 6 age group for the second year in a row on March 22, at the Eagles Gymnastics and Dance Center in Kansas City, MO. She won with a combined score of 36.325 out of 40 in her four events: the parallel bars, vault, balance beam and the floor exercise.

The second place score was 34.000. Each event is given a score out of 10,

and all four scores are added together for a total out of 40.

The Sr.5 Sr.6 age group ranges from 16-17 year olds.

Loui received scores higher than a nine out of 10 in three of the four events, bars, vault and floor exercise. No other com-petitor in her age group scored above an 8.85 in any event.

About what got Loui to start gymnas-tics, Loui said, “One of my best friends when I was in preschool had a birthday party at the gym, and (the people at the party) just ran on an obstacle course and had cake, but I just remember having a lot of fun, and I kept asking my parents if I could come back.”

About her favorite part of gymnastics, Loui said, “The team, we are all really close, and if you don’t have the support of your team, then it’s just not good. You depend a lot on your teammates.”

Loui practices around 20 hours a week for Saint Louis Gym Center (SLGC) and won the Region 4 Regionals in Green Bay, WI on April 11 in the Sr. 6 age group with a score of 36.150 out of 40. Region 4 consisted of Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Missouri. Loui finished first of 11 in her age group.

After her regional victory, Loui quali-fied for the Western Championships in Spokane, WA, on May 8-10.

Loui has now qualified for the Western championship in three straight years. Last season Loui finished third in Region 4 Re-gionals and 22nd in the Western Champi-onships.

Photo provided by Loui FamilySophomore Meredith Loui on the bars event at the Regional 4 Championships. Loui scored a 9.625 on bars and won first place with a score of 36.150 out of 40.

Upcoming EventsWomen’s Soccer: April 27-30, CYC tournament @ Soccer Park.Men’s Tennis: April 27, @ Parkway South, April 29, Home vs. PattonvilleBaseball: April 27, vs. John Burroughs, April 29 @ RitenourMen’s Track: May 7-8, Conference @ Parkway NorthWomen’s Track: May 9, Conf. @ Kirkwood

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Botan BeliefsSummer offers tourist attractionsAbby BotanEntertainment Columnist

Summer is generally seen as the most enjoyable season.

Several attractions for summer explora-tion are Grant’s Farm, St. Louis Zoo and the St. Louis Arch. The St. Louis Arch is the most known attraction worldwide and local of those selections.

The St. Louis arch is a huge tourist at-traction. It stands out among most of the other attractions that may call others to Missouri, but as a teenager myself, I don’t think any teenager nowadays would want to visit the Arch as a summer visit.

Teenagers want something that’s inter-esting and new; we’ve grown up visiting or hearing about the Arch, and I feel like it’d be such a time waster. It costs $7 for an adult pass to go up to the top of the Arch (16 or older) and $5 for a child’s pass (3-15 years old).

“I love summer break,” Brooklyn Childs, sophomore, said about summer.

“It’s super fun, and we have a lot of free time.”

Childs will visit Chicago and Kansas City over the summer. Traveling during summer break isn’t out of the ordinary, but it tends to be a popular response when people are asked what they’re doing. Even when someone says something along the lines of “not doing anything”...c’mon, I know you’re doing something.

“I’m going to a music festival in early June that’s in Chicago,” Childs said.

The music festival, PiqNiq, will be at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre and officially begins Aug. 30, for all ages. The doors open at 3 p.m., and the shows begin at 3:30 p.m.

Prices range depend on where you’re going to be seated during the festival. If you’re on the lawn, your ticket is $45, the pavilion is $109.70, and the pit is $119. 80.

For some people summer means lazy time. It’s a little over three months of ab-solutely no responsibility in the sense of

schoolwork. Let’s be real, teachers assign reading assignments over the summer, but no one really does those until a week or two before school starts.

Personally, I do read books during the summer. I plan to read the Divergent books. I’m usually a strong believer in reading the books before I watch the mov-ie, but I didn’t stick to that rule when Di-vergent was released.

“I’m outside a lot in the summer. I live close to a park so my friend, and I go walking around a ton,” Childs said about any places close to home that make it easy to stay active in the summer.

Staying active in summer is a lot easier than while in school - especially in high school where it’s harder to do things dur-ing the week. In summer you have days, weeks and months to do whatever you please, and it’s easier to plan and do things outside like walking around the park or bike riding. If you’re not close to any trails ,then the sidewalk should be your trail.

School ends on the May 21.

Zayn Malik goes in different direction16

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Photo by Riley MullgardtOne Direction sings its song “Little Things” on the Where We Are Tour in St. Louis on Aug. 27, 2014.

April 2015

Riley Mullgardt Contributing Writer

“It is a national tragedy,” freshman Kaelin Dooley joked about the recent news regarding Zayn Malik, a member of the world’s biggest boy band, leaving One Direction.

Dooley continued, “It isn’t actually a national tragedy, but I’m very sad about it.”

The band, consisting of Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and now former member Malik, formed on the show “The X Factor,” where it won third place and then signed with Simon Cowell’s record label Syco Records.

The band has released four albums “Up All Night” (2010), “Take Me Home” (2012), “Midnight Memories (2013) and the most recent album “Four” (2014). The band has toured for each of these albums and is currently doing a stadium tour called On the Road Again Tour.

Everything with the band had been going smoothly, the tour going well (even scheduled to play in Kansas City, at Arrowhead Stadium on July 28), and then pictures were put on social me-dia and rumors of Malik cheating on his fiancé Perrie Edwards, one of the singers of the band Little Mix. These were pictures of Malik with his arm around Brit Lauren Richardson’s waist and holding her hand. There were also pictures of Malik with Swed-ish model Martina Olsson, who said they were intimate in a tour stop in Thailand. These resulted in Malik tweeting “I’m 22 years old… I love a girl named Perrie Edwards. And there’s a lot of jealous f***s in this world. I’m sorry for what it looks like x.”

The next day Malik announced he would not continue the Asia leg of the tour (March 18-25) due to stress. Fans on Twitter be-lieve the rumors caused him to panic and need a break. The fans on social media felt guilty for driving him to take a break.

Then on March 25, Malik said on the band’s Facebook page he was leaving One Direction because he wanted to live like a “normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight.” He added in an interview with the The Sun, his first since leaving, “I feel like I’ve let the fans down, but I can’t do this anymore,” and how he isn’t acting like the “real” him.

As one can imagine, fans everywhere were shocked and won-dered what led him to leave the band.

The remaining guys in One Direction said, “The four of us will now continue. We’re looking forward to recording the new album and seeing all the fans on the stage of the world tour,” but their fans still asked if they would really stay together and if they could be as big as they are now without Malik.

Horan, Payne, Tomlinson and Styles have all tweeted “thank yous” to the fans for all the support.

Tomlinson who is known as the member who tends to say what he thinks, nice or not. He got into a fight on Twitter with rapper/

producer Naughty Boy (real name Shahid Khan), who had been rumored to be working with Malik on separate projects away from the band for months.

They were tweeting back and forth until Naughty Boy tweeted, “Let the music do the talking guys. thank us later. :) x” with a link to a soundcloud song titled “I Won’t Mind” by Malik. This sparked fans minds to wonder if Malik actually wants to live a “normal life” or if he just wanted to get out of his contract with Syco and the One Direction boys to go solo.

Tweeting that song made One Direction fans tweet angry things to Naughty Boy, and he later took the track off soundcloud.

“I feel like its kind of unfair for the girls who already bought tickets,” freshman Iris Redmond said about Malik no longer go-ing on tour.

Sophomore Hannah Fiess from Nerinx Hall said, “I’m not go-ing to any On the Road Again shows, but even if I was, Zayn leaving would not have stopped me from going. I think that Zayn did what he thought was best for him. Although, leaving the group to go solo but saying it was for ‘personal stress’ wasn’t very chill.”

Redmond and Dooley told what they think about “Zaughty,” which is Naughty Boy and Malik’s nickname.

Redmond said, “I don’t really know a lot about Naughty Boy except that he retweeted a Zaughty thing and that makes me not think of him very highly.”

“He’s a sausage,” Dooley said.Malik hasn’t made any comments or statements since his de-

parture. The rest of the band has continued to tour.