Ripples

New Teachers

SHS welcomes new staff.

pages 5-6

Plein Air

Arists compete, depict-ing landscapes through-out Shorewood.

page 4

Volume 94, Issue 2September 30, 2015

1701 E. Capitol Drive, Shorewood, WI 53211The Student Newspaper of Shorewood High SchoolShorewood

What’s Inside

Fall Performance

Students take on chal-lenging play, Wit.

page 11

Inside Ripples

News...........................1-3 Features......................4-5

A&E.........................8-10

Sports...........................12 Opinions.......................11

www.shorewoodripples.org

Spread...........................6-7

School board adopts new speaking policyby Sabine Peterka

The school board implemented a new public participation policy that allows for public comments at the beginning of the meeting. It consists of five minutes of speaking time per person and three people per side of an issue.

“We used to [allow public participation] at the beginning [of the meeting] ... then we would also allow comments during discussion and then we would also allow comments at the end,” said Paru Shah, school board president. “And so what we’ve done is essentially move all the comments to one part at just the beginning.”

According to Shah, the policy was

changed to increase the board’s productivity and the community’s involvement.

“[The change] stemmed from a lot of factors, but the one that kind of was the head was the fact that it felt like the board wasn’t getting the work done, and then the community felt like they weren’t being heard,” Shah said.

However, not everyone thought the policy needed to be changed.

“I think there was a feeling that [the board meetings] were out of control somehow,” said Davida Amenta, village trustee. “When you look at the old policy, there was in place all of the tools they needed to limit debate, to limit the time each person can speak, to end discussion. All

that authority was there, it just wasn’t being used.”

Some of the public perceived the change as a way to silence their voice.

“To me, it was presented as the public is out of control, we can’t have meetings like this so we’re going to shut out the public so that we can have our meetings,” said Allison Abbott, resident. “I think the change is fine, the change makes sense ... To me, where the anger, where the frustration is, is how it was done … Even when they were discussing that policy they decided not to have any comments so it just seems a little abrupt. Like in any kind

A Plein Air artist is captured while painting Atwa-

ter Elementary School. Artists posted themselves

throughout Shorewood in order to paint pictures of

the village. See page 9 for more information.

Julie Pottinger

District on track to meet fundraising goalby Monica Dix

Last April two generous donations were made to Shorewood High School. An anonymous donor gave 1.2 million dollars for athletics and another $500,000 matching grant for STEM and expeditionary learning.

The athletics grant has been designated for finishing the rest of the stadium that D2D, Shorewood’s original funding campaign did not cover.

This includes two team rooms, a concessions stand complete with refrigeration and storage, an officials room and a spirit shop.

“I wish these updates didn’t cost as much as they do, but the majority of the donation will go to [updating the track],” said LeVar Ridgeway, athletic director.

With the extra money after the updates underneath the bleachers are complete, Ridgeway hopes to create a separate area for the high jump competitions, which would allow Shorewood to host home track meets.

The construction is scheduled to be completed around the end of October, with the hopes of being prepared for track meets in the late

spring. “This really puts us back into

the mix [with other high schools] with being able to host more events, being able to service fans more with having concessions, restrooms and other amenities,” Ridgeway said.

The athletics donation is only half of the puzzle. The district is still working towards raising the funds for the matching grant.

Currently are just over halfway, a total of $293,961 has already been contributed. The district must raise $500,000 to

receive the $500,000 grant by the end of this calendar year.

“It’s challenging and exciting at the same time, and I think [the deadline] really motivated donors who want to contribute to the fund,” said Ted Knight, chief advancement officer.

The fundraising effort has been a culmination of community and national appeals. Over the summer, Knight looked toward potential giving sources outside the community.

“I had discussions with foundations, national foundations,

companies and also alumni in our region and outside our region, bringing in $120,000,” Knight said.

Now that the school year has begun, Knight has instigated inter-community fundraising efforts.

“I’m just so grateful for the community support we have received so far,” Knight said.

Readers who are interested in donating should look on the district website to make online donations, as well as read directions for writing out checks. Knight’s contact information is also available for those who want to contact him regarding their donation.

Julia Cabaniss, science teacher and STEM advocate, encourages donors to support STEM.

“I think a STEM oriented curriculum is important because it exposes students to the kind of works that are out there in high-tech fields with math, science and engineering that have lots and lots of jobs ... I think that a STEM [curriculum] is more hands-on and engaging as well,” Cabaniss said.

“Every morning when I wake up, it’s ‘How are we going to get more funding to meet this match?’ It’s what I eat, breathe, sleep and live these days,” Knight said.

continued on page 3

Construction takes place on the bleachers near the SHS field. A $1.2

million donation will fund a number of improvements.

Ben Davis

Plein Air festival

NewsRipples September 30, 2015

page two

On Sunday, September 12, from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m., the Atwater Elementary School celebrated their 100 year anniversary. Everybody from the community — previous students, teachers and families alike — all came by and celebrated. There was food, a live band, a bouncy house and many speeches and presentations.

“I just think that this event … shows what a great place Atwater is,” said Jennifer Conigliaro, English Language Learner (ELL) teacher. “I cannot believe how many staff members, former staff members, families, students everybody is here. The presentation that they put together that shows the history of the school. And I really don’t think you can find it anywhere. It gives me goose bumps watching it.”

There was both excitement, as well as hope for the future of the school. Kayla Russick, Atwater principal, has high hopes.

“I would love the building to be back to its original state as much as possible, Russick said. “There’s a beautiful mural I’d like restored.”

Russick is a dedicated member of the Shorewood and Atwater community.

“I love Atwater, [and] I love this community. I grew up in a really small town where everyone was homogenous. I was a teacher for 25 years before becoming principal, and I just love the diversity and quality education and how rich the arts are here,” Russick said. “To me, this is the perfect environment. The teaching and students here

The importance of taking ownership of assigned lockers has recently been stressed to students. To ensure a safe and healthy environment, a new policy approved by the district’s Board of Education allows for drug dog searches throughout the schools. Lockers, hallways and parking lots are to be checked on a semi-regular basis for prohibited items.

“There are a couple different kinds of dogs. There’s drug-sniffing dogs and there’s bomb detecting dogs…to keep drugs out of the school, we would be using the drug-sniffing dogs,” said Tim Kenney, principal.

According to Kenney, searches are most likely to be held randomly once per semester. During a search, students and staff will be under lockdown in the classrooms, while the dogs patrol the hallways and any empty rooms. It is stressed that canines will only come in contact with their professional handlers and not the students.

This policy was approved over the summer, allowing implementation in the 2015-16 school year.

“The policy has been worked on for a while. It actually came to the school board [a few years ago] and they decided not to implement the policy at that time,” Kenney said. “Almost all school districts in the state of Wisconsin have a canine search policy…we were one of the very, very few that didn’t.”

According to Kenney, students are now required to use their assigned lockers to ensure no identity mistakes are made in these searches.

“If somebody was in possession of

Administration enforces new locker policydrugs or drug paraphernalia that the dogs could detect, and they had it in the locker that was assigned to you, that becomes an issue,” Kenney said. “This is why we’re being so insistent that students use their assigned lockers.”

However, some students are not completely in agreement. “I think them enforcing these strict rules on the lockers is, in my opinion, unnecessary, because we haven’t seen any real issues in the past with … drugs in school,” said Kayla Wasserman, senior. “At least that’s what I know.”

“They really didn’t explain it well and I just think it seems … to be causing unnecessary fuss over nothing,” Wasserman said.

For students who do not use their lockers at all, the assigned locker will be zip-tied so no one uses it. However, this is just a temporary solution; it doesn’t stop the locker from being opened by another person. It is stressed that students still put a lock on their locker in order to keep the contents secure.

“My responsibility is to help insure all lockers are locked, with a lock or zip tied,” said Nelson Brown, campus supervisor. “We just want every locker accounted for.”

In the past few years, little pressure was put on students to use assigned lockers.

“When I was the assistant principal here, in ‘07, ‘08, ‘09, everyone had an assigned locker,” Kenney said. “I don’t know why that changed while I was gone at Atwater . . . People ended up taking whatever lockers they wanted, and you ended up with a sixteen-week-old bologna sandwich. So it’s better that we know exactly who’s [using what locker].”

If students wish to change their locker

for a rational reason, the administration will work to accommodate the student’s needs.

“There’s been some cases where people have said, ‘Okay, my assigned locker is way over here, but I’ve got four of my classes over in this building.’ We’re trying to sort through that with people,” Kenney said. “We’ve changed some locker assignments. We’re trying to work with the students as much as we can to make this work; I think it’s going pretty well.”

While regular canine searches are a step in prevention, Kenney is aware that any existing drug problem will not simply go away.

“We’re realistic about this. To me, this is not the end-all, be-all, ‘Yes! We got drug-sniffing dogs! We are going to eradicate our drug problem!’ No. You eradicate a drug problem through education,” Kenney said. “If you really want to get rid of a drug problem, yeah, there are consequences for that kind of behavior, but there has to be a response of assistance from the school. We’re also trying to figure out what our assistance program is going to look like, and

that’s something that’s in progress.”According to the Wisconsin Online

Youth Risk Behavior survey Shorewood students took in December of 2013, 42% of SHS students agreed that drugs were a problem at the school, compared to a national statistic of 60% from 2012 (National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XVII: Teen, National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University).

“I think it’s a reasonable expectation that we keep drugs out of our schools. That’s what this is all about,” Kenney said.

Kenney was glad students were responding well to the changes.

“I just want to extend my appreciation to the student body. They’ve just rolled with the whole assigned locker thing, making sure it’s getting done. I expect it of the student body; we are Shorewood High School, but it’s always nice to have it actually happen,” Kenney said. “Shout-out to the student body: thanks for your cooperation. We’re off to a great start to the school year.”

Atwater celebrates 100 years in Shorewoodare excellent, so just keep pushing that to a higher level for all of us.”

Atwater’s ELL program is also something Russick’s very proud of.

“We start off the school year with a coffee meeting that the parents come to. Our ELL teacher was talking to Chinese families asking them why they ended up at Atwater. They said Atwater is known, that if you want your child to really learn English while living in the U.S., that Atwater is a really good place to go,” Russick said.

Students from all grades also enjoy attending Atwater, for various other reasons as well.

“I like school, and my teacher Kelly. I

also like the music in our school plays,” said Ellson Liu, preschooler.

Students from higher graders also agree. “I like how kind and welcoming all the

staff is,” said Kelan Migan, sixth grader, “I just came here last year from Milwaukee, there’s a girl here who introduced me to a lot of nice girls. Shorewood is a very fun place. I wouldn’t make any changes. It’s perfect.”

In consensus with their students, Atwater parents are also appreciative of Atwater’s ELL program and the welcoming community.

“I asked my friends about the school, the elementary for my son,” said Marwal Al-Halawahi, parent, “Most friends told me about Atwater school. It’s nice and good for

“Almost all school districts in the state

... have a canine search policy.”

-Tim Kenney,principal

A row of lockers stands uninspected. That will soon change, as the administration is ensuring students use their assigned locekr in lieu of a new drug dog policy.

Ben Davis

[an] international kid.”Graduates of Atwater are also impressed

with Atwater’s ELL program, as well as the emphasis on the arts, the academic excellence and the hands-on learning.

“I love that my kids are sitting next to kids from other countries like Taiwan, Israel,” said Lisa Lien, a 1984 graduate from Atwater, and parent, “I love that they put a huge emphasis on the arts — music and art, writing, math and reading, things they really value like the garden [and] field trips.”

George Anton, head custodian, knows Atwater like the back of his hand. He attended the school and graduated in 1969.

“I like everything about the school, the kids, teachers and the parents. I have a lot of good memories here. They’ve added a whole addition since I went here; it’s a lot bigger now,” Anton said.

Many graduates came back for the 100-year anniversary and shared their memories of their time in Shorewood.

“I had a hard time … learning to read in third grade,” Lien said. “My third grade teacher, Mrs. Lightner … just passed away this past spring, … but she knew that I was feeling a little bad, so she made me the star of the group play that was in here. She was an incredible woman. That was a nice memory.”

All the memories and programs at Atwater were shared during the 100th anniversary, as approval from teachers, alumni, students and parents.

Everyone appreciated the event to honor the school. “For a public school, it’s just grand and beautiful,” Lien said.

Karen Frink, orchestra director and Atwater parent, serves cake. Atwater Elementary School celebrated its 100 year anniversary with an event on September 12.

Jacob Burnham

by Lorlei Boyd and Ananya Murali

by Jessi Duncan and Yasmin Mohd Suhailin

by Elena Cruz

News RipplesSeptember 30, 2015

page three

School board updates communication methodThe school board updated its method

of communication this August, informing the public of its meetings’ conversations through new online briefs.

During the briefs, Bryan Davis, superintendent, and Katelin Watson, communications director, discuss the recent meeting’s main topics. They record this informational session via video camera and then make it open to the public on the Shorewood District website.

“They’re short, three to five minute videos [where Davis and Watson explain] the highlights of what happened at the meetings,” said Paru Shah, school board president. “We have the agenda, but [they] talk a little bit about more of the details of what happened in the conversation.”

Davis brought this installation to the attention of the board members at the beginning of his term. He wanted a quick way to update the public on recent decisions and alterations made during their bimonthly meetings.

“Meetings are usually an hour and a half to two and half hours long and are audio recorded,” Davis said. “We wanted a chance for people to not have to listen to the entire recording, but to capture some highlights in five minutes or less stay up to date.”

The communication is meant to be quick and easy. However, some members of the public detest this short summary of

events.“I applaud communication but … I

think that what the community – or certain members of the community, people that I’m associated with – have been asking for is video streaming, live streaming, of school board meetings. We want more than the briefs, we want more than just the sound bites and the clips: we’re interested in the depth and the substance,” said Margaret Schmidt, parent.

According the Schmidt, there is a trust gap between the community and the board, and the briefs are not helping fix this problem. Between the removal of the two impromptu discussion sessions during school board meetings and the lack of live streaming, Schmidt is not happy.

“[There is] a huge, huge problem

right now, I would say, with people in the community and the school board: big, big problems with trust.”

Currently the school board feels the briefs are going well, but they welcome similar reactions to Schmidt’s in order to adjust the system.

“We’ve got some positive feedback on just trying to be transparent with our communications and what the school board is doing. Certainly we’re always open to helpful hints, so we certainly welcome feedback on that,” said Davis. “My communications director and I are just looking to improve every time, but we think it’s been a good start.”

Nonetheless, the community’s

complaints have reached the board, as the members have started to discuss live streaming in the future.

“One of the things that came up at the last board meeting was moving to video taping … I think that was really the idea: to give people an opportunity to hear what they missed essentially,” Shah said.

Public members approve of live streaming. “A really good way to build trust, to start to bridge the breakdown, would be to boldly be proactive in putting live-streamed or recorded board meetings, unedited, on the website,” Schmidt said.

District leadership discusses the Coherence Governance Model the school board recently adopted in a meeting. The model is meant to improve communication.

Katie Eder

of politics I think there could have been more effort made to make a transition or to mend the relationship first and then have a new policy.”

“I didn’t expect the public to perceive it as they did which was that we were somehow punishing them for talking too much because that’s not what we want to do,” Shah said. “I think there were a lot of hurt feelings and resentment when it first came out and I’ve been trying to kind of explain that that’s not what our intention was.”

Community members interested in a specific topic can form groups called linkages, which the board will meet with twice a year to discuss that topic. The board has scheduled meetings with 18 different linkages.

“So we actually just then have community conversations but in much greater depth around particular topics with

“Other people who have run for the board like Mr. Cade and Mr. Davis–Greg Davis not the superintendent Davis–and myself obviously … have been talking about this, so its not like it’s a secret. It’s not like it’s only a few people. People want access to what’s going on in the government.”

In the past, meeting explanations were shared to the community in the form of documents, uploaded semi-weekly after the conclusion of board meetings. These new briefs are available in a similar fashion, as they are shared to the district website after the Tuesday meetings.

Board member resigns

Continued from page 1

Superintendent connects with community groupscommunity members who are interested about that but not at the board meeting. We reserve stuff at the board meeting for things that we need to make decisions on, not getting information about,” Shah said.

Amenta said the linkages and the board’s encouragement to communicate via email is different from speaking at a public meeting.

“There’s a lot to be said for people being in the same room and talking,” Abbott said. “We all bring different perspectives. Everybody brings different eyes, different experience, different expertise”

Sarah McEneany, resident, thinks this engagement will come through the linkages.

“I’m actually hopeful that the public participation will become more diverse

voices [and] represent the 1,700 children the school board are serving, via the linkages,” McEneany said.

Shah hopes the new policy will increase the board’s communication with the public.

“So if nothing else,” Shah said. “I think all of us feel like we’re actually having real conversations and real dialog with community members.”

Amenta expressed concern regarding the fact that only three people may speak on the same side of an issue.

“They will only hear three people on any side of an issue. And that’s, I think, very ambiguous. Sometimes it’s not really one side or the other — it’s an octagon,” Amenta said.

Shah said the board has never prohibited someone from speaking and that

this will allow the board to avoid repetition in comments if necessary.

According to Shah, Wisconsin law does not require public comments at school board meetings. These are board meetings held in public.

“Board meetings are not a place to have long conversations with community members,” Shah said.

McEneany agrees. “The board can’t do business unless it’s doing business in public, but if they’re constantly responding to the public they can’t get their work done,” McEneany said. “Our school board meetings were morphing into public meetings.”

Amenta said participation in meetings is important.

“How many places are there that, as a member of the public, you can go and state what it is that’s bothering you? Not many. It’s really important for elected officials to hear what people have to say. So, closing themselves off, I think, is really regretful,” Amenta said.

Rob Reinhoffer, president of the school board, will be resigning on October 1.

“I’m thankful I had this opportunity and I’m honored to have served Shorewood and I’m really proud of the results we’ve had,” Reinhoffer said.

Reinhoffer has been both a school member since 2010 and spent some time as the president.

“I think e v e r y o n e appreciates the time that he put in,” said Carolyn Curran, district parent and substitute teacher, “He’s been a dedicated public servant and done a lot for our community.”

According to Shorewood’s new superintendent Bryan Davis, Reinhoffer does nothing but impressive work.

“It’s really been a great experience [working with Reinhoffer]. I know he provided the school board with a lot of great leadership,” Davis said.

Reinhoffer was part of many contributions the school board made to the community, including teacher retirement benefits, district technology efforts and navigating Act 10.

“Along with the specific projects we worked on, my role was to represent the people of Shorewood and make sure the district was being run well,” Reinhoffer

said.Reinhoffer is stepping down due to

his father’s declining health. “Everyday my thoughts were

someplace else. Board meetings just started becoming a surprise to me, and I realized that I just wasn’t able to focus,” Reinhoffer said.

Reinhoffer believes that he is leaving the district with trustworthy leaders.

“Knowing the new superintendent and the board members we have, I know I’m leaving things in good hands,” Reinhoffer said.

There are currently six applicants in the running for the

interim spot. According to Davis, all would make

an excellent addition to the board. “I am excited to work with a new

person but still sad that we will be losing a valuable member of our board,” Davis said.

Although Reinhoffer says he may revisit joining the school board, he feels that because of the many community members Shorewood has, there will never be a need.

“I’m always here to support … and chime in whenever we need it. But there will always be a lot of good people that can do it,” Reinhoffer said.

by Clayton Holbrook

“My communica-

tions director and I

are just looking to

improve every time.”

-Bryan Davis,superintendent

“He’s been a dedi-

cated public servant

and done a lot for

our community.”

-Carolyn Curran,district parent

“I didn’t expect the

public to perceive it

as they did.”

- Paru Shah,school board president

Jason Lowery, Spanish teacher, has

joined the school staff for the 2015-2016

school year. He teaches Spanish I, Spanish

II and Spanish V.

“I am really grateful to be able to teach

here. I have been

excited to go to

school every day,”

Lowery said. “I feel

very welcomed by

staff and students.”

Two vacancies

f o r S p a n i s h

teaching positions

opened up for the

2015-2016 school

y e a r a s S a r a h

Milia is taking a

year of absence to

be home with her

new baby and Sara

Anton took a full-

time position at SIS.

Susan Leslie and

Julie Reupert are the other Spanish teachers.

Lowery previously taught Spanish

for nine years at Cedarburg High School.

Associate Principal, Joe Patek worked with

Lowery for four years prior to working at

SHS.

FeaturesRipplesSeptember 30, 2015

page four

Spanish teacher added to staff last minute

Lowery brings energy Patek is excited about the energy that

Lowery brings to the school.

“He’s a guy who really cares about kids

... and a guy who is going to do whatever he

can to help kids learn,” Patek said.

“He’s great because he’s a good teacher

and he makes class fun,” said Jupiter

N a k h a p a k o r n ,

freshman.

“ I w a n t e d

something that was

c l o s e r t o h o m e ,

because I have a

5-month old child

and I was driving

about an hour and 15

minutes total to get

to Cedarburg” said

Lowery.

Lowery lives in

Riverwest with his

wife and child.

“Cedarburg

and Shorewood

both have strong

academic reputations

[so] it was a good move,” Lowery said.

“He’s a very relatable person who I think

kids will find enjoyable as a teacher,” Patek said.

Lowery also plans to found a Simpsons

club, based on the popular cartoon.

Jason Lowery, Spanish teacher, interacts with students during class. Lowery joined the staff to fill a last-minute gap.

Shilei Bell-Lipsey

Jessica Mohagen is the newest addition

to the high school’s art department.

“This year I’m looking forward to

seeing improvement in every one of my

students, and having my students grow and

take ownership,” Mohagen said, “I love

helping them and showing them how far

their creativity and art can take them in every

direction.”

Mohagen is replacing Sonja Juffer, the

previous art teacher who retired last school

year. She teaches five sections of art: Zero Hour Art, Art I, Art II, Art III and AP Studio

Art.

Jack Tetting, freshman, has clearly

expressed his love of art by taking two

art classes this year, one of them being

Mohagen’s zero hour class.

“I would definitely recommend this class to a friend, it’s really fun and the mixture of

all the different grades is really beneficial,” said Tetting.

Mr. Zimpel, graphic arts teacher, was very involved with the interviewing process

for the new art teacher. He had a hand in

minimizing the large number of names

and discussing candidates with the other

art teachers and Tim Kenney, principal.

Together, they established and put into

words what they were trying to capture in

this candidate.

“We were looking for a personality,

someone who not only looked good on paper

but could engage with us in the interview

process, and we also did our best to see

what this person would do while engaging

students,” said Zimpel. According to Zimpel, they were looking

for someone with a history in teaching art in a

variety of environments, who had a vision for

what the art department could be, and could

hit the ground running and adapt quickly.

“Mr. Kenney has a process for how to

interview people, and based on that process,

[Mohagen] rose to the top immediately,”

Zimpel said.Mia Pergl, junior, is another one

of Mohagen’s zero hour students. Pergl

has always loved art and is excited and

looking forward to building her portfolio in

Mohagen’s class.

“She is young, creative and knows a lot

about the recent modern art that’s around

Milwaukee, and knowledgeable about what

she’s talking about,” said Pergl.

Leading up to her arrival at Shorewood,

Mohagen worked at Sauk Prairie High School

for five years teaching AP Studio Art. She

also worked at Hartford Union High School

teaching AP Art.

Mohagen said she is very excited to be

teaching at Shorewood. Mohagen most looks

forward to new opportunities and discovering

what her new art students are capable of.

“I love pushing [my] students and

challenging them and I love the age, humor,

enthusiasm, and challenge of teaching high

school students,” Mohagen said.

Julie Reupert has joined both the

Shorewood community and the language

department as one of the SHS and SIS

Spanish teachers.

“I’ve always really loved the diversity

and the progressiveness of Shorewood as a

living community, and I have respected it as

an educational institution as well,” Reupert

said.

“For the past three years, I was at

Grafton high school, teaching Spanish I

and II, and before that I was at home taking

care of my son for six years … Before that I

was at Whitefish Bay high school for seven years,” Reupert said.

According to Susan Leslie, Spanish

teacher, despite only being hired this

August, Reupert has managed to interest

her students in Spanish and fit into the Shorewood community.

“I’m ... very impressed with her ability

to come in late in the summer and hit the

ground running,” Leslie said. “It is a

reflection of her ability and professionalism; she’s doing a great job. ”

Kloe Kashian, junior, says Reupert

not only manages to immerse her students

in Spanish, but also connects with them as

people as well.

“I am really grate-ful to be able to teach here. I have been ex-cited to go to school

every day.”-Jason Lowery,

Spanish teacher

“I think she’s very engaging, and she

knows how to deal with kids ... She seems

friendly [and] pretty nice,” Kashian said.

Reupert received her teaching

By Shimana Bose certification at UWM but graduated from

North Central College in Naperville,

Illinois, with an undergraduate in Spanish

and psychology. Reupert revealed that she

has always had a love and fascination with

Spanish.

“[During college] I studied abroad in

Costa Rica, and after that, I studied abroad

in Guadalajara, Mexico,” Reupert said.

“ I love the culture that goes along with

the people, and it has always come pretty

easily for me … it’s just a fun language and

culture.”

Reupert has traveled to Costa Rica and

Mexico multiple times and she has plans to

continue her travels.

“I feel I’ve travelled to a lot of places

... I would love to go to South America–

anywhere in South America,” Reupert said.

While Reupert is only bilingual,

speaking Spanish and English, she has an

earnest desire to learn many other languages.

“I’d love to learn Mandarin; [it] would be great,” Reupert said. “When I was

working at Grafton high school, we had

German as our other language, so I always

wished I knew more German.”

by Layna Wang

Julie Rupart, the new Spanish teacher, practices verb conjugation with students. She is excited to share her love of language this school year.

Shilei Bell-Lipsey

by Cela Migan and Madeline Wilson

Jessica Mohagen, art teacher, gives a student feedback on his work. Mohagen re-placed Sonja Juffer, who retired last spring.

Julie Pottinger

New art teacher engages

Features RipplesSeptember 30, 2015

page five

Senior honored with Heroes Award Ananya Murali, senior, won the

Wisconsin Heroes award for her planning, organization and management of the anti-bullying camp, “Step-Up Against Bullying and Violence”, as well as being actively involved in the community.

“The Wisconsin Heroes award is given to a Wisconsin resident who shows a willingness and commitment to volunteer their efforts towards a cause to improve the state,” Murali said. “I felt really honored to win this award.”

Ananya Murali, senior, poses with Tonette Walker, First Lady of WI, and her mentors from the Girl Scouts. Murali recieved honors for her work within the community.

courtesy Lalitha Murali

Recognition is given to those receiving the award, as well as a visit from the First Lady of Wisconsin, Tonette Walker, who presents the award to recipients.

“It was really an honor to meet her,” Murali said. “I had never met her before, and she was really easy to talk to.”

Anyone can nominate a candidate, and the anonymous recommendation for Ananya proved itself as appropriate. The “Step-Up Against Bullying and Violence” camp for middle school girls that Murali created produced extremely successful results.

“This ... camp that I organized [was]

conducted last December. I was inspired to conduct this camp because bullying is a very large and growing problem in this country,” Murali said. “I learned that education is the most powerful key to solving problems, and wanted to educate those around me about what bullying really was and how we can stop it.”

Not only did Murali initiate the camp, but she proposed her idea at the International Youth Peace Conference and received $2,000 in grants. She thought of and created activities and projects that encouraged using strategies and skills to combat bullying and violence, and brought in guest speakers and D.A.R.E. officers to talk and educate the girls.

Those who participated in the camps feel that it was a beneficial experience.

“She’s an advocate for female rights and women’s rights,” said Akshaya Kannan, junior and participant of the camp. “She just wanted to help other girls, who were really susceptive for [being] bullied, and I was lucky to be a part of ... them here.”

This isn’t the only award Murali has won for her involvement in women’s rights. Recently she was the winner of the regional Zonta International Young Women in Public Service Award, the “Inspire by Example-Youth Award,” and the Girl Scouts “Young Women of Distinction Award.”

However, Ananya is already looking forward to the future, and the new potential projects and awareness it will bring.

“The best thing for me about winning this award would have to be that more people now know about my camps. I am glad that others are recognizing bullying as an issue and hopefully getting this award

will generate more funds so I can continue doing these camps around the state,” Murali said. “It’s important that people are aware that any small action can make a difference, and I’m hoping that ... winning this award will inspire others to do similar things in their community.”

Members of the North Shore Rotary Club recognized Murali for her achievement and helped arrange and fund “Step-Up Against Bullying and Violence” in India as well.

“Bringing my project to a global level really helped me to understand that bullying isn’t only an issue here–it’s a universal issue,” Murali said. “After the camp, many students came up and thanked me for teaching them about the consequences of bullying and now were willing to stand up for themselves and others who were bullied.”

While Murali is involved with the global community, she is also involved in many clubs and teams at the high school.

“She’s an involved leader, especially in class. She leads discussions and helps other students understand the material,” said Troy Thibodeau, math teacher. “She’s the captain of chess club; she organizes the club and has expanded it to the grade school ... She’s self-motivated, conscientious, always willing to help and she keeps an open mind.”

Along with being the captain of chess club, Murali is also the website manager for Ripples, a rep for student council, a member of Model UN and captain of science club’s Lake Sturgeon Bowl team. In her free time, Murali enjoys listening to music, reading, crocheting and spending time with her friends and family.

Sydney Widell

College feature: Boston University

Boston UniversityA t a G l a n c e :

+Located in Boston, MA

+2015 acceptance rate~ 32%

+Known for its diverse course options and access to

Metropolitan Boston

+Offers top ranking undergraduate business and

engineering programs

www.bu.edu

For Anna Wisotzkey, class of 2015, rowing on the Charles River was something she had only ever dreamt about. Now, as a freshman at Boston University and a member of the Women’s Lightweight Rowing Team, it is something she does everyday.

Wisotzkey is looking forward to her first fall season on this division one team. She rowed for the Milwaukee Rowing Club throughout her high school career, competed at USRowing Youth Nationals and placed on the USRowing Honor Roll.

Tryouts, which included fitness tests and lots of technical drilling on the water, have ended and Wisotzkey is settling into the program.

“There’s this new level of intensity,” Wisotzkey said of her rowing experience so far. “It’s like what we always talked about bringing [to the Milwaukee Rowing Club], only here we put that into practice. Everyone really goes for it.”

Wisotzkey said she already feels at home on the team.

“All the girls are really nice and even though we are literally from all over the country, we all have this sport in common,” Wisotzkey said.

Some of Wisotzkey’s new teammates even come from programs she competed against all through high school. Now, old rivalries must be put aside as the team comes together to face the other schools in their conference, which include all of the Ivy League schools, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Training on the Charles River, which winds through Cambridge and into downtown Boston, has been a highlight of

by Sydney Widell Wisotzkey’s experience at BU so far.“It’s just so surreal to be out there,”

she said. “I can see the Charles from the windows in my classes.”

Rowing brought Wisotzkey to BU originally.

“I toured the campus after the Head of the Charles, [a rowing competition,] last year and really loved it,” Wisotzkey said.

Wisotzkey intends to major in political science. This semester, she is taking Greek and Roman Religion, Astronomy, Religion in Politics and Introduction to US Government.

“I really like Intro to Government,” she said. “It’s a lot like American Government at Shorewood, only more intense.”

Another thing Wisotzkey likes about BU is the level of faculty diversity and the different global perspectives that are brought to the classroom.

“I have a teacher who is originally from the Middle East and another who is from Eastern Europe,” Wisotzkey said.

Life on campus has been surprisingly comparable to life in Shorewood, according to Wisotzkey.

“BU is like a little community within itself—inclusive and small. But it’s in the middle of this city which is so much bigger than Milwaukee. It’s kind of like a big Shorewood on steroids. The people are similar, the style is similar, only everything is bigger and more diverse,” Wisotzkey said.

Wisotzkey also loves to be in Boston. “It’s a very fun city to be in,” Wisotzkey

said.Although she misses the freedom of her

car, the Boston public transportation system puts the city at her fingertips. BU is situated on a mile long stretch of the Charles River, and overlaps with the neighborhoods of

Fenway and Kenmore. While Wisotzkey is living in on-campus dorms, many students choose to live in the surrounding areas of Back Bay, Allston or Brighton.

“It’s all very urban,” Wisotzkey said. She is looking forward to exploring all of Boston’s renowned museums and learning the character of the city.

One thing Boston lacks is Colectivo, which Wisotzkey misses very much.

“There are Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts everywhere but there’s no Colectivo,

which has been rough. I have the shirt though and a girl in my writing class who is also from Milwaukee saw it and was like ‘Oh my God I feel you!’” Wisotzkey said.

In addition to rowing, Wisotzkey plans on becoming active in the Catholic Center and the Community Service Club.

She recommends BU to anyone who wants to study in a diverse, urban setting.

“Be confident, research the school and know how it will fit you,” Wisotzkey said.

by Shimana Bose

Ripples September 30, 2015

page six

RipplesSeptember 30, 2015

page seven

Shorewood School District: a progression through

the years

1920s

1846- The first school building was built on the present-day high school campus in

the then-called East Milwaukee.The four-room log cabin sat in a clearing of woods, the funds

to build it raised by private subscriptions. There were log desks

and benches, one wood stove for heat, a cot in the corner and a

hanging of dried meat.

1864- The school was destroyed by fire.1869- A new school was built on northeast corner of Capitol

Drive and Oakland Avenue.1895- Another fire destroyed this installation.1896- As it was commonly referred, the “pink room” was built

to replace the building. Its name came from the colors of the walls, which were originally red but faded as time continued.

1900-19191908- The first elementary school was built where village hall currently stands. It was a four-room schoolhouse

that also served as the community center.

1913- The school board purchased land for Atwater Elementary school

1915- The span of Shorewood School District began: Atwater

Elementary School opened its doors to the public for the first time. The building was only half complete, containing only 11 of its planned 22

classrooms.1919- In addition to the already-built front half, 11 more rooms and a combined auditorium-gymnasium

were added to the back of the building.

1922- Shorewood Schools provided adult evening classes. Some of the offerings

included instruction sewing, photography and foreign languages.

1922- Shorewood Ripples was founded, along with the Copperdome and National

Honor Society. The entire student body — meaning seven students — contributed in

Ripples’ creation, also working as the Copperdome staff in order to make a combined

yearbook/newspaper.

1924- Lake Bluff Elementary School opened its first six-classroom section to oblige to the increasing population.

1925- Shorewood High School’s current

administration and manual arts building were unveiled

for grades 7-12. High school students were, for the first time, educated within the district. Prior to this they

attended Riverside, their tuition paid for by the village.1925- Shorewood presented its first

graduating class.

1928- The high school physical education

building, north gym and heating plant were

completed.

1929- The high school science building’s

construction concluded, amounting in the new

addition.

1800s

1930- The Shorewood School District school colors became

red and gray.

1930- The high school’s swimming pool completed construction.

From then on, Shorewood became known for owning one of first school pools in the state, as well as being one of the first to permit swimming lessons for all ages and require swimming for all high

school students.

1930- Lake Bluff opened its main wing.

1932- The final phase of Lake Bluff Elementary School was completed.

1935- The high school auditorium opened.

Also in the 1930s: The schools provided dental hygiene and

health exams within their doors.

1930-1950

Today, the high school contains 34.5 classrooms, offers 23 sports and has over 40 clubs and

co-curricular activities.

In 2013, US News & World Report ranked it as the best high school in the state.

The history of the high school’s development was applied within the administration building’s

front hall mural, created by local artists during the building’s creation and can still be seen today.

From a four-room schoolhouse in the center of a forest to a

four-school district, Shorewood’s school system has evolved.

Today

1951-20101951- The high school’s gym and youth center opened.

1970- Shorewood Intermediate School finished construction and was introduced to the middle school students.

1997- The Milwaukee Journal ranked SHS as the best high school in the metro area.

1998- SHS was again ranked as the best high school in the metro area, this time by the Milwaukee Magazine.

1998- The manual arts building became the community fitness center.2003- The high school science building addition opened.

As Atwater turns 100 years old, it is an appropriate time to look back at the school district’s development as a whole. Shorewood began

as a little village called East Milwaukee with one small school to educate its children; now it upkeeps its name, teaching children amongst a

village of over 13,000 people.

Atwater has been part of the Shorewood School District for 100 years, Lake Bluff for 89, the high school 90 and the intermediate school

for 45. Throughout this long span, Shorewood has morphed with the times, landing where it is today.

As of now, Atwater celebrates 100 years in session and the whole distrcit celerbrates the 90 classes that have graduated from Shorewood’s

halls. Buildings have been burned down, built up and used for seven-hour school days. Since the first school in this area arrived, children have been educated for 169 years.

Spread by Elena Cruz

Photos by Ben Davis

Information via the Shorewood Historical Society

and the Shorewood School District website

A&ERipples September 30, 2015

page eight

WPA murals reveal Shorewood’s history

The 10 painted panels in the lobby of the

administration building at the high school

are something often seen, but perhaps not

fully viewed as a piece of the high school’s

important history upon first look. The murals depict historic scenes of

Wisconsin. They are passed by hundreds of people daily and are actually a product

of high unemployment rates during the

Great Depression and Shorewood’s desire

to incorporate more art into the educational

setting at the time. During the Great Depression, there were

times when nearly 25% of the population

The sixth annual Milwaukee Film Festival will take place from September 24 until October 8, with the opening night

at the Oriental Theatre. Fox-Bay Cinema and Grill, Landmark Downer Theatre, Avalon Theater, Times Cinema and the Oriental Theatre are the theaters hosting

the festival.The festival is 14 days of narrative

documentaries, short films, animations and many other genres from amateur

filmmakers all over the world.“Milwaukee Film Festival is here

to implement film and create unification within our community, to embrace film for what it is and to get to share not

only blockbusters, but also independent films,” said Shaverick Allen, Milwaukee Film Festival box office mangaer. “Most of it is basically to get everybody and

collect everybody in the best way we can

in order for everybody to enjoy a film together. It’s international … First it was called International Film Festival but changed to Milwaukee Film Festival so it didn’t sound like every other festival.”

Milwaukee Film Festivalby Jessi Duncan and Yasmin Suhailin Mohd “It’s really hard to get copies of the

movies they are going to be showing

in the film festival, so they worked really hard to go get excellent movies

to show here,” said Abby Veitch, Fox-Bay Cinema and Grill manager. “This is our fourth time in the film festival ... It’s really exciting to have lots of people at

the movies and a lot of new customers

come in.”Every year, the festival works to

bring well-known special guests, and this year is no different. Raven Symone, star of That’s So Raven, will be at the

Oriental for pictures and a talk about film.

“It’s a lot of fun. A lot of people come through here that don’t usually come

here to see films,” said Liz Ahlstrom, Landmark Downer Theatre assistant manager. “It’s a challenge sometimes, but it’s exciting. Maybe 50,000 people

come each year, and that might be a low

estimate. We’ve been a part of this since the beginning.”

Ticket prices are $12 for general

admission, $11 for students and seniors

and $6 for children.

by Celeste Carroll was unemployed, calling for Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president at the time, to develop a plan in 1936 to provide jobs for

the unemployed. The resulting effort was the Works Progress Administration Project, or the WPA.

While many of the WPA projects had

to do with public construction, one portion

of the program created employment for

musicians, writers and artists. Nearly every community in America at this time had some

sort of involvement with the WPA, including

Shorewood. “In Shorewood, we had WPA workers

working on the sewers, the plumbing. [They were the] people who built the beach building

at Atwater Beach. They built the Hubbard Lodge,” said Karen de Hartog, president of the Shorewood Historical Society.

While the Atwater beach house no longer

exists, as it was knocked down after falling into disrepair, the Hubbard Lodge and many other WPA projects still remain standing. One of these projects includes the high school’s

painted murals, which, according to de

Hartog, were painted by a WPA artist.“[The murals] were done in the late

1930’s by a man named Carl Van Treek. Van Treek was an artist out of work, and the purpose of the WPA was to give artists

something to do,” de Hartog said. Van Treek, a German immigrant who

came to America in the 1920’s, reportedly was

paid 25 cents for every square foot of mural he

painted for the high school. His work depicts various important figures from Wisconsin’s past, including Native Americans, and those who settled Wisconsin.

“[The murals are] supposed to tell the stories of the settlement of this area. You’ve got farmers, and the industries. There’s a lumberman, a harbor scene, businessmen

inspecting grain,” de Hartog said.Most of the panels are visible in the

administration building lobby, while two

lie within the offices on either side of the building’s front entrance doors. A family, a one-room schoolhouse and Van Treek’s depiction of the mining, dairy and lumber

industries are also among the images.Over time, the murals, collectively titled

“On Wisconsin” by the artist, began to fall apart, prompting a restoration project in 1994

by the Shorewood Historical Society. “The murals were getting in poor shape.

There were thumbtacks in them, some small tears. In 1994, the historical society decided

to do something about it,” de Hartog said. “It cost about $5,000 to restore them.”

The murals have remained in fairly

good condition since, and have not required

additional restoration. de Hartog says she appreciates the fact that the murals have

remained where they are for so long, and that

they were also able to employ a man who

was unemployed, when unemployment in

the nation was at an all time high.“I think it’s interesting that the ...

administration at the time realized it was important to [create these murals],” de Hartog said. “It adds some culture to the school, some color, some history, and they’ve lasted. Hopefully people think they’re valuable enough to keep caring for them.”

The 2015 summer was that of many

exciting, and exhilarating Hollywood b l o c k b u s t e r s t h a t cracked box off ice records and drained

our wallets. However, T h e M a n f r o m U.N.C.L.E missed the

summer deadline, as

it bared a remarkably s i m i l a r f o r m a t t o

i t s p r e d e c e s s o r s . Se t du r ing t he

c o l d w a r r i v a l r y

between America and

the Soviet Union, a

criminal organization with nuclear technology

surfaces with a plot to spark a global crises that is of interest to both

governments. American spy Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) is forced to team up with Russian KGB agent

Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) to bring down Victoria (Elizabeth Debicki) and Alexander Vinc igue r r a (Luca

Calvani), the head of the

villainous organization. The Vinciguerras

must use the help of

former Nazi scientist Udo Teller (Christian B e r k e l ) t o b u i l d their private nuclear

warhead. Napoleon and I l lya fo rm an alliance with a mysterious East Germanic

mechanic who is the daughter of Udo,

by Will Aldana and Cal Curran

Man From U.N.C.L.E. reviewin the hopes that she can help them find and eliminate the Vinciguerras and their attempts to become leaders of the free world.

Although this was a 1960’s television

show reboot, this stylish

movie was able maintain

the crucial elements to

the show (for example

the cheesy names), while creating a modern James

Bond-esque spy thriller meeting the modern

viewers s tandards . The movie has

constant action with

slick cinematography without relying on CGI. The camera work can be compared to a Quentin

Tarantino like style without the gratuitous gore and adult themes.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. has a playful

score with homages to the original theme

song played over action scenes that absorbed

you into the plot. In one scene Napoleon and Illya were both chas ing Alexander

across country over

rough terrain, which

was not only interesting

to watch but featured

many amazing stunts. However, some of scenes had unnecessary

dialogue, lasted longer

than needed and was

occasionally redundant. A n y o n e

looking for a fun , up beat, action packed spy thriller will find it in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

“The stylish movie was able to maintain the crucial elements to the show, while creating a modern

Bond-esque spy thriller.”

“Anyone looking for a fun, up beat, action packed spy thriller will find it in The Man From

U.N.C.L.E.”

Celeste Carroll, senior, ponders one of the murals in the SHS administration building lobby. These murals were created through the WPA project in the late 1930’s.

Ben Davis

People wait in line for the opening night of the Milwaukee Film Festival at the Oriental Theatre. 2015’s Festival will run for 14 days.

courtesy uwmpost.com

Arts & Entertainment RipplesSeptember 30, 2015

page nine

The third annual Plein Air Shorewood, an outdoor art competition and celebration, took place on September 16-19.

These Plein Air competitions happen all over the USA, and Wisconsin has the most Plein Airs out of any state. The Shorewood Plein Air, however, is known as one of the top three Plein Airs in Wisconsin because of the large cash prizes available.

“The Shorewood Plein Air started as a way to acknowledge the anonymous gift of the Plensa sculpture and to bring ... awareness of public art,” said Jenny Heyden, event organizer.

For three days, the artists painted outdoors and competed for prizes. The total amount of prize money given away was over $6000.

This year there were 41 artists in total, 19 of them staying with host families.

“What is different this year than in past years is that we are trying to bring a lot more events out into the public,” Heyden said.

This year the sale location was changed from the library to a tent outside of the high school.

In past years they charged each artist $40 to participate then took a 35% commission of all work sold.

“Those who had not sold in the past were able to do the show for $40–and have

Plein Air celebrates local art for third yearby Martha Dix a really beautiful event in which their work

shown – and still be eligible for cash prizes,” Heyden said.

This year, the artists paid $200 as a

fee to participate and they did not pay any commission. According to Heyden, this changed the mix of artists the event received.

Many previous artists returned that had

previously paid over $200 in commission. “They were actually saving money by selling here in Shorewood,” Heyden said.

Artists R.L. Weber from Belvidere IL and Carol Grant Stevens from Slinger WI both returned. Both said they loved having the opportunity to participate in this year’s Plein Air once again.

“ [The] beautiful architecture, great area and full community of people that support the arts brought me to the Shorewood Plein Air,” Stevens said.

Both artists have been to other Plein Airs before, including Cedarburg and Beloit. This year was slightly different than previous Plain Airs, however, because of the imperfect weather conditions.

“Many people struggled with the weather, but to me that added the variety you got to paint: ... it created a lot of atmosphere. That was a really exciting aspect of this year’s Plein Air Shorewood,” Weber said.

All of the artists did a two-hour quick paint in the business district of Shorewood.

“One of the best parts for me was people coming up to me on the streets and literally thanking me for coming,” Stevens said.

Both artists agreed that the thing that inspired them the most were the other artists.

“Personally, I want to thank all the volunteers that organized the event,” Weber said.Residents peruse finished artwork at the Plein Air show on the SHS front lawn. The

outdoor art competition celebrated local art, with 41 artists participating.

Julie Pottinger

When I heard Stephen Colbert was moving from cable to broadcast television as the host of The Late Show, I was concerned. I was a loyal viewer of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central and loved how Colbert used satire to poke fun at the extreme political pundits that inspired his character.

Here were my concerns: would he host the show as the character “Stephen Colbert?” Would the CBS censors make his material less effective? Would he be forced to do promotional celebrity interviews instead of the informative and thought-provoking conversations with scientists, writers and politicians that were my highlights from The Report?

Three weeks into the new show, I am pleasantly surprised that The Late Show

stays relatively true to its roots.

The set includes artifacts from The

Report and a lively studio audience that still chants, “Stephen! Stephen!” at the beginning of every show. Colbert delivers jokes in almost the exact same way: sitting at a desk with a pen and notes (for shuffling purposes only), looking straight at the camera while graphics change on the left and pulling out random props from below the huge wrap-around desk. His sense humor, although the satire is less extreme, has the same rhythm, focus on politics and running gags, such as satirical merchandise.

Late Show stays true to rootsBut I am most appreciative of

the fact that the majority of Colbert’s guests and interviews have substance. Among the silly anecdotes and movie promotions, Colbert asks interesting questions to people who are important outside of Hollywood.

For example, Colbert’s interview with Vice President Joe Biden during the third episode was a heartfelt and sincere discussion about death and grieving. The 20-minute interview was even more powerful because it

was a chance for the audience to see an authentic Stephen Colbert, rather than the host of The Colbert Report. While the other late night hosts compete for views on YouTube with goofy sketches, like “Lip-sync Battles” and “Carpool Karaoke,” the interview with Biden garnered more than two million views

because it is moving and sincere.

But I don’t want this to sound like a love letter to Stephen Colbert.

At times his celebrity interviews can be awkward. I don’t find the musical guests impressive. And

so far, there have been way too many Donald Trump jokes.

However, he has just fewer than 200 more shows in the first season to work it out.

What makes Colbert stand out from the rest of the (unfortunately all male and mostly white) late night hosts is that his humor is smart. I think most Shorewood students would enjoy it.

Colbert’s guests and

interviews have sub-

stance.

The Visit exceeds expectationsby Maeve McKaig

His humor is smart.

I think most Shore-

wood students would

enjoy it.

by Graham Hartlaub

In 1999, a smaller, lower-budget film came out called The Sixth Sense and it started a revolution. The spectacular direction, the amazingly well written script, an ending you’d never see coming — it changed the way people looked at cinema. Who was at the helm of this masterpiece? An unknown filmmaker named M. Night Shyamalan. All of the sudden, he was everywhere in the news and the subject of much praise. However, after Unbreakable and Signs, his fan-base went on a decline. His stories had more plot holes; his scripts contained dialogue that felt forced and unnatural and they did not have the creative flare that his first three films had. After films such as The Happening

and The Last Airbender, moviegoers had mostly lost their faith in Shyamalan.

So when his name came up in bold, red letters during the trailer for The Visit, the grand majority of moviegoers, including myself, rolled their eyes and sighed in disappointment. But what if we all got sucked in to yet another great, big plot twist? Has Shyamalan finally gotten back to his roots? Or is this just another one of his disasters?

The Visit stars Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie and Kathryn Hahn and is about two siblings who are invited to travel down into rural Pennsylvania for a week to visit their estranged grandparents. We are told this story through the two cameras of Becca, an aspiring documentarian, and her brother, Tyler, an aspiring rapper, and through their cameras they see that not everything is exactly “okay” with their Nana and PopPop. They have these strange rules; freaky noises occur in the middle of the night; and Becca feels obligated to get it all on tape.

One of the more noticeable things in the movie, for me, was the use of the “found

footage” technique. After Paranormal

Activity, of course, that whole style of filmmaking quickly became overused and clichéd, but in this it seemed like Shyamalan knew that and embraced it. It was like he knew that the audience would be a little tired of the genre and he used that to his advantage. This really caught my attention when the sound effects, or the ones that were supposed to be there, were all kept in-camera. There weren’t any strings or little scary instruments playing during the jump-scares or any of the other scares. Everything happened that needed to happen and that actually made the film more impactful for

me as a viewer.The characters

were strong in their presence and the actors definitely helped make that happen. The grandparents were very creepy and bone-chillingly portrayed by Dunagan

and McRobbie. Even the kids, played by DeJonge and Oxenbould, were convincing.

The script was a bit shaky in the beginning, but got better. Some of the dialogue was a bit awkward, but got more focused quite quickly and there were even some scenes that pulled on the heart-strings, which were well-executed.

I’m very happy that I get to say “Shyamalan did a great job directing” again. The way the cameras were held and placed was very effective; the pacing was fairly even and at just the right speed for this kind of a film; and, the way the movie looked all meshed together in a very fitting way.

After seeing this film, the film enthusiast in me wanted to know a little more on what happened to Shyamalan during its production. What changed? Why was this film so different? Sure enough, he seemed to have gone back to his roots. He started small, got a producer, got a crew, got a cast, and made the film. He made it just for the sake of filmmaking, and that’s the best thing you can do in this field.

The way the cameras

are held and placed

was very effective.

A&ERipples September 30, 2015

page ten

When dealing with stage four ovarian cancer, like Vivian Bearing, there is no stage five. On October 8, the drama department will premier Wit.

Vivian Bearing, PhD, is a college English professor who specializes in John Donne sonnets, which are quoted often throughout the play. Knowing her situation is fairly dire, she offers herself up to experimental treatment.

According to Ella Curran, senior, and playing the role of Bearing’s, says her doctors are really scientists and researchers concerned with the results of the radiation, not the person going through so much pain.

“It will be difficult to not get emotional while doing it, but at the same time it will be empowering,” Curran said.

Confined often to her hospital room, the play follows Bearing’s eight-month journey and those involved: her students, mentors, and father.

“I saw Wit about fifteen years ago at a professional theatre in Denver, and I was moved to tears,” said Joe King, director. “I knew it was a show I wanted to recreate someday. Wit is not a show that high schools

Wit makes audience central to performancetypically do.”

“It’s beautiful, it’s tough, and it’s going to hit home with a lot of people,” King said.

King is most excited for the “intimate” setting. The audience, one sixth of the usual size, will be up on stage with the actors in a form called thrust seating. Risers will be set around three sides of the stage allowing everyone to be up close and personal.

Ella Xistris, senior and a lead in the show, expressed a little concern about just how close the viewers will be.

“The costumes, the makeup, the wigs, will all have to be extremely lifelike,” Xistris said.

The cast of 14 will also be quite close, and both King and Xistris are excited to work with such a small group and have a little more sense of teamwork over the course of 22 rehearsals.

“I really felt that during the audition, Ella [Curran] understood the nuance of humor in the script,” said King, on the topic of casting the leads.

According to King, all the actors have to put in everything.

In the past month, Curran has had to memorize over 700 lines. Despite worries about the short time period over which she

by Olivia Poole and Abby Widell will need to memorize so much, Curran is very excited to connect with her character. Right from the start she could tell that her role, “is fiercely intelligent, and sarcastic, and strong,” Curran said.

Although specific details have yet to be disclosed, the cast of Wit will be teaming

up with Shorewood High School Ovarian Club to raise money for cancer research and organizations around Milwaukee supporting women’s health.

The show will run from October 8-10 with shows everyday at 7:00 P.M. and a matinee at 2:00 P.M. on Sunday.

Crossword puzzle

Puzzle solutions from Issue 1

ACROSS: 1. Informal greeting 4. Man’s best friend (plural) 8. Concrete edge of pavement 12. Mocking remark 13. Abbreviation for instant 14. Practice of lending money at unreasonably high interest rates 16. ___ Robinson 17. Normandy landings 18. Bind again 19. Eggs of helminthes 20. Viscous sticky substance 21. Finish 23. Male offspring 24. Moistly 26. Remains of a fire 28. Second largest bird 30. Salsa and guacamole, for example 32. Popular Arabian-nights themed manga 36. A sudden hard pull 39. Part of the plant below 41. Data set average

42. Type of lyrical poem 43. Well known or famous45. Archaic form of often 46. Informal ‘yes’ 48. Deep-red iron-containing pigment of blood 49. Abbreviation of ‘information’ 50. On top of 51. Another name for donkey 52. Shortened form of ‘robot’ 58. Friend, informal 61. Method or path62. Kind of firm that allows employers to outsource employee management tasks64. What we breathe 65. Habitual, customary 67. Number in a duo 69. _____ Hapley 71. More frozen than 72. Small lizard 73. Seed covering 74. The sun, for example 75. Group of cows

76. Past participle of see 77. ‘Classy’ woman 78. Before

DOWN:1. Sifter 2. German submarine 3. ‘The ____ is mightier than the sword’ 4. British singer 5. Japanese folk music genre 6. Independent government agency created in 19497. A boil near the edge of an eyelid 8. Fried cheese _____9. Utilize 10. Hard to change habits 11. Canadian soft drink brand 12. Luminosity 15. Japanese currency 20. Place of exercise 22. Forty winks 25. A group of males that come together for breeding 27. Sound people make when thinking 29. Type of large jar 30. Adores

31. A thing 33. _____ Flux 34. Barbed spear for fishing 35. To go to the interior of 36. Popular kids’ toy in the 1980’s 37. Gulf of ______38. Tidy 40. Exclamations of surprise 44. Short for debutante 47. In what way or manner49. Contraction of ‘it is’ 51. Sailor’s yes 53. Cooks’ garb 54. Associated with the speaker and one or more other people 55. To speak 56. Well-informed 57. _____ of the Rings 58. Farm animal 59. To have passed with flying colors60. Hair parasites 63. National gemstone of Australia 64. Dry and barren 66. Lazily70. Long span of time 74. His, he; hers, ______

by Shimana Bose

Ella Curran and Ryan Groeschel rehearse for the high school drama production of

Wit, which will show from October 8th to the 10th.

Sheilel Bell-Lipsey

Op/Ed RipplesSeptember 30, 2015

page eleven

Technology policies must evolve

New transgender equality initiatives

Last February, the school district launched a new initiative that instructed administration and teachers on how to support the transgender students within the Shorewood community.

Some of the new efforts put in place include allowing students to use the restroom of the gender they identify with, as well as increased privacy for any locker room usage. Many transgender students in the high school have already utilized these new opportunities, and feel more accepted throughout the faculty and student body because of them.

Shorewood should be proud that they allow students to be who they want to be;

however the same cannot be said for the rest of the U.S.

The Obama administration recently passed a law prohibiting health care providers and insurance companies from discriminating against people because of their gender identities. Although this law will help somewhat, the Obama

administration was, unfortunately, unable to require healthcare providers to provide gender transition surgeries. The majority of insurance companies do not cover these procedures claiming they are elective

procedures and “not necessary.” Due to a lack of clarity within the

American Psychology Association on whether being transgender is a medical condition, there’s room for discrimination. Pamela Merritt, of National Rural Health Resource Center (RHRC) says many insurance companies discriminate against transgender people seeking coverage for the cost of surgery even if the company through which they are insured approves coverage.

People should never be discriminated against. Being transgender is not a reason to discriminate against anyone, much less prevent them from being who they are.

The government needs to continue to push for a strong law that prevents health insurance discrimination based upon one’s health problems, sexuality, gender, race and/or previous medical history. If this is to be, it will be a great and important leap for the LGBT community, as well as discriminated individuals or groups affected.

Julie Pottinger

Hana Schofield

Board not cutting itEditorial

RipplesEDITOR IN CHIEFElena Katrina Cruz

MANAGING EDITOR OF STAFFMonica Elizabeth Dix

NEWS EDITOR:Monica Elizabeth Dix

FEATURES EDITORSydney “Cidnae” Widell

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITOREli Jacob Frank

OPINIONS EDITORElena Katrina Cruz

SPORTS EDITORMaeve Elizabeth Mckaig

WEBSITE EDITORAnanya Murali

ASSISTANT WEBSITE EDITORMartha Katherine Dix

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORSEli Jacob Frank

Maeve Elizabeth Mckaig

DEPUTY PAGE EDITORSShimana Meghan BoseSarah Katherine Eder

COPY EDITORSCeleste Bernadette CarrollMaya Celeste Schneider

Madeline Elizabeth Wilson

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORSBen Samuel Davis

Olivia Grace Loomis

BUISNESS MANAGER Olivia Lynn Holbrook

ADVISORMichael Cody Halloran

By tradition and practice, Ripples is an open forum and provides a guaranteed outlet for student expression. Ripples subscribes to the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists, including the obligation to perform with intelligence, objectivity, accuracy and fairness.

Editorials are unsigned and represent the majority opinion of the Ripples editorial staff. Signed letters to the Editor are welcome, but the staff reserves the right to edit for grammar and length. For more information, contact any editor or the advisor.

Ripples reserves the right to deny advertising space to any ad deemed deceiving or misleading. Libelous ads and those containing misstatements or mistruths are unacceptable. Publication of an advertisement in Ripples does not indicate endorsement of that ad.

Ripples students do all work to bring ten issues per year to press.

First class postage paid in Shorewood. A subscription to Ripples is available for $25.00 per year. Mail payment to:

Shorewood Ripples Shorewood High School

1701 E. Capitol Drive Shorewood, WI 53211

Phone Number: (414) 961-3128

Email address: shorewoodripples@gmail.com

Ideas?Submissions?Suggestions?

Letters to the Editor?

Contact a Ripples editor or advisor at the number or email address listed above.

Eder you like it or not

Katie Eder

Sibs Says

Michael Sibila

The school board recently adopted a Coherence Governing Model, which, according to the district community blog, is “a framework to enable boards to lead the organization through policy.” The board decided to adopt this model in order to monitor the results of their governing more effectively and improve their interactions with the community.

Although the Coherence Governance Model includes many different concepts, the developments that we, the editors, believe to be most notable are “linkages” and the speaking limits put on community members in board meetings.

The new model uses these linkages as a way for board members and the superintendent to communicate work being done by the district to the community and in return receive feedback from residents. In simple terms, linkages are groups of people that want to meet with the superintendent and a board member twice a year. There are currently 18 linkages that have scheduled meetings, including Booster clubs and PTOs.

We believe that linkages are a way to repair the distrust that certain community groups have recently developed toward the board. At these meetings, the purpose is to clarify resolutions and receive feedback, not to

debate or govern. When the board has to answer questions and address conflict at public meetings, discussion gets messy and the board cannot do its job.

While the concept of linkages theoretically opens up communication between the board and the community, the new public participation policies appear to be limiting that communication. As editors, we know that although there are only two sides to an argument, it is possible to have many different reasons or justifications to choosing a side. By limiting the number of people that can speak for a side of an issue to three, the board risks not hearing arguments that could resonate with them, possibly leading to a different vote. We understand the policy was put in place to streamline discussion and avoid redundancies, but we believe the number of people allowed to speak for each side should be at least five. The idea that three people could represent an entire community’s perspective on an issue is simply unrealistic.

Overall, we support the board in attempting to reorganize the structure of meetings and improving communication with community, but even more improvements could be made. Ideally, the community and the board need to converse based on mutual trust, courtesy and respect.

Shorewood’s current outlook on technology use in the classroom is outdated and not giving students the knowledge to help them become responsible technology users in college and in the world of work.

There does not seem to be an opportunity to use technology in class to enhance lectures and assignments. In fact, many teachers have recently banned all technology use, their new rules stemming from research articles that circulated among the faculty in August stating how cell phones distract students from learning.

Yes, we need reasonable rules against texting or using social media in class. However, many teachers seem to have interpreted these articles to mean all technology is distracting, a conclusion that puts students at a disadvantage when learning. On the first day of school, some teachers announced policies against students’ laptops, tablets and cell phones even being out during class. Other teachers require special permission from a parent or counselor in order for such devices to be used, leaving only a few teachers who allow students to take notes on their computer or tablet and interact with other students and the teacher using programs such as Google Drive, Evernote and simple PowerPoints.

Shorewood is meant to be a college preparatory high school. We model a college atmosphere with an open campus and rigorous academics. However, in almost

all colleges throughout the U.S. technology is a major component of the classroom. We cannot call ourselves college preparatory if most teachers will not allow students the use of computers to take notes in the classroom. By not using technology like this now, we are defeating the purpose of high school, which is meant to be a place to learn and train for college.

In addition, last year, Shorewood become a “Google school,” meaning it uses a new Google Apps for Education (GAFE) program. In a previous Ripples article about this new program, Tim Kenney said, “as time goes on, you’re going to see less pencil and paper and more collaborative workspaces in cyberspace.” However, there does not seem to be a continued effort by the administration or teachers to continue this transition to a technologically savvy school.

Many teachers say that one of the reasons they don’t allow technology in the classroom is because students will spend time texting one another or on other social media. Although some students may choose to abuse a privilege like this, the majority would not. Furthermore, those who do will suffer the consequences of not paying attention or taking notes in class. It is not the teacher’s job to police them and make sure that they are on task. We are in high school, not second grade. If students do not wish to learn, it is not up to the teacher to make them.

The school as a whole needs to reassess how we see technology, and realize that the fact many teachers are not allowing the use of it in the classroom is putting Shorewood students at a disadvantage by not preparing them for life after high school. It is important that we, as a progressive district, realize that both students and teachers need to adapt to the use of technology in the 21 century world, because it’s not going away.

Sports RipplesSeptember 30, 2015

page twelve

Cheerleaders bring pep with squad of sixStudents believe there is a lot to cheer

about at Shorewood this year: strong sports teams, a new stadium and the football team’s first home game win. However, there are not many people to cheer about it.

The cheerleading team is down to only six girls.

In their short history as a squad, the team has never seen such low numbers. Nevertheless, the girls and Lonrae Davis, coach, are staying positive.

“This team is definitely smaller,” Davis said. “We have six girls right now, however these girls work very, very, very well together. We don’t have any drama whatsoever this year, which is always a plus. I am very happy with the group of girls

that we have this year. It’s a little smaller than years past, but that’s okay with us.”

Hana Schofield, senior, said that there are pros and cons to having a small team.

“There are good things and bad things about [only having six girls],” Schofield said. “The good thing … is that it’s not too big that we’re disconnected from each other. Being a small group, it’s easier for everyone to get together and hang out … But sometimes we wish there were more people so we could do stunts. At the game last week, there were about 20 girls on the other team and only six of us. But it was still fun.”

Sami Palmisano, senior, agrees. She said that compared to her experience freshman year, the cheerleaders have a closer bond.

“I think the team bonding has changed [this year]. I remember my freshman year, there were more people, [but] with more separate groups and drama,” Palmisano said. “[This year,] we all like each other, and there’s no negativity.”

Although most small cheerleading squads are unable to do stunts, this year’s team is eager to solve this puzzle.

“We’re trying to get stunting [into our cheers], but that’s also hard with six people,” Palmisano said.

Davis said that stunting can take the team to a competitive level, which is a long-term goal for the program.

“I’d like to see the girls stunt because … at competitions we [see] stunts, we [see] dancing and we [see] competitive cheer,” she said.

To learn how to stunt, Davis had professionals come to teach the girls on September 26 for the second time this season.

“We just have to take it day by day, especially with the new girls. We want people to be prepared, we don’t want them to be nervous [and] we don’t want them to fall and hurt themselves. We want everyone to be up on safety, so that’s why we hire people to come who really know what they’re doing,” Davis said.

Davis said that she would like to take the team to competitions, but she would rather wait until everyone feels they are ready.

by Maeve McKaig

by Maya Schneider

The Shorewood/Messmer co-op football team, Messwood, reportedly had a solid start to their season, beginning with a 2-3 record.

“The first two wins … have been really memorable,” said Russell Sottile, senior.

According to Sottile, the team worked very hard in order to achieve their current record. The team has been busy since August, training and conditioning in preparation for this year’s season.

Messwood’s two wins have been against Cudahay and Nicolet, both by significant margins, with ending scores of 34-7 and 34-13.

According to Joey Lofton, sophomore, the team has also suffered many hard-hitting losses.

“That first loss to [Rufus] King by two [points] … sticks with us,” said Lofton.

With a losing score to King of 22-20, Meswood battles against a team during a weeknight game. Experiencing a challeng-ing first few weeks, the team has risen to face physical and personal challenges.

Jacob Burnham

“Coach’s dad pass-

ing away ... That

brings us closer

together.”

-Joey Lofton,sophomore

“[Our goals include]

definitely making the playoffs.”

-Jake Nation,sophomore

“There are some small competitions that we can enter, but we want to be prepared. Right now we’re just in the learning stage. We will take it step by step and will [go] to the easier competitions and work our way up. Most of the girls who compete in these

competitions have cheered, stunted and danced their entire lives … We have two girls who had danced and cheered before when they were younger, so that gives us a leg up, but then we also have girls who haven’t … We don’t want to compete with the girls who have been dancing and cheering

all of their lives because there will be no competition at this point,” Davis said.

Currently, the cheerleaders are cheering for the football season and are planning for the basketball season.

According to Davis and Palmisano, the team is trying to recruit more people.

“We would love to have boys on the team,” Davis said.

“[Cheerleading is] a sport that you really have to work hard at, especially those who are dedicated … It’s not just something you can join. For basketball season, we are looking for individuals who are hard workers and who are dedicated, and we are looking for boys to join our squad. Once we get to that competitive stage, it will be a lot of hard work and strength from boys will be a big help,” Davis said.

Anyone who is interested in joining the squad can get information from the athletic office.

Messwood bonds through griefFootball team starts season strong with closer relationship to coach

Lofton said, they were very disappointment in themselves.

Jake Nation, sophomore, said that although they lost more games than won,

the team spirit has not faltered.

“We’ve got a solid team dynamic,” Nation said.

Sottile agreed.“It’s like a football

family,” Sottile said.This family

atmosphere was evident after a dramatic event involving Chad Hofmann, head coach. Hofmann’s father

passed away in August after a biking accident, and the Messwood players are dedicating their season to his memory.

“Coach’s dad passing away … That brings us closer together,” Lofton said.

While the team is improving its connection, it is also attempting to improve its statistics. With four more weeks in the season, the team is setting high goals.

“[Our goals include] definitely

making the playoffs,” Nation said.

Students rehearse a routine led by Sami Palmisano, senior and team captain. The team’s small size has compelled them to work harder and with more unity.

Sydney Widell

“[The team] is a little

smaller than years

past, but that’s okay with us.”

-Lonrae Davis,coach