Table of Contents
News Around Shawnee
Editorials
Reviews
Sports
Letter from the Editors and Credits
News Around Shawnee
What is Thrive?
Every Thursday from 10:54 to 11:24 Shawnee Students will have Thrive. Thrive is alot like connections, but what does that mean? Is it an extra study hall? Is it nap time? Or is it a break from school stress?
The answer is simply that Thrive is a period where students will be able to go access resources to better their education. A time to go to any teacher's room and ask questions, or get help.
For the first quarter it will be used as independent study time. Students will have to stay in their connections classroom. However, by the second quarter students will be able to visit any of their teachers' rooms for extra help.
This is very beneficial for Shawnee students, especially for kids with no study halls. Even if you do have a study hall, thrive opens new opportunities for you to get the educational assistance you need.
The inspiration for this came from students and staff having conflicting open periods. If someone with a study hall needed help on math, but their study hall is 6th period and the math treacher´s planning period was 2nd, then how is that fair? It´s not. So now Thrive will be here to improve everyones educational experience.
Teacher´s Views
Mr. Miller says that, “As the year progresses, I think student grades will only continue to improve.” Mr Miller has freshman for thrive and tells of how he helps regulate their grades and encourage them to check progressbook.
From Shawnee Students
Ava Patel, junior and student government member says she enjoys thrive, and gets a chance to relax during her busy day. She likes it because she can catch up on her work, or even work ahead. “I also enjoy having Ms. Obrien, because I don’t have her in my normal schedule.”
Junior Damola Ojo calls it, “A glorified study hall.”
AJ Croft, one of Damola’s friends chimes in, “I would like three Thrive periods a day”
-Alex Karapondo
Tyler Craig - Senior Spotlight
One of this month’s Senior Spotlights is Tyler Craig. Interested in technology, Tyler studies Computer Information Support at the Apollo Career Center. His plans for college, other than currently attending Apollo, are still undetermined. In the future, he hopes to become a network administrator for a large company. Tyler is that guy who gets chicken strips and fries at every restaurant, from Applebee’s to Old City Prime, from American food to Nigerian food. If chicken strips are on the menu, Tyler will order them. He loves to play Settlers of Catan, poker, and Ticket to Ride with his friends and family. His favorite subject in school has always been English. Tyler’s favorite memory from high school is traveling to Disney World with the marching band. He says that there has never been a trip that he has gone on quite like it, and that he found his friend group there. On the other hand, his least favorite memory was when he left all of his friends and favorite teachers behind to go to Apollo, saying that it was an “incredibly tough decision to make.” Tyler’s advice for freshmen is the following: “You are not the only one who feels as if you don’t fit in. Everyone has that moment where you feel like you are the only one who feels the way you do, but you will eventually realize that you are not alone. Everyone has feelings.” Another direct quote from Tyler is, “High school is one of those things where you can either learn not to care about what others think of you, or you can drown in your own insecurities.”
-Allister Shipley
Miss Leigh Kempton
Mrs. Kempton is the mental health coordinator for all four Shawnee School buildings. She graduated from Ohio State University with her bachelor's and master's in social work. Our school is the only one that she has worked with, and she has been here for almost three years. Before working with Shawnee, Mrs. Kempton worked full-time as an on-call crisis counselor for a crisis stabilization unit. She got into mental health due to her own personal experience with a social worker while she was in school. This experience helped to shape her view of the psychological world, and allowed her goals of helping other people form. When she was in high school, Mrs. Kempton was in choir. At her graduation, the school invited her to sing. This has since been her favorite memory from her entire high school career.
-Allister Shipley
Editorials
New Romantics
I understand we are all devastated about Joe Allen and Taylor Swift's break up last year, but time to turn that frown upside down because there may be another love interest in Ms Swift's life. Travis Kelce a quarterback for the Kansas Chiefs has been rumored to be “quietly hanging out” with Taylor. This all started when Travis attended one of Taylor's concerts this past summer on her eras tour in Kansas City. Travis spoke out on the podcast “New Heights” saying, “If you’re up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets and I received a bunch of them being there, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it.” Travis did not get the chance to give Taylor the bracelet considering she had to rest after the 5-hour concert, but this is not the end of their love story, Travis later came out and stated that Taylor was invited to any of his games. It was quiet for a couple of months until September 24th when Taylor attended the Chiefs game and sat in Travis's box. She seemed to really be enjoying herself with Travis's mother, cheering for him like a fan at one of her concerts. The only issue with this young love is Taylor is a Philadelphian Eagle fan so there might still be some bad blood from the 2023 Super Bowl.
-Samantha Smith
Taylor Vs Kanye
Taylor Swift, the world-renowned pop-country singer, and Kanye West, the iconic rapper and producer, have been in the headlines in the media for quite some time. The two have had some beef with each other in the past and the big question is who is better, Taylor or Kanye?
Taylor Swift’s career began with the release of her single Tim McGraw in 2006 and the song became a Top 10 hit on the country music charts. Her best-selling album 1989 has since sold over 14 million copies worldwide. Swift recently went on her Eras Tour across the United States which was one of the most popular tours of 2023.
Kanye West began his career producing music for leading artists. His 2004 debut College Dropout placed him atop the hiphop charts. Graduation was Kanye’s best-selling album, selling almost 1 million copies in the first week of release. His latest release was Donda in 2021 which won two awards at the 2022 Grammys. Recently West has been more silent and devoid of the press.
With Taylor’s surge in popularity from her tour and Kanye’s recent absence from the public, both celebrities have been headlined in the most popular media outlets. Fans of the two have been fighting for years whether Kanye or Taylor is better. Who do you think wins in the Taylor vs. Kanye battle?
-Malee Southibounnorath
Ballet Flats Are Back
There was nothing quite like the look of elegant ballet flats, these thin shoes are timeless and can be styled very easily. If you want to start incorporating these shoes into your wardrobe you should start with straight-legged jeans, a feminine blouse, and any chunky accessories. This will keep your look casual and also not add too much skin. You want to steer clear of showing too much skin because when you wear ballet flats there's a lot of skin exposed on your feet so you want to counteract it. Ballet flats are a great way to embrace your femininity and I think that you should wear an outfit that fully encapsulates that. You can do this by adding feminine touches with your accessories, this can include bows, dainty jewelry, or a chic handbag. I think it's great to see more feminine fashion come into trend, but the only thing I would caution you about is the blisters you will get from ballet flats.
-Samantha Smith
Advice Column
Question: I want to get involved and join a club or after-school event, what should I try joining?
- Laiktu Reid
Answer: If you want to get involved within the school, there are only a couple of options besides sports that you could join that can accommodate your interests. There are clubs such as Board and Card Game Club where you can play games with Mr. Higgins, or Art Club, where you can make artistic creations with Mr. Krawetzke. In an unbiased opinion, I would recommend the Chief Newspaper because you can write about anything that interests you (within reason) and interact with your peers through what you write. If you enjoy writing and have interests that you would like to share, I would recommend it as a top club to join. Hope this helped!
- Your Fellow Chief Writer
Reviews
Set Sail!
On August 31, Netflix released a live-action adaptation of One Piece. Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Odo, One Piece is well known to be one of the longest-running mangas from July 1997-recent. The story follows an ambitious pirate named Monkey D. Luffy who is after a treasure named the One Piece. Throughout the anime, Luffy meets his crew Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji. In the live adaption, all five characters would be known as the “Straw Hat Pirates” due to Luffy’s hat. The Straw Hats set on an adventure to the Grand Line where the One Piece is said to be located. They encounter obstacles on the way to the Grand Line and different pirates that are also looking for the same treasure. The highly anticipated live-action show has been getting positive reviews not only from original fans of the manga/anime but also from a newer audience. Recently, One Piece broke a Netflix record of being number one in 84 different countries overpassing Wednesday and Stranger Things. Fans admired the live adaption so much that on September 14, Netflix announced that a script had been written and the show would be renewed for a second season. This show might not be of interest to all but I think it’s worth the watch not only because of the storyline but also the actors.
-Mia Molina
Sports
The Race to Success
Our Cross Country team has had a good start to their season, and many are confident about making it to regionals and possibly beyond. A good portion of the runners have gained new personal records and they are seeing consistent improvement from last year. The team is happy to welcome their new coach, Coach Owens. She has proven to be a great coach and has led the team to many exceptional accomplishments. One popular tradition the team has is a team meal on Fridays. Not only do they get to spend time with their teammates, but they also get to enjoy a spaghetti dinner. I got the chance to watch the team run at Bath and it was a lot of fun. Our team is impressive and I was proud to be there supporting my close friends that are on the team. Our seniors this year are Cale Adams, Sean Alexander, Carson Frost, Noah Swallow, Noah Williams, Amelia Vega-Ortiz, and Rocky Stallone. Overall, our cross-country team has had an incredible start and we wish them luck with the rest of their races.
-Abby Rivera
Letter from the Editors
As your new editors, we hope we can provide useful information about the community and each other. We can assure you we will do whatever possible to ensure a great newspaper. Enjoy the September edition, and we are always looking for new writers!
Samantha Smith, Senior editor
We are happy and excited to be writing fun and creative articles for the 2023 school year! If you have any cool topics or ideas to write about, feel free to join or let us know your ideas!
Antoine Shears, Junior editor