Mill Valley High School5900 Monticello RoadShawnee, KS 66226

phone: (913) 422-4351

fax: (913) 422-4039www.usd232.org

enrollment: 1,074

Bottom Left Keeping her composure, junior El Reiner holds a leopard gecko in her Zool-ogy class on Thursday, Oct. 14. “[I was feel-ing] very calm, so it was easy to hold,” Reiner said. “It was my first time holding a gecko, but it was fun.” By Rachel MillsBottom Right Cheering for their team, se-nior Alex Wilson and Matt Perkins celebrate a touchdown during the Homecoming game against Bishop Ward on Friday, September 24. The team won 62-7. “We just yell as loud as we can,” Perkins said. “We’ll also try to think of chants for each of the players.”

By Aleksandra Milewski

Dominant During the Homecoming parade on Friday, Sept. 24, freshman Tyler Henning stops to show his spirit hat to a friend. “I made it with a shoe box, glue, perseverance and inspiration,” Henning said. “I wanted to show people you can do anything you want.”

By Allison Weis

www.mvnews.org

Dominant During float decorating on Friday, Sept. 24, senior Diana Carreira paints paw prints on people’s faces to help them show their spirit. [Parade day] was full of excit-ment and a great way to kick off Homecom-ing,” Carreira said. By Trenton Webster

Above Cheering on the varsity volleyball players, sophomore Kenzie Koch shows her support on Tuesday, Oct. 10. “It’s important to support your team because if they’re playing bad you can get their spirit back in the game,” Koch said. By Lauren King

Left Mobbed by seniors Jordan Ross, Dani Niemann and Kelcie Marquardt, senior Madison Acree walks off of the football field during halftime in the game against Bishop Ward after being crowned Homecoming queen on Friday, Sept. 24. The team won 62-7. “She’s my best friend and she deserved to win [Homecoming queen],” Ross said. “She’s a good person all around and is friends with everyone.” By Aleksandra Milewski

Above Careful to keep up with the steps of the dance, junior Hayley Grigsby performs the cheer competition routine for the Homecoming pep assembly on Friday, Sept. 24. “I like to cheer because it keeps me active in the school and motivates me to keep my grades up,” Grigsby said. By Allison Weis

Right On Monday, Aug 16, crowds of students stand in line to get their schedules, “I was nervous getting my schedule because it was new,” sophomore Hayley Seibel said. “But I was excited to see all my friends again.”

By Kathy Habiger

You stumble out of bed, your alarm blaring too late and too loud. After frantically scouring the space underneath your bed for your other shoe, you rush out the door, jacket half on and hair uncombed. The rain beats down on your back as you fumble with the keys to your car.

With two minutes to spare you arrive at school and slide in to the desk of your first block class. Your teacher stands up with a smile. “Pop quiz!”

Our lives do not run smoothly. They are not streams of seamless transitions and events that go precisely as planned. From the math final that goes all wrong to the surprise birthday breakfast,

deviations cannot be avoided.

Rooms in the c-wing you still can’t find,

early departure from the Homecoming dance, and incessant, ear piercing fire alarms.

Our lives are punctuated with interruptions. Events that make us stop in our tracks. Experiences that make us alter our course, change our plans.

Left Applying face paint while getting ready for the Homecoming parade on Friday, Sept 24, senior Christie Karcher shows her spirit. “I helped with face painting because I’m in blue crew,” Karcher said. “It’s my last year and I wanted to make it the best.”

By Allison Weis

Above Carefully measuring the angle of the ramp, senior Alex Kuhn completes his acceleration lab during Honors Physics on Wednesday, Oct. 1. “In Chemistry every answer had an exception and you could make anything work,” Kuhn said. “[In Physics] I like having a definite answer for every problem.”

By Camden Bender

Dominant Focused on breaking a tackle, se-nior running back Kyle Brunson, helps to win the Homecoming game against Bishop Ward 62-7. “I think we have a better attitude this year,” Brunson said. “We’re more confident.”

By Carly Granato

Above During Freshman Orientation on Friday, Aug. 13, freshman Jason Biesma bowls for a Homecoming ticket. Biesma found ori-entation informative. “It was very helpful and it got me used to the school,” Biesma said.

By Marcia Ebb

Far Below Performing during the bonfire on Wednesday, Sept. 22, senior Joel Hodgdon and band mate Sean Thibodeux begin their opening song. Hodgdon pictured himself with a future in music. “I definitely would like to make it my career,” Hodgdon said. “We’re just trying to get our name out there and [trying] to become more popular.”

By Marcia Ebb

Below Creating a toga out of toilet paper, math teachers Amy Welzenbach and Casey Kuhn race against their new freshmen students during Freshman Orientation on Friday, Aug. 13. “I’m not afraid to put myself out there, even if it makes me look funny,” Welzenbach said. By Marcia Ebb

Our lives, thoughts, and actions must work around the inevitable obstacles presented to us.

But these do not stop us cold in our tracks - they are simply deviations. We try to take each day and its challenges.

We face every delay and learn how to keep going.

The end of the day announcements crackle on over the loudspeaker in your French class. Barely audible over the din of excited chatter, you hear the notice that practice has been cancelled. You head home, reveling in your curious new freedom.

You live without a locker for the first three weeks of school. Book bindings fall apart.

Colorful murals appear in the Senior Cafe.

From new security cameras on the ceiling, malfunctioning Quia tests and lockers stuffed with balloons asking you to Homecoming, interruptions are bound to happen.

This is our year,

Sophomore Annie Deaver will never forget. She will never forget how Hannah smiled, how everyone loved her infectious attitude,

the way she put her make-up on and how she was loved. She remembers every day. After her sister suddenly passed away on the evening of Friday, July 31, anger and sorrow left Annie with questions and memories as she began her junior year without her best friend. "We were much more than sisters. We were best friends, too. We hung out with each other, did our homework together," Annie said. "Sometimes she would do my makeup and hair for me for no reason other than just to do it." On the evening of Friday, July 31, hundreds of miles separated Annie and Hannah. Annie prepared for a national softball tournament in Utah while Hannah got ready for an evening at the Lyon Country Fairgrounds in Emporia, Kansas. "The last time I saw her was Saturday for like two minutes [before she left for the fair],” senior Amanda Nelson said. “I was supposed to go with her that night. I think ‘what if’ all the time." Around 6:45 p.m., during the Mud-A-Thon event, a monster truck ran off the course and crashed into the pick-up truck where Hannah and her fiancee, 2010 graduate Matt Moore, sat. In Utah, Annie and softball teammates waited in a silence, taking walks and wordlessly eating by the pool while they waited for word about Hannah. "It just felt like we were sitting there, waiting for that phone call that it’s going to be okay," senior

Reanna Weidner said. "It still feels like we’re wait-ing for that call." In Kansas, a helicopter rushed Hannah to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, where she was pronounced dead from internal bleeding. Annie learned soon after, when her grief-stricken coach took her aside. "One of the hardest things I have ever been through is seeing the look on Annie’s face when they told her," Weidner said. Upon returning home, Annie confronted im-measurable sorrow as she faced the reality of her sister’s death. "I felt betrayed,” Annie said. “I never thought it would happen to me or my family. I get mixed up still, and I still don’t believe it sometimes." The loss of a young woman who befriended so many struck a chord deep within the lives of her friends, family and classmates. Students organized memorials and a candlelight vigil at Garrett Park to honor their friend and show support for her bereaved family. “I saw how many people were there,” Annie said. “Even people that didn’t know her went.” When the school year started, the ache of the loss of her sister permeated Annie’s thoughts as she remembered Hannah’s unique qualities and traits. "I miss everything about her, even the bad things," Annie said. "I think about her all the time. For a while, whenever I got home I would go to her room and just lay in her bed." As months passed, Annie learned to deal with

her grief through the help of she and Hannah’s mutual friends and some necessary solitude. Sometimes I don’t like talking about [Hannah’s death], and sometimes I’ll have a tone or attitude," Annie said. "[With my family], we talk about Han-nah, but I’m not sure if it helps. Sometimes I’d just rather be by myself, even if that’s not good." Though Hannah’s role in Annie’s life would never be replaced, upperclassmen friends including Weidner and Nelson stepped in as mentors. “I decided to be as much of a big sister as I can,” Weidner said. “I can’t be Hannah but I try to support [Annie] any way I can. She’s come a long way, but she’ll never get over [Hannah’s death]." In the face of sorrow, Hannah’s loved ones committed to memory her optimistic attitude and personal will to succeed, remembering her ever-present smile and her aspirations to be a doctor. “I think of how happy [Hannah] was and how happy she acted,” Nelson said. “I know she would want us to be like that.” And when Annie needed her sister, she did what she had always done: grabbed some clothing or make-up tips from her best friend. “I’ve always wanted to be her, and I still copy her now,” Annie said. “She was just so cool, and I still steal shirts or hoodies out of her closet.” Annie believed that her sister’s life had an indel-ible effect on those she met. “Plenty of people wanted to be [Hannah],” An-nie said. “Everyone she met was touched by her.”

By Aleksandra Milewski

lifeSophomore Annie Deaver shares her story of coping with the loss of her older sister Hannah

Far Left Hannah Deaver poses with senior Amanda Nelson on Friday, May 8, 2009.

Right Hannah and sister, sophomore Annie Deaver, pose together on Monday, June 8, 2009.

Center Preparing for Prom on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2009, Hannah Deaver takes a photo with her fiancee 2010 graduate Matt Moore.

Photos courtesty of Deaver family

Dominant Remembering her sister senior Hannah Deaver, sophomore Annie Deaver reflects on Hannah’s life on Thursday, Nov. 4. “Everyone saw [Hannah] as a happy person who lived every day to the fullest,” Annie said. “It feels good to know how many people loved her.” By Allison Weis

birthday

The room glowed. Reflections of bright pink balloons bounced off the white ceiling of the small conference room in the office as

Marissa Miller, sophomore Hayley Seibel’s mother, finished setting up pizza, cups and a few small gifts. She paced around the room, chatting nervously with her parents and Seibel’s friends as the clock approached 10:30 a.m. As the door knob turned, Miller took a sharp breath. Seibel stepped in and gasped as she was enveloped with hugs. On Seibel’s birthday on Thursday, Nov. 3, she expected nothing but a new phone and a small cel-ebration with her family and friends. On the same day, Miller, who lived in England with her husband on a military base, flew over 4,300 miles to surprise her daughter for her 16th birthday. She worked with the school office staff to set up the celebration and pull Seibel out of class. “The school was fantastic,” Miller said. “I was so impressed how the whole staff came together to not only surprise Hayley but my nephew [fresh-man Nate Bross] as well. The moments we shared were so wonderful - something that will give not only the two of us but everyone else who shared this moment with us lifelong memories, always and forever.”

Seibel’s close friend, sophomore Emily Brigham, coordinated with Miller to organize when she would come to the school, while the school of-fice provided a room and kept the reunion a secret from Seibel and Bross. “I thought it was just so cool,” secretary Edie Way said. “It seemed like it had really been a while since [Miller and Seibel] saw each other.” Seibel and Miller had been apart for nearly a year and a half, as Seibel chose to stay in Kansas with her aunt, uncle and cousin, Bross, when Miller traveled with her husband. Miller came to visit several times, usually on or near Seibel’s birthday. This time, Seibel was truly surprised. “I actually didn’t see my mom at first, my friend [sophomore Emily Brigham] was blocking the view,” Seibel said. “Once I hugged [Brigham], I saw my mom and just started crying because I was so surprised.” Upon seeing each other, both Seibel and her mother felt overwhelmed with joy. “I was only expecting a new phone,” Sei-bel said. “I did have a sense of something from [Brigham]. She had decorated my locker and left a note saying my gift was being shipped in, but I thought there would just be balloons in the lunch

room or something.” Everyone present in the small conference room, including Seibel’s grandparents and a few close friends, felt emotions surge as the pair embraced each other. “When Hayley [Seibel] saw her mom I just cried I was so happy,” Brigham said. “It was a great surprise.” Miller stayed for a few days after the reunion before flying back to England. She and Seibel planned to keep in touch through technology to maintain their close connection. “We have a pretty good relationship,” Seibel said. “I don’t communicate with [Miller] as much as I used to, because I’m busy with soccer and school, but I add stuff on her [Facebook] wall and soon she’s getting a [Kansas City] number so we can talk for a lot cheaper.” Both Seibel and Miller believed that the over-flow of emotions brought them closer. “My emotions were so high,” Miller said. “I don’t think there’s just one or even two emotions that could explain it. Just knowing that I was going to see her after nearly a year and half still brings tears to my eyes.”

By Aleksandra Milewski

Dominant Embracing her mother, Marissa Miller, after a year and a half of separation, sophomore Hayley Seibel enjoys her surprise birthday party on Thursday, Nov. 3. “[Miller] has done a few surpirses, when I was little,” Seibel said. [But today] was a complete surpirse and a lot of fun getting to spend the time with her.” By Aleksandra Milewski

Far Right Sophmore Hayley Seibel opens her gift, a new phone from her mother, Marissa Miller, on her birthday on Thursday, Nov. 3 in the office conference room.

Photos by Aleksandra Milewski

Right Chatting with her mother, Seibel looks through birthday gifts on Thursday, Nov. 3.Center Hugging close friend sophomore Emily Brigham, Siebel enjoys her birthday re-union with her mother on Thursday, Nov. 3.

Sophomore Hayley Seibel celebrates a reunion with her mother after an extended separation

career

The room filled with quiet chattering as students trickled into Spanish teacher Jan Good-Bollinger’s Spanish I class. She

greeted them from in front of her desk stacked with textbooks, notes and manilla folders. “Hola, clase! Están bien?” Good-Bollinger said. On a bulletin board on the back of her desk, pictures of her three children dominated the space. During the 2007-2008 school year, Good-Bol-linger learned that she and her husband, Jonathan Bollinger, were expecting their third child, Markus. After considering her options and reflecting on past decisions regarding her first two children, Madeline and Joel, Good-Bollinger decided to take leave from full-time teaching to focus on her family. “When my other kids were born I took breaks [from full time teaching] for a semester, usually. It was just because I had to,” Good-Bollinger said. Putting her career on hold to raise her children was no foreign concept to Good-Bollinger. Before job prospects brought her family to Kansas, Good-Bollinger had left teaching temporarily during her first two pregnancies, generally for one semester. Since problems arose in her previous pregnancies, Good-Bollinger made the decision to leave teaching indefinitely. “It just felt like a lot [to stay teaching full-time].

My previous pregnancies had been complicated and I just knew that the odds of me being on bed rest were so high,” Good-Bollinger said. “The writ-ing was pretty much on the wall that I had to take a break. I didn’t know how long it would take to get back [to teaching].” After spending a little over one year with her family, Good-Bollinger believed that she was ready to get back to teaching. She accepted a position teaching a Spanish language class at Kansas City Kansas Community College in 2010. “I loved [teaching at Kansas City Kansas Com-munity College],” Good-Bollinger said. “Working at the college worked well, and I was planning to teach there for the whole year. But I was zipping around all over the place [with my class schedule].” After receiving a Facebook message from former Spanish teacher Heather Gillespie about a potential opening at the school, Good-Bollinger began to consider coming back to teach full time. She worried about the impact going back to teach-ing would have on her children. “I really had to logistically figure it out with the kids,” Good-Bollinger said. “I wanted to do this, but could it work?” Good-Bollinger felt slightly anxious at the pros-pect of coming back to teach full-time. “I was a little nervous [to come back],” Good-Bollinger said. “But I knew people [at the school],

and I felt like the work would be manageable. I was most nervous about my family getting on a new schedule and getting used to a new normal.” Returning in the middle of the academic year proved to be a challenge, as Good-Bollinger had to adapt to a new text book, new teaching resources and a temporarily malfunctioning grading system. “She was already known as an awesome teacher, but it was quite an adjustment [for her],” Spanish teacher Edith Paredes said. “[The World Languages department] had the whole summer to prepare [for school], and I’m not sure if she even had a week.” Good-Bollinger also made changes in her home life. Her family adjusted their daily routines and altered schedules to accomodate her new job. “All kinds of adjustments had to be made [to the family],” Good-Bollinger said. “My husband [Jonathan] was very willing, but it’s taken a lot of cooperation and collaboration. I try to prepare everything beforehand as best as I can.” Despite the drawbacks of abruptly returing to a career of full-time high school teaching, Good-Bol-linger thought that coming back resulted in more benefits than disadvantages. “I really enjoy teaching [high school],” Good-Bollinger said. “It felt good being back in the classroom. It felt right.”

By Aleksandra Milewski

Spanish teacher Jan Good-Bollinger returns to full-time teaching after a break to raise her kids

Left Good-Bollinger instructs her Spanish I class after an exam on Thursday, April 7.

By Aleksandra Milewski

Center Good-Bollinger poses with her family on Christmas 2006.

Photo courtesty of Jan Good-Bollinger

Far Left Pointing out the correct verb conju-gation on Friday, April 8, Spanish teacher Jan Good-Bollinger helps a student in her Spanish II class. By Aleksandra Milewski

Spanish teacher Jan Good-Bollinger balances work in the classroom and family at home on Thursday, March 31. “In the classroom, the biggest adjustment was catching up with the things that had changed,” Good-Bollinger said. “It took some getting used to.”

By Aleksandra Milewski

On a frigid night in December, senior R.J. Smith drove home, palms sweating, ner-vously tapping the steering wheel. A few

hours before, he had taken “funny mushrooms” at a party, and decided to warm up the evening with firewood from his home. After switching his car out for his father’s truck, R.J. noticed the expression on his father’s face as he drove R.J.’s car into the garage. R.J. had large amounts of marijuana in his glove compartment. “I could see the smell hit him,” R.J. said. “He put his hand on the glove box. He didn’t look at it. He got up and left, and I thought ‘this is what my parents go through, all the time.’ I felt the need to change, and that was the first time in a long time I had felt that.” That night was the culmination of what seemed like a lifetime of pain from drugs and alcohol. The years before that moment had not been easy for R.J. and his family. Before completely quitting his destructive habits, he and his family had gone through arrests and addiction. He hoped that his life choices would teach others. “He wants people to learn from his experi-ences,” R.J.’s mother Mai Smith said. At the beginning of his freshman year in 2007, R.J. tried to fit in by running track and playing basketball. After an exposure to marijuana and alcohol at a party, he began to drift towards a differ-ent group of friends. That summer of 2008, while driving back from a party in Lawrence, a policeman pulled over R.J. and a friend for reckless driving. R.J. received a

Minor in Possession (M.I.P.) charge for possession of alcohol. His sentence required him to go through a diversion program in Eudora, but R.J. found it in-effective against underage drinking and drug abuse. “If you’re under 18, an M.I.P. is a slap on the wrist. [In Eudora] I didn’t really learn anything,” R.J. said. “I was on the highest level [of diversion], level five, and I only took two pee tests. Even after M.I.P. class, there’s times I would be high in class. That’s the kid I was. If you don’t make the decision to change after the first time, it will happen again.” After the punishment, R.J. resumed drinking and smoking, soon receiving an out-of-school sus-pension for smelling of alcohol at a home football game. His parents didn’t know how to handle the recurring situations. “This wasn’t anything new to my parents,” R.J. said. “They were learning how to deal with it, and we had no trust.” Smoking marijuana began to consume R.J. as he progressed through his sophomore year. “I would go through days where all I wanted to do was smoke [marijuana],” Smith said. “I would wake up early, drive to meet up with some people so we could smoke every morning. We did that the whole year. I would walk past my first block teach-ers every day and I would smell [like marijuana].” Eventually, R.J. got into prescription drugs such as Hydrocodone, Morphine and Adderall. “[The pills] got us through the day. That’s all we focused on,” R.J. said. Though his schoolwork suffered little, R.J.’s relationship with his family quickly deteriorated.

“Being a smart kid, grades were not a problem for me. But my relationship with my family was ter-rible,” R.J. said. “My little brother [freshman Sankie Smith] didn’t have a brother that was mentally there. There was a time that I never talked to my dad. We argued 24-7, we had no relationship, no communication.” During his junior year, R.J. hit bottom. “People deep into drugs is a form of suicide,” R.J. said. “There were times where I left [home] for a few days at a time. For my mom, that was prob-ably the hardest two years of her life.” After the party in December 2010, R.J. realized the destruction that resulted from his habits and quit them immediately without looking back. “From that night on, I have not touched weed,” R.J. said. “I had to shatter my pipe and flush my weed. Some of my friends were pretty skeptical that I quit, but as the months went on people started to realize that I didn’t participate in that anymore.” He began to slowly rebuild his family, choosing to talk to his parents and set a good example for his brother. R.J. also ended the relationships he had built on his habits, choosing to not associate with old friends and girlfriends. “You are who your friends are. I had to get away,” R.J. said. After cleansing his life, he found a more true version of himself. “I realized who I was,” R.J. said. “And who my real friends were.”

By Aleksandra Milewski

Far Right Taking photos before the gradu-ation ceremony on Saturday, May 21, R.J. poses with his grandparents.

Photos courtesy of the Smith family

Center Senior R.J. Smith and his family pose together in 2008.Right Playing in the sand in 2003, senior R.J. Smith enjoys building a sand castle with his younger brother, freshman Sankie Smith.

Contemplating his new path in life, senior R.J. Smith plans to stay clear of drug and alcohol abuse on Wednesday, May 18. “The future is looking good,” R.J. said. “I plan on staying clean.” By Aleksandra Milewski

addictionSenior R.J. Smith makes a sudden deviation from his lifestyle to seek healing and self-improvement

Left Senior Scott Weidner attempts to shock himself with a stream of water while touching the Van Der Graph machine in Physics on Fri-day, Jan. 28. “It shocked me both literally and emotionally. It caused my head to twitch back and slightly burnt my tongue,” Weidner said.

By Allison Weis

Above Left After being crowned King and Queen of Winter Sports on Friday, Feb. 11, seniors Jessica Lopez and Joel Hodgdon pose for a picture. “[Winning was] surprising and an honor because I never expected to get nominated,” Lopez said. By Marcia Ebb

Dominant Skidding to a stop after going down a hill on Thursday, Jan. 20, senior Kelsie Schuman sleds at Stump Park with friends. “[I love sledding because] you get to wear those snow bibs and it’s a great excuse to look completely ridiculous,” Schuman said. “It’s always fun, no matter what.”

By Aleksandra Milewski

Above Right With a controller in hand and popcorn by his side, freshman Connor Mills listens to his friends for his next move during a snowday on Thursday, Jan. 20. “[I play] one to two hours a day,” Mills said. “I’m trying to become the best gamer in the world.

By Rachel MillsAbove Left Freshman Elonay Gete looks at swimsuits with freshman Emily Godwin Mon-day, April 4. “I like shopping because it gets your mind off things and you can buy new stuff,” Gete said. By Lauren King

Your phone wakes you with an irritated beep at 5:40 in the morning.

“From USD 232: School is canceled for Thursday, January 20 due to inclement weather.”

You collapse back into bed with a contented sigh.

The overwhelmingly excellent feeling of a snow day puts you right back to sleep.

With bleary eyes you grasp for your phone and open your message inbox, expecting a text from a friend (she’s a morning person) or a Facebook notification.

Your tired eyes widen as you read the pixelated words on the screen.

When you finally get back to school, the commotion of past-due Physics labs,

after-school soccer workouts

and voting for the King and Queen of Winter Sports

forces you back into a schedule as you struggle to get a grip on 2011.

Above During senior fun day on Thursday, May 19, senior Brian McEnery chats with senior Ian Ring at Shawnee Mission Beach Volleyball. “I had tons of fun because I got to hang out with all my friends and do things we hadn’t done before. It was the last time my whole group of friends was together,” McEnery said. By Allison Weis

Seniors are long gone, and the last day of school approaches much faster than you thought.

Graduation parties,

too much cake,

and late-night studying fill up your weekend as you prepare for your final exams.

The ultimate high of your first undefeated season of soccer is punctuated by a painful loss at regionals.

Far Above Dancing with her boyfriend, senior Mackenzie Justis enjoys prom on Saturday, May 7. “Prom was a great time and a awesome way to finish off the year,” Justis said. By Ally Garton

A now all-too-familiar sound, your alarm goes off yet again. You’re starting to get tired of this.

Just days later, you feel the first whispers of summer on the outskirts of storm systems that devastated thousands across the Midwest.

The storms hit home when you find yourself and your English class squeezed into the girl’s bathroom for an hour as the tornado sirens wail outside.

Below Seniors and their families gather on Friday, May 20 to celebrate their high school accomplishments at the senior breakfast at the Overland Park Convention Center. “I liked how formal [the breakfast] was and how everyone dressed up. I think the new location definitely made it more classy,” Kate Magner said. By Allison Weis

Left Wearing goggles that mimic the feeling of being drunk, junior Megan Hightower attempts to walk in a straight line during the DUI Checkpoint on Friday, April 29. “It was fun, but it was really hard to drive with the drunk goggles on,” Hightower said.

By Aleksandra Milewski

Above Posing with her friends for a picture after the final bell rings, freshman Katie Linsey celebrates the last day of school on Thursday, May 26. “I was happy [when the school year ended] because it took a lot of stress off,” Linsey said. “Now I have more time for hanging out with friends.”

By Austin Becker

Dominant Enjoying the music, seniors Kaitlyn McGuire and Henry Thomas slow dance during alternative Prom on Saturday, April 22. “[Alternative Prom] was alright, but I was disappointed that a lot of people didn’t show up,” McGuire said. By Aleksandra Milewski

Right The destruction in Joplin, Missouri was seen Monday morning, May 23, 2011, following a tornado that swept through the city Sunday evening. (David Eulitt/Kansas City Star/MCT)

You reflect on your year and realize that it was so much different than you had planned.

The joyful chaos of your life made you who you are,

and you learned that being successful is not about how well you scheduled your day,

but how well you did with the unexpected situations that you were presented with.

You learned, through trial and error, to embrace the change of your year.

Below Left Tossing one of her binders into a trash can, junior Morgan Ottesen cleans out her locker one last time on Wednesday, May 25. “It was probably the best feeling of the year,” Ottesen said. “It even topped finishing my hardest final. I hated lugging those binders around.” By Austin Becker

Below Right Screaming in excitement, senior MacKenzie Hampton hugs senior Sara Gil-lespie after she is crowned Prom Queen on Saturday, May 7. “It was really exciting, I felt like it wasn’t real,” Gillespie said. “I wasn’t really expecting [to win].”

By Aleksandra Milewski

Dominant Honors Physics teacher Mary Beth Mattingly demonstrates the difference between virtual and real images with a mirror on Tuesday, May 3. “Words alone can’t convey what some things look like. But, if you can see it and experience it [the demonstration] makes the content easier to understand,” Mattingly said.

Below Laughing, senior Michael Hardy threw his cap into the hair despite the administra-tion frowining upon it. “I didn’t really care [that I threw my cap] because I was gradu-ated,” Hardy said. “It’s what you’re supposed to do.” By Allie Love

Bottom Right Cruising around in the parking lot, senior Devak Patel experiences driving with drunk goggles on Friday, April 29. The course was made to show teens the effects of driving while intoxicated. “The experience was unique and weird,” Patel said. “Don’t drink and drive.” By Braxton Matlock

By Allison Weis

Life is ever-changing,

and no matter how much you tried to predict,

deviations and surprises forced you off track and into new terrain.

After four quarters of adapting, here’s hoping your summer goes smoothly, but you know that your life will always be