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september 16, 2015 Leo Junior/Senior High School Volume LVIi Issue I

The Lion’s Tale

NotableNumbers

5New Teachers

2New technology adoptions

1new resource officer

1

things about football and cheerleading

8

intern per teacher

1

sisters askeach otherquestions

2

back to school games

3

new sports conference

By Mackenzie JoefredaEditor-in-chief

Kokomo native to be new Bachelor

The 2015-2016 year of Leo Jr./Sr. High School has begun with give new staff members in the building. Many of the new hires are teachers in the building, one being Sarah Stockinger, who teaches Spanish, and the Spanish/French Exploratory course. She explains her love for “the hands-on/project based learning and culture” she exposes to her students. “I hope to set a great foundation for my Spanish I students, and open their eyes to

my exploratory class students, to the world of language,” Stockinger said. “I also hope to learn everyone’s names!” Recently hired art teacher, Bev Henrichsen, is replacing the position of Mike Bearman, and has been teaching at East Allen County Schools for 25 years. She teaches art, photograph, and Dual Credit art history, with her favorite concept to teach being painting. “I love teaching students that everyone can learn to becomes a better artist if you are open to learning,” Henrichsen said. “I hope to encourage students to take art, along with become better artists. I want to be a positive role model for the students.” According to Henrichsen, living closer to Leo, and being

Leo administration hires five new teachers

Former “Bachelorette” contest Ben Higgins is now the newest “Bachelor.” Higgins was second run-ner up on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s sea-son of “The Bachelorette.” Though originally from Kokomo, Ind., Higgins lived in the Warsaw area for most of his life. His family still lives there. Higgins then moved to Bloomington, Ind., where he graduated from Indiana Univer-sity. The summer after college, Higgins and his friend went on a volunteer trip to Peru. “We helped teach English to adults at a school there,” Hig-gins said. “We didn’t really have our lives together, so we needed to take some time to have fun and do something different.” Currently, Higgins lives in Colorado and works for a soft-ware company. The company has not made Higgins quit for either season; he has simply taken sab-baticals. “Living in Denver, there’s a lot of outdoors activities to do,” Higgins said. “I really enjoy get-ting into the mountains, and I love to fish.” He has a house he likes to work on and also enjoys going to dinner with friends. “Life is very normal and simple,” Higgins said, “but it’s the simple things to me that I re-ally enjoy, and if I can have my family, friends and the outdoors, then I’ll be pretty happy.” Higgins received a phone call less than a week before the announcement asking him if he would be the Bachelor. He offi-cially found out he was when the show announced it to the public. Everyone’s process is dif-ferent when signing up for the show. “Some people don’t go through the whole process. Some go to casting calls, some people get signed up from friends,” Hig-gins said. “For the most part, it’s meeting with someone who’s managing your casting process.” After going through these stages, the show flies possible contestants out to California for a more intense screening process. Higgins does not know the exact date they will start film-ing, but it will be sometime with-in the month. “The Bachelor” pre-mieres on Jan. 6. Filming varies in length, but Higgins estimates it will take

about nine to 12 weeks. Higgins does not know if they’ve picked the girls yet for his season; he said it’s a pretty quick turnaround after being chosen. “It sounds a little cliché, but I’m really excited to meet the girls,” Higgins said. “It’s hum-bling, and a little surreal that these girls are giving up a big piece of their life to come and date for a while.” Contestants on the show, as well as the Bachelor himself, are allowed no communication while in the process of the show. “We lose all communica-tion including TV, Internet, cell phones, everything,” Higgins said. Higgins’ parents have been very supportive of this whole process. They realize it is an opportunity that Higgins would regret not doing.

“It gives them something to talk about at dinner with their friends,” Higgins said. The only way their fami-lies know what’s happening is through watching the show. According to Higgins, for the most part, there’s always some camera somewhere, especially when they are in the mansion, which is where all of the girls on the show stay. “There’s so many times when you’re hanging out on the date or talking to the girl, or kiss-ing the girl...it’s really weird,” Higgins said. “It took me a good couple weeks to get over the cam-eras always being around.” There can be controversy as to whether or not everything on the show is actually real. “People think it’s staged and scripted, but it’s not; it’s real,” Higgins said.

On “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” they travel somewhere different every epi-sode. Higgins does have a say in where they go and what they do, but the producers also have a say. With 24 other people liv-ing in the house, contestants meet and get to know many new peo-ple. Higgins has kept really close friendships with some of the guys from last season and talks to them often. “They’ve all been ex-tremely encouraging since the announcement,” Higgins said. “A couple of us went out to break-fast, too.” However, with this many people in the house, there are usu-ally conflicts and disagreements. “Am I ready for it?” Hig-gins asked. “I think so. I think it’s how you handle it.” Higgins wants to handle it with patience and intentional-ity, and doesn’t want to let it drag on for too long. He hopes if situa-tions come up, he reacts with fair-ness, but you can’t predict those situations. “It’s not always natural to share somebody with your friends,” Higgins said. Higgins said the experi-ence has already changed him for the better. “It has made me analyze myself more and try to really fig-ure out what I want to find in a woman.” Higgins said that he did not want to put his future wife in a box. He is looking for someone to enhance his life and someone to share life with. The Bachelor and his win-ner have to wait until the end of the last episode, on “After the Fi-nal Rose,” to reveal the outcome; however, the show does not get upset with them if they tell a few close friends or family members. “They know that you’re in love and excited about your en-gagement, so it’s hard to hide that from some of the closest people in your life,” Higgins said. Since Higgins is the Bach-elor, people all over the country know who he is. “I don’t feel like I’m that famous,” Higgins said. “Famous is a very ambiguous term; I think right now, my life is more or less in the public eye.” Higgins said the stardom won’t change his normal, every-day life. “The biggest thing is my Instagram and Twitter followers have gone up,” Higgins said. He does not want to con-tinue on this route of fame be-cause it is often unsatisfying.

involved in the community added to the reasoning to work at Leo. Along with that, the “strong sense of community and parent involvement” was also a contributor. The new language arts teacher for middle school, Amber Butler, “loves teaching language arts because she is afforded the opportunity to take her students to places they’ve only dreamt of”. “I have to opportunity to allow my students to step into the shoes of other characters we read about,” Butler said. Butler has noticed differences in positive moral culture at Leo compared to her previous places of employment. Leo’s Learning Center Supervisor, former student Katti

Bork, is primarily helping in the library, but also helps out with a middle school math class. “It’s nice to see that some of the same traditions are being upheld. For example, the ceiling tiles and numerous George Clooney posters in English teacher, Cheryl Ashton’s room,” Bork said. In addition to new staff, many of them have future pursuits in the works. “I am currently pursuing my doctorate in organizational leadership,” Butler said. “I have a sincere passion for bridging the gap for our students who fall in between the cracks. I want to assist in discovering strategies, and eventually would love to work in curriculum and instruction, working hands-on with teachers.”

Opinon editor

By Elesha Stuckey

PHOTO PROVIDED BY BEN HIGGINS

Ben Higgins stands with Kip Moore at “Good Morning America.”

Page 2September 16, 2015 NEWS

By Madi Turpin News editor

Students to start drug testing

As of this school year, East Allen County Schools has officially started administering random drug tests to students.

The tests are performed as followed: students who have completed a random drug testing consent form are included in a pool of names from which a sample is drawn each month. They will be given an oral swab drug screen by a trained and certified employee of Parkview Health. The testers look for the most commonly abused controlled substances.

The screen is a high-quality screen and can be read within a few minutes. The results will come back either negative or positive. If results come back positive, the sample will be taken to a lab outside of the facility for a follow-up test that will confirm the results.

According to superintendent of EACS Ken Folks, the purpose of running the drug tests is not to make accusations.

“The intention is to get students the help they need and that is what we are focused upon,” Folks said.

Folks claimed that he “only saw benefits” to the program. He said that EACS is encouraging a healthy lifestyle for their students, and anybody found to be abusing or under the influence of controlled substances will be referred to counseling to encourage

Leo welcomes new resource officer By Corinne Roth

Special editor

PHOTO BY CORINNE ROTH

Officer Softic stands by his car.

East Allen County Schools has issued Leo Jr /Sr High School a school resource officer, Officer Anis Softic. Soft-ic will be at Leo once a week first semester and every day second semester. Softic was one of three who interviewed for this posi-tion, due to always wanted to be an S.R.O. Not many schools in the area offer this type of po-sition in school systems. When East Allen County talked about having one, Softic “threw his name into the hat.” With all of the drug testing ideas being discussed, Softic could be involved with it as well. Outside of school, students and faculty will see Officer Softic at football and basketball games. He is plan-ning to attend a couple soccer games as well, although it is not required of him. Softic has been a police officer for five years. Before this position, Softic was a civil

officer. Working in the criminal court, Softic would transport prison-ers from courtrooms and sat in

trials. Becoming an officer was a long process. For Soft-ic, the process consisted of a

physical, psychological, and written exam, and a thorough background check - people he knew from ten years ago were

called and interviewed. Softic was one in 800 interviewed and one in 15 applicants to be hired as a civil officer. Like any job and with being a police officer, it can bring pros and cons. What Softic enjoys most about his job is the ability to be in contact with lots of different people. Bad accidents or arriving to gory scenes on the job can be difficult for any officer, includ-ing Softic. Officer Softic grew up in Bosnia during one of the wars that was going on there. He has also lived in Germany for six years and can speak Bosnian, German, and English. In his free time he en-joys playing soccer and draw-ing. After high school, Softic went to Germany for soccer pro trials. “I want everyone to know that I am approachable,” Softic said. “I don’t want peo-ple to think that I am here to get them in trouble. I am here to provide safety. If anyone needs anything they can feel free to ask, I’m here for them and am here to stick around.” The East Allen County board plans to assign an offi-cer to each school for all school hours in the future.

This 2015-2016 school year East Allen County Schools has decided to change grading scales from a 12-point scale to a 4-point scale. The EACS grade poli-cy committee was in charge of making the decision to change grading scales. The committee is made up of teachers, princi-pals, and administrators, with principal Neal Brown as the Chairperson of the committee. Current juniors and seniors will continue to be graded on the 12-point scale, but underclassmen will move to the 4-point. Students taking Ad-vanced Placement courses and/or Dual Credit courses with at least a C in that class will get an additional .25 for their final grade in that course. “Most students who want an A will work for it no matter if the percent is a 90 or a 93,” science teacher Amanda Hess said.Spanish teacher Victoria Kern also agrees that the new grad-

ing scale will be a positive change. “Some of the benefits are that it puts us in line with colleges and other school dis-tricts,” Kern said. “It may also give students some extra confi-dence and take a little pressure off.” Most colleges use the 4-point grading scale, mak-ing it advantageous to use it in East Allen County schools. IPFW, Ball State, Indiana State, Notre Dame, Manchester, Cin-cinnati, IU, Ohio State and Pur-due all have 4-point scales. “ It makes it slightly easier for students to get a bet-ter grade and can be beneficial when they’re fighting for that one grade that is going to push them forward.” math teacher David Kantenwein said. Many schools around East Allen are on the 4-point scale, while a few still go by the 12-point scale. One disadvantage to the new scale is the difficulty of how it breaks down. On the 12-point scale, an A+ was a 12, an A was an 11, and an A- was a 10, etc.; whereas, the 4-point scale is more complex.

New grading scale adopted by East Allen County schools

Special editorBy Emili Runestad

them to make healthier choices.“This is a tool to keep everyone safe

and get help to those who need assistance,” Folks said. “I think it is reassuring to parents, administrators and students.”

Folks said that it is his responsibility to do his best to create a safe environment in EACS schools for everybody. Random drug testing, he said, helps students who are pressured to experiment with illegal drugs by giving them one more reason to say no. This will help them keep their opportunities to participate in extra, enjoyable school activities.

“I feel like it’s a good idea because you wouldn’t want somebody playing a sport under the influence,” sophomore Lily Aldrich said.

Aldrich did admit that if a valuable player were tested positive, it could drastically affect that team. She said that if a friend were tested positive, it wouldn’t change the way she saw them, but still thinks that drug testing is a good idea. Aldrich said she would feel uncomfortable if somebody she knew were tested positive because they would be getting in trouble.

“I feel that it is our responsibility to encourage students to make safe, healthy decisions, and for that reason I believe drug testing is helpful,” Folks said.

“I think that it is important to know that the purpose of this program is to get help to students who need it and to encourage good decision making by our young people.”

year. “Last year I had three skilled, effective interns who worked diligently for me,” Fiedler said. “I was a little ap-prehensive only being permit-ted one intern, especially with all the changes.” Fiedler is disappointed that teachers are only allowed one intern. She said she cer-tainly operates more effectively with the assistance of her in-terns. “Interns have different strengths and my classes have different needs, so I tried to match their strengths with my classes’ needs,” Fiedler said.

Teachers allowed one intern per semester By Mackenzie Joefreda

Editor-in-chief

Beginning this school year, Leo teachers were per-mitted only one student intern per semester. In previous year, teachers were allowed an un-limited number of student interns per period. The new rule has caused complications for both teachers and students. The new rule has caused com-plications for both teachers and students. English teachers Me-lissa Fiedler and Kelly Ma-honey both had more than one intern throughout the day last

Mahoney is fine with having just one intern, though she said it was somewhat help-ful to have people at different times of the day.Fiedler and Mahoney both agree that their interns help them on a daily basis. “My intern, junior Connor Bonecutter, helps with all kinds of things,” Mahoney said. “For example, hanging posters, typing, find-ing my missing plastic letter ‘e’, etc.” Fiedler also said that her intern handles daily house-keeping activities, makes cop-ies, and assists other students.

The change has not only affected teachers, but stu-dents as well. With many juniors and seniors wanting to do in-school internships, it is hard to find available teachers for ev-ery student. Senior Abby Bontrag-er ran into this problem while scheduling her classes this year.“I asked four different teach-ers, but they already had in-terns,” Bontrager said. Some students, such as Bontrager, want to intern with a teacher whom they are comfortable with, or at least

someone they know enough not to be a stranger. This poses a problem since odds are stu-dents do not know every teach-er in the building. “There were no avail-able teachers left that I knew,” Bontrager said; “therefore, I had to switch out of my intern-ship and pick a random class to be in.” Bontrager is now in an accounting class instead of be-ing an in-school intern. “I feel bad for students who signed up for internships without knowing that such a rule had been instated,” Ma-honey said.

Page 3September 16, 2015 A&EDowntown restaurant becomes new place of interest

Downtown Fort Wayne’s newest restaurant, The Hoppy Gnome, opened on July 10. The restaurant, located at 203 E Berry Street, is on the ground floor of the Anthony Wayne Building, which has been revamped in the past few years. The gastropub features mostly local craft beer, and what the owner, James Kahn, calls “culinary” tacos. Nearly all the food and beer served at The Hoppy Gnome is grown and produced by local vendors, and because of this, the menu changes about four or five times a year. As far as the name of the restaurant is concerned, general manager Peter Shuey said that his partner and he were sitting around and spitting random words out when they realized that they wanted the guests to know that it had something to do with beer, which is where “hoppy” came from. “After that, we started thinking of things that went well with ‘hoppy’ and came up with ‘gnome,’” Shuey said. The theme of the restaurant revolves around beer and tacos because all owners and managers love them, Shuey said. When asked to explain why they chose tacos, Shuey said that a tortilla is the perfect way to showcase all the fresh, made-from-scratch ingredients that the kitchen team comes up with. “Our tacos are a little different than what most people think of when they see ‘taco’ on the menu,” Shuey said. “We simply use a corn tortilla as a delivery vehicle for our delicious and fresh ingredients.” There are a variety of different options for the

ingredients of the tacos, and according to Shuey they are also a scratch kitchen. “A scratch kitchen means that if there is nothing on the menu that appeals to you, feel free to get creative,” Shuey said. “We can make you just about anything, assuming that we have all the ingredients in the house.” Along with all of their options on the menu and whatever is in the kitchen, they also offer a variety of gluten-free options. Senior Gabby Corner

dined there for the first time on her last day of summer. “I follow a few of the downtown Fort Wayne pages on Instagram and kept seeing pictures of these super awesome looking tacos,” Corner said. “My friends and I love going downtown so we had to try this new place.” Corner ordered three different types of salsa, including mango, verde, and guacamole, and two tacos. “The tacos I ordered were called ‘Dante’s Inferno’ and ‘The Bob Marley,’” Corner

said. “It was so yummy, but my favorite part of my meal was dessert.” For dessert, Corner ordered gluten-free strawberry shortcake. “I have some minor food allergies so I was really excited that they had so many options available to me,” Corner said. “We’ve been told that our restaurant gives us a bigger city feel, as if you were dining in Chicago,” Shuey said. “We hope it encourages other businesses to invest in

downtown and maybe think outside the box a little bit.” Shuey said that the location of The Hoppy Gnome is ideal and really adds to the ambiance of downtown Fort Wayne, and Corner agrees. “We are excited to be downtown and be able to serve this city,” Shuey said. “It’s a foodie town and people love to go out to eat.” The Hoppy Gnome hopes to provide each guest with a memorable experience and one they can’t get anywhere else in town.

By Kelsey Carroll

News editor

The Hoppy Gnome’s “culinary” tacos come to downtown Fort Wayne.

PHOTO BY KELSEY CARROLL

Bruce Jenner made headlines when he became Caitlyn Jenner, bringing to the forefront the issue of being transgender. Television shows about transgender individuals have also gained attention. “I am Jazz” is a reality television show that shows the life of a trans female (a male that is assigned male at birth but whose gender identity is female). It tells what she has to go through growing in a society where not everybody accepts transgender people. Jazz Jennings was young when she decided something wasn’t right. At age three she went to her mother and said, “Mommy, am I a boy or a girl?” That’s where it all began for her family. Now 14 and a freshman in high school, Jennings shows that even though high school is going to be tough, she’s ready to take it on with her close friends by her side. Jennings plays

Mary Poppins is a beloved sto-ry, movie, and musical that has made its way onto the stage of the downtown Civic Theatre. “Mary Poppins the Broadway Musical” is an award-winning musical with music written by the Sherman Brothers, and script by Julian Fellowes. The musical is based off the P.L Travers children’s books and the 1964 Disney movie. According to the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre “Mary Poppins” is a musical that cap-tures the people’s hearts in a whole new way. Set in England in 1910, jack-of-all-trades Bert introduces the audience to the troubled Banks family who is in search of yet another nanny. Young Jane and Michael Banks have sent a number of caregiv-ers on their way before Mary Poppins arrives to set the fam-ily straight. The show consists of a number of songs with some of the most famous being “Super-califragilisticexpialidocious,” “Feed The Birds,” “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” “Step in Time,” “Let’s go Fly A Kite,” and “Jolly Holi-day.”” “I was so excited to see the musical,” senior Megan Smitley said. “The singing and acting of the whole cast was phenomenal and made seeing the show worth every penny. The Civic Theatre definitely did not disappoint.” According to Chris

Rasor, who was cast as Bert, rehearsal was from 7:00 until 10:00 Monday through Friday evening and 2:00 until 6:00 on Sunday afternoons. With as much time they spent rehearsing the cast became like a family. “We laughed so much and if someone was struggling or was having a bad night ei-ther personally or profession-ally, someone was there for them,” Rasor said. “A lot of that was because of our guest direc-tor, Jane Lanier. She wanted us to find our character and have a story even if you weren’t a cast member.” According to Rasor, with bringing such a famous musical to the Fort Wayne area, the cast was nervous about the audience comparing their per-formance to the performance of Broadway actor or the famous actors in the 1964 hit film. “It was difficult be-cause everyone wants to com-pare Bert to Bert in the movie played by Dick Vandyke, but the two are very different,” Ra-sor said. “The musical really develops the character, giving him a true role to play in the show.” Despite the nerves, the show ended up being sold out on the last weekend, due to good word from the previous audience members. “Even though the show is over, I still receive emails and calls about the amazing show that was put on,” Rasor said. The Civic Theatre will be performing their next show “The Marvelous Wonderettes” from Sept. 19 through Sept 27.

By Tawni WoodwardOpinion editor

By Alyssa GrossSports editor

Transgenders come to be new topic of conversation

Mary Poppins flies into town

Media begins to accept people for their true selves

“These people go through so much, and they deserve to have their stories told.”

soccer for her school as well, and even though she’s had to fight for the right to play, she keeps doing it and making changes.

“Becoming Us” is a show revolving around older people becoming transgender. It shows their transitions and how their children deal with life growing up with a transgender parent. Ben Molnar is Dani Molnar’s son, and when Dani becomes Danielle, Ben’s world is completely flipped upside down. Now with two mothers instead of one, Ben is learning to deal with life without a father. Many transgender women, such as Papi Edwards, Ty Underwood, and Yazmin Vash, endured harsh judgment and criticism until they suffered at the hands of others. They were killed for the simple reason of being born different. “I hope that anyone, transgender or not, is always treated like a human being and is never decimated against for their personal lives,” senior Mariano Flores said. Transgenders have been afraid to step forward for the fear of being bullied or targeted by others, and the emotional toll on some drives them to suicide. According to Live Science, “A staggering 41 percent of transgender people in the United States have attempted to commit suicide.” “These people go through so much, and they deserve to have their stories told,” sophomore Amaja Beckler said. Being transgender comes with support but also comes with rude comments. For example Jennings instagram has supportive comments but rude comments as well. Many transgenders don’t know how to deal with all the hate and decide to commit suicide.

Page 4September 16, 2015 FEATURE

According to CBS De-troit, experts say that summer 2015 was the worst summer for mosquitoes in years. “I think the mosqui-toes were pretty bad this year.” Junior Sydney Tierney said, “I got bit up so much. It doesn’t help that I live by a pond.” Tierney is not a fan of mosquitoes. She said that she once got bit on the side of her face and that itched very badly, and that the whole right side of her face swelled up. Science teacher Robert Tonkel agreed that the number of mosquitoes has multiplied in his backyard than in past years. He thinks that it was/is good for his purple martins nesting in his birdhouse. And it’s great for the fish and frogs in the river, but it isn’t good for him or his family. Due to the heavy rain-fall this past summer, the mos-quitoes were flocking Indiana. According to an inter-view on WSBT News, ‘”Mos-quitoes breed in water and when you have a lot of water, you have a lot of mosquitoes – and that’s what we have right now,” said Jeff Burbrink with Purdue Extension.’ “Rain, rain and more rain, did I say rain?” Tonkel said, There is water lying ev-erywhere for the record rain fall we got this spring and summer. That provides excel-lent breeding grounds for the little buggers.” He went on to say that

this has been the worst they’ve been since the summer of 1994, when he worked a Boy Scout camp deep in the woods. It was the first time mosquitoes ever bothered him. Due to the mass amount of mosquitoes, many people have been worried about the West Nile virus. The West Nile virus is an arthro-pod-borne virus that is most commonly spread by infected mosquitoes, according to the CDC. “West Niles is a nasty disease that is in the bird pop-ulation.” Tonkel explained, “The mosquito bites the bird and transmits the disease to humans by biting them. The mosquito is the carrier. West Niles can cause inflammation of the brain or meningitis. Both of which can cause death if not treated properly.” There has been one case recently of the West Nile virus in Indiana. According to Wane news, the first case of West Nile affecting a human happened in Huntington, Ind. A man had gotten the disease somewhere in Huntington County. Although the man has fully recovered from the effects of the virus and the symptoms, there have been mosquitoes in 27 other counties that have tested positive for the virus. Indiana Health has warned the Hoosiers to take precautions and avoid the outdoors when mosquitoes are active from late afternoon to dawn. Hoosiers need to wear repellant and take care of themselves, because no one knows who will be affected by this virus next.

This past summer Leo Jr./Sr. High School students took educational trips to Europe. Senior Blake Kem was involved in the IUHPFL studying abroad program through Indiana University, where he lived in Leon, Spain.

“The three things our program was based on were academic instruction (classes in Spanish culture, linguistics, literature, and grammar), host family experience, and language commitment (only speaking Spanish while abroad),” Kem said.

Kem hopes to pursue a double major or major/minor with Spanish, after receiving his masters in architecture. He discusses how this program “definitely helped my proficiency in Spanish”.

“I recently took a placement test at IPFW for this upcoming school year and scored the highest possible and tested into a SPAN 275 class,”Kem Said. “It’s obvious that this program has increased my ability to speak, write, and comprehend the language of Spanish.”

In addition to Spain, Leo’s french

teacher, Pamela Benz, took three students to France for 10 days in June. Benz has been taking students abroad since 1987.

This specific trip consisted partially of the following: spending four days touring Paris, going to the Louvre and l’Arc de Triomphe, learning to use the Metro, traveling to the Riviera to see the “Pont du Gard”, and finishing the trip in Monaco.

“Travel provides a 21st century learning experience that promotes critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and global competence,” Benz said. “Teaching these skills is essential – teaching them in Paris is transformative.”

Senior Jordan Frederick and juniors Will Emery and Morgan Schleinkopher took part in the France trip.

“My favorite moment was when we climbed to Sacre-Coeur (a huge cathedral on top of a hill), and saw a beautiful view of Paris at night,” Frederick said. “We took hundreds of stairs to get there, but it was worth the hike.”

According to Benz, seeing the expressions of her students while experiencing such beautiful moments contributes her joy to teaching, but it is not the only factor.

“I absolutely love the transformation which occurs from French I through the levels,”Benz said. “A French I student on the first day learns their first word, ‘bonjour’, and by the end of the year they speak/understand conversations.”

Benz states that the French language is her favorite part of France’s culture, along with it being a very important characteristic of it. Kem learned its importance while in Spain, and how pertinent traveling was to further his language capability. The same applied in France.

“My accent and understand of the language has improved since the trip [nine days],”Frederick said. “Everyone was just so relaxed there. A group of friends sat down for a meal, and would stay there for hours after their food was finished, just enjoying each other’s company.”

Benz states it specifically, that the “enormity of the experience [traveling abroad] simply cannot be recreated in the classroom”.

Students travel to improve their foreign language skills

Between the LionsSeniors Madison and Morgan Sanderson share about each other

By Morgan YinglingA&E editor

By Elesha Stuckey

Opinion editor

Morgan S.: What don’t you like about being my twin?Maddi S.: It’s pretty cool, but something I dont know about is that we have to share our birthdays and car. We always somehow match, and I’m the one who changes.

Morgan S.: Who’s your secret crush?Maddi S.: Nate Werling because there’s still a flame from seventh grade.

Morgan S.: How does it feel to be a terrible driver?Maddi S.: How would you know, you don’t let me drive.

Morgan S.: Who’s dad’s favorite?Maddi S.: I would say it’s pretty even, but since I work for him now, we’ve bonded. So me.

Morgan S.: What would be your last choice of a profession?Maddi S.: Morgan’s personal assistant.

Maddi S.: What Disney princess would you be?Morgan S.: I’d be Snow White and make you the grumpy dwarf.

Maddi S.: What is your choice of food for sadness?

Morgan S.: Butter Pecan Haagen Dazs ice cream.

Maddi S.: Describe your perfect date.Morgan S.: I’d have to say April 25th. All you need is a light jacket.

Maddi S.: Who is a better athlete?Morgan S.: Did you letter in basket-ball all four years? Enough said.

Maddi S.: What do you like about being a twin?Morgan S.: Messing with teachers.

PHOTO BY ALLISON DEARING

PHOTO BY JORDAN FREDERICKA photo taken from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

MADDI SANDERSON MORGAN SANDERSON

Summer shows rise of insects

PHOTO PROVIDED BY ELESHA STUCKEY

Page 5September 16, 2015 OPINION

Categorizing creates controversy

According to Webster Dictionary dating is “to do an activity with someone you might have a romantic relationship with.”

Nowadays people do not see dating that way. When people think of dating, many do not think about growing closer to someone by getting to know them, they go straight for the label and physical part. Physical attraction is not a bad thing, but you also need to grow closer to them emotionally. Back in the day, the traditional way of dating was the guy asking the girl on a date in person, picking her up at the door, meeting her parents, and having her home at a respectable time. Today most couples or soon to be couples would just shoot each other a text asking if they want to “hangout” or “chill” and most of the times do not actually meet the parents of their date. The traditional way needs to come back. When most people are together and hangout, the art of conversation is not there. Instead of having deep conversations, couples tend to gravitate more toward the physical side of their relationship. Conversation, whether it be deep or basic is an important key to a healthy and long lasting relationship. It helps couples connect more than the aspect of physical connection. The way of meeting people has also changed over time. It used to be if

one wanted to meet someone new, your friend would bring one of their friends to an event or one would wait until there was a new boy/girl at school.

In this day and age, people meet through social media, like Twitter or Instagram, and have conversations on the app without ever meeting each other in person. This is a great way to meet new people, but people should then go on actual dates out in public to see if they really like each other instead of just shooting them a notification asking if they want to come “chill”. Another aspect of dating that has changed is the word “talking”. Back in the day when people were going on dates there was no such thing as talking. It was either you were going on dates or boyfriend and girlfriend. Nowadays most people text first, then they start “talking” and hanging out, and then they start to date and add the label of boyfriend and girlfriend to their relationship. Some people today don’t even see a relationship with someone, they just want to have someone who they can hang out with and have a physical connection with. The two just hangout for the physical pleasure of the relationship and then they just call things off. Not all relationships are like this though; some boys/girls still do it the traditional way and should be applauded. They still go and meet the parents and pick the girl or boy up at the door instead of just shooting them a text when they get there, but not all boys are that way and it should change.

Traditional dating loses valueBy Lexi King

Special editor

Target has re-cently been slandered for separating boys’ and girls’ toys. As a re-sult, they have now de-cided to produce only “gender-neutral”toys. In July, a woman tweeted a picture of a sign in Target that desig-nated “Building Sets” and “Girls’ Building Sets.” The woman expressed that she was against this, and her tweet soon made national news. The tweet read “Don’t’ do this” and tagged Target’s twitter account. After seeing this tweet, Target de-cided that they need to make children’s toys general neutral. According to Tar-get’s Corporate website, they are doing this be-cause they do not want to upset their customers. But the reality is, people can’t please every-one. A perfect example be-ing that there are people upset at the fact that they are making this change. This concept of not offending people is simply absurd; some toys are more feminine, and some are more masculine. Just because a toy

is in the girls’ section of a store, doesn’t mean a boy can’t play with that toy. If someone’s child wants a toy from the opposite sex’s section, the parents should just walk over to that section and

get the toy. The child doesn’t care what section the toy is from, and neither should anyone else. There are plenty of young girls who like to play with trucks, or young boys

who like to play with dolls. Some toys, such as stuffed animals, are already gender neu-tral. While these are already gender neutral, and can just be labeled as “stuffed animals,”

this doesn’t mean that gender labels should be taken away from all toys. Target is also making the kids’ bedding section gender neutral. They are in the process of looking for more gender based sections in which they can make equal. The signs that the woman tweeted a pic-ture of have already been changed. What once used to be two signs that read “girls’ building sets” and “building sets” is now only one side that sim-ply reads “building sets.” This generation is very focused on equal-ity, so it makes sense that this would happen. Other stores may feel the need to take action, and ac-commodate their stores to gender neutrality as well. It’s only a matter of time before everything in stores is gender neu-tral. There could soon be no difference in girls and boys clothes-everything would just be in the same category of “clothes.” However, there are people who think Tar-get is in the right with this issue. People may think that because of so many homosexuals in today’s time, this is the politi-cally correct thing to do. Just because there are more homosexuals to-day does not mean toys and other items should be labeled as gender neutral.

Bedding, toys, and other childhood items classified as gender neutral

Target’s aisles no longer say “boys” or “girls” but gereralize with the term “kids”.

PHOTO BY MACKENZIE JOEFREDA

By Mackenzie JoefredaEditor-in-chief

Students abuse and hide behind anonymous apps

Social media has al-ways been used as a way for teenagers to say things they would never truly have the guts to say face-to-face to an-other person. In all honestly, if some-one cannot say something di-rectly to another person, why should they be able to post it online? Just because there is a computer screen between them and the other person does not mean it is ok. Having a computer screen or a phone screen be-tween two people seems to create a feeling of safety. It al-lows them to create this new persona that originally never would have developed if they were talking to the person in the hallway. People begin to say things they would never have the guts to say. Recently a new app has made its way on to many teenagers’ phone. This new app allows the students of a particular school to log in un-der their school’s name. For ex-ample, a member of Leo Jr./Sr. High School is allowed to log in and post things for only the other Leo students to see. Now this may seem a lot like other social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, but there is a catch. Everything that is posted is posted under an anonymous name. Teenagers have al-ready proven to be ruthless

when it comes to posting on-line; now imagine they have the opportunity to talk about anyone they want, but no one truly knows who they are. It is no surprise that teenagers have already at-tacked this app and are post-ing like crazy. These posts range from vulgar and filthy to sweet and innocent, though the sweets are very rare to find. The most prominent and com-mon posts are those that target both boys and girls and sexual-ize them in the most disgusting ways. Anonymously, boys and girls will post their deep-est, darkest, and disgusting thoughts online. It is absolutely shame-ful that one can type and post something they would never be able to physically speak in front of others. It is amazing

how someone can hide behind a computer screen and say such nasty things to and about peo-ple. Not one person who uses this new app would be able to say what they are typ-ing. Shouldn’t people be mature enough to realize that if they can’t say something in person, they probably shouldn’t say that online? Their conscience is able to know what is appropriate and what is not. Not being able to say the “post” in person is their conscience telling them that it is neither right nor ok to say. Next time you decide you want to post something on Twitter or this new “everything is anonymous app,” remember you are just making yourself more of a coward by hiding. Not everything has to be said or posted. It’s ok to have thoughts and keep them to yourself.

By Alyssa GrossSports editor

Junior Kaitlyn Setser scrolls through the After School app on her phone. PHOTO PROVIDED BY ELESHA STUCKEY

Page 6September 16, 2015 SPORTSLeo competes in Northeast EightBy Alexis King

Editor-in-chief

By Michaela SauerA&E Editor

Fantasy Football evokes easygoing competition

Eight things to know about... Football Cheerleading1. We love Taylor Swift.2. Everyone uses John’s baby powder without him knowing.

1. We jam on all the bus rides.2. The 8 seniors have more sass than the entire school.3. Annually, we do over 1,000 push-ups.4. We’re really good at fake smiling, except for Grace.5. We get dressed on the bus in under 9 minutes. 6. Our coaches’ children are the real mascots.7. No, we won’t do “flips” for you.8. We lose about 760 hairties per season.

PHOTOS BY ALYSSA GROSS

“My strategy is that I pick up players that have good chances of making big plays and have a good chance to help me

get into the playoffs.”

This year Leo is in a new conference called the Northeast 8, also known as the NE8.

The conference consists of Bellmont, Columbia City, DeKalb, East Noble, Huntington North, Leo, New Haven, and Norwell. “Thebiggestdifferenceis obviously just the size of the schools we are competing against,” varsity football coach Jared Sauder said. “We are going to go from the biggest school in the conference to one of the smallest schools.” Coach Sauder also said that the competition they face will be more consistent week in and week out.

“We are going to have to be at our best every week,” Sauder said. According to senior girls soccer player Alyse Jenkins the new conference is going to be good for all sports because the competition will be better and more intense.This newfound higher level competition will prepare them for post season.

Senior boys soccer player Tyler LaBorde also agreed with Jenkins. “The NE8 is for sure harder than what the ACAC conference was,” LaBorde said.

“Each game will be more of a challenge.” With the competition changing and becoming tougher, many athletes like senior volleyball player Audrey Lukemire prepared inadifferentway. “Since the competition will be a lot tougher, I had to mentally prepare myself to realize that it will be tougher to win games,” Lukemire said. Jenkins agreed with Lukemire in the fact that they had to change the way of their minds so they could be ready to take on the tougher and bigger teams.

With the new conference it also brings some excitement and new goals for the sports teams. Senior tennis player Drake Lomont is looking forward to winning conference. Not only is he anxious for his team’s conference win, he is also excited to watch all the other sports teams achieve their individual team goals. “I am looking forward to playing New Haven,” senior football player Joe Lambright said. “They are supposed to be the best football team in our conference, so I am excited to see how we match up to them.” All the fall teams have common goals. They all want to make it far in their postseason and bring the first NE8 championshiphome to Leo.

At Leo Jr./Sr. High School fantasy football has been its own time of year. For some people, the league is just for fun and they play against family. For others, they play for money and prizes. Prizes can include money, upgrades, or bonus scores.

Junior Andrew Smith started playing four years ago with his friends. He usually plays against his friends and family but he could be able to play against people from all over.

“My strategy is that I pick up players that have good chances of making big plays and have a good chance to help me get into theplayoffs,”Smithsaid.

According to Smith, staying on top is all about the matchups each week and making sure the lineup is perfect. By having a stable lineup there are more opportunities of scoring higher.

“My dream team is having a steady quarterback with the top running back and wide receivers,” Smith said.

It is possible to trade players and get new ones when a player is hurt or when they are not playing well, just by trading them with another player or dropping him and picking up a free player on the waiver wire.

Smith said his favorite moment from being on a team was when his score is really closeandoneplayer is leftand thatplayermade some big plays to get the win.

Math teacher David Kantenwein is part of a family league that started three years ago. Kantenwein’s family does not play for money, but the winner of the league gets to choose any meal they want. His mother

and sister have had to prepare it; otherwise, they go out to dinner with the winner.

“It was just another bragging rights competition my brother-in-law started,” Kantenwein said.

To themath teacher school comesfirstand anytime he has at home is spent on other things, including fantasy football.

“Trading players is really easy as long as someone in the league is willing to trade. It is justaclickofabutton,andourleagueadminhas

to “approve it”…but he always does.Gettingnew ones are also easy. You drop one player from your team and pick up a prospect who you thinkcandobetter,”saidKantenwein.

Kantenwein got second place the firstyear of playing, and said he had no clue to what he was doing but it was his best memory from playing.

Junior Jacob Mellady was just a “wee boy,” age 16, when his cousin asked him to play. Mellady plays only with his family. “My dream team is where Odell Beckham Jr. would play for me,” Mellady said. “My favorite moment from being on a team is when I beat someone.” “The really cool thing about fantasy football is that your set of players makes up a dream team. I know I wouldn’t want every single player from my favorite team, the Bears,” Kantenwein said.

The Fantasy Football League was created in 1962 by three men, Bill Winkenbach, BillTunnel,andScottSterling,inahotelroom.

Friends and family participate against each other

3. We have the best team dinners.4. Coach Mack does the nae nae.5. Mason Kern is lowkey the best dancer on the team.

6. Kilgus and Kray have no rhythm.7. Zach’s nickname is Mantis.8. Clevis has the best hair on the team.

Page 7September 16, 2015 SPECIALTop Hits Of

Summer 2 0 1 5THE

TOP 5 SONGS OF THE SUMMER1. See You Again

Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth

2. Cheerleader OMI

3. Bad BloodTaylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar

4. Trap QueenFetty Wap

5. Watch MeSilento

according to billboard.com

TOP 5 MOVIES OF THE SUMMER

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron2. Inside Out3. Jurassic World4. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation5. Trainwreck

according to eonline.com

Sophomore Madison Schoonover traveled to England, Ireland, and the Netherlands. “One of my favorite parts was driving through Ireland,” Schoonover said. “Ireland is such a beautiful country with rolling hills and cattle.”

“I really enjoyed the sightseeing,” senior DJ Dellinger said about his summer trip to Europe. “There is so much to see in both places: the Louvre, Big Ben, Buckington Palace, the London Tower, and the Eiffel Tower.”

Freshman Hannah Adams went on a cruise over summer vacation. “My favorite stop was St. Lucia,” Adams said. “We went to a waterfall, and on an open jeep through the rainforest.”

Junior Eli Steiner traveled to Moca, Provincia Espaillat, Dominican Republic for a one week missions trip. “One night before a service we had a dance party with the other people in the church, that was one of my favotire parts.”

TOP SUMMER MEMORIES

Junior Eli Steiner and missions team volunteer at a church in the Dominican Republic.PHOTO PROVIDED BY ELI STEINER

Freshman Hannah Adams exploring in St. Lucia. PHOTO PROVIDED BY HANNAH ADAMS

Sophomore Madison Schoonover in front of BIg Ben.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY MADISON SCHOONOVER

PHOTO PROVIDED BY MADISON SCHOONOVER

Page 8September 16, 2015 SPECIAL

Back-to-School Games

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