The Shield Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
Editor-In-Chief Ezri Killeen
Social Media Editor Mia Power
Reporters Seth Walker Jake Burkhart Annie Patton Grace Platt Delaney Smith Grace Mayer Briley McGreevy Andrew Schoonover
Advisor Matt Hallauer
Freelance Reporter Rachel Raney
Managing Editors Becca Haeusser Kat Schartz
Mission Statement The Shield is a newspaper sponsored by Saint Thomas Aquinas High School and produced by its students to provide information, entertainment, and open forum, as well as a learning experience for its staff members. The goal of The Shield’s staff is to meet professional journalism standards. Staff members are responsible for the content of the newspaper and strive to report news accurately, objectively, and completely. The Shield is an open forum for student expression and aims to communicate the concerns of the student body as well as the faculty, staff, and Aquinas community.
Advertising The Shield sells advertisements to help with publication costs. All ads will be subject to the same scrutiny as stories. The Shield will not print any obscenities or any ads promoting products illegal to those under the age of 18. For advertising, please call (913) 319-2460, send an email to mhallauer@ stasaints.net, or visit www.stasaints.net/shield Subscriptions Subscriptions to The Shield are $3 per issue. Subscriptions can be sent to Saint Thomas Aquinas High School c/o Matt Hallauer. Digital subscriptions are free and sent via email monthly. Orders can be sent to newspaper@stasaints.net Letters Policy Letters may be accepted by The Shield, provided that they are signed and do not contain libelous statements. The Shield reserves the right to edit the letters for grammar, obscenity, or space consideration, and also reserves the right to not print a letter. Saint Thomas Aquinas High School 11411 Pflumm Road Overland Park, KS 66215 913-319-2460
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Passing the Torch
a letter from the editor
We made it, Saints. Wow, that sounds weird to say. But it’s true. Seniors: we have made it through our entire high school career. In 13 days, we will be considered Aquinas alumni--no longer students. We will no longer be wearing the uniform. We can walk into the school with an illegal sweatshirt on without fear of being told off. These four years have been some of the best years of my life. I have made my very, very best friends at this school. I fell in love with the community. I discovered my passions in life. It may have been hard at some moments--when I had three tests in one day, when the I was at school for more than 12 hours at a time--but I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. My days at The Shield have been some of the best moments in my high school career. I have loved every second of working for this publication, from my very first published article, “In Sickness and in Health,” that I wrote in JComp, to my last moments as Editor-in-Chief. Junior year, I realized my true passion for journalism as our Editorin-Chief, Alex Kinnan, entrusted me with any story I showed interest in. I was able to write on a variety of topics, including students’ hatred for online textbooks, the service hour requirement, and many profile stories. I knew by the end of that year that I wanted to lead The Shield. My goal was to create an irreplaceable, informative outlet for the Aquinas community and leave the publication better than I found it. Now, looking back on the year, I can say that I am so proud of what we have accomplished.
My staff has created the very best environment this year; none of this would have been possible without them. They were the ones who could take any story I had in mind and make it completely their own or fix a design when even I was at a loss. Each layout day, no matter how long or frustrating, was made better just because I was with them. They were incredibly supportive and collaborative, and they followed direction even when I was frustrated (which was very rarely, thanks to them). So this is a huge thank you to them: you are my dream staff, and I will never forget you. That being said, The Shield is in the very best hands next year. Your next Editor-in-Chief, Andrew Schoonover, is someone that I trust wholeheartedly. He will continue my mission of bettering The Shield, and he won’t let the community down. His first editor’s letter is presented right next to mine; read it to hear his plans for next year. He also will be leading a staff full of the best reporters I know. With that, I’ll leave you to read my very last edition of The Shield: the Senior Issue 2017. Working for this publication has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It has been an honor to serve you, Saints. Live it up, and let’s get it one last time.
Ezri Killeen Editor-in-Chief, The Shield 2016-2017
Photo by Emily Conard | The Medallion The Shield’s current Editor-in-Chief, Ezri Killeen, and The Shield’s future Editor-inChief, Andrew Schoonover.
The Shield: Volume 30 a letter from the future editor
After learning the ins-and-outs of journalism in JComp and covering stories as a reporter, I have been given the honor and privilege of serving as next year’s Editor-In-Chief for The Shield-- a goal I have been working towards for quite some time now. From newspaper I have found a special niche in the Aquinas community. From day-long layout days together to working tirelessly on stories, I have grown to love my fellow staff members and the work we all accomplish together. Finding a deeper passion for journalism, seeing different perspectives of Aquinas, and being routinely amazed by what we can accomplish together are just some of the lessons I have learned while on staff. With that being said, there are great plans for next year’s volume of The Shield. 30 years is a big deal. Volume 30 of The Shield is looking to capture the significance of 30 years of Aquinas. As the Aquinas community prepares to look back on the past, excel in the present, and prepare for the future, it’s important to take in the significance of the moment. In the Bible, Jesus began his missionary work at age 30. The notation “-30-” has been used in newspapers to conclude stories. Marty McFly traveled 30 years back in time in Back to the Future.
Aquinas opened in the marian year 1988-1989, and almost three decades have passed since its doors first opened. In these 30 years times have changed, students have moved on, and the integrity of the school has been tested. Some things never change. Academic achievements have been reached. State championships have been dominated. Faith lives have been nurtured. Those in need have been served. A community has been formed. Perhaps most notable in this special place is the credo that its community holds high: Amor Vincit Omnia, Love Conquers All. With a proud history, a confirming present, and a promising future ahead these words will continue to inspire a community to take every opportunity to love. Next year’s volume of The Shield is poised to capture, inspire, and partake in the opportunity a 30-year anniversary offers.
Andrew Schoonover Editor-in-Chief, The Shield 2017-2018
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The Guest Columns Three seniors from the class of 2017 share their favorite memories of Aquinas and advice to underclassmen.
First Impressions of Aquinas BY REED WALKER
Coming to Saint Thomas Aquinas was a big decision for me. I had attended public school until 8th grade, and my brother was at Olathe East at the time that I had to decide where I wanted to go to high school. I had no real reason to choose Aquinas over Olathe East. I wasn’t Catholic at the time, and almost all of my friends were going to Olathe East, as well as my older brother. Still, I decided to go out on a limb, and try something new. I knew it was a big decision, and I thought about it for awhile. It ultimately came down to the fact that I felt like the culture behind Aquinas was better, and it was something I wanted to be a part of. Even from the day that I shadowed here, I could tell that it was a place that can make a difference. I remember how nervous I was to shadow, and how I thought for sure it was going to be a very long, awkward day. Admittedly it was an awkward day, how can it not be? Still, it went much better than I could’ve imagined. I didn’t feel nearly as out of place as I thought I would. In fact, I almost felt like I was at home. It felt like every student was actually happy to be there, and no one mentioned anything negative about the
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school. It was clear to me from that day on that Aquinas was where I wanted to call home for the next four years of my life. The decision to come to school at Aquinas was easily the best decision I have ever made. It has made me see things from a different point of view, and I have a much different set of morals and values than the majority of people I talk to from other schools. Aquinas has helped me to realize the importance of family and community, and how a strong enough group of people, no matter the size, can do great things. The Aquinas family has proved this time and time again, as we continue to better each other everyday. It is very true that Aquinas breeds winners. That does not only go for athletics in our school, too. I am a much better person because of my decision to come here, and I could not be more thankful to everyone involved at Aquinas. However, all of that was not realized for me the minute I walked in the doors. Freshman year I was very intimidated, as I am sure many people were. I was scared that I would struggle to make friends and fit in, in a place with such a vastly different culture compared to what I was used to at public school. I was blown away by the kindness and openness of the students I met. I found that anyone I would talk to would be happy to engage in a conversation with me, despite the fact that we were all awkward freshman. Everyone was kind, and to this day I
still firmly believe that there is not a bad person anywhere in the school. It was remarkable to me that everyone seemed so happy and willing to meet people, because at public school everyone was very judgy and closed off. I do not regret much at all about my time here. I have loved almost every minute of it. However, as I have begun to look back and reflect on all the days that we have spent here, I have come to realize how open the community was, and how I didn’t take advantage of this whatsoever. The only thing I did freshman year was play soccer, and I regret that to this day. I wish I had gone outside of my comfort zone, and done something else alongside that. I made friends with kids from the soccer teams at Aquinas, and this makes me realize that I probably missed out on some friendships I could’ve made in other sports. That being said, I loved my time at Aquinas. I learned so much from so many people here, it is something I will never forget. It is hard to put into words how much I appreciate everyone in this senior class. They have all made impacts on me in ways that are impossible for me to forget. It’s going to be sad moving on, and no longer seeing all the smiling faces in the halls that have brought me so much joy for the past four years, but I know that everyone here will do great things, and I am excited to see where life leads us.
What Aquinas Has Taught Me BY ELIZABETH McCORMICK
Aquinas has taught me many things: the Pythagorean theorem, Ewing’s binary thinking, the Civil Rights movement like the back of my hand, sig figs, and the six black and white life lessons. While I have gained a lot of academic knowledge, I have also learned a lot of lessons outside of the classroom that I didn’t have to study and wasn’t tested over. Lessons that were instilled in me by the seniors when I was a freshman, like walking through the right-hand door, letting others use the microwave
with you, and being the last ones to eat at team dinners. Some more messages came to me as a sophomore, as well, like finding people who had similar interests to me who are the people I call my best friends today, how to find motivation in that so-called “sophomore slump”, and finding the right balance between academics, sports, family, faith, and friends. Junior year came around with more valuable lessons: work hard to get good grades and a good ACT score, football games are the place to be on Friday night, and breaking records and cans fit together nicely in the same sentence. Finally, senior year came, and all of these lessons finally clicked. All of these different pieces of knowledge that I had acquired shaped me to be the person I am today. Aquinas taught me
that hard work reaps great reward, you really don’t need sleep, school can be fun if you make it fun, the people you choose to be around greatly impact your time in high school (hopefully for the better), balance is hard but a good thing to have once you achieve it, being nice won’t kill you, and God will be there when no one else is. I will thank my parents forever and ever for sending me to a school that words can’t even describe how great it is. This school has shaped me throughout my teenage years while learning by my mistakes and successes. I will always be proud to say I went to Aquinas and had the absolute time of my life thanks to many incredible people. So thank you, Aquinas. You’ve been way too good to me.
Juniors: A Few Words of Advice BY GRAYSON DUNST
It really doesn’t feel real that I am writing a piece about what advice I would like to give to the juniors. I remember sitting in Mr. Brown’s class, having him call in a senior who was walking through the hall. They would always say that high school goes by like a blink of an eye. As a freshman, drowning in Latin homework and not really enjoying high school, I did not believe what they said. And here I am, still in disbelief that I am on the final stretch of my senior year. Throughout these four years, especially this year, I have gathered a few things that I wish I would have known or wish I would have done. I
want to pass some of the things I’ve learned onto the juniors in hopes that I can help you in some way. As you start applying to colleges and for scholarships, there is one thing I have learned: do not wait until the last day to complete your applications. I spent far too much time in Mrs. Bruns’s office asking for recommendation letters and transcripts. However, do not be afraid to talk to Mrs. Bruns if you are confused about anything. She is seriously the best and will help you with anything. I am asking each and every one of you to please consider going on Kairos. It seriously changed my life and I am so grateful for the experience I had and all the friends I have made because of it. It does not matter where you stand in your faith life, this retreat is such a good thing. It will literally never hurt you to be nice. Be nice to everyone. Also, be nice to underclassmen. They are actually really great and deserve kindness.
Procrastination is going to be your worst enemy. I wish I could tell you to avoid procrastinating at all costs but that would be hypocritical of me since I am writing this while avoiding my Pre-Calc homework. But in all seriousness, try your hardest to not procrastinate. Work hard because it can help you in the long run. Don’t stress out too much. Everything always works out in the end and getting one or two bad grades is not the end of the world. Lastly, enjoy every single moment of your time here. Aquinas is an amazing place with amazing people. You have such a short time left and I hope that you make it the best yet. Have SO much fun. I genuinely wish you all the best of luck in your senior year. I know you will all do amazing things and make amazing memories. Do not leave this place with any regrets. This is it. Again, enjoy every single moment.
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Taking the Road Less Traveled
Some Aquinas seniors are choosing to pursue futures that stray from traditional college paths.
Tatum King Senior Tatum King committed to play golf at Illinois State University. She will be joining the ranks among this Division 1 team next year, while also pursuing a major in Physical Therapy. Before committing to Illinois State University, King was given offers from many schools. “It [was] hard to make a decision because either the money they offered was amazing, or the school was everything I wanted, but [I] was not offered the amount of money like the other schools,” said King. She felt pressure to commit, and with senior year wrapping up, she knew she needed to make a decision. Despite the pressure, she always knew she wanted to play golf at the next level. “I knew I always wanted to play golf at a Division 1 college, but I got a lot of offers from D2 schools.” To expand her options, she decided to contact coaches. “I sent 50 letters out to a bunch of different schools [with] a resume, and a cover letter,” said King. “I [even] contacted Illinois State University but I never heard back from them,” said King. That is until she scored her personal best at her last EKL tournament. Her coach emailed Illinois State University all her most recent stats. After seeing her scores, the Illinois State coach contacted King and invited her to tour their campus. The girls golf team had just opened up another spot, and King was offered it. “I had a checklist that I was looking for in a school. Illinois state filled all of them,” said King. The coach, the team, and the golfing program all exceeded her expectations. She committed to Illinois State University on November 6. “I called the [Illinois State University] coach, then called all the other coaches who offered me scholarships to decline their offers,” said King.
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BY GRACE MAYER Will Cole Senior Will Cole committed to run cross country and track at Notre Dame next year. For some, committing can be a stressful process. Cole, however, never felt this pressure, especially since he has thought about this decision since his sophomore year. “I knew I wanted to run in college so I just enjoyed the whole recruiting process. I did want to run at a good school so I felt a little pressure to get my name out to coaches and big schools,” Cole said. He received offers from several good schools, but he narrowed his choice down to two: the University of Kansas and the University of Notre Dame. “I was extremely excited when the Notre Dame coach called me and offered me a visit. It was such a cool moment,” Cole said. On his visit, he spent time with their cross country team, and even stayed with a runner from California. “Going to visit and meeting the team was an awesome experience, and I knew after that visit that Notre Dame was where I wanted to go,” Cole said. “Once I decided on Notre Dame, I called the coach to let him know I wanted to run for him. He was excited and sent me a National Letter of Intent, which I signed agreeing that I was going to run for Notre Dame,” said Cole.
Maggie Sieben Senior Maggie Sieben has known for a while that she was going to attend the University of Alabama at Birmingham, but she didn’t know she would end up also running cross country and track there until recently. She received a lot of D2 and D3 offers, but they didn’t provide what she was looking for academically. She started to contact the schools she was interested in about running, but narrowed her decision down to the University of Alabama Birmingham. “I had made the decision already to attend UAB just purely on academics, the campus, and the people. I knew I was going to go there, so I was just waiting to see if I had a spot on the team,” said Sieben. She found out she was on UAB’s girls cross country and track team after spring break. However, her addition to the team is an unusual case due to her most recent injury. “With my injury, I was primarily looked at as someone you would build up over the first couple years and hopefully [become] a front-runner in the upperclassmen years,” said Sieben. “I am a recruited walk-on. I don’t get any athletic scholarship money from it, but I don’t have to try out for the team, I’m guaranteed a spot. I’ll get all the amenities that come with being a student athlete,” said Sieben. She does have an academic scholarship at UAB, and she is looking forward to majoring in Biomedical sciences. She’s also hoping to work in one of the four hospitals that surround UAB’s campus.
Ezri Killeen Senior Ezri Killeen knew since freshmen year she wanted to pursue a future in the arts. Now she will be attending Northwestern in the fall with a dual major in journalism and voice oprah. This five-year program sets Killeen on her path to earning two bachelor degrees: one bachelor of music in voice, and another bachelor of science in journalism. Northwestern didn’t start out as Killeen’s first choice, though. “I thought I was going to go to the University of Southern Carolina for a while,” said Killeen, but her mom suggested they visit Northwestern because of their journalism program. “I really liked it. It was in an area I liked. It had really good programs in both [journalism and voice]. I couldn’t find a thing wrong with it,” said Killeen. She applied for early decision at Northwestern, but her application process stretched to seven other schools, including Vanderbilt and New York University. She had to prepare an application outside of the Common App., audition pieces, a resume, and a repertoire list that consisted of all the pieces she ever worked on. She prepared four audition pieces for Northwestern, three of which were required to be a foreign language. ”We ended up picking two Italian songs, a German song, and an English song [for Northwestern],” said Killeen. She prepared an audition tape of these four pieces, and sent it to Northwestern. After coming home from a Shrek rehearsal, Killeen received an email from Northwestern asking her to come in for a live audition. At the live audition “there were about ten people on the list that day. I figured they only called back twenty out of the early decision students,” said Killeen. Killeen was accepted into Northwestern’s voice department in early December. The day after she was accepted into Northwestern, she received callbacks from all the schools that she auditioned for.
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Yianni Perahoritis
Hugh O’Reilly
Senior Yianni Perahoritis also chose to follow an arts path, but in musical theatre. He started out with a list of 50 colleges in August, but has now narrowed it down to three. Whichever college he decides to attend next year, he will be earning his BFA in musical theatre, and, if he has time, majoring in business. Musical theatre has been a passion of his since 8th grade when he performed in the show Godspell. “It was really eye-opening to see how a show can affect so many people. I think that’s when it kind of clicked in my mind,” said Perahoritis. Since then, he has wanted to pursue a future in performance. He spent most of his first semester this year preparing songs and monologues for his auditions, but each school had different requirements. “The main [requirements were] a ballade, an upbeat song, and then a single monologue,” said Perehoritis. However, he did have to prepare a Shakespearean monologue for some auditions. To nail his auditions, he worked with a college guidance counselor that understood what the judges would look for. “I’ve been working with her since before school started, finding places, [and] pieces that would appease to college directors, that would work for me, and that are not really well-known so that I can showcase different aspects,” said Perahoritis. After winter break ended, he began to go on auditions. “This isn’t auditioning for high school theatre anymore, this can affect the rest of your life,” said Perahoritis. He auditioned at 22 colleges, of which he received callbacks from 19. “I’m still not decided yet. It’s a process that has taken the entire school year, and it’s technically still not done,” said Perahoritis.
Senior Hugh O’Reilly has always been interested in following a challenging academic route in college. So he decided to apply to several prestigious schools. “Of those schools [I applied to], maybe a little more than half would be considered prestigious in a conventional way,” said O’Reilly. Even though a prestigious program comes with a prestigious name, the school name was not what was most important to O’Reilly. “I know on a level prestige is important, and the name is important. I care less about that, [and more about] the rigor and how good the education is,” said O’Reilly. Narrowing down the best schools for him required a lot of research. He looked for schools with small class sizes, access to professors outside of the classroom, and good undergraduate research programs. In addition, these schools had to offer Physics or Computer Science programs, two fields he is thinking about majoring in. “I looked at their programs. I found ones that I liked the fit of, but that also had the academics I wanted,” said O’Reilly. However, O’Reilly’s application process required him to write 30 to 35 essays for the total amount of schools he applied to. He applied to so many to increase his chances, but also because “it’s so hard to get in these days,” said O’Reilly. He knows it will be worth it, especially with the opportunities these schools have to offer. “[There is] better research happening at the undergraduate level that would be more impressive for employers or grad programs,” said O’Reilly. O’Reilly is currently undecided about where he will attend school next year. Junior Grace Mayer is a reporter for The Shield. This story was edited by Editor-in-Chief Ezri Killeen.
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Tackling Student Debt Student loans become a rising challenge in post-secondary education. BY ANDREW SCHOONOVER & JAKE BURKHART
W
hen social studies teacher Stephanie Cloues switched her major from kinesiology to history, her father asked her “Well that’s great, but what are you going to do with that degree?” Cloues along with many other Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni had to grapple with all the challenges surrounding student debt: getting a job, paying for an effective education, not letting debt control your life, and coping with inherent issues in the college process. In recent years these problems have grown to be a crucial component of college. In fact more students are
encouraged to boost their ACT scores and join extra-curricular activities in hopes of receiving scholarships to help pay for college. College Counselor Barb Bruns has witnessed these issues grow throughout her career firsthand. Bruns has learned the intensity of the issue and how it has affected students throughout the years. “Students in the 1970s could work during the summer break and earn enough money to pay college tuition for the next school year. That is almost impossible today with the current cost of college,” Bruns said. The rise in college costs have risen exponentially since the 1980s, back when the first Saints alumni were attending college. Even with inflation adjusted data, the prices for the majority of college options have increased
greatly. The greatest spike in college costs has been experienced in public, four-year institutions— the most popular choice of school for this years seniors. During his college search process this past year, Senior Hugh O’Reilly spent time looking for top-tier schools with strong undergraduate math and science programs. “Most high-ranked public schools in math and science don’t offer very many merit scholarships, so given my out-of-state status, they would still have a high cost of attendance. As for private schools, my options will cost more, but my family and I believe the benefits are worth it,” O’Reilly said. After working tirelessly throughout high school to be accepted into the nation’s top schools, many students have been forced to tragically overcome one last, ugly barrier: paying for college. This challenge was not nearly as proportionally prevalent for college students in the 1980s and before. Senior Sophie Croft shared her plans to attend Grand Canyon University which is a for-profit
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The Social Spread Twitter Chayse Feeback @chaysefeeback “You guys will never win orange chin” Me:
Twitter Parker Schanefelt @Chappark We may have took an L, but seniors always bounce back #SpringOlympicsChamps
Twitter Skylar Bird @skygrayb The Breakfast Club (1985) Instagram Addi Hagge @adds10 What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta Instagram Danica McGrevey @danicamcgrevey gladiator to be at the colosseum with these lovely ladies
Instagram Itsy McCormick @itsymac update: two thumbs up for skydiving:-) Twitter Maggie Young @MaggieYoung5199 is it too late to drop out
Instagram Grayson Dunst @gcdunst i don’t think i have ever assisEEN anything as beautiful as this #puns
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Twitter Kara Stobie @KaraStobie Freshman Year vs Senior Year
Instagram Jenna Steichen @steich17 Laughing away the fact that this is our last dance together Instagram Katelyn Heying @katelyn_heying I said I got the one for you, follow me! #downtown Instagram Joe Drilling @jdrill They’ve been dragging me down since freshman year
Instagram Brittany Jones @brittjones_9 don’t ja(v) wish you had a friend like her Instagram Colleen Follis @colleen_follis 8 inches later #cancersucks
See any posts worth putting in The Shield? DM them to us @stashield on Twitter or Instagram!
Instagram Kaylee Coulter @kaylee_coulter Bye bye 8 inches #wigsout
Instagram Alexyss Holton @alexyss_holton Best last-minute decision I’ve ever made
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