T h e A merican D rea m- - - Verona Area School District

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F E A T U R E Say goodbye to senioritis By MEGAN KASTEN Skipping class, falling behind in your school work, and a countdown to the day when you graduate; symptoms of senioritis. Senioritis seems to kick in right after homecoming or for some students even before senior year, and doesn’t end until the last day of school. Senior Sam Riebau says, “I’ve had senioritis since sophomore year.” The second semester of senior year seems to be a waiting room for the next stage of life, which for many will be college. As the school year is quickly coming to an end, most seniors at VAHS cannot wait to leave. Grades may begin to slip, and most of the time, the seniors just don’t care about school anymore. As senior Taylor Spitzig says, “It’s really hard to make yourself go home and do homework, especially after you’ve done it all day at school.” With the school year coming to an end, and for seniors, your high school career coming to an end, keep a few things in mind so you can throw your cap and get that diploma on the much anticipated day, Being thin is not in By KYLA KLEIN We all don’t want to be Barbie, we don’t expect a Ken, and that Malibu car is so overrated… but Nicole Richie’s bug sunglasses and oversized sweaters are to die for. Today, girls are more anxious to lose 10 pounds than gain some of Barbie’s double D’s. When you look at American models that represent the dream body image, they are thinner than 98% of the rest of the population, and average around 117 pounds at 5’11”. Senior Niki Lindquist is dismayed with the media pressure over body image. “Girls need to get over being thin. It’s not attractive.” When you glance around Verona you can observe the pressure in action, and not all of it comes from the media. Parents, friends, teachers, and signifi cant others all put pressure on you to look “good”, whether or not their version of “good” is true. One friend that may seem to be overly concerned about body image can spread their opinion to all acquaintances. Senior Kayla Prevost claims, “It’s overrated.” Girls between 13 and 25 are horror-struck 1 0 “Girls need to get over being thin. It’s not June 7 th . Stay in School- There’s only two and a half months left of high school. If you start skipping several times a week, the absences will add up. Remember there’s only a certain amount of days you can miss and still be able to graduate. This goes for you underclassmen too, don’t give up! Junior Ali Tackett claims that, “Even though I’m a junior, I still feel like I get senioritis.” Many students probably agree with Tackett, but stick with school and don’t let up yet! Get Involved in Extra Curricular Activities- To make your second semester fl y by, get involved in an extracurricular activity, or do something that you enjoy. Spring sports are always a good idea as there’s track for boys and girls, girls soccer, baseball, softball, tennis, and golf. Having something with the misconception that they aren’t beautiful the way they are and they take drastic measures to become “beautiful”. “Girls will call themselves fat and ugly when they know that they aren’t just to hear it,” complains senior Erin Schuenamenn. The fad of low self esteem may be for attention or for true internal opinion, but no true “ugly” person would pointedly say they are ugly, so no… you aren’t. attractive.” -Niki Lindquist “I’ve had senioritis since sophomore year.” -Sam Riebau It’s important to stay healthy and have fun in high school, and not stress over how you aren’t the right size, the right height, or have the right face. Junior Amelia Freson knows that high school girls need to stay healthy. “An apple and a Diet Coke at lunch doesn’t count as food.” Fellow Verona senior boys, Chris Mason and Peter Kirner, share their own opinion about body image. Peter explains, “Girls should rely on inner beauty instead of what they look like.” However, Mason contributes to the ongoing pressure that Verona girls must face when concerned with body image when he claims, “I don’t care what a girl’s body looks like, as long as it’s an hourglass fi gure.” Whether or not your friends are down to earth like Kirner, or on the shallow side with Mason, it’s always important to be your to do every day after school will make the time pass, and you’ll meet people who enjoy doing the same activities as you do. After all, senior year is a time to take risks and experience new things. Look Forward to Something: If you have something in the near future that you’re looking forward to, keep your eye on it and keep pushing through the few weeks until them. Spring break, only a week away, is a time many are looking forward to since it is a tropical getaway for lots. Don’t forget about the senior class trip at the end of the year, and maybe even prom! Keep these things in mind seniors, and maybe even the underclassmen. Graduating high school is probably the best day of your life, and it’s defi nitely something that you don’t want to miss. Stay in school and keep working hard until the last day and the reward will be getting that diploma. own person and take care of yourself. Senior Meredith Meier is proud of her healthy body image and explains, “Because I’m a very active person, I do tend to eat more than most girls... But it doesn’t phase me that I eat more because I love food, and I am very comfortable with the way I look.” Senior Maddy Konkol claims, “Girls need to be healthy and see themselves as they are. It’s not right to compare yourself with someone that is photoshopped and 50 pounds. Everyone needs to be independent and be able to take care of themselves without others opinions mixed in.” So Christina Aguilera had it right when she sang Beautiful, because no matter what you think, hear, or feel; you are beautiful, no matter what they say, and you should always put your health before one high school girl’s opinion on artifi cial looks. Plus ice cream sounds a lot tastier than an apple, and sometimes it’s too tiring to wake up early and straighten all that hair. Figaro’s Pizza-Cousins Subs-Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream 231 S. Main Street, Verona Wi 53593 608-848-3111 T H E C A T ' S E Y E M A R C H 2 0 0 9
F E A T U R E ¿Quién son los ELLs? Who are the ELLs? By LAYLI AMERSON Cómo es la vida para los hispanohablantes de VAHS? What would it be like to learn in a language that you don’t speak fl uently? That’s exactly what ELL (English Language Learner) students do daily here at VAHS. We have a thriving ELL program at our high school, with over 150 ELL students, and more students entering every year. According to ELL counselor Carri Hale, “Our ultimate goal is to help the kids increase their…English skills and to see them into those mainstream classes.” The majority of ELL students at our high school are either Latino or Hmong. By 2010, over 30% of American students will come from homes that primarily speak a language other than English. The issue of ELL integration is prevalent at VAHS. While “integration” brings to mind the turbulent process of bringing African- American students to white schools in the 1960s, integrating new immigrants is a major concern today. The controversy surrounding immigration tends to be polarizing. Some view all Latinos as intruders, even those who come here legally. To make matters worse, there is a paradigm that all immigrants do menial, low-pay labor, and that everyone who looks “foreign” is an immigrant. Even at VAHS, a subtle prejudice permeates. When an English-speaking student hears a group of bilingual students speaking Spanish or Hmong in the hallways, they tend to feel intimidated, wondering, “What are they saying? Who are they talking about?” Several years ago, I overheard one student complain, “Why do they have to speak in Spanish? I always feel like they’re talking about me.” A quick glance around the lunchroom reveals that this kind of fear causes self-segregation, with tables almost labeled “White,” “Black,” or “Latino.” Of course, it isn’t simply that white students shun minority students. Everyone feels more comfortable with similar people. Junior America Hernandez, who moved to America at the age of seven, observed, “I think that Latinos feel better being with other Latinos.” Hale commented, “I think acceptance is an obstacle” for ELL students. “We’re 22% minority at this high school, which is a fairly large number, yet if you’re in that minority, your counterparts are a large sea of European Americans.” Junior Yennsy Tlali, who emigrated from Mexico when she was eight, de- cided to take classes in the ELL department in ninth grade so that she could adjust to high school before separating from her bilingual friends. Of her experience, she says, “I felt good because I was around my people and was in my comfort zone. At the same time, I felt bad because I felt that we were being segregated from the rest of the students.” Indeed, the ELL department is almost like another high school within VAHS. America Hernandez observed, “I think that part of the reason for ELL students not connecting with non-ELL students is that they’re in a classroom with only other ELL students, so it’s diffi cult to connect with students from other cultures.” Both Yennsy Tlali and America Hernandez transitioned into mainstream classes after ninth grade. Hernandez recalled, “When I changed to mainstream classes with people not in ELL, I took World History. People expected me to know less just because I came from ELL. They think you’re dumber, when really you have two things going on at once, because you’re thinking in both English and Spanish.” Tlali summarized her experience: “Socially, I can say that my freshman year transition to sophomore year was kind of hard because there were more things I didn’t know. I had to decide between focusing on making friends in my classes and learning the information individually.” Juggling two languages simultaneously is a feat most of us can’t imagine, as we struggle to get through classes taught in our native English. Hale remembered how one bilingual student described taking tests: “She reads it -Junior Yennsy Tlali in English, translates it into Spanish in her mind, answers it in Spanish in her mind, and translates it back to English to write the answer down.” The transition into American culture can also be difficult for immigrant students. Hale said that she has seen culture shock in some students, as the adjustment not only involves language, but social nuances that seem second nature to those raised here. Hale remarked, “It’s hard to come to a school of 1500 kids. The ELL classes help cushion it because the teachers are so well trained and so good, but [the students] are taking Art Foundations, PE, Keyboarding (oh, boy), fi nding their way around and then somebody says ‘no school, it’s a snow day!’ and you’re going ‘what does that mean?’” Some students arrive in America with no prior education, like freshman ChuNeng Lo. He moved to “People expected me to know less just because I came from ELL.” America from Thailand fi ve years ago, and his native languages are Hmong and Thai. Despite the obstacles he’s faced, he has a sunny outlook, commenting, “I enjoy school because it can help you for your life in the future. I like all my classes.” Indeed, “there is work for everybody to do on acceptance, understanding, and tolerance,” as Hale put it. She stated, “My hope would be that we get to know each other well enough through time so we could reach that place of hope, respect, and admiration— being able to look at each other, and hearing that Spanish conversation in the hallway and instead of having fear, to have a feeling of pride of ‘how cool is that’ that it is part of our school.” Tlali related her own view of acceptance at VAHS, describing her struggle to fi nd true acceptance: “I was friends with a popular girl, but she only talked to me when she was by herself, never when she was around her other friends. I realized that friendship needs to have acceptance and that this wasn’t friendship.” When asked to assess the level of acceptance that white students exhibit, she said, “On a scale of 1 to 4, I would rate white students a 2. I think that there’s a 50/50 chance of being accepted: 50% likes the idea of acceptance, 50% doesn’t, and of that 50%, half don’t really care, thinking ‘I’m happy where I am.’ Regardless of ethnicity, getting accepted is diffi cult.” M A R C H 2 0 0 9 T H E C A T ' S E Y E 11
Page 1 and 2: According to a survey of 100 Verona
Page 3 and 4: N E W S Hammen named VAHS Principal
Page 5 and 6: C O L U M N Confessions of a farmer
Page 7 and 8: F E A T U R E Bachelor and bachelor
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Page 15 and 16: O P I N I O N Roundabouts: A little
Page 17 and 18: S P O R T S Athlete of the Month: M
Page 19 and 20: S P O R T S Boys’ Lacrosse gears
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T h e A merican D rea m- - - Verona Area School District

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