ONE TEAM WON CHAMPIONSHIP
February 28, 2020
PHOTOS BY Alexis O'Roark, Amina Sankpill and Lexy Aguilar
PHOTO STORY INTERVIEWS BY Arlena Hoch, Nora Hill, Ashlyn Haley,Maggie Kissick and Amina Sankpill
At the end of the season, our Indian Hills Middle School boys' basketball team feels good to have won the district championship. Teddy Saylor shared that as he went into the second day that would end with a victory, "I just had this feeling we would win and then having my parents congratulate me after our team won the championship, made me feel good."
Later, Blake Hanson as seen in the photo cheering on his team added, "The best moment was at the end of the championship, when we stormed the court at the end of the game."
Following the game, Head Coach Andrew Gagnon said in an interview with photojournalist Amina Sankpill, "I think this is awesome. To think this is the only team in the six years. We've done that. [This team went] undefeated and won the whole thing, so to accomplish what they have accomplished is pretty cool. I am very proud of them and the intensity in that game. It was awesome, and I couldn't ask for anything more."
The team proudly posed with the boys' basketball coaches as district champs, including Jack Kessler, Wes Lyerly, Blake Hanson, Luke Pearcy, Peter Stechschulte, Jack Jones, Andres Driver, Teddy Saylor, Joey Hoffman, Charlie Carroll, Mack Renko, along with Coach Andrew Gagnon, Coach Seth Wolzen and Coach Dre Carnegie.
PHOTOS BY Alexis O'Roark, Amina Sankpill and Lexy Aguilar
PHOTO STORY INTERVIEWS BY Arlena Hoch, Nora Hill, Ashlyn Haley,Maggie Kissick and Amina Sankpill
At the end of the season, our Indian Hills Middle School boys' basketball team feels good to have won the district championship. Teddy Saylor shared that as he went into the second day that would end with a victory, "I just had this feeling we would win and then having my parents congratulate me after our team won the championship, made me feel good."
Later, Blake Hanson as seen in the photo cheering on his team added, "The best moment was at the end of the championship, when we stormed the court at the end of the game."
Following the game, Head Coach Andrew Gagnon said in an interview with photojournalist Amina Sankpill, "I think this is awesome. To think this is the only team in the six years. We've done that. [This team went] undefeated and won the whole thing, so to accomplish what they have accomplished is pretty cool. I am very proud of them and the intensity in that game. It was awesome, and I couldn't ask for anything more."
The team proudly posed with the boys' basketball coaches as district champs, including Jack Kessler, Wes Lyerly, Blake Hanson, Luke Pearcy, Peter Stechschulte, Jack Jones, Andres Driver, Teddy Saylor, Joey Hoffman, Charlie Carroll, Mack Renko, along with Coach Andrew Gagnon, Coach Seth Wolzen and Coach Dre Carnegie.
GETTING PERSONAL
February 12, 2020
By Ainsley Pyle
We can walk the halls of our school and sit alongside each other, without knowing a lot about one another. At the same time, everyone has something personal about themselves that they don’t share or aren’t sure how to share. Then, those moments happen when some people notice.
What do you do? What do you say? Here’s my story.
I first noticed something was wrong when I was on vacation in the summer of 2018. Every time I ate anything I got a horrible stomach ache.
Almost immediately when I got home, my family and I went to my doctor who sent me to get an x-ray. The x-ray gave me almost no answers.
Month after month, I was always getting some sort of x-ray, or I was always at an appointment. My pain was increasing, and my family and I had no idea what was wrong or how to stop the problem. I felt helpless.
After a while, we knew that my primary care doctor couldn’t help any further, and we were sent to the Gastroenterology Clinic at Children’s Mercy Hospital. During my first visit at the Gastroenterology Clinic, I was put on a new medicine that the doctor was confident would work.
I was on it for weeks and nothing happened, so I was put on another.
After taking multiple new medicines, as well as getting placed on special diets, my doctor told me that we had to take the next step and get an upper endoscopy. An upper endoscopy is when the gastroenterologist goes down the patient's throat and uses a small tube with a camera on the end to view their digestive system.
The day I got the endoscopy I was terrified, because I had never been under anesthesia. When I woke up, my mom told me the doctors had not found anything concerning, and I can remember filling right back up with that feeling of helplessness.
But all hope was not lost.
The doctors took a biopsy of my stomach tissue, and they informed us that we would get the results when we went to yet another doctor in the Abdominal Pain Clinic. However, I had to wait for almost 2 months to get an appointment at the clinic.
The day we went to the clinic, I had no idea what they were going to say. That day we finally got a diagnosis, and for the first time in eight months, I felt some hope for my life.
I was told I had something called Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis (EG). My doctor told me that EG was a rare condition that causes my stomach to inflame every time I eat or drink something. My stomach inflamed, because I had too many eosinophils (a type of white blood cell). I had almost 3 times the normal amount of eosinophils.
We still don’t know what caused the increase in the eosinophils, but I was immediately put on numerous medicines. Those medicines made no improvements to my condition, so once again, I was then put on different ones.
I went through months of new medicines, and at one point, I started to feel better. Yet, that quickly ended, and I went back to being in major pain.
In September 2019 we decided to get another endoscopy, and I had my second one in October 2019. When we received the biopsy from the endoscopy, we found out that my eosinophils was back to a normal level.
Even though it seemed that I should be better, my nerves were damaged from the eosinophils being there for so long. Now I take medicines that are trying to help the nerve damage.
Ten in every 10,000 people suffer from EG every single year. The most common symptoms for people with EG are nausea, abdominal pain, and sometimes vomiting. What makes your eosinophils multiply is unknown. It could be from prior infections that never went away or a food allergy. Even though professionals have some idea of possible causes, there is not yet any test that can tell for sure.
While most will never write an article about something this personal for all to read, know that while our “stuff” may be different, most of us can relate. I had to learn how to trust certain people in order to get to this place.
The parts of your story are your own. If and when you choose to share any of those parts with others, you may find yourself surprised at how many can connect with how hard that is to do.
Now that I’ve begun letting people know about it, I know there are others who are willing to understand and my life is now easier to live with this condition. A major load now feels lifted off of me.
By Ainsley Pyle
We can walk the halls of our school and sit alongside each other, without knowing a lot about one another. At the same time, everyone has something personal about themselves that they don’t share or aren’t sure how to share. Then, those moments happen when some people notice.
What do you do? What do you say? Here’s my story.
I first noticed something was wrong when I was on vacation in the summer of 2018. Every time I ate anything I got a horrible stomach ache.
Almost immediately when I got home, my family and I went to my doctor who sent me to get an x-ray. The x-ray gave me almost no answers.
Month after month, I was always getting some sort of x-ray, or I was always at an appointment. My pain was increasing, and my family and I had no idea what was wrong or how to stop the problem. I felt helpless.
After a while, we knew that my primary care doctor couldn’t help any further, and we were sent to the Gastroenterology Clinic at Children’s Mercy Hospital. During my first visit at the Gastroenterology Clinic, I was put on a new medicine that the doctor was confident would work.
I was on it for weeks and nothing happened, so I was put on another.
After taking multiple new medicines, as well as getting placed on special diets, my doctor told me that we had to take the next step and get an upper endoscopy. An upper endoscopy is when the gastroenterologist goes down the patient's throat and uses a small tube with a camera on the end to view their digestive system.
The day I got the endoscopy I was terrified, because I had never been under anesthesia. When I woke up, my mom told me the doctors had not found anything concerning, and I can remember filling right back up with that feeling of helplessness.
But all hope was not lost.
The doctors took a biopsy of my stomach tissue, and they informed us that we would get the results when we went to yet another doctor in the Abdominal Pain Clinic. However, I had to wait for almost 2 months to get an appointment at the clinic.
The day we went to the clinic, I had no idea what they were going to say. That day we finally got a diagnosis, and for the first time in eight months, I felt some hope for my life.
I was told I had something called Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis (EG). My doctor told me that EG was a rare condition that causes my stomach to inflame every time I eat or drink something. My stomach inflamed, because I had too many eosinophils (a type of white blood cell). I had almost 3 times the normal amount of eosinophils.
We still don’t know what caused the increase in the eosinophils, but I was immediately put on numerous medicines. Those medicines made no improvements to my condition, so once again, I was then put on different ones.
I went through months of new medicines, and at one point, I started to feel better. Yet, that quickly ended, and I went back to being in major pain.
In September 2019 we decided to get another endoscopy, and I had my second one in October 2019. When we received the biopsy from the endoscopy, we found out that my eosinophils was back to a normal level.
Even though it seemed that I should be better, my nerves were damaged from the eosinophils being there for so long. Now I take medicines that are trying to help the nerve damage.
Ten in every 10,000 people suffer from EG every single year. The most common symptoms for people with EG are nausea, abdominal pain, and sometimes vomiting. What makes your eosinophils multiply is unknown. It could be from prior infections that never went away or a food allergy. Even though professionals have some idea of possible causes, there is not yet any test that can tell for sure.
While most will never write an article about something this personal for all to read, know that while our “stuff” may be different, most of us can relate. I had to learn how to trust certain people in order to get to this place.
The parts of your story are your own. If and when you choose to share any of those parts with others, you may find yourself surprised at how many can connect with how hard that is to do.
Now that I’ve begun letting people know about it, I know there are others who are willing to understand and my life is now easier to live with this condition. A major load now feels lifted off of me.
We all tend to hide some of the true parts of ourselves, as if we put on a mask every day. However, it may surprise many when they realize how alike their "differences" are with others around them. Everyone is often too focused on hiding their own flaws, that they often have little time to focus on others. It may be time to let go of the fear, lift off that mask, and show who you really are to others. (Model: Jessa Sparks, seventh grader) PHOTO BY AMELIE WONG
WE MUST NEVER FORGET
December 13, 2019
By Nora Hill and Arlena Hoch
Many of us have read or heard the powerful stories of the Holocaust; tales of bravery, strength, and courage. Among many of these stories is the account of eighth grader Eve Benditt’s grandmother Irene Weiner’s parents, survivors of the horrific tragedy in history.
English teacher Kristine Tardiff invited Weiner as a Holocaust speaker as part of her Holocaust unit. Having had so many parallels to Anne Frank’s story, Weiner was the best choice to help her students better understand the impact of the Holocaust.
The anti-Semite dictator of Germany, Hitler planned and began the Holocaust in the 1930s, which caused World War II and lasted until 1945. By its end, approximately 6 million Jewish people had been killed throughout Europe.
Both of Weiner's parents, Anna and Blake Schiff were from Poland. Her mother was from Grodno and her father was from the larger city of Warsaw.
Anna had a large family including her five sisters who were married and had children. By the time the ghetto was imposed upon their part of Grodno in 1941, Anna and her former husband had a child of their own named Isaiah.
The ghetto was a condensed living area, often in one building, where families would be packed in together. In the Grodno Ghetto, the people were separated into two buildings and Anna's family was sent to one of them, while Blake was sent to another.
Conditions in the ghetto were horrible. Living spaces were cramped, food and supplies were scarce, and men would often be taken from the ghettos to work in labor. Many people got sick, and they could only go to Jewish hospitals, which were not in good condition.
Ghettos began to empty as Jewish citizens were getting sent to concentration camps. Out of her entire family, Anna looked the least like a stereotypical Jewish girl with her blond hair, blue eyes, and tiny nostrils. Knowing she wouldn’t be suspected of being a Jew, Anna’s family sent her to find a hiding place.
After a three day and three night walk, Anna found a rented out cottage and asked the residents if she and her family could stay at the cottage. After gaining affirmation, she went back to the ghetto to find that it was entirely empty. A local informed her that her husband and son had been sighted with the rest of the crowd getting on the train to a concentration camp. They were presumed dead.
Devastated, Anna found herself walking back to the cottage, where she hid for quite some time with the help of the resident of the cottage.
In Warsaw, change happened earlier and more quickly. Blake wrote to a relative in Texas. The two of them planned out a way for him to escape, but a law that banned Jewish deportation was passed a week before his planned departure.
He was then taken to the Warsaw Ghetto when the ghettoization began. It was there where he met Emanuel Ringelblum and his son.
Ringelblum was determined to document the history of what was happening to the European Jews. He and a few others wrote diaries recounting everything going on and buried them in containers. They called themselves "chroniclers." Blake joined alongside him. Later his entries were put on display in Holocaust museums.
Soon thereafter, neighbors of the woman who was hiding Anna began suspecting she was a Jewish escapee. In fear, the woman housing Anna directed her to another place to hide.
On the property she was sent to, there were two barns. Anna joined many other Jews in hiding in one of the barns. There, she met Blake Schiff and his sister. Anna had known Blake's sister, but she only knew Blake from stories.
For 2 years, Blake and Anna hid. The conditions were not pleasant. They had dirt floors, and they would have to pick lice off of each other. However, since they spent so much time together, Blake and Anna grew very close and decided that once they were freed, they would be married.
After they were allowed to come out of hiding, Anna recovered all of the items she had buried before the ghettoization.
The two of them traveled to Norway with fake IDs, where they had their daughter, Irene Weiner. They spent quite some time in Norway before Blake got a job in Mexico.
Irene grew up for most of her childhood in Mexico. Weiner recalled how she believed that she was born in Mexico and never understood why the local children discriminated against her for being Jewish.
Eventually, the family moved to the United States where Blake climbed the corporate ladder in California. The two of them continued to travel across the country and to other countries, such as Australia.
Irene Weiner presented to Tardiff's class to show middle schoolers exactly what it was like during the Holocaust. She believes that when it comes to middle school students, it is incredibly important for kids to understand major hate events like the Holocaust.
Weiner stated, "It would be lovely if learning about the Holocaust was part of the curriculum."
Now, the Holocaust is not being taught everywhere people combined with not as many people sharing the story of their relatives. In fact, many people believe that the Holocaust is just a myth.
"It's really important for people to understand that [the Holocaust] wasn't a story," Weiner added.
“These Holocaust non-believers think that the Holocaust was created as an excuse for Jewish people.”
This isn't the only form of anti-Semitism present today. Hate crimes towards Jewish people still happen all the time.
According to ABC News, the Anti-Defamation League “recorded a total of 1,879 anti-Semitic incidents across the country in 2018, the third-highest year on record since the New York-based Jewish organization began tracking such data in the 1970s. Those incidents included cases of assaults, harassment and vandalism.”
As for this rise in hate, Weiner said, “I believe it is getting worse. I think it was not as apparent as it is now." Irene states.
With everyone using the internet, opinions spread more quickly, especially hate. More opinions are being said and made, causing more hate to spread.
Telling stories of personal struggles against hate of any sort can change people's views. Weiner hopes that more victims will be encouraged to share their stories with others in hopes of deterring any future behaviors stemming from hate.
As Weiner stated, "I'm hoping [that telling stories] will affect people in a positive way."
But the Holocaust is only a part of history. She believes that history overall should be paid more attention to, especially global history.
Weiner hopes that while middle school students learn about the history of the United States, they also need to become more aware of major events across the globe, adding, "It's really important for people to see what happens in other parts of the world."
To learn more, watch this interview of Blake Schiff as a Holocaust chronicler.
By Nora Hill and Arlena Hoch
Many of us have read or heard the powerful stories of the Holocaust; tales of bravery, strength, and courage. Among many of these stories is the account of eighth grader Eve Benditt’s grandmother Irene Weiner’s parents, survivors of the horrific tragedy in history.
English teacher Kristine Tardiff invited Weiner as a Holocaust speaker as part of her Holocaust unit. Having had so many parallels to Anne Frank’s story, Weiner was the best choice to help her students better understand the impact of the Holocaust.
The anti-Semite dictator of Germany, Hitler planned and began the Holocaust in the 1930s, which caused World War II and lasted until 1945. By its end, approximately 6 million Jewish people had been killed throughout Europe.
Both of Weiner's parents, Anna and Blake Schiff were from Poland. Her mother was from Grodno and her father was from the larger city of Warsaw.
Anna had a large family including her five sisters who were married and had children. By the time the ghetto was imposed upon their part of Grodno in 1941, Anna and her former husband had a child of their own named Isaiah.
The ghetto was a condensed living area, often in one building, where families would be packed in together. In the Grodno Ghetto, the people were separated into two buildings and Anna's family was sent to one of them, while Blake was sent to another.
Conditions in the ghetto were horrible. Living spaces were cramped, food and supplies were scarce, and men would often be taken from the ghettos to work in labor. Many people got sick, and they could only go to Jewish hospitals, which were not in good condition.
Ghettos began to empty as Jewish citizens were getting sent to concentration camps. Out of her entire family, Anna looked the least like a stereotypical Jewish girl with her blond hair, blue eyes, and tiny nostrils. Knowing she wouldn’t be suspected of being a Jew, Anna’s family sent her to find a hiding place.
After a three day and three night walk, Anna found a rented out cottage and asked the residents if she and her family could stay at the cottage. After gaining affirmation, she went back to the ghetto to find that it was entirely empty. A local informed her that her husband and son had been sighted with the rest of the crowd getting on the train to a concentration camp. They were presumed dead.
Devastated, Anna found herself walking back to the cottage, where she hid for quite some time with the help of the resident of the cottage.
In Warsaw, change happened earlier and more quickly. Blake wrote to a relative in Texas. The two of them planned out a way for him to escape, but a law that banned Jewish deportation was passed a week before his planned departure.
He was then taken to the Warsaw Ghetto when the ghettoization began. It was there where he met Emanuel Ringelblum and his son.
Ringelblum was determined to document the history of what was happening to the European Jews. He and a few others wrote diaries recounting everything going on and buried them in containers. They called themselves "chroniclers." Blake joined alongside him. Later his entries were put on display in Holocaust museums.
Soon thereafter, neighbors of the woman who was hiding Anna began suspecting she was a Jewish escapee. In fear, the woman housing Anna directed her to another place to hide.
On the property she was sent to, there were two barns. Anna joined many other Jews in hiding in one of the barns. There, she met Blake Schiff and his sister. Anna had known Blake's sister, but she only knew Blake from stories.
For 2 years, Blake and Anna hid. The conditions were not pleasant. They had dirt floors, and they would have to pick lice off of each other. However, since they spent so much time together, Blake and Anna grew very close and decided that once they were freed, they would be married.
After they were allowed to come out of hiding, Anna recovered all of the items she had buried before the ghettoization.
The two of them traveled to Norway with fake IDs, where they had their daughter, Irene Weiner. They spent quite some time in Norway before Blake got a job in Mexico.
Irene grew up for most of her childhood in Mexico. Weiner recalled how she believed that she was born in Mexico and never understood why the local children discriminated against her for being Jewish.
Eventually, the family moved to the United States where Blake climbed the corporate ladder in California. The two of them continued to travel across the country and to other countries, such as Australia.
Irene Weiner presented to Tardiff's class to show middle schoolers exactly what it was like during the Holocaust. She believes that when it comes to middle school students, it is incredibly important for kids to understand major hate events like the Holocaust.
Weiner stated, "It would be lovely if learning about the Holocaust was part of the curriculum."
Now, the Holocaust is not being taught everywhere people combined with not as many people sharing the story of their relatives. In fact, many people believe that the Holocaust is just a myth.
"It's really important for people to understand that [the Holocaust] wasn't a story," Weiner added.
“These Holocaust non-believers think that the Holocaust was created as an excuse for Jewish people.”
This isn't the only form of anti-Semitism present today. Hate crimes towards Jewish people still happen all the time.
According to ABC News, the Anti-Defamation League “recorded a total of 1,879 anti-Semitic incidents across the country in 2018, the third-highest year on record since the New York-based Jewish organization began tracking such data in the 1970s. Those incidents included cases of assaults, harassment and vandalism.”
As for this rise in hate, Weiner said, “I believe it is getting worse. I think it was not as apparent as it is now." Irene states.
With everyone using the internet, opinions spread more quickly, especially hate. More opinions are being said and made, causing more hate to spread.
Telling stories of personal struggles against hate of any sort can change people's views. Weiner hopes that more victims will be encouraged to share their stories with others in hopes of deterring any future behaviors stemming from hate.
As Weiner stated, "I'm hoping [that telling stories] will affect people in a positive way."
But the Holocaust is only a part of history. She believes that history overall should be paid more attention to, especially global history.
Weiner hopes that while middle school students learn about the history of the United States, they also need to become more aware of major events across the globe, adding, "It's really important for people to see what happens in other parts of the world."
To learn more, watch this interview of Blake Schiff as a Holocaust chronicler.
A 4TH GENERATION VIEWDecember 13, 2019
By Arlena Hoch When learning or reading about the Holocaust in class, eighth grader Eve Benditt not only views it all through the eyes of a student. As the granddaughter of Irene Wiener whose parents survived the Holocaust, she cannot help, but to also view it through the eyes of the victims. Having a direct relation to Holocaust survivors, Benditt is very familiar with all of the oppression of the details of what occurred to her people. She believes that stories like her grandmother's need to carry on in order to prevent further hate crimes, as well as to preserve the past. Benditt stated, "As middle schoolers, [many people don’t] expect us to understand deep things. We're trying to prove that wrong, learning about major topics like this. I believe that the best way to prevent [hate crimes] from happening is to hit someone hard with the emotional aspects of their story." As time has gone by, stories from survivors, from those who helped and even from those who were a part of the many atrocities of the Holocaust have become more and more forgotten. According to The Atlantic, only 54 percent of the world's population is aware of the Holocaust, whereas many others believe that the Holocaust was a myth or was exaggerated. Benditt explained, "I take it a lot more personally, because it has a deeper meaning. It’s about hate. One of my great-grandparent’s fears was always that people would forget what happened in the Holocaust. We learn history, so that we don't repeat it." One of the most recent hate crimes towards Jewish people was committed in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania at the shooting which happened at the Tree of Life Synagogue, as early as 2018. CBS stated that it was "the deadliest anti-Semitic crime in U.S. history." People are still battling hate crimes of all types today, and you can help too by learning the stories of the past, so less of them will occur in the present. As Benditt said, “Even if people don’t realize it, there was probably a hate crime committed against a member of their family in the past. If it hasn’t happened yet, you never know what will happen in the future. We have all been oppressed in some way. The easiest thing to do is just respect everyone.” |
Generations apart, eighth grader Eve Benditt and her grandmother, Irene Weiner, pose for a photo after Weiner presents her Holocaust presentation for Tardiff's 5th hour Advanced English. PHOTO BY KRISTINE TARDIFF
IMPORTANT HOLOCAUST FACTSDecember 13, 2019
By Cayla Reeves
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