September 2010 Issue

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the roarFRIDAY, September 24, 2010

The Loveland High School Student Newspaper

www.lovelandschools.org/theroar

Page Editor: Regan Meinking

By Becca BlackEditor-in-Chief

Meet Loveland’s new leader

Mitchell honored with 5K raceBy Regan Meinking

Light News Editor

Tomorrow morning, instead of spending your time getting your nails done or rest-ing up for a long night, consider getting a little exercise by running the David “Seth” Mitchell HERO 5K that is being held in downtown Loveland. Mitchell, a 1997 LHS grad and Ma-rine captain, was killed last October in Afghanistan. Mitchell’s parents were here yesterday as the grand marshals of the Homecoming parade; his mother will be delivering the game ball tonight to the Homecoming football game. The 5K will start at Nisbet Park at 10 a.m. and go through downtown Loveland,

ending at the bike trail. The entry cost is $17 for kids, $20 for adults, and $50 for families. All the proceeds go towards the Seth Mitchell Scholarship Fund at LHS. The race is being held by The Let Us Never Forget Foundation, a local founda-tion that sets up scholarships in the mem-ory of fallen soldiers from any of the local schools. Last year the Seth Mitchell Schol-arship awarded $2,000. The scholarship is available to any LHS student, because it’s not based on GPA. The scholarship winner is picked by some of the LHS teachers who knew Mitchell and by some of his high school friends. They pick someone who best exemplifies the compassionate, kind-hearted, fun-loving guy Mitchell was.

Dr. John Marschhausen likes to tell the story of a kid in high school who was en-couraged to take an AP Physics class by his guidance counselor. In this class, the stu-dents had to enter a science competition. This boy wrote a proposal for NASA. His project moved from regionals to nation-als, and then won the national contest. His project went up on a space shuttle and is still used on the International Space Shuttle today. This boy was Dr. Marschhausen. As he says, “It took me from being one of those kids who didn’t participate to a student who was engaged in learning.” The Roar learned that our new super-intendent wants to be more involved with the students in the Loveland City School District. His goal is to engage students in learning by encouraging fun, stimulating work in the classrooms. So don’t be too surprised when you see Dr. Marschhausen roaming the LHS hallways, or even cheer-ing for the Tigers in the stands. The Roar sat down with Dr. Marschhau-sen (or Dr. John, as he likes to be called) for a question and answer session. Q. What brought you to Loveland? A. “I have a family and two daughters.

I wanted to bring them into a solid school district with a history of excellence. And when the opportunity of becoming the su-perintendent in such an established district arose, I had to take the opportunity.” Q. What should LHS students know about you? A. “I love my job. I want to meet and get to know students and faculty. I want the

students to be able to recognize me. I want to be very active in school life. You will probably see me at many extracurricular events. Q. Why is education important to you? A. “It opens doors. Everyone has goals and aspirations, but those change. Being able to learn keeps doors open.” Q. What do you bring to the table as the

new superintendent? A. “I bring an energy and enthusiasm to set higher goals, to get the best out of everyone in the school district. I will have everyone rally around the same goals.” Q. Do you have any plans for LHS? A. “I want to promote technology and provide opportunities to utilize it as a learning tool. I want to eventually have students utilize mobile technology – cell phones and laptops – to teach appropriate-ness, safety, and etiquette.” Q. What were you like in high school? A. “I was between social groups. I was involved in soccer, wrestling, track, and band. I didn’t belong to any one clique.” Q. What happened to TLC days? A. “Prior to my coming here it was de-cided that we would have TLC in the morn-ings, and have that (professional develop-ment) time with the teachers before school. But many parents called and let us know of conflicts. What you have to understand is that some parents are single parents, or perhaps both parents work jobs, and it was difficult on their schedules to either leave late or come home early from work. We also had some issues with busing later in the mornings. For this year, TLC days are suspended, but for the future we are going to look at our options, maybe have days specific for staff development.”

The Roar has received an Interna-tional First Place Award in the 2010 Inter-national Awards for School News Media, sponsored by the Quill & Scroll Honorary Society for High School Journalists. First Place Award winners are rated as having made “superior achievement.” The award covers work done during the 2009-10 school year.

The following students com-prised The Roar’s staff last school year: Sander DiAngelis and Erin Randall (editors-in-chief), Casey Baker, Becca Black, Hailey Booth, Josh Brennock, Sam Burpee, Emma Goetz, Katie Henke, Kelsey Kerkhove, Emilee Kraus, Michael Lawson, Ellen Mack, Regan Meinking, Sara Mullowney, Diana Reese, John Ross, Natalie Siddique, Austin Stahl, Bridget Sova, Sammie Wheeler, Madeline Vance, Abby Vargo, and Matthew Worsham.

Roar nets big award

Check out what’s new around LHS this year By Emma Goetz and Austin Stahl

Staff Writers

This is a special BONUS mini-issue of The Roar for Homecoming. Look for our first full 16-page monthly issue on Oct. 8.

Photo provided by Steve Mitchell

Seth Mitchell in his Cobra helicopter.

Photo by Mr. SchmidtBecca Black and Dr. John Marschhausen chatting.

It has been a hot and happening summer. There’s lots of news to report at LHS, so let’s get started. Excellent again: The Loveland School District was named Excellent With Dis-tinction, the 10th consecutive year Love-land has earned the state’s top rating. The district met all 26 performance indicators measured, which includes 24 test indica-tors, as well as attendance and graduate rates. Our attendance rate was 95.2 percent and the graduation rate was 96.5 percent. TLC Days: As you now know, TLC

According to Calculus teacher Mrs. Powers, “Seth was a hard worker who cared for everyone surrounding him. He was the guy who showed up at everyone’s games paint-ed up, cheering on his friends. He was the kind of guy who could brighten your day.” He was voted Best Personality by his fellow classmates. So tomorrow, try to find some time before all your pre-Homecoming primping to give the Mitchells a little of your time in return for the great sac-rifices they have made.

days have been suspended for this school year. There has been no determination on what will happen in the coming years. Grading scale: LHS has made the switch to the 10-point grading scale. This means that the A range starts at 90 percent, B range starts at 80, C range starts at 70, and D range starts at 60. Cafeteria: The LHS cafeteria has be-come even more nutritionally oriented. Several menu changes have been made, in-cluding a smoothie machine replacing the ice cream machine. Newsweek award: LHS was placed on Newsweek’s 2010 Best High School List. Only 6 percent of schools in the country made this list. The schools were rated by

a “Challenge Index,” which is determined by a ratio of the number of Advance Place-ment tests taken to the number of graduat-ing seniors. Freshman color: As you might have noticed, on class color day, freshmen didn’t wear pink this year due to concern that pink was degrading and associated with hazing. Instead, the new freshman class color is “safety green.” The other grades kept their traditional colors: sophomores wore white, juniors had orange, and seniors wore black. Volleyball fund-raiser: The volleyball team is hosting a benefit match for Cancer Free Kids on Sept. 28. The match is against Little Miami; the varsity match starts at 7 p.m.

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FRIDAY, September 24, 2010 Page Editor: John Ross

By Ellen MackStaff Writer

By John RossStaff Writer

Homecoming for dummiesFollow our simple guide to the dance

Oh gosh. It’s Sept. 24, you’re a freshman, and you are freaking out! Tomorrow is the day. It is the Homecoming dance. As a freshman, it’s your first big high school event, and I’m sure you’re nervous about it, but don’t worry; Uncle John is here to help with your very own guide to Homecoming. Topic 1: How to dress A dress and comfy shoes for girls, collared shirt and ties for guys. Topic 2: Dinner Go for nice but not too expensive. Think Bravo! or Ruby Tuesday, not Skyline Chili or The Precinct. Topic 3: Arrival time

This is a common freshman misconception. Do not show up on time, but about an hour after the dance starts. Topic 4: How to dance The key to being a good dancer at Homecom-ing is actually dancing. Have some fun; don’t spend your night hugging the wall. Topic 5: Limosines As a freshman you might want to avoid renting a limo. They are expensive and more appropriate junior and senior year when you go to Prom. Topic 6: Dates Homecoming does not require a date to be fun; going with a group of friends can be equally enjoyable. However, if you have a date, make sure to take pictures, be respectful, and meet the parents of your dancing partner, so that way they know you’re a good kid.

How did you get asked?

Andrew Lay and Chandler SmithPhoto by Madeline Vance

Students at LHS share with us that oh-so-special moment in which they have been asked or how they asked someone to Home-coming: Chandler Smith (12) was asked fresh-man year by Andrew Lay (12). “Andrew placed different colored rose petals all over my driveway. He sat in the middle of all the petals with a rose in his mouth. When I came

outside, he asked me to Homecoming. It was so memorable.” Thomas McCarty (11) asked Liz Sullivan (11) freshman year. “Thomas made me solve a puzzle that spelled out ‘Homecoming?’ once I completed it.” Ryan Smith (12) asked Madi Ray (12) last year. “Ryan took me on a walk in the park, and when we passed the volleyball courts, I looked up to see that he had replaced a banner as the volleyball net that said ‘Homecoming?’ It was cute, since I play volleyball.” Matt Swaine (11) asked Tia Aripad (11)

Everyone knows that without the DJ, Homecoming just isn’t Homecoming, so this year your senior c l a s s s t u d e n t c o u n c i l f o u n d Tyler Fritz, a.k.a. DJ Five50. He’s a club-based DJ making the trek from Columbus to Loveland to play our Homecoming. DJ Five50 makes his own master mixes of today’s newest hits and classic oldies. He mixes songs like Usher’s “Yeah” and Montell Jordan’s “This is How We Do It,” and of course he has crazy mixes of songs like Usher’s “OMG” and Ke$ha’s “Take It Off.” His insane mixes will definitely rock our Homecoming out of this

world. When asked what his inspiration for his mixes is, Fritz said, “I like to change the songs everyone has been listening to on the radio so that people have something a little different to

listen to but still know the songs playing.” If you want a preview of his master mixes, you can search DJ Five50 – Corruption P r o d u c t i o n s o n Facebook and become a fan, or you can go to

corruptionproductions.net. Student Council

President Brian Derrick said that LHS chose DJ Five50 because “He’s younger than our previous DJs, and he’ll be a good change.” If you have any song requests, see Brian.

By Regan MeinkingLight News Editor

DJ Five50 is coming to our school

DJ, blow my speakers upMeet your awesome new Homecoming DJ

a few years ago by having her play Hangman. Tiffany Adams (12) got extra creative one year when she created a personalized fortune cookie to ask her date when out for some Chi-nese food. Brian Derrick (12) once asked someone by creatively writing “Homecoming?” with pizza sauce on a delicious pizza. Presley Benzinger (12) sent Brian Chris-tian (12) a few letters to each class he was in, so once he had them, all the letters came together to spell “Homecoming?”

The first thing a girl thinks about before going to Homecom-ing is “What on Earth am I going to wear?” Okay, maybe not the first thing, but it’s up there. Well, some even go so far as making their own dresses. For in-stance, Chandler Smith, Julia Texiera, and Regan Meinking are dressing with the outer space theme in mind. The Roar got the inside de-tails of exactly how they’re going to make this happen. Putting together a dress takes time. The girls said that they were going to have two or three sessions to make their dresses, each session lasting about two and a half hours. Making the dress may be time-consuming, but Chandler said, “It’s original and it makes a statement.” Not only is the dress-making origi-nal, it saved them a few bucks to spend on accessories. You will have no trouble spot-ting these girls at Homecoming. When the lights turn low, look for glow-in-the-dark stars and neon bracelets. Accompa-nying the stars will be a bunch of neon fab-rics, along with an aluminum foil-type fabric to fit the theme. Julia said, “We are going to be the fashionable version of Neil Armstrong.” However, we don’t know if Armstrong would wear glittery wedges with his outfit like Re-gan.

The girls are very excited to reveal their dresses to the student body at the dance. Re-gan said, “It’s easier to make a dress I love than find one.” Even if you don’t have the creativity to make your own dress, find one and still at-tend the dance. Have a blast and make sure to look for these creative earthlings. Everyone will be orbiting around them.

By Katie HenkeEntertainment Editor

Seniors take on DIY dresses

What is the most important thing about Homecoming? What to wear, of course! Many of you may be frantically searching for something to pull on for the dance. But don’t worry your little heads. The Roar came up with some easy tips that, if you follow, will make you the best-looking kid at the dance: * It’s semi-formal. That means no tuxes or long dresses, but keep it classy. * No one really follows the theme very well, so just wear what you want. (Sorry, you can put that space suit away.) * A dress that is not too short is nice and straps are very helpful, or else you may have a

wardrobe malfunction while dancing. * Heels are always fun, but you will be taking them off at the dance, so don’t stress too much over them. * Most people get corsages and bouton-nières for each other, so let your date know what color your dress is. * Guys generally just wear nice khakis, a dress shirt, and a tie. (It’s cute to match your tie to your date’s dress, if you have a date, that is.) * A lot of girls get their hair done, but it is definitely doable at home. Up-dos are attrac-tive and keep your hair out of your face. * Don’t overdo the makeup; you will be sweating most of it off at the dance anyway.

Dress up like these fine ladies. Photo courtesy of Casey Baker

Dress well for the danceBy Becca Black

Editor-in-Chief

Regan Meinking makes a dress.Photo from Regan Meinking

Homecoming Preview

Your senior Homecoming king and queen nominees are ...

Underclassmen princes & princesses are...Freshmen Sophomores JuniorsG

riffin Weinberg and A

lex Anderson

Reiju N

emoto and Steph Jacobs

Nate Jones and A

llie Suder

Photo by Regan MeinkingPhoto by Regan Meinking Photo by Regan Meinking

Rachel Donnelly, a.k.a. “Ray Ray,” plays Frisbee golf and eats massive amounts of food in her spare time. If only she could go to Homecoming with Vin Diesel and boogie to “Electric Feel” by MGMT. Ellen Mack “didn’t know she would be nominated” for Home-coming queen. Ellen is a tennis player and treasurer for the senior class student council. Emily Myers wants to shout out to her friends Andrea Peeler (12), Andrea Dubell (12), and Emma Goetz (12) for nominating her. Also known as “Emmers,” Emily loves seafood and can’t wait to dance her night away to “Get Low” by Lil’ Jon. Madi Ray is a volleyball player and a nanny. She’s dating fellow candidate Ryan Smith (12). Madi is “so excited and nervous” about her nomination. Patrick Kudo was “not sur-prised but happy and super-duper excited” about being a candidate for Homecoming king. Patrick is part of the Astronomy Club and loves lemon pie. He wants to say “Hey” to Robby Mulvey (12). Bobby Newman said, “I’m sur-

Griffen Weinberg is a beautiful, outgoing man who likes to crack the jokes. Also known as the G.I. Jew, Griffen would love to have Jessica Alba as his Homecoming date. Griffen said, “I’m very happy and ecstatic” when asked about how he reacted to winning freshman prince. Alex Anderson is a basketball and soccer player from a big family and participates in Math Club and Show Choir. When asked how she felt about being freshman princess, Alex said, “I didn’t realize what was going on, but I’m really excited. It’s kind of like a big deal to me!”

Nate Jones is a football and baseball player who likes to eat steak and listen to rap. Nate said, “I’m surprised I ended up with Allie, it’s kind of funny,” when asked about his reaction to being sophomore prince. His dream date isn’t exactly a dream since it would be his girlfriend, Nicole Henderson (10). Allie Suder snagged her dream date Matt Becker (10), her boyfriend, for Homecoming. She can’t wait to break it down on the dance floor to “Just the Way You Are” by Bruno Mars. Allie said, “I was shak-ing and surprised but I’m excited!” about being the sophomore princess.

Reiju Nemoto loves to chow down on white rice and listen to Japanese music in his free time. He’s pumped to go to Homecoming with his girlfriend, Katie Loomis (10). Reiju is “happy about this op-portunity” to be the junior prince. Steph Jacob wishes she could go to Homecoming with Taylor Lautner and chow down on Chipotle be-fore the dance. She is “super-duper excited for Home-coming week and the parade.” Steph plays lacrosse and is involved in START Club and Partner’s Club.

prised, I can’t believe my friends did this.” when asked about his reaction to his nomi-nation. Bobby wants to jam to “Power” by Kanye West at the dance.

Ryan Smith, a.k.a. “Big Red,” is “flab-bergasted” about his nomination even though he and his dream date, girlfriend Madi Ray (12), both got nominated.

Matt Wallisa “lives the dream” every day and loves hot dogs. He is “super surprised” about his nomination. His dream date is fel-low senior Rachael Barnes.

King and queen nominees from left to right: Top Row: Matt Wallisa, Bobby Newman, Ellen Mack, Ryan Smith. Middle Row: Emily Myers, Patrick Kudo, Madi Ray. Bottom: Rachel Donnelly.

By Regan Meinkingand Madeline Vance

Staff Writers

Caboose4FRIDAY, September 24, 2010 Page Editor: Hailey Booth

By Hailey BoothStaff Writer

Crowded hallways, a bigger school, and longer classes are just a few things that freshmen experience for the first time in high school. There are a lot of things that change when you step into Loveland High School as part of the class of 2014. The Roar went around the school and asked a few of these freshmen what their first im-pressions were of their new school. Anna Niemeyer: On her first day of school, she walked into school, s c a r e d for her life. “This school is so much bigger, and I was afraid I would

get lost,” she says about her first week at school. After her initial fear, she now loves it. She likes how she gets to see all her friends throughout the day. She ex-pected her classes to be harder, which they are. She loves her big locker, because she can stuff her soccer bag into it. This year, Anna is really looking forward to the danc-es and going to all of the football games. John Donnell: John is one of those smart people who think that freshman year has been no harder than his eighth grade year. He likes his teachers this year much better than the ones he had last year, though. His two favorite classes this year are World History and Spanish. Of high school, he says, “I like it a lot. Everyone seems more mature and there is a lot less drama than middle school.” His goals for this year are just to have fun and get straight A’s. Alec Utz: Alec’s first impression is, “I love block scheduling.” He enjoys having only four classes a day, even though he is jealous of his sister, Olivia (12), who has only three this semester. He is part of the cross country team and says he enjoys it very much. His favorite class is World

H i s t o r y with Mr. G e i g e r . He said he was l o o k i n g f o r w a r d to Home-c o m i n g week and

getting all decked out in his safety green. He thinks that

his small locker is annoying, but he does like the cubby. If he could change one thing in Loveland High School, it would be to add more slushie flavors in the caf-eteria. Sydney Botts: Sydney is new not only to the high school, but also to Loveland it-self. After moving here this summer, she has had a lot of new experiences. She was really nervous for school on her first day. She accidentally ended up on the wrong floor while looking for her French class,

but don’t worry, she found her way. She likes the lunch menu better than the one at her middle school in Colerain, saying, “It has a much better selection. Although she doesn’t play any school sports, she would if she wasn’t busy doing gymnastics out-side of school. The biggest difference be-tween Loveland and her old school district is its size. “My middle school was a lot smaller than Loveland,” Sydney says. Gunner Lay: Gunner has a wonderful memory that will have him remembering the first day of high school forever. “I was walking down to the first floor, and I just wiped out and fell down half the flight of stairs. I thought it was hilarious,” Gunner says. So far this year, Gunner has done well in class. He says, “My teachers last year made me think that high school was going to be impossible, but it’s really not that much harder than middle school.” He really likes the block scheduling. He also likes his big locker, which many upper-classmen envy. This year, Gunner plays football and plans to wrestle in the winter and play either lacrosse or volleyball in the spring.

Hey freshmen! You had questions; The Roar has the answers. Read on to find out what your fellow freshmen asked us and see our responses. Q. Are the classes here hard? –Cas-sandra Murphy A. You will have some easy classes and some hard classes while you’re here at LHS, but don’t get discouraged if a class is tough. Remember that harder classes, especially honors and AP courses, will have a big payoff when you’re applying for college your senior year. Q. How do I not drop out of school? –Ricky Mulvey A. If you work hard, you won’t need to worry about dropping out. That said, if you ever are having trouble in a subject, go find help. There are plenty of people who can help you: teachers, National Honor Society members, private tutors, and friends are often more than happy to give you a hand. Q. Do we celebrate Hogwarts? We should have a Harry Potter Day. –Katie Moreland

A. This year, there is no Harry Potter Day on the schedule, but there are plenty of other fun days at school, like Pajama Day and Tacky Day. If you think that we should add a Harry Potter Day, talk to your Student Council representative. Q. What is the best class you’ve taken? –Seth Brennock A. A few staff favorites are AP Physics, Fantasy Sci-Fi, AP History, AP Chemistry, World History with Mr. Geiger, Honors Bi-ology with Mrs. Scherman, and of course, Journalism. Q. Is Homecoming fun? –Kerianne Cummings A. The general consensus is that yes, Homecoming is fun. Q. What happens at Homecoming? –Kelsey Street A. The whole school packs into the cafeteria and parties! The student council decorates the dance floor to match the theme (which this is year is “Out of This World”), and hires a professional DJ to handle the playlist. During the dance, the Homecoming king and queen are intro-duced as well.

By Matthew WorshamStaff Writer

Anna Niemeyer loves to play soccer, her first high school sport.

John Donnell uses his free time to read his favorite books.

The Roar wants to hear from you. Please consider writing a letter to the editor. (Wait! If you’re not enticed yet and are thinking of flipping the page – don’t do it yet! – you should know that there are prizes involved.) The Roar plans to print two or three letters each issue from LHS students. You can submit them in person to Mr. Schmidt (room 109), by e-mail ([email protected]), or by clicking the link on our web site (lovelandschools.org/theroar). We won’t print letters that attack indi-viduals or simply complain about school

rules. We welcome fresh ideas, but think constructively if you wish to issue criti-cism. Letters may not exceed 200 words and may be edited for space limitations or content. We need letters at least 15 days before publication (which is usually the first Friday of each month), so submitting by mid-month is a good rule of thumb. You must put your name and grade on the letter. So … prizes? Yes. If we print your letter, you get to select something from Mr. Schmidt’s prize closet in room 109. So get writing!

Freshmen have fresh impressionsOver their initial nerves, here’s what a few freshmen think of LHS so far

Ask The RoarFreshmen anxieties eased through our answers

Write us a letter, win a prize

The Roar is online! Keep up with news between is-sues on our site (lovelandschools.org/theroar) and

through Twitter (twitter.com/lovelandroar).

Photo by Becca Black

Photo by Becca Black