The Shield, 10/24/13

hieldSS a i n t T h o m as A q ui n as Hig h S c ho ol

the

October 24, 2013 Volume 26, Issue 3

InsideWhen is it Too

Much? A Look at the Effectiveness

of Homework

Page 2

Opinions

Page 6

Royals excited local fans

Page 7

Fall Musical Preview

Page 8

Many Aquinas Students Are

Sleep-Deprived

Page 3

Classes help Students Prepare

for Standard-ized Tests

Page 2

Behind the Friday Night

Lights

Pages 4-5

Random Holidays

Weekend Weather

Countdown

October 25: Frankenstein Friday

October 25: National Pasta Day

October 26: Make a Difference Day

Friday Saturday

Sunday

35

44

4056 64

59

11days until the canned food drive begins

7 days until Halloween

34days untilThanksgiving break

57 days until Christmas break

202 days untilgraduation

208 days untilsummer for un-derclassmen

PICTURES COME TO LIFE

Printed newspaper pic-tures are no longer high-tech enough for The Shield staff.

We are excited to announce that The Shield will be one of the first high school newspa-pers in the nation—if not the first—to effectively merge print journalism with broadcast jour-nalism using the Aurasma app.

What does this mean for you?

It means that you have a whole new way to view the Aquinas news.

For example, the picture above will turn into a video simply by scanning it with your smartphone or similar device. Throughout the newspaper, some pictures will have cor-relating videos.

This feature will be avail-able on iPhones, smartphones,

iPads, and iPods. If you don’t have any of these devices, don’t worry. You can still view our videos online at The Shield’s YouTube channel: Saint Thomas Aquinas Shield.

Also, we don’t recom-mend pulling out your phones in class unless your teacher approves.

We are thrilled to share this new feature with you. Here’s how to get started! g

The Shield staff is excited to announce that with the click of a button on your smartphone, the pictures printed in the paper turn into video.

Photo by ANNIE SCHUGART | The Shield

by ANNIE SCHUGARTEditor-in-Chief When-

ever you see this symbol in

the upper left hand corner of a picture, it means there is a video that goes along with the picture!

HO

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STEP ONE: Download the free “Aurasma” app.

STEP THREE: Click the search button (magnifying glass) on the bottom of the screen. Search “Saint Thomas Aquinas HS.” Click the one above.

STEP FOUR: Click “Follow.”STEP FIVE: Click this (bottom) to return to the cam-era. Hover over an image and watch the picture come alive!

STEP TWO: Open the app and click this button at the bottom of the screen:

2 The Shield October 24, 2013

Campus News

As you walk through the halls of Aquinas, it’s not uncommon to hear students saying, “I had SO much homework last night that I barely got any sleep.” Yet it’s also just as common to hear students talking about how they had so much fun watching Netflix for five hours.

With these two extreme ends, how do teachers—and students—know when to draw the line between just enough homework and too much homework?

GOOD OR BAD?

It is clearly visible that homework is necessary to the success of students. Spending time outside the classroom reinforc-es the material learned in class, strengthening a student’s educa-tion. And even beyond the basic skills learned, homework provides valuable lessons in time manage-ment, discipline, responsibility, and organization.

However, the negative effects of homework are also just as visi-ble. Excessive amounts of home-work could lead to a disinterest in learning, less time to experience real-world learning, and less time to just relax.

“I worry about whether or not kids have time just to be kids,” Academic Principal Craig Moss said.

Another concern regarding homework is how it increases cheating as students frantically try to find answers for their homework assignment that they didn’t have time to do. Math teacher Jim Halling believes that “if there were less of a grade attached, kids would be less tempt-ed to cheat,” because the more worth attached to some-thing, the more likely a person is to cheat or cut corners because it has become more valuable.

Because of the lack of accountability about who actually completes a homework assign-ment, Halling turns to tests and quizzes to account for how much students learn.

“I look at it like a sport. You practice football during the week, and then it’s game night, [which is] like a test or a quiz,” Halling said. “That’s when it really counts.”

Since Aquinas prepares students for college, where many classes will consist of grades only on tests, perhaps the decreasing weight of homework as students progress through their high school years is effective.

Beyond these concerns, homework can also result in ex-

cessive amounts of stress and little sleep for students.

“Stress can hijack the brain and then it’s going to interfere with [students’] memory and their abil-ity to learn,” Guidance Counselor Laura Cline said.

But many teachers question whether stressed out students real-ly spend as much time on home-work as they claim. With social media, the internet, and multiple distractions all at students’ fin-gertips, it can be easy to question whether those five hours spent on a homework assignment were really spent diligently working or rather spent complaining, tweeting, or just thinking about all the work that needs to be done.

THE FINE LINEBecause homework has both

positive and negative effects, there is a point where a line needs to be drawn—a line a of balance between helping and hindering the student.

Cline, Halling, and Moss all mentioned this “fine line.”

“I think there is a line where [homework] just gets to be busy work and you’re not getting any-thing by doing it,” Halling said.

When Halling assigns math problems, he said he leaves it up to the students to decide how much of the homework they need to fin-ish. Because many of the problems are very similar, some students only need to do a few rather than all of them, while other students may need more repetition in order to learn it. He doesn’t typically

grade the homework because he doesn’t want it to be simply busy work; rather, he grades them when they show their knowledge on tests and quizzes.

However, it is also import-ant to note that Halling primarily teaches upperclassmen. Teachers who teach underclassmen may find it better—and justifiably so—to grade homework and place a larger emphasis on homework, simply because younger students often need more help learning how to manage their time.

Aquinas administration trusts that teachers will make the right de-cisions when assigning homework.

“We rely on professional knowledge of the teachers to a great degree, and then address individual issues as they arise,” Moss said.

Another issue may be that

homework collects from class to class, so while a slight overboard in homework from one class may continue to build up as students receive homework from other classes as well.

“From a teacher perspective, I know when I was in the classroom, I was probably unaware of what everyone else was assigning,” Cline said. “I think as teachers we as-sume they’ve got time to do ours, but we don’t always realize they have six other teachers all giving them homework as well.”

The fine line can be difficult to draw: when does homework be-come a disadvantage? It’s a matter of quality over quantity.

“A little homework is ben-eficial, but there’s a line when it becomes unhelpful,” Cline said. “There’s definitely a line where this certain amount is okay, and then beyond that it actually becomes perhaps detrimental.”

EXPANDING HORIZONS

The correlation between homework and how much students actually learn is often debated.

Time spent on homework does correlate to scores on standardized tests but not to final grades received in math and science classes, according to a recent study “When Is Homework Worth the Time?: Evaluating the Association Between Homework and Achievement in High School Science and Math.”

However, this study doesn’t necessarily prove that the home-work itself is the cause of an

increase in test scores. Often the students who don’t really need to be doing the homework are the ones who do it; students who spend significant amounts of time on homework may be the ones who take standardized tests more seriously—which could be the only correlation.

Many Aquinas teachers seriously consider the methods to approaching homework. Halling has looked into a strategy adapted from his friend who teaches in the Blue Valley School District. This model would involve students learning a math lesson for home-work by watching a video online, and class time would be spent doing homework and assisting the students with filling in the gaps.

This would eliminate some issues of cheating on homework, and it would also eliminate the times when students sit at home unable to figure out their math home-work. Halling hasn’t overly been pushing for this method of teach-ing but has found it interesting.

“Someday that might be how [teaching and homework] is all done,” Halling said. “It’s interest-

ing how it all changes.”Aquinas administration has

taken steps to reduce homework as well. Moss said that the purpose of extending time in STA Period this year was to make it more aca-demic-oriented and give students more time to complete homework.

But perhaps overall, the debate regarding homework is a result of America’s view of homework.

According to a Washington Post article, Finland scored above the United States in a test based on reading, math, and science. Finland schools give little home-work to students and rather focus on creativity.

It is possible that schools in America have lost the focus of

the true value of homework: extending learning beyond the classroom. Perhaps the complaints of homework are not the students’ fault for wasting time texting and tweeting, nor the teachers’ fault for assigning too much homework. Perhaps

it is the fault of the mindset of the American schooling system for placing too large of an emphasis on rote memorization. Perhaps the American education system lacks time for students to explore the world creatively—and perhaps we are already too boxed up by the schooling system to realize what changes need to be made. g

DRAWING THE LINEDoes homework help or hinder students?

Photo by ANNIE SCHUGART | The ShieldJunior Caroline Backs packed up her backpack after looking through her student planner to figure out what homework she had for the night. “I worry about whether or not kids have time to just be kids,” Academic Principal Craig Moss said.

“I look at it like a sport. You prac-tice during the week, and then it’s game night, which is like a test or

quiz. That’s when it counts.”

JIM HALLINGMath Teacher

“A little homework is beneficial, but there’s a line when it becomes

unhelpful.”

LAURA CLINEGuidance Counselor

by ANNIE SCHUGARTEditor-in-Chief

R ealityHomeworkThe of

Students: How many hours do you spend on homework /

studying each night?

Teachers: How many hours do you spend on homework each night?

Results based off The Shield email survey of 418 student responses

and 35 staff responses.

Teachers: Do you give out less homework on “A” Schedule Days?

Yes: 29%No: 71%

Num

ber o

f tea

cher

s

Less than 1 hour1 to 3 hours3 to 5 hoursMore than 5 hours

Teachers: How many hours do you think students spend on

homework/studying each night?4%

12%

26%

18%

76%

3%3%

58%

5

101520

Less than 1 hour

1 to 3 hours3 to 5 hours

More than 5 hours

The Shield 3October 24, 2013Features

Have you ever been so tired that you tried to tape your eyes open just to stay awake, or had to take a nap behind the stage in the commons? Senior Annie Lind has done both!

But Lind is not the only stu-dent that is has to do crazy things to endure many nights of little sleep. In an survey sent via e-mail to all students by The Shield, it was found that most Aquinas students do not get the rec-ommended amount of sleep.

What many students do not realize is how the lack of sleep affects them daily and in the long term. Students may look bad, may feel moody, and may perform poorly. Sleepiness can make it hard to get along with family and friends and hurt scores on school exams, on the court, or on the field.

Sleep is food for the brain. During sleep, important body functions and brain activity occur. Skipping sleep can be harmful

and even deadly, particularly if a driver is drowsy behind the wheel. Drowsiness and falling asleep at the wheel cause more than 100,000 car crashes every year. When drivers do not get enough sleep, they are more likely to have an accident or suffer from injury and/or illness.

But what if students think staying up that extra hour might help them on that Latin test, or waking up early to finish up those last few algebra problems will give

them an edge? Students may

think they are help-ing their perfor-mance when really they are hurting it. Not getting enough sleep will limit their ability to learn, listen, concentrate, remember and solve problems.

Even if students do not care about school, they might be curious how it affects them on the athletic field. Sleep is definitely the most overlooked aspect of the high school athlete’s training. Stud-ies show that teenage athletes need a minimum of eight hours (more is better) of sleep each night to fully recover. When an athlete is fully recovered, they not only per-

form better regularly, but they are also able to push harder in practice and in games. It is very simple: if you want to be your best, you need to rest!

Teens need about nine and one-fourth hours of sleep each night to function best (for some, eight and a half is enough). Most teens do not get enough sleep—one study found that only 15 percent reported sleeping eight and a half hours on school nights, according to the National Sleep Foundation. In a study by Boston College, it was also found that America has the most sleep-de-prived students in the world.

Saint Thomas Aquinas is below that average. Only five stu-dents out of the 412 students who responded to the poll, or about one percent, said they actually get more than nine hours of sleep every day. There was, however, a much higher percentage of Aquinas students that were in the seven to nine hour range. But 59 students surveyed, or about 14 percent, said they get five or less hours of sleep.

While not everyone may go to as extreme measures as taping your eyes open, it’s still important to make sure you’re getting enough sleep to perform your best both in school and in sports. g

by BRYAN ZACKCampus News Editor

SURVEY SHOWS LACK OF SLEEPMany Aquinas students aren’t getting enough sleep, but may

not realize is the detrimental effects this can have.

Barely 1 percent of Aquinas students

claim they meet the 9 hours of sleep recom-

mended by experts.

Saint Thomas Aquinas takes pride in preparing students for college and tests such as the ACT, PSAT and the SAT.

The ACT and the SAT are the two major tests colleges use to compare applicants. It is also very important for many different scholarships. Although both the ACT and SAT are looked at by colleges, many Aquinas students don’t take the SAT anymore because most colleges in the Midwest use the student’s ACT score, although both the ACT and SAT are accepted at most colleges.

Aquinas prepares its students for these tests through the every-day classes, including a PSAT class. This class is offered to sopho-mores who score well on the MAP tests freshman year. Taking the PSAT sophomore year is optional, and colleges don’t see the score of the PSAT. However, many students take the prep course because it helps to prepare them to take the PSAT test their ju-nior year. The PSAT determines who are the National Merit Scholar finalists, semi-finalists, and commended scholars. Becoming a National Merit Scholar finalist can lead into big scholarships.

“When I took the class I thought it was very helpful especially for the grammar section,”

junior Ryan Cowdrey said. “We studied a ton of vocab words and went over a lot of the common grammar errors on the test. We also went over math that we hadn’t learned for a while and it was very helpful to review that before test.”

There are also ACT prep classes offered by Aquinas before each ACT. These classes are offered after school by teachers who review the material with the students while also teaching them test strategies that are specific to the ACT.

The course covers math, English and science which are the three subjects that are tested on during the ACT. However with so much material that is covered on the test it is hard to prepare for all of it.

Yet perhaps the best way to prepare for these tests is in the class-room.

“Ac-cording to the ACT

Corporation the best way to prepare for the test is to give students a challenging and rigorous curriculum,” Academic Principal Craig Moss said.

Aquinas accomplishes this by offer-ing students honors classes in the tested subjects to push students academically so they can succeed on standardized tests and in college. Aquinas also has many classes that are offered through Johnson County Community College that allow students to

take college classes now and have them transfer over to a four-year college. g

CLASSES PREPARESTUDENTS FOR

SAT/ACT

“I thought (PSAT class) was very helpful especially for the grammar section.”

RYAN COWDREYjunior, PSAT student

“According to the ACT Corporation, the best way to prepare for the test is to give students

a challenging and rigorous curriculum.”

CRAIG MOSSAcademic Principal

Other resources are also available to help students do their best on standardized testsby JORDAN BARTZOpinions Editor

34%7-9 hours

13%3-5 hours

1% more than 9 hours2% less than 3 hours

50%5-7 hours

How many hours of sleep do you get on a school night?

Graphic by ANNIE SCHUGART | The ShieldA survey was sent to every student e-mail account Oct. 1. The re-sponses were anonymous unless students volunteered their name. When the results were finalized Oct. 21, 412 students had respond-ed. Responses were evenly spread throughout all four grades. When results were broken down by grade, there was a slight but clear trend toward less sleep each year.

Don’t forget to buy your

Senior Yearbook Ad!More information is available at

www.stasaints.net/Medallion

Prices go up on the 1st of each month, so buy as soon as you can.

Full color! Fonts that show character! Bold designs!

Contact Lydia Taylor and Maggie Brown for more information. Call the newsroom (319-2416) during 5th hour or

send an e-mail to [email protected]

4 The Shield October 24, 2013 5

Ce

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LIGHTSBehind the

By Annie Schugart, editor-in-chief

{ }Forever loyal to STA...

FANS - Senior Jordan Barmby is named “Fan of the Game.”

SPIRIT CLUB - “[We] have the opportunity to choose game themes, make posters, and boost attendance at athletic events. We are really lucky because our moderator Serena Price is super nice and supportive of our ideas,” senior Emma Heit said.

NATIONAL ANTHEM - Senior Grant Mayfield sings at the Homecoming game. “It was really awesome to be able to sing in front of so many people,” he said.

FATHER ANDREW and FATHER SCHMITZ - The Aquinas chaplains continually support the sports teams to remind the students that faith is what will keep us strong.

ALMA MATER - The fans enthusiastically sing the Alma Mater, ending with “Amor Vincit Omnia, love will conquer all.” g

SPIRIT BOYS - Senior Spirit Boys go all out as they cheer on the team and enthu-siastically keep the crowd pumped up.

PHOTOGRAPHERS - Senior Annie Lind, decked out in the su-perhero theme, takes pic-tures for yearbook. Mrs. Gress can also be found taking pictures at almost every sporting event.

BAND - The Brigade Band rehearses three times a week in prepa-ration of their halftime show, Pirates of the Caribbean.

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TOMMY THE SAINT - The Aquinas mascot, who—beneath the costume—is a senior, pumps up the crowd.

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ALUMNI - Class of 2013 Saints continue to bleed gold and blue as they return home to cheer on the next class of Saints.

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TEAM MANAGERS - Juniors Lauren Bever, Rachel Spenner, Madison Schaller, Kenna Bid-dlecomb, and Megan Bentler help out the football team during games and practices.

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DANCE TEAM - “Dancing on Friday nights is what I look forward to all week,” senior dance team mem-ber Olivia Austin said. “It’s so great because we not only get to pump up the crowd and students, but we also get to be close to all the football action as well.”

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Our memories live on. Her spirit ever present, our strength and shield our song.

As we go down life’s pathway, our faith will keep us STRONG.

Her banner gold and blue.

Though years may separate us,

AMOR VINCIT OMNIA, LOVE WILL CONQUER ALL.

COACHES - The coaches put in significant amounts of time and talent and are the keystone of the program.Coach Joel Collier directs senior Jeremy Collier.

5 A.M. PRACTICE - “No one likes 5 a.m. practices, [but] we all have the same goal and we know that hard work and sacrifice is what it takes to get there,” senior captain Cole Pickert said.

CHEERLEADERS - “The feel-ing that comes from cheering on the sidelines during Friday night football games is honestly inde-scribably,” senior cheerleader Ali Woltering said.

PRESS BOX - At least a dozen people are constantly analyzing and observing the game from several feet above the field.

6 The Shield October 24, 2013Opinions

Saint Thomas Aquinas High School

hieldSthe

11411 Pflumm RoadOverland Park, KS 66215

913-319-2460www.stasaints.net/shield

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFAnnie Schugart

CAMPUS NEWS EDITORBryan Zack

OPINIONS EDITORJordan Bartz

SPORTS EDITORTroy Hilderhof

LAST LOOK EDITORAnnie Schugart

CENTERSPREAD/FEATURES EDITOR

Annie Schugart

ADVISERMatt Hallauer

MISSION STATEMENTThe Shield is a newspaper sponsored by Saint Thomas Aquinas High School and produced by its students to provide information, enter-tainment, and open forum, as well as a learning experi-ence 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 news-paper and strive to report news accurately, objectively, and completely. The Shield is an open forum for stu-dent expression and aims to communicate the concerns of the student body as well as the faculty, staff, and Aquinas community.

ADVERTISINGThe 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 [email protected], or visit www.stasaints.net/shield

SUBSCRIPTIONSSubscriptions to The Shield are $2 per issue. Subscriptions can be sent to Saint Thomas Aquinas High School c/o Matt Hallauer.

LETTER POLICYLetters may be accepted by The Shield, provided that they are signed and do not containt libel-ous statements. The Shield re-serves the right to edit the letters for grammar, obscenity, or space consideration, and also reserves the right to not print a letter.

FAMILY BONDS HAVE NO LIMITS

I’m white. My brother is black, or as he prefers it, brown.

Joseph, my nine-year-old brother, has been with our family since he was two days old. To Joey, there is no other family. We are his one and only. My family has taken in foster children since I was seven years old, but Joey had been a new, exciting addition to the family because he was the first newborn we ever took in. Original-ly, we didn’t set out to adopt Joseph, but fate seemed to lead us that way.

However, it wasn’t an easy experience. For all that race shouldn’t matter, it did when it came to Joey. We almost lost Joey due to the simple fact that he is indeed black and the rest of us are white. Our social worker even believed that Joey would be better off with his birth grandmother (who, upon receiving guardianship would have given him right back to his mother) for the simple fact that she believed he belong with “people of his kind.”

Nice to know that it was more important that Joey be placed with people who look more

like him rather than in a stable liv-ing environment with people who loved and cared for him.

To me, Joey’s race has never been that big of a deal. It’s easy to say that yes, he’s black, but it’s honestly never made any differ-ence in the way that I view Joey as my brother. Family is forged in the bonds you create, not just in terms of blood. I decided Joseph was going to be ours the minute that social worker handed him over as a baby.

However, while I may not care as to the skin color Joseph is, other people do seem to take problem with it. Fortunately, we’ve been blessed to be surrounded

by mostly supportive family and friends. Day to day though, I still see the looks people shoot us when we go out in public. I see the slight disgust on some people’s faces, and it’s hard too see that racism—although they’d never admit they’re being racist—still exists in our world.

The thing that amazes me most, though, is when I intro-duce Joseph as my brother to the parents of other kids in his grade, and they point to a random white kid in the crowd and ask if that’s my brother—as if I didn’t just point to the black child standing near me and claim familial ties.

I know they know who Joey is. There is no other kid in the grade with the name Joseph Michel.

But, for all the negativity we sometimes get as a family, the positivity much outweighs it. Which is fine to me because it wouldn’t matter what anybody thought in the end,—I’ll always love Joseph. He is and always has been my baby brother (even when he reminds me that “no, Brenna I am not your baby brother. I am nine years old. Stop hugging me and leave me alone.” Whatever).

I once asked Joey, however, how he felt about being a part of a white family and if for some reason he had ever wished he was born white. I’ll never forget what Joey said to me: he looked me straight in the eyes with a look of slight disgust and said, “Are you kidding me? No way.” And that pretty much answered that ques-tion. Joey is pretty content in who he is and none of us would ever change it. He’s my little brother who hates when I hug or kiss him, likes to wrestle, likes to play football (which, by the way, Joey’s top dream is to play for the NFL, and he knows everything there is to know about football) and generally cause chaos wherever he goes (he once tried to jump out his second story window in an at-tempt to run away because we cut him off from video games and my father found him hanging halfway out the window).

And I’m not saying I have a favorite sibling, but if you know anything about me, Joseph is hands down my favorite. g

by BRENNA MICHELGuest of The Shield

FOOTBALL DESERVES A CROWD

Have you been cheering on your Boys of Fall? I’m sure some of you have noticed the dramatic change in the crowds’ enthusi-asm on Friday nights.

Our oppo-nents’ crowds have outdone us almost every week, even at home! This is embarrassing! Even when the numbers of fans are there, hardly any of the students are paying at-tention, let alone cheering. I know a lot of people think Friday night

games are just a time to be with friends and be social, and while that’s definitely a fun aspect of it, the football players deserve our attention and enthusiasm.

Our season may have not been perfect, but does that mean

we should give up on our boys? No! If anything, they deserve a crowd even more now.

Show the boys that you care!

Show the community our Saints family and what it means to be a Saint, especially since the theme this year is Family Over Every-thing. So DARE GREATLY and come to cheer loud and proud for your Boys of Fall this Friday at 7. Be there! g

“It’s easy to say that yes, he’s black, but it’s never made any

difference in the way I view Joey as my brother.”

“Show the community our Saints family and what it means to be a Saint. Come to cheer loud and

proud for your Boys of Fall. ”

by ANONYMOUSSophomoreGuest of the Shield

Photo by TROY HILDERHOF | The ShieldThe Spirit Boys pump up the crowd after scoring a touchdown at a foot-ball game. “I’m sure some of you have noticed the change in the crowds’ enthusiasm,” the writer, who preferred to be left anonymous, said.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Opinions of Aquinas students, based off 418 student responses and 35

faculty responses to an email poll.

Students: What is your favorite cookie from the cafeteria?

Students: What was your favorite part of

Homecoming week?

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The Shield 7October 24, 2013Sports

ROYALS SPARK LIFE IN THE CITYIn a season full of conflicting

doubt and optimism, the Kansas City Royals had their first winning season in 10 years, and it only seems fitting for the Royals to fin-ish off the year 10 games above .500 too.

Capping the season off with a record 86-76, the Royals certain-ly exceeded expectations this year. Not only did the Royals spark conversations around the league, but they also sparked life around the city.

To many people’s surprise, the Royals found themselves in a crazy A.L. Wild Card race. However, the season didn’t always look like Royals would later find themselves in playoff talks.

Despite the good start to the season in April, the Royals had a struggle to win games in May. The Royals only managed to win eight of the 24 games in May. The rest of the season until the All-Star Break was nothing special for the Royals, and a playoff appearance was looking doubtful.

However, Manager Ned Yost was able to turn the season around after the All-Star Break, and a new ball club almost sprout-ed overnight. The Royals had one of the best records in the league after the break, and that helped

them propel them to a close Wild Card race with the Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, and division rival Cleveland Indians.

The Royals barely fell short of reach-ing the playoffs. Drop-ping the second to last series to the Seattle Mariners put the Royals out of contention. Even though they didn’t make the postseason, the Royals are still proud of their play this year, and students at Saint Thomas Aquinas are too.

Seniors Pete Andrews and Weston Jacobs support-ed the team and went to at least 12 games

together this year, and they said each time was a blast. Andrews and Jacobs would go to the games with other friends too.

“The game would be at 7:00. We’d all meet at Aquinas around 4:30-5:00. We would all pile in Big Red, tailgate for a little bit, and throw the football around. Then, we’d go into the game about 6:30, watch the Royals hit some ‘hum dingers’ and win,” Jacobs said. “Then after, we’d postgame

tailgate in the parking lot for a bit, throw the football around some more, then head to IHOP.”

Among Andrews’ and Jacobs’ friends are seniors Nate Flem-

ing, Maddy Heeter, Julie Tompkins, Spencer Vyhanek, and Tyler Watson.

Ac-cording to Andrews, some of the

best moments coming out to the game include T-Shirt Tuesdays. “T-Shirt Tuesdays are a must,” Andrews said. Featured on the shirts is the Royals 2013 slogan ‘Come to Play.’

‘Come to Play’ is exactly what the Royals did this year, and watching all this exciting baseball unfold builds quite an appetite.

“A foot-long hotdog with onions, blue cheese, ranch, and bacon is what I get at the game,” Andrews said. He said it is the favorite ballpark calorie bomb.

Not only do students come to the games, but social studies teacher Amy Sudduth goes to the games too.

“One of my favorite mo-ments this season was when I was with my husband and my son,” Sudduth said. “It was when Alex Gordan hit a grandslam. My son didn’t know much what was going on, but we were all jumping around!" g

Standings

Upcoming Sport Events

FOOTBALL

SOCCER

VOLLEYBALL

TENNIS

CROSS COUNTRY

GOLF

by TROY HILDERHOFSports Editor

The Kansas City Royals have an exciting year and gives students reasons to go the K

Finishes: (Girls): 1st (six times), 3rd (Boys): 1st , 2nd (four times), 5th, 8thUpdate (Girls): “We trained all summer and have been working our butts off. Our goal is to be the lowest score ever at state.” - Senior runner Paige HopfingerUpdate (Boys): “We definitely believe we’re stronger than last years’ team, even though we lost six seniors who were all on the state team. We’re shooting to win state. Bishop Carroll is our biggest rival.” - Senior runner Joe Linder

Record: 2 - 5Update: “We’re finally starting to come together more as a team. Like the coaches tell us every day, we have a great team and great talent, we just need to come together, eliminate the mistakes, do our jobs, and we can be great.” - Junior Tight-End and Defensive-End Kyle Raunig

State Finish: 3rdRecap: “Considering we only had one true returning varsity player and five new-comers to the varsity team, the season was quite successful. The five newcomers were able to post scores low enough to help Aquinas win EKL, Regionals, and place third at state.” - Junior golfer Austin Palmer

Record: 7 - 6 - 2Update: “We are in a slump right now, but hopefully we get it out of our system before playoffs start.” - Senior center midfielder Colton Ropson

Recap: “They worked hard and played hard. They were dedicated to the season and it showed in their games. They earned every win they gained. The season was pret-ty successful as a whole, with the team getting first at regionals. It was definitely an improvement from last year!” - Senior tennis player Brenna Michel

Record: 30 - 6Update: “Right now we’re working on improving our blocking and having the middle attack always up and ready to swing.”- Senior volleyball player Alexis Murphy

Thursday, Oct. 24 V Soccer at Gardner Edgerton (6:00 p.m.) Friday, Oct. 25 V Football vs. Turner (7:00 p.m.)Saturday, Oct. 26 Cross Country Regionals at Wyandotte Park (2:00 p.m.) Volleyball Sub-State Monday, Oct. 28 JV Football at Turner (6:00 p.m.)Tuesday, Oct. 29 Soccer Regionals C Football at Miege (6:00 p.m.)Thursday, Oct. 31 Freshmen A Football at Miege (6:00 p.m.)Friday, Nov. 1 Volleyball State V Football vs. Miege (7:00 p.m.) Satuday, Nov. 2 Cross Country State Volleyball StateTuesday, Nov. 5 Soccer State Quaterfinals

As of October 22nd

“My son didn’t know much what was going on, but we were all

jumping around!”

AMY SUDDUTHSocial Studies teacher

“T-Shirt Tuesdays are a must.”

PETE ANDREWSSenior

Photo by WESTON JACOBS Seniors Tyler Watson, Nate Fleming, Pete Andrews, and Spencer Vyhanek root on the Royals.

Photo by PETE ANDREWS Pete Andrews’ ‘Big Red’ was used to go the games.

Photos by PETE ANDREWSThe ‘calorie bomb’ hotdog, and Weston Jacobs watches the game.

Photos by TROY HILDERHOF | The ShieldSenior Nick Hagenkord (top) prepares for the cross. Sophomore Pedro Arias (bottom-left) jukes, and the Saints go up for a header.

Photo by ANNIE SCHUGART | The ShieldVolleyball coach Sarah Cretors speaks at the Michelle Smith Catholic Classic.

Photo by TROY HILDERHOF | The ShieldSenior Colton Ropson preforms a cornerkick.

8 The Shield October 24, 2013

Last Look

Photo by ANNIE SCHUGART | The ShieldMusic director Joe Heidesch and piano accompanist Linda Bender watch intently as they prepare music for the rehearsal.

Photo by ANNIE SCHUGART | The ShieldDirector Matthew McAndrews instructs sophomore Caroline Shaw, who plays the role of Lorraine, and junior Russell Brown, who plays the role of Dean.

Photos by ANNIE SCHUGART | The Shield

ABOVE: Senior Grant Mayfield, who plays the role of Chad, rehearses a scene of an in-tense conversation with seniors Ellie Herter

and Kathleen Mitchell, who play Mayor Matilda and Natalie, respectively.

RIGHT: Matthew McAndrews directs junior Ben Trickey (who plays the role of Jim), senior Maddy Heeter, senior Grant

Mayfield, and senior Spencer Gochis (who plays the role of Dennis).

BELOW, LEFT: Senior Maddy Heeter

prepares to go on stage as she helps out junior Taylor Sweeney, who plays the role

of an Angelette.

BELOW, RIGHT: Freshman Grace Mitchell, left, rehearses

as an ensemble member with freshman Ezri Killeen.

CAST REHEARSES FOR MUSICALAquinas students prepare for the fall musical, “All Shook Up,” opening Nov. 6.