Prizes were given to students who brought canned goods. Sports created unique skits and performed them in the gym. Skits include the Salsa boys, Miss LHS, multiple performances by Pom and dancing by all the winter sports teams.

Perched on buildings, prone across a cherry picker and board-like on a tree branch, junior Ian Schneck has embraced the planking fad.

Over time, fads may come and go, but Shneck is committed to this one from head to toe.

Plankers lie horizontally across objects or the ground, heads down and arms glued to their sides. Having a photograph of the planker posted on the internet is an integral part of the game.

Schneck’s planking has begun to catch the attention of students through Facebook. He said he was inspired to start planking when his friend, junior Porter Burdett, started planking.

“It inspired me to go along with one of the first fads that I’ve been apart of,” Schneck said.

Although this fad has become less popular, Schneck still continues this act.

“A lot of people stopped doing it, but it’s still interesting,” he said.

Schneck takes advantage of any planking opportunities he can get.

“[I usually plank] whenever I’m around someone with an iPhone,” Schneck said

Schneck says his most impressive plank was on top of the Lawrence sign at the train depot downtown.

The history of planking is brief, but developed quickly. The game made news in September 2009 when seven doctors and nurses working at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, England, were suspended for playing the lying down game while on duty. On May 15, Acton Beale, a 20-year-old man, plunged to his death after reportedly planking on a seventh-floor balcony in Brisbane, Australia.

Other planks have been more fun than danger. On Sept. 2, Dwight Howard, a basketball player for the Orlando Magic, and about 100 of his fans planked in Beijing.

Schneck is just one of the many people continuing the planking fad and catching the attention of the public.

What activities are you involved in at LHS?
I signed up for a bunch of a clubs, but I haven’t been able to attend any meetings since I started the play. Clubs require time, and I have a pretty big homework load.

What made you decide to write a book?
My parents are extremely artsy. I write my own songs, and one day I decided to expand a theme that I explore in my songs and put it in a book.

What is your novel about?
It’s more of a short story, but I am trying to add more. It follows a teenage girl whose mother left when she was very young. In an attempt to reconnect with who her mother was, she gets into gardening. Then one day, her mother sends her a letter and starts talking to her a lot. The rest is a secret.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be an English teacher in Japan or a music therapist with kids and teens here in the States. I want to do anything where I get to interact with younger people on a daily basis.

Where do you hope to go to college?
I haven’t really thought about which college I want to go to. KU is a contender. I guess we’ll see!

What is your favorite restaurant?
Homemade. My grandmother and mother are fantastic cooks.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I want to go back to the Philippines. It was really neat to talk to my Filipino relatives and see what a third-world country is like.

When did you learn there was no Santa Claus?
I don’t really remember. I don’t think I ever REALLY believed a bearded man was breaking into my house, eating cookies, and leaving presents.

What is your proudest accomplishment?
Waking up every morning and going to sleep every night. It takes a lot of motivation to do the little things – homework and such – because they don’t stay little things for long.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, with whom would it be and why?
I don’t know if I would want to trade places! I’m pretty happy with my life. I guess I would switch with someone who has lived a life totally opposite mine – someone who is everything I am not.

What is your favorite television show?
I don’t have cable, so I’m not up to date with television, but I like to watch Community when I can. I think it has an awesome cast.

Winners for the 2011 Homecoming Parade were announced Monday. They are as follows:

Chesty Award- Freshman Class

Craftsmanship Award- Sophomore Class

Innovation Award- Senior Class

Red and Black Award- Junior Class

Best Club Float- Orchestra

Best Club Banner- International Club

Q: What do you do in your free time?
A: Hang out with friends

Q: Describe your family.
A: Six kids.

Q: What’s your favorite TV show?
A: Probably ‘What’s New Scooby Doo?’

Q: What’s your favorite type of music?
A: Dub-step.

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: I want to be a veterinarian.

Q: What do you like most about LHS?

What are you involved in outside of school?
I’m in 4-H, and I play soccer.

Which 4-H Club are you in?
Clinton Eagles, I’m a vice president within my group and county wide I’m the representative.

Do you have any animals since you’re involved in 4-H?
I have three cows right now, and I’m working on getting another one.

Why do you raise the cows?
At the 4-H fair I show them, and then I sell them in the auction.

Who do you play soccer for?
LHS.

How many years have you played for the LHS soccer team?
I’ve played since I was a freshman, so two years and this year would be three.

What is your favorite class?
I’m really interested in history, but I think my favorite class is art.

Which art class is your favorite?
I think photography, but it’s debatable.

Where do you hope to go to college?
As of now I hope to go to the University of North Texas, but that’s probably going to change because I’ll probably change what I want to do as a career, and I’m just not very — whats the word — sure. I’m not very sure.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I think it would be really interesting to be an archaeologist, and I also think photojournalism would be really interesting.

What classes are you taking right now that are paving your way to college education?
All of my core classes are advanced for my grade. I’m taking Precalc, Advanced Physics and Advanced American Lit. I’m also taking AP US History.

What are your favorite pajamas?
I just kinda wear athletic shorts and a T-shirt.

Helen Hawkins – Ballet and Jazz for 15 years

• Would you ever join the school’s pom squad? “I’m not into competitive dance. I want people to come see me dance, not to judge me. It’s an art that should be enjoyed.”
• How does dance affect your homework time? “I don’t like doing homework right after school, and my classes usually go late so I just stay up later finishing school stuff.”
• What’s your favorite part about dance? “The feeling I get when I dance is indescribable.”

Mo Mason – Tae Kwon Do for 4 years

• What do you do during practice?  “We practice our forms and work a lot. We do a lot of practical application.”
• If there were a Tae Kwon Do demo team at LHS, would you join?  “Heck yeah!”
• How does Tae Kwon Do affect your homework time?  “I bring my homework there sometimes if I’m behind or have a lot, and my instructors even help me with my Pre-Calc when I need it.”

Ami Harvey – Competitive Cheer for 11 years

• What are cheer competitions like?  “Pretty much like the ones you see on ESPN. Busy, very loud, usually in a big arena, and tons of sparkles and hairspray.”
• How does cheer affect your homework time?  “Usually practice doesn’t get over till 8 or 8:30 so if I don’t have time to do it before 5 I have to do it after.”
• What’s your favorite part about cheer?  “Spending time with all my friends, we are all really just a family. Or the adrenaline rush you get performing in front of thousands of people.”

Dallas Conway – Rugby for 1 year

• How often do you practice a week  “I go to one, but we’re suppose to go to two.”
• Does rugby affect your homework time  “Yes, completely.”
• What is your your favorite part about playing rugby?  “Being able to say I play rugby.”

Junior Royce Harrison travelled with Kenyan Educational Service Trips along with three other girls and group leader Jennifer Geilings. The goal of the organization is to educate American teenagers and adults to be responsible and effective global citizens, and to show that one person can make a difference only by taking action.

“It is enormously satisfying to help people,” Harrison said.

Harrison left July 12 and returned Aug. 13. Group members focused on volunteering, not engaging in any sort of tourism while they were there. They created camps for Kenyan school children and helped out doing farm work.

The volunteer program in Kenya was called Nyumbani, and it contained three parts. The first was an orphanage in Karen called the Nyumbani Children’s Home. The orphanage is home to more than 100 HIV positive children who were either abandoned or had lost their parents. Harrison and his group were at the orphanage for one week.

“Not all of the younger kids were used to seeing white people,” Harrison said. “A kid rubbed one of the girls arms and then checked his hand to see if the white would come off her skin.”

The second part of the Nyumbani program took the volunteers to Kitui, a village of about 700 people plagued by the AIDS epidemic. In the village, about 10 children are grouped with grandparents to form families. The goal is to have 1,000 people living in the village. Harrison spent the majority of his trip there, a total of 3 weeks.

The third part is called Lea Toto, which means “to raise the child” in Swahili. Lea Toto is a slums outreach program where the volunteers helped provide medical assistance and counseling. Harrison was only in Lea Toto for one day of his trip.

In order to prepare for the trip, Harrison had to take Doxycycline, an anti-malarial drug. He had to take this medicine every day months in advance of going to Kenya, and has to continue taking the drug even after he has returned. Harrison said the drug has unpleasant side effects, such as stomach pains and vivid, intense dreams.

The flight to Kenya took 21 hours, plus around 10 hours of layovers. Once they landed, Harrison recalled seeing a random pile of burning tires along the tarmac. A typical meal consisted of beans and rice, “plus the occasional rock mixed in,” Harrison said. Everything was relatively cheap, too. An avocado cost Harrison a mere 15 cents, and “it was the size of my face,” Harrison said.

The volunteers also visited a Masai village, where Harrison went goat herding with one of the Masai warriors. “That was probably the coolest part of my trip,” Harrison said. They had to watch out for snakes and be on the lookout for unexploded ordinance such as land mines, artillery shells, and other explosives.

For Harrison, finding the words that best describe the experience is difficult, but he left Kenya inspired to volunteer again in the future. He hopes to return to Kenya. “It is really difficult to describe because it was such an amazing experience.”

Harrison was forever impacted by the people he met and the friends he made.

“It’s definitely something I’m never going to forget,” Harrison said.

1. What was your best high school experience?
“There are so many, it is really hard to pick one! But I think it was beating a debate team from Shawnee Mission East for three hours in Mr. Hood’s room.”

2. Worst high school experience?
“Trying to avoid failing pre-calculus in the last three weeks of my senior year.”

3. How did you feel walking into LHS for the first time?
“Well, the very first time was my freshman year looking for a friend. So that time I felt stupid. But the first time as an LHS student? I was really excited. I wandered around the halls for 10 minutes until I knew exactly where I was. It was fun. Sophomore year was a really interesting experience.”

4. What will you be doing after high school?
“This summer I’m planning on working a ton and doing some traveling. I’m going to KU in the fall, biology major and UKanTeach program to get a teaching license.”

5. Who was your most inspiring teacher and why?
“(Debate and forensics coach Jeff) Plinsky most definitely. I’ve worked with him for three years, and he’s always been really encouraging and supportive — even when I’m being whiny and obnoxious at 6 a.m. on a Saturday before a tournament. Plus, he treats you like an adult until you give him a reason not to. So, he obviously still treats me like an adult. Overall he’s a phenomenal teacher and coach.”

6. Who helped you the most during your sophomore year? How?
“Looking back, I think the person that helped the most even if neither of us realized it at the time was Mr. (Greg) Farley. He was my math teacher for a year and a half, and I actually managed to get a B! It’s a lot more things than that, but they’re difficult to explain.”

7. Hardest class and why?
“Pre-calc because it’s math. And identities are pretty much the bane of my existence! But (Pam) Fangohr is really great. She’s entertaining.”

8. What advice would you give to future lions?
“Get involved. Even if it’s just one club. Turn in stuff on time. Oh, and don’t take classes that you know are too easy for you. I was bored out of my mind my junior year because I wasn’t challenging myself.”

9. What will you miss the most? Why?
“I think the camaraderie of debate and forensics.”

10. What classes would you recommend? Not recommend? Why?
“Well that really kind of depends on each individual person. But forensics is a great class to take. It’s not that difficult and you meet a ton of new people. It gives you a chance to explore your interests while not having to get up on stage in front of a bunch of people. Also, AP Lit & Comp. Not only is Carriger absolutely hilarious, but he makes the class fun and you don’t realize the sheer amount of material you’ve learned until the end. And you get pretty good at writing. I mean, there are a ton of classes that are good to take. Classes I don’t recommend? Um. Don’t take classes because your friends are. It ends up being really boring, and you don’t make as many new friends.”

11. Can you talk a little about your family business, Anthonys Beehive?
“We sell honey, honey straws, homemade beeswax lip balm, lotion, barbecue sauce, jerky, and bee pollen. Making lip balm is kind of tedious so I get bored, but I’ve done it since I was 12 and made way more money than I ever could anywhere else. The flexibility was really nice, too. My friends always ask me when they can come over and make more lip balm. They think it’s funny. I often get asked if I spend much time with the bees. I really don’t. I got stung pretty bad by wasps as a child, so any sort of buzzing just sends me running in the opposite direction. To be honest, I don’t even like the taste of honey. Not just ours, honey in general. People laugh at me for that. I also got a really great opportunity to work with the ‘Buy Fresh, Buy Local’ campaign with the Hen House grocery stores in Kansas. That was awesome, it paid really well, and gave me some resume material. Selling at the Lawrence Farmer’s Market taught me how to interact well with strangers, and I am not shy at all because of it.” ]]> http://www.lhsbudget.com/features/2011/05/20/mariah-schwager-profile/feed/ 0