News
Sexual Assault on a National Scale
Caitlyn Kaleta | Staff Writer
Larry Nassar, former USA
Gymnastics and Michigan State sports
clinic doctor was sentenced to 175 years
in prison for child pornography and
sexual assault on Jan. 16, 2018. His case
has spurred awareness of sexual assault.
However, not everyone truly under-
stands the position of the victims.
Nassar’s title was his cover for taking
advantage of these elite athletes. Nassar
was able to keep his victims silent for
a long time and people shouldn’t be
afraid to speak up and talk to a coun-
selor. A sexual awareness club should
be started to bring awareness to this
big issue.
Former Grand Ledge High
School student and gymnast Bailey
Lorencen is one of many who have
shown courage and strength despite
their interactions with Nassar. She was
assaulted by her gymnastics doctor
while she was in 8th and 9th grade.
“I always thought it was weird that he
never asked my parents for consent,” Lorencen reached a break-
Lorencen said. “I also thought
it was weird that he never wore gloves,
but I trusted his world-renowned
Olympic doctor title.”
There were girls younger than
Lorencen who were also being assaulted
by Nassar. He was able to manipulate
girls no matter their age.
“Whether you think so or not,
while you are in high school, you are
still young,” Lorencen said. “I thought I
would have been old enough to realize
what was happening, but I was naive
and easily taken advantage of.”
Nassar always made Lorencen
feel as she couldn’t ask questions.
The Controversy of the Personal Projects
JACK HARRISON | Staff Editor
This year marked the first time
that sophomore students were required
to take Personal Project as a class. This
course is now required at Huron, un-
like at other AAPS high schools, due
to the implementation of the IB Pro-
gramme. Before considering what stu-
dents and staff have to say about Per-
sonal Project, it is important to have a
sufficient understanding of what it is.
For a semester, a student car-
ries out a project centered on a topic of
interest to them through the process of
an in-depth research project. It consists
of three parts: a process journal, the ac-
tual project, and a report fol-
lowing the project. Stu-
dents will be taught
and guided by
four criterions:
the investiga-
tion, planning,
taking action
and reflecting.
J a s -
mine Xu, a sopho-
more who took the
class this year, views
her experience positively.
“I actually real-
ly liked personal project,” Xu said.
“But the class isn’t as structured as
I would’ve liked. I think there were
too many kids in a class, so teachers
couldn’t focus on individuals enough...
But all in all, choose to make some-
thing, and choose a topic you enjoy.
The class is a lot more fun that way.”
Upon hearing that this course was
mandatory, other students were not
thrilled. Besides, some already knew
they were not going to enroll in the
Diploma Programme. Sophomore
Benjamin Zhang fit into this category.
“I was very annoyed
when I found out I had to take the
course because it prevented me
from pursuing electives,” he said.
Zhang set out to make a change. He creat-
ed a proposal that would exclude future
non-full-diploma students from taking
the course if they so desired. In fact,
he got around 160 students to support
his proposal, mostly other sophomores.
Kevin Karr, the AAPS IB
District Coordinator explained that
Zheng’s proposal could not be passed be-
cause the MYP curriculum requires that
student take Personal Project. For stu-
dents that either did not want to enroll
in MYP or take Personal Project, Karr
explained that the school understands
that students have “different needs and
different schedules.” Therefore, with
seven hours and the Independent Study
option, students still have flexibility
while taking “high quality courses.”
Overall, Karr feels that Per-
sonal Project allows students to demon-
strate and develop skills that will be
“Don’t let anyone make you feel like
you shouldn’t ask questions or make
you feel “stupid” for asking questions,”
Lorencen said. “A predator will make
you feel this way.”
There is fake trust that often prevents
victims from speaking up about the
situation.
“If they try to convince you
otherwise, by being your friend and
gaining your trust with gifts and relat-
ability, just remember that you have
the right to question what is happening
and stick up for yourself.”
Her coach, John Geddert, and
her home gym, Twistars, made it very
clear that Nassar was the one and only
doctor she could see for her injuries.
Geddert seemed well aware of Nassar’s
“treatments” and never said anything
about it.
“My coach was not one I
could confront that easily,” Lorencen
said. “He was friends with Larry. I also
figured he knew, so that was also why I
thought I was safe. Having learned that
he was told about it and did nothing,
I know I wouldn’t have been saved by
him anyway.”
Lorencen’s injuries progres-
sively became more painful. Due to
the severity of her spinal injuries and
lack of treatment, she is now no longer
able to run or remain physically active
without experiencing immense pain.
“What if I would had had a
different doctor, who would have actu-
ally treated me?” Lorencen wondered.
“What if I had a doctor who, instead
of wasting a year abusing me, would
have spent that time taking the proper
action to actually heal my injury?
useful in college, help them transition
to 11th grade, provide them a “thought-
ful education through planning, think-
ing and doing” and ultimately help
them be successful in life.
“When students saw the ex-
hibition, they were impressed by what
they produced and how they com-
municated their product,” Karr said.
“Personal Project will do so much for
the future of Huron while providing
students a whole school experience.”
Zhang decided to revise the
proposal to pass or fail, but after com-
pleting the course, he explained he has
no reason to continue this proposal.
Student A* decided to en-
roll in an “independent study” Per-
sonal Project, which met twice
a week. It quickly became
“barely manageable” and
also interfered with his
lunch. He said that if
he had access to trans-
portation to another
high school, he would
have highly considered
transferring because of
the project requirement.
“ I thought the school
had students’ best interests in
mind, but they do not,” student A said.
“I felt betrayed by the school.” Student
A was not aware that he would have
to fill the requirement upon coming
to Huron. However, he felt that the
teaching was sufficient and proper
guidance was given the entire time.
Student B* is an-
other sophomore who com-
pleted the project this year.
“The entire first quarter
was filled with handouts about what
our project was going to be,” student B*
said. “All these papers said the exact same
thing, and I had to spend my time do-
ing the handouts instead of the project.”
Although some students
may not have had the best experi-
ence, one sophomore enjoyed the class.
“My project was very straight-
forward and fun so I didn’t find many
challenges,” the student said. “Also, I was
given so much encouraging feedback
and was able to talk to some people who
were actually interested in my topic.”
This was also the first year
teachers taught the course, with the
exception of Melissa Saeed, who taught
the introductory course last year.
“I love teaching this class
because I learn so much from stu-
dents,” Saeed said. “Students get
to study what they are passionate
about and use it as a vehicle to learn
a lot of life skills along the way.”
She did further mention that she hopes
independent study classes are run dif-
ferently to allow students to share their
projects with those taking the class.
Teacher Tony Whiren taught
Personal Project for the first time. He
2
Instead my back never healed because
the ‘treatment’ was illegitimate. I will
live with these problems the rest of my
life.”
ing point when she was told that her
injuries would heal faster if she quit
gymnastics.
“Less pain, no more get-
ting screamed at, no more five hour
practices five days a week,” she said.
“I was able to be a normal 15 year old.
That is not to say that I wasn’t lost at
first. Gymnastics was my identity for 12
years.”
Currently, Lorencen is in a
recovery process. Her advice to others
who have gone through the same thing
is to take it one step at a time and not
dwell so much on what one could have
gone differently.
explained that staff in both the P.E.
and Music Departments were primarily
chosen, in order to give these depart-
ments more full time teachers. Whiren
also said that he felt very supported
by Todd Newell and other administra-
tors. His main job is to help facilitate
ideas, and that next year, he is going
to attack teaching differently to make
sure that students complete compo-
nents as they go along. He’s excited for
next year and remains very open-mind-
ed while digging deeper into IB.
Last year, some sophomores
had the option to take a prototype ver-
sion of the course. Kevin Zheng was one
of about 25 who decided to take the class.
“I thought the idea of person-
al project was interesting, but the ac-
tual work seemed unnecessary at some
points,” Zheng said. “Overall, I did feel
that I learned from the experience.”
Junior Samantha Cho also explained
that an excessive amount of time spent
was spent on worksheets that helped
students explore their passions. How-
ever, she did find the class helpful.
“I thought the personal proj-
ect class was a good opportunity for
me to get a better sense of how I’d have
to manage my time with the upcom-
ing IB internal assessments,” Cho said.
Shreya Banda, another junior
who took the class
with Cho and
Zheng, felt the
experience
was worth
w h i l e .
“Although
it was chal-
lenging and
frustrating
at times, I got
to research topics I
was interested in and create a product
I was genuinely proud of,” Banda said.
Although student A is still discontent
about the requirement, he enjoyed
doing the actual project component,
but he felt the 10-page essay was un-
necessary and a “complete waste of
time.” He also mentioned that Person-
al Project is a great way for students
to pursue an idea. He feels that Huron
should not require those who are not
DP candidates to be in the MYP track.
As for Zhang, “The class ate up a lot of
time, and I felt I learned little,” he said.
Freshman Peter Hagen is look-
ing forward to the class next year.
“I’ve heard that a lot more time is given
than is really necessary to complete the
basic stuff, so it’ll probably be nice to
get my personal project out of the way,”
Hagen said. “Hopefully, a decent topic
will make it enjoyable to some degree.”
*Indicates that the sophomore stu-
dent requested to remain anon-
ymous due to concerns about
their name being published
“I can feel fine and then one experience, so it is important to make a
day wake up and have it hit me like a recovery plan that suits one’s situation
ton of bricks,” she said. “Those days I and goals for regaining control.
let myself feel, and I think that is okay “I have seen over 100 girls go
as long as I remember tomorrow is a through this. Everyone handles things
new day.” differently,” Lorencen said. “There is no
Lorencen says her biggest is- by-the-book way to handle things like
sue right now in the recovery process is this, only learning to listen to yourself
learning to trust people again, especial- and finding what is right for you indi-
ly doctors. Her mental and emotional vidually.”
state has been filled with constant Not being afraid to speak up
anxiety, but she hopes that one day she is an important life lesson that Loren-
can live a happy and safe life. cen has learned from her experience.
“I hope that I can eventu- Everyone needs to listen to each other’s
ally go out with friends and not feel stories and experiences to eliminate
like all the older men in the place are the core of sexual assault in society. At
staring at me with certain intentions,” Huron, we can start a sexual awareness
Lorencen said. “I know that’s the anx- club which would help make the school
iety talking, I hope to learn how to be overall more aware of the issue and
aware but not too aware.” how to prevent people from ever going
Everyone has a different through it.
Ensuring safety Students fight
in AAPS back
Continued from Continued from
Page 1 Page 1
emergency.
“Our district understands the
partial threat [of active shooters] and
they have worked to eliminate those as
many as possible,” Margolis says, ob-
serving the different tactics that must
be used to keep students of all ages safe.
Currently, the district is plac-
ing greater emphasis on ALICE refresh-
er sessions for new or returning teach-
ers.
Kord Kozma, Ann Ar-
bor-based ALICE trainer, emphasiz-
es the importance of drilling various
physical and mental techniques against
an aggressive intruder effectively.
“One of the primary princi-
ples behind ALICE is that the people
who are in harm’s way get to make the
decisions that will help them survive,”
Kozma says. “The whole thing is about Sophomore Sean Underwood holds up a sign
enhancing survivability, [and] you do saying ‘Thoughts and prayers don’t save lives’ at
that by equipping students faculty and the walkout on March 14, 2018.
staff with the basic principles so that
they can make the right decisions at the
right time.”
Ann Arbor has not experi-
“
I’m out here to support
enced a shooter event. At West Liber- the families that lost
ty-Salem High School in Ohio, howev- loved ones in the recent
er, ALICE intervention was deployed
successfully during a shooting incident.
school shooting, “
Only one targeted student was injured. Lewis Willis, senior
In similar cases, optimal train-
ing and drilling are equally as import-
ant, according to Kozma, in order to and their friends in the Florida school
put the most distance between those in shooting.
danger and the attacker. The walkouts and marches
Since the Parkland shooting, not only support the people who were
there has also been nationwide debate lost in the shooting, but also get the
on other potential security options, attention of congressmen and Donald
such as having more law enforcement Trump to make gun reforms. Many
presence or arming teachers. people are fighting for a more thorough
“[T]he Ann Arbor Public background check to prevent people
Schools, through board of education with mental illness from purchasing a
policy, supports a gun-free learning en- gun. Also, many people want restric-
vironment that we will be defending at tions on the types of guns that can be
the State Supreme Court this April,” purchased.
Margolis says. “Board policy [5420, ad-
“
opted April 15, 2015] clearly states that
AAPS operates as gun-free zones and
this includes staff.” This is the same sen- At this point, Congress
timent prescribed by the ALICE Train-
ing Institute. isn’t doing anything, so
“I’m not going to be naive and it’s up to us to take a stand
tell [concerned parents] that we’re 100
percent safe - I’m sorry but that’s just
and call them and encour-
not the reality we live in,” Margolis says. age them to take action.
“But I am going to tell them that we “
have precautions in place. I would tell Christy Martinez, junior
them that I feel very confident in the
safety of our classes.”