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A L S O I N T H I S I S S U E THUNDERBEAT THE Bellevue West High School • 1501 Thurston Avenue, Bellevue, NE 68123 thethunderbeat@gmail.com • www.thethunderbeat.org 402-293-4068 • Oct. 30 2015 S u p e r i n t e n d e n t Frank Harwood pre- sented an administrative regulation on October 5 to the school board re- garding transgender stu- dents. It was developed with the district’s attor- ney. The regulation states that it is intended to “clarify existing laws, rules and policies, and to guide how best to sup- port the needs of the district’s transgender stu- dents and their families.” It continues by stat- ing that it does not antic- ipate every scenario, but that each instance will be handled on a “case-by- case basis to determine how best to support the student within the pa- rameters of this adminis- trative rule.” Due to confusion about the regulation, the district has posted clariﬁ- cation and additional in- formation on the district website. The clariﬁcation ex- plained that “[t]ransgen- der is a protected group by the Ofﬁce of Civil Rights. The regulation is used as a guide to help us support a transgen- der student while under- standing the needs of all students in the school.” The additional infor- mation post said, “[i]t has been stated that all a boy has to do is dress up as a girl and he can use the girls’ restroom. This is not true; in fact this regu- lation means that no ac- commodation for the use of a different restroom can be given without a plan in place.” The Gay/Straight- Alliance advisor Judy Petrow believes that the regulation was important for the district as a whole due to changing times. “With the number of transgender students we have in the school, and the fact that a lot of stu- dents in elementary and middle school are com- ing out as trans where administrators may not have experience with this stuff, I think it’s impor- tant to have a policy to be uniform, and also be aware of legal issues,” Petrow said. Yet it’s more than just the legal standpoint for her. “Everybody needs to feel like there’s some- body or a place where people believe who they are and believe in them as people,” Petrow said. “I think this policy for- malizes this message to transgender students.” Multiple students believe this change was needed for different rea- sons. “It’s so important for trans youth to feel safe,” senior Andy DiBernardo said. “As a trans kid, needing to pee feels like I’m headed to death row. It’s embarrassing and confusing, part of me feels out of place regard- less of which bathroom I use.” Junior Kennie Pelt sees this regulation as a way to make positive changes in the district. “Before the civil rights movement we didn’t think it was okay to share the bathroom with someone of a different color but we got used to it right after,” Pelt said. “Once a change is made, we should keep on go- ing instead of waiting. We can’t keep waiting. If we make these changes now, later on in life this will seem normal.” Other students agree that the Bellevue Public School district is work- ing to keep up with the times. Continued on page 2. EM BRANDON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Bellevue Public Schools introduces transgender regulation “It’s so important for trans youth to feel safe.” Andy DiBernardo “There has to be a limit to it, especially in the school setting.” William Weekly Graphic by Em Brandon, photo by Eva Houchin From the ages 13 to 19, humans are known as “teenagers.” It is also the stage of life where humans are most vulner- able with the appearance of acne, deposition of fat and hair where there was not before. All these new changes cause a drop in self esteem, speciﬁcally in body image. That’s where the new REbeL club steps in. “We are rebelling against society’s deﬁni- tion of beauty so that it should be more all en- compassing and include everybody no matter what size, shape or col- or,” English teacher and REbeL club advisor Kris- ten Muldoon said. The REbeL club met ofﬁcially for the ﬁrst time on October 26. In order to promote a safe, com- fortable environment for students to share their struggles, participation in this club is by application only. “[We want] to inspire that change so more [people], especially girls, feel comfortable with themselves and they aren’t constantly com- paring themselves and putting themselves down and realizing we’re beau- tiful how we are,” Mul- doon said. Muldoon’s sister started The REbeL orga- nization in Kansas City in 2008. It’s a body positiv- ity club that has plans to put sticky notes in the bathrooms, do zumba and even yoga. They list one of their goals as to “utilize social media as a platform for positive change.” “This club at schools who have had it for a while really appreciate their presence and what they do,” club member Karen Goeschel said. “I really hope the club at West can experience the same respect and enthu- siasm from the school as the other groups get to.” In the future the club wants to have certain days of the week where all club members partici- pate and eventually en- courage other students to engage. These days would include things like No Makeup Monday and covering all the bath- room mirrors to place less importance on ap- pearance. “It makes [the stu- dents] wonder why they are so concerned about being able to see what they look like,” Goe- schel said. “And I would deﬁnitely participate in No Makeup Monday be- cause it’s a cool way to let people show off their natural beauty without feeling alone.” The club also plans to be more student-centric. “Some students are going to be peer educa- tors so they will learn dif- ferent presentations to give to elementary, mid- dle, high school students and even parents about media awareness, mind- ful eating, how to love our bodies, be positive,” Muldoon said. Club meetings are Mondays before and af- ter school in Room 225. Applications are due by October 30 to Muldoon. “I deﬁnitely plan on sticking with this club be- cause it has an amazing message that everyone can relate to or at least understand,” Goeschel said. AYALITA CROSSTON REPORTER Students “REbeL” against body stereotypes Graphic by Jacob Kunes Graphic courtesy of REbeL website Learn about Norway’s government on page 6 Students debate on Native American mascots on page 3 Read an exclusive interview with Faux Coach Woodard on page 5 402-293-4068 • Oct. 302015

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