merged_document_3

BROKE RILEY CO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF News Oct 30, 20152 The Thunderbeat EM BRANDON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Photo by Bryn Estlund Throughout the years, the Flock Squad has been keeping the crowd hyped at football and basketball games. This year, the squad has been promot- ing more sports and activities that most students don’t attend. On Saturday, Oct. 24, the marching band competed in the Ne- braska State Band Mas- ters Association at Mil- lard South High School. Senior Josh Lambert had the idea for the Flock Squad to attend the competition. “Every time the band performs at half- time, it just energizes the crowd and it’s like us giving back to them what they have given to us,” Lambert said. Other students agree that the student body should be sup- porting more programs including the March- ing Thunderbirds. “Our band is really good and they don’t get enough recognition all the time because they are so good,” senior Emily Summers said. “It’s cool to be able to sup- port all aspects of our school.” Lambert said the student sec- tion cheers con- sist of “we love band,” “number one in state and number one in our hearts,” and just being as loud as possible. Summers said that even though the band’s season is almost over, students can still get on the announcements to promote and sup- port the band. The band mem- bers appreciate the support coming from the student body. Senior Liam Tobey said he likes to see the student section start to take an interest in the band whereas in the past, they didn’t pay much attention. “It’s kind of cool to see that they are go- ing to try and actually support us out of the school,” Tobey said. As a junior, Megan LeClere said the band has not been sup- ported in the past the way they are this year. “I’m really excited and I think they are go- ing to be gladly sur- prised with what they see,” LeClere said. Senior Veronica Bryant said that for the guard, the girls feed off the crowd’s energy which helps them perform to their full potential. Bryant said the judges can even see when a crowd enjoys the show which will continue to feed into the positiv- ity on the field. The band, according to Tobey, performs a lot based off crowd reactions. When there isn’t a whole lot of cheering, the show tends to “die” but when there is reac- tions from the crowd, the members get really into their performance. LeClere said it would be great for the Flock Squad to continue com- ing to local competi- tions in future years. “I know no other bands have that support system, even host- ing bands don’t have that kind of support so that would be awe- some,” LeClere said Tobey said he thinks the more competition students attended, the more they will appre- ciate the work band puts into their shows. “We’re proving that we are a very good program and that it’s a great program to be in and we support the 110% just like they are one of the guys on the field,” Lambert said. Flock Squad supports fine arts at state “Whether people like it or not, times are changing,” se- nior Alec Stroud said. “This district still has a lot to do to keep up with how it’s going.” Some students are worried about the safety of transgen- der kids regardless of the regulations. “I think the faculty needs to be cautious with it,” senior Kayleigh Burley said. “They need to be aware of transgen- der students that have transitioned and are using the bathroom they identify with and look out for those students because they’re going to have a rough time.” There are students that are concerned for other reasons. “I think it would be ridiculous to assume that no one will be uncom- fortable with this,” senior Tyler Araujo said. “I for one know that if I was in the bathroom and I saw a girl walk in, I would be more than a little upset.” Students who aren’t familiar with their trans- gender peers might be caught off guard. “I think, honestly, a lot of students aren’t go- ing to be okay with it,” junior William Weekly said. “They’re not seeing the transgender students how the transgender stu- dents are seeing them- selves. They’re going to see boys in the girls locker room and girls in the boys locker room.” However, being fa- miliar won’t make some students comfortable. “I understand if people are going to identify themselves in that way but there has to be a limit to it, especially in the school setting,” Weekly said. Araujo is also con- cerned that catering to a minority of students minimizes the rights and feelings of the majority. “If it’s going into effect, it’s going into effect,” Araujo said. “There’s not a whole lot that the faculty can do, to be honest. I would like to see them still re- specting the attitudes of people like me who are 110% not down with it.” There are no stu- dents currently using a locker room that doesn’t coincide with their biological sex. “We’ve been accom- modating to everybody so far, so we’ll take [students using locker rooms not of their bio- logical gender] when it happens,” gym teacher and coach Moraski said. The faculty is plan- ning on respecting the rights of all students. “We’re going to protect everyone’s rights and do our best to make sure everyone is accom- modated the best way possible,” activities di- rector John Mauro said. The next school board meeting will be on November 9. Bellevue West discusses new transgender regulation Continued from front page MAVERICK There's no better time to be a 0227ADUG1015 When you become a part of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), you make the deliberate choice to be a Maverick and to embrace all the possibilities the name implies. We invite you to get to know the O! JOIN US FOR OUR BE A MAV DAY | NOVEMBER 20, 2015 REGISTER AT BEAMAV.COM On Oct. 24, the marching band performed in the Nebraska State Band Masters Association competition. The band placed first.

merged_document_3

Pages Overview