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January 17Boys and Girls Basketball both defeated Shawnee Mission North on Tuesday Jan. 13
January 6Piano students partake in a recital for their final exam
January 6Boys Wrestling takes on the Stampede tournament
December 20Choir holds their semester end Christmas concert
December 19Band hosts winter concert with Monticello Trails Middle School

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The student news site of Mill Valley High School

Mill Valley News

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Mill Valley News

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The student news site of Mill Valley High School

Mill Valley News

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Academic apathy has grown in recent years

TOP STORIES

Academic apathy has grown in recent years

Avery Clement, Maddie Martin, and Mya Franco • December 11, 2024

Around The World A study conducted in 2024 by the Walton Family Foundation aimed to understand why students’ interest levels have gone down...

Continue Reading

Smiling, junior Stella Beins waves her pom poms in the air.

Cheer takes state for a Two-Peat

Spending time volunteering helps students connect with their communities

Spending time volunteering helps students connect with their communities

Post game, the team listens to Head Coach Joel Applebee's speech.

Jaguars bid for sixth straight state football title ends with loss to St. Thomas Aquinas

Dipping in Willards arms, played by senior Blake Gray, Rusty, played by senior Allyson Makalous, smiles out at the crowd

The theater department has a record breaking performance of “Footloose”

NEWS

Increasing enrollment is effecting class sizes, teachers and students in significant ways

Increasing enrollment is effecting class sizes, teachers and students in significant ways

Read Story

Students get the opportunity to talk to college representatives at the Next Steps College and Career Fair

Students get the opportunity to talk to college representatives at the Next Steps College and Career Fair

December 11, 2024

In the middle, junior Bailey Bret pauses with her poms in the air while dancing on the KSHSAA stage.

Mill Valley’s Silver Stars dance team takes on state

December 4, 2024

Students load their plates at clubsgiving.

StuCo hosts seventh annual Clubsgiving

December 4, 2024

Holding the microphone, sophomore Azaria Vazquez introduces the next song.

Choir holds their semester end Christmas concert

Myah Ronning and Molly Hillner

December 20, 2024

Mallets in hand, junior Jordan Powell plays the chimes in “A Christmas Tale."

Band hosts winter concert with Monticello Trails Middle School

Audri Brizendine, Callie Cahoy, and Taylor Rude

December 19, 2024

Strumming her guitar, junior Sienna Suderman sings along with juniors Esther Kisivo and Aleesha Fisher while they sing "Home" by Philips Phillips, Tuesday Dec. 10.

Student Council hosts their 12th Open Mic Night at Ten and Two Coffee

Madelyn Mulryan

December 13, 2024

SPORTS

Focusing on the shot, senior Carter Kaifes prepares to shoot the ball, Tuesday Jan. 14.

Boys and Girls Basketball both defeated Shawnee Mission North on Tuesday Jan. 13

Read Story

Senior Colton Bendure takes sixth place in the Stampede tournament.

Boys Wrestling takes on the Stampede tournament

January 6, 2025

Scanning the court, junior JaKhai Carter makes a baseline pass while falling out of bounds

Boys basketball brings another win against Gardner Edgerton

December 17, 2024

MVTV sports recap: December 11

MVTV sports recap: December 11

December 17, 2024

A&E

New fidget toy NeeDoh tops list of new student trends

New fidget toy NeeDoh tops list of new student trends

Jake Brown, JagWire reporter/photographer

December 13, 2024

With the rise of pickleball, people of all ages are playing competitively

With the rise of pickleball, people of all ages are playing competitively

Maddie Martin and Abby Stidham-Ebberts

November 3, 2024

Students use different kinds of headphones in school

Students use different kinds of headphones in school

Ryan Bloomer, JagWire reporter/photographer

November 1, 2024

Rehearsing for his final, senior Jayden Woods gets corrections from teacher Jonathan Copeland.

Piano students partake in a recital for their final exam

Read Story

Student use creativity in their music to express themselves

Student use creativity in their music to express themselves

December 13, 2024

presenting the instructions, junior Ian Weatherman tells his team what they need to do next on Thursday, Dec.12.

Robotics team prepares for upcoming competitions

December 13, 2024

I Am Mill Valley: Freshman Noah Lauer sells merch for his YouTube channel "Golden X"

I Am Mill Valley: Freshman Noah Lauer sells merch for his YouTube channel “Golden X”

December 13, 2024

Review: HomeGoods holiday snacks

Review: HomeGoods holiday snacks

21st Century Journalism students

December 17, 2024

Review: Wicked movie is an outstanding film

Review: Wicked movie is an outstanding film

Evan LeRoy, Mill Valley News editor-in-chief and Mill Valley News Social Media Manager

December 13, 2024

Being involved in multiple activities and hobbies is beneficial.

Being involved in multiple activities and hobbies is beneficial.

Hannah Stephensen, JagWire reporter/photographer

December 13, 2024

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MV News is an award-winning, student-run news source combining the efforts of the JagWire newspaper, the JAG yearbook and MVTV.

2 hour delayed start schedule. All AM classes at C

2 hour delayed start schedule.
All AM classes at CTEC CAPS and EDTECH are canceled with PM classes sticking to regularly scheduled times.
All morning busses will be running 2 hours later than usual.

Due to expected cold temperatures for Tuesday, Jan

Due to expected cold temperatures for Tuesday, Jan. 21 there will be a 2 hour delayed start. Expect more information about the daily schedule via email.

It’s time for the fourth Jagwire survey of the y

It’s time for the fourth Jagwire survey of the year! Click the link in our story (or the “surveys” highlight) to fill out the survey. This issue includes topics like Body image, New York Times Games,

School has been cancelled for Friday, Jan. 10. Whe

School has been cancelled for Friday, Jan. 10. When students return to school it will be a blue day.

School has been cancelled for Wednesday, Jan. 8. W

School has been cancelled for Wednesday, Jan. 8. When students return to school it will be a blue day.

School has been cancelled for Tuesday, Jan. 7.When

School has been cancelled for Tuesday, Jan. 7.When students return to school it will be a silver day.

NeeDoh is starting to take over as a recent trend

NeeDoh is starting to take over as a recent trend and new fidget toy. Unlike fidget spinners and pop-its, NeeDoh is a soft, block shaped fidget toy filled with a dough-like material. Students are using NeeDoh’s to calm their minds in and outside of school.

Junior Tristyn Jones speaks about why she uses her NeeDoh.

“I use my NeeDoh for fun,” Jones said. “I like to play with it in class because it’s something to relieve my stress with.”

Students are not the only ones using NeeDohs to help them. Science teacher Chad Brown also enjoys using it.

“I mostly just absent mindedly squeeze [my NeeDoh] while doing other tasks, but I have also used it for physics demonstrations related to static friction, projectile motion and other things,” Brown said.

NeeDoh is advertised to help people with learning disabilities as well. It is advertised for people with ADD, ADHD, Anxiety and Autism.

More on MVnews

Students drink energy drinks at school to stay ene

Students drink energy drinks at school to stay energized and enjoy the array of flavors

More on MVnews

To some students, music is the foundation of their

To some students, music is the foundation of their lives. Being able to record and produce their own music is what inspires them.

Senior Kai McGarry, who has recently come out with an album on Spotify, explains his relationship with music.

“I’ve always just had a natural love of music, it’s just everything to me,” McGarry said. “I’m dedicated. On a weekend, I wake up at 8am to record. That’s all I do. Everything in my life revolves around music.”

Junior Max Fierro, who sings and plays guitar, gets his motivation to play music from something else.

“My whole family is really into music, and I’m around it all the time, so that’s what inspired me [to start making music],” Fierro said.

More on MVnews

study conducted in 2024 by the Walton Family Found

study conducted in 2024 by the Walton Family Foundation aimed to understand why students’ interest levels have gone down recently. The study surveyed 4,147 young adults ages 12 to 27, focusing mainly on high school students.

The study observed many different important factors in students’ interest in school, including after high school plans. The study found that those who plan on college might feel more motivated or interested in school. Of the students surveyed, who don’t plan on college, 52% say they have learned something interesting in school compared to 65% of students who plan on college.

Another important factor the study observed is teachers making school interesting. About 60% of students said that teachers were the reason they were interested in a topic in school. As well, 73% of students said that their favorite teachers cared about them as people.

The JagWire surveyed students at the school to observe if students’ at the school showed similar trends. Of the 139 students surveyed 45% said that their college plans are what motivate them as well another 36% of students said disinterest in certain subjects impacts their feelings about school.

At the school both teachers and students alike have observed similar factors impacting interest: post high school plans, the schools support in post high school plans and the impact teachers can have on students’ interest.

More on MVnews

Semester 1 final schedule Reminder: Thursday and

Semester 1 final schedule

Reminder: Thursday and Friday are half days. There is no late start on Wednesday.

Issue 3 of the JagWire hit seminars today. Pick up

Issue 3 of the JagWire hit seminars today. Pick up a copy from your seminar teacher or visit our website to read about academic struggles, student musicians, enrollment and much more.

It’s time for the third Jagwire survey of the ye

It’s time for the third Jagwire survey of the year! Click the link in our story (or the “surveys” highlight) to fill out the survey. This issue includes the topics of Students interest in school, student musician, and energy drink

Breaking: Former USD232 social studies teacher Kei

Breaking: Former USD232 social studies teacher Keil Hileman sentenced to two years in prison for unlawful attempted sexual relations
Two years after Hileman’s arrest in October 2022, he was sentenced Friday, Nov. 8 after agreeing to plead guilty to two of the original six charges against him

Read more at the link in story

As soon as students walk in science teacher Ryan J

As soon as students walk in science teacher Ryan Johnston’s classroom, they are required to put their phones into the phone locker. Johnston is one of the many teachers across the school that have adopted this no phone policy in hopes of combating cell phone distractions in the learning environment.

This is not the first time that Johnston has used this no phone policy in his class. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he stopped enforcing the policy. However, he decided to read the policy after seeing all the issues that phones were causing.

“When COVID happened, I had half my class at home, half my class here. People wanted to stay in contact with their loved ones and I got away from the phone policy,” Johnston said. “But then when students were on lockdown, they got super addicted to their phones even more than they were and there were a lot of mental health issues. I saw it for a couple years and I thought that we can’t do this anymore. That’s why I decided to go back to the phone locker.”

Read more at the link in story

From tennis courts being converted to pickleball c

From tennis courts being converted to pickleball courts to places specifically made for playing pickleball, and pickleball supplies being readily available at every sporting goods store, pickleball has become the newest popular sport for people of all ages.

While about 50% of players are 55 years old or older there is still a large number of younger players about 31% between the ages of 6-34 years old, according to a report from The Sports and Fitness Industry Association. These numbers are growing too, in 2021 around 5 million people played pickleball, that number grew to 8.5 million in 2023.

The fact that anyone can play is something that appeals to lots of players. Spanish teacher Jennie Dillon started playing pickleball a few years ago after her neighborhood built courts. Dillion often sees people of all ages playing and likes to see others enjoying the sport.

“I’ll see families, or younger kids, or I’ll see an older couple, or I’ll see some teens,” Dillon said. “I feel like it kind of brings everybody together.”

Read more at the link in story

Whether you see him in the hallway, have his class

Whether you see him in the hallway, have his class, or just follow his Instagram account, ceramics teacher Bryan Lloyd has created a positive environment with his art.
Ceramics has always been a passion of Lloyd’s. He began teaching at a private studio, then moved his teaching to a small catholic school and then to Lawrence Free State High School for seven years. Lloyd then moved to teach at Mill Valley at the beginning of last school year.
The Ceramics Instagram began when Lloyd taught ceramics at Lawrence Free State and continued it when he moved to Mill Valley. Lloyd uses Instagram to share student’s work and let students know about upcoming events and days.
“I use social media as a tool to show off the program and to highlight all of the good work that students are doing, and put it out there,” Lloyd said. “It’s very risky to put [artwork] out there because people might think your students aren’t doing good enough work. [It’s important to] show parents, the community and the kids that their artwork and what happens in this room, should be celebrated.”

Read more at the link in story

Senior Elise Davis was selected as one of two stud

Senior Elise Davis was selected as one of two students in the state of Kansas to attend the National Youth Science Camp this past summer. Davis’s accomplishment was recognized at the first assembly of the year.

To be accepted into the camp Davis had to go through an intensive application process.

“I had to submit my grades and transcripts and then I also had to have a letter of recommendation from one of my teachers.” Davis said. “I chose the director of the CTEC CAPS program, [Tim] Mispagel.”

Tim Mispagel is a teacher at the Cedar Trails Exploration Center (CTEC). When Davis asked him to write a recommendation, he was more than happy to.

“I was very open to doing it, I knew that she was a high achieving student, and was really trying to put it out there and take some chances. And she understood that, you know, you’re not going to get anything if you don’t apply to it,” Mispagel said. “So I’m always more than happy to write a letter of recommendation and just let the students know that just because you get a letter of recommendation from me doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. It’s definitely on the student and their, you know, community service and job experience and all of those things that go together.”

Read more at the link in story!

With the presidential election occurring this year

With the presidential election occurring this year, it’s one of the most important ways adults in our country can be involved with our government. But this seems obvious to the adults in our country, as Pew Research Center (PRC) states that over two-thirds of the adults registered to vote filled out their ballots in the last election.

Without an obvious way for those under 18 to make their voice heard by voting, it makes sense that teenagers wouldn’t feel the need to stay informed on government policies. But according to Young Citizens, there’s a direct correlation between minors who care about politics and those who are more likely to vote in the future.

If you watch TV, or have social media, you might be seeing constant advertisements telling you to register to vote, emphasizing the importance. This can make it seem like caring about politics is only valuable if you can fill out a ballot.

Voting is not the only way to stay involved with politics, and especially not the only way to support your beliefs.

Many teenagers choose to protesting or post and repost political views on social media to make sure their voices are heard, even before they can vote.

Posting online is an easier and more popular way of sharing beliefs, and Pew Research Center states that 57% of the country believes it’s a good thing for our democracy.

Link in story for more!

Best of luck to volleyball as they head to Salina

Best of luck to volleyball as they head to Salina for the state tournament. Bring home another banner!

Photos by Molly Griffin

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STAFF SPOTLIGHT

Natalia Castillejos-Ramirez

JagWire reporter/photographer

This is sophomore Natalia Castillejos- Ramírez's first year on the JagWire staff as a writer, photographer and designer. Besides journalism, Natalia is involved at Mill Valley by being a part of Student...

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MVTV Episode 11

JAGWIRE NEWSPAPER

JagWire Newspaper: Volume 25, Issue 3
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JagWire Newspaper: Volume 24, Issue 1

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