September Hawk Talks 

The news of the year's biggest engagement broke to HHS staff and students in the early afternoon on Tuesday, Aug. 26. Thanks to Amanda Hinton everyone at HHS found out that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are officially engaged.  

“Mrs. Pyle found out and yelled down the hallway … we were all in disbelief and went on our phones to see if it was real,” Hinton said. 

Swift and Kelce took to Instagram this Tuesday afternoon saying, “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” 

The post has since shattered countless records on instagram such as “Most reposted post ever, with over 1 million reposts” according to billboard.com, and “14 million likes in just one hour” according to yahoo.com . Included in the post were many photos showing Kelce popping the question and the couple embracing. It has now been revealed that this happened in the backyard of Kelce’s “6 million dollar Kansas City mansion” according to realtor.com. He opted for nothing but the best for his fiancee, turning his ordinary backyard into a secret garden oasis for the proposal. In the post we also get a close-up look of the completely custom, old-hollywood ring Kelce gave to Swift. 

“I did in fact like it,” HHS sophomore Mackenzie Shefferd said. “I personally would not be able to wear it because it would weigh me down too much.”

According to today.com the approximately 8-carat diamond is worth around $400,000 - $1 million. The ring was designed by a woman-owned business called Artifex Fine Jewelry. The brand was launched online in early 2023. The owner, Kindred Lubeck, was inspired by her father to go into the goldsmithing trade. She started to grow in online popularity for her attention to detail and gorgeous custom engravings according to people.com.] It’s no wonder that Kelce decided to choose Lubeck for the engagement ring for one of the most famous popstars on the planet. On top of getting engaged, the couple were quite busy this August with Swift getting interviewed on her fiancee’s very own podcast, “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce” on YouTube. While smashing various records within the platform, Swift even broke the Guinness world record for most concurrent views for a podcast on Youtube.

While she is familiar to the public eye, Swift has only recently grown accustomed to receiving so much attention from (mostly) male sports viewers and podcast listeners. Her presence on TV during football season has been debated greatly by football fans and swifties alike. 

“As a TV watcher, it is just absolutely annoying when the NFL broadcast shows her, like there is so much else I’d rather see but I do not mind when [Swift] goes on the podcast,” says lifelong football player, Gus Smith. 

Also during the record-breaking episode, Swift announced her 12th studio album “The Life of a Showgirl” and released the cover art and the names of each track for the album. Most notably the title track “The Life of a Showgirl” featuring none other than Sabrina Carpenter who opened for Swift during The Eras tour. Across the country, fans and celebrities alike have all shared their congratulations for Kelce and Swift, and cannot wait for America’s version of a royal wedding!

Students from Hiawatha High School are experiencing changes this new school year, deeming some changes as favorable and unfavorable. Several students want to change certain rules for specific reasons.

The changes include using backpacks rather than chromebook bags, new rules about no lining up by the door and no laying on the floor, new ELA materials and a new classroom setup.

Students have varying opinions about many of these changes and new rules. What some students are liking, others aren’t.

For example, sophomore Dakota Thompson said, “I hate the backpacks, because they’re low quality,” while sophomore Olivia Johansen said she likes that there’s more storage in the backpacks.

Beyond backpacks, new behavioral rules, such as no lining up by the door and no laying on the floor, are also creating discussion among students.

The no lying on the floor rule is seen as redundant by senior Phoenix Entrikin, who said some students work best when comfortable but he said he understands the cleanliness concern. Entrikin also said the no-lining-up rule was unnecessary, with other issues needing more attention.

Also, the new ELA classroom setup and materials, such as a new online platform, have been attracting a lot of attention. HHS English teacher Nicole Jewett’s classroom received new furniture referred to as a “traveling classroom.” The furniture is temporary as one classroom from each USD 415 district school is trying out the new setup. The setup includes more flexible seating options with modular tables and couches.

“I think it is nice and creates a homey environment, I think it might create some issues due to student behaviors though,” Entrikin said.

As for the new ELA materials, there are mixed reviews. Sophomore Kenley Noll said that the many buttons are making it difficult to find things.

“It (the online platform) keeps bugging, but it’s getting better and better,” sophomore Henley Shoemaker said.

Overall, most students said that the changes in place haven’t affected them much.

The changes haven’t had much impact, according to senior Jeffrey Umland, who said he’s usually not ready to line up anyway. Umland added that the new backpacks offer more storage, but it still isn’t enough.

On the other hand, senior Gus Smith said, “it affected me positively, and I can carry all my books and binders. The bags are great.”

As part of the discussion, students were also asked which rules they would choose to revise if given the opportunity.

Students, like freshman Natalee Lanter, said that they would change the floor rule since high school students can still get work done.

As the school year progresses, students will continue adjusting to the new policies, with some welcoming the changes and others hoping for revisions. Either way, the conversation around these updates is far from over.

Hiawatha High School alum Nikki Stueve has made her way back to HHS as a first year math teacher. The 2021 graduate is currently teaching algebra one, algebra two, and geometry.

“From a young age I always did want to be a teacher but strayed away from the path when I went to college,” Stueve said. “Coming back to Hiawatha and being able to teach at my old high school is the reason I was excited to take on the new adventure of teaching.”

In addition to teaching, Stueve is currently the assistant cheer coach and has been very involved in the district as she was during her time as a student at HHS.

“I like having her as a cheer coach because she thinks I’m funny,” Sophomore Brynnan Boye said. “She used to babysit me and so I’ve always known her; she can connect with us because she's young and has cheered at HHS.”

Stueve has also recently announced that she was engaged and will be getting married this November.

Many students who took geometry with the previous teacher and are now in algebra II are very excited for the changes Stueve will bring and improvements she will make.

"This year has already been such an improvement compared to last year's class. Miss. Stueve is an amazing teacher and has made learning so much fun,” Junior Remy Siebenmorgen said. “Having a teacher that helps us actually understand what we are doing was worth the struggle we all went through last year.”

Students are glad to see Stueve in the halls and are excited to welcome her as Mrs. Pederson come November.

Loneliness among emerging adults in rural reservation-based communities: longitudinal effects of 12th grade substance use and mental health symptoms Fall homecoming has started a big controversy at Hiawatha High School because of its inconvenient date of Oct. 24. For the last couple of years, fall homecoming has been in the middle to end of September. This year, however, that has changed.

This year on our usual homecoming date, the HHS football team plays Hayden Catholic High School, who we played two different times last year. Students speculate that past issues with Hayden, on top of input from students, parents, and staff, is one of the reasons administration swapped the homecoming and senior night dates.

“Both times we played Hayden, some of their players, along with some spectators, were really disrespectful and had really bad sportsmanship, especially during the first game,” senior football player Jacob Gallagher said.

Whatever the reasoning for the change truly is, many HHS students, especially seniors, said they have problems with this date change and would prefer homecoming to stay in the middle of the season. By having homecoming on the week of the final home football game this year, seniors are worried it will no longer be as special.

During the week of homecoming, the volleyball team has no more home games which would push iron-man volleyball up too far to be included in homecoming week. This also conflicts with powder-puff, bonfire games and other homecoming-related activities.

“If the seniors are doing cheer, dance or football the players don't get to be included in their last game’s special traditions such as the football locker room, senior cheer stunts, ect. if they are candidates," Senior Quinn Boye said. “Sports will interfere with homecoming week.”

Another problem with having homecoming so late is the weather; many students have stated that weather will affect the float building and parade. Kansas is known for its unpredictable weather, so students said they are concerned it will be cold.

This topic has brought many other things students would like changed to the surface. Some of these include suggestions for homecoming on a Saturday night, another mixer instead of winter homecoming, and more.

“Im hoping for my senior year next year that homecoming is more normal so I can enjoy it more,” Junior Emon Thompson said.

Around 6-7 months ago, the term “brain rot” went from a niche slang term to a full-blown cultural phenomenon. According to Merriam-Webster, “Brain rot refers to material of low or addictive quality, typically in online media, that preoccupies someone to the point it is said to affect mental functioning.” 

Initially, brain rot was used to say someone was “brain rotted” or online too much. As the term gained popularity, its definition changed. This new meaning became a way to say that somebody's attention-span was shortened or they were acting dumber as a result of low-quality, addictive social media content. According to the National Library of Medicine, brain rot is indirectly linked to anxiety, addiction, depression, and lack of self-concept. This is not ideal as the typical victims of brain rot are Gen Z and Gen Alpha members, both young and mentally moldable.

The clear range of opinions on brain rot reveals a generational divide. For younger people like eighth-grader Gentry Morey, brain rot is harmless fun. 

Gentry claims that brain rot is “stupid stuff that’s funny” like Skibidi Toilet, Sigma, or the “six-seven” meme. 

For some, it’s even a part of their daily vocab. 

Sophomore Bryannan Boye supports the use of brain rot, saying it helps “connect people who are different from each other.” 

However, older people such as upperclassmen and teachers tend to disagree, saying that it is more damaging than useful. 

Junior Chevanne Tuttle believes that it “affects productivity” and causes people to “act stupid.” 

Senior Adison Williams agrees with this, saying that it “makes people dumber” and makes them learn in a worse manner than usual. 

Despite all these concerns, HHS English Teacher Libby Dean offers a more balanced take. She says that while brain rot may not be the best for people, “humor is a good thing.” 

Brain rot is likely to stay as it has been around for a long time and it has near infinite potential and fuel. Whether it will serve as a way to connect people, make people perform worse cognitively, or a mixture of both is to be seen, but one thing is for sure, its impact on the youth of students nationwide, and especially at Hiawatha High School, is undeniable.

Hiawatha High School offers Red Hawk Rewards as an incentive for students who meet expectations in terms of tardiness, attendance, behavior and academics. These rewards are issued monthly based on the students’ criteria met. Students enjoyed receiving the rewards for the early releases and the ability to skip out of a final at the end of the semester. This school year, opting out of a final was no longer allowed. 

“It feels like the longer school goes, the more change happens. I don’t understand why certain incentives get taken away, like the final, when there is no harm or negativity that comes with them,” HHS junior Emon Thompson said.

Taking the final away was a big change for the Red Hawk Rewards, but the early releases have been upgraded. With the different schedule this year of the guided studies time being combined with the advisory time at the end of the day, it leaves more time for early release. When students used to get early release, they left school 30 minutes early, but now they get to leave even earlier within an hour.

“I feel the change was irrelevant,” HHS teacher Linda Miller said. “Usually, the student that was opting out of the final had an A in the class. At most colleges, when the student has a 4.0, they don't even have to take the final.”

Everyone at HHS has their own opinions on the Red Hawk Rewards change. Most students are devastated because now they have to take every final and opting out of one was a good way to balance the rest of them. Even though it may seem like every student should be furious, some beg to differ. 

“Overall, I think it's a good thing because if we are being for real, people don't need to skip a final,” HHS senior Garrett Morey said. “First of all, I don't see a problem with taking a final. I have never skipped a final before. Sure, it sucks as a student, but from a teacher's perspective, it would be better not to worry about who is not taking it. From a logical perspective, Red Hawk Rewards are a great idea to try to combat declining attendance rates. The final reward was a really good motivator, but I don’t think it was the best option. Being able to skip half of a day is good, but I definitely don’t think that it should be the four card reward. I don’t know what it should be, but finals are too extreme and half a day is not enough.” 

It has been over three years now since the Russian military launched a special military operation into Ukraine.  This war has become a sort of proxy war for the testing of western weaponry with something around $100 million being sent as military aid. With winter coming, let's look back on what operations have happened over the last few months, and the overall cost of the war on both sides. 

On Jan. 1, 2025, the Ukrainian military launched a covert drone dubbed “Operation Spiderweb.” This operation had unknowing Russian truck drivers carry Ukrainian drones 100s of miles into Russia, which then launched to attack Russian airfields. The airfields that were attacked held many of Russia’s strategic bombers, mainly the Tu-95 and Tu-22M, which are the most expensive bombing aircraft that Russia has in their Air Force.

Operation Spiderweb had great success with the drones reporting the destruction of 40 aircraft with estimates suggesting that 7 billion dollars in military equipment were destroyed. Enough Russian aircraft were destroyed that you would have to take the next eight strongest air forces in the world to match the United States Air Force. When before the operation, it would have only been the next seven strongest air forces. 

It is widely known that students do not always have the most knowledge about current events. This is why Hiawatha High School classes like Civics and Government are important. Two HHS students were asked questions regarding this conflict.

When asked, “how many people do you think have died in the Ukraine Russia war?” Senior Phoenix Entrikin said, “I think that there has probably been around 750,000 deaths all together. But it might be lower, because I think that the media could be portraying it as worse than it really is.”

While it is hard to get an accurate number of the losses that either side has accumulated because of how both governments try their best to hide it, there are some estimates from several different organizations. The UN has confirmed the deaths of 13,883 Ukrainian civilians since the start of the invasion; however, this is more than likely much lower than how many have really died because it only accounts for confirmed deaths. To put it into perspective, even though this number is low, this is still about 10 times the amount of Americans that died during Hurricane Katrina.

Military deaths are in huge ranges, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimating that between 60,000 and 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have lost their lives, and the BBC estimating a death toll range of 192,000 to 277,000 Russian soldiers. Though we have estimates, there is a large chance that we may never get an exact number of the war dead even after the war ends.

When asked, “Do you think that the war is going to end soon,” Junior Max Smith said, “I don't think that the war will end anytime soon, there is corruption and embezzlement so neither side can gain a material advantage." 

This is likely an accurate take with neither Russia, nor Ukraine, having an exit strategy from this war. Russia has lost far too much for a white peace and Ukraine will not accept a peace treaty where they lose territory. Without either side being able to win the area out right, there is likely no end in sight.

This will be the first article written in senior food reviewer Jacob Gallagher’s series of food reviews. Just to preface, the first few will be places in town that many students have probably already been to, but he will try to branch out and review any new places and places out of town. Let Jacob know if you have any restaurant suggestions.

Stop #1- Taco Tuesday at El Canelo (500 South First street) Featuring Gus Smith

Most of us have most likely been to our local El Canelo, but if you live under a rock like I do, you might not know about their Taco Tuesday deal. Every Tuesday, you can get as many hard shell tacos as you want for $1.25 each. To my knowledge, there are three available meat options for these tacos: Beef, chicken and pork, and I tried all of them, of course. I got six total (two of each) and each one had a pretty good amount of meat and cheese in it. 

My colleague, Mr. Smith was not a fan of the pork tacos, claiming “the pork ones were the worst of all the tacos, and are at the bottom of the social taco ladder.”

I, however, thoroughly enjoyed them. The pork was cooked perfectly, and was not dry in the slightest, and had a surprisingly good, seared taste. Overall, 4/5 stars. The chicken was not bad either, but is personally my least favorite out of the three. (and Gus’s personal favorite). It was still very moist, and was actually really good with their salsa on top. Overall 3.5/5 stars. The lettuce tasted fresh, and there was a perfect amount of cheese on all six of them. Now last, but definitely not least, were the beef tacos. Classic, and my favorite. You just can’t go wrong with it. There was a very good quantity of beef on both of the beef tacos, and of course just tasted great with the simple beef, cheese, lettuce, and salsa combo. 5/5 stars. Overall, this was a very simple, and pretty filling meal, and can be pretty decently priced as long as you get the hard shell tacos. Don’t expect anything super fancy, they are good, but they are pretty rudimentary. Overall, for all 6, I’d rate these tacos an 8/10 stars, and would definitely get tacos there again. 

Special thanks to HHS history teacher and coach Cody Jiru for sponsoring our first edition of food reviews. If you are interested in sponsoring Jacob’s next food review for the Hawk-Eye, please let him know. You won’t regret it!

The 2025-26 school year has officially begun, meaning there are changes and adjustments that have been made. Some of these changes have been good while some have caused controversy among students and staff. 

One of the larger changes that has been made that is affecting both students and staff is the schedule change. Differently structured from last year, there are set A and B days with Fridays alternating. Last year Mondays were 8 period days and then the rest were set days. This is a problem because it can cause issues with teachers scheduling for their students. 

“I do not like this part of the schedule because Mondays allowed kids to get into the swing of the school week. It was very useful for my class because students could review or do their quizzes. Also students now are confused and different class periods are behind one week and ahead the next,” HHS English teacher Nicole Jewett said. 

Another schedule change is that now third hour is directly after second hour when in previous years there used to be a period of guided studies during this time. This alteration makes third hour separated in half for lunchtime. Those students with first lunch are not affected by this change; however, students with second lunch now have an interruption during class time for lunchtime. Students with second lunch will report to their third hour class for 32 minutes then be dismissed from class and sent to their lunch for 30 mins to then be sent right back to their third hour class for another 42 minutes. This is not going to be ideal at all when finals come around because students will either have to switch lunches on days of finals or they will be interrupted during their finals- which can enable the use of cheating. 

This new schedule is not only inconvenient for those students with second lunch, but there are other students who it affects even more negatively. The kids who are getting harmed the most with this schedule are the students who go to the Highland Community College Technical Center (Votech) in Atchison every day. The students that go to Votec all morning come back during second lunch, but this means that they have already missed half of their third hour class. 

“I do not like the lunch schedule because it's upsetting to me that these votec kids are going to school all day and then coming to more school while missing half of their class and it's a punishment to them,” Jewett said. 

Some teachers with 3A divided for lunch find it more beneficial for student learning.

  “I support the divided lunch period as it provides a necessary mental break for students in content-heavy classes like Accounting,” HHS Business Teacher Kathy Lindstrom said. “Furthermore, its flexibility accommodates students with alternative schedules, such as those returning from Vo-Tech, allowing them to integrate into my project-based lessons with minimal disruption.” 

  Along with the students not getting their full learning time they deserve there is an alternative. If this new schedule does not meet the needs of students they are required to take classes online through a new program the school is trying called SchoolsPLP. 

Some students said they aren't a fan of this alternative, though.

“I would much rather have an in person Government class with Mr.Cody Jiru, because he is my favorite teacher and the videos in my online class are AI formulated. The whole lesson feels artificial and it is super hard to learn for me,” said Jacob Gallagher, a senior who could only complete his fourth year in his favorite electives if he took online government.