Blue Springs High School - Campus Cadence Yearbook (Blue Springs, MO)

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Foreign students exchange culture by Kathleen Graef Tim Griffin Doug DeMarco n aspect of student life that grew at Blue Springs High School was the opportunity for American students to share their lifestyles with foreign ex- change students. This year the school hosted eight foreign exchange students. Emilia Zampieri, an AFS student, came from Torino, Italy, a large metro- politan area near the Alps. Emilia was accustomed to living with her parents and a brother and sister in Italy, and she round it to be a different and unique experience living with a single lady in Blue Springs. Emilia thought American teenagers were friendly at school but hard to become friends with outside of school. Dating seems to be more formal, she said. She was accustomed to going out in groups. We go out in groups and sometimes we drink but we don't drink to get drunk. lt's not like it is here. It's hard to believe but someone at BSHS actually preferred raw fish over McDonald's. Her name was Nobuko Fukada, and AFS exchange student from Nagasaki, japan. Fish, seaweed, rice and tea were daily supplements of Nobuko's diet in japan. Even though Nobuko missed japanese food, she found brow- nies, ice cream and American pizza hard to resist. Nobuko thought that the Ameri- can school system allowed students alot of freedom. All japanese public and private schools require students to wear uniforms and they have a stricter dress code than most American schools. We can't have pierced ears, wear perms in our hair or paint our fingernails, said Nobuko. Arriving in Kansas City on july Z5 from Bangkok, Thailand was AFS Stu- dent Vilasinee fVillaJ Chaisrakeo. Villa's father, an officer in the Royal Thai Air Force was against his 8fFcrreign Exchange Students only daughter traveling to the United States alone, but her mother, a school nurse, encouraged her to participate in the exchange program. While her father was attending school in Athens, Ohio, Villa lived in the United States for four years and learned to speak English flu- ently. Villa came from the busy, crowd- ed capital city of Thailand, so she had to adjust to the quiet suburbs of Blue Springs. Sometimes it makes me feel lonely and homesick, said Villa. joining BSHS in late November was Dirk Guenthner from West Ger- many. While in America, Dirk noticed that Americans rely on the automobile more than Germans and that cities seem to be less crowded. People here have more or harder principles. For example, they are more patriotic, Dirk said. When asked his thoughts of Amer- ican teenagers Dirk responded, They are open and friendly but it is more dif- ficult to make friends. Dirk believed that his experience of living with other people in another culture and develop- ing close relationships with other for- eign exchange students would be the most memorable experience for him. Peter Sperner was another German student spending the year in Blue Springs. It's great! was Peter's re- sponse to what he thought about Amer- ica. Peter felt there were a lot more opportunities in the United States. There are a lot more ways to spend spare time, Peter said. It was Peter's father, who had been an exchange doctor in France, that en- couraged him to live abroad. ln a small village near Heidelberg, Peter lived with his father. He felt that the German fami- ly overall was closer and more conserva- tive than the American family. We go more places as a family, commented Peter. Before leaving America, Peter hoped to visit California because of the weather and the girls. After finishing his get a job in tourism. Another student from Germany was Michaela Bueling. She was here on the YFU CYouth For Understandingj program. Michaela had a brother and a sister ages 16 and 11 in Germany but in the U.S. she experienced something new by living with a family that had children the ages of 3 and 5. Michaela's most memorable expe- rience was going to Washington, D.C. and going in the White House. She found the hardest cultural difference she had to deal with was the education system. Even though she missed her family, she had a good experience and thought she had a better understanding of the American people. lvar Haberg from Norway was in America on the EFFS program. He lived with a single man in Blue Springs and found that he had more freedom here than in his home country. Everything seemed to be much bigger than he had anticipated. lvar liked having a greater choice of television channels to watch. ln his country there was only one chan- nel. His most memorable experience was snow skiing and living in Plano, Texas. He thought the year abroad would help him in the future because he plans on going to a college in America. Upon arriving in the United States, Dirk Moeckel, an EFS student from Germany, was impressed with the vast- ness of the country and the great distan- ces. Dirk's family was very excited about his travel to the U.S. They thought this year would be a very beneficial experience for my life, said Dirk. Dirk thought the American school system was superior to the Ger- man in terms of more courses and extra- curricular activities. I hope to take back with me a lot of valuable memories ican as well as the experience of having encountered a different culture over a long period of time, Dirk said. schooling in Germany, he would like to Opposite page, top left: Dirk Guenthner takes time out from his studies. Top middle: lvar Haberg rests after pumping iron. Top right: Peter Sperner takes a moment away from his studies. Middle left: Nobuko Fukada, Villa Chaisralceo and Emilia Zampieri prepare to decorate Christmas trees at White Oak Plaza. Middle right: Dirk Moeckel studies in Accounting. Bottom left: Michaela Bueling researches in the library. Bottom right: Villa, Emilia, Dirk and Nobuko enjoy themselves at the AFS Christmas party.

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gl' Q.. I C , N :iii ri Y. , V lljii dx-'.!vifr'15l PSG? 0 1 U- -'Y5g,ei ge-W1 'X' Q 'Oo Homecoming - A Special Event by jenny Henning rom dress up day to ordering flow- ers, the Homecoming parade, to the Wildcat's game against Lee's Summit, Homecoming held many different and exciting events for the Blue Springs Wildcats. Spirit Week kicked off Homecom- ing with students and teachers partici- pating in days like beach day, where many students wore shorts, dress up day, sailor day, Royals day, and Wildcat day. Prizes were given to the most spirited students. Wildcats had many activities to attend to celebrate Homecoming. The student picnic, bonfire, the parade, the Homecoming assembly and watching the band march through the halls first hour playing loudly to drum up spirit on the day of the game against Leels Summit. These were all events that led up to Homecoming. In a tough game against Lee's Sum- mit, the Wildcats were defeated by the Tigers 35 to 8. Plastic footballs, pro- vided by a local merchant, were thrown into the crowds of Wildcat fans. At halftime, Kristy DeVaughn was crowned Homecoming Queen of Blue Springs High School. Other Queen can- didates were Dawn Rakiec, julie Mad- den, julie Enyeart, Christy Smith, Cyndi Yount, Kristen Wixon, Gena Fischer, Katie Booz, and Michelle Holliger. Prin- cesses played a part in Homecoming, too. junior Princesses were jenny Lonowski and Sherri Blandford. The sophomore Princesses were Brooke Pickett and Lea Stevens. One thing that was very different about Homecoming in 1985 was the floats. It was a contrast from years before that some students felt broke tradition. The student senate voted and decided that there would be one Home- coming float. One float for all classes to work on together, was supposed to pro- vide mote class unity. Although each class did not have a spirit truck to deco- rate. The Homecoming dance was held in the gym, which was decorated with streamers. The deejay played music for couples to dance to. Those who at- tended the Homecoming dance, had the opportunity to have their pictures taken together to remember the event. Homecoming X 7

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