By Ryan Williamson

            It was just another Friday night game. The stands were filled with students and parents anxious to watch the number one basketball team in the state, EP, take on Eastview in a Lake Conference battle. The players went about their usual warm up routine, the coaches pursued a victory like any other game. But as soon as the National Anthem was sung, the crowd was in for an experience not soon forgotten.

            Going into the game, Oak Point teacher and EPHS varsity basketball coach David Flom had some previous experience with the Eastview head coach Mark Gerber. When Flom was an assistant coach at Gustavus Adolphus College, he made multiple recruiting trips to see Eastview play. “Year after year, they were always the cheapest team. It became a pattern,” said Flom, who also had two prior in-game altercations involving Gerber.        

            Depending upon on whom you ask, the game took a wild and unexpected turn at some point in the game. “Erv [senior Brett Ervin] set a pick on somebody, and they purposely ran hard into him, falling over,” said senior Mitch Hallstrom. According to Ervin, it all started when Gerber, “yelled ‘Ervin, you [expletive], quit flopping’.”

            As the game went on, it became very physical, with 43 fouls between the two teams. “It was aggressive the whole game,” said senior Brendan Gay. When the game picked up, so did the tensions. “Me [Hallstrom] and Ryan Smith were trapping a guy, and their coach [Gerber] said, ‘Ref, get him off his [expletive],’” said Hallstrom.

When asked about the game in question, Eastview declined to comment regarding the game in question, releasing this statement: “Eastview and Eden Prairie have a long positive competitive history in the Lake Conference – including quality working relationships between the schools to cooperatively support our students.”

            With roughly six minutes left in the game, junior Grayson Levine fouled out. “It went downhill from there,” said Hallstrom. Earlier, Ervin had retaliated against Gerber’s previous statement, saying “Coach, watch your language,” before entering the huddle, according to Hallstrom. After words were exchanged and some pushing and shoving occurred, the teams separated, and the game continued.

            Four minutes later, Hallstrom got a technical foul. “I shoved a kid, and I deserved it. That even riled the fans more up,” said Hallstrom.

            The game finished with no further incidents, and Eastview pulled off the upset: 56-51 over the Eagles. The coaches went to shake hands.  According to Hallstrom and Ervin, Flom said, “Don’t talk to my players like that.” Gerber responded with more expletives and repeated, “I love beating Eden Prairie!” The coaches continued their negative interactions; “their coach [Gerber] started flailing his arms, and that brought everybody to the middle,” said EPHS athletic director Mike Grant.

            “I came in and separated the coaches, then some coach grabbed me and took me aside and started pushing and shoving,” said Gay, “I started pushing and shoving back. He grabbed me and I grabbed him.” According to Hallstrom, he personally pushed the coach off Gay.

            After that, the fans began to rush the floor, “I see 100-150 kids from the Eastview stands run onto the floor, and a police officer is trying to stop them, holding up mace and saying, ‘Get back! Get back!’” said Gay, “Then some random kid started pushing me, and I pushed him back. Then our coaches pinned him against the wall for the police officer to come put him in hand cuffs.”

            According to Flom, he advised his players to go to the locker room, and they did so. They went off to the bus and headed home, “We all thought ‘What just happened?’” said Hallstrom.

After the night was over, many of the players and coaches talked about what could have been changed to avoid the altercation altogether. “Their coach should not be talking to my players, and I could have chosen to not say anything to him, but I need to stand up for my players. I would do it again,” said Flom.

            Both Grant and Flom agreed that Eastview administration did a poor job keeping their fans off the court. Grant also said the referees should have dealt with the coach if he was making inappropriate comments to players.  According to Gay, the officiating was frustrating, but it was not a factor in the altercation. Gay also commented on how the aggressiveness could have been toned down.

            This issue brings up the topic of sportsmanship for both fans and coaches.  The Minnesota State High School League’s (MSHSL) Coaches’ Code of Ethics focuses on coach and officiating relationships and treating all involved in an event with respect. Fans also have a code of conduct containing rules regarding chants, noisemakers and staying off the playing field during and after games. These rules are set by each conference with MSHSL’s recommendation.

            Both Flom and Grant said they were proud of EP fans for not rushing onto the court, and for avoiding confrontations with Eastview players and fans. While there is no knowledge of any disciplinary action taken at either school, Flom believes some repercussions need to happen: “The Eastview administration needs to take action against their coach, which is not our job.”

            While incidents of this nature rarely occur at sporting events in either city, both sides hope to learn lessons from this incident and to ultimately move on.        “Each school will deal with their fans and players and we trust Eastview will handle it appropriately,” said Grant.

By Alexa Heupel

            It is no secret the budget cuts made this year shocked every student, parent and staff member.  Majority of the EPHS staff, including the principal and associate principals, agreed to a wage freeze.  The wage freeze was introduced to aid in budget cuts but proved to not be enough help in reducing the $10 million deficit.  So, an alternative strategy was used, and unfortunately this entailed cutting certain positions at EPHS. 

            A specific section of counselors was cut: the prevention counselors.  Part of this group is Kaylene Billington, the Chemical Counselor here at EPHS.  “Without chemical health in-house support, the immediacy will not be there,” said Billington.  The future of the chemical health department is unknown when it comes to support groups because without prevention coordinators, as of right now there will not be anyone qualified to supervise. As of this year though, no other counselors will be getting cut.  The resource center assistant positions are also being removed, along with the ACE staff, which will be a loss for everyone.  Without the resource center assistants and ACE staff most assume those resources will cease to exist, but they are wrong; for now at least.  Both will no longer have teacher positions, but that does not mean the resource centers and ACE will be gone entirely.  A plan is in the works for the future of each, and the board is committed to having a model in place by March 1.  While few other schools have ACE or resource centers, being accustomed to them for so long causes the uncertainty of their future to be a “change we have to adapt to.” 

            The impact the deficit had on the community was unknown and hardly foreseen by anyone, not even principal Conn McCartan, “I knew there was a possibility of more big cuts, but the specifics I certainly I did not know.”  However, the impact of the reductions made this year is known.  The cuts have proven to meet the “obligation” and “take care of us for now.”

            The reductions made this year will allow EPHS to maintain a 4% fund balance, which means the school is able to stay above obligations by $1 million to $2 million.  While the school is able to remain above obligation, “Until the overall economy turns around, we’ll be dealing with this,” said McCartan.  Options are being looked at to help reduce the possibility of cutting more positions and/or activities in the future.  One alternative includes the possibility of a referendum, which will be explored next year.  The board will also be lobbying the state around education funding, trying to get them to “leave the budget at zero.”  However, if the referendum does not pass, more cuts will be made.  An area the school will look at to make possible cuts will be the clubs and activities.  “Even though the clubs and activities made it through the last round, they will be looked at again when it’s time,” said McCartan.

            The future regarding the budget cuts seems to be a complete, endless blur.  The only sensible analogy to be made is as somewhat of a coin toss: ‘heads’ it will end soon or ‘tails’ the cuts will keep on coming.  Regardless of the future, the present is what needs to be focused on, “Budget cuts are difficult enough as is, so we need to be careful not to start cutting each other instead,” said McCartan.

By Lauren Dezenski

            The School Board has recently finalized the $4 million in spending reductions to help pull the school district back into black, economically speaking.  The cuts fell heaviest on district employees: teachers to resource assistants to janitors are feeling the pinch of a district tightening its belt.

            According to the district’s General Operating Fund Expenditures, from the office of Patricia Magnuson, the Executive Director of Finance, district employees’ salaries and wages constitute 69 percent of the district’s expenses for the current fiscal year. Coupled with the additional 18 percent devoted to employee benefits, employees stand to lose the most in a rough economic climate, which explains the hefty district-wide cut of 50 employees.  Overall, the move is looking to pay off for the district- the employee cuts alone constituted $3.5 million of the over $4 million in cuts voted upon by the School Board.

            Other alterations to the current budget, totaling roughly $730,000, involve specialization and efficiency.  Reductions to the fuel budget, paper usage and quota of printed staff directories and district calendars stand to save the district $17,500 alone.  The district is also seeking methods of more efficiently delivering programs like English as a Second Language, Gifted and Talented and field trips.

            While the district has dodged a bullet for the ’11 fiscal year, the district’s financial future is up in the air.  According to the Dec. 15 School Board Meeting Highlights, “Despite all the reductions and efficiencies and even the staff wage hold, future financial challenges remain due to inadequate state funding and a challenging economy.”

By Kilee Pertl

            As we are all aware, these are tough economic times.  Unfortunately, no matter what is done to reduce spending, cash flow seems be an on-going problem for the school district.  Teachers have taken wage freezes, teachers and assistants’ jobs always seem to be on the line and yet, the school still has to reduce spending substantially.  Now programs, such as Band are feeling the pressure to raise the needed money before they get kicked to the curb.

            In the current state of the economy, budget cuts should be expected.  However, even in good economic times, budget cuts are still taking place, but they are smaller and behind-the-scenes.  Cuts on supplies, or letting one or two teachers go is rarely noticed by the untrained eye, but budget cuts are a thing we have to deal with on a constant basis at a public school.  “We are always making cuts, they just aren’t always noticed,” said principal Conn McCartan.

            Students at EPHS have always tried to be active and involved in trying to keep their favorite programs around.  Whether it is sports, music or even arts programs, students cherish their activities.  Now with the economic scrutiny that EPHS is undergoing some students may wonder what the point of even trying to preserve an activity is.  Seeing as the budget cut decisions have already been made, many students may ask themselves what is the point of trying to change something that is already set in stone.

            Other students, including sophomore Addie Whelan, have a much more proactive reaction to the changes.  At first notice of the band program being cut, Whelan was shocked and appalled.  “They’re cutting so much money, and I think that they’re cutting it out of the wrong places,” said Whelan who believes it would be better to cut small amounts from various groups and activities, instead of cutting out an entire program.

Whelan wrote a letter to the Eden Prairie News, hoping that a school board member would read it and recognize the band program’s importance to students.  “I don’t think they are thinking about the students, just what’s best for themselves,” said Whelan.  She said the school board needs to hear it from a student’s perspective, and put themselves in the students’ shoes.  Although Whelan never received a response regarding her letter, she hopes a member of the School Board was able to take the time to read it, and maybe reconsider his/her actions.

Other students have shown their involvement by writing letters, speaking to the School Board and joining Facebook groups.  There was a Facebook group started to save the Resource Centers and assistants.  Although the group will not be able to change the decision to let go the assistants, students are still joining to show their support.

            “This is not the first time students have had to deal with budget cuts, and they are reacting to them the same way they have in past years,” said McCartan.  “Their initial reactions are the same, what can they do about it, can they better the situation or can they change it,” said McCartan.  Although change is a difficult and common occurrence, students can either choose to let the change overwhelm them or they can stay calm and figure out if they can attempt to help better the situation.  “The students will feel the impact at first, but they will do fine,” said McCartan.

            According to McCartan the hardest and most upsetting for students was the removal of resource center assistants.  “We are going to have the resource centers, but we don’t know how yet because how can we have resource centers without people working them?” McCartan stated, saying they are still playing around with different models and possibilities.

            As devastating as budget cuts may seem, students continuously show support for their programs and activities by reaching out to peers and the community, and not letting their thoughts go unspoken.

By Christian Myers

In some way, we all balance our activities and our school work, but few reach the level of balance and achievement demonstrated by our school’s two nominees for the Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership (ExCEL) Award. Every year EPHS nominates two juniors, one girl and one boy, for the state ExCEL award and this year’s pair, Brandon Hill and Allison Vuolo, bring new meaning to the word excellent.

The requirements for state nomination are that nominees must be juniors, be involved in Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) fine arts and/or athletic activities, hold a leadership position in high school and volunteer actively in their community. Vuolo more than meets these requirements through her involvement in choir and theater, her leadership in drama club and her work through NHS. Hill stood out through his involvement in track and field, speech and football; his volunteer work through NHS and with the Jack and Jill of America and Just the Beginning Foundations; and his leadership in the Brotherhood Club.

These busy schedules first led Vuolo and Hill to their nomination in early Dec. by an EPHS staff member, to be considered for the school’s official nomination. At this point they were both surprised, since neither of them new what the award was. The next step for them was filling out an application that included an essay and a teacher recommendtaion. Their efforts payed off in Dec., when two days prior to the Pep Fest, they were told they would each receive the official EPHS nomination.

Hill was, “Surprised that I got it, out of 400 male juniors in the student body.” Vuolo was also surprised, and excited about her selection. A few days later, each was presented with a plaque and announced as the official EPHS nominees for the state award. Vuolo remembers, “It was fun to see everything. I don’t usually go to Pep Fests.” Hill recounts “I was anxious to get out of first hour, and the actual presentation was a surreal moment.”

Both of these students serve as powerful role models for the rest of EPHS. They each have goals that keep them motivated. Vuolo plans to involve music in her profession, with the specific goal of becoming a music teacher. Hill plans to pursue law and politics. “My advice is to identify your aspirations and develop confidence; achievement will follow,” said Hill.

These future goals have helped them develop useful personal characteristics. “I stay involved so I can get the most out of high school. If you’re in to something, try out for it. The worst thing that could happen is you find out you don’t like it,” said Vuolo. Hill said “I’ve found that the most important thing for me has been developing my own confidence.” Hill considers his “swagger” a vital part of his personal success.

As ambitious as these students are, they are also humble about their achievements. However, the teachers who wrote letters of recommendation for them are full of praise. Rolf Olson, drama director and English teacher, describes Vuolo as, “an energetic leader and participant. Allison leads wonderfully by example of hard work and consistency.”

Steven Rollin, Gifted and Talented Coordinator, explains that, “ Brandon Hill exemplifies a perseverant, intelligent and sharing eleventh-grade student. He leads by asking well-thought-out questions and carrying himself in an assertive, yet polite, way.”

Hill and Vuolo will represent EPHS at the state level of the ExCEL award program, where a committee will choose the 40 students that receive the official state award. If Hill and Vuolo are among these winners, they will be presented with a state plaque during half time of the state basketball tournament championship.

Whether or not they win the state award, Hill and Vuolo are proud of their nominations and plan to continue their hard work. Activities Coordinator Nancy Schmitt said of the pair, “We are fortunate to have such excellent students representing our school.”