Revised Merritt Profile

I Love Being a Mom 

By: Olivia Riley-Schmelzer

 “Being a mom, nobody tells you if you're doing it right.” Kristina Merritt, a math teacher here at Kennedy High School, shares the struggles of balancing her teaching career and her life at home. Living with her three young boys, Brody, Cade, and Knox, her home life can get a bit hectic, making it difficult for her to play both the role of a mother and a teacher.

Regardless of the stresses throughout her day, Merritt is always excited to come home to her kids, stating that “they keep me on my toes.” but She worries about bringing her school life home to her family, finding that it isn't always easy to switch out of teacher mode. Often keeping her schoolwork put away until the kiddos are sound asleep, Merritt states it “Tends to lead to late nights, but I love being a mom.”

As an active member in our community, Merritt participates in volunteering such as ‘adopting’ several families for Christmas. A common goal throughout her life has been to help people, and she hopes to pass the trait on to her boys. She also wants her boys to learn other important life lessons such as, “giving is better than receiving.” along with “Be kind, love one another, and show respect.”

Being a role model both at home and at school is not an easy task. Although she still has doubts and often questions herself, Merritt believes she is finally starting to get the hang of it.

*authors note: it's very choppy and I wish I had more information.*

News Story 1

Olivia Riley-S

10/25/18

“Pub G is better.”

I was given the opportunity to represent Kennedy at the International Roundtable at Xavier high school. I got to meet the foreign exchange students of Cedar Rapids and ask them a series of questions, along with other school representatives and the Xavier student body.  With 38 students from 17 different countries, it made for a very interesting event.

                Stereotypes can mislead our impressions of the people we meet, whether it be race, religion, or even gender. I think we tend to alienate foreign exchange students because of their different cultural backgrounds, when in reality, they are normal teenagers, just like me and you. Even with the thousands of miles between our homes, we share a lot of similarities.

 “I just watched a lot of American movies.”  Lara, from Belgium, paints a picture of her dreams of coming to an American high school. The lockers, the lunchroom, the typical Hollywood scene, and so far, she’s experienced just that. Although we have met a lot of her expectations, we haven’t quite hit all the marks, “I’m still waiting for a High School Musical scene.” Lara says, and honestly, so are we.

They also have political opinions, not just in their own country, but in ours as well. Of course, Trump was mentioned, starting with a question asked by a Xavier student,

“What’s your opinion on Trump?”

“Do you like Trump?” asked Julia from Brazil.

“Let’s just say he’s making America great again.”

“I’m really sorry for you.”

That conversation sparked more opinions from the other exchange students, “I might be a little biased, but Trump has been the worst thing to happen to this country.” Said one, followed by, “He’s a joke to the rest of the world.”

Unfortunately, none of them seemed too keen on Fortnite. When asked about the game, Danny from the America’s stood abruptly from his chair and exclaimed, “I do NOT play Fortnite and never ask that again.” Before passing the mic on and returning to his seat. He wasn’t the only one with an opinion, the others felt the need to put in their two-sense, for it was a very important subject, “The entire Fortnite fanbase is cringey twelve-year olds.” And finally, “Pub G is better.”

Playing video games, partying, and doing dumb stuff with friends are common activities here, as well as their home countries. We are very similar, so as Kabylbekova from Kyrgyzstan said, they are “Probably the same as you guys.”