Skip to Main Content

February 4Students make Lego trendy as a way of creative expression
February 4Students find it important to incorporate caffeine into their day
February 4Review: Mufasa: The Lion King
February 4MVTV Episode 12
February 3Girls Wrestling competes in a tournament at Desoto High School

Search

The student news site of Mill Valley High School

Mill Valley News

NEWS
FEATURES
SPORTS
- FALL +
- WINTER +
- SPRING +
  - BASEBALL
  - BOYS GOLF
  - BOYS TENNIS
  - GIRLS SOCCER
  - GIRLS SWIM
  - SOFTBALL
  - TRACK
ACTIVITIES
- BAND
- CHOIR
- JLC
- NEHS
- NHS
- ROBOTICS
- SCHOLARS BOWL
- SCIENCE OLYMPIAD
- SPANISH NHS
- STUDENT COUNCIL
- THEATER
A&E
OPINIONS
- STAFF EDITORIALS
SPECIAL COVERAGE
- ACADEMIC APATHY
- ELECTION 2024
- HOCO 2024
- MENTAL HEALTH
- HILEMAN
  - ARREST
  - HEARING
  - REACTION
  - AFTERMATH
  - COURT
  - HOUSE ARREST
- THE NEW NEWS
- RELATIONSHIPS
- TECH IN CLASS
- CTEC TECH
- CHEATING
- WOCO 2024
- NOTIFICATIONS
- SUCCESS
- HOCO 2023
- NEW STAFF
- I AM MILL VALLEY
MVTV
JAGWIRE
ABOUT

More

Mill Valley News

HOME
NEWS
SPORTS
FEATURES
OPINIONS

More

The student news site of Mill Valley High School

Mill Valley News

Search this site

Mill Valley News

HOME
NEWS
SPORTS
FEATURES
OPINIONS

More

The student news site of Mill Valley High School

Mill Valley News

Search this site

Students find it important to incorporate caffeine into their day

TOP STORIES

Students find it important to incorporate caffeine into their day

Alonnah Gage, Avery Cole, Seville Skinner, and Molly Griffin • 6 hours ago

With early mornings and late nights, many students find starting their day off with a caffeinated drink important to their happiness and...

Continue Reading

Superintendent Dr. Cory Gibson and Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Alvie Cater explain the current state of snow days for the district

Superintendent Dr. Cory Gibson and Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Alvie Cater explain the current state of snow days for the district

Academic apathy has grown in recent years

Academic apathy has grown in recent years

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

NEWS

TikTok ban causes confusion amongst students and staff about the future of the app

TikTok ban causes confusion amongst students and staff about the future of the app

Read Story

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

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

December 12, 2024

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

Seniors Stella Platt and Talia Delperdang use markers to create different Relay for Life posters to decorate lockers for Purple Bomb on January 20.

Behind the scenes of the set up for Relay for Life’s Purple Bomb

Mya Franco, JagWire reporter/photographer

January 23, 2025

Junior Elaina Weese greets arriving teams at the main entrance.

Scholars Bowl team hosts tournament with more than 20 schools

Madelyn Mulryan

January 23, 2025

Sophomores Molly Gilmore and Emerson Tran start new projects on the wheel.

The new Ceramics club has officially started meeting

Hannah Stephensen, JagWire reporter/photographer

January 22, 2025

SPORTS

Holding down her opponent, sophomore Autumn Anderson looks towards the scoreboard.

Girls Wrestling competes in a tournament at Desoto High School

Read Story

With his hand at his side, junior Jeredy Nilges gets his hand raised after winning his match.

Boys Wrestling competes in the Desoto Tournament

January 31, 2025

In the lead, senior Carson Reynolds competes in the 100 yard butterfly.

Boys Swim Competes at Shawnee Mission Aquatic Center

January 31, 2025

Girls basketball takes down Shawnee Mission Northwest 53-47

January 31, 2025

A&E

Students make Lego trendy as a way of creative expression

Students make Lego trendy as a way of creative expression

Ian Chern, Evan LeRoy, Eva Hernandez, and Doreen Mahugu

6 hours ago

The changes in students New Year's resolutions

The changes in students New Year’s resolutions

Kennedy Botkin, JagWire reporter/photographer

January 22, 2025

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

Seniors Abe Shaffer, Clayton Sondergoth go into the team huddle to start the game.

Students face off against each other in basketball league at Okun Fieldhouse

Read Story

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

Piano students partake in a recital for their final exam

January 6, 2025

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

Review: Mufasa: The Lion King

Review: Mufasa: The Lion King

Maddie Martin, Mill Valley News editor-in-chief and JagWire copy editor

10 hours ago

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

EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION

Subscribe

* indicates required

Email Address *

INSTAGRAM

millvalleynews1

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

Issue 4 of the JagWire newspaper needs your help!

Issue 4 of the JagWire newspaper needs your help! Since this issue is a longer issue we’ve released a second survey. Click the link in our story (or the “surveys” highlight) to fill out the survey.

Applications are open for the 2025-2026 Jagwire ne

Applications are open for the 2025-2026 Jagwire newspaper and Jag yearbook staff.
Anyone interested in applying should visit MVnews.org and look on the “applications” tab. Joining the staff teaches students a multitude of skills in writing, design, public speaking, photography and much more.

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!

Follow on Instagram

STAFF SPOTLIGHT

JagWire reporter/photographer

This is sophomore Kennedy Botkin’s first year on the JagWire staff. This year she is taking the role of writer and photographer. This is also her first-year student directing the musical. In her free...

LINKS

Mill Valley Website
USD 232 Website
YouTube: MVTV

MVTV

MVTV Episode 12

MVTV Episode 11

JAGWIRE NEWSPAPER

JagWire Newspaper: Volume 25, Issue 3
JagWire Newspaper: Volume 25, Issue 2
JagWire Newspaper: Volume 25, Issue 1
JagWire Newspaper: Volume 24, Issue 7
JagWire Newspaper: Volume 24, Issue 6
JagWire Newspaper: Volume 24, Issue 5
JagWire Newspaper: Volume 24, Issue 4
JagWire Newspaper: Volume 24, Issue 3
JagWire Newspaper: Volume 24, Issue 2
JagWire Newspaper: Volume 24, Issue 1

Mill Valley News

The student news site of Mill Valley High School

Mill Valley News • © 2025 • FLEX Pro WordPress Theme by SNO • Log in