Keeping Up with Wyatt Kanyer, Part II

Former Unleashed reporter Wyatt Kanyer is keeping busy at Texas Christian University, where he’s writing for the student newspaper and majoring in news-editorial journalism.

Here’s a peak at a couple of his recent pieces: a feature and a column. Click here for the feature. And click here for the column.

Keeping up with Wyatt Kanyer

Just got an email from former Unleashed reporter and columnist Wyatt Kanyer, who reports he’s still writing. In fact, he’s a journalism major at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

Wyatt is writing a weekly column for his school newspaper, the Daily Skiff. Plus, he’s working for the paper’s features department this semester.

Wyatt is a 2008 Riverside Christian grad who’s now in his sophomore at TCU.

Check out his work at http://www.tcudailyskiff.com.

YH-R Unleashing Students’ Work Throughout Newspaper

By SARAH JENKINS
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

(Unleashed is) the equivalent of a teen who wants to be a doctor getting to work at a hospital for a couple of years. It’s hands-on. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And for teens who want to make a difference, it’s an opportunity worth taking. …

With the compilation of opportunities, of course, comes responsibility. It’s a responsibility to devote time and energy to your work and develop strong communication with your editor. But most importantly, it’s a responsibility to properly represent your generation. …

— Wyatt Kanyer, a two-year veteran of the Unleashed program and a 2008 Riverside Christian School graduate, attends Texas Christian University

I hope you’ve read the Unleashed section of this newspaper the last two Tuesdays and the special presentation on this page today.

It has been humbling.

Two Tuesdays ago, the 10th Unleashed team of teenagers from throughout the Yakima Valley introduced itself to you. Then last Tuesday, Unleashed team writers, photographers and illustrators gave you the first of a special package celebrating what we started out calling “the youth section” and what it has meant to local teens over the years.

The second part of that special package is presented on the rest of this page and on Pages 6-7D.

Unleashed taught me to swallow my fears and, at times, my pride. I was a timid 16-year-old when I started writing for the section in 2000. I hated asking questions in class. Even though I wanted to empower people by telling their stories, the idea of interviewing strangers horrified me.

Unleashed put my pains at ease, helping me set aside my feelings, particularly my fears.

— Eloísa Ruano González, a former Unleashed member and a 2002 Davis High School graduate, was hired as a full-time reporter at the Yakima Herald-Republic. She is now a reporter at the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel.

These columns and reminiscences come from just a small sample of the nearly 350 teenagers who have been members of the Unleashed team since the spring of 1999. Yet I have been moved by what an important role the opportunity played in their high school years, and how grateful they are — for the most part, anyway — in having had the opportunity to be a part of the Unleashed team and the Herald-Republic.

But today’s presentation marks not just the official beginning of Unleashed’s 10th year. It also marks a significant change for the team and for our news organization, and so requires an explanation.

From today on, the news stories, columns, photographs and illustrations produced by members of the Unleashed team will become part of the regular pages of the Herald-Republic, integrated throughout the paper’s regular news columns.

That means that beginning Tuesday, you will not find the Unleashed section in the Herald-Republic. Instead, throughout the week you’ll find Unleashed stories, photos and illustrations — perhaps in sports, perhaps in Home Front, perhaps in Business, perhaps even on the front page. All will be identified with the new Unleashed logo. They will also identify the Unleashed team member responsible by school, just as they do now.

The Unleashed team you met two weeks ago will continue to work with coordinator Adriana Janovich and student editor Alyssa Patrick (now a senior at Eisenhower High School in her fourth year on the team), and they will all meet here once a month to eat pizza, develop story ideas and learn more about being professional journalists.

Being a reporter means taking on a responsibility that not all teens have. Deadlines must be met and expectations must be followed. Interviews and photos have certain rules because it’s our job as writers and photographers to relay accurate news to the readers.

— Colleen Fontana, a junior at Davis High School, is in her third year on the Unleashed team

When I met with the team last week to explain this new approach to them, they were excited about the possibility — and a little afraid, I think, of losing some of their identity as a team. But we don’t intend for that to happen.

Instead of being a segregated section of the printed newspaper, we see them being a more integral part of the daily process. And we hope it will be as fun for you as readers as it should be for us as editors.

That’s just the printed paper, of course. Unleashed has also taken its first steps in a pretty exciting online adventure.

The 2008-09 team includes the first-ever Unleashed webmaster (or, as we call him, the Web kid). That’s Ike senior David Brinkman, who comes into the office a couple of days a week to work on unleashed.yakimablogs.com. It’s still a work in progress, but we expect it to grow and follow its own path, just like so many members of the Unleashed team have.

Journalism as a profession requires great intrigue and inquisitiveness. My role as a writer for Unleashed encouraged those innate qualities, so that I became a young woman of questions and curiosity. To this day, these are among my strongest qualities, and among my faults.

— Alexandra Auld, a 2004 Prosser High School graduate, attends the University of Washington

So what’s happening on Tuesdays?

With Unleashed stories, photos and illustrations integrated into the main news sections of the paper, we will be moving the Outdoors section from Thursday to Tuesday.

This will allow us to do a couple of things:

First, it will give more prominence to some great information presented every week by Outdoors editor Scott Sandsberry, other outdoors writers from throughout the Northwest and popular columns by local outdoors enthusiasts Rob Phillips and Ron Graham.

Second, it will allow us to condense the space devoted to sports on what is the slowest sports day of the week.

And you never know. You may even find an Unleashed article in the Outdoors & Sports section.
But just so you know not everything is positive …

One of the most talked about columnists in Unleashed’s tenure was Drew Toop, a four-year veteran of the team and a 2007 graduate of Davis High School, who now attends Washington State University.

When the call went out to Unleashed alumni for columns commemorating the 10th anniversary, Drew — as always — had something different to say. You can read his entire comment in his column at left, but here’s my favorite part:

I sense that features like Unleashed exist in part to encourage young people to get newspaper subscriptions. To write it openly: Unleashed is intended as a commercial.

The problem with this, however, is that it seems the most avid readers of the section are of older generations.

Thank you, Drew. I and the other older generations will remain avid readers.

• Sarah Jenkins is editor of the Yakima Herald-Republic. If you have a question or concern, you can reach her at 577-7703; P.O. Box 9668, Yakima WA 98909; or sjenkins@yakimaherald.com. You can also comment on this column in the “Inside the Newsroom” blog at editor.yakimablogs.com.

Grateful for Unleashed

Unleashed got a letter to the editor!

To the editor — Recently I picked up my son’s yearbook. In looking at the activities he listed by his senior picture I noted “Unleashed” among others. I smiled and reflected on his years as an Unleashed reporter. The Yakima Herald-Republic is to be commended for this award-winning section. As a parent I cannot thank you enough for the contribution to my son’s life through the participation in Unleashed.

Over the years many people commented to me after reading his articles, the majority of them were my age, 49 or older. I was told time and time again how they eagerly they anticipated the Unleashed section each Tuesday. They loved reading the views of the younger generation and they were impressed with the intellect and skill of the young writers.

With the changes in the newspaper industry today, it is wonderful for these teens, some of whom might be interested in journalism as a career, to have a section of their own. It undergirds the value of words on paper. Students involved in Unleashed have the advantage of holding, seeing and touching their own written word.

Long live Unleashed.

LAURIE A.D. KANYER

Laurie Kanyer is the mother of Wyatt Kanyer, a freshman at Texas Christian University and a 2008 graduate of Riverside Christian School. He served on the Unleashed team for two years.

This letter was published in the Yakima Herald-Republic on Wednesday, Sept. 24.

Opportunities Pour In

By WYATT KANYER
TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

I’ve been stockpiling opportunities.

I’ve competed in essay contests and for scholarship money. I’ve applied and been accepted to a variety of colleges. And I’ve been selected for and participated in a couple of specialized workshops for student journalists.

Last school year, my senior year, particularly overflowed with accomplishment. And it’s all because I chose to act on one special opportunity about two years ago: Unleashed.

The moment I chose to pursue Unleashed, opportunities began pouring in. I met fellow teens who liked what I liked. I met a plethora of interesting characters by interviewing them for stories. In between, I was given the opportunity to pursue a career at a young age. Basically, when I chose Unleashed, I began my career as a journalist.

That’s why Unleashed is unique. It’s not an average school paper. It’s not a high school yearbook. Sure, it’s only a weekly section. But it’s set in a seven-day-a-week newspaper full of prospective mentors and experienced professionals.

It’s the equivalent of a teen who wants to be a doctor getting to work at a hospital for a couple of years. It’s hands-on. It’s an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And for teens who want to make a difference, it’s an opportunity worth taking.

Maybe you feel like your voice isn’t being heard. Maybe you feel like you can’t make a difference just because you’re a teenager. But when your name is in the same newsprint as the bylines adults read every morning, you will be heard. And trust me, it will happen fast.

Strangers will approach you and say things like, “Great article. I really agreed with what you said.” Or, maybe, “That wasn’t the best choice.” Sometimes, people have even approached me with story ideas. It’s like being a real-life reporter. And that’s just the beginning.

Through Unleashed, I was able to participate in The Valley Workshop at the Yakima Herald-Republic and the Journalism Summer Workshop at Seattle University. I had the privilege of stepping out of my surroundings. I was able to experience the job of a reporter, all the while learning straight from the source: reporters who had been there and done that. And they wanted to see me thrive.

I was even taught by Tomas Guillén, the investigative reporter who covered the Green River Killer for the Seattle Times. Now, that’s what I call an opportunity.

Plus, it was nice to get paid a little — $15 per article or column — for doing something that I loved. (I would have easily done it for free.)

And to me, the perks weren’t even the most important. The most effective aspect of Unleashed is its permissiveness. I was able to express myself in my favorite manner — written words — without being limited. Whatever was important to me, I wrote about, and it was printed.

To me, Unleashed epitomizes free speech, my favorite American attribute. What’s different, though, is that it gives that speech to teens, the voice of the future, the generation to come.

With the compilation of opportunities, of course, comes responsibility. It’s a responsibility to devote time and energy to your work and develop strong communication with your editor. But most importantly, it’s a responsibility to properly represent your generation. Sometimes, it’s going to be a choice between expressing yourself irrationally or performing a duty that will contribute to your community’s well-being.

Overall, this responsibility leads to growth. It definitely caused me to be aware of what I wrote. It forced me to write better, which has been irreplaceably beneficial.

All this takes bravery. It takes a willingness to learn. It takes patience. But it’s beneficial, especially if you plan to pursue a career in journalism, or even if you just like to write, or draw, or take photos. Unleashed is a platform. For some, it’s an experiment. It’s incredibly versatile.

When I chose Unleashed, I chose opportunity. And opportunities continue to come in.

A book I recently read — “In a Pit With a Lion On A Snowy Day” by Mark Batterson — says, “You don’t have to get it right the first time, but you do have to start somewhere. A dream becomes reality one opportunity at a time.”

When I chose Unleashed, a dream became a reality. I just wish I had more time on the team.

— Wyatt Kanyer, a two-year veteran of the Unleashed program and a 2008 Riverside Christian School graduate, attends Texas Christian University.

Facing the Music

By WYATT KANYER
RIVERSIDE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Music is a visit to the soul of its creator, and people react to the sound in their own ways.

Some dance, some close their eyes to absorb the meaning of the rich lyrics, others are simply awestruck, suspended in a moment of musical revelation.

This image is the goal of 26-year-old Dave Buchanan, lead vocalist of Thee Letting Forth of Fire, a seven-piece progressive/experimental metal band from Yakima.

His ideal music scenario is what he calls “honest art.”

Good music, he says “can be super-technical metal to underground hip-hop. As long as it’s honest, it’s legit. It’s not dependent on the style.”

Members of Thee Letting Forth — as the band is commonly known — don’t simply strive to write music that pleases the crowd. They aim to write quality music, music that allows them to demonstrate their artistic passion.

Buchanan compares bands that please the crowd first to “waiting at the gates” for the next trend to pass through, waiting to pounce on what’s popular.

“If you want to be an entertainer, that’s fine, but if you want to be an artist, you have to be willing to fulfill your own desires,” he says. “Artists … do art that might not ever get published and be what the mass market wants.”

Dying represents decay, void, darkness. And it’s the easy choice for Buchanan when asked to describe Yakima’s music scene. He attributes choosing such a severe term to the fact that there seems to be almost no adult support for the youth music scene.

“Yakima is eating its youth,” he says. “There is good art here, but most people aren’t allowing it to thrive.”

The band’s drummer, 23-year-old Josh Vega, agrees: “I don’t go to shows in Yakima anymore,” he says. “There is no individuality among the bands.”

And that’s not uncommon among bands in America today. The most popular bands are the ones on the radio, the ones who are controlled by the stipulations of their contracts with big-name record labels.

Twenty-one-year-old Jourdan Gaub, guitarist for the Yakima metal/hardcore band Bright Lit City, says the creativity behind the music affects its individuality.

“Bands in Yakima create music just to create it,” he says. “They just do whatever is most popular.”

The band’s drummer, 24-year-old Timothy Javins, says it correlates to a band’s identity and drive.

Eighteen-year-old Brandon Scott, one of the three members of the techno/hardcore Yakima band Traffic! Traffic!, says he notices Yakima’s metal trend. Yakima bands, he says “seem to have a small sense of music.”

But Scott also says he notices it’s not just the lack of individuality, but also the lack of ambition that prevents bands from blossoming.

“There are talented bands in Yakima, they just have the wrong goals,” he says, referring to band members’ tendencies to get wrapped up in their own “musical world.”

Scott’s philosophy: “I’m more logical regarding music. Music should be played to have a fun time, not to please other people” like record executives and close-minded fans. And he’s not alone in noticing that opposition.

“We don’t want to get signed,” Gaub says bluntly, pointing to how bands change their sound to fit the desires of their record labels. “Bands start sounding mainstream.”
What would it take to revive the “dying” Yakima music scene that Thee Letting Forth’s Buchanan referred to?

“It’s going to take an adult with a lot of money,” says 17-year-old Jeremy Schrank, a recent West Valley High School graduate. His band, Makings of a Massacre, has a rotating cast of members — three or four, depending on whether 16-year-old Andrew Evan, a junior at La Salle High School, plays “whatever’s needed, usually tambourine” — and a transformative name. (It went from Death at a Funeral to Rise, My Beloved to simply Rise to the current Makings of a Massacre.)

Schrank and Evan, along with 17-year-old guitarist Aaron Kunkler, remember The Zone, a defunct all-ages club in downtown Yakima. The venue, once known for its intimate shows, used to be the regular place for local bands to perform. It closed last spring, and no other all-ages club has taken its place.

“The support is not there yet,” Schrank says.

“It’s going to take more advertisement and teen interest,” echoes Kunkler, also a recent West Valley grad.

“The only places (to have shows in Yakima) nowadays are churches and houses,” Scott says, “and that’s not enough for how many bands there are.”

They agree: Yakima needs a venue for teens and twenty-somethings to showcase the “honest art” Buchanan describes and to connect with people.

“Music is about connecting on an emotional level,” his bandmate Vega says. “Whether it’s a Johnny Cash CD or an unknown artist, music should connect with a listener emotionally.”

League Split Divides Ike-Davis Rivalry

By WYATT KANYER
RIVERSIDE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Jessica Sachara had her plan laid out.

She wanted to be a part of the cheer squad and all that it offered, such as front row seats to games. But her biggest motive wasn’t the perks.

It was being involved in Ike-Davis events.

“It’s a tradition that everyone enjoys,” the 17-year-old soon-to-be Davis High School senior says of the long-standing rivalry.

The tradition is no more. At least, for now.

Recently, teens like Sachara — and the approximately 4,000 students combined that attend Davis and Eisenhower high schools — lost the opportunity to experience the spectacle that is Ike versus Davis.

Although it’s probably not permanent, Ike and Davis, Yakima’s two largest public high schools, were recently placed in separate divisions of the Columbia Basin League for several major sports, including football, basketball, baseball and fastpitch.

The two will still face other in every sport, but in sports involving the division split, those regular-season contests will not count on their league records.

And students aren’t too happy about it.

“It’s going to be bad,” says Tom McLaughlin, an 18-year-old recent Davis grad and the four-time soccer letterman. “Mostly because it’s a rivalry that has lasted for so many years — for generations.”

But Sachara, who will serve as the Associated Student Body secretary at Davis during the upcoming school year, might be one of the most adamant opponents. In fact, she’s trying to organize a petition, evening joining together with Ike students.

“We’re on the same level,” she says. “We want the games to count. When games don’t count, people don’t care.”

But people did care. It wasn’t just students turning out for annual Ike-Davis games. Many members of the community showed up for these events, too. In fact, Sachara says her uncle from Kennewick would make the trip to Yakima to witness the duels.

Now, students “feel like it’s just another game,” she says.

Though Sachara has a point — Ike-Davis matches might become “just another game” — there are some students who think things won’t change.

Take Kylie Svendsen for instance. The recent Ike grad plans to attend the University of Washington in the fall. She says she thinks the competition will always remain intense.

“The athletes will still see it as the Ike-Davis arch rivalry,” she says. In fact, she says, the new classification could even raise the competition’s intensity.

Still, she admits the news of the split was a not-so pleasant surprise: “I was shocked; I just didn’t think it would ever happen.”

Neither did 18-year-old Elena Boyd, a recent Davis grad: “The Ike-Davis games are the only ones I go to,” she says. “Everyone shows up for them. The split just takes away school spirit.”

Eighteen-year-old Jennifer Johnson played varsity soccer and basketball and competed in pole vault in track and field at Ike. But the recent grad is moving on. She’ll attend Saint Martin’s University in the fall and plans to continue her soccer and track careers there.

The new classification mostly affects those left behind: “The young kids coming up won’t be able to experience what we’ve experienced,” she says. Impending Ike-Davis games “would pump us up weeks before we even played them, and when we won, it would motivate us for weeks after.”

Though Johnson agrees with Svendsen’s belief that the split could lead to a spike in competitiveness, she recognizes it’s not the same: “It’s weird that two schools that are five minutes away from each other aren’t in the same division.”

Sachara has the same mindset. Why put two schools so close in proximity in separate divisions? And why Ike and Davis, two schools with such a renowned rivalry?

Now, “It will be different,” McLauglin says. “I guess we’ll have to find a new rival.”

Ready for the Real World

By WYATT KANYER
RIVERSIDE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
As the last month of school wraps up and seniors say our goodbyes to high school, I can’t help but consider how misconceived many people are about graduation.

They seem to be saddened by the fact that high school, the most awkward stage of human development, has come to an end. In short, “It’s all over!”

Read more

Wyatt Kanyer’s Day — Riverside Christian School

7 a.m. My cell phone alarm sounds, and I slowly open my eyes.
7:07 a.m. I hop in the shower. Yes, it took me seven minutes to convince myself to get up.
7:21 to 7:42 a.m. Brush my teeth with my amazing Sonicare toothbrush, select some clothes and get dressed, gather the many books and objects from my homework the previous night into my backpack.
7:43 a.m. Because I have been particularly cold this morning, even though it’s not cold outside, I grab my thick, green jacket with fur on the hood and head out the door, grabbing a cup of coffee and yelling goodbye to my parents.
7:46 a.m. My daily drive to school begins. Usually I hate the fact it takes me 10 to 15 minutes to get to school, but I have something to look forward to today: my new CD by I Am The Lost Sea.
8:04 a.m. I arrive to school 11 minutes early; therefore, I opt to stay in my warm car for another five minutes.
8:10 a.m. I take my seat in my AP civics class. My desk partner announces her arrival by the loud slam of her enormous AP biology book on the desk as she sets it down.
8:25 a.m. Devotions start the school day. Today, Mr. Emmans delivers a devotion on Psalms 31.
9:45 a.m. Class ends 15 minutes early due to our weekly discipleship meeting. Discipleship involves junior high and high school students sharing in a devotion and talking about the week and each other’s lives. It’s a great chance to meet the younger kids in the school.
10:18 a.m. “Suffering and death should not end faith, but begin it,” says Mr. Herring, my Bible teacher, as he begins his class.
12:17 p.m. I arrive home and make myself a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch.
12:31 p.m. I take a nap, making up for my 1 and 2 a.m. bedtimes the last two nights.
1:05 p.m. Nap ends. I being to study for my pre-calculus test tomorrow — begrudgingly, mind you.
2:05 p.m. I decide to check my Facebook and listen to music.
3:10 p.m. My mom gets home and invites me to run “errands” — to Dunbar Jewelers and Starbucks — before basketball practice. I take her up on her offer. Anything but math.
3:20 to 4:42 p.m. My mom talks jewelry while I gawk at gems and partake in conversation about the great state of Texas with the store’s owner. I order my usual iced venti white chocolate americano at Starbucks. Coffee always makes my day better.
5:03 p.m. I get ready for basketball practice (get shorts and practice jersey on) and head to school.
5:33 p.m. Practice begins with the blow of a whistle and the words, “Everyone in.”
7:35 p.m. Practice ends.
7:51 p.m. I get home and jump in the shower. There’s nothing better than a hot shower after two hours of sweating.
8:12 p.m. I check my Facebook and e-mail again.
8:42 p.m. I re-tackle pre-calc as Hillsong United, one of my favorite bands, and their calming, uplifting lyrics fill the room. I find a comfortable place on the couch to look over my materials.
10:01 p.m. I set down the madness that is mathematics to answer the beckoning call of hunger: dinner time.
10:13 p.m. I get back to homework.
10:43 p.m. After another failed attempt to learn math, I put away my stuff for the night; I’ll probably look it over tomorrow in my spare time between classes.
10:45 p.m. I begin my daily Bible reading. This is the best part of my day and simply cannot be skipped. It brings me peace that nothing else can.
11:15 p.m. My Bible reading finished, I practically run to find the book I’m currently reading, John Steinbeck’s “Cannery Row,” and submerge my mind.
12:10 a.m. I put down the masterpiece and force myself to shut my eyes.