Get involved

Join the J-W teen board

Students in fifth through 12th grades are welcome to join the Journal-World Teen Advisory Board, where members can suggest or write stories for 18 & Under.

The next meeting is at 7 p.m. March 15 at the News Center, 645 N.H. Contact Christy Little at 832-6361 or Steve Rottinghaus at 832-7254 for more information.

Creative writing

Submit your poetry

18 & Under accepts poetry for publication. Send your poems with your name, e-mail, grade and school to teens@ljworld.com.

‘Appear’
I appear as you see me,
Walking without grace
Laughing in this place.
Sometimes their eyes draw near
Some want to hear
Some only fear.
But on the inside they do not know,
My heart melts easily as snow.
A soothing voice for me to hear,
With arms to hold me dear.
Only one knows the real me.
–Andrea Haller is a junior at Lawrence High School.

‘Whatif’
Editor’s note: This poem is adapted from Shel Silverstein’s “Whatif.”
Last night, while I lay thinking here,
Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
And pranced and partied all night long
And sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I didn’t have C. P.?
Whatif I could be free?
Whatif I could ride a bike?
What would that be like?
Whatif I didn’t have a shunt?
Whatif I could run to the front?
Whatif I didn’t have walking sticks?
Whatif I could do jumping tricks?
Whatif I could play football?
Whatif I didn’t fall?
Everything seems swell, and then
The nighttime Whatifs strike again!
— Austin Dillon is a student at West Junior High School.

Strike a pose

Free State senior invited to model at prom show

Andrew Micco, a senior at Free State High School, was one of 22 students selected to model for the Seventeen and JCPenney Fashion Show at Oak Park Mall in Overland Park. Micco was selected from more than a thousand applicants in the Kansas City area, and he was the only model from Lawrence in the Feb. 21 show, which featured boys and girls’ formalwear for prom season.

Micco also was the first-place winner of the dance competition of the tryouts.

Micco is the son of Rex and Diana (Micco) Pinegar and the grandson of Dempsey and Ramona Micco, all of Lawrence.

He’s also active with Free State activities and his church, the Mustard Seed Christian Fellowship, of Lawrence.

He plans to attend Kansas University in the fall and accepted a job with Abercrombie & Fitch with opportunities to model for the retailer.