The Student News Site of Bellevue East High School

The Tom Tom
The Student News Site of Bellevue East High School

The Tom Tom
The Student News Site of Bellevue East High School

The Tom Tom
Greatness in the making. Members of the inaugural Mayor’s Youth Council from left to right are Bellevue Mayor Rusty Hike, Merrick Hobbs, BenJamin Nicola, Victoria Bogatz, Timothy Bogatz, Henry Gregor, Gabrielle Shuster, Tessa Pointer, Councilwoman Kathy Welch, and Police Chief Kenneth Cleary. Meetings are held at the Bellevue City Council Chambers. “Our goal as the Mayor’s Youth Council is to bring another generation of voices and ideas to our community,” freshman Tim Bogatz said.

East students join new Mayor’s Youth Council

Savannah Stultz, Newspaper Co-Entertainment Editor
December 13, 2024
Loading slowly. While doing homework on her iPad, sophomore Alayna Dunlap struggles with technology issues. Dunlap has been plagued with issues pertaining to Wi-Fi and slow internet even since August. “In settings it will say that Wi-Fi is on but it’s not actually at the top of my screen and it’s not working,” Dunlap said.

Students, staff struggle with technology issues

Maya Valenti, Newspaper Reporter
December 13, 2024
Full ride. Playing soccer for years, senior Fallyn Glomb receives a full ride athletic scholarship to Central Community College. Glomb plans to major in athletic training. “[The scholarship] was important because I’m trying to set myself up to be successful later in life,” Glomb said.

Scholarships boost students into colleges and careers

Charlotte Palm, Newspaper Features Editor
December 13, 2024
Getting inspired. Looking for new ways to advertise the Bellevue East Theater Department, sophomore Taelor Stevens scrolls on TikTok. Stevens uses TikTok to motivate people to come to their shows. “I am constantly looking for inspo to use for advertisements,” Stevens said.

TikTok faces choice between a ban or sale

Lailyah Duncan, Newspaper News Editor
December 13, 2024
Playing on. Marching band member Ethan Wichael plays the tenor saxophone at the Bellevue Band Festival with both his friends and peers. While marching band requires a lot of practice, Wichael still finds time to enjoy it. “I love the company and being with all the people around me,” Wichael said, “I wanted to be in something fun that I could continue.”

East marching band ends season with fifth place

Maya Valenti, Newspaper Reporter
November 1, 2024
Photo courtesy of Tom Zuk

SPLASH! New water park is scheduled to arrive in 2026

Charlotte Palm, Newspaper Features Editor
November 1, 2024

Class officers elected for 2024-2025 school year

Charley Leon, Newspaper Co-Editor in Chief, Yearbook Copy Editor
November 1, 2024
Speak up. During her Introduction to Competitive Speech class, freshman Abigail Hollingshead practices her poetry event. Hollingshead said she is looking forward to performing at upcoming competitions. “I’m pretty excited,” she said. “I have to miss the first [competition] because of the play, but I’m going to be at the second one, hopefully.”

Novice speech students prepare for competition on Nov. 1

Emily Hollars, Newspaper Entertainment Editor
November 1, 2024
No phones. Starting this school year, Bellevue Public Schools is enforcing a phone policy which doesn’t allow students to be on their phones, or any non-district device, during class. Sophomore Ciaya Smith used to listen to music on her phone but doesn’t like listening to music on the iPad. “I listen to music because it helps me learn, and an iPad doesn’t really do that, especially with these crappy headphones we have,” Smith said.

New phone policy introduced to Bellevue Public Schools

Lucy Cook, Newspaper Sports Editor, Co-Director of Media Production
September 30, 2024
Dark skies. Clouds in front of Bellevue University tell of an oncoming storm. The July 31 storms hit the Omaha area with winds of up to 90 miles per hour, causing $34 million in damage. “I felt very bad for the houses that we saw,” sophomore Elena Ruvalcaba said. “I’m talking like huge trees like the one that was outside of the school before it collapsed, trees like that on top of people’s houses and completely crashed through.”

Storms cause damage, power loss for Bellevue residents

Victoria Bogatz, Newspaper Co-Editor in Chief
September 30, 2024
Clatter. Clatter. Clatter. The movement all throughout the room sounds as instructors Heather England and Amy Joseph prepare for the next part of the day. This year’s schedule is packed compared to last year. “We had seven new ninth graders come in; it was just a big increase of incoming freshmen and because we doubled in size of kids, we had to add a second teacher,” England said.

ISEC gains more students this year

Emily Hollars, Newspaper Entertainment Editor
September 30, 2024
Story time. The kids’ room in the new library is almost ready to go. This is one room of many at the new Bellevue Public Library opening on Oct. 7. The new library will allow for many updated features that the old library doesn’t have. “We will have the same awesome staff, lots of windows for a brighter atmosphere, new technology, a drive-through service, a great location that is centrally located and easily accessible, all while looking after the taxpayers’ dollars,” Bellevue Mayor Rusty Hike said.

The Bellevue Public Library moves locations

Charlotte Palm, Newspaper Features Editor
September 30, 2024
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