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Principal Daniel Girard leaves. Turn to pages 8-9 to see impact he has left on students, teachers and the status quo.
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The
Eagle's Eye
W. Charles Akins High School
Hosack new interim leader Stephanie Valle Staff Reporter Brandi Hosack is taking charge at Akins High School since the resignation of former principal Daniel Girard in early January. Students and parents were notified over the winter break of Girard’s resignation through a letter that was sent to the homes of many. Hosack, who was the New Tech Academy director, is now the interim principal while the school district conducts a search to find a permanent principal for the campus. Hosack has served in various roles at Akins before being named interim principal, including as a science teacher and assistant principal of the Social Services Academy. “This is my 11th year here,” Hosack said. “I actually did my student teaching here, then I became a teacher here, afterwards I was an AP, then a director, and now I’m the interim principal. It’s been quite a long journey, but it’s been awesome.” Hosack was selected as interim out of many potential candidates, some of whom were from Akins. The timing couldn’t have been at a more challenging point in the school year. Hosack started her new job right at the beginning of the spring semester which is usually known as a time for rowdy behavior, including an outbreak of fights mostly among freshman students. “The spring semester is usually a little bit different from the fall and the way I perceive it is because our freshman come into the fall semester a little bit scared so they don’t tend to act out,” Hosack said. “However when the spring semester comes back, they still really haven’t matured enough yet but they have this sense of entitlement and they’re not as hesitant.” See “LEAVING” page 5
New veNue
Austin, Texas
“Everything That Concerns You”
Vol. 13 No. 4
February 9, 2015
Principal search continues Staff, parents and students come
Illustration by: Hannah Kerns
Community members offer input on qualities for leader Katrina Stewart Staff Reporter The search is on for a new Akins High School principal as teachers, parents and students provide input on what they want the next leader to be like. Kathy Ryan, Interim Associate Superintendent of High Schools, is leading the search process, which she hopes to complete by March. Ryan led two meetings after school in January to collect information to build a desired from faculty and staff as well as community members, parents and students. “Everyone should have an input on how they want their new principal to be,” Ryan said. On Jan. 15, Ryan and Akins
staff met in the library to develop principal to serve here at Akins. “I’m not the one creating the and staff will do that,” Ryan said. On Jan. 21, Akins students, community, and Ryan met to give their input on the qualities that they would like to see in the next principal. Student Council president Justin Hang said he wants a principal who will take innovative approaches to solving “Great principals are also creative in their problem-solving and approach challenges with an entrepreneurial attitude,” Hang said. One quality that was repeated frequently at the meetings was that the new principal must have
some kind of administrative experience. “Even though there was a lot of great qualities said, one that I found very important was that the new principal must understand all populations, and should also have some kind of experience already,” junior Kyrsten Woolf said. Social studies teacher Cullen Haskins has helped coordinate the search process along with Ryan. That responsibility fell to Haskins because he serves as the faculty co-chair of the school’s Campus Advisory Council. Haskins and special education teacher Raul Rivera, who was chosen via a lottery, will represent faculty on the committee that will interview selected candidates on Feb. 18. Two Akins parents,Deborah
Hoover and Tricia Gore, along with Ryan make up the remainder of the initial selection committee, which will interview the candidates and identify at “I feel a responsibility to represent all of the other teachers, because we won’t all have a say,” Haskins said. On March 2, the superintendent, chief schools The superintendent will recommend one candidate to the school district’s board of trustees Ryan said she hopes the selection process will be done by March; however, the new principal might decide to keep their current position until the end of school year.
District wiDe
New Performing Arts Center opens up downtown Gabe Robles Web Editor After seven years of planning and construction and $40 million of construction, Austin ISD has built a new Performing Arts Center downtown for the entire district to enjoy. The PAC contains a 1,200 seat main auditorium, a 250 seat black box theatre, dance studio, multi-purpose room, kiln room, and an individual recording studio that can be used by any Austin ISD school program. Part of the bond issue voters approved in 2008 included a project to build a performing arts center for the whole district to use. The original plans for the PAC date back to 2004, when district leaders began focusing on an effort to balance the district’s capacity to equally support and provide for performing arts from across the city. “When the bond was passed in 2008, we began forming committees and organizations, task forces, and a decisionbond committee,” said Greg Goodman, district director of Fine Arts. “And this is what we had been developing and designing for the last seven years.” Goodman said the center will allow for Austin ISD to host competitions, concerts, and other organized events in a generally central location. “What we want to do is give the kids at this district and state the opportunity to experience the best – acoustically – and also
inside
go and we perform on stage. But this is a different experience entirely. It adds another element of class and professionalism. It’s a next step.” Catherine Bennett, Director of Orchestra at Akins, said the new center will help accommodate the large growth in the
Amanda Livingston
Now open The sun sets over the Performing Arts Center on the night of its grand opening. The Akins band tested acoustics before the grand opening on Jan 22.
so that teachers can bring their entire classes here and learn and operate the building,” Goodman said. The center offers performance opportunities for a wide range of arts, including band, dance and theater. It is also a place to showcase painted, sculpted and other still art. Akins students already had a chance to perform at the center when the Akins Eagle’s Wind Symphony performed there on Jan. 8 to test the acoustics of the building. They PAC.
“The clarity in that facility is amazing,” Akins band director Tate Fincher said. “The sound in there is state of the art, and was pretty cool.” Fincher said he believes that the Akins theatre will always be the school’s primary performance space. However, the PAC offers a new experience to students that Akins couldn’t offer before. “This is our home,” Fincher said, “We’re here everyday. Yes, we get dressed up in tuxes, and make it a formal evening, and we
has happened in recent years. “The programs are getting so big that our theatre stage can’t hold us all,” Bennett said. “We’ve got so many different performing groups – outside groups, inside groups in the school – the theatre is booked almost all the time. The PAC facility is big enough to house everybody.” The center also presents the opportunity to provide for Akins theatre and technical theatre programs as well. The center is already scheduled to host all of the upcoming UIL competitions. Theater teacher Maureen Siegel said she hopes that theatrical opportunities don’t end there. “It is my understanding that this was a center for us,” Siegel said. “I would hope that at some point, besides the UIL shows, that our musicals will be able to perform there.” Goodman said that they hope that the PAC will help raise the prestige, quality and while simultaniously pullng all of Austin ISD under one roof. “I would hope that because there is a push within the district, there is an opportunity to be able to go there for performance,” Siegel said. “It would be really thrilling.”
Opinions...pg 2, 3 News...pg 4-5 Student Life...pg 6-7 In-Depth...pg 8, 9, 15 Entertainment...pg 10,11 Sports...pg 12, 13 Photo Essay...pg 14, 16