The Eagle's Eye; Issue 1; Volume 19; Akins High School

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Students Face housing insecurities Akins provides resources to those in need Pages 12-13

Senior Sponsor

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Young Thug Review

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Financial Literacy

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A Farewell to Simmons

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Inside: News- 4-6 Opinions- 7-9 Entertainment 10-11, 14-15 Indepth 12-13 Life & Style 16-17,20 Photo Essay 18-19 Sports 21-22 Community 23-24

Quick bites

The Eagle’s Eye

September 30th, 2019 Page 2

this year’s editors Ash Catalan Editor-in-chief

Mylo Bissell Editor-in-chief

Austin Rutledge Opinions

Anneliese Olivo Entertainment

Dee Carreon In-Depth

Andrew Martinez Life & Style

Comic by Phoenix Braly

Interested in having a comic featured in The Eagle’s Eye? Go to tinyurl.com/akinscomics

Diego Gutierrez Sports

Amora Arriaga Photo

staff writers Giovoni Aguilar Frank Duran Natalia Salazar Angel Hernandez Oscar Navarro Robert Ramos Zachary Reyna Diego Rivas

Akins at Large

Akin’s colorguard performs in the pep-rally for the Akins vs. Cedar Creek football game. Colorguard has been preparing for performances since July.

Photo by Maddy Hansom

ILPC/UIL

HONORS

Bronze Star Award 2007 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Silver Star Award 2019

NSPA

Jamie Bain Tera Braly Joshua Guerrero Julian Medrano Ben Naden Alondra Mondragon Saul Moreno

Jaime Rios Hanniel Cruz Victoria Garza Evelyn Moreno Kayden Harnett Gregory Roque Rhett Moore Enrique Camacho

The Eagle’s Eye TAJE

Superior Coverage 2005 2008

the learning process or is an invasion of privacy. We will avoid electronic manipulation that alters the truth of a

2007 - H.M. Sweepstakes 2010 - 2nd Sweepstakes 2011 - H.M. Sweepstakes 2016 - Best In Show

CSPA

before publication. We will not necessarily publish all letters received and reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. businesses.

All-American - 2013 Nominated for Pacemaker - 2013

2011 - Silver Medal 2012 - Gold Medal 2015 - Gold Medal

Editorial Policy

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Events

The Eagle’s Eye September 30, 2018

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PSAT Testing

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Blue and Gold Night

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Halloween

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Classes begin at 10:15am

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Crossword

Puzzle created with PuzzleFast.com. Answer key on Akinseagleseye.com

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News

The Eagle’s Eye

September 30, 2019

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Seniors express need for a financial literacy education ALondra Rodriguez Staff Writer

redit, debt, interest, assets, bonds, dividends and variable rates.

These are important terms needed to successfully navigate the world of money, and currently, there is no required class for all students that helps them learn these concepts.

Some of these concepts are discussed in economics or money matters math classes, but there is often not enough time to discuss financial literacy with students to the level that will help them manage their money after high school.

Some students said they benefited from parents who helped them teach them about handling and saving money.

Senior Aracely Tellez said she had her first job when she 13 years old. Before that, she already had an idea of how to manage her money well because of lessons her parents gave her.

“My parents have raised me to be really aware of what I’m doing with my money, making sure that I’m saving it when I need to,” Tellez said.

Some students said these days aren’t really aware of how to wisely manage their money and most students have jobs and haven’t had training on how to live on a budget.

“I don’t think I’m prepared to be able to manage my money correctly after high school for my lack of knowledge of financial literacy,” senior Jennifer Ramirez said.

Ramirez plans to go to college next year and worries she is not prepared to manage her money before she enters a new chapter in her life where she will be expected to live more independently.

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Tellez said she saved some money for emergencies and was able to help her parents financially. She’s not alone. Many teenagers are trying to balance school and a job to help their parents.

A tip that Tellez and Ramirez suggested was would be helpful is to start a savings account like $5 - $20, a little goes a long way.

One advantage that Akins students have is the on-campus branch of the A+Federal Credit Union.

Teaching financial literacy is part of the credit union’s mission.

When students first open an account with A+ the staff teach them about the basic things that the students should be aware of like the difference between a credit and a debit card and how to avoid overdraft fees.

The local branch managers also try to help on campus by conducting classroom presentations.

“We can give presentations to their classes over anything from budgeting,” said Ally Rushing, assistant branch manager.

The presentations also help students learn how to budget, how to avoid scams, and what it takes to live inde-

A+ Federal Credit Union Financal Advice Compare Colleges and Costs Budgeting Can Help Prevent Overspending on Credit

Money is Taken out of Your Paycheck for Taxes Begin Thinking about your Long Term Financial Goals

In the Know New College and Career PSAT day options for Adviser

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he College and career center sees a new face this year as Marcia Baneegas joins staff as the adviser for the next two years. Banegas works for Advise TX with the division of diversity and community engagement.

Banegas will be Akins’ college and career adviser for the next two years, aiding current juniors and seniors in their journey these next two years. A permanent counselor will be hired for the CCC at some point this year.

seniors

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eniors have several options for activities on Oct. 16, when the freshman, sophomores and juniors are taking the PSAT. All seniors are required to take the FitnessGram, and seniors can arrive in the gym on the morning of the PSAT in order to take the test. This activity can be combined with another. Students can sign up to take the TSI, get FAFSA, TAFSA or college help from Marcia Banegas, make a college visit, take the ASVAB or participate in a study hall.

pendently.

Some students said they appreciate the help that A+ provides, but they would like to have a required course on personal finance, especially before they leave high school and are required to live on their own.

“It would be more than helpful for a class on money management on campus, especially for seniors,” Ramirez said.

Tellez said she hopes students will take money management seriously so they start off in life on the right foot.

“It’s very important that kids understand how to have a college fund even if it’s just $5 to start you off. It’s a big difference,” Tellez said.

2021 Class ring info session

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n Oct. 4, Herff Jones willl be coming to talk to juniors about their chance to buy a classs ring. The down payment for the rings is $80. The order date for the class rings is Oct. 21. Money can be given in cash, check, or card. They also have an online payment system that can be used.A free long sleeve shirt and free commemorative charm are gievn with the 2021 special.

Visit www.highschool.herffjones.com for more details.

News

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The Eagle’s Eye September 30, 2019

Electives now adopt standards based grading system Jaime Rios

Staff Writer ow that the first grading period ended in late September, students are beginning to find out what having all of their classes graded with Standards-Based Grading means for them.

While students at Akins have used Standards-Based Grading in some of their classes since the 2017 school year, this is the first time it is required in almost all of their classes. For teachers and students, the change from the traditional 100-point scale to Standards-Based grading is a big adjustment.

That’s one of the reasons why SBG has been slowly expanded at Akins, starting at first in just the math department and then gradually expanding so that all teachers had to use in SBG in at least one class last year. And finally this year, Principal Tina Salazar required all teachers to use SBG in all of their classes.

The biggest difference between the old traditional 100-point scale grading — in which teachers had wide latitude to give students whatever grade they thought they deserved — and SBG is that teachers now have to base all grades based on a level of achievement for each of the state-required learning standards for a course. SBG also forces teachers to use the same grading scale starting with “Mastery” as the best grade and “No Evidence” as the lowest grade.

Administrators and proponents of SBG believe that it should encourage students to do better on their work because it will give them more information on how they truly performed based on the standards.

Debate teacher Aimee Finney, who previously taught at Bowie High School, said SBG is not something she is used to.

“At Bowie, it was completely different. It’s going to take us new teachers or even some vets a minute to get used to this new grading procedure,” she said.

Some students expressed frustration with the constantly changing grading systems at

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Mylo Bissell

delicious grade scale

Algebra 2 teacher Audrey Elliott explains her standards based grading scales to a student. Elliott uses a burger meal to show

Akins. Specifically, some said they don’t like how their quiz grades will be rounded down.

For Example, if a student receives an 87 or 85 on a quiz or a test, the grade is rounded down to Satisfactory (equivalent to an 80) instead of Proficient (equivalent to a 90).

“I’m glad I’m almost out of here because the district keeps changing the grading system almost every year,” senior Briana Fuentez said.

“There’s ups and downs to the new grading method but I strongly disagree with it. It’s extremely difficult to get a 100. It’s really rare.”

New district program brings free lunches to students Christopher Saul Moreno Staff Writer

ree for all students.

That was the exciting news that students received at the beginning of the school year, regarding cafeteria meals.

Because Akins has a high percentage of students from low-income households, many might otherwise go hungry if they didn’t have access to free lunches.

To address this problem, Austin ISD officials applied for Akins to be added to the list of schools on the Community Eligibility Program (CEP), which is designed to improve healthy choices in meals for students and local kids. This program doesn’t just give kids and teens a healthy lunch it also reduces the burden for families with overwhelming paperwork that may or may not give students the lunch they need.

The program rules state that if a child eats at least once a week, the school will be provided with grass-fed meat that can be added to the cafeteria lunch menus. And if they eat at least twice a week the school will provide organic meals. If they eat three times a week the school’s menu will provide district-wide organic milk to schools in the district. This way the district has a more effective way of giving different schools the meals they provide.s Ultimately, the CEP program has provided 3,000 additional meals for students district-wide, (add a source for this number) Lindsey Bradley, a marketing specialist for the district’s Food Service and Nutrition office, said CEP eligibility for schools is based on the percentage of students directly certified for free school meals because they are eligible for food stamp programs. This eliminates the need for families to personally fill out applications for their children to receive a free or reduced-cost lunch, which used to be the practice at Akins.

Bradley said every student’s meal is important and crucial to the AISD ever-growing

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Saul Moreno

A LUNCH TIME FIESTA

A student picks up a fiesta bowl in the Akins cafeteria on Sept. 24.

Fiesta bowls are one of the most popular items that the cafeteria serves, which includes organic meats, rice and beans.

program.

“Our top priority is making sure that all students have access to healthy, tasty meals to better ensure that students are getting the nutrients they need for learning and physical activity each day,” she said.

NEws

The Eagle’s Eye September 30th, 2019 Page 6

Raise in tobacco age pushes students to use loopholes Evelyn Moreno Staff Writer

wo students are in line at the convenience store. One turned 18 August 31, the other just 24 hours later. Both get carded to purchase an e-cigarette. One is denied.

Why? On September 1, Texas became the 16th state to raise the age limit to use or purchase tobacco or e-cigs from eighteen to twenty-one.

Data from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids website tells us nearly 12% of high school students in Texas smoke cigarettes, and 19% use e-cigarettes. It also mentions that the vast majority of students who use e-cigs use the flavored variety.

In fact, the Trump Administration has recently proposed banning flavored electronic cigarettes because of the increase in use by young people and a large number of serious health crisis that has been going on.

According to the Washington Post, the Administration’s move comes as health officials across the country investigated more than 530 cases, including six deaths, of lung disease linked to vaping. “We’ve got these 18-year-old kids who have pneumonia, who have lung cancer, who have breathing problems, who were you know, within an inch of their life on breathing apparatus is because of vaping,” Akins Principal Tina Salazar said.

Adults, unsurprisingly, largely agree with the new law. Mainly citing maturity levels in young adults. “I don’t feel like everything’s developed enough. And then when you start adding those extra chemicals in their bodies, it causes changes that they’re not mature Jon Garza enough, or prepared to deal with,” Health teacher Erica Routt said.

Even with the law change, there are regular incidents of students vaping while at E-Cigarette use school and some will even try to do it during class. Most students aren’t worried about A photo illustration of a student using an electronic cigarette. the consequences that are given to them at their school for finding them with the vapes E-cigarettes make up 10.3% of teen tobacco use while 7.7% of teen or even the consequences they face while taking in these chemicals. tobacco use is cigarettes.

Some area school districts have started tracking vaping incidents on campus. Austin ISD just started tracking this year and it doesn’t plan to release data until the end of the 6, she is unable to purchase tobacco legally. “I’m an adult, but (according to the law) I’m school year.

Some Akins students are upset that they will now have to wait until they are 21 to le- not an adult. I’m a pre-adult, basically. We could do all this stuff, but we can’t even go buy gally purchase tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. An Akins student who wished to a pack of cigars,” she said. “We have an apartment, we can have a car. But we can’t go buy remain anonymous is upset at the fact that, although she turned eighteen on September cigars.”

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Cigarette use among high school students U.S.-

8.8%

Texas-

7.7% Mylo Bissell

Courtesy of The Truth initiative

Opinions

The Eagle’s Eye September 30, 2019 Page 7

Ash Co-Editor-in-Chief

Mylo Co-Editor-in-Chief

Jennifer Photo Editor

Austin Opinions Editor

Dee InDepth Editor

Andrew Life & Style Editor

Anneliese Entertainment Editor

Diego Sports Editor

Editorial: Reform needed for prom sponsor selection eachers at Akins are suckers.

Tell them to do something that eats up their free time without extra pay and they will likely do it — if it will help Akins students.

One of the prime examples of this is how the school finds senior class sponsors.

It’s basically a game of “not it.” It’s understandable considering that it is a huge time suck and sponsors are uncompensated for their work.

For example, it took about five weeks before volunteers stepped up to take on the role. There are now three volunteers who will be sharing the responsibility. All three are new to Akins.

Before official sponsors were named, a previous senior class sponsor did the work of reserving the Hyatt Regency in downtown Austin. And the traditional cookie dough fundraiser was arranged, but that’s the extent of the work that has been done so far this year.

The Eagle’s Eye editorial board appreciates the hard work of the teachers who have stepped up to take on this responsibility, but we believe that there could be some improvements to the process of selecting prom sponsors to reduce the burden on these selfless volunteers.

Let’s face it. Akins is not like Bowie, Austin or Anderson high schools where parents swoop in and do all the work. Instead, the work falls to teachers who want to ensure that students have a memorable prom at an affordable price.

According to previous senior class sponsor Katie Delmore, putting on prom is a

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Jamie Bain

huge endeavor that cannot be done for a cost under $30,000. The total cost of the venue rental alone is around $17,000 she said. When you add the additional cost of decorations, hiring a DJ, paying for refreshments and photographers, the expenses add up quickly. It’s tempting to think that students can volunteer to share more of the work burden, but that is not realistic. Much of the work can only be done by adults because it involves signing contracts and handling money. It’s also unlikely that students can do much to help with putting up deco-

rations because the students most likely to care about prom are the seniors who will be busy getting ready earlier in the day.

So what can be done to make the job of organizing prom easier and more attractive to Akins teachers?

We have a few suggestions to consider: 1. Provide senior class sponsors with a stipend to help reward teachers for the work that normally goes uncompensated.

2. Provide sponsors with substitutes a few times a year so they can take off from work when they have to count thousands

of dollars and process order forms for fundraisers.

3. Start fundraising for each class as soon as their freshman year so they don’t have to raise as much money all in a single year.

The Eagle’s Eye believes that the senior sponsor should be compensated and be provided substitutes for the extra amount of work they put in for counting thousands of dollars and process order forms for fundraisers. These teachers put in the time for Akins students to have a memorble prom.

What is a staff editorial?

The Eagle’s Eye editorial board decides the positions taken in the staff editorials. The editorial board consists of the paper’s top editors. The editorials are not given a byline because editorials express the collective opinion of the board.

The topic of the editorial is discussed by the board and a position is voted on. When deciding on editorial opinions, majority rules, so most opinions reflect the vast majority of the opinions of the editorial board. The Editor-in-Chief has the final say if the group cannot come to consensus.

The Eagle’s Eye September 30, 2019

Opinions

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Video Games blamed for gun violence epidemic in US Kayden Harnett Staff Writer

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fter the two of the recent mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, video games have been getting a lot of the blame for causing gun violence.

Multiple political leaders including President Donald Trump have recently pointed at video games as a cause of the nation’s gun violence epidemic. After massacres in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, killed at least 31 people, Trump said “We must stop the glorification of violence in our society” in brief remarks from the White House on Aug. 5.”This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this and it has to begin immediately,” Trump said.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has also blamed video games as a possible contributing factor that has led to the spate of mass shootings in the United States.

“We’ve always had guns, always had evil, but I see a video game industry that teaches young people to kill,” he said on Fox and Friends on Aug. 4.

These comments received wide condem-

nation from gun violence researchers and the gaming community. A fact check article by NBC News reported that there is no evidence that violent video games encourage violence in real life. The article cited a 2019 study out of Oxford University, which found no link.

The NBC News article quotes a researcher named Andrew Przybylski, who makes this point clear.

“There’s absolutely no causal evidence that violent video game play leads to aggression in the real world,” said Przybylski, a researcher at Oxford University who has been studying the psychological effects of video games for more than a decade and co-authored that 2019 study.

Earlier this year, Przybylski published his study in the Royal Society Open Science that monitored video game use, as reported by approximately 1,000 British teenagers, and symptoms of aggression, as reported by their parents.

“We found a whole lot of nothing,” he said to NBC News.

The pressure to do something about gun violence has been mounting in Texas since the El Paso massacre and a second mass shooting event in Odessa on Aug. 31. In Odessa, an area resident killed at least seven

Jamie Bain

people and wounded 22 others as he drove through Odessa and nearby Midland.

These events have pressured Gov. Greg Abbott to recently propose a series of ideas to the Texas Legislature aimed towards keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. One of Gov. Abbott’s recommendations to the Legislature was to “consider ways to make it easy, affordable, and beneficial for a private seller of firearms to voluntarily use background checks when selling firearms to strangers,” according to Abbott’s Texas Safety Action Report.

Person-to-person sales of firearms do not require background checks in Texas but Gov. Dan Patrick suggested in the

aftermath of the deadly shootings Patrick openly supported the idea of changing that.

In a statement on Thursday, Patrick stated both him and Gov. Greg Abbott “understand that a background check is needed” in firearm sales.

Instead of blaming video games we should find ways to help stop gun violence.

For example, changing the person-to-person sales would help keep weapons out of the wrong hands and help stop gun violence.

Video games should not be blamed for mass shootings just because some of them show violent acts. People are just using video games as a scapegoat because they are everywhere and are easy to blame.

School name change overshadows other academies Rito pineda Staff Writer

his year the school name is Akins Early College High School. It used to be just Akins High School. The main reason for the name change is that our school is now hosting an early college program for the new incoming freshman. Akins is not the only school that has changed its name to add “Early College” to its name in recent years.

Some other schools with the “Early College” moniker are Crockett, Eastside Memorial, LBJ, Navarro, Northeast, and Travis.

So what is this new program? Early College High Schools (ECHS) are innovative high schools that allow students least likely to attend college an opportunity to earn a high school diploma and 60 college credit hours. This program is only available for incoming freshmen this year. For other schools the name change makes sense. Last year, The Eagle’s Eye conducted an online poll that asked students what attracted students to Akins and more than 48% of respondents said it was the academy system. So it is understandable that other academies might feel slighted because one of the academies’ names has overtaken the entire name of the school, overshadowing the other excellent offerings at Akins.

I think this program is good for students who want to go to college. But there are many other programs and classes at Akins that students can go and make a career without going to college. Some of these include ROTC and JROTC, agriculture and vet, the human service practicum, the correctional services internship and many more.

I don’t think officials should have changed the entire school’s name to reflect the one-seventeenth of the campus population.

I know that school district officials want to tout the Early College preparation program,

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Arts and Humanities Academy

Academy of Business, Leadership & Legal Enterprises

Green Tech Academy

Social Services Academy

New Tech Academy

Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math

Rito Pineda

but they could have done that in other ways besides renaming the entire campus.

I think it’s too early to change the name of the campus because the program is only available to the 157 freshmen who signed up when they were in middle school last year.

The “Early College” moniker might be the latest buzzword and trend in education, but we shouldn’t have to change our whole school name to reflect such a small program at Akins.

Akins is a large school with six other academies that are now being overshadowed by the “Early College” name.

Opinions

The Eagles Eye Page 9

September30, 2019

Dress code is better but some have taken it too far Victoria Garza Staff Writer

’ve attended an Austin Independent School District school my entire educational career.

I never thought I would see the school district update its dress code.

As early as the sixth grade I remember thinking there were problems with the dress code. I thought It was really lame. We couldn’t even wear shoes that were a solid color like red or blue or we could be accused of wearing something gang-related.

Coming into High School my friends sometimes had very uncomfortable conversations with teachers who thought their shorts or tops were in violation of dress code. Likewise, Some received In-School Suspension (ISS) for the day and had to miss their classes just because they wore hats or hoodies in class.

The dress code, which was last updated in 2007, was changed - in large part - due to a group called Austin Families for Common Sense School Dress Code who collected over 600 signatures requesting the dress code be made more inclusive and less discriminatory towards specific races, genders, “or any aspect of an individual’s identity.”

On June 17, AISD School administrators approved and adopted the new dress code. In a press release dated June 25, Director of Health Services Tracy Spinner said: “Our goal is to have AISD policies contribute to safe and inclusive learning environments, including

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being able to dress in a manner that is comfortable so all students can focus on learning.”

The new dress code states: “Clothes must be worn in a way such that abdomen, genitals, buttocks, breasts, and nipples are fully covered with opaque fabric.”

Gone are the days that students have to wear a jacket to cover a shirt. This is something that will make it easier to concentrate on studying instead of worrying about being in violation for wearing a simple spaghetti strap shirt.

The updated dress code may have a few issues, though. Some students purposefully dressed in shirts where their stomachs show, not because it’s comfortable, but just to be outrageous and break the dress code to get attention.

Assistant Principal Susan Thames said she understands that the motivation behind the change to the dress code was to adapt to the times so students feel more accepted and respected. However, she said she is concerned that not all students are showing respect for themselves with their clothing choices with the newly lenient rules.

She said she thinks it is important that students don’t get so comfortable that they feel like the things that they may wear in a school setting are going to be acceptable in a job interview or a job.

I feel that the new dress code is fair and, for the first time since I’ve entered school, doesn’t hold a double standard due to gender, race or sexuality.

I believe that girls need to respect their bodies and how they come dressed to school and not in a way that all students have to see someone’s butt hanging out of their shorts.

Girls need to respect their bodies and how they come dressed to school and not in a way that all students have to see someone’s butt hanging out of their shorts.”

Acceptable

Tera Braly

NOPE

Tera Braly

The Eagle’s Eye September 30, 2019

entertainment

Page 10

Melanie Martinez impresses fans with album and film Anneliese Olivo Staff Writer

fter 4 years of musical silence, Melanie Martinez is back in the spotlight with her new album and a supporting feature-length film titled K-12.

On Sept. 6, Melanie Martinez released her second album along with a film that was based around the album which included musical numbers to all of her new songs.

In an interview with PeopleTV, Martinez expressed how K-12 was “intended to show how school is a condensed version of life.” The film itself shows kids at a school who are trapped there and are being controlled by the principal and self-inflicted problems. In the film, Martinez plays a persona called Crybaby from her previous album. She has special powers that enable her to set the kids free and destroy the school.

In some ways, K-12 is a continuation of her Crybaby album except that the songs are more focused on school life.

On her first album Crybaby, Martinez mostly wrote about the challenges of family relationships and her struggles with self-confidence, which are relatable subjects that her fans loved about her music.The K-12 album uses some of the same observational styles to help students realize what is really going on around them and what they can do to change it.

Compared to her Crybabyalbum, Martinez has seemed to explore new sounds for her music. She is known for her electro-pop sound in her Crybaby album. And although K-12 does show some electro-pop aspects to it, this album opens up musically because it also shows other musical genres such : as low-key hip-hop, soulful pop, and indie leaning electro.

Her aesthetic when it comes to old music videos and this new film is quite similar. Her music still has the same theme of talking about real-life situations or problems, which is what brings her audience into her music.

Martinez is one of a handful of artists that have attempted to make a full movie that accompanies an album release.

Micheal Jackson and Beyonce have made short films or long music videos for their songs. But Martinez deserves some recognition for being innovative to promote her music by making a well-produced one and a half hour movie supported by her record label Atlantic Records. This level of creativity in promotion is rare today.

Some fans were confused as to what Martinez was really releasing. They thought it

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would just be music videos or a short film. But when she released the film on YouTube fans saw that it was an actual long film with dialogue, music, and a storyline within the film.

Each song on her K-12 album has a special meaning that talks about real-life problems and struggles kids face in school and will still possibly face in the real world as well.

For example, the track “Orange Juice” talks about body image and the things teenagers do to look “normal.” In this track, she explains anorexia by describing how a girl she knows turns oranges into orange juice, meaning she would eat oranges and throw them up later.

Which this topic ties in a song called “Strawberry Shortcake” where she expresses how she isn’t sure why she looks the way she does at first. And how having a nice body is a competition with the other girls. But she also mentions how boys treat her differently in an inappropriate way but taking the blame because they were never taught to not do those things. Along with how puberty hit, therefore, making her body look more mature which makes the boys at school react in the wrong way.

In the film, with each song that she sings throughout it, she is playing out a scene where she or another person she knows is going through the specific things she talks about in her songs.

This helps the audience get a better visual of what message Martinez wanted to get across to everyone. Martinez uses a lot of figurative language in her songs but throughout the album, she is also very straight forward about the topic she is singing about.

In the film, she also shows scenes where kids express their freedom in schools. For example, one scene showed the stumelaniemartinezmusic.com dents standing up for the pledge of allegiance while one student stayed seated. Martinez did this to show that students have a choice on whether they choose to stand for the pledge or not, which is something schools and their staff expect us to do every day as a sign of respect.

At the end of the film, after Crybaby destroys the school and sets the students free but when the time comes to go back with her friends into whatever world they came from she is hesitant.

Which is where the film cuts off and ends. This left fans, including myself, at the edge of their seats as they theorize about it as if she was trying to choose if she should stay in the real world and help more people or leave. With this cliffhanger, fans were wondering if there would be another film sometime in the future.Martinez then announced in an interview with People TV that a second and third film is in the works with new albums attached to each film just like she did with K-12.Leaving fans excited about what amazing things might come from Martinez in the future.

Austin City Limits: recommended atrists to check out

@pinksweats

Pink sweat$

Javier Arellano Staff Writer

Pink Sweat$ is an R&B/Soul singer from Philly who’s soothing voice will leave you speechless. Originally starting as a demo vocalist, he made his singer debut with the release of his Volume 1 EP in July of 2018 which received recognition from Fader, Billboard, Rolling Stone, and New York Times. I strongly believe that he will only get bigger this year so make sure you catch his performance at ACL before he does!

@fayewebster

Faye wester

To view the full list of recommendations visit akinseagleseye. com

This 21 year old singer/songwriter from Atlanta is someone to look out for this year. When I first heard her music I was immediately hooked with her dreamy sound and couldn’t help but look forward to her at ACL this year. With the upcoming release of her Atlanta Millionaires Club album, I highly recommend checking her out next month.

@kydtheband

Kyd The band

One of the smaller artists performing at ACL this year, this Nashville artist has been producing and writing music since 2014. I picked Kyd for this list because I believe that he perfectly represents an artist at the end of the line up that I believe deserves more recognition. With his stand out tracks like Feel Something and Francis St. he is an act that is sure to deliver an amazing set at ACL this year.

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The Eagle’s Eye September 30, 2019

Quality Control compilation features hot trap artists Rhett Moore Staff Writer

ontrol The Streets Vol. 2 is the 2nd installment from the Quality Control Album.

Founded in 2013 by CEO Pierre Thomas and COO Kevin Lee. Quality Control Music strived to bring a more authentic sound to the trap scene, especially in the south. Quality Control Music has brought some of rap’s biggest names to the for front in the past 4 years, boasting The Migos, Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, Rich the Kid, and The City Girls.

Aside from the rappers signed to Quality Control, they were also accompanied by other big artists not signed with the record label. Rappers such as Atlanta native Gucci Mane, Tee Grizzley, DaBaby, Megan Thee Stallion, Gunna, Playboi Carti, Meek Mill, Travis Scott, Young Thug, PnB Rock, and others. WIth guest producers Metro Boomin, DJ Mustard and Tay Keith.

Much like in the first installment, Control The Streets Vol. 2 never failed to capitalize on maintaining the southern trap sound throughout this project.

After the long-awaited collaboration, Lil Baby and DaBaby hopped on “Baby”, which peaked at 24 on Billboard hot 100. In “Baby”, the two would explain that being successful does not mean that they do not have to stay in touch with their roots.

Offset and Gunna have not been on many songs together but when they do, It is a hit.

Dababy also appears on this track and does contribute nicely but is not the focal point on the song. Gunna is known for flexing his wealth and the expensive jewelry and clothes he purchases, and this is no different. The three would go on to rap about there success after becoming big-time rappers, the accessories that they have purchased which are very rare, and the weapons they own.

Control The Streets Vol. 2 is what Quality Control said it was, a compilation of music.

An album consisting of 36 songs, it is no surprise that it did not reach the level of success

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that was expected. Being a compilation, there was no certified vibe, but it did stay consistent in the sound that it produced. “Club trap” is huge in Atlanta and Quality Control did not shy away from sprinkling some of those songs throughout the entire project. As far as replayability, there are a few songs that are very nice and are on my playlist, but not all of these tracks will ever be played continuously on a loop. Overall, it is a cluster of trap music that survives based featured artists and how well the tracks are produced.

Genius.com

Rating:

Young Thug just wants listners to have ‘so much fun’ Enrique Camacho Staff Writer

fter releasing three mixtapes throughout 2011 and 2012, Young Thug caught the attention of fellow Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane, who signed him to his label 1017 Brick Squad Records in 2013. Eventually, Young Thug would sign to 300 Entertainment and start his own label “YSL Records.” He went on to sign Atlanta rappers Gunna, Lil Keed, and Lil Durk.

Young Thug released his debut mixtape “Barter 6” in 2015 by 300 Entertainment, Atlantic Records and YSL. It was met with mostly positive reviews and peaked at 22 on the US charts. A year later he released “JEFFREY”. It’s artwork which features Young Thug wearing a dress went viral. Each track was named after one of Young Thug’s “idols” , including Gucci mane (“Guwop”), Rihana(“RiRi”), Future(“Future Swag”). “Beautiful Thugger Girls” was released in 2017 and was described by Thug as a “singing album” which includes crossovers to music genres like R&B and country.

Young Thug recently dropped his debut album So Much Fun, which debuted as the #1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, making it by far Thug’s biggest album up to now. Thug is known for his unique melody, flow and his known Atlanta sound that has inspired a lot of rappers. The album benefited from being teased for a couple of months before it’s release Thug changed the name from “GØŁDMØÜFDÖG” to “So Much Fun” just before the release on Aug 16.

The 19 track album features artists like Gunna, Travis Scott, 21 Savage, and Lil Baby.

The album isn’t intended for listeners who are deeply averse to joy. It doesn’t have a message or a story. t’s just a fun album to listen to when you’re having a good time.

“If you’re not having fun or in a fun mood, don’t even play this album,” he said in an interview with No Jumper. It features production from known producers like Wheezy, Pi’erre Bourne, 808 mafia, Southside, and PyrexTurnMeUp. On the track “I’m Scared” Featuring 21 Savage and Doeboy, Young Thug has a melodic flow over a smooth Pi’errre Bourne beat he raps about being in the streets, “runnin’ from

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the cops in a rolls Royce.”Alongside the absurdities, Thug does manage to bring a more fun vibe with the upbeat like “Surf,” featuring Gunna in which he raps about his place in the rap game and claims others are trying “to ride his wave” or copy his style. He does this over a beat that gives off summer vibes.

So Much Fun is an album that moves at a pace only Thug could set. It has a rhythm, flow, and style without any overwhelming elements. So Much Fun is a long album but the music lives up to its title.

GQ.com

Rating:

The Eagle’s Eye September 30, 2019

InDepth

Page 12

Jamie Baine

Dee Carreon

In-Depth Editor During April of 2018 until the beginning of this school year, senior Reed Henri lived for months having to couch surf to find a safe place to sleep.

“My mom and I had a falling out. And she felt like it was necessary for me to get out of her living situation; she felt like her situation would be better if I was not in it. So that just made me have to go find somewhere else to be,” Henri said.

Henri, name changed for privacy, decided it would be best if he lived at his best friend’s house.

“They were very open and very willing to have me come into their home. But, to a certain extent, I started to realize that I was still on my own,” Henri said. “I was living with people that cared for me but I wasn’t their child. I had to go and still do things on my own; be an adult and do things that were kind of out of my comfort zone.”

He spent a great majority of his time filling out job applications and tediously gathering the necessary paperwork required as a person that is under the age of 18. He did not, however, have the support of his parent. His mother did not provide him with his birth certificate or his social security card.

“All of these things cost money. So I had to order my birth certificate, then I needed to go get my state ID to finally start working to the select places that want to hire me,” Henri said. “It just kind of sucked not having the normal family backing that you’re used to because you have to go and find, or go do for your own, or become an adult when you’re not technically ready to be an adult.”

For Henri, it’s a constant balancing act having to worry about taking care of his basic needs while maintaining good

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relationships with friends and keeping on top of his school work.

It has taken a heavy emotional toll on him, he said.

“That dealt heavy on my heart. More than anything,” Henri said. “More than my financials and whatever, because I could take care of myself. But knowing that you’re not at home and knowing that your family feels a certain way about you enough to put you out.”

Henri said the situation has left a hole in his heart.

“Your whole life, you grew up with your parents and your family, loving you and helping you,” he said.

“But once that snatched away from you, you have almost nothing. So there’s been countless nights where I cried, and countless days where I just went out and I put in a thousand job applications.”

Knowing that you’re not at home and knowing that your family feels a certain way about you... It left a hole in my heart.”

Senior Reed Henri

Student Homelessness

The issue of student homelessness is often misunderstood. America’s Promise, an organization that aims to better the lives of young people, puts it, it’s an issue that’s “hidden in plain sight.”

In a study done by America’s Promise, 67 percent of the homeless students surveyed — with ages that ranged from 12 to 18 years of age — said that they were uncomfortable with talking to people at school about their housing situation and other related challenges.

A report by the National Center for Homeless Education, with data provided by the Department of Education by each state, has statistics on homelessness from the 2014 to 2015 school year through the 2016 to 2017 school year.

Over the span of these three years, the number of enrolled students reported as experiencing homelessness increased by 7 percent, from 1.26 million students in the 2014-15 school year to 1.36 million students in the 2016-17 school

year.

During the 2016-17 school years alone, Texas had the third highest in the number of enrolled students reported as experiencing homelessness with 111,177 students.

Programs and Resources

One of the most recent and prominent examples that caused a sudden surge of homelessness in Travis County was the flooding of Onion Creek in 2015. Many lost their homes to the flooding.

“Almost a third of our students that year were flood impacted,” said campus social worker Meg Scamardo. “And whether their house was completely destroyed, and whatever the city gave them for their home, it could not afford to get them into another place.”

There are many other factors that contribute to student homelessness. Some can include domestic abuse, eviction, loss of employment, runaway, substance abuse, and mental health.

“You don’t know what the situation is like,” Toni Holder, Parent Support Specialist at Akins said. “You don’t know what the situation is here for the homeless kids. You don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors.”

The first step in helping the student homelessness problem, is identifying and setting each one of the students up with a program called Project HELP. Project HELP — short for Project Hope & Empowerment ~ Leveraging Possibilities — is a district program with the aim to provide homeless students with everything that they need to be able to stay in school and finish their education. One of the major pillars that holds up the existence of Project HELP and other organizations like it is the Federal MicKinney Vento Cct. In summary, the MicKinny Vento act is a federal law that states that all homeless students have the right to public education regardless of unstable housing.

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One of the major ways that the organization can help is setting up transportation for these students.

“Even if they’re living in Crockett or Travis zoning that they can still go to Akins if that’s where they were last permanently housed,” Scamardo said. “We can get them set up with transportation because a lot of times that is one of their biggest barriers to finishing school is maybe they live in Buda or just a different area of Austin.”

Homeless students can also be connected to other resources such as a program within the organization Life Works known as the Diversion Program. The Diversion Program is a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funded program, which aims to identify unaccompanied homeless students and do everything they can to divert them from homelessness.

“So they’ll do things like, let’s say a student is 18, working and is kind of on the right track to get their own housing, loan, maybe they can pay deposit.”

Scamardo said. “The program can give them assistance for groceries and gas

The Eagle’s Eye September 30, 2019

or things such as that.”

Assistance that the Diversion Program provides can also be provided with the offices here at Akins.

“We have non perishable groceries. We have our clothing closet. We also have lovely community partners who just have a heart for helping our homeless students,” Scamardo said. “And we really work with all of our homeless students to create a customized individual plan for their individual needs, and just try to figure out; what is it that they need and help them get those needs met.”

In the end, the school tries the best it possibly can to provide for the needs of our homeless students.

“I wish I could afford to buy them all a place,” Holder said. “For them to have their own home and to be able to help them be independent. But that’s not possible.

But I do what I can. I’m always looking for resources.”

Residence of Homeless Enrolled Students 4%

According to the Nation Center for Homeless Education The number of unsheltered students increased the most, escalating 27% between school years 2014-15 and 2016-17.

The use of hotels and motels are steadily growing, increasing nearly 10% over the three year span. The doubled up category grew by 7% and the use of shelters only grew by 3%.

Doubled-up

6%

Shelters

14% 76%

Hotels/Motels Unsheltered

nche.ed.gov

262,939

High School

Texas

per State 2016-2017

highest

Homeless Enrolled Had the Students third

148,418

Dee Carreon

nche.ed.gov

111,177 75,106 51,617

California New York

Texas

Florida

Illinois

amount of

homeless enrolled students

The Eagle’s Eye September 30, 2019

entertainment

Page 14

Good Boys movie feels like relatable sixth grade life Josh Guerrero Staff Writer

ood Boys, a coming-of-age comedy released this summer, it feels as if it could have been written by sixth graders and I mean that in a good way.

It’s about a group of three best friends that are just starting middle school.

The movie really brought me back to how it felt when I was in middle school and that is why I enjoyed the movie so much.

Director Gene Stupnitski nailed the small details like worrying about what others would think of me, constantly wanting a girlfriend and just trying to be an all-around badass.

The movie doesn’t shy away from even the most cringy moments of adolescent discovery. It was just hilarious because I feel like any young boy at some point was in their position, making it extremely relatable.

The film does a good job of showing how being dumb and immature is just part of growing up. And throughout the film, they realize that and eventually embrace it towards the end if that means their group breaking up.

The movie starts off with the three boys together having fun doing childish things and you can really see how much they care about each other.The kid’s goal throughout the movie is to learn how to kiss and to finally get that kiss

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soon.

So the boys set their sites on finding a way to learn how to kiss weather that be practicing on a pineapple or an adult doll. This eventually leads them to some questionable things. But when doing so the three boys face some hectic events like avoiding high school girls, buying drugs from college kids, facing the cops, and plenty more. Through all of this, they realize that they’re growing up and might not always be together.

Toward the end, just like any other friendship, they get into a heated fight. To which then they face the consequences of what they did. Of course, they mend things and go on one last adventure together. The boys decide no matter what they will always stay friends.

I thought this movie was really great, I hadn’t even heard about this movie until a week before it came out in theaters. The concept grabbed my interest and I was dying to see it. I thought it might be cringe or weird but overall I enjoyed it.

If you can go see this movie or download it, I encourage you to do so. It’s a great movie to watch maybe not with your parents, but definitely with your friends. This is a hilarious movie that adults and teenagers would enjoy alot and be able to relate to just like I did. I would give this movie a rating of 4 out of 5. I really enjoyed it and it’s definitely a must-see for a good laugh.

Gene Stupnitsky

Rating:

Fine Arts department starts Akins’ first Mariachi Club Natalia Estrada Staff Writer

he Akins Fine Arts department is raising the curtain on a new Mariachi performance group this year, fulfilling a popular request among students and teachers, representing a culture and helping students to improve their skills.

“I really want to make an impact culturally at the school and get everyone to know about the mariachi group, and just spread the word that’s going on here at Akins. And it’s a really strong program,” guitar teacher Saul Hernandez said.

Orchestra teacher Tomas Mann and associate principal Manuel Garcia worked on the idea of creating the Mariachi program after seeing other successful programs at nearby high schools.

This group is completely new program to Akins and the teachers are trying to recruit more students and add more instruments for the students to play. There are fifteen students in the club so far but the Mariachi Club seeks more students who may be interested to join. Mariachi is also hoping to collaborate with other clubs like Baile Folklorico, Latinos Unidos, or other schools in the district.

Members of the Mariachi Club plans to gain experience with performance opportunities at school and around town. They hope to have a lot of paid gigs which will earn money for the club and the orchestra program. This is also a great chance for the students to work as a team to collaborate with others.

Hernandez said he is glad to see the new club because it shows the growth of the school and how important is to show and share all the culture that every student share in music.

“Akins is still growing and developing, so maybe this is part of the process, just adding more music ensembles, more things to the Fine Arts department,” he said.

Hernandez said he is not sure why there was not a Mariachi group before but he thinks there are going to be bigger groups in the future at Akins.

To join the Mariachi Club every student every member is required to be in one of the

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Natalia Estrada

MAriachi club in pratice

Students play violin as part of the Mariachi Club after school in the orchestra room. The club meets on Wednesdays starting at 4:30 p.m. music ensembles at Akins, whether that guitar, orchestra, band or choir if a student wants to sing. Students who want to join Mariachi also have to know how to play an instrument, this is so everyone can be ready to make music right away. The club practices every Wednesday from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Fine Arts building.

Hernandez said he is excited that the Fine Arts department had the funding to put Mariachi into the Akins program this year and he hopes that this group keeps continuing for many years.

“This group is starting from scratch and what we, as the sponsors of this group, are looking forward to is to get more instruments, outfits, and hopefully smaller things down the road as we go,” Hernandez said.

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The Eagle’s Eye September 30, 2019

Disney+ opens up huge content catalog in November ANgel Hernandez & Diego rivas Staff Writer

he Disney Vault will finally open and fans all over the world will get the chance to binge everything and anything they love about Disney whether it be their movies or shows.

On November 12, 2019, a new streaming platform will be launched and will compete against other big platforms such as Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon.

This platform is none other than Disney+, for only $6.99 per month fans can subscribe and if they want, they can purchase an annual subscription for $69.99 per year. If the fans think that’s a good deal, there is also a package Disney is going to offer that will contain ESPN+, Hulu with ads, and Disney+ itself.

Disney+ will have many franchises from Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel Cinematic Universe, National Geographic, and Disney itself. Their platform will feature categories like live-action series including Marvel’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Loki. There will also be animated series like Monster At Work and Star Wars: The Clone Wars Disney+ will also feature new feature-length original films like a live-action version of Lady and the Tramp, Noelle, and Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe. It will also have documentaries covering many of their works such as Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2, Magic of Animal Kingdom, and Marvel’s Hero Project.

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Disney+ subscribers will also have access to shows that are no longer airing on the Disney Channel, including That’s So Raven, DuckTales, and Kim Possible. And because Disney recently acquired Fox, Disney+ will also feature shows like The Simpsons and Malcolm in the Middle. Disney+ will also have their classic films in this platform with titles like Finding Nemo, Wall-E, and all of the Star Wars movies. Some shows/movies known to come out as soon as Disney+ launches are: Bambi, High School Musical: The Series, Boy Meets World, Iron Man, and Finding Dori.

When questioned about what he thinks about Disney+ shows, Senior Alex Tovar said “I’ve seen some shows they might put on there, they look fun and interesting to watch”.

Unlike Netflix where 5 total profiles can be made, on Disney+ a total of 7 profiles are available. Another advantage is that with no extra cost, fans can stream on up to 4 devices at the same time. Disney+ will allow for everything in their platform to be downloaded and streamed offline.

Disney content that used to be available on Netflix will disneyplus.com only be available for streaming on Disney+ to entice people to use the company’s new service. This may force some Marvel Cinematic Universe fans to jump ship.

Besides competition from Netflix, Disney+ will also have to contend with the release of AppleTV+, which is also set to debut in November. Apple’s streaming service will launch just 11 days before Disney+ on November 1, 2019. They will also be undercutting Disney+’s price by $2 making their subscription only $4.99 for a family plan.

Games announced at E3 convention available this fall Gegory Roque Staff Writer

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3 2019 had a shocking year. Companies such as Nintendo, Devolver Digital, PC Gaming, Microsoft, Bethesda,

Ubisoft, and Square Enix announced that they will be releasing new games.

Which included Super Smash Bros Ultimate where the fans will be given what they wanted with new character Banjo Kazooie, Animal Crossing: New Horizon, and a se-

Nintendo

quel to Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. Those are the top three games fans are most excited about. All of those will be released by Nintendo. Although a majority of games that were announced will not be launching until 2020. There are a few

Astral Chain: This is an action game that came out Aug. 30 developed by PlatinumGames and published by Nintendo. In this game, humanity is the last chance against an interdimensional invasion which is a special living weapon called the Legion. You play as a rookie officer who’s task force, neuron, your legion, and you

Nintendo

will work together to solve cases and save humankind.

The game will allow you to alternate several legion types and skills to save the world your way. Not only can you control 2 characters to fight 1 enemy you can use 2 characters to fight multiple enemies. This game offers unlockable costumes to your characters. The gameplay is a sci-fi adventure in the city to save the world from inter-dimensional aliens and cyborg robots.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening:

Nintendo Switch.

In this game, Link has washed ashore on a mysterious island with strange and colorful inhabitants. To escape the island link must collect magical instruments across the island awaken the wind fish. Explore numerous dungeons, riddled with tricks, traps, and enemies complete objectives in the all new Chamber Dungeons. Play mini-games and more.

Ghost Recon:

role of a special forces operative sent to the island to investigate a series of disturbances. You can customize your own ghost to look and play your own way with multiple classes and deep systems. If you plan to have a single-player mode, it won’t have human Al squadmates backing you up. Instead, your character will have a drone to help pull off feats like sync shots, in addition to other new gameplay features.

This is an action-adventure game that came out Sep. 20, developed by Nintendo EPD and Grezzo.

According to Nintendo, it has been 26 years since people played the game and now it’s finally reborn to a new platform from the Gameboy, to the deluxe Gameboy Color, now to the Ubisoft Paris

games that have already come out and some that will be releasing soon this fall. So don’t worry you will not have to wait long to get ahold of these exciting incoming games.

A best-selling video game,Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series is an upcoming online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Paris. It will be released Oct. 4, for Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC. This game is set as an open world environment called Aurora, a fictional island in the Pacific Ocean. The player takes on the

Life K STyle Fashion theory predicts comeback of the 2000s The Eagle’s Eye

Mylo Bissell Editor-In-Chief

alking through most stores nowadays you’re met with a parent saying, “I used to wear something like that.” This isn’t just them reliving their youth. The truth is a lot of style now comes from the 90s and 70s, this rebirth of trends goes back to something called the “20 year rule.”

The rule comes from James Laver’s Law of Fashion which states that: 10 years before it’s time the trend is “indecent,”one year before its “daring,” and once the trend finally arrives it’s “smart.” It states that the more a trend ages the more people like it, which becomes a catch 22 as most fashion is a call back to other time periods for the very reason that things become better with age. Vintage almost always becomes the style. Nowadays it’s common to hear people brag about having gotten their clothes at thrift stores for the purpose of wanting to look vintage.

Look at the popularity of Fila to consider the reality of this trend theory.

In the 90s, as tennis players and rappers began wearing Fila, we see it skyrocket to become the pinnacle of street fashion. As they enter the early 2000s, we start to stray from street wear causing Fila to have to sell a majority of their stock in 2003. They stayed as a brand that created chunky ugly and cheap sneakers until we get the 90s revival. 2018 sees Fila have its own fashion week runway at

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the peak of this resurgence. It takes the streetwear and dad sneaker trend and completely redefines the brand.

It only makes sense there’s a revival of the brand with the way the 90s have become popular again.

The Delia’s brand shared this fate. It was best known for their platform shoes, a defining feature in 90s fashion, and their cute pencil style skirts. They were huge among teens in the 90s but as the early 2000s hit they began to struggle, in the 70s revival began to die down. They got purchased by a larger company and had a steady decline in sales until they declare bankruptcy in 2014. Although, 90s fashion was slowly and surely making a comeback so they opened an online store and gain much success.

They are even featured on Dolls Kill, a website that focused on bringing in vintage inspired fashions as is what’s popular. On their sight, you’ll see DJ Tanner, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Baby Spice just about everywhere on their pages.

The 90s seem to have made a full come back in a post2010 era but now as we approach 2020 we seem to inch closer and closer to an early 2000s comeback. With TikTok trends and denim on denim, ala Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, we are getting more and more of these looks. Think of Anne Hathaway’s Oscars outfit in which she wore a red slip dress over boot cut jeans with sandals.

This style was emulated in an elevated manner by Maria Moscone at New York Fashion Week.

A lot of time on the Internet is spent making fun or

Courtesy of Dolls Kill and boohoo

September 30th, 2019 Page 16

reminiscing about the early 2000s and the 90s. It’s a type of nostalgia accessed by Gen Z that is truly unique and fashion seems to consistently capitalize on this. So grab your jelly shoes, tall tees, your cargo capris and forget your

Interview with an alumna: post high school life Hanniel Cruz Staff Writer

Haleigh Wagner is an Akins high school graduate who now works at a hair salon. We asked her some questions her journey to how she got to where she is now.

1 2

After high school, what were your plans?

I planned to attend college for communications.

What were some of your biggest challenges?

My biggest challenge after leaving college was working and making an income. I had to work in retail and didn’t enjoy it. I also had to live at home.

3

How did you overcome these?

I researched other options of what I could if I didn’t go back to college.

4

What made you decide to follow your new path?

5 6

Where did you see yourself in 5 years from now?

I chose to study cosmetology after always having an interest in hair, makeup, and fashion.

I wanted to have the ability to be creative and work with and help people.

I hope to be continuing my career as a stylist and growing my skills while also teaching and educating others.

Are you proud of your decisions?

It was very difficult to choose another route besides college and required a lot of hard work but I am very happy with where I am and how I have grown from those situations.

Courtesy of Haleigh Wagner

Haleigh Wagner, 24

Life K Style High schoolers views on social media platforms

The Eagle’s Eye Page 17 September 30th, 2019

Oscar Navarro Staff Writer

et’s talk about social media.

Some see it as a delightful distraction. Others see it as a dumpster fire.

Either way, it is an almost inescapable aspect of growing up and school life today. We asked Akins students to tell us what they thought of the highs and lows of the big four social media platforms in an online survey distributed across campus.

This survey polled 123 students of 2,763. A majority of which are Freshmen, 33.3%, followed by Seniors(26.4%),

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Sophomores(25%), and Juniors(16.3%).

The students were asked questioned on their preferences on Social Media, and any thoughts they had on it.

It’s agreed amongst Akins students that Social Media has its ups and downs, with 68.8% of polled answering to “Both” when asked how social media affected teenagers. When asked why, several terms/ideas were repeated among the replies: Socially engaging, addictive, cyberbullying, influential, and entertaining.

Social media allows teens to portray a good image of themselves, but it also subjects them to constant scrutinization.

-Jenna Thornton Senior 17

”

napchat sits on the throne of students’ social media use, with 39.9% polled, although Instagram sits very near.

Both Instagram and Snapchat take up 76.3% of students’ favorite platforms. Snapchat’s popularity seems to come from it being an alternative to texting, as it’s primarily used to communicate with friends along with sharing memes and videos.

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he popularity behind Instagram, which polled 36.6% for favorite platform, seems to be solely based on the memes, jokes, and videos originating on the platform. The network puts a focus on visual content targeted based on a person’s liking. This provides users with a solid source of entertainment.

Ash Catalan

In general, do you think social media is good or thing or a bad thing for teenagers?

6.4% 2.8%

Good

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hile being one of the more popular social media, Facebook finds its demographic in an older population. In Akins, 49.7% polled agreed upon it being their least favorite while only 4.2% polled selected it as their favorite. Of those who liked it, their reasoning is similar to why people like social media as a whole, a sense of community and entertainment.

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Both

22%

Bad

68.8%

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witter finds itself in an interesting role currently, as a melting pot of conflicting ideas as well as a vital part of politics and celebrity culture.

In fact, its part of the reason that the 8.4%, who listed Twitter as their favorite, was because of the drama that comes from it. “Everything’s a joke on Twitter and people always get their feelings hurt which makes it funnier” Senior Natalie Arzate-Nava Senior commented.

Neither

What social media do you prefer?

50

40

30

20

10

0

Snapchat

Instagram

Twitter

None

Other

Facebook

The Eagle’s Eye September 30, 2019

D Soaring on: Page 18

Photo essay

Saying goodbye to Sarah Simmons, Akins’ College and Career Advisor for nearly 10 years

Amora Arriaga

A Big THAnk you

Over the years graduates come back and show their appreciation to CCC counselor, Sarah Simmons.These are not only from students but also co-workers she’s influenced as well.

amora arriaga Photo Editor

A

fter nine years of helping students move on from Akins, Sarah Simmons is making a move of her own.

In mid-September, Simmons, the school’s college and career counselor since 2010, announced that she would be taking a new job with the College Advising Corps.

Simmons said her new job would allow her

to work for a national non-profit committed to college access for first-generation, underrepresented students.

“She helped me develop a better understanding of what colleges want and that really got me where I am now,” alumna Bethany Bissell said.

She has made an incredible impact on many of our students during the nine years she worked at Akins. As a counselor, she had the chance to meet and spend time

with each and every student on the path to college.

“Her passion for seeing her students succeed was amazing,” alumna Sana Naiyer said. “Mrs. Simmons was one of the most dedicated mentors during my time at Akins.”

From past to present, many students say they treasure memories of countless encounters shared with Simmons “When I was no longer a student at

Akins, she helped me fill out the FAFSA every year during my undergrad,” alum Yolonzo Moore, Class of 2011, said. “She brings out an excitement and energy that is unmatched.”

Bissell, who just started as a freshman at Louisiana State University, said she is excited for Simmons future.

“I think Simmons will be a good addition to their team,” she said.

Amora Arriaga

Dear ms.simmons,

Shayan Anjum was the first graduate that Ms.Simmons got a letter from during her first year here in 2011.In the letter he thanks her for all her help and telling her about the new opportunities he pursued.

Photo Essay

Page 19

The Eagle’s Eye September 30, 2019

Amora Arriaga

the other side

Graduates check in after high school with Simmons, letting her know where and what they’ve experienced so far.

Amora Arriaga

Keeping memories

Sarah Simmons has kept each and every card and letter thats been given to her by students. She has many unique stories to

Amora Arriaga

End of the road

Teachers and colleagues stop by to give out their last goodbyes.

All trying to provide help and comfort on her last day as an Akins Eagle.

Yolonzo moore

Akins class of 2011

“Ms. Simmons has made an impact on me more than she may realize. She helped me through the entire college application process step by step. When I was no longer a student at Akins, she helped me fill out the FAFSA every year during my undergrad. Sarah was always the first person I reached out to in regards to academics. She was the first person I told when I was accepted into graduate school.

She brings out an excitement and energy that is unmatched and she will truly be missed at Akins. As sad as I am to see her leave my alma mater, she is the most deserving person for her new journey. I graduated from Akins 8 years ago and every time I’m back in town, I try to make it a point to see Sarah. That shows the impact she has made on me.”

Amora Arriaga

A farewell

Journalism teacher David Doerr writes a letter of appreciation to Sarah Simmons during a farewell event.

Life K STyle

The Eagle’s Eye September 30th, 2019 Page 20

Best and Worst of the Vending Machine Bai Bubbles Bai Bubbles is unique in the fact that it’s a sparkling antioxidant infused drink, which means it’s made with coffee fruit and white tea extract along with natural fruit juices for flavor. The natural juices gives it a really nice taste that feels healthy. It’s quite the refreshing drink, as at its base is water. The feel of the drink is quite eccentric, a result of the carbonated water and natural juices.

Andrew Martinez ties: Taste, Thirst, and Texture.

Taste is based on the brands formula, such as the difference between Coke and Dr. Pepper.

Thirst is based on how refreshing a drink is, so the difference between water and coffee.

Texture is based on the way a drink feels, like the difference between Sprinkling Water and milk.

golden

Photos courtesy of Andrew Martinez

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Life & Style Editor

e reviewed the contents of the vending machine located in the green hall, upstairs, in order to give an accurate and efficient review of the drinks. Each brand was looked at, due to the different formulas, instead of comparing flavors.

These brands were then checked by three different quali-

Gatorade Zero Gatorade Zero gets the job done in terms of thirst but lacks in the other two departments. Of course, its primary goal is to provide refreshment towards someone after a workout. Both the texture and the taste are okay, although the Gatorade does get more bland the more you drink.

OK

Snapple Snapple isn’t an extraordinary drink, although it’s still decent. The taste for it actually isn’t an extraordinary drink, although it’s still decent. The taste for it actually differs a bit for the different flavors, as the green apple flavor isn’t very favorable. Albeit its fruit punch is pretty good. For thirst, it’s pretty average in terms of refreshment.

Approved

Canada Dry The best way to describe Canada Dry is doo doo water. It has a very pungent taste, that your mouth simply isn’t ready for.

Every sparkling water is pretty strong at first, despite the drink containing a very fuzzy texture, paired with carbonation.

Although, the taste alleviates after a couple of tries.

It’s pretty refreshing, but its taste and texture over shadow that. All in all, it’s a below average drink.

Rejected

Propel Water

Propel Water is nothing more than water with electrolytes. Think Gatorade without the colors, it also lacks any decent sweetener. In all accounts its average, it tastes like flavored water but worse, the refreshment is the same as Gatorade, and the tex-

OK

The Eagle’s Eye September 30th, 2019

SPORTS

Page 2

To ch Down Varsity football team aims to reset after difficult start Diego Gutierrez Sports Editor

hree losses and one win.

Having at least two losses at this point in the season has become a typical pattern for the Varsity Football team. It’s in the unenviable position of having to go head-to-head with two of the biggest powerhouses in Texas high school football: the Westlake Chaparrals and the Lake Travis Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers have won six state championships while Westlake has won a single state championship and produced two NFL championship-winning quarterbacks.

Meanwhile, Akins has made it to the playoffs twice in its 19-year history.

The Eagles have had a rough first 3 weeks, after starting off the season with a 47-0 trouncing of the Crockett Cougars.

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Star running back sophomore Nathan Davis, picked up right where he left off last season.

The team’s fortunes changed during their second game against the Cedar Creek Eagles, however, getting shut out in the second half after pulling within 3 points at the end of the second quarter. The game ended with a final score of 34-12 in favor of Cedar Creek.

Then there was the 58-7 loss against Westlake, and the 49-0 loss to Lake Travis.

Senior Marvette Smith said the varsity players knew they would face these kinds of challenges.

“There’s gonna be a test each week. It’s just going to prove how we should just grind it, grind it out each week, during practice,” he said. “And how we prove ourselves during the game, improving communication for both sides of the ball for sure.”

It would be easy for the team to lapse into a feeling of lost hope after facing such challenging teams, but the Eagles say they are still preparing mentally and physically for the challenge that lies ahead.

Senior Patrick Callahan said he believes the team can make a comeback.

“We’re getting it back, for sure, because we have to,” he said. “We still have a long season ahead.”

Senior nose guard Sergio Rey seemed to share that sentiment when speaking aobut the loss to Lake Travis.

“It’s almost like we’re going into a whole new season now,” Rey said.

Rey described it as a fresh start even with the extensive injuries to the defensive back core.

“I know at least for the defense and the DB’s, that in the defensive back kind of world, we’re down three guys,” Rey said.

“Three of our starters are out, but this next stretch of the season is winnable. Now we’re looking at it like OK. Now, what do we do?”

As the team heads into this next game with Del Valle, those new defensive starters are going to be put to the test.

The Eagles have a difficult stretch over the next four weeks if they want to make the playoffs. The mindset of the team seems to be just taking it week by week, game by game.

“They’re going to be really tough, going into Del Valle,” Rey said. “Del Valle is a good football team. They’re not some chumps. We can’t just throw them around.

We actually have to think about stuff and actually position well. We have to go through our fundamentals.”

Giovoni Aguilar contributed to this story.

Diego Gutierrez

Block for the runner

Varisty wide receivers Greg Borgeson and Antonio Lopez throw blocks for runningback Nate Davis on his way to the cedar creek endzone.

Davis’ ten yard scamper brought the Eagles within three points going into the half. Final Score 34-12 Cedar Creek.

SPORTS

Page 21

The Eagle’s Eye September 30th, 2019

Construction makes temporary pain for longterm gain Robert Ramos Staff Writer

he opening of the 2019 athletic season started with some temporary pain for what coaches and players hope will be long-term gain.

For many years, coaches and athletes have struggled with a weight-lifting room that is too small for the number of athletes who need to use it. But the recent bond issue approved by voters in 2017 allowed construction to move forward for a dedicated weight-training room that will give all athletes more opportunity to work out.

“Working out in a small weight room it gets really crowded and hot so easily,” football player Ryan Garcia said.

Wrestling Coach Roy Tambunga said the expansion will help improve access to training equipment.

“The athletes want to lift weights but since there are so many people in a small room they all can’t lift weights at the same time,” Tambunga said.

While coaches and athletes are focused on the long-term gain, some students said the construction is causing some problems. Students who have classes in the portables are typically getting to class one or two minutes late and have trouble getting to their busses at the end of the day.

Currently, students are forced to walk through a small gate that separates the portables from the rest of the school. A large number of students trying to fit through the gate going in both directions causes a bottleneck in the traffic flow, causing students to have wait to get through.

Students said they can’t wait until the construction is over so they can get to class on time.

“They should not make us go get a tardy pass if we are going only to the portables unless we are (more than) 5 minutes late,” sophomore Juan Pineda said.

“The construction is so annoying. I am so used to walking through the middle gate and catching my bus early,” Pineda said.

Despite this, Assistant football coach Tony Degelia said the construction is a much-need-

T

Robert Ramos

Concrete Construction COntinues

A constuction worker lifts a tub of cement onto his ladder to continue laying bricks. The new weight room is expected to be done around the start of the second smemester.

ed addition to the gym.

“We made adjustments to our small gym which has benefited the athletic department as well as our PE department,” he said.

“Athletic facilities increase the attendance of athletes, the participation of athletes and also helps as far as their ability,” Degelia said.

Garcia shared his sentiment.

“I do think it is worth the trouble because if we have two weight rooms then a lot of athletes will improve even more and everyone has a chance to work out,” Garcia said.

Akins staff familiarizes into their new roles as coaches Zachary Reyna Staff Writer

hile some teachers are adjusting to the routine of a new school year, some are preparing to take on a new role — coach.

In total, there are 12 new coaches at Akins. However, not all of these coaches fresh faces though. Most of them either taught or coached at Akins last year. They just have new roles.

There are four new head coaches, who were all previously assistant coaches: Nico Mingote - (Girl’s Soccer), Misty Lindsey, (Girl’s Track), Frankie Flores, (Cross Country) and Christina Jenschke (Tennis). There are also eight new assistant coaches to replace those that were promoted or left.

The new assistants for football are Brandon Green, Jerry De La Huerta, Nick Jefferson. Jermaine Ervin and Peter Gutierrez are new Boys Basketball assistant coaches.

Ruben Sarinana will serve as a new girls soccer assistant coach. Meanwhile Jason Koltz and Melinda Van Horn are serving as assis-

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tant tennis coaches.

The new tennis, football and cross country coaches had to start their new duties right at the beginning of the school year.

For Flores his change to become the top cross country coach, the change is relatively minor except for the additional responsibility. But for new assistant tennis coach Van Horn, the change is a big adjustment. She said she “fell into the role.”

“I think what primarily right now is just somebody that’s available Tuesdays and Thursdays after school,” she said. “Coach Jenschke, moved into the head coach position, and then was looking for someone to take the place of the assistant coach. So my availability, I think, is what got me the job.”

This is not a permanent position for Van Horn however who will be ceding her positon to coach Jason Koltz come spring semester.

“I just hope that the kids know that the staff is here to do whatever it takes to make sure that they have the opportunity to be out here getting better,” Van Horn said.

Diego Gutierrez

Counselor and coach

Assistant tennis coach Melinda Van Horn demonstrates a serve during a round of the “King of the Court Drill.” Van Horn is one of several staff members who are ajusting to new roles as coaches.

ADVERTISING

Pages 23 & 24 contain paid advertising provided by the Akins administration and not content created by The Eagle’s Eye staff.

Community

Join BPA for leadership experiences, contests Business Professionals of America (“BPA”) is a club for everybody. You don’t have to be a business major, nor do you have to take business courses, to participate.

We go to competitions; we go on field trips; we engage in community service. There are leadership possibilities at the campus, regional, state, and national levels (you can run for, and hold, officer positions). BPA provides college scholarships to qualified candidates who apply.

Membership in BPA is fun and educational; belonging to BPA looks

good on college applications, job applications, and résumés.

We meet Wednesdays during FIT in Room 263.

For further information, contact Mr. Berkowitz at stuart.berkowitz@ austinisd.org, or call 512-841-9950.

You can also call or e-mail Mr. Zapalac at chance.zapalac@austinisd.org, or 512-841-9790. You can also visit bpa. org or texasbpa.com

Theatre program raises money for two shows under production Did you know Akins Journey Theatre is producing two large scale shows right now at the same time?

Chemical Imbalance: A Jekyll & Hyde Play is opening in early November with three performances while Wizard of Oz the Musical is double casted (2 casts with different lead actors) because of all the talent and for the very first time at Akins HS we are performing a whopping six shows over two weekends in January!

More shows = more money and it will take us fundraising $10,000-$12,000 to be able to produce these 2 large shows.

If you wanted to donate some money along the way anything above $35 starts getting you tickets to a show and it’s tax deductible. So please check out our Vertical Raise website and share like crazy for all the kids that are in your classes everyday.

Thank you for sharing and showing your support of AJT! verticalraise.com/fundraiser/akins-theater-fundraiser

Like experiments; want colleg credit?

Interested in a career in vet tech, pharmacy tech, dental hygienist, nurse, doctor or being a veterinarian?

AP BIO is great preparation for college or many other tech jobs.

See Mrs. Woods in room 268 for more info.

Page 23 April 15, 2019

Corrections internship program offers training for job after Akins

Interested in a career in Corrections? Then join the Akins High School Correctional Services Internship (CSI) your senior year (by applying in January of your Junior year).

With a partnership with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, Akins students have the unique opportunity to go out to the Downtown Travis County Jail and the Travis County Correctional Complex in Del Valle to learn directly from current Correctional Officers.

The goal of the Correctional Services Internship is to have the student ready for a career in Corrections by the time they graduate. Students will learn handson skills and gain important knowledge about the Correctional Services Industry.

Upon completion, students will be career-ready with a professional portfolio that will include a professional résumé, five industry certifications, industry references, letters of recommendation from industry professionals, along with awards and accolades during the internship.

Check out our web page on the Akins High School website under the CTE Programs tab by clicking on Criminal Justice. Also, follow us on Twitter @AkinsCSI.

JKL plans free Buescher State Park camping trip for members Got nothing planned for the weekend of November 1st? Want a thrilling adventure? Well come on up to room 220 and join JKL and Green Teens in their upcoming camping trip to Buescher State Park. You’ll enjoy tons of fun activities on our ABSOLUTELY FREE trip like cycling, hiking, fishing, geocaching, pumpkin carving & watching mother nature at work in the woods. Before settling into your tent, learn about campfire cooking and enjoy some s’mores while stargazing. Now you might be asking- “Wow this seems awesome, how do I get in? All you have to do is come and participate in our JKL meetings on Mondays and Thursdays

after school. We can’t wait to see you!

For more information on this trip chat up one of those kids in the cool Just Keep Livin’ shirts or talk to our sponsors Ms. Mikolajek, Ms. Emerick or Mr. Stricklen.

You can also text on Remind or Twitter @akinsjkl.

community 10701 S. First St. Autin, TX 78748

Page 24 September 30, 2019 The Eagle’s Eye

NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID MAILED FROM ZIP CODE 78660 PERMIT NO. 16

Advertising Pages 23 & 24 contain paid advertising provided by the Akins administration and not content created by The Eagle’s Eye staff.

Contact faculty adviser David Doerr if you are interested in advertising in The Eagle’s Eye by sending an email to david.doerr@austinisd.org.

Principal’s Letter

PAYMENT PLAN IS ON-CAMPUS ONLY

Hindsight is:

Eagle Nation, It is my pleasure to welcome everyone back for another great year at Akins Early College High School. We are excited to have students back in our classrooms and hallways filling them with energy and enthusiasm.

It is our intent to help every student feel welcomed, connected, and a part of our Akins family. Our teachers spend numerous hours planning, collaborating, and creating activities for our students to engage in learning. We utilize Standards Based Grading on our campus in order to gauge our student’s knowledge and push for all to achieve mastery. We strive to challenge each and every student to grow in his or her own academic ability. Our commitment here at Akins is to ensure that every child is known, valued, and inspired to be college, career, and life ready, utilizing a strong partnership with teachers, parents, and our community.

Students you have done a fantastic job these last 5 weeks! Please remember to be present, communicate with us, make positive choices, and contribute respectfully to our Akins community.

Most of all, remember we love you and we are here to support you.

20- 20- 20

$

$

for a limited time

Tina Salazar In an effort to better serve you, please check our website for updates for coming events. We hope you will find our website helpful and informative. All of the information we send out via email can also be found there. You can also check Twitter for updates as well.

I am honored to serve as the principal of Akins Early College High School.

It is a privilege to be part of a community where parents, teachers, and students strive to build positive relationships that support academic and social growth.

WingsUP! Sincerely, Principal Tina Salazar

Student earns perfect math SAT score Senior Uchechi Asika took advantage of free SAT test prep from College Board and Khan Academy over the summer, putting in over 100 hours of study timee, and raising her SAT score 250 pointss.

She earned a perfect math score on the SAT and was only 30 points shy of a perfect score on the reading and writing portion.

$

Uchechi Asika

Y E A R B O O K Because we feel everyone should be able to have the option of owning THE 2020 Yearbook, we have broken down the payments into three equal parts. Reserve a copy of the yearbook by making your first payment of $20 by November 22 (Thanksgiving Break).

Submit your payment to Mr. Claes in RM. 221 Pay your second installment of $20 by March13 (Spring Break) and your final payment of $20 will be collected when you pick up your yearbook in May.

WHAT’S YOUR 20? • 20/20/20 • 2020 YEARBOOK • PAYMENTS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE