The Eagle's Eye, Issue 1, Volume 24

THE

EAGLE ’ S EYE

“Everything that concerns you”

SPECIAL ELECTION EDITION

Youth vote makes big impact on 2024 election season

READ OUR ELECTION COVERAGE ON PAGES 4, 7, 10-11, 12-13

News: Tax rate election could have big impact on budget

Teachers and students could suffer consequences without additional school funding | page 6

A&E: Chappell Roan’s popularity peaks year after album release

Pop star sets boundaries with fans that harass celebrities | page 15

EDITORS

Print

McKenna Capenter

Opinions

Ash Morris

Adrian Orduna

Ashlyn

Madison

Jasmine

Kairi Natal

SCHOOL EVENTS

HONORS

STAFF WRITERS

Dominic Arias

Silas Baker

Alex Enyart

Dean Knowlton

Isabella Estrada Lopez

Nadim Lama

Perla Ledesma

Robert Lockay

Alex Luna

Yanitzel Salazar

Melany Serrano

Kate Vargas Maya Warnham-Martinez

STAFF ARTISTS

The Eagle’s Eye is the official student newspaper of Akins High School. It is published six times a year, generally once per six weeks for the school’s students, staff and community.

The Eagle’s Eye is an open forum for student expression. The Eagle’s Eye is not reviewed by school administration prior to distribution, and the adviser will not act as a censor. Content represents the views of the student staff and not school officials.

The Eagle’s Eye will work to avoid bias and/or favoritism. We will strive to make our coverage and content meaningful, timely and interesting to our readers. Our articles will reflect our genuine objective of reporting news and will be held to a high standard of quality.

We will make every effort to avoid printing libel, obscenities, innuendo and material that threatens to disrupt the learning process or is an invasion of privacy. We will avoid electronic manipulation that alters the truth of a photograph.

Staff editorials represent the opinion of the editorial board arrived at by discussion and will not be bylined. Bylined articles are the opinion of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Eagle’s Eye staff or administration as a whole.

The Eagle’s Eye welcomes reader Input. Please send any letters, articles, comments, or corrections to akins.journalism@gmail.com or mail them to 10701

SSS closed because of vacancy

Eagle Time issues debated

More budget cuts ahead if tax rate increase is not approved

Votes add up to win

Students worry about safety

Latinos could have big influence

Akins students help others register to vote

Youth vote has big affect on Election 2024

Students attend Austin Film Festival Jujutsu Kaisen anime series comes to an end

Chappell Roan popularity peaks

Beetlejuice is back in business

Teacher enjoys musical career

Floral program blossoms under new teacher

Students show off style on campus with popular items

Varsity football team breaks losing streak

New head coaches take charge of four teams

Rock Climbing Club receives grant funds

media cleanse helps

focus on

The

Social worker vacancy causes concern Students

left with less access to social, emotional counseling

Ashlyn Rodriguez Copy Editor

For six weeks, students have faced a vacant Student Support Services (SSS) office, a special place on Akins campus where students have sought out various forms of help from a licensed clinical social worker since 2008.

The SSS office has been vacant since the end of last school year when the previous counselor left Akins to move to the Houston area.

Akins is the only high school in the Austin school district to employ a campus-based social worker focused on helping students with their mental health and helping them meet some other physical needs, including clothing, food, and school supplies.

For many students, SSS, which also utilized social work interns from the University of Texas, serves as a refuge for them to get the help they need to be successful at school.

A senior who has received help from the SSS in previous years, said they want to see the SSS position filled quickly because there are many students with unmet needs right now.

“I know there’s a lot of people that will have weekly meetups with them or daily, and then there’s also a lot of people that their first resort is (the SSS counselors). They really helped a lot of people” said a senior who asked to remain anonymous.

Principal Michael Herbin said the administration is working to hire a new SSS counselor as soon as possible. However, he said it has been a difficult position to fill because of the challenging nature of the job.

“We have the job posted. We’ve gone through the interview process, and we’ve actually recommended a few people for the job,” Herbin said.

Three different people were recommended for the job since May, but for one reason or another, once the job was offered, they weren’t able to accept it, Herbin said.

“You have to do the interviews, you have to submit the recommendation, then (Human Resources) has to process it,” he said. “And so by the time you do your first interview to the time that someone actually gets hired, it can take up to a month.”

Despite this currently being a problem, many students may not be aware of the lack of a counselor, and with no sign on the door to indicate the lack of social workers, a few students have gone to find the room empty, left to resolve their issues on their own.

“I know I’ve had my moments where I was, like, freaking out and all that stuff, and I needed to talk to the social workers or something like that, but there was no one there. Yeah, I had to just tough it out,” another senior said.

Students have said that it has been a difficult time at Akins to not have an SSS counselor as they have already dealt with school safety concerns and the stress of starting a new school year.

Although academy counselors are also trained to help students facing social and emotional crises, they have many other responsibilities, including dealing with stu-

Rodriguez

SSS HELP UNAVAILABLE

Students have expressed frustration that the Student Support Services office has been closed since the beginning of the school year. Campus administrators hope to hire a new SSS director soon.

It’s more important for me to have the right person than it is to just fill it with anyone.

— Michael Herbin Principal

dent schedules and making sure students are on track to graduate. These other responsibilities can reduce their availability to work with students who need mental health counseling, making them imperfect replacements for the SSS counselors.

“I feel like the counselors, yes, you can talk to them about it, but they won’t know as much that the SSS does, because they’re social services,” a senior said. “They know more of those things, while the counselors are mostly there for our academics and stuff. So I think we can help with the minimum, but they can’t reach the same point that the SSS did.”

Dr. Margarita Moreno, who is the campus head counselor, said academic counselors are not able to provide the level of support to students that the SSS office has provided in the past.

“We need student support services. We need a counselor that just works on social-emotional needs for students,”

she said. “They do a variety of things that we don’t have access to. They do the clothes and they do food cards. They do Thanksgiving turkeys, they do an incredible amount of extra things that go above just the support that academic counselors can offer.”

Jaime Garcia, Arts and Humanities Academy Counselor, also said that the SSS offers students more opportunities than the academy counselors are able to.

“I think that just the space that the SSS offered was a place for a student to go and quietly sit and have a moment to take a break. The SSS office offered students a quiet place, which I really loved for them.”

Despite the lack of a full-time social worker dedicated to students’ social-emotional and physical needs, administrators encourage students to seek out help from their academic counselors and other support staff on campus.

“They should definitely come to us,” Garcia said. “And if their counselor is not available, they need to seek out another counselor, one that’s here on campus. And we will do our best to accommodate their needs.”

As for the students who find themselves still needing support outside of their academy counselor, Akins does still have a few other resources for support, including the Communities in Schools staff, the Expect Respect counselor, and the Restorative Justice coordinator.

Despite the setbacks with finding a qualified social worker to take on the position, Herbin said he remains hopeful that someone will be able to fill the role within a month.

“It’s more important for me to have the right person than it is to just fill it with anyone,” Herbin said.

Ashlyn

Students adjust to new Eagle Time rules

Alex Enyart

FIRST MEETING

Braden Hawn leads a meeting of the Akins Rock Climbing Club for the first time this year on Sept. 25. This was the first day that clubs were allowed to meet after the administration set new rules regarding which teachers could host tutorials and club meetings during Eagle Time.

Alex Enyart Staff Writer

It turns out that offering high school students the opportunity to make their own choices about their education is a lot harder than it seems.

That’s what administrators and teachers discovered this year as they debated how to set rules for the 30-minute class period during the middle of the school day known as Eagle Time.

Since 2015, Akins has offered students a period known as Flexible Instruction Time during this time on most days except for Mondays when students attend an Advisory class, which is a homeroom assignment for students in each grade level. Students used to sign up to go to a FIT session using an online portal that enabled students to choose which teachers’ rooms they went to during the period. However, some students were also assigned to attend certain teachers’ tutoring sessions at this time for various reasons.

Because students were allowed to choose their FIT sessions, the program’s success has been mixed over the years. , especially since in-person classes resumed after the COVID-19 pandemic. While students have taken advantage of the opportunities provided by the FIT period — such as turning in missing work, attending tutorials, and getting involved in clubs and other competitive programs — other students chose less productive activities during this time.

Because of poor attendance and problems with students who left campus or hid in bathrooms during FIT, the administrators decided to make changes to the rules for this period, which is now known as Eagle Time.

Akins Principal Michael Herbin said on most days last school year, only about half of the students at Akins were actually signing up for a FIT session. Herbin said this created big safety problems, including

the difficulty it caused when trying to locate students during Eagle Time if they were not signing up for FIT sessions. When the contract for the online FIT portal ended last year it gave the administration an opportunity to rethink how the school handles Eagle Time and Flexible Instruction Time.

During the summer, the campus leadership team talked through several options and were considering a rotation schedule. Ultimately, there was not enough support for the system and many staff members expressed concern that the transitions between classes would be challenging with students going to a new place every day, said assistant principal Melinda Van Horn.

Using this feedback, the administration decided that it would be best for students to remain in advisory for the sake of consistency and to allow for the roll out of a written pass system that would initially only allow students to go to their core classes during Eagle Time.

“The goal is that if we can get most kids getting to their advisory on time and following directions, we can open up some flexibility and student choice,” Van Horn wrote in an email.

While the campus leadership team debated how to set up the rules and the pass system, students remained in their advisory classes for the first four weeks of the school year. During the fifth week of school, students were allowed to get passes from their core teachers to go to their classes for tutoring.

During the first week passes were allowed for core classes, students in elective classes or those who participated in extracurricular activities or club meetings during Eagle Time last year said they were concerned about the impact not being able to meet during the school day would have on their programs and student organization involvement. Some teachers said they felt like students were missing out on opportunities that they had last year because of the new rules about Eagle Time, which kept most students in their Advisory classes all week unless they had a pass to go to a

core class.

Clubs like the Gender-Sexuality Alliance and Academic UIL coaches were unable to meet with their members as they had done in previous years.

Computer science teacher Kyle Mueting, who coaches the campus UIL computer science team, said he was worried about his students falling behind other schools. Last year, he said he would meet on a weekly basis with his team, practicing and going over relevant concepts.

“But now we don’t have that time to meet during the school day, which is going to severely impact our ability to feel prepared for participation (in UIL competition),” Mueting said.

Mueting said the issues surrounding Eagle Time are complex and that he understands that not all students were taking advantage of the opportunities of the previous FIT system in a way that benefited their education.

However, after about a week of input from teachers and students, including an online petition to restore FIT, campus administrators said they would permit a test run of allowing non-core teachers to write passes to students to leave their Advisory classes to attend tutoring and other extracurricular activities during Eagle Time.

Van Horn said she hopes that the school can get to the point where it is offering lots of options for students during Eagle Time based on student needs and interests.

“Obviously, academics come first, so getting needed tutoring or extra time to complete assignments is our current focus,” she wrote. “We also want to start offering prep sessions for EOC, TSI, and AP/OnRamps as well as giving clubs and extracurriculars time to meet and practice.”

Van Horn said a successful Eagle Time period includes all students being in a classroom room by the time the bell rings with greater student participation in tutoring and extracurriculars.

“In a perfect world I’d love for a majority of students to be somewhere other than their advisory, as long as it’s not (off campus) or hiding in a restroom,” she wrote.

New tax rate election could increase funding District officials, teachers fear budget cuts if tax rate election fails

Madison Staman News Editor

Public schools in Austin have been underfunded for years, but now the issue is a full-blown crisis.

That’s what Austin ISD officials have said is the reason why it is calling for a tax rate increase election on the November ballot.

District offciials say they were forced to cut the budget this year because of a lack of funding from the state. So now the district is aking local taxpayers to pay a higher rate on property taxes up with is to raise property taxes so the district can collect more funding to pay its bills. If passed, the district pledges to “give more than 60 percent of employees a raise.” There are concerns that without the inflow of extra funding, more budget cuts will have to be made to AISD’s budget.

The first concern is the school district doesn’t know if it will be passed and cannot plan a budget without that information, so what will change within the schools is currently unavailable. There is still a chance that this tax rate election does not pass and AISD does not get additional funding. The effects of this new law not getting passed are still unknown.

Austin ISD school board trustee Lynn Boswell said possible cuts could include reducing teacher planning time for high school teachers, eliminating non-essential positions like librarians, and selling the district’s headquarters building. This worries teachers and students because if teachers are overworked their quality of teaching may falter.

However, because this is an election, nothing is confirmed yet.

We interviewed Michael Herbin, the current Akins principal, to which he told us that “the difference it would mean to Akins high school if it passes, or if it doesn’t pass, I really don’t know”.

The AISD budget usually has a draft around February so

current changes or issues will be discussed then. This time gap hopefully gives the school a chance to adequately plan for how this election will affect our spending. If the extra money is given, it allows AISD to decide where that money goes and how it will affect spending as a whole.

The other concern relates to the money that the school would get from this election and how it will be taxed. A percentage of all money raised will be sent to the state, so even if this passes Austin ISD won’t be able to use all of it.

This reduction on the money Austin ISD receives from its taxpayers is known as “recapture.”

This system requires the state to take what it considers to be excess revenue from property-wealthy districts and send it to those with low property values. The concern that some are having is that AISD wouldn’t be receiving all of this money.

Many Austin school officials and taxpayers have said that the “recapture” system penalizes Austin

ISD taxpayers unfairly as their tax dollars are not having the full impact on improving their local schools as much as they could without it.

Kevin Foster, School Board Vice President, said that a successful (tax rate election) would generate about $171 million in new revenue for Austin ISD. Of that $171 million, the district would keep only $41 million. The counterargument is that with the current funding situation, any additional money will keep the proposed budget cuts from hurting students and teachers even more than they already have this year.

Ken Zarifis, president of the local Education Austin educator union, said there is no other good option at the moment than to support the proposed tax rate increase. said “There’s really no other option when you have a state that refuses to invest in public education,” he said.

The Austin Council of Parent Teacher Associations hosted a Student Journalism Conference at

the Capitol in September in which student journalists heard presentations from experts on school finance and policy makers.

Trustee Boswell said she understands it can be frustrating for Austin taxpayers to want to approve a tax increase knowing that Austin ISD already sends more recapture funds back to the state than any other district. This is why she and members of the Austin PTAs often go to the Capital to advocate for more school funding from the state so school boards can pass local tax rate cuts.

Senior Symi Valenzuela, president of the Akins Student Council, said she hopes school funding can be increased for Akins because students and the campus as a whole has a lot of needs that are not being addressed.

“Compared to a lot of schools around us, we’re heavily underfunded,” she said.

The future of funding is in the hands of the voters, Herbin himself notes how “ the right to

vote is one of the most important rights that we have”. He explains that we fought for the right to vote and you should take advantage of the choice.

Alan Brooks, an English teacher and union steward for Education Austin at Akins,, said the “consequences for AISD will be dire” if the tax rate election fails. However, he said that Austin voters have a history of supporting bond issue and tax rate elections in the past. Brooks said Education Austin is “vehemently opposed” to getting rid of teachers’ planning periods. The last time this was proposed, they won the fight to keep planning periods.

“Losing planning periods would be very bad for teachers and students since we use that time to plan lessons, meet with other teachers, grade assessments, make copies, and create curriculum,” he said “Teachers already do a lot of unpaid work at home, and this would exacerbate that considerably.

Graphic from Austin ISD budget presentation

Individaul votes can decide elections

Young voters can demand change through political involvement

Every time an election is on the horizon, Americans often utter a dreaded phrase: “My vote doesn’t matter anyway.”

But it does. Claiming your vote doesn’t matter may be a clever trick to convince yourself that going through the effort to register, research, and turn out to the polls wouldn’t be worth it and that it’d be a waste of your time. Nevertheless, it’s still just a trick. And a dirty one, too. Your vote matters and it holds more value than just hoisting politicians in Washington, D.C. into positions of power.

A recent online survey by The Eagle’s Eye demonstrates this reluctance to vote with 63.3% responding that they do not plan to vote. It’s easy to envision your vote as a singular drop in a giant bucket of water. A drop that would hardly serve to raise the water level above the threshold needed for your candidate to win. However, only about half of eligible voters turned out for the last presidential election (66%) and many swing states were decided by less than a percent such as Georgia’s 49.5% to 49.3% — a percentage point difference of only 0.2. With such close polling, the non-voting population’s vote does matter.

Now, it can seem like a single vote doesn’t matter. Sure, you’re only one in 79 million Americans. However, your vote is a building block that can add up to enough votes to put a chosen candidate over the top. In isolation, it might feel like your vote doesn’t matter, but your vote is not alone. It stands together with the rest of the voting population; each individual’s vote lowers the threshold needed for their preferred candidate to win.

In Texas, this very phenomenon can be seen in effect through our state’s presidential votes throughout the past 24 years. In 2000, only 38% of the state voted for the Democratic Party. And yet, that percentage has slowly grown over time: 41.4% in 2012, 43.2% in 2016, and 46.5% in 2020. With the tendency for younger gener-

ations to lean left, a surge in youth voting might shift Texas from a Red state to a Purple one. But if you still think your individual vote won’t matter with the massive scale of the presidential elections, then try local. Only around 100,000 Austinites voted in the State House of Representatives election District 48, which includes where Akins is located. And there were only about 50,000 Austinites who voted in the races for the state senate districts 14 and 21, which cover the attendance area for Akins. While 100 voting-age Akins seniors probably wouldn’t cause a major shift in presidential results, they definitely could determine a close local election.

Local elections can even be more important than national ones. After all, most legislation that will affect you directly comes from the state. The national government only holds the powers directly enumerated in the Constitution. That means that the best way to see direct change is to vote in local elections. Another thing to consider is that a majority of voters are over the age of 50. In fact, only 15 percent of voters in the 2020 election were under 30. The politicians that represent us act

on the wishes of their voters. Because if they don’t they’ll lose their position in office. That’s the beauty of our democratic system. But none of that matters if you don’t vote. If you want the government to take action on the issues that affect you, you need to vote. If you want a representative to support you, it helps get their attention when you engage in the process and let your voice be heard through your vote.

And it’s very easy for politicians to ignore the current crippling economic situation which disproportionately affects the generation about to enter the workforce. The concerns of young people won’t be a priority for politicians if their voter base is composed of financially secure elderly Americans. So, if you want to help ensure your future post-college or trade school, it’d probably be in your best interest to make sure that politicians are acting to do just that.

On the other hand, politicians do see the youth as an untapped voter base that could help sway an election in their favor. After all, the youth vote helped Barack Obama win his 2008 presidential bid. And over the past 20 years as the Democratic Party has captured more and more of the youth vote it’s also seen its presidential candidates consistently win the popular vote — even

What is an editorial?

if they fail to win the electoral college. But, it’s not just Democrats that realize the power of the youth vote. Former President Donald Trump has been shifting more focus to the youth this election cycle. He’s made appearances with two popular influencers — Logan Paul and Adin Ross — and leaned into more pro-youth policy such as his opposition of the potential “TikTok ban.”

Vice President Kamala Harris has also been focused on campaigning for the youth vote. Along with posting TikTok videos as an alternative way to attract the youth, she’s also been utilizing social media trends to her advantage. Over the summer, Harris was able to align herself with the “Brat Summer” trend by virtue of an endorsement by the creator of Brat — Charli XCX.

The presidential candidates know your vote matters. They know that if they’re the one to get you to show up, they’ll drastically increase their chances of winning. But, the fact that they’re campaigning for the youth doesn’t mean they’ll fight for young people if they win. Again, they’re only obliged to fight for those who actually vote for them. They’ll only be motivated to fulfill their promises if young people are key to their victory.

Despite all this campaigning by current presidential candidates, the fervor over the youth vote is relatively new in the history of our nation. The 26th Amendment — which established the national minimum voting age at 18 — was only ratified in 1971. In other words, teenagers have not always had the right to vote.. It was fought for by the youth of yesterday. The youth of that era saw an injustice within the fact that while they could be drafted, they couldn’t vote. And so, they fought for their right to vote and — more importantly now — yours, and they got it.

The deadline to register to vote is today, Oct. 7. We encourage all eligible voters to go to the polls on Nov. 5 to let your voice be heard. Your vote matters.

The Eagle’s Eye editorial board decides the postions taken in the staff editorial. The editorial board consists of the paper’s top section editors for the print edition. Editorials are not given a byline because they represent 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 the position, majority rules so most opinions reflect the majority of the opinions of the board. Editorials do not purport to reprsent the official opinion of Akins Earlcy College High School administration.

Marcelo Print Samantha Online Kairi

Photo Ash Life & Style

Madison News

Adrian Graphic Ashlyn Copy

McKenna Opinion Jasmine A&E

Adrian Orduna

Students concerned about safety

Governor Abbott fails to provide funding for school security

School shootings have skyrocketed over the last 15 years. We are not even done with 2024 and there have been 144 shooting incidents resulting in 107 injuries and fatalities just this year alone, according to security. org.

In the most recent school shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia, four people were sadly killed, including two students and two teachers. How many more tragedies must occur until this problem has been dealt with? How are students able to sneak weapons on campus without anyone noticing?

Just last month an Akins student brought a firearm to campus and luckily another student reported it to the campus administration. According to an email sent to parents after school that day, the campus administration notified the School Resource Officer who then worked with Austin ISD Police officers to locate the student. Officers quickly located and arrested the student who was found to have a firearm, according to the email.

Details about the incident have been sparse, leaving some students and staff

confused and afraid. Students and teachers should not have to come to school constantly worried about the threats of school shootings. Many students may not know what happened on Aug. 29th because the school did not announce anything until school was over.

Some students, teachers, and parents have wondered why a “hold,” in which students and staff on campus are told not to move around until officials deem it safe, was never called that day. Even teachers don’t know the full story of what happened because there have been no meetings or communication about the incident since then.

Akins currently has vulnerabilities regarding school safety, including a lack of fences, and many entrances that are difficult to secure. A fence near the fine arts building and the gym has had a missing bar for at least two years, allowing students to leave campus and return later on the day. This can cause a serious risk since nobody would know what a student can come back with or smuggle inside the school.

Akins has been working on fixing and even implementing new fences on campus. In 2022, Austin ISD voters approved bond funding for a few construction projects that could improve campus security. This includes the addition of a secure vestibule, an interior screening area, at the main

entrance of the school, as well as high fencing and secure gates that would enclose the portables along with the main buildings of the campus. This would benefit our school, especially in the fenced area there’s a lack of fences at the portables everyone just drives inside our school to skip traffic, making it feel unsafe because anyone could just drive or even enter campus from one of the multiple entrances secured only by a locked door.

Even if we do get better security that won’t change the fact that any 18-yearold can legally buy a weapon.

— Nadim Lama Staff writer

lawmakers also approved a voucher program that would send public school dollars to private schools. When lawmakers objected to this proposal, no additional funding was approved and now many school districts are forced to cut their budgets even while their needs are increasing, including Austin ISD.

“The main reason for Texas’ school funding crisis is the legislature’s failure to increase the basic allotment during the 88th session,” says Raise Your Hands Texas.

Some critics have argued that the state hasn’t provided enough funding for campuses to make the necessary improvements to upgrade security to make students, staff, and parents feel safe on campus. They say the blame lies with state leaders who have not increased the pre-student basic allotment since 2019. During the legislative session in 2023, Gov. Abbott said he would not agree to sign a bill with increased school funding unless

These are the same lawmakers who would use school shootings as part of their speeches to get sympathy but then vote for less school funding. Besides providing additional funding, Abbott has also not supported other measures that could improve school safety like increasing from 18 to 21 the age at which people can buy assault rifles like the one used at the Uvalde school shooting tragedy in 2022.

First of all school shootings happen for many reasons but there’s always one key detail, I don’t know what goes in Abbott’s head but you need a gun to do that ergo the name school shooting. Not only are we having trouble with funding but our governor isn’t even focusing on one of the biggest problems with school shootings.

As a student, I can only hope we get better security. Even if we do get better security that won’t change the fact that any 18-year-old can legally buy a weapon. Abbott says he believes it is, unconstitutional to increase the minimum age to buy assault rifles, making any efforts by state lawmakers futile because he would likely veto any bills that would do so. This whole thing is so ridiculous. The way Abbott thinks about school funding and school safety is ridiculous. It’s infuriating how he and other lawmakers talk about wanting to stop school shootings, but then do nothing. Maybe you should do something about it, Mr. Abbott.

Ash Morris

Nadim Lama Staff Writer

Latinos have large potiential influence

America’s

largest population group has influence on 2024 election

Melany Serrano Staff Writer

While Latinos make up the second largest ethnic group in the United States with more than 62 million — or 19% of the population — they are known for having the lowest rates of voter turnout among all racial and ethnic groups.

Latinos are also underrepresented when it comes to political involvement in Texas, where they officially eclipsed non-Hispanic whites as the dominant ethnic group in the state. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos made up 40.2% of Texas’ population in 2022, while the non-Hispanic white share was 39.8%.

Latinos have influenced food, music, and even traditions throughout time. While driving through Austin, you will see countless taco places and Tex-Mex restaurants. Salsa, Rancheras, and Reggaeton can be heard playing as background music in shops or restaurants all over town. The whole month of September is dedicated to honoring Hispanic culture. Recently, we have seen Hispanic culture represented in TV shows and movies, including for cultural celebrations like Dia De Los Muertos.

Mexicans are the largest group of Latinos in the United States with 37.2 million individuals recorded in the 2021 census data. Meanwhile, the Venezuelan population grew the fastest between 2010 and 2021 by 169%, and Guatemalan and Dominican populations grew at a significant rate, too. In the early 1900s, Latinos were known to come to the United States for work or education opportunities. Even when the Latino population was much smaller than it is today, there were Latinos who had a great impact on American culture. Examples include Celia Cruz and Carolina Herrera, who were influential Venezuelan and Cuban individuals whose work influenced the music, fashion, and entertainment industries. Nowadays, Latinos come to the United States because of war, poverty and famine. However,the biggest reason Latinos come to the United States today is because of corrupt governments in their home countries. home countries.. Some have described the United States’ immigration and asylum systems as broken, making many immigrants feel unwanted during their

initial arrival. Today there are estimated to be millions of undocumented Latino immigrants in the United States because there are not accessible pathways to citizenship for these immigrants.

A requirement of eligibility to vote is that you need to be a U.S. citizen; You cannot just have status as a resident or someone seeking asylum. To vote, immigrants need a green card, and for many immigrants, this process may take 5-7 years if they are eligible to seek one. Then the naturalization process occurs after having your green card for at least 3 years. It would take an average immigrant at least eight years minimum for them to vote. That means Latinos who migrated between 2020 and 2024 would not be able to vote in the United States elections until 2032 if they are able to become citizens.

Nevertheless, the immigrant population was still quite big before the masses of immigrants who came in 2020. Second and third generations of Latinos have always existed in the United States, and they often voice the concerns of the immigrant community through their votes and political activism.

During the 2016 elections, an article published by Stanford Report discussed how 3,000 Latinos became eligible to vote daily. At the time, out of 27 million eligible Latino voters, it was expected that only 14 million would cast a vote. Yet there is a huge potential for Latino voters to increase their political power. The Pew Research Center estimates 36.2 million Latinos [would] be eligible to vote in the 2024 presidential elections, making them an influential demographic group for political candidates to target.

This explains why Democrats and Republicans want Latinos to vote for them, and how they are creating all types of promises, some economic-related and immigration-related so they can get some of those votes.

In the 2020 presidential elections, we noticed that both political parties had significant support from the Latino community.

A recent NBC News/Telemundo/CNBC poll, shows that Vice President Kamala Harris is leading former President Donald Trump among Latino voters. However, that advantage has declined to Democrats’ lowest level in the past four presidential cycles, according to the poll.

Harris has lost some support with Latinos at a time when Latino voters are more likely than the general electorate to cite the economy and the rising cost of living as top priorities. On both of these issues, Latino voters give Trump the advantage, but a majority of them prefer Harris on temperament, competency and having the necessary mental and physical health to be president.

Support for Harris is at 54% among registered Latino voters, according to the poll, while Trump gets 40% and another 6% say they’re unsure or wouldn’t vote.

The poll results show that Latino voters are not different from other ethnicities who are also looking for a better future. Most Latinos are looking for a better economy and financial stability.

The opportunity to earn a good living is our primary motivation, but each party’s platform has different issues, which are also important. Harris accepts that the immigration system is broken, and will try to fix that by securing the borders and making citizenship something to be earned. On the other hand, Trump is going for a more extreme totalitarian way, which is to practice the largest mass deportation ever seen. This could include the separation of parents and children, ending birthright citizenship, and forbidding public education to undocumented children.

As a Latino who is going through an immigration process, like myself, I can say

that the risk is great.

My future and the future of other Latinos are at the stake of power, greed, and promises, and there is no certainty that they will be respected and advocated for.

Latinos are a diverse group that has different experiences and viewpoints. They range from being citizens to being called illegal aliens, from being able to talk casually in English to experiencing huge language barriers,from publicly advocating for our people to suffering racism/xenophobia.

We are Latinos, we don’t just hesitate about every little thing. We left our home countries because of all the circumstances that our people are going through. We are fighters. We are fighters for a bright future for us and the next generations to come.

we are not so different from other ethnicities who are also looking for a better future here in the U.S.

— Melany Serrano Staff writer

Micaela Rodriguez

Austin Corps helps students register to vote Eligible students prepare for voting in November election

Kairi Natal Photo Editor

Every other year, the Akins Austin Corps program runs a voter registration drive on campus to help students over the hurdles of the voter registration process so they can exercise their civic duty on Election Day.

Social studies teacher Natalie Fontenot, who runs the Austin Corps program, coordinated the voter registration event on Sept. 17, which was National Voter Registration Day. About 50 students and staff members completed the paperwork to become a registered voter in time to vote in the Nov. 5 elections.

Texas does not have automatic or online voter registration, requiring potential voters to fill out a mail-in form or handing in their paper voter registration forms to a volunteer deputy registrars.

Fontenot said learning how to register to vote at school will help ease the process of voting becoming a regular practice.

“I didn’t witness my parents, or older siblings register to vote or go anywhere to vote. If you don’t grow up with it, I think it makes it more difficult to incorporate it into your adult life.” she said. “Practicing this or practicing any type of civic engagement in school is part of learning how to be a responsible adult. I think education is also about learning how to be a responsible citizen and resident of community. We are the ones who ultimately create the world we live in.”

Students complete forms to become registered voters on Sept. 17 as part of National Voter Registration Day. Students must be 18 before Nov. 5, which is Election Day to be an eligible voter.

Beth Vuyse, volunteer with the League of Womens Voters informing a student what they need to do to fully complete the registration.

Students learn from volunteer deputy registrar’s about the voting process as well as the necessary documents needed to register and cast a ballot on

Kairi Natal INFORMATIVE REGISTRATION

Kairi Natal ELECTION EDUCATION

Election Day.

Kairi Natal

PACKED HOUSE

PHOTO ESSAY

ROUNDING UP VOTERS

CIVIC DUTY

Kairi Natal

SENIOR SIGN UP

Senior Nathalie Castillo completes a form to become a registered voter ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

Kairi Natal

Senior Ryan Gable completes the voter registration form to be ready to vote in the Nov. 5 presidential elections.

Kairi Natal

Austin Corps teacher Natalie Fontenot directs her students to find eligible students for voter registration.

2024 election brings opportunites for big changes

The polices and plans for the primary

Marcelo Palacios EIC

As 2024 comes to a close, it will be a time for new beginnings and one of the biggest changes for the country will be a new president sworn into office on January 20, 2025. Either former President Donald Trump will be returning to the White House or Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as the first woman — and the first president of South Asian descent — will move up from Vice President to President. The campaigns of both major party candidates are in full swing as they focus on winning the seven battleground states needed to win the 270 electoral votes needed to become president.

While the news is dominated by reports about the candidates all the time during election years, it’s important to first understand the presidential election process, which is different than all other elections in the United States. Typically, campaigns start at least a year before the year of a presidential election.

In this case, President Joe Biden and Trump began the election process in 2023. For candidates to run for the presidency, they have to

presidential candidates

file a notice of their intention to run in the spring before election year. The next step is for the candidates to win the primary election for their respective political parties.

The primary election process is how candidates win the votes of delegates at their party’s national convention, where they officially nominate their candidate. The delegates in turn vote for their party’s nominee before the candidate is officially announced.

Each state holds primary elections for each party, forcing the candidates to campaign to win the votes of party members until they have amassed enough delegates to secure their nomination.

Once the presidential candidate has been nominated, they are empowered to select a running mate, who will become vice president if they win the election. The candidates of the major parties will travel throughout the country to win the popular vote in all 50 states. The candidates spend millions of dollars to air campaign ads, hold rallies, and send campaign staff to knock on doors to “Get Out the Vote.”

Finally, it comes down to the day of the election, which is always held on the first Tuesday of November, which falls on Nov. 5 this year. To become president, the candidates have to win the popular vote in enough states to win 270 electoral votes. Each state has a different number of electoral votes to award based on the population of the state. Most states award all of their electoral votes to the candidate that wins the most votes in their state.

The electoral votes are cast by party members who are pledged to represent their respective states at gatherings of what is known as the Electoral College. The electoral votes are then counted and certified by Congress in Washington, D.C. in January.

Because certain states are known for typically voting for Republican or Democratic party candidates in presidential elections, candidates typically focus their campaigning on socalled swing states, which have a pattern of changing which party wins the popular vote. This year, these battleground states are Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These are the states where

Trump and Harris are most heavily promoting the policies they plan to enact if they are elected president.

The Eagle’s Eye conducted an online survey to find out the policies of most concern for the people on campus. The three issues of most concern for the Akins community were Project 2025, abortion, and racial/ethnic inequality.

Project 2025: This is an initiative of the Heritage Foundation, a think tank that works to implement conservative policies and laws across the country.

The focus of Project 2025 is to be an extreme executive branch overhaul. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts has said the aim is to “be a corrective to the liberal nonsense that’s been so insidious inside the executive branch for the last half century.”

This project has four pillars, which consist of a policy plan, a personnel database, online academy, and a play book for the first 180 days in office.

Policy Plan: This pillar focuses on dismantling the administrative state and returning self-governance to the American people. This means a purge of the civil work force of tens of thousands of federal employees and replacing them with pre-vetted picks. The plan would effectively dismantle the Department of Homeland Security, eliminate the Department of Education entirely, and transform the FBI into a political task force accountable to the president.

This plan would also place federal agencies under direct presidential control. The president would end up being the one directing the activities of the Department of Justice, which has a long tradition of acting independently. This means that the president could prevent the Department of Justice from investigating the president if they are accused of breaking the law.

It also means taht the Department of Justice could be used to attack the president’s political enemies. The Heritage Foundation says it wants to ensure that what remains of this whittled down federal bureaucracy is conservative not just for the next president but for a long time to come. Personnel Database: This pillar is all about recruiting people to join in on the plan and pledge allegiance to the elected president.

Online Academy: This academy is a presidential academy that is made to train future bureaucrats in conservative values and governing. Project 2025 provides detailed policy plans for dozens of government agencies outlining ways to create abortion bans and diminish federal investment in renewable energy and reverse environmental regulations. Several sections are dedicated to consolidating United States immigration agencies and expanding their power. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Roberts said the next president will have to crack down on immigration.

Adrian Orduna

IN-DEPTH

“Number one we have to close the border,” he said in a video interview. “We do have to initiate the largest mass deportation project in the history of this country. The 12 million people who’ve come in as illegal aliens must be sent back to their native countries.”

First 180 days in office: The last pillar is a plan for the first 180 days in office. This plan is commonly referred to as Schedule F. This plan was made specifically for Trump. It was originally an executive order that Trump signed that would allow him to turn career civil servants into political appointees that he could fire at any point.

The Biden administration reversed this order, however, Trump stated that he would reinstate it if he were to be re-elected “First I will immediately reissue my 2020 executive order, restoring the president’s authority to remove rogue bureaucrats and I will wield that power very aggressively,” Trump said. There isn’t any limitation to the number of people who could be targeted using one of the many Project 2025 policies.

Harris has said she opposes Project 2025.

“I believe very strongly that the American people want a president who understands the importance of bringing us together knowing we have so much more in common than what separates us” during the presidential candidate debate in September.

workers, but while privately courting business leaders in June, he talked up the importance of high-skilled immigration.

If elected again, he has called for revoking the legal status of people that including Afghan refugees who have been allowed into the country for humanitarian reasons, he has also stated he would like to start revoking the student visas of people whom he called “radical anti-American and antisemitic foreigners.”

“Project 2025, but because it encompasses many of the other options in a single, terrible plan.”

When Trump mentioned Project 2025, he stated “I have nothing to do with Project 2025. That’s out there. I haven’t read it. I don’t want to read it, purposely. I’m not going to read it.”

While Trump says he doesn’t know anything about the development of the 900-page plus Project 2025, many of the authors of the document are individuals who have worked with Trump before.

What really matters though is how voters feel about Project 2025. An Akins teacher stated in a survey response “Project 2025, but because it encompasses many of the other options in a single, terrible plan.”

Abortion: The next big concern that was shown on The Eagle’s Eye survey was abortion. This is the first presidential election since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Roe V. Wade decision, which previously protected the right to an abortion in the United States. Trump nominated three conservative justices to the court when he was president and has said he is proud of the Dobbs decision in which these new justices joined with other conservatives on the nine-member court to strike down Roe. Trump has said that abortion issues should be settled at the state level while Harris has called for federal abortion rights.

When it comes to the candidate’s opinions on the issue, their answers are vastly different. Harris supports the right to an abortion and wants to prevent the states from banning the procedure.

Harris said she would like to enshrine protections of Roe v Wade in federal law.

“When I am president of the United States, I will sign a law restoring and protecting reproductive freedom in every state,” she said.

She has been a long-time supporter of women’s health rights even back when she was a senator when she sponsored a bill called the Women’s Health Protection Act that would have gone slightly further than Roe v Wade. The bill would prohibit some state-level restrictions such as requiring doctors to perform specific tests or to have hospital admitting privileges to provide abortions.

When it comes to Trumps polices on abortion things take a stark difference. Trump believes that abortion should be a state issue. He stated that if he is re-elected he would like states to be able to decide whether abortion should be restricted.

Racial/ethnic issues: When it comes to racial and ethnic issues in America the first thing that comes to mind for many is immigration. The country is hotly debating how to handle sudden influxes of immigrants, especially from Latin American countries where many residents have left to escape violence and political corruption.

Trump has made a crackdown on border security and immigration in general central to his campaign, going so far as to call using the military and local police to participate in a “mass deportation” effort.

Immigration: Trump has already tried to reduce legal immigration but Congress did not approve. He tried to limit United States citizens’ ability to sponsor relatives to become citizens along with increasing education and skill requirements to be eligible to immigrate. When he was president In 2019, Trump began denying permanent residency to immigrants said to likely require public assistance, a rule that disproportionately affected people from Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia. He also immensely limited H-1B visas for skilled

— Akins Teacher

Trump called for automatically giving green cards to foreign students who graduated from a U.S. college. However, his campaign quickly changed their minds, saying that only the “most skilled graduates” would be included and that their political ideologies would be vetted. His campaign also said he would expand a program from his first term to strip citizenship from naturalized immigrants whom he determined to be “criminals, terrorists and immigration cheats.”

Harris has taken a different approach, stating she supports “an earned pathway to citizenship.” She supports a bipartisan border security deal that failed to pass after Trump pushed Republicans to oppose it even though it was authored by some of their fellow conservative lawmakers.

In addition to paying for more border security personnel, the bill also would have provided 250,000 family and employment-based visas over five years and ensured green-card eligibility for the children of immigrants who are in the country on H-1B visas for highly skilled workers. It also would have enacted measures to reduce illegal border crossings.

Border Security: Harris has taken a tougher policy on immigration lately, stating that she would support support the bipartisan border security bill that would increase asylum officers and close the border if crossing reached an average of more than 5,000 migrants a day over the span of a week.

If re-elected, Trump said he will conduct a deportation operation that he has called the largest in American history. He plans to round up undocumented immigrants and detain them in camps while they await deportation, rely on a form of expulsion that doesn’t involve due process hearings, and deputize local police officers and National Guard troops from Republican-led states to carry out immigration raids. Trump said to Time magazine in April that he would aim to deport as many as 15 million to 20 million people — numbers that are equivalent to the population of New York State at the high end.

For an extended version with more survey results and responses from the online survey by The Eagle’s Eye, visit our website at akinseagleseye.com.

Jujustu Kaisen anime saga comes to an end

Isabella Estrada Staff Writer

Jujutsu Kaisen is a manga series created by Gege Akutami and is serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump. Serialization started on March 5th, 2018, while the anime adaptation was released in October 2020. On August 19th, 2024, Gege Akutami announced that Jujutsu Kaisen (JJK) would conclude in 5 chapters, ending on September 29th, 2024 in the USA; September 30th, 2024 in Japan. Fans worldwide were shocked by the sudden conclusion of their beloved series. How could Gege announce an ending so close when the story feels like there’s so much left to explore? Especially when the final arc feels so far from over.

The series is in its final battle between the Sorcerers of Tokyo Jujutsu High and Ryomen Sukuna, the king of curses. During the battle, we’ve had many shocking moments such as Gojo’s death and Nobara’s return. With these sudden moments happening in the final battle, of course, the conclusion shocked everyone. Many fans are saying

that Gege is rushing the ending and are hoping for a dark, brutal finale. While others are saying that as long as Gege is okay with the ending then they’ll accept it how it is.

The Eagles Eye sent out a survey to ask the campus how they feel about the ending, here’s what they had to say.

“I think that Jujutsu Kaisen was a severely wasted show. Gojo carried the whole thing, and I LIVED for the edits. Gege is so petty that he killed off his best-written character just because he pulled. It’s a good story but completely wasted on his selfish values.” -

Lee Ridings, sophomore

“It ended perfectly in my opinion, couldn’t ask for a better ending. I HATE GOJO” - Jonas Ortega, freshman

“I feel like it’s a tiny bit rushed, but it’s a pretty solid ending” - Lillian Mendez, senior However, Gege Akutami has revealed to make a ‘huge announcement’ with the final chapter, chapter 271. This ‘huge announcement’ has many fans believing that we will be getting a Jujutsu Kaisen Part 2 to continue the story at a later date and fill in the loose ends. However, other fans believe that the announcement could be a side story or

spin-off of the beloved series.

“I’m on and off about it, there’s always been false rumors and I could never believe them” - Aaliyah Oliver, junior “Gege said he said he wanted to do more, something “big” but that doesn’t mean it’s gonna be JJK. He said he wants to make 2-3 big works before retiring, and JJK is

already one. JJK ended perfectly and he shouldn’t have to make a pt 2.” - Jonas Ortega, freshman

Overall, fans are on the fence about Jujutsu Kaisen’s ending. Is Sukuna truly gone? Will Gojo come back in the final chapter? Is Kenjaku still running in Geto’s body? We’ll have to see when the final chapter releases.

Students experience Austin Film Festival

Staff Writer

Every year a select group of students from Akins are given the opportunity to screen some of the biggest films of the year, months before their theatrical release.

This October the Austin Film Festival returns for its 31st annual festival in downtown Austin. Since its inception in 1993, the festival has shown countless films and held several memorable panels. In past festivals, AFF has premiered award-winning films such as Spencer, The French Dispatch, The Whale, Saltburn, American Fiction and The Bikeriders. The festival is one of the largest events targeted towards film and television writers and has been advancing the careers of many up and coming filmmakers for years.

This is the first festival since the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes in 2023. Due to the strikes, many filmmakers and actors weren’t able to attend last year’s festival and promote their films, but now that the strikes are over, AFF should have a lot more to offer than they did in last year’s festival.

After making their debuts at the Austin Film Festival and other similar festivals like Toronto and Sundance, film critics often write about the screened films, generating buzz and excitement in the press and on social media.

I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to attend last year’s festival and it was one of the greatest

experiences of my life. I filled out an application and was given a free pass via the Young Filmmakers Scholarship Program. I took two days off of school and went downtown with Akins audio/video teacher Kyle Monk and a handful of other students. We spent the day going to different panels and in the evening, we went to the screenings of Saltburn, American Fiction, and The Bikeriders.

This year AFF is set to show The Piano Lesson, starring Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington, A Real Pain, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, The Room Next Door, starring Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, and John Turturro, The Brutalist, and many more.

AFF also has an exciting lineup of panels coming this year such as On The Last of Us: A Conversation with Craig

Mazin, On The Simpsons: A Conversation with Matt Selman, On Shogun: A Conversation with Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, Get The Greenlight: Financing Your Film. And that’s just the first two waves. There are still many more films and events that are yet to be announced.

The Austin Film Festival gives many people valuable insight and opportunities into a multitude of creative careers and pathways. Whether you’re a writer, director, editor, or producer, AFF has something to offer you. “AFF gives my students the opportunity to learn from the storytellers that create the media we love so much. From attending panels, interviews, and film screenings, AFF is the premier conference for storytellers from around the world - and our Eagle Filmmakers are there! Most of all, attending Austin Film Festival shows that creative careers are viable, valuable, and something to celebrate,” Monk said.

Personally, I couldn’t be more excited for the upcoming festival. They have a great selection of screenings and panels to choose from. “For me, it was a really great experience. It was my first time ever going, and I feel like I was opened to a lot more things about film, and I got to learn a lot more about it, and we got to do like writing conferences. It was overall really cool and fun,” sophomore Celeste Castilleja said. “Honestly, my favorite memory from every AFF is the same: getting to experience my students experiencing the festival and all it has to offer,” Monk said.

Silas Baker

Silas Baker

Lillian Mendez

Chappell Roan is the ‘Femininominon’

New upcoming artist gains popularity over the summer

Break-out artist Chappell Roan has amassed major popularity through her debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” which was released in September 2023 Roan started gaining popularity through touring with Olivia Rodrigo as an opener on her “GUTS” tour and Coachella performances.

In less than a year, Roan has become a major role model for young queer teenagers. Her music has made quite an impact on the queer community. Teens feel like they have someone to relate to since there aren’t that many queer role models from the rural parts of the Midwest. Many of her fans are drawn to her outfits and her catchy and unique songs. Roan built her brand on the flashy and campy outfits she wears while performing, which has set her apart from other musical artists. Roan and her stylist Genesis Webb have said they want to pay homage to queer tastemakers to bring attention in her stage wear to queer creative styles that have been appropriated throughout the ages without credit. Some of her more notable outfits have taken inspiration from Divine in the short film Pinkflamingos by John Waters and drag artists GOTTMIK and Violet Chachki. Her style was a pivotal aspect of her explosion in fame, setting the stage for her success. Roan is known for creating themes for her concerts that help her fans feel a part of the show. In an interview with People Magazine, Roan said “I think people like to party, and I think my project feels like a party.”

Although her style is very out there and in your face, her outfits hold a deeper meaning. Webb and Roan try to convey references to social and political movements as well as people who are important to the LGBTQ community. Her style and attitude are a main factor in why so many of her fans have fallen in love with her other than her catchy music. Although Chappell Roan’s fans love her there will always be some who take their adoration too far. Roan, like many celebrity artists who have rocketed to fame in a short period of time, has endured all sorts of bad behavior, leading her to

speak out publicly about it.

Some fans behave as if musical artists like her owe them something, often crossing major boundaries for the sake of meeting them. Roan has taken what some would call the unthinkable action of setting boundaries for her fan base.

Roan has spoken out about the dangerous and stalkerish tendencies some of her “fans” will display. She has released many statements about how she is uncomfortable with some of her fans’ actions on her Instagram and TikTok accounts. She released a statement saying “Please stop touching me. Please stop being weird to my family and friends. Please stop assuming things about me. There is always more to the story. I am scared and tired.”

The multiple statements Roan has made about her fans’ behavior have angered some, causing resentment for the sin of setting clear boundaries. Many of her fans and celebrities like Charli XCX, Katy Perry, and Billie Eilish reacted with major support for her actions.

Recently, at the Video Music Awards red carpet event, Roan cussed out a photographer who yelled profanities at her because she was taking too long to move her dress for a photo. In an Entertainment Tonight interview she talks about how the red carpet is scary for people with anxiety and she yelled back at the photographer because “They don’t get to yell at me like that.”

Her actions caused people to criticize her by saying she should be grateful that they wanted to take pictures of her. However, her defenders say it shouldn’t be normalized that fans and photographers are able to stalk and harass celebrities. In the same Entertainment tonight interview, Roan said that after she set clear boundaries with what she feels comfortable with, she has noticed a difference with her fan interactions, showing the value of speaking out publicly about the issue.

With Chappell Roan’s explosive start in the music industry she has shown great potential in the future and many people are wondering whats next.

Kairi Natal

Photo Editor

Beetlejuice is back in business After 32 years this classic movie character returns

Yanitzel Salazar Staff Writer

There is nothing quite like Beetlejuice — the character or the movie.

When the original Beetlejuice movie came out in 1988, audiences were treated to a macabre tale about death and love with a cast of oddball characters. Still, none were more over the top than the Beetlejuice character played by Michael Keaton.

The actor’s distinct gruff voice, slapstick humor, and gross-out gags made Beetlejuice an iconic character in the annals of movie-making history. And that says a lot for films directed by Tim Burton, who is also known for other classic morbid characters such as Edward Scissorhands, Sweeny Todd, and Jack from the Nightmare Before Christmas. Fans of the original Beetlejuice movie were excited yet nervous about how good a sequel would be for such a beloved film.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to the 1988 film, pays homage to what made the original so good while adding new characters and expanding on the lore and backstories of the charac ters that reside in the Netherworld where Beetlejuice dwells.

The new movie takes place in the same village and features many of the same actors from the original film while adding some new actors, like Jenna Ortega, who made a name for herself playing Wednesday in the Burton-directed Netflix series about the famous Addams Family character.

In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Burton remains loyal to the quirkiness of the original film, using the same old house and characters that long-time fans will appreciate.

There are some parallel storylines in the original and the sequel. Both begin with a dramatic life-altering event. In the origi nal, a wealthy family of artists and friends moves from the city to an unusual-looking house in a small village town. In the sequel, the story begins with the funeral of Lydia Deetz’s stepfather from the original film. Both films also center around familial relationship problems. In the original film, Lydia is a teenage outsider who doesn’t fit into the mainstream and expresses disgust with her parents. In the sequel, played by

Winona Ryder is dealing with relationship difficulties with her teenage daughter Astrid, played by Ortega. Astrid doesn’t believe in ghosts and thinks her mom is making up supernatural encounters for attention. It’s these relationship prob

with this one. His jokes are non-stop and never fail to tickle the funny bone.

Danny Davito makes an appearance in the film, playing a janitor who accidentally lets loose Beetlejuice’s ex-wife, De-

lores, the new villain of the sequel. At first, Delores is a dismembered body that then wakes and staples her body back together. This was easily my favorite scene in the movie. I just find it incredibly satisfying to watch as a viewer.

Another scene I enjoyed is when Delores sucked the soul out of the janitor, leaving him a lifeless sack of flesh. Although I did like her character, I feel like Burton could have done more with her because my eyes were blessed every time she came across the screen. Regarding her role in the plot, it felt like she was tossed aside as a reason for Beetlejuice to want to leave

Willam Dafoe plays the character Wolf Jackson, who was a famous actor before he died. Dafoe is also a scene stealer because he is a phenomenal actor, even though he is not the most exciting character in the

The Beetlejuice movie was filmed wonderfully. It consists of beautiful shots and scenery, and the props are fantastic, with incredible detail. The production team did a good job. I was impressed with the lighting effects, and I enjoyed the swift switches in colors in the Netherworlds areas, which are so well done.

My favorite scenic location in the entire movie is the corridor scenes, which are fantastically trippy and have excellent designs. The corridor has wavy, ocean-like checkered flooring and multiple doors going down each side of it, creating odd illusions. There are also all of these crazy disturbing scenes, such as when Bettlejuice’s guts explode right out of his stomach and when Betteljuice makes Lydia give birth to baby Betteljuce.

While there are some problems with the plotlines not being fully developed, the Beetlejuice sequel is a fun ride that will introduce the classic Beetlejuice characters to a whole new generation.

Adrian Orduna

Science teacher moonlights as a musician

Akins

Dean Knowlton Staff Writer

Most Akins students know Carlos Vanwees as a science teacher who teaches biology and environmental systems.

teacher shares his experiences in two bands

What many don’t know is that he is a multi-instrumentalist musician who plays live concerts with two Austin-based bands: the Steph Cash Band and Jac with no K. Working as a science teacher is not what motivated him to move to Austin. Instead, he wanted to live in the city known as the “Live Music Capital of the World” so he could get involved in the live music scene. Since moving to Austin in 2020, he has played with various bands and even gone on tour to play concerts in other cities. The Eagle’s Eye sat down for an interview with him to learn about his music career.

The Eagle’s Eye: So what is the name of the band you play in?

Carlos Vanwees:

The two main bands that I play in are Steph Cash Band. It’s a country band, and then the other band is Jac with no K.

EE: Oh, wow, oh, that’s actually kind of cool.

CV: Yeah, it’s clever. It’s confusing, but yeah, that is cool.

EE: What type of music do you play? Like, style?

CV: The Steph Cash band is country. It’s like typical country music, and then Jac with no K is kind of blues, Americana, like folky blues, kind of with a little indie in there.

EE: So, yeah, you enjoy it?

CV: Yeah, I love it. It’s part of the reason why I moved to Austin.

EE: How long have you been in the band, and how long have you been playing the instrument?

CV: I have been in the bands for about four years now, since I moved Austin right before COVID, and then obviously COVID closed everything down. And then after COVID is when I started playing with them. So yeah, about four years now. And then, how long have I played music? Started playing violin when I was five years old, pretty much my whole life.

EE: Do you use the violin as a fiddle?

CV: Yes. As a fiddle. that’s right. I play guitar. I played pedal steel. I play bass, mandolin, French horn.

EE: What do you enjoy about the band?

CV: What do I enjoy most about the band is

Carlos Vanwees plays guitar with a band called Jac with no K at a concert in Grand Rapids, Michigan at a concert two years ago.

just, I think, really, being on stage and like, just seeing people in the crowd, dancing and having fun just to have a good time. Like seeing, knowing that, we are, like the entertainment and really, just like providing that for them. It’s cool. It’s really cool. And the music too. It just those are the styles of music that I like personally. And the people. Those are my best friends.

EE: Where have you been for your because we heard you went on tour, right?

CV: Yes, I’ve been on tours up through the east coast, midwest. I’ve played in New York City, Manhattan, Philly, Pittsburgh, Michigan, Ohio, up there, played in Tennessee at Bonnaroo this past year, and the Country Music Awards, CMA festival. I’ve been to Mississippi. All over Texas. Just lots of different places.

EE: So you get to travel, like, a lot?

CV: I wouldn’t say a lot, a lot, but every now and then, yeah. Like, I’ll get to travel outside of the state and do bigger things, but a lot of it’s really centralized in like in Texas, between Austin, like San Antonio, Dallas.

EE: Are there any conflicts between being a teacher and a musician? So do they get in the way of each other?

CV: Not really as much as people think it would there every now and then I’ll have to take off work for gigs to travel. It’s mostly the out-of-town gigs that sometimes do, but those are mostly weekends. So if anything, it’s like a half day on a Friday or a Monday coming back. But not really, no, because most of the shows are on nights and week-

FIDDLE IN THE BAND

Carlos Vanwees plays fiddle in Steph Cash Band at the Saxon Pub in Austin. Vanwees, who teaches science classes, plays in two Austin bands.

ends. So it still manages to work with work schedule, so that’s nice yeah. I don’t sleep a lot.

EE: Does your band record music and put it on streaming services?

CV: Yes, we do. Both on both the bands that I play with are on Spotify and Apple Music and YouTube and all the other streaming services that exist that I don’t even know of. But yeah, they’re on Spotify and the big ones.

EE: What do you want to accomplish as a musician?

CV: I would just like to keep having it as a big part of my life. I would like to have played 10 of the bigger shows and things.

That’s always the goal is to get to that level. But I think realistically right now is just kind of keep doing what I’m doing, and keep getting my name out there as a musician.

EE: Would you ever want to be a musician full-time, if the opportunity happened?

CV: I enjoy teaching, but if the opportunity presents itself and it’s the right opportunity, then, yes, if it’s the right opportunity.

EE: How long would you want to keep on doing this? Would you want to play music forever?

CV: As long as I can, yeah. It’s definitely something I foresee always being in my life, yeah.

Eric Booth

Curtisy of Carlos Vanwees SWITCHING IT UP

Floral program blooms under Guerrero Students given opportunity to express creativity through flowers

Isabella Estrada Lopez Online A&E Editor

Lucero Guerrero-Saenz is a CTE Agriculture teacher, this is her first year in education. The Eagle’s Eye interview-wed Guerrero to learn about what goals and ideas she has for her students and what she hopes to accomplish for her first year at Akins.

Eagle’s Eye: What’s your occupation at the school?

Lucero Guerrero: I am a CTE agriculture teacher. I teach practicum, floral, advanced floral, horticulture, and principles of Ag.

EE: Have you been teaching before coming to this campus?

LG: This is my first time teaching, and I actually didn’t go to school to teach originally, so I’m brand new to everything this year.

EE: How was your first day here at Akins?

LG: My first day, I will say, was rough. I think only because I was expecting something a lot different. When I went to high school, I think that’s what my image of it was going to be, and things are a lot different. I’m starting to tell, I think because COVID had happened, and the energy is very different. When I was in high school, I would talk a lot. I love to talk. Our teacher would tell us to stop talking. Here, the energy is more please talk, you’re like begging for them to talk to each other. So it’s kind of difficult because the energy just wasn’t what I expected. I think at first, because I’m new to teaching, I took it a little bit personally. I was like “am I not being entertaining enough? Is it my content? Is my day that I planned out, spent so much time planning out not good enough?” So I think I brought myself down a little bit, but I think I just kind of realized, “Well, it’s the first day. Not everybody knows everyone, so we need some time to just kind of get to know each other.” And I realized throughout the day what worked best for me and for them to get them talking, was to go sit down with each group and just start up a conversation and have them spark a conversation for them to continue on their own. So the first day was a little rough for me because it was just brand new, but every day I learn something new, and it gets better.

EE: Do you have any expectations for Akins?

LG: Coming in, yes. I thought I was only going to be teaching one course for all of my periods. But every single period that I have is different, so that was kind of crazy to me. At first, I was like,wow, how am I going to do this? I’m doing it. I’m doing it every day. But it was definitely a challenge that I didn’t realize I was going to be facing. I was honestly just a little scared, because I had a friend who taught elementary school, and she was with AISD, and she didn’t receive assistance. It was her first year. She was having a really rough year, and I was just kind of under the impression that I wasn’t going to get the help that I needed. So I was a little scared about that, but then I learned very quickly throughout my training, before school started, that Akins has a really good community of teachers, and everybody is very supportive and more than willing to help, checking in on me and making sure that I am successful. So I think that there’s

FLOWER POWER

Lucero Guerrero took over as the floral design teacher at the beginning of the school year. In addition to involvement with FFA, she also runs the Akins Blooms program, which sells floral arrangements.

such a great, positive energy from all the teachers and staff here and even students.

EE: Are you part of any groups, organizations, or after-school programs?

LG: FFA, I’m a part of that. I will be sponsoring some teams, I think some LDE and CDE teams. But so far, that’s it, other than my practicum (class).

EE: What happens in these programs?

Coming up, we have TCYS, so we have students who are going to be raising animals. Me and Ms. Dorth, we’re going to be in charge of bunnies. We’re going out to a breeder and students that are interested and capable of raising bunnies, we’re going to be working alongside them. Then we’re going to take them out to go show in competition, and hopefully somebody gets some money from that. I think the CDE was Spanish Creed, and interviews they have, different competitions that the students can go out to. I’ll just be working alongside those students and sponsoring them throughout the whole competition.

EE: What do you do in your practicum?

LG: In my practicum, we run Akins Blooms, and that’s going to be an on-site flower shop, that we just started up. Today was the first day the girls started planning, they are taking it like an actual job. We are putting them through an application process, creating resumes, and this week, they’re

going to do interviews for positions. We also just started up their social media. We’re going to be selling floral arrangements and also providing some floral arrangements for different events, like homecoming, we’re gonna be selling mums. Lots of fun stuff is gonna go on in there, it’s kind of like a fully blown business run by my students.

EE: Why did you choose to teach this course?

LG: I’ve always been interested in horticulture and floral design, but since my pathway was animal science, I didn’t really get the opportunity to dive into that. But now I have the opportunity to put my whole heart into studying this kind of material and also teaching it, and it’s just fun. I get to connect with my students, with plants, with nature, and just kind of building up different projects with them. So that’s kind of why I love AG, like, everything about it, all the people who are in it. It’s just amazing to be part of such a great group of people.

EE: What are you excited to teach your students?

LG: Honestly, I’m most excited to just learn alongside them and teach floral arrangements. I’m excited to teach the creative aspect of it and see what they come up with, too. Because, you know, you have your own creative mind, but then you see everybody else start working, and then they do things that you wouldn’t even think of doing. So I’m really excited for that.

Isabella Estrada Lopez

Students show off style on campus

The Eagle’s Eye spots the trendy fashion choices at Akins

Maya Warnham-Martinez Staff Writer

As the 2024-2025 school year kicks off, Akins students are showing off their distinctive sense of style every day as they walk down the hallways.

Every item students wear from shoes to backpacks to accessories says something about their sense of fashion. Some students jump on the bandwagon and wear the trends while others emphasize their individuality and do their own thing when it comes to their clothing and accessories.

The Eagle’s Eye has made a list of the most common fashion trends seen around Akins so far this year.

New Balance Sneakers

New Balance sneakers have become popular on TikTok as a fashion statement, with their popular models including 574, 530, and 9060. Since then, it has become a trendy shoe, which some might find surprising considering that they are typically designed for the kind of comfort a middle-aged dad might prefer over flashier looks associated with youth culture. New Balanced even highlighted this in its 2019 ad campaign for the 990v5 sneaker, which included the slogan: “Worn by supermodels in London and dads in Ohio.”

The North Face Backpacks

One of the most commonly seen backpacks is The North Face Jester backpack. The North Face has always been a trendy brand for high school students because of its simple yet modern look in its branding and design. The North Face is an outdoor wear company known for designing high performance gear for hiking, skiing, and snowboarding. However, the company has loyal customers who like its street wear appeal because of hip-hop and urban trend setters. The North Face has also enjoyed endorsement from Instagram models like Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner.

Adidas Samba Sneakers

Adidas Sambas are a throwback shoe. They were originally popular in the 90s but have recently made a comeback. The cool thing about Sambas is the variety of colors and styles you can choose from.

The more commonly seen are the OG in either white or black. Some new exciting styles and collaborations are coming out soon so keep your eyes open.

The Samba’s vintage roots can be traced back to 1950s, but Adidas continued to refine and improve the Samba shoe over the years. In 1972, Adidas launched the Originals Samba as we know it today.

NORTH FACE STYLE

Sophomores Bella Luna, Francesca Bucco, Eliza Conner show off their The North Face backpacks. It’s one of the most popular backpacks on campus.

Off-the-shoulder shirts

Cutting the neckline off your shirts has become a popular DIY fashion trend, starting on TikTok. This can be a way to make your shirt more flattering and fashionable without spending any money. The shirts are normally some type of band tee or sports tee you can get from a thrift store. Typically, the shirt has a worn-out look to make it look vintage. This style has been popular for a while now, seen on runways and in street fashion because it gives a casual yet chic look.

Skirts have always been popular but have become more modernized as teens take over the trend. From tennis skirts to jean skirts there is always a way to style it. Skirts can come in various lengths and designs and can be personalized to suit individuals. Some commonly seen higher-end brands are Lululemon and Levis while more affordable brands like H&M and Forever21 have a good variety of options. Jean skirts offer a versatile look that can be dressed up or down. On the other hand, tennis skirts bring a sporty yet fashionable vibe.

Skirts

Maya Warnham-Martinez

The Eagle’s Eye

Varsity football team breaks losing streak

After two years of losses the Eagles win three games this year

Samantha Limon Sports Editor

The Akins Eagles football team finally broke the 26-game losing streak at their game against Cedar Creek High School on Sept. . That victory excited the school and football team, inspiring Eagles to wonder what’s possible this year.

Running back Dylan Cagle has been recognized for his outstanding performance, earning nominations for the Austin American-Statesman Player of the Week, Chevy Player of the Week, and KVUE Athlete of the Week awards.

When asked how he felt after being awarded three awards Cagel said “It feels like a huge blessing. It’s been amazing to finally get Akins some real recognition, and to have the team behind me with the support that they’ve given me. It’s the only reason why I’ve gotten it.”

Cagel also shared his thoughts on how winning has a psychological effect on the team.

“We’re not so negative in the locker room, And definitely, like, catching the wins was making us work harder because we realize it is possible and that Akins isn’t gonna lose forever,” he said.

When the Eagle’s Eye asked what the team needs to work on, Eloy Espresion, a team captain responded saying “The team needs to work on leadership, commu nication and taking accountability.”

When asked about the psycho logical effects on them from win ning Espresion said “It’s given us the feeling of what winning is like and that will only make us wanna win more.”

He also shared his thought on what he believes is different about this years varsity team compared to last years team.

“A lot more kids are coachable and listen to the coaches,” he said. “The kids last year did whatever they wanted, even though they were great football players they didn’t know what they were doing.”

Head football coach Joey Saxe was asked the same question.

“Yeah, you know, offensively, we’ve adopted a new system that, any time you adopt, a new offensive or defensive scheme, it takes a little bit of time to install, and, they’ve had, two years in that system to really work with it. So you’re really starting to see, you know, the fruition of that, where they’re putting a lot of points on the

Coach Saxe was asked if he believed there to be anything the team could improve on and he responded

“I think a lot of it is just, continuing to build on the culture that we’re trying to create here. It’s the way they treat each other, both on and off the field, really trying to create that sense of fellowship and brotherhood and just caring for each other, not just on the field, but off the field.”

Saxe also shares “Our kids come from so many different walks of life that I really want to make sure that football is a consistent and a positive for them, where they get excited to come they get excited to show up, they get excited to be around their teammates”

Saxe shared some words of encouragement for his

“You guys have been putting in so much hard work. You know, from the off season to summer to fall camp, everything that you’ve done has gotten you guys to this moment. So, continue to build off of that each day. In practice, bring your teammates with you, and this season is very very special, because you guys made it

Akins still has many district games left in the season to play, such as, Austin High, Bowie, Lake Travis and Del Valle.

As long as you’re bringing your best version of you every single day, a lot of great stuff is going to happen.

— Joey Saxe Head football coach

Lillian Crider

Running Back Dylan Cagle (22) celebrates with Jamarion Carter (74) after scoring another touchdown during the game against Cedar Creek High School.

Lillian Crider

New head coaches take charge of four teams

Samantha Limon Sports Editor

Welcome new coaches!

Akins is excited to welcome four new coaches this year, some who have been at Akins for years but have taken on new roles or are coming back to Akins after being away for some time.

Coaches are a crucial part of our athletic department. Head coaches have many responsibilities to manage beyond just that of the person in charge of calling the plays. Coaches oversee athlete training, safety as well as team finances. Coaches put in countless hours before school, during school and after school preparing their athletes for their competitions, completing all sorts of tasks, including handling trans-

Tony Degelia, Baseball Head Coach

EE: What are your team’s goals this season?

TD: “Team goals are going to be as a group, trying to create a culture of competing every day, and understanding that as a group of competitors, we will become more competitive on the field.”

portation, post-game meals and fundraising to pay for it all.

Before their sports’ season even begins, coaches are busy developing players skills and making decisions about which athletes will take on various positions on their teams.

And when it is finally time to hit the field or court to compete, head coaches are looked to by their players to provide that advice and inspiration to keep fighting even when things might not be going their way.

The Eagle’s Eye interviewed four new Akins head coaches to find out what they hope to accomplish with their teams and individual athletes.

Colin Drucker, Will Melendez, Andrew Copeland and Audrey Montoya contributed to this story.

MAKING THE TOUGH

CALLS

Coach Josh Brudnick helps the football team practice before their game against Northeast High School. Besides being an assistant football coach Brudnick is the head track coach.

EE: What brought/ has kept you at Akins?

TD: “I live about five miles away, and I moved south. I’m actually a South Austin person. I was

Nikki Gill, Softball Head Coach

EE: What are your team’s goals this season?

NG:” Our team goals this season are just to create a program that people want to be a part of and to have fun while playing the sport and gaining knowledge on the sport”

EE: What brought/ has kept you at Akins?

NG:” What brought me to Akins this year was the opportunity to be able to be a head coach and teach the class that I had a real passion for teaching “

EE: What is something

born and raised in South Austin. I’ve lived here my entire life, and I’m actually attached to South Austin for whatever reason. I don’t like going north of the river.”

EE: What is something you want your athletes to get out of the sport?

TD: “Get the kids to understand, hard work, determination, being able to deal with adversity because it’s about life. It’s not about baseball or athletics at all.”

you want your athletes to get out of the sport?

NG:” The most important lesson players learn is that being a part of something is a lot of fun and having a lot of chemistry makes it fun. If we all do things the right way and we all have the same goal, we could accomplish that goal.”

Caleb Calderon, Cross Country Head Coach

EE: What are your team’s goals this season?

CC:” goals for my team this season were is to compete at as a higher level than what we’ve been accustomed. To get our previous state qualifier, Ava, back to state, and then potentially get a couple more, including herself, but

Josh Brudnick Track Head Coach

EE: What are your team’s goals this season?

JB:” Get faster each meet and score more points at the district meet than the previous years”

EE: What brought/ has kept you at Akins?

JB” I like the closeness of our kids and community, I feel a connection with the South Austin kids, and

some guys as well.”

EE: What brought/has kept you at Akins?

CC:” I grew up here. I was pretty much raised though Akins, playing basketball, running track, so coming back and literally helping

obviously my wife works here, so I enjoy working with her, and I just like the direction that coach Saxe and the admin has for athletics and for school. I feel

out, you know, the community that raised me, and then giving back to the Cross Country Program that got me to college, basically, is something that’s really special for me”

EE: What is something you want your athletes to get out of the sport?

CC: “I would love for my athletes to take away that being able to compete in anything is an opportunity. To experience that opportunity with the abilities we build day in and out, especially in cross country.

like they care more about the full body development of a student, as opposed to just winning games, or they just care about the whole student.”

EE: What is something you want your athletes to get out of the sport?

JB:” Just that there’s no shortcuts to success, like if you want to achieve something. You’ve got to work hard on the people, you got to show up every day and you got to be a good human, and there’s really no shortcuts to winning.”

De’mari Featherstone

Rock Climbing Club receives $3,000 grant Money from grant will

Samantha Limon Sports Editor

In September, the Akins Rock Climbing Club received a $3,000 grant from the Austin Ed Fund to help fund its activities.

The Rock Climbing Club has existed for two years at Akins and so far has mostly relied on private donations to pay for its expenses, which includes passes to rock climbing gyms in Austin.

The Eagle’s Eye interviews Akins Rock Climbing club adviser Christopher Aguilar on the grant they received from Austin Ed Fund and more information about the club.

EE: What is the Akins Rock Climbing club?

CA: “It was started two years ago by a student here at Akins who was an avid rock climber, like she was all about rock climbing, she climbs at UT now, and so we started it. It was just to give Akins kids an opportunity to try something that they might not have done before. Many people might have heard of rock climbing, but a lot of people haven’t tried it before. It used to be we met during fit on Thursdays just to have like, a, like the social aspect of it, like the team building stuff. So we do little fun little games, and have me and just talk about stuff, and then we would climb at Crux every other Saturday morning.”

EE: What gym does the club use?

CA: “So Crux, there’s several in Austin. There’s there’s Austin bouldering product, Austin bouldering project, that’s the one that’s right by Westgate. We’ve been there a few times, but we spend most of our time at Crux. Crux is climbing gym is right by st Ed’s. And Crux has been good with us. We hadn’t started the club yet, It was more of an idea, and I think at the time, Crux was charging people $175 for a 10 day pass, and they were giving us the same pass for 100 bucks. So they were giving us a pretty good discount. So they have been helpful.”

EE: How much does it cost to join the club?

CA: “So when I’ve purchased before, I purchase 100 passes at a time, and they’re just purchased under the rock climbing account. So the Saturdays that we show up, the kids just give them their name, and it just comes out of the total amount of passes that we have. And the other thing that crux was super helpful about, if you just purchase a pass from crux, that pass just gets you in. It doesn’t get you the shoes or the chalk or anything like that. You have to pay extra for that, but they included it in our package. So we paid 100 bucks, which is less than normal, and that included the shoes and that’s been super helpful.”

EE: So what are some expenses that you have to run the club? And is that why you sought out the grant?

CA:” Yeah. So the main expense is just those passes, you know. So getting because, and again, they keep raising prices. I think a day pass, like if you just wanted to go for one day, I think it’s like 20 or 25, bucks, and it does not include shoes or anything like that. So it’s not super expensive, but it can be. It can be a problem for some of our kids, you know. so all the money that we’ve gotten and that we raised is to pay for those passes, which does include, again, the shoes

pay for club activities, gym passes

HANGING OUT

and the chalk we go to climb. Another thing that we have done in the past, we have had a party towards the end of the first semester, and so that money can help for some of those expenses too. Then at the end of the school year, we have like, one big last climb, and there’s a party that pays for pizza and stuff like that.”

EE: What is the source of the grant that you applied to?

CA: “It’s from Austin Ed Fund. That’s where my application process went through. Wasn’t a super long process and the questions, you know, obviously, “why do you want the money? Who’s going to benefit from the money? Where’s the money going to go? What’s the ultimate goal of the project?”” But yeah, the money is coming from Austin Ed Fund and that was four or five pages you had to go through.”

EE: Is this source of funding enough or will you need more?

CA: “Probably I would need to seek more. So the way that the club got started again, it’s been free. So we’ve been around for two years already, and it’s been free for the kids only because I’ve got at my old job, I worked with people that made a lot of money, and I was just calling them, and they were just writing checks, and they were just giving our club money. So it’s been free for the kids so far, but it’s been like out of pocket from just people who have wanted to help me out and that just wanted to help more kids. I heard about this opportunity. I

was like, well, let me try getting the grant. So when we go again, we’re just trying to get started this year, because not having fit has made it a little bit challenging to me. So and I figured this grant should last us this year for sure, and hopefully next year too, and then I’ll probably need

EE: Has there ever been issues with the

CA: “Well, yes and no, right? And that’s what I’m kind of excited about, because it was sort of being privately funded before I did have a sort of limited money, so we didn’t put a hard cap on that number. But I was always kind of concerned about if too many people sign up, we had a limited amount of money, so that kept us from maybe advertising more than we should have, because at one point we got to about 25 people, like the first year. So if I bought the 100 pass thing, we could only go as a club just four times, you know. So I did get a little concerned last year, we sort of dipped down in numbers a little bit, and again, I was a little concerned about trying to recruit more kids. But with this amount of money, we should be able to, like open it up, and I know kids have been putting posters around. So we are trying to recruit more. Now that Miss Van Horn just emailed saying that clubs can now meet during the advisory, we hadn’t been able to talk about things and figure out, okay how do we advertise more and get more people signed up for it?”

Marcelo Palacios contributed to this article.

Renzo Montgomery

Chet Marlow, who graduated last year, hangs on to the grips at Crux rocking climbing gym as part of the Rock Climbing Club’s visits last year.

Renzo Montgomery

LIFE HACKS

Social media detox helps people refocus in life

Kate Vargas Staff Writer

Today, society as a whole has a crippling addiction to online use and social media, setting back the development of the world and day-to-day life.

Social media has affected many, but for me personally it has setback my ability to get things done. School has always been very important to me, so when I realized that being on my phone,getting distracted on social media for hours on end, I knew it was time for a change.

Social media is a great source of entertainment, as well as a way for people to stay connected with their friends and what’s going on in the world. When I decided to delete my social media apps the decision was difficult at first for these reasons, and for a little while I did feel as though I was missing out, but after some time I realized that it wasn’t the end of the world and how much more time I had to get stuff done.

My time management abilities have continued to improve and I’m now getting assignments done quickly both at school and at home. With these assignments out of the way and anything else really I need to get done, I find myself with more time to relax, spend more time with my family, and not be in such a rush with everything.

The addiction to online use has not been confined to just me, others have struggled and continue to struggle with this too. In The New York Times article I was Addicted to My Smartphone, So I Switched to a Flip Phone for a Month, journalist Kashmir Hill explains her struggle with online usage and the drastic measures she took to help overcome it.

“I ditched my $1,300 IPhone for a $108 Orbic Journey - a flip phone,” Hill said.

Hill explains how much she disliked her phone usage, her constant need to check it, and how it took so much away from her life. For her New Year’s resolution Hill decided to make a change and remove the online distraction by purchasing a flip phone. Hill discusses her experience with

the switch and how the people in her life questioned her decision. She lists all the new ways she had to prepare for certain things that she once used her smartphone to do.

“Despite these challenges, I survived, even thrived during the month. It was a relief to unplug my brain from the internet on a regular basis and for hours at a time,” Hill said.

Although having a flip phone was inconvenient at times she adapted to it and goes on to say how she even did better when using it.

“So I do plan to return to my iPhone in 2024, but in grayscale and with more mindfulness about how I use it,” Hill said.

Like Kashmir Hill I plan to return to using social media, but at a time when I’ve gained a sense of self-control and am at a point where it doesn’t overpower my time. It seems like a big change but I believe it’s something that we’re all capable of and should do to better ourselves and the world’s focus.

Top 5 tips for a better school year

Perla Ledesma Staff Writer

Starting a new school year can be rough.

Students have a set of eight all-new classes, each with their own particular set of challenges, sometimes including the teachers who have different requirements and ways of doing things. It can be a difficult transition as students adjust to a long school day that sometimes feels like a fulltime work schedule.

As a junior, I feel the pressure now that I am in my third year of high school. However, I’ve picked up some tips I’d like to share with underclassmen to help them transition to the high school experience.

The following tips have helped me at the start of the school year.

1. Time management

One way to improve your time management is to have a personal schedule. A schedule can help you prioritize what is important, such as assignments and plans. This will help you be on top of things, less stressed, and also have some extra time.

2. The learning environment

You can help improve the learning environment by building positive relationships. This is important because having a positive relationship can lead to friendship or acquaintances which could help you when you are having trouble with a problem or are

confused. This is also important because an assignment may have to be done in group work or in pairs.

3. Start looking at careers

You should start looking for careers by seeing what you are interested in. To help you with picking a career, you can talk to friends and family, reflect on past jobs if you have any, and determine your goals.

4. Participation

You can participate more by paying attention in class. Paying attention in class is important because you learn important information that can later help you, like on a test or later in life. You can listen and when you don’t understand something, you can ask questions about the question to your

teacher.

5. Organization

You can be more organized by writing down when assignments are due, writing things down as soon you hear them, adding papers to folders, and more. Being organized is important because it will help you know where things are, which saves time.

Adrian Orduna

10701 S. First St. Autin, TX 78748

Page 24

Oct. 7, 2024

The Eagle’s Eye

Community

Advertising

Page 24 contains paid advertising provided by the 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. Send email inquries to david.doerr@austinisd.org.

Principal’s Letter

Dear Akins Eagles,

As we stand on the threshold of a new school year, I am filled with excitement and optimism. I must say it is great to be back for another amazing year at Akins Early College High School! I hope you all had a refreshing summer, filled with adventures and moments of joy with friends and family.

This year promises to be an incredible journey of growth, learning, and discovery. Our dedicated staff has been hard at work preparing for your return, and we have many exciting programs, activities, and opportunities lined up just for you. Whether you are a returning student or new to our Akins family, I encourage you to embrace all that this year has to offer.

As we dive into the curriculum, remember that education is not just about academics; it’s also about building connections, finding your passions, and becoming the best version of yourself. Take advantage of our resources, participate in our many campus based organizations, and support each other in this vibrant community.

I urge you to set personal goals this year, both academically and socially. Challenge yourselves, and don’t hesitate to reach out to your teachers and peers for support. Together, we can create an

Football

Michael Herbin

environment where everyone feels valued and inspired.

Let’s make this school year one of achievement, camaraderie, and pride. I look forward to seeing your smiles in the halls and celebrating all the wonderful things you will accomplish.

Here’s to a fantastic school year ahead!

Warm regards,

Michael Herbin Principal Akins Early College High School

cleans up on Saturdays

One Saturday a month varsity football players participate in a community service project called “All IN Saturdays” or “Selfless Saturdays.” Coach Joey Saxe says it has nothing to do with football but everything to do with making our school better. On Saturday, Sept. 27, athletes showed up and picked up trash around the entire school and did a lot of yardwork outside.