The Eagles Eye, Issue 3, Volume 23

Editors School Events

Mark Lomas Co-Editor In Chief Diego Hernandez Co-Editor In Chief

Ashley Caceres News editor

Samantha Limon Entertainment editor

Adamaris Olivares Sports editor

kairi Natal photo editor

Rudy Morales Opinions Editor

Marcelo palacios entertainment editor

Em pelt copy editor ely rodriguez Graphics editor

Staff Writers

Honors

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 South First Street Austin, Texas 78748 ir drop them off in room 223 with advisor David Doerr or an editor. Letters must be signed, and emailed letters will require verification before publication. We will not necessarily publish all letters received and reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. The

Counselors warn of grooming concerns

Recent

incidents highlight the dangers of inappropriate relationships

“Maybe that’s a hug that lasts just a little too long or a lot of pats on the back,” Kozel said. “And then maybe it’s doing things that make us feel gross and yucky when we’re talking about them like sitting on laps or things.”

Something that seems innocent at first can quickly become a terrible violation of the trust of a minor with an adult.

This is the sad truth that the Akins community discovered on Dec. 8, when Akins Principal Michael Herbin sent out a letter to the Akins family stating that a tutor had been arrested on a charge of indecency with a child by contact, related to an incident that happened on campus in October.

Incidents of so-called “grooming” behavior are more common than some realize. One in nine girls and one in 20 under-aged boys are survivors of sexual abuse and or assault, according to Rainn.org. Those statistics include children who experienced grooming.

Student Support Services counselor Meg Kozel explained that students should be aware of the common red flags that adult groomers use to take advantage of minors. She referred to an article written by Anissa Munzo titled “Grooming: the signs,” published by the Center for Child Protection.

The article explained that “grooming is a process by which offenders gradually draw victims into sexual relationships and maintain that relationship in secrecy.”

She also explained that grooming is often the beginning stage of sexual abuse. Where things can become cloudy is when victims are made to feel confused, or at fault for their behavior with the abuser. She notes that statistically people who are abused by someone they know such as family or trusted adults.

“Sometimes we have this idea of the groomer you know, like someone who someone met on the Internet, which is definitely a reality right?

Kozel also said that groomers will be touchy in inappropriate ways and then say it was an accident. Another sign of grooming that is important for teens to watch out for is adults offering to supply illegal substances whether that is drugs, alcohol or vapes. Students should also be concerned if an adult sends them memes or messages with sexual connotations while telling their victim to not tell anyone.

According to a police affidavit, the grooming incident at Akins occurred on Oct. 25. The mother of a 14-yearold at Akins student reported to the police that her child was touched inappropriately by Xavier Smith, a 28-yearold tutor at Akins. Smith was hired through a third-party college readiness program. The tutor was terminated on the same day the report was made of child indecency. Smith had offered to buy the student underwear and had also offered shoes. Smith would tell the student to stay back in the computer lab once all the other students left and would inappropriately touch the student over their clothes.

Akins is not the only school with this problem.

Another grooming incident was recently reported in nearby Kyle after Danielle Elizabeth Dunn, a Hays High School clerk was taken into custody to follow in an investigation on Jan. 25. A report was filed on Jan. 21 that accused Dunn of being involved in a relationship with a Hays student.

“Some red flags are like gradually pushing boundaries”

-Social Worker Meg Kozel

But more often than not, it’s someone who already had access to that child or teen, Kozel said.”

Kozel said students should consider a variety of behaviors as red flags, including special attention such as spending more time with the victim, giving gifts in exchange for specific things, isolation from friends, and undermining relationships.

Kozel said students should be wary of any adult who engages in these kinds of behaviors around a minor or says things like “They don’t know you like I do.”

The grooming behavior can be subtle at first and hard to spot, but those are probably the most important to look out for because they are the foundation for the abuse to intensify, she said. Eventually, the groomer will push or cross normal personal boundaries.

Dunn turned herself in on Jan. 25, when she was charged with a second-degree felony of an inappropriate relationship with a student. She was also charged with a third-degree felony for child grooming. This investigation is still ongoing with the Kyle Police Department.

When asked what someone should do if they are in a situation like this Kozel said that students should tell a trusted adult as soon as possible. Whether that person at Akins like the student support services office, counselor, administrator, or more personnel like a parent or caregiver who can contact the proper authorities.

Kozel also explained that it is understandable for victims to be afraid to speak up.

“You have done nothing wrong in this situation. Often people who are groomed or who are survivors of sexual abuse are made to feel like and that’s kind of part of the grooming process,” she said. “Part of that process is to get the victim to feel that no one will understand them but also to make victims believe this is their fault in a way. To the people who are too afraid to speak up, I would just remind you that those lies you’ve been fed are not true, there are people who truly care about you and can truly help you and it doesn’t have to go on forever.”

GROOMING WARNING SIGNS YOU SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR

◊ Victim selection: this is where the abuser selects an “easy” target.

◊ Isolating victim: separating the victim from others to get “privacy”

◊ Creating trust: To gain trust they create “secrets”, give gifts and other things to make them “happy”

Courts restrict access to birth control

Akins student promotes safe sex by providing condoms to students

morgan messer

staff writer

As teens grow into young adults, access to contraceptives is one of many problems they face as they begin to have sexual relationships.

Teens who want to practice safe sex will encounter the responsibilities and trials that come with adulthood. This includes taking responsibility for their hygiene and sexual health. In the last year, it has become even more challenging for minors to access contraceptives from Title X clinics, which provide a range of family planning and preventive health services. In addition to family planning services, Title X clinics also provide essential preventive health services that benefit reproductive health.

According to an article in the Texas Tribune, over the last 50 years, Republicans have tried to require Title X clinics to get parental consent before they prescribe birth control to adolescents. But federal appeals courts have repeatedly rejected those claims, pointing to Congress’ original mandate that clinics are required only to “encourage family participation … to the extent practical.”

In Texas, that makes Title X clinics unique. In virtually every other setting, teens must have parental consent to access contraception. However, a federal judge ruled in 2022 that Title X clinics “must encourage (under federal law) family participation and obtain (under Texas law) parental consent.” The court decision is currently being reviewed by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, but Title X clinics in Texas began requiring parental permission before they provided birth control to minors. Teens already receiving birth control through a Title X clinic lost access unless they could go back and get parental permission.

In a study published by the Guttmacher Institute, it was found that on average, adolescents’ use of birth control in various forms has stayed the same or increased over the last 18 years. However, condom use is less prevalent; the study shows that many teens are not using them as consistently as in years past due to the use of multiple methods for birth control. In fact, the implications detailed in the study quote directly: “Sexual health information and services must be available so that young people have the resources to make healthy and responsible choices for themselves and their partners.”

According to a survey of 1,500 caretakers given by Parents. com, society has become more open to teaching their children about various contraceptive practices — 70 percent of parents want better sex education for their kids. While the U.S. has seen a lower rate of teenage pregnancy, the drop in condom usage can also be attributed to the increase in STIs among the age group. According to experts at Planned Parenthood, no other form of birth control provides protection against STDs but the condom. This is not something to be ignored; as can be seen in our schools and courts, some people would rather teens have no such access to condoms or birth control.

Jonathan Mitchell (a conservative attorney representing

Alexander Deanda) urged judges to find that Texas’ parental consent code dictates how Title X programs work within the state, meaning that minors would not be able to access birth control or contraceptives of any kind without parental consent.

Furthermore, Texas has one of the highest birth rates in the country, and as recently as this year, according to a study by the University of Houston, teen pregnancy in Texas is increasing slightly for many groups. Hispanic women have been affected the most with rates among Texas’ Hispanic teens rising 1.2%, or an increase from 27.22 to 27.56 births per 1,000.

This can be attributed to many factors, one of these being the lack of access to clinics and hospitals in rural areas. As stated by the World Health Organization, “Restrictive laws and policies regarding [the] provision of contraceptives based on age [or marital status] pose an important barrier to the provision and uptake of contraceptives among adolescents.”

Many engage in sexual contact willingly, but statistics show that only one-fifth of teen pregnancies are intentional, meaning the vast majority of them are not. In addition to this, many adolescents are subjected to child sexual abuse, which is not a choice.

Taking a step back to look at the broader scope of how our students are affected, the Eagle’s Eye put out an anonymous survey. The responses showed that a majority of those surveyed are very concerned about this topic, and the serious consequences of being denied such access to healthcare. Overall, 85.7% of responders believe that over-the-counter contraceptives (condoms/spermicides) should be available at schools.

One student said: “Even though people say having contraceptives available to teens will make them have more sex, I think this is essentially a non-issue. Legislators and adults in general should be more concerned about safety, not abstinence and chastity.”

Another student wrote that birth control medication is used for more than just contraception, asserting that “Contraceptives can be used to balance hormones, reduce symptoms of endometriosis and other diseases, and mitigate debilitating period pains/PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder) — and even if they didn’t, and they were only used for sexual health, it would still be just as important.”

These sentiments were shared by other Akins students who said that sex is something that should not have such a high stigma surrounding it.

“If teens don’t have access to contraceptives, then the pregnancy rate will go up,” wrote a senior on the survey. “With the abortion ban in Texas and surrounding states, being a pregnant teen can be fatal. We can change these statistics by giving teens easy access to contraceptives.”

The Eagle’s Eye interviewed Raven Martin, an Akins senior who takes an active role in ending the stigma related to accessing contraceptives on campus.

Eagle’s Eye: Do you feel this affects our students?

Raven: Yes, students in high school are having sex without proper access to birth control and this could lead to a health

crisis.

EE: I’ve heard you have a unique perspective on this issue, can you tell me more about that?

Raven: I actually provide condoms to students, this way they can have a peer to come to and discreetly ask. Many students are aware of this and support me since our nurse station does not provide this service.

EE: How can people contact you?

Raven: I have an account where I post my prices and facts about sexual health. @condom.pimp on Instagram.

Raven Martin

FFA program teaches students life skills Students win awards, scholarships competing at stock shows

In January, Akins FFA members demonstrated the love and attention they put into raising animals by putting them on display as they competed in the Travis County Youth Show.

Akins FFA students brought home more than two dozen awards at the livestock show where they showed off sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits, and chickens that they raised themselves. Kayla Hughes, Akins agricultural science teacher and FFA Adviser, said her students were successful at the stock show after raising their animals since the summer.

FFA students are required to feed their animals twice a day, including on holidays, Hughes said.

“It builds a lot of responsibility and students really learn a lot about themselves because they have something else that relies on them for life,” she said. “It’s a big family in the barn and everyone is friends and builds a lot of comradery amongst students but also teaches a lot of responsibility.”

Hughes said raising animals for a stock show requires a lot of work, time and commitment.

“Those animals don’t have anyone else to take care of them,” she said. “So even when it’s freezing and school is closed they still have to come up with events and feed those animals. They are on strict diets with supplements to help them grow and gain muscle while also having an exercise program of being walked daily and building their muscle to be competitive at some of the shows.”

Hughes said she hopes her students are learning lessons about responsibility and communication through raising livestock animals.

“It’s not always sunshine and rainbows,” she said. “Sometimes it gets really hard because those animals get sick or pass away or have to be put down because they are so sick. So it teaches students a lot of grit and determination and working hard toward something while also understanding that agriculture is a necessity for life. And that eventually these animals are going to go into the food chain and help support the food industry.

Hughes said she thinks participating in FFA livestock shows helps students learn an appreciation for agriculture and where food comes from.

“Because agriculture is something that we oftentimes take for granted,” she said. “We take food for granted. Food availability in our grocery stores and it’s not a luxury that everyone gets to have beef, pork, and chicken right at the hands of everyone. So I think if anything I hope my students learn to love and appreciate agriculture and where their food comes from but I also hope that they take away the good, hard life skills it takes to raise livestock.”

Senior Amaris Maldonado, who won first place for a fine wool cross lamb and third place for medium wool sheep, said preparing for a stock show is a lot of work.

“It’s like having children, like little newborns,” she said. “These sheep and goats are just pampered. They even eat gourmet food. If something is going on with the animal we get them supplements and that is a lot of money, work, and time.”

Maldonado said they have to take their animals out for exercise every day.

“You walk them and run them and then after you still come in and physically work them to get them ready for the shows,” she said. “And then you still have to clean their pens, clean the barn, feed them, and water them and that’s with each animal you have.”

Maldonado said she doesn’t have free weekends.

“I’m here at the barn about three hours a day, maybe more. After school every day I come and work with them all until 7 or 8. So it’s a lot of dedication and time.”

She said she worked in the summer as a lifeguard to raise money to pay for her animals.

“They cost a lot. My first animal was $3,000 just for the animal, not all the extra fees including boarding and food,” she said. “I also got support from my parents.”

Senior Sarah Thomas, who won one first place for a Southdown Reserve goat, said the stock show gave her a glimpse of what it is like to work in the livestock industry. Raising animals has become a dominant part of her life, she said.

“For the past four years, it’s been my life actually,” she said. “Every day twice a day you come into the barn, feed your animals, work with them, run and walk them, and it’s kind of draining honestly,” she said. “You come in here and sometimes you want a day off but there are no days off when it comes to raising livestock, they’re actual living beings whose well-being is your responsibility.”

Thomas said that competing in youth stock shows is like operating a small business.

“Raising livestock is an entrepreneurship, in my opinion,” she said. “It’s all investment. So my parents gave me money

in freshman year 2020 to start off with purchasing a goat, and from there I sold him and the money we got back went into the next animal and it’s all a cycle from there.”

Thomas said it can be tough to say goodbye to their animals once they are sold at the stock shows.

“You’ll have all these experiences with the animals and you have this bond with your animals, they’ll be able to look back. And I told myself every year at our last show … I’m not going to cry when I give them up but I always do because, in the end, it’s my animal that I’ve raised since they were little. It really pays off in getting to see my animals getting big ribbons at the very end.”

Thomas said she has learned a wealth of information by participating in FFA.

“It’s not only raising livestock it’s also helping out other programs because they’re also affiliated with FFA. They helped me learn speaking skills. They help you with more hands-on skills you could take into other industries like welding or woodwork, and even food production. But it pretty much all comes down to agriculture. You’re always in agriculture, the world revolves around it.”

Lily Gonzalez, who has a Southdown sheep that was a Grand Champion and a Showmanship Finalist at the Travis County Youth Show, said involvement in FFA has had a lot of positive benefits.

“I want to become a livestock veterinarian. So by raising them, I get to learn all aspects of them and what goes with how to raise them. Then I also want to start my own Southdown sheep production business. So by starting out here in high school with just one animal, it helps me know what I need and what I want to look for when I start my own business.

Photo courtesy of Kayla Hughes award winning Goats FFA students pose with their award winning goats at the stock show competition where they demonstrate the progress they have made in raising their animals.

Lillian Graham StAFF WRITER

Cheer team qualifies for Nationals

Cheerleaders become first in history to make it to competition

because it was still football season and we had to do morning practices,” she said.

On Dec. 2, the Akins Varsity Cheer Team took center stage and won something to cheer about.

The team traveled to San Antonio to compete in the Universal Cheerleaders Association’s Southwest Regional Competition, winning a bid to compete in UCA’s national competition at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

It was the first time in Akins school history that the cheer team had a chance to go to a national competition. Sophomore Jennae Rojas said becoming a qualifying team was an amazing experience.

“It felt amazing, like a whole brick lifted off of us, but another one added but it felt like everything was worth it,” she said.

But unfortunately, because of a lack of funding, the Akins cheer team decided they would not be able to attend the national competition. Alyssa Alcala, the previous cheer coach left Akins in December, and Allison Larson, took over leading the program in December.

“To go to nationals, it was going to cost each family $1,600,” Larson said.

The team did try to have one fundraiser in December, but they simply ran out of time to raise the total amount of funds needed to take the whole team to Florida before the national competition in mid-February.

Senior Jillian Zamora said preparing for the qualifier competition took a lot of hard work and practice time.

“It took us around 2 months, and it was hard

Some cheerleaders expressed frustration that cheerleading is often misunderstood and not seen as an athletic sport.

“Some people don’t understand that it’s a sport, it’s not just something we do to look pretty,” Rojas said.

Even though the Akins cheer team wasn’t able to go to nationals, that was still a very emotional day for the Akins cheerleaders.

Senior Jayden Davilla, a captain on the cheer team said she has participated in cheerleading for more than 10 years.

“I have been cheering since I was 3. That day was the last day on the mat for me and it was very emotional,” she said.

Missing out on attending this year’s national competition was hard for the Akins cheer team, but members who will return to Akins next year have made a pact to qualify for nationals, again, next year by competing in more competitions and holding more fundraisers.

Another new achievement this year for the team was acquiring three new male members to compete with them at the competition, helping them to win their bid to nationals.

Davilla said the addition of the male cheerleaders was a big help this year.

“That is also the first year that we have had more than one boy on the team,” she said. “There was only one other boy in all Akins cheer history. And it started out as a joke and they actually really enjoyed cheer.”

Universal Cheerleading Assosiation

This competition is held yearly at Walt Disney.

For this trip to be reached each cheerleader would need to raise $1600.

This is a four-day long competition

photo courtesy of Alyssa Alcala Akins cheer team poses after qualifying at the UCA Southwest Regional Competition in San Antonio on Dec. 2, 2023.

janelle ponti staff writer

Adamaris Olivares kick off rally

Senior Michelle Sanchez and freshmen Veeda Valenzuela pop-off at the first rally.

Austin ISD funding hurt by voucher push

Public schools suffer as governor demands funds for private schools

Late last year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for a special session to pass a voucher bill, announcing that he would not sign any new increases to school funding without first passing legislation that would allow parents to use taxpayer dollars to pay for private school tuition.

One bill that was proposed during the special session would allow families to access $8,000 of taxpayer money to pay for private schools. Written by Republican Senator Brandon Creighton, the bill also allowed for teacher pay raises and increased public school funding. However, all of the bills that Texas lawmakers proposed during the fall special sessions failed to pass because a coalition of Democrats and rural Republican lawmakers do not support the idea of priavte school vouchers.

It’s not a secret that Texas public schools are severely underfunded; for example, San Antonio ISD considered closing down 20% of its schools. And here in Austin ISD, the school board passed a budget with a $52 million deficit to pay for teacher pay raises to avoid having teachers leave for better paying jobs elsewhere.

Public schools deserve to be funded, but the way the governor is holding increased school funding hostage just to get lawmakers to support vouchers is bad for everyone, especially students and school staff caught in the middle of this political fight.

We believe that vouchers aren’t necessary, as private schools do not need the extra help that public schools do. Public schools are more deserving of funds to help students access a better future. Taking away money from public schools causes many programs to make cut backs, removing opportunities

and support from students, including travel and competitions.

The governor’s proposal is to create socalled “Education Savings Accounts” would be used to redirect money to pay for private services that cannot be regulated. All of this money is being taken away from the public school system and stored in these funds, which will support unregulated spending. Instead of being able to use this money for in-school tutors that are way more needed in a public school, they are being used unfairly and given to those who may not need it as much as others. We believe public schools deserve more funding than private schools because there is more need.

According to a KUT article published in December, the latest estimates are that Austin ISD paid more than $900 million in recapture to the state last year — nearly 60% of all the property tax it collected. That left the district with about $10,500 per student

last year — $2,000 less than the average Texas school district.More than half of Austin ISD’s 73,000 students are considered economically disadvantaged. According to the KUT article in some schools, like Webb Middle School on Austin’s North East Side, almost every student comes from low-income families, and nearly 90% are Latino. However, some benefits come with vouchers. Their whole purpose is to help families give their children the opportunities and resources they will need to be successful. Vouchers will allow parents and guardians access thousands of dollars of taxpayer money. If the parents or guardians choose to take out their children from public schools, they will be allowed to access that money for the purpose of private schooling.

Chances are, Governor Abbott won’t give the public education system any more funding unless the voucher bill is passed. What we propose is for Abbott to give

public school districts, such as Austin ISD and San Antonio ISD, the proper funding first, to show how the public school system can still thrive with adequate funding. AISD only received about $10,500 per student, compared to the national average of $14,347 per student in 2021. After a few years, if the public schools don’t perform to the taxpayer’s expectations, then the state can pass Abbott’s voucher system.

However, Abbott is highly determined to pass this voucher bill, so the chances of passing a proposition like that aren’t high. Instead, as a second plan, we propose to fund schools adequately, but also implement a voucher system in just a few districts as a test run to see how it functions. Then, based on the results, the state can pass a bill on whether they want to implement a voucher system throughout the entire state. This solution would allow the possibility for future vouchers, as Abbott wants there to be, as well as finally give underfunded school districts the money they need to function properly. School vouchers should be the plan-B for funding school districts, not the other way around.

While Austin ISD continues to have issues with funding, vouchers have created conflicts with budgets and money within the district. The government has prioritized unecessary vouchers instead of prioritizing public school funding. The underfunding of the public schools within these districts has eliminated opportunities within clubs and organizations that could be useful to the involvement and education of the students within our district. In order for our students to succeed, we need to prioritize the funding of our public schools.

Texas is not prepared for climate change State relies too much on fossil fuels for power generation

Despite frigid winters, last year was the hottest average temperature in Texas history. However, state and Austin officials struggle to stop relying on energy generated by fossil fuels.

For decades, the Republican Party has controlled the Texas Legislature, and the impact of their conservative policies can be found in the oil fields and smoke-pouring power plants that continue to drive the state economy. While the United States and the rest of the world attempt to transition to renewable energy sources and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Texas stands as a stark holdout, downplaying and ignoring climate change concerns as harmful industries continue to stay in power here. The horrible winter storms in 2021 and 2022 caused about 500 deaths, according to reports from the Texas Department of State Health Services and reporting from the Texas Tribune. This past year, Texas (and the rest of the world) broke an unfortunate record for the hottest annual average temperature in recorded history at 68.6 degrees Fahrenheit. And while that’s dreadful enough news, it’s important to consider that these are averages that include the extreme cold temperatures that now plague Texas every winter as climate change worsens.

So what have state leaders done to prevent more tragic weather-related deaths in the future?

While it has worked to winterize its power stations successfully, it has also invested in more natural gas plants as a so-called precautionary measure against increased energy demand. While it could potentially solve the short-term issue of increased energy demand for heating, it fails to address the long-term issue of reducing the

emissions that cause such extreme weather events. It also doesn’t account for energy demands during the weeks if not months of searing triple-digit summer days, demanding nearly the entire state’s supply of electricity and thus burning even more natural gas to meet demand.

To me, this stands as a perfect example of the state’s backward approach to handling the climate crisis: using the cheapest methods possible to delay the issue while ignoring protests against their lackluster response. After decades of denying the existence of climate change, instead of supporting transitions to cleaner sources of energy, the State’s Laissez-faire approach has been to double down on fossil fuel plants and help to expand their presence in “solving” the issue of the volatile climate they’ve helped to create.

But even if the conservative state government hasn’t taken meaningful steps to reduce fossil fuel emissions, what of the more liberal local Austin government? The city

of Austin has been at the core of a shift to more liberal policies as the population rapidly grows from domestic migration from other major U.S. cities in the past five years. Since then, Austin has set a goal of reaching net zero emissions by the year 2040 as part of its Climate Equity Plan. However, even our city struggles to wean off of cheap fossil fuel energy during the recurring freezes and heat waves we’ve experienced this decade. This is partly the fault of the Electrical Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s independent grid operator, for its shortsighted emergency energy measure of creating incentives for power plants to hold auxiliary power in case of emergency demand. While this might seem good on paper, most power plants now output at a lower capacity, raising both the price of electricity and making the proposition to pull out of cheap plants, like the Fayette coal-fired power plant east of Austin, a difficult choice. It grows even more difficult when

city council members have to weigh customers of Austin Energy like ourselves growing displeased to see even higher price hikes for energy during periods of high demand when coal or natural gas could lower costs.

So what can be done about this? While no one person has a perfect non-disruptive plan to eliminate global warming, we can start by petitioning our current elected officials to prioritize legislation that reduces reliance on greenhouse gas emissions as well as turning out for local and state elections to choose officials that abide by the wishes of the people instead of powerful fossil fuel lobbyists.But what about the problems that are already here? No amount of incentives or technology short of capturing carbon or blotting out the sun will reduce the near-permanent damage already done to our climate and natural environment. Even the technologies I mentioned are either in such fledgling status they prove impractical or pose such risks to the natural ecosystems of

Earth that some scientists refuse to research them. The most practical solution for the time being is to advocate for the state and cities of Texas to allocate funds to purchase snow equipment and infrastructure to combat the deep freezes of January and February. One of the most tragic aspects of the 2021 and 2022 storms besides the unprepared power generators was that Texas lacked equipment like snow plows and road salt found in northern states to keep homes accessible, halting necessary aid until equipment could arrive from other states.

To sum it all up, it’d be wise to start expecting more freezing winters and blistering hot summers that arrive earlier every year from now on. This means everyone, especially the state and city of Austin, should prepare emergency supplies and snow equipment from colder states in case of snow that can cripple our unprepared infrastructure. It’d also benefit us all to register and vote for candidates who will listen to our demands.

Brandon wicken StAFF WRITER

Adrian Orduna

Online retail promotes overconsumption Low prices overshodow unethical working coditions

January and February are natural times for Americans to reflect on all the money they spent during the holiday season.

For some, it might feel like a financial hangover after a crazy shopping spree in which the thrill of getting a good deal made them spend more than they should have.

While our initial impulse to buy gifts for others during the holiday season is well-intentioned, there are some negative consequences to our addiction to online discount shopping that need to be evaluated.

According to the Census Bureau’s Monthly Retail Trade Report, Americans spent an estimated $531.8 billion in the retail sector in December 2022. That spending followed an estimated $486.2 billion spent in the same sector in November, adjusted for inflation, as the holiday season ramped up. Does all of this spending go unnoticed by the public? The consensus is no. I have heard many comments acknowledging the cheapness of certain gifts or decorations, but we should question: do we all realize the reasons for these low prices?

There are many reasons that prices may drop during the holiday season, especially for goods purchased online via platforms such as Temu, TikTok Shop, and Shein. Even the hugely popular and seemingly more ethical brand, Amazon, has its flaws that leave workers striking for better pay and working conditions.

As detailed in an article by the congressional news publication The Hill, this is the fourth year of such protests against Amazon. Workers have been trying to stop the company’s anti-union efforts and have many other important demands as well. Detailed in a four-page long document, the workers participating in this protest demand that the company give back to society by ending partnerships with police forces and immigration authorities, guarantee user privacy, and operate sustainably by committing to zero emissions by the year 2030.

There are many other demands involving job security and workers’ rights, but looking at these demands makes clear to the public that they are more motivated by making money than doing right. I wonder

how often people who regularly buy from Amazon look at these workers’ demands and question the morality of ordering from a company whose working conditions look so bleak, and whose money, even partially, funds untrue advertisements or contributes to organizations that promote hate.

There are many reasons that it is convenient for people to buy from Amazon, but that does not mean that it is better than buying from a store or online directly from whoever made it.

With newly popular fast fashion brands such as Shein, there are similar problems. In addition to the widely known worker safety problems for those working for the company, Shein is also accused of stealing many artists’ designs and marketing them as original to meet the demand for thousands of new items every week.

In addition to this, Shein has recently been hit with RICO charges, which were created to persecute organized crime. “Shein has become rich by committing individual infringements over and over again, as part of a long and continuous pattern of racketeering, which shows no sign of abating,” the filing says. In short, this means there is evidence that Shein has been caught doing illegal business practices. Another new popular discount online retailer that operates with questionable and likely unethical practices is Temu, which debuted in America in September 2022. Sales for the company took off after it aired Super Bowl ads in February 2023, promoting the slogan “Shop like a billionaire.” Business analysts believe that Temu’s discounted prices are part of the company’s long-term plan to grow its customer base in America before introducing “social shopping” and

“group buying” in which the company offers quantity discounts to groups of buyers. These kinds of discounting techniques have proven effective in China, and will likely only increase sales of the cheap products that are suspected to be produced by forced labor.

Congressional reports detail concern about Temu and the high possibility of it using forced labor in the production of the items it sells. In the report, Temu admits that it “conducts no audits and reports no compliance system to affirmatively examine” whether its suppliers are observing the U.S. forced labor law. This is a long way of saying they don’t prevent forced labor in their suppliers’ factories. Temu makes an average of $1.5 million daily through the use of these practices. This should concern more people.This is astronomical to keep up and the only way they continue to do that is with unethical practices in the process of manufacturing, shipping, and distributing the unoriginal products they sell. Sadly, using extortion to get people to make these cheaply sold products is often overlooked. There are examples of this in our everyday lives, even where it might make us uncomfortable to admit that truth: in the buildings we live and work in, in the food we eat, and even in phones and electronics we use daily. In Congo, there has been very little coverage of the violence and extortion the Congolese people face for mining minerals like cobalt and copper in dangerous conditions, leaving enslaved workers in these mines sick or dead- all for some rocks. In America, we are taught about the struggles of immigrant farm workers as if it’s all in the past, but people are still struggling today. Similar practices continue all over the world and it

has a severe environmental effect. Stripping land of its minerals, building dams where natural floods restored the land for thousands of years, and abandoning farms and families when it comes to natural disasters. These are all results of people utilizing land for profit and disregarding the consequences that affect people globally. I believe that people need to realize that ruthless discount online retailers do not care for the people they extort, the environment they destroy, or the customers they scam. At the end of the day, a company gets that way in the first place because of the greed of those who own and run the company. The decisions they make that lead to these terrible working conditions and unlawful violations result from budget cuts and more focus on profit than ethical trade and business practices. This is not uncommon but when a company is as big as many online businesses are, it is bound to lead to danger. Most working people in America do not have the time nor the expendable fortune and resources to keep up with these changes because wages don’t change to accommodate the economy. Once student loan forgiveness ends, people will be back to paying it and having even less to spend than before, and that will also affect how companies both online and offline continue to sell. During the Great Recession, so many examples of this could be seen in advertising and pop culture. The influence of the economy and current events will always also affect how we buy. Ultimately, I feel that a huge reason for this disconnect from these conditions is the desensitization we experience buying things through a screen or in a department store. The very word “consumers” — the people who keep our economy afloat — is strangely impersonal and keeps you thinking about people as categories. Taking away the interaction with someone who made or is selling you something makes for a less personal experience. In stores, people used to interact with and know the people who made their food, blankets, clothes, etc. Now, in a world where goods are marketed heavily by bigger brands, you don’t see what happens where your things are made. It’s a highly depersonalized experience and why I don’t find shopping appealing in general. It might be an act of good faith to buy from locals or make gifts this year. Start a resolution to stop perpetuating these working conditions and start buying locally.

morgan messer

StAFF WRITER

Rudy Morales-Alvarez

Students suffer from lack of restrooms

Obstacles create impossible journey from portables to bathrooms

Trying to go to the restroom from the portables feels like playing a game in which you find an obstacle course in your way, preventing you from making it to a toilet before you burst. Many students end up needing to go to the restroom after lunch, but this is also the time that the custodians clean up in the cafeteria, including restrooms. Many times, they decide to lock the cafeteria in order to work without any interruptions or students getting in the way. Other times, they only lock the restrooms or block the entrance while they clean them and they do this to finish cleaning and catch a break or to finish their shift and go home. Because of this, a lot of the time students are not able to go to the restrooms in the cafeteria, giving them no choice but to go to the restrooms in the main building- which also has its obstacles to overcome. To avoid students and outsiders roaming around campus, they lock the gates between the cafeteria and the red hall. This gives students no choice but to go to the gates between the gym and cafeteria to access the courtyard and the main building. The challenges don’t stop there. The closest doors students have access to are the ones in the red hall, but a lot of the time students don’t want to open them and administrators tell you to go to the restrooms at the front. This can be a great inconvenience to students. For example, if it’s an emergency, they give students no choice but to keep waiting and go to the restrooms at the front of the school. But even if you go there, it often takes a while for someone to finally open the door. Many students inside the building will ignore you to not take the extra time to open the door for you, which gives us no choice but to wait- which sometimes might take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes.All of this time wasted to search for an entrance and waiting to be let into the main building is valuable instruction time that we are missing. Getting to a restroom should not be so difficult, and it should not take so much time. Not only is it inconvenient for the students making their way to the restroom, but it also inconveniences other students in the classroom waiting for the pass to come back so they can go to the restroom. This may also disturb

teachers because they know sometimes it’s an emergency, but they also can’t give a pass to every student because they could also get in trouble for letting out many students at the same time.

This restroom access issue is just a symptom of the larger problem of Akins having to get by with more than 20 portable classrooms for about 20 years. I believe that it is time that we either build a restroom for the students in the portables or finally build a new wing of the school that can replace all of the portable classrooms and provide safe and convenient restrooms. This would not only help out the students, but it would also help the teachers feel safer in their classrooms. Beyond the bathroom problem, the portables

have had many issues- including the floor breaking, classrooms having mold, AC problems, and door locks not working. But one of the biggest problems has always been the fact that the portables don’t feel as safe. Before they put peepholes in the doors, many teachers talked about how they didn’t feel safe opening their doors for someone because they couldn’t tell who was at the door. This left teachers feeling on edge, knowing that anyone could knock and they would have to open the door regardless.

The struggle of trying to access the cafeteria restrooms is not the only restroom problem we have on campus. The fine arts hall restrooms have also always been a problem. The whole year, they have been keeping the fine arts restrooms locked, with only two teachers holding keys to unlock for their classes exclusively.

The issue with the practice of locking the restrooms is that some students have no choice but to go to the main building to access the restrooms, which gives them the same issues as the cafeteria restrooms. Some students are in art classrooms in the Fine Arts hall that do not allow them to travel through the fine arts building to reach the main building. And on top of that, many students struggle with getting into the main building through the green hall, due to the low level of traffic and the lack of visibility of the door from classrooms.

Our only other option is to travel all the way to the front which gives us the same problems as the portables with the only difference being that it’s easy to go back to the portables but not so easy to go back into the fine arts building. With the fine arts building you have the same struggle of no one opening the doors to the Fine Arts hall, and a lot of the time all you can do is wait until you finally see someone out in the halls because there’s no use in knocking at the doors because the classrooms around are not able to hear the knocking.

When the school district created the list of projects that were included in the 2017 and 2022 bond issue propositions, a plan to replace the portables with a permanent building was conspicuously absent from the list of campus improvement projects. The problems that Akins students experience just trying to go to the bathroom are just another reason on a long list of why the district needs to replace the portables with a building, where students can go to the bathroom without going on a goose chase looking for a clean and convenient toilet.

Ariadna

vazquez

StAFF WRITER

Rudy Morales-Alvarez

Song, dance return to AJT stage

Akins Journey Theatre puts on first musical after four-year absence

kairi natal photo editor

High School Musical: On Stage was the first musical the Akins Journey Theater has been able to put on for four years. For a lot of the seniors, this would be the first musical they were able to participate in throughout all of their high school years.

Senior Egan Lutz Carrillo said even though this was his first musical he was able to participating in it was amazing.

“It felt absolutely amazing. I was super sad last year when I finally got to be the lead as Mushnik and then it got canceled,” he said “ But it was so much fun to be able to do a musical for the first time ever and it was my first musical ever as a senior.”

Senior Abby Snider said it was difficult to play a character who was mean because its not in her natural personality.

“It was difficult to be so mean and really turn into Sharpay,” she said. “I was scared of hurting most time.”

Rudy Morales Alvarez Run!!!

Senior Liam Pope who plays the announcer tells the cast to get out of the auditorium.

Rudy Morales Alvarez phone taken Akins theater teacher Le Easter who plays Ms.Darbus takes away actors phones for a scene.

Lilian Crider

Get your head in the game

Freshmen George Whitehurst, who plays Troy Bolten, sings “ Get’cha head in the game.”

Lilian Crider

troy not bolten Le Easter, who plays Ms.Darbus, talks to Freshman George Whitehurst during a scene.

Lilian Crider Love struck Senior Veronica Diaz sings to Troy Bolten about their love.

Rudy Morales Alvarez

helping hand

Freshman Lee Ridings, who plays Taylor, helps sophmore Celeste Castilleja, who plays Kelsi, pick up her papers she dropped.

Simplified FAFSA: a blessing or a curse for high school seniors?

New form causes headaches for seniors hoping to pay for college

Diego Hernandez Co-Editor-In-Chief

Cost of tuition is the number one reason why students decide to not pursue college, according to a survey by the Gallup and Lumina Foundation. This means a majority of the next generation of students’ future prospects are dependent on their financial aid, and unfortunately, this year has become a tricky and difficult time for many students looking to receive this financial aid.

What is FAFSA?

In 1992, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) was released as a way for incoming college students to easily apply for federal low-interest loans and grants to help them pay for their college educations. Since then, the application process officials have tried to make the form simple and streamlined; In 2020, congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act, which provided the U.S. Department of Education with money and resources to overhaul and simplify the 2024-25 FAFSA form. This year’s form had many major updates and changes, including decreasing the maximum number of questions on the form from 108 to 46 questions.

But many applicants, such as the senior class of 2024, parents, and counselors, have expressed frustration and confusion at the new form, creating problems for potential college students.

FAFSA 2024-25 Release

The FAFSA process typically opens on Oct. 1 for graduating seniors to begin applying if they plan to pursue higher education, as well as for other students already enrolled in college who qualify for the grant. Applicants try to get all their information ready in advance, waiting until midnight for the federal grant to open to begin applying.

Since the federal grant works on a first-come-first-served basis — with the first applicants getting the most money — every incoming and current college student rushes the moment the form opens to try and make the most out of it. However, it became tricky this year after the Department of Education announced in March that the application opening would be delayed until December due to the updated form. The final announcement for the deadline wasn’t made until Dec. 1, when students found out the release for the application would be on Dec. 31, the very end of the year. However, the form wouldn’t be readily available for everyone. Instead, they would release FAFSA in a “soft launch,” where the form would be released periodically throughout

the day to monitor the website and applications and be on the lookout for any glitches reported. But this way of opening the form gave many applicants problems, such as difficulty accessing the application at the right time, and even having the application period close on them while using it.

“The window to start new forms and access existing forms popped up infrequently and only for a short period of around an hour.” Senior Brandon Wicken said. “This means you had to constantly be on watch if you couldn’t complete it in one session.”

Undocumented Parents/Parents with no Social security number

One of FAFSA 2024-25’s biggest controversies is the current inability for students who have parents with no Social Security Number to apply for the form. Unlike previous year’s FAFSA forms, 2024-25 adds a new feature with the requirement to add “Contributors,” or people who are associated with your tax information and dependency, typically parents or guardians. The addition was made to easily share tax information to FAFSA, as it allows the contributor to directly share their IRS tax information with the Department of Education. However, there’s a glitch preventing parents without a Social Security number from being able to submit their IRS information.

This means that students with undocumented parents, or just parents without a Social Security number, are unable to apply to FAFSA at the time of writing this because it provides no options or alternatives to applicants in this situation. This means that even a top ranking student in their high school can’t receive federal financial aid if their parent or guardian is an undocumented immigrant, a problem that wasn’t present in previous years and has frustrated and outraged this year’s applicants.

The problems with FAFSA hurts students because financial aid is often the deciding factor as to whether they attend college, with many colleges only offering scholarships when they receive FAFSA information. Especially since the financial aid works on a first-come first-serve basis, these students will be at a severe disadvantage than those who first applied.

Even students with parents who do have a Social Security number can still have difficulty completing the form, as not all parents have time or understand how to complete the form. However, this new requirement forces students who are dependents for a parent or guardian to complete the form and make an account as well, as opposed to previous years’ forms which would allow the student to fill the tax and financial information themselves instead.

“I think that one big part that we try to do in education is everything should be inclusive,” Akins High School’s, Texas Advisor, Janaya Brock said. “It should not be so drastically different that it’s creating such trouble for everybody. It should not be so different that when I’m working with two different students that I’m having to call them out in a classroom. That is not the goal of education at all. The whole point of education is to create equity.”

March Deadline looming

Despite attempting to create a more streamlined, simpler way for 2024-25 FAFSA applications, many students and parents criticize the new form’s complicated system and guidelines that make it more difficult compared to previous years. The current status of this year’s form is preventing many incoming college students from knowing how much financial aid they’ll receive, a factor which for many is dictating whether or not they’ll be going to college, and in turn, their entire future.

“So I believe the changes were to make [the FAFSA form] easier,” GEAR UP Facilitator, Laura Noack said. “But it’s not quite there yet. They’re trying to figure it out. And hopefully it gets there before the March deadline, where our students don’t lose out on the funds and they’re really working hard to try to figure it out.”

Formula for Financial Aid

One of the biggest changes to the 2024-25 FAFSA form is the new formula used to calculate the amount of financial aid given to each student. Previously, the Department of Education used a formula called the Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, to calculate the amount given. This year, a new formula for the form was created, known as the Student Aid Index, or SAI, which apart from renewing the calculations, also doesn’t take the number of family members currently in college into account, which increases many students who are part of their family’s first generation to attend the college. But the SAI formula was released with glitches and issues, including forgetting to take inflation into account. While the Department of Education did state on Jan 30th that they had fixed this issue, providing an additional $1.8 billion to applicants, this still means that all submitted forms will need to go through a new formula again now. The Department of Education stated this will cause even more delays, and students shouldn’t expect to receive results and numbers until early March, negatively impacting even more student’s decisions about attending college.

Responses from online Eagle’s Eye survey

There was some stress with figuring out how to apply during the "soft launch" period in early January, as well as some problems with getting my dad and mom connected to my FAFSA application.

-Anonymous

My parents don’t have a SSN number so can’t make them an FSA id which is needed to get to the signature for the last step

-Anonymous

The form was difficult to access in only small windows of time during the launch period and required both parents/guardians to make FSA IDs and fill out their tax forms if they joint file, even if one doesn't bring in a income

was fortunate enough to have easy access to the application, but the wording confused myself and my parents a bit.

-Anonymous

-Brandon Wicken

Jonathon Wilson

New game modes attract Fortnite players

Boring. Inconsistent. Stale.

These were just a few of the criticisms against Fortnite until the so-called OG chapter launched on Nov. 3. The OG chapter took off in popularity by bringing back the game’s original map, weapons, and game play mechanics. For many long-time players, it was a nostalgia factor that brought them back to enjoy the game how it used to be in 2018.

Then the Chapter 5 Fortnite update dropped on Dec. 3 with a completely revamped map and three new game modes: Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival. The Chapter launched with a live concert event featuring rapper Eminem and a preview of the game modes that would be gradually released during the upcoming game seasons.

The Lego Fortnite game was probably the biggest addition to the game, providing a whole new way to play the game in a less competitive environment. The Fortnite Festival and Rocket Racing games, despite being smaller additions, have also attracted casual players and younger audiences who don’t want to play in a highly competitive battle royale format. Lego Fortnite is a survival-based game

where players can craft objects and make bases. It’s pretty similar to Minecraft, but in Lego form with some slight differences. There are also boss battles in every biome and many hostile entities such as wolves. When it launched, Lego Fortnite smashed player record, reaching 2.45 million concurrent players.

Lego Fortnite is a kid-friendly game mode that allows the game to be accessible to a younger demographic than the game’s typical demographic. The same can be said for Rocket Racing, which is a crossover game with Rocket League, and Fortnite Festival, which is an online multiplayer rock band simulator similar to Rock Band. All of the games utilize Fortnite’s in-game voice chat, making all of the new game modes even more enjoyable when played with friends online. When it comes to the actual Fortnite battle royal mode, Chapter 5 introduces a series of bosses that drop medallions that all have power-up abilities like automatically regenerating shields. Longtime Fortnite players were excited to finally get to battle a robotic Peter Griffin boss after game developers had teased adding him to the game for years. The battle pass also includes some other in-demand popular character skins including Snake from Metal Gear Solid and Teenager Mutant

Ninja Turtles.

Epic Games seems to regained its popularity by adding new game modes into Fortnite that are more accessible for casual players. Its success likely motivated Disney’s decision to invest $1.5 billion into the company to develop games and online experiences for all of its media properties in the near future. This seems to suggest that Fortnite players will have even more opportunities to have casual gaming experiences like the new game modes in Chapter 5 down the road.

21 proves he is more than ‘feature artist’

The title American Dream is a reference to 21’s immigration journey and the fights he has had to endure in becoming a “permanent U.S. resident.” In 2019,

The rapper 21 Savage, first emerged in 2015 but mostly gained popularity in 2018 after the release of his song “A Lot” on the album I am > I was. He was known as a cold brutalist rapper as his lyrics contain gritty subject matter, including personal experiences with murder drug use, and sex.

The I am > I was album helped him grow as a rapper and gave him a lot of media coverage. He gained a reputation as a “feature artist” because he has been included in parts of songs by many other artists. His latest album American Dream, released on Jan. 12, demonstrates that he is a true artist in his own right.

various instruments.

American Dream focuses on his early years, growing up in London and walks through stories of Savage’s formative years and growing up in the streets. The album features popular musical features such as Metro Boomin, Travis Scott, and

Spotify streams and “Née-nah” receiving over 50 million streams.

“Redrum” is one of the most popular songs on the album. It tells the story of Savage’s street life. In the song, he references his experiences, dwelling on themes like street credibility and betrayal.

American Dream has received a lot of attention since its debut.

on the US Billboard 200 chart and also broke a record in rap music for the most first-week

received a lot of love worldwide seven countries including Canada include “Redrum” which has received

“Prove It,” featuring Summer Walker, is also a popular song across social media due to its passionate lyrics about love. The song explains a couple’s willingness to prove their love even when there are challenges. The song’s lyrics and music make this track well deserving of its popularity.

Overall, we recommend this album to anyone who is into trap/ rap music and to anyone who claims that 21 Savage is simply a feature artist. The lyrics, instrumentals, and features on American Dream were exceptional and are deserving of its popularity.

dean knowlton staff writer

Aubrey montoya & breelyn west staff writers

Courtesy Epic Games

Courtesy Disney Disney invests in epic Disney plans to invest $1.5 billion into Epic Games and partner with Fortnite.

High school musicals return to stage Theatre department puts on first musical play since 2020

Because of various complications and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Akins Theater department has not staged a musical since the spring of 2020 with its production of Alice and Wonderland.

So when the characters of Troy, Gabriella, and the rest of the cast of High School Musical hit the stage in January, it marked a major achievement for the theater department.

Bugsy Podojil has taught theater since the return of in-person classes at Akins after COVID shut down big theater productions. Podojil asked students last year to vote on what musical they wanted to perform this year and most students voted for High School Musical.

They said that it was a difficult task to prepare students for such a big production after not having done one in so many years.

“So it was a big learning curve for everyone,” they said. “It’s my first full-length musical so I had to make sure that I knew the scheduling and collected everything all together. It was just a collaboration process.”

Podojil said the cast and crew sometimes struggled with attendance without understanding the amount of work that goes into staging a musical.

“There were a couple of attendance issues in the beginning that made it to where we couldn’t, you know, choreograph or learn the songs we wanted to learn because there were people absent, but I think now that everyone kind of understands the workload that goes into producing musicals. Things will be better in the future.”’

Senior Veronica Diaz-Reyes, who played the lead female role of Gabriella, said she was excited to get the chance to perform in a musical before graduating, considering it was her first and only chance to do it. She said the cast and crew started planning for the musical over the summer.

Diaz-Reyes, who performs with the Diamonds dance team at Akins, said she enjoyed getting to develop the choreography for the song and dance parts of the musical. She said that it was stressful before the play opened because it felt like they ran out of time to practice.

“I wish we did have more rehearsal time because it did feel a little rushed in the end,” she said. “But I think that might be normal for everyone.”

Freshman George Whitehurst shared his

excitement about landing a lead role in the musical, detailing the months-long preparation process he underwent to perfect his performance.

Despite this being Whitehurst’s first performance as a freshman at Akins, he had previously performed in six other musicals, starting in fourth grade. He’s also performed in Seussical, Mamma Mia, Beauty the Beast, Addams Family, Mary Poppins, and Peter Pan.

“

They’re so close-knit and they’re such genuine friends, that I was told that the audience could sense how close the cast was.

— Theater Director, Bugsy Podojil

“

Whitehurst said the opening night was nerve-wracking, but his previous experience helped him keep his composure on stage.

“Since I’ve done these so many times before it was like it’s going to happen right before the show,” he said. “But as soon as I get on stage, it just goes away.”

Lillian Crider

Freshman George Whitehurst, who plays Troy Bolten, acts in a scene with theater teacher Le Easter, who plays Ms. Darbis.

yanitzel salazar staff writer

Xavier Vargas

Merritt Robertson and Abby Snider who play Ryan and Sharpay acting out a scene auditioning for the musical.

Lillian Crider Freshman George Whitehurst who plays Troy Bolten singing.

YouTuber ‘Matpat’ retires off the platform

Theorist channels move to new management after host retires

“But hey, that’s just a theory. A game theory!” By now, I’m sure you’ve heard those words at least once. Everyone knows MatPat, the creator and figurehead of “The Game Theorists” YouTube channel along with 3 others titled “The Film Theorists,” “The Food Theorists,” and “The Style Theorists.”

The channels make videos showcasing theories about the topic listed in their channel‘s title. “The Game Theorists” make theories on the lore of many video games, most notably the “Five Nights At Freddy’s” series.

MatPat became a meme online for his iconic catchphrase stated earlier. That changed on January 9th this year, when a video was uploaded to The Game Theorists YouTube channel titled “Goodbye Internet.”

As a long-time fan of The Game Theorists, I was shocked when I saw this title and I wasn’t alone. The video starts with MatPat sitting on the couch used in most serious videos and GT Live as he says “It’s not clickbait. On March 9th I’ll be hosting my last theory episode, at which point I’ll be handing off the channels to someone else.”

The video shook the entire internet. One of the most iconic YouTubers, MatPat, is retiring- but why? Despite the shock, MatPat included his reasons in the video. He says he didn’t want to keep making theories forever. He has a family and a life outside of the internet, and as he stated in the video “We knew that we couldn’t do this

forever. We knew that honestly, we didn’t want to do this forever.”

All this news was very sudden and left a large impact on YouTube as a whole, with many wondering how the platform is going to move forward. There isn’t much to worry about, though, because MatPat explains that he isn’t disappearing from YouTube completely. He is still going to be there, he just won’t be the one speaking or making the theories- in other words, he won’t be the “face of the channel” anymore.

This is clarified in the video, where he talks about this being his own kind of evolution. He says that he started off as an “edgy older brother,” who overtime became “DadPat,” and finally will be like“GrandpaPat.” He goes on to say “just like a grandparent, you don’t get to see me all the time, and I don’t get to see you all the time, but at the end of the day, that grandpa loves to see you, and he cherishes the relation ship that you’ve had so much.” He isn’t gone, his appearance will just be more rare.

As mentioned earlier, he is handing off the channels to someone else, or rather, to other people. The four channels will now be run by existing employees who have made previous appearances. The Game Theorists will be run by Tom, The Film Theorists will be run by Lee, The Food Theorists will be run by Santi, and The Style Theorists will be run by Amy.

As described by MatPat, they are all perfect for

their new roles. Explained greatly when he states that Tom has a similar “level of insanity” to himself, proven by his denial of the moon’s existence. It will certainly be different now that MatPat is gone, but it seems that he has been training these new leaders in the “art of theorizing.” The theories themselves aren’t going to be much different than when MatPat was there, but the commentary likely will be. MatPat also stated that he wanted to end the channel off on a high note, meaning when his channel was at its highest.

He has scheduled 5 more theories as of now on the main channel before the big going away celebration on March 9th. MatPat’s retirement was certainly shocking, but it seems he has the perfect group of people to replace him, and the channels will continue to run despite his absence.

He has plans for the future, such as a Lofi/Lore-fi series releasing soon, which he describes as a lo-fi YouTube channel with an ARG aspect to it.

He also mentioned releasing and animated series titled “The Envie,” which he described as being similar to renowned series “Gravity Falls.”

But as always, remember friends, “That’s just a theory, A game theory!

Thank you… thank you for watching.”

Courtesy of The Game Theorists

Bella Estrada & Cruz Burrows StAFF WRITER

Courtesy of The Game Theorists

Noah Semsar makes it to All State twice

Graduating senior applies to prestigious music conservatories

play many notes with the same finger position,” Flores said. “Therefore, you have to be very accurate with the vibration of your lips to play the note you want in tune.”

Making it to an All-State competition once is a big deal for a high school musician. But making it twice in consecutive years is a rare achievement by any measure.

In January, senior Noah Semsar was notified that he had placed 6th in the state in the Texas Music Education Association’s annual All-State contest, in which he competed against the top 50 high school trumpet players in Texas.

The TMEA audition process begins with over 70,000 students, and only 1,800 are selected as “All-State Musicians.”

This is a repeat achievement for Semsar, who was named first chair trumpet in TMEA’s All-State Symphony Orchestra last year.

Semsar, who is the first chair trumpet player in the Akins Eagle Marching Band, said this year’s competition was tougher than last year. He had to put in more work and stay consistent. His hard work paid off.

Akins Band Director Jose Flores said Semsar has distinguished himself as a true musician.

“There is a difference between a trumpet player and a musician. Noah is a musician,” Flores said.

Semsar has been playing the trumpet for seven years now. Flores has been working with Noah for almost three years.

“The trumpet is a difficult instrument because you can

Flores mentioned that his curiosity for music and the trumpet, as well as his constant goal of self-improvement, helped Semsar overcome many challenges.

This year, Semsar practices an average of three hours per day. He said he doesn’t rely on motivation but a routine. Having a routine allows him to form the habit of getting up and practicing when he doesn’t want to.

Many Akins alumni have studied music at universities like Texas State University and the University of Texas at Austin. Semsar, however, plans to pursue music perfor mance.

“I think last year was the first year where I felt that I had a future in music, and I realized that it was one of the only things that I wanted to do,” Semsar said. Semsar is currently auditioning for Julliard’s School of Music, the New England Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music, and the Manhattan School of Music. Conservatories and music schools have different applica tion processes than most 4-year institutions. Students must submit a video of their playing and only 100 of them proceed to in-person auditions. Semsar made it into live auditions at Julliard and

Manhattan and will be auditioning in person later this month and in March.

In addition to tackling college auditions and TMEA’s All-State competition, Semsar made it into Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra, also known as NYO-USA, this year. This summer Semsar will be leaving in July to rehearse and play in Carnegie Hall. From July to August the Youth Orchestra will go on a tour in South America conducted by Marin Alsop with Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

During early December, young musicians between the ages 16-19 submit an audition recording. The program is completely free, and professional orchestra musicians provide weeks of training. All members of NYO musicians become music

playing an instrument in 6th grade to being considered one trumpet players in the country is

Fabi Rodriguez

Conservatories Noah Semsar Applied to The conservatories that Noah Applied to and each of their acceptance rates.

instagram post:

Fabi Rodriguez

Fight of the century: digital vs. physical

As companies move to digital media, fans latch to physical products

In recent years, studios have been pulling away from selling physical media. The absence of the ability to buy a physical copy of one’s favorite movies and video games forces consumers to either purchase a digital copy or use a streaming or subscription service to access their favorite media.

Subscriptions and digital purchasing have become more prominent, causing an uprise in digital sales and a major decrease in physical sales. With the age of streaming, with services such as Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu on the rise, some believe that it has caused media companies to become lazier and invest less in staff that handle retail sales of physical copies of their video games. This has been seen with Microsoft, which recently went so far as to fire a large number of people that market games to retail stores. Lovers of physical games have expressed worry that this puts the future of disk copies at a high risk of being forgotten and discarded like the other formats before it.

As someone who owns a lot of disks myself— games and movies alike — I believe there is something special about owning physical copies. Most physical copies come with special features such as posters, exclusive deleted scenes, and documentaries about the making of it. As a collector, I enjoy these kinds of bonus content and memorabilia that give

owners a way to show off their love of their favorite content. Another advantage of physical copies for buyers is that only one purchase is required, unlike with streaming, where you have to pay monthly for a subscription-based service. Owners can enjoy their content any time they want without paying monthly and without the fear that it might disappear from their streaming services one day.

I’m not here to say that streaming services are bad. They are convenient when needed and offer a variety of things to watch, depending on the service. But companies have been attempting to make streaming and digital the only option available to average consumers. Best Buy recently announced that it is removing all of its DVD/BlueRay products from its stores, and DVD/BlueRay players themselves are getting harder to come by. This creates a lack of other options, giving buyers no other choice but to buy digital. Subscription services for video game access is becoming more common as well, although this, too, has its drawbacks. A few examples of this include Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, Ubisoft Plus and Nintendo Switch Online. All of these services offer a catalogue of games to play in exchange for a monthly payment. This doesn’t necessarily seem like a bad deal, but what upsets me is that with these services, you never truly own your games. You’re essentially renting them for the amount of time you are paying for the subscription. With this information in mind, some might think that paying for their games through an online store without a

subscription would mean they own the game, but it turns out you still don’t. If you’re buying any digital copies online, whether that may be a game or movie, all you’re doing is paying for the license to use it, not the game/movie itself. And in most terms and conditions, the company or distributor who’s selling you said license can revoke it at any time. That means that if a company were to lose rights due to legal issues, licenses expiring, or whatever it may be, they can take it away whenever they want. This obviously isn’t fair to the customers who spent their hard-earned money on these pieces of media but, unfortunately, there is a restriction clause in terms and conditions — that we all totally read before clicking “agree,” right?

This is why physical media is so important. It removes the hassle of dealing with subscription payments with it being a one-time purchase, and the best part is that it is possible to actually own it. DVD is only one form of physical media, with others being vinyl records, cassettes, VHS, and CDs. Vinyls are one of the most popular, having made a small comeback in recent years. Hopefully DVDs do the same. The decline and removal of physical media has given the rise of streaming and subscriptions a major boost, which is a bad sign for the future of media distribution. One can hope that physical media lives on, but it’s very dependent on what the consumer wants to buy. One thing is for sure though— I’m never giving up my DVD collection.

Tristan Hargrove StAFF WRITER

Jonathon Wilson

Life & Style

Bell brings peace to student conflicts

sarah flores StAFF WRITER

Since 2015, Akins has offered restorative justice counseling services to help students work through their issues and conflicts in a way that heals students rather than punishes them.

Ivy Bell has worked to facilitate restorative justice services at Akins since 2016 and became the coordinator of the program in 2021. She briefly left Akins last year to explore an opportunity at nearby police departments in Kyle and Buda, but recently decided to return, and helped restart the restorative justice program in January.

During Ms. Bell’s absence, Akins students and staff began to notice a change in the school’s environment.

“The biggest change I saw when Ms. Bell wasn’t here was that students and staff didn’t have a dedicated go-to place where they could talk out their problems or conflicts with a third party present to mediate and collaboratively repair harm and develop solutions.” Assistant Principal Jennifer Dawson said.

Restorative Justice often uses listening circles as a means to help affected students — including the accused rule breaker, teachers and administrator, and other students — to share with the whole group about ways to settle disputes. Bell works with students, teachers, and parents who need support in mental health and counseling services. She said

that during the year of the COVID pandemic and remote learning, there was an eruption of people who needed support. Bell said the huge workload led her to take a break last year, but she is now excited and ready to work on restorative justice at Akins.

“Students don’t always want to sit down and resolve their conflict because they don’t have a relationship with me or they think I’m an adult out to get them,” Bell said.

Despite these difficulties, Bell perseveres in hoping to achieve her goal as a Restorative Justice Coordinator.

“The overarching goal of restorative justice is to create a community between staff and students that is built upon communication and trust,” she said.

Bell continues to work with the motivation of building relationships between students and staff. One of the main goals of restorative justice is finding a resolution of a problem between the offender and the victim.

“I think it’s impor tant that students can talk out their feelings and talk about their beef and not always take it to the streets or the hallways to fight,” she said.

Bell said the most important thing that students need is “a positive, mutual, nonbiased adult.”

“It takes time and we just have to be patient with the process,” she said.

Bell said restorative justice is an outlet for staff and students to express their feelings and get things off their chest that are bothering them.

“It’s a chance to talk it out and get on the same page and not escalate to violence,” she said. “Most issues can be resolved through communication. It also opens a door to a new mindset and culture shift.”

Restorative justice aims to fix problems caused by wrongdoing by bringing together everyone involved, making sure people take responsibility, building understanding, and ultimately helping everyone feel better and get along in the community.

Junior learns languages on his own

EE: What made you want to learn all these languages?

When Junior Nicolas Robredo is not busy with his regular course week, he is usually watching YouTube videos or TV shows dubbed in a foreign language.

Although being born and raised here in Austin, he does this to learn how to understand and speak foreign languages like Russian, Ukrainian, German, and Polish. The special part of this whole process is that Nicolas is all self-taught. This is what Nicolas finds interest in and how far it’ll take him for his future.

Chief Master Seargent Andre Davis, who is Robredo’s JROTC instructor, said Robredo’s dedication to learning foreign languages has impressed him.

“For an individual to be able to speak five languages,” Davis said. “That is very impressive, especially at such a young age.”

EE: So what languages are you learning as of right now? Which ones have you already learned?

NR: Right now I am learning Mandarin, Spanish, and Polish. I’ve already learned Russian, Ukrainian, and German

EE: So far what have you been doing to learn these languages to learn these languages?

NR: I’ve mainly just been using Netflix and YouTube, talking to people from the country, and just immersing myself through the internet.

NR: I don’t really know. Because when I started studying my first language. I was 11 and I did it because I was bored. And I just haven’t stopped from that.

EE: How long was the process of learning?

NR: My first language learning it, it took a long time. It took around three or four years to reach a good level. But after that, it started going a lot quicker as I started to learn how to actually learn a language.

EE: Do you feel comfortable and fluent enough to have a conversation?

NR: Yes. In fact, there have been times when I have spoken to native speakers and they thought I was from the country itself and they didn’t think I was American.

EE: Do you plan to use language skills for your future career? What do you plan to persu ?

NR: Yes most likely. I want to be an analyst in the CIA.

EE: Do you have any other languages in mind that you plan to learn?

NR: Maybe French and Japanese

EE: Is it difficult learning multiple languages at the same time? Do you ever get words mixed up between languages?

NR: Yes, I get my languages mixed up a lot, especially when they’re in the same language family like Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian and stuff, so they do get mixed up, but I can slowly start to get better with it.

Isaac Casanova StAFF WRITER

Isaac Casanova

Sarah Flores

Welcome back!

Ivy Bell returns to serve as Akins restorative justice coordinater in January.

Training to save lives

Student joins Fire Academy, trains to become a paramedic

AH: Probably just a paramedic.

EE: How do you balance your training with academics?

Andrea Hernandez is an Akins senior who takes career tech elective classes at LBJ Fire Academy to train to become a paramedic.

She participates in the Student Share program, which allows Austin ISD students to take career and technology classes at other schools if their home campus does not offer their desired courses.

The Eagle’s Eye interviewed Hernandez to ask her about her motivation to become a paramedic and what the program is like.

EE: What motivated you to become a paramedic?

AH: My uncle from Mexico is a firefighter/paramedic. When he used to come to America, I used to see what he would do so that kind of inspired me.

EE: How did you find this opportunity to become a paramedic?

AH: My sophomore year. My teacher, Mr. Perez, told me that I could either go into a mental health class for my academy, or I could take a fire academy route. So I decided to go to the fire academy.

EE: What are your long-term goals and aspirations in being a paramedic?

AH: I’m going to apply for Travis County EMS in August and once I’m off probation, then I’ll stay working with them, and then after about a year I’ll apply to go to paramedic school within the system.

EE: Are there other fields that you are interested in pursuing? Are you interested in being a firefighter or just a paramedic?

AH: I usually try and get all my schoolwork done within the day so that when I go home, I can study.

EE: What do you find most rewarding about being a paramedic?

AH: Going on my ambulance shifts.

EE: And what do you find most challenging?

AH: Probably all the studying. It’s a lot of tests and paperwork.

EE: Do you have any training or are you just reading and studying?

AH: It’s reading. And then we do scenarios in class and then we use that when we go to the hospital shifts and ambulance shifts.

EE: What does a day look like in training? When you come to school, what do you do?

AH: Usually the day before, you have a quiz due about a chapter. A recent one that we had was a diabetes chapter, and so we read about the chapter a week before and then we did the chapter the day before.

So we walk into class, we put our stuff down, and we’ll get our gloves and our medic bags, and then we’ll separate into teams. We’ll go outside and the patients will stage a scene inside. And then we’ll go and do the whole shebang. So we’ll get their vitals, get samples, and you get the OPQRST (Onset , Provocation/palliation, Quality, Region/Radiation, Severity, and Time). We basically get information about their past.

LBJ Fire Academy students, with senior Andrea Hernandez (Right), learn to use a stretcher in preparation of emergency situations .

Have you had a seizure before? Have you had a stroke before? Do you have a history of diabetes? Which hospital do you want to go to? Do you have a preferred hospital that you go to? We do the scenarios and then after that class, we’ll talk about what they did. Then we’ll take a chapter test about it. It moves very fast because every day is a new chapter.

EE: Do you do live scenarios or just training?

AH: Every time we’re in class, we do it on our peers. But when we go on our ambulance shifts, the people we work with usually let us take over, so we get to use their equipment.

Jason Ponti StAFF WRITER

Courtesy of Andrea Hernandez Lifesavers

Courtesy of Andrea Hernandez

Andrea Hernandez (Middle) poses with the LBJ Fire Academy team, who has been training Hernandez to be paramedic.

Life & Style

Fashion used to express individuality

Students, staff share inspiration and passion for their fashion

Marina Trevino StAFF WRITER

Fashion can say a lot about a person’s identity, whether it be through bright colors, unique shoe choices, or inspiration from a different era of fashion. An outfit can express a message about an individual, and here at Akins, there’s people with a lot to say.

The Eagle’s Eye interviewed two students and a teacher who we believe expressed themselves with a unique taste in fashion. We asked them about their inspirations and stories about their clothing, as well as what they would like their fashion to say about them.

EE: Who or what are your fash ion inspirations?

NF: I love the 1960s-70s trends. I think I’ve loved that vibe since I was in middle school. No matter how hard I try, I cannot get away from it. I guess a lot of that inspiration came from looking at images of bands on vinyl records or just looking at old ads in magazines. I love shoes and acces sories, I really think you can put together any look with changing a few things here and there.

JR: I don’t really have any inspi ration for my outfits in particular. I just enjoy wearing unique and fun things that match the rest of the outfit.

when I find something that I really love, I’ll buy it brand-new. When I buy things I know they’re going to last. (I still have clothes from high school and college, my style has not really changed.)

JR: My hoodie I got from Kicking It a local Austin shoe shop, my pants are from Macy’s, and I get my shoes mostly from Goat and StockX.

DC: Hot Topic, Aliexpress, Depop, Thrifted, Amazon are the places I got most of my clothes from, sometimes places like H&M in the kids section, forever 21 have stuff that i’ve been getting for my collection style. Also some of my clothes, I’ve been keeping since i was 11 so that’s why I have the childish old look.

EE: What aspects of your identity have influenced how you dress?

DC: My style or the style I’m trying to be is called ‘’Jojifuku.” I don’t know really where it comes from, pretty sure [it’s] from Japan but [it] is part of the big wave ‘Harajuku.” Most of my inspirations [are from] Sanrio, Mezzo piano, Mother garden, Angel blue, etc. Probably the person that gas given me the most inspo is a guy called Sharkpawsu on Pinterest and a girl called Glo2sick on Tik Tok. I also don’t wear any pants, jeans, shorts or leggings.

EE: Where do you get your clothes?

NF: I honestly get a lot of my clothes at thrift or re-sale shops. Every now and then

NF: I HAVE to feel like myself in what I wear. I have finally admit ted that there are certain fabrics that I just will not wear because I’m not comfortable in them, so now I try very hard to stick to those

I come from a family of artists... I would not really consider myself an artist, but I’m creative in a lot of ways.

to put their heart into what they wear, it shows.

I love to see people wearing whatever they want and breaking the rules when it comes to fashion and trends. I love to see people feel ing good about themselves.

JR: I’m a generally laid back person and I just unapologetically enjoy being myself. I like to wear things that you won’t normally see every day when it comes to my hoodies and shoes. When I think about the rest of my outfits, I wear clothes that are comfortable and don’t take away from the main features.

express who I am and in a lot of ways distinguish myself from blending in all the time. When peo ple express themselves and take time

DC: I just think getting at tention seems pretty cool, getting compliments and stuff like that has been part of me for a long time. I still enjoy that. I really like dressing the way I do because it makes me feel like Sakura Carpcapthor.

I also have a bit of an addiction to hairclips, which have also been part of my style, and some outfits can’t go without it.

EE: What 3 words would you use to label your style?

NF: Care-free, timeless, and hippie with a little ‘h.’

really like what I like. I haven’t really changed that much. I like flare jeans/ bell bottoms, T-shirts and cool boots. Sometimes in life, it’s difficult to find direction or even to know exactly ‘who you are.’ For me, I feel like I’ve always had a firm grasp of who I am when it comes to choosing what I wear even if I feel like I’m floating around in other areas of my life.

JR: Over the years I’ve become more confident and comfortable in everything I do and I would say my outfits reflect that. Before I used to wear clothes that didn’t stand out so I would fit the crowd better, so I would wear jeans and a standard T-shirt. Nowadays I just do whatever I feel like and wear sweatpants and bright shoes.

DC: When I was 12 I started to get into interested in Sanrio world, and when the pandemic happened I started to dress “differently” as I used to before.

JR: Loud, unique, comfort.

DC: Curious, very pink and childish.

EE: How has your style evolved over time?

NF: I’ll adapt my style to meet a few trends, but I

When I turned 15 I began to dress more pink until the last few weeks when I was 16, when I got more into this style called “Jojifuku.” But during my teenage years, I began to get into new things about dressing. Now that I’m 18 I think the way how I dress is kinda funny because everyone sees you as the pinkie pie person.

Photos by Kairi natal

To view more fashion photos, visit theeagleseye.com

Changes to come with two teams gone New realignment of the district creates hopes throughout sports

District 26 now consists of seven teams with the elimination of Anderson High School and Johnson high schools from 6A District 26.

Alex Lindao Staff Writer

We were expecting a change, but is that what we got? Every two years, The UIL district realignment occurs. The UIL realignment arranges teams within the district and places some schools into new divisions and new districts as well depending on school enrollment numbers. From 20222024, our teams have gone against some of the best athletic schools in Texas including Westlake, Lake Travis, and Dripping Springs. Every year, our school competes in District 26, going against the best schools as they play to win 4th place. Originally, District 26 included Austin High School, Anderson High School, Bowie High School, Lake Travis High School, Westlake High School, Johnson High School, Del Valle High School, Dripping Springs High School, and our school.This year hopes within Akins High School began to rise as many thought they’d be placed into a new division. The countdown towards February 1st began with the new year.

This change would not only affect the student-athletes, but it would also affect the coaches as they now prepare for less competition within the district and more non-district games. Each coach will now have to make adjustments in order to prepare for each school, however, they won’t have to change a lot. While the district originally consisted of seven

schools, now Akins will face only seven opponents as Johson was moved to a separate district, and Anderson dropped to a 5A school.

The Eagle’s Eye interviewed different coaches before the realignment was published, and athletes on their thoughts about the realignment.

Coach Joey Saxe

EE: What are your thoughts on the realignment?

JS: “A very exciting time, don’t know who you are getting but we must be prepared for whoever we face. It also sets the schedule for the next 2 years.”

EE: How do you think it will affect the future of Akins Football?

JS: “It aligns opportunities for the kid’s home/away games. It impacts how many district games you have depending on who you are getting.”

EE: Who are some new opponents you would like to face? What are some opponents we currently face that you would like to see drawn into another district?

JS: “Anytime you lose to one of the lakes or springs, it’s a good time *laughs*. I prefer to have a smaller district such as San Marcos and Manor.”

EE: Do you think the realignment will be a good or bad thing for Akins Football?

JS: “Always a good thing you know football is fun, especially for the kids. It would be ideal to be placed in a smaller district which would mean fewer district games.”

EE: How do you think this will affect the players?

JS: “Mentally, we can and will face anyone in front of us.

Juniors and above, these teams will be the ones they play until graduation.”

Coach Erica Routt

EE: What are your thoughts on the realignment?

ER: “My thoughts are that we should be going against schools with our exact or close number of enrollment which makes it fair to us and who we are going against.”

EE: How do you think it will affect the future of Akins Girls basketball?

ER: “I believe that it will affect us positively and change our mindset in the sense that if we can put in the extra effort and know we can keep it close with the other schools, then we know we can win.”

EE: Who are some new opponents you would like to face? What are some opponents we currently face that you would like to see drawn into another district?

ER: “I’m looking for Westlake and Lake Travis to be placed into another district. A school that I would like to play is San Marcos.”

EE: Do you think the realignment will be a good or bad thing for Akins Girls Basketball?

ER: “I believe it will be a good thing because if we can keep games close with Lake Travis and Westlake, I know we will be competitive with whoever we place. In our last game, we missed 19 free throws so we must learn.”

EE: How do you think this will affect the players?

ER: “I think this will change our mindset going forward knowing that we can and we will be competitive with whoever we play.”

Colin Drucker NeW District

Coach Rashad Culver

EE: What are your thoughts on the realignment?

RC: “Excited to see what the district will look like for the next 2 years and I’m looking for schools closer to Akins athletically.”

EE: How do you think it will affect the future of Akins Boys basketball?

RC: “I’m hoping for no negatives and also looking to develop my players into better players.”

EE: Who are some new opponents you would like to face? What are some opponents we currently face that you would like to see drawn into another district?

RC: “I would like to not face Westlake, Dripping Springs, and Lake Travis because of the travel.”

EE: Do you think the realignment will be a good or bad thing for Akins Boys Basketball?

RC: “Good thing in the sense teams added will be a good test for us and it will show what team we are.”

EE: How do you think this will affect the players?

RC: “It’s a positive thing because we are excited to face new teams and challenges. We can and will prove we can win against anyone.”

Junior Eloy Espresion

EE: What are you looking forward to next season now that there are 2 teams that are out of the district?

EE: “Mostly just looking forward to being able to compete more without like Anderson and Johnson on district. There’s gonna be less competition which is bringing a lot of fun to our team.”

EE: How is the team feeling about a bye week in the middle of the season?

EE: “I know that it will give us a lot more time to prepare because this year, and the year before our bye weeks around the end of the season. So we had to go back to back. No, no time to prepare. It was just rough.”

EE: Do you think there’s going to be better opportunities for the seniors next year because of the change in district?

EE: “Most definitely, because there’s gonna be less competition and even though we still have Travis and Westlake. We have four non-district games and I feel like it’s gonna be fun because they’re similar teams to our skill.”

EE: Do you think having more non-district games will help boost the team’s morale? If so, please explain.

EE: “I definitely think it would boost our morale because we would have a higher chance of winning and we’d be able to, if, as planned we’d be able to break the school record for wins.”

Junior Jamarion Carter

EE: What are you looking forward to next season now that there are 2 teams that are out of the district?

JC: “I’m definitely looking forward to play Travis and definitely looking forward to that Del Valle rematch. Yeah, that’s definitely going to be lit, we’re trying to give our best because last season, that game we definitely should have won. We definitely should have won it. Yeah.”

EE: How is the team feeling about a bye week in the middle of the season?

JC: “Well, I can’t speak for the team, but I can definitely speak for myself. And I think that it’s a good thing. It’s a breather, and like not having a bye week at the end of the season is good because, midway, we’re not going to be exhausted. So having that little week break and not being able

to play a team is definitely going to be able to prepare and like, get us ready for our next games and halfway through the season.”

EE: Do you think there’s going to be better opportunities for the seniors next year because of the change in district?

JC: “I think there’s always opportunities waiting for like our seniors next year to get better to develop. I think that in the district change there’s opportunities to do better because, to be honest, I don’t think that the people that we’re playing are as skilled as their seniors that are going to be there next year.”

EE: Do you think having more non-district games will

help boost the team’s morale? If so, please explain.

JC: “I think that it should because I think we’re a lot better than the teams that were playing. And then once we, if we win those games, then that will boost our morale and make it to where we’ll be able to go out there and perform. Not be nervous for the actual district games that we’re gonna be playing.”

EE: Do you think there’s going to be more confidence going into district playing against non-district teams?

JC: “Yeah, I do.”

JPLopezcontributedtothisstory

Art Courtesy of Akins Athletics

Young basketall team works for growth

Copeland Staff Writer

The Varsity Boys Basketball team ended their season on Tuesday with a mix of accomplishments and challenges.

This year the team has been composed of more young players who are starters for the team including sophomore Darius Hedspeth and junior Coda Trevino. The team also featured returning seniors Jordan Correa, Ryan Ware, Michael Evelth, and Roman Trevino.

The team started with a district win against Del Valle in December and then experienced a string of losses until the winter break when the team had several wins against non-district teams. The Varsity team then scored a series of three wins in January, beating Anderson, Dripping Springs and Austin High.

Evelth, who plays shooting guard, said that the team has worked hard to overcome challenges.

“By just going on a six-game losing streak and you know, guys getting sick but still being able to get through it and

bounce back and get some wins,” he said.

Sophomore Caleb Parkhill shooting guard for the Akins basketball team said he enjoys getting to play for the varsity basketball team.

“I got into basketball at a young age and ever since it’s just kind of clicked,” he said. “I’m so grateful I get to wake up every day and do something I love.”

Head Basketball Coach Rashad Culver said the players have made a tremendous amount of progress and growth this year.

“Players’ dedication and commitment have led to improvement in their skill, strength, and IQ of the game,” he said. “Players have also shown a great amount of maturity in how they handle adversity on and off the court.”

Culver said he hopes the underclassmen learn that the process of building a basketball team takes time.

“If you trust it and commit to it you will achieve great things here at Akins,” he said. “Learn from the older players and work your butt off to help continue the success here at Akins. Looking forward to seeing how the Freshman, JV, and returning Varsity players do this off-season.”

Senior Michael Evelth gets ready to pass the ball on Jan. 26 against Austin High School on Senior Night. Evelth was one of the six seniors presented that night.

Meet your boys soccer captains

JD Henry Staff Writer

The Akins boys soccer team began their season recently with multiple wins throughout the pre-season. While currently holding sixth place in district, the soccer team is led by three captains. The Eagle’s Eye interviewed the captains and the coach to get to know the team.

CAPTAINS

DIEGO ZUNIGA, ANGEL MANCHA, AND JOSE NUNEZ

EE: How do you feel about this year’s chances of making the playoffs?

DZ: I feel very confident, you know, as we go, it’s a rough, it’s been a rough start. But as we go throughout the season, we’re gonna finish strong.

AM: I think we’re off to a slow start right now because of injuries and, you know, just getting the team chemistry down, but we’ve definitely gotten better. And I think we’re gonna take on the big teams to take on the big teams, and we’re gonna make the playoffs for sure.

JN: I think this year we have a higher chance of making the playoffs. We have a good team, good roster. Everyone you know, we have good technique. Everyone has their own talent. You have some good captains, good keepers. And I think we have a chance to make the playoffs for many reasons. But I think most importantly is because we all want it. We all want to make the playoffs and we are trying to get that win.

EE: Who do you feel is a significant leader and player

on this team?

DZ: I mean, other than the captains, I believe, Yomar. Yomar and isay. I mean, I think they’ve been doing pretty good. Carrying the midfield and just creating plays, you know?

AM: Oh, yeah, I would say the captains, but then other than the captains, I would say Manny because he works hard, and he’s always uplifting, and he just does what he needs to do.

JN: I think Yomar is the most significant one. Because, you know, he’s really young. He’s a sophomore, but he’s got a lot of leadership talent. The IQ he has on the field,it’s not normal for his age. I think he’s really overdeveloped and he really puts a lot into the team.

EE: What are one of the best moments of your high school career so far?

DZ: One of the best moments. Uh, my sophomore year, we had a really good squad. We got three wins. We started off with three wins. And then we tied Bowie, so we had a really good start in one of those wins against Del Valle. And that game was so intense, and it was at DV (Del Valle) so there was a lot of background to that game. So it felt good beating DV in front of our people.

AM: One of my greatest moments was, I gotta say, like, it’s obviously scoring as a defender. You don’t really get to go up as much and hit some sidewalls into the back of the net, you know. Hays last year, it was pretty much the first goal. And I set the tempo for the rest of the game. You know?

JN: I got many, but I think my most favorite one is scoring Stevie at their home last year. Tighten up the game. Last couple minutes, though it was a good vibe. The fans watching everyone cheering I think it was a good game.

Emily Moreno

Talking

Game

Senior Angel Mancha discusses tactics with senior Jose Nunez and sophomore Yomar Olvera during their game against Austin High.

Robert Stephenson Fewer Seniors

Andrew

Girls soccer team forms strong bonds

After a successful start, the girls soccer team begins to struggle

Coach KAT gives the girls varsity team a pep-talk before going against Crockett High School on Dec. 19.

Members of the Varsity Girls Soccer team have put their all into building a strong team while struggling to win district games this year.

The team started strong and won four games before district games started in mid-January. The team has yet to win a district game this season while playing against powerhouse teams in our area. Despite the team’s struggles, the players have focused their efforts on forming strong bonds needed to play well as a team.

The Akins Girls Soccer team recently started their district season after a remarkable pre-season. They played in their first ever tournament in early January, winning against schools like Cedar Creek winning by 2-1 and Bellville, which they beat 6-0. The team won first place at the Giddings Invitational Tournament and went on a 4-game winning streak. They started their season 4-0.

The team then played their first district game versus Del Valle, in which their winning streak ended. Since then the team’s overall record is now 4-5, making them last in the district.

Despite this, Marlen Hernandez, a senior on the varsity team, became the first Akins Soccer player in school history, boys or girls, to sign to a D1 school. Hernandez signed to Youngstown State University in Ohio and will attend next fall. Coach Kat, the Head Girls Soccer Coach, wishes Hernandez a great career and hopes she’ll “remember the times that she had here at Akins.”

Head coach also believes that Hernandez is the first of

Younger leaders

Sophomore America Gonzalez plays as a starter against Crockett on Dec. 19.

many soccer players here at Akins to go D1. She sees “a lot of D1 potential” and believes that Hernandez is “setting up the standard for other players coming after her.” Even with this D1 player, they have struggled to play as a united team. The coach states the team has very good players, but they have issues trying to “bring everything together to make one big team.”

Junior Monse Valenzuela, who plays on the Varsity Team, shares that she’d like to get an honorable mention award again and wants to “stand out a little bit more.” Her favorite

part of being on the team is the friendships.

Similar to Valenzuela, her teammate Hernandez wants to be MVP and win her senior night. She also says her favorite part of being on the team is “the friendships that come along with it and the memories.”

Both players are overachievers on and off the field and play every game till the last second. With this, the team has not yet won a district game yet this season.

Katia Castellanos, Head Coach for the Varsity Girls Soccer Team, said that they knew that it would be a tough season going into district games.

“We knew that coming into season, we were playing those powerhouses, and that would be difficult.”

She encourages the players to win their individual battles. “So win the ball in front of you, win the tackle in front of you and those are wins that we can take away from the games,” she said.

She said she is proud of the team for playing till the end of the game unlike in years past. The biggest challenge is their chemistry on and off the field.

“Sometimes they don’t trust each other outside of the field and they’re not going to trust each other on the field,” she said.

She said she wants players to take away good traits, experiences, and to continue to love the game. No matter what the score is, she is proud of the team and the way they carry themselves on and off the field.

She encourages players to “lead with love” and wants them to not only be good athletes but also good people and students.

As the season progresses she said she hopes they “can continue to be lifelong learners and continue to grow.”

Brennan West Staff Writer

Adamaris Olivares

Pre-Season Victory

Adamaris Olivares