The Eagle's Eye; Issue 5; Volume 15; Akins High School

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Underclassmen have joined the varsity baseball team. Turn to page 11 to read all about it.

Akins student stands up for the transgender community on page 3.

Dawn of Justice makes it long awaited appearance on the big screen.

Have you bought your tickets? Turn to page 6 to read a student review.

EAGLE’S EYE

The

Lala Villegas

36

W. Charles Akins High School

IF YOU HAD THE

Austin, Texas

Volume 15

Issue 5

April 13, 2016

COLLEGE CREDIT HOURS would you take it?

OPPORTUNITY TO RECEIVE

“Everything that Concerns You”

Dual credit takes on a new meaning, opening doors for future Akins students Nic Sokolowski News Editor

Akins students will have the opportunity to earn up to 36 hours of college credit while still in high school starting next year as part of the new Dual Credit Eagles program.

The program is part of a statewide expansion of dual credit opportunities for high school students. It is designed to increase the participation of high school students in dual credit and other college-level courses. By increasing the number of hours of dual credit students can earn, Akins administrators hope to improve the likelihood that students will go onto higher education after graduating from high school.

“The big picture is that we’re always trying to increase the capacity here at Akins to support students to go on to college and be career ready when they leave high school,” College and Career adviser Sarah Simmons said.

According to a study by the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships, dual credit students were more likely to earn a degree quicker than the average student, and researchers found that dual credit courses were just as effective in preparing them for the coming college coursework.

College level-work is becoming more common at Akins as more kids begin taking advantage of dual credit opportunities. AP, co-enrollment, and articulated credit are just a few ways students can begin getting college credit while in high school. However, dual credit is the only way to get credit for both high school and college just by passing the course.

“DC Eagles is here to support students who want to access that program (dual credit classes) during the school day, and are willing to commit to the program enough,” Simmons said.

While earning up to 36 hours of college credit sounds good initially, students interested in the program are hav-

Demands increase on senior exit form

EDUCATION

ing to weigh whether they are ready to commit to its requirements, especially how much time these classes will demand to be successful.

“We want kids to be involved in school, which also futhers their chance of being successful; but for our kids who can’t be in those programs for the same reasons: they can’t afford it, they can’t stay after school, what about all those kids who just need support during the school day and are willing to commit to this program?” Simmons said.

Another factor that students have to consider is the cost of paying for textbooks, which can cost up to $100 just for one. However, Simmons said Akins administracial needs pay for their books so it doesn’t prevent them from joining the program.

See “opportunity” pg. 4

INITIATIVES

Credit recovery program offers a hand

Ashley Sanchez Staff Writer

Seniors received a personalized exit checklist April 4 that outlines what they need to complete to enjoy the remainder of their high school career.

The lists include checkpoints for the respective academy counselor to sign off on once it is complete. These lists have been customized for each student so they know how The requirements range from needing to submit a books turned in.

Any requirements left undone will prevent seniors from participating in special activities such as the senior panoramic picture, senior trip and prom.

Obligations will not prevent seniors from walking the stage on June 4, but it will prevent them from receiving their diplomas.

SENIOR CHECKLIST REQUIREMENTS:

Ricardo Villegas

Catching Up

Sophomore Noah Hollingsworth works on completing an online module for one of his classes.

Students pulled into all-day DELTA recover their credits through these modules, providing a different way of learning to make up credits they have lost.

Larry Durden

Submit a college application No obligation listing Submit FASFA or TASFA Submit senior exit survey (the survery does not affect prom)

Staff Writer

New graduation requirements have put increased pressure on this year’s sophomores and juniors, landing a few of them in an all-day computer-based learning program away from their regular classes and classmates.

Everything from maintaining a 90 percent or better cult for students to recover and pass their classes if they get behind during their early years in high school.

Because students have to now take a required fouryear sequence of elective classes to earn an endorsement, students do not have much wiggle room in their schedule if they fail a core class or have extremely low grades.

To combat this problem, administrators have worked to intervene early to ensure that these students can get back on track before it is too late. One tool

CONSEQUENCES: No senior field trip No senior breakfast No senior prom No panoramic picture Ashley Sanchez

Leadership, Technology, and Academics (DELTA)

program.

“As an administrator or counselor, we all want you to have eight classes and successful in all eight of them,” Principal Brandi Hosack said. “But unfortunately there are some who don’t pass classes and that’s when we have a problem, and if I don’t help them then I’m being irresponsible as a principal and we feel DELTA is the perfect program for credit recovery.”

Students in the DELTA program are tasked with completing online modules that allow them to recover or earn credits that they either already lost or ones that they were in danger of losing because of poor performance in class. Some students who have had discipline problems or show a lack of progress toward passing their classes near the end of the fourth six weeks were assigned to take classes in DELTA all day.

These students said they were not happy about being placed in the program.

“I understand it is supposed to help but being in one class staring at a computer all day is kind of ridiculous,” sophomore Lavel Deckard said.

See “ACADEMICS” pg. 4

INSIDE... Opinions - pAge 2-3 News - page 4 InDepth - page 5 Student Life - page 6-7 Entertainment - page 8-9 Photo Essay - page 10 Sports - page 11 Community - page 12

OPINIONS

page 2

The Eagle’s Eye

Wednesday – April 13, 2016

Web restrictions cause students grief, restricts learning potential EDITORIAL

POLITICS

DENOUNCEMENT

Robles v.

Watters’ World Gabe Robles

Opinions Editor

Blake Barto

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 advisor will not act as a censor. Content

Eagle’s Eye Staff Editor-in-Chief

Amanda Livingston*

Opinions Editor

Gabe Robles*

News Editor

Nicolas Sokolowski*

Entertainment Editor Jose Salazar*

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

Sadie Adams Maheen Anjum Brayan Cartagena Chelsea Cuevas Luis Correa Larry Durden

Staff Writers

Editorial Policy

The Eagle’s Eye

represents the views of the student staff and not school officials.

Life & Style Editors

Thomas Cross*

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

Mary Griffis Adrian Guajardo Jr. Caitlin Nickles Kelly Polacheck Matthew Rocha Ashley Sanchez

Bradley Barto* Eliana Gutierrez*

Web Editor

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

Blake Barto* Jesse Farquhar-Greth*

Photo Editor

Ricardo Villegas*

Gabriel Robles

The Eagle’s Eye does not necessarily endorse the products or services found in advertisements from local businesses.

Katrina Stewart Namiah Wright D’Shalon Williams Lala Villegas

Graphics Editors

SEE AKINSEAGLESEYE.COM FOR THE FULL STORY

or corrections to akins.journalism@gmail. com or mail them to 10701 South First Street Austin, Texas 78748 or 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.

Editorial Board*

T

he internet is a vast world of it’s own with information on anything your mind could desire to know.

It’s an amazing tool to use, that should be utilized; however, we recognize it also had a dark side.

Austin ISD has always had some kind of web restriction in place to deter students from being distracted from their education by playing games or coming across inappropriate content like pornography or drug paraphernalia.

While this seems like an important safety measure, it also restricts websites that are not harmful.

In the past teachers could allow students to view restricted YouTube videos if the teacher deemed them to be of educational value by signing into an authentication system with a password.

However, on March 2 when students all around the Austin school district powered up their school computers, they found a newer, more rigorous web filter in effect.

One of the biggest sites affected by this was YouTube.

Student’s could no longer easily access many tutorials for educational purposes and teachers could not sign-in to allow access.

The only way teachers can allow access to restricted YouTube content now is to e-mail an information specialist in the central office to add the content to an approved list. Students must then login to an Austin ISD Google account that most students don’t even know they have.

Even after students login to this Google account, their access to YouTube is still extremely limited, blocking out even many educational videos.

We understand cyber safety is important and the school district wants to protect us from inappropriate content, but the filter that is now in place inhibits students with its flaws more than it protects us.

First, the sense of trust between the district, teachers, and students is completely eliminated with how strict they filter the internet Fortunately, the information technology department responds quickly, but this process is not widely known and many teachers don’t even know they can do this. It brings the educational process to a halt when a student announces to the class that a video is blocked by the filter.

Second, many technology based classes are struggling.

Any class involving work on a computer suffers from the

new filter including, animation, web tech, and film. In addition, some students on the Eagle’s Eye staff struggle to find information for their assigned stories.

It’s unfair to students with less financial means that only district computers have the filter affecting them.

Students’ whose parents can pay for a big data plan can access all of the research tools available on the web, including YouTube.

Finally, while the restrictions are crippling a huge majority of the school, the newspaper is getting hit extremely hard. The newspaper staff practically lives on the computers. We use them to organize the stories for that publication, store information, research topics for our stories, as well as write and edit stories.

When websites are being too strictly blocked, we cannot attain the correct information for our stories. Without the correct information, we cannot accurately do our job of informing the student body.

Instead of restricting web access further, we as the Editorial Board we believe that teachers need to be empowered to help students make appropriate decisions regarding internet usage.

Every year the district’s teachers are supposed to sign an Acceptable Use Policy that requires them to live by the internet safety rules in the district. Teachers are also supposedly trained on appropriate cyber safety, but it’s become apparent it’s not as much a priority as claimed to be.

Granted there are a lot of things going on in the district to improve the education system, this is extremely important because of the modern world we live in being powered by the internet.

The school district has claimed that we as students will receive lessons about cyber safety, but this has not been put into place. We encourage these lessons on web safety to be incorporated into our regular classes to help students be more responsible with their internet usage.

Every first day of the school week, we are required to go to an Advisory period for 25 minutes, and the remainder of the week that time is for students to sign up for FIT sessions to work on homework and be tutored. We believe this time could be used to teach students about appropriate internet behavior.

The Editorial Board of the Eagle’s Eye newspaper agrees that cyber safety is of the utmost importance. We urge for the school district to educate teachers in order to teach cyber safety to students instead of tightening their grip and restricting students from using the internet.

Generally speaking, I try to avoid publicly denouncing people, as it usually ends up having a similar connotation as what people say happen when we assume things of others.

That being said, I was saddened when I saw the recent installment of a video featured on “Watters’ World,” aired during The O’Reilly Factor on FOX News after SXSW. Jesse Watters, the show’s producer, employed journalistic methods that I find deplorable and unethical abuses of so-called journalism that are simply just thinly veiled attempts to poke fun at liberals attending the conference.

Instead of attempting to reach out to those who might not agree with their political beliefs, the segment seeks to only validate their own political positions on issues facing America today.

Objectively speaking, Jesse Watters’ political views have a tendency to lean towards a conservative authoritarian (or right-wing authoritarian) doctrines. As both a psychological and political theory, as presented predominantly in The Authoritarian Personality, such views can be “defined as the convergence of three attitudinal clusters,” as stated by Paul Rosenberg of the Daily Kos in “Rightwing Authoritarianism and Conservative Identity Politics”: 1. Submission to authorities perceived to be established and legitimate, 2. General aggressiveness perceived to be sanctioned by established authorities, 3. Adherence to the social conventions that are perceived to be endorsed by society and its established authorities.

While I advocate for political diversity and — despite not being a fan of authoritarian trains of thought — believe that Watters has every right to have the political views that he displays. However, the methods through which he pushes his political views upon others I cannot endorse. It is manipulative, and can be summed up with one word: sensationalism, and has no place in the media.

Journalism is what we should naturally refer to as the truth. It is a method of communication in which an individual strives to gather knowledge and distributed it among fellow members of his society to better that society. Sensationalism — the tool of Watters, in this instance — is the opposite of that. It muddles the truth with half-lies and falsehoods on a basis of subject matter with little logical value to invoke a sensational response.

It is unacceptable as a respectable journalist to manipulate the content your interviewees provide for you to use, and that manipul ation is how outlets such as Watters’ World shame journalism.

* The members of the Editorial Board who contributed to the Staff Editorial are marked in asterisks.

In-Depth Editors

Stephanie Valle* Brenda Amaya*

Sports Editor

Cassie Obi*

Honors ILPC/UIL

TAJE

Superior Bronze Star Award Coverage 2007 2005 2011 2008 2012 2007 - H.M. Sweepstakes 2013 2010 - 2nd Sweepstakes 2014 2011 - H.M. Sweepstakes 2015

NSPA

All-American 2013 Nominated for Pacemaker -2013

CSPA

2011 - Silver Medal 2012 - Gold Medal

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

ENVIRONMENT

The Eagle’s Eye

RECYCLING

Lockers useless; having them removed for the best

EDUCATION

OPPORTUNITY

Daycare and online class can help teen parents

Mary GriffiS Staff Writer

LALA Villegas

Hear ye, hear ye!

Lockers are dead.

It might be difficult to take this news, but it’s time to accept the obvious. The use of lockers has been on the decline across the country for at least the last decade.

Besides being a ubiquitous background image that is universally recognized as a school setting, there is absolutely no reason anymore for Akins to have thousands of lockers lining the hallways.

The demise of the high school locker follows the obsolescence of the high school textbook. Students at Akins rarely use textbooks in their classes with the primary exception being AP classes that are still dependent on these unwieldy and heavy burdens of knowledge. But students typically do not need to lock up these beefy books during the day leaving no reason to use a locker.

Coincidentally, the timing of the opening of the Akins campus in 2000 is around the time when textbook use across the country began to drop off as teachers began turning to online resources. The stagnant old textbook just cannot compete with the dynamic and up-to-date nature of the Internet.

I understand that there are sometimes cases when students might need a locker to secure some personal belongings, but we certainly do not need the thousands of lockers that line the red and green hallways. According to administrators only two students requested lockers this year — both for medical reasons.

With lockers and textbooks being so obsolete no one does anything about it except complain or point out the obvious “We don’t use the lockers or the textbooks.” Why is that? Do people like com-

SOCIETY

page 3

Opinions

Staff Writer

Blake Barto

plaining about useless metal lockers on the walls and flimsy out of date textbooks and not doing anything about them? I know I don’t.

It’s time to remove the vast majority of the lockers from the school. I know it would cost a lot of money to take them down, but if we sell the steel for scrap, it might cover the removal cost.

With the lockers gone, there will be a lot of unused space that could be filled with display cases showing off certain features of different academies. This could help with recruitment for electives.

Or we could just do what administrators did in Albemarle County Public Schools in Virginia and replace the lockers with benches and charging stations for the electronic devices that have replaced the textbooks to begin with.

There are many solutions to this unused locker problem but it doesn’t seem like anyone cares enough to go through with anything. 2016 needs to be the year when problems are fixed and removing the lockers should be the first.

With the high expense of childcare, some students have said a day care is needed at Akins to help students who have their own children.

The average cost of a center-based daycare can range from $300 to $1,564 a month. Being a high school student and a parent you don’t have much time to work a full time job to be able to provide that much money a month.

Currently within the Austin school district four high schools have a child development center on their campus: Travis, LBJ, Reagan and Lanier.

School officials have said Akins is currently not eligible to provide a daycare for the teen moms here on campus.

To help student mothers take care of their children, Austin ISD provides an online program that helps alleviate the need for day care. Austin ISD offers the Virtual School for Teen Parents program (VSTP) for parents who do not have anyone to care for their child or if they want to care for them at home.

The program allows students to do online school work on a computer at home and they can also have their teacher meet them at their house two times a week. Students can utilize this program for a whole school year if there is enough available spots. Spots are limited because there are only a few teachers available to do the home visits.

While the online program is helpful for some teen parents, on campus daycare programs provide benefits that a computer-based solution simply cannot. For example, the online program

does not provide for elective credits and students must now have to take a sequence of elective classes to graduate. So eventually, the teen parent is going to have to come back to campus if they want to graduate.

There are plenty of teen moms that miss school to take care of their child because their babysitter bailed on them or they just couldn’t find anyone.

Eventually, they’re going to miss a lot of school and fail to meet graduation requirements.

It would be very fortunate for these teen parents to have them in an on-campus daycare because during lunch or any time they have they can go see their child.

I have seen student mothers in classes who are constantly checking their cell phones because they are trying to communicate with a babysitter.

It takes away from their learning time when they have to constantly be worried about how their child is doing while they are at school.

I am no mom but I can only imagine how hard it must be to come back to school after having a baby.

With all this being said, I believe we should do more for the teen parents that are actually trying to finish their education, granted that it’s not the the school’s responsibility but the deed is done is there is nothing that can change that.

Original Image from College Success for Moms

Gabriel Robles

GENDER IDENTITY

Transgender a spectrum of identity, a reality and lifestyle Bradly Barto

Co-Life & Style Editor The day a person realizes that they are transgender is an import-

THE

ant time.

For those who consider themselves transgender, there is point where “all the stars are aligned” and the signs point to one answer. This moment provides a label for how you have felt for your entire life, but were previously confused by. It’s an answer. But that initial feeling of relief of actualization can soon be followed with the pain of realizing that you will likely be misunderstood by those around you.

Being transgender is a difficult thing considering everything that someone goes through while discovering who they are and who they want to be. At the same time they have to contend with everybody else around them trying to label them just as much as they are trying to find appropriate

EAGLE VIEW

“They shouldn’t block things that can be helpful.”

–Jaden Mayes Freshman

labels for themselves.

Gender is not something that people are assigned to at birth. It can be a choice that you have if you feel happy with being another gender than the one you are assumed to be based on physical attributes.

Gender is not just male and female. Between the two there is a whole spectrum and you can be whatever you want to be.

A person can identify as multiple genders, or anything that they feel really fits for them.

While it may be strange to some people, there is absolutely nothing wrong with people doing whatever they want to be comfortable with their body. If a person is born male but wants to dress and act like a girl because that makes them happy, that is a perfectly fine thing and people need to understand that this is a thing that will happen, people will do what they want because anybody should be allowed to be happy with their body and who they are.

Transgender confusion issues are also playing out in the public with recent legal battles across the country about whether

Gabriel Robles

transgender people should be able to use the bathroom that they identify with. In South Dakota, a bill was proposed to forbid this, but it was vetoed by the state’s governor. On the other hand, in New York City they recently approved rules permitting transgender people to use the bathrooms they identify with. While in some places this is allowed, the fact that there are many places where it isn’t, and that is terrible.

It is difficult to tell people how you feel if they are still learning what makes them happy and comfortable, but it is

even more difficult when people don’t accept somebody for who they are. If somebody is born a certain gender but feels like the other, that is OK. I understand that it might be hard to understand or accept people who are different, but it should not be something that is different, or something that separates people. We as a people need to learn to grow towards accepting this lifestyle choice and to allow for people to make them. We as a people need to learn that being transgender doesn’t make a person any less human. Transgender is an expressive step into a colorful society.

Question: What’s your opinion about school internet restrictions, like on YouTube?

“It’s not useful.Web restrictions can make me work slower.”

–Lilliana Hernandez Sophomore

“It makes it difficult for even teachers to find teaching material.”

–Ryan Salinas Junior

“It’s unnecessary.

People will just find ways around it.”

–Madison Round Senior

“It creates a hassle to show things to students on the spot.”

–Courtney Harris SEL Teacher

NEWS

page 4

The Eagle’s Eye

Wednesday – April 13, 2016

ENVIRONMENT

CLEAN UP

Concerns rise as campus appearance deteriorates Administration advocates for students to take responsibility and pick up their trash kelly polacheck

Austin High School. Despite the challenges of improving the campus appearance Correa said she is excited to take on the job.

“I’m just excited to have my own school so I can take care of it, and I can do everything I’ve been learning through the years

Staff Writer

A courtyard marked by leftover food, recycling bins unused, and unwanted wrappers being blown along the ground like tumbleweeds. These have become a common sights around campus over the last school year.

The campus custodial staff has the campus’ appearance this year because of regular staff shortages and a 5-month gap without an vious head custodian resigned in late October.

“Seeing as I’ve been to a lot of different schools, this school doesn’t look nearly as good as it should, I’ve seen worse but I’ve more Annie Ricotta said.

The decline in appearances was noted in a recently released campus-wide staff and faculty survey in which respondents who said the campus was “clean and

Ricardo Villegas

Gathering Garbage

A custodian picks up garbage left by students after lunch in the courtyard. a little challenging in the next few weeks as we transition with a new head custodian and a new

93 percent last year to 87 percent this year.

Associate Principal Manuel Garcia explained the housekeeping situation to staff in an e-mail to the campus in early March.

“Our existing crew has done the very best they can. It may be

e-mail.

New head custodian Johanna Correa started her new job at Akins in late March after working as the assistant head custodian at

Correa said she is aware that there are some students who have not been properly disposing of their food waste after lunch and otherwise leaving the campus messy.

“We’re here to provide a good clean environment for you guys, she said.

Some teachers and coaches have started taking students out to the courtyard to pick up trash and clean the school to do their part. JROTC students and athletes from various teams are a few examples of students who have helped pick up the litter.

Senior Jade Ray said they

hope their efforts do not go unnoticed and hope they will inspire other students to help keep the school clean, one empty water bottle at a time.

“Its our job to keep the camSEL teachers who teach freshmen are also hoping to reset the campus culture in terms of teaching students to take responsibility for the campus’ appearance.

“I think it’s important for older students to teach freshmen the proper reasoning to keep their enny Bromberg said. “I think it’d be great to bring back some of the old community service programs Campus administrators said they plan to work toward raising expectations for student behavior regarding campus upkeep.

Assistant principal Bill Creel said it helps the campus if students take ownership of the appearance of the school.

CONT. FROM “ACADEMICS” PG. 1

Credit recovery program takes over students’ schedules DELTA director Margaret McNeely said the program is designed to help students with various problems.

“DELTA is for someone who may be from another state or country and they have trouble in a different learning environis behind on their credits in their core classes and we provide help, or if someone is at risk of dropStudents assigned to DELTA all day have strict behavior guidelines to follow, including escorts to the bathroom. Students are also unable to take elective classes while they are taking DELTA all day.

When students enter the class, they are told to power off their cell phones and put away their

headphones. They must walk to the front desk one by one and grab their journals.

When they take their seats, they have to sit two seats away from each other. There is not talking in the classroom among students except with the teacher, which is done at the front of the room to avoid distractions for other students in the room.

The rules are designed to help all students to be successful, McNeely said.

For students like sophomore Noah Hollingsworth, the all-day DELTA assignment was not easy at first.

“We can’t move when we want which is ridiculous to me because it’s hard for me to stay

the program, Hollingsworth said he came to appreciate it after he quickly began making progress and earning credits. After about 2 months in the program, he recovered credits he lost during his freshman year and the first semester of his sophomore year.

“I do think DELTA is good for kids who get behind on their credits and have trouble in their Assistant Principal Tina Salazar said DELTA is designed to help students graduate on time.

“I recently put a student in one period of DELTA and he recovered 2.5 credits in 3 months..... e-mail. “He was struggling in class because he was bored. He blossomed in DELTA where he

Despite his initial dislike of

Ricardo Villegas

Gaining Knowledge

Sophomore Hilarie Smuts obtains help from Margret McNeely on an assignment in the DELTA lab. McNeely is the DELTA Site-Director and is an overseer of the program.

CONT. FROM “OPPORTUNITY” PG. 1

New program allows freshmen to gain 36 college credits “We’re never gonna let (textbooks) be a reason to keep a student out of the program, but that is someBrandi) Hosack has promised us that, again, it will

• Receive toward high school GPA at a low cost to students • Experience the prior to graduating from high school • • Provides

in high school • Allows completion of

brief

Siource: Sarah Simmons

will have to consider is that the Austin Community College board of trustees recently passed a rule that will require dual credit students to pay $100 for each class, said ACC dual credit specialist Davelyn Forrest.

“I anticipate that we are going to have students that want to leave the program, and that’s why we’ll have a waiting list. I really hope that the process of getting into the program allows for committed stuSome students said they feel intimidated by the idea of committing three years to college while still in high school, and also by the possibility of not being able to participate in extracurricular programs that involve large time commitments.

“I feel like it would be stressful, but at the same time it would help you get ahead. It’s worth the chal-

New Tech Academy counselor Christine Kesling said students who sign up for DC Eagles should stay organized.

“My advice would to keep a planner going ... the planner should be busy. I wish I had done something Simmons said she is excited to watch the program grow.

“What’s really cool about this program is that by the time they graduate as a senior they’ll have 36 transferable core curriculum hours, and because they’re apart of the dual credit core curriculum they won’t be seen as a transfer student, which means they still can access all freshmen scholarships and all freshmen programs, they just don’t have to pay for

Cantu said the only thing that is stopping her from signing up for the program is her involvement in

Annual blood donation drive returns The phlebotomy practicum is preparing to host the Akins Blood Drive. As always, teachers are encouraged to participate.

Teachers interested in donating and wanting an appointment time, please email Jacey Saylor and she will get it set up. Those who do not have an appointment time, will be worked in.

Students will sign up for an appointment time in portable 304 once they return the permission slip. If you don’t have a time, you can come to

sports.

Simmons understands why students are hesitant to sign up, however they should keep their long term goals in mind when it comes to higher education.

“I want more students taking dual credit, and I want them to choose what’s appropriate for them.

It’s a big commitment and I really am happy just for more students to know about dual credit and access

Remember every donation saves two adult lives or 4 pediatric lives.

If you know that you are Type O Negative PLEASE DONATE! The blood drive is on April 22nd, from 9:00-3:00 in the library.

Requirements include being 17 or older and weighing at least 115 pounds. You must also have a photo ID. Students are required to have a permission slip signed, even if they are 18. They can pick those up in portable 304. If there are questions, feel free to ask Saylor.

18th: Choir UIL

Upcoming Events

22nd: Dance Spring Show

S M T W T

23th: Akins 5K Run 26th: Varsity Baseball vs.

Lake Travis 29th: Coffee with Principal

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IN DEPTH

The Eagles Eye

page 5

Wednesday - April 13, 2016

Welcome to Go

ey B Hon

the real world

rs!

adge

Chelsea Cuevas

Akins alumni share their experiences of life after High school Brenda amaya

Co-In Depth Editor If you believe the images of university life you see in the movies, college is all parties, hanging out with friends and some occasional studying in between, you are mistaken.

These cliché portrayals of college are distortions of reality that are simply fantasies. The reality is that studying takes up a majority of a college student’s time.

“The transition between high school to college is one of our main concerns and helping students understand the difference is one of our priorities,” College and Career adviser Sarah Simmons said.

Recent high school graduates often have unrealistically high expectations for how wonderful college is going to be. However, it doesn’t take long to discover that college life is more complicated than they initially thought. balancing their academic studies and their social life. If you add on a part- or full-time job to their already busy life it can become more than overwhelming.

According to Lumina Foundation research assumptions about today’s college students are wrong.

According to the study, 38 percent of students who are over the age of 25 struggle with more than just their education, 58 percent work while they’re in college and 26 percent are raising a child.

... a dorm can feel like a prison sometimes ...

— Savannah Garza Sarah Luna, an Austin Community College student and 2015 Akins graduate said her “I’ve been paying for college out of my own pocket by myself, and right now I owe a lot of money to ACC and it sucks to have that hanging over my head,” Luna said. Students also have a hard time with college expenses such as paying for their tuition, classes and textbooks. In fact, 42 percent

are close to living in poverty due to the cost of college, according to Lumina Foundation.

Tuition costs at Texas public and private universities has skyrocketed in the last decade. According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the statewide average of tuition and fees in 2013 for 15 semester credit hours at public state universities was $3,951. This amount represents a 104 percent increase from 2003. Private schools such as St. Edward’s University in Austin are also experiencing similar increases in tuition costs.

Savannah Garza, a 2014 Akins graduate and St. Edwards sophomore said her tuition increases are out of control.

“Tuition is growing every year, when I got here it was $36,000 (a year) and next year it will be $40,000,” Garza said.

Of course, tuition and fees are just one component of college expenses. Housing costs are another major expense, especially if you attend college in Austin.

In 2016, the average rent in Austin for a one-bedroom apartment was $1,203 a month and for a two-bedroom apartment it’s $1,575 a month, according to the Rent Jungle website. Not including expenses for utilities, food and entertainment.

Completing college is an expensive proposition, especially considering the fact that 47 percent of port from their parents, according to the study by the Lumina Foundation. Luna, who is taking three classes at ACC this spring, works about 30 hours a week to pay for her living expenses.

“I have my own apartment and I have to work to take care of myself,” Luna said. “It has taken a really huge pull on me.”

Moving out on your own is a huge transition, which includes buying the right essentials such as age.

Going away to college on your own can also be from everyone they know, including their parents and high school friends. The thought of having to live alone without depending on anyone can be stressful.

“I always have to bring pictures of my family

In the state of Texas, on average

cost to attend Texas colleges jumped 104 percent from 2003 - 2013

The

2003: $1,934 tuition and fees, 2013: $3,951

tuition and fees,

Source; Texas higher education Board

What to pack for college

We mostly socialize and study.

— Valentina Tovar and friends and postcards and I think decor is really important because a dorm can feel like a prison sometimes by the way it looks,” Garza said.

Despite the party lifestyle that is often portrayed in college movies, when college students actually have time to themselves they would rather just stay at home and relax. za said. “It’s just too exhausting to balance going out on top of trying to get good grades and manage your sleeping schedule.”

College is a place where students learn to think ties, Simmons said.

However, it can be easy to forget about the longstressful situations.

Simmons said it is important to keep in mind that you are working toward earning a career that earn your college degree. College graduates on average earn $1 million more than high school graduates over their lifetime, according to a Georgetown University study.

Part of the challenge of college is learning to live college or not, Simmons said.

Although college students sometimes do not see their old friends and family much, they have opportunities to meet new friends and form new relationships that they otherwise would not. Valentina Tovar, who graduated last year from Akins and now attends Texas A&M University, said she has already gained new friends and has found time to enjoy being in college. football games we also go to the movies,” she said.

“We mostly socialize and study, which is where we get together with our friends and study.”

college graduates earn $1 million more than high school grads Source; GEorgetown University

Source; Texas Higher Education Board

Cut Here

Stuff for Beds

Laundry

Bed skirt Bed sheets

Bleach

Pillowcases

Laundry Detergent

Blankets Pillows

Room Lamp Hangers Photos/picture Frames Drawers Foldable closet Bulliten/White board Mirror Alarm clock

Fabric Softener Laundry Bag Lingerie Bag Sewing Kit Stain Remover Lint Brush

Kitchen Supplies Bottle Opener Chip Clips Disinfecting Wipes Microwave (if allowed)

Mini Fridge (if allowed)

Toiletries

Curler

Paper Plates

Acne cream/medication

Gaming Device (PS4/XBOX etc)

Reusable Water Bottle

Body wash

Charger

Deoderant

Hair Brush

Face Wash

Razors

Hair Spray/Gel

Sunglasses

Make up

Tweezers

Cologne/Perfume

Flash drives

Mouthwash

Laptop

Toothpaste

TV

Travel Mug Sealable Plastic Bags Utensils

Bathroom Air freshener Loofah Shower shoes Shampoo Conditioner Bath towels Shower Cap (if used)

Toothbrush

Clothing Supplies

Athletic Shoes

Hair ties

Sweats

Bobby Pins

Shirts

Hair straightener

Pants

Stephanie Valle

LIFE & STYLE

page 6

The Eagle’s Eye

Wednesday – April 13, 2016

ACTIVITIES

UNIQUE

Martial arts provides outlet for young athletes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, spark interests in healthy lifestyles Although Akins offers a variety of athletic activities on campus, some students have expanded their interests into what ical activity — Martial Arts.

Sophomore Marcelo Cruz has been training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for two years. uncles,” Cruz said.

father.

“My dad used to do it so then I kinda followed his steps,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez said she is involved in many forms of martial arts.

“I do Jiu Jitsu, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Boxing, and MMA,” she said.

With a wide variety of different martial art forms, comparing one to another is those focused on self defense to those featuring brutal competition.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu differs from Karate as it focuses on technique and Karate revolves around controlling power.

Sophomore Abgail Peterson has been in Karate since 2007 and earned a black belt in 2012. But she is also familar with other forms of martial arts.

Chelsea Cuevas

and it’s very aggressive but then Tai Chi is really relaxing and open and graceful, but ours is more, like we do aggression but it’s a lot of defense,” Peterson said.

Karate integrates self defense into the sport more than Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, she said.

“It’s mostly self defense and just learning how to disarm people if they have weapons that they’re trying to use against you,” Peterson said. “(It teaches) how to use weapons to defend yourself and how to like use your opponent’s strengths

COMMUNITY

against them.”

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu also evolved from other martial art forms, aiming to make a physically smaller and weaker appearing nent. Cruz describes the sport as “a spinoff of Judo from Brazil.”

Dominguez began martial arts at the age of seven and has quickly excelled in Karate and Tae Kwon Do, having attained black belts in both. Her mastery in these martial arts has gotten her offers to many universities. Dominguez has been called a “lethal weapon” because of her powerful

“I would recommend (martial arts) to

Cruz, Peterson and Dominguez agree that in their form of martial arts, technique and intelligence is crucial. It’s also importweaknesses before and during the match.

“When I’m in the ring I analyze them the lives of those who practice it. Some have said it has even protected them in dangerous situations.

Peterson recalls an encounter four years ago when she was walking home.

“Somebody was following me from the bus and they tried to grab me, but I knocked them on the ground and they left me alone,” Peterson said.

Without her skills in Karate Peterson believes she would not have been able to protect herself the way she did.

Martial arts can seem intimidating to the uninitiated, but Cruz said that the initial fear of combat gives way to a sense of

evas

Co-Life & Style Editor

Cruz is not alone. Sophomore Karla

Chelsea Cu

Eliana Gutierrez

anybody that’s trying to get active and anybody that wants to learn self defense,” Cruz said.

Martial arts also benademic life. To progress to a higher belt rank students must maintain a 90 class average at all times.

SERVICE

Austin Corps group makes additions to local park brayan cartagena Staff Writer

While Mary Moore Searight Metropolitan Park is a favorite place for Akins students to spend time outdoors, it has not always been the easiest place to navigate.

As part of a project called “Speak Up, Speak Out,” Akins students enrolled in the Austin Corps program. After getting lost in the 344 acre park for about 3 hours and identifying the lack of signage, the students decided to propose changes for the park to prevent others from getting lost. we got lost in the trails, because there are no signs,” social studies teacher Maribel Velez-Ramos said.

During the fall, Ramos’ Austin Corps students began research and development the park safer with proper navigation signs that help guide people and provide interactive features activated with QR code scanners.

The trail signs lead civilians safely through the area with information about distance, directions, and the local wildlife.

The students teamed up with the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department to design, fund, and install the signs and

STUDENTS

Park Presentation

Maheen Anjum

One of the many signs installed to Mary Moore Searight Park containing information about nearby wildlife. AAC students designed the signs to make navigating through the park easier for vistors.

postings to make this possible.

“We joined with the city as a partnership to help build the trail signs that would be our Akins contribution to the park,” Ramos said.

The Austin Corps students also re-

cently completed installing fencing to expand the size of the off-leash dog park at Mary Moore. It was a big job that took 8-10 hours to complete over a weekend in March.

“Lots of labor and time was put into

installing the fence,” senior Ileen Quach said.

The park project is just one example of what the Austin Corps program does at Akins. The main focus of this internship program is to provide students the ability to experience and learn hands on how it is to work in many different areas of the Austin municipal government including, Austin Parks and Recreation, Austin Airport, Austin Animal Center, and City Hall.

“We visited government job sites, every week we visited job sites all over the city of Austin,”Ileen Quach said.

Senior Victoria Gonzales said she enjoys the internship because she gets to see another part of the city that many don’t get to see.

“It’s nice to get off campus every now and then,” Gonzales said.

This program has had a positive impact in the lives of those involved. The out-ofthe-classroom method has increased the student’s ability to learn the basics they will need in their future careers.

“It’s a really good experience, you learn a lot.” Quach said.

The Austin Corps is currently accepting applications, if you or someone you know may be interested, visit room 236.

RULES

Incoming seniors face new off period guidelines Namiah wright Staff Writer

Current juniors looking forward to enjoying an off period may be surprised year.

The administrators set a list of requirements that students must have completed before a counselor will consider giving a student an off period.

There are some requirements that all students must do, but some items on the checklist will be personalized for each student to help them toward their goals for senior year.

“It’s a good cause but they should be a little less strict,” junior Ashtranay Barrett said. “I understand they are trying to help us juniors become seniors and be ready for the real world.”

The list was created by administrators and counselors.

The checklist helps students get their tions completed, and to obtain college scholarships.

Caitlin Nickles

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

EDUCATION

The Eagle’s Eye

Life & Style

page 7

INNOVATION

New teachers making impressions on students Faculty uses creative approaches to enhance classroom learning environment D’Shalon Williams

science teacher Elizabeth Phillips

Staff Writer

students like is winning awards.

Sometimes it takes a different This year she started training approach to get students interest- her students for computer proed in learning: singing and play- gramming competitions, where ing guitar like a street musician in students have won awards and the hallways is just one example.

Math teacher Derek Hamm tion to learn more. and English teacher Alan Brooks This gave the students opporhave made their presence known tunities to compete against other in the Green Tech hallway this schools and experience a differyear as they perform songs ent environment than the classduring passing periods. room to expose them to computer Brooks said he started playing science concepts. his guitar in the morning to “cenThis competition has gotten ter himself.” Hamm said he start- the students interested in goed to play his to steal Brooks’ ing to other computer programspotlight. Soon they decided to ming events and furthering their play together in the mornings. knowledge in different languagLive music in the morning at- es. tracted students.

“Competing was a totally difStudents began posting videos ferent experience than just doof Brooks and Hamm on social ing computer programming in a media to spread word around classroom.” junior Mariela Marschool about the duo. quez said “It was my partner and “I did not have much expectations from students are far as their other people but in the end reactions, but when I saw that several students had posted it on Twitter and said it made their day better it made me extremely happy and grateful to — Derek Hamm be part of something that brightened someone’s day,” we won 3rd place,” she Hamm said. said.

Getting students excited about Stoker posts updates on work computer languages can also be they did in class as well as live a hard sell. However, computer tweets on class debates from her

It made me extremely happy and grateful to be part of something that brightened someone’s day

SOCIAL LIFE

Maheen Anjum

Class concert

Hamm and Brooks perform a duet for Hamm’s 4th period geometry class. To watch our

government class. In response, students will post questions and even discuss current events through the social media platform.

“Ms. Stoker puts notes, videos, and helpful articles on her Twitter page everyday so if students are absent it is easier to catch up just by going to her page,” junior Christina Macias said.

“Her Twitter page is very convenient because most students are on social media so it is easy for the students to the work when they are not at school.”

Brooks also found a way to

pique student interest by embracing an online resource that some other teachers shun for having wrong information.

Brooks assigned his English students a project in which they were assigned an incomplete Wikipedia article to research and write. The project required students to conduct their own research and write in a different style format and create academically proper formatted citations for their work. cause some of the correct infor-

senior Celina Tijerina said.

Junior Nicole Ocampo said she also enjoyed that the project incorporated the use of the new Chromebooks the districtly recently purchased for students.

“Having the Chromebooks helped me a lot because I did not have to stress about it at home,” Ocampo said.

These different approaches that the teachers tried have improved the school for the better, as well as the students approval of the new teachers and their efforts.

some of the information is false.”

EVENTS

Attendees prepare for upcoming prom expenses Maheen Anjum

ing prom, a special form is required for ticket purchase to attend the event.

The form is available on www.akinseagles.org click on the “Senior Graduation Infor-

Akins High School Prom 2016 will be held on May 14, 2016 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Omni Southpark hotel located on 4140 Governors Row, Austin, TX 78744. Ticket pricing varies according to how early they are purchased but it ranges from $45 to $65 per person.

The 2016 prom theme is “All That Glitters Is Gold,” which include the colors gold, silver, white and yellow in the decor. The ticket price covers a small meal and a photo book for each person. Administrators have set requirements for students to attend prom

which non-Akins student must have completed and signed by their high school or college principal as well as bring a copy of their TX drivers license to attend Akins prom.

Students may not bring anyone over 21 of age as their date but only with special permission by the principal.

Staff Writer

school for overdue textbooks and other fees by April 29. For non-Akins students attend-

Ladies

will be another.

Check out our recommendations below to know how much it will likely cost you to look your best for prom.

Gentlemen

Maheen Anjum Bradley Barto Jesse Farquhar-Gerth Chelsea Cuevas

Entertainment

Page 8

The Eagle’s Eye

Wednesday – April 13, 2016

What It Takes For The Fine Arts To Advance To State UIL CHOIR CHOIR

ART ART

ORCHESTRA

BAND 4 Days

How Many Days Do You Practice A Week?

4 Days 5 Days 4 Days

Matth Matt ew Ro hew R cha ocha

How Important is it for you to advance to the state UIL competition?

Choir Art

Matthew Rocha

Matthew Rocha

Art

Choir Orchestra Orchestra Band Band

Alyssa Pasaol Alisson Pasaol Alyssa Pasaol Arantza Alisson Pasaol Julianne Tran Aurrecoechea Julianne Arantza Aurrecoechea Oscar Avila Tran Miguel Rodriguez Oscar Avila Miguel Rodriguez Simon Carandang Simon Carandang

Just Happy To JustCompete Happy To Compete

Somewhat Somewhat Important Important

Very Very Important Important

It’s My Life It’s My Life

STUDENTS WHO ADVANCED TO STATE Saru Chigubu Jordun Fear Daisy Camirillo

Angela Rios

Saru Chigubu Brittney Jackson Brittney Jackson Jazmine Martinez Jazmine Martinez Veronica Lopez Veronica Lopez Avery Close Avery Close

Jordun Taylor Fear Fish Taylor IssieFish Luna Issie Luna Branch Samantha Samantha Branch

Designed by Jose Salazar Data collected by Luis Correa & Matthew Rocha

Marcus Alvarado Bobby Losolla Ashley Massie

Isaac Castaneda Kendrick Mack Christian Morales

Brian Teran Christopher Tristan

Eric Trejo Buddima Wanniarachchi

REVIEW

MOVIE

Long awaited film showdown arrives in theaters Full length feature receives mixed reviews from audience, critics; fans approve Amanda Livingston

turn out. But, having grown up watching cartoons of these heroes and looking up to them as if they were more than

Editor In Chief

Batman v Superman is more than the Dawn of Justice — it’s the Dawn of Fans.

Based on Rotten Tomatoes ratings, only 29 percent of critics gave the movie a positive rating while a whopping 71 percent of fans gave it a rating point scale. It’s clear the isfying the audience it was designed for — the fans — not the high-minded, stuck up critics.

When the movie was announced back in 2015, I strongly stood with the critics on the doubtful and uncertain side of the anticipation. However upon seehours, I was proven wrong.

For starters, Dawn of Justice has some of the most stunning cinematography you’ll see. Larry Fong, director of photography, feeds the audience

CELEBRITY

with visual elegance, that is accompanied by an intense soundtrack by the brilliant Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL. Zimmer has taken part previously with soundtracks like Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and The Dark Knight Rises, and Junkie XL has worked on 300: Rise of an Empire and the recent record breaking hit Deadpool.

Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg, and Amy Adams respectively as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Lex

Luthor, and Lois Lane. ceived the biggest retaliation when the cast was show time however, Afdisaster many thought he would be. This version of Batman, whether critics and still skeptical fans like it or not, is supposed to be detached and moody, and Gadot was also victim to criticism when casted.

Many fans, including the woman known for her own portrayal as Wonder Woman in the 1970’s se-

been waiting for the heroine’s return.

“I think it’s great. I’m very hopeful for her to rethink it’s time.”

Many, myself included, believed Gadot didn’t strong, long beloved Amazonian heroine. Much like proved herself to be worth the minor forgotten details an equal to the male roles that are Batman and Superman.

Eisenberg received little

doubt – and I have never been happier to be proven wrong. I saw Dawn of Justice not once, but twice and loved it.

I’ll admit, I found Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros. Website myself dozing off about to no criticism and made half way through the movviewers eager for the movie. But, besides having to ie to be released earlier. pinch myself awake occasionally, I would recommend this movie in a heart1990s TV series Lois and beat. Even if you are like me, what some would call tures of Superman, praised a “superhero purist”, take a the movie himself after leap of faith and either buy seeing the movie with his tickets or see it on DVD. son.

Do not let the critics “The movie obviouskeep you away from this ly was so well made; the movie. I can guarantee that effects were incredible,” as Batman and Henry is a very good Superman.” nalized and the movie announced, I was very doubtful of how the movie would

universe, you’ll be able to forgive minor forgotten details in the grand scheme of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

POP-CULTURE

Singer Kanye West in millions of dollars of debt Cassie Obi

an extravagant lifestyle and providing the appearance that he is extraordinarily wealthy. And he did amass a fortune as his albums and hit songs have sold millions of copies. However, West revealed in his tweets that he is also a big spender, pouring millions of dollars into his fashion line and

is bad with handling money, this rap icon has risen from the bottom and clawed his way to success with his raw talent and refreshing twist on the hip hop industry and has been a popular favorite ever since.

West tweeted to his followers in humility about his personal debt, believing that his fans deserved to know his struggles. His debt isn’t a new problem. West claims that his debt has been accumulating for years and has had people use this information against him as blackmail to get West to do their bidding. West says, in a series of tweets, that he is revealing his personal debt to the world to drive a point that money doesn’t drive him and so people cannot use this against him anymore.

Some West critics claim

Although his confession about his debts show that he

of karma for his massive ego and how he seems to project a

Sports Editor Shocking his fans and haters Kanye West announced on Twitter in February that he is broke.

And not just a little broke.

Like $53 million dollars in debt broke. The announcement began a trademark Kanye Twitter tirade that ranged from the confessional to the bizarre. His haters are now Like many hip-hop artists,

god like persona for himself.

His critics say it was his swelled ego that landed him in as much debt as he’s in right now, and that because of his “choose-y” attitude that he is suffering the consequences of his attitude and actions. They enjoy seeing him humbled in front of his fans and the general public.

Though he is in the middle of massive debt, he claims to be able to power through this problem with the help of the sponsorship of Adidas. On Twitter there

him the creative resources he needed to create his vision and because of other disputes bea song on his new album as a diss Though Kanye has had this possibly many other brands, but

Anthony Hutchinson

whether or not he is bouncing back from this is yet to be seen..

He posted on Twitter his progress with Adidas creatively and appreciates the creative freedom the company has given him.

Many people believe that West will be able to bounce back from this debt, but it seems like it might be with him forever. Kanye is millions in debt and though he will be able to keep a stream

of fans buying his products, his spending habits and his lifestyle are enough to steadily sink massive amounts of money into his lifestyle. While West’s personal fans and critics will be waiting to see if he is capable of getting his life straightened out or if it will be the demise of a once promising artist.

The Eagle’s Eye

Wednesday April 13, 2016

ACTING

Entertainment

Page 9

CONTEST

Akins Journey Theatre puts on Booby Trap for UIL One act brought tears to audience eyes, performance leaves mark on students jose Salazar

Entertainment Editor Sitting on a mine and knowing that you could die if you move even an inch is the main dilemma of the this year’s UIL play Booby Trap.

On March 22 Akins Journey Theatre performed their UIL show Booby Trap at the Performing Arts Center. that Burgandy Trimmer had directed a UIL show for competition and even though they did not advance it is strongly felt throughout the cast and crew that the performance was unforgettable.

“I thought it was a very compelling story that we could do and I felt like we had the talent and I had connections with the author who was my old theatre teacher,” Trimmer said.

AJT performed for contest on the March 22 and also performed it the next day as part of an evening performance. Some lucky students also saw it on campus during 4th Period that week.

“I’m really excited and a little nervous,” Trimmer said. “We casted the show before winter break and we have been rehearsing till 7:00 everyday and I’m really excited to put it up.”

Technical director Erica Vallejo said the play has a spe-

TECHNIQUE

her brother was killed in Iraq in 2008.

“I think it’s a great play that shines on our military men and women,” Vallejo said. “It has a very personal meaning to me, considering that my brother was killed in the war, so it has a very special place in my heart and I think there are people who can relate to this.”

For Vallejo what made this show different than past shows were the new faces and the talent that they possessed.

Akins competed against Lake Travis, Austin, Bowie, and Hays high schools.

“I feel that we went out there and we tried our best. We went up against tough competition and our entire cast and crew was amazing,” Vallejo said.

The show is about a soldier who accidentally sits on a landmine. As he waits for help from on his past, and worries about the future of his family.

“I think it’s a great show because we put in a lot of hard work into it,” junior Ethan Cannon said.

Cannon plays Pete Galen, the protagonist of the show.

Throughout the performance Cannon sits on a stump and conforwards.

“There are different levels of emotions running through the whole thing,” Cannon said. “You

Jose Salazar

A Farewell to Fellow Soldier

The Lieutenant, played by Maritza Rameriz, solutes Peter Galen, played by Ethan Cannon, as she leaves him to escape the harsh weather heading their way in the play Booby Trap.

get anywhere from fear and anger and sadness and joyful, it’s like every emotion you could think of in one character.”

Compared to last year’s UIL performance, the cast and crew felt more prepared.

“Everyone is doing great we’re all focused and I feel that we are closer than ever,” Cannon said.

Senior Tyra Williams plays Pete’s wife Caitlin in the show.

Williams found that it was really fun and competitive and appreciates the hard work that everyone

has put into the show.

“We do run into a few bumps sometimes, but we always get through them and no one really takes the critiques we get as personal attacks,” Williams said.

“Rather we understand that it is not them criticizing us as a person but just out acting or tech skills.”

AJT came home with three awards; Cannon was awarded the All Star Cast award, Williams was bestowed with the Honorable Mention All Star Cast award and Jose Salazar was presented

with the Outstanding Technician award.

“Everyone is doing an awesome job, they work so hard and put in a lot of effort to everything,” Williams said.

Although the Akins theatre department did not advance this year, the cast, crew and directors were proud of what they accomplished.

“I think how we do comes down to how everyone performs, but whatever the outcome I’m really proud of our kids,” Trimmer said.

COMPETITION

Diamonds achieve Grand Champions team title

Dance teams win many awards in various contests in the month of February Cailtlin Nickles Staff Writer

emi Perez

n By Noh

Photo Take

r

se Salaza

ped by Jo

have in the routine.

First Lieutenant Adrianne Garza said they didn’t want the practices to be dreadful so they came up with ways they could make practice more fun and positive.

“We thought about our goals and we knew we wanted to win big at contest and to show everyone that we’re not the underdogs and that we can win against all these tough teams,” Garza said.

The Diamond Dazzlers has enjoyed

The Diamonds had to master the technique and be able to perform it in front of an audience. After the auditions the judges decide if all team members will perform or if some need to be taken out.

The Diamonds also needed to make sure they are passing all of their classes or they would automatically be taken out.

Many of these dancers were previously members of the JV team known as the Sparkling Sapphires, before joining the varsity team. These dancers choose to tryout for the JV team before auditioning for the varsity team to gain more experience in dance.

Photosho

The Diamond Dazzlers dance team made their mark this spring as they collected the lofty “Grand Champions” title two times in a row and two different competitions.

In early February, the Diamonds, the Sparkling Sapphires JV dance team, and DTD Hip Hop team, competed at the Danceline regional competition at Liberty Hill High School and won many awards. All together the Akins teams won 8 individual awards, 3 ensemble awards and 6 team awards. The Diamonds also walked away with the competition’s biggest award Grand Champion Team.

And in late February, the Akins dance teams achieved similar success at the Crowd Pleasers regional showcase competition at San Marcos High School. There the Akins teams won 10 ensemble awards and 6 team awards, including the “Grand Champions” title.

Dance Director Ally Gates said the awards were the product of hard work and hundreds of hours of rehearsal. From December to February the Diamond Dazzlers worked every week Monday through Friday starting at 7:30 a.m., and then picking it up again after school on Mondays and Thursdays until 9 p.m., and every other Saturday.

Through the grueling practice schedule the Diamonds fought through with team building and group circles. The director of the Diamond Dazzlers, Ally Gates, focuses on dancers doing partner work in which they split into small groups to critique each oth-

success over its history at competitions at the regional, state and even national levels. The team won national titles in 2003 and in 2006. Gates, an alumna of Akins performed in the routines that won both of the national awards.

In order to be able to perform in a contest routine, the Diamonds had to audition in a group of four in front of

Pemper and a second year diamond, said she was overjoyed that the team won the Grand Champions titles.

Pemper also won an individual 2nd Place award in the “Miss High Kick” category. ”Contest was really fun.

It was such a blessing to be with my team and to get recognized and to have that experience even if we didn’t win anything, it was amazing,” Pemper said.

For the 2016-2017 Diamond Dazzler team there will be over 70 dancers. The tryout process for the varsity team is similar to what the Diamonds must do to perform in contest routine.

Although they were successful at contest this year, Gates said the Diamonds wouldn’t be competing at contest next year due to other plans she has in store for them.

“Instead we’re going to have a training year where the Diamonds will get to dance with guest choreographers and master class teachers so that they’re getting other people’s dance experience and not just mine and Ms. Eddy’s,” Gates said.

Moving To The Beat

Ryan Salinas

Diamon Dazzlers line leaders perform a dance for their competition at Liberty High School against other schools.

PHOTO ESSAY

page 10

The Eagle’s Eye

Wednesday – April 13, 2016

Battle of the Ages performance impresses

Taylor Escamilla

-

In The Band

Ricardo Villegas Photo Editor

Aspiring performers are always looking for a way and a place to show others what they are good at – and that’s where Battle of the Ages talent show comes to play. funct Battle of the Bands competition was revamped to become more of a school-wide talent show that incorporates student and teacher performances.

Whether it was singing, acting, dancing or rapping, there was something for everyone to see.

“My favorite thing about Battle of the Ages was that it allowed my creative students an opportunity to shine” said AHA coordinator Melissa Royer.

Students were able to perform and watch other students’ performances while competing for prizes. The grand prizes were to have a song produced and recorded for the winning musical performance and a photo shoot for the winning nonmusical performance.

“My favorite part was when everyone was standing up for the rapping and feeling the music,” said senior Isaac Sugasawara, who attended as an audience member.

Proceeds for the event went toward the Class of 2016’s fundraising for prom and other senior events.

“The turnout was great, it was really fun and cool seeing how supportive everyone was being,” said senior Tyra Williams, who performed in both the musical and nonmusical categories.

Taylor Escamilla

Rhythm and Beat

Freshman Julius Jones continues his performance despite the techni-

Music for the Brain Taylor Escamilla

SPORTS

The Eagle’s Eye

page 11

Wednesday - April 13, 2016

BASEBALL

NEW MEMBERS

Underclassmen join Akins baseball varsity team

Adelaila Villegas

Hit & Run

Varsity Baseball player Austin McNicholas prepares to swing in the game against the Hays Rebels. McNicholas has a batting average of 321.

Katrina Stewart Staff Writer

Varsity sports teams are usually dominated by seniors, but this year the baseball team’s top division includes six juniors and two sophomores who made the cut to play with the big dogs.

Chris Castro, Kyle Taylor, Jason Porter, Adam Gutierrez, Nick Cancino and Nate Flores make up the juniors on varsity. Sophomores Mason Arvallo and Rudy Reyna round out the team with the seven seniors.

“Being a junior on varsity, feels like a big role I have to ful-

SOFTBALL

Castro said.

In early March the team enjoyed two district wins with high scores: 6-1 over the Del Valle Cardinals and 8-0 over the Lehman Lobos. In the game against Lehman, pitcher Adam Ivey struck out 18 batters. With the constant hits from Austin McNicholas, Jason Porter, Nate Flores, and Ivey that lead the team to victory with the score 8-0.

“During the game, it felt just like any other game. It just kept going from inning to inning, and I was focusing on the situation at hand,” Ivey said. “After the game,

I was amazed at the amount of strikeouts. It was statistically, the best game I’ve pitched in terms of pitches thrown, walks, and strikeouts.”

Currently, the team is 3-6 in district play, but the season is only half over. Players said they feel like they still have a good chance to improve their record and possibly make the playoffs.

“I knew we had a solid team this year, with good offensive support,” Ivey said. “We still have a good chance at playoffs.

The games after (the initial wins) to realize how good of a team we

are, and focus on dominating this second half of the season.”

The team also did well in the Austin ISD tournament held in early March with four wins and only one loss to Copperas Cove.

Since March 12 the team hit a slump in district games losing to Anderson, Austin, Westlake and Bowie high schools.

“In the games we lost, we got to a point where we would began to give up, but once we got passed that we learned we could come back and win the game,” Castro said.

With more than half of the team leaving for college at the

end of the season, Ivey left a few words for the ones who plan to continue playing next year.

“Don’t underestimate yourselves, baseball is a sport where anyone can win, no matter the opponent,” Ivey said.

Baseball is a sport you can play just for fun with family or just friends, but most of these boys who have played it their entire lives and see it as a thing they plan to make into a career.

“I’ve loved baseball even before I started playing, I would go to my brother’s game and just love all the energy that they would put in,” Castro said.

MOVING FORWARD

New softball coach influences players to perform better Adrian Guajardo Jr. Staff Writer

After a rough season last year with only one district win, the varsity Akins softball team is making a comeback under new head coach Tony Degelia.

The team is currently 5-7 in district play and some of the losses have been close games. Players attributed the team’s success to his leadership. ”He is really tough on us,but he sees our potential,” junior Lauren Degelia said.“Last year we won one game and now we have been winning, and if we don’t win Sophomore Rebecca Duran said coach Degelia helps to encourage the players to do their best even when things don’t always go their way.

“We actually kept our heads up and we try more. Yes everybody has improved more due to Coach Degelia,” Duran said.

Duran said she believes team members are getting along well and playing as a uni-

TRACK

“We’re really good actually if we just believe in ourselves we can beat anybody here,” she said.

Other players said they have enjoyed playing this year because it helps provide them with an emotional release in addition to the physical work out it provides.

“When I was little I had to get rid of emotions,”said Duran who also plays for the Yes Next Generation select team in South Austin.. “I had a lot of family problems. My dad he said I was really good so I stuck with it.”

The team’s recent 6-5 win over the Lehman Lobos is inspiration for what the team can accomplish when they play together and avoid mistakes.

“We could’ve done a lot better. There was one inning where we went down and I feel like that if we would have improved during that inning we wouldn’t have messed up,” Degelia said..

Two freshmen players proved their skills in tryouts and made it to the varsity team this year.

Freshman Annalia Rubio said she feels

Cassie Obi

Ready to Strike Out

Akins softball pitcher Ivelisse Moreno strikes out a Lehman Lobos batter.

make it to the varsity team.

“I’ve really been working hard for this,” Rubio said. “I think we did good (during the Lehman game). Lately I’ve been doing a lot better and moved up in lineup and at the beginning I was kind of

struggling but now I feel like I’ve gotten better.”

Despite some losses, Lauren Degelia said she enjoyed playing this season.

“I feel like we’re doing good so far and we are gonna eventually be as good as we can,” Degelia said.

NEW RECORDS

Track members consistantly improve, break time records Sadie Adams

at 3:37.

At the Round Rock Invitational meet

There has been many accomplishments and broken records rolling into this successful track season.

Although many students and athletes feel as if track is “easy” or just a secondary sport compared to basketball and football etc, it takes a lot of dedication and motivation to run.

“Running is a very tough sport to compete and even just participate in,” Coach Joseph Saxe said. “It takes strong athletes to push through it with success, it is a tough but short season,” Now that the track teams are in mid-season, Coach Juan Rodriguez said he is very proud of his talented team this year.

“We started off the season very strong

300 meter hurdles.

“Not only did we do good in the 4x4 relay, I also feel happy about hurdles this year, I’m just trying to get ready for district so that I am able to qualify,” Romero said.

Staff Writer

meet of the season to the most recent,” Rodriguez said. “We work very hard for success and that’s what we continue to do everyday.”

Junior athlete Beatrice Ramos broke

qualify for is the annual Texas Relays meet held at the University of Texas at Austin.

To the Finish Line

Sadie Adams

Akins runner Betty Ramos speeds ahead during a 3,200 meter race.

the school mile time record by 2 seconds with her time being 5:43.

“Track is one of my biggest passions so it feels really great to be able to have my name in Akins history and set records for

the school,” Ramos said.

The boys 4 x 400 relay team also beat the school record as well, with Cassius Serf-roberts, Nicholas Romero, Joseph Atkinson and Caleb Calderon coming in

placed 10th throwing a personal best of 166.7 meters.

“I’ve done discus for Akins track since my freshman year and I’m proud of my accomplishments. I feel like i’m pretty good at it,” Dickerson said.

Some of the senior track athletes said reaching the end of their high school sports careers is bittersweet.

“I’ve improved a lot through my four years of running and I wish the best of luck to all the coming runners,” Aguirre said.

page 12

Community

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The Eagle’s Eye

Wednesday – April 13, 2016

‘Dynamic’ show set to debut

Principal’s Message Dear Eagle’s Eye Reader: Happy Spring! It is hard to believe that it is already April! In less than ten weeks we will all be celebrating our newest graduates – the Akins High School Class of 2016. It seems as though we just said goodbye to last year’s seniors.

With that time-frame in mind, it is appropriate to mention how important this time of year is for everyone. Seniors are working hard completing college applications and FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) with the help of Ms. Sarah Simmons in the College and Career Center. As of today, we are one of the area-wide schools leading the way with the number of applications complete – our goal is to have 100% of our seniors complete this process. For those of you unfamiliar with the process itself, it is quite simple and creates amazing opportunities/avenues for students to cial aid for college – including scholarships and grants. The CCC is always

open and willing to help everyone complete this process.

For all other students, it is End-of-Course Exam season. Students enrolled in English I and II have just completed those exams, which are extremely long and rigorous. Those students enrolled in Algebra I, Biology and/or US History are gearing up for their exams during the incredibly proud of the focus and effort exhibited by both students and teachers in preparation for these hard work. In addition to those exams, we will also have Advanced Placement two weeks of May. As we plan ahead for summer, remember that it is an excellent time for current 10th students to take free ACC classes. Students, please see your counselors about this awesome opportunity to earn free college credit!

I would like to personally invite families of Akins High School students to get involved with

one or more of the many opportunities we have on campus - PTSA, Campus Advisory Council, booster clubs, etc. Also, you can stay tuned to the most upto-date information on our website and our Twitter (@ AkinsAISD).

I say it all the time, but it ish from here on out. The upcoming weeks are sure much to be done. We will continue to not only rise to the tasks before us, but far exceed expectations.

We truly have the best students, staff, and families – it is a sincere privilege to be able to work with you all on a daily basis at the #besthighschoolontheplanet!

Sincerely, Brandi Hosack

The 15th annual Diamond Dazzlers Spring Show will take the stage on April 21-23, 2016 in the Akins theatre.

The April 21 performance will be held the last class period of the day. The April 2223 shows will begin at 7 p.m.

This year the theme is “Dynamic.”

“Dynamic” is choreographed and put together by the Diamond Dazzlers.

The songs range from different genres of music, many which will include popular artists of today and the past.

Students from every dance class will

perform, with the highlight of the night coming with the Dazzlers individual and team dances.

Graduating members of the Dazzlers are honored on Saturday night.

“The students have been working very hard to make this show one to remember,” Dazzlers director Ally Gates said. “I’m so proud of this team and all of the dancers who are a playing a part in this show.”

For more information contact Gates at ally.gates@austinisd.org or on the dance website akinsdance.weebly. com.

Akins models Restorative Justice practices for district What are Restorative Justice practices?

This practice is a form of positive behavior intervention and supports for Adults and Students on campus to proactively create a space to build healthier relationships, support all bodies on and off campus.

This alternative to Punitive Discipline allows Adults and Students to experience a higher level of accountability and support over the Traditional Discipline systems that exclude rather than include the participants and partners to develop long lasting solutions.

• This year Akins has modeled the Restorative Processes throughout AISD, surrounding cities and across Texas munity and Students due to impres-

sive Discipline Data and Attendance!

• Akins Attendance has increased to an average of 94% of our enrolled students are attending school every day!

• Akins H.S. has the highest number of Classroom Circles, Admin Circles, Staff, Parent and Peer led circles in our Organization!

What is in store for this summer?

Stay tuned for announcements regarding Life Anew RJ Practices Summer Camp on our Akins Website page (listed under the Academics page)!

For more information about Restorative Justice at Akins, contact Eloise Sepeda, RJP Regional Manager at Life Anew Restorative Justice, or visit www.elifeanew. com.

Race & festival set for Akins

The Eagle’s Eye

W. Charles Akins High School 10701 S. 1st St. Austin, TX 78748

Families from feeder schools invited to 5K on April 23

LABEL

ty 5K and Festival on April 23, 2016 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Akins High School.

This is a unique event that brings together students, parents, families, and the community from all of southeast Austin. The day of exciting family fun with a professionally timed 5K on the Akins campus. As that event starts the day, the Festival begins as well.

The entire Akins Vertical Team of the Austin ISD schools will present entertainment, food, games, arts, and other diversions throughout the event.

Families from Paredes Middle School, Blazier Elementary, Casey Elementary, Kocurek Elementary, Langford Elementary, Menchaca Elementary, Palm Elementary, and Perez Elementary are invited to participate with proceeds going to support programs at all participating schools.

Each school will have their own “Village” of booths and activities staffed by representatives from school organizations. The Akins HS spring carnival Fiesta Akins is also called “Battle of the Ages.” Performers from groups at Akins HS as well as other schools in southeast Austin will present performances throughout the day.

More information and registration for the timed 5K and Virtual 5K can be found on tickets for purchasing food, items, and games can be obtained at the event.

Runners can register until April 21 by going to www.akins5kandfestival.com, where more information is available.

Come for the run, stay for the fun!

NON PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID MANCHACA, TX PERMIT NO. 209

Enjoy food, game booths, and various Akins performers.

For more information visit:

www.akins5kandfestival.com April 23 (Saturday) ◆ 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.