A D i sc o nn ec t Online school causes problems for teachers, students Pages 8-11
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Hendrickson High School 19201 Colorado Sand Drive Pflugerville. Texas 78660 Volume 14, Issue 3 December 11, 2020
ROTC Preparation -Page 4 Seasons in Review -Page 15 New Year’s Resolutions-16
2
News Dec. 11, 2020
state of the
UNION
Leading vaccine companies progress toward release Bryan Ross | Co-Editor Yael Behar | Reporter Since Operation Warp Speed was launched in late March with the goal of producing and delivering a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna’s mRNA vaccine candidates have emerged as front runners in the race against the clock. Both companies have released their stage 3 trial results with over 90% effectiveness, a shockingly high number as early predictions expected a 50-70 percent effective vaccine. As of the writing of this paper, both companies have applied for emergency approval and are waiting on the FDA for official approval. If approved, vaccinations for healthcare professionals and nursing home residents could begin in mid December.
Steps to approval: Approval for release: The FDA met to decide if the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is secure Dec. 10 and emergency approval could come within days. The FDA will meet about Moderna's vaccine Dec. 17.
Pfizer/BioNTech: Pfizer and BioNTech, two large pharmaceutical companies, announced their partnership to create a vaccine against COVID-19 in early April. Since then, their candidate, the mRNA based BNT162b2, has gone through three stages of trials among volunteers, with increasing numbers of participants in each trial. The final stage, which included over 40,000 volunteers, showed an effectiveness of approximately 95 percent. What this means is that of the first 170 volunteers in the study to test positive for COVID-19, 162 received the placebo vaccine rather than the candidate vaccine, with only one serious case coming from the experimental group. The Data Monitoring Committee for the study has not reported any serious safety
Moderna:
Final results: Pfizer/BioNTech relased the results of their final trials Nov. 9 at a 90 percent efficacy. Moderna released the results of their trials Nov. 15 at a 94.5 percent efficiacy.
Moderna, an American biotechnology company, began work on a vaccine against COVID-19 in January. Clinical trials for their vaccine candidate mRNA-1273 began in March and Moderna was awarded funding from Operation Warp Speed in April. Shortly after Pfizer/BioNTech released their initial phase 3 trial results, Moderna released their’s. The vaccine showed to be approximately 95 percent effective. While the side effects from the vaccine are more common
First trials: Moderna began their first trials March 16 and began to get results in June. Pfizer/BioNTech began their first trials April 29 and first released results July 1.
mRNA Vaccines:
Application for approval: Pfizer/BioNTech applied for FDA emergency approval Nov. 22. Moderna applied to the FDA for emergency approval Nov. 30.
Funding: Moderna secured up to $483 million in funding from the BARDA for production of its mRNA-1273 vaccine in April. Pfizer and BioNTech received a nearly $2 billion dollar contract in July.
Information gathered from: pfizer. com, modernatx.com, nytimes.com, washingtonpost.com, npr.org, cnn.com, cdc.gov
concerns with the vaccine, with the only side effects being reported being mild and in a small number of those who received the vaccine. While the vaccine is overwhelmingly effective, there are some logistical drawbacks. The vaccine must be kept at a -70 degree Celsius temperature, and it requires two separate injections taken 1942 days apart. Pfizer has its own packaging for vaccine doses in dry ice so that it won’t need specialized freezers for a couple weeks. Pfizer and BioNTech applied to the FDA for emergency approval in late November and has already been approved in the UK. Pfizer plans on producing 50 million doses (enough to vaccinate 25 million people) by the end of 2020 and 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021.
COVID-19 mRNA vaccines send messenger RNA to the recipient's cells. This messenger RNA instructs the cells to make a spike protein. The protein is unique to COVID-19, but is incomplete, so there is no risk of contracting COVID-19 from the vaccine. The immune system recognizes that the protein doesn't beloing in the cells, so it begins producing antibodies to counter it. This provides immunity from COVID-19. mRNA vaccines are a new technology, with no mRNA vaccines currently
than Pfizer’s, they are still mild and appear in less than 10 percent of recipients. Moderna applied for FDA approval in late November and hopes to begin injections as early as Dec. 21. mRNA1273 also requires two doses, but only needs to be stored at a -20 degree Celsius temperature, which is closer to the temperature of a standard freezer. Moderna plans on producing 20 million doses by the end of 2020.
licensed in the United States, but they have been attempted in various trials before COVID-19. The advantage to mRNA vaccines is that they can be produced more quickly and use a noninfectious element, reducing any possible risk. The logistics can be more difficult, however, as they require two seperate vaccinations multiple weeks apart. So far, the efficacy levels seen in both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine candidate are much higher than a typical flu season vaccine.
Volume 14, Issue 3
Jazz band begins season Ethan Tittle | Asst. Editor Even with everything that has to be dealt with for COVID, the Jazz Band manages to still get together and learn music after school. “It’s been a struggle, many students do not enjoy playing via zoom,” Director James Hairston said. “The band staff has been trying to offer equal opportunities for in-person students as well as virtual students.” In December the Jazz Band is planning on having a livestreamed, virtual performance on Dec. 15 at 6 pm. There will be no audience, but instead a
high-quality camera to record and stream the performance. Hairston also hopes that the Jazz Band will be able to play for live audiences in April or May. “Seeing that many students will not return to campus this school year,” Hairston said. “We are making plans to offer the band students a virtual holiday concert, virtual solo and ensemble, a virtual chamber concert and wrap the year up with a virtual end of the year concert. The inperson students will march in our 2020 COVID Production, “Intergalactic.”
The Jazz band rehearses after school in preperation for their live stream concert. Photo provided by | James Hairston
News
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Adopt-a-Child canceled for year
Hector Santos | Reporter Due to restrictions of social distancing and virtual classes, the annual Adopt-a-Child event will not take place this year “We didn’t really move forward with it I guess,” Student Council sponsor Hellen Barzci said. “I went to Mr. Garcia and we talked about it. Transportation would have been an issue. There would have been more busses because you would have to socially distance the students, each school usually brings 20 to 22 students depending on their need and
what we offer spaces for. I also don’t know how many parents would have participated either because you need to have the parents permission for the kid to come over.” In place of Adopt-a-Child, some organizations have done other service events. FFA has held both a food drive and a toy drive this year and HOSA is currently hosting a toy drive for Dell Children’s hospital. “We were talking about how the classes could do the Adopta-Child virtually but we didn’t want to put any more pressure on the teachers at Hendrickson
because there was already a lot of pressure just to get school going,” Barzci said. “If the money doesn’t get raised then sometimes the teachers might have to put in their own money and that might be more than they can afford. I’m disappointed because Hendrickson has been doing this ever since it was open. This is a long running tradition within the district so it’s been another event that COVID cancelled. Hopefully we can move forward with it next year.”
FFA competes at first virtual event Hector Santos | Reporter The HHS chapter of Future Farmers of America had six teams compete on Nov. 17. One of them advanced to the area contest, but did not advance to state. “We usually start practicing during August but we did not know what the official format of the contest would go by whether it was virtual or in person until two weeks before the competition” FFA director Pilar Gonzalezmunoz said. “Because of that we did not practice as much as we usually do so we were kind of rushed. We also had another team that was supposed to compete but
they did not feel prepared and I did not want to make them compete and feel not ready for the contest. So COVID-19 affected how the kids felt and it also affected how they interacted with one another because part of the kids are virtual while the other part are in-person so just finding the time to coordinate a time to practice is very difficult.” Amanda Carroll, Amanda Nelsen, Avery Tomastik, and Rachel Clark received 2nd place in area qualifier. Amanda Carroll, Kathryn Howell, and Caden Faust received 3rd place Ag Advocacy and Public Relation. Stephany Merchánt.
Larissa Perez got 4th place in Greenhand Creed Speaker. Jennifer Wieckowski, Trista Youngblood, Rebecca Boerio, and Ali Seaton placed 8th in the Senior Quiz Team. Cord Lindgren, Grace Parrott, and Melody Smith received 8th place Radio Broadcasting Team. “FFA really helps kids zone in on a specific career field.” Gonzalezmunoz said “Besides teaching them responsibility and how to talk to people, a lot of the things we do is going to help them prepare for what job they want to pursue after high school.”
School lunches to be free for rest of year due to financial loss Weston Schlesinger| Schlesinger Reporter On Oct. 29 it was announced that starting on Nov. 2, Pflugerville ISD and Aramark Food Services would be offering complimentary meals for the 2020 school year, this meant that all meals at school are free for the entire school year. The free meals are available for both on campus in person and students learning virtually at home through curbside meal services and the school cafeteria. The curbside meals can be picked up at Kelly Lane Middle School at 7:00-7:30 in the morning. The virus has made many things hard to do safely but getting lunch in the cafeteria is one of the things that can be safe without being overly complicated or time consuming. With the free lunches all that is needed to be done is get the food, although students
who want chips, drinks or a second serving will still have to purchase those items separately from the base lunch. The idea is to aid students whose parents have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as those whose families already had financial situations, to be able to get breakfast and lunch more easily without the added financial burden of buying food everyday. “I feel that having free meals is a great opportunity for students and their families to save quite a bit of money over the school year.” Freshman Daniel Vick said. Another benefit of having free lunches is it helps with preventing the virus from spreading to everyone who touches the ID input if a user has been exposed to the virus. Now fewer people will be touching it, making everyone who eats lunch in the cafeteria safer than
before lunches were free. “With lunches being free, I feel like there are a lot less people touching the ID thing.” freshman Kevin Vigil said. “I definitely feel better with less hands touching it.” Speed is another factor of free lunches, less time spent in line waiting for someone to punch in their student ID means some more time to eat and talk with friends. With the lines moving faster there is less time a person exposed to the virus can be near someone making the school even safer. “Having free lunches doesn’t affect getting lunch at all really.” Vick said. “People can still get the extra goodies like chips, the school is safer and the district can still make some money. The only added thing is everyone gets their first serving of food for free.”
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News Dec. 11, 2020
ROTC prepares for competition season
Liliana Moran | Reporter The platoon commander barks commands as the team stops steadily in their tracks, their eyes gleaming with anticipation as they get closer to their big competition. Practicing again, and again, the teams are determined to try their best and continue to progress forward. “We have a great, young, exciting team that wants to compete, they want to do well.” the unarmed drill team instructor, First Sergeant Edgar Amadis said. The ROTC armed and unarmed drill teams have
ROTC Members salute for the US and Marine corps flag and anthem (top). Dane Alvarez| Alvarez Photographer
The Marine Corps and US Flags are marched on for their anthems to be played (bottom right). Xylie Nazworth | Photographer
Guest speaker Mackenzie Dillard (right) speaks at the Marine Corps birthday celebration while Chief Warrant Officer Matthew Carter (middle) streams the event (bottom left). Dane Alvarez| Alvarez Photographer
been preparing for months for their first competition that will be taking place Dec. 5th at Brenham High School. Both teams have been rehearsing for the competition after school every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to ensure that they are ready. They will be competing in both a marching portion of the competition along with an exhibition portion, where each team gets to create their own marching choreography. “I’m excited to see how the kids perform,” the armed team instructor, Chief Warrant Officer Matthew Carter said.
“We’ve got a lot of new kids on the teams, so, I think we are off to a great start.” Sophomore Annalisa Villanueva is the unarmed team’s platoon commander, she plays the role of being the leader for her team, helping them prepare for the competition, along with having to ensure the organization and format of the team along with guiding them throughout their routines. “I am there, not just to call commands, but also to inform cadets and help everyone grow as a team,” said Villanueva. “It’s
become a major part of my life and I am honored to command. I love the cadets I get to work with. It’s just amazing to me.” Sophomore Katrina Kalstad is a member of the armed drill team and she thinks that her team will do well in the competition as they continue to make progress. “Our team has a lot to work on, but I have a lot of high hopes for this team,” Kalstad said. “If we can just take care of some of the more minor details and mistakes, I think we can do so much better than we did with the team from last year.” Unarmed team member Gabriel Torres also says he has “some high hopes for the competition” and is ready to see how his team will place. “I do genuinely believe that we could make a good spot in the competition, and if we are ahead of the other teams, we could definitely make 1st place,” Torres said. While both teams continue to practice and prepare for the competition, the Coronavirus pandemic has hindered some of the teams progress, with some students missing practices due to having to be quarantined. This has especially affected the unarmed team, with both their platoon commander along with
a teammate having to go under quarantine. “Quarantining has probably been the major issue. It’s really isolating for a team and if the work isn’t done to keep cadets updated or to keep contact, those bonds won’t be there,” Villanueva said. “Especially since we are a new team, we already lack the flow of communication and relationships, so that’s just another strain to add.” Though the pandemic has had its negative effects on the teams, some also see it as bringing in some positive aspects to the teams as well. “I think it’s actually made the kids want to come in and practice more and be there, since they’re not used to already hanging out with a friend, so we get more participation,” Carter said. “For some it’s their only time that they are getting to see their friends.” Nevertheless, both teams have been working to prepare for this competition and feel excited to continue onward with drill. “I’m definitely excited, not just for this year, I’m excited for the next three or four years of drill,” Amadis said. “They’re doing fantastic.”
Volume 14, Issue 3 News
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Black students use their voices to uplift the community Natalia Zavaleta | Reporter
The Black Student Union and Alliance is a new organization brought forth on campus. With this new union, the diversity of clubs and organizations has grown and is being celebrated. This is an important organization for the Black community on campus and members are working hard to bring more attention to it. It has brought the community together as a whole to speak on today’s issues. All students are welcome and encouraged to join and see what it has to offer. “The union was formed to provide a safe space for our black students on campus,” Sadé Franklin, sophomore president of the Black Student Union, said. “The BSU is a resource, where they can be supported and listened to.” The start of the BSU here on campus was Franklin’s idea, in hopes of providing a safe space for Black students to express themselves. “The union’s plan is to spread the idea of unity and representation,” Franklin said.
“It’s important that this club promotes the unity of our students and staff on campus so that we can help build the relationships between the two.” Having clubs that promote diversity on campus allows for students to feel safe. The BSU is a place where students can talk about their struggles and feel comfortable while doing so. “Representation is a big part of our group.” Franklin said. “Providing a place where students are able to see people that look like them and go through the same struggles they do helps provide a sense of community with a unified cause.” Members express the importance of the union to them personally. “The union is important to me because it is a safe place to find peace, family, friends and love,” junior social media director, Eniola Esther Tanimonu said. “It has become a place for me to feel a sense of belonging.” The Black Student Union aims to take care of all the members and make it a place
where everyone is accepted regardless of who they are. They promote educating others about the Black community and encourage students to speak up and use their voice. “I want to help students unleash their full potential and creativity.” Tanimonu said. “I
“
I want for us to approach all inquiry with understanding. For our legacy and morals to remin conspicuous for the generations to come.
Cindy Onweni, 11 joined the BSU to get educated and also educate others about the Black community in general.” After helping students on campus, the union hopes to move on to bigger things that help the entire community. “I wish to impact the
community by organizing volunteer opportunities either virtual or in-person,” Tanimonu said. “Impact of the community, I believe, starts with the union itself.” This organization celebrates Black culture and educates students on Black history. Meetings are held via Zoom every other Wednesday at 4:30 P.M. “We typically discuss topics concerning the Black community,” Sophomore and vice president, Ilwaad Mohamed said. “We hope to do a lot more interactive events in the future, including workshops or maybe even collaborating with other schools.” For the most part, the meetings are student led and the officers research and make informational slides. Of course, they couldn’t have done it without their sponsors, Teri Saunders and Jessica Williams. “I think it’s really important to give credit to them for their assistance and feedback,” Mohamed said. “It helps keep
the union running.” Saunders wants to make the campus a safe and unified space for all students. They have found support from staff members and students. “Our organization means that you exist, you matter, and you deserve to be heard,” Saunders said. “ I am so grateful for an administration along with faculty who are very supportive of our group and are willing to help out in any way they can.” Franklin and the other members of the BSU have worked hard by promoting and making the meetings entertaining for everyone in order to make this organization work here on campus. They hope to make a change and celebrate the rich diversity at the school. “The union means so much to me,” Franklin said. “It’s something I’ve been so proud to bring to Hendrickson, something that’s taken a lot of thought and hard work to create with the help of teachers and the board of student peers I’ve had alongside me.”
Access to library books continues during pandemic Yael Behar | Reporter Libraries all across Pflugerville have begun to offer curb side book pickup as of late October as an alternative to the libraries that were previously shut down due to COVID-19. Pages upon pages of books collected dust as the days went on, as physical books are deemed a viable way to spread bacteria. Now books will be accessible for anyone to get their reading in, be it academic or personal. “To check out a book, you have to go to our library catalog which can be found at library. pfisd.net. When you find the book you want you just click the “hold it” button. That will send me a message that there are books on hold,” librarian Kara Johnson said. “After that, I just check the books out to the
students.” The books must be placed on hold digitally by the Monday before the pickup on Tuesday, where the service runs from 2-3. Prior to Oct 20, students have been able to get their reading in digitally, where a portion of books found at the library before the pandemic are currently available as ebooks. “Beginning in March when we started doing virtual learning only, we started offering ebooks and audiobooks to our students through Sora,” Johnson said. “This fall, we greatly increased the number of ebooks and audiobooks available to students and staff.” Sora can be accessed through Clever and there is also a Sora app available for mobile devices, enabling students to
read accessibly. PFISD will also continue to add more virtual books in the spring semester. As for physical books, a different sanitizing method has been implemented. “The books have to quarantine for 7 days before anyone else can touch them. So any book that is being checked out has already finished quarantining. I check the book out to the student and place it in a plastic bag,” Johnson said. “I wear gloves and, of course, a mask when handing the books to the students or parents in the car. Then when they return the book it will have to quarantine again for 7 days.” The library has also partnered with the English department to distribute the class novels students read in English
classes. In Septmber, the library did curb side novel distribution after school and will offer another curb side distribution of English class novels after school in Jan for the spring semester. It has taken a large amount of preparation from libraries to be able to offer this service to students. This is in part due to the “COVID Oriented Protective Posture Levels” (COPP). “We have district guidelines that tell us when our libraries can open for checkout,” Johnson said. “The levels of service correspond to PFISD’s COPP levels. As a district I believe we are currently in COPP level 2. Our library spaces do not open until we are in COPP level 1, but I don’t foresee that happening anytime soon since the cases in
Travis County are going up and we have had positive cases here on campus.” Even if PFISD manages to get to COPP level 1, several restrictions for the library will still be in place, but regardless, students are happy to be able to check out physical books once again. “I am happy that we got the green light from the district to be able to offer curb side library service. I know that the only way to keep up a skill, in this case, reading, is to keep doing it,” Johnson said. “I know that we have lots of students who love to read, so I’m happy that students have the option now to get a physical library book if they choose instead of an ebook, sometimes people just prefer a physical book.”
6 Opinion
Dec. 11, 2020
• Staff Editorial
Online students miss out on interaction
Day after day, virtual students log into their Zoom classes at 9 A.M, hoping that they will actually learn something from their classes. Being a virtual student for an entire semester isn’t as easy as everyone would expect it to be. Sometimes teachers will assign the notes as an additional part of homework, sitting in front of a screen for long periods of time with few breaks in between, and to add to that the teachers seem to be more focused on their in-person students than the black names on their Zoom meeting. One of the biggest reasons virtual learning is difficult for most students is the lack of attention they receive from the majority of their teachers. While it is not entirely the teacher’s fault, as almost every student has their camera off and rarely uses their microphone to participate in class, teachers seem to favor the students right in front of them. This ranges from a lack of interactive class activities, to simply having casual conversations that leave out virtual students. The lack of interactive activities for virtual students can be a major cause of failure rates, and subject comprehension. Some teachers have tried to actively engage students by using the breakout room feature on Zoom, however, it’s not as effective as most would think. It can be compared to discussing something in class with a partner or group, but it can be really awkward for virtual students to discuss the class activity with people they have never met before. Additionally, leaving students out of casual class conversations hinders the class environment and makes virtual students feel even more alienated by not including them. Casual class conversations allow both students and teachers to get to know each other outside of the subject which in turn allows them to build relationships with one another. Most virtual students have almost no relationships with their teachers because they have no idea who they are outside of their subject. The same goes for teachers; they
Hendrickson High School 19201 Colorado Sand Drive Pflugerville, TX 78660 http://www.pfisd.net/HHS (512) 594-1100 Student Population: 2,134 Staff: 180 Adviser: Kari Riemer Principal: Daniel Garcia www.facebook.com/HawkNewspaper
have no idea who the student is outside of assignments and grades. However, building student-teacher relationships makes students more comfortable to participate in class discussions, ask for additional help if needed, and become a more well-rounded student. The lack of student-teacher relationships also reduced the number of teachers a student could ask for future letters of recommendation because their teachers don’t know their character making it harder for them to write a personal recommendation. Another factor that shows in-person students are generally more successful than virtual students is the availability of the teacher. For the majority of classes, teachers are directly posing questions to in-person students rather than virtual students. While they may be addressing the class as a whole, they are actively looking for in-person students to respond as well as checking for their understanding of specific topics. This may be more difficult for virtual students to participate in because the vast majority of them have their cameras off, and don’t feel comfortable using their microphone due to background noise, or simply not wanting to interrupt whoever is speaking in the physical classroom. However, teachers should still directly ask virtual students topic-specific questions and check for their understanding. virtual students may get some benefits from staying at home such as getting to stay in their pajamas, waking up later, and snacking whenever they want to. But, in-person students are getting way more out of their teachers and education because of interactive activities, student-teacher relationships, and more engaged learning. It is important to recognize that teachers are human and this is a brand new experience for them as well and they are learning as they go just like their students, however, virtual students shouldn’t have to risk their health and start attending inperson classes to get attention from their teachers or to gain a more interactive learning experience. Vy Bui | Artist
The Hawk, the official student newspaper of Hendrickson High School, is an open forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions. Opinions expressed reflect the beliefs of the student author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the entire Hawk Staff, the Hawk Adviser, the Hendrickson Faculty and Staff, or the Principal. Letters to the editor are welcomed, and may be dropped off in E211. Corrections will be printed when brought to the attention of the staff.
The Hawk is printed monthly at Community Impact in Pflugerville, Texas. 1,000 copies are printed each run, and are distributed to the student body for free through an advisory period and on newsstands throughout the building.
Editorial Staff Co-Editors: Seth Deaton & Bryan Ross Copy Editor Angelyna Rosales Assistant Editors: Kaitlyn Nash, Landon Self, Ethan Tittle
Yael Behar Lili Moran Hector Santos
Reporters Artist Vy Bui
Weston Schlesinger Abraham Siyoum Natalia Zavaleta
• Your Turn “From my experience, my teachers are doing a good job at balancing the needs of in-person and online students. They have in-class discussions often and include both inperson and virtual students. It feels more like a real classroom because we are able to interact with our classmates that we can’t see in the classroom.” Natalia Mancini, Sophomore (In Person) “I think that the teachers are paying attention to virtual students more because creating and running the Zoom meetings take a lot of work and is very routine. Also the use of new websites to make teaching and learning content more accessible takes a lot of time to get used to and is important.” Anna Rogness, Sophomore (Virtual) “I try to change up what we do in Zoom class each time to try to balance what every kid needs. Breakout rooms, whole group, Nearpod, dry erase boards, etc. Yes, in person is way easier but this is a good way to try new ways of hitting all kids. We will be using some of the same tech when all kids come back. There is a lot we have learned whether we wanted to or not that we can incorporate into our teaching.” Hiral Mathur, Chemistry teacher “I think teachers should put more focus and energy on virtual students because in-person students are easily able to establish a connection with their teachers, and become more comfortable with the environment. They are also more comfortable with all the face to face interactions, while virtual students might suffer from not being able to interact socially.” Sarah Schulze, Sophomore (Virtual) “It depends on the number of students I have, in one class I have 18 students in class and seven on Zoom so I tend to provide more focus to my students in person. In another class I have 24 students on Zoom and 4 in person, so I find myself looking at my computer more.” Elizabeth Westbrook, English Teacher Associations Interscholastic Press League Texas Association of Journalism Educators Journalism Educators Association National Scholastic Press Association Columbia Scholastic Press League
Honors
ILPC Bronze Star, 2014 & 2015, 2017, 2018 Columbia Scholastic Press League, Gold Medalist 2016, 2017, 2018 Silver Crown, 2017, 2018 Pacemaker Finalist, 2018
Photo by Cheyenne Cosley Design by Seth Deaton
• Hit or Miss Teachers switch to Canvas As we’ve gotten further into the second nine weeks of the school year, many teachers have started to experiment with Canvas since everyone will be required to use it as the main platform for homework, assignments, and tests at the start of the next semester. However, this is not the case for all teachers. Some teachers are still using Google Classroom to assign students their work. This makes things a little difficult for virtual students because half of their teachers are using Canvas and the other half are still using Google Classroom. Additionally, Canvas is a new platform for almost all students making it harder for students to navigate through the different applications Canvas offers. The split between Canvas and Google Classroom is a MISS MISS.
Custodians track student seating If you want to eat breakfast in the cafeteria before school, an administrator will give you a piece of tape to mark where you sat down. This lets other students know if a seat is taken, because there is no assigned seating, and so that when the custodians come to sanitize the tables they know where people have sat down. The little pieces of tape are very helpful because it lets the custodians know where someone was sitting so they know what specific spots to clean instead of cleaning the whole cafeteria. This HIT. little piece of tape saves a lot of time for custodians, and is a HIT
Maskless students roam halls When walking in the hallway at school, one can observe the absurd amount of people with masks under their noses, or with no mask at all. Seeing this can make many people at our school feel unsafe, especially since most of the time, students have situational circumstances that might keep them from staying home. This can also make it to where we aren’t able to open up school because it raises the cases and makes people have to quarantine. Enforcement of keeping masks on should be better, both with administrators and ourselves. People not wearing their masks in classrooms and hallways is a MISS.
New calendar outlines holidays PFISD has released draft calendars for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year. In an email to students and parents, people were encouraged to vote for the one they felt was best. Draft A had the school year start for students on August 12 and ended the school year on May 27, before Memorial Day. Draft A also gave the Monday after Easter off for the first time. However, Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, was a bad weather day in case school is cancelled due to poor weather conditions. Draft B also starts School on August 12 and runs until May 26. Overall, the student holidays we get that we normally don’t get are a good thing. The proposed calendar options for the 2021-2022 school year are a HIT.
• Our Turn
Volume 14, Issue 3 Opinion
7
Senior laments missed opportunities Bryan Ross | Co-Editor I’ve been lucky. From around the time I woke up at 3:45 for a spring break Disney World trip that never happened, 55 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 as of the writing of this paper. While many of those have been asymptomatic or quick recoveries, many more have not been. Some faced a long couple of days or weeks with a nasty cough, and some face permanent respiratory system damage. 1.34 million people never recovered. Exponentially more people have received the devastating news that a loved one has passed away, and have to live with the knowledge that they won’t see them again on Earth. Some haven’t been able to say goodbye or attend funerals because of restrictions caused by the pandemic. All of this is to say that I am not the victim of this tragedy. As I write this, I haven’t had any personal connection to someone seriously sick or someone who has died. It’s been a sobering eight months and counting for a lot of people, and it’s important to keep it in perspective. As I list off the first world problems the class of 2021 have faced, feel bad for us, but don’t forget about what really matters in life. It all started on March 11. That evening, my family spent our whole dinner making fun of people who were raising alarm bells about the coronavirus.
My sister was coming home early from her study abroad program in Rome, Italy, and was frustrated about the panicked people who cut her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity short. We joked about showing up to the airport in masks because something as overreactive as wearing masks in public would be funny. I finished packing for my Disney World trip which our band director insisted would be unaffected by the coronavirus.
were going to take advantage of it. But when cases started going up again and the dominos fell once again, it started to become overwhelming. It’s hard to think of a worse time for a pandemic. There’s never a good time for a bad thing, but for my class, the timing was especially bad. After our junior years ended in a mess of poorly administered tests and rapidly thrown together online school, we got to sit and watch our last chance to do the activities we loved get canceled. Full summer camps for cheer, dance, and band were impossible. Plans for our band competition show fell apart as the competition season was canceled. Of course, the state did everything in its power to have a football season, but there’s still something missing. Anyone Vy Bui | Artist in Theatre looking forward to their last chance at a full Then Rudy Gobert of the NBA’s musical is out of luck. Clubs Utah Jazz band tested positive and electives run mostly or for COVID-19. Then the entirely during class time are NBA season was indefinitely reduced to shells of what they postponed. Then Donald would be in a normal year. Trump announced a travel ban On top of that, we get to stress from Europe. And soon after, about college applications with the Disney trip was canceled the added weight of a raging and the world had fallen apart pandemic on our shoulders. As by the end of the next day. my friend said, the only senior There was a point early in privilege many of us have the summer where the idea of gotten is off-campus lunch. school in the fall of 2020 being Amazingly enough, the sun affected felt silly. Cases were has still risen and set every day. going down, and we would be Life has gone on and it hasn’t back to normal momentarily. all been bad. But after years of My friends and I were making being told these are the best plans for our senior year. We four years of our lives, it’s been talked about how great our last hard, at least for me, to watch year together was going to be. the last one slip away. We were finally on top, and we
8 Feature Dec. 11, 2020
A D i sc o nn ec t
Lack of face to face communication causes teachers to adjust style of lessons, instruction Liliana Moran | Reporter Walking into their classrooms, they begin to prepare for the day. Mask on, check. Desks wiped,check. Computer assignments uploaded, check. As the few students attending school fill their desks the teacher starts their online zoom class, wondering how many faceless students they will see today. Teacher’s have had to deal with many changes they have never had to deal with before. “This year has really turned teaching on its ear,” AP Human Geography teacher Bruce Johnson said. “We as teachers have never been asked to do the things that we are doing presently in the classroom. We all have really had to refine our approach as teachers in pretty much every aspect of the art.” The Coronavirus pandemic that took the world by surprise earlier last spring has caused teachersall throughout the world to have to adjust their way of life within their classrooms and work field. From having to convert to all digital teaching to having to retailer their lesson plans,teachers are facing something that is entirely new to the world of teaching. “We are going through a lot right now, as much as it feels hectic for students it’s just as hectic for teachers,” English teacher Liana Gonzales said. “So we all, everyone, deserves a little bit of grace.” Debate coach and business and professional communications teacher Aly Mithani feels he has trouble trying to balance his classes in teaching this year, saying he has still had some difficulty adapting. “There are some days where you feel like you’re really favoring the in-person students and leaving the zoom students behind, and then there are some days where you feel like you’re really focused on the zoom students and leaving the in-person students behind,” Mithani said.“It’s like this constant struggle to try and balance your attention on your teaching.” Mithani also believes that his relationships with his students have been suffering due to this pandemic
especially when it comes to debate. “As a coach of the speech and debate team, we’re a very close group,” Mithani said. “When we’re in person we tend to travel a lot both locally and out of state, and since that travel component is not there anymore, it’s kind of hard to have that same sort of team dynamic and team relationship. We really have always had pride in the fact that speech and debate was like a family and we still do, it’s just more difficult to build that family
“
We are going through a lot right now, as much as it feels hectic for students it’s just as hectic for teachers. So we all, everyone, deserves a little bit of grace.”
Lina Gonzales, English teacher
environment when we’re all distanced.” Biology teacher Mackenzie Glover feels the frustration of trying to build up good relationships with students while teaching online. “Having to communicate with people on a computer is really frustrating, and it’s really hard trying to keep everyone in the classroom engaged, but then I can’t even tell if anyone’s engaged at all, since none of their cameras are on,” Glover said. “The people online I haven’t really gotten to meet and I feel like that relationship has not really gotten to grow yet.” Gonzales believes she is trying her best to adjust to
this year. “It’s been a bit more draining, to have to completely change my teaching style and what I amused to,” Gonzales said. “Trying to make it feel like one cohesive class rather than two separate classes I feel has been proven to be the most difficult task is feeling like I’m teaching two classes at once and trying to give myself completely as a teacher to both students and be the best teacher I can be for both of them.” To align with the changes in schooling this year, Gonzales, along with many other teachers,has had to modify her teaching to help meet everyone's needs. “I’ve definitely had to do a lot more virtual things, usually I like students to be able to create projects and be able to collaborate in groups,” Gonzales said. “I’ve had to tailor a lot of my assignments to be just individual assignments, to be very user friendly. I’ve had to learn a lot more programs that I’ve never learned in the past, which has been fun, but also stressful.” Geometry teacher Jacquelynne Felder feels the pandemic's effect on her relationship with her classes and students as well. “I’m not sure they’ve got to know me the same as they would have if they were here in class,” Felder said. “I can’t reach as many kids as I normally would, or I can’t interact with as many kids as I normally would. I can’t see in their faces and tell if they’re really getting it or not. I’m used to the interaction, and I feel like that’s missing across the board.” Felder along with many other teachers is having a difficult time adapting to this year and feels as though she has to focus more on finding some balance between her life. “It’s been a lot more stressful. It’s been a lot more work than what it’s been in my sixteen years” Felder said. “I’ve had to try and find more of a balance of differentiating between home life and school life and keeping that difference.”
Volume 14, Issue 3 Feature
9
Unplugged
Mixed in person and online classes causes some to be left behind Seth Deaton | Co-Editor I used to be an all A student with a 3.8 gpa. I wasn’t the smartest kid in school, but I was motivated and determined to pass all my classes with a high average. That was until spring break of 2020. Last spring the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. and caused all schools to go online for the rest of the year. At first I really enjoyed online classes. I was able to log into Google Classroom anytime I wanted and do my work at the pace I desired. I would invite friends over or we would call on the phone and work on assignments together. I actually managed to improve my grades from what they were before, but as the rest of the year unfolded that changed, I lost my motivation to do my work and my grades suffered because of it. I still managed to maintain my all A average but just barely. However, the lack of motivation and desire to do well in my classes followed me into this year. At the start of this year all classes were done online, and the lack of motivation that plagued me in the spring had continued into this year. Since all classes were done through zoom calls and online videos there wasn’t any real connection with my teachers. It didn’t help much more than the videos that got posted in the spring. As this year went on my motivation and drive continued to fade. When the email went out to sign up to go back
to school in person I jumped at the chance, but only 25 percent of the students were allowed to come back and I had to wait until the second wave of students could come back before I would be able to go back to in-person classes. For the next few weeks I struggled to keep up with my classes as teachers tried to balance
having an in person class along with a zoom class. As time went on it began to feel like I was having to watch teachers lecture their in person classes and I just had to do my best to keep up based on what I understood.
This system lasted for a few weeks until another email was sent out stating that a second wave of in person students would be welcomed back. I came back to school at the start of the second nine weeks and my attitude towards school changed drastically. Being able to interact with my teachers directly allowed me to create a better connection with them which then helped me learn better. I began to show the same kind of effort I did before the pandemic. Unfortunately because I had been putting in such little effort I was scrambling to make up for it and bring my grades back up. But the improvement was there and I slowly started to get my grades back to what they once were. I’ve been on both sides of online school, and there’s a certain aspect of learning that I wasn’t getting with online classes. Especially when the teacher is having to devote most of their effort during the lesson to helping the in person students. I felt like I was being left behind and forgotten. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Teachers have a lot to deal and having to teach two classes at once didn’t make their job any easier. However, I believe that if teachers find a way to engage both their online and in person classes in the lesson not only would there be a higher passing rate, but the attendance rate would rise as well, but something has to change before that can happen.
Teachers report kids on their roster never showing up for class Kaitlyn Nash | Asst. Editor When heading back to school after being online, it can be daunting for some to see the empty hallways which were once full of kids the school year before. But this hallow presence isn’t just felt in person, it is also felt in the empty zoom rooms. Many teachers this year have reported ‘missing’ students from their rosters that never show up. The district is now trying to deal with these shortcomings. “We try to reach out, make sure they’re okay, make sure they have a computer, and make sure they have internet,” assistant principal Micheal Grebb said. “We have found that some kids have unenrolled to homeschool.” And it is not just a few kids that are missing. A large percentage of the district’s student population, about 1,200, have not been able to or have not tried to attend the provided online school, let alone in person. “I would say 20 percent of the school is having trouble
consistently engaging,” Grebb said. “They might check in on Monday or Friday or every other week, but the student body is having issues with engaging. If tomorrow they said everybody had to come back to [in-person] school, I think we would be missing 30 to 40 percent of the other students.” School officials have not just sat idly by while this problem has played out. School and district members have made sure to contact parents and let them know their student’s situation and try to help in any way possible. “ Once you hit a certain number of days you’ve missed, they send you a letter, then a tenant specialist goes to your house and gives you a CTO CT telling the parents that [they] have to send [their] kid to [inperson] school or virtually, and if [they] don’t [it gives them] the steps that the school is going to take to make sure [kids] engage,” Grebb said. This problem may be a worry in the future with
being able to balance out the school’s budget and make sure steady income into Hendrickson is received to support future years. “I think the kids that didn’t enroll in the district is going to have a negative impact because we’re a fastgrowth district,” said Grebb. “It’s important that the district generates these funds.” One of the causes of this problem may be that kids have transferred to different schools, made a change to homeschooling, or have made the change to online schooling without alerting the school first, meaning that they may be on Hendrickson’s roster, but never show up in attendance. “I think people are looking at different options now that they’ve been exposed to the virtual world,” said Grebb. “We have to get the enrollment numbers for some of the online schools because I just wonder how many more kids are doing those things than they were before.”
10 Feature Dec. 11, 2020
Unintended consequences
Teachers discuss rise of cheating amongst their classes Bryan Ross | Co-Editor Answer keys written on tiny cheat sheets. Bringing a second phone to school so when a teacher takes up phones, there’s still one to look up answers on. Passing notes to a friend. The gamble of cheating on tests is nothing new. Risking getting a zero on a major grade for the chance at a higher score is not anything new.. But when over half of the student body no longer has to be in the line of sight of their teacher, the art of subtly cheating and fear of getting caught turns into a simple matter of pulling up notes or the internet’s vast array of knowledge to ensure top grades on tests. “[The amount of cheating this year] is insane. It’s absolutely crazy,” calculus teacher Amanda Gass said. “There is no real way to give an assessment and make it secure this year. Even if we have kids turn cameras on. Even if we give different prompts to different kids, the amount of work to make things secure does not do enough to actually make it secure and justify that amount of work. I guarantee that people’s grades on assessments are not based on what they know right now.” Unable to find ways to prevent cheating on tests, some teachers who have never given an ‘open notes’ test before have allowed for it on every test this year in an attempt to disincentivize looking to outside
resources for help. “I try and tell them that they can use notes, they can use homework, it’s an open note test,” calculus teacher Ashton Arons said. “That’s never been allowed before. This is the first year doing that, to hopefully entice them not to cheat. You can use whatever you have, but some of them don’t have anything because they don’t take any notes, so then they just go straight to online. So I try and level it out saying that in class kids can use their notes but I don’t think that there is a way to completely level it out.” When some students came back for in-person learning, another wrinkle was thrown at teachers. Some had the ability to hide whatever they want offscreen while another section of the class faced a more traditional testing atmosphere. “On a test, I have [online students] put their cameras on, I want to be able to see their face, I want to be able to see what their eyes are doing,” AP government and economics teacher Tom Lucas said. “And is that perfect? No, of course not. But at least it’s an acknowledgment that there is an issue of test security. So the kids in class and the kids online are having to deal with the same issue that they can be seen. Whatever’s out of the camera shot I can’t see. But I do put up the little thing on the slide that says ‘we’re working on the honor system here, don’t Google or don’t search answers
or anything like that.’ I don’t know how to do it any further than that, other than basing it on the honor system.” Still, there are ways to make cheating difficult, regardless of whether a student is in-person or online. “I have looked at the situation,” Lucas said. “And now I mean, time limits on an assignment? Yes. I figure if a student is having to Google every answer, it slows them down. So by putting a time limit, kind of like what college board did on the AP exam last semester, I’m kind of following that guidance. Your brain is faster, so if you know the information, you will finish the assignment without any problem, and generally do better.” Arons said that academic integrity is important because you need to learn the skills that come with learning math, even if it isn’t necessarily math. Everybody says, ‘well, why don’t you just allow cheating because in the real world, you can just look everything up,’” Arons said. “Well yes, but you can’t look up how to process information. You can’t look up how to actually use your brain and think through difficult situations, which is what math should be teaching you, but if you’re just copying everything you’re not working your brain hard enough to complete complex tasks. And I think in the long run, that’s going to really really make things difficult.”
What concerns do you have long term with the amount of cheating that’s been happening? "My fear is when students are getting to college next year, and they have more sophisticated means at their disposal to catch academic dishonesty, students are going to be in that realm of ‘Oh, this is acceptable.’ And they will get themselves into trouble in college, attempting to do what they did here. And that's frustrating. I do not look forward to that. And then of course, there's the broader thing of if a student is just learning how to Google more efficiently, all right, that's an important skill. But knowing stuff is equally if not more important. So I'm concerned with students getting through and just not knowing anything.” -Thomas Lucas, AP Government and Economcs teacher “Well if children aren't putting in the effort to learn material now, math is a cumulative course, like every math class depends heavily on the previous one, and so, I fear that we're gonna have a lot of students in calculus next year who did not take pre-AP pre-cal seriously and they are going to really struggle next year. And then with something like AP statistics we're gonna have a lot of kids who spend money on an AP test that they are nowhere near prepared for because they've been lying to themselves all year". - Amanda Gass, Calculus teacher “Don't even get me started. It's going to be a nightmare. Like honestly, it’s going to put kids back so far. Like those that are in algebra two and just cheating, when they get to pre-cal next year, It's going to be a disaster. I don't even want to imagine how bad is going to be. How do you even fix it? I don't even know." -Ashton Arons, Calculus teacher
Why do you think academic integrity is important? “I think integrity in general is important. I personally would love to see us get rid of the pressure for grades and I think it would become more about the learning. But I don't think lying to yourself about what you know is ever helpful, and that's the only reason you cheat is because you're trying to pass off knowing something that you don't really know.” - Gass “I think integrity in all its shapes and sizes is important. It's a good thing to be honest when in school, with at work, in all facets of life, honesty is the best policy, to be cliche. And if you demonstrate a lack of integrity in one area, facet of your life, is it exclusive to that area?” - Thomas Lucas
Volume 14, Issue 2 Feature
11
PFISD anticipates budget reduction based off attendance numbers
the district budget, that could affect staffing overall in 100 more or 300 more additional kids, then we would Angelyna Rosales | Copy Editor Twelve hundred students have been reported as the district. For example, they would move people or generate more funding. So I think they plan the ‘missing’ because they have not engaged in any of their not rehire certain positions based on the needs around budget on our projected enrollment, and then make adjustments based on how many actual kids are here. classes. This number does not include the number of the district to try to close that funding gap.” The amount of missing students is concerning to So for example, this year Pflugerville is missing about students who irregularly participate and attend their scheduled classes, whether that be virtual or in-person. district officials because funding is partially based on 1200 students. I will say all four high schools, the enrollment is pretty much what we thought it was The irregularity of attendance this year could going to be. So we’re not creating any problems have lasting effects on the amount of funding the now. But I think what a lot of people are doing district receives from the state. is not sending their kid or kid to school because “The state takes what they call the average daily it’s kinda like why they don’t need to go school or attendance, or ADA funding,” Assistant principal some of the younger [elementary] students, and Michael Grebb said. “They look at a snapshot of also some parents are just afraid to send their the day, for us attendance [is taken] second and kids to school.” sixth period. And at the end of the year, whatever One solution that has been proposed for that averages, that’s how much money we receive. collecting ADA percentages is to use the data A lot of times it’s usually around 96 percent. But from the 2019-2020 school year. However, if this in a year like this, I don’t know where it’s gonna method is not used, the district has taken some add up, I think it’s gonna be a lot lower than 96 precautions like switching to Canvas. percent.” “One of the reasons we are moving to Canvas However, enrollment numbers have remained Cheyenne Cosley | Photographer is to better capture kids,” Grebb said. “Like time consistent since last year. A student sits in an empty classroom on their chromebook online engagement online, because Canvas does “Our enrollment is pretty much the same as last participating in an online lesson. a real good job of mapping all that out in case year,” Grebb said. “So that’s good, we should get the state would say hey, you know how long were you the district’s projected enrollment. about the same amount. But then you also have to look “Let’s say, next year, in August, everybody comes in class today? I think one of the reasons the district at how many times a kid comes to school or how that is to see the true amount, But I also think that district back [in-person], then we know that we should have chose that program is because we’ll be able to really is short on kids. So are we anticipating a reduction in around 2100 students,” Grebb said. “Now, if we got track what the virtual learners are doing at home.”
Failure rises as communication between teachers, class falls Seth Deaton | Co-Editor This year absences and failure rate has skyrocketed. In a year where there’s less work than ever, there’s also a higher failure rate than ever. With classes being both in person and online it has become much harder for teachers to encourage their classes to stay on top of their work. “I would stay the entire virtual process [is difficult],” US history teacher Lindsay Eaton said. “I have about you have like 20 kids online right now but for the majority it’s just their picture or their name, so the hardest thing for teachers is we have no idea what the kids are doing if they're paying attention if they're sleeping if we’re muted. That's frustrating to talk to a screen over and over again getting no responses. When we have kids in the classroom I can walk around and I can say ‘hey stop doing that’ I can see exactly what they’re doing. It’s to the point where kids will tune out and what not, but if you're in the room and you have to do it eventually most of the time the kids will just do it they’ll listen and they'll do their work because they're forced to do it. Behind the screen at home there's so many more distractions. You could be playing Call of Duty this entire time and I don't know so I'm wasting my breath trying to get something across for an hour and a half and parents failing but I don't I don't know what your kids doing I'm not in your bedroom or your kitchen so I have no idea what they’re really doing.”
With some of the class being online this year some teachers have had to change the way they give out tests. For most teachers they use Canvas or other various websites to do their tests. However, Eaton says that because the tests are done online there’s no way to make sure her class is actually doing the work. “Testing is a very subjective matter this year because obviously we're not in the same room,” Eaton said. “I can tell in person if there are kids cheating or not, but I have kids that log on sometimes and they’re logged into the test but they’re not answering a single question so what are you doing? How are some kids getting hundreds also on multiple choice but then they can't even formulate a short answer? Those results are very skewed and its going to show especially when we take the STAAR test, but it's more a lot of accountability on kids. Honestly it's like college, and you guys are basically going to college early. You're either doing the work and learning and taking care of your responsibilities and it’ll show. Or you’re playing games and not doing the work.” This year has been a constant stream of adjustments and changes for everyone. A big part of the adjustment for this year was learning how to be successful in class when there’s a lack of communication between the teachers and their classes. “Teachers are really learning how to juggle everything,” Eaton said. “Establishing a relationship I
would say is the hardest part. Even at the beginning of the year I remember reaching out to students and talking to them trying to establish a connection or talk to kids. When you’re talking to a black screen it’s harder because I didn’t really know them. It was easier in the spring because I knew my kids for nine months before COVID so I could make jokes due to the relationship and make jokes like wow you're really being lazy but if I said that to you and I have no relation with you it comes across differently. It’s really a lot harder working to establish the relationship by staying in communication constantly talking to them and then on the other end I mean I have kids tell me I'm working on it saying I'll turn it in but then I never see anything. At least a person I can put a piece of paper down and write something on this.” Eaton says she’s just excited for her to be able to teach her lessons the way she did in previous years and for things to return to normal. “This year has been challenging for sure,” Eaton said. “But I think this has given me a new appreciation of the little things. I definitely don’t take anything for granted anymore. Even just getting to teach to an in person class isn’t certain anymore so even though things have been difficult we’ll keep working at it and make the year as successful as we can make it.”
12 Sports Dec. 11, 2020
Conquering Quarantine Football alters postseason practices due to COVID regulations “We’re trying to do a bubble as best we can,” Killian said. “The other change we’ve made is we normally bring our JV players back to be our scout team that aren’t going into basketball or going into second sports. We’re cautious to do that just because any issue that we would have with a COVID related contact tracing or a positive test would shut down our entire team. And so we’ve really tried to build as much of a bubble as we can. We’ve invited back about four guys that are position specific to help us out in the preparation, but we’ve really had to reduce that and it puts a lot more pressure on the varsity guys.” Without the JV to scout team the varsity has had to
According to Killian, the team has been constantly having to adjust this season. Whether it was a postponing of a game or changing day to day The football team marches onto the field to prepare procedures in order to follow protocol and keep the for the first round of playoffs, but in a program with program alive. over 300 athletes, less than 80 are on the field practicing. ”We’re highly detailed with how our practices are The varsity football team made playoffs after winning and we have our practices planned out,” Killian said. their game against Leander on Dec. 3, which due to “I don’t want to say for the entire season, but you the game against Pflugerville being cancelled became know we plan different practices around different a winner take all event, where the winner advances to types of opponents and different types of games on playoffs and the loser’s season ends. different days depending on when we play them and “I wasn’t real happy with Pflugerville casting a vote how many days you have to prepare for games. And not to play us,” head football coach Chip Killian said. so when you get into a quarantine type of situation, “But, you know, that being said, it gave our varsity guys, especially this year, it changed the especially guys that haven’t been in a order of our opponents which, you playoff game before the opportunity know, changes the order of the things to kind of be in one, because that we had to do. Then when we were put game with Leander was basically a in quarantine we couldn’t practice for de facto playoff game because if we two and a half weeks. And so, you didn’t win that game then we wouldn’t know, and it came in kind of a not a qualify and our season is done. And so great time during the season because to me, we’ve already played a playoff you know we’re getting ready to make game so we hope that that’s going to a playoff run and a push to qualify for carry forward to this Friday night the playoffs. And then all of a sudden, against Seguin and kind of give us an you know you can’t practice for two advantage to them understanding the and a half weeks and then you have urgency of being detail oriented and to come right out of your quarantine executing to the highest level so that and play again. And so I don’t think we can continue to win games and anybody else has had to do that. But, continue to play.” you know, we were fortunate enough With the win against Leander, the to get the victory, and the athletes and team advances to the playoffs. Their players and coaches have been really first game will be against Seguin well focused in taking care of their on Friday Dec. 11. However, due to COVID, the postseason will look a Senior Jaden Williams carries the ball while Seniors Xavier Lucio and Trey Lowrey lead business and hopefully that’s going to continue for several more weeks.” little different this year in comparison block in front of him in a winner-take-all game against Leander. Killian says that he’s looking forward to previous years. Elizabeth Drost | Photographer to watching his athletes compete in “Normally we would have a little bit playoffs, especially with everything they’ve had to shorter postseason practices because of all the practices fill that role for themselves, according to Killian. “You’ve got guys that are out of position,” Killian overcome this season. we’ve had leading up to it,” Killian said. “Normally that “Overall I’m just really proud of how our coaching would be 14 weeks, but this year, especially since we said. “You’ve got varsity guys that are basically varsity had to do some quarantine days and we missed out helping varsity guys, and so you’ll have D-lineman staff and our players handled themselves this season,” on three weeks of practice due to another team not playing offensive line and you’ll have some guys that Killian said. “That’s from the top to bottom, from following protocols, we’ve had to try and catch up on are playing running back that don’t normally play varsity all the way down to the freshman and JV guys. I those practices. I mean last week we played a game running back and so they’re not as adept or skilled mean they’ve all done just an outstanding job of doing with no practices. We showed up on Thursday the day at the position. They don’t understand some of the what we’ve asked them to do and following the kind we were off quarantine and played a game that night techniques because they’ve never trained at that of odd world that we live in now and following the with just a brief run through in the morning. So the position. And so we’re asking them just to get out there protocols. Not having the numbers that we normally biggest deal is we’ve had to have more of a regular and be athletes and do the best you can. I’ve talked to have, our numbers have been hurt by all this. People season type practice during the postseason and that’s several other coaches in the area, some are following opted out and aren’t playing because of COVID and that and some are just kind of rolling the dice and all that kind of stuff. So I’ve just been really proud of normally not the standard procedure.” This year not only does the team have to focus on bringing their scout teams back and just kind of taking everybody involved in the program and the work that preparing for the upcoming game in order to advance that risk but you know with that with the spikes kind of they’ve done to maintain the safety of everyone, and to in the playoffs, but they also have to set precautions in continuing. We just decided that wasn’t it wasn’t worth get out there and put a good product on the field and the risk.” win football games.” order to avoid a season ending quarantine. Seth Deaton | Co-Editor
Volume 14 Issue 3 Sports
Seasons in Review
13
Fall sports complete seasons despite COVID-19 issues Bryan Ross | Co-Editor
Volleyball
Junior Ella Wendell spikes a ball during a playoff game against College Station. “We were worried about being out of shape and not touching a volleyball for 2 weeks,” volleyball coach Carrie Sulak said. “The quarantine didn’t affect our results for the season we just had to play 5 games in 4 days. It was great seeing the girls compete and going undefeated during that five day stretch. I was so proud of the girls and was overwhelmed with emotion on their execution.” The team finished an undefeated district slate after their quarantine and advanced to the playoffs. Makaya Smith | Photographer
Junior Brooklyn Moody and senior Skylar Cavil prepare for a return from College Station during the Area playoff game. “We push our girls to the limit every single day,” volleyball coach Carrie Sulak said. “We don’t allow them to ever cut corners, we have accountability partners each week and we make them work super hard.” The team swept Lockhart to advance to the area round of the playoffs before falling 1-3 to College Station. Makaya Smith | Photographer
Football
The Varsity football was team quarantined as a result of the Anderson game, starting Nov. 19 after the team found out about COVID-19 issues within the Anderson football program. The game had been played Nov. 14. Because of the quarantine, the team’s game against Leander was initially moved to Monday, Nov. 30 and the Pflugerville game to Saturday, Dec. 5. After concerns about the length of the team’s quarantine were raised prior to the Leander game, the Leander game was moved to Thursday, Dec. 3 and the Pflugerville game was outright canceled. As a result, the winner of the Leander game advanced to the playoffs and the loser’s season ended. The football team beat Leander and advanced to the playoffs to play Seguin in the first round Friday, Dec. 11.
Cross Country
Several members of the cross country team had to quarantine just before the district meet due to a COVID outbreak within the team. The members that didn’t need to quarantine went
on to compete at the district meet and advanced to Regionals with some members even going to state.
Senior Kevin Castruita finished his final cross country season with a top 50 finish at the UIL State 5A Championship Nov. 3. He ended up in 45th with a 5k time of 16:07.49. “I was very happy for him,” cross country coach Felipe Castro said. “ I knew that he was really focused and had been working hard since last spring to reach his goal. I’m just happy and honored to have been his coach. I had [Castruita] in my Spanish class his freshman year and I mentioned cross country to him but he wasn’t interested but he did start running track and then he realized he had the potential and he started running cross country and the rest is history.” Castruita’s time was the second highest ever achieved at a State Cross Country championship in school history. Photo provided by | Marcial Guajardo
14 Entertainment Dec. 11, 2020
Rounding of with resolutions
Students share 2021 New Years goals and resolutions “My New Year’s Resolution is “I want to be able to pass to pass all classes all my classes since I’m in senior year, with a B or higher. I and I also want to take say that because it is a pretty good goal to keep and gives better care of me something to strive myself overall.” -Marisela Selestino, 12 for.” - William Schulte, 11
“Next year I want to
become more skilled with
producing and playing music.” -Mason Smith 11
“My New Year’s resolution is to have an amazing high school soccer season.” -Camille Birt, 11 “For my New Year’s
resolutions I want to grow
my skills with my saxophone, and do something new every week.” -Carlos Sahagun, 11
“My New Year’s resolution is to stop procrastinating, and stop being lazy. That way I’ll get
more work done and won’t be so behind in my classes,
which will make me less
stressed.”
-Matthew Coffelt, 11
“I want to start learning “I want to make less excuses and be more carpentry, land a kick flip off of a 1 ft drop, accountable. This will make me more and save $10,000 productive in the as a starter payment for a future.” house or car.” -Deigo Franklin 11
“My New Years resolution is “For 2021, I have decided to to not take things simplify my New Year’s resolution by compressing for granted and them into one simple goal; to appreciate driving safely.” everything for its value.” -Harrison Cruz, 10 - Hannah Margaitis, 10
“My New Year’s resolution is to never finish
any New Year’s resolutions.
“For 2021, I want to
volunteer at pregnancy resource centers more often and continue
fostering children.” -Sami Brown, 12
“I gave up on doing
resolutions because I always
forget to follow them” - Gabriel Torres, 11
-Edward Afenkhena, 12
This causes a logical
paradox. If I don’t
complete it, I complete it,
meaning I didn’t complete it.” -Robbie Cook, 12
“My New Year’s resolution is to get all A’s because I want to have a good GPA and get into the University of Texas.” -Nicholas Griffin, 11
“My New Year’s resolution resolutions are to get more is to have better organized with school grades because I want and prioritize my mental my parents to be proud of health.” me when I graduate.” “My New Year’s
-Ilwaad Mohamed, 11
- Connor Arndt, 11