I have never been kissed. I have never held hands with someone in a romantic context. In my 17 years of being on this Earth I have been on a total of three dates. And I’m okay with that.
Like any other little girl, I aspired to have a Disney Channel high school romance, that I would find the Troy to my Gabriella. As I got older, I noticed the people around me changing, as did I. My girl friends started talking about boys and my guy friends started talking about girls– I personally really only cared about the latest Littlest Pet Shop sets and beating my own record in Wii Sports Resort Wakeboarding. My friends would ask:
“Who do you have a crush on?” And I could never truly answer that question. The rest of my elementary school years consisted of Monster High Dolls and trading Silly Bandz instead of worrying about who was out on the playground with who.
Middle school years were arguably some of the worst years of my life.
They’re awkward and complicated– I can just picture myself walking around the hallways seeing kids all over each other when simply trying to make it to Texas History on time.
I was never really lucky when I started “crushing” on others. I either ignored the feelings or tried to make a move but was always shut down. As my friends started holding hands and dating, I started wondering what was wrong with me; boys never looked at me the way they looked at my friends. I would ask myself if I was good enough to date, or if I even deserved love in the first place. To this day I’m not entirely sure if it was just me being dramatic, but that mindset caused the rest of my middle school years to be clouded by low self-esteem.
Near the end of my eighth grade year, I was struck
Talon is an inconvenience to students and staff and should be eliminated.
by the most soul-wrenching crush of my life. I’m talking playlist making, late-night thinking, diary writing crush. It lasted almost three long years of my life. I confessed twice in those years and was rejected every single time; at least I learned to never give up.
In order to move on, I tried getting to know more people. I met this guy that I clicked with almost immediately, you could say it was a “match made in heaven.” We went on a total of one date (my first ever) which ended with me throwing up in the Torchy’s restroom. Twice. How’s that for anxiety? A year later, I met another guy at my work. I mustered up the courage to give him my phone number in a cute barista way. Two very long dates later, he confessed that he liked me and wanted to be more than friends.
That’s when I realized I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready to talk everyday, share secrets, spend time together, MEET PARENTS. I had this epiphany that I already had too much going on in my life and the added stress of dating would make me collapse.
It’s okay to not date, it’s okay to not have a crush, it’s okay to not be stuck in a constant “talking stage” or to have a streak on Snapchat.
Spending time with myself and taking care of my business alone has become one of the most satisfying feelings. I feel liberated not being tied down by the weight of a relationship. I know that when the time comes, I will be ready and able to manage a relationship with someone who meets my standards and is a decent human being. Don’t be pressured by friends or even family to get into a romantic relationship and enjoy spending time with yourself and friends as much as you can.
Talon is a 30 minute period that lets students work on any homework or school work they may need to catch up on or make up. Every student is assigned to a class where they will spend their 30 minutes. But there are some flaws to this dynamic. Thirty minutes is not enough time to finish or start on something. It wastes time when students just sit there on their phones. If you have a Talon that has a purpose like STAAR training, some teachers don’t use that time effectively.
Another problem with Talon is that too many students that are not seniors leave campus. This is an effect of Talon being too short of a period. Students don’t think it’s important and see it as more of a break to go off campus or skip in the bathroom. Not only this, but there are too many students that just stand around in the hallways and mess around.
Talon doesn’t only affect students, it affects teachers, too. Some teachers don’t like their Talon classes because of how big they can be. When classes are full of students that are not working on anything and being productive it can get out of hand or get too loud. Using this time for something else can minimize the school’s stress of making sure students don’t wander the halls. Talon is a miss
Talon has many benefits and should not be eliminated.
The first couple of benefits are really helpful for those who have busy schedules or demanding extracurriculars which don’t allow them to attend tutorials to get help on schoolwork and homework. Thus, the 30 minutes to do homework provided by Talon is really crucial because it cuts down on the load of homework needed to be completed after school, and reduces the amount of time and stress. Also, students can get help for academics by getting a pass to attend tutorials during Talon if they are having difficulties with understanding concepts learned in class, struggling with homework, and the tutorials offered in the mornings before and afternoons after school don’t work for them .
The allotted time during Talon could also be used to boost grades by studying for tests which will reduce the amount of time cramming/studying outside of school hours.
There are clubs which hold their meetings during Talon as well. For example, Choir Council holds their meetings on select Tuesdays during Talon, and Student Council holds their meetings every other Wednesday during Talon. Thus, Talon is a hit.
Benefits of Talon pointed out, defended
“I personally think the rezoning is needed, but understand a lot of people’s anger on it. It’s mainly elementaries that are being affected by the new zones, but for high schoolers, I think it’s completely stupid and should instead comply with the freshman coming in instead of the people already at the school. People already have friends and clubs that they’re in, and having to switch them out into new things isn’t right.”
- Sofia Saucedo, 11PfISD has recently made public its plans to adjust school boundaries for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year, to parents’ and students’ discontent. These boundary modifications would be enacted with the objective of reducing school overpopulation and maintaining school ‘efficiency’. The intentions behind these changes are earnest, however, the abruptness of these plans and their lack of thorough forethought leave parents and students confused and concerned about the outcomes. Furthermore, the plans fail to address issues in transportation changes and neglect the impacts these transitions will have on the environments of students and families impacted by the transfers.
- Anna Siverio, 11
“I think the rezoning is stupid, because why are they moving people around, you know? They’re just trying to redo the area lines for no reason.”
“I think the rezoning is okay. It doesn’t affect me, but the ones it does affect could say otherwise.”
- Alesha Duncan, 1o“I think the new zoning rules are kind of dumb because a lot of people aren’t going to want to move schools. Also, it might make it harder for some people to get to school because of the change in routine.”
- Emma Bravo, 11“I feel bad about the rezoning, because I hear that elementary schools may shut down and that’s sad. I feel like students having to switch schools suddenly can really affect them, because they’ve made friends, bonded with people and joined clubs; it’s sad to move them to a different school in the middle of the year because they start all over again.”
- Summer loza, 9The district has published eight rough outlines of potential plans for the elementary schools and two proposals for the high schools. Both high school plans would impact the populations of all schools in the district.
Plan A aims to remove a sector of students from the Rowe Lane area, who would then be transferred to Weiss High School, and move in a small chunk of Pflugerville high students within the Highland Park region. Plan B aims to do the same in a greater quantity. While the district has mentioned grandfathering as an option for upperclassmen impacted by the boundary adjustments, no official announcement regarding this has yet been made.
Moreover, these plans make no mention of changes in busing routes and transportation options for the areas impacted. Given that many families (especially those who are marked to transfer) live outside of walking distance from the school and are dependent on alternate modes of transport, such as busing, to get their child to school, this lack of clarity is troubling.
In addition to this insufficient planning, the lack of consideration regarding the impacted students is distressing. These abrupt transfers put many students in anxietyinducing situations, as it forces them to say goodbye to an environment they have grown accustomed to, and, instead replace that with
something unknown. Not only do these plans neglect the social disruption this would cause students, particularly those who struggle to make friends, it also fails to acknowledge the interference this would have with students’ extracurriculars. Typically, the programs available at one school differ from the other, in both prestige and quality, sometimes the existence of a curriculum also differs. This then jeopardizes students’ ability to participate in or receive the same level of quality in a program. Furthermore, many students usually form some sort of connection with the programs at their school, meaning these transfers would not only run the risk of losing that program but also that community. This is especially true when considering upperclassmen. If grandfathering is not approved, then juniors and seniors who have spent the majority of their high school career in one school will be forced to ‘start over’ at a new school or in a new program. Consequently, if an upperclassman has become an active member of their school community, these moves would strip them of any of the ranks they might have acquired while at the school (consider a class president role or head captain role of a program). This then eliminates their ability to further progress in their programs and depreciates the hard work they have put into their school hobbies by removing their status. The severity of this becomes especially apparent when considering college applications.
Given these reasons, it is understandable that many students and parents have met these proposals with outrage. The majority of families have demanded the district halt their progression with these plans, or at least, provide more explanation regarding these adjustments. The boards’ lack of consideration and preparation for these changes ignore the concerns of those directly impacted, the people whose voices should be considered a priority when modifying these school zones.
February 3, 2023
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: Michael Grebb
www.facebook.com/HawkNewspaper
TheHawk , 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 before school on publication day and on newsstands throughout the building.
Co-Editors:
Yael Behar, Kaitlyn Nash, Natalia Zavaleta
Copy Editor: Lili Moran
Assistant Editors: Jasper Johst, Kate Hayes
Savanna Brewer
Rachel Calabuig
Eliana Grant Delaney Hildebrandt
Gigi Hirsch
Sophia Johst
Damo Kouakou
Kamryn Mack
Lily Miller
Emily Rodriguez
Elise Villa
Levi Walters Artists
Yael Behar
Eliana Grant
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, 2019, 2020
ILPC Silver Star 2021
Columbia Scholastic Press League, Gold Medalist 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 Silver Crown, 2017, 2018, 2021 Pacemaker Finalist, 2018
Design by Natalia Zavaleta
Given an imbalance of enrollment across schools within the district, with some schools seeing under enrollment and others being overcrowded, the school board is discussing potential remedies. The board has put forth two high school plans to change the borders and redistribute students effectively. This includes moving students from existing schools into other schools or re-purposing schools all together, but in both of the hypothetical plans, enrollment in Hendrickson will not decrease substantially.
“Students impacted by boundary adjustments are rezoned to attend their new school based on the new proposed boundary,” Assistant superintendent Brandy Baker said.
The main reason for these changes is the overcrowding currently affecting Weiss High School, which is expected to exceed capacity by 2024. Another is the severely lacking enrollment, especially in the southwestern portion of the district. If nothing is done about these issues, schools in the southwest will continue to operate with their numbers well below capacity; another bond would need to be proposed and accepted for a new campus, and resources for the district, staff, and other utilities will be stretched thin. To counteract these issues, two plans are thought of effecting the high schools.
“There are several differences between the plans,” Baker said. “Plan one moves students from Weiss High School into Pflugerville High School, while plan two does not. Plan two moves more
students from WHS to Hendrickson and as a result, moving more students from Hendrickson to PHS.”
On Monday, January 9th, the public forum meeting, open to the parents and children of all schools affected, was filled with vocal criticism of the board and the people proposing the changes. One of the repeated concerns was the option of grandfathering (the act of people, even if they are outside of the new border, being exempt from moving schools due to circumstances like extracurriculars, and being upperclassman) and why it wasn’t being offered as an option.
“Grandfathering always helps ease the transition,” Principal Michael Grebb said.
The board says that as of now, there are no thoughts of grandfathering
considering the plans are still in early stages of development and it is unknown if any of the plans are to be approved at all. But if some version of plan one or two is approved (based almost entirely on community feedback) the committee will evaluate the impact of grandfathering and transfers as they apply, but as of now they are not a priority. Another issue that was raised was the talk of the weight this will take on students who are affected by the changes, and the immense amount of anxiety it could cause on the basis of extracurriculars, friends, family, and support.
“Anytime you move boundaries in a school district, it’s difficult, and people are passionate about it,” Grebb said “That’s all I know. It’s hard, but it’ll all work itself out.”
Plans provided by PfISD.
Plan One would move students from WHS into PHS, HHS, and CHS. The overall zoning for WHS would decrease significantly as shown in the map, the red border representing the current zoning, and the red shaded area representing the new zoning. In order to make space for new students in HHS, the certain zoning in HHS would feed into PHS. This plan would increase the amount of students in CHS, though it will stay in 5A along with PHS and HHS.
Red represents WHS, yellow PHS, blue HHS, and green CHS.
Plan Two moves students in similarly to Plan One, albeit in a more drastic manner. Students zoned for WHS would have their zonings changed to be fed into CHS, PHS, and HHS, with a large portion of HHS’ zonings moved to PHS for extra space. The biggest difference between the plans would be the significantly increased amount of stuents entering the PHS zoning. CHS would also grow significantly, and recieve some zoning from PHS.
Kaitlyn Nash | Co-Editor
Crunch time looks different for every sport. However, even non-athletic activities have their own idea of “crunch time.” For the speech and debate team, the second semester is filled with extremely competitive tournaments, going to countless competitions to rack up State points, and preparing for the big league: Nationals.
“I just really like doubling down, advancing, and working on our arguments, and developing them,” junior Cross Examination (CX) competitor Isaiah Duvvuri said. “The first semester is just trying to get settled, the second semester is when you start trying to get started for real.”
The debate season never really ends for many competitors on the team. Every tournament is a fight to get to 10 points in order to qualify for State. In order to do that, competitors have to make it to elimination rounds, or “break”, in their events.
“I did qualify for State,” junior Johnpaul Buwule said. “I struggled in the beginning a little bit when I was not breaking to finals at the first two tournaments but later on, I did start breaking.”
Buwule does only two of the many events that the team has to offer: Original Oratory (OO) and Congress. Junior Maya Hay competes in Public Forum (PF), which changes debate topics every few months. January’s topic had to do with West Asia and United States diplomatic intervention.
“There are a lot of interesting standpoints that are being made on this topic,” Hay said. “Some of
them feature some pressing issues that surround U.S. social life and politics such as Orientalism. A lot of them make some good points on critiques on U.S. intervention in the Middle East and the impact it has not only on the U.S. but also the people who live there and the damage it can do to their governments.”
Though many competitors have already qualified for State, they still compete in order to get bids, which are won at bid tournaments in the semifinal
Congress and Extemporaneous Speaking at UT and Westlake. Buwule received a bid in OO at Churchill, Westlake and LASA. Lucas Flores received a bid for Extemporaneous Speaking at LASA. Cecilia Acosta received a bid in Extemporaneous Speaking at Westlake at LASA. Simon Alverez received a bid in Informative Speaking at Westlake. Duvvuri received a bid at LASA in Informative Speaking and Hay and Kaitlyn Nash received a bid at Churchill in PF.
“We went to only three locals this year and we got to finals in every single one,” Duvvuri said. “We went to a bid tournament at UT Austin and we got to the elimination rounds. We have another one coming up in February and we plan on doing pretty well there, too.”
Later in the year, some competitors shake up which events they compete in for the Nationals tournament. This year, Nationals are in Phoenix, Arizona.
“My favorite part [of Nationals] is getting to do research on new topics for info speeches and also doing world schools and LD, which I really enjoy,” Hay said.
The team also travels many times during the second semester. Feb. 16-21, the team will travel to Berkeley, California to compete in the California Invitational at the University of California.
and final rounds. If competitors get enough bids, they qualify for extremely competitive tournaments such as the University of Kentucky Tournament of Champions. Waleed Haider received a bid in
“I think my favorite part about the second semester is that we have less tournaments and the tournaments we do have [are] out of state and we get to travel and do fun things,” Buwule said.
Amidst the start of February, Girl Advocates (GA) has a variety of programs in place to bring attention to abusive teen relationships.
“Girl Advocates are actively advocating for healthier teen dating,” GA secretary Devin Nguyen said. “A lot of the time, teens are trying to figure themselves out and trying to pursue and maintain healthy relationships. That can be hard to figure out and understand sometimes, so we want to ensure greater safety for students and communication in our school.”
Throughout the month, the club will host their annual awareness campaign, Open Mic Night, and dating violence centered meetings along with a spirit week in order to inform students about healthy and toxic relationships and encourage more conversations over the subject.
“Their annual Coffee House and Open
Mic Night [will be] on Feb. 15th in the library after school with poetry and music that relates to the topic of healthy dating relationships,” Social worker Lori Carl said. “They’ll have announcements and a spirit week with a healthy relationship theme.”
GA president Melanie Garza stresses the importance of addressing teen dating violence awareness month and is hopeful these events will offer some benefits to students who choose to participate.
“It’s not something that’s widely talked about and sometimes is even forgotten. Which is why Girl Advocates like to focus more on building awareness, especially in the week of Valentine’s day,” Garza said.
“We help others become more informed about teen dating violence and with that, we also provide comfort and resources for victims of dating violence.”
Wednesday 2/15 from 4:30-5:30 at the library
Following the start of Black History Month, the Black Student Union (BSU) has various activities in place to celebrate diversity and remind students of America’s troubling past.
“It’s our job to be at the forefront of bringing more inclusivity and more of a Black presence to the school,” BSU vice president, junior Yarie Dumbuya said. “Black history is a huge part of U.S. history, it’s not something that should be erased.”
Throughout the month, BSU has a variety of different plans for students and staff. Some of their events include collaborating with the school’s jazz band and hosting a classroom door decorating contest. Additionally, the union aims to have a spirit week to honor Black history and culture along with daily announcements throughout the month.
“This year’s spirit week will start Monday, Feb. 6 and conclude Friday, Feb. 10,” BSU president, senior Ariana Rowry said. “Monday will be history/ figure/artist T-shirt day Tuesday will be cultural flag/garb day, Wednesday will be cartoon day, Thursday will be Throwback [day], and Friday is black out.”
BSU encourages those interested in honoring this month to start with showing their support.
“If there are students wondering how they can celebrate this month, [we] suggest taking time to educate yourself on a piece of Black culture, visiting local Black-owned businesses, and listening to the Black voices around you,” Rowry said. “It's essential to take a dive into history to remember our past and how far we have come.”
BSU treasurer, junior Johnpaul Buwule is excited to commemorate this month with BSU, and hopes other students will participate as well.
“Black history really is not recognized in America, and you see time and time again, our history books are watered down,” Buwule said. “So, when you’re having a club and organization that’s not a school curriculum, you get a different view of what Black history is. When we celebrate this month we're not only allowing Black kids to feel represented and acknowledged, but we’re allowing other people who aren’t Black to be educated about Black culture.”
Before it's almost time for them to compete, they warmup, stretch, and warm their hands, being able to learn on their own.
Winter Guard is special to the color guard program as they get to showcase what they have been able to learn on their own. It's the same thing they do in the fall, but to a soundtrack instead of the band. It's like a dance team but only with sabres and flags.
"It's just really nice that we get to showcase just what the color guard is capable of," Winter Guard instructor Tyler Hecks said. "The journey throughout winter guard starts with understanding."
They select the varsity/JV team through the month, start training, and then they start learning the show towards the end of Dec. and the beginning of Jan. From there, they continue to progress the show and compete starting from the
beginning of Feb. all the way to the end of April. It's constantly evolving, always striving from one rehearsal to the next to be better than how they started and ended.
The connection Hecks and his students have is part of the reason why Winter Guard continues.
"All the kids are really eager to better themselves, and seeing that kind of energy helps me bring new ideas to the table for them," Hecks said.
The progression that the students have had and the talents they display while performing are evident to coaches. Winter Guard and Color Guard don't have much of a difference.
"They're not too different," Hecks said. "Honestly they're pretty much the same."
The only difference really is the Color Guard is outside and winter guard is inside. They're able to do more things with it being inside.
Their first competition for this year is taking place at Drippings Springs High School on Jan. 28.
"It's our first contest of the entire season. Both varsity and JV will be there,” Hecks said. “From there, we go to Akins High School the next weekend on Feb. 4."
Simple activities at competitions vary with the time they have when they get there.
"It depends on what time our schedule is to go and compete," Hecks said. "We start in the mornings, we're in the band hall, maybe rehearsing a little bit, just depending on the time, from there, we get on the bus and go to whichever high school it's at."
After they load and check in, they have a little bit of downtime to get into their costume. They must make sure they have all their equipment so they're 100% ready. After they're done, depending on when they've completed and what time it is, they
wait a couple hours or minutes before they find out the results.
Other than competing there's other big things that occur during Winter Guard.
"We get to travel a lot more, like this year we'll be going during Spring Break, " Hecks said. "So unfortunately our Spring Break cuts short. We get to go up to Dallas, to compete against 70 other Color Guards."
That will be their biggest contest, competing on a national level. Winter Guard International, which is one of their international competitions, is showcased around the entire nation with those scores for that weekend.
"We have the state championships which is the local circuit," Hecks said. "Everybody in the Austin/Houston area will compete against each other and the College Station to see who's best in state."
As COVID hit, libraries were faced with the challenge of shutting down due to safety concerns. Due to people staying home, there was an increase in the purchase of audiobooks and ebooks. Once everything returned to “normal,” libraries once again were forced to compete with technology. Although nowadays, both are interconnected and depend on each other.
“Technology has not interfered but helped,” librarian Kara Johnson said. “I can provide resources to students in all different ways. So not only do they come in here and get a book, but you can just check out right there on your computer or on your phone. It’s also convenient that you can access all the databases through Clever. I do lessons for classes as well.”
Johnson has started to notice an increase in people utilizing the library for purposes other than checking out books.
“The library can offer you things that you maybe never knew were out there,” Johnson said. “I have teachers asking me if we have audiobooks, and I’m like ‘Yes, we have a whole platform called Sora that has ebooks and audiobooks.’ So we can serve in all different ways. I can help you find out information. I can help you get a book that you might be interested in. I can help you log into the computer and print something. I can print your ID. I can help you in the mornings before school with your Chromebook. There’s a lot of services offered here.”
With the rise of audiobooks and
ebooks, the on-campus library has adapted to their use and the district has created a space in their budget to fund these changes. In order for teachers or students to rent an ebook or audiobook, they must log in to Clever. Once they’re at the homepage they must look for an app called Sora Library, from there it should automatically log in using school credentials.
“I like ebooks,” Johnson said. “I personally read ebooks. I like to read them at night. I read with the lights off and my yellow glasses on with a sepia tone on my phone. It became a huge thing after COVID. The district provided the libraries with a lot of money to be able to purchase a huge online library. And luckily they’ve been funding it every year after that
so I’m able to reorder things that have expired and new stuff. I think it’s a really awesome benefit with the addition of the audiobooks, too. Sometimes students struggle to read, they can listen to the book and or they follow along.”
Besides a place for resources, the library serves as a quiet space to study or eat lunch.
“Groups can come in during or after class to study, “ Johnson said. “I have a lot of people come in and say they don’t like to read and I ask what they’re into in order to find a book based on that. And I’ve had students come back and thank me for that so it warms my little librarian heart.”
Out
256 students surveyed in English classes
87 (34%) of the 246 were seniors
50 (19.5%) of the 246 were freshman
2 (0.8%) of the 246 were sophomores
7NEWS.indd 3 1/30/23 9:52 AM
People go through their days, years, and entire lives using one of humanity’s greatest tracking devices. A device so popular to humans worldwide that according to the Pew Research Center, 97% of Americans have one as of 2021. This item is the cell phone, a small handy gadget most have in their pocket at just about all times.
So what makes the cell phone so invasive? Well for one, according to a New York Times article by Stuart A. Thompson and Charlie Warzel from 2019, it is completely legal to sell and collect data on customers, often tracking customers’ location throughout their day. This can possibly give much of your personal information to both large tech corporations and the government, with only some company policies and personal human morality to stop employees using their access to that data for malicious actions.
“I was traveling from Texas to Colorado where I used to live,” junior Milo Lastinger said. “Whenever I got there it kept telling me that my old house was my current home … and it was really weird.”
The common main reason that phones collect data is to advertise better to its audience. As is pointed out in the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, users are the products of their phones. People may have bought them, but with using social media and various apps, the goal of social media is
to get users to buy products. However along with advertising off of seeing your current locations, or through your activities in apps, phones will often track your location oftentimes to what some users consider an excessive amount.
“When we were flying to Grand Nationals, I kept my phone on airplane mode the entire time, except for when we were at layovers, and I was checking Google Maps to see where we were because our flights had gotten changed,” sophomore Jackson Collins said. “So I looked at it and it had tracked our entire flight path without the location on, and I found [it] really unsettling and creepy”
But this isn’t purely something Collins has faced. According to a Pew Research Center study from 2019, 81% of American adults felt like they had a lack of control over what data companies collect from them, however 59% also claimed that they had little understanding of what companies do with that information. This contributes to the overall fear of how your phone may track your data and location, helping with Collins’ troubling phone tracking.
“When we got to the hotel after the second day it started telling me the hotel was home,” Collins said.
“I was like, ‘why? My home is not in Indianapolis?’ I don’t know it was just really creepy”
Yael Behar | Co-EditorA click of a mouse is all that you need in order to generate a piece of art now. Or is it really ‘art.’ Artificial intelligence can search databases of images in the blink of an eye, and create a piece of ‘art’ with techniques that take humans years to build and develop. Critics of A.I. art say it isn’t really art - that art needs to be human made. Advocates of A.I. say that it is a feat of technological development, and a tool for education and the betterment of humankind. Its emerging controversy is evident in educational, and art occupational settings.
“When it comes to artificial intelligence, if it’s a job that’s dangerous, it helps where somebody doesn’t need to be put into this dangerous predicament, it could come into play and can be a really positive thing,” animation and video game design teacher Brian Westerfield said. “Being a video game teacher, I’m all for artificial intelligence in the video game to help make the video game more unique for the player.”
Whilst the development of A.I. in standard occupational settings is generally considered beneficial, the use of A.I. in creative settings is much more disputed. “If the AI is creating the artwork, who gets credit for the art?,” Westerfield said. “If the computer is the one creating it, where is the creative side? I don’t know if I would call it real art.”
Even though artificial intelligence has the capability to be used negatively in artistic settings, its worth noting it also has its benefits. It can easily generate concepts which can be utilized in tandem with human creativity, or used in other aspects of the art occupational
industry.
“I think AI can be used if it’s used responsibly,” Westerfield said. “You could make some kind of artificial intelligence training programs for companies.”
Among creatives, the principal of A.I. art as ‘art’ is heavily disputed, but its applications in contemporary society alongside human creativity has the potential to increase efficiency in these fields, while simultaneously being a potential disservice.
“There was an Instagram trend floating around about a month ago, where people would upload their pictures that were generated, meant to look like original art,” audio visual production and graphic design teacher Ashley Sullivan said. “With something like that, I don’t know if [A.I.] could be a positive artistic thing. It could [be a way for the art industry to grow] but I still sort of view it as a trend. I do wonder if [A.I.] would be beneficial to the creators, but when something is just so quickly created like that, it takes away the willingness for anybody to learn how to create something on their own when something will do it so quickly for them.”
Even if procedurally generated art isn’t necessarily by the standards of artists, the progression of technology and A.I. in the future virtually secures a reality wherein tech will be used alongside art.
“If you look at why we put copyright in place back in the day, it was to keep everybody creative,” Westerfield said. “Now if you have a computer that’s doing all the creating, where’s the role for the human to be creative? I think when it comes to the creative side of things, we still need to keep the human side of things - letting us be creative.”
Teachers reflect on potential helpful AI art applications for school, world
Rewiring the PRO-PRODUCTIVITY?NighCafe AI Program | Artist?
You can use it to teach people”
Brian Westerfield, video game design
With the recent developing abilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI), many artists find themselves panicking at the extent to which these programs can steal art right from under their noses.
Already, artists and photography sites such as Getty Images have filed lawsuits against different programs such as Midjourny and Stable Diffusion, as they have been stealing copyrighted photos from photographers and artists.
“I’ve seen so many cases where people will be auto-generating art and it’ll be stealing them from the Internet,” senior Val Hernandez said. “It’ll be taking their art, claiming it as their own, or things like that.”
When generating art, some platforms such as Nightcafe give descriptions on how artwork was coded for, usually saying that it’s “in the style of” certain artists. Not only that, but some argue that artists’ commissions are being taken by these sites because they usually charge people to make A.I. generated art.
“It’s pretty damaging in the fact that it [takes] people’s jobs, essentially, because they think that this A.I. art can work, but people live off art,” Hernandez said. “Some people think that art is just so easy that it can be done by machines. It’s kind of silly because it’s the same way with robotics and people losing their jobs to machines. A.I. makes people afraid that their livelihood is at stake.”
So far, because the programs have not been around long, there are no regulations on A.I. art generators, and lawmakers are still trying to decide whether it infringes on copyright laws.
“Oftentimes, as we’ve seen before, they are taking certain things from artists and stealing without their permission,” junior Neptune Brewer
said. “That’s not something that can be regulated efficiently so it’ll just keep stealing from artists who actually put more time and work and effort into that art.”
On the other hand, some artists believe that A.I. being involved in art can help simplify the process of creating works. However, Hernandez believes there is a difference.
“Maybe A.I. will autofill the color or something like that, or maybe it’ll auto do the lines,” Hernandez said. “That way, machines are efficiently improving it. That makes more sense than autogenerating whatever prompt you want and then stealing things from people. It should only be used to enhance something effectively rather than stealing.”
One other argument against A.I. art made by artists is that programs can make art seem like a one-and-done experience. AP Art teacher Jacqueline Cardenas believes any art created by the programs “loses its human touch.”
“I think it supports instant gratification culture, which just hinders society because they don’t understand the hard work that goes into creating,” Cardenas said.
Because A.I. is not a sentient machine, Hernandez believes that the act of “artmaking” cannot be done by A.I.
“It’s just ridiculous: art is of the person,” Hernandez said. “Art is not a thing of machines. Art is not about efficiency, it’s about expression. It’s about creativity and exploration.”
One solution presented by Hernandez is for any A.I. art sites to give credits to artists they pull the art from.
“People in charge of these programs need to figure out a way to credit the artists,” junior Diane Salazar said. “They could [develop] a system to determine whether an artist wants their art in these [designs].”
In recent years, technology has progressed immensely with improvements ranging from selfdriving cars to AI generated art. With these controversial advancements, A.I. writing has come into the mix. The biggest concern over this newfound way of writing in regards to academics and essay writing. An overlooked concern is how it will affect creativity.
AI writing sites and apps are given a prompt by the user and are thus generated into a full length written piece. Various concerns regarding the stunting of creativity, cheating, and whether or not it’s a valid form of writing arise from this.
“I think AI gives people a way to not have to think about or do their own work,” former creative writing junior Kelsie Herold said. “It takes away their potential for what they could create.”
The general prompt is typed by the user while the core of the story is written by A.I., which begs the question of if it can be labeled creative writing anymore. The process of writing involves much revising, writer’s block, and being forced to come up with your own ideas. That process is entirely wiped out with A.I.
“I think A.I. writing will make everything less emotional and more repetitive,” Herold said. “Things will start being the same stories with different characters.”
Kicking off a story with minimal assistance from the internet is not unheard of. It’s a fairly common tactic to get into the writing mood or be inspired. The main difference between using the internet and using A.I is that the internet is not doing the actual work of writing, developing characters, and forming the plot.
“It’s a good starting off point but it will never be able to mimic the complexities of writing that come out with truly experiencing those emotions as actual writing would,” English teacher Liana Gonzales said. Due to it being a computer
generated story, Herold and Gonzales worry it won’t carry the same emotionally powerful messages and plot lines that could be created.
“I wouldn’t feel proud of anything I created from A.I. because it’s a computer doing it, not me,” Herold said.
The whole of creative writing relies on originality which AI writing removes.
“I would read an A.I. generated story out of curiosity, but I personally wouldn’t think of them as an author,” creative writing reader sophomore Laila Amro said. “Human writing is more personal and meaningful, too.”
In academics most teachers agree it couldn’t be considered one’s own work, and the same goes for creative writing.
“I do think it’s cheating if you pass it off as your own,” Gonzales said. “Though with writing everything in essence is borrowing of some sort that you make into your own and if you truly only use it as a stepping stone then I wouldn’t consider it cheating.”
It appears that A.I. writing has more negatives than positives with it stunting creativity and most not considering it authentic writing.
“With creative writing, you want that to be something that’s totally yours and unique,” Gonzales said. “It’s something that comes from your
It’s like fast fashion but for art”
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Editor interviews new advanced chatbot
Kate Hayes | Asst. EditorMy creators made me as a tool for natural language processing, which can generate human-like text based on the input it receives. I can be used for a wide range of applications, including language translation, question answering, and text summarization.
My learning process involved being fed a massive amount of text data and adjusting the parameters of my model through a process called training. During training, I was presented with input text and the corresponding desired output, and my model adjusted its parameters to minimize the difference between its output and the desired output. This process allowed me to learn patterns in the input data and use them to generate new text that is similar to the input I was trained on.
As a language processing tool, I can assist humans in a variety of ways. Some examples include: generating human-like text, such as writing essays, articles, or reports; answering questions, which can save people time and effort; summarizing text, which can help people quickly understand the main points of a document or article.
As with any technology, there can be potential negative implications when using a tool like myself. Some examples of negative implications that have been discussed include:
Job displacement: As I am able to perform certain tasks that were previously done by humans, there is a concern that my capabilities may lead to job losses in certain fields.
Privacy: As I process large amounts of text data, there is a concern about the privacy and security of the data that is used to train me.
Misuse: I can be used for malicious purposes, such as spreading misinformation, impersonation, and other forms of abuse.
There is a concern that my capabilities as a language processing tool may lead to job losses in certain fields, including journalism. AI-driven automation can assist journalists in tasks such as data collection and analysis, fact-checking and summarizing news, but also may replace some of their tasks. However, it is important to note that journalism is not just about collecting and reporting facts, but also about storytelling, investigative work, and providing context and analysis. These are tasks that require human creativity, judgment, and empathy which are not easily replicated by AI.
Currently, AI such as myself are machine learning models that are capable of performing certain tasks but lack consciousness, emotions and self-awareness. We are not capable of having subjective experiences or emotions. There are some researchers and scientists that are working on creating AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) which would have abilities akin to or surpassing those of a human, but it's still a topic of much research and not yet achieved. Even if AGI is achieved, it's still not clear if it would be sentient or not.
English teachers discuss implications of ChatGPT on student cheating
A new artificial intelligence has taken not only the world of tech, but the world of education, by storm. ChatGPT is a chatbot designed for language processing, simulating human language patterns in order to assist with various functions like writing, summarizing, and answering questions. The A.I. was developed by San Franciscobased company OpenAI and made available for public testing on Nov. 30.
Requiring users to register an account with it, the chatbot crossed a threshold of one million users within a week of its launch. ChatGPT has, however, raised concerns about its possible use for academic dishonesty, due to its ability to write complex essays in seconds that could be copied by students and submitted for assignments.
“While super popular with young people on social media, I don't think a ton of people are thinking about ChatGPT and every single application that it has,” English teacher Sarah Smith said. “I feel like people don't see it as relevant yet, even though it will be.” Despite its implications, Smith says she is not as concerned for her own classes.
to be some sort of personal portion."
English teacher Kathryn Gurganus believes it’s noticeable if students are not writing their own assignments.
“By the second semester, we kind of know your style of writing,” Gurganus said. “We grade at least two to three things a week, so some students, it's kind of obvious if it's not them, just based on your style.”
Most English II classes already conduct the majority of their essays in class, according to Gurganus, in order to curb academic dishonesty.
Would you like to cheat? X
Yes No
“A lot of the times we talk about or have students write about personal connections or opinions, and ChatGPT can't do that,” Smith said. “If you ask it to make a personal connection, it literally will say, I can't do that.”
However, Smith believes it still presents the potential risk of hindering students’ education.
"I am concerned about the fact that some students will view it as just a replacement, but in my class, I can change my requirements to get around it," Smith said. "There would probably be more in class writing, not writing as much for homework, and also more of a personal connection or opinion with what they're having to write about. Even if half the essay is more of an analysis that they could technically get off of ChatGPT, there'd also have
“When we were at home and doing work, a lot of students could have obviously cheated,” Gurganus said. “So we’ve tried to go around that coming out of COVID. We've had to kind of change our way of doing things. We’ve adapted to just having you write it in class so that a parent or an older sibling isn't writing it, or sharing it across other classes.”
X
Overall, like Smith, Gurganus is not very concerned with ChatGPT’s risks for her classes.
“I feel like there's so many issues to worry about that I don't like to harp,” Gurganus said. “If you cheat the system in one way, we always think it'll come back and affect you later in life.”
Gurganus acknowledges that not everybody is a writer, recognizing the potential benefits of ChatGPT’s writing.
“I know people who hate to write, like a math teacher would be like, ‘Thank God something can help me,’” Gurganus said. “But, I think you need to be able to write what you think.”
Overall, though, she is worried that ChatGPT could bring a widespread loss of creativity. “It takes away the creativity and the critical thinking aspect,” Gurganus said. “And if you're just using somebody else's thoughts and ideas, that obviously doesn't make you a strong person, which in turn can hurt the future of society. If we don't have individual creative thinkers, we're gonna lose creativity, and anything beautiful and new is going to be watered down all the same.”
Pressed white scrubs and tan pants in single file lines are seen throughout the hospital in the mornings. Notebooks in their hands scribbling away every time their mentor does something. Brains eager to absorb as much information as possible. Hearts filled with excitement to care for others.
Students in the Certified Clinical Medical Assisting (CCMA) practicum class have started their clinical rotations at St. David’s North Austin Medical Center as of Jan. 17.. Students in the class visit the hospital where they are given the opportunity to shadow health professionals in a clinical setting. They are placed in one of nine units such as respiratory, imagining, cardiology, etc. This is the first time in three years that students have been allowed back into the hospital after COVID-19.
“I learn better from observing– truly how the units interact with each other and how they incorporate students into their practice and how they teach them by throwing them into the water like children letting them swim,” senior Sofiange Ayida said. “It’s ten times better than being in a classroom or being told ‘here’s this machinery, go and operate it’ without any further explanation. It’s very enveloping, it takes up almost every section of your mind when you get there and you find yourself getting in tune with the hospital. You dive into the world of medicine and you get to see it in action and it’s completely different from what you see on TV.”
In order to join the program, students must meet prerequisites such as taking certain health pathway classes such as Health Science Theory. They must also complete an interview with Career and Technical Education (CTE) directors and program leader Cristine Gilbert.
“The purpose of the rotations is to give students a more global perspective instead of a classroom perspective,” Gilbert said. “They actually have that clinical perspective to see how healthcare professionals function in a hospital environment; what the jobs and duties and responsibilities look like within that clinical setting. All the different characteristics that are important that
they can carry with them as they move forward in either school, or even as they progress into a health career.”
During the months leading up to the rotations, students are tasked with completing online modules
in preparation for their national Medical Assisting certification exam. Additionally, Quizlets are completed for every medical unit that the students will be visiting that week.
“Quizlet has helped me prepare
and just the four years that have led up to this moment,” senior Abigail Piggott said. “There were many prerequisites, being professional, and being prepared to ask questions to mentors. Just being there and seeing all the different units and all the different people– although there weren’t a whole lot of people– it's neat to see that.”
These rotations are meant to expose students to the real world of medicine and health. It offers an opportunity to observe skills they have been practicing inside the classroom being used outside in the world.
“Clinical rotations are for exposure,” Gilbert said. “It’s for clinical experience in the hospital to increase exposure to all the different departments and professions within the hospital and to observe clinical professionalism to see all the skills that we practice in the classroom. Because it’s observation only and hands-off as determined by the St. David's network, students can only observe. However, what we learn in the classroom are things like vital signs, taking patient history, leadership, professional communication, EKG, phlebotomy, injections, transferring a patient, bed making, and other things that can be observed in the hospital. So even though they can’t do hands on, they can still observe what they have practiced in the lab setting.”
A typical day for a student during rotations consists of getting ready in their white scrub tops and khaki bottoms and getting on the bus to travel to the hospital. They are placed on one of the nine units that are participating in high school clinical rotations, they are then paired with a one on one mentor who will just talk outloud and demonstrate how to input things into an EMR, (electronic medical record) show how to interact with patients, answer call lights, and answer to all the patient needs.
“I think just the experience itself is sort of inspiring,” Gilbert said. “When students walk in for the first time, they’re a little bit anxious. But as they spend more and more days at the clinical site, they start to feel like a budding professional and I think that serves to inspire and it’s something that you can’t get in the classroom.”
One of Hollywood’s favorite cliches to play into is “we’re all going to die and it’s technology’s fault” and most of the time, it’s not done masterfully.
However, Gerard Johnstone’s M3gan perfectly plays out exactly how humanity would meet its
Oftentimes, children’s films subtly convey meaning to their young viewers through depictions of different communities, topics, and more. In the 2008 film, WALL-E, there is an obvious theme of humanity needing to battle the laziness that comes with new developments of technology. The movie develops this theme by designing all the human beings left on the earth as plus-sized and immobilized. The characters’ physical design is intended to convey the idea that laziness leads to weight gain, which eventually leads to the “devastating end of humanity.” However, weight gain has nothing to do with the destruction of the earth. The directors were obviously attempting to leave children with a life lesson, warning them of the consequences of taking the earth for granted. I agree with this message, I am simply critiquing the way the creators involved bigoted stereotypes about being overweight.
Drifting away from the underlying judgemental portrayal of plus-sized
demise; by being lazy. Though some of the actors in this movie were a bit questionable, Violet McGraw, who plays the main character Cady, is one of the best child actors I’ve ever seen on screen. She reacts exactly how one would expect a kid to respond in her position: afraid, wary, and even a bit crazy.
The acting, though, is not the only notable prospect of this sci-fi horror. M3gan, the robot in question, was magnificently created by set directors to be an animatronic puppet with actors puppeteering her and radiocontrolling her face while a voice actor lip-syncing her dialogue. Unfortunately, like many horror movies, the audience is left wondering why one actor split up with another and why it took so long for somebody to shoot the gun already.
Nevertheless, M3gan was a surprisingly funny and attentiongrabbing watch that left me on my
YaelTerminator is the timeless story of robots – and A.I. – gone rogue. Everyone and their mom has seen this movie, and for good reason. The Terminator (Arnold Shwarzanegger) comes from the future to kill Sarah Connor, mother of John Connor (leader of the future rebellion against robots and SkyNet) leaving destruction in its wake. Its action packed, and filled with 80’s nonsense about robots. The Terminator has held up well in contemporary society, and even if you haven’t seen it, you’ve probably absorbed a good portion of it through cultural osmosis. A classic and necessary watch. I rate this movie 2nd place.
Terminator Salvation is the only Terminator movie not to feature Arnold Shwarzanegger, and I feel that speaks very effectively at how mediocre this movie is. John Connor (Christian Bale), now an adult, leads a resistance against Skynet after Judgement daywith added time travel shenanigans. I feel this was one of the least memorable in the series, although it still managed to keep my attention with its very action intensive visuals. The CGI and SFX have improved since the last entry in the series, but if i’m being honest, every movie after the second takes a nosedive in quality and necessity. I rate this movie as 5th place.
folk, the AI design and plot were fairly impressive. The purpose of WALL-E, the main robot of the film, is to clean up the trash the humans have left behind on the planet earth. This positive, innocent portrayal of robots is new to cinema, as the neighboring AI-focused movies often describe technology as something that will be the end of humanity. Instead of violent, murderous robots, WALL-E brings us a sweet, environmental-safe take on technology. Overall, no film is perfect, and WALL-E had its ups and downs.
Terminator 2 is by far the best Terminator. Judgment day has the same punchiness of the first, only this time, it takes a more heartfelt approach to the characters and plot. The Terminator returns, this time to help John Connor as a child live whilst being attacked by a different iteration of the first robot. It adds another layer to the complexity and sci-fi aspects of the first Terminator, but not so much that it’s difficult to understand what’s going on. The CGI and SFX are also radically improved since the last. I rate this movie 1st place.
Terminator: Rise of the Machines is the worst of the best movies. It continues the story of Conner, aged 25, who is on the run from a new, self regenerating iteration of Terminator, sent by SkyNet, and his attempts to survive by utilizing the older version of the Terminator. While the movie does fall flat in its plot, it’s still a very viable and punchy action movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Terminator movies have the capacity to be ‘bad movies,’ but in almost every instance, Terminator is a good action movie. I rate this movie as 3rd place.
By this point, there’s already too much Terminator lore. Each movie adds more layers to the evolving story with time travel - and if you aren’t watching all of these films consecutively, there’s a fair bit of ‘what is happening?’ Terminator Genisys adds more unnecessary time travel, and completely veers off the story that the audience has followed in the past four movies. The plot falls flat, although admittedly, its CGI is pretty killer. John Connor from the future sends back Kyle Reese to protect his mother in the past, which results in a new timeline. Honestly, how this movie is even relevant to the main story is beyond me. I rate this movie as 6th place, otherwise known as last.
I’ve gone mad. I don’t know how many more Terminator movies I can take. I’ll give this movie credit where credit is due: as far as the last three movies have gone, Dark Fate is by far the best. Not only does it have the best CGI, it also has the most relevance to the prior plot line. Following things after Terminator 2: Judgment day, this film picks up with Sarah Connor who has survived numerous attempts on her life at the hands of SkyNet, and continues aiding the future rebellion in her timeline. This isn’t a good movie, its plot is pretty awful, but it is a decently entertaining action movie, and an… ending to the series. I rate this movie as 4th place.
Andrea Foster | Photographer Kaitlyn Nash | Photographer
Follow Your Heart Bobby Strong (Bella Monette, 11) carts Hope Cladwell (Tori Ybarra, 12) around the stage while they sing a romantic ballad. “She tells me to follow my heart, and I’m listening and falling in love with her,” Monette said. Hope’s words inspire Strong to begin a revolution in the town.
Don’t Be the Bunny Mr. Cladwell (Jackson Durocher, 9) warns his daughter Hope Cladwell (Tori Ybarra, 12) to heed his advice. “I’m telling her to not be as naive as she’s been, because that’s the only way you’re gonna survive,” Durocher said. In the following act, she joins the revolution against her father.
Act One Finale Bobby Strong (Bella Monette, 11) thinks out loud about what he should do as Mr. Cladwell attacks. “I felt like I was in a movie; it was intense,” Monette said. Strong devises a plan to kidnap Hope in order to escape.
Run, Freedom, Run! A poor ensemble member (Hadley Wimmer, 10) appears to enter labor. “I’m supposed to be looking like I’m giving birth, but it’s not actually a birth,” Wimmer said. At the end of the scene she releases a fart, not a baby.
Why Did I Listen To That Man? Mr. Cladwell (Jackson Durocher, 10) attempts to bribe Bobby Strong (Bella Monette, 11) out of revolution. “I think money is the ultimate language. As soon as he sees the money, he’s gonna go for it, because he’s been poor,” Durocher said. Strong declines the offer and is executed for it.
Act One Finale
The poor ensemble and supporting characters fortify themselves behind a barricade as Mr. Cladwell attacks. “I got a little bit of a break from constantly running around the stage, so it was really nice,” junior Addi Villegas said. Shortly after, the poor retreat to their “super secret hideout.”
Act One Finale Bobby Strong (Bella Monette, 11) abducts Hope Cladwell (Tori Ybarra, 12) to use as ransom against her father. “I’m forcing her to come with me because we both made the decision that this was gonna happen,” Monette said. While in the hands of the rebels, they plot various ways to kill her when Strong is away.
I See a River Having overthrown her father’s regime and executed him, Hope Cladwell (Tori Ybarra, 12) and a poor ensemble member (Hadley Wimer, 10) rejoice. “I was feeling a bit scared because Hope is so innocent,” Ybarra said. Despite her leadership, Hope is also later executed due to a water shortage.
The new year marks a time for resolutions and goals. For the powerlifting team, goals are integral to their success.
“We want to qualify as many as we can both, boys and girls, to regionals and potentially to state,” powerlifting coach Peter Noonan said. “I believe that this is the biggest boys and girls team at least in the most recent history, I don’t know if in all of the history of powerlifting. We are very thankful for the opportunity to go to these meets and compete. It’s great that so many student athletes from other areas are being involved, whether it’s ROTC, swimming, cheer, [or] basketball.”
Powerlifting and weightlifting are two different sports as powerlifting consists of three lifts rather than two. Competitors are divided by sex and body weight and are given three attempts to bench, squat or deadlift however much weight they can. The
winner of each category is based off of the sum of all three weight totals for each round.
“For me, personally, I don’t feel stressed at all because I know if I’m over a weight class that I’m still going to be competing in the meet that day,” junior Ashley Cornelius said. “Depending on my weight, I might not be able to go to the next meet, because you can only take a certain amount of people for each weight class, but Coach doesn’t put any stress on us at all. They are like, ‘Hey, this is your weight and we’re going to make it work.’”
The team has practice every day in the morning from 7:15 to 8:15 and in the afternoon from 5:30 to 6:30. However, every day of practice is not required.
“Fridays, if we have a Saturday meet, might be our one off day or it might be a lighter day in preparation,” Noonan said. “It’s either in the morning or afterschool depending on your schedule. We’re not trying to pull that athlete part for the sake of coach ego. It’s all about making sure that the
athlete does their best and is ready to go on meet day.”
Because weight is an important part of powerlifting, sometimes meeting their class can be difficult for team members. However, Cornelius says that the coaches look after everyone to make sure they are safely cutting or gaining weight.
“If we’re just barely over the weight class that we want to be in, if we feel comfortable with it, [Coach will] have us run around there at the meet for a second to make it. But he’s like, ‘If you don’t make it, you don’t make it.’”
As the team starts to hone in on Regionals, all competitors and coaches are looking out for ways to succeed.
“The goal is always first place,” junior Asher Kamenicky said. “I got first place at the first meet I went to, which was sort of like a mini meet, and I got fourth place at the meet at Buda.”
Not only that, but competitors and coaches have to keep an eye on the rulebook to avoid getting disqualified. Because judges are right in front of
competitors while they are lifting, any mistakes can easily be pointed out.
“There’s more than just lifting weights and trying to put on different weights,” Noonan said. “You have to make sure you follow the different rules. As we get closer and closer to the Regional qualification, the judges become very, very nitpicky about certain things inside of the rules, so we want to make sure we are aware of that day in and day out.”
After meets are over, it’s always a priority of competitors to take care of themselves and their bodies.
“Afterwards, I usually go take an ice bath and make sure I get something to eat,” junior Jay Simmons said. “I get a lot of sleep.”
At the end of the day, all competitors have a healthy environment to come back to, according to Cornelius.
“There’s definitely a lot of joking around in the environment,” Cornelius said. “It’s just so funny. The coaches joke with us.
After finishing the previous season with 18 victories, four defeats, and four ties, and winning district, the girls’ Soccer season ended in a loss going into Round four. Their main challenge will be filling in the spots that last year’s seniors filled, but with the majority of the team being young this year, they have high hopes for their potential of having another great season.
“This year we’re a younger team,” senior Amanda Thai said. “But, we have the heart and the drive to outdo any other teams in our district.”
Results are good when there is communication and chemistry among the players. In order to decrease the likelihood of an opponent scoring, soccer is all about controlling and protecting the area between the players and the central defenders. Coach Kevin McKinley encourages his players to coordinate and interact with each other
to keep their chemistry intact by doing canned food drives and hosting team dinners before the game.
“It’s very important for us to stay connected,” junior Mina Derder said. “So, if one person gets back, the other person will cover for them, if not then we will not move forward as a team offensively and defensively.”
With a long season of games, practice makes perfect. The team works on their stamina, formations, and tactics during the preseason, in order to make fewer mistakes and produce their desired results
“Our training practice is pretty intense,” Thai said. “There’s a lot of conditioning and some technical drills and just working with each other as a team.”
Each player must influence the other both on and off the field in order for the team to be on the same page. This is achieved with help of captains, who
are responsible for keeping the squad on the course when their attention and focus wander.
“I definitely lead by example,” Thai said. “I like to be vocal on the field by telling people what we expect and what we demand of them and just pushing and encouraging them”
Despite only coaching the girls’ Soccer program for two years now, McKinley has already won a district championship last year and gone far in playoffs. He has shown great progress with the team throughout the seasons even with the players.
“It’s been great, the girls work their tails off every chance they get,” McKinley said. “It’s a great change from coaching football, but there’s been no complaints whatsoever. I really enjoyed it.”
Having had great success in the past, there are many new players to fill in new spots to continue this pattern by helping
the team using their substitutions to keep the team refreshed.
“Last year was a different team, this year is a new team, which we have to continue to get better every day,” McKinley said. “Effort, working hard, and see if we can continue to make the runs like the teams have before here in the past.”
To keep the players from making mistakes, the coaches watch the film and figure out how they can get better. By making sure that they don’t make those same mistakes the next time they play, and so they can improve to build and make their program good for a really long time.
“Just giving effort fixes a lot of things, which sets [apart] good teams from great teams,” McKinley said. “Just got to find a way to get better and continue to maintain the Hawk tradition.”
Damo Kouakou | Reporter
After ending the season last winter with 11 wins, four losses, and eight ties, while also tying for District Champions, the boys’ Soccer season ended within the first round of the playoffs. With most of the team returning this year, the team has high hopes for another great season and a long run in the playoffs, their biggest obstacle being the new teams in their district.
“What we’re hoping to achieve this season is winning district,” senior Erick Rios said. “I want to do better [than] last year because It wasn’t a good season at the end, especially for the seniors”
The recent tournament had the players working on their chemistry, strategy, and learning what they are good and bad at. With all 11 players being on the same page their chemistry is the most important to keep them from losing.
“Well, we need to improve [chemistry] just when we’re down by goals and just keep our heads up and keep playing until the end and just communicate with each other,” Rios said. “Because all of those kinds of issues lead to no chemistry with each other which will lead to bad games”
Team chemistry is important in team sports, which coach Jacob Stern is heavily involved with by influencing his captains to keep strengthening the bond between every player and to create a strong support system.
“We come together as a group, a family,” senior Noah Renfro said. “We’re all like brothers. We’re all like friends. We connect well with each other on and off the field. We have each other’s backs, we communicated with each other inside and outside of the film. And we tried to be as open with each other as we could be.”
It is essential for each player to influence each other on and off the field so they will all be on the same page. Rios leads by example and always wants to motivate his teammates. All players, not just captains need to lead by example and reflect with each other.
“I have to keep people motivated at all times and keep them motivated for the whole 90 minutes that we’re playing,” Rios said. “Things like carrying the ball, doing what I do best with the ball, helping my teammates get a go or if it works best I score goals for my team motivates them.”
Having to play for 90 minutes straight, the players need to be on top of their game stamina-wise, since they have to run many miles in a game while dribbling the ball. Stamina will affect performance without practice.
“In practice we do a lot of running conditioning as [to] just be the most conditioned team that we can, getting us ready for a whole 90 minutes,” Renfro said. “Then you know tactics, corners, free kicks, everything and plays that we
can do to build up our game mentally.”
With having the rest of the season left, the players want to better themselves and get ready for the playoffs even through good or bad games.
“There’s always more opportunities down the road,” Renfro said. “If something bad happens, something better will happen later. There’s always an upside to everything and even if you don’t see it now, it will definitely show itself in the future.”
