BSU plans a variety of events to celebrate Black History Month

Lilianna Moran | Copy Editor

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.”

Winter Guard prepares for the start of competition season

Emily Rodriguez | Reporter

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."