The Hawk February 2021

Taking Action Social media platforms allow students to participate in activism

The

Hawk

Hendrickson High School 19201 Colorado Sand Drive Pflugerville. Texas 78660 Volume 14, Issue 4 February 5, 2021

In this issue...

Year in Review - Page 3 Basketball - Pages 13-14 Art class Mural - Page 16

2

News Feb. 5, 2021

state of the

UNION

Biden selects members of presidential cabinet

Landon Self | Asst. Editor

When a new president takes office, they are allowed to appoint members of a Presidential Cabinet, also known as the Administration. Cabinet Members are essentially the leaders of their respective departments and act as advisors to the

• The Picks

Jane Yellen served as head of the Council Economic Advisors under former president Bill Clinton. She was also responsible for the monetary policy which oversaw the Federal Reserve using the core inflation rate, which omits volatile food and energy prices.

On Dec 7, 2020, the Biden transition announced Jeffrey Zients as the coordinator of the COVID-19 response and counselor to the president for all matters related to COVID-19. He was also a part of the Obama Administration where he was the Cheif Performace Officer. He also worked with the Department of Labor and the National Economic Council.

Biden nominated Merrick Garland to be Attorney General.

Garland was Obama's nominee for supreme court in 2016 and has been a U.S. Court of Appeals judge for the D.C. Circuit for 24 years.

President. After his election, President Joe Biden began appointing members to his cabinet. Before cabinet appointees can officially take over in their departments, they must be confirmed by the Senate. The senate confirmation process begins with the appointee meeting with a Senate committee and then going to a full vote by the senate. There are 15 Cabinet members to lead government agencies.

Kaitlyn Nash | Asst. Editor

Hector Santos | Reporter

Pete Buttigeg is former democratic presidential candidate and was the mayor of South Bend, Indiana since 2016.

Buttigeg was picked for Transportation secretary and will be the first openly gay Transportation secretary.

Congresswoman Marcia Fudge is the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Progressive and civil rights groups pushed for her to be Biden's candidate instead of former president Barack Obama’s Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack.

Alejandro Mayorkas is nominated to serve as Secretary of Homeland security.

Mayorkas served as the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Obama-Biden administration from 2009 to 2013 where he led the progress and implementation of DACA and helped combat human trafficking with the Blue Campaign.

Mayorkas was the highest ranking Cuban American to serve in the ObamaBiden Administration.

Biden nominated the top education official of Connecticut public schools, Miguel Cardona, as the educational secretary. Cardona served as the Co-Chairperson on the Connecticut Legislative Achievement Gap Task Force and the Connecticut Birth to Grade Three Leaders Council.

Cardona helped ensure that all public school students in Connecticut had access to a laptop and high-speed internet connection for online learning and extended the zero interest time period for student loans.

Deb Haaland is firstterm congresswoman was picked for Interior Secretary and led the department that determines policy for federally-owned natural resources, as well as tribal lands.

Former two term Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm was picked by Joe Biden to be Secretary of Energy. She is known to favor new energy ideas and policies.

Volume 14, Issue 4

Year In Review

News

3

Public continues to deal with multiple world events in 2020

COVID-19

Liliana Moran | Reporter The Coronavirus pandemic has passed its one year anniversary after having taken the world by surprise last year. The virus had first been discovered in December of 2019 in Wuhan China and quickly spread throughout the world through animals and humans and soon it became a global pandemic.

Coronavirus' Effect on the Economy

The Coronavirus pandemic has had a drastic impact on the global economy. Due to the widespread lockdowns and restriction of social gatherings, global stock markets dropped dramatically in 2020. On March 16, the stock markets experienced their largest fall within a single day, dropping almost 3,000 points. Early estimates theorized that the majority of major economies would lose at least around 2.4% value of their gross domestic product (GDP) over the year.

The fall in demand also took its toll on the economy, especially in the travel and tourism industry. With countries around the world restricting their international travel, not allowing people to exit or enter their nation, and just a lack of travel attendance due to the pandemic, the global business travel revenue has lost 810.7 billion US dollars.

But some areas of the economy have seen some benefit from the pandemic including E-commerce, food retail, and healthcare industries, adding some growth to the economy. Overall, experts are hoping to see the global economy start to increase as 2021 continues and as more vaccines are distributed.

Coronavirus Cases and Deaths

Globally, the Coronavirus has caused nearly two million deaths and over 90 million confirmed cases in a year. The United States has the highest amount of virus-inflicted deaths and cases around the world, with over 22 million confirmed cases and about 373,000 deaths.

The expansion of the virus and the rise in cases globally has caused hospitals and healthcare centers to become overwhelmingly crowded throughout the year, with healthcare workers having to work long hours to care for large amounts of patients.

The Vaccines As of late Dec. 2020, two COVID-19 vaccines were officially authorized in the United States. These included the Moderna vaccine, developed by a Cambridge, Massachusetts based biotechnology company, and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, developed by Pfizer and the German biotech company, BioNTec. The vaccines are now quickly being distributed throughout America in stages.

The first stage of people to receive the vaccine are healthcare workers and people in long term facilities. Then the vaccine will be distributed to the elderly and frontline workers, including teachers, grocery workers, and law enforcement.,. The third stage of people to receive the vaccine would be people with high-risk medical conditions and other essential workers such as construction, transportation, food service, and public health care workers.

Vaccines Landon Self | Asst. Editor

The main goal of the first vaccination for COVID-19 across the country is to get the more vulnerable of the population vaccinated. This goal is in accordance with guidance from health officials in Travis County, Texas, and across the country.

However, statistics show that most of the vaccines in Texas have gone to people who are younger than 65. As of Jan. 12, 208,000 senior citizens have gotten the first dose of the vaccine compared to over 653,000 people younger than 65 who have gotten it. In addition, there have been numerous care facilities built to treat COVID-19 Patients including the Austin Convention Center which has been converted to treat patients and offers COVID-19 Testing.

Elections

Landon Self | Asst. Editor Democrat Presidential Nominee and Former Vice-President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential Election over President Donald Trump Nov. 7, four days after election day. Biden was projected to win 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232. However, despite news outlets calling the race for Biden, President Trump began filing lawsuits claiming fraud in the election. He stated that laws being changed last minute and mass use of mail-in voting as the cause of fraud that changed the outcome of the election. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit seeking to have the results overturned claiming other states violated their own laws. That lawsuit, along with countless others, were dismissed by Federal and District judges. On December 14, the Electoral College met to certify the Biden win. The Electoral College is a group of people from each state chosen by the political parties that give their vote to the candidate that won their state. In Texas for example, we have 36 representatives in the House in addition to two senators, therefore, Texas has 38 electoral votes, all of which went to President Trump.

Following the electoral college certification of Bidens win, Congress met on Jan 6 to formally certify the results. There were several members of Congress who were planning to object to the certification citing irregularities and fraud in the vote.

However, a planned protest against the election results turned violent as protestors broke into the Capitol building. Even so, Joe Biden was sworn in as President on Jan 20.

Iranian conflict

Weston Schlesinger| Schlesinger Reporter In May, 2020 tensions between the United States and Iran escalated to nearly the point of war after the US deployed an increased number of military personnel in the Persian Gulf in order to protect US assets in the area from Iran. These situations are simply parts of the long and complex history between the two countries. It all started in 1953 when the US and the United Kingdom led a coup against the Iranian prime minister Mohammed Mossadeq who pushed for the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, which was one of the largest sources of income in the British Empire. The UK threatened to invade but President Harry Truman persuaded them against it. Instead of an invasion, the UK opted for an embargo on Iran which the US honored. After the election of Dwight Eisenhower in 1953, the US decided to destabilize Iran because of the increase in control of the communist Tudeh Party which eventually led to the coup shortly after.

After the coup the US helped reinstate the Shah, which was the government before World War II. In this era the US helped with Iran’s nuclear programs as the two countries were close allies. This new government lasted until 1979 with the Iranian Revolution. During this period the form Shah prime minister was allowed into the US which made the revolutionary group “Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line” unhappy which culminated with three attacks against the US embassy in Tehran, Iran. These three incidents were diffused by the Carter Administration until Nov. 4 when a group of revolutionaries stormed the Embassy and held 66 people hostage but released 14 of them by July, 1980. After Ronald Reagan won the presidency against Jimmy Carter the remaining 52 hostages were quickly released with the help of Canadain military. Many hostages told stories of threats against their lives and the lives of their families as well as multiple instances of hostages being tortured.

After the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 the US had no tolerance for Iran until the Obama administration during which the US had negotiated a nuclear deal and cooled relations with Iran until they discovered the surveillance and attack drone programs. When Donald Trump was elected in 2016 the US started it’s sanctions against Iran when they continued supplying terrorists with surface-to-surface missiles to be launched at Israel. This continued until the US launched an airstrike targeted at Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on Jan. 3, 2020. This assassination up roared Iranians, who threatened war on the US. Hopefully relations will improve in the near future, but nothing is certain.

4

News Feb. 5, 2021

COVID brings negitave impacts to Speech and Debate state tournament Hector Santos | Reporter The pandemic has posed many complications for the Speech and Debate competition this fall. Typically Speech and Debate director Kirsten Nash sends out the results of each tournament weekly, but since Covid has increased the number of emails that teachers are getting they waited until the end of the semester.

“I think that COVID has had both positive and negative impacts,” Nash said. “On the positive side, being on camera is definitely less intimidating than speaking face to face, especially at first. On the negative side, it has added an entire new level of skills that must be learned in order to be successful at debate.

You have to be tech savvy and also possess good technology in order to ultimately be as successful as you can be. I think that the tech learning curve

is particularly rough because debate already has such a huge learning curve for novices that it has made everything slower in terms of readiness for competition. Normally we have novices competing the second weekend in September, but this year we had our first novices go to tournaments the first weekend in October.”

The teams must still go almost every weekend to a tournament and compete against students from around the nation. The team tries to keep things similar to how they would do the tournaments in person but instead of doing stress coloring or hanging out at the team table, they have a team zoom room every weekend and play ‘Among Us’ or Pictionary online.

“Ironically, Covid actually made it so that we were not as affected by the A-hallway fire so I guess that is a blessing,” Nash said. “I think that we definitely

are missing out on some team building. By this time we have already had a couple of potlucks and have hosted an in person tournament.”

The team participated in 18 tournaments since the start of the school year, totalling about 324 hours of competitive time online, outside of their normal school day. The program also hosted two tournaments virtually online. Currently there are nine fully qualified entries to the TFA state tournament in March, with another 16 entries who are on their way to qualification. The students have participated, collectively, in 155 competitive rounds of debate, delivered 241 extemporaneous speeches and performed 244 original orations or performances.

The team also earned six state qualifications and have a number of students with state points accumulated already.

“It is a bit stressful because

everything feels so out of your control,” Nash said. “In the ‘real world’ if a student is late for round or needs help, I can quickly help them find a room or get where they need to be. In the virtual world, there could be a million reasons. Even though both Mr. Mithani and I consider ourselves to be pretty tech savvy, we are definitely not designed to play the role of ‘tech support’ for an entire team of 13-18 year-olds.”

On the Varsity team that qualified in TFA state, Audrey Fife received six First place finishes, outround appearances, which is when a student breaks out of the preliminary level of competition to outrounds, in every attended tournament.

Isabelle Cano received two First place finishes and 10 outround appearances. Afy Masoumi received one First place finish and six tournament outround appearances. Yousor Mohammad-Ali received

two First place finishes and four tournament outround appearances and Melina Garza received one First place finish, eight tournament outround appearances. On the Partiel TFA state qualification roster Rudolf Bendixen received one First place finish with eight tournament outround appearances.

“There are definitely some opportunities that we will miss this year,” Nash said. “The experience of these national level competitions is just not the same when you are sitting in your bedroom vs trudging through the snow in Boston or grabbing a bite of seafood at Fisherman’s Wharf the day before competition in San Francisco. While we definitely look forward to a return in person, we are very thankful to be in an activity so quickly and readily adaptable to the virtual world.”

Band and Choir members place at state audtion Bryan Ross | Co-Editor Two members of the band qualified for the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) 5A All-State band. Sophomore bass clarinet player Alaina Parent and junior tuba player Jake Dossing were named to the band in results announced Jan. 18. Additionally, Harlow Hurley, a junior, qualified for the All-State choir as a Soprano 1.

“It was truly stunning,” Dossing said. “It was hard to speak for 10 minutes after the fact, and I’m incredibly blessed for this opportunity.”

In order to make an All-State band, members first auditioned for All-Region bands, with those who qualified for arealevel auditions advancing.

Choir went through a similar

process, although it included a pre-Area level that band auditions did not.

“The only way that I can put it is that it was an uphill battle, fueled by nothing but passion the whole way,” Hurley said.

“With COVID being a big part of all of our lives this year, finding the motivation to sit down every day and drill the same pieces of music took a lot of grit, and was really difficult.

Many times I wanted to quit, but there’s a will and a fire inside of me when it comes to music that I can’t really explain, and that’s what kept me going even when I wanted to just give up.”

Some members auditioned at the 5A level and some chose to audition at the 6A level.

Twenty-four members made

the 5A All-Region band, with seven members qualifying for area; eight made a 6A All-Region band, with four qualifying for area. Hurley and senior Briannah Arrant both made it to the Area-level choir audition.

“Making All-State has been a very surreal experience for me,” Parent, a bass clarinet player, said. “I’ve been practicing the same music since July and I have to say even I was sick of hearing myself play the same three pieces over and over. But it goes to show that hard work, dedication, and resilience pay off. I’m honored to be representing the Hendrickson Hawk Band at TMEA AllState.”

Jake Dossing 11, Alaina Parent 10, and Harlow Hurley 11 make all-state Band and Choir

Volume 14, Issue 4 News

State of Texas removes letter grades for 20-21 Landon Self | Asst. Editor The Texas Education Agency will be pausing the A-F ratings for the 2020-21 school year due to the ongoing difficulties brought on by the coronavirus after doing so last year.

However, the STAAR test will be happening as usual after it was cancelled last year. The cancelation of the STAAR Test would make it difficult for the state to gauge where students are academically. “The STAAR is the only assessment we have that is based on our standards,” State Board of Education Member Tom Maynard said.

“At some point the students are going to have to pass the assessment and everyone needs to understand where these

students are academically.

There's a lot of diagnostic tools and things that are connected that will enable parents and teachers to look at those results and know where their students need to work and I think that is really important.” The decision was announced by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath on Dec 9 of last year.

The decision was made but announced at a later date. “It’s the right decision,” Maynard said. “In the spring of 2020 we didn't assess the students. If we don't assess them in 2021 then the next time we do the assessment will be in 2022 and that will be three years since the last. I don’t think it's a very good Idea. That's how students slip through the cracks.” The

Business Professionals of America members advances to state

TEA said that while the state exam will not be used for accountability purposes this year, it will help teachers and parents get an understanding of where students are in their learning. It will also allow policymakers the ability to gauge the impacts the pandemic and virtual learning has had on Texas students. Waiting another year to proceed with the STAAR would not allow this information to come through. “I think it would be extremely imprudent to go that long between assessments,” Maynard said. “We need to know right now where everybody is and know what work we need to do.”

Ethan Tittle | Asst. Editor With Travis County being in stage precautions 5 for COVID, marching band is on hold. Although online school has been in session for a few months now, it isn’t any easier for students in band to learn marching band drill and music as a group.

“Learning the music and drill is very different from home,” Senior Michael Ybarra said. “I’ve gone to a couple of rehearsals for drill, but in person, they get to practice the drill during class. I’ve had to go to the band lot [multipule] times and learn the drill on my own just to make sure it sticks in my brain.”

Individual Events

60000

67566

50194

50000 40000

38045

30000

26434

Team Events Video Production Team - 1st place - Dylan Hodges, Skylar Schlicht, Mario Godina, Sara Senakarn Animation Team - 1st place - Diego Segura and Amber Pride Broadcast News TeamTeam 1st place - Dylan and Kaleb Lowrey Podcast Production Team - 1st place -Damien Enderle, Lilian Caballero, Andrew Laboy, Jennifer Kane Presentation Management Team - 3rd place - Alana Le and Zofia Paez

Because the band is so large, the amount of rehearsal time has been cut down drastically.

“COVID has really taken a toll on how fast we can learn things while also remaining socially distant and wearing masks,” Ybarra said. “In fact, where we are right now is farther than I ever expected we would be.”

Although there have been many instances where quitting band would have been optimal, many students push through.

“It’s my senior year,” Ybarra said. “I didn’t want to surrender my whole senior year to COVID. I wanted to still have some fun in band for the last year.”

80000 70000

Advanced Accounting - 3rd place - Russell Schrowang Personal Financial Management - 4th place - Matt Raggio Fundamentals of Web Design - 3rd place - Skylar Schlicht Graphic Design Promotion - 1st place - Andrew Laboy Advanced Desktop Publishing - 1st place - Jennifer Kane Digital Media Production - 1st place - Trey Lowrey Computer Modeling - 2nd place - Amber Pride Prepared Speech - 2nd place - Mario Godina

COVID brings marching band season to halt

Number of COVID cases in Travis County by month

Ethan Tittle | Asst. Editor Earlier this month the Business Professionals of America team competed at the Regional meet. 22 members advanced and will compete at the State meet later in March.

0

29421

32024

20465

20000 10000

5

8969 3433 1591 206 Mar. Apr. May. Jun. Jul.

Aug. Sep.

Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. as of 1/29/2021

6 Opinion

Feb. 5, 2021

• Staff Editorial

Social Media leads to political polarization It took only six days for 2021 to have the type of year-defining event that it felt like 2020 was filled with. Hopes of a rebound year were put on pause when social media suddenly became flooded with the news that the United States Capitol had been breached by a group of Trump supporters who were upset about what they thought was a stolen election. If you paid any attention to the post-election news cycle, mass protest, even violent protest, felt inevitable. But the Capitol being breached was unthinkable.

How did the country get to this point? The easy answer is to blame Trump. And there i s definitely merit to that argument.

But using Trump as the easy scapegoat ignores the root of the problems that have been festering for some time now. The reality is that there is a wide gap between what exists on social media and what exists in real life. Social media magnifies things that are out of the ordinary, which makes sense. People f i n d things interesting that are unusual, so the things that are unusual get shared the most. In social media’s infancy, that was more limited to things like dogs whose bark sounds like they’re talking.

But as social media has become a dominant part of mainstream culture, pretty much anything is fair game. Apprehension about believing what you see on the internet is lower than it has been because the novelty of the internet is wearing off. Arguably the most glaring example of this is in political coverage online. It is easier than it has ever been to give a hot take about a trending

issue. And unusual spreads. It’s not the nuanced, fact based takes that get shared. It’s the most simple and loud takes that get spread across the internet, and at some point a belief forms that those takes are representative of entire groups of people. Complex issues become compressed until everyone thinks that the way they think is the only possible way one can think, because the alternative is unimaginable. Anybody with a different opinion or perspective than them actually holds the complete opposite view on all issues as they do. Especially during an election year, pushing the idea that anyone who votes for Trump is a white supremacist or that anyone who votes for Biden is anti-American is extremely easy. The people who stormed the Capitol felt that they had no common ground with anybody other than other Trump supporters. Trump had a lot to do with that, and this is absolutely not making excuses for an inexcusable act. But the social media driven short, simplified, inflammatory language used by politicians on both sides as well as in online debates have pushed each side’s view of the other to a point where coexisting feels impossible.

The vast majority of people are not on the extreme right or left. They have different perspectives and lived experiences. They think differently about political issues. There are points of common ground and points of disagreement.

This isn’t to say there aren’t black and white issues, but most issues have many layers that tend to be ignored by a 280 character social media post.

How does one fix the country? There’s no one answer. But a good starting point is taking a step back from social media and talking to people.

No matter who gets voted in, or what policies get enacted, a house divided cannot stand.

Vy Bui | Artist

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

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 “I personally believe activism on social media, despite its shortcomings, is overall a positive thing. It provides a crucial amount of exposure to otherwise ignored issues. The amount of people who care, or even just pretend to care, is far higher than it would be otherwise. Keeping important issues relevant is well worth the occasional digital mob.”

-Ezra Cazes, 12 “I think social media has made a big impact on the world in good way. People all around the world are able to learn and grow through online options, even with not being in person. It also is a great way to share positivity with all the chaos.”

-Brooke Derderian, 11 “I’m not going to pretend to be connected at all on social media, but I think it can be a good, easy way to spread ideas. Because it’s so easy, people often take advantage of it to share harmful thoughts. Sometimes, people forget that once it’s posted, it can’t be removed, which causes lots of embarrassment to them. Overall, as long as someone is levelheaded as they are on social media, it’s a great place to spread awareness and support.”

-Taylor Chase, 11 “I would have to say that social media has a mix of both positive and negative effects on society in terms of political polarization. It depends on what the issue is but there is definitely polarization politically. But overall, it is a mixture of good and bad.”

-Will Schulte, 11 “I think social media activism has done more good then harm. With more people using their voices and spreading awareness about ongoing issues in the world others can also learn and contribute as well especially with movements, for example BLM. People worry about fake news being spread, but social media platforms such as Instagram are working with third party vendors in order to combat misinformation. Overall, I think that with the new changes media platforms are taking, more positive change will occur” -Afy Masoumi, 11 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

Design by Angelyna Rosales

• Hit or Miss P. Terry’s Opens up Nearby

• Our Turn

Volume 14, Issue 4 Opinion

7

Vy Bui | Artist

A new addition to the numerous burger joints located in Pflugerville, a P. Terry’s burger stand has opened up nearby. The stand celebrated its grand opening on Jan. 5, and as opposed to being built in Stonehill, this location has been built much closer to the school. Students and staff have been enjoying the burger stand, and the close distance provides pure convenience. Not to mention the food itself, which makes for great for a bite to eat during lunch. This menu has attracted a bustling, full house, so it’s safe to say, this P. Terry’s is a hit.

Lack of camera use on Zoom frustrates teachers

There have been a growing number of complaints from teachers about students not turning their cameras on during zoom calls.

This has led to teachers feeling disheartened not being able to see their students. Seeing their students is a crucial part of teachers’ days that help keep them going, especially during the times of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Teachers have come under a lot of stress with the Coronavirus and having to manage in person students as well as those who are learning virtually. The added darkness to their day makes teaching during the pandemic even more of struggle.

Additionally, not turning the camera on can be a problem for students. Interaction with friends is a vital part of normal school life, and with a majority of students learning virtually, that interaction is not happening.

Therefore, the closest thing students have to interacting with their friends is seeing them during zoom calls. Students not having their camera on during class is a miss miss.

Construction noise disturbs class

For months, there has been construction on the roof of the school. Not only has it taken a long time to complete, but it has been occurring during the school day, which has led to disruptions during classes.

While the schools were closed, the construction was halted and then when school began, the construction began.

In addition to the fire caused by the construction, much of the lawn in front of the school has been destroyed by construction vehicles. While the new roof is a necessity, the problems from the construction are a miss miss.

Administrators pitch in to sub During the Coronavirus Pandemic, substitute teachers have been in short supply. Many do not want to teach with the ongoing Pandemic, leaving some teachers without substitutes. Due to the lack of substitutes, Pflugerville ISD has sent people from the school district office to act as substitutes when there is the need for them. This has made it easier for schools and teachers when they are in short supply of substitutes, and shows how people have come to work together during the pandemic. Our own school admin team has also subbed when needed. Administrators subbing when needed is a hit hit.

From Lucy to Mason

Editor shares experience of having a non-binary sibling Seth Deaton | Co-Editor Over the past six years since the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in the U.S. on June 26, 2015, support for the LGBTQ+ community has increased dramatically. I have always supported the community and for a long time I never understood what people meant when they would say it was a transition when their friends or family would come out. That all changed two years ago when a member of my own family came out.

In spring of 2019, my sibling Mason, who at that time was my sister Lucy, came out to my family as pansexual meaning they were attracted to anyone regardless of what they identified as.

My entire family supported them with open arms and it was an easy transition for all of us to make.

Then in the winter of 2019, they came out as non-binary, which we again all supported wholeheartedly. However, this was a much harder transition for us to make. It isn’t that we didn’t support them in their decision, but for 13 years we had all thought of them as our sister or daughter Lucy. For the first few months we would constantly slip up and misgender them as her or she. We had to constantly remind and correct each other but we grew better at it over time.

The most difficult change came in spring of 2020 right at the start of quarantine when they

changed their name from Lucy to Mason. Now not only did we have to correct each other on pronouns, but we also had to completely change what we called them. I struggled with the name change for a long time, and it wasn’t that I didn’t want to do better, but every nickname I had for my sibling was based on their name. So out of habit when I would call or talk to them I would use one of those nicknames, and to me, I felt like I wasn’t supporting them as best as I could.

I would have to constantly be corrected, but eventually, I got used to it until now I don’t slip up and call them Lucy or refer to them as her.

The experience of having one of my own family members come out has made the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community hit much closer to home.

Now, whenever I see posts on social media or hear people making jokes at the expense of members of that community I think about how that’s someone else's family they’re talking about. I still come home from school sometimes and have to hear about the awful experiences my sibling has because of their gender and sexual orientation. It’s made me change my perspective on how I look at social issues. Just because I’m not directly affected by it doesn’t mean someone else isn’t. Every joke or comment someone makes can have a direct impact on someone else’s life, so now I treat every issue like it’s my family being affected by it and do my best to understand.

8 Feature Feb. 5, 2021

Taking Action

Generation Z finds ways to promote activism Angelyna Rosales | Copy Editor Gen Z, individuals born between 1997 and 2015, has become one of the most unified and influential generations. Because of their access to social media from a young age, Gen Z has found ways to express themselves, and their opinions mainly through apps such as Twitter and Instagram.

Many of these posts spread awareness about current events that are then reposted on Instagram or Snapchat stories, Twitter, or even on Tik Tok to help spread information and awareness about certain issues.

“Twitter is definitely the best place for students to participate in social media activism because of the fact that there are frequent updates on current events and it’s easy to share information for a long time through retweeting.” Junior Ilwaad Mohamed said.

Over the course of 2020, Gen Z has increasingly reposted about ongoing movements such as the Black Lives Matter movement, along with their political opinions.

“I think reposting about current events helps raise awareness which can inspire others to take action, which is exactly how I started posting more and more about different topics. I like posting about topics like

Black Lives Matter and politics because I genuinely believe that our country is not where it should be. It’s been a very hard year for all of us and it’s important to be a friend to everyone and to spread love, and I encourage others to do the same.”

In addition to reposting current events and movements, Gen Z has found other ways to encourage activism within social media.

“Calling [officials] and signing petitions are the most accessible forms of activism via social media for me,” Mohamed said. “I feel like those go a long way in terms of applying pressure to officials about issues. Donating is a wonderful thing to do as well to help protesters or legal defense.”

Sometimes Gen Z members can feel that they aren’t doing enough to make a difference through social media.

“I push back that [powerless] feeling by telling myself that I’m at least doing what I can,” Perales said. “I feel that if everyone put in the same effort that I do to repost and sign petitions, it would make a big difference and I’d like to be a part of change any way I can.”

However, using social media as an activism platform isn’t the last stop in fighting for change within society.

Pronouns in bio prevent misgendering Natalia Zavaleta | Reporter Nowadays, achieving inclusivity in social media is a step towards creating a safe space in society. One way people can contribute to this is by stating their preferred pronouns in their social media biographies. This allows for people to not be misgendered and feel uncomfortable.

“I think it’s important to put your pronouns in your bio because it can help people in the LGBTQ community locate safe spaces on the internet,” Sophomore Neo Tutt said. “Especially Trans youth who aren’t out yet.”

Using someone’s correct pronouns reassures their gender and identity. Social media biographies contain general information about someone, making it the perfect place to include pronouns.

By having pronouns listed, people are helping the LGBTQ community spread the discussion of pronouns and Transgender and non-binary youth.

“You should do it in favor of helping the community,” Tutt said.

“People in general can identify you as a supporter or as someone they can come to.”

“I definitely think activism shouldn’t end with just social media,” Perales said. “Activism also means standing up to things that happen in your daily life, which is not always easy but some [hard] talks need to happen.”

Reposting information and discussing hard topics can be beneficial to make a change, however, there are other factors you have to consider when using social media for activism.

“In my opinion, I think it’s beneficial to empower oppressed voices instead of projecting my own,” Perales said. “Sometimes it’s not our place to tell people how we feel about a subject but the best way to use social media for activism is to amplify the voices that are never heard and to do what you can to help them by signing petitions, raising awareness, or donating.”

Using social media as a platform for activism gives Gen Z a voice that historically no other generation has experienced.

“I know that I don’t have much of an outreach in other forms,” Mohamed said. “So if I am able to use my voice and make a change with the small things I have around me, I will try my best because to be silent through times like this is to be complicit.”

She/Her

He/Him

They/Them

Volume 14, Issue 4 Feature

9

Social Media users impact fluctuations within stock market Bryan Ross | Co-Editor The stock market saw a massive shake-up when trading app Robinhood restricting the ability it opened Jan. 25, most notably when Gamestop, of buyers to purchase several stocks, including a company who had been struggling for an Gamestop and movie theater company AMC, extended period of time, saw their stock boom, another company which saw a major stock including a 141.1 percent jump from the market’s increase. The immediate online narrative that close Jan. 26 to its open Jan. 27. This shake-up formed is that Robinhood shut down buying of was fueled by Reddit users on the channel r/ the stocks after pressure from Wall Street hedge WallStreetBets after the community made a funds that were losing money. Robinhood CEO group effort to target heavily shorted stocks like Vladimir Tenev refuted those claims, saying that GameStop and significantly increase the value. they did it due to the volatility of the markets in To short a stock, investors borrow a stock and an attempt to mitigate risk. sell it at its current price. Then, they wait for The portrayal of the surge as an uprising of the the price to fall, buy it back, and return it to the people against an oppressive foe has truth to it, lender, profiting off of a company’s loss. Members but neither short sellers nor hedge funds have of r/WallStreetBets noticed the trend of shorting necessarily dominated the market. Long-short Gamestop stocks and responded by buying the equity hedge funds have returned annual incomes stock en mass. The increased demand for the ranging from negative 3 percent to positive 9 stock drove up its price. Additionally, investors percent over the past five years while the S&P who haven’t yet bought back borrowed stocks 500 (a conglomerate of 500 major companies’ bought shares as a form of insurance against stock) has returned 15 percent. In simpler prices continuing to rise, which continued to terms, standard stock buying has generally been increase the price. This led to billions of dollars of similarly profitable to more complicated short losses for Wall Street investors who had shorted selling strategies, if not moreso. But while the stocks.

Reddit-charged stock market blowup may not be While the long-term effects of the surge are an example of everyday people beating the stock unknown, there were significant short term market’s bullies, it is still an example of the power effects. Among the most controversial was stock that a group of united people can have.

Information obtained from cnet.com, nypost.com, and CNBC.com

Students include pronouns in social media bio to support inclusivity, raise awareness Kaitlyn Nash | Asst. Editor In accordance with history, the first time that gender was used in English to identify male from female was around the 1400s. But its distinction from sex came about a long time after, in the 1960s by a man named John Money, who described gender as a malleable social construct while sex is what you assigned to at birth.

Now, in 2021, we can see a spectrum of genders that have arisen throughout history, amounting to around 64 genders total. From this, we have seen an increase in people changing their gendered pronouns, or pronouns in general, to better represent their true selves.

“The difference between gender and sex is simple,” sophomore Hannah Margaitis, who prefers they/she pronouns said. “Sex has to do with science. There are more than two possible chromosome combinations that make up each and every person.Gender is [a] social construct, made by people meaning it theoretically doesn’t exist. You can be any gender you want to just like you can [choose] what shirt you want to wear every day. Sex is the makeup of your genes that determine how much hormones you have and what kind of things develop during puberty.”

In many places, one can see the rise in clarifying preferred pronouns is on social media. It has become a precedent for many accounts to write their preferred pronouns in their Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok bios, in order to make trans and non-binary people more comfortable including their own pronouns.

“I really appreciate it when people ask for my pronouns and let others know theirs,” Freshman Taylor Hays, who prefers they/them pronouns said. “Considering I don’t use masculine or feminine pronouns, people often assume one of the other, so I prefer to be asked.

And people putting their pronouns on social media is just normalizing it, which makes it better for trans people to just exist online.”

This has proved to be helpful in making people more comfortable with talking about gender and pronouns, while also maybe opening up the possibility to change their own pronouns, since one may not be aware of the desire to do so before learning about different pronouns, sexualities, and gender identities.

“I decided to change my pronouns when I started doing some research into gender and I realized that always going by she/her pronouns was not the most comfortable thing for me,” Margaitis said. “I am okay with people using she/her pronouns, but I never really

felt like a woman and then I realized I can change my pronouns so I did.”

But with divides in belief systems, many people who change their pronouns or advocate for putting pronouns in social media bios have received harsh backlash.

“I was called out just a couple of weeks ago,” freshman Naty Flores-Aguilar who goes by she/her prnouns said. “Someone told me that it’s stupid to put pronouns in your bio when you can tell by looking at someone if they’re male or female, which I don’t think is true.”

Although acceptance of changed pronoun usage has increased, many believe that there is still a very long way to go in terms of decreasing negativity toward the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.

“Over the years we’ve certainly come a long way in terms of societal acceptance and progress; however, I’m afraid we still have quite a while prior to the acceptance of our community and our use of pronouns,” sophomore Ethan Nguyen who prefers he/they pronouns said. “Until we can encourage acceptance in the world and bring an end to issues of transphobia and homophobia it may be years before our fight is truly over.”

10 Feature Feb. 5, 2021

Technical Difficulties

Movie theaters begin to reopen after lengthy hiatus Liliana Moran | Reporter Many films and movies have started to make their way back to the big screens as movie theaters continue to reopen around the United States.

Theaters hope to see an increase in their attendance as films begin to return. They also wish to see some economic recovery after facing a large drop last year due to the virus.

“It will probably bring in a lot of money to the movie and theater industry,” sophomore Nanda Prasad said.

“Though I don’t think it’s the best time.”

Movies including The Marksman, Wonder Woman 1984, The Croods, and a Promising Young Woman are some of the first to start screening in cinemas again,

though the films also continue to partner with many online streaming platforms as well.

“I don’t think the movie theaters will benefit significantly, given we’re still in a pandemic,” freshman Tessa Calabrese said. “I think that the home features are a better option since sometimes they are more affordable, and it’s easier to watch the movies on your own time rather than having to scramble to get to the theater at a certain time.”

With cinemas reopening and more films and movies returning to the big screen during the pandemic, theaters have created certain safety precautions and requirements to keep their customers safe during their movie experience. Including sanitization of all common social or high-touch areas, spaced seating,

mask requirements, along with cash free money transactions at concession stands.

“I have been to two movies since they opened back up,” Calabrese said. “It was much different than before, we were much more spaced out, of course and a lot of the normal functions had changed to ensure the safety of all the people.”

Some still feel that it is not safe to go back to theaters yet, hoping to see a decrease in Covid-19 cases before then.

“I have not been to a theater but my parents have,” freshman Maya Hay said. “They said that the theater was empty. I chose to stay home because I didn’t feel comfortable or safe going into a large public area because of the pandemic.”

Senior hosts private Christmas movie night in rented theater

e t a iv

r P

Seth Deaton | Illustrator

Natalia Zavaleta | Reporter Due to COVID-19, movie theatres have had to close their doors to the public which meant no more movie nights with friends or family and no more delicious, overpriced, buttery popcorn.

In response, the Private Watch Party event was announced by Cinemark. This meant that people could book private screenings of movies with whoever they wanted, as long as it wasn’t over 20 people.

Senior Lauren Lebakken hosted a movie night with her friends around Christmas break. She wanted to do something fun since most parties were cancelled.

“I had a few friends come along.” Lebakken said. “I wanted to go do something with a few close friends when we got out for break.”

Masks are still required inside the theater and social distancing guidelines are in place to maintain the safety of customers.

“Going and seeing the movie was very similar,” Lebakken said. “Except for wearing a mask and it being less than 20 people.”

A variety of movies are available to watch, from cult-classics to new releases. Renting a theater also comes with reduced prices at concession stands, meaning normally expensive popcorn comes at a more affordable rate. A limited time event, Cinemark claims this to be the first phase for reopening their theaters entirely.

“I honestly enjoyed it a lot more,” Lebakken said. “Knowing everyone here means you don’t have to worry about other people and get to enjoy the movie more.”

Theater experiences financial issues, shuts down during spike in cases Liliana Moran | Reporter Flix Brewhouse’ theater in Round Rock closes again, due to an increase in COVID-19 cases and their theaters’ economic decline.

The theater had originally closed down in late March due to the start and spread of the virus, and had reopened in late August. Having been opened for a little over three months, the theaters officially closed again in mid-November.

The rise in COVID cases has caused a significant economic drop for theaters worldwide. Many theaters, including Flix, had to close down for months with the start of the virus, forcing the theaters to make no economic gain during that time. The closing of theaters also caused them to

lose a large number of employees.

When the Flix theaters had reopened, they continued to face an economic struggle because of the theaters’ lack of attendance along with the theaters’ lack of movies to show. Many movies switching to online streaming platforms, including many blockbuster films, such as Disney’s Mulan, Wonder Woman 1984, and Tenet, which in turn costs the theaters a lot of money in ticket sales. The theaters eventually had to shut down again due to their inactivity.

The Flix theaters do not know when they plan to reopen theaters again. They are waiting to see what happens with COVID cases before making that decision.

d e s o l C Seth Deaton | Illustrator

Volume 14, Issue 4 Entertainment

Separate Screens

11

Editors review experience of watching blockbuster movies during pandemic

Bryan Ross | Co-Editor One of the more talked about consequences of the ongoing pandemic has been the pause of blockbuster movies. The summer of 2020 was supposed to feature movies like Soul, In the Heights, and Wonder Woman 1984, but between delays in filming and closing theaters, almost all major releases were delayed until a later point in 2020 or 2021. As the pandemic continued and it no longer seemed like things would be back to normal anytime soon, different companies used different strategies for their releases.

Disney used their streaming service Disney+ to release Mulan, albeit with a $30 streaming fee, and then released Soul on Disney+ without the fee. Warner Bros. announced that they would be simultaneously releasing their movies on HBO Max and in

theaters beginning with Wonder Woman 1984. This provided a safe, at-home option for those who didn’t feel comfortable in a movie theater, while satisfying those who did and the movie theaters which had been losing revenue over the summer.

While these strategies made it nearly impossible to measure revenue, estimates suggested that Mulan made over $200 million for Disney, with an estimated 29 percent of subscribers purchasing the movie. Wonder Woman 1984 made over $100 million at the box office, along with HBO Max traffic the day it was released around three times as high as an average day in November. When compared to box office numbers for major releases in previous years, these totals do not hold up well, but considering the amount the entertainment industry has suffered as a result of the pandemic, studios finding ways to make money is impressive nonetheless.

In Theaters definitely made it better. The score was written

by Hans Zimmer, which meant it was excellent I’m not exactly a consistent moviegoer, but it at complimenting the movie. I’m a music nerd, had still been too long since I had seen a new so I always enjoy a good score, but the amount movie in theaters. I went to see Jurassic Park it impacts the movie is ramped up in the theater over the summer while theaters were spinning environment. There was a moment in the movie their wheels trying to find content to show. As when there’s a car chase (think Indiana Jones chasing after the ark of a Jurassic Park fan, it was cool, the covenant) and Wonder but it’s not the same when Woman ends up stuck you’ve already seen a movie half under a truck. The tension a dozen times. So when Wonder builds with the music and Woman 1984 came out, I was in the theater, you could excited to go see it with my basically feel it under your siblings. seat as everything came The nice thing about movie to the climactic point theaters is that socially of her flipping the truck distancing and wearing a mask over. Plot-wise, it was doesn’t really take away from forgettable, but seeing it in the experience. It’s still sitting theater made it the type of in a dark room with a massive memorable moment that screen and loud speakers. Not makes you come back. being next to strangers is a Overall, WW84 was not perk if anything. We went on great, but I don’t regret a Monday morning, so even going to see it. Putting without a pandemic it wouldn’t away distractions for have been crowded. As it was, I two and a half hours and Seth Deaton | Illustrator think maybe two other groups focusing solely on the of people were in the theater.

The lack of crowds and reduced number of movie makes movies in theater a much better employees made it feel like a ghost town, but form of escapism than they would be at home. If you’re comfortable with it (the social distancing once the movie started it didn’t matter.

The movie itself? Eh. It was entertaining but and mask wearing at the theater was good), then was mostly a shell of the first one. There were a I would recommend going to see a movie in lot of cool Wonder Woman moments, but as a theaters in the near future, whether it’s WW84 movie it was flawed. But watching it in a theater or a different movie.

Bryan Ross | Co-Editor

At Home Seth Deaton | Co-Editor

Going and seeing big blockbuster movies used to be a fun activity for my family.

We’d get to the theater an hour before the movie started so we could get popcorn and sodas and still get good seats. When Wonder Woman 1984 was announced back in June of 2018 I thought that it would be another weekend movie night with my family. I definitely didn’t think that I would be seeing the movie for the first time on opening night from my living room.

When COVID first hit, big movie producers like Warner Brothers and Disney delayed release dates in the hopes that the virus would die down and theaters would be able to reopen. As the pandemic wore on they began to look for other solutions, such as releasing their blockbuster movies directly onto streaming platforms as well as in theaters.

Viewing blockbuster movies, such as Wonder Woman 1984, is a much different experience when you’re seeing it for the first

Image credit to businesswire.com

time in your own living room.

In theaters you’re forced to put away all distractions and focus solely on the movie. This makes you able to submerge yourself in the movie experience, whereas at home you have a lot more distractions. Besides having all the distractions, the experience is also different just because you’re not in a pitch black room with no sound or light other than the movie. All of this combined just makes it a much different experience.

Watching these movies from your living room through streaming services is an excellent solution for people that don’t want to go out in public during the pandemic, but it’s not the same. There’s an aspect to seeing movies like Wonder Woman that you get in theaters that you just don’t have in your own home.

Is it still a fun and exciting event? Absolutely, especially for families like mine who love having movie nights. However, it won’t ever be able to replace the experience of seeing the midnight showing in theaters no matter how fun it is.

12 Feature Feb. 5, 2021

A Voice in the World

Faculty member starts podcast, talks about profession

coach or basketball coach, I always ask them what are their goals in terms of moving Seth Deaton | Co-Editor 2020 was a big year for podcasts. With the world going under lockdown people up.”

According to Noonan, there are a lot of growing pains with setting up a podcast started looking for ways to have a voice in what was going on. The majority of people using them are social media influencers who use them for a variety of and he didn’t realize quite how much work went into the production besides just reasons, whether it’s to talk about issues in the world or just to create a form of the actual recording.

“The hardest part for me is all the editing,” Noonan said. “I didn't realize just how entertainment for their audience. However, not everyone running a podcast is a Tik long it takes to truly edit the audio. It's simple, but I feel like all I'm doing is a little bit Tok orInstagram star, some of them are just everyday teachers and coaches. more than the minimum. But it's also time consuming. I spent the weekend trying Football coach Peter Noonan started his podcast, Hanging with Coach Noonan, in March of 2020. He first started after a friend encouraged him to create his own to get ahead on the things that I've already recorded so far this year. So that as I stack more and more recordings, podcast at the start of quarantine.

I'm not scrambling Monday “My friend said that people really night trying to put everything wanted to hear what I had to say,” together and that I'm working Noonan said. “I told him he was a little bit further ahead. crazy, but he convinced me to just do That's been the biggest deal. it. So, I researched on how to start a I would love to pick up some podcast with just my phone and the sponsorships and I would use headphones that came with my phone. that sponsorship money to Luckily there was an app called anchor pay someone else to edit my and everything is free. They help push whole entire podcast. Those your podcast out to all the main are the things that I would platforms like Spotify, Apple podcast, love. Just because it would Google Play podcast, and from there save me some time. But at it was just let me find people that I the same time I enjoy this find interesting that I want to talk to learning process.” and interview and hopefully I can help Despite the amount of work people gain knowledge the same way Artwork by | L.C. Cisneroz Photo provided by | Peter Noonan it takes to create a quality podcast, Noonan said he enjoys doing it and can’t wait to I'm trying to gain knowledge.” see what’s in store for him as he continues to work on it.

Most of the topics that Noonan discusses on the podcast are focused on coaches “My favorite part is also the most humbling part,” Noonan said. “That people got and young athletes and how they can continue to grow and improve in what they excited when I asked them about coming on. I still think it's crazy. I've released 39 do.

“For me in my podcast we talk a lot about the path that got people into coaching,” episodes, though my current goal is to get to 100. When I get there, who knows Noonan said. “What keeps them motivated, where they specifically want to see where I'll be with it. But it's crazy that people want to be interviewed. And then their position grow. For instance, if I've interviewed somebody that's a strength and when I ask them, they're excited about it and I've asked some what I consider some conditioning coach, how do they want to see improvement in the schools across the ‘big name’ people involved in the coaching, whether it's football or another sport state and the country improve with having, you know certified and highly qualified but also in the strength and conditioning world, because those are my two biggest strength and conditioning coaches, at every school, working with every program.If passions. So you know hopefully I can get some bigger name people and try to get I'm interviewing somebody that's a football position coach, or an assistant wrestling some more notoriety for the podcast.”

Freshman uses platform to publish articles, express thoughts Kaitlyn Nash | Asst. Editor Medium is an American online publishing platform where people from all walks of life can read and share their voices on any topic they desire. Many publishers on the site can get paid for their work, while others just write stories for other people to read. Freshman Taylor Hayes is an article writer who publishes their pieces on Medium for others to read.

“I’ve published three articles, my shortest being a

seven-minute read to a 22-minute read,” Hayes said.”

Hayes enjoys writing and informing others about politics and the economy while being thorough with their work. They have 93 followers on Medium who read their stories.

“I usually write about topics such as political and economic systems, ideologies, etc. as well as historical analysis,” Hayes said. “I’m really interested in these topics because I feel like it gives me perspective on history and what the best path forward is.”

To feel heard on their ideas, Taylor decided to bring their thoughts to a more public platform. They not only like to write, but they like to inform others of their thoughts.

“I think what got me into writing was a desire to better get my thoughts out,” Hayes said. “I want to express my ideas and values as best as I can and I think writing, especially on a platform, is the best medium to disseminate them.”

Volume 14 Issue 4 Sports

Rebounding

13

Girls basketball team recovers from setbacks, starts season strong

Bryan Ross | Co-Editor Angelyna Rosales | Copy Editor After losing to McKinney high school, ending the girls basketball team’s third straight season in which they advanced to at least the third round of the playoffs, head coach Norma Sierra began to look ahead to the next season. This was the team she hoped could make it to State. After all, they had six seniors, all with a significant amount of playoff experience. But like everyone else, the pandemic threw a wrench into her plans.

As gyms closed and varying lockdown restrictions came and went, Sierra said it was difficult to keep her team motivated, both from a basketball standpoint and when it came to team chemistry.

“Most of [the team] are gym rats; they couldn't even do that,” Sierra said. “So it kind of put us behind. I've always said that one of the most important things that I feel that my team does is that they're able to bond together and generate that kind of family type of atmosphere and that's been extremely hard because we get to see each other for a few hours out of the day instead of us being together most of the time so that has been difficult.”

Senior Makayla Ward said that the pandemic affected the offseason preparation in a negative way.

“Everything got shut down, gyms were closed and you just had to do stuff from the house,” Ward said.

“And so you definitely had to prepare on your own, go outside, do a lot of stuff like dribbling drills and running on your own.”

It took some time for the season to get into a normal routine, as the preseason was limited and not every opponent was able to field a team to play.

“We were limited in games and we had no tournaments,” Sierra said. “And then we started

district and right off the bat I had three [other] teams that did not have a freshmen squad so we were already falling behind. We’re just fortunate right now that we have been able to play some games. It could’ve easily gone the other way where we haven’t been playing any.

So I’m just kind of looking at the positives right now, more so than the negatives because it’s just going to be a crazy year and hopefully things can settle down pretty soon.”

The slow start to the season also included on-court results, as the team lost their first two games. Sierra said that this came as a knock to the team.

“I remember talking to Coach Spencer and Coach Saunders and saying that third game, which was against Vandergrift, I said it's a must-win,” Sierra said.

“Because if we don't win this one I'm not just going to lose the girls mentality, I'm also going to lose their wants, their yearn, and their belief that they could do it. So, obviously, we were able to put the pieces together again. This team is full of talent and we're deep in depth. So I think those two kind of also catapulted them into believing that ‘hey, you know what we can lose at any time and we just can't take things lightly.”

After those two losses, the team won 14 consecutive games, including wins over a number of 6A teams, including Vandegrift, Vista Ridge, Lake Travis, and Steele.

“The most memorable moment so far was definitely when we beat Cibolo Steele because they’re a top team,” senior Zoe Nelson said. “We beat them and no one thought we were gonna win that game, not even us honestly. So, it was a good moment for us to win that definitely.”

Nelson said that the team’s previous slow starts helped them turn this season around.

“Last year was the same thing we came in losing our first like three games but, I mean, it’s all a process,” Nelson said. “We just trusted our team and our coach

Junior Erica Suarez shoots a jump shot in a 58-39 win over Connally.

Makaya Smith | Photographer

Sophomore Maci Quiller goes up for a layup against Connally.

Makaya Smith | Photographer

and we just did our best to bounce back from it. A loss is tough, but you just gotta focus on the positive and build from the negative.”

Locked Down

On Monday, Jan. 11, the team had to go into quarantine. Similarly to how they had to work by themselves during the offseason, Sierra said that continuing to work out individually was key.

“It’s mandatory during class time that we zoom at three o’clock,” Sierra said. “So they all check-in and I ask them what are they doing to stay active, we talked about keeping a ball handy next to them, maybe going out on a run by themselves or doing some type of training within themselves so that they can stay in shape.”

Sierra said that the ability to play the team’s bench players in dominant wins earlier in the season is a key advantage for the team moving forward this season.

“I’m very fortunate to have a very deep bench and I think when we come out of quarantine I’m going to need every single one of them because we’re gonna have to make up four games,” Sierra said. “And from what I can think of, we’re playing eight games in a matter of 13-14 days. So, we’re definitely going to use that to our advantage.”

Ward said that keeping in touch with the team is important, as well as continuing to work out.

“Getting out and working out on your own, going outside, running around dribbling, keeping the ball in your hand, getting shots up on your own are important to stay sharp,” Ward said. “And staying in contact with the team, making sure they’re alright, you know the chemistry is high, getting in touch with the coaches and basically making sure that mentality is still there, so that when we get out of quarantine we can still be a dominating force.”

Senior Zoe Nelson drives to the basket against Connally. The team got off to a fast start out of quarantine with an 86-11 win over Bastrop. Makaya Smith | Photographer

14 Sports Feb. 5, 2021

Fast Break

Boys basketball team gets off to fast start in abnormal year Bryan Ross | Co-Editor

In the fourth quarter of this season’s game against Hutto, the boys basketball team was down 16. It looked like it was going to be a 2-3 start for the team. With both teams missing players for football and a pandemic affecting the offseason, a 2-3 start wouldn’t have been unthinkable. But by the time the team finished their comeback win, it was off to the races.

In their first season as a 5A team, the boys basketball team has gotten out to a 14-3 start, with a 5-0 district record up until a team quarantine that began Jan. 14.

With the ongoing pandemic, head coach Dustin White said that the offseason was more difficult to navigate than it previously has been.

“At first we couldn’t even work out at all, and then we had to kind of adjust between students that were in person, versus those that chose to be virtual,” White said. “So that was kind of difficult juggling two different groups, and we always had to maintain the proper protocols and it was a lot more to it than we had to do in the past, for sure.”

While practices haven’t seen significant changes for the team, games have. As an indoor sport, basketball has been played almost entirely without fans, as opposed to football which was still able to have some fans in attendance at most games.

“Honestly once we got started the in-season stuff looks about the same as far as time of day we practice, how long we practice, and who’s involved in the

practice,” White said. But we have had to do a better job of documenting who’s there, who’s not there, and keeping the groups separated. The games of course are different because most facilities don’t allow fans and the ones that do you can only have so many fans per player, or have limitations so that part of it is different but the actual playing hasn’t been that different.”

Because football started later this year, the team ended up playing into mid-December, meaning that those who play both football and basketball missed multiple games.

“The team has to get used to our style of play,” senior Xavier Lucio, who plays varsity football and basketball, said. “So like as we get back there, they have to adjust the way they’ve been playing around us, because, you know, that’s just how it works. You have to click with the team.”

The experience of the team helped them adjust as football players joined the team, White said.

“Most of those guys have always played with us and then played with these guys over the summer,” White said. “They’ve been on the team, they’re mostly seniors or juniors. And so we all know each other pretty well so it doesn’t take too long to get everybody acclimated and back in the swing.”

Along with helping adjust to the team’s style of play, White said that the experience of the team in big moments has helped them take on leadership roles.

“Really, I think what’s helping us is we have a group of guys that have been in our program for four years,”

White said. “They’ve been in some big moments and big games as younger players and now that they’re the leaders they have an understanding of their responsibilities and right now they’re doing a good job of taking that leadership role cause the majority of our guys are seniors or juniors that played varsity as sophomores so I think that honestly is the biggest reason for our season’s success we just have a bunch of guys that have been in our program and know how to do things the way we want to do it.”

Lucio said that his offseason work has been helpful to the team’s success so far.

“In the offseason I worked out with my dad a lot, did stuff like that and just got better within myself,” Lucio said. “And then, when we came down to practice, I focused on [my] teammates and building a relationship with them. Really it’s just finding the little things that we can work on and critiquing those little things, and then making them better. That’s all there is.”

The team has won a game in the playoffs the past three years in a row, but White said that they have bigger goals for this year.

“First and foremost, our goal is to win a district championship, then the next goal as is always the goal is to win a state championship,” White said. “A little sub-goal of that is to get as far as we possibly can into the playoffs. We have big objectives for this year and I think if we keep doing what we’re supposed to do we can accomplish what we set out to do.”

When there’s a will, there’s a wave

Swim teams compete, place at 25-5A District Championships The girls two hundred yard Medley and 400 yard Free Swimmers relay team (from left to right) Caitlin Hwang, 12; Rachel Simonds, 12; Konner Faust, 12; and Anglelina Alvarado, 10; took fourth place, advancing to regionals. Faust advanced in the 200 meter Free and 100 meter Fly, placing third and second respectively.

Simonds advanced in the 100 Free and 100 Back, placing third and first respectively.

Photos provided by | Hawks Athletic Booster Club on Facebook

The boys 200 and 400 freestyle relay team (from right to left) Connor Cox, 9; Aiden Ducey-Kline, 10; Asher Kameinicky, 9; and Camden Higgins, 9; placed fourth. Cox took second in the 500 freestyle. Sam Hill, 11, (left) took seventeenth in the 100 Freestyle.

Sprinting to the Finish

Volume 14 Issue 4 Sports

15

Abbreviated wrestling season begins after uncertain offseason Seth Deaton | Co-Editor Since March of 2020 extracurricular activities have looked very different.

COVID-19 protocols and restrictions have forced the seasons to be delayed and canceled, and the extracurriculars that do happen are plagued with canceled events and quarantines.

However, with the release of the COVID-19 vaccine, the end of cancellations and quarantines is near, but not here yet.

COVID-19 protocols have been constantly changing since the start of the second semester when Travis County went into stage five. For a while many of the spring sports were going to be limited to varsity only, but the wrestling season was at risk of being canceled altogether.

Since then the wrestling team has been able to start their season, however its a much more rushed season than previous years “[Having a shorter season] definitely cuts into that teaching time,” wrestling coach Jaymes Castillo said. “Up until maybe two weeks ago we didn’t know if we were gonna have a season so just having that release of ‘yes, we’re going to have a season’ was a big thing, but having to cut into the teaching time is big because normally I would get that little bit of break in between football to where I could slow down and help the new guys out but now it’s everybody thrown in and we’ve got to get as much mat time as possible, because we have such a short season.”

In previous years the wrestling season would start in November, which gave the team one month to get into shape and learn the fundamentals of

wrestling. Now with the season being so rushed, the veterans on the team will have to take on a lot more responsibilities in order for the team to succeed.

“What I want to do is have veterans kind of lead their own practice and I work with the younger guys and then we slowly start to integrate,” Castillo said. “And then again, working side by side with those groups having the veterans

through COVID-19 protocols before practice every morning if the season is to happen and not get shut down.

“Just like everything else, we have to take temperatures as we walk in the door for practice,” Castillo said. “Whenever you’re not engaged with somebody in practice, you have to have a mask on. We have to take frequent breaks in between practices so that we can space

jeopardize their season, but practices are definitely going to look a little bit different. As much time as we need on the mat, we still have to follow protocols about keeping our space and keeping masks on when we’re not participating.”

With a rushed season the team won’t have as much time to build chemistry, however Castillo said that because wrestling is such an intimate

Bix Bradley, 12, competes at a wrestling meet Nov. 23, 2019. Elly Perales | Photographer work with the new guys to incorporate what we’ve done.

But I definitely want to take time aside to work with just the freshmen and new people to get them acquainted with it whereas my veterans already know how we want practice, we already know how intense it needs to be in that the urgency is going to be there, especially with the older guys. Eventually, we can get those two married together and then the older guys can help the new guys and that is what I’m envisioning for this such abbreviated season.”

Wrestling, just like every other sport, will have to go

out and get a little bit of breather in between each other.

And that way we can come back within that 15 minute rule that they talked about all the time. So it’s going to have a little bit more built in breaks to give us some space because out of all sports we are definitely the most contact heavy sport, your opponent is breathing on you, you’re sweating on each other it’s very hands on and it’s going to be a little bit more difficult, but I think we can do it. I think most of the kids, especially our on campus athletes have done a pretty good job of staying away from stuff that would

sport the chemistry will build naturally on its own.

“Normally when you’re competing your teammates are around the mat cheering you on,” Castillo said. “So in order to build that again, trying to build that for such a short period of time, it’s going to be tough but having us together and just on the mat, almost every practice that’s going to be our conditioning that’s gonna be everybody knowing each other, just being together while we can. And maximizing that time of doing drills with each other and mixing people in to partner up and seeing different

styles of people, that’s a big thing in chemistry because the more people you wrestle.

The better you’re going to get because you’re seeing a different style, and that definitely helps the chemistry because you know how this person is so I can do this move, or okay I’m working with this person he’s way stronger than me so I need to work something else. And that just comes with being on the mat with each other and again we are working with that shortened time frame. But with as much time as I’m planning on us getting it shouldn’t be a big difference but it’ll definitely take a little bit longer.”

Castillo says he’s looking forward to this year and seeing the team compete and grow throughout the season.

“I love wrestling,” Castillo said. “I’ve loved it since I wrestled in high school. And it’s just exciting to be on the mat, and especially when for the longest time, we didn’t know what we were going to do, because like I said we are the most contact heavy sport.

We’re not only at the most risk for maybe contracted disease but we’re also the most at risk for spreading because again we’re touching we’re breathing on each other. You’re sweating and things will happen in a wrestling match right. But it’s just the chance to get out there and compete is always going to be fun, especially this year it’s going to be even harder because of this abbreviated schedule. There’s also taking less people from district and from regional now it’s only top two. So people are going to really have to compete to get out and get to that next stage, but I’m just really glad we’re going to be able to get out there and compete.”

16 Feature Feb. 5, 2021

Healthy Hearts Drawn in Art

Art classes create mural to promote healthy teen dating Yael Behar | Reporter Paint is cautiously applied to the giant piece of paper, gridded out, and meticulously planned.

Every year, when February rolls around, so too does another thing. Teen Dating Violence Awareness month.

The mural that’s made annually is meant to raise awareness for teen dating violence, and depicts a colorful image, as well as a phone number to get help. The theme and idea differs for each mural.

For this year the theme is “Know Your Worth.”

“I think this mural and its message is important to the TDVA month because a lot of people still believe that jealousy and violence is just a way that their abusive partner expresses their love,” mural designer and art II student May Nguyen said. “Even though everyone has their own language when it comes to caring for one another, it is important that love and respect don’t contradict each other.”

An issue especially prevalent in a school environment, teen violence is unfortunately commonplace, and an

estimated 1.5 million high schoolers nationwide have reported some act of violence from their partner - not even accounting for the unreported numbers. The mural is intended to get people thinking, to reach out for help.

“We give lots of information and have students sign commitments of non-violence in relationships,” school social worker Lori Carl said. “ It is symbolic but impactful and it gets students thinking. I usually get a lot of students who come and talk to me about their relationships after this event.

The art students are trained about dating violence and healthy relationships before they participate in creating the mural. This is a win win.”

Before creating the mural, art II students are versed in a course on teen dating violence.

Information about healthy relationships is taught to create ideas that perpetuate it for the mural.

“We have the kids watch some videos, we discuss teen dating and what looks like a healthy relationship looks like v.s. a relationship that isn’t healthy,” art teacher Monica Lawrence said. “This year I was telling

the kids about me growing up and having a bad relationship with a guy. I had the fortitude to break up with him, but a lot of people unfortunately don’t.”

Once the extensive research about teen violence has finished, students brainstorm ideas, as many as they can think up, as contenders for the mural.

“As a starting point, I gave them the words “love is respect” and the kids went from there,” Lawrence said. “I told them, how can you symbolically show love? How can you show a healthy relationship without doing the obvious? The handholding, the hearts, the sunsets, I told them to think outside the box. They did a rough draft, which we did a class critique of, and after that they did the final draft, which I sent to Mrs. Carl to pick her favorites.”

The designs had some collaboration of sorts with the class critiques. The critiques use constructive criticism to make students drafts as interesting and technically correct as possible. In total, The process of rough draft to final selection took about a month, with about 60 final products to choose from.

“I planned on making the

slogan “Love is Respect” the center of the poster, But that plan didn’t last very long,” Nguyen said. “I changed my mind because the illustration was the most important part of the poster. I did a pretty standard process making my illustration: sketch with pencil, outline with a fine line black marker, erase the pencil marks, and color with markers. I used the Crayola colored markers that you can find in pretty much any store. I don’t think an expensive medium is necessary and you can still create great art with even more affordable products.”

After all the final drafts are made, they’re sent off for final design selection. The final design will be gridded, and then painted onto a 9 x 11 feet poster paper.

“Every year I look at all of the designs and there are so many great choices,” Carl said.

“I pick my favorites and then look again, and Mrs. Lawrence gives me her selection as well, together we always come up with a great mural design choice. I look for a design that captures our theme and draws the eye, and to be honest I love color.”

This year, Nguyen was selected to have her mural painted, representing the theme in an illustration with flowers as the focal point.

“I tried to demonstrate the theme in my poster, when the flower is lavished with love and respect, it blossoms beautifully,” Nguyen said. “On the other hand, when it’s devastated by rages of abuse and anger, the flower slowly dies off. My mural idea represents two ways a relationship could turn out depending on what you put into that relationship. Love and respect will give you a lively and happy relationship. But violence and anger will result in a broken relationship that is not far away from a dead end.”

The art department hopes that this mural will bring light to such a topic, and do so in a way that is visible to everyone, and visually appealing.

“The murals are supposed to be kind of like a way to get peoples attention to start a conversation about teen dating violence,” Lawrence said. “With love -- the healthy kind of love, you’ll grow as a couple, you will grow as a person.”

Art II students submitted designs for the mural as their midterm after three weeks of work. In order from left to right, the designs above were submitted by Keira Johnson, 9; May Nguyen, 10; Jordan Visciani, 12; and Avery Howe, 9. Nguyen’s design was selected to be the final mural.

“This mural represents that with love, the healthy kind of love, you will grow as a person, whereas with an unhealthy relationship, the love will die,” art teacher Monica Lawrence said. Photos provided by | Monica Lawrence