The Hawk March 2022

The

Hawk

Hendrickson High School 19201 Colorado Sand Drive Pflugerville. Texas 78660 Volume 15, Issue 5 March 4, 2022

Class Dismissed District wide vacancies lead to chaos Pages 8-11

In this Issue...

2-3

16

Women’s History

11

Irish Dancing

Floral Design

2

News Volume 15, Issue 5

state of the

UNION

Famous women's "firsts" since the 1800s The month of March marks Women's History Month, Congress making it official in 1981. During this month, women and their accomplishments and contributions to America are acknowledged and celebrated. Many of the women who shaped history go unnoticed and not credited for their work in society.

This month isn't just meant to recognize the womne of the past but also the women of the present. It's about celebrating the women who lead to change.

Inez Moreno | Reporter Natalia Zavaleta | Asst. Editor

Lucretia Mott (1848) -Helped organize the first woman's rights convention known as the Seneca Falls Convention

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1869) -Both worked together for over 50 years during the Women's Suffrage Movement

Elizabeth Blackwell (1849) -The first woman to receieve a medical degree -Worked as a gynecologist at the London School of Medicine for Women

Jeannette Rankin (1917) -Sworn as the first woman elected to congress as a member of the House of Representatives

Billie Jean King (1973)

Janet Guthrie (1977)

-A tennis player who beat Bobby Riggs in straight sets during an exhibition match

-The first woman to drive in the Indy 500

-Won $100,000 from the match

-Qualified for the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500

Nancy Pelosi (2007)

Hillary Clinton (2016)

-The 52nd speaker of the House of Representatives

-First woman nominated for president

-First woman to serve as speaker

-Was former first lady, U.S. Senator, and secretary of state

Sojourner Truth (1851)

Rosa Parks (1855)

-Abolitionist who then began advocating for women's rights

-Refused to get out of her seat for a white man

-Delivered the famous "Ain't I A Woman?" speech

Alice Paul (1923) -Proposed the Equal Rights Amendment for the first time in Congress

-Helped initiate the Civil Rights Movement

Amelia Earhart (1932) -First woman to fly

nonstop alone over the Atlantic (first person since Charles Lindberg)

-To this year the Amendment has still not been passed

Arethra Franklin (1983) -First womanto be elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -Known as "The Queen of Soul"

Katie Sowers (2020) -First female and openly gay coach in Super Bowl history -Was an assistant coach to the 49rs

Ellen Ochoa (1993) -The first female Latina astronaut -Spent more than 970 hours in space

Kamala Harris (2021) -Sworn as the first woman and woman of color to be vice president

News March 4, 2022

Women in the Shadows

3

Stories of less known or acknowledged women throughout history

Amelia Bloomer (1818-1894) Dr. Fe del Mundo (1911-2011)

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A 19th-century women's rights activist who transformed the way women dressed and was the first to publish a women-ran newspaper.

Bloomer married a governor in Upstate New York and began writing for his newspaper. She was discontented by the quality and effort put into fabrics in women’s clothing and therefore established The Lily, one of the first newspapers, written, edited, and published by women.

Her newspaper supported women’s suffrage and the temperance movement, believing that the prohibition of alcohol was also a woman’s issue.

Bloomer wanted women to abandon the use of petticoats and corsets for more comfortable clothing such as loose-fitting tops and pants.

She popularized the use of undergarments which are now known as “bloomers.”

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Henrietta Lacks (1920-1951) Rosalind Franklin (1950-1958)

A 30-year-old African-American farmer and mother who was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Her cells were taken without her consent in order to conduct cancer research.

Scientists discovered that upon taking them, the cells would not die. Lacks' cells would multiply consecutively without ever dying in the lab. She died shortly later, her ‘immortal’ cells being referred to as HeLa cells. They became incredibly important in the development of vaccines and gene mapping.

Her contribution to biomedical science was acknowledged 62 years after her death.

Gloria Richardson (1922-1945) As a social activist during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, she was considered one of the most influential leaders of her time.

Richardson was the first woman to lead a grassroots movement outside of the Deep South. She fought for the desegregation of Cambridge, Maryland, and became the leader of many other movements dealing with economic issues such as jobs and health care access.

Throughout her time advocating for equal rights, Richardson was threatened by multiple white supremacists, until she stepped down from her role as a leader in 1964.

She lived to be 99, recognized as one of the country’s leading female civil rights activists who inspired other young activists at the time.

Illustrations by | Natalia Zavaleta Natalia Zavaleta | Asst. Editor

The first woman to be accepted into Harvard Medical School, due to the admission department mistaking her for a man.

With four out of her eight siblings dying during early infancy due to inadequate medical practices in del Mundo’s native country of the Philippines, she decided to study medicine, entering college at 15 years old.

Del Mundo not only protected hundreds of children during World War II but also helped establish a leading pediatrics hospital that promoted immunization programs and family planning.

She continued to live a long life, always dedicating herself to the world of medicine, even when she was bound to a wheelchair.

A scientist who joined the effort to uncover the structure of DNA. She was the first to take an X-ray photograph of the DNA double helix.

Franklin died at 38 from ovarian cancer due to X-ray radiation. The credit was handed to the men of her group, with no recognition awarded to Franklin. James Watson and Francis Crick allegedly became the first people to prove the double helix theory. Watson went as far as to publish a book that included some crude remarks towards Franklin.

Over time, people discovered the truth, and Franklin was finally given the recognition she deserved as a scientist and a key contributor to the world of genetics, earning a Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (given by Columbia University for Biological and Biomedical Sciences).

Marsha P. Johnson (1945-1992)

A Black activist and self-identified drag queen who was a prominent figure in the Stonewall Riots and pushed forth a new phase of the LGBTQ rights movement.

She established the Street Transevite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) that supported homeless transgender youth in New York City along with Sylvia Rivera, another transgender rights activist.

Johnson was tragically murdered in 1992 after the annual Gay Parade. Police ruled it as a suicide but friends and family disagreed. The case was reopened in 2012, not much information has been shared about the case itself.

She has become one of the most celebrated icons in LGBTQ history as her actions and words still inspire activists today.

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News Volume 15, Issue 5

Business Professionals of America advance to state

Yael Behar | Copy Editor Following regionals, several members of Business Professionals of America were able to advance to the State Leadership Conference, occurring March 2 – 5 in Fort Worth. The conference essentially serves as the next competition level, and students in all BPA categories will either submit projects or compete on the spot depending on their specific BPA group.

“The events that they are competing in they’ve been preparing for since about October,” BPA coach Ashley Sullivan said. “Depending on which event they’re competing in, they needed to create a project, and then we did run throughs, making the presentation that they’d present to judges. Long story short, leading up to competition [we would] practice weekly on their presentation.

We’d practice in front of the group, giving each other pointers and helping each other out that way.”

Students had participated in categories such as animation, video production,

news broadcasting, and programming.

Participants in long term/group competitions go to a preliminary event to present their project and respective presentation.

“We have to make sure that everything is looking professional,” news broadcast team member sophomore Robert Johnson said. “We have to make sure that there’s no mess ups, no stuttering, and if there is, we have to redo stuff. It has to be perfect.”

Students who have advanced to the conference will stay in a hotel, compete in their competitions during the day, and attend informational sessions in between.

Students across all categories are excited to compete.

“We worked extremely hard on our

project – the editing, the filming, we went to a ton of different places to get shots,” video production team member junior Nigel Norman said. “The fact that it pays off is really nice. To prepare, we had meetings every other Monday, we worked with our team to come up with whatever we needed to. For our project, which was video production, we would have to shoot shots, edit film, and then turn it in.”

BPA’s mission is to prepare the young professionals of America and provide them with opportunities to work on skills related to career paths in technology and academics. Sullivan added that BPA is good for college applications and résumés.

“I’m really just excited because of the

young team this year,” animation coach Brian Westerfield said. “They’re freshmen and sophomores, so they’ll be able to do this for a couple more years after this.

Even if they don’t make Nationals this year, they’ve got the experience under their belt, so they’ll hopefully go further by the time of their senior year.”

Several BPA categories have been continually growing, especially after virtual learning, and the BPA animation team has gone to state for four years in a row.

“Mr. Westerfield talked me into [teaching BPA],” Sullivan said. “He asked me a few years ago if I would take over BPA. I said, ‘Well, I don’t teach business classes,’ and he said ‘There’s a lot of competitions that go with the classes you teach.’ Things like graphic design and film. That was of interest to me, and I agreed to take over BPA from him, and honestly, it’s probably my favorite thing that I do. It’s a lot of fun. This year is the most students I’ve ever had go to State. I’m pretty proud of my students.”

Girl Advocates! revitilizes upperclassmen mentorship program Natalia Zavaleta | Asst. Editor Girl Advocates! is reigniting the flame of a program that allows upperclassmen girls to mentor freshmen girls. Juniors and seniors will meet once a week in the library conference room in a group-style setting in order to discuss anything from school concerns to social life.

Prior to COVID-19 and bell schedule changes, a middle school mentorship program was offered. Girls would head over to Kelly Lane and Cele during morning Talon and come back before 9:30 for class.

“We haven’t actually been able to implement the mentorship program again until this year,” GA! Sponsor Kara Johnson said. “We’re really excited to keep it here at the school and be able to mentor the freshman girls because I feel like they really needed it this year.”

Social worker Lori Carl has noticed an increase in girls coming in and needing help or someone to talk to.

“Many of the students that I work with will tell me that they don’t have any friends,” Carl said. “They don’t really have a connection here at the school.

My hope is that this will become one more resource for me to offer to students that come in here feeling like there’s not

really anything for them. There are a lot of students that feel alone at the school.

The relationships that will form and to see how it affects them in an academic and

freshman girls who are dealing with personal problems, as much as academic ones. The benefits to keeping the program local to the campus and students, will

Girl Advocates hosts open mic for Teen Dating Violence Awareness month.

Photo by | Kennedy Grant mental health way will be very rewarding to see.”

Carl is working with GA! to find

affect them and mentors alike.

“The benefit as far as peer-to-peer mentorship is having somebody knowing that the person is going to be there at the

school and that you could talk to them when you want during school hours,” Carl said. “[Students] are in the trenches right now, they know what is going on in the classes and what are some helpful academic hints. The long-term benefit would be dropout prevention. Just having someone you know, consistently to talk to or just to care or be accountable, can keep somebody in school.”

Johnson hopes the GA! members learn the rewarding feeling of being able to help others as well as help make a difference.

“I hope the freshman get study skills, friendship skills, and relationship skills out of it,” Johnson said. “Hopefully what the mentors get out of it is a feeling of accomplishment and feeling like they were really able to make a difference.

Anytime you can talk to another girl, an older girl, about a problem that you are having, it’s definitely going to be beneficial. Sometimes you are maybe feeling lost and you don’t know what to do but you don’t know who to ask for help. This is a really good opportunity to be able to speak freely and have a safe zone. The lines of communication will be open.”

News March 4, 2022

5

Debate Team’s Berkeley Tournament goes virtual at last minute Ethan Tittle | Asst. Editor Earlier last month, the debate team competed in the 2022 California Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament hosted by Berkeley University, having multiple students advance from preliminary rounds.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions in California, the tournament had to be moved onto NSDA Campus, which is an online platform.

“We were supposed to attend Berkeley and actually fly out to California,” senior Afsaneh Masoumi said. “Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 we had to attend online.

It was an amazing experience despite having to debate online. My teammates made sure that we still did some of the fun things we would’ve done if we were in California. For example, the night before the tournament we had a big team dinner which was so much fun.”

Because this tournament was online, the team had to face new challenges that they usually don’t have to face at their local tournaments.

“The competition was extremely difficult because it was a bid tournament where there were over a hundred other teams,” Masoumi said. “This one was a lot different from our local tournaments.

We usually are more knowledgeable of our opponents and judges when we attend locals since we interact with them much more, but since this was an online tournament a lot more teams from all over the country attended so we didn’t know who they were beforehand.”

With all the hundreds of people competing, senior Audrey Fife placed 3rd in Informative Speaking and 12th in Oratory, along with Afsaneh Masoumi and Melanie Garza advancing past the preliminary rounds.

“I practiced a lot, both in and out of school, and I edited my speeches based on feedback I’ve gotten at prior tournaments,” Fife said. “I also made sure to take care of my voice and work on my intonation, volume, speech patterns, etc. throughout my speeches.”

Overall, the tournament was a success

for the debate team, having Fife beat out hundreds of people across the country.

“When I ended up advancing to finals in Informative, I felt totally giddy because I couldn’t believe I had made it so far. To then win third place was the cherry on top and it made me realize how much all of my work had been worth it.”

Science Olympiad prepares for Regionals Lilianna Moran | Asst. Editor The school’s Science Olympiad program is currently preparing for the approaching regional competitions on March 12 in Corpus Christi. If they advance, the teams will progress to the state competition at Texas A&M University in April.

“This is the time of year where we really buckle down and fine-tune everything,” program sponsor Joseph Ortiz said.

“As far as I can tell, we’re pretty well prepared.”

Science Olympiad is a national program that enables students to compete in science-based competitions over a variety of subjects. Subjects can be divided into three categories; academic (test-based), engineering (build-based), and inquiry (a mix of both).

“These events rarely are directed at specific studies and are geared toward those who enjoy learning about science rather than those who are well-skilled in science,” Ortiz said. “Depending on the subject, you can either take a series of tests, try to ensure your build meets certain parameters better than anyone else’s, or get hands-on with stuff and build, create, or translate on the go.

Preparation depends on the section: for academic events, it’s about getting your study and reference materials sorted; for engineering events, it’s ensuring that all designs are built to specification, tested, and logged; for inquiry events, it means learning and understanding your role in the event and how to contribute quickly.”

Previously the Science Olympiad program has done exceedingly well in

competitions, having made it to state 12 years in a row and having placed in multiple events this year. In order to prepare for the upcoming regionals, the teams have been practicing vigorously.

“Practices are held across the week with different events taking slots before and after school as well as Talon,” Ortiz said.

“As we head into regionals, our biggest obstacle is making sure everything is built and tested for our engineering events.”

Those interested in joining the program can contact Ortiz or science teacher Taylor Jund for more information.

“Come to the Science Olympiad room after school [B203] and there is more than likely someone there to talk to you,” member Spencer Coleman said. “Even if you think you might not have enough time or don’t want to fully commit just yet, come to a few meetings and try it out.”

Ortiz encourages students to give the program a shot, noting the advantages the program and team can provide.

“To me, the biggest benefit of a program like Science Olympiad is exposing yourself to branches and fields of science outside the coursework offered at HHS,” Ortiz said. “The level of detail and preparation it takes to be successful translates directly to college. But more than that, I’ve seen Science Olympiad open up the social side of students who would not normally explore their boundaries. Finding your people in high school is a large part of what makes for an engaging experience and Science Olympiad provides that for some.”

Photo provided by | Kirsten Nash Debate Members; Maya Hay, Afsaneh Masoumi, Audrey Fife, Kaitlyn Nash, Aiden Cheely, Johnpaul Buwule, Isaiah Duvvuri, Shauri Yedavalli, Melanie Garza

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6

Opinions Volume 15, Issue 5

• Staff Editorial

STEM Classes weighted with higher GPA During the second semester of eighth grade, in accepting students into their designated students start choosing which courses and engineering and medical colleges, so weighting the endorsement plans they want to take during their two endorsement plans can actually hurt students high school career. Endorsements define which when applying to post-secondary schools. elective courses students take to help them be In addition to endorsement plan difficulty, it is prepared for the field of work they plan to pursue also important to consider the amount of effort and after high school. For example, a student could extracurricular time students are putting into their choose a journalism pathway under the Business endorsement-based classes. For example, a student and Industry endorsement where they would take taking debate under the Business and Industry classes such as Journalism 1, Photojournalism, endorsement plan is required to compete in multiple Newspaper, and Yearbook. The options for tournaments throughout the year, attend afterpathways are range from school practice sessions, and engineering to teaching. attend multiple debate camps For the majority of to improve their skills. endorsements, excluding Being a part of the debate STEM, the endorsement team and class requires classes are weighted on a many extracurricular hours, 4.0 GPA scale, however, Despite this, it is only for engineering, every class graded on a 4.0 GPA scale. is weighted on a 6.0 GPA In comparison, a STEM or scale. Any other class that engineering class requires is weighted on a 6.0 scale almost no extracurricular are typically AP classes, or after-school hours, with such as AP Chemistry or the exception of any time AP Research. When making it takes to complete any course selections, the only homework assignments 6.0 scaled class freshmen or projects, which is usually take is AP Human expected with almost every Geography because they class, regardless of their are not prepared for the endorsement classification. workload, teaching pace, and Grading classes in the additional learning most AP STEM endorsement plan classes require. However, if on a 6.0 GPA scale is not Illustration by | Daniel Mendoza a student chooses to follow an inherently bad thing, the STEM endorsement however, when other plan, they are already receiving an edge in class endorsement plan classes are only graded on a 4.0 rankings compared to their peers who are under GPA scale, regardless of extracurricular time and different endorsement plans, simply because they class difficulty students are unintentionally hurt are taking an extra 6.0 weighted class. in the long run. Additionally, making the STEM While many STEM classes are undeniably endorsement plan on a 6.0 scale almost discourages difficult, many of the classes in other endorsement students from pursuing other endorsement plans plans are comparatively the same in difficulty level. that they are interested in due to the fear that their For example, many of the classes in the public class ranking and GPA could potentially affect their service endorsement plan, which includes medical ability to get into top colleges and universities, even and health-based classes, are weighted on a 4.0 or if they perform well in their core classes. There is 5.0 scale. These students are put at a disadvantage no question that STEM classes are difficult, but in class rankings due to the inability to receive a they are not the only classes that require hard work higher GPA weighing even if they perform well and dedication, therefore any academic elective, in the class. The STEM and medical fields are especially if they progress upon multiple years, arguably the two most desirable and competitive should be graded on a higher GPA scale to account career fields, and universities are highly selective for difficulty level and extracurricular effort.

The Hawk, the official student newspaper of Hendrickson High School, is an open forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions.

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

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

Reporters

Kate Hayes Inez Moreno

Artists Yael Behar, Daniel Mendoza

“There’s a lot of math, science, and building that goes into this class. So you not only have to be intelligent and hardworking but also confident in your abilities. So if you’re mad that your art class isn’t going to give you those six points I can’t help you. There’s a pretty simple solution to this too, just join an engineering class.” - Zion Onwujuba, 10.

“I think it’s absolutely outrageous how this pathway gets more attention and more support than some of the other ones that are just as important if not more important. I believe that we should put more focus into making every pathway equal at our school.”

- Emma Stedman, 10.

“I think it’s an unfortunate problem. [They’re] kind of forcing people to take classes that they’re not comfortable with. If there’s somebody who wants to pursue a career in art but their family has higher expectations [regarding GPA] then I do feel like it’s discriminatory and in some ways reduces creativity.” -Willie Messer, 9 “I think that it’s okay for the engineering pathway to be graded on a higher scale because the things that people engineer will have such a powerful impact on our lifestyle in the future.” - Ayanna Rutagengwa, 10.

“I think that the engineering pathway should be graded on a higher point scale because it’s a growing industry that definitely has higher paying jobs.” Mia Perez, 10.

“[The differently weighted GPAs] might stop them from getting into college doing things that they like. I know that I originally took the art pathway, but most of the classes that I’m taking are business, even though I don’t want to fully go into that [profession]. It’s just that those classes are more academically beneficial.” -Gabriella O’Donnell, 11

Associations

Co-Editors: Seth Deaton & Angelyna Rosales Managing Editor: Kaitlyn Nash Copy Editor Yael Behar Assistant Editors: Lili Moran, Landon Self, Ethan Tittle, Natalia Zaveleta Antonia Guardia Nadia Johst

• Your Turn

Nosu Osakue Sarah Schulze

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

Photo by Daniel Mendoza Model: Anna Rogness

• Hit or Miss In Favor: Lifting mask mandates Teachers being able to take their mask off while teaching would benefit the environment that the students are learning in. When the teachers wear masks it creates a barrier that restricts the face to face connection that they should be making with the students. When the students don’t have that connection with the teacher it makes it harder to pay attention and retain the information that is being given to them. Since the teachers usually stand a few feet away from the students when they teach anyway, their risk of infection should be lower. The mask mandate being lifted is a hit.

Against: Lifting mask mandates Recently, the district lifted its mask mandate across all schools, instead opting only to encourage the use of masks. This development mostly impacts staff, as the mandate was unenforced on the student population; as a result, teachers can now choose to stop wearing masks. The CDC has reaffirmed that masks continue to reduce the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19, including the Omicron variant, although less effectively.

Teachers who choose to go maskless face increased risk of contracting COVID-19 and having to quarantine. This increases the burden on the district, which is currently facing a shortage of instructors that has resulted in school closures and hindrances to education. Lifting the mask mandate is a miss.

English Classes bring back Independent Reading At the beginning of 2022, most English teachers announced that Independent Reading books would be making a comeback for the second semester. They allowed students to choose from a piece of literature that seemed interesting from a list of non-fiction books.

With the teacher’s permission, students could add a non-fiction book that wasn’t on the list that they wanted to read instead. The decision to bring back IR books is a great idea as it incentivise students to actually read things other than fantasy. Most teenagers in school are too busy to think about reading, but allowing them to take time out of the school day to think about reading helps a lot. Having to also do an assignment on the book students read further assists students because it helps them comprehend what was read more easily. All in all, adding IR reading to the assignment list in English is a hit.

Grebb assigned to Weiss for remainder of school year Associate Principal Michael Grebb was recently placed on a temporary assignment at Weiss High School following the resignation of their principal and associate principal.

Grebb is a much loved personality at our school and having him gone, even temporarily, is upsetting. Grebb being at Weiss High School is a miss.

• Our Turn

Opinions March 4, 2022

7

2022 Elections Underway

Editor reflects on Campaign Experience in Primary Landon Self | Asst. Editor Working for campaigns is a unique job, where the fate of your employment is decided by the people of your community. For the past few years, I have worked alongside many candidates and politicians ranging from local elected officials all the way to the state and federal level.

The 2022 elections are well underway, and have been since last summer. Before you have the Republican and Democrat candidate in the November elections, both parties go through a primary election. This is where voters in both sides vote to nominate candidates for their party.

For Texas, the Primary Elections are on the first Tuesday in March every even numbered year, and in this case, we are in a Midterm election season.

I began this primary season working for the George P Bush Campaign for Texas Attorney General in the Republican Primary. Bush is the grandson of former President George HW Bush and the current Texas Land C o m m i s s i o n e r.

Commissioner Bush is one of three challengers to incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton.

When talking with Commissioner Bush at our campaign office one time, he told a story about his grandfather. That was when it hit me that I was actually there talking with the grandson of a former president and working for him in his campaign.

While working for the Bush Campaign, I ran our phone banking program to reach voters over the phone.

Surprisingly, throughout this process I became friends through political networking with Caroline Harris, who was running in the Republican Primary for State Representative in Williamson County. I agreed with her message and after a while, I felt I could be more effective working on her campaign.

Therefore, I made the difficult decision to leave the Illustration by | Yael Behar

George P Bush Campaign and went to work for Caroline.

While leaving one campaign was tough, I have greatly enjoyed working on Caroline Harris’s campaign. On this campaign, I get to work more directly with others as the Volunteer Coordinator.

In this role, I get to direct our volunteers and help them do what they want to do to help the campaign.

I organize weekend block walking where we go door to door and campaign for our candidate.

Williamson County is where my family has roots going back over a century, so it means a lot to me going around the communities to advocate for a candidate I feel best represents our values.

While campaigning for Caroline, I have had some interesting encounters with voters. One evening, Caroline and I were knocking doors and the homeowner invited us inside to eat dinner with him, which we did and were happy when he said would vote for her. Another time while knocking doors, a man invited us in to see his military wall with pictures and medals from his time in the Army.

He lived in a four story house and had an elevator in it so we took the elevator to the top floor. In what was a rather scary moment, it turned out to be a great connection made as he gave us a donation and pledged his support.

This is not the only campaign going on, and there are many political events being held. Having gone to several events I’ve gotten to meet and visit with candidates for other offices as well as elected officials. Governor Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and Senator Ted Cruz are amongst a few of the statewide elected officials I have visited with from the campaign trail. Meeting new people, shaking hands, and having conversations for a cause I believe in is such a rewarding experience.

The Primary is March 1 and no matter how it turns out, I know I will have done what I could for what I think is right.

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Feature Volume 15, Issue 5

Class Dismissed Lack of teachers leave classes unprepared for AP tests, post high school life Seth Deaton | Co-Editor Last year the headline was the lack of kids in the classroom, but this year it’s about the lack of teachers.

There have been an unprecedented number of position vacancies in the district leaving many classes without a teacher. The department that has been hit the hardest is the upper level math department which has lost two of three teachers.

“We lost our math teacher during the first semester so we basically haven’t had a math teacher all year,” senior Matthew Coffelt said. “It feels the same as when we had online school during quarantine. We all just do our work whenever we have time. It just sucks trying to learn calculus off videos.”

According to senior Carlos Ibanez, not having a teacher has actually given him more skills than he would have learned otherwise. “[Not having a teacher] has taught me how to learn the material I need from what resources I have,” Ibanez said. “Those skills will be useful in college when all of my classes are more similar to how this year has been.”

One of the main draws towards taking AP classes is the AP tests at the end of the year for college credit for college credit, but without a teacher many students are feeling unprepared for the upcoming tests.

“I basically have no hope of passing the test,” Coffelt said. “I’ve been struggling to pass our regular tests this year and we get to use our notes, so I don’t think the AP test is going to go very well. That means I won’t get the college credit hours and wasted the money I spent in order to take it.”

Not only are entire classes missing out on the opportunity to save thousands of dollars by earning college hours, but many of them have said they’ll have to retake the classes in college because they haven’t learned what they were supposed to this year.

“I’ll definitely be retaking this class in college next year,” Coffelt said. “Which I may have had to anyway if I didn’t pass the test, but at least it would’ve been more like a review because I would’ve known most of what we were learning. Now it’ll be like I’m taking a brand new class.”

The classes that have been without a teacher have been run very similar to how classes were last year during online learning. They’ve even been using the same videos left by the original teachers.

“Practicing the material is hard because we can’t ask any niche questions,” Ibanez said. “Last year we would watch the videos at home and then ask questions at the start of class before working on practice problems. This year we don’t have a teacher to ask so if we’re confused about something we just have to rewatch the videos and hope we can figure it out.”

The lack of teachers has left students struggling trying to figure out how to be successful in order to get the credit they need to graduate.

“Luckily for me my schedule is set up so I don’t need the credit to graduate,” Ibanez said. “I know people that are really stressed about getting the credit. We’ve all been helping each other as best as we can though.

I definitely didn’t expect my senior year to be this stressful, but it is what it is.”

Admin, district officials discuss staff shortages, mid-year resignations Angelyna Rosales | Co-Editor Five emails. Five teachers. Five times principal Daniel Garcia was faced with an unprecedented amount of teachers putting in their mid-year resignations for the 2021-2022 school year.

According to chief HR officer Willie Watson, the number of teachers leaving mid-year has almost tripled this year compared to previous years.

“This is my 17th year in Pflugerville as a principal,” Garcia said. “I’ve never seen anything like this, but it speaks to a lot of things. There’s some fatigue amongst teachers around what we’ve been through in the pandemic and dealing with COVID and how difficult the work has been. When we brought everybody back there was excitement that we were doing something and then there was the realization that we’re still in this and we’re back in the buildings, and I think the euphoria wore off, and teachers got exhausted.”

While many teachers have left due to the overwhelming pressure of the pandemic, financial considerations have also played a factor in the mid-year resignations.

“Teachers are not always motivated by money,” Garcia said. “We do our work for different reasons, but I think that the cost of living in Austin has gotten so high and so hard that people have to consider things like, ‘how am I going to live here?’ ‘How am I going to pay my rent?’ ‘How am I going to feed my family? How am I going to send my kids to college?’”

Teachers receive their contracts for the next year at the end of the current school year, during this period, a teacher can choose not to renew their contract for the

upcoming year with no penalty.

“You can always resign towards the end of the school year without penalty,” Watson said. “But during the school year, the stakes are higher because we need the teachers in our classes with the kids. If they do leave, there are only three reasons why they can leave one being [personal] health, another is if their spouse is moving further than 100 miles away and the last one is a change in a family situation.”

Despite the rules and regulations for mid-year regulations being consistent with past years, the district has started to strictly implement its policies during this school year due to the high numbers of resignations.

“The process has been consistent,” Watson said.

“What’s been different is that we’re actually holding teachers accountable mid-year. We could have done this years ago, but now we’re like wait a minute we’re just getting walked on. The contract goes both ways, and there are all sorts of rules we must follow, and then there are rules for them to leave. [In the past] we just let them ignore their rules, but we still had to follow them, so we said you know what why don’t both people just follow the contract?”

To combat the problem altogether, the district has planned to increase salaries by three percent in the upcoming school year and has authorized a $500 stipend incentive for all teachers in the district according to Watson. In addition to this, both the district and administration are checking in on teachers daily.

“We’re always keeping an eye on teacher needs,” Garcia said. “We’re asking what they need to continue

to do their job well. We visit with the department chairs and we have faculty meetings, just to check on folks.

We also do things to show tokens of appreciation like taking snacks around to the teachers just to say thank you and those sorts of things, but I think it’s that idea of showing appreciation and gratitude and honoring them.”

In addition to these incentives, the district is also combating the issue from a recruitment standpoint.

“We’re trying to directly hire our student teachers,” Watson said. “We’re also going out to our Texas Association of Future Educator chapters and were talking with students saying you want to be a teacher, we’d love to have you come to Pflugerville let’s talk and we’ll give you a plumber contract right now and in four years, when you’re finished at Texas State or Texas A&M or Stephen F. Austin. We’re going to hire you right back here to be a teacher.”

While the district is taking action to incentivize teachers to stay, both the district and teachers must work together to prevent more teachers from leaving according to Watson.

“I just want to emphasize that our teachers and staff are working very hard, and the district realizes the pressure they’re under,” Watson said. “To get out of this, it’s going to take both sides. We want to keep our people so we will take steps there and then we also will work on the pool to bring people here. But they got to want to stay here, and we got to do what it takes them to be here.”

Feature March 4, 2022

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Math team expresses complications with recent changes in department Kaitlyn Nash | Managing Editor Taking up a fighting stance, the math department prepares for the worst of its battles after multiple teachers leave the school after the first semester. The implications of such a loss have had multiple teachers within the school’s walls talking about the effects and solutions.

AP Statistics and Calculus teacher Amanda Gass decided to leave her mathematics teaching job during the semester for multiple reasons. After a while the burdens just seemed to outweigh the benefits after for her.

“I came to the realization that as a single adult who is the age I am, I was never going to be able to comfortably retire as a teacher,” Gass said. “I also knew that if I didn’t make a change soon, the likelihood that I would ever leave would approach zero. The second reason is a bit harder for me to admit, and I don’t think I truly realized how bad it was until I was a couple [of] weeks into my new job. I lived for teaching. I worked at home and on weekends. I had no work/life balance because I could never stop thinking about work. I felt guilty when I took time for myself instead of grading. And more importantly, I was exhausted emotionally, mentally, and physically. I am still working through the guilt of leaving my students, but leaving was the best decision I could have made for me and I’ve already seen huge improvements in Yael Behar | Artist my mental and physical health.”

Though her colleagues wished her well, her leave was not taken lightly by the district, according to Gass.

“Many of my students have seemed really understanding and happy [about] my new opportunities,” Gass said. “I, however, was one of I believe nine teachers who were called out in a public board meeting. The statement read by board members did not take any of our reasons into account and made us out to be bad people.”

Gass has tried everything to relieve the problems that her absence may have caused by leaving videos and holding tutorials during the weekends.

“I made sure to leave videos, notes, practice problems, tests, etc. for the remainder of the semester for my AP classes so that students could continue to learn the material without me,” Gass said. “I’ve been hosting regular zoom tutorial sessions for Calculus and Statistics and will be presenting at the district AP Prep sessions. I’ve written and sent off several letters of recommendation for students. I’ve also made myself available to those teachers who took over my classes in case they have questions.”

According to math teacher Nicole Stewart, the person who has been most affected by this change is the math

department director Johnnie Kaatz.

“On the math department as a whole, I’m not sure if it put a whole lot of strain,” Stewart said. “It put a lot of strain on Mr. Kaatz and I’ve tried to alleviate some of his strain. He is now responsible for entering the grades for both teachers that left and he’s ultimately responsible for having the curriculum there for them.

What it’s done is we’re making all the copies for both those classes that those teachers would have made in the first place.”

When teachers first left, the unexpected change made it to where many classrooms had a different sub coming in every day to fill in for absent teachers, many of whom didn’t know the curriculum.

“We went to Mr. Grebb and said ‘Grebb, there’s got to be a better decision here,” Stewart said. “We can’t just leave those AP stats classes sitting there. Are there

teachers with a low enrollment class?’ I had a low enrollment class and we tried to switch that class so that I could take one of those, but it didn’t work. We tried to get other teachers to cover those open classes so the kids aren’t sitting there without a teacher. Mrs. S, the sub over here, she’s phenomenal. Just having her as a sub that is consistent every day has taken the stress off of the department. [AP stats students] were getting somebody random every other day and there was no consistency so no one knew what you had completed or what you needed to be doing besides students running across and saying ‘Mrs. Stewart, we need this today.’”

However, many other math teachers have been able to take extra classes, even if they don’t know most of the material they should be teaching.

“Miss Campbell and Mr. Savoie both had schedules changed on them and they weren’t asked if they wanted to do it,” Stewart said. “They’ve had to pick up classes midway through the year and try to do some kind of catch-up to figure out who is doing what. You guys know riding a bike; when you do it all the time it’s easy, but if you haven’t done it for a few years it’s hard. When you haven’t been teaching calculus for a few years,

looking for something is hard. Stats is not something that you can just walk into. Not every math teacher in this building can just walk in and start teaching a stats class so now it’s a strain on them to learn this new material in order to present it. They had their own students, they had their own curriculum that they were already involved in and they had to switch gears and take care of something different.”

A solution to this problem would be to hire more teachers in the math department. However, there are no people applying for the job.

“If we could hire someone for the math positions we would do so, but there’s not anyone at this time that is available,” Kaatz said. “There’s just not anyone out there.”

Other schools in the district are also experiencing the same problem due to the increase in the number of startup tech companies recruiting math and science teachers.

“The job postings are out there,” Stewart said. “Every building in our district - all four high schools and even some middle schools - have math postings out there. Every once in a while somebody applies and either they don’t take the job or there are no applicants. There are literally no math teacher applicants to even interview.”

The problem stretches further than a lack of teachers though.

The long-lasting effects of such a gap of teachers are easy to see for Stewart.

“I feel bad for [students] in the stats classes and in the AP calc class because I don’t think those kids are getting what they’re going to need to be successful on taking the AP tests,” Stewart. “A random sub coming in doesn’t know what’s expected on those tests so I feel like [students] are really getting the short end of the deal because you’re not getting those insights that kids at other schools who have an AP teacher who has been around for a while are getting. I do think it’s going to impact you. You guys have had a year of COVID online and then you’ve had this happen to you in these classes. I’m afraid you’re going to have gaps when you go to college. Without teachers, there’s not going to be educated kids. Further down the line, businesses aren’t going to have anyone to hire because we didn’t have anybody educated. I just think this is going to snowball into something super scary in a few years.”

On the other hand, Gass does hope that there is a way for her to go back into the teaching field in the future if a few things change.

“I think some things would need to change in public education before I do [come back],” Gass said.

“The current expectations of teachers [are] not really sustainable, especially at the current pay rate. For the time being, I plan to offer tutoring for advanced mathematics so I can still help students.”

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Feature Volume 15, Issue 5

Class Dismissed By the Numbers District Wide Vacancies

1 elementary school principal 1 high school principal

2 high school assistant principals 1 high school associate principal

3 middle school assistant principals

1 elementary school assistant principal

Hendrickson Vacancies 25 teaching positions in elementary schools 35 teaching positions in high schools

110 total open teaching positions 26 teaching positions in middle schools 24 special education positions

Stipends $1,250- $2,500 Doctorate Degree LOTE teacher Secondary science teacher Certified special education teacher stipend in ECSE self- contained Masters degree All certified special education teacher in special education assignments

LOTE teacher in Chinese, Arabic, or Latin Certified special education teacher in behavior Certified special education teacher in essential academics and communications Secondary math teachers

$3,000 - $5,000

15 total vacancy positions 2 head coaches positions 3 CTE positions 1 Color Guard instructor 3 Math department positions 1 PE/ Health 1 Science 1 Spanish 1 Special education inclusion 1 Special education inclusion educational

associate 1 Autism communication education associate

$7,000 - $7,500 Bilingual teachers in bilingual assignments (Spanish) Bilingual teachers in bilingual assignments (Vietnamese) Certified special education teacher in IBC

Feature March 4, 2022

11

Science department discusses worries, hardships over recent staff shortages Kaitlyn Nash | Managing Editor On the math department side of teacher absences, the sights seem to look grim to most of the teachers staying in the profession. However, an unexpected class of workers has also been overwhelmed with both math and science teacher shortages.

Science teachers Brett Caswell and Joseph Ortiz are both feeling the brunt of the storm as one science teacher and two math teachers left at the end of the first semester.

“I’ve taken [over] BC Calc,” Ortiz said. “I originally had proposed to go in and help cover AB Calc, but then I found out [a math teacher] left and BC Calc had an opening that worked for me and they put me in there because they figured I was more useful there. It’s been fun and I’ve enjoyed it, but it’s a lot of work. Taking Calculus [means] I’m now down to one conference period.”

Because of the unexpected inflow of work, Caswell has also had to share the load of grading and work that came with the new teacher’s absence.

“We are kind of having to share the load of some of the responsibilities as far as creating assignments, getting things graded, and whatnot,” Caswell said. “I’ve been lucky in that I haven’t actually picked up an extra course but there’s definitely a lot of stress and anxiety of just feeling the walls closing in.”

Though the recent vacancies have created more work for the science department, they have also raised the question of if students are going to be adequately prepared for math-heavy sciences next year or when they’re in college.

Yael Behar | Artist

“It’s definitely going to hurt the Chemistry and Physics [department] where they’re so math-heavy,” Caswell said. “I think the problem [is] in the upper-level courses where we need their math skills to be top-notch, but they’re not getting the consistent practice day in and day out like we’re used to.”

This is also due to the fact that students in vacant science classes have to deal with the fact that they have a sub who may not know the material they need to know to answer pivotal questions.

“With [a science teacher] gone, we’re doing the best we can to make sure that the students have work and videos at least to follow through, but nothing really compares to having a teacher in front of you who knows the material,” Ortiz said. “For them, I kind of feel bad because they have to hold all their questions until the end or they have to come to knock on [my] door and that takes me away from [my class] to answer questions.”

These facts also make Ortiz worry about the future of his current classes and if students are going to feel compelled to even take such high math courses.

“When students don’t have confidence in their math skills, that precludes them from maybe taking physics for another year,” Ortiz said. “Not only that, Calculus is a requirement for Physics C so if there is no confidence in our Calculus program from the student’s perspective, then that drops enrollment in Physics C which takes away an extraordinarily important class for college.

Everybody has banded together to overcome any of those gaps because it’s important to us that our programs stay as robust and alive as they possibly can even though there’s inevitably going to be a dip in enrollment.”

Not only that, but science teachers now have to worry about the possibility that math department positions are not going to be filled over the summer, leaving science teachers to have to fill in that role.

“I’ve actually talked to Grebb already about in the event that we can’t hire somebody in the math classes,” Caswell said. “There’s a chance. It wouldn’t make it easier, that’s for sure. Being split between departments is a challenge on its own. And having to teach courses that we’ve never actually taught before is a whole new thing. It could be a struggle.”

This is because hiring teachers for upper-level science and math classes has become more difficult over the years, as younger generations look toward other job areas other than teaching.

“I know for me, we have a hard enough time recruiting for upper-division science because we have physics, we have chemistry, we have APES and so many pathways for advanced science. There’s a lot of room for what a student chooses to do science-wise. As far as Calculus goes, there aren’t many people who are qualified and eager to teach Calculus, and again, we need those numbers to stay relatively robust so that our science programs are still full.”

Though the situation is dire, Ortiz doesn’t feel confident that the problem can be solved so soon.

“How do you convince 21-22-year-old people in college that teaching is the way to go,” Ortiz said. “I don’t know how many more people we’re going to lose before we start putting people back in. It may be that we’re going to look at inflated class sizes over the next couple of years while we rebound. If we rebound.”

Student teacher's faith in profession increases despite chaos Nosa Osakue | Reporter The exponential increase in the number of COVID-19 cases adding to the complications teachers are currently facing has led to numerous members within the Pflugerville district to seek new jobs or resign from their current positions. Despite these concerns, there are still individuals that remain steadfast in their decision to act as a catalyst for growth and learning for the new generation of students. Individuals like Tara Moore who is currently serving as a student-teacher and undergraduate at the University of Texas for both Philosophy/English.

“I enjoy being a student teacher because I really like working hands-on with the students and kids,'' Moore said. "They’re always really lively and full of really good ideas so I really enjoy being able to channel that energy into a thought process that’s them but also at a higher elevated level.”

People are attracted to subjects of study for many reasons. For example, some people may be infatuated with the medical field because they yearn for the need to save lives, enjoy a challenge, or even for the financial benefits. Nonetheless, Moore chose this particular field due to her profound connection and alignment with mental health.

“I served in the military in the Marine Corps and a lot of my fellow service members have issues with their mental health,” Moore said. “So going to therapy helped me out a lot and I also saw how it influenced my Junior Marines when I brought those practices to them. Along with this experience, I came to realize that mental health is incredibly important and the way in which the English language functions as well as its ability to affect mental health I found quite fascinating. So all of this sort of pushed me toward wanting to become a teacher.”

A student-teacher helps organize learning activities, observe classroom procedures, provide instructions for students, manage student behavior, etc. Which is intended to help the student-teacher grasp and gain actual experience in the educational field. This has led to a change in Moore’s outlook on teaching.

“In fact, it makes me want to do it even more,” Moore said. “The students are just really great, and honestly, I love my kids. They're really full of life and promise, and I just feel like they need really good teachers to help them, especially through a hard time. I can understand how difficult it would be to go to school during COVID and how demoralizing it could be.”

Teachers and school administrations as a collective are continuing to experience a drastic decrease not only

in the number of students but specifically in the number of educators. This is now being referred to as 'Teacher Burnout' which may occur for a variety of reasons that include the following lack of resources, lack of compensation, stress due to COVID, etc. This issue has left people like Moore completely unfazed.

“It doesn't, just more jobs and opportunities for me honestly. Though it does make me feel sad that the students have to go through that but it’s all the more reason why we have a need for great teachers.”

There are five types of career paths: knowledge-based, skill-based, entrepreneur-based, freelance, and nonlinear. These career paths were designed to successfully account for the differences and variety that comes along with the students. Teaching however falls under the knowledge-based and can be quite challenging going into this field without any proper guidance or advice.

“Don't be discouraged by the fact that the teaching profession doesn't pay a lot and because of this a lot of people tend to not want to go down this career path due to the pay,” Moore said. “And there is also a lot going on in terms of politics regarding the education system that's making it difficult for teachers but, the kids are worth it.

I think it's so important to feel fulfilled in your career, and I feel very fulfilled with what I'm doing currently.”

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Feature Volume 15, Issue 5

Springin’ along

Staff reviews Spring Break activities, outings, events Paige, tx MARCH 17-19 Ethan Tittle | Asst. Editor If you are bored over spring break and want to try something new, consider heading over to the Cotton Bowl Speedway. The Cotton Bowl Speedway will be hosting the Texas Late Model Stampede on March 17,18 and 19.

The Cotton Bowl Speedway is an oval shaped, dirt race track that hosts different races and classes of cars year round. During spring break they will be racing Late Model cars, this is the highest class of local stock car racing. What also makes this a good outing is that the tickets are cheap for the hours of racing you get to watch. Anyone 13+ is $20, ages 7-12 is $10, and anyone 6 and under is free. A lot of times you get to meet the drivers and see the cars up close after the races for free. They also do little events in between the races for the people in the stands to win prizes and such. Going to the Cotton Bowl Speedway is definitely something to try out over the break to get out and experience a different environment.

Austin, Tx Sarah Schulze | Reporter Spring Break gives us the perfect opportunity to go out shopping. Austin has so many impressive and unique stores, everyone is able to find their preferred style. The Domain offers hundreds of shops with varieties of clothing styles. It allows you to shop for jewelry, dresses, accessories, and more to make the spring vacation more memorable.

During the break, you can turn your attention towards warmer temperatures and start stocking up on spring essentials. For fashion enthusiasts, springtime brings a new opportunity to freshen up your wardrobe. This seasonal shift gives people a window of opportunity to get ahead of trends before they go back to school. The environment of the Domain is set back and relaxing, and at the same time exciting and exhilarating, it’s the perfect place to spend some of your free time.

PFLUGERVILLE, TX

Nadia Johst | Reporter Plant nurseries are a fun way to get involved in your environment and surrounding nature. Specifically, Green and Growing nursery is an affordable, cozy shop to explore.

It’s located on Pecan Street in Pflugerville. There’s an outside and inside area, both devoted to housing a mix of indoor and outdoor plants and pots. Green and Growing is a one stop shop for all of your gardening essentials; soil, pots, plants, and accessories.

A small plant can bring companionship, responsibility, structure, and nature into an individual’s life. There’s nothing better than visiting an airy and beautiful garden space over the break.

Angelyna Rosales | Co-Editor With free admission and parking, Sweet Berry Farm, located just an hour and 20 minutes away in Marble Falls, Texas, is one of the best locations for a spring break activity. Opening on March 18 for the spring season, Sweet Berry Farm offers strawberry picking for $3.25/lb and tulip picking with a $5 entry fee, and a $2 for every tulip picked. Additionally, the farm offers a bounce house, sand art, pottery painting, pony rides, and snacks. Sweet Berry Farm is one of the best places to spend one of the last days of spring break and enjoy the spring weather.

Yael Behar | Artist

McDADE, TX March 5- april 24

Lilianna Moran | Asst. Editor The Sherwood Forest Faire comes around every spring and brings visitors a mystical glimpse into a land resembling a fairy tale.

Located in McDade, TX, the faire is open on weekends from March 5 through April 24, along with Friday, March 18, from 10 to dusk. This renaissance-esque faire offers a variety of entertainment, from shows and acts to songs and dances, and a wide variety of artisan shops and eateries scattered throughout the forest. Over 150 performances and shows are held every day during the festival by more than 40 different stage acts, such as jousting, comedy, sword fighting, falconry, and more. In addition to this, the faire accommodates over 170 merchants and artisans, offering a diverse selection of crafts and goods. One day admission tickets can cost anywhere from $11 to $26 per person. However, it is likely to cost more, as tickets do not include prices for food or potential goods you may want to purchase.

If you are looking for some versatility during your break, and have some financial leeway, then the Sherwood Forest Faire is a definite must.

march 16-17 Yael Behar | Copy Editor This spring, starting March 16 - 17, the Jewish holiday of Purim will be celebrated.

Purim, often regarded as one of the more ‘jovial,’ Jewish holidays, commemorates the saving of the Jews in the Persian empire, a story dating back to 5th century B.C. The story, as told in the Book of Esther (also called the Megillah), has a focal theme of deception and trickery, which is reflected in the celebrations, costumes, and games.

The plot itself, told simply, begins with Esther, married to Persian king Achashverosh.

Achashverosh was convinced by Haman, his advisor, to kill all of the Jews in the empire (a day decided by drawing lots.) Esther intervened with the revelation that she, herself, was Jewish, and convinced Achashverosh to stop the ploy and hang Haman.

When reading the story in services, the congregation will theatrically cheer and boo when different characters’ names are spoken, and noise makers will be used when Haman’s name is said. Hamantaschen, a filled triangular shortbread cookie, is eaten to denote Haman’s allegedly triangular hat.

Central Market is holding a hamantaschen baking activity, Mar 16 at 6:30, which is a fantastic way to learn about Jewish tradition through the making of the cookies.

However, taking a trip down to the kosher H-E-B, or staying within Central Market to pick up a box of pre-made Purim sweets is equally rewarding.

Galveston, tx

Nosa Osakue | Reporter Galveston Island offers numerous activities to participate in over spring break such as beaches, museums, rides, restaurants, and many more. The beaches stretch and overlook the Gulf of Mexico which allows you to play volleyball, swim, or build sand castles. There are many retail shops on Pleasure Pier like Pelican’s Bag which is a gift shop where you can purchase hats, t-shirts, our tourist gimmicks and Bubba Gump Shrimp which is a delicious seafood restaurant for a great price.

Though those are wonderful options they are not the only reason to visit the pier as visitors are also able to learn about the city’s history through the different museums located there. This includes the Texas Seaport Museum, Galveston Railroad Museum, Lone Star Flight Museum, The Bryan Museum, etc. Galveston Island is also notorious for its tourist attractions like the Moody Gardens, to explore the Rainforest and Aquarium Pyramids and a highlight for many is the five-tier sky Trail, which is a giant zipline and rope course that is not only a challenge but also quite entertaining to complete. These are just a few of the options you would be able to partake on your trip down to Galveston Island.

A Joyful Jig

Junior explains difficult activity she participates in Kaitlyn Nash | Managing Editor Graceful, daring, and sure. With a stiff upper body and rapid leg movements, junior Anna Rogness confidently performs an Irish dance that she has been working on for weeks. After this breathtaking performance, the entire world shut down.

Solo Irish dance has been around for decades, arising from Ireland around the 7th century and popularized by Broadway shows such as Riverdance in the 19th century. For Rogness, her experience in the form of dancing may not go all the way back to stone tools, but she has been participating in it for around 10 years.

“My mom saw that there was a performance by the dance school that I go to happening at Central Market on St. Patrick’s day 10 years ago,” Rogness said. “When we went, we picked up a flyer, and then I went to my first class. I’ve been dancing since then.”

Rogness also had to give up a lot of her former dancing classes in order to make time for the activity.

“I used to do ballet, tap, jazz, all of that,” Rogness said. “Then I quit all of it just to do Irish dancing, because now it’s a three times a week commitment, if not more.”

Though she still goes to practices three times a week, she has not been able to compete since quarantine started in 2020. The curriculum for Irish dancing is a long list, arranging from how one can dress and what class a dancer is put in based on how well they perform. Different factors determine which dancing you compete in for competitions.

“A lot of times we choreograph steps at our studio, depending on the level that you’re in,” Rogness said. “If you’re below the level called prelim, you dance in quite a few dances. If you’re above prelim like I am, it’s usually based on your age group. You have one dance that you do which is the soft shoe which is like ballet, you have one dance that you do which is the hard shoe, which is like tap, and then you have your third dance which basically determines your place.”

Usually, various sources on the internet like to compare the activity to other forms of French and English dancing styles.

However, Rogness believes that Irish dancing is not that simple, and shouldn’t really be compared to such different techniques.

“There are two elements to it which is the soft shoe and the hard shoe,” Rogness said. “But, it’s very different than any other

Feature March 4, 2022

Behind-the-scenes of Irish Dancing

generally have school dresses, worn by lower-level competitors and in public performances. When Lilianna Moran | Asst. Editor performing solo, specific skirts and vests decorate each person which is most of the time based Ireland has a long history of folk dancing. Established from a on Irish culture and dress. With variety of traditional Gaelic or Celtic dance forms, Irish dance the timely costume change also emphasizes the performer's intricate footwork and rhythm, came a change in technique, which while usually maintaining a stiff upper body. Historically, according to Rogness, became the date the dance originated remains unknown, however, the more difficult. dance is deeply intertwined with Druidic and Celtic religious “It used to look a whole lot practices that required distinct movements similar to modern different; competitions and steps Irish dances. used to be a lot easier,” Rogness said. “The costumes used to look a lot different. The skirts were much Irish dancers perform using two different types of longer and now the skirts are up to shoes; soft shoes (similar to ballet shoes without the wooden the top of your thigh.”

Along with the satisfaction of point), formally known as ‘ghillies’ are the most commonly performing also usually comes worn shoes in Irish dance, while hard shoes (similar to tap friendships. Being a part of a shoes) are worn with the purpose of making noises and dancing school has made it easy rhythms throughout a performance. Both are essential in Irish for Rogness to be able to make dancing, as the dancers regularly switch between the two. friends within her activity.

“My school isn’t very big, but I do have [friends], even though it’s not very many,” Rogness said.

Irish dance incorporates a wide variety of different steps and “It’s a small, tight-knit circle and dances. There are six Irish dance variations: traditional step I trust them with my life. Even dancing, modern step dancing, set dancing, Ceili dancing, though I don’t have very many Sean Nos dancing, and two hand dancing. Traditional step friends from dance, the ones who dancing and set dancing focus on the more rigid and concise I do have mean a lot.” aspects of Irish dancing, both usually very fast paced. Ceilii, Though the sport is filled with Sean Nos, and two hand dancing consists of the more classical its difficulties and highlights, its forms of the dance. Modern step dancing stands out on its popularity has brought along a own, incorporating a more contemporary side of the dance, stream of hateful comments about involving more fluid movements and arm motions. Within Irish dancing and the people who these six variations is a multitude of dances; such as reels, jigs, perform in the activity. and steps. Reels and jigs are soft shoe dances that escalate in “I see a lot of people on TikTok difficulty as a dancer advances. The steps usually consist of making fun of it,” Rogness said. hard shoe dances, such as the dance called ‘Hornpipes’.

“I have to skip past those videos because they piss me off. Before you go make a hate comment, maybe think about how difficult it Irish dancers go through a set of competitions. The most is because you know you can never common and frequent of these competitions are the feis, amount to that because you’re a which usually takes place multiple times a month. Along with hater. [Haters] are stupid and don’t this, there are championships, which directly follow a feis know any better and are sheltered. and usually require dancers to perform four dances; two in I’m not Irish, but it pisses me off.” ghillies and two in hard shoes. If a dancer places well enough Even though Rogness isn’t of in a series of feis as well as championships, they are then Irish heritage, the activity still qualified to compete in Regional Oireachtas, a competition means a lot to her life and has with much higher stakes. If the performer does exceedingly been a part of it for a long time. well in Oireachtas, they are then eligible to compete in World Such things make her excited to Championships. get back into competitions as soon as COVID-19 eases up.

“The last competition that I did was right before COVID and I got only 1st and 2nds,” Rogness said.

“The ego boost was great.”

What Is Irish Dance:

Shoes:

Dance Types:

Photo provided by | Anna Rogness

dance. I sometimes compare hard shoe to flamenco dancing because it’s not like tap, it’s more rhythmic.

The music is very different. I don’t think it compares to any other type of dance.”

Though Irish dancing has its ups, the activity can also be extremely difficult, according to Rogness, as it is taxing on the body like other dancing techniques are.

“It’s super hard,” Rogness said. “It works you out for sure.

Injuries happen all the time, I’ve broken a lot of things. Criticism from my classmates and teacher is especially hard, it’s pretty scary sometimes. Being able to keep up with all of it because you have to remember so much and be able to perform them and then there’s the added stress of performing steps that makes it difficult.”

Costumes for Irish dancing performances have changed over the years. The requirement used to be that one dresses in ‘Sunday’s Best’ for the occasion. However, nowadays Irish dance schools

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Competitions:

14

Sports Volume 15, Issue 5

Statebound Swimming

Swim team sends swimmer to qualify for state meet and place top 10 Sarah Schulze | Reporter The swim team has just completed their Regional and State meet, swimmers were very proud of all their accomplishments this year and cannot wait for next season.

On Feb 7 the swim team traveled to San Antonio with neighboring high schools, Connally, Pflugerville, and Weiss to compete at the Regionals meet held in the Josh Davis Natatorium. Qualified swimmers were eager to show off all of the hard work that they had put in this season, and to leave it all on the deck.

“I was excited to see all the time improvements that I had made, and to see how much I’ve advanced from freshman year,” junior Regan Greene said.

Traveling with the other high schools was an unforgettable highlight this year. Usually seen as rivals, these schools now cheered each other on from the bleachers.

“It was an awesome experience, getting to know the other swim teams,” Greene said. I never thought that we could all become so close, it was like we were all one team. We all walked into the Natatorium together, and all of the other schools were so confused as to why our “team” was so big. It was really funny.” Green said, “what I really enjoyed the most was all the quality time we got to spend hanging out, we had so much fun in the hotel all together, it got us super close.”

The swim teams all shared a bus and a hotel while traveling, which allowed for some extra leisure time.

“We all played a huge Mario Kart tournament in one of the hotel rooms before we had to leave to swim,” sophomore Aiden Ducey-Kline said. It was so much fun,

we had all the teams in there, it was so crowded, but I loved it.”

Finals were held on Feb 8. Freshman Stephanie Oiesen swam individual events, 100 freestyle, and 100 backstroke. Like most athletes, anxiety and nerves are a

Photo provided by Marcial Guajardo big part of a competition.

“I was really nervous, I had waves of adrenaline rushing

over me,” Oiesen said. “But knowing my team would be there for me no matter the outcome of my race really helped me,” Oiesen qualified for state in both of her events. She got 7th in the 100 backstroke and 15th in the 100 freestyle as a freshman. Head swim coach, Ainsley Benton was extremely proud.

“We are so proud of her, she has such a bright future ahead of her,” Benton said.

Teammates who didn’t qualify for State were still supported by the stands.

“Although you can’t really hear all the screaming and yelling underwater because you’re swimming, it still means a lot when you come back and you just know they were cheering for you because their throat is all sore, and they can barely speak,” junior Angelina Alvarado said.

Although the season has come to an end, swimmers cannot wait to bet back in the pool.

“Almost everybody on the swim team swims yearround, it’s a good way to keep your body in shape, build stamina, and remain accustomed to, and familiar with the technique that swimming requires from you,” Greene said.

Swimming is a sport that requires a variety of complicated techniques and skills in order to maintain an individual speed. The team is ready for next season and ready for it to only get better.

“I am super excited for next year, especially because I won’t be a freshman anymore, and I will have more experience than I can share to help others who will join,” Oiesen said. “It will be just as awesome as this year, if not better.”

Students talk about having to deal with concussions while playing contact sports Seth Deaton | Co-Editor Friday night lights become a whole lot brighter after players have to pick their head up after it slams on the turf.

The enhanced lights are just one of the symptoms of an injury that plagues athletes.

Concussions are a problem for athletes at every level of sports, but most people only associate long term health risks with upper level athletes.

However, high school athletes can face the same risk as college or even professional athletes when it comes to concussions.

“I had to quit sports because of concussions,” junior Brock Kemper said. “They made my athletic career come to an end because if I got any more then it could’ve caused pretty serious long term brain damage, and that was just too big of a risk to take for high school sports.”

The most common sport for athletes

to suffer concussions is football, due to the amount of heavy contact that is involved, but it’s still very possible to get a concussion from playing sports like wrestling, soccer, and basketball.

“I got my first concussion in February of 2020,” former varsity wrestler senior Alexis Schaefer said. “By the time I was told I had a concussion I had already taken three shots to the head. I don’t remember much about the experience, besides being really bored, but I remember having a hard time getting back into sports afterwards. I was really worried about taking a hit to the head again.”

It’s not uncommon for athletes to miss a week or two in a season due to minor injuries. The danger with concussions is once you get one you’re more at risk of getting a second one, and usually each once is worse than the last, which is what can cause them to be career ending.

“It was a really tough decision to quit football because of injuries,” Kemper said. “I loved football and it was really frustrating having to miss time in season, but as time went on the concussions just kept getting worse and worse. Finally it got to the point where I had to listen to what my doctor was saying. The long term effects were too much to risk.”

In contact sports it’s hard to prevent concussions entirely, but there’s a lot athletes can do to minimize the damage. Communicating with the trainers and coaches when you first experience the symptoms can keep a small injury from becoming a major one.

“I’ve definitely battled through some minor concussions that became pretty serious by the end of the game,” Kemper said. “If I could go back and do it again I’d definitely communicate with my coaches. Then I might still be

playing instead of wishing.”

Schaefer says if she could do it all over she’d definitely listen to the advice that was given to her. If you have a concussion don’t fight the diagnosis, do what the doctors tell you to the extreme.. Doing what the doctors tell you could seriously help your health in the future, but ideally treat it before it gets to that point.

“Get checked out early, don’t keep playing because you think it’ll be fine,” Schaefer said. “Go ahead and take a couple weeks off because if you don’t it could easily turn into months on the side, if you get hit in the head at least once get checked out. I lost a season of wrestling when I had to quit, and I’ll never get that back. I replaced it with power lifting but it’s not the same. I missed the experience and I hope others will listen so they don’t do the same.”

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Sports March 4, 2022

Keepin’ The Ball Rolling

Soccer players give input on the social and emotional aspect on what its like to play

Q&A

Nadia Johst | Reporter Nosa Osakue | Reporter

How does the position support the team?

“My position acts as the spine of the team since I set up everything for everyone else to execute. This allows me to decide the plays and where everyone should go for a certain play or goal.” - Jaxson White, 10.

What do you do personally to improve your gameplay?

What’s the most exciting part of playing this sport?

“I personally watch film and instead of reviewing the entire team’s gameplay, I focus on my own to try and identify my own mistakes so I can train using certain drills to better myself.” - Jaxson White, 10

“The most exciting part is probably connecting with my teammates and living [soccer] to the end of my senior year.” -Bailee Greenhalgh, 12

What was your most difficult and best experience playing soccer?

How much preparation and training is put into soccer meets?

“My best experience has to be the friends I’ve made and all the things we’ve been through together. Honestly, the worst experiences are those tough losses, but then again we always have each other’s back and were always there for each other.” Jaxson White, 10

“We practice every day after school for about two hours and then we have games after school. I would love to improve on communicating, that’s probably my worst skill; directing people to go for the ball.” -Bailee Greenhalgh, 12

How do you think your personal performance has affected the outcomes of the games the team has played?

What emotional aspect of the sport do you enjoy?

“If I play bad, we play bad. If I play good, we play good. So the outcomes of the games all revolve around how I play.”- Josh Rodriguez, 12

“I enjoy the friendships that I gain out of it. My teammates are always there to support me and even if I mess up, I don’t feel like I disappointed the team.” -Bailee Greenhalgh, 12

What does the team do to improve after games?

What is your motivation for playing soccer?

“Our team self reflects a lot. For example, we watch a lot of film and then review the mistakes that we made so we can strive to do better after correcting them.” - Jaxson White, 10

“My motivation definitely comes from not wanting to let my teammates down. I’m heavily self motivated so I don’t want to let myself down either. I want to try to do the best I can when everyone’s counting on me.” -Sydney Greene, 12

Eric Augsburger prepares to throw the ball back into play.

Natalie Evaro | Photographer

Jacob Youngkin fights for the ball against a Weiss player mid-game.

Natalie Evaro | Photographer

Amanda Thai dribbles the ball down the feild.

Lazarus Rivera | Photographer

16

Feature Volume 15, Issue 5

Bountiful Bouquets Floral Design students elaborate on the value of floral projects Kate Hayes | Reporter Sarah Schulze | Reporter Each month, students and teachers can be seen throughout the school carrying their own ornate bouquets, flower crowns, and other elaborate floral projects designed in the school’s Floral Design class. This year, the class has remained a popular choice among artistic individuals, steadily gaining in size. As Spring and the end of the third nine weeks nears, course members have amassed a collection of various designs over the school year distributed to school staff, family, and friends.

The Floral Design class is held in the Ag building, taught by Ryan Runnels. It is available in two courses: regular and advanced. It is a common choice for those looking to fulfill their graduation requirements, and it offers the unique opportunity for a combination of hands-on craftsmanship and study of environmental life.

“Floral mainly focuses on making arrangements, the color aspects, and mechanics,” junior Regan Greene said.

“I like flowers, so learning how to make different arrangements was very interesting to me.”

The course’s primary activities are its floral arrangements crafted for a variety of purposes. Students make an arrangement every month centered around the current holiday. Some designs are custom-made for specific teachers or students.

“We have been given the opportunity to create flower arrangements, like boutonnieres and bouquets that are holiday themed,” junior Zoe Jimenez said. “My favorite assignment would have to be our Thanksgiving arrangement.

We got to make a turkey and put it in our flower arrangement.”

The class creates a space for designers to express their creativity through the flowers of the month.

“Every month we have an arrangement that we get to take home, and we also have different ‘flowers of the month’ for teachers,” Greene said. “My favorite arrangement is the one we’re doing this month for Valentine’s Day. It’s a spiral design with roses and carnations. “ Floral Design allows for students to broaden their knowledge on flowers and learn how to apply them outside of the classroom. Gaining expertise in the art of floristry entails learning many different skills.

“We learn how to work on the spot, and figure out how to design different arrangements,” Greene said.

Additionally, one of the course’s most practical benefits is that it opens a pathway to earning a floral certification, which allows for further opportunities in business.

“A floral certification helps you get jobs, like at H-E-B, you can help make floral arrangements,” Jimenez said. “You can easily apply for a floral shop, which pays pretty good.”

Ultimately, designers of the course emphasize the importance of both the skills taught in class and the real-life application of that knowledge.

“Floral Design is a lot more hands-on than other art courses, with more tools, the course gives you an understanding of the more technical things you have to learn when working with flowers,” Greene said.

Floral Design students create projects with carnations to celebrate November.

Photo provided by | Sofia Dodd

Students makes mums to celebrate Homecoming week in October for football games.

Photo provided by | Sofia Dodd

Floral arrangement made by student composed of daisies and carnations in December Photo provided by | Andrea Foster

Senior Madeline Park cuts down carnation to fit it into floral arrangement project in November. Photo provided by | Daniel Mendoza