JagMag by LASA Ezine

Special Edition

JAGMAG Your official Jagazine!

Battle of the Schools In this issue, two students give their opinions on LASA Scandelous Sports! The LBJ girls basketball team gets in a frenzy over the Mercy Rule (18-19) Ready for Battle Be the first to know the history behind the LASA Coat of Arms (15) Phrases, Anyone? Get the dish on the hottest sayings in the hallways of LASA (17) Drama Scene The latest plays in action! (21)

Table of Contents

1 Biographies 2 - 5 LBJ/LASA Campus Map 6 - 7 Two Sides 8 - 9 LASA: Above the Competition 10 -11 The Scoop on LASA 12 -13 The Abc’s of LASA 14 Seperation Anxiety 15 Coat of Arms 16 TAKS... That’s a Knee Slapper! 17 What’s all the talk about? 18 -19 So, What Should We Call Them Now? 20 Pointers with the Latest Styles 21 Meet me at the Club 22-23 What’s Next? 24 Signature Courses

Biographies Saul

I really enjoyed working in the environment that LASA created. Youre free to do many things during lessons and busy work is almost non-existent If i found one thing appealing about making a magazine, it would probably be the designing part of it. I contributed a bit to the design of the magazine- in fact, i was in charge of this biography page. Writing for a school themed magazine didn’t turn out to be terribly boring, even while including the fact that the only reason that i attended this school was because i figured that it could of been interesting. Overall, it was fun working with everyone and creating a unique magazine.

Cierra Cierra enjoys playing soccer and hopes to play for the LBJ soccer team next season. Besides dealing with schoolwork and hanging with friends outside of school, she still makes time to be part of LBJ Cares. This club allows her to help out the community while having fun with her friends and other classmates. One thing that she likes most about LASA is the enivironment, since it is a lot more friendly than most schools (and not just with friends, but teachers, too).

Emily Friends, basketball, school. Though they can be hard to juggle, these are Emily’s main activities. People that do not attend LASA may think she doesn’t have a life, but that’s not the case. Clubs and extra curricular activities are good to participate in since they provide an outlet from academics. For Emily, basketball lets her spend time with her friends, gain her P.E. credits, take a break from school, and overall feel more connected to her school. Her favorite part about LASA is the teachers, because they’re always enthusiastic about what they’re teaching and they lend a helping hand in sticky situations.

School, school, more school, and skating! “Going to LASA makes me realize how important time management is especially in ninth grade and at this school. Finding a good stress outlet is really important at this place”. Skateboarding is Kevin’s. “Don’t get too caught up in the moment...assess your work, and plan fun-stuff around it”! Kevin thinks that the best part of being here was gaining the ability to look at education at an entirely new way that is more interesting, and easier to do. Kevin enjoys being around his friends, family, and helping people overcome difficult situations.

Kevin 1

LBJ/LASA 1st Floo Follow these down to the dungeon

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Everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s had their first day of high school. Through all of the new classes, new teachers and even new people, the last thing you need to worry about is getting lost.

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LASA studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s idea of a cafeteria: the great outdoors!

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Two Sides Cierra Rodriguez

“I

really want to come here”, Christina Gonzalez said in a proud voice, standing out from all the rest. Christina is a 13 year who attends Mendez middle school and plans on attending LASA in the next school year. She is looking forward in coming to LASA because she thinks that it will be a great challenge and she also feels proud that she will be the first in her family to attend a magnet high school such as LASA. Attending LASA means everything to her and she plans on doing whatever she can to make sure that she goes there. She is looking forward to being able to come to LASA that is if she gets accepted, which flows through her mine on weather or not her application met the standards. Christina has high hopes for attending LASA and plans on joining the journalism comity. “I think that coming to LASA will help me get into RICE”, she said in her most determined voice. Standing out from the rest is the ultimate goal, and coming to LASA can help Christina’s chances in being different from everybody else. “It is an advance program and will take a little time to adjust to in the beginning”, said Christina slowly being unsure of herself on just how she plans on doing that. “I am not looking forward to the loads of homework”, she said with a hint of honesty. “Sooner or later, I feel that I will have to get use to the amount of work given”, rolling her eyes just waiting for the day to come to an end. “Getting into LASA and trying to maintain good grades in the beginning may not be the easiest thing going into the program, but even though my chances may be slim compared to those who actually went to a magnet middle school, I have full faith in myself and I know that I can do it once coming to this school”, Christina said. “I am looking forward to having a locker

next year, because my middle school does not have one available for me to use”, she said while giving a vibe of excitement in the air, as if she was going to jump up out of her seat and start a protest in the middle of the room. Christina is also looking forward to having late starts and being able to have two extra hours of freedom. “Other than that, I think that I will do fine in coming to LASA and nothing else frightens me otherwise.” “I still plan on keeping up with my grades and continue to do my favorite thing of all, which is to read, to increase my chances in being accepted into LASA”, said a determined and satisfied teenage, Christina Gonzalez. Unlike Christina, Elliott Gorden attends Paragon Prep, and is use to the advance type of style. “Math and science are my most favorite subjects, and because science is one of the major things that LASA has to offer, I could not see myself attending another high school otherwise”, said Elliott in a calmly but yet firm voice. To Elliott he not only wants to attend LASA but plans on meeting others along the way that share the same interest as he does. “My most difficult problem with attending LASA would be navigating through the school and trying to find my way around”, said a worried Elliott looking around, just trying to remember where he was at the moment. He has full confidence that he won’t have many problems with the actual work, being that he feels that going to a prepitory school helped his chances. Although he is not looking forward to the loads of homework he plans on flying through it with ease. “I can expect more homework and plan on both being prepared to handle it and adjusting to the amount of homework given in the first week of school”, says Elliott. There are many things that interest Elliott about attending LASA but having a block sched-

The Dish ule is not one of them. Straightening his voice to run smoothly and loud enough to attract an audience he noted that, “having longer classes is not the most exciting thing”, and in fact it is one of the things that he dislikes the most. He may have a few problems with the block schedule, but Elliott has a totally different perspective on how he feels about having late starts. “I like the fact that late starts are given to the students, because it will let myself have two hours extra to do whatever I want”, he said giving a thumbs up to the idea. “I think that it is a great idea”, he said shaking his knees anxiously waiting for the time to come where he actually gets to experience the late start days for himself. Until that day comes he just wants to make sure that he is doing everything that he can to go to LASA. Elliott thinks that if he attends LASA, than it will help his chances to get into a good college, being that LASA is a great magnet school with high standards. At the moment Elliott is still undecided on which college or university he wants to go to, but he does know for sure that he wants to major in something dealing with either math or science. “Other than that I am not having any doubts about getting accepted into LASA being that I did attend a magnet type school and is use to the way of learning techniques that LASA has”, Elliott says with full confidence in a speech that would go down in history. There are many students that go to LASA and come from schools all around the Austin area, many from a magnet schools and then there are some that are not. However both types of students try to prove that they have what it takes to make it in a magnet high school such as LASA. Do you think that you have what it takes? If you’re not quite sure, it never hurts to try.

School starts at 8:00 am, and gets out at 3:40 pm. Busses are available next to the student parking lost for arrival and departure. Sci-Tech is in the dungeon, and EZine is in the purple hallway. The freshmen lockers are located parallel to the LASA Main Office. Go past the cafeteria, down the dungeon stairs and out the double doors to make your way to the portables. I.D. badges are given out during the first day of forum. If it’s lost, replacement badges will cost $5 in the library.

LASA: Abov

It is 8 o’ clock and the bell just rang for another school day at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. The students start off in a rush as they sprint to their first period class. The students that attend LASA are willing to accept the many challenges that they may face in order to receive a better education in preparation for college. Students that choose to attend LASA are given the advantage of learning at an advanced level while learning the skills needed to prepare for the future. LASA is the best specialized high school in Austin because it allows students to challenge themselves and work twice as hard to achieve personal goals. LASA allows the students to become well educated, think on their own, and become leaders. LASA was not always recognized as the Liberal Arts Science Academy. LASA started off as two different programs that later collided into one. One of the programs was a science academy at L.B.J. since 1985. The other program was started at Johnston in 1987 and was just a Liberal Arts academy, but in 2002 that all changed, bringing the two programs together at the Lyndon Baines Johnson High School, which created the Liberal Arts Science Academy program. It wasn’t until 2007 that the school board decided to make the separation between the program and the high school. Since the separation, LASA is considered its own school, but still shares the same campus with LBJ. LASA received incredible recognition by being ranked number 95 on Newsweek’s top 1300 schools in 2008. LASA’s achievements are also contributed by the success of its students being accepted by col-

leges nationwide. Since LASA’s big transformation, many other high schools have created different type of programs such as, magnet programs, technology, mathematics, science, fine arts, global programs and many others to try to reach the same standards as LASA. LASA would be the best choice out of the other specialized programs because it allows students the option to choose from many subjects. High schools such as McCallum, mainly focuses on only one area of study such as their Fine Arts Academy for students primarily interested in Art. The other high schools that are either in AISD or in the area that also have specialized programs would be schools such as, The Academy of Global Studies at Austin High, The International Baccalaureate Program at Anderson, and New Tech High in Manor. The schools that I have listed are geared toward their primary subjects of study. These may not be the best choice for everyone for example, if you are a student at Manor New Tech High which puts its focus on group interactions and technology skills, and you decide later that you are not interested in that field, you may not have the time to pursue another area of interest or get accepted into another program prior to graduation. The advantage of going to LASA is that you can change your study of interest without leaving the program. For

example, if you decided to change your main focus from theater arts to expand your knowledge in science or mathematics then you wouldn’t have to leave. In most cases students are looking for something original or different, and before all the other specialized schools came about, both the Liberal Arts Program and the Science Academy were the biggest hits. Since the bond between both programs, I consider LASA to be the original source of specialized high schools in Austin because it is a well-known program that has been around longer, which makes LASA both strong and different. When I was an incoming freshman enrolling into high school, I was still in the Manor Independent School District, but even then I still knew about LASA and what it had achieved already in the two years that it has been its own school. That is when I knew that I wanted it to be my future high school. Why would students want to attend a generic high school when they can have the real thing? The generic high schools are simply just high schools that came after LASA and may only offer one choice of study such as international understandings, when LASA being the original product can offer the chance for students to be both involved with global events and help the students

ve The Competition understand things from a national prospective while increasing their knowledge with other subjects . I am not trying to say that the other schools are not in their own way “original”, but I am clearly trying to state that right now LASA is on top of the food chain and on top on their game. Some might say that the reason for going to other schools is that they want to challenge themselves without putting their GPA at risk. LASA focuses on challenging the student’s potential, while other schools may not allow the students the opportunity to completely challenge themselves. The reason for this is that, the other schools are concerned about one thing and have not made their program separated from the school, which still allows the students who are in program or the regular school to be taught the same. The difference is that one student has the chance to say that they are attending the special program. The schools are not challenging the student’s to the best of their ability due to the lack of teaching to the full potential, not to say the students are not learning anything, they just happen not to learn everything they can because they are caught up in one subject that the

certain program is concerned with. According to LASA’s profile, a student’s GPA does play a major role at LASA, but it is not the only thing that matters because at the end of the student’s senior year they are

measured with the graduating class of all AISD. LASA rankings are different being that the student’s grades are above the national average; therefore their GPA won’t be completely at risk. Yes, GPA does matter but the scale is different, because the students at LASA come from an advanced school so, the way that their grades are looked at are compared with fellow classmates as well as those from

other schools in AISD. If this was not the case then it would not be fair to think that someone could go to a regular high school to get an average education and pass with flying colors in their class, but on the other hand have a magnet student that is in a specialized program to not get ranked as high because the other student’s that attend are just as competitive. In that case the district has to average in all the GPAs and compare to see who turns out on top or not. The way that LASA challenges their students is by having them learn multiple skills at a faster paste. Other programs may offer different skills, but may not push students to their limits when it comes to knowledge. Manor New Tech High is one of the specialized schools that offer classes dealing with science, math, and technology. I consider it to be the most generic school being that it is copied after Sacramento New Tech High School, which also has a project based learning system. Manor New Tech has been opened the same amount of time since LASA’s been its own school but has not reached the same recognition, however a student at Manor New Tech named Rosie Mayen had this to say, “New Tech offers more learning opportunities compared to Manor High School that only covered the basics of every subject.” There may be some schools that specialize in one subject but it is at LASA where you will find the true meaning of hard work and the ultimate learning experience. LASA can be both challenging and overwhelming at times, however this school also offers many benefits. I am convinced that once you give LASA a chance you will see why this is the best choice for you.

The Scoop on LASA Emily Gerwels

o past the history wing, turn left at the water fountain and proceed ahead, but if you pass through the next set of double doors you’ve gone too far. Navigating through the hallways of the Liberal Arts and Science Academy, or LASA, is only one of the many challenges that await new students. It helps relieve anxiety if students know what to expect on the first day of school. LASA may seem normal at times, but looks can be deceiving! By knowing helpful hints and tricks to getting around the school, understanding the schedule, or finding their lockers, incoming students are more likely to fit in their new surroundings. “The hardest part of the first day of school is trying to figure out where their (the student’s) place is,” says Rene Sanchez, principal of the Liberal Arts and Science Academy, “Between who they hang out with and where they sit at lunch, they’re trying to figure out all of their options.” On the first day of school, the day starts with a one-hour visit to the student’s Forum classroom, which is a weekly meeting in their assigned teacher’s classroom. This allows for open discussion and time for teachers to hand out important school papers, such as the student’s final schedule. The Forum classes are split up alphabetically by last name, and each group of people will likely stay together throughout their high school years. A new Forum teacher is assigned every two years, per group of students. “In Forum, once you get through all of the paperwork and assigned activities, the teachers sometimes give you time to study for other classes,” says Jess Villalobos, a current LASA 9th grader. “I like it because it gives you

a chance to sort of relax and not have to worry about work.” While it seems that LASA students would have to be really organized, lockers are optional. They are assigned to students on their schedules, but they don’t have to be used. Some students might find lockers totally useless, since they did not use them at their middle schools. However, others couldn’t live without them. The students who do use them need to make sure to keep their assigned locker, because if they switch lockers, the administration has the right to take the new locker away from the student and give it back to its original owner. And on the first day, it is best to avoid such entanglements. One of the scariest aspects for students of being in a new school is finding their way around. Even with a map, it can be difficult for students entering LASA to know where they are going. The nearly triangular layout of the building does not offer any obvious landmarks to classes. “Of course I got lost the first day! But I mean, it’s expected of new students to not know where to go when they’re not used to the crazy shape of the building. I’m just glad there were plenty of teachers around guiding us in the right direction,” said Jess Villalobos. Luckily, there are ways to get past these obstacles. The main thing to remember is that each subject department is identified by a different colored hallway or landmark. For example, the English department is in the purple hallway and History department is near the main staircase. Also, don’t get discouraged if you can’t get the layout memorized the first day because the teachers are lenient about tardies the first few days of class. “It is okay to get lost,” says Sanchez, “We’ll always be available to help out students if they have questions.” Lunch is seen as an oasis in the middle of the day. It allows for talking with friends, relaxing, and maybe even playing some Ultimate Frisbee! And there’s no need to compare schedules with friends to see which lunches they have, because everyone shares the same lunch. For one hour each day, you will find students, and maybe even some

teachers, lounging on the side lawn, enjoying the outdoors. As the semester wares on and work piles up, students are allowed to go to the library to work. Natalie Caballero, a current LASA 9th grader, says, “Lunch gives us a chance to just hangout and catch up with our friends. I mean, it’s really great how we get one hour to relax, study, etc. It’s a privilege that most other schools don’t get.” For freshmen, there are two required electives – Electronic Magazine (EZine) and Science and Technology (Sci-Tech). In these classes, students will learn how to create an online magazine or solve physics challenges through engineering. While these classes are challenging, students will learn a tremendous amount of information, and will be able to use their experiences from these classes towards their future years in high school. “My favorite part about teaching EZine is the quest to make it the most efficient and meaningful course for students as possible,” says Brandi Richey, one of the EZine teachers at LASA. “I love to incorporate ideas from the students about what they would like to see in the class ... I also enjoy when students finally “get it” when it comes to the importance of how we communicate as a society.” If all of this material still is not helpful enough, LASA offers shadowing and freshman orientation for its students. Shadowing provides a preview of LASA, so that new students can get an idea what they’re up against. It gives newcomers a taste of what to expect on the first day, from traveling to different LASA classes, to experiencing lunch on the side lawn. However, this still may not be enough for some, and so freshman orientation is available. Freshman orientation is a day devoted to answering the student’s questions they may have about LASA. During orientation, students get a mock schedule to follow which simulates the first day of school. Faculty await the students in the classrooms to introduce themselves and talk about their subjects. The brief introductions are followed by fun activities. “The freshman orientation really got my questions answered, and overall made me feel better about the first day of school,” says Jess Villalobos. On the whole, freshman orientation can make the first day of school seem less intimidating.

The Abc’s of LASA

irst period: English magnet with Mr. Snyder. After 45 minutes in the 9th grade class with a peculiar teacher I move on to Mr. Loewenstern’s Geography class, and after that I take a small recess from schoolwork for 45 minutes in forum with Mr. Moody. At this point in the day, I have 5 more classes to go before I can reach the sanctuary that I call home. That’s just an ordinary C day for me and at times it can seem like a much better alternative than going through 4 excruciatingly long classes at 1:30 hours each. Students prefer different schedules because they feel that they can get more accomplished in some while other schedules might seem more interesting to students.

“I prefer block schedule although I hate my B days because I sit around in my boring classes,” explained Cierra ___, an Ezine student. The maximum attention span in adults is of around 20 minutes and in teenagers it is about 12 minutes. A student cannot stay focused on a task for too long before wandering and during block days lessons tend to drag along for a vast amount of time. Students become notably bored and lose interest as yawns spread throughout a classroom. During C days, teachers tend to plan tighter

Saul Hernandez

schedules and they don’t spend too much time on a single activity. A class on a C day only drags on for 45 minutes so teachers keep things moving because of the limited time by swapping activities or lessons every 15 minutes. Block days are helpful whenever an exam has to be taken or when lesson plans require a long period of time and there always seems to be some time leftover at the ending of a class “ I feel that I can get more accomplished on block days. Teachers seem to plan better lesson plans on A and B days,” said Kevin Olson, a freshman at LASA high school. Since A and B days have longer lunches and class periods, Students can often work on homework from various classes in the library or at times during classes whenever there is not much to do. Many students are great at multitasking so they can finish their math homework while listening to a lesson with one ear. A forum period can also be used to catch up on a bit of work or even study at times but most people prefer to use it as leisure time on C days. A normal week at almost any High school consists of one C day on a Monday and an ABAB schedule the rest of the week. It seems like some

students really dislike Mondays for more than

the fact that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the beginning of a week and the ending of a weekend. Students have to go through all of their classes and hand in assignments from every class. The biggest reason for disliking Mondays is, of course, a mutual feeling between the student body: C days have shorter lunches. Lunch is the halfway point of every school day and some students use this time to play Frisbee while others use it to catch up on any assignments. Hour long lunches on block days really appeal to students for the seemingly everlasting break and after taking 10 minutes to eat, students are left with more than enough time to do anything. Another hated part of a schedule is the dreaded late start day. Classes still remain fairly long while lunchtime is cut down a bit. While late start days may give the staff or faculty time for preparation and it may give some students some more needed sleeping time, they can also completely throw off a lesson plan at times and cause the feared

CABBA schedule swap. Late start days usually follow what would have been a lesson plan for a block day but the trimmed schedule is not suited for long lessons, activities, or exams but is inevitable to have something like that scheduled at some point and it can turn fairly irritating whenever one has to go through a class with a tight schedule. Late start days only arise about 2 times in a 6-week period but being caught by surprise can lead to a dysfunctional day so any preparations can turn out to be helpful. Some schedules tend to give students a few problems while some might be completely competent to the point where every assignment for every class might have a certain time for its completion. A schedule with more time for the completion of piles of class work might be helpful and a schedule with a forum every day of the week might sound nice but in any case students should be prepared for any tight schedules that might arise by even vaguely organizing their time for class work to make High School life a bit easier to survive.

Did You Know... Ms. Walker, a freshman biology teacher, hated science all throughout school and actually went to school as an English major! Ironic. Mrs. Brockington, the french teacher, was born in the North African country of Senegal. Her parents were born in France, and her native lanaguage is french. She moved to America to work on her English when she was 21. Mr Willing, the world geography and U.S. history teacher, is also the swimming coach, and you can find him in room 222. Talk to him for any concerns about geography, or swim team! Mrs. Spence, the Algebra I, AP stats, and Algebra II teacher, also helps out with the Science Olympiad team. See her in room 212 for any questions, or try her in the dugeon after school.

Separation Anxiety Kevin Olson

“I

heard about it from Kealing. It became like my homeschool,” LASA junior Louie Cantu says in a proud tone. Before LASA was it’s own, it was a “magnet program”, or advanced academic program, in LBJ high school. The Liberal Arts and Science Academy, or LASA, gained approval from the AISD schoolboard in 2007 to separate from LBJ and become it’s own school. Now LASA is one of the top-leading academic high schools in the district and continually pushes beyond its limits. Louie liked when everyone was looked at as basically the same. “We used to eat together, walk the same halls everyday, and everybody was happy.” While most new LASA-goers look at the separation as a good thing, a lot of upper-classmen liked it better when they were together. Louie even believes that the separation of old friends created a tension between the student-bodies, and feels that now there is more verbalabuse than there ever was. “LBJ kids make fun of us way more now that we are not with them”, Louie says, “When we were together, the LBJ kids didn’t look at us as different, we were all the same, we were just learning on different academic levels.” Even though there is more verbal-abuse, Louie feels that the physical violence between the two schools has gone is almost non-existent now compared to when they were together due to the lack of either school being together at the same time. Even though Louie doesn’t necessarily favor the separation, many students are getting used to the new

situation. “It was a big deal at the time, but I guess I’m more ok with it now because it’s become my everyday schedule”, Louie says almost sarcastically. Even though both schools are separated, they still share some of the same characteristics as far as sports and some clubs etc. LASA and LBJ students alike compete in sports as one school. However, the schools do have differences. Obviously, now the schools are ranked differently when it comes to academic grades, and TAKS scores. Also, LASA has “blockschedules”, which means that two days a week, you go to four of your classes and they are an hour and a half, and then the other two days a week, you go to the other four classes. All days are block, with the exception of Mondays, where

students attend all seven classes plus a “forum” period, or advisory, where students will do an activity whether it be about their grades and studying, or getting ready for college. “I like forum because it puts me back on the right track in thinking about college, and just my school week in general,” Louie says in a rather serious tone. While LASA’s workload is intense, it pays off greatly in the end. Student’s can expect at least two hours of homework each night plus studying. To incoming eight graders, this is intimidating, but they will eventually appreciate all that LASA has to offer. The school is ranked “exemplary” according the state of Texas, and was ranked number 95 on Newsweek’s top 1300 high schools. In 2008, 22 of 39 National Merit Semifinalists came from LASA. Right now, high school juniors and seniors are in crunch-time as college application deadlines slowly creep up. “Yes, the college-admission process is stressful to everyone regardless of your school, but if you go to LASA, they make sure that when you’re sitting down, writing your application, you have numerous worthy accomplishments to put down” Louie says. “We also have a lot of extracurricular things to be involved in like all the clubs and sports better yet, it doesn’t seem like I’ve done of this extra work. It just comes naturally”, Louie says. Many agree that the school has bigger and better accomplishments yet to make, and the kids just keep getting smarter, and smarter. “But the best part,” Louie says smiling, “I’m just a normal kid going to a not so normal school. But in a good way.”

Coat of arms

LASA was officially recognized by the school board as a separate school from LBJ in 2007. Even though the two schools are separate, they are still housed on the same campus so they share athletic and fine arts courses.

3 The LASA shell or nautilus resting

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Ducete, benefacte, auctoritate, and comitate. Words or phrases in latin that summarize all of the characteristics of students at LASA. They translate to Leadership, righteousnes, and authority.

The feather most likely represents the liberal arts of the liberal arts and science academy along with the atom for science. The school used to be split up or specialized in a sense between literature and science but now that the two schools are housed on the same campus as LASA, there is both a great science and literature department.

5 The arts side of the school is shown here with a comedy and tragedy mask along with a harp. Fine arts at LASA include a great art, music, and theatre program with UIL and varsity competitions and even though this school isn’t very well known for its arts, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t a great part of LASA.

on a textbook acknowledges the independence of the school in a sense by introducing it’s own mascot or symbol. It’s not a very powerful or proud creature like our jaguar but it represents the ‘brains of the bronze’ in a way.

The jaguar is the wellrenowned mascot of LBJ high school. This great figure can come in a few forms including a purple colored jaguar and a pitch-black nightwalker jaguar but in this case it’s a very powerful spotted jaguar perched over the LASA crest. This Mighty cat is considered the king of the jungle at times so it is suited to be our mascot as it dominates all.

TAKS...That’s A Knee Slapper! Kevin Olson

rite about a time when you were hopeful. Well, let me look through fifteen years of my life to find one hopeful moment and I’ll see what I can write about for a page and a half. TAKS has come and gone again and teachers are done hectically handing out Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills prep, or TAKS, and making students as nervous as can be. The pressure is enormous. Get a good night sleep, eat a good breakfast, do your best. The testing Texas has in place for students, which isn’t based on the subject being taken, but grade level, is not proving to be adequate. Aside from the stress put on students about this test, let us not forget the cost that this thing packs in. According to the Texas Education Agency, in 2008, Texas spent an average of about two to three million dollars for about 300,000 students for administering the test. Texas can’t do anything about that with this test, but if we were to replace it with something new, then maybe we could reduce the money spent. The No Child Left Behind Act, or NCLB, says that we have to make sure every student receives a good education and grade levels across the nation should be learning somewhat the same material. So…testing is necessary, but the act doesn’t regulate in what way, or in what format it has to be. Yes, it is a teacher’s responsibility to get the students ready for the test, but the more time wasted. Erin DeConcini, a freshman at LASA says,

“We spend a lot of time getting ready for it, and then half of what we learned isn’t even on the test!” In elementary especially, and in middle school, teachers seem to plan their entire year on TAKS prep. A school’s mission for students is not to be able to pass the test, but to be able to get a good education so that they can succeed in life. “Plus, we already have to take final exams, so it just gets repetitive,” Erin says. Many students also agree that the test is way easier than what teachers and parents think that it actually is. “It’s a good way to sleep for a while,” LASA freshman Gabe Garcia said. For a lot of students, especially at LASA, this test is way under our level of academic skill. I do think that students need testing, but not in this manner. What if some people just simply aren’t good under pressure? We could replace TAKS with some tests that would be periodically given throughout the year. This would make sure that the students are learning what they need to be so that it doesn’t have to be put all on one day. “I wish the test would be more geared toward the current adoption of what the teachers are teaching. After I saw the release test, I was surprised to see that the material was not centered on what we’d been teaching,” Boone Teacher Terry Olson said. Also, the tests aren’t based on what you individually are learning, but what the state says the whole grade level should know. You could be taking say, Geometry but

have to take a TAKS that is based on Algebra I. In regards to Texas at a national level, they blend in well. California, Florida, New York, Nebraska, and many other states are using the same type of standardized test. And it’s not just Texas because all the states contribute. There is one more major flaw that I see in the test. The conclusions made based on the results aren’t conclusions, they’re assumptions. Yes, the scores will be accurate, but who the blame gets put on isn’t. For example, if a school receives low-test scores, the district automatically assumes that the teachers aren’t doing a good job. However, they seem to forget about little Johnny over here that didn’t come to school two days a week, and never paid attention. The state has to give tests. Students need tests. Not using TAKS. If Texas has people assessing the tests, and looking over what could be done, I don’t see why anything hasn’t changed. It’s costly, it’s not

Kevin Olson

What’s all the talk about? One of the problems students have here is not being able to get enough sleep. It is really important and it is proven to be good for your memory and overall mental health. Make sure you can plan your studies and “you-time” well enough so you can get some rest! You might hate it, but honestly you will benefit.

Fail!

Yes, you know you”ve said it... Epic Fail! I’m not exactly sure how this trend sttarted but believe me, half the time, people just saay it to be funny. Don’t get worked up when you hear it. Just have a good laugh and move on. By the way LASA students, a 90 isn’t an epic fail!

Gradespeed.

Ahh...what an evil word! If your parents are gradespeed junkies like mine are, I’m sorry. But look at it like this, you can really keep track of your progress, goals, and you can even see upcoming assignments. There’s nothing wrong with being one step ahead!

GPA.

four

Listen, if you”re a freshman, don’t be obsessed with your grade-point average. It’s really not that important to have a really high one right now! It’s almost guaranteed to not be the same three years down the road when you”re looking at colleges. Yes it is nice, but don’t stress yourself out! It won’t do you any good. Try worrying about individual assignments, tests, and homeworks instead and your GPA should go up on it’s own.

Did you know we have homework!?

I’m soo tired!

Loosing track of assignments can be tough, but try just avoiding it in the first place! Keep up with your agenda , or use some sort of organizer. Maybe a calendar? You’d be amazed by how much easier your school career will become.

So, What Should We Call Them Now?

rom all of the debating, questioning and criticisizing that came from the LBJ vs. Lanier basketball game in the fall, something was finally accomplished. We were able to disprove years of studies and show that winners are actually losers. In the fall of 2008, the LBJ Jaguars played the Lanier Vikings in a girl’s basketball district game. It was like any other game: players passed the ball, Coach René Brown subbed girls every few minutes, and everyone displayed good sportsmanship. It was only until after looking at the final score that controversy arose, because of the 100-point win by LBJ. The Jaguars were recorded as having another district win, with the addition of “unsportsmanlike” tacked onto the end. As the Jaguars saw the media coverage on their game the next day, everyone was puzzled as to what the big deal was. Why should they be punished for playing the game? Fingers point to the unwritten coach’s code: don’t run up the score. “What Coach Brown did was unnecessary. We shouldn’t have to humiliate teams to gain recognition,”

said anonymously by an LBJ senior on varsity. But does this even make sense? Why would Coach Brown or the team in general, want to intentionally humiliate Lanier, when they had no history of rivalry with them? Around the same time, the Dallas Covenant girl’s basketball team beat the Dallas Academy team by 100 to 0, only to find out that they were actually the losers, too. They forfeited the game, issued a nationwide apology and fired their head coach. And as if this wasn’t enough, the media had to bring up the point that Dallas Academy was known for teaching “disabled children” with dyslexia and attention problems.

After this was released, the losing team received a personal invitation from the Dallas Mavericks owner, saying that they were invited to see an NBA game from his suite. Please tell me why all of this is really necessary? Some people on the opposing side of this issue are pushing for a law to be passed called the “mercy rule”, in which a game is ended early if one team has a clear advantage over the other. However, this law has some rough boundaries, such as when is the score high enough on one side to call the game? “The problem with the mercy rule is that it teaches players to

the ball, Coach René Brown subbed girls every few minutes, and everyone displayed good sportsmanship. It was only until after looking at the final score that controversy arose, because of the 100-point win by LBJ. The Jaguars were recorded as having another district win, with the addition of “unsportsmanlike” tacked onto the end. As the Jaguars saw the media coverage on their game the next day, everyone was puzzled as to what the big deal was. Why should they be punished for playing the game? Fingers point to the unwritten coach’s code: don’t run up the score. “What Coach Brown did was unnecessary. We shouldn’t have to humiliate teams to gain recognition,” said anonymously by an LBJ senior on varsity. But does this even make sense? Why would Coach Brown or the team in general, want to intentionally humiliate Lanier, when they had no history of rivalry with them? Around the same time, the Dallas Covenant girl’s basketball team beat the Dallas Academy team by 100 to 0, only to find out that they were actually the losers, too. They forfeited the game, issued a nationwide apology and fired their head coach. And as if this wasn’t enough, the media had to bring up the point

that Dallas Academy was known for teaching “disabled children” with dyslexia and attention problems. After this was released, the losing team received a personal invitation from the Dallas Mavericks owner, saying that they were invited to see an NBA game from his suite. Please tell me why all of this is really necessary? Some people on the opposing side of this issue are pushing for a law to be passed called the “mercy rule”, in which a game is ended early if one team has a clear advantage over the other. However, this law has some rough boundaries, such as when is the score high enough on one side to call the game? “The problem with the mercy rule is that it teaches players to give up when they’re down, whichis the opposite of the team’s goals,” said Iman Berreheu, LBJ varsity basketball player. This isn’t Kindergarten, folks. This is real life. Another problem is that this law doesn’t allow student athletes to get all of their playing time. Both LBJ and Lanier deserve all of the time they were scheduled to play because they’ve worked for it.

19 3

Pointers With the Latest Styles

Ready for summer, sporting a bright tee and cargo shorts.

Cowboy on the run, while wearing boots and a cowboy hat to top it off.

Dress to impress, wearing a blouse with a shawl whentrying to add a little flare and glamour to the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s atmosphere.

A laid back style that shows that you are a person on the move,w hile grabbing a hoddie on the go.

Meet me at the club Saul Hernandez

group of students leisurely draw detailed cartoons on the old blackboard in Mr. Loewenstern’s classroom during lunch. “Food club” said The geography teacher while eating his lunch “A group of 5 students hang out on Wednesdays during lunch and decide on places to go out and eat” It’s not a very active club that has to do with the school community but it acts as a hangout for a group of friends. The variety of clubs are a great part of LASA High School and clubs can become sanctuaries or hangouts for students many times. Clubs can range from being leisure groups to giving students a chance to meet outside of the academic setting. Neil Loewenstern is the sponsor of a few academic clubs at LASA. He is the sponsor for the National junior honor society and the human rights club. He also sponsors ‘Jew crew’ and The Food club amongst other ones. Jew crew meets around Jewish holidays to celebrate them with people of similar beliefs or mutual appeals. It seems like a great way to get to know a culture and to meet new people “Clubs facilitate the social process for new comers at LASA” said Vanessa Mokry, The media-tech teacher at LASA High School “people have many interests and there are a variety of clubs here at LASA to meet all of their needs.” Vanessa Mokry is involved with a few clubs at LASA.

Film club is one of them and it is a club that’s just what it sounds like. Students enjoy films Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during the lunch period. “Film club’s official meeting day has become Wednesday” she said in a firm tone “We are watching ‘Dr.Who’ episodes now.” There are some very rare or exclusive clubs here at LASA that other schools might not have and that are complete unrelated to the school. “Flash mobs” she added “a group of people get together and do something random for 30 seconds.” Vanessa Mokry acts as a sponsor for this particular club but she does not participate much with their activities at all. Flash mobs have gotten together many people before to freeze for 15 seconds and continue with their lives afterwards. Clubs are an important part of any school, whether they are to discuss topics, play sports, meet outside of the academic setting, or to chill with your friends. Every student should consider being involved in a club of some kind just to simply get to know the students around them or to have fun with extracurricular activities while doing it.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Next... Treasure Island had all the

Ahoy me mateys, come along to see what treasure we can find in the theater life.

Treasure Island, was

about finding the perfect spots where the buried treasure might be located.

hidden maps that led to one of the most amzing the theater to life! With treasure of all, which was the first play of the year, the chance to work with it definatly set the stanfriends and as a family of dards high. theater.

Treasure Island brought

Treasure Island, received

2nd place at the Renaissance Festival showing that they were the pirates with all the hidden treasureâ&#x20AC;ŚArrgh!

The pla brought A love s of com one on th seat w

ay Dracula Baby t laughter to all. story with a hint medy had everyhe edge of their with thrill, excitement and fun!

Dracula Baby, brought

the romance to the stage while at the same time showing the relationship between mortal and vampire.

The Outsiders, a future

play that is both an awesome movie as it is a book, and plans to hit the stage at LBJ soon. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss out on the chance to see Johnny boy played by your very own classmate.

Rebel Without a Cause, Jim

Family and friends, the is a city on the move. He theater atmosphere is gets himself into a big mess something that you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t and ends up developing a pass up. The theater life little crush along the way. at L.A.S.A and L.B.J. would His crush gets bigger and not be possible without the realizes that he has to make participants of the students a move even if there are and the help from the some consequences. theater teacher herself, Ms. Alexander.