MYDSHS News May 2018

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MAY / 2018

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photo by Johnathan Manzello

Shattered Dreams program makes an impact with DSHS students...

The anti-drunk driving initiative struck a chord with certain students who participated in both the film and retreat aspect of the mock-tragedy.

Pages 8 & 9...

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Addams Family Musical Wins 4 Awards At Greater Austin High School Theatre Awards Tessa Stigler Staff Writer

On April 18 at the Austin Long Center, DSHS students of all grades collectively received 12 Greater Austin High School Theatre Awards, or GAHSMATA, nominations for their January musical performance of The Addams Family. The production itself was nominated for best production, best choreography, best ensemble, best technical execution, best costumes, best lighting design, best music direction, and best direction while the four students were nominated for their roles in the production.

“GAHSMATA was an amazing experience, and I felt honored to take on the stage manager position throughout the rehearsals and the show itself,” sophomore Sarah Davison said.

GAHSMATA is a formal theatrical awards show for high school theatre students who have been nominated for various titles based on their performance in their most recent shows.

“GAHSMTA is an incredible opportunity for young individuals involved in theatre,” sophomore Cassie Martin, who played Grandma Addams, said. “It gives you a chance to perform and express your passion in front of 2,500 people.”

The Addams Family sold out all four of their shows this year, followed by glowing reviews from not only students of DSHS but also other surrounding

Photos by @dshstheatre

schools. The company put on one last performance at the awards show itself.

“The experience was amazing,” Davison said. “I loved revisiting the Addams musical one last time and putting our hearts into the show on the big stage.”

The Addams Family has received more nominations this year than any other musical that DSHS has presented in the past.

“Individually, I was up for best featured performer,” Martin said. “But our entire school was nominated more than any other school this year.”

The thespians all together won four awards: Best Production, Best Lead Actress (Katie Haberman for Wednesday Addams), Best Featured Performer (Cassie Martin), and Best Direction.

“I was fortunate enough to win in my category out of all the 12 nominees, and I will be forever grateful,” Martin said. “This award is a reminder that I do have the potential to pursue this career. My award is a giant thank you to all my supporters over the past few years: my family, my directors, and my company of the Addams Family. They have made my life beautiful and I am extremely lucky to have them in my life.”

May, 2018

MYDSHSNEWS

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Prom Means Financial Strain for Students Tessa Stigler Staff Writer

“I feel like sometimes they’re unjustified in the way they price [tickets],” junior Riley Borneman This year’s junior and senior prom will be said.

The recent rise of “promposals” has contributed held on May 5 at the AT&T conference center, 40 minutes away, in West Campus Austin from 7:30 to the cost of the prom experience; according to to 11:30 p.m. the same survey, U.S. students, on average, spend Floral Design students will be designing and about one third of their budget on the proposal. decorating the venue with the help of their teacher, “I definitely think it is too expensive,” Martin Ms. Trussell. said. “I know it could be hard “Because the theme is for some to go due to the enchanted forest, we are prices.” going to do heavy greenery Organizations such as the Giving Gown Foundation, and some pops of color with located in Houston, TX, plan flowers,” Mrs. Trussell said. to provide prom dresses and “It should take, with all accessories to students who of the classes, less than a otherwise would not be able to week to prep.” afford to attend school formal Prom tickets were events. originally listed at $50 The prom committee meets with sponsor Ms. Shepperd on April 24 to discuss finances.

“We are dedicated to each and are set to increase $10 every week approaching prom; including an promoting confidence and self-esteem to high additional $10 fee for sophomores attending with school girls and strive to help them attend their formal events in style, regardless of their financial an upperclassman.

“I feel the price of prom tickets is becoming too circumstances,” the foundation stated via their high, and it becomes even more unfair since the website.

Close to a fourth of the student body is expected price is raised every week,” sophomore Cassie Martin, who will be attending prom with an to attend this year’s prom.

“I’m spending upwards of $500 on prom,” upperclassman, said.

According to Visa Inc.’s survey, American Bourneman said. “Overall, I do believe the price of families spend an average of $900 for all of the prom is worth it.” components of attending prom.

Opinion

4 MYDSHSNEWS May, 2018

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Goodbye, Drip

We Know What We’re Getting Into

Jaxson Power-Thornton Editor-in-Chief

Grayson Ruiz Opinion and Lifestyle Editor

I still remember the day I moved in... Just a wideeyed sixth grader with no friends, no knowledge of the area and no idea that Dripping Springs is where I would become the person I am becoming today.

Back then, my heart was set on becoming a player for the US Men’s National Soccer team. As I grew older, that dream faded into realism, where it shifted into a new goal: collegiate soccer. And it was on the high school practice field that I spent most of my hours on the field.

Drip was and is a lot of things to me... a bit bland for the life of a born city boy? Sure. A bit conservative and “old-fashioned” for someone who’s about to spend the next four years at a film school in LA? Perhaps.

But that is not what will protrude in my memories about Dripping Springs. Rather, the booming voice and intense passion that my seventh grade Texas history teacher Coach Paige had. The massive Hill-Country nights with every star as clear as they could possibly be.

The wonderful people who borderline throw barbecue at you before home football games.

These are the things I will remember. Sure, Dripping Springs isn’t perfect. But nowhere is.

Austin’s got traffic. Los Angeles trades rain for traffic. New York City substitutes space and country for industry.

The important thing about Dripping Springs is the residual. It’s the majority. The people will rarely leave you with a poor taste, but instead they will go above and beyond to make your day. Sure, you have to drive 45 minutes to get downtown, but you’re going to realize that the scenery you’re passing in your car is hard to beat.

I am a city boy, through and through. There is no denying that. I grew up a five minute bike ride from the downtown streets of Boise, Idaho. It was culture shock when I suddenly found myself living on a highway outside of this little town called Dripping. But looking back, I couldn’t possibly have it any other way.

Dripping gave me every opportunity I needed. From athletics, to academics, to the arts and beyond, there is no other place I could have flourished the exact same way as I have.

But most importantly, I am thankful for the person this place has molded me into. I am happy with the way I am, and I am the way I am because of the people in this town with whom I lived every day.

We all have to move on at some point, but its nice to know I’ll always be welcome back home with open arms.

The privacy issue concerning social media is one that has been recently publicized.

There are many who are flabbergasted, shocked and concerned over their public information not only being accessible to the public, but also to social media companies like Facebook.

When users sign up for Facebook, or any social media site for that matter, they are forced to comply with a “Terms and Conditions” contract provided by the specific company. No one really reads over this and, instead, merely scans over the small font, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking “I agree”.

But what are you agreeing to? You’re agreeing to your private information being shared with these companies and with the public. The following information is utilized from Facebook in these quotes below: - “Device attributes: information such as the operating system, hardware and software versions, battery level, signal strength, available storage space, browser type, app and file names and types, and plugins.

- Device operations: information about operations and behaviors performed on the device. such as whether a window is foregrounded or backgrounded, or mouse movements (which can help distinguish humans from bots).

- Identifiers: unique identifiers, device IDs, and other identifiers, such as from games, apps, or accounts you use, and Family Device IDs (or other identifiers unique to associated with the same device or account).

- Device signals: Bluetooth signals, and information about nearby Wi-Fi access points, beacons, and cell towers.

- Data from device settings:information you allow us to receive through device settings you turn on, such as access to your GPS location, camera, or photos.

- Network and connections: information such as the name of your mobile operator or ISP, language, time zone, mobile phone number, IP address, connection speed and, in some cases, information about other devices that are nearby or on your network, so we

can do things like help you stream a video from your phone to your TV. - Cookie data: data from cookies stored on your device, including cookie IDs and settings.”

Facebook has complete authority and control over the movements you’re making online.

They track your website history to make way for advertisements on your feed, and they monitor your location which interacts with local advertisements. People seem to forget that Facebook is a business, and they do all of this for profit. The advertisements contribute to Facebook’s funds.

Some of us, me for instance, don’t mind this. The truth is, I had the complete power and authority to agree to those terms and conditions, and if I didn’t feel comfortable with them, I wouldn’t have signed up for an account. Social media largely plays a part in people’s personal choices. We choose what to post, what social media companies monitor, and what to look at on our feed.

Another company that has been the center of scrutiny is Snapchat. According to Her, “by accepting their terms and conditions you grant Snapchat and [their] ‘business partners the unrestricted, worldwide, perpetual right and license to use your name, likeness, and voice in any and all media and distribution channels (now known or later developed) in connection with any Live Story or other crowd-sourced content you create, upload, post, send, or appear in.’” Scary, right?

When you are signing up for Snapchat, these are the terms you agree to. And while some are completely okay with it, it is something that is a major cause of concern. We often forget just how impactful our words or our actions really are online, but it wouldn’t hurt the adolescent community to really be more cautious about what we are sending out. The Snapchats don’t just “go away”. The Facebook data and location monitoring is sending out location data every time you get on the app.

Social media is truly something that could make us or break us, and with this privacy issue on the rise, we all need to be a part of the more cautious approach with our online decision making.

opinion

May, 2018

MYDSHSNEWS

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The New Wave: The Joys of Music Streaming Grayson Ruiz Opinion and Lifestyle Editor

Throughout my high school years, music has been on the forefront of my mind when I was studying, working, and even driving to school. It has been something that offered me peace in times of chaos, and made me joyful when I was upset. With all of this new technology, we are presented with opportunities like never before, especially with music.

I started using Spotify, a streaming service, my freshman year of high school. I had heard so much about it, and I started to get tired of having to purchase all of my music on iTunes. I downloaded it, started making playlists, and that’s where my love for music in general really began. I loved how it was so personal, and I could listen to anything I wanted.

Yes, there were advertisements, but after much use of the app, I upgraded to premium. iTunes just didn’t work for me anymore. In fact, it felt largely impersonal.

I never fully realized just how much music had helped me through various points in my life until I reflected on my high school years while working on my senior portfolio. And not just purchasing the music itself, but streaming music in particular.

According to the Guardian, in 2009 “annual [music] revenues fell from 14.6 billion in 1999 to 6.3 billion in 2009.” There was a large decline in CD sales during that period, causing losses of money to music artists and labels. But when Spotify emerged in 2008, a new wave of streaming began.

Years ago, artists would have to wait until they started to sell CD’s before they saw any kind of profit.

Now, with each stream on services like Spotify or Apple Music, they can make money as soon as they release it. It has been reported on both the Guardian and Digital Music News that “Apple Music pays $0.00783 [a stream] and Spotify pays $0.00397 [a stream]” but artists with a greater reputation in the industry tend to cut deals with both the streaming services and their label.

However, this caused controversy for smaller artists signed to bigger labels. Many “complained that labels were raking in big profits from Spotify while artists were seeing scraps”, the Guardian claims. But even if that was the case, it makes no difference compared to what they would’ve been making on a simple CD sale. With just one listen of a song, they would be creating some sort of profit,

instead of just buying a CD one time.

Now, albums are longer, (a 10 track album will now have 10 new songs even though the album came out two years ago) and intros to the beginnings of an album are shorter so the artist can keep your attention span before they can skip it.

Spotify and Apple Music expand the horizon for both music artists and listeners. With the creation of playlists such as “Fresh Finds” or “Vanguard Voices”,

they give multiple artists opportunities to shine. The playlists are public, so anyone already following that playlist will hear it no matter what, and even when new listeners begin to follow it, the artist’s work will still be exposed.

Sam Wolfson of the Guardian explains it all too well. “Music used to be dominated by audiences with the most spending power- so middle class, middleaged people… often decided what topped the charts.

Now Afrobeat, Danish rap, hundreds of genres of niche electronic music, and particularly British urban music are flourishing commercially, without having to make any concessions to the mainstream.”

Streaming music has proven to be the new wave for listeners all over the world. With new opportunities and experiences for up and coming artists just by one simple playlist on a “Browse” page, you open the door for revenue and creative processes to flow more eloquently.

I know I’ll be thinking about this more and more when I’m creating my own personal “May 2018” playlist. The emphasis music has put on society’s happiness has been one that continues to prosper. I only hope that we will strive for more technological advancements in the music industry in order to support the emerging artists that you and I love and listen to every day.

6 MYDSHSNEWS May, 2018

ALL THE LATEST CONTRIBUTIONS >> Visit myDSHS.com/category/creative.

Comics by Jade Howe

Creative

May, 2018

MYDSHSNEWS

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High Paying Creative Jobs Dallas Johnson Creative Editor

Lots of people have notebooks filled with writing and drawings or are very good with imagining better and more stylish furniture while at their friend’s house. Well, this is all actually very centered around design, which is a field containing some high-paying jobs. This is an excellent outlet for creativity, and not only that, but an outlet that can earn you $90,000 a year.

There are also so many different roles within the field of design. I’ll be talking about the three highest paying jobs in this field later. These jobs will give your artistic side something to thrive on while making you money.

These highest salaries mentioned will require highly professional skills and maybe also some experience, but it’s still very practical to achieve, not to mention how unique and fun these careers can be.

If this sounds like something that you could be interested in but you’re not confident in your skills, no need to worry! There are always opportunities and classes to help you learn.

Graphic Designer You might be most familiar with this title when you think about doing visual work. Graphic designer is a term that’s been around for decades to describe people who create mainly print designs, for everything from packaging labels to magazine ads.

What makes this position different nowadays is all the tools and systems around to make creating visual assets infinitely easier—and more fun! And of course many of today’s texts are the ones you read online so you’ll be designing for the digital space too.

Digital Designer In digital design, you’ll be creating web pages, websites, emails, infographics, icons, and more—all to get messages across on screen. This is a fantastic chance to turn your creative inspirations into practical ways of helping, for example, marketing, social media, and communication teams express their ideas or pass on information.

Visual Designer As a visual designer, you’ll put your keen eye to work to create a unified expression of the spirit of brands and products. Your goal is to make all the visual aspects fit together so you should feel at home with everything from print to photography and ready to turn your ideas into amazing visual experiences of all types.

Animator Animators, by hand, create cartoons for all sorts of different purposes.

Cartoons can be created both in 2D and in 3D for presentations, entertainment, and much more. Knowledge in things such as Photoshop and animation tools like Flash is typically necessary for this job.

There remains a multitude of opportunities for students to work on creative endeavors and still make a living. While some of these positions may be freelance or part-time, enough small businesses and large organizations exist such as Google and Dreamworks where full-time creativity is greatly sought after.

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SHATTERED DREAMS

Giselle Galletti Features Editor

Photos by Robbie Lopez

May, 2018

MYDSHSNEWS WANT MORE FEATURES? >> Visit myDSHS.com/category/features for additional coverage.

Giselle Galletti Features Editor Flatlining: a prolonged incessant beep coming from a heart monitor signifying the loss of a life. This sound was heard every 50 minutes over the speakers on Thursday, April 19 all across the school, and soon after the reaper would appear in a classroom and take away the next victim. These kids were taken from class to represent the number of lives we lose, in just the period of a school day, to drunk drivers.

Every two years, a group of students gets together and creates their version of the short film “Shattered Dreams” to help raise awareness for drinking and driving in both the junior and senior classes. It is a two day event, consisting of a live crash scene on Thursday along with the living dead being taken from class, followed by the premiere of the film on Friday.

This year’s production team consisted of senior Jaxson Thornton, senior Jake Duran, senior Kristina Huynh, junior Reece Bonnaure, and sophomore Andrew Spiegel.

“Shattered Dreams is what I’ve been eagerly awaiting through all of high school,” Duran said.

“The biggest opportunity to showcase the DSHS cinematography program while also supporting an anti drinking and driving campaign has always seemed like the way I want to leave my mark.”

The crash scene was filmed live in front of the upperclassmen up by the tennis courts the day before the film premiered, allowing the students to be a part of the event in a more physical way.

“Participating in the crash was very surreal,” junior Emery Dunn, Shattered Dreams actor, said.

“Grace [Denny] and Ryland [Haynes] both seemed so lifeless. It was really realistic. Being involved in that part just made me never want to relive that situation for real. Jaxson did a great job directing the film; he made everyone almost forget that something bad was about to happen until it was too late.”

The addition of the living dead on Thursday involved students being taken out of class by a teacher dressed as the grim reaper, and then their fake obituary was read out loud to that class. Afterwards, they then got their makeup done with fake bruising and blood, phones taken away, and sent back to class with instructions to not talk the rest of the day. For all intensive purposes, these students were dead.

“Seeing people in the hall was mortifying, because you’re thinking like, ‘Oh that could be me, I could be dead right now’,” Heflin said.

“It was a very real kind of experience and they really set it up for the kids to get informed, and I took a lot out of it honestly. It was kind of cool to see my own classmates go through all of that,” junior Thomas Babiak said. “It does put into the perspective of what if you did lose these people getting pulled out classes,

because it could happen to anyone.”

To make it even more real, these 30 students pulled from class got to spend the night at the local Methodist church, thus removing themselves from their families as well. During this overnight stay, the students listened to different guest speakers and got to drive Mr. Norton’s golf cart through an obstacle course while wearing drunk goggles. At the end of the night, the students were then given the farewell letters that their parents wrote for them, as if they had actually died.

“The fact that we didn’t have our phones, forced us to communicate on a more personal level,” senior Emma Tod, a living dead participant, said. “The group was a wide variety of students, and it was nice going through that experience with people we don’t normally see on an everyday basis. I think, going through something so emotional made everyone who participated a lot closer.”

“Reading the letters our parents would say to us as if we died was a sad moment, but it hit everyone in a way that made us all think,” junior Maddy McCraw, a living dead participant, said. “We all hear about drunk driving and how it kills, but after reading how your parents would respond as if you died really opens your eyes to how selfish it is to drunk drive.”

On Friday, most of the upperclassmen were let out of class part of the way into 6th period, and went to the competition gym to watch the short film. The production team had been up till 6 a.m. the night before, editing the last of the footage, and the living dead were brought back to the school.

“Besides our director passing out, almost catching the school on fire, removing shards of glass from various body parts and the tooth fairy paying a visit, everything went perfectly not according to plan,” Duran said. “What impressed me most was the incredibly talented team of editors I was working with, adapting to the inevitability that everything possible will go wrong, and that’s just something we had to prepare for as best we could.”

“The filming took 50 days, and on the 51st day we just edited until about, well Jaxson stayed up till 6 a.m., and I went to sleep at about 5 a.m.,” Spiegel said. “I got a lot of experiences. I met a lot of really cool people. It was good. It was really stressful, but funny. But more than anything, don’t drink and drive, but also don’t cheat on your boyfriend. That’s a good one.”

After the students watched the 48-minute long short film, a guest speaker in partnership with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.) came out and told the story about how her son was a victim of a drunk driving car wreck back in 2008. The focal point was that he used to go to the high school and was actually involved with Shattered Dreams while

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there. This brought the two day event to a close, and the reactions were mixed.

“I think, it made a temporary change to people’s viewpoint,” Babiak said. “You’ll think about it for a while but then it will kind of fade away back into ‘Oh, I’m going to go back to drinking and driving, and doing distracted things on the road, like texting and driving,’ so yeah it’s a good experience for the time being but it just dies out eventually.”

“This is a very serious cause, and seeing my friends and people that I actually know in the situation was really hard, and I don’t want anyone to go through that in real life.” junior Rylie Powell said.

“At the Shattered Dreams seminar, I think, it was important to listen to the guest speaker and her story, but watching the entire film with my classmates felt awkward or over the top in a way, but the film was well done, and I appreciate all the hard work put into it,” junior Erika Gossett said. “I feel like drunk driving is definitely something that is kind of shoved into our faces just because we are teens, but most of us are smart enough to make the right choice, so I didn’t really see the point of having everyone sit in the gym for an extended period of time to watch the film and take up class time.”

“I thought it was super cool because it gave us a real life experience, but at the same time, nobody died, so that was a good part of it, but it basically woke me up,” senior Grace Yowell said. “Don’t drink and drive. If you have friends who want to drive, don’t let them.”

“I feel like a lot of [my classmates] didn’t take it very seriously,” junior Sydney Larkin said. “Drinking underage is bad, but you also really shouldn’t use your phone while driving. That I think was the deciding factor in the end. I feel like it could have been done better; the way people were portrayed, I felt wasn’t the most realistic. If people were that drunk, they couldn’t even open their car and then cause an accident of that scale.”

The entire short film can be found on Jaxson Thornton’s YouTube channel, and he advises to “Enjoy it while you can. Who knows when YouTube is going to take it down. Best enjoyed with headphones or on a TV screen with speakers.” For more information on how to help get the word out, there are any number of organizations, including M.A.D.D. “Instead of a zero tolerance policy as used by many parents, schools and anti-drinking and driving programs, it is important to remember that teenagers will drink no matter how hard it is for them to obtain alcohol,” Duran said. “The main point we were trying to focus on is not to eliminate teen drinking, it’s to eliminate teen drinking and driving. Convincing our peers to get a designated driver is much easier than convincing everyone to never drink again.”

10 MYDSHSNEWS May, 2018

Spread by Giselle Galletti

FEATURES ONLINE: Sno-balls Katie Haberman Staff Writer

Photo by Giselle Galletti

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May, 2018

MYDSHSNEWS

“The key to everything is determination.”

In between pages of an Arabic textbook, this famous proverb may flit across the vision of its reader, inked in black and written in its root language. This reader is Addie Mae Villas, a sophomore accepted into an international program to study the foreign language.

Each year, the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program selects a small number of students via a lengthy application process to learn critical languages outside of the United States. Villas counts as one of 22 students accepted into the Arabic section of NSLI-Y, which will take place in Morocco this summer.

“I really want to go into International Affairs, and the Middle East is a really hot button subject right now,” Villas said. “I really want to learn [Arabic] because the culture is really fascinating, but also just to get an understanding between that culture and our culture. I think learning a language is the best way to do that.”

The NSLI-Y offers programs for eight different critical languages, or foreign languages in high demand that aren’t often taught in high schools, with the newest addition being the Bahasa Indonesia dialect. These programs occur both in the summer and during the school year and are held in different cultural centers across the globe.

“It’s a State Department funded program,” Villas said. “They basically have programs in critical languages to increase learning for them, so Arabic, Russian, Korean, Mandarin, Hindi, Persian, and Turkish are the programs they offer.”

The application process takes large amounts of determination, as around 25 pages of questions and essay topics must be answered in order to appeal for a position.

“I started the application this past August and then I submitted it in October, and in December I found out that I was a semifinalist,” Villas said. “With that I had to do an interview and a medical examination, and then I just had to wait for a couple of months, and then found out in March.”

In terms of every language sector of the NSLI-Y program, the overall number of applicants totaled to around 3,300. Of that number, only 15% received scholarships to participate in the program, with 22 of those students grabbing positions in the Arabic section of the program.

“I really want to improve my reading and writing skills because that’s just something that I lack in,” Villas said. “I [hope for] just new experiences and getting to live with a different culture and a host family and stuff like that.”

Villas began her studies last summer, participating in several camps and programs and has continued learning Arabic throughout the school year via self-study.

“I went to a program at Brigham Young University in Utah, another federal program called STARTALK, and that’s more for like domestic kind of learning critical languages here in the United States,” Villas said. “I spent three weeks on campus learning Arabic, and then I spent another three weeks in El Paso with family, and then I went to a camp there too.”

In Morocco, Villas will stay with a host family for the duration of the program. The NSLI-Y program also allows students to reside in a group housing situation with other attendees for part of the trip and a host family for the other.

“I also had to write a host family letter, so like, ‘Hi, I’m Addie, and this is me,’” Villas said. “It was pretty fun.”

Over one million Americans speak Arabic, making it the fastest growing second language in the United States.

This allows students to connect with not only those overseas, but people right next door.

“I’m going to be going and living in a whole different culture than Dripping Springs,” Villas said. “I think that’s like one thing I’m really gonna walk away with, is just being open to experiences.”

Arabic Overseas Katie Haberman Staff Writer

Photo by Cole Ary

Entertainment

12 MYDSHSNEWS May, 2018

DSHS Students Ooze Talent

Battle of the Bands

Photos courtesy of Caroline Crane

30th Annual Hi-Stepper Spring Show

Photos courtesy of Tracy Staats

Varsity Winter Guard Wins 2nd at State Photos courtesy of Stephanie Kirkey

LIFESTYLE

March, 2018

MYDSHSNEWS

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The Best Vintage Stores in the Austin Area Grayson Ruiz Opinion and Lifestyle Editor

PROTOTYPE VINTAGE DESIGN PRICE RANGE: $$ ADDRESS: 1700 South Congress Ave

LO-FI VINTAGE PRICE RANGE: $ ADDRESS: 604 W 29th Street

Prototype is among my favorites in the Austin area mostly because of its diverse collection. It has every color, every print, and it’s all arranged by color order. They also have a fantastic t-shirt collection near the men’s section. Prototype is all vintage clothing, but also carries shoes, purses, jewelry, and sunglasses as well. While it can be expensive, you are almost certain to find a unique piece that you’ll love for any season.

They frequently post on their social media page and have small online or in-store sales during the week or on specific weekends.

Lo-Fi is one of the most relaxed, chill, vintage stores I’ve ever been in. They have a TV and video games set up, a lounging area, and hanging racks filled with denim, crop tops, and shorts for summer. While it is small, it does carry some pretty amazing pieces and it’s not as expensive.

They have a sale section they frequently put outside and a large t-shirt collection with brands such as Supreme, Coogi, and Nike.

CONTACT US General Questions: DSHSstudentmedia@dsisdconnect.com 512-858-3243 Advertising Inquiries: DSHSadvertising@gmail.com Follow Us Online: Twitter: @myDSHSnews

@myDSHSsports Instagram: @my_dshs_news Snapchat: myDSHSsnaps

Meet the Staff Editor-in-Chief Jaxson Thornton ‘18 Sports Editor Camryn Horst ‘19

Features Editor Giselle Galletti ‘19

Opinion & Lifestyle Editor Grayson Ruiz ‘18

Entertainment & News Editor Jade Berry ‘19

Online Editor Clara Comparan ‘18

Creative Editor Dallas Johnson ‘18

Staff Writers Tessa Stigler, Katie Haberman, Jade Howe, Rigley Willis

Opinion

MyDSHS welcomes reader viewpoints through letters to the editor and guest columns. Opinions expressed in myDSHSnews are not necessarily those of the Dripping Springs High School or Dripping Springs ISD administration.

Editorials, Columns & Letters

Editorials express the opinions of the writers.

Letters and columns are the opinions of an individual and not myDSHS.

Letters

To submit a letter, email DSHSstudentmedia@dsisdconnect.com. Letters should be a maxiumum of 400 words. The letter is not guaranteed to be published.

14 MYDSHSNEWS May, 2018

SPORTS

Spread by: Camryn Horst

WANT MORE SPORTS? >> Visit myDSHS.com/category/sports for all the latest coverage.

Photo by Kaleigh Cousins

Talent, Family Define Track Season

Photo by Cy Bruni

Camryn Horst Sports Editor

The track team has had a very successful season, as multiple students advanced to regionals last weekend April 27-28.

Senior Justin Malcom, a distance runner, said that he thinks that majority of the qualified runners would advance to state.

“It’s exciting to see my teammates compete and do well in their events and continue to progress to the point where they are making it out of districts and area, and hopefully to state,” Malcom said.

Since it was Malcom’s senior year, he said he wanted this season to be different, and his best.

“I had a different mindset this year. I wanted to leave everything I had all out on the table since it was my last year and I didn’t want to say I had any regrets.

I tried to soak up the experience even more this year,” Malcom said.

Also, Malcom said that since he was a senior, he was able to observe other runners and notice their positive future with the program.

“There were a lot of young talented runners who I saw run this year who have a lot of potential and could end up doing extremely well in the next couple years,” Malcom said.

Junior Leanna Cobb said that the track season’s success can be accredited to the fact that most of the runners ran together in cross country. She added that the team acts as a family.

“I think that Coach Tuzzi may not always win or may not always have great seasons because truth is, running is hard to be consistent,” Cobb said. “Despite this, Coach Tuzzi has created such a family with this group of runners, and we are all so close.”

In addition to this, Cobb said that even though track was challenging, that she looked forward to running because of her team and coach.

“Our track team has done a great job of making all of the team members feel included and have a great group of coaches that encourage all kids to try new things and new field events.”

Cobb says that this season has been different than others because she branched out into different events.

“I normally would have only focused on long distance,” Cobb said. “This year the coaches encouraged me to try discus, which was very new. Our coaches were very encouraging and I am so glad I was able to try something new even though I wasn’t the best at it. I grew as a person.”

In relation to Cobb’s views on the coaches and the bond created by the team, Malcom said that the coaching staff succeeded in making all event teams close.

“I ran the mile so I ran in the distance group which was separate from the sprinters and hurdle groups,” Malcom said. “Coach Tuzzi, Coach Reid, and Coach Laughlin really helped in making the separate groups a team.”

“I think that our coaches do an amazing job of making this sport a family.

There are not many sports that you have to spend 10 hours in the blazing heat and freezing cold rain just to run for 10 minutes. To have a coaching staff and group of students that can make that enjoyable is truly something special,” Cobb said.

Malcom added that he was thankful for the opportunity to run track and had one thing to share with his team.

“To my fellow seniors, it’s been amazing to be able to run with y’all these past four years. To the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, good luck to all of you. I’m excited to see what this group of people can accomplish,” Malcom said.

Cobb concluded by saying that she is proud to be in track.

“I am extremely proud to be a part of this organization and the things we are doing,” Cobb said.

This idea of gratitude for the track family becomes prominent throughout the school and shows through Cobb and Malcom.

“Track has let me meet people I would have not met otherwise and I’m thankful for that,” Malcom said.

15

May, 2018

MYDSHSNEWS

May Madness

Rigley Willis Staff Writer

Basketball Prepares to Dribble Into Next Season Over the past 8 months, the basketball team has seen some of the more impressive and remarkable team and individual player accomplishments in recent memory. The 2017-2018 campaign for all sporting departments went down in memorable fashion as all departments were able to make noise both in their district and in the postseason.

“It was fun for us especially since we were able to do something memorable this season,” sophomore Andrew Spiegel said. “We definitely were able to get our names out there this year.”

Many teams were able to make impressive runs in their seasons but many student-athletes, like Matthew McKiddie, had some very impressive individual seasons.

“I know what I did this year was pretty amazing, but none of that could have happened without the extra hours after practice, my teammates that I [improved] with over my career, and my coaches who allowed me to be the player that I am,” senior McKiddie said.

Within a season, many memories are collected on the court or field as well as off. A single season in a sport can be remembered for a lifetime, and for many, that is why they play.

Expectations are high for the softball team in their playoff run as they advanced to state last year.

Photo by Kaleigh Cousins

“[In basketball this year,] there were so many times when I had fun with my teammates when we played, but we all became such good friends that we ended up hanging out after games and practices,” junior West Weichert said. “Even though the season is over, we all still hang out, and we have tons of memories together from just one season.”

Multiple players stated that at the end of the day, however, none of these things would have happened if it wasn’t for the encouragement from their coaches. “[Coach Norris] brought a lot of support to our team, and was always very encouraging even if we lost or [when we] weren’t doing too well,” junior Julia Graham said. “He’s one of the smartest coaches I’ve had when it comes to basketball.”

For next year, the goals that these players have given themselves are much larger than ever expected.

“Next year, I not only want to make the jump from junior varsity to varsity, but I also want to be [playing] when the games truly matter,” sophomore Matt Gustafson said, “and I think with my intense workout plan that this goal is completely realistic.”

Photos by Laurin Hirsch

16 MYDSHSNEWS May, 2018