Volume 39, Issue 1: December 2020 by The Eagle Angle

What’s happening in dance

A look in what goes on in Allen’s dance studio

How COVID-19 has afffected education

What has changed for students because of the pandemic

Being Indian

Three generations of culture in one household

A Look at Life in Foster Care

HOW ONE ALLEN TEEN NAVIGATED THE PROCESS p.10

Allen High School / issue 01 volume 39 / December 2020 / TheEagleAngle.com

Editors-in-chief The Eagle Angle distributes Alessio Haro 1,000 copies of each issue Kennedy Jackson on campus to faculty and students. Contents Managing editor may be viewed online Abi Marines at theeagleangle.com. Feature & Businesses who wish to Sports Assistant editor advertise should contact Lilly Arnold Matthew MacVeigh, newspaper adviser, at News & Commentary 469-319-6258. The Eagle editor Angle reserves the right Meghan Holloran to deny publication of advertisements. Advertising & Social Advertisements are not Media editor necessarily endorsed by the Khushboo Amarnani staff or administration. All Sports editor editorials reflect the views Nicholas Chamness of the authors and do not necessarily represent the Photo editor views of the entire staff, Gisselle Alvillar adviser or administration. The Eagle Angle is a member Copy editor of Quill and Scroll, the Colin Campbell Interscholastic League Press Conference and JEA/NSPA. Staff writers Allyson Chen Liana Franklin Paige James Kentaya Nettles Aaryana Sharma Kedhar Swaminathan

THE SOCIAL DILEMMA: WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Story By | Lilliy Arnold

Photo courtesy of Camilo Jimenez from Unsplash

TheEagleAngle.com @theeagleangle @ahseagleangle ahseagleangle

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04 08 17 19 Share the Love

Collin College Technical Campus Open House

2020 Presidential Election

Shop Anam Cara with Muntaha Sabir and Avery Reeves

Share the Love

Story by | Kennedy Jackson

The U.S. was built and evolved on the backs of hardworking men and women. Unfortunately, the minorities that helped our nation prosper sometimes go overlooked. It’s important to appreciate everyone in our country’s history so we don’t take its cultures and lessons for granted. The idea of America was a land where people could live without oppression and judgement and these are only a few of the people that fought for that dream, so here’s a look at some important faces that some people fail to see.

Adah Almutairi (1976-present).

Saudi Arabian scholar, inventor and entrepreneur, Adah Almutairi is a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of California San Diego, affiliate faculty in the departments of bioengineering and nanoengineering, and Director of the Center for Excellence in Nanomedicine and Engineering in the Institute of Engineering in Medicine. Researchers in the center are creating nanoparticles that promise new levels of precision in treating disease. Almutairi has a Ph.D. in materials chemistry with a focus on electron delocalization and molecular structure and has used her knowledge to develop tools for the future of biology and medicine. So far, Almutairi has researched biomaterial enhancement of stem-cell transplant efficiency for vision loss and chemically amplified response strategies for medical sciences, as well as introduced the first polymeric nanoparticle which can safely penetrate living tissue; developed the first near infrared-degradable polymer, which enables precise remotely controlled delivery of molecules; created an activatable MRI agent that has expanded the scope of MRI to convey information at the cellular and molecular level; and designed a polymeric nanoparticle that enables delivery to the cytoplasmic matrix in order to help living functions in the body when exposed to degradation. Almutairi holds over ten US and

international patents and has received awards such as the phRMA foundation award, Young Investigator Award, and more.

Alan Turing (1912-1954).

Alan Mathison Turing was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, code breaker, theoretical biologist, strange visionary, and a “gay man before his time,” biographer Andrew Hodges wrote. Turing invented modern computing and conceptualized & created a scientific test for confirming artificial intelligence. During WWII, Turing broke the code for the Nazi Enigma machine, which the German government used to send encrypted messages to military officers around the globe. By enabling British intelligence to decode Enigma, Turning allowed the Allies to defeat Adolf Hitler.

Ellen Ochoa (1958-present).

Ellen Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman in space as well as Johnson Space Center’s first hispanic director and second female director. Ochoa joined NASA as a research engineer at Ames Research Center, then was chosen as an astronaut for JSC and logged 1,000 hours in orbit. Ochoa graduated from San Diego State University with a B.A. in physics and a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford. Ochoa is the co-inventor on three patents for optical inspection systems, was the head of the Intelligent Systems Technology Branch at NASA’s Ames Research Center and received NASA’s highest award, the Distinguished Service Medal. She also earned the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award for senior executives in the federal government.

Rudolph Fisher (1897-1914).

Rudolph John Chauncey Fisher was an African American physician, radiologist, novelist, short story writer, dramatist, musician, and orator. Fisher graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts, majoring in English and biology, then went on to 4

graduate from Harvard Medical School. He is most known for his literary work, which included books and short stories such as “The Conjure Man Dies” and “City of Refuge,” and is considered one of the key figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Throughout the Harlem Renaissance, Fisher pursued an active career as a physician in private practice, a roentgenologist, and an X-ray technician. He published several scientific articles, such as the “Action of ultraviolet light upon bacteriophage and filterable viruses,” and contributed his work to the NAACP before he died.

Ira Hayes (1923-1955).

Ira Hamilton Hayes was a Pima Native American, enrolled as a member of the Gila River Pima Indian Reservation, and a United States Marine during World War II. During the war, Hayes and five other marines fought on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima and raised the U.S flag at the top of the island under heavy fire. This movement was caught on film and became one of the most memorable moments from WWII. Hayes was commemorated in art and film before and after his death, and was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in the Republic of Vietnam on June 16, 1966.

I.M. Pei (1917-2019).

Ieoh Ming Pei was a Chinese-American architect who is widely considered to be one of the greatest modern architects. Some of Pei’s most notable works are the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and the famous glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris that left behind a legacy that “combined high design and corporate success with international impact.” His numerous contributions have been recognized with the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the AIA Gold Medal, and the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal institution of British Architects.

Name: Easy Applications

Story by Abi Marines 1

The college application process can be tricky. Between different types of application websites, guiding through Naviance, and finding the college you want to apply to, all of it can be overwhelming. But Allen High School offers a lot of resources to help guide students through the admissions process. “[The application process was easy] for the most part,” senior Brendan Farley said. “The transcript stuff was a little difficult trying to figure out what was sent what wasn’t when it was sent, if it was delivered, some of that stuff was a little unclear, but being able to send in my grades and everything else was fairly easy.”

2 However for a lot of students, the application process can be extremely confusing beyond just the transcripts. Luckily, the College and Career advisors are one of the resources students have access to. Their sole purpose is to help students throughout the process and hopefully make students’ lives a little easier. “So most students don’t really know what they want to do or how to get started,” Charlotte Samuels, college and career advisor for House 400, said. “So what we do is start them out in Naviance, and we have them look into the colleges that they want to apply to, and the colleges that I’m applying to in Naviance,” Samuels said.

“I do recommend that they go in and do the assessments,” Samuels said. “So they can kind of see their interest and what they might want to major in. A lot of the assessments will let them see what they’re good at and what major it directs them is based on their answers.” As helpful as Naviance is, it’s not the actual application website that students have to go through. According to Samuels, most students can go through ApplyTexas, Common App or directly through the school the student is applying at. Students can locate the website of the school they’re applying to through Naviance via the college’s tab. “What I recommend is – depending on how many schools you have – you need to do is see what works best for you [when applying],” Samuels said. “So let’s say that school offers you a free application and so then [you] would apply to their institution because you get your application fee waived. But if they don’t, if you’re applying to other schools in Texas, I would recommend that you use ApplyTexas. What ApplyTexas will allow you to do is once you submit your application, you’re able to reuse your application again, and not have to go through the whole process.”

77 “The first thing I would tell a student to do is find out who your admission counselor is,” Bradley University associate director of admissions Toni Chandler said. “Just reach out to them, even if it’s a huge state school or a smaller private, like Bradley,” Chandler said. “Those people are invaluable. They’ve seen the good, bad, and ugly; and they can kind of help you avoid some of those common mistakes that people might make, clarify deadlines, or clarify what a typical admin looks like for them, or the differences between test-optional for admission and testoptional across the board. [Students could] just drop them an email and say, ‘Hey, I’m considering applying to your school, I just want to make contact and learn from them because they’re the experts on what you want’.’”

Naviance can act as a guiding resource for all students to find their paths. The website can be daunting but the surveys, assessments, college tab, and career tab can all be used to help students navigate where they want to go or what they want to be after high school.

The process of applying for colleges and universities can be tedious and long, but students shouldn’t panic. They have plenty of time and plenty of resources to use, even if they’re completely lost.

Beyond just the college and career advisors, a lot of helpful information can be found by contacting admissions “If you have no clue of what counselors in the you’re doing, I would advise you area. While this may to make an appointment with seem like a daunting your college and career advisor,” and terrifying task, Samuels said. “On our website, these admissions it’s under college and career and counselors are here you would go to Setmore and to help students get look and see who your college where they want to and career advisor is. Make an go and are willing to appointment and then we’ll sit help answer a lot of down with you and go over the questions. whole process with you.”

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A New Revolution: Dance At Allen

Photos and Story by Lilian Arnold AHS is a very large and diverse school and with this comes many opportunities for students in almost every field of interest. Whether it’s STEM, athletics or any other academic or careerbased calling, you can bet that Allen has a program for it. And under the vast umbrella of fine arts, dance can be seen as both an art and a sport, requiring grace, athleticism, and artistic choreography. The dance department is helmed by Sarah Pilukaitis, who comes from directing the award-winning Anderson High School Trojan Belles dance team and has experience in studying teaching, choreography, and dance including modern, contemporary, improvisation, ballet, jazz and tap. “I like dance because it’s something that everyone can do,” said junior

Sophia Cadwell. Cadwell began dance through the school, and said she has so far enjoyed the program. “I don’t think dance gets as much recognition as it should. It takes so much skill and talent.” With the COVID-19 pandemic, many classes have had to alter their curriculums and usual way of doing things in order to take all the proper precautions to mitigate the spread of the virus. This includes dance. “Because of COVID, the majority of my class is online,” said junior Noelani St. Clair. “This reduced the opportunities for students in the winter dance concert for eligibility reasons.” St. Clair also added that it could be difficult to wear a mask while dancing, though necessary to maintain a safe environment.

As well as modifications in the classroom, there is also a possibility that the virus will affect upcoming shows. “This year major modifications have been made, such as costuming,” said junior Dimah Guthrie. However for these students, COVID-19 has not dampened the joy of the activity. The things which are enjoyable about dance seem to revolve around freedom of expression. “I like that I have the freedom to express myself,” St. Clair said. “When life is hard and I’m feeling down, I turn on music and just start dancing.”

Texas Honor Orchestra Story by Allyson Chen

The orchestra program at Allen High School started in 1997 with only 50 students. Since then, it has grown into one of the most popular activities in Allen, attracting more and more students each year and winning many awards both at a state and national level. The 2019-2020 Allen High School Symphony Orchestra, led by directors David Devoto, Matt Cross, and Dr. Philip Obado, was invited to the Midwest Clinic and the Texas Music Educators Association as honor orchestra. Only a few orchestras in Texas are invited to these clinics every year, yet Allen was invited to two in the same year. “We have the largest music conference in February for music educators -- I think about 25,000 people show up to San Antonio for that conference,” orchestra director David Devoto said. As a state that is recognized for its exemplary music programs, Texas’ TMEA performances are considered by directors to be some of the best student performances in America. Meanwhile, the Midwest Clinic is an international organization based in Chicago that invites groups from all around the world to perform. These clinics provide a great opportunity for music instructors and directors to absorb others’ music and become inspired with new ideas. “That’s a good thing for music educators, to see and hear what other groups are doing around the world that’s good,” said Devoto.

Over the course of the 2019-2020 school year, the directors and students from orchestra and band worked hard to prepare for the UIL recording in the spring, which would be submitted to both TMEA and Midwest.

For him, he’s beyond proud of all of his students and the effort they’ve put in to make this happen. Being invited to both TMEA and Midwest is a great honor for the orchestra and they hope to continue to achieve great things in the future.

“It was a really focused group that we had last year; they knew what our goal was for the year and I think that they took it seriously,” Devoto said.

“To have recognition from outside organizations like this -- I think really reinforces what a great job [the students] are doing,” Devoto said.

The preparation started for strings around October. Over the years, Devoto has learned the importance of preparation so that the combined orchestra and band rehearsals starting in January would run smoothly. This helps provide students with confidence for the final recording in March. To ensure a high quality performance, the conductors scheduled weekly rehearsals after school. It was difficult for the conductors to schedule times that would work for everybody, so it was crucial for each rehearsal to be efficient.

Due to COVID-19 safety precautions, the orchestra has unfortunately been unable to perform live at the events. However, this doesn’t mean that all their effort was put to waste.

“In music it’s hard to explain -- to people who don’t know anything about music -that a group is really good, or that we’re playing at a high level of technicality and we’re doing a great job,” Devoto said. In all of the Allen orchestra program’s 23 years, they have never achieved something like this before: “[Being] invited to Midway and TMEA is a way of showing the students, the parents, the community of Allen ISD, and the city of Allen -- it’s a way to show that [the students] are really great,” Devoto said.

“Even though things are frustrating right now that we can’t have a performance, I still think that it’s good that we were able to win these awards because it shows how strong our student musicians are, it shows how strong our program is,” Devoto said. “I hope that it’s going to keep us going for when we do come back, that we’ll be excited to make music together again and that we’ll know that we have one of the best orchestras in the country.” Although COVID-19 has definitely made things difficult, the achievements of the 2019-2020 Allen High School Symphony Orchestra is a way for Allen’s music students to feel proud of themselves -- so that they can be motivated to keep working hard as the orchestra program continues to grow in the years to come.

Colin Tech Campus Open House

Story and Photos By | Meghan Hollaran

The new Collin College Technical Center held an open house Sept. 12, featuring a variety of programs and certifications that are available at the new technical campus and showed off some off the technology and labs available for students to utilize while studying at the technical campus. The campus serves at least 7,100 students and offers programs ranging from automotive and construction to STEM and Health Sciences. A full list of programs at the campus is available on their website.

STEAM Center Makerspace Story and Photos By | Kennedy Jackson

The Allen STEAM Center has received a useful addition to its campus for the 2020-2021 school year: The Innovation Hub, or more commonly known as the makerspace. The makerspace area’s overall purpose is to provide a place for students to further their learning. While children can learn skills in the classroom, makerspace allows students to apply those lessons. It’s made up of two sides, “a clean side and a dirty side,” according to Reece Palmer, the makerspace tech. The combination of both areas supply a space for physical work such as circuitry, 3D printing, metal working, etc. The Innovation Hub is just that: a place for

students to build on the lessons they are taught and to help foster creative ideas. Palmer said he hopes to expand it to allow more availability to a larger amount of students in the future. If the STEAM center is unavailable to a student, there is also a smaller makerspace located in the Allen High School library that is available to students.

EAGLE ANGLE / COVER STORY

A Look At Life in Foster Care

Story By | Meghan Holloran Infographics By | Paige James

Most people grow up not worrying about when their next meal is or if they can brush their teeth at night, but for Sara this was an everyday reality for the first eight years of her life. Sara is a student at Allen High School and her name has been changed to protect her privacy.

entering foster care have little to no belongings and move from home to home with only a trash bag. “I think I had like three pairs of pants, all of which were way too big for me. I had a few shirts, most of them were boys clothes; I had a pair of Jordans, that were boys shoes. But it was all in a black trash bag, and that’s what I came with,” Sara said. “We just pick up and go and hope that our next family will, you know, have stuff for us.”

Growing up, she didn’t have loving and supportive parents, instead she was put in the foster care system at age one, but wasn’t officially placed in a foster home until age nine and later adopted. This is her story living in the foster care system.

Luckily, Sara’s foster family was the right fit for her and took her shopping so she could get the clothes and belongings she needed to live comfortably, even if it’s just something as simple as a stuffed animal.

“I got put in because my [biological] mom, and my step dad did drugs and were abusive and just couldn’t take care of us,” Sara said. “My biological mom had me at age 16. She wasn’t ready to be a mom.” Sara said her biological parents taught her how to steal from an early age in order to get by. Oftentimes, money that was supposed to be spent on groceries or other necessities were spent on drugs.

Sara will be attending Texas Woman’s University to become a teacher. “My goal in life is to help those in need, those who have less fortunate circumstances. Kids that were like me,” Sara said.

“Stealing is how you get by, especially if you’re in my situation where we didn’t have a lot of money. Like I was taught to start stealing from gas stations at like age five,” Sara said. “You know, I learned how to hide stuff [in] my mom’s pockets or something,” Sara’s sister was exposed to very little of her biological mom’s behavior, and wasn’t taught behavior like stealing. She was taken out of their family home before Sara was. “That in itself was a miracle. We were

adopted by amazing parents and have been raised so much better. I’m very grateful that my sister was taken out when she was two,” Sara said. “It wasn’t instilled in her brain, the things that were you know, like, forced into mine and the things that I was raised with, she doesn’t even remember that.” When Sara was finally removed from the care of her biological parents all she owned was a trash bag and a pile of old clothes. Unfortunately, most children 10

“When I got my first electric toothbrush, I remember being so excited, like, it was like Christmas all over again, it was the best thing in the world to have an electric toothbrush and some fancy toothpaste, you know, it’s the little things like that, or having even just a stuffed animal to sleep with at night,” Sara said.

Before being placed in foster care, Sara was falling behind in school. This was because she lacked a supportive learning environment, and had untreated learning disabilities. Something as simple as having someone help her with homework helped get her caught up. “Having parents that will, you know, sit down with me and work on some homework helped me get back on track. And then, at some point in time, I got above, especially in my reading level. I

started to get above my grade, which is, when you think about it, it’s just astonishing, because I was so behind,” Sara said. “It’s very possible that I was a year, two years behind in my schoolwork, just because I was so put down. I was told so often that I was lying that I just, I didn’t care anymore.” Sara is one of the lucky ones. Last year, over 20,000 kids waited 3-4 years before being adopted. Unfortunately, many siblings in foster care are also split up and go to different foster families. According to the Children’s Welfare Bureau, splitting up siblings can cause social and emotional problems for children in foster care. Thankfully, Sara and her sister were kept together. “I actually was in foster care for about a year, and then my foster family that I was put with is the family that adopted me. Me and my sister were not split up, that’s how my situation is different,” Sara said. “Because we weren’t split up, and second of all, we didn’t have to go to

“We want you to help us and we want you to believe us.” different foster homes. We were in one foster home, and we got adopted by that same one.” When the time came for Sara to finally leave her parents for good and go to her new foster home, she said it was both scary and exciting, but was ultimately a new beginning. “So I was terrified; but believe it or not, when I finally got taken out, I was

smiling. I was so happy, I was ready. I knew that the way I was raised was wrong, I was well aware that what was happening was wrong, and I’d always wanted to get out,” Sara said. “I used to tell my counselors all the time, ‘take me out, I don’t want to be at my house’.” Often, teachers and counselors see the abuse and neglect kids are suffering but can’t always do something about it, or are too afraid to, or don’t know what qualifies as abuse. According to the Texas Association for the Protection of Children, each week more than four children die each week from abuse in the State of Texas. “That’s why I was in the system, because people knew what was going on. But there was never enough solid evidence for them to take me out, which I don’t believe,” Sara said. I’m going to tell you right now, I know that they found the drugs, and I know that they saw the needles and all of that stuff, which is another reason why I say the system is

corrupt in a way.” Even when teachers, counselors or any adult takes necessary steps to report abuse and neglect, CPS ends up being pigeonholed, sometimes because of how parent’s train their kids on what to say-if they are questioned by CPS. “CPS workers would come up to my school and ask me and question me about it. I would just say ‘mom says it’s family business; I can’t tell you; nothing’s happening; I’m safe at home; I’m fine.’ Because that’s what you’re taught to tell,” Sara said. “That’s what they tell you to tell the CPS workers that come. So, um, once I started doing that, then I couldn’t tell anyone the truth, because by that point in time, I’d already started lying. So if I told anyone the truth, that’d be the boy who cried wolf.” After Sara was adopted, her quality of life improved and she finally found a safe and loving home where she was able to thrive.

“I was finally, you know, starting to become more stable and more healthy with my disorders and my eating,” Sara said. “I was eating healthy, and I was being treated correctly. I had a family that knew how to take care of me.” According to Jonathan’s Place, an adoption agency in Garland, Texas, as many as “1,500 young adults in Texas ‘age out’ of foster care,” each year. In 2019 alone, more than 17,500 teens in the US aged out, and more than 423,997 children were in foster care in 2019. People who aren’t lucky enough to be adopted like Sara are at a higher risk of being arrested, being jobless, or falling into homelessness. Even kids in foster care that are placed with a family don’t always end up in a good situation. “I had a much different experience than a lot of my friends [do], a lot of my friends go to five different foster care houses before they get put in the one that adopts them. Even then, when they get adopted, that adopted family

is abusive or something,” Sara said. “Some people just do it for the money. I’m lucky that I didn’t have a family that does it just for the money, they didn’t abuse me.” Jonathan’s Place offers everything from an emergency shelter for children, to transitional living for teens that will “age” out of foster care. Luckily, Sara and her sister were adopted from Jonathan’s Place almost eight years ago. Jennifer Maddox, the Director of Foster Care and Adoption at Jonthan’s place, worked on Sara’s case. “Sara was adopted in 2014. I was the family’s case manager at the time.” Maddox said. Court Appointed Special Advocate are workers that advocate for a child during the foster care and adoption process. CASA workers are volunteers and becoming one is a job that is open to anyone. Collin County Child Advocate, Mary Rowley, explained how they support children in foster care.

“I feel we help by advocating for the child’s best interest in all aspects of their life from the beginning of the case until the close (and sometimes after), i.e. medically, educationally, in court hearings and living arrangements,” Rowley said. “We are there to listen compassionately to the child and help guide them through the whole process.” Throughout the foster care and adoption process, Court Appointed Special Advocates are a stable presence in kids lives. Sara had a CASA worker that made sure she had adequate food and clothing. “I don’t really remember her, not gonna lie. I was, you know, I was younger and, I’m not gonna lie, a lot of that stuff I’ve kind of pushed out of my mind intentionally. But I know that I liked her. I know that I loved her. She came to a few of my birthday parties and she gave me gifts and stuff,” Sara said. “They [CASA] had to come and make sure that we had enough food in the fridge or our smoke alarms were working, or, you know, we had toothbrushes and health things, and we

had clothes, and we were in our own rooms and stuff like that. So I know that if it weren’t for her, I would not be where I am today.” The foster care system isn’t perfect, but Sara said she believes the problem lies within how people view it. If Sara could change the foster care system, she said she’d change how people think about the system, and report abuse. “Like I said, I’ve been in the system since I was one. So my biggest thing would be making it to where people are truly honest with themselves, and people are truly observant, because like I said, I know that those people knew what was going on in that house, especially my teachers and counselors. It’s sad how much people decide, ‘oh, I don’t want to do the work, so I’m not going to report this family, she’ll be okay,’” Sara said. “That is the one thing I would change, [but] that’s hard to do, because that’s like trying to change people’s mindsets, and everyone knows that’s nearly 13

impossible. Because you can’t change a person, they have to change themselves. There’s one thing that Sara said she wants people to take away from her story and experience with foster care: believe children, don’t write them off as begging for attention. “I think one thing that I do want known is that what we don’t want is your pity. What we want is your trust. We want you to believe us when we say that my parents are abusing me. Or, you know, when we come to school with bruises or cuts or stuff and we say, No, I’m fine. We’re not fine,” Sara said. “There’s always more to the story. And I think the biggest thing is that, you know, people need to look and find out what the rest of the story is before they say we’re lying.” For more information on CASA or Jonathan’s Place, please visit their respective websites casaofcollincounty. org and jpkids.org. To report abuse go to txabusehotline.org or call 800-252-5400.

EAGLE ANGLE / FEATURE

HOW COVID-19 HAS AFFECTED

EDUCATION Story By | Colin Campbell

The COVID-19 pandemic has had the possibility to ravage the average person’s way of life drastically in just over six months. So much has happened since March and now education across the country is in a very peculiar position. The spread of COVID-19 and the clustered environment at Allen High School don’t don’t mix well, which has resulted in various precautions taken by AHS and other schools in order to combat the virus. Whether or not those precautions are effective depends mostly on the student’s experiences, such as these. COVID-19 came as a shock to students in March, with the general consensus being that it was getting very serious around the timeframe of spring break. “I think the moment when I realized it was getting really serious in the U.S. was when I saw people walking around with masks before it was announced and I started getting worried,” at-home learner and junior Victoria Davis said. “Then, when they did the lockdown order I was like ‘this is serious’.” An in-person learner and another junior Daniel Bilton otherwise believes that it reached the level that it did when the school delays and cancellations happened. “After the first week of spring break, Allen High School said, ‘hey, you guys will be staying an extra week,’ and I was thinking, ‘oh great, an extra week’”

said Bilton. “But then after that second week, they were saying ‘no you won’t be able to come back to school because of COVID[-19],’ and that’s when I started to think ‘wow this is getting serious’.”

“HAVING A SCHEDULE CAN REALLY HELP A LOT OF PEOPLE,” - junior daniel bilton It was a hard fact to process that the rest of the year would be spent indoors, but the replacement for the last nine weeks was “satisfactory” to say the least, The recent, newer system implemented in the first three weeks is much better, according to senior Devon Chatman, another at-home learner. “Given the time they had to plan it out, I think they did the best they could in that timeframe,” Chatman said. “I feel like this is much better. In order for kids to get their education and stay safe, this is very effective.” Davis shared her more critical thoughts on the ending of the quarter, “initially I thought we were just gonna do video calls all the time and it would be very different from what we would normally do in school, but in the end it just felt 14

like a lot of homework.”. Although the conditions of the lockdown passed, the threat of COVID-19 still loomed over the schools, causing controversy over what the plan would be for long-term education in a new era of fear. AHS came up with an improved solution, at least for the first three weeks. “Having a schedule can really help a lot of people,” Bilton said. “In Physics, all of my assignments are due at the end of the day so it’s at the front of your mind because you have to get it done, instead of it being ‘oh it’s due on Friday’ and then let’s say either one you forget about it or two you don’t look over your notes and get a bad grade.” Although the procedure for the first three weeks has been relatively unchanged for at-home students, Bilton, as an in-person learner, believes that the school is doing a good job with containing the virus, using lunch as a primary example. “I do think that they are taking this stuff very seriously. For example, I will be eating at lunch with my friend like [name redacted for privacy reasons] but they will have certain dots that will make you sit six feet apart to where there are only 2 people at one table,” Bilton described. Read the rest of the article @

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LOCALELECTIONS INFOGRAPHICS BY | KHUSHBOO AMARNANI

LOCAL ELECTIONS

ELECTION 2020 Story By | Abi Marines

A s o f N o v . 1 7 , 2 0 2 1 , t h e E le c t o r a l C o lle g e h a s n o t y e t v o t e d o n a p re s id e n t ia l c a n d id a t e . S e v e r a l A m e r ic a n s ’ e y e s a re o n a s s o c ia t e d p re s s ’ p ro je c t e d w in n e r, J o s e p h R . B id e n , a n d -- b e t w e e n B id e n ’s p o lic ie s , t h e 2 0 2 0 v o t e , a n d t h e fu t u re o f t h e n a t io n -- a re w o n d e r in g w h a t t h is w ill m e a n fo r t h e c o u n t r y .

Joseph R. Biden: Policies. A c c o rd in g t o B id e n ’s o w n c a m p a ig n w e b s it e , h e h a s s e t t h e b a r h ig h fo r w h a t h e w is h e s t o a c c o m p lis h . B u ild in g o n P re s id e n t O b a m a ’s A ff o rd a b le C a re A c t , p ro p o s in g p la n s t o b e a t C O V ID -1 9 , a n d p ro m o t e t h e m id d le c la s s b y p ro v id in g a id t o s t a t e s a n d c it iz e n s a lik e . U lt im a t e ly , a m a jo r p a r t o f h is c a m p a ig n h a s b e e n h is p ro m is e t o b u ild u p o n t h e a ff o rd a b le c a re a c t b y , a c c o rd in g t o t h e B id e n c a m p a ig n w e b s it e , “g iv in g A m e r ic a n s m o re c h o ic e , re d u c in g h e a lt h c a re c o s t s , a n d m a k in g o u r h e a lt h c a re s y s t e m le s s c o m p le x t o n a v ig a t e .” B id e n h a s a ls o v o ic e d h is s u p p o r t o f “c re a t in g m illio n s o f n e w m a n u fa c t u r in g a n d in n o v a t io n jo b s t h ro u g h o u t a ll o f A m e r ic a ” w it h h is “M a d e in A m e r ic a ” p la n . O n e t h in g t h a t ’s c a u g h t t h e e y e o f m a n y y o u n g v o t e r s is h is p le d g e t o fo c u s o n e d u c a t io n a n d “e n s u re m id d le a n d h ig h s c h o o ls p re p a re s t u d e n t s fo r g o o d jo b s ” w it h h is d e t a ile d p la n fo r e d u c a t o r s , s t u d e n t s , a n d A m e r ic a ’s fu t u re . A ll o f t h e s e p ro m is e s a lig n h e a v ily w it h t h e id e a ls o f t h e D e m o c r a t ic P a r t y t h a t B id e n re p re s e n t s .

1 6 1 m illio n v o t e r s t u r n e d o u t t o v o t e fo r t h e ir p a r t y , t h e ir c o u n t r y , a n d t h e p re s id e n c y , a c c o rd in g t o B lo o m b e r g ’s N o v . 4 e le c t io n re p o r t . “ T h e p la c e I v o t e d in h a d a re a lly lo n g lin e ,” K o c h s a id , “B y t h e t im e I c a m e o u t o f t h e b a llo t ro o m , t h e lin e w a s s in g le fi le a n d w r a p p e d a ro u n d a fe w o t h e r ro o m s a fe w t im e s . It w a s a b it o f a w a it t im e , b u t it w a s n ’t t h a t b a d s in c e I g o t t h e re e a r ly .” T h e v o t e r t u r n o u t o n N o v . 3 w a s n ’t t h e o n ly v o t in g t y p e t o s u r g e . A b s e n t e e b a llo t s , m a il-in b a llo t s , a n d e a r ly v o t in g c o n t r ib u t e d t o t h e m a s s a m o u n t s o f p e o p le w h o v o t e d t h ro u g h o u t t h e s t a t e s . In t h e w a k e o f t h e p a n d e m ic , m a n y p e o p le fo u n d t h e s e m e t h o d s o f v o t in g s a fe r a n d m o re c o v id fr ie n d ly c o m p a re d t o t h e N o v . 3 a lt e r n a t iv e . H o w e v e r, t h is h a s le d t o s o m e n e w s o u t le t s p re d ic t in g m a s s a m o u n t s o f v o t e r fr a u d . “I p e r s o n a lly d id n ’t s e e a n y t h in g t h a t lo o k e d lik e v o t e r fr a u d w h e n I v o t e d .” K o c h s a id , “b u t I’m a ls o ju s t o n e s t u d e n t , a n d t h e e le c t io n w a s a b s o lu t e ly h u g e . I d o n ’t t h in k it w a s a t h in g t h o u g h , I ju s t t h in k t h e v o t e s c a m e in la t e r b e c a u s e w e ll...C O V ID .” A s o f N o v . 1 7 , 2 0 2 1 , n o c la im s o f m a s s v o t e r fr a u d h a v e b e e n p ro v e n b y g o v e r n m e n t o ffi c ia ls , a lt h o u g h P re s id e n t T r u m p is s t ill p re s s in g t h e m a t t e r. If y o u o r a lo v e d o n e h a s w it n e s s e d s o m e fo r m o f v o t e r fr a u d y o u c a n re p o r t it a t 1 .8 0 0 .2 5 2 .V O T E (8 6 8 3 ).

2020: The Vote. A ll o v e r t h e c o u n t r y , m e n a n d w o m e n lin e d u p t o v o t e o n e le c t io n d a y , c a s t in g t h e ir b a llo t fo r t h e n e x t p re s id e n t o f t h e U n it e d S t a t e s . T h is y e a r h o w e v e r, t h in g s w e re s lig h t ly d iff e re n t b e c a u s e o f t h e c u r re n t a n d o n g o in g C O V ID -1 9 p a n d e m ic . “I im a g in e [v o t in g ] w o u ld b e a m u c h s m o o t h e r p ro c e s s w it h o u t t h e C O V ID p re c a u t io n s ,” s a id s e n io r A le x K o c h , a fi r s t t im e v o t e r, “L ik e , y o u c o u ld n ’t t o u c h t h e a c t u a l m a c h in e ; y o u h a d t o u s e a Q -t ip .” V o t in g in a p a n d e m ic m a y b e h a rd e n o u g h , b u t t h a t d id n ’t m a k e v o t e r s s h y a w a y fro m t h e b a llo t b o x . A t le a s t

Drawn by sophomore Grace Swenson 16

America the Free W h ile t h e E le c t o r a l C o lle g e h a s s t ill n o t v o t e d , a m a jo r it y o f t h e p re s s a n d c it iz e n s h a v e c a lle d t h e e le c t io n fo r B id e n . T h is is a v e r y c o n t ro v e r s ia l d e c is io n b e c a u s e w h ile B id e n re c ie v e d 7 9 m illio n b a llo t s a n d 2 9 0 e le c t o r a l v o t e s , T r u m p re c e iv e d 7 3 m illio n b a llo t s a n d 2 3 2 e le c t o r a l v o t e s ; m a k in g t h is e le c t io n a v e r y c lo s e c a ll. W it h t h e c o u n t r y s o p o lit ic iz e d o v e r t h e re s u lt s o f t h e e le c t io n , t h e re p o r t s o f v o t e r fr a u d , a n d t h e d is h e a r t e n in g n a t u re o f t h e p a n d e m ic , it ’s e a s y t o s e e h o w A m e r ic a n s m ig h t lo s e fa it h in o n e a n o t h e r. S t ill, B id e n h a s p la c e d a c a ll t o t h e A m e r ic a n p e o p le a s k in g t h e m t o b a n d t o g e t h e r.

“It’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation,” Biden said, during his victory speech. “It’s time for America to unite and to heal.”

Drawn by junior Janine Szczerbak. 17

Q: Tell me about yourselves, how did you get into this business? Siya: We both like jewelry, and we were thinking of starting something for a while, and then one night we were like “let’s start a jewelry business.” So we did research, came up with a business plan, bought raw materials, and started our Instagram account. For advertising, we post all our jewelry posts on there so we can project it to our followers. We haven’t been able to come out with much stuff right now because it’s been so busy with school and college apps, but over the summer, we were working a lot on it.

Q: Your Instagram mentions your jewelry is hypoallergenic, what metals do y’all use? Siya: It’s nickel-free metal. We usually get our raw materials from Amazon, so we just make sure to check that everything says nickel-free. Since that’s the most common allergy. Like, I have a nickel allergy, I can’t wear fake earrings for long. Q: Are you guys mostly self-taught?

Siya: I think I kind of taught Sunny a little bit. You know I think around nineth or tenth grade there was a trend of everyone having those beaded Sunny: Jewelry was something that chokers. Why should I buy those we both liked and we wanted to do for 10 bucks when I could make something that wasn’t random, that them for a dollar by myself? So I kind of watched a couple of both of us enjoyed doing. YouTube videos and learned how Q: What types of jewelry do you to do it. make? Siya: So what we did is we kind of got a bunch of charms; like we have a butterfly char; a lighting bolt charm; a heart charm. So we can make a bunch of different things out of that. We make earrings with all the charms we have; we make chokers, pendants, bracelets, anklets. We kind of leave it up to the customer if they want to customize, too. Sunny: So we basically also do customizable jewelry, for guys too. We’ve had a few guys [buy] jewelry too. It’s not just geared towards teenage girls.

Story By | Meghan Holloran

CHERRY

CHARMS 18

Sunny: Since we’re both in IB Art, that helps with the creativity aspect of it. Siya: We’re in the two-year art program and both of us have taken art all throughout high school and middle school. Q: Will you guys have any new pieces coming out soon? Sunny: We have new earrings we will be putting out soon! Read more on the eagleangle.com

Story by | Aaryana Sharma

EAGLE ANGLE / OPINIONS

Being INDIAN “A short article on what it’s like to be Indian and have three generations living under one roof.”

When I was younger, it was always a blessing to have someone at home for me. Whenever I came home from school, my grandparents would be there to give me lunch, the standard rice, rasam – a spicy dish similar to a soup, and yogurt of course. We would wile away time playing “Monopoly” or “Chutes and Ladders” until evening. I would sleep with my grandparents and lean over my ajji’s shoulder to watch Hindi shows, or serials, my eyes running from the subtitles to the video. When I was younger, my grandparents were my best friends, I could tell them anything and everything from what I wanted for my birthday to my craziest stories. As I grew older my ajji tried to teach me how to sew. As I failed to put the thread through the eye of the needle, she used to tell me that when she was younger, one of the “tests,” a young woman did to be married was to put the thread through the eye of the needle. I tried and tried, never quite being able to impress her or exceed her expectations of me. Another time, she told me that balancing books on my head would improve my balance. She would tell me that models balanced books on their head to get their jobs. I guess I wasn’t going to be a model either. When I wasn’t breaking my back over math, my ajji would make me do handwriting practice, asking me to copy paragraphs from books I liked, just to test if my writing was “up to her standard.” Then there was school, which was always a disaster. Whether I was dipping idli (small white ovals of rice flour) - into chutney or getting stares for eating spoonfuls of white curd rice, I always felt out of place.

“I always felt out of place.” I remember in fifth grade, I decided

to wear churidars – cotton shirts with bright colors and intricate designs - to school. I would wear bright yellow, orange, green, and purple churidars over my jeans, in an attempt to fuse the two cultures together wherever I went. It never worked. I realized that I wasn’t displaying fusion at all, but internal confusion. I was torn between two cultures I had grown up with and I attempted to combine them, I just didn’t know how. The most memorable incident happened in second grade, when I ordered a cheeseburger and asked my friends what meat I was eating. They shook their heads and told me they didn’t know, they were allowed to eat it-why would they care? I ended up devouring the burger, and was ready for seconds. I went home that evening and told my parents I had a cheeseburger for lunch. They were shocked and said I wasn’t allowed to eat beef. Holy cow. Literally. Following that incident, I don’t remember being able to eat lunch from school for years to come.

“We stole the stage and dressed it with our Indian identity...” In second grade, I remember participating in a culture-share dance with a few of my friends. Week after week we practiced in each other’s houses, made sure we coordinated the steps exactly and were in sync with the music. Finally, the day came. We dressed up in lenghas, bright colored silk dresses, and adorned ourselves with jewelry and small hints of makeup. We were ready to perform. As we finished, applauds echoed in the cafeteria. We stole the stage and dressed it with our Indian identity, and it looked beautiful. As I looked at my teachers and friends cheering

for me, I felt something I’d never experienced before. For one of the first times I could remember I was able to embrace my Indian and American culture without fusing anything at all. The older I got the more I began to enjoy my trips to India, realizing that not a lot of people got to make such huge trips so often. I started to speak Kannada with more and more people and let that be a part of me which I loved instead of something “I was accustomed to.” I fell in love with the sweet taste of mangoes you couldn’t find anywhere else but India, and the excitement of eating street-side dosas – paper thin pancakes cooked in hot oil – at night. When Holi rolled around, I let the colors of spring tiedye my clothes (and hair), leaving a mark on my white shirt, and heart. I learned to embrace being Indian, creating a concrete, fusion identity for myself which allowed me to allow the two halves of me to come together as a whole. As I indulged myself in Indian culture, books, and movies, while creating Indian-American stories of my own. All while learning to love being a part of three generations in one household.

“I learned to embrace being Indian, creating a concrete, fusion identity for myself which allowed me to come together as a whole.”

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EAGLE ANGLE / CROSSWORD

EAGLE ANGLE / COMICS

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