The Lone Star Dispatch, Vol. 29, Issue #1 10.7.2016

L one Star Dispatch

The

Athletics District change for all sports

Positive and negative effects on teams See page B1

James Bowie High School

INSIDE

4103 W. Slaughter Lane Austin, TX 78749

Commentary New finals incentives

Attendance policy changes for finals See page A6

www.thelonestaronline.com

Entertainment Fall shows sneak peak

Theater warms up for performances See page B4-5

Friday Oct. 7, 2016

Vol. 29

Issue 1

News A2-3 In-Depth A4-5 Commentary A6-7 Photo Essay A8 Athletics B1-2 Reviews B3 Entertainment B4-5 Feature B6-7 Photo Essay B8

Leos leads school into new year

A new principal, schedule, staff, and FIT bring change to the beginning term Violet Glenewinkel Editor-in-Chief As freshmen are getting settled into the routine of high school, everyone else is adjusting to major changes in their lives as well.

So far, the 2016-2017 school year has undergone changes that the campus has never or has not seen in years, including a new principal, schedule, staff, FIT five times a week, and more.

Stepping into the role as interim principal with all these new changes on hand was not something principal Susan Leos was worried about handling.

“I feel very fortunate because I could draw upon my experience at Bowie the last seven years as an assistant principal and the Academic Dean,” Leos said. “I am lucky to have been a part of so much already.”

With confidence in herself and the school, Leos is determined to support her facility.

“Bowie has a long history of academic accomplishments and has always lived up to its motto of ‘Pride in Performance’,” Leos said. “I intend to support our staff and students in being all that we can be as a community of learners.”

But her initial plans for the new year is to not drastically change the way things are done this year, but rather move everything in a positive direction for the benefit of all.

“My intention is not to change anything about Bowie,” Leos said. “I only want our students to realize that as Bowie is part of the larger universe, our state, our country, and our world, we must base all of our actions and decisions on the foundation of respect.”

Leos aims to get everyone involved and to participate when it comes to the learning community as a whole.

“Student voice, the voices of our teachers, and parent participation in the learning process are all important to me as an individual and as an educator,” Leos said. “The work we all put in together is what will really make a difference.”

Before she was hired as the interim principal, Leos had entirely

To the beat: Clapping to the drumline, Principal Susan Leos celebrates the Bulldog lead at the Bowie versus Pfluggerville game during the third quarter in front of the student section. As the new Interim Principal, Leos attends games to make sure rules are being followed, everyone stays safe, and to support the school. Photo by Violet Glenewinkel

different responsibilities.

“In my previous position, I worked with all of our academic programs, supporting all kinds of classes and helping teachers develop their own best practices, which in turn supports all of our Bowie students from freshmen to seniors,” Leos said.

Despite working directly with teachers, Leos helped with behind the scenes as well.

“I also worked within all kinds of systems like professional development, mentoring students, improving our technology, working with extracurricular programs, and building our master schedule,” Leos said.

Through training, learning about different systems and parts of the faculty, Leos is continuing to better herself for the principal position.

“I am learning about new systems like our facilities management and our central office

2016-2017 YEAR NEW Principal Susan Leos Sports district A/B Schedule FIT every day New staff

Art by Callie Richards

personnel who help us in many unseen ways starting with budgeting and paying for our teachers’ salaries and the materials we all use every day,” Leos said.

One major adjustments that Leos has put into action isn’t

to catch up, get extra help, or go to enrichment FIT classes,” Leos said.

From what Leos and Warnken have heard, the feedback from students and teachers has been a positive one.

“I intend to support our staff and students in being all that we can be as a community of learners.”

- Susan Leos

something she has a choice about. According to Leos, it was the law that led to the entirely new bell schedule and A/B calendar changes.

“Due to a new state law that measures the school day in minutes instead of the number of days,” Leos said, “Many Texas schools had to change their bell schedules this year, which lengthened the day for Bowie.”

Besides the law causing the schedule change, AISD schools have all been put on the same schedule to be able to support the Student Sharing initiative, a system that allows students to take elective classes at different neighboring schools.

“The new A/B day schedule is confusing since the Friday’s do not rotate orderly,” senior Co-Student Council President, Dawson Warnken said. “It makes B-day act like the A-day in some cases and confuses some people as to what is due each day.”

Along with the schedule, holding FIT every day is a change that is intended to support student learning as well as keeping the students’ benefit in mind.

“Increasing the number of FIT days supports our students at Bowie, giving them more time

“I think that the new schedule change is good and FIT everyday will benefit greatly,” Warnken said. “As for the new administrators and teachers, I know they will do the best job that they can do and help our Bowie community as much as they can.”

However, things like the consistent A/B schedule have been something teachers are having to work around.

“There is definitely concern about how the schedule will affect instructional time, with certain A or B days getting ahead of one another,” Assistant Principal Marie Prescott said.

This leads to teachers having to chnage their schedule lessons weekly, affecting the way the students will learn, get the information, and scheduling of future assignments.

“I’m constantly having to adjust for one class being ahead and then the next week that class might be behind,” photography teacher and swim coach Chanel Dobrzenski, said.

This is caused by the changing Fridays, meaning that there could be times where A-day classes on Wednesday would go five days without seeing the class again on Monday. Dobrzenski is okay

with making these ajustments though.

“I like it better than last year because it’s nice knowing Mondays and Wednesdays are always an A-day and Tuesdays and Thursdays are always a B-day,” Dobrzenski said. “The only thing I’m looking for are Fridays and what that’s going to be.”

Student council has been able to make themselves present in these matters by giving feedback to administrators.

“Dawson and I have attended meetings and met with principals giving them feedback for all the new changes,” senior Co-Student Council President, Evan Samon said.

Principal Susan Leos Photo by Michael Reeves

According to Samon, Leos has been a great leader to start the year and has been dealing with things tremendously.

“Ms. Leos is wonderful and she is doing great things for Bowie,” Warnken said. “She is so engaged with the students and has such a caring heart.”

News

The Lone Star Dispatch Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

Page A2

Dresses come out of the closet

Choir donates old uniforms to less fourtanate schools in the Austin area Shelby Kelly Athletics Editor The smell of glue, newspaper, and fresh paper fill the halls of a new school year. But with the beginning of a new school year comes many fees from clubs, organizations and school in general.

The copious amounts of fees for school can pile up and be hard for some students to pay but the choir is taking a step in making some of those payments easier. The choir is getting updated uniforms this year and instead of just throwing the older dresses away, they are giving them to those in need, choir director Caitlin Gasco said.

“Every so often, schools in our district are given the opportunity to update the uniform closets to help our growing school population,” Gasco said. “Since this opportunity only comes around every so often, we decided to update our uniforms and to help out another school until it is their turn to receive this uniform grant.”

Junior choir member Sam Searles feels that this donation could be a good step in helping the com-

munity and aid fellow performers.

“I think this donation makes a difference in the lives of the choir people given the dresses,” Searles said. “It gives them the option of having a nice choir attire for concerts and such.”

The dresses help the people receiving them feel more secure and ready for a performance.

“You don’t know how much confidence and change in a performance a nice choir dress can make for a person,” Searles said.

Not only is this action one to benefit students but it also sets a good example for other school to do the same explains junior and varsity choir member Lily Ang. “This could encourage more schools to do the same with more donations with uniforms and other simple hard to meet necessities for schools,” Ang said.

This donation can help more choirs feel put together and for performers having the proper attire can help to build confidence and can help highlight each person’s talent even more.

“I think the donation of these dresses to a school

that needs them will allow the members of the choir to look and feel professional during their performances,” Gasco said. “Many community members attend the local high school concerts and I think having formal uniforms in good condition helps to showcase the wonderful Fine Arts programs we have in our district.”

All organizations in school can cost a good amount of money to participate in, and many organizations like choir require students to buy concert attire which can be expensive so any assist with this cost would be helpful.

“I think that choir will really be helping out other schools by donating their dresses,” junior Clarisse Burns said. “I’m in orchestra, so I know just how expensive those dresses are and it would be a pretty good amount of money the kids wouldn’t have to pay.”

For Searles donating can be more of a help to a orginazation that we think it may be and thinks that more organizations on campus should donate to lesss fourtanate schools in the aresa.

“I 100% think that the choir should do something

Out with the old: Choir director Caitlin Gasco seperates the old girl uniforms from the new uniforms. Members buy or rent the uniforms for performances and juniors and seniors get their rentals for free since they have old uniforms. Photo by Shelby Kelly

like this again. It’s such a good cause that shouldn’t be ignored. Even if it’s donating dresses, old equipment, risers, things like that that could benefit other choirs in schools that cannot afford things like that, it’s so important for a school like ours to donate things for other schools in need,” Searles said. “We luckily have the funds to

afford new dresses and equipment, but we should always remember that there are other places that can’t, and need the support and donations from schools like Bowie.”

According to Gasco the choir has set an example for other organizations and schools to give more especially to those in need so performers and people can

do their best. “ Our choir community has some of the most generous people in it, parents and students alike,” Gasco said. “We are very fortunate that we have the ability to purchase new dresses and we have kind students who are willing to donate a dress they purchased back to a school who will benefit from having them.”

New and old Spanish teachers combine different ways of teaching to strengthen ‘experiencia de aprendizaje’ Jake Brien Staff Writer

This year returning students were surprised to discover that more than half of last year’s Spanish department had changed.

With three new teachers in the Spanish department, the question of the effectiveness in last year’s teaching style, “immersion” has left someo of the new teachers decisive in their opinion of its effectiveness.

“I understand the approach, there’s an argument to be made there, but we don’t have time to

gradually absorb the language when you start at 14 or one or two years in his high school,” Spanish I teacher Kelly Tagle said. “I have to provide a balance of 90 minutes of language, talking, newscast, etc., to support my students.”

Alongside immersion, the district has begun to implement and favor a more technological approach to the learning environment.

For some of the teachers in the Spanish department, and students alike, this can come with both positives and negatives in the learning environment.

Answering questions: Spanish teacher Kelly Tagle helps a student with her work in class. This is Tagle’s first year at teaching at Bowie. Photo by Douglas Smith

“I would say the struggle, and this is probably universal, is with tech because you can access tons of stuff online,” Tagle said.

“But while that is there, there’s such a dearth of info. My struggle is finding the time to dig around and find the resources, it’s great when we do it; but it takes time.”

To some new teachers, learning new programs to prevent so much use of paper has been tough to learn and get used to.

“When I started here, I had to learn a lot of applications and programs that we use in the classroom with the students, it was a little bit overwhelming, and I think that’s how many teachers feel now, that they have to learn that,” Spanish I-IV teacher Sandra Salgado said.

However, both veteran and new teachers are continuing to struggle with technology in the department, like when things do not work.

“With the COWS, they weren’t always working right, and we were always waiting with them because they’re so slow,” Salgado said. “Sometimes we didn’t have the whole 30 [laptops] in the classroom when we needed 31; it was always very hectic and stressful.”

Spanish teachers are still keeping their students engaged in the course despite the changes done to the department.

“I want them to take ownership of their class, to take responsibility of their

class, and to take ownership, but at the same time I want them to have a good time.”

Goals resulting in students learning the correct material while having a positive experience is still evident.

“My goal is just to continue doing the best for my students,” Spanish II teacher Felipe Mendoza said. “Helping them learn a language, helping them enjoy it.”

However, teachers are still keeping in mind the future for their students.

“I want my students to find the value in learning a language, so when they go to college, they pick up learning the language, and in the end it’s just going to make them more marketable when it comes to future employment,” Mendoza said.

New Spanish teachers, such as Tagle, have endured difficult teaching moments with students.

“It was Spanish II, they had a movie, and there was a rubric, and I had this one kid who tried to depict the song, the Devil Went Down to Georgia,” Tagle said. ”We were laughing and it was hilarious, but I can’t give an A for being hilarious.”

With much of the staff being replaced, veteran Spanish teachers are meeting with new colleagues.

“We did lose four teachers this year, and we did lose our department head, who moved on to do other things, and I lost my three very good colleagues,”

Going down the Aisles: Walking. Spanish I teacher Julieta Lopez helps students with any questions. Lopez is one of three new teachers. Photo by Douglas Smith

Mendoza said. “I think that we have a pretty tight knit group. We kind of feed off of each other.”

As for immersion, there are many different approaches to implementing this into the classroom, with several of the Spanish teachers choosing different approaches to this unique way of teaching.

“I do some immersion with my stamp activities, and I do always want my students to take ownership in the language,” Mendoza said. “I think that it’s a very good way to learn any type of language. Sometimes you’ve just got to get thrown into it; sink or

swim.”

Some veteran teachers such as Spanish IV teacher Salgado, who’s been in the department for three years, believes that immersion is an essential part in learning a new language.

“It’s a style of teaching any target language,” Salgado said. “It’s innovation for teaching a new language. I don’t have anything against it, and I really think immersion is something that every student should be exposed to. It really depends on the student; if they want to learn.

It takes a lot of initiative on both the students and the teachers.”

The Lone Star Dispatch

News

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

Page A3

NHS & Key Club News Briefs lend a helping hand Cancer claims teacher Samantha Knapp

donate school supplies in exchange for tutoring sessions,” Luu said.

The donations that are received will be distributed to low income elementary schools around Austin.

“I recently talked to the PTA president of Kocurek elementary and she told me that a lot of students and families can’t afford some of the more expensive items like binders and headphones,” Luu said.

“With these donations, we will be able to provide for these lower-income families and enhance their respective students’ learning as well,” Luu said.

Members of NHS and Key Club will also tutor students that are in need of extra help, but may not be able to afford a tutor outside of school.

“I signed up because I really like working with kids and hope to become a teacher in the future and this opportunity will give me some experience,” senior Key Club member Allison Segura said.

This program will give members of NHS and Key club an opportunity to earn service hours in a unique way and it could become

Assistant Editor

Helping hands has always been a part of NHS and Key Club goals and service to community, but now it has a whole new meaning.

NHS and Key Club president senior Jyoti Luu has come up with a way to help struggling students while providing members of both clubs with the opportunity to earn service hours without leaving campus by tutoring students who can’t afford a tutor in exchange for school supplies.

“This program is a great way to receive extra help in courses you don’t understand and tutoring can easily improve your grade and comprehension on content,” Luu said.

Tutoring will happen during FIT and lunch and the cost can be paid by donating a pack of pencils or a ream of paper after students have received at least two hours of tutoring.

“We are implementing an optional donation system where students who want to be tutored can

In 2014 Travis county had a population of 1/6 (17%) in poverty Low-income poverty is defined as being 200% below federal poverty thresholds.

Poverty Rates in ATX and the U.S.

Art by Gavin Farner

40% of schools given federal Title 1 money spend less on teachers and personnel than schools that don’t receive this grant.

77% of people go to tutoring for math, 65% for science, and 27% for other courses.

Sources: cancommunitydashboard.org www.dmagazine.com

a new opportunity for students who aren’t members of these clubs to volunteer and help fellow students in the future.

“I definitely think students who are not in NHS or the Key Club could tutor because we have so many wonderful and bright students on campus,” Luu said.

However, other organizations could join in on becoming a tutorer in the future.

“The reason why this opportunity is open to NHS and the Key Club is because I know that these organizations have students who are interested in volunteering right now,” Luu said. “But if this program is successful, I think that we could open up this program to more organizations in the future”.

This program will get help to students who need it, but may not be able to afford a professional tutor off campus.

“Before Helping Hands was made, I was already helping out my friends, but I never had the chance to help other kids and helping kids who need it seems like the perfect option for me. I feel like this is something I am good at,” senior NHS member Alex Reyes said.

The Key Club president identified an area of need within the community and discovered a creative way to address that need by offering tutoring to students who need help in a small group or a one on one setting.

“Often times, struggling students feel less anxious approaching their peers than their teachers for help and students are able to explain difficult concepts in ways that struggling students can connect to or understand,” Key Club sponsor Henry Bostwick said.

On Sunday, July 24, AP environmental science teacher Nikki Vohl lost her life after a brave battle with brain cancer. Vohl was very popular on campus and got large amounts of love and support from her students and coworkers.

Instructional coach Cindi Carroll and AP Biology teacher Jessica Davis along with other teachers and staff on campus were influenced by how strong Vohl was during her battle.

“Vohl was a very positive and healthy person.

She always encouraged me to be healthier, to eat better, and to exercise more,” Carroll said. “I was really sad because there are many Bowie stu-

dents she won’t be able to impact anymore. But she left a great legacy here on campus and she will always be loved.”

Davis was one of Vohl’s best friends and had known her for over 15 years and was devastated when she found out about what happened to Vohl.

“There was just so much sadness when I first found out she passed away,” Davis said. “She fought so hard and I wasn’t in town and that just broke my heart. I felt sad for her, and her family there was so much frustration because she did everything right. I know life isn’t fair all the time but in this case it was very unfair.”

Last year was her

hardest she has fought, according to Vohl in an interview last year. But coming to school and interacting woth students made her feel better and happy.

“It’s been a rollercoaster it really brings perspective to my life but, it’s sad just really sad and not fair and if I wasn’t in a room full of kids all day I would probably lose it,” Vohl said last year. “It so not fair and it makes me think about not seeing my kids graduate, but it really sucks and it makes me appreciate what I have; I have a great job, I love to teach, I love kids, and what I have is really life changing.”

Story by: Fuaad Ajaz

Harley Fetterman loses extended battle with Lukemia over summer Class of 2015-2016 graduate Harley Fetterman was seen all over campus mapping his way through the school with his cane. But during the summer the campus lost Fetterman as he lost his courageous battle to leukemia. Fetterman battled leukemia for 13 years and was diagnosed with a brain tumor at five years old.

Fetterman had a good sense of humor that English teacher Whitney Shumate and government and economics teacher Ruth Narvaiz enjoyed about him. He didn’t let his disability slow him down, they both said.

“Harley was always happy and it seemed like there were many things for him to be unhappy about but yet, he was al-

ways happy,” Narvaiz said. “On the first day of economics class with Harley we do a little activity where we rope of some of the chairs and so chairs were scarce. Harley came in late and Harley was such a good sport about it.

So he said, ‘You’re gonna make the blind kid stand up, well that’s fine I can stand,’ and he was just playing along.”

Shumate had Fetterman his freshman year for debate and his sophomore year for English.

“One thing I remember most about Harley was a time we were at Anderson high school for a debate tournament. Harley being blind and not mapping out the school with his cane really didn’t know where he was going. We found his room and he was just

so confident and I was just so amazed that someone so young was speaking and competing the way he was.”

Fetterman’s passing was a shock to many people who knew him.

“I was really sad, he didn’t deserve to have this happen to him because he was just such a good person who had such a bright future ahead of him,” Narvaiz said.

For Shumate she wants to teach everyone what Fetterman taught her.

“I’ll never forget him.

I’ll think about him as I continue to teach, and I’ll think about him as I raise my daughter in hopes of passing down what he ended up teaching me,” Shumate said.

Story by: Fuaad Ajaz

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In-Depth

The Lone Star Dispatch

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

Page A4

The Lone Star Dispatch

In-Depth

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016 Page A5

Marching band prepares for Grand National competition Abby Ong Assistant Editor

The sweat drips down their face as they practice their marching formations out under the hot sun. The sound of various instruments blends together in the air, each student focused in on their part.

The James Bowie Outdoor Performing Ensemble is headed for Grand Nationals this coming November. Held in Indianapolis every year and hosted by the Bands of America, Grand Nationals is the national competition for bands across the United States.

“There are high schools from all over the country competing,” senior band president Amy Cox said. “It’s one of the most competitive competitions for band, and it’s a really big deal to be able to go since it’s so far away from Texas. Currently, nobody in band has ever gone, but the Bowie band has gone three times and we’ve placed in the top 12 every time. Last time we made sixth, so we are hoping to place even higher this time.”

The competition lasts about five days, and each round of the competition gets more and more competitive.

“The preliminaries are first,” freshman Sara Brown said. “Everyone who wants to compete performs their shows and the judges pick around twenty bands to move forward to semi-finals. During semi-finals, the bands play again and are narrowed down to twelve. You perform again during fi-

nals, and get told the place you ranked, from first to twelfth.”

To move on in the competition, the students must perform with excellent technique.

“The show has to be clean and executed well,” Cox said. “You have to do well visually as well as musically.

The entire marching band has to work together. We have the color guard, the front ensemble, the rest of the band, as well as people pushing these thrones that we have that the color guard stands on. It’s the effort of everybody that comes together in this one performance.”

All the effort required to compete is part of the experience the students go through.

“We get to see bands from all over the country to compete and put ourselves up against those groups,” head director Ryan Thomas said. “The goal isn’t necessarily to win, but for them to have a really great educational experience. They get to perform their best and represent their community the best they can on a national stage.”

The band students are excited to perform in Grand Nationals.

“I’m super excited to show everyone what we can do,” Cox said. “I think we have a chance to really wow people with the show this year. It’s a really strong show and very powerful, and I think it’s just a brilliant idea.”

Senior drum major Gianna Nuckols echoes Cox’s excitement.

“The feeling you get after a per-

formance is unexplainable,” Nuckols said. “You know that you worked all those hours for that performance, for that eight minute show. It’s just the feeling you get, that you worked with such a big team, you just can’t explain it. You work so long and hard just for that one eight-minute performance and then what you get afterwards is just so much excitement that you did that, and I’m really looking forward to that. It’s going to be a very difficult competition and we are going to compete against a lot of really great bands.”

The students work hard in order to perform their best, spending hours practicing even during the summer.

“Starting August first, the whole band starts band camp,” Nuckols said.

“Drum line starts a week before, and guard starts two weeks before. We do practices Monday through Friday. In the morning we do six to twelve at Burger Stadium, then come to Bowie for a two to four block, then we go back to Burger for a six to nine block.

We do that everyday for two weeks, and a week before school starts we switch to just night blocks.”

After school starts, band continues their night practices every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

“We start out every practice with a stretch block and sometimes that includes a work out,” Nuckols said.

“To keep up our endurance, we run.

We have to have strength in our core, and then we stretch because it’s a very physical- it’s a sport, I consider

it a sport. Then we do a basics block where we do marching and work on techniques of what we might put on the field later. We learn the drill for the rest of the practice, which is our show.”

Band students commit a lot of their time to practicing.

“We have the eight hours of week that we practice with the band,” Cox said. “ Then we have to practice on our own time, probably one to two hours a week. There’s also band class that we take, so I’d say probably ten to twelve hours a week total, but it’s worth it, because band is definitely amazing.”

Band students must also maintain a passing grade in all of their classes, per UIL rules.

“It’s tricky to balance,” Nuckols said. “This year we started a tutoring list so people who are having trouble with their grades can find a tutor to help them in that subject within the band.”

There is a lot of work that goes into band, and Thomas credits the students and the entire community for helping out.

“One of our strengths is our leadership,” Thomas said. “Our student leadership is really strong, they get a lot of the work done. We only have four directors and 250 kids in marching band, so we really depend on student leadership to help us out. The classes are working really hard. I’d also say that the parent support, and even school faculty support, like the whole community has been really amazing.”

Killer queen: Junior lieutenant Shannon Ross starts off the show by playing the part of a queen, staring at the crowd and pacing around the trumpet quartet. After Ross’ solo as the first queen, the other guard members fight for the crown, until one final guard member is left. Photo by Mia Barbosa

Q & A With Joey Powell How long have you been that include the groups that we don’t usually thinking of and planning see here in Texas. We’re all excited about it, but we also try to keep a better perspective the theme of this show?

“I’ve been wanting to do a Queen show for a long time. Ever since I got here, I’ve presented two ideas for the theme, but they always chose the second one because we could never really find the right music for a Queen show, and then we finally found some last year, so Shuttlesworth and I kind of planned this together.”

What did you do over the summer in order to plan the theme?

“We did a lot over the summer, in fact I actually started at the end of the last school year.

The band usually starts getting ready for the fall in April or May, trying to pick out music, usually I get the color guard costuming and all that done before the school year’s over, it’s a lot of pre-planning.”

for our national competition and not just one local competition.”

What hopes do you have for the guard this year- for both marching season and winter guard season?

“For marching band, we’re already in a better place than we have been as far as our technicality is concerned, and as a group we get along better. Winter guard will be a much more different experience because we’ll try to top what we did last winter. Last year we had a lot of firsts for the state of Texas and the city of Austin, so creatively it puts more pressure on staff to keep upping our game as far as what we’re giving our kids and how we’re developing as a team.”

What was your reaction to How did you feel right bewinning 1st place at BOA fore the band’s first performance?

McAllen?

Tuning up: Percussion director Reid Paxton fixes some cords and cables on the soundboard right before the band’s performance. This is Paxton’s first year teaching at Bowie. Photo by Fuaad Ajaz

Dress the form: The brass section stands at attention while they set up a set in their drill. This particular set was in part three of the show, where the woodwind sections and brass sections form two circles in the drill. Photo by Douglas Smith

Call to attention: Senior drum major Josh Owens prepares to start the show by calling the band to attention. The band preforms every week at Bowie football games. Photo by Violet Glenwinkel

“BOA McAllen was not a heavily competitive regional. We’ve done some really good work, but as a team we’re more nationally competitive. As much as we did really well in McAllen, we of course have national goals

Art by Gavin Farner

“It’s always exciting, but it’s also exhausting. It got way more exciting because we have a brand new staff and they were excited to watch their first performance together as a team, seeing the product.”

Q&A by: Caitlin Devlin

Art by Gavin Farner

Check and adjust: Head band director Ryan Thomas peers down from the top of Burger Stadium, fixing and adjusting the band’s drill. Thomas worked as the head band director at Small Middle School for a year before coming back to teach at Bowie. Photo by Douglas Smith

Flags up high: Director Joey Powell gives the color guard directions on what to look like during their choreography. Along with working with Bowie’s color guard teams, Powell also works with the drum corps Carolina Crown’s color guard. Photo by Douglas Smith

Commentary The Lone Star Dispatch

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

Page A6

Inequalities evident in campus sports

Girls running shirtless wearing only sports bras should be an accepted action small acts of prejudice that make women.

Editorial bigger issues of sexism seem more This constant criticism towards acceptable. girls in sports’ has consequences

A

s soon as school starts, many students join extracurriculars which require time outside of school and lots of work is put into it. Many of these extracurriculars involve practicing.

For athletes, the hot Texas weather can be hard to handle.

For sports like cross country, most runners want remove their shirt to avoid overheating. This technique is socially acceptable for boys.

However, if a girl wanted to cool down in this manner, it is viewed as inappropriate.

If one gender is allowed this privilege, then the other should also be able to use it. Girls should be allowed to remove their shirts and just wear their sports bra to cool down as long as guys are allowed to run without a shirt.

The biggest issue with this is the inequality it represents in everyday activities because it is sexist to not allow girls the same action. Both girls and boys should be allowed to cool down the same way. It is these

Not only is it unfair in cross country, it’s unequal between different campus sports. Dancers run around in skin tight legings and in tops that wouldn’t pass dress code and none of it is questioned. Also, volleyball players and cheerleaders can wear very short shorts and skirts and people see it as “uniform” and there is no other way to dress. Girls in Bowie sports should be able to run in whatever they want.

Another reason for this occurrence is people on campus wrongfully sexualize young girl’s bodies.

Women in society are constantly being hypersexualized and criticized.

This directly applies to high school girls. As soon as people see their bodies in a non-sexual way, it makes them uncomfortable. This means that when girls run with only sports bras, people are uncomfortable with seeing that much skin. Those people associate this image with the sexualized view of

too. Girls are now worried about their appearance. A lot of time, this causes them to feel self conscious about their appearance. Girls may focus on how others view them rather than focusing on their sport and doing the best that they possibly can.

A solution to this controversy is not allowing either gender to remove their shirt. This way, no one can be offended by girls revealing their skin. It also promotes equality between girls and boys. Although it will be a little hotter, it is fair.

Promoting a positive environment is important for the team’s success. Both or neither gender should be allowed to remove their shirts.

If that cannot happen, then girls need to be allowed to also run in only their sports bras during sport practices because guys are allowed to remove theirs during practice. It is sexist to not allow females and males runners to cool down the same manner.

Art by Abby Ong

Changes in the iPhone 7 Stricter finals incentive Harrison Louis Staff Writer

W

ith all of the buzz surrounding the removal of the headphone jack from the new iPhone 7, it’s easy to forget about the other great new features. The release of the new iPhones are paired with the release of iOS 10, which provides some useful updates and the redesigning of the main interface and emojis.

I believe the updates to the iPhone 7 are fantastic. The new iPhone has an increase in battery life, waterproofing, stereo speakers, and a faster operating system.

While the updates may be minor, they’ve all been necessary updates Apple should have made a while ago, which is why I believe the iPhone 7 is the best phone on the market right now.

The most controversial update is the removal of the headphone jack. I don’t see any issues with it. There are many ways to keep using your old headphones even

without the jack.

The phones come with a dongle that connect through the lightning port, there are wireless headphones from Apple as well as third party companies, and there are bluetooth headphone adapters.

The new iPhone 7 is the same price as the iPhone 6s Plus, at $649. Someone looking to purchase a new iPhone should look into the 7 because it’s the same price for an upgraded iPhone.

In a move that no one can argue with, Apple finally completely waterproofed their phones. The new phones can take 30 minutes of full submersion in water without any damage. This is a great new addition, as water damage is a common issue for phones, and is not covered by Apple’s warranty for prior models which leaves those with water damage stuck in a tricky position.

People dislike Apple’s updates at first, but in the end, they love them. High-tech companies are making a switch towards wireless technology.

When compared to Android products, Apple has has stepped up immensely.

72%

100%

iPhone 7

iPhone 6

Art by Gavin Farner

DISPATCH STAFF - Vol. 29, Issue #1 Editor-in-chief Violet Glenewinkel

Athletics Editors Mia Barbosa Shelby Kelly

Dispatch Staff: Jadon Alvarez Madison Austin News Editor Jake Brien Fuaad Ajaz Photo Editors Maria Demopoulos Ashley Ramirez Gavin Farner In-Depth Editor Gigi Francis Caitlin Devlin Website Team Lead Jolie Francis Joseph Killeen Maya Joyner Commentary Editors Yana Krykune Avy Friedman Assistant Editors Justine Lockhart Ian Miller Cara Andres Harrison Louis Darcy Kanneman Sam McPherson Student Life Editors Austyn Keelty Emily Merritt Carissa Duran Samantha Knapp Alicia Molina Kathleen Nguyen Abby Ong Mo Orr Kiran Patel Shelby Papst Review Editor Callie Richards Cianna Chairez Douglas Smith Reagan Wallace Entertainment Editor Adviser Ella Wright Victoria Newell Michael Reeves Mikayla Zellner

Douglas Smith Staff Writer

W

hen I found about the new incentives system last year I, like many other students, was happy to have finals that I didn’t have to worry about and felt like a weight had been taken off of my shoulders. This year when I found about the limiting of all our incentives I was initially confused and somewhat aggravated.

The way I saw it, this was just another action by the school that was taking away students freedom, even if we had only gotten those liberties in the last year, currently I share the opinion of many other students on the matter which is a combination of resignation and discontent.

With the introduction of finals incentives at the end of last year students suddenly saw themselves having an unlimited number of “incentives” which they could use on any of their classes finals to receive a grade equal that of their total average, as long as the student’s attendance in the class was up to par. For many students including myself this was like a kind of heaven-sent blessing which we used to the greatest extent of our ability. I personally ended up using my incentives for six of my classes.

The changing of the system this year has resulted in the limiting of incentives per student so that upperclassmen can use two, while lowerclassmen are only given one. Not only do I think this is just another

kind of demeaning way of putting down freshmen and sophomores, but it also creates a divide between the older and younger students. These new limitations also create for students the new task of picking and choosing what classes to use the incentives for. As bad as it is being given less incentives, the system has also changed to forbid students from using them in certain types of classes, which constrains student freedom even further.

If I were somehow in control of what to do with the incentives at school I might implement a new system in which students ability to achieve incentives was not only based on their attendance, but also on a scale of how challenging their classes were. This would result in students who were taking all AP classes, for example, to have more incentives than those who might be taking all regular classes. Classes would be ranked in points going up to the hundreds, which would correlate to a certain number of incentives. Some classes like off periods would not count towards the total count due to not holding any academic weight.

With a new incentives system this year I have found myself questioning both the school and talking to my peers about our grievances. I believe that in this aspect and others the administration at Bowie would benefit from negotiating with students on a larger level, rather than discounting our opinions. Hopefully in the future this can be a reachable goal so that both the administration and students can work together for the betterment of educational advancement at Bowie.

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Content represents the views of the student staff and not school officials.

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Commentary

Changes to schedule cause issues both in school and after school The Lone Star Dispatch

Ian Miller Commentary Editor

O

Page A7

FIT every day!

Bowie

AISD Headquarters

if it meant keeping the 4:30 p.m. release times. This way, 35 minutes would allow students to get an assignment done.

Art by Jake Brien

ver the course of the summer, Austin Independent School District (AISD) decided to lengthen the school days of Bowie High School from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., adding 20 more minutes to each day. This was done so that FIT could be incorporated into every school day. This change also allows for student sharing at select campuses around the district.

AISD messed around with the A/B cycle, creating a situation where every Friday rotates between A and B. This means that there are occasions where students end up have B-day classes on consecutive days every other week.

I think these changes made to the schedule are extremely unnecessary and unfair.

For one, because of having FIT and one-and-a-half hour classes, FIT now only lasts 22 minutes. How is anyone supposed to get anything done in 22 minutes? I have to spend three days in FIT now to get one single assignment done.

A second thing - because of the extra 20 minutes AISD tagged on to the end of the day, I now get home at 5:30 p.m., whereas last year I got home at a consistent 5:00 p.m. This problem doesn’t just apply to students who ride a bus home; student drivers are also affected by this problem.

Thirdly, this new A/B schedule is extremely unfair on certain students. If a student has a class that gives out consistent homework on a B-day, such as math, that means some days students have the full weekend to work on homework, while other times the homework will be due the very next day. In some cases, the B-day student may have a test on the next Friday and they only have Thursday to study for it, whereas A-day students would have the full weekend to study.

It may be too late to fix the schedule this year, however I still think there’s room for improvement for next year. All AISD has to do is implement the old A/B schedule again, where Mondays alternate between A and B-days. Students who have homework/test giving classes on B-days get the time they need to study with this change.

It would also be helpful if AISD were to extend FIT to at least 35 minutes, even

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

The changes AISD made this year are both unneeded and unfair for the students of 2016.

Epipen costs raises concerns over financial problems Maria Demopoulos Staff Writer

LIFE WITH EPIPEN BANK ACCOUNT BALANCE:

T

Transaction at Pharmacy: $600 I still can’t afford it...

Money=Epipen No Money=No Epipen Epipen=Alive No Epipen=DEAD

WHAT TO DO?

Art by Fuaad Ajaz

here has been a striking controversy upsetting tons of consumers in the pharmaceutical department.

The controversy is the spike of pricing of Epipens, a life-saving tool needed by people who are severely allergic to things like peanuts or bee stings.

An Epipen contains a chemical called epinephrine that narrows blood vessels and opens an airway to your lungs. You insert it by a stab in the thigh to get the drugs to work as fast as possible to stop the side effects of an allergic reaction such as severe hives or swelling in the throat.

The company that manufactures the Epipen is Mylan Pharmaceuticals. In 2007, the price of the Epipen was only around $100. Now, in 2016, the prices range from $600 and more. As hard as it is to believe, the reason they did this is simple: because they can.

The price for this life saving tool is incredibly ridiculous and inhumane to charge an amount for something that saves lives. I feel like these should be less than $50 and that the company producing these are just being greedy and selfish.

When the pharmaceutical company Mylan bought the Epipen in 2007, prices were barely $100 for a two-pen set. In 2009, the price went up to $103.50 for a

$-600

LIFE WITHOUT EPIPEN set, and in July of 2013 it rose to $264.50.

The price spiked to $608.61 in May of 2016. That’s ridiculous for something that’s so small and needs to be replaced and bought repeatedly. In fact, several critics have noticed that the actual cost of the epinephrine drug included in the auto-in-

jector costs around $1.

My question is: Why aren’t people protesting? I know I would if I was allergic to things that surround me everyday, but didn’t have that kind of money. The truth is, people are. On Aug. 30th, a petition was delivered to Mylan’s headquarters by

the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. The petition was signed by more than 700,000 people, and they demanded an immediate reduction in the price of Epipens.

I used to require an Epipen because I’m allergic to fire ants and bee stings. I do have a severe reaction called “ anaphylaxis” where blood pressure drops and airways constrict. I don’t really need my Epipen anymore because I haven’t gotten bit or stung in the past two years. But if it started up again, and I had to pay over $600 dollars, I would be fuming. Mylan’s company makes more than $1 billion dollars on Epipens alone, up from $200 million a decade ago.

However, there is another solution.

There is an alternative product called “Adrenaclick.” The product is the same self-injector, same drug, same everything.

Not too many people know about it, but it is a lot cheaper than the Epipen. I would definitely buy the alternative.

Overall, I hope this controversy ends immediately and the prices reduce to a more affordable amount. For such an important life saving tool to be so highpriced, it’s ridiculous that the company will be expecting consumers to still buy their Epipens. I know I couldn’t even afford spending $600 for something I’ll probably only use around three times annually. The corporate greed of this company is overwhelming, charging absurdly for something people can’t control.

BULLDAWGS SPEAK OUT

How do you feel about the new schedule changes?

9th

10th

11th

12th

TEACHER

Patrick Jesus

Ivan Perez

Alana Patterson

Linda Garza

Lynn Edgerton

“I like waking up and having time to get ready at 7:45 instead of 7:00, and FIT everyday helps me get work done in classes.”

“I like the new FIT everyday schedule. It really helps out a lot, especially with academic studies.”

“I think it’s really stupid how we have the

“At first I was kind of excited, because it’s a

“I like having FIT every day, be-

Friday switching because it’s really confus-

good opportunity to make up tests and get

cause it gives all students an op-

ing. The FIT every day is nice, but I wish it

a lot of work done, but then we found out

portunity to come in for tutoring

was longer, because now it’s really short and

that it was shortened to 22 minutes, and so

that might not be able to come in

it’s hard to get anything done.”

there’s no time to get any real work done...”

before school or after school.”

Photo Essay The Lone Star Dispatch

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

Page A8

Day in a Life: Football Trainer

Eyes on the field: Looking out on to the Burger football field is senior Mikayla Lyles standing next to fellow varsity trainers during the Bowie versus Westlake game. Bowie lost to the Chaps 35-21. “Being a trainer is a lot more work than what I expected but I do enjoy being a trainer and I have fun,” Lyles said. Photo by Fuaad Ajaz

Stepping in the shoes of varsity trainer Mikayla Lyles Ashley Ramirez Photo Editor Running, sweating, and aiding their team. The job of a football trainer is a very important part of any football game. Many see football trainers running on the field to aid hurt players or providing water. Varsity football trainer, senior Mikayla Lyles knows the importance of her job.

This is may be Lyles first year as a trainer but she has learned everything with ease.

“It was really easy to learn my job as a trainer,” Lyles said. “It helps that we have returning trainers from previous years to help us new trainers whenever we have a question or get stuck but I enjoy every minute of it.”

Lyles is required to follow certain rules as a football trainer.

“I have to wear appropriate clothing to practice, I have to show up to practice two days a week, and, just like the player, I have to maintain good grades and pass all my classes,” Lyles said.

There are many tasks a trainer needs

in order to succeed at the job.

“I fill up water cows, take them to the practice fields, and disperse them out on the track,” Lyles said. “The other trainers and I are also responsible for one water crate.”

In order to work as a team all the trainers need to have a good relationship.

“Even if you have your differences outside of school, you don’t have to be friends, but you do have to work together and be professional,” Lyles said.

As a football trainer, Lyles must act a certain way during practice and games.

“I have to be professional at all times,” Lyles said. “I can’t just sit there on my phone and have long conversations with the football boys it will distract them.”

Junior varsity football player Alex Brennan-Farris appreciates what the trainers do.

“Majority of the football players definitely appreciate the trainers but also respect them because, after all, they are the ones taking care of us when we need it most,” Farris said.

The football trainers and players have a mutual respect for one another.

“The football players respect the other trainers and I,” Lyles said. “They always say thank you and show their manners. We as trainers also respect the football boys and respect that they put in a lot of work to better themselves.”

Senior varsity football player Ronnie Garcia thinks that games would be different without the trainers.

“The trainers are a major part of our team, the things they do off the field help us perform better on the field in more way then one,” Garcia said.

Without them we wouldn’t have the help we need.”

Even though being a football trainer requires a lot of work Lyles enjoys her time as a varsity football trainer.

“What I like most about being a trainer is being able to help people, going to football games, meeting new people, and creating memories with the team,” Lyles said. “ These are the memories that I hope I remember the most after graduating from school.

Bottles: Preparing for the game, Mikayla Lyles fills up water bottles. It was Lyles fourth game as a trainer. “It takes five to ten minutes to fill the bottles,” Lyles said. Photo by Ashley Ramirez

Focus: Mikayla Lyles focuses all her attention on the game. One player during the game was injured.“I have to watch the game in case anybody gets hurt or needs water,” Lyles said. Photo by Ashley Ramirez

Filling up: Mikayla Lyles fills up the water bottles for the football players during practice after school. During practice Lyles help to prepare the boys for the upcoming Westlake game. “I usally have to stay after school for two hours to help with injuries and make sure the boys stay hydrated,” Lyles said. Photo by Austyn Keetly

Wrap: Sophomore Griffin Helling gets his wrist wrapped in tape by Mikayla Lyles before practice. This is one of the many tasks Lyles does before practice.“I wrap the boys ankles, hands, wrist, and give them ice bags when hurt,” Lyles said.

Photo by Austyn Keetly

Athletics

INSIDE

Section

B

Athletics B1-2 Reviews B3 Entertainment B4-5 Feature B6-7 Photo Essay B8

Out with the old, in with the new Brand new district change has teams facing different opponents than before Mia Barbosa Athletics Editor The longer a player has been on a school sports team, the more familiar they are with their opponent’s athleticism, integrity, and strategy. However, when they are faced with a new opponent than before this can create some challenges.

A new district change has led to some changes in the training, time involvement and mindset of the football, volleyball, basketball and cross country athletes at Bowie. Starting this school year Manor and San Marcos have been added to the Bowie sports schedule while Austin, Westlake and Lake Travis have been left off. Also the number of teams decreased from nine teams in District 14-6A to six.

“Although the district change has surprised a lot of people, I feel like my

It’s All About The Spike: Senior Alex Mclennan spikes the ball in game against St. Stephen’s High School. Bowie won the game after five sets. Photo

by Mia Barbosa

teammates and coaches are very adaptable and we handle changes well,” junior basketball player Maddie Arrington said. “We are always willing to do whatever it takes to better ourselves and we always try to keep a positive attitude and work hard in order to meet our goals.”

The new district change has opened up some doors for the cross country runners.

“I think it has definitely changed the mindset of our runners,” junior Tyler David said. “In our new district, we have a lot more of an opportunity to advance to regionals, so I think it’s just given us a goal to push toward and look forward to.”

The football team has altered the training to help the players be prepared for their new opponents.

“We have done more running this season with a focus on endurance to help us in the fourth quarter of the game when it’s needed,” senior Troy Sanders said. “We know it sucks when we are running but we look towards the future in games where it pays off.”

The football time not only has adapted their training for the new season but they also have had to cope with traveling to games as well.

“We had to travel to Shotwell stadium which was four hours away,” Sanders said. “We have a great coaching staff and managers to help plan out our trips; they help us set our team schedule and determine our route that we

Face Mask Foul: Senior Daylnn Threadgil is fouled by having a Westlake defensive player grab and pull his face mask while he is getting tackled. Bowie was undefeated until they lost this game 21-35, breaking their streak. Photo by Violet Glenewinkel would take.”

However, for the girls volleyball teams, the new schedule hasn’t had a huge impact on their season.

“The district change hasn’t affected us much,” senior Ellie Crosley said.

“There’s not a team that I’d miss playing because we were able to play our tough-

est competitors from last year’s districts in pre-season.”

On the other hand, Lake Travis High School is no longer scheduled to play against Bowie which is disappointing for some of the school’s athletes.

“I will definitely miss playing Lake Travis, they

had good players and put up real challenge for us during the season,” Sanders said. “They were usually the team we trained hardest for.”

Sanders even has a opponent from Lake Travis who he is going to miss squaring up against.

“I will miss playing

Sammy Ochoa because he would always put up a challenge on defence,” Sanders said.

Being able to have some familiarity to the schedule is also an important factor as well.

“I’m looking forward to playing Anderson because I have a good friend that plays there, but we have played them in previous years,” Crosley said.

Sanders is also excited to get the opportunity of playing some of the new teams on this year’s schedule.

“I am looking forward to playing Manor the most because they are known for having some real athletes,” Sanders said. “What will be challenging about Manor is their offense because the do have some really fast players on their team, also they have a decent defensive line.”

Cross country runners are looking forward to the idea of having a new challenging team to face also.

“San Marcos looks like they’re really strong this year so we’re looking forward to competing against them,” junior cross country runner Tyler David said.

“We looked at some of their times last season and they returned a lot of their top runners, so they look like they will be really fast.”

The Bowie athletes are trying not let the new district distract them from achieving their goals.

“What’s most important to me is being able to see our team get better and just look at the improvement we’ve been making as a team,” David said.

Cheer makes some adjustments with the help of new coach Gigi Francis Staff Writer The stands are going wild as a touchdown is made. The cheer squad is flipping through the air as specks of sweat liter the surrounding space.

Blinding lights fill the stadium creating a huge spotlight on the performers.

Practice makes perfect.

The Bowie cheerleading team has being working a lot of time and dedication in preparation of the football season. The team has a new coach this year, Amie Roggemann, who is helping them practice on perfecting their skills to improve the squad. This year is full of adjusting and changing it up for the cheer squad.

“I have worked with many schools over the years through clinics and choreography and Bowie is different in many amazing ways,” Roggemann said.

“The cheerleaders here at Bowie are self-motivated and determined.

This year preparing for

the new season could be a bit different. Their new coach Roggemann has adjusted the practices so they can really nail their performances.

“Our new coach has changed the way we practiced in that we break up into varsity and JV, and individually work stunting and skills, but we still get to bond as a whole,” junior, Kitty Lee said.

With a loss of one coach and the gain of another, the team has worked hard on perfecting every move.

“Coach Roggemann helped us become a more well rounded team in every aspect of cheer,” senior Brandon Hertel said.

Roggemann is making a modifications for the team practices to make performances run smoother.

“We are all adapting to her coaching style but I think she will be good for the team,” sophomore Catalina Camacho said.

Roggemann has been working to make the team stronger to be able to show off everything they have got in performances.

Up High: Senior Bridget Alvarez raises her partner on her shoulders to the chear the team on during the Westlake game. Alvarez is captain of the cheer team and this is her last year on the cheer squad. Photo by Fuaad Ajaz

“At Bowie I have incorporated the weight room into our weekly routine,”

Roggemann said.

In order for this team to become a family they have

to reconcile new members and make them feel apart of everything. Seniors focus on the new sophomores helping them fit in.

“I’ve in adjusting well, everyone is very helpful and we all work together as a team,” Camacho said.

The students are not the only ones having to adjust to a new team. Roggemann is trying to adapt her different surroundings as well.

“I just moved to Texas so everything is a new adjustment for me but Cheer is the most comfortable adjustment,” Roggemann said. “The team and parents have been welcoming, supportive and patient as I learn my way around.”

With the help of her lead cheerleaders, Roggemann has been really focusing on the students to make sure everything works out.

“My captains and I meet regularly to discuss what is coming up and explain what has been done in the past. We talk about what we need to do to sure sure goals are met,” Roggemann said.

The most important as-

pect of the team, other than perfecting their moves, is the bond that’s created within the group, and how everyone fits in and becomes part of a team.

“Though the years I have stayed with cheer because of the atmosphere of becoming a family and achieving goals with my team. Each year I grow a more powerful passion for it,” Hertel said.

These cheerleaders have put their heart and soul into practicing to make it look good during their shows.

“I have been a cheerleader for eight years and have loved every minute of it. We practice around three or four times a week,” senior, Bridget Alvarez said.

Spending all of this time practicing and working on moves has had a huge positive effect on this team pulling them closer together, forming an unbreakable bond.

“The bond on the team is great, we have to work together to make everything hit so it’s really good and everyone gets along well,” Camacho said.

Athletics

Bowie’s racing rarity The Lone Star Dispatch

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

Page B2

Reilly McCarthy fufills his passion as a stock car racer

Shelby Kelly Athletics Editor

The sounds of the engine humming, the tires screeching at every turn, and the idea of just going fast is what makes Reilly McCarthy want to be a race car driver.

There are not many people that attend Bowie who have such a passion for racing. McCarthy’s love of the sport began when he watched the races on TV as a young kid.

“I have always been interested in racing since I was a little kid. My passion came from watching racing on TV and seeing some of these guys kind of like heroes, I used to watch Jeff Gordon on the TV all the time,” Mccarthy said.

Bowman Brannon, McCarthy’s former algebra teacher, has witnessed his love of racing.

Racing Ready: Reilly McCarthy talks with his dad about how the race went. This race was one of his first practice races where he was preparing for a big competition coming up.

Photo by Mia Barbosa

“He revealed his love of racing in our Algebra class last year, where he would occasionally mention things about NASCAR or a driver in the series,” Brannon said.

Racing is not an easy sport to get into, but once McCarthy saw it on TV he knew that was what he wanted to do.

“I haven’t known many students to show such an interest in racing, and I certainly have not heard of another student who was actually involved in the sport,” Brannon said.

Racing is a sport that not everyone is willing to do because you have to be brave because it is such a dangerous sport, junior Jacob Santiago explains.

“A racer has to be courageous and be able to not get that nervous

because they reach such high speeds through tight spaces. Also they have to be able to manage their stress because of the high amounts they go through each time, knowing one wrong move could injure or potentially kill them,” Santiago said.

McCarthy races as much as possible, usually on the weekends, to reach his goal of being a professional driver.

“My goal is to get to at least sprint cup which is the Nascar division. But I will continue to race because it is a lot of fun,” McCarthy said.

It is hard to find time amidst school work, family, and a social life to practice, McCarthy usually has to spend time on the weekends to practice.

“He spends time on the weekends making his mom anxious, screaming around turns in speeds of over 60 MPH down at Central Texas Speedway,” Brannon said.

Like anything else to reach a top goal a person has to start on the bottom, McCarthy started racing go karts and has now moved on to stock cars.

“Last year I started gokart racing .Then as I spent more time at the track I realized go-kart racing could lead to something bigger; stock car racing. Finally, just recently I fixed up a car and started stock car racing,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy owns a dark green and yellow lettered car he recently fixed up and got some new safety gear.

Reilly has his own race car (even though he doesn’t even have a driver’s license yet), a racing team, and all of the safety gear including the innovative new HANS device. He had to buy it stock and the team he is racing with had

Preparing for the fast lane: Junior Reilly McCathy, puts up his guard to get ready for the race. Each time he gets into the car he has to take many safty percations, like putting up the guard and locking his multi-point racing seatbelt, which are all a part of the mandatory routine to get ready for a race. Photo by Shelby Kelly

their crew tear out the seats and insides and put in the cage,” Brannon said.

The new series that he hopes to advance in is going to be a lot of work but totally worth it for McCarthy.

“This is my first race in this series. There are usually races every two weeks.

It is probably going to end up taking up a lot of my time,” McCarthy said.

To become a good racer, one has to put in a lot of time and effort Brannon explains.

“Reilly is extremely committed to the sport, always wanting to improve and practice his driving.

He is an extremely hard worker, and has a strong desire to be successful,” Brannon said.

Although many people know what racing is

Ready, Set-: Reilly McCarthy speeds ahead in the front, leading his component in the dust. This race was not official but McCarthy used it to better some skills and gain more experiane on the track since track time is limited because of his busy schedule.

Photo by Shelby Kelly 3601 Wil. Cannon (W of Brodie)

512-891-6782 1807 W Slaughter (at Manchaca)

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as a sport and may have been to a few races many do not know someone that actually races, especially at Bowie, junior Zoe Bihan explains.

“I have been to a Formula One race and a lot of people I know play the racing of video games but Reilly is the only one I know at Bowie that races,” Bihan said.

Schooling takes a lot of time and so does racing but the sport has never seemed to have gotten in the way, from his teacher’s standpoint.

“He has never used racing as an excuse not to complete school work, which definitely comes first in his mind,” Brannon said McCarthy is prepared for time commitment because he has been in a

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sport before and was able to handle both activities “I will be busy working on the car and practicing but I will handle it like you would any other sport,” McCarthy said.

To be able to balance school, life, and racing McCarthy has acquired the very important trait of responsibility.

“Responsibility and hard work are a huge part of who he is within the school building and out on the track. He also does a good job separating these two and commits an appropriate amount of time to each,” Brannon said.

Many people enjoy racing and think it’s fun to watch but many are afraid to participate in the actual race because of the intensity.

“It’s very scary, I went go-kart racing and almost got into a bad car accident so I couldn’t imagine what it would be like in a bigger scale,” Santiago said.

Racing is something he will always have a passion for but with this sport comes many dangers.

“Worst part about racing is wrecking. Second week of practice I was going around turn four and my tires dug in too far and I tried to turn my car away from the wall but it did a 360. It only made a small scratch but I was white knuckled after that one,” McCarthy said.

Although there are dan-

gers involved Brannon is excited to see Mccarthy perform well and continue in his racing career and is excited about what the future holds for him.

“I think it would be really cool to have taught a student who is involved in NASCAR or another competitive racing series, especially a genuine, friendly guy like Riley,” Brannon said.

McCarthy is excited for the sounds of the race track to be hard every weekend even if it has take some of his hearing.

“Last year we went down and watched some of the races. I can’t wait to hear those sounds more and more even though it is loud, very loud and that’s why I have lost a lot of hearing,” McCarthy said.

Not many other people get to experience what McCarthy get to feel, racing in its full intensity, Santiago would love to feel those high speeds and adrenaline rush.

“I think it is cool that he races, the feeling of being pushed into your seat and going so fast is a feeling that keeps you wanting to go again,” Santiago said.

McCarthy is excited to continue racing, his true sentiment for racing comes from fulfilling a simple idea of what he enjoys.

“I love going fast and the adrenalin rush, it makes me feel great,” said McCarthy said.

It ’s time to buy your 2016-17 yearbook!

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The Lone Star Dispatch

Reviews

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

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Stranger Things causes stir on Netflix Darcy Kannerman

Will finds himself being chased by a monster. Will runs into his house and looks for his mom, Joyce Byers, and his brother, Jonathan Byers, but finds no one. The monster breaks into the house and Will is chased into the backyard.

Then, Will is taken by the monster. In the morning the police set out on a search and find Will’s bike off the side of the road in the woods, but they aren’t able to trace Will’s whereabouts.

Later that night, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas decide to go looking for Will in the forest. They stumble upon a girl running through the woods. They soon sneak her into Mike’s basement and begin to interrogate her. She tells them that her name is Eleven. From there, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas search and investigate to try and find Will with the help of their new

Assistant Editor

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Art by Cianna Chairez

Harry Potter’s story lives on in The Cursed Child Justine Lockhart Staff Writer

Art by Callie Richards

The magic of J.K. Rowling’s storytelling drew in many loyal fans who have been waiting for the next installment of the Harry Potter series for years. The wizardry and spells continue in “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”. This story carries on the adventure of the boy who lived. Currently the “Cursed Child” is on stage as a play in England.

Reading the script had a very different feeling from the books. Many fans did not enjoy the fact that the book was a script. Personally, I did not think this was a bad thing. Having the book be a script adds a new twist to the classic Harry Potter series.

The story follows Albus Potter, Harry’s son, as he tries to escape his father’s shadow. Albus and his best friend Scorpius Malfoy, set out on an adventure through time in the hopes of saving one of Volde-

mort’s victims.

Perhaps I’m blinded by my thirst for more Harry Potter magic, but I found the story of Albus and Scorpius marvelous.

The imagination of Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Rowling’s co-writers, tackle the theme of letting go of the past and looking towards the future.

I love that this theme can be applied to small everyday decisions that one might regret. The theme

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can also be applied to the big parts of our past that haunt us. The love and friendship motifs carried throughout the first seven books are also wonderfully portrayed in this one.

Many readers thought that the story read like a fan fiction. Although I agree some parts could have been written better, generally speaking the story was enjoyable. The writers knew how to make me keep guessing what would happen next, yet still left the right amount of clues for foreshadowing.

The plot was original, but a little awkward, and satisfied my longing for an amazing new adventure.

Even though I did enjoy the story I don’t think it should continue. There were many mixed reactions to the script. Continuing the story of Albus would likely create more negative responses.

Overall I think this new adventure deserves a four out of five stars.

Art by Callie Richards

Netflix has recently released Stranger Things, a Netflix Original. Shortly after the release, Stranger Things became a very popular show. The creators (Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer) have already announced a second season in 2017, but no specific date has been confirmed.

I’d give Stranger Things a 4 out of 5 stars. The show is a dramatic, creepy, and thrilling tale that will keep you on your toes. The series did a great job of having the setting take place in the 80’s. If you like mystery, adventure, and the unknown, then Stranger Things is the perfect binge.

Will Byers is riding his bike back home at night after spending the day with his friends Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair. Suddenly,

friend Eleven.

In Stranger Things, their technology consisted of radios, televisions with antennas that they have to adjust, and big phones mounted on the wall. The clothes they wear are not trends from today’s current fashion statements.

They wear big jackets, wire framed glasses with big lenses, and their hair is curly and big. The characters use words that we don’t usually use today like ‘rad’, ‘tubular’, and ‘no duh Sherlock’. The background music is very dated and has sounds that aren’t used in today’s music.

Because the show is set in the 80’s, it interests many different people.

Stranger Things appeals to older generations because they know how accurate the show’s portrayal of the 80’s is. Younger generations like to see how the older generation lived by watching Stranger Things.

I think the dynamic characters are interesting to watch. Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Eleven are very smart children who use unlikely resources to find Will. They end up getting farther than the police in their investigation. They know that there is more involved in the case than what meets the eye.

However, I didn’t like that there weren’t very many plot twists through-

out the series. Some of the episodes were very predictable.

Stranger Things is perfect if you’re looking for

thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The show is full of scientific theories and conspiracies that makes the show much

more interesting. Through technology, beliefs, fashion, and music, Stranger Things portrays life in the 80s’ flawlessly.

Rtic, Yeti, and Ozark Trails test the heat and stay cool Alicia Molina Staff Writer

Something that has been all the rage lately is vacuum sealed stainless-steel drinkware. There are a few brands that have competition, some of the brands are Yeti, RTIC, and other brands that are very similar to this drinkware.

Why people buy these products is because they claim to keep your drink hot or cold for a long period of time. I am here to test their claims and see which brand can hold ice the longest.

I am comparing a Yeti 30 oz tumbler, an RTIC 30 oz tumbler and an Ozark Trail 30 oz tumbler. These products all have a different price range with Yeti being the most expensive ($39.99), RTIC being almost half the Price of a Yeti ($14.99) and the Ozark trail being the least expensive ($9.74).

All of the cups look very similar, but the Ozark Trail felt heavier than the others weighing in at 402 grams versus the RTIC and Yeti which weigh in at 357 grams (Yeti) and 364

RTIC Yeti Ozark Trails

(from left to right) RTIC, Yeti, and Ozark Trails. Ozark trails tumblers sell for $9.99, RTIC for $19.99 and Yeti tumblers are $39.99. Photo by Douglas Smith

grams (RTIC).

To put these cups to the test I put two cups of ice in each cup and monitored the ice for six hours checking the progression every hour. In the first hour, nothing really happened to either of the cups, but I did notice that the ice was slowly melting. However, not a significant amount was lost.

During the second hour, RTIC still had no significant loss, but Yeti had 1 ¾

cups of ice and Ozark had 1 ½ cups of ice left.

During the third hour, RTIC has 1 ¾ cups of ice, Yeti had 1 ½ cups of ice and Ozark had 1 ¼ cups of ice.

In the fourth hour, Yeti had 1 1/ cups of ice, RTIC had 1 ½ cups and Ozark had 1 cup.

In the fifth hour RTIC 1 1/8 , Yeti 1 1/16 and Ozark had a little less than 1.

And finally, in the final hour RTIC had 1, Yeti had 1 and Ozark had ¾ of a cup.

I think it is very interesting how close the RTIC and the Yeti are in competition and also how well Ozark Trail is for its price.

If I were to personally rate these tumblers on a rating system out of five stars I would rate the Yeti a 5, the RTIC a 5 and the Ozark Trail a 4.

E ntertainment The Lone Star Dispatch

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

E ntertainment

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The Lone Star Dispatch

But first, I need my poetry Cianna Chairez Reviews Editor

Kickbutt poetry: Daniel Cartwright performs his poems on the stage of Kicbutt Coffee bar every Sunday night from 7-10 pm.

Cartwright works hard on his poems the week before to prepare for the weekend shows. Photo by Reagan Wallace

The lights at Kickbutt Coffee dim as senior Daniel Cartwright takes the stage to perform one of his slam poems once again.

Cartwright began seriously writing slam poetry his freshman year after becoming inspired by watching a YouTube video. He had always been a writer, but spoken word was different.

“It’s a lot more of a performing way to do poetry,” Cartwright said.

“It’s really meant to connect the speaker and the audience. Rather than just reading it, you speak it, as the name suggests. Some traditional poets don’t care for it, but I really enjoy it because it’s a lot more personal for me.”

Kickbutt Coffee Bar is the small coffee shop where Cartwright performs his poetry. The mic is open every Sunday night to anyone who’s brave enough to go up there and share their most personal writing. For Cartwright, the first time getting up there wasn’t easy.

“I just about peed my pants that first performance,” Cartwright said.

“However, once I started performing, I forgot about the fifty people watching and it becomes just me on a stage, doing what I love and what I’ve poured my heart into.”

The inspiration and motivation behind Cartwright’s poetry comes from everyone around him. The struggles of everyday life are what influence his writing and with that he’s able to affect people.

“He uses his talent with words to touch others, relating to the audience with his own experiences and giving them hope,” best friend Amanda Perez said. “He knows what people need to hear, because he understands people.”

It’s a gift that most people don’t possess to be able to take one look at a person and recognize the strug-

gles they’re going through. Daniel is one of the few people who seem to have acquired thisability, and his writing reflects that.

“I write about being in class and seeing someone that you can tell is struggling with something and you want to say something and you want to encourage them, but you keep your mouth shut and you don’t know why,” Cartwright said.

From an early age, Daniel had to ability to capture the most vivid of experiences through poetry. His work as a junior in English class was most impressive according to Henry Bostwick, Daniel’s English III teacher.

“I began to recognize that Daniel had the power to fill his writing with very vivid imagery,” Bostwick said. “He was able to capture the feelings he had about an individual and his or her struggles with a degree of clarity and insight that is not very common for someone of his age.”

Writing is important, according to Daniel, and because of this reason, Bostwick decided that all he needed was a push in the right decision.

“I advised him that he should begin to practice his writing skills and develop his voice for his poetry,” Bostwick said. “And I don’t want to say that he started to go to these poetry slams because of my influence, but the next thing I know he’s doing just that.”

And so when the lights dim and the microphone turns on, Daniel has the opportunity to have a voice and affect people through his poetry. He has the opportunity to make change.

“We all want to make a difference, but we’re scared to take that leap of faith to do it out of our own fear of judgment or criticism or failure,” Daniel said. “It’s a passion and really when you dive into a passion you just lose yourself.”

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016 Page B5

Fall shows sneak peak The Martian Chronicles

Victoria Newell Entertainment Editor

For generations, Earthlings have dreamed of going to Mars: establishing colonies, exploring, and expanding horizons. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury features this fascination, with human missions to Mars, and their encounters with the indigenous Martians already living there.

“Mars is an opportunity, the first thing Earth people want to do is explore it, it’s an undiscovered territory just like America was; the Earthlings see Mars as an open territory,” director Betsy Cornwell said.

The show is also reminiscent of historical events a few hundred years ago.

“The philosophy has always been expansion, ever since Columbus discovered America it’s always been; ‘what’s out there that we haven’t discovered yet?’,” Cornwell said. “Unfortunately when that happens we kind of remove the character of the indigenous species, such as what we did

to the American Indians, and that happens on Mars.”

The show’s movement is unique as well, as the whole production is very ensemble driven.

Most of the characters are not in more than five scenes, so when an actor is not playing their given character, they become part of the ensemble, allowing most performers to play both humans and martians.

“I feel like the way that we have portrayal of two different species and that we have everyone in the cast playing two different species, really sets it apart from the other shows,” junior assistant director Nicole Chenevert said.

The Martian Chronicles centers around the harm that can happen when one species over power another, and issues a warning for those looking to explore space.

“It obviously reflects some things that already happened in our history, and how it continues to happen, so maybe it’s a message from the author of; we might do the same things to space as we did to people in our past,” Cornwell said.

The Giver

Kiran Patel Assistant Editor

A Utopian society is a community in which everything is perfect, but what happens when everything is too perfect? What happens when there are no emotions, no pain, no love, no memories, no experiences?

The Giver, a novel adapted into a play and a movie introduces a new society to the world, one without any passion, memories, or love for one another. The story explores the outcomes of a utopia and how it becomes a dystopia.

“The Giver is about a futuristic ‘community’ of a governing body that takes differentiation out of society. It shows how differing ideas, hobbies, choices, and backgrounds make a society interesting and beautiful,” director Kalyn Holloway said.

The show emphasizes how memories are a guiding force in the lives of humanity, without which there are no experiences and no lessons to learn from.

“It’s interesting to play a char-

acter that don’t have emotions and don’t understand feelings, they don’t experience love or pain or any of those things that are such a part of everyone’s daily life,” junior Lauren Norris said. “It’s weird to be in a family that doesn’t love because they don’t have the ability, yet their your daughter. It’s like living with people, and your lives are intertwined, but all emotions are only half fulfilled. You like your family, but you can’t love them.

There are a lot of boundaries and limitations to emotions.”

The theme of the show highlights the necessity of all memories and all forms of emotions.

Without sorrow there is no happiness and without passion there is nothing unique in a community, the show reminds us of the importance of every element of life in its purest form.

“Jonas sees what love is like through memories ‘The Giver’ gives him, and he wants his family to love him. Seeing their incapability sparks a mission in Jonas to return the memories back to the society,” Holloway said.

Memory giving: Seniors Carter Drost (Giver) and Jake Anderson (Jonas), rehearse a scene in which the Giver passes along a memory to Jonas. The Dystopian show is set to perform the weekend of October 8th, Thursday through Sunday. Photo by Jake Brien

Students take control during Cabaret Victoria Newell Entertainment Editor For many, the start of a new school year involves the reunion of friends, endless speeches about syllabuses, and lots of coffee. However, for members of Bowie’s choir, the start of a new school year means warming up those vocal cords and memorizing music; Cabaret is just a few weeks away.

“While it is a busy start to the year, I love watching the Cabaret process,” show choir director Caitlin Gasco said. “The students, especially those new to Bowie or to our choir, make so many new friends and really give it their all. To see how hard they work to make the student directors’ visions come to life is amazing and rewarding.”

The show begins before summer even starts, with the selection of the directors. This year, the directors are seniors Shane Scandurra and Giselle Lozano.

“The Cabaret directors

were chosen through a rigorous application process last May, including submitting an application, resume, and show pitch. Once they were chosen, we solidified the theme and they began building their team of student producers,” Gasco said.

Cabaret is completely student run, and has a shift-

ing theme every year.

“This year’s theme is ‘Hall of Fame.’ The storyline follows two students who are auditioning for musicals.

One faces successes in the midst of personal struggles at home, and the other faces failure even with supportive family and friends. In the end they rise above their ob-

Hall Of Fame: Shane Scandurra and Giselle Lozno sing Will I from the musical Rent during this year’s Cabaret. Both Lozano and Scandurra put their own expierences into their performances and directing of Cabaret. Photo by Mikayla Zellner

stacles and keep on pursuing their dreams,” Gasco said.

The theme was inspired by the directors personal experiences.

“Shane told a story that was more personal as he faced more conflicts that were within himself, like self-esteem and confidence issues as opposed to my

story. I faced more conflicts involving my surroundings like my family,” Lozano said.

Hall of Fame also gives students the opportunity to perform songs from many different genres.

“What’s different about Cabaret from other theater shows is that it’s all songs

you’ve heard, but they’ve never been in a story together,” junior assistant director Blake Moyer said. “You can take any song from any time period and put them together and make a story. It’s not a set of songs, it not songs just composed for that musical, you choose songs.”

The production has also given many students a chance to shine outside of their comfort zone.

“I love to see all the solo opportunities for our choir students as well. For a lot of our students, a solo in Cabaret is their first solo and it’s so rewarding to see them shine onstage,” Gasco said.

Cabaret is an opportunity for students to come together, and make a complete show of their own.

“I think that what makes Cabaret really special is that all the choirs come together, and we all tell the exact same story and we can all relate too it, and it’s a cool way for us to really get to know each other more and get closer,” Lozano said.

It’s All True Victoria Newell Entertainment Editor The Great Depression is often associated with job-loss and economic failure, an aesthetic that musicals aren’t often associated with. However, in It’s All True by Jason Sherman, a group of individuals attempt to put up a play despite the economic disaster of the 1930’s.

“It’s All True is about a play about making a play and so it’s cool like that and trippy,” assistant director Avery Helder said.

The political play features a group of directors attempting to put on a show in the 1930’s, however, the government tries to shut it down so that its funds can go elsewhere.

“It’s about the government trying to shut the play down because it was funded by the works project administration and them trying to find a way to put on their show,” director Matthew Humphrey said.

This show also incorporates singing, something usually not found in fall shows, and the actors singing are actors that traditionally do not star in the annual musical.

“I think anybody can sing, I wanna make that very clear, just because I don’t cast the usual musical leads or people who are predominantly in musical theater class, doesn’t mean I don’t think they can sing,” Humphrey said.

The musical element presents a new challenge to Humphrey “I wanted to kind of take that on and challenge myself with it,” Humphrey said.

It’s All True highlights the power of theater because it gives the audience a fresh behind the scenes look at the people behind the production.

“It’s about the power of theater and how it can transform the way people think about things and the way people feel,” Humphrey said.

Earthquakes in London Kiran Patel Assistant Editor Earthquakes in London centers around a scientist and his three daughters, and their relationship to one another as well as the challenges that earth faces due to the choices of humanity. The past, present, and future are all encapsulated into one show to express a strong message.

“It’s essentially about the world we live and how it became the world we live in by the choices we made as mankind and specifically about the airline industry and the choices we made,” director Marco Bazan said.

The play focuses on the topic of the effects of mankind’s choices. The shows takes place between 1968 and 2025, and the span from the 70’s to present day that show the impact of every decision.

“I was looking for a political, socio-political play because that was our theme, and the title grabbed me

first and when I started reading it,” Bazan said. “I was definitely interested in it, and then when I started the script and the dynamics of the script like cutting in and out of time, it really just appealed to me.”

The theme of the fall shows is politics of the past and present, and Earthquakes in London encompasses both all tenses through memories of the past and present and future.

“The concept of the show is really unique. It revolves around the powerful message of how important it is to take care of Earth, and the consequences of our choices,” junior Tasha Anslyn said.

Although the show isn’t a biography, it does contain historical aspects to it, as the characters experience flashbacks of the 1970’s.

“I’m really excited to see how the technological elements of the play come together, the new tech equipment will really impact our show, especially because of the theme and the futuristic tone,” Anslyn said.

Features

The Lone Star Dispatch

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

Page B6

Making the cut for the Olympics Madison Austin Staff Writer The gun goes off and everyone splashes into the pool. The Olympic trials are intense and nerve racking for everyone involved especially the athletes. The water is glistening as the swimmers glide through the water. The air smells of chlorine and nerves. The crowd is going wild as the swimmers make their final turn.

Junior Diana Dunn went to the Olympic Trials over the summer to compete in swimming events.

Dunn qualified for the trials in the very last race at Junior Nationals 2015.

The trials consist of many races. To qualify for the Olympics, athletes have to be in the top two of their race. When they qualify for the trials they know almost immediately after they make the cut.

“I was at Junior Nationals last summer and I swam going into my 200 free, I ended up making my cut which is very exciting. It’s very black and white, either you make it or you don’t,” Dunn said.

The Olympic trials are held somewhere different each year, and each year they build a new pool inside the venue. These venues are called CenturyLinks.

“Inside each CenturyLink they actually build into the Links’ floor so that the pool is in the center of the stadium,” Dunn said.

Competing in the Olympic Trials is different from most other events since the

Making a splash: Junior Diana Dunn is swimming with determination in a district competition in January. Dunn recently participated in Olympic Trials over the summer in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo provided by Chanel Bobrzensky

athletes are swimming in Olympic-sized pools.

“The pool is huge, it’s an Olympic length pool which has 10 lanes which is wider than most pools,” Dunn said.

Dunn put a lot of hard work and time into her swimming.Which allowed her to become an Olympiclevel athlete.

“Hard work. A lot of hours and attention go to my technique and race strategies,” Dunn said.

Dunn took her mom, dad, aunt, uncle, and grandmother to the trials to support her.

“It was really nice having so many people there

who were supporting me and my goals,” Dunn said.

Competing in the Olympic trials takes time and lots of training. Dunn trains nine times a week.

“Just training, the year leading into the Olympics is called an Olympic year, so basically I started really focusing on trials,” Dunn said. “After I made my cut and then when school started I started training again.”

Dunn’s parents were there through the whole experience from when she made the cut to when she went to trials.

“You have to understand, she made that qual-

ifying time during her very last race at 2015 Summer Jr. Nationals,” Sandy said.

“She had barely missed four times already at that meet. So after watching her persevere through frustration and disappointment in herself I just remember feeling overwhelming joy, relief, pride and excitement when she touched that wall.”

The Olympic Trials are different from a normal swim meet in that there are a lot more people and the pressure is unending.

“This meet was a lot of pressure, there were a lot of college scouts there to look at high school ath-

letes who qualified as well as different teams,” Diana said. “So depending on how well you scored, you could obviously make the Olympic team but you could be eligible to make the Junior National team.”

Being at the trials may be overwhelming for the athletes but it is also awe inspiring for the crowd.

“I was in awe and disbelief from start to finish,” Sandy Dunn said. “What a privilege it was to have a child competing there.

Never had I been in the presence of so many true swim fans gathered under the same roof. Nor had I ever witnessed all of our

nation’s’ best swimmers competing at their peak performance level under the same roof. Last but not least, the patriotism was intense.”

Olympic level athletes need more than just practice they also need support from friends and family.

“Financially, practically, emotionally, and unconditionally. We drive her to/ from practice and meets.

My husband even became an official, and I have long stopped counting my volunteer hours.” Sandy said.

Swimming in the trials is a bit different from the a normal meet because of the size, so some swimmers come early so they can get practice in the pool before the actually event.

“I was there a couple days at the venue before I swam so I could get used to swimming in the pool, because it’s huge,” Diana said.

Diana is really focusing on college recruitment but she is always on top of her game and pushing herself to be the best she can be in order to go to the next Olympic trials.

“I’m focusing on college recruitment, I’m a junior so colleges can start emailing and contacting me, which is exciting,” Diana said.

The Olympic Trials are an event that many people attend and watch making it exciting for all involved.

“Being able to swim there was just crazy because I’ve never swam in a race that was that loud before cause there was just so many people cheering,” Diana said.

Teacher comes with experience Biking more than just Shelby Papst Staff Writer The lights illuminate the stage as sound bursts through the theatre in explosive effects. The curtains rise and fall through the ropes of the fly. These are only a few of the things that make up tech theater and these things require someone who knows what they’re doing to manage these technical aspects.

Hannah Huerta is the new tech teacher, coming from a background of theatre with her mother being the teacher at Gorzycki middle school.

“Since I grew up in the theatre my mother was

always there and I was always really excited and had a lot of fun and would tag along with all the older kids. I just naturally fell in love with [theatre],” Huerta said.

Huerta is only in her first year teaching at Bowie, but already feels like she will stick with it for years to come in the ever-expanding tech department.

“I was feeling out this first year, but I’m feeling really good about it,” Huerta said. “Teaching has always been a real big passion for me, so I definitely feel like I’m sticking around.”

Huerta is very engaging with her students and peers

First time’s the charm: Senior Anthony Nino-Barrera, and sophomore, Chance James receive assistance from tech theater teacher Hannah Huerta during class time.

Huerta previously graduated from James Bowie High School. Photo by Shelby Kelly

and takes her job very seriously. She’s already worked well with fellow tech teachers such as Kalyn Holloway, who believes Huerta is more than suited for the job.

“I think she’s relatable to students, resourceful, and creative. I think she is truly capable of handling the world that is Bowie and will contribute a lot to the Starlight Theatre Company,” Holloway said.

Huerta has had a background in teaching before coming to Bowie, giving her plenty of experience in dealing with the new environment she’s been introduced to. Her students agree that Huerta’s teaching is more than worthy of Bowie standards.

“She’s really interactive,” sophomore Sam Hughes said. “She’s really smart with tools and works really well with kids.”

Huerta is a fine arts tech teacher who has worked her way up to Bowie’s expectations and surprised everyone with her go-to attitude and overall magic in the tech department that students know she will continue to bring for years to come.

“Our tech program is growing and I really want it to continue to grow,” Huerta said. “I want it to be a great department for our students.”

transportation for athlete Carissa Duran Features Editor

When the phrase “bike ride” is mentioned one may have the thought of peacefully strolling through the neighborhood and enjoying the day.

For sophomore Alexis Bobbitt, she needs a little more excitement and adventure in her life, has a different image in her mind when it comes to bike riding. Bobbitt’s idea of a bike ride is racing down the mountain trails in California.

Skipping her training wheels at age three when learning how to ride her very first bicycle was a large hint to her parents that biking would become a large passion for Bobbit in her future.

“Since the day I learned how to balance on my bike, I would spend every day after school bike riding and riding all day on the weekends,” Bobbitt said. “The energy and the rush that you can get when you’re on biking is an indescribable feeling.”

A big part of her Bobbitt’s passion for mountain biking would be her father’s influence.

“I tell everyone that biking is in our genes,” Jeff Bobbitt said. “I have been biking since I was as young as Alexis and had the same enthusiasm about riding when I was Alexis’s age too.”

Being involved in such an intense sport involves the rider to be prepared to take on some dangerous experiences, for Alexis that’s the main thrill of the whole sport.

“I had a couple of crashes during a race, but I always end up finishing,” Alexis said.

“In California last summer I was going really fast because I needed to catch up and I didn’t realize how big one of the drops were and by the time I realized it I was already on the ground and scared that I

Riding into Success: Sophomore, Alexis Bobbitt, races in a competition in Flat Rock Ranch last spring. Bobbitt trained last school year with her brother who graduated. Photo by Mia Barbosa

wasn’t going to be able to get back up. ” Other than Alexis experiencing the intense rides on mountains, she is creating fun memories with her family and friends who bike with her.

“I find it really cool that my whole family is involved in a really unique activity,” Alexis said. “The thrill I get from mountain biking wouldn’t be half as fun if my family wasn’t doing it with me.”

Mountain biking can get difficult when out in the heat, but Bobbitt’s determination and passion about racing always pushes her to the finish line.

“It can be scary when you see the big upward slope on the distance and you know the energy you are going to have to push yourself to have,” Alexis said. “My proudest moment was when I was racing in varsity my freshman year when I sprinted with my last bit of effort to get around first place and take the win.”

The Lone Star Dispatch

Features

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

Page B7

Making a difference one planted tree at a time Senior travels to Panama to offer a hand in helping the envrionment Jolie Francis Staff Writer Helping out strangers and sweating in the heat is senior Reilly Campbell’s idea of a great time. Campbell spent six weeks of this summer living with a host family in a foreign country; building and working to help out the environment and the community there.

From working with the children and planting trees, Campbell kept busy helping out through Amigos de las Americas, a non-profit organization that allows for high school students to take on some real world challenges and build responsibility at the same time.

“We worked with the community on a community development project,” Campbell said. “Each week day we had camps with the kids and each week was a different theme and then we also worked in a national park and with their environment agency to plant trees- we kind of did a lot to talk about.”

Volunteering is a large part of Campbell’s life, and it has been since she was young.

“Reilly has always enjoyed volunteering. As a family we started volunteering together with an organization called Little Helping Hands when she was 10 years old,” mother Shannon Campbell said.

“She has always been happy to help with the activities we participated in with them, doing community service projects around Austin several times a year. She also learned about community service through her involvement with Girl Scouts.”

Volunteering was not just Reilly’s passion, it was also her mother’s. Her mom has helped with community service since she was young and this really prompted Reilly to go and make a difference like her mom had.

“I got involved in this trip because my mom was involved with Amigos de las Americas when she was younger and so when I was able to apply I applied and then went in for two interviews and I joined the Austin chapter to train and fundraise for

the trip,” Reilly said.

The volunteer trip for this summer was to Panama, located in Central America.

Reilly had been looking forward to finding out where she would be going for months before it was announced.

“It was revealed that I got to go to Coclé, Panama, my first choice. I was so excited,” Reilly said.

Reilly stayed with a host family in Panama along with two other people volunteering from Amigos de las Americas.

There were a lot of discussions with community leaders about what project should be done next to help and better the community.

“We worked with the community on a community development project,” Reilly said. “We all worked on a meeting house for them and we had a big cultural exchange.”

The organization AMIGOS makes it a proity that the volunteers are learning how to deveolp the skills of how to be a leader. that will have a positve effect on them in the future.

“AMIGOS is much more focused on language immersion, cultural exchange, and developing leadership skills,” AMIGOS Marketing and Outreach Coordinator Lauren Kelley said. “Instead of preplanning projects, students collaborate with community members to build sustainable projects suited to the area.”

The programs of Amigos de las Americas are designed to allow the volunteers to learn and create their own experiences.

Each trip abroad can be very different.

“This means that we see a diverse range of projects and activities throughout the summer,” Cambell said. “These may include developing gardens, constructing new community buildings, or implementing a new business to help sustain projects in the area.”

She had done a lot of volunteer work before but nothing like this trip. This summer it was her and some strangers for six weeks in a foreign country. Being submerged into a completely different place really enabled Reilly to become a more open and knowledgeable person.

Smiles all day long: Not only improving the environment of Panama, but also creating a positive impact on all of the citizens. When she isn’t partaking in manual labor, senior Reilly Campbell provides companionship for the children. Photo courtesy of Reilly Campbell

“I always achieve my goal and learn a ton,” Reilly said. “This summer I learned a lot about myself and everything around me including the people and how they live and just the completely different culture.”

Learning and helping others is what makes Reilly feel truly fulfilled and happy. The goal of volunteering is to make a positive impact on the world around, make a difference in the community, and learn from the things you do.

“I wouldn’t base my trips on levels of success because every volunteer thing I do is successful because I did something

to help,” Reilly said. “We’re just catalysts for social change.”

Volunteering has always been a big part of Reilly’s life and will continue to be because she loves to make a difference and volunteering in any way is what makes her happy. Helping others is a gift that Reilly has and she is putting it to great use as she makes a difference in the world one volunteer trip at a time.

“With volunteering I just do it because I love it and it’s something that defines me,” Reilly said. “It makes me the happiest knowing I am making a differnce.”

New counselor provides motivation for Bowie students Yana Krykunenko Staff Writer Coming to Bowie to start her sixth year of being a counselour Jennifer Mullins is excited and determined to motivate Bowie students to embrace their full potnetial.

Since helping students academically is her number one priority, she takes into consideration the emotional strain young people might face while making important and difficult decisions.

“I usually try to get them to come in and meet with me one on one just because I like to build that relationship with the student,” Mullins said. “I don’t want them to get lost or unsupported that they’re on their own, so meeting

process of college, she’s a mentor to me because I can always go to her whenever I need her help,” Moreno said. “She has helped me a lot with my essays, improving them which has benefitted me the most because colleges depend heavily essays.”

With changes come new opportunities and different outlooks on the way things are run, with Mullins having a different background than the previous college and career counselors, she is sure to bring changes for the better.

“I know that in the past the college and career counselors have come from different junior colleges such as ACC or worked for the college board. I’ve been a counselor for six years total and in the dis-

“There’s nothing that can hold you back and nothing should. Absolutely follow those dreams because they can come true at any point in time.”

- Jennifer Mullins with them personally really helps me do that.”

Senior Marco Moreno has met with Mullins to discuss his plans and to receive aided support and advice.

“Ms. Mullins has really guided me through the

trict it’s going to be my fifth year here in AISD,” Mullins said.

Mullin comes to Bowie with a diverse background with councelor experience that will help provide new advice, new types of motivation and new ideas that

Providing a helping hand: New college and career center counselor helps students with any questions and concerns they may have about academia. Not only does she provide academic advice, but she is here to provide moral support through the everyday struggles of a high school student’s lives. Photo by Madison Austin

will help lead the students to succuess in the future “I think my approach might be a little different than the others just because I come with my counseling background and I’ve done college and career so I think mixing between the two is going to be good thing for the school.”

The staff has been impressed with Mullins’ approach towards her role.

James Dammann, teacher and a father of a Bowie alumni, has met with Mullins and has both perspectives of her from a faculty point of view and a father’s

point of view.

“I had my first meeting with her early this year,” Dammann said.

“My daughter, who’s a senior, needed some help and she was available at all times, had a fresh positive attitude, and was overall super helpful.”

Dammann also expressed Mullins’ individuality among the staff and faculty.

“Her role is different on campus because kids choose to go to her for support and information regarding college and careers, rather than being

forced,” Dammann said.

Mullins also has her personal views about the campus and it’s composition of students and faculty.

“Bowie has so many things that are unique and stand out, the students here are absolutely wonderful and fantastic, they just work so hard,” Mullins said.

The staff is helping Muslin’s transition as well.

“The staff is also fantastic,” Mullins said. “You just have a lot of people who are really committed to education and to really making this experience the

best way there is for students.”

Mullins has high hopes and a great amount of confidence with the students she works with. She believes that with the right mindset and determination all your goals can become realities.

“There’s nothing that can hold you back and nothing should,” Mullins said. “If you want to get somewhere, if you want to go somewhere, you can absolutely do it, it just takes hard work. Absolutely follow those dreams because they can come true.”

Photo Essay The Lone Star Dispatch

Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

Page B8

Reserved parking spots rewarded for good attendance and grades Seniors spend hours customizing and designing their personal parking spot Carolynne Andres Assistant Editor

During August, seniors got the privilege to reserve and paint their own parking spots. In order for a student to be eligible, they had to have 15+ credits, no more than 16 class period absences, and no more than six absences in a single class during the spring semester of 2016.

“I really like that seniors get to pick their spots,” senior Emma Haschke said.

“It was lot of fun seeing

dent had to pay $50 to get a spot. Additional requirements consisted of the design of the spot being approved before painting, using water based or exterior latex paint only, and having to paint over the design during the end of May. “The price of the spot allows the school to receive enough money to paint over it by the end of the year,” Ramirez said.

In addition, Bowie’s parking policy is different from other schools because they have to earn it, not just

“It was a lot of fun seeing people out there... it turned into a community event.”

- Emma Haschke

people out there and it all turned into a community event.”

The instructional coaches, Cindi Caroll, Joseph Powell, and Andrea Ramirez brainstormed as a group to create incentives, and decided that giving parking spots was a good way to make students want to improve their attendance.

“I think that the painted parking spots is an amazing idea,” Ramirez said. “If I was a senior, I’d really appreciate it.”

Besides the credits and good attendance, each stu-

buy a spot. With attendance being a major factor of getting the privilege to do this, many students have different opinions about it.

“I like that attendance was a requirement to getting to paint it because I’ve always worked to have good attendance. It was a fun way to get rewarded for always keeping up with that,” Haschke said.

On August 19th and 20th, about 150 students went to Bowie to get the job done.

Through painting, they got to express their interests and creativity.

“I liked getting to paint because it allowed a level of personalization and expression instead of a plain assigned space,” senior Grace Slapak said.

Because of limited parking, the school can’t allow students from other grades to paint their spots, even if their attendance is exemplary.

“I don’t really believe it’s fair that only seniors get to paint their spots considering there’s more than 3000 kids at Bowie and maybe only a few hundred painted spots at most,” junior Emily Lawson said.

According to the instructional coaches, they haven’t received any complaints about students having trouble parking due to the spots.

Parking guard Andy Padgett hasn’t seemed to have any complaints so far either.

“Lots of people park at the church anyways,” Ramirez said. “Andy really likes how it’s going so far too.”

However, a few people have had issues with getting out of the lot easily.

“Before I had a spot, I would park in the line at the back curb of the lot,” Slapak said. “It made it a lot quicker to get out than where my current spot is. This can get in the way because I have to get to marching rehearsal on time.”

Precise lines: As senior Grace Slapak carefully draws her design on the ground before going over it in paint and starting her parking spot. “I painted my parking spot with the solar system because I’ve always liked space,” Slapak said. Photo

by Douglas Smith

Filling it in: With a steady hand senior Emma Haschke paints in her stencils.

The amount of time it took students to paint spots depended on the design they chose but ranged from one to 12 hours. Photo by Douglas Smith

Designing the spot: A students family member helps paint their parking spot during the second painting day the school set up. Some people arrived to paint in the morning at 7 a.m. since it was cooler in the morning and in the afternoon temperatures reached up to 100 degrees. Photo by Douglas Smith

Sinking in: One of the many spots on campus that are uniquely designed and painted.

This spot is inspired by the pop art “Drowning Girl.” Photo by Douglas Smith

Tracing along: Checking where to paint next senior Emma Haschke covers her chalk outline of mountains with her paint. “I personally love the outdoors and traveling and painting was a fun way to show that while making something positive that would make my day brighter,” Haschke said. Photo by Douglas Smith

Friend row: Seniors Carlyn Crow and Danielle Garcia park in a row for all of their friends to park near each other and stay together. Photo by Douglas Smith

Hyptonizing spirals: Students painted spots with different patterns and colors.

Photo by Douglas Smith