The Lone Star Dispatch, Issue #5

Page 1

Commentary pages 2 & 3 News page 4 In-Depth page 5 Student Life page 6 & 7 Entertainment pages 8 Trends/Culinary page 9 Sports pages 10 & 11 Photo Essay page 12

Currently being ranked 11th in state, the varsity boys baseball team has found that their hard work on and off the more on page 10.

Instructional Coach Nikki Vohl discovered a “glowing golfball” in her head in, or as scientists would call it, an Astrocytoma, in (MONTH) and her entire life changed instantly. Vohl got an MRI after noticing some odd symptoms she had been having and it showed an abnormal thing in her brain. She had more tests done and it was diagnosed as a brain-stem tumor by a radiologist. Her neurologist had her go see a neurooncologist who looked at it and said she needed a biopsy, where they stick a needle in the back of her head and use imaging technology to get a sample of it. A pathologist looked at the sample of it and made the call that it was an Astrocytoma. “My symptoms were my face getting numb, and I had rapid

breathing and heart rate,” Vohl said. “The tumor was in the pons and the pons is a part of the brain that literally means bridge and it’s what does involuntary actions like breathing, heart rate, sleep, temperature, and things like that. So my symptoms were pretty minor.” Before she was diagnosed, she taught four sections of biology and two sections of AP Environmental Science, but once she learned she had to have a biopsy, she became an Instructional Coach. “As soon as they diagnosed it, I was put on radiation for thirty days,” Vohl said. “It was at 2 o’clock. So I had to leave at 1:30 every day because it was Monday through Friday for six weeks. So it was just a huge change in work.” Vohl is married to ex-swim

tells the body to produce abnormally thick

and District Champions. “The team came in third overall behind Lake Travis and Westlake, but we continue to close the gap each year,” Theater Director Marco Bazan said. District Champion (Accounting Team) Anastacia Stacher, Michael Brown and Jordan Forrest. Second place team awards included Team in Science, Number Sense, Calculator Applications and Literary Criticism. Accounting - Anastasia Stacher, District Champion in Literary Criticism - Riana Moreno and District Champion in Social Studies - Anna Bowers.

to success on page 6.

Local 5k fundraiser brings good “Vibes for Vohl”

Saving Sophie is foundation to give Sophia Wilson the hope that she could have a normal life besides the fact that she was diagnosed

The Bowie UIL Academic team competed (and hosted) the District Tournament March 22 and came out with the best overall results

Being a pilot at age 17 isn’t very common so for Senior Josh Flowers it was a huge accomplishment. See more

Fundraiser fun Friends, family gathered at Camp Mabry, March 31 for The Head for the Cure 5K to support Vohl. The “Vibes for Vohl” group won the award for the Largest Team with over 170 team members. “Bowie students are truly amazing,” Nikki Vohl said. “Thank you to all of the wonderful teachers out there that came out and ran to support me and brain cancer research. I really felt the love yesterday.” Photo by Photo Editor Ashley Stroud.

Teens come together to support

in 2007, by Erin Green and now many Bowie students are members of this organization. “We are raising money that will help save the life of someone who will never know who I am, giving anonymously makes it all the more satisfying,” Duran said. Saving Sophie Auctions have annual “Love at First Bid” date auctions. This is an event in which volunteers from the school auction themselves off to the student body. “Auctionees and their dates are provided with a gift card for their date courtesy of local restaurants that generously donate them to us,” Duran said. “We also have performers and door prizes, it’s an awesome night.” The original date of the Saving Sophie auction has changes due to the original venue burning down. They are now shooting for a mid-May date.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane...

Taking it one step at a time

News Briefs

passages of the lungs and the pancreas) as a young girl. The group raises money for people who are

Student Life

Sports

James Bowie High School, Vol. 2013-14, Issue 5, 4103 W. Slaughter Lane, Austin, TX 78749, April 7, 2014, www.thelonestaronline.com

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Table of Contents

Dawgs rank 11th in state

Mission accomplished After the Head for the Cure 5K, Aaron and Nikki Vohl discuss the successful turnout. Student leaders in charge included Clayton Nguyen, Natalie Necak and Tino Phillips. Photo by Photo Editor Ashley Stroud

team coach Aaron Vohl and has two children, an eight year-old girl Annabelle and a four yearold boy named Gavin. Since she has been diagnosed, the Vohl family has grown closer. “I took Annabelle out to eat, and I explained exactly what was going on,” Vohl said. “I told her that there were cells in mommy’s brain that weren’t doing what they were supposed to and they were copying each other and growing and putting pressure and making mommy not feel good. And then I have to take medicine that makes mommy not look right.” Students and teachers ran for Vohl’s team “Vibes for Vohl” at the Head for the Cure on March 30 at Camp Mabry. Several teachers and students have taken it upon themselves to get as many people to support Vohl as possible. “Breast cancer and other cancers have a lot of support and money raised for research and brain cancer doesn’t, so it is to try to bring awareness and to raise money for research and clinical trials and stuff like that,” Vohl said. Science teacher Hope Lozano was the team captain of the “Vibes for Vohl” team, and senior Clayton Ngyuen was in charge of the student side. “It is tought to see something friend,” Lozano said. “There’s a lot of ‘why’ questions – Why her? Why now? Why is this hap-

pening to someone who takes good care of her body? Early on I wanted to be a positive force in her life. She’s taken on a great attitude that says ‘I’ve got a lot more life to live and cancer will not beat me.” Ngyuen and a few of his friends organized the tent for her team with food for the runners. “When Mrs. Vohl got diagnosed with brain cancer, I asked her if she needed anything to erable,” Ngyuen said. “She told me about how there was this race called Head for the Cure and that it raises money for brain cancer research. I decided to make this my student leadership project and move forward with her wish.” Ngyuen has done countless other things for Vohl including redoing her cubicle and creating a countdown calendar for radiation. “It was really sad, especially because Mrs. Vohl is one of the nicest teachers here at Bowie,” Nyguen said. “I wanted to help her as much as possible. Not only is it affecting her and her health but her family as well.” Regardless of the hard times, she is staying positive, knowing that she has a support group to help her with anything. “I just didn’t know so many people would be so supportive and so loving,” Vohl said. “It’s completely amazing how much love I have felt.” by Editorin-Chief Rachael Crawford

Former ‘Dawg takes own path to success People leave high school and go onto life after with high hopes of reaching their dreams, Miranda Dawn was successful in this. She is now a performer with her boyfriend, Chris Hawkes on NBC hit television show “The Voice”. “I was 26 when I decided to take that leap of faith and pursue music full time.I land wherever they would take me. That can really feel like jumping blindly, but I had the security of already knowing my professional strengths,” Dawn said. “I really feel that having several years of professional and educational experience before pursuing music better prepared me for the business side of being a musician.” Dawn attended Bowie between 1999-

ally.” Dawn met Hawkes at TC’s lounge where they talked about music and song writing. “I was out listening to a blues band on the East Side of Austin at TC’s Lounge and this sweet red headed guy came up and asked me to dance. I said yes. Then, while we were dancing, he asked me what I did. I told him I was a singer-songwriter. He laughed, as if I told an inside joke, and said that he was also a singer-songwriter,” Dawn said. “I couldn’t imagine that our voices would harmonize so well together, or that we

Dawn and Hawkes preformed ‘I’ve Just performance on “The Voice”.

including former principal Kent Ewing, forDynamic Duo mer choir director Shirley Jones, and then (Right to Left) Chris Hawkes and Miranda Dawn pose in a meadow for their album cover newspaper advisor Scott Dennis. “I don’t remember a whole lot of her photo known as Golden Heart. The album, titled Golden Heart, was released on June 11, with music but it wouldn’t surprise me that 2012. Photo courtsey of Miranda Dawn she went that way,” Dennis said. “I’m glad to hear that she is, I knew she had potential would fall in love, or that audiences would “We chose ‘I’ve Just Seen A Face’ for a regardless of what she set her mind unto she actually enjoy that we’re a couple that plays would get it done.” together. It all just sort of happened, like it by the music of the Beatles and value LenDawn preformed in a talent show her ju- was already written and we were just turn- non-McCartney as a writing duo,” Dawn nior year where she played her own music. ing the pages of a story.” said. “The song also tells our story of how Dawn and Hawkes did move onto the we met and were drawn to each other inof a lot of people,” Dawn Said. “I wrote next chapter of their life auditioned for “The stantly. We were really able to put our own songs in my bedroom and didn’t really perstyle on this song and relate several aspects form them for anyone other than my fam“We felt connected to the show because of what our original material sounds like.” it’s produced with a lot of integrity and they Dawn and Hawkes have moved onto the write songs and sing them for fun, I had no value the authenticity and growth of the art- 12th episode of “The Voice”. by Photo idea it would be what I pursued profession- ists,” Dawn said. Editor Ashley Stroud


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