The Dispatch, Vol. 30, Issue #1, 09.29.2017

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NFL PLAYER DONATES JERSEYS Alumni Michael Griffin gives Bowie varsity football team new jerseys

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BOWIE’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY Find out what life and traditions were like at Bowie 30 years ago vs. today

DAY IN LIFE OF AN UPCOMING BAND Students and graduates gain traction as local band

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coming UP Sept. 30 Austin Pride Parade Oct. 11 PSAT Oct. 21 Homecoming Dance Oct. 30 Senior Parent meeting

Vol. 30, Issue 1 www.thedispatchonline.net James Bowie High School 4103 W. Slaughter Lane Austin TX, 78749

FRI. SEPT. 29, 2017

THE DISPATCH

AISD Bond may bring major benefits Madison Austin

Computer and presentation improvements to all classrooms, students, and faculty as well as improved plumbing and air conditioning

Feature Editor

The halls are hot and sticky, the bathroom stalls don’t have locks, and in the parking lot there is not enough space for all the cars.

These are just a few of the problems that Bowie has going on, and AISD has a plan to fix them.

The AISD school board approved a bond worth over $1 billion for Austin area schools. The money will go towards building new schools as well as remodeling and renovations on older schools. The fate of the bond rests in the hands of the Austin community when they visit the polls on Nov. 7.

A huge selling point is that the new bond will not raise taxes.

“The great thing about that is that the district has a way that they can do it with no tax increase, which is just with the way they’re gonna structure it, the way they’re gonna sell those bonds, and manage those funds,” principal Mark Robinson said. “I think that it’s important for our community to realize that because a lot of times when they hear a bond election, they think that means a tax increase.”

The school board is working towards a long-term plan for Bowie.

“So we’re not saying we should of done this and we should of done that, lets look at everything and see what our mission for the campus looks like. What do you want in 20 years, not just tomorrow,” AISD superintendent Dr. Paul Cruz said.

The biggest area of growth for Bowie on the proposed plan is on the cam-

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AISD plans to build a two story parking garage to solve the parking shortage at Bowie

Renovations and additions to the fine arts hall to increase over capacity and capability

MAP & DATA: DLR Group

pus master plan; it is also the highest dollar amount for the Bowie bond budget.

About $91,030,000 will be dedicated to Bowie.

“A Campus Master Plan is really an approach to understand how this school is going to be improved over a period of time,” AISD consultant and Bowie alumni Matais Segura said. “How will those changes will be incorporated, how this will change over time if we need to expand athletics or improve fine arts. We can’t pay for all this up front but this prioritizes things on a campus by campus bases.”

The Bowie campus has a lot of projects that would happen if the bond is proposed, the first thing to be done would be the design of

and

the upgrades and from there construction will begin.

“We spent a lot of time up front with the design almost immediately once the bond

extension and a two story parking garage over some of the existing parking lot.

“I think that the parking garage would allow more

“ We’re trying to get away from band-aids- let’s improve a school significantly so that it performs better for the students. ” - Matais Segura passes, so that being said there are still some delay into the ultimate delivery of the project,” Segura said.

If the bond is passed Bowie will receive a new sports facility as well as a fine arts

cars to park closer to the school, but would create more congestion around the school and make it harder to beat rush hour,” senior Brian an Garcia said.

As Bowie is working to-

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Renovations and additions to the athletics facility to increase overall capacity and capability

ART BY Victoria Newell

wards these big changes one thing that is very important to the school board is doing things right and not making short-term changes.

“We’re trying to get away from band-aids, in the past it was spending money on things that were issues right then and there,” Segura said.

“Let’s not spend money on these small little projects, let’s figure out where the best value for the district was and let’s improve a school significantly so that it performs better for the students.”

AISD took two scores of every school they reviewed.

One was the Faculty Condition Assessment (FCA), that grades the physical condition of the school. As well as an Educational Sustainability Assessment (ESA), which

grades the educational performance of the school.

Bowie is number eleven on the bond list, which means that out of all the schools in AISD, Bowie is 11th in the line of the greatest need and critical improvement.

“We used a worst first approach looking at all available data and said based on everything we have in front of us that these are the projects that we believe are most the critical at this point,” Segura said.

Some students are worried that the school is focusing on the wrong things when it comes to potential changes that are being made.

“I think that if the bond goes into effect there should be a greater emphasis on the faculty, inconsistent A/C units and the fading interior of the school,” Garcia said.

If the bond is passed there is no set date for the start of physical construction, but the school would begin to make arrangements for the changes to come.

“Just because you don’t see cranes and shovels being turned doesn’t mean that there isn’t a tremendous amount of work that’s happening,” Segura said.

Bowie is 30 years old and has had very little remodel, or renovation since it opened, and many people are beginning to notice the changes that need to be made.

“I think people at Bowie recognize that the school opened 1988 and hasn’t really changed a whole lot physically, except for the wear and tear over time, like things stop working like air conditioning and plumbing and that kind of stuff and we need to get those things fixed,” Robinson said.

Victoria Newell

Managing Editor During the first week of the 2017-2018 school year, hundreds of high-schoolers reported to their first period, drowsy and ready to start the year. Preparing for their first class, they heard something they had never heard before, “Bulldawg Nation.” It was the voice of the new principal, Mark Robinson, and the beginning lingo is just a small part of his plans for the school.

PART OF THE TEAM: Principal Robinson cheers on students during the Bowie/Vista Ridge football game. Robinson hopes to be active in school activities and on campus. PHOTO BY Violet Glenewinkel

Robinson has been working with staff, students, and teachers to create long term plans for Bowie High School, some of which are already being implemented, including better communication, student social, emotional, and educational readiness, a $1 billion bond being proposed to benefit AISD, new technical platforms being present in the classroom, and much more.

“A big thing for me is knowing all learners by name and need, and I include myself in that as a learner, because in just taking this job I’ve got a lot to learn about Bowie,” Robinson said. “But it’s not just the principal who are learners, and the students who are learners, it’s the teachers who are learners too, we learn from the students that we work with, how they learn; that’s what I want the classroom to be, is that collaboration of learning.”

As this is a learning environment, advancing education is a major goal for Robinson and his staff, but not just in the academic strain.

“The conversation that I’ve had with teachers has been about incorporating a kind of academic goal and social emotional learning goal, because as I see it, those are the two aspects that we deal with,” Robinson said. “We want people to have the knowledge and information to achieve their goals but we also want them to be good people and have the social skills to be effective.”

On the academic side, as technology continues to rapidly advance, it’s becoming clear that modern technology can be utilized as educational tools, something AISD has not failed to take note of. AISD plans to issue chrome books to several schools. Bowie is scheduled to be receive them in January “A lot of kids already come with, you know,

ART BY Preston Rolls

New principal makes individuals and their needs a priority

you use your phone as a learning tool, or we have laptops, or tablets, or whatever it is we use, so it’s just being able to equalize that for everybody,” Robinson said. “To make sure that everybody can engage in learning, in 21st century learning, and digital learning; that’s the frontier.”

Robinson is working with the Bowie faculty and AISD to ensure that this happens later this year.

“We’re trying to follow the district’s initiative, and I think that’s what his goal is, to take us to the new generation of more technology and revamping the classrooms,” assistant principal Carla De La Rosa said.

Along the emotional track, Robinson

hopes to improve the mental health of Bowie students.

“The idea with a growth mindset is that your intelligence, and your abilities, your attitudes, your personality isn’t fixed, it can be developed, and so even though we may not be good at something now that doesn’t mean that we can’t develop that,” Robinson said. “So it’s that kind of thinking that I want everybody to kind of understand and appreciate. So if we think that ‘I’m not good at that, and I’m never gonna be good at that and I’m done,’ then thats a limiting factor and that can cause a lot of anxiety.”

READ MORE “Robinson’s Plan” pg. 2

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Technology due to arrive in January All students are going to receive their own personal Chromebook courtesy of AISD Madisen Johnson Staff Writer

Starting in the fall semester of the 2017-2018 school year, students will be receiving chromebooks to use for their school work.

This is called The “Everyone:1” initiative and it's purpose is to provide students with proper technology so they can adapt to the technologically advanced society we live in.

AISD will be equipping all students with the opportunity to use technology to help them with their school work.

This could provide students without access to computers with the same opportunities that other students have.

The laptops that the students will be getting are Google Chromebooks. The laptops are giving the students the technology that several other schools have in the state of Texas.

“I think that this is a great idea because not all students have access to the technology that is needed to complete their assignments,” junior Noelle Parker said.

“Which results in them having to come to school early or stay after or just not turn in their assignments at all.”

The idea of laptops going to every student is a new idea to Bowie, but it is not new to other schools in the Austin area. AISD had to acquire

the money before they could even start considering the idea. This could have been a difficult thing, and could have resulted in a longer wait time.

“It would have been more difficult for them to do it sooner, it’s all about money,” teacher Michael Evans said.

“We are always going to have that problem with the money coming to the school.”

Although most students feel they could definitely benefit from the “Everyone:1” initiative, others feel it is almost a waste because they have already bought laptops for their school work or have access to one.

“Well, I already have a computer that I use for school,” junior Allie Grooms said. “So I feel like just another laptop might be useless and not as important.”

There are rules and expectations for the students’ use of their laptops, at home or at school, to ensure they do not break and that they are being used appropriately.

Some rules for the students’ computers are that they must bring them to school fully charged in the morning and that the students have to pay for any damage to their computers.

“A disadvantage of the laptops could be that the students have to be responsible to not lose it,” Evans said.

“Just go look at our lost and found.”

TEACHING THROUGH TECHNOLOGY: Junior Sophie Bega concentrates on a Chromebook in a science class.

Many classrooms around campuses use these laptops to aid in assignments. PHOTO BY Gigi Francis

Many students are already accustomed to turning in homework via the Internet.

However, some students do not like the on-line homework that they have already, so they have found that a disadvantage to the new laptops could be that the amount of on-line homework will increase.

“A disadvantage is that it is easier for me and a lot of

other people, I’m sure, to work on paper. Obviously it would be an advantage because you can check your work easier on the computer, but then it will lead to more on-line homework, when it is easier for me to do my work on paper.”

One Bowie teacher says that the fact that the students will have access to laptops, will not change his teaching

style at all. His classes will be taught the same and that the addition of laptops will not affect his style of teaching.

“No,” Evans said. ”They will not change my classes.”

The introduction of the “Everyone:1” initiative has stirred mixed emotions in teachers and students, but overall, the responses have been positive and that the laptops will improve the

learning experience of many students and may lead to more overall success.

“The initiative is overall a great idea in my opinion,” Parker said. “I think that a lot of people can benefit from it.

I am glad that Bowie decided to start this because it might inspire and help a lot of students with school work."

New bulldog logo soon to be SEL teaches students life skills Mo Orr created due to trademark issue Staff Writer

Managing Editor The Bowie bulldawg, a mean-looking, snarling, bulldawg staring rival schools down at every sporting event.

But Bowie isn't the only ones using the iconic dawg.

Gonzaga University also uses the bulldawg logo, and informed AISD that unless Bowie stops using the trademark, they run the risk of getting sued by the university.

This issue is critical to the athletic department because they will have to change their uniforms and equipment with new original logos or the school will face the risk of getting sued by Gonzaga University.

“It was kind of weird time this year right before season starts we weren’t really able to do anything this year but in future we have to use a different logo,” football coach Ty Branyon said. “This seems a bit odd because there are a bunch of teams out there that use bulldog as their mascot and all of them are different.”

The school currently can prevent any further creation of products using the plagia-

rized logo and start the creation of a new one.

“It’s trademarked, so we should change soon before Gonzaga actually does something about it,” sophomore Ibrahim Abduljabbar said. “Legal issues are always complicated.”

ART BY Callie Richards

Mia Barbosa

The issue between the school and Gonzaga University over the logo has never been brought up previously, however, now that the problem has been addressed a

lawsuit may be in the school’s future if the cease and desist is ignored.

“I don’t see why this is an issue I knew Gonzaga University and Bowie had similar logos,” sophomore Alex Paulson said. “Probably many people already knew this because of March Madness tournament.”

While the trademark issue may have been known by some students at school the fact of the matter is that now a new logo now has to be made.

“Gonzaga had the image first, so I think we should get our own logo using this as an opportunity,” Paulson said.

“Having our own logo is better for our reputation than copying somewhere else’s.”

Despite the situation being stressful for some people, the school is looking forward to the creation of a new logo.

“I took the crisis as opportunity,” Robinson said. “I came back and talked to some of the graphic design teachers here about using this opportunity for us to develop our own logo."

When students think of top-10 things they are learning in school, the thought of what life skills they’re being taught through academic lessons may not be on the top of their list.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) includes every day, fundamental life skills combined with their lesson plans to create an effective teaching technique that incorporates all styles of learning.

"It’s learning how people’s feelings work and learning to put yourself in their shoes," freshman Sydney Johnson said. "If I said something, I need to think about how it affects someone else.”

These fundamental life skills include the ability to manage their emotions, goals they set for themselves, to share empathy, establish and maintain relationships, and make challenging decisions.

“We do incorporate a lot of those things,” Child development teacher Jean Frazier said. “And expecting students to learn one particular way, we don’t learn that way, we’re all unique and different.”

Johnson believes the re-

sponse to this kind of teaching should be clear.

“I feel like it should have a positive effect on the students,” Johnson said.

SEL, when it’s used in a school’s curriculum, affects choices in the curriculum, and how students are taught in the classroom by multiple ways of teaching and learning.

“I think the more that we offer different learning ways, the better success we’ll have for students, and that’s what we ultimately want, student success,” Frazier said. “Student success is what counts, and that’s what we’re all here

“ It's learning how people's feelings work and learning how to put yourself in their shoes.”

- Sydney Johnson for: for them to be successful.”

Within AISD’s district-wide Coordinated School Health Kick-Off Week, Wednesday,

September 13th, was dedicated to SEL. Freshman Natalia Casanova has previously didn't know what SEL was, but she now finds it important for the future of students.

“They want their students to know these things, because they’re good to know when you’re older,” Casanova said.

Frazier believes that SEL allows anyone to learn and teach in a variety of ways that give the best benefit to students.

“It’s important because we’re all unique… It should be an easy thing as far as curriculum, I try to do things in different ways, and just because I do recognize that we all have different and unique ways,” Frazier said. “Mainly because that’s something so prominent, is that different way of learning, and a different way of teaching, too, is to try to do that.”

Different types of teaching reach a broader range of students, according to Frazier. Social and Emotional learning helps to reach that broader audience.

“All of us come from different walks of life,” Frazier said. “And by incorporating different ways that we learn and teach, hopefully that’ll help the kids."

Robinson's first year focuses on arranging students' needs to come first READ MORE “Robinson’s Plan”

Along with student growth, effective communication between students, teachers, and faculty is also a large goal for Robinson this year. A new parent newsletter, “The Bowie Star” has already been sent out a few times this year, as well as more detailed morning announcements.

“When you’ve got miscommunication going on when students are thinking one thing, and teachers are thinking something else, and the principals are thinking something completely different, I think there’s a lot of confusion,” teacher Kelly Flick-

inger said. “And when there’s this constant flow of communication, I think there’s less of that feeling, so that’s definitely very important.”

Robinson's morning announcements of students' accomplishments are new this year. So far, they have been a big a success in the eyes of the students.

“I think they get us pumped up for the day, which is awesome,” senior Emily Robinette said. “I love hearing Bulldawg Nation everyday, it gets us pretty hype, I also like the way in the morning announcements he goes through the accomplishments of different student groups every day, and

you can kind of be more informed in what it is your friends are doing.”

A huge initiative for not only the Bowie staff, but all of AISD as well, is informing voters of the new bond.

“There’s definitely something in it for us as a community, as a Southwest Austin community, in being able to support the bond, but at the end of the day it’s up to the voters, so it’s my job to inform the community about what’s in it for us,” Robinson said.

But at the heart of everything, it a desire to make sure students enjoy coming to class every day.

I think my biggest over-

all goal is just that everyone feels like their connected, like they have a place, that they have a group that they identify with,” Robinson said.

However, Robinson does have a few a challenges facing him, especially in regards to the size of the school. “[Robinson’s] Biggest obstacle is definitely size, and the diversity,” student council co-president Jimmy Counihan said. “Bowie is huge. It’s the biggest school in AISD, so when actually looking at how you’re going to bring all those people together, it’s gonna be hard, and I wish him the best.”

Robinson is already working to understand Bowie bet-

ter each day.

"I don’t know what I don’t know, it is hard being the leader of an organization when you’re new to the organization,” Robinson said.

“That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, that doesn’t mean it’s not doable,’” But members of the Bowie community already think he’s making a positive impact.

“I think that Robinson seems like a genuinely nice person who really cares about the school,” Flickinger said. “I like the focus that he has on all the positive that’s going on here. Some of the things that I think we were concerned about a few years ago is already kind of getting

focused on.”

Robinson has given himself about three to five years to make these long-terms changes, and has hopes to establish these goals in a solid, sustainable, way.

“My goal here in Bowie, in being a principal, is making those long term systemic changes,” Robinson said.

“Make sure that we’ve changed the culture, that we’ve changed the community, that we’ve changed the systems, and as long as the things that were doing make sense, and that their goal oriented, and were all moving in the same direction, then we can make those changes."

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The Dispatch Fri. Sept. 29, 2017

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Administration revises the incentive plan Kiran Patel

News Editor

ART BY Preston Rolls

Ringing in the new school year, students headed back to school to learn about a revised attendance incentive plan.

The attendance incentive plan was introduced at Bowie in the spring of the 20152016 school year. Designed as a way to lure students into their classes, the incentive began as an exemption from finals for every class as long as the student’s attendance and grades in that class correlated to the guidelines created by the Bowie administration.

However the guidelines for the 2017-2018 school have changed.

“The feedback from teachers about last year’s incentive was that it was too broad and it was important to get some college experience before sending the students off,” school improvement facilitator Ruth Ann Widner said.

“We wanted to attach some higher stakes to it so then we changed it so that it was a much stricter policy.”

At the end of each semester, each eligible student receives two attendance passes as opposed to eight passes

that were given during the launching year of attendance incentives. Although the incentives allow test exemptions, students still have to attend the class they use the pass, on that day of finals, in order to qualify. This new plan is an upgrade for underclassmen as last year they were only allowed one incentive.

“I don’t think it is fair that underclassmen have the opportunity to use two incentives when last year as a sophomore I only got to use one,” junior Emily Leeke said. “I was in two AP classes it would have been nice to have two [incentive passes].”

This incentive plan, launched in FIT during the first week of school, was the first time the incoming freshman class were introduced to final exam exemptions and the corresponding guidelines.

“It makes me feel more comfortable and I look forward to skipping some of my finals just for coming to school and being a good student,” freshman Shikha Patel said.

The incentive program, while garnering mostly positive reviews, has received some criticism on their

guidelines for absences.

“If you have strep for a week like my friend did last year, you should still be able to receive an incentive instead of being penalized for an illness you can not control,” Leeke said.

The junior and senior classes have seen the transformation of the attendance incentive plan and have found that it is rewarding for students who have shown

stellar behavior and participation in their academics.

“For seniors, who are applying for scholarships, taking AP exams, etc., the incentive can be very beneficial because more time can be devoted to those things than studying for a final in a class which they’ve proven they have understood/succeeded in,” senior Emily Robinett said.

While these incentives are

beneficial to help ease the workload during finals, college classes will generally not offer exemptions from comprehensive final exams.

“I think this will encourage more students to strive to do well in all of their classes,” Robinett said. “Plus, it ensures that students actually do review the information they’ve learned, especially if they haven’t been putting in a ton of effort year-round.”

Over the past three years the attendance incentive plan has been impactful on a multitude of students across the Bowie campus, affecting finals grades.

“I think that the incentive plan is incredibly valuable,” Robinett said. “It rewards kids who work hard and who make an effort to be present every day, but it doesn’t hurt the kids who miss for school-related purposes.”

Bowie organizations soar to new heights with drones on campus Peter Dang Staff Writer

The high-pitched whine of motors buzzing while the rotors accelerate is heard across campus. Recently the popularity of drones has exploded with its ease of flight and prices becoming more affordable. In fact, drones have become so popular that several Bowie teachers

plan to implement them into their curriculum, and students have taken to the sky to fly drones.

Bowie teachers, Chanel Dobrzenski, Andrew Nourse, and Bowie students junior Nick Moczygemba and sophomore Luke Leifker, have different methods for using drones in the classroom and out. Dobrzenski has decided to implement

IN FLIGHT: A drone flies over the Bowie field while the football team practices. Bowie football recently purchased a drone to film with so they can analyze game footage and improve their craft. PHOTO BY Peter Dang

the drone into her commercial photography class and Nourse has decided to include the drone into his animation class. Additionally, Moczygemba uses a drone in JROTC and Leifker uses a drone for football.

“It would be good for students to have experience using a drone,” Dobrzenski said. “Drone photography has gotten so popular.”

In 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) predicts there will be 3.4 million consumer drones, more than three times the 1.1 million drones in 2016. Real estate photography, landscape photography, and wedding photography are popular types of drone photography.

“I actually have a drone company called High Up Cams, we do aerial photography and videography,” Nourse said.

All teachers and students all have different have unique backgrounds of their first use of a drone. Moczygemba was gifted his first drone for Christmas four years ago, by his grandparents.

“Last year we had a commercially available drone,

but this year we are fundraising for a Search and Rescue drone and a FPV drone,” Moczygemba said. “We do have members that bring their own drones.”

JROTC has a drone team that competes in competitions against other JROTC programs. The competition has three events: Search and Rescue where pilots fly a drone over a course trying to find an object, the Obstacle Course where the pilot flies the drone in first-person and the Stringer where pilots move objects.

“I am the commander of the JROTC drone team,” Moczygemba said.

Leifker and the Football Film Crew film games and important parts of practices.

The drone allows the football team to get more angles of the team practicing so that the team is able to find more ways to improve compared to just a camcorder.

“I enjoy the fact that flying a drone allows me to analyze game footage in real time, allowing me to get a better understanding of the game,” Leifker said. “I believe my job allows the football team to

improve by watching film of their practices.”

Wile the film crew uses the drones for the football team, in animation the drones for will be for students individual use.

“We will mainly be using drones for aerial videography, time lapses, unique angles, and motion tracking,” Nourse said. “Students will be using drones around campus and outside of school.”

The addition of a drone into animation class will allow students to take to the sky with drones to take aerial photography and aerial videography. Student’s creativity will be met with more chances to make amazing videos and interesting animations.

“My students who want to fly drones are going to obtain FAA licenses” Dobrzenski said. “I want to prevent pilots from losing drones, hurting people, and damaging property. ” Dobrzenski is making sure that her students get their FAA licenses before they start flying drones. In order to obtain an FAA license students must take a test about airspace information, airspace

procedures and safety.

“Risks will be mitigated by making sure the students obtain licenses so they follow the rules and regulations of the FAA,” Dobrzenski said.

The Commercial Photography and Animation program will be sharing a drone that will be arriving within the next month. The JROTC is preparing for its competition in four months. The Football Film Crew is allowing the football team to find more ways to improve.

“We film during practice, we film the 7-on-7 and game like scenarios so that they can improve for the actual game,” Leifker said.

Drone photography and videography along with other uses for drones is going to become even more popular.

Nourse and Dobrzenski are preparing their students for the future.

“My favorite thing about flying the drones is that it is allowing me to prepare for college and other places where I will be working with football teams and filming teams and practices,” Leifker said.

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Fri. Sept. 29, 2017 The Dispatch

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Life skills raises chickens

How to ADULT Job Interviews

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aking money is a goal for a lot of students. Whether it’s to save up for college, a car, or just to have more cash to spend, many students get their first job while they’re in high school.

Once you’ve scored a job interview, it’s important to go into the interview prepared.

No matter what job you are

CHICKEN THEN THE EGG: Sophomore Javier Carmona kneels down in the pen and feeds meal-worms to the hen. The students are focused on keeping the chickens healthy and happy, which affects the amount of eggs laid by each chicken. PHOTO BY Abby Ong

SPED EggPlant project sells eggs to teachers and staff Kaitlyn Zellner Staff Writer

Life skills teacher Wayne Johnson always has his eyes peeled for new avenues for vocational growth.

Last year, when he had the idea of starting a barnyard egg-selling business for his students, he talked with Tiffany Black, one of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) teachers at the time, about starting the business for this current year.

Sophomore Brandon Benavides is one of the students contributing to the business. “[Raising the chicks] is going good,” Benavides said.

Twelve laying hens were donated by a graduating senior to the FFA teacher, who unexpectedly got a job in Wimberley leaving the hens without a caretaker.

“I never met him,” Johnson said. “The previous [agriculture] teacher told him that we were going to start a barnyard egg business in the fall. He was going to sell his hens on eBay, but decided to just give them to our life skills class instead.”

Johnson jumped in, taking charge of the hens during the summer break, spending time fixing up the coops on the Bowie FFA

farm site, and sharing eggs with office staff during the summer months.

“Mr. Johnson made the coop,” Benavides said. “It’s really cool.”

When school time rolled around, Johnson knew he had the perfect opportunity to start a fun, hands-on business for his students to learn new skills. He named the mini barnyard egg-selling business, “The SPED Egg Plant”.

“The EggPlant provides our life skills students with numerous job task opportunities, instills good work ethic, and builds character and social skills,” Johnson said.

“Students help take care of the chickens, label egg cartons, collect, clean, and box eggs, and then sell and deliver the eggs to teachers and staff.”

The life skill students enjoy interacting with the chickens by: opening the pens, feeding the fowl, and getting them back into the pens.

According to junior Angelica Gregorio, they typically feed the chickens “mealworms” and occasionally give them “cherries” and other table scraps.

Currently there are three different coops, with one for the 12 adults that are capable of laying eggs, one for

the eight younger ones who can’t yet, and then one for the 14 baby chicks.

“If you mixed them all together, they don’t always like each other,” Johnson said.

“When you hear that term ‘pecking order’, that really is true. There’s always a chicken that runs the whole thing.”

The chickens are never mean or violent to the students or Johnson, but they are not afraid to enforce the pecking order with each other.

“If they don’t do what [the dominant chicken] is saying, they’ll hurt each other,” Johnson said. “One of them just got their feathers plucked out of it. I can always tell which ones are the aggressive ones.”

Johnson’s students charge $4 for each dozen eggs and $2 for a half-dozen. He’s found a resourceful and simple way for people to order eggs, and currently has around 40 teachers looking to purchase eggs from them.

“I created a Google doc so that teachers and staff could sign up on the ‘Pecking Order’ to place their order,” Johnson said. “When their name comes to the top of the ‘Pecking Order’ list, we deliver their eggs. Any money we make goes into

CHICKEN FACTS Fact 4 Fact 1

Fact 2

It takes roughly 25 hours for a hen to lay an egg

Fact 3

The average A freshly American laid egg is eats 250 105 degrees eggs a fahrenheit year

ART BY Gracie Angeli and Abby Ong SOURCE BY https://www.communitychickens.com/

Hens lay eggs regardless of if a rooster is present

feeding the chickens, buying equipment, or even buying new chickens.”

Since so many people are wanting to buy barnyard eggs, Johnson went to Callahan’s General Store to look into getting a few more chicks. When he explained what the class was doing and how they were starting the business, the store graciously donated fourteen chickens to the cause.

“The new chicks are about six weeks old and will start laying eggs at about six months old,” Johnson said.

“I also bought eight other hens from a farm near Lake Travis. Those hens range from three to five months old and will hopefully begin laying eggs soon.”

The number of eggs that a chicken lays depends on age, weather conditions, and if the chickens are happy, but each hen generally lays an egg a day. The class does their best to keep the chickens safe and even work to make the chickens happy by giving them treats; dried mealybugs.

“We have a wide range of varieties of hens [and] some of them will even be laying blue eggs,” Johnson said. “As a general rule, hens are at their peak egg laying between six and eighteen months, however, they can lay eggs for up to three years.”

While some of the life skill students absolutely love the chickens and will do anything to help out with the project, others are fearful of the birds and don’t want anything to do with them. Johnson does all he can to make sure the students are comfortable with working with the fowl, and those who aren’t are given other responsibilities.

“All I do is get the eggs. I like it, after I bring the eggs back to my class,” Benavides said.

The egg selling business started on a small scale, but should be financially self-sufficient soon. It has proven to provide a great working environment and training ground for the students.

“In addition to the students’ hard work, we are very fortunate that our principal, Mr. Robinson, has been very supportive of all our efforts, and the feedback from teachers and staff as well as parents has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive,” Johnson said.

1 2 3 4 5

trying to apply for, you want to leave a good impression on the interviewer. Below are five things to remember.

There’s a lot of things people are expected to know once they’re adults, and this column is intended to tackle those topics. This is a standing column and will appear in every issue.

Column by Abby Ong

WEAR: Dress appropriately for the job and cover everything that needs to be covered. For an entry-level job, a pair of dark jeans and a nice shirt should suffice, but be sure to adjust depending on where you’re applying.

BODY LANGUAGE: When talking to the interviewer, be sure to stay friendly but professional. Keep eye contact and stay calm and collected. This means avoiding fidgeting, crossing your arms, and shifting.

HYGIENE: Hygiene is always important, but it’s even more so for jobs. Make sure your hair is not oily or messy. Shower beforehand and keep your breath fresh. Remember that appearances are your first impression.

ATTITUDE: When meeting a future employer, you want to show them that they can trust you to represent their company.

Stay respectful, smile, and speak clearly and concisely.

BE PREPARED: Make sure you’ve decided ahead of time what you want and know how many hours you can work, when you can, and what salary you are willing to work for. Bring anything required, such as a resume.

Passion and energy in French classroom Justine Lockhart Staff Writer

French music plays softly and chatter fills the room, as students work and practice their accents. Rachelle McCoy, the newest French teacher, wears a smile as she helps her students.

McCoy teaches with energy and passion that motivates her students.

“She’s fun, upbeat and she moves around so there’s really no time for us to chill and be bored,” freshman Aubrie Whitcomb said.

Her students like how she teaches them more than just the French language.

“We learn about the French culture and I like how we learn something new every day,” freshman Alina Berardo said.

McCoy believes teaching foreign languages and cultures is important for students.

“Learning French opens a door to other cultures,” McCoy said. “When you learn to understand another person’s language, you are better able to understand how they think and feel.”

Her love for other cultures and languages comes from her time studying abroad.

“After graduating from high school, I was really nervous to study abroad, but it ended up being one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” McCoy said.

The experiences she had while abroad also influenced her views of the world.

“I think it’s really cool to have an opportunity to completely change your perspective,” McCoy said. “You don’t get that easily unless you’re completely removed from everything you know and are

LA PROF: From the front of the classroom, McCoy teaches her students. She began at Bowie at the start of this year. PHOTO

BY Justine Lockhart.

put in another place that’s completely foreign to you.”

Getting out of her comfort zone helped McCoy discover her passion.

“You try something, and then it becomes something you like and you get more experiences related to it and then it sort of becomes everything,” McCoy said.

She has enjoyed spending time getting to know her new students and fellow staff members.

“I am very impressed with this school, and I love getting to know everyone,” McCoy said. “I feel very lucky and thankful to be here.”

Having been new to Bowie not so long ago, Rachel Preston, the French II and III teacher, has advice for McCoy. “Have fun getting to know [your] students and the people around,” Preston said.

McCoy uses her passion for the French language to teach her students.

“I love that the focus of French class is communication, which allows me to learn more about my students,” McCoy said.

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The Dispatch Fri. Sept. 29, 2017

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Feature

Finishing high school in a new country Mikayla Zellner Staff Writer

While most seniors are enjoying their last year and final year in high school,senior Lindsey Cottle is planning on leaving Austin to spend her second semester with a host family in France. Cottle’s love of France started to blossom when she got the opportunity to go on a school trip.

“I have been on two trips out of the country. They were both with school programs and I went with teachers for educational purposes and I went to France both times,” Cottle said. “The second trip I went to other places too, but every time I just kinda fell in love with the language and the culture.”

She got the idea to spend a year abroad in France from one of her most influential teachers.

“My freshman year my French teacher Madam Michelle Shadwick talked about how she graduated early and did a study abroad trip and that really inspired me and I kind of always had that in the back of my head as something that I’m interested in,” Cottle said.

WATCHING FROM AFAR: Lindsey looks on as a member of French club acts out a scenario for the rest to guess. Lindsey hopes that French club will help with her French.

PHOTO BY Madison Austin

Cottle’s French teachers have been encouraging her to take advantage of this opportunity because they believe it will be an incredible experience for her.

“All my teachers have been hugely influential for me, my French teachers especially Madam Michelle Shadwick and Madam Rachel Tennen were the teachers that I had the longest,” Cottle said.

“They were very close to me, I started to think of them as almost friends because they were just really great mentors and they gave great advice and encouraged me and told me that this was such an amazing opportunity and to go for it.”

Throughout Cottle’s French language education, her teacher, Tennen has acted as a very supportive consultant.

“I do everything I can to nurture students’ interest in travel and studying abroad, because studying abroad in college was one of the most enriching experiences of my own education,” Tennen said.

“When Lindsey was raising funds for one of her trips, I bought two t-shirts from her, and my mom bought one as well. I also had the opportunity to help her with recommendations, which I was happy to do because she’s an excellent student, and I’m excited to learn more about her experiences.”

Her background as the president of the French club is going to come in very handy when she moves to France .

“I’ve been taking French as a language throughout high school and so I have kinda always knew I wanted to do something related to that ,” Cottle said. “So I’m hoping I can do like a language immersion program in order to become fluent in French and learn more about the culture and incorporate that into my career.”

Cottle has been working

FRENCH CLUB PRESIDENT: As French club begins Lindsey Cottle talks with senior Kathleen Stevens as she works on cutting a cake for the rest of the club. Cottle has been the French club president for a year and half along with fellow senior and French enthusiast Avy Friedman. PHOTO BY Madison Austin

so incredibly hard the past few years in order to graduate early.

“I had to load up on a lot of the required classes like earlier in high school so I took all of my science and math and stuff like throughout the first three years,” Cottle said. “This year all I need to graduate is government economics and English 4 so those are pretty easy to get out of the way.”

Cottle is so dedicated and committed on going to France that she found a way to finish out a normally two semester class in one semester.

“I’m taking the second half of English on-line at the same time as the first half which is kind of crazy,” Cottle said.

Cottle has been planning on transferring any possible college credits she accumulates in French schools to the college of her choice so she can have an even greater head start at the college of her choice. “ I don’t plan on attending college in Europe, so after this I’m hoping to transfer

those credits to an American university and do the normal four years and start at the same time that I would have if I had just graduated in the summer,” Cottle said.

Cottle is still a bit nervous about leaving her family and friends and experiencing the culture shock from flying so far overseas and leaving Austin for a whole semester.

“I’ve been away from [my family] before but I’ve always lived here so I’ve always had the same group of people so that’s gonna be hard,” Cottle said. “I think I’m also going to miss the comfort of those people so if like being familiar with the people and streets and the restaurants and the language and just kind of feeling safe.”

Cottle and her sister are b very close so spending these months apart is going to be a bit difficult.

“I’m kind of nervous, I mean I’ve been doing pretty good so far with [Lindsey at school] because she has been helping me around,” freshman Madeline Cottle

said. “Without her here it’s gonna be really weird, she’s just always around. We are really close so we see each other all the time so it’s going to be really hard.”

Even though this unique situation has been stressful for Lindsey’s whole family, her parents have managed to find a way to make this difficult transition easier.

“Everyone is really supportive but it’s kind of a bittersweet thing,” Lindsey said.

“My parents, of course, are nervous for safety stuff, but they’re doing a very good job of kind of keeping that under control and just trying to be happy for me.”

Overall, Lindsey has been so grateful she has had the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Any experience like this would have a huge impact on anyone’s life, you are growing in maturity and in knowledge of the world and new people and all of that kind of stuff,” Lindsey said.

Lindsey aspires to have a career in a travel agency so she can be able to explore

the world.

“Specifically, I am hoping to work for a travel company or a city abroad company like the kind I have traveled with.

I want to work for them so I think having this experience would help me on that path and would help me kind of be better prepared for it,” Lindsey said. “Especially now more than in the past, being aware of all the world instead of where you are is a really big deal so having that experience could be key to future employment opportunities. “ Lindsey is so excited to be getting this extraordinarily rare chance to live her dream and explore her favorite country in the world.

‘I’m looking forward to the language learning, [it’s] such a fascinating thing that people communicate in a completely different language,” Lindsey said. “I’m pretty excited to have my eyes opened to that and be able to communicate with a whole new population of people and learn about their culture and their slang.”

Seniors contribute to the success of local clothing company Kathleen Nguyen Copy Editor

ART BY Madison Austin

What’s the best thing since sliced bread? Fat Flying Bread of course. Derived solely from a bored kid in math class to the clothing company it is today, Kyle Orourke owns the self-made brand. Established in 2011, Orourke has dedicated the time and the passion to make a life long for dream come to fruition.

It takes a great deal of responsibility to oversee a company, and one can’t do it all by themselves without the help of a right hand man.

“I’m the manager and marketing of the company, but definitely not the owner,” senior Garrison Sales said. “I just step in when the owner wants help with decisions or help with where to market. I try to give my best opinion and ask around and see what people want for the products.”

Starting a small local business has many perks, one of the best being able to support the community through the company.

“This brand started local and through lots of push to get product out and hard hours working on the website it has become a brand that people around the United States have bought,” Sales said. “The brand really took off with the launch of the website.”

Sales holds the Fat Flying Bread brand near and dear to his heart, as seen by simply opening his closet door or walking down the halls at

school.

“This brand impacts my life daily,” Sales said. “I have to see it every time I go into my closet. I personally have all the designs and custom ones. It also impacts my life by seeing just how much you can do with a will and a way.”

Given the target demographic was originally teens one thing was for certain, it had to be inexpensive and available for all who want the products so that they could help promote the products even more after they bought them.

“In this company you’re buying custom designs and good quality apparel, but for a good price unlike many name brands,” Sales said.

Originality is the name of the game when it comes to clothing, everyone wants something that no one else has.

“The designs are completely one of a kind, senior Ellie Kimbrough said. “Everything sold is extremely affordable, original, and derived from raw creativity.”

Having the brand is one thing, but influencing peo-

ple to buy the products is another. Advertising is how businesses sell and promote a product or service.

“I post pictures from the shoots, wear clothes from the brand and put up his loaf stickers everywhere,” Kimbrough said.

Being the official photographer for the brand requires thinking outside the box and using imagination to create a picture that people want to buy from as well as having an eye for the small details.

“I photograph all of the shoots and the images for

the website and look book,” Kimbrough said. “For the photo shoots Kyle just shows me the designs he wants captured and I style and work out an idea that would best show off the clothing and fit he wants.”

The need to always be finding ways to improve past the previous expectation is how a company keeps from plateauing. Keeping the buyer on their toes by launching more clothing and new collections is critical.

“We are also in the process of working on an under-

wear line, male and female,” Sales said. “It’s going to be a cheap price but good quality boxers, tights, bras, and lingerie. This should be dropping some time next year.”

Dreams don’t always have to stay dreams. These ideas can come into fruition with hard work and determination.

“This shows me how I can succeed starting up my own company,” Jesse Kimbrough said. “Kyle has proved that you can truly do anything your heart desires.”

Happy wife, happy life.

Or in this case happy owner, happy life. Ensuring the happiness from the boss is another aspect of being the manager of a company.

“One of my roles as the equipment manager is to always make sure the owner is happy,” Sales said. “I provide him with assistance such as cater him food if we are working on a set, or control the airflow of the environment.”

Many may wonder how does a teenager create a company that is successful and well known in the community in that it was built in.

'This brand is what is today because of Kyle and his hard work and determination,” said Jesse.

One of the best parts of working in a self-made company is the freedom to explore the different visions and ideas that come from everyday items.

“I love the creative energy that Kyle has,” Ellie said. “He’s a great friend of mine and working with him is always a ton of fun.”

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Fri. Sept. 29, 2017

The Dispatch

Sports

6

New jerseys donated to varsity football

Current Carolina Panthers NFL player and Bowie alumni Michael Griffin rewards team Gigi Francis Staff Writer

From the Burger Field, to Daryl K Royal Stadium to NFL stadiums; from red and black, to burnt orange and white, to white and blue, these are just a few of the colors football player Michael Griffin has worn on the field.

Griffin, a Bowie alumni from 2003, came to the school over the summer during the two a day trainings to donate brand new jerseys as a surprise to the varsity football team.

“It’s pretty awesome that Michael Griffin, a guy who played for Bowie and in the NFL, wanted to donate these jerseys to us,” senior defensive end and safety Joshua Smythe said.

The current special teams football coach for the school, coach Sam Miller, was Griffin’s defensive back coach and the two also saw each other in the classroom as well as on the field.

“I did know Michael from before, I coached him when he played here and he also had him in my algebra two class as well,” Miller said.

Griffin met up with his old coach to start the design of the new jerseys and together they kept it a secret from all of the football players.

“He came to my house one night during the summer and we worked on the niketeam.com website designing it and making it like he wanted,” Miller said.

Griffin had an idea of what he wanted the jerseys to look like because he wanted to make them look like the way they did when he was a bulldog.

PROFESSIONAL ADVICE: Carolina Panthers NFL player Michael Griffin talks to junior running back Kyle Carter during the varsity versus Vista Ridge football game. According to Carter he was told, ‘You’re capable of doing big things and if you run through your tackles you’ll be unstoppable’ by Griffin. PHOTO BY Violet Glenewinkel

“When he was here we had a special red jersey we wore for special games and he wanted to give one to the team as well,” Griffin said.

The football players were very pleased with the new style of the

PLAYING IN STYLE: While dressed in the varsity football team’s new uniform, junior Kyle Carter, runs past the Vista Ridge defense while trying to score. In August the team received the red jerseys as a donation from alumni Michael Griffin. PHOTO BY Mia Barbosa

jerseys that Griffin and Miller designed because of their sleek look and bright red color.

“The players had no say in the look but Michael and Coach Miller designed the jerseys,” junior defensive back Seth Werchan said. “The new jersey’s look great and gives us a new look that we haven’t seen on the field for a few years.”

Because of their vibrant color the jerseys will give a pop of color on the field and will catch people’s eyes during the game and give alumni a sense of nostalgia.

“I personally think they’re really cool. They are throwbacks to what Bowie used to wear in the early 2000’s but with a modern twist.

We’ve never worn red so I think it’ll be really cool out on the field,” Smythe said.

Griffin actually showed up to the campus to give and surprise the players with the new jerseys. He posted the events of the day on his Instagram and sent a message to the team and community.

“Blessing to be able to give back and especially to where it all started.

Donated and helped design these new uniforms with my old DB (defensive back) coach, Sam Miller, to bring back the color combination we wore my senior year at Bowie High School,” Griffin said.

The team received a pep talk from Griffin about his years on the team before he made the big announcement and surprised the varsity team players.

“When Michael came out with the new jersey’s everyone was super hype and excited,” Smythe said.

Other than donating the jerseys Griffin continues to stay in touch with the school and the team. He will even go to the games and cheer on the team from the sideline.

“I come to each game that I can to encourage them and share the insight that I know,” Griffin said. “But at the end of the day, the coaches know what they are doing and the team is very well coached based on the record.”

The community has done a lot for Griffin to help him get to where he is today. For the team being able to see a player who had graduated from the same school as them and be able to make a career from football is an inspiration.

“I feel like the education and teachers helped me out tremendously. Mrs.[Carlen] Floyd showed me responsibility even after I was already committed to play at the University of Texas. She was going to fail me unless I made up my work and she was an LSU fan,” Griffin said.

For the players it is exciting for them to see Griffin, but for Miller being able to watch Griffin grow into a professional football player after coaching him is rewarding.

“It is a great feeling have one of your players move to the next level, not matter if its college or the NFL,” Miller said. “But the best thing is how he is in the community and so supportive to his previous school, that’s the best feeling.”

Junior reports football games through Fanstand coverage Mia Barbosa

Managing Editor When a life full of dancing eventually ruined her knees junior Haley Ohlen transitioned from the dance floor to football sidelines when she discovered a new passion.

Through an organization called FanstandATX Ohlen became more invested in her love for football when she filled the role of being an iReporter. She now contributes to the product of weekly videos that includes highlights of each football game.

“A senior from last year, Maggie Murray, was involved in it so when I was injured from dancing I asked her if I could do it with her, and from then on I was a trainee,” Ohlen said.

Having to leave dance was hard for Ohlen to face, but Ohlen’s mom, Jeana Ohlen, feels that Haley handled the transition in her life beautifully.

“Internally she was trying to refocus her life and then Fanstand just came along because she knew so much about football already since

her brother plays college ball and her dad used to play as well,” Jeana said. “It was a blessing in that way.”

While being on the sidelines of a varsity game surrounded by the athletes can be intimidating for some high school reporters Haley handled it well.

“Haley has always been an outwardly confident kid and I think that it took confidence on her part to have a good rapport with the boys so that she could relate to them,” Jeana said.

One of Haley’s favorite parts about reporting for Fanstand is being able to share it with the players as she builds friendships with them.

“I’ve built so many great relationships with all of the players on the team all the boys come up to me and they’re always like ‘did you get my touchdown?’ or ‘did you get my interception?’”

Haley said. “I love getting to show everyone what they can do through my filming.”

The boys on the team also enjoy the Fanstand coverage because of Haley and the other reporters’ talent.

“It’s just cool to have them there,” senior Matt Forrest

said. “She and the rest of the reporters do their jobs really well and it gives us a cool reflection of how we played that night with cool highlights and plays.”

While the players respect the reporters at their games, Haley also enjoys the boys presence and what they do.

“The sidelines during football season is just so great because most of the boys have such ambition and passion,” Haley said. “ All they want to do is win so it’s so interesting to me that I get to capture that raw emotion and talent.”

Haley’s interest in the sport and players has helped her videography skills over time.

“From last year to now her footage has improved so much because now she knows what to look for and what angle to get,” Jeana said. “It’s more of an art than just turning on a video camera, I’m very proud of her.”

To the players, Haley is capturing the special moments of the season is meaningful so they can reflect on their time with the team.

“I really enjoy watching them since football is such a big part of my life now and Fanstand is definitely a part

POST WIN INTERVIEW: After the varsity football team beat Vista Ridge 52 to 31, junior Haley Ohlen conducts an interview with senior Quintavious Buckner. Ohlen interviews players from the team only after Bowie wins a game so that it can be included in the Fanstand videos. PHOTO BY Mia Barbosa

of how I’m making memories,” Forrest said.

While the team values Haley’s work for the nostalgic aspects her coverage also gives them an opportunity to be scouted.

“I do it so that the boys get exposure so that they can transition into college football and hopefully get a scholarship.” Haley said.

“Also, Fanstand is something so interactive and something

coming UP in SPORTS

I genuinely want to succeed at so that I can possibly study broadcasting journalism in college.”

Through Fanstand many doors have been opened up for Haley as well as for the players.

“To have an organization like that just be so supportive of young people is great,” Jeana said. “To have something like this not only for the boys but also for someone

O c t . 6 C r o s s C o u n t r y m e e t @ W a l t e r E . L o n g Pa r k Oct. 10 Varsity Volleyball vs. Del Valley @ Bowie O c t . 1 9 Va r s i t y Fo o t b a l l v s . M a n o r ( H o m e c o m i n g ) @ B u r g e r S t a d i u m

with an interest in journalism and reporting is amazing.”

While Haley is unsure of where reporting will take her in life Fanstand has changed her love for the game.

“Football is basically what my family lives and breathes,” Haley said. “It’s pretty natural for football to always be watched and talked about but Fanstand has definitely made my love for the sport grow.”

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The Dispatch Fri. Sept. 29, 2017

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Sports

What it means to be on varsity Caitlin Worthington Staff Writer

Huge crowds pounding on the bleachers, sweaty players breathing heavily on the sidelines, and hundreds of eyes focused on the game.

There’s no doubt about it, varsity teams require a lot of work, but the results from that work are indescribable for most.

Most people aim high when it comes to the things they love and enjoy doing, so being put on a team with other top competitors can be a relief, but the hard work and dedication doesn’t stop there.

“It takes hard work and talent along with the will to perform and play at your best at all times, but it definitely doesn’t come easy,” junior varsity football player Tank Rolan said.

But a month of practicing won’t get you on a varsity team, it takes much more time and energy to reach that point as an athlete.

“Every swimmer started somewhere, we didn’t all just automatically make the team,” swimmer junior Taylor Bhuiyan said, “It definitely can be hard at times to push through all the mental blocks and physical demands, but in the end it’s worth it.”

With practice taking up two to three hours of the day for weeks on end, being on a varsity team is a huge commitment “We practice a lot, so a ton of sacrifices are made, but seeing all the positive results makes it all worth it,” Rolan said.

But even with all the time put into perfecting skills, varsity isn’t all about winning.

“My injury keeps me from physically competing but being apart of varsity is still a great place to be,” volleyball player sophomore Danielle Blackburn said. “Everyone has such a great attitude and it’s awesome to see so many people working so hard for a common goal.”

Whether it’s on the field or on the court, varsity is all about working towards suc-

THE HARD STARE: These eyes are the eyes of four varsity players dedicated to the sport they love, from left to right; Tank Rolan, Danielle Blackburn, Seth Leifheit, and Taylor Bhuiyan. All of these competitors share similar thoughts and feelings about this rank ,“I think we all have similar goals. We all want to win, and get as far as possible in playoffs,” varsity basketball player Dylan Bell said. PHOTO BY Mia Barbosa

cess within relationships and the game.

“We all want to win and get as far as we can during playoffs this year, I’m excited to see what we will do,” senior basketball player Dylan Bell said.

For many winning really is what success means, but the first step to get to that point is putting trust into your teammates.

“The most important part about having a game run smoothly is being confident in both yourself and your teammates,” Rolan said.

With the high expectations of the coaches and other teammates a lot of players find that having a pre-game

ritual or certain mindset can reduce stress.

“I focus on the possibility of a cross country scholarship and that motivates me to do my best under stress and high expectations,” junior cross country runner Seth Leifheit said.

Many fans end up believing the stigmas that follow the varsity players, but according to most, these stigmas are far from true.

“I think a lot of people think of varsity, and automatically think of the cheesy way we’re portrayed in movies and TV shows,” Bhuiyan said. “But in reality all of us have put in hours and hours to reach the level we are at.”

Coach Hempel can’t help but hang around his old high school home Morgan Sanders Staff Writer

Some people question what their future may look like, but Coach Brian Hempel seemed to know all along.

A football coach of 15 years and government teacher at Bowie.

Hempel was a 1994 graduate of Bowie and he knew that at some point he would return to the school to coach.

His inspiration to be a coach and teacher came from the relationship he built with the coaching staff when he was a player. And now 15 years later, after coaching and teaching history in other places in Texas, he has returned.

“I think teaching and coaching are a lot alike,” Hempel said. “We work on more than just the ‘X’s and O’s’ of football, we’re teaching our kids about life. I feel like I’m a coach and a teacher in both places.”

Current players are able to feel the passion in the coaches as well as see it. Varsity football player sophomore Trinidad Sanders said that there were certain characteristics to coaches that allowed the players to learn and participate more effectively.

“The coaches have to show to the team love,” Sanders said. “If they don’t show love to the team, the team isn’t gonna care about them. Determination, enthusiasm and just showing that you care

makes a good coach.”

As well as qualities in coaches, players can have qualities in them that can help make it easier for the coaches to work with them on the field and allow coaches to easily teach the players what they have to know.

HEMPEL HELPS : Coach Hempel walks across the field at practice. Hempel is an alumni from bowie and has come back to fulfill his dreams of coaching football and teaching.

PHOTO BY Shelby Kelly

“I think what it comes down to is trust,” Hempel said. “If the player truly trusts that the coach has his best interests at heart and trust that the coach knows the craft and is coaching the player to win, it really comes down to that bond.

It’s trusting that if the coach is upset, that there’s a reason for it. They’re really just trying to make them better.”

Trusting the coaches may be an important factor on the football field, but it can also be important in the academic field. Grades are an important piece of success in football regarding the “No Pass, No Play” rule.

“The coaches are like parents to me,” Sanders said.

“They want you to do better and they really care about you personally. That makes me feel like I have to improve to show them off.”

Sophomore Kirk Nava is on the junior varsity team and also feels coaches may have a huge influence on the players that can last a lifetime. But to Hempel, the players have a huge influence on the coaches’ lives as well. He said that he sees the team working together as gamers and watching plays on Friday nights, that they’re exciting to watch.

“Bowie has some real talent,” Hempel said. “They’re strong and they’re big and they’re fast but bigger than that, they play well together.

I can only tell you that they had a great season last year, 11-2 is a solid record and anybody would take that.

What I see with this team is that so far, there’s really no let off, we’re just building on 11-2 and we’re expecting to go even further.”

Throughout the season players are also expected to fund-raise to better their program.

“When the season first starts we all have to go out and sell football cards,” Rolan said. “We go door to door and try to sell these cards so that we have more money for new equipment.”

Almost all the equipment and new items the teams receive are a result of fundraising and donations.

“We got a new locker room this year and a lot of the money came from all the players working hard to fundraise, knowing we reached our goal through hard work makes it that much better,”

Blackburn said.

Goals set by players and teams are an extremely common trend.

“My main goal this year is to get my 5k time down to seventeen minutes and fifteen seconds, I think this will be achievable as long as I put my all into practices,” Leifheit said.

For all the sports, each teammate is earning points for the team through their individual efforts.

“Even though most of our races are solo, we are all working to earn points for the team, and ultimately win,” Bhuiyan said. “So it’s important to give it your all because your teammates are relying

SUMIN SAYS

Sumin Kim Columnist

On August 31st, 2017, the summer transfer market officially ended. This transfer market was one of the hottest transfer markets in the history of European soccer.

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) used approximately €222M ($266M) to sign Neymar, and now PSG has to pay Monaco €180M ($215M) before the 2018/2019 season starts.

A year ago, José Mourinho, Current Manchester United Manager, said Pogba’s transfer fee (€150M) is going to become cheaper in a few years. It turns out this statement was true. In just one year, the world’s most expensive player changed to Neymar with €222M of transfer fee.

Now we have a problem: when is this market inflation going to stop?

In my opinion this market inflation has to be stopped by some kind of regulation.

A player used to be worth £5M; now almost every player starts with £10M. This is just ridiculous.

Now, €10M for each player isn’t even worth enough

on you.”

This rank comes with a large amount of responsibilities, high expectations, and hard work.

“I have worked really hard to get to where I am, but it makes me so proud to see all the progress I have made through the years,” Bhuiyan said. “Being on varsity really is such an overall great experience to be apart of.”

When it comes down to it, varsity is a lot more complex than just winning and the trophies that come along with it.

“The relationships built, and memories made are just as important as the games we win,” Blackburn said.

The problem with European soccer’s transfer market

to come out as a news headline. If a club spent more than £10M per player, they will need much more money than just £10M, and that indicates just how much the European soccer market has expanded.

However, if someone were to ask if the market actually expanded, I would have to say no. Economy analyzing company “Vysyble” published a report about the Premier League (PL) clubs.

The report said that the PL clubs have an average of £876,000 deficit every day.

In the report, Vysyble said that PL is economically failing. Big clubs are spending so much money on transfers and player salaries, however their income does not match the immense spendings.

“ This inflation has

to be stopped to avoid an economic crisis. ” The second reason is that people can’t understand why clubs are using so much money on “non-verified” players. In 2016, Manchester bought Paul Pogba for £100M from Juventus. This year they bought Lukaku for £100M from Everton. They are both great players, however people are questioning if they’re actually worth that much money.

Most of the PL clubs now have a chance to do a “big signing”. A big signing refers to the process where a club buys famous players with a big transfer budget. Because of the whole league over-investing issue, the players’ prices increase.

There were a limited numbers of players who are already verified, so clubs started to value players based on their future ability over their current ability.

This process lead to many failures, and the profit did not match the tremendous amount of investments spent, resulting in some clubs finding themselves in an economic crisis.

There is already an existing solution for this market inflation, which is named the Financial Fair Play (FFP), but there are just so many ways to get around it. A great example is PSG who spent €405M. UEFA is investigating the FFP issue, however most people think they can efficiently get around it. In my opinion, UEFA has to make the FFP regulation more strict so it becomes actually effective.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United only used €789M throughout his 30 year period in Man United, and was able to win 38 trophies. But after him, three managers spent nearly €777M in five years. This inflation has to be stopped to avoid an economic crisis.

I

Fri. Sept. 29, 2017 The Dispatch

In-Depth

WAY BACK

WHEN

A comparison of how things have changed throughout the years

Then

Now

Held after school with parade floats and food. This was a state-wide tradition.

PEP RALLYS

Smaller, held in cafeteria during last period, and classes sign up to attend.

STATE TESTING

Classrooms with two monitors are assigned around thirty students for state testing.

Before STAAR, state testing was held in the cafeteria before classes were involved.

It takes something special to create a long lasting impression on a community. To keep thriving as one of the greatest high schools in the state of Texas and excel in prideful performance, a grand foundation must be established through the facility and its people. Celebrating this year’s 30th anniversary, James Bowie High School continues to thrive as its history grows older.

During the AISD City Council meeting of 1975, Bowie’s spirit began before school came into session, when Kent Ewing made it his goal to be the first principal of the new southwest school. He was picked out of the 112 applicants because of his passion.

“There were several years during in-service, before school began in August, that [ Ewing ] would charter buses and take us to eat barbecue,” government and street law teacher Patricia Maney said. “This was a great way for me to meet teachers that had been here at Bowie from the beginning.”

Between opening the school and kicking the first year off, tradition-building helped create what Bowie symbolizes today.

“All of us teachers had the opportunity to come together, meeting of the minds, and actually start some of the traditions that we enjoy today,” English IV teacher Joyce Brisco said. “We decided upon the mascot, chose the colors, and implemented the tradition of Bulldogs and Hotdogs.”

Planning for Bowie’s success had to start with the end in mind. To do so, the faculty and administration came together and put all of their expectations and visions for the school to formulate a general goal.

“We all had a vision,” Brisco said. “Nothing comes to a sleeper but a dream.”

However, for there to be a foundation, the make-up must go farther than traditions for a school to stand for thirty years. “[ Bowie ] was built on the love and the passion that teachers and the administration and the students have for the school, the community,” Brisco said.

When describing how Bowie came to stand out from the beginning, Brisco explains it as starting with the teachers and faculty members bringing their own uniqueness and diversity to the school.

“What is it that’s going to make Bowie special? What are you going to bring to Bowie that is unique?,” Brisco said. “I can’t make that special for you, you have to make it special for yourself.”

Academic Dean Susan Leos sees the Bowie history as an onion analogy made by educational researcher and writer, Thomas Sergiovanni, who describes the culture of an institution or organization as being made up of different layers, including a core in the middle.

“I don’t know if we can really define [ the core ] because pulling back all the different layers, you’re taking away from the organization at the

Block schedule was implemented SCHEDULE in the 2000’s with & TIMES the days beginning later and ending later.

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The ones who stayed and the ones who came back

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same time,” Leos said. “Bowie has the strongest core of any school, of any onion, because there’s something about the people, teachers, kids, parents.”

From the start, the “core” radiated a sense of pride and faith in the school that has continued to stay with the many generations it’s seen.

“There’s something about even the community that believes in this place,” Leos said. “There’s still been this focus on the Bowie core and what it means to be at Bowie where you are proud of yourself, you’re proud of your academics, you’re proud of your courses and we do our best to support each other.”

As the years passed, the “core” has stayed the same when change started occurring, for example, with students.

“We’re continually expecting more of our students, high school is more rigorous now than before,” World history teacher and Bowie graduate Wendy Uzzle said. “High schools keep raising the bars and the students keep rising to it and it’s amazing they keep achieving it.”

With Advanced Placement classes entering the educational scene across Texas in the 90’s, Bowie shifted its ways by setting higher goals for students.

“There are many more rigorous requirements on our kids nowadays,” Leos said. “There wasn’t state testing at the time and, if there was, it was much easier.”

With harder classes came changes in technology, causing Bowie and its faculty to morph the traditional classroom and halls.

“More of the books were on-line so we stopped using lockers,” Leos said. “We did have a year where students still had some books and some teachers were doing things on-line.”

The introduction of flipped classrooms, a system in which students can use technology at home and work with in the classroom, was a major transition from the traditional classes.

“Students who don’t have access to computers at home can get a hard copy of the work at school and those who do have computers at home, they can use their computers at home as well as have an extra copy of the work,” Brisco said.

Being able to see a transition from tradition to a modern classroom is something Brisco has been able to experience first hand.

“I think that’s pretty phenomenal since I’ve been here for so many years and seen so many changes,” Brisco said.

Modern education also gave teachers the ability to drive their own professional learning, meaning they have free-will to choose what they think is necessary for the course in contrast to “going by the book”.

“That’s had a big impact on the students in the end, because we keep growing our students through our teachers who are teaching what they think is most important and what matters more instead of going by the book or the district

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The Dispatch Fri. Sept. 29, 2017

In-Depth

30 Betsy

CORNWELL

YEARS

The tradition was Modern Bulldogs originally a way for & Hotdogs has BULLDOGS staff, students, & HOTDOGS similar principles, and families to now hosting more get to know each games and clubs other in 1988. in addition.

Eight periods per day was the original schedule. School also started earlier and ended earlier.

8

Theatre

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ELLERBROCK History

‘97

Violet Glenewinkel Editor-in-Chief

“One of the big benefits is us coming up with FIT and how we can capture time in the day to help students,” Leos said. “It really opens the horizons for the students.”

Besides educational shifts, social challenges have come along Bowie’s timeline as well.

“I think with change in any institution there are challenges so we must learn with change to adapt to change and to address the changing trends that comes into any institution that is thirty years old,” Brisco said.

Some of these challenges brought dark times, evident when the news hit America, and Bowie, of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“The reality innocent men, women and children , some of whom could possible be family or friends of my students incomprehensible,” Brisco said. “Bowie, like the rest of the world, was paralyzed.”

Even when faced with tragedy, the Bowie community was able to stand together within those 24 hours.

“In the spirit of America and her core values, her ideals, my speech and debate team were summoned to meet in my classroom at lunchtime,” Brisco said.

To support the people affected, Brisco and her forensics team put forth a donation system. In

“ Bowie has the strongest core of

any school because there’s something about the people, teachers, kids, and parents. ”

- Susan Leos return, the donors received a blue, white, or red ribbon.

“With 100 percent of support from Bowie’s administration, faculty, staff and the community, students raised over $8,000 in less than 24 hours for the Red Cross,” Brisco said.

The amount of money the school raised in such a short period of time also impacted the great community at large, according to Brisco.

“Bowie was the first of its kind raise money and give it to the Red Cross, resulted in an invitation to appear on KVUE television and share their story. This was the proudest moment for me, not only as Forensics Director, but as an educator,” Brisco said.

Most of the social changes haven’t necessarily affected the school but rather the students.

“Keeping the premise that we are about teaching students, but also recognize that there is a part of our student body that we have to make sure those students are addressed,” Brisco said. “Their concerns about being inclusive, their voice.”

Some of these shifts involved difficult conversations between the administration and the teachers, specifically with literature and history.

“We had a group that met where we discussed if the literature we are reading reflective of diversity, are we reflecting all of the different types of people at our school with what we read and do,” Leos said.

Across the state, grouping schools together based on ethnic make-up, how economically disadvantaged the students are, and other social demographics have created a barrier from diversity, including at Bowie.

“We’re smart enough to know, and we talked about in this meeting, that sometimes outside of Bowie they see us as a privileged school,” Leos said. “They see us as a white school.”

With there being more inclusivity since the school began, one of the more recent challenges has to make sure everyone has a voice.

“What can we do educationally to present our kids with a world-view, with a diverse view, in every class, because Bowie is not perfect and that’s the kind of thing that may be difficult or challenging at Bowie,” Leos said.

Now in it’s thirtieth year, administration is striving to make this a top priority.

“Being aware, human, and appreciative of different cultures and diversity,” Brisco said. “I think that’s one of the challenges that any institution has to maintain that everybody is inclusive, everyone is treated equally, and feeling that everyone has a voice.”

One way the school has addressed this is by dedicating weeks or a month to a certain group of individuals to be celebrated.

“We had Black History Month, Women’s Week, and Pride Week,” Uzzle said.

The biggest approach administration has taken towards exceeding this goal is through the morning announcements, an idea implemented

by Leos.

“Last year, we opened up our PA announcements,” Leos said. “As part of our teacher-leadership group, we need to make sure we have those voices.”

When asked why she’s stayed from the first year to the thirtieth, Brisco believes the school has become a part of her life.

“You meet new people, you formulate a family, and the kids become like your offspring,” Brisco said. “It’s really hard to let that go.”

For all these years, the school has never let that “core” die down.

“Bowie is probably one of the most unique, innovative institutions that I’ve ever had the opportunity and the privilege in which to work,” Brisco said. “The community, the atmosphere, you’re just drawn to that.”

Erin

KOWALIK Science

30 Vicki

HEBERT English

30 Andy

PADGETT Security

‘90 Stephanie

MCGRAW Asst. Principal

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NARVAIZ Gov./Eco.

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Matthew

HUMPHREY

Howard

THOMPSON

Theatre

Athletics/History

1993

1988

30 years of

First year opening and establishment of Bulldogs and Hotdogs tradition

HISTORY ART BY Callie Richards and Madison Austin

The first discussion on building a southwest high school at the AISD City Council meeting

?

1975

Bowie named National Blue Ribbon school, invited to Washington to receive award; First Bowie football playoff victory

1992

1995

Class of ‘95 raised enough money to be the first to graduate from Erwin Center

Modified “block” schedule, where only some classes followed it; 3200+ students

AB

1997

1999

After Columbine shooting, Bowie’s prom was featured on Good Morning America to show what high school is really like

Bowie is shocked by the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks; Joyce Brisco’s debate team raised over $8,000 in support

2001

2005

First Dodgeball Tournament, started by class of ‘09

Major state-wide budget cuts to most schools, affected Bowie’s programs and teachers

2010

2011

Teachers begin driving their curriculum instead of going “by the book”

No more lockers in regular use; FIT’s first year being implemented

X

2010

Teachers and administration who have passed within the thirty years

2013

First time UIL Academic state champions for Bowie

Cancer walk for Nikki Vohl; #WaterForBowie, the day that there was no water running on campus; Theatre flooded

2015

Yearbook wins a national CSPA Gold Crown

2016

Becky Van Shellenbeck Ray Roche Ron Crumpton Karen Saylor Nikki Vohl Jason Landers Wade Pittsford Susan Andrews Robert Gomez Patsy Alexis Card Chapman Janis Pinelli

PER: Bowie Staff

Some of the most memorable and important moments in Bowie’s time line

Principal Ewing’s daughters tried to find the rumored cave entrance under Bowie by themselves

in Memoriam

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Fri. Sept. 29, 2017 The Dispatch

Photo Essay

10

Cheer captain stunts into a new year

Senior Jordan Bailey leads the varsity team Ashley Ramirez PE Editor

Bows and pointed toes, senior Jordan Bailey leads the 2017-2018 varsity squad as the varsity cheer captain.

Bailey developed a strong love of being a cheerleader when she was young.

“I started cheer leading when I was five and haven’t put the poms down since,” Bailey said.

Having been on the Bowie cheer team since her freshmen year, Bailey has always wanted to be in a leadership position.

“I have always loved taking on leadership positions,” Bailey said. “When I first made cheer I definitely hope to end up being the leader on the team, and I am so happy I ended up being this year’s captain.”

The position of captain is not just handed out but it requires a long application.

“They have to submit a formal notebook that has practice plans, essay questions regarding leadership and intentions they have with the community and school,and they have to go through and formal interview,” coach En-

glish teacher Amie Roggeman said.

Having the responsibility of leading 30 girls, Bailey is in charge of making sure everything is in order.

“Being captain comes with many responsibilities,” Bailey said. “Making sure they know what to wear, what to do, and where to go.”

Bailey not only helps the girls out but she assists Roggeman during practices and games.

“I assist my coach with leading practices, making routines, calling cheers at games and overall decision making,” Bailey said.

In addition to Bailey’s responsibilities, she must have the attitude that puts her team first.

“She is loyal to the program and so she put what the program needs above what she wants or desires,” Roggeman said. “Which to me makes a good leader, when you put others before yourself.”

Bailey could not lead the team alone so she has help from Co-Captains senior Kitty Lee and junior Mary Tijerina.

“Me and Jordan work together to make sure our cheer team is improving and

ALL SMILES: Senior varsity captain Jordan Bailey and senior Eliza Lopez cradle a youth cheerleader as she comes down from a stunt. Youth cheer teams preformed with the team at the Bowie v. Vista Ridge game. “Youth teams from around Austin get to come and cheer on the sidelines with us,”Bailey said. PHOTO BY Violet Glenewinkel

progressing in their individual skills as well as team stunts, having fun, doing our best at every performance and game, and modeling what it means to be a representative of Bowie,” Lee said.

As well as performing at varsity football games, the team practices Monday through Thursday.

“A normal day at practice we start by rolling out the mats,” Bailey said. “We have a dynamic warm-up followed by stretching then we stunt, tumble, and practice a range from game day cheer to competition cheer.”

Because this is Bailey’s last year on the cheer team she is looking forwards cheering in college.

“Cheering in college is a true dream of mine,” Bailey said. “ If I got the chance, I would absolutely take it.”

Like previous captains Bailey encourages the team to do their best however she leads with a different perspective.

“Jordan is different from previous captains in that she has a bigger and more dominant personality, and really cares about bowie cheer and that we perform our best,” Lee said.

FUTURE DAWGS: Bailey hugs two youth cheerleaders that cheered with her at the Bowie vs Vista Ridge game. As a cheerleader, Bailey considers herself a role model.“It’s actually really cool because I used to be one myself,” Bailey said.“Before they know it, those little girls will be taking my place.” PHOTO BY Violet Glenewinkel

SAY IT LOUD: Shouting towards the field, Bailey cheers on the varsity football players.

Bowie beat Vista Ridge with a score of 52 to 30. “Strength, endurance and flexibility are major components in cheer leading, and of course, a big smile,” Bailey said. PHOTO BY Ashley Ramirez

ON THE FIELD: Preforming at the game Bailey waves to the crowd. Bailey preformed a cheer routine with the varsity cheer team. “We practice for one and a half to two hours each day,” Bailey said.

PHOTO BY Ashley Ramirez

GO DAWGS: Getting the crowd hyped is Bailey at the start of the Bowie v. Vista Ridge game. Bailey enjoys preforming.“Performing in front of a crowd is such a thrill,” Bailey said. PHOTO BY Ashley Ramirez

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The Dispatch Fri. Sept. 29, 2017

R

Reviews

Adults are not the only monsters

Stephen King is not clowning around with classic horror remake blowing up big screens Natalie Torres Staff Writer

Many phenomenal movies have played in theatres so far this year and yet another one has surfaced. From the moment the trailers were released, fans of thriller movies and those who saw the original movie in the 1990’s were excited about this comeback.

The recreation of the movie “It”, inspired by the Stephen King novel, was introduced in theatres Friday, Sept. 8.

The story follows seven kids: Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis), Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher), Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer), Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff), Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs), and Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor) in the small town of Derry, Maine. The town is cursed every 27 years by the presence of a shape-shifting demon that mysteriously terrorizes the town’s people.

The children each meet It in different scenarios and end up coming together as a group in an attempt to rid their town of the demonic creature that lurks in the sewers.

The monster is commonly seen as Pennywise the dancing clown (Bill Skarsgård) who is accompanied by his signature red balloon. Pennywise first appears in his encounter with Denbrough’s younger brother Georgie (Jackson

Robert) who is the first child to go missing during It’s return.

A year later Bill is still trying to find his brother as other children go missing, and I admire his determination because the rest of his family seemed to accept that Georgie was gone, but Bill still had hope.

Throughout the film, Bill has an unwavering determination to defeat It, despite his fear and other characters’ lack of support. Overall, Bill was a fairly serious and mostly composed character who thought things through and noticed what others didn’t.

However, his little friend group was hilarious together.

They are the epitome of immature youth and I love every single one of them. Their humor lightened the mood of the movie at even the most suspenseful moments.

These child actors were exceptional, in my opinion.

They all seemed to fit well with their characters, and are definitely better matches for the story than an adult would be. In most movies and TV shows I’ve seen, adults play the role of teens, but I believe this group of kids did the job right.

My favorite character was Beverly Marsh because she seemed the strongest and most fearless of all of the kids, and she proved herself to be a powerful female leader. Not only was she haunted

by It, but she had troubles at school and especially at home.

Beverly fought It when she felt the need. More than once she attacked It when it got too close to her or a friend and it always surprised me that she had the courage to lash back. Even though in many cases she must’ve been horrified, she always boldly stated she wasn’t afraid, and I believe that kept her alive.

I imagined myself in a few of the situations that the kids faced and how I would react.

I know for a fact I’d be dead in many of the situations the kids were in.

One of my favorite scenes, that was also a part of the trailer, when Bill goes down into the flooded basement and sees his lost brother Georgie standing in the corner wearing the same yellow raincoat he wore when he went missing.

At first, Georgie looks fine; his face is still adorable and his voice remains innocent, until he says to Bill ‘If you come with me, you’ll float too.’ Over and over he says ‘You’ll float too’ until his voice raises to a scream and becomes more demonic as his face distorts into a rotting expression.

At this time, Bill is mortified of course, and Pennywise is rising out of the water next to Georgie. Pennywise runs towards Bill, and Bill has the common sense to run up the

Taylor takes back her throne Shelby Papst Review Editor

So fake. Playing the victim.

Such a snake. She’s gone.

She wiped her social media.

What did we make her lose? Her mind? Her reputation? Obviously not her thirst for payback.

On Aug. 27, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift released her new music video ‘Look What You Made Me Do.’ The video shows Swift in numerous settings, singing that she’s done with all the drama focused around her.

From the snakes symbolizing the common jab that “Taylor Swift is a snake” to the fire in her eyes as she claims she’s back from the dead.

Anyone who watches the video can tell it’s like nothing Swift has ever written before.

It’s not a pop-sounding upbeat song with messages about teenage love and partying. And that’s the point.

There is a clear message throughout the entirety of the video; the Taylor Swift everyone previously knew is gone. Swift is ticked and she wants the world to know.

I’ve never been a fan of

ART BY Jake Brien

Swift’s music, nor herself as a person. She always struck me as a very attention-seeking individual who got her fame from exploiting her exes.

However, when I watched ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ I couldn’t press replay fast enough.

Whether you are a fan of Swift or not, no one can deny that she executed her comeback phenomenally.

Unlike the typical revenge video, Swift purposely targeted herself and the past versions of who she “used” to be in the video as well.

The most impactful scene of the video had to be during the bridge when Swift is standing atop a platform with every persona from her past videos screaming and trying to climb up to her only to be blasted away.

Swift is saying she’s no longer the girl she used to be and that she’s killed those sides of her.

The execution of her thoughts put into the video was genius. Swift didn’t just make a video to drag everyone against her, she also announced her revival in a way that shows she won’t be

pushed around by anyone anymore.

Fans alike are meeting the new video with mixed thoughts. While Swift’s intention was aimed towards looking superior, all the video has recently done is promote memes and jokes about Swift’s new “edgy” persona which she has yet to comment on.

In the end, despite the message not coming off how Swift might want it, ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ has so doubt caused a social media uproar.

The attention on Swift has been more focused that ever. Funny considering just a month before, people couldn’t find a trace of the pop singer anywhere.

My favorite aspect of Swift’s video were her lyrics.

The tone is feisty, brutal, cold, and powerful. Lyrics like “I got a list of names and yours is in red underline” and “all I think about is karma” sum up the revenge Swift wants to dish out.

Although I liked the lyrics of Swift’s video, the song itself was pretty sub-par. There was no catchy melody and sounded like one continuous beat for the entire song. Not to mention the build up to the chorus was strong only for the chorus to be flat.

Of all the songs in Swift’s career, this one is hardly worth a mention if not for the spectacular video.

Again, I have never been a fan of Taylor Swift from country to pop, but I can’t think of a comeback that has stunned me as much as this one has.

I have to give ‘Look what You Made Me Do’ a high rating because of how perfectly it was executed.

While the music itself isn’t something I’d find myself listening to in my free time, the video is enough to enrapture me for hours.

Taylor Swift has had enough of what the media world has always seen her as and has made it clear, this Swift is going to fight.

Don’t like it? Do you want the old Taylor back? Too bad.

Because she’s dead.

ART BY Callie Richards

stairs out of the basement and slam the door behind him before Pennywise can reach him.

This scene freaked me out so much. I loved it. When Pennywise ran towards Bill, my entire body froze while I was watching, so I’m sure if I was in that situation I would’ve ended up floating too.

I’d say the movie overall

was more suspenseful and funny than it was scary, but that’s perfectly fine in my opinion.

I admire King’s work and I think that the movie was well executed. Many horror movies today consist of cheap jumpscares and typical events, but “It” perfectly portrayed fear and humor all in one film.

I’d recommend this movie to anyone who wants to experience some excitement, fright, and suspense, but be put at ease with plenty of humor.

I’ve never been the biggest fan of thrillers, horror, or movies in general, but this movie exceeded my expectations tenfold and I’d love to watch it again.

Local

BUZZ

Austin is about to bring its music-capital title to an all new meaning. ACL is coming up hot: get ready for live music and a lot of fun downtown with your favorite artists and more.

SZA

CONCERTS

Emo’s Oct. 1

Austin City Limits (ACL)

Zilker Park Oct. 6-8 & 13-15

Macklemore

Emo’s Oct. 19

ALBUMS P!nk

Beautiful Trauma Oct. 13

Darius Rucker

When Was The Last Time Oct. 27

Wheezer

Pacific Daydream Oct. 27

MOVIES

Blade Runner 2049 Oct. 6

Happy Death Day Oct. 13

Thor: Ragnarok Oct. 25

The Evil Within 2

XBOX One & PS4 Oct. 13

Fire Emblem Warriors

Nintendo Switch & 3DS Oct. 20

Just Dance 2018 XBOX One & PS4 Oct. 24

GAMES

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Fri. Sept. 29, 2017 The Dispatch

Entertainment

12

Unique shows highlight troupe’s skills

Starlight Theatre Company prepares their fall shows, each varying in story, style, & substance Shelby Kelly Sports Editor

Shakespearean cowboys, a spy who becomes embroiled in trouble, robots in a soap opera, and a show that ‘must go on.’ All are basic ideas for the four shows scheduled this fall season by the Starlight Theatre Company.

Teacher and Director Matthew Humphrey’s production of the “Taming of the Shrew” is a comedy set in the wild west, told with a feminist point of view. The plot centers around a boy paying someone to fall in love with his crushes’ terrible older sister so he can marry the girl of their dreams and it makes fun of the sexist tones presented in the original.

With a new western tone in the original Italian setting and written by a British author, Humphrey’s production centers around the message that seems to make fun of the bigotry themes seen hundreds of years ago. It emphasizes that women don’t have to conform to society’s gender roles, but at the same time some change can be healthy in order to grow into a better person.

“This show is really special because Taming of the Shrew is arguably one of Shakespeare’s most sexist shows, and Humphrey, my director, is taking a different side of it,” senior actress Katie Norris said.

Riddled with humor, this show

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Senior Blake Moyer practices his lines for the production. This is Moyer’s last fall show. PHOTO BY Ashley Ramirez

still manages to portrays Shakespeare’s classic tale and language.

“I’m nervous about the Shakespearean language because it is super confusing and you have to be very articulate,” junior actress Elizabeth Tiedt said.

“Taming of the Shrew”, in this production, is a cowboy esque empowering struggle of a woman’s worth in the world.

“I am most excited for the wild west setting of the ‘Taming of the Shrew’ because it’s an interesting twist to the classic play,” junior technician Emma Thomas said. “It’s different from the other fall shows because it doesn’t involve any British characters unlike the other shows.”

Directed by new theatre teacher, Courtney Hall, “Noises Off” is a farce where the characters run into quite a few issues, but they refuse to let these issues stand in their way. It is a show with an ambitious take that will be a challenge for both the cast and its director.

“When I was first reading the play, I was worried that because of how chaotic the finale is, the cast will lose themselves in the chaos,” Hall said.

“But after a few rehearsals with my amazing cast, I am confident that they will take control of the scene and not vice versa.”

Taking on a paradoxical theme, “Noises Off” is special in that it is a play inside of a play.

“I am excited for people to see the play within a play version of the show because the actors are putting on a play and it goes pretty bad,” senior actress Jenna Eveleth said. “I am nervous about trying to keep it together on stage because it will be really funny.”

This show is hilariously fastpaced, full of chaos and confusion.

“Noises Off is a play within a play where you become acquainted with both the actors in the play but also the characters they’re playing,” Hall said.

Directed by Marco Bazan, “Comic Potential”, is a satire of television, acting as a touching romantic comedy about an android named Adam Trainsmith aspires to write a comedy for his favorite actress Jacie. However, due to jealousy, the television studio doesn’t quite see eye to eye with Trainsmith’s goals.

“The overall message of our show is robots have feelings too and through this comedy if they understand so,” junior technician Dar-

GETTING INTO THE ZONE: A group of actresses practice being in distress for their performance.

The show is “Comic potential”. PHOTO BY Ashley Ramirez

cy Kanneman said.

This story offers a different and unique element that most shows do not contain.

“My favorite part about my show is that although it’s about robots and humans, it gives this allusion to our current society in how it’s two different people from different backgrounds,” junior technician Sam Searles said.

Set on a television set, this show is going to be a great opportunity for technicians to create and design this set.

“I’m most nervous for the stage setup because it’s a little difficult because the setting is mainly in a recording studio,” Kanneman said.

“39 Steps”, directed by teacher

Hannah Huerta, is a story about a man on vacation in London who unexpectedly gets stuck in a spy scandal. Essentially, it’s an energetic spy comedy.

“I chose this show because it’s really funny and very challenging. The humor is definitely styled from a different time. It’s fast paced, cheeky, and parodies one of the most iconic directors of all time, Alfred Hitchcock,” Huerta said.

This British comedy has suspenseful twists, unexpected moments of humor, and steady surprises that are unexpected.

“If I could describe this show in a couple of words I would use alluring, sporadic, cheeky and hilarious.

I would use these words because of

how many things are happening at once. Our play is one of those plays where you really have to pay attention to enjoy the performance in its full potential,” junior actress Bailey Potter said.

From set design to many different accents, this show has many pieces to it. However the main excitement for this show is the mentality of simply having fun.

“The overall message for this show is to have fun. It’s not meant to be taken seriously. I’m actually really glad to be working on a piece like this right now. With everything that is happening in the world, I think we all need a night to sit back and laugh,” Huerta said.

New teacher for theatre department is a win for all Jadon Alvarez

Entertainment Editor The tech crew and actors of the Starlight Theatre Company are accustomed to a daily routine of hard work, putting their blood, sweat, and tears towards each and every performance. This year however, the new theatre director/teacher Cortney Hall’s ideas could change everything.

Although Hall might be a new director/teacher for the theatre students, Hall isn’t completely new to Bowie nor

to the Starlight Theatre Company itself.

“I actually went to Bowie and I graduated from Bowie in 2013 and I love how ambitious the theatre program is,” Hall said.

Hall isn’t new to the teaching and the directing scene either, having a well versed knowledge of everything “theatre”.

“When I was student teaching at Crockett High School and Covington Middle School, I taught specifically Tech I, Tech II, and Theatre I and that was great,” Hall said.

“I was in college and then of course you do shows in college and we made a thesis at the Texas State Camp. You create a whole show and direct it - all while putting it together in two weeks.”

Loving what she can contribute to the theatrical side of the company itself, The Starlight Theatre Company isn’t new to Hall either.

“I love Ms. Hall. Last year she came in and she was a guest director,” sophomore actress Saylor Dement said.

“She directed a spring show and it was super funny and it

GET INTO PLACE: Cortney Hall makes her students run across the room into certain spots. The purpose of the game was to learn cues on stage. PHOTO BY Shelby Kelly

was a really good show.”

The tech side of the company also loves Hall, feeling she knows more about the tech world of theatre than her predecessor.

“Having a new director in theater is great, especially tech and design wise, she has lots of new ideas that are different than what we’re used to. It’s interesting,” sophomore techie Julia Cabrera said.

The Starlight Theatre Company can agree that much hasn’t really changed since the announcement of their new teacher.

“Though she brings lots of ideas and concepts to the table, things haven’t changed much around the STC since last year,” Cabrera said. “That’s good enough, I feel like the company is in a good place.”

Dement does point out some differences though between Hall and their previous teacher; Kalyn Holloway.

“They’re kind of similar in some ways. However, Mrs. Holloway was very choreographed-based. She was our choreographer in the musical, and she helped choreograph everything,” Dement said. “I don’t know if Ms. Hall can choreograph and if she can that’s awesome. If she

coming UP in ENTERTAINMENT Oct. 5-15 STC Fall Shows Oct. 14 Regional Choir Contest Oct. 17 Fall Choir Concert Oct. 24 Band UIL Region Marching Contest

READY, SET, LEARN: Cortney Hall teaches the class a concept used in theatre. The lesson was over the basics of the stage. PHOTO BY Shelby Kelly

can’t... we’re going to continue to be in a little bit of a pickle.”

However, Dement is quick to point out that both her previous teacher and Hall are very fun people to work with.

“They both know a lot about tech and acting, so that’s a great thing. Both are very light-hearted people and very fun-spirited people to work with, so they are very similar in some aspects,” Dement said.

Many of the STC students hope to work with hall this year as well.

“I would really like to work in a show with her personally because I feel like she’s a good and talented director,” Dement said.

Many of the students also

hope that they’ll be able to accomplish some personal goals with the company.

“Personally, this year I’d like to start organizing a portfolio to take to events like TETA, where I can meet schools and they can see my work,” Cabrera said. ”I’d take stuff like pictures and videos from shows I’ve designed here at Bowie.”

Hall also hopes to accomplish her goals with the Company this year too.

“The Starlight Theatre Company is killing it on its own and I just hope to recruit and grow the program and get kids creating, really just seeing what they come up with once they are given the tools to do so,” Hall said.

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The Dispatch Fri. Sept. 29, 2017

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Entertainment

Cabaret moves toward a new direction Cody Parrott steps in as newest choir teacher and forwards innovation for Bowie choir Jake Brien

Entertainment Editor It was a night that the audience wouldn’t forget. Cabaret, the Bowie Choirs’ annual performance, had a new teacher, a new story, and a new direction. But before show, titled Songs of Sin, could begin, a humble teacher with a vision for the Bowie Choir by the name of Cody Parrott would walk on stage, clear his throat, and explain to the audience of how this was a night they wouldn’t forget.

In the past, the Bowie Choir has always taken backseat to larger extracurriculars such as football or theater. With Cate Gasco having left her position as the choir teacher, Parrott stepped in to ensure that both the choir and Cabaret would need to have stricter discipline as well as new direction. The stakes were higher than ever before, as Cabaret is the most important show for the choir.

“The success of Cabaret sets up our entire year. If we don’t do well at Cabaret then the rest of the year for choir isn’t fun,” junior Andrea Griffis said. “So, they can’t feed us most of the time, all of the money just goes straight to athletics and to other things that people see as more important.”

Knowing that Cabaret’s success would hinge on the leadership of its two directors, Blake Moyer and Cece Sanchez, Parrott offered a new solution for some of the empty audience seats during past Cabaret shows.

TEMPTATION FUELS DESIRE: Seniors Cece Sanchez (right) and Xander Perez (left) share a passionate love song. Both Sanchez and Smith would later sing their own solo songs. PHOTO BY Preston Rolls

“He helped us in the audition process by listening to people with us, and he was there when Blake Moyer and I created the story line and he had some input on what would maybe work and would not work - just to play with it,” Senior Cece Sanchez said. “He didn’t take over this - it was basically all us.”

The show itself centered around the plot of the relationships between the colors Blue, Green, Red, and Purple, with each of them getting involved in a romantic relationship with one another. Wearing all black, choir members would don different bandannas with one of the four colors to represent the each of the characters in the show.

Overall, the show symbolized gender neutrality, and the changing cast members throughout the show represented the underlying focus of this years Cabaret on the performance being tied to a chance for every choir member to shine under the spotlight.

“I feel it’s for the choir members,” senior Blake Moyer said. “It’s got freshman, and it’s a great way of bringing people together, and

SHOUTING LOUD: Sophomore Lexi Lornez (left), senior Crosby LaGrone (center), sophomore Eric Larson (center right), and sophomore Catalina Hill (right) join their voices for one last shout as the show comes to its close. On the stage, every cast member wears their colored handkerchief proudly as they join in to fill the theater with the ear-vibrating shout. PHOTO BY Preston Rolls

it’s a great way for getting the choir program more involved in the theater program.”

With just a meager two weeks to prepare for the Cabaret performance, choir participants worked furiously each day after school until 6:30 p.m. for the first week, and until 8:30 p.m. for the second.

On top of this, the show placed a large emphasis on the performance aspect, including dance routines, passionate moments of acting, and a general attitude which emphasized Cabaret’s necessity for being bigger and more ambitious than ever before.

“If Cabaret is still at the same caliber as it was this year, I feel it’s a good way of bringing in the theater music as well,” Moyer said. “So, this is a step in the right direction for improving both the theater, the choir program, and our dancing. While [the dancing] is nowhere

“ If you could do this in two weeks, imagine what you could do with a month...

I think it’s more of a long term fix. ” - Blake Moyer near what Silver Stars is, if it keeps improving, maybe in the future there could be some coexistence between dancing and choir. Right now it’s more acting, and we’re closer to working with theater and making that more interdependent than dancing - but, that’d be great to see in the future because then you get the triple threats.”

Parrott may have been calm and collective during his speech to the audience before the start of the show, but his replacement of the beloved Gasco, the last choir teacher, has given wake to a strained relationship with those unaccustomed to Parrott’s new direction.

Murmurs began as soon as he filled the position as the choir teacher. Rumors that he was possibly too strict or direct with students.

“I honestly love Mr. Parrott. I think he’s going to be amazing for this choir in order to get us to a new standard - he’s going to make us so much better,” said Andrea Giffis. “But there’s been a lot of choir kids who loved Ms. Gasco so much and they’re just not giving Mr. Parrott a chance. They talk back to him, they treat him like crap, and you can tell in calls he’s nervous because he feels like we don’t like him. It’s just so sad because one on one he’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever known.”

Thankfully, this year’s Cabaret was a huge success with its audience. Having rolled the dice, the director’s gamble for a newer, brighter future for Cabaret had payed off.

“I think it went over really well, a lot people like it we had a lot of compliments from like past directors, and people who had seen cabaret for years on end, about how this is one of the best shows they’d seen, and how we’d done really well with it.” Sanchez said.

While the show turned out to be a hit, the directors had a plethora of obstacles to overcome. These challenges didn’t just involve the replacement of Gasco, it involved new leadership positions throughout the choir.

“We have a new director, we have new Cabaret directors, we have a new booster club president, it’s just a wave of new ideas and that’s just bringing a whole bunch of different stuff to the table that we can take, we can use, or we can keep it the same,” Moy-

er said. “It’s just - it’s helped us branch out in new directions by having a new director. Now I love Ms. Gasco, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also very interesting to have a new perspective on things.

ONE LAST SONG: Cece Sanchez (right) and Blake Moyer (left) join in with Cabaret cast for a triumphant rock song.

Highway to Hell, was the only rock song out of the set. PHOTO BY Preston Rolls

Looking towards the future of Cabaret, in light of the show’s success, Moyer draws upon the analogy of fixing a broken window by using putty to seal the crack with the choir’s past direction.

“I would say this is a long term fix. I would say that in the past, doing two directors, doing a set list has been the putty,” Moyer said.

“In that, it hasn’t really worked sometimes but it has, and so this is a more long term fix because if you could do that in two weeks imagine what you could do with a month.”

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Fri. Sept. 29, 2017 The Dispatch

Commentary

14

Politics should not a play a role in tragedy

News outlets should focus on Hurricane Harvey recovery rather than social media posts via texasgop.org

EDITORIAL As August came to an end, Hurricane Harvey abruptly approached Texas, resulting in extreme damages to areas across the state.

In the span of a week, record levels of water were dumped onto the coastal area, resulting in harsh flooding and serious damage to cities, homes, and businesses. Many families lost everything to the historical Category 4 hurricane.

Unfortunately, in our country now, a person’s political standpoint is an indicator of their personality. So when the media began to cover Harvey and its aftermath, political opinions and harsh statements about the fate of Texans started creeping into view.

Twitter users remarked that Texas had this coming because we were a red state and we need to fix this ourselves. Because Texas was a red state, when it came to the presidential election, the lives of the victims were suddenly not as valuable. A person’s political stance should never play a role when it comes to the worth of their lives.

Rather than focusing on Texas picking up the pieces and rebuilding from the devastation of Harvey, social media users and some news outlets covered small, irrelevant issues like what shoes first lady Melania Trump was wearing when she visited victims in Texas.

When the media focuses on points that don’t serve of great importance, it completely disregards the victims and their struggle to recover from Harvey.

“NO SYMPATHY FOR TEXAS”

ART BY Abby Ong

“THEY’RE A RED STATE!”

Many environmentalists also took an immediate stand without waiting for recovery information. Although it can be proven that these recent hurricanes are a direct cause of global warming, it was insensitive to attack conservatives for not believing this while the streets of Houston were still flooded.

Texas citizens stand united. We went out of our way to devote time and money to rescuing victims and to start the rebuilding process in the impacted areas. Schools, churches, and businesses helped recruit volunteers and supplies. Multiple Bowie organizations contributed by collecting toiletries and other small items. The state was unified through this natural disaster as everyone worked to rebuild their old life.

Despite the stereotypes that America has placed on Texas, political opinions were put to the side and race played no role as Texans helped one another recover from Harvey.

Stories were shared on Facebook reporting on local heroes who put their life on the line to save others. Whether it was teenagers kayaking through neighborhoods or Houstonites riding their motorboats down the highways to search for victims, Texans defied the standards America had of them to recover from the hurricane.

It is most definitely acceptable for a person to form political opinions on an event like Harvey. However, it’s important that in times of tragedy, partisanship is put to the side temporarily so the focus can go towards helping the victims recover from their losses.

School’s bulldog logo creates lawsuit controversy

ART BY Callie Richards

The AISD Communications Department, which is responsible for all branding in the district, recently received and informed Bowie of a Cease and Desist letter. The letter was sent from Gonzaga University, a private Catholic university in Spokane, Washington.

Gracie Angeli Dispatch Writer Cease and Desist letters inform an individual or business that if they do not stop doing something illegal, they could potentially be sued. In Bowie’s case, if we don’t change our bulldog logo, the school will be sued. Gonzaga University trademarked their bulldog school logo and then searched for similar logos across the country.

Logos they found that were too similar to their own, they sent Cease and Desist letters to.

The Bowie bulldog logo is almost identical to that of Gonzaga’s.

As a potential solution, Bowie’s own graphic design teachers and students could be asked to design a new bulldog to be the school’s primary logo throughout the 2017-2018 school year. Students will submit designs into a competition, and the best one may become the school’s logo.

Another option that is being considered by the school is hiring a company to re-brand Bowie. By doing so, we are guaranteed a legal logo that will not create more problems.

Other AISD schools have successfully done this which proves it is an effective method.

This logo will take the place of the other bulldog logo that is so similar to Gonzaga University’s. Both Gonzaga University and Bowie have a “scary” bulldog, with bared teeth and spiky collar, and both use the same color scheme. The only difference is the Bowie B on Bowie’s bulldog collar that was added a few years ago, possibly because someone in the administration noticed how identical the logos were.

Another logo associated with Bowie is the B with a star and the black and red school colors inside. Going with this as our primary logo would be the wisest and simplest decision to meet Gonzaga’s requirements while still upholding a unique

and consistent image. The B is simple and bold, and can easily be remembered by our students, faculty, and other schools.

We should trademark it to prevent incidents in the future, and risks of losing money that we don’t have.

The B logo is already associated with Bowie, and for years has been a big part of Bowie High School. The logo is already on the main page of our school website, on the band uniforms, on the front of the school, and all over the Bowie campus. This way, a new logo doesn’t have to be designed and published, and could prevent confusion in students and other schools.

Trademarking the Bowie B will prevent future issues with

EDITORIAL POLICY • The Dispatch is the official student newspaper of James Bowie High School. 3500 copies are published and distributed for free six times a year, generally once per six weeks for the school’s students, staff and community.

• The Dispatch is an open forum for student expression. The Dispatch is not reviewed by school administration prior to distribution, and the advisor will not act as a censor.

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

• The Dispatch will work to avoid bias and/or favoritism. We will strive to make our coverage and content meaningful, timely and interesting to our readers. Our articles will reflect our genuine objective of reporting news and will be held to a high standard of quality.

• We will make every effort to avoid printing libel, obscenities, innuendo and material that threatens to disrupt the learning process or is an invasion of privacy. We will avoid electronic manipulation that alters the truth of a photograph without indicating that the photographer is an illustration.

• Staff editorials represent the opinion of the editorial board arrived at by discussion and will not be bylined. Bylined articles are the opinion of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Dispatch staff or administration as a whole.

• The Dispatch welcomes reader input. Please send any letters, articles, comments or corrections to bowie.journalism@gmail.com, call (512) 841-7825, or mail them to 4103 W. Slaughter Lane, Austin, TX 78749 or drop them off in room F-203 with adviser Michael Reeves or any editor. Letters must be signed, and emailed letters will require verification before publication. We will not necessarily publish all letters received and reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Violet Glenewinkel

other schools and prevent the chances of losing money from just our image alone. Trademarking a logo is more than worth it in the long run, as not much effort, time, or money goes into it, but prevents all of these from being wasted.

The B is unique and sets Bowie apart from other schools in the Austin area. It has our school colors and is still pleasing to the eye. Now, the Athletics department doesn’t have to worry about our logo not being intimidating enough for athletics and competitive activities, to intimidate other teams.

The B logo that has been associated with Bowie for years would be a great substitute for the bulldog logo that has been trademarked by another school.

THE DISPATCH

MANAGING EDITORS Mia Barbosa Victoria Newell NEWS EDITORS Cianna Chairez Kiran Patel FEATURE EDITORS Madison Austin Abby Ong SPORTS EDITOR Shelby Kelly ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS Jadon Alvarez Jake Brien REVIEW EDITOR Shelby Papst

COMMENTARY EDITORS Avy Friedman Ian Miller PHOTO ESSAY EDITORS Cara Andrea Ashley Ramirez PHOTO EDITOR Austyn Keelty

ARTS/GRAPHICS EDITOR Callie Richards COPY EDITOR Kathleen Nguyen ONLINE TEAM Mo Orr (Lead) Ella Wright (SM Lead) Ellie Coulston Justine Lockhart Marissa Salazar Natalia Torres

VIDEO TEAM Dalton Spruce (Lead) Douglas Smith Michael Sugrue Robbie Warhola DISPATCH WRITERS Natalie Aman Gracie Angeli Sam Blas Liam Connally Peter Dang Gigi Francis Katie Holm Madisen Johnson Sumin Kim Sam McPherson Preston Rolls Morgan Sanders Caitlin Worthington Kaitlyn Zellner Mikayla Zellner ADVISER Michael Reeves

15

The Dispatch Fri. Sept. 29, 2017

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Commentary

Sleek. Innovative. Fad. The new website “Blend” has sparked controversy at Bowie High School ever since it was first formally announced. And by formally, I mean explained to students during a 22 minute power point at the beginning of the school year.

For all of its promises, the district has yet been able to deliver. The full database for all of my classes isn’t here yet, and it appears that the district expects students to accept Blend under the notion of: “don’t worry, it’s coming, just wait - it’ll be awesome.” While it may sound awesome, I can’t say for certain that I’m

on making Blend the new standard over websites like Google Classroom, why isn’t Blend (or even Canvas - the original platform) listed in the Austin ISD Technology Plan 2014-2017 while Weebly, Google Classroom, and Edmodo are? It could be that the district forgot to write it in, or it could be a symbol of incompetence in their plan to implement Blend. Whatever the case may be, it’s curious that AISD may not be fully committed to Blend quite yet - a bizarre circumstance considering they were the ones who paid for it in the first place.

What’s also strange is the response among Bowie’s teachers. Some love it and have chosen to implement it entirely, while others see it as another Weebly - nothing more than a suggestion alongside their tried and true curriculum. However, while I am against AISD’s inability to deliver on its promises thus far, I have seen firsthand the

benefits of Blend. When it’s done right, such as in the social studies department, the site is a great source of managing a class’ calendar, viewing upcoming assignments, and providing a hub for all of my classes.

It seems to me that while AISD may have big plans for Blend, the student body has yet to see the fruits of a widespread adoption. I myself only have two of my classes on Blend, something that ignores one of the websites’ key potentials. It’s supposed to be a “blend” of all classes, and it’s my belief that AISD should go all the way, or not all.

Otherwise, the district could see the disaster that was the mismanagement of teachers’ websites. If there’s one thing I look forward to for Blend’s full implementation is its regulation by the district.

No more will a teacher create a Weebly website and only update it the day before an assignment is announced.

Privileged athletes claim lockers

ART BY Ian Miller

Locker rooms.

They can be summed up by your middle school nightmares consisting of being bullied by the football team or having to get undressed Austyn Keelty in front of 50 other Photo Editor people. Whether you saw it on Diary of a Wimpy Kid or experienced it first hand, the stereotype of locker rooms is a very popular one.

However, on another note, a huge contributor to team bonding are locker rooms.

When it comes to team sports, one of the aspects that can either make or break a team is how well the team is connected. Recently, many teams have been left either without a locker room or have been forced to use P.E. lockers that are far too small to fit the equipment needed.

Basketball and volleyball are the obvious favorites when it comes to girls sports, but does that give them the right to be more privileged with equipment and space? I strongly disagree.

This year, track, cross-country, tennis, lacrosse, cheer, etc., have all struggled with locker room space. Last year, most sports were able to share bigger lockers with the volleyball and basketball players, but this year rules have changed and all sports besides volleyball, basketball, softball and soccer have been crammed into the P.E. locker rooms. I

think this is ridiculous and, on a certain level, a little selfish.

Having a personal locker along with an open space is crucial to helping athletes rushing to get ready for practice or school on time. Tennis and lacrosse players being forced to carry around their heavy equipment all day and then having to change in the school bathrooms is ridiculous. Not only does it hold up the line for students trying to get to class, but often times it makes athletes late to practice. But let’s be honest, does forcing athletes (that represent our school) to change in school bathrooms and carry around all their equipment every single day make much sense to you? In addition to being inefficient, it’s also putting the athletes’ valuables at risk.

The P.E. locker rooms have small lockers that do not provide enough space for athletes to lock up their equipment and backpacks. Having personal valuables and expensive equipment lying around is just asking for trouble, but most athletes have no choice.

Complications with hundreds of dollars of makeup being stolen from Silver Stars, Adidas sweats and sweatpants being stolen from track, and the occasional cellphone being stolen have sadly become relevant issues.

Constantly having to worry about valuables being out in the open shouldn’t have to be a dilemma for student athletes.

Teachers always emphasize the importance of equality among people, races, cultures and sexual preferences, so by separating sports based off of favoritism is hypocritical. Popular sports seem to believe they should have seniority through separate locker rooms and extensive funding is not fair considering athletes work just as hard in other sports year round. Stepping into the volleyball and basketball locker rooms you’ll see what looks more like a living space with couches, tables, freshly painted floors and lockers. Take a step into the P.E. locker room and you’ll see crammed, rusty lockers with chipped paint, girls crowding around two mirrors to get ready and maybe two or three hard-wood benches.

It makes no sense for coaches to constantly discourage favoritism and segregation regarding seniority when student athletes experience it everyday.

Next year, Blend will have widespread adoption across all classes, and Bowie has plans on enforcing its usage.

After all, this isn’t some free website - they paid for it.

Although it’s not here quite yet, I have a strong feeling that unless the district gets Blend together with both efficient regulation with teachers and widespread

CHAT with NAT

Natalie Aman Columnist

When did a friendship become defined by a streak on Snapchat? And how did our worth become determined by our number of followers?

Our generation is too consumed by the lives we live through our screen, and not invested enough in creating authentic relationships with others.

Every aspect of our lives are now controlled by social media because people are obsessed with knowing what others think about them. But the moment we start changing ourselves, because we don’t think we are presentable enough, is the moment we lose. If more people used their media for building others up then social media would have a very positive impact on our society.

But it doesn’t. And we refuse to make that change because, as sad as it is, it is so much easier to post an anonymous hate comment than walk up to somebody and give them a meaningful compliment.

Think about the app Sarahah for a minute. For those who don’t know what that is, it is an app that was created simply to give others “anon-

adoption, this could be a mess. The fact is, while it looks good on paper, Blend isn’t here yet. Sure, it may look like it to some, but for the rest of us who understand its full potential, it’s clear that this year is a testing ground, intended to instruct teachers on how to use and implement Blend properly.

Social media and technology breaks down relationships

ymous feedback” on their page. The app quickly blew up among some younger age groups. Although the creator’s intentions were probably good, the app was primarily used as a cyber bullying platform. And, sadly, that’s what ends up happening in a lot of cases. Apps like this that allow anonymous comments and opinions open the doors to on-line harassment. And what’s worse is that we are fully aware of the end result when we create our account.

So why do we continue to voluntarily tear ourselves down by creating more and more of these accounts? It all goes back to being obsessed with other people’s image of ourselves.

No matter how much you think you are posting for yourself or for fun, it is all influenced by other people.

We are tricked into thinking that we are making our own bold decisions, but a social life created by our expanse of social media accounts does not allow for free thinking. And no matter how much we deny it, the things we see on social media affect how we see ourselves and the world around us.

We allow tweets to tell us what is true and what we should believe. And we let so many false claims pass as true because our thoughts are being influenced by what we see on-line. Creating our own judgments requires too much work, so we fall into the habit of hopping on every bandwagon that comes

ART BY Ian Miller

Jake Brien

Entertainment Editor

excited for something that’s been explained to me in 22 minutes that will last for the rest of my high school career.

While it does look pretty in all of its features, it’s safe to say that Bowie hasn’t given its students the confidence to believe that Blend will turn Bowie from a school that only recently stopped using Windows Vistas upgraded to run Windows 7 (yikes!), to one that will become a haven of technological innovation. But it’s not just Bowie that’s looking to innovate, it’s the entire AISD district altogether.

As of fall 2017, AISD has made Blend the “official” goto website for teachers to use. The key difference between Blend and other website platforms such as Weebly, Google Classroom, or Edmodo is that Blend costs money to implement while those other platforms do not.

Essentially, AISD wants this to be the new norm for all of its schools.

So, if the district is keen

ART BY Ian Miller

AISD’s “Blend” is a mix of uncertainty

along.

The huge presence of social media in our lives is creating a distant and disconnected society.

Think for a second on how different our community would be if we took social media out of the equation.

I bet a lot of people initially thought about losing your 400-day snap streak. But what gain does having that streak give you?

That’s right, nothing. The only type of prize someone gets from having a long streak is maybe an emoji by their friend’s name. A Snapchat streak simply serves as a way to draw you into the app. But spending time with a friend in person holds so much more meaning and is so much more memorable.

Our generation is becoming too reliable on technology, and as a result a lot of friends we make are people we meet on social media.

But in the end, it is the ability to have an open conversation with a friend face-to-face that matters.

BULLDAWG SPEAK OUT 9th

If you could create a new club for Bowie, what would it be?

10th

Cade Spencer

Trey Campsmith

“ A fantasy football club. We would take all the money we win and donate it to charity. ”

“ I would want to make a Chuy’s club, where once a month we all go out and eat at Chuy’s. ”

11th

Dylan Luce

“ I would want a film club that doesn’t take place in the same room as the anime club. ”

12th

TEACHER

Seraya Vasquez

Celester Collier

“I would have to go with a laser tag club.”

“ I would make a board game club; I think that would be great. ”

PHOTOS AND INTERVIEWS BY Austyn Keelty and Natalie Aman

P

Fri. Sept. 29, 2017 The Dispatch

Photo Essay

16

Day in the Life: upcoming shoegaze band Bowie students and alumni form new soft rock band “Cupid Cult”

ALL TOGETHER: The band comes together to practice the songs on their new EP. Their bass player, Nick Angeli, couldn’t make the practice since he lives in Denton. “I will be meeting up with the band fairly frequently this semester,” Angeli said. PHOTO BY Cara Andres

Cara Andres PE Editor

TALKING IT OUT: Peck talks to her band mates about the songs she wants to work on. Since March, they’ve created four songs together. “I love jamming with my brothers,” Peck said. “We always have a great time together.” PHOTO BY Cara Andres

BANGING BEATS: Garza plays the drums during practice. Although he’s the drummer for the band, Garza can play guitar as well. “Music has always been an important part of my life,” Garza said. “It wasn’t until I came to admire the beauty of my teachers drumming that I wanted to become a drummer for Cupid Cult and The Bowie Steel Drums Band.” PHOTO BY Cara Andres

Waves of reverb echo through the bedroom of senior Gabe Rodriguez as he strums his crimson Squier.

Alongside him, junior Haley Peck adds melodic sounds with her sticker-filled Squier Strat, junior Emilio Garza hits on his lime green Pearl drum set, and graduate Nick Angeli plays bass riffs on his cherry Epiphone.

Rodriguez, Peck, and Garza all met in the halls of Bowie. Angeli met Peck at a party, and she introduced him to the rest. Their passion for music and their similar taste caused them to click instantly.

“By the time I realized these people were actually my friends it was too late to back out,” Angeli said.

Their shoegaze / soft rock group, known as Cupid Cult, started in the month of March. However, Garza only became a part of the band in July.

“Nick started learning bass and Haley and I had already wanted to start a band for a while,” Rodriguez said.

“We needed a drummer, so Emilio was the obvious choice as he’s a very talented drummer that we all know.”

Their biggest influences come from shoegaze groups such as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Ride. In addition, their parents and music teachers shaped them into the musicians they are today.

“My biggest influence is my middle school percussion teacher Mr. Palmer,” Garza said. “[He] taught me to well round myself as a musician through different styles and instruments.”

When it comes to their songwriting process, Peck and Rodriguez come up with an initial musical idea, and then everyone else builds

on it. Their lyrics spring from topics of love, sadness, and the human condition.

“The theme we established before we began the writing process was one of “young love” but not necessarily in the romantic sense,” Angeli said. “It was rather the way you stop and realize one day that these are the moments you’ll look back on and you are in love with these experiences.”

The band is currently working on releasing their first EP, “Young Love,” which will be released on both Bandcamp and Soundcloud on September 29.

“We’re cleaning up and fixing the EP to get it just the way we want it,” Garza said.

“All of us are very excited.”

All of the songs were recorded in Rodriguez’s bedroom, where he created a set-up of amps, cords, pedals, and directed the other members on how to record their parts.

“Gabe is the computer monkey,” Peck said. “I just play the parts he needs. We layer all the pieces and then he works his magic.”

Since Angeli now attends UNT in Denton, there is a bit of a long distance issue for the group. However, the band is not too concerned due to the fact that he’ll be able to visit during many breaks and events.

“While it does represent a challenge and a bit of a nuisance, we’re probably going to just practice together really hard when he comes to visit,” Peck said. “Maybe we’ll write stuff and have him send us his recordings.”

The band has received lots of support from their family members. They are very excited to watch them grow as musicians.

“I’m very proud of her and her friends,” Haley’s dad, Bob Peck said. “I can’t wait to see them play gigs.”

SITTING AND STRUMMING: Rodriguez sits on his amp as he plays a solo during their song “Goodbye Letter.”

He learned how to play guitar in less than a year. “My biggest inspiration for writing guitar parts is Kevin Shields,” Rodriguez said. PHOTO BY Cara Andres

IN THE STUDIO: Rodriguez sits near his computer as he directs his band mates on how to record parts. He produced all of their songs through FL Studio. PHOTO BY Cara Andres RECORDING SESSION: The band comes together to do the finishing touches on their new EP. All they needed to fix was certain drum parts on two of their songs. “We had to get creative for the recording process,” Garza said. “It was all done in a small bedroom in Gabe’s house where we fit many amps, cords, recording equipment and a whole drum set in the room. All of the effects were done using pedals and mic placement against the amp to get the sounds we were looking for in each song.” PHOTO BY Cara Andres