Volume 34 Issue 1

THE SIDEKICK

FROM THE

The Road Leads home

I sat up groggy in the back of the dark gray sedan and checked the time since we left home. My headphones felt slimy over my ears as Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” repeated itself for the fifth time.

I kicked my feet onto the center console of the 2019 Toy ota Camry, desperate to make more room as my sister took up more than half of her side of the cramped sedan. Dusk was breaking over the top of a moun tain range in New Mexico while my parents debated whether we should keep driving or look for a hotel.

We are a road trip family. While other families opt for the quick er, comfortable, spacious and luxurious option of flying, my family loads the car up at 6 a.m. and drives for 13 hours straight.

It is not that we can’t afford to fly. In fact, I’ve been very close to convincing my parents to pur chase tickets that would cut our driving time by six hours. But un fortunately, my parents see it as a bonding experience.

I’ve traversed the country seat ed in the back of countless models of Toyotas. My favorites have been Arizona, feeling the dry, hot air on my skin as the towering red rocks loom above. Feeling pre cariously close to the edge on Pacific Highway 1, the magnifi cent blue ocean stretching for hundreds of miles. Seeing vast acres of tumbleweeds and des ert shrubbery on U.S Route 50, America’s loneliest highway as the sunset casts glorious shad ows on the plateaus in the dis tance.

On these trips, I experience periods of boredom as I run out of things to do. I grow tired of my carefully curated road trip playlists and my mind begins to wander.

Finally, I see something on the horizon. On one of our trips, we passed by the maximum securi ty prison in Gatesville, Texas. I began to research the prisoners. The case of Erin Caffey was par ticularly interesting to me. She was only 16 years old when she had her boyfriend and his friend kill her mother, father and two brothers as they slept.

I read several news arti cles about the case, and even watched the interview Piers Morgan did with the most “evil woman in America.” I dug deep into her life out of boredom of my own.

The roadside billboard signs pique my curiosity. Who is Jim Adler and why do they call him the Texas Hammer? Is that re ally the best place in Texas to get barbecue? Who buys these sheds haphazardly sold on the side of the highway? I looked forward to each structure I saw, eager to find information about it in the otherwise bland land scape surrounding it.

On a particularly long stretch on Interstate 10, I pondered about my future in high school. It was summer and courses were already solidified, but I was in an extracurricular that I saw no fu ture in. I looked to do something else that could satisfy my crav ings of curiosity.

My mind wandered to a sto ry about a friend. It was writ ten about her pond that she constructed herself, otherwise unknown to the world as it hid obscured in her backyard. I recalled the moments where friends and I had been ap proached by inquiring writers for The Sidekick, from topics ranging from the eccentric ge ometry teacher Michael Wang and theater performances.

I regained service and briefly looked up The Sidekick, which led me to coppellstudentmedia. com. I read through the stories written about students, teach ers and notable members of the community and immediately sent an email to the adviser ask ing to be a part of the program.

The ability to reach deeper, to seek a story that might other wise just be a trophy on a wall, hidden in someone’s bedroom or

Staff using C days to build teacher-student relationships

Sri Achanta Executive News Editor @sriachanta_

After a two-year hiatus, Cop pell ISD has reinstated C days, al locating time on Fridays to foster student-teacher relations.

C days follow the traditional bell schedule where students at tend all eight of their classes for 45 minutes each. The classes are ordered first period, fifth period, second peri od, sixth period, third period, seventh pe riod, fourth period and eighth pe riod to ensure that double blocked pe riods occur consec utively.

Passing periods are five min utes and lunches are based on the student’s third peri od class.

The re implemen tation allows teachers time to cover material that students may have missed during the week. Teachers are able to reiterate tougher concepts during the 45-minute time period to solidify student

“If you had two A days and your teacher saw [students] re ally didn’t get this one unit or they didn’t get this concept, C days are a chance for them to come back and say, let me find those five, 10 kids that didn’t get that concept, and let me really burrow in on that concept with them,” Coppell High School as sociate principal Zane Porter said. “And while I’m doing that, let me create an extension for the kids that did get it so they can extend their knowledge so they’re not wasting that time.”

Due to the A, B, C day sched ule, teachers are now able to see their students three times a week. This schedule allows teachers to administer tests for their A day and B day students

C days were eliminated during the second semester of the 201920 school year due to transporta tion issues from New Tech High @ Coppell, CHS9 and CHS. Tak ing this issue into consideration, shuttles have run this year on C days, but the shuttling process is still being decided.

For now, some single blocked class students stay at their re spective campuses and learn from that location. For example, single blocked color guard stu dents coming from CHS9 shuttle to CHS on A and B days but stay at CHS9 on C days.

“At first I thought it would be weird not to have the [color guard upperclassmen] around, just because we’ve always practiced together at the high school, but I realized it was fun to be with the freshmen on C days because it helped us get closer [and] we got to see and learn from each other,” CHS9 color guard member Aryahi Ravi said. “Usually on Fridays we don’t learn anything new;

we review stuff that we’ve al ready learned and we have two directors that come over from CHS, Justin Lum and Jes sica Mitchell, and they lead the whole class.”

Students who take

C days in 2019, but after under standing the routine, she enjoyed having them.

Passing Period

Class Period

es, such as varsity swimming or band, shuttle to CHS on C days as the double blocked classes are 90 minutes and students miss mini mal amounts of lesson time.

C days, while enriching student learning, have benefits for teach ers, too. Teachers take part in professional development oppor tunities on these days.

“On a C day, your teachers have two conference periods,” Porter said. “We’re using one of those conference periods as a time to grow [teachers] in areas that [are needed] in our building - whether that’s teaching them how to do group quizzes, how to do small groups in classes or how to work one-on-one or one-on-three with learners most efficiently.”

The 45-minute class periods on C days, however, pose challeng es to certain teachers, especially those who teach classes where materials need to be taken out or put away. CHS art teacher Mi chelle Hauske was apprehensive when she was first introduced to

“Around [the] second nine weeks [of 2019], I really figured out how to use [C days],” Hauske said. “The C day has a cause you get to see people more than twice a week; it’s nice to have a closing of the week before everybody goes on a weekend break. Teachers this year are going to be in the same situation where it’s just figuring out how to maximize [the time] and getting used to that kind of a schedule. If you’re used to the pacing of a 90-minute block, it feels very different.”

Taking safety into account in light of recent events, CISD has de cided that students may leave cam pus on C days if they have an off period, but can only re-enter the building through the front office.

“Learners who have a fourth or fifth period release on C days may leave the building for those peri ods or stay in the Commons,” Por ter said via email. “When learners return to the building, they must enter through the front doors or the C-store doors; no other en try points will be available. No learners should be in the hallways unless they are supervised by a teacher.”

Coppell ISD has reintroduced C days for the 2022-23 school year. C days involve students attending every class on their schedule on the same day, allotting each class 45 minutes. Avani Munji

The Sidekick executive editor-in-chief Angelina Liu often goes on long road trips with her family. Liu writes about how her cu riosity is piqued by various, random things she sees along the way during these trips, and how her curiosity eventually led her to The Sidekick Avani Munji

VICTORY PLACE @ COPPELL

VICTORY PLACE @ COPPELL

Shrayes Gunna Staff Writer @shrayesgunna

Nestled between Denton Creek and N. Denton Tap Road is a quaint beige extension of Cop pell High School: Victory Place @ Coppell. Though the school is an offshoot of the main campus, Vic tory Place takes a less traditional approach to learning through the Turning Point Program.

At Victory Place, an education is far more individualized. Ac cording to Victory Place counsel or LaQueena Garcia, there is little to no anxiety to raise your hand and ask a question, no reason to feel ashamed for having trouble on the homework and there’s no feeling stuck to a year’s worth of coursework in a subject you de spise.

And it is this very idea, of hav ing a tailored education, that ren ders Victory Place as innovative. Instead of stressing about grades or what people think, there is an interconnected group of faculty and students that listen to each other.

“Over the years, I’ve developed the ability to really get to know kids, to listen to their stories without judgment, to be there for them at times when needed, to sit down and talk and to figure [out] what are their needs and strengths and how as a school system we can really support that,” Victory Place Principal Cindi Osborne said. “In a large campus, it can be difficult to get to truly know any of the kids, but the size at Victory Place allows us to know every student by their name, craft a graduation plan for them and enable them to go on and reach their life goals.”

Osborne began at Victory Place a year prior to the pandem ic after working as assistant prin cipal at Coppell High School. The faculty, small environment and close-knit culture lends itself to a difference between it and the main campus.

“The staff here [is] incredi ble,” Osborne said. “It’s all about the relationships, and they work

really hard in building those re lationships, even with each oth er. Our students, too, have an opportunity to get to know each other as we do a lot of activities as a collective.”

At Victory Place, it is evident that there is only one social cir cle, and everyone is welcome to be a part of it, separating it from the cliquey, competitive nature of larger schools. Furthermore, the smaller and everchanging class size allows staff to facilitate growth beyond a traditional ed ucation as a part of the Turning Point program. These activities, whether it be a guest speaker or resumé-building workshop, propel students in learning skills applicable in pathways beyond high school, no matter what it looks like.

“I get to connect with stu dents, to get to know what their needs are and how to support them from where they are,” Garcia said. “I normally do an ‘exit plan’ with students to un derstand what they want to do, where they want to go post high school. Through that, we figure out who to contact to get them into said field. We also reach out to recruiters from various trade schools and the military to rec ognize what the student may be interested in.”

Planning for the future is a key tenet in the Turning Point pro gram, the staff prepares students for every step of the way. By of fering standardized testing aid

CHANGES IN

and college-search mentors, stu dents are able to lead their own way without the whims and fears of an unfamiliar process. Addi tionally, because students are able to take two years of course work in the span of one, they are able to earn their diploma and move—with necessary help pro vided by the school— into the space they desire as fast as they desire.

Moving through course work so quickly, however, does come with challenges.

“The accelerated program can be overwhelming, of course,” Garcia said. “But some students have a subject area in which they struggle and in which they enjoy, so they are able to move through the challenging ones quickly. Our teachers here teach multiple sub ject areas and help students no matter what level of difficulty.”

Former Victory Place student Klara Minton, who graduated in March, recognizes the major role teachers play in guiding students through a bounty of course work.

“The teachers really did help me catch up and stay caught up,” Minton said. “We have a really nice relationship with teachers because they’re always listening and there when you need help.”

The multiple aspects of the Turning Point program are unit ed in the common theme that they prepare students for the real world, and it doesn’t just stop at education. Victory Place also offers a variety of other outlets

for self expression such as genius hour, formulating relationships and telling their stories.

Tucked away in the one-sto ry brick building on Denton Tap is an innovative space named a Great Expectations Mod el School, for seven years and counting due to its dedication to helping students grow to high standards and preparing them for the future. And that space, Victory Place, is founded on deep connections, something often missed in the traditional school.

A

AT VICTORY PLACE

AVA GILLIS

NEWS THE SIDEKICK

Acceleration Program helps students graduate faster

Coppell

CISD BUS PASS DISTRIBUTI

to and from school.

With the new 2022-23 school year, Coppell ISD has devel oped a replacement proce dure for distributing bus passes to students and improved its bus track ing system to ensure safe transportation with newly for matted bus pass

The passes were planned to be dis tributed to riders on Sept. 6, but due to problems in routes and an increase in re quests, Durham Bus Services announced a delay and will update CISD soon. Hence, currently riding the buses does not re

Once available, bus pass es will be distributed in class Therefore, parents and stu dents were not asked to re trieve a bus pass from the CISD Service Center prior to the first day of school.

“Before COVID-19, every

one had to go to the service center and it was haphazard,” CISD director of communica tions Amanda Simpson said.

“Children had to get pictures and for safety reasons, peo ple could not enter without an appointment. Last year, they tried to distribute pass es mobile throughout school and people were waiting for hours. We wanted to make it more convenient for families as we also get a large influx of requests between the first day of school and Labor Day.”

The new bus passes will not have photo identification but in stead will be scannable, making tracking students on buses and access to passes easier. Not only does this reduce the trouble of students having to take sepa rate photos for their passes, but the scannable feature allows the bus driver to scan the pass as a form of identification and attendance.

This will be shown to par ents through the Durham Bus service app as they will now be able to tell when exactly their child boarded the bus. This ap plication will advance safety in CISD transportation and keep a digital record of where students are during their transportation

“The change in bus passes was so we could make sure stu dents get on the proper bus,” Durham Bus Services operation manager Joe Belmarez said. “It’s a growing system and now parents can log on and make sure [the student] got on that bus, whether or not [the stu dent] got off at the right stop, at the right location, [or] went to the right school.

This year, CISD faced tech nical difficulties which led to the delay in distribution; in the future, riders will receive their passes around the first week of school.

In previous years, new stu dents to CISD faced issues get ting passes after the first day of school.

“Last year I joined CISD a lit tle late in the school year and even though I paid for my bus pass I did not receive one,” Cop pell High School junior Nitya Gade said. “It made riding on the bus difficult as often, I was not allowed in even though I qualified.”

Without the need for a pho to, the production of passes this year will be more efficient for both students and CISD.

The scannability feature of

the passes is expected to in crease efficiency by solving the problem of too many students riding on one bus. The scanning process ensures that students are only riding the bus they are assigned to.

In addition, with the new construction on many bus routes and the nearly 3,000 stu dents who have requested bus transportation services since the start of school, timings of pickups have been slightly al tered throughout the three-ti er system (buses going from elementary schools to middle schools to high schools). This has caused a recurring pattern in some late buses across CISD but is being worked on by CISD transportation.

Buses are parked behind the Coppell ISD Service Center.

Shreya Ravi

Victory Place @ Coppell student Caiden Norris works on his on line Math course on Aug. 31 at Victory Place. Victory Place focuses on giving their students an opportunity to identify their needs and offer an expedited graduation path. Nandini Paidesetty

CINDI OSBORNE

Victory Place Principal

Victory Place @ Coppell alumna and first graduate of class of 2023

Buses unload students at the bus loop. Shreya Ravi

In Sept. 2012, students and teacher gathered at Victory Place @ Coppell to celebrate its new name with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Sidekick file photo

Elementary students no longer receiving free lunches

Changes reflect reduced funding from Congress

Manasa Mohan Executive Editorial Page Editor @Manasa_Mohan_7

With the start of the 2022-23 school year, elementary students will no longer be offered free lunches, with an excep tion for students who apply for either free or reduced lunch programs, as a re sult of decreased funding from the United States Congress.

The National School Lunch Program reported that prior to the pandemic, 29.6 million students were served lunch everyday, 20.1 million of which were free and 1.7 million were reduced price (stu dents paid $0.40). As for school break fasts, 11.8 million were free and 0.74 mil lion were reduced price (students paid $0.30) out of a total of 14.77 millions stu dents each day.

Beginning in March 2020 and continu ing throughout the pandemic, child nu trition waivers allowed all students ac cess to school lunches for free, regardless of family income. These nutrition waiv

ers allowed schools to distribute meals through pick-up sites, allowing parents to receive multiple days worth of meals for their learners without the child pres ent. As students returned to school, Cop pell ISD was able to provide all elemen tary school students with free breakfast and lunch for the past two years, without requiring an application as they had done in the past.

Recently, Congress did not provide funding that would allow CISD to con tinue the program of free lunches for all elementary school students and is transitioning back to the previous sys tem. Although the Keep Kids Fed Act was signed in June and provides more funds for school meal programs and extends certain waivers, the bill does not allow schools to offer free meals to all students for the 2022-23 school year.

However, school meal programs will continue to be reimbursed by the NSLP and School Breakfast Program rates. The Keep Kids Fed Act temporarily provides an additional 40 cents for lunch and 15

cents for breakfast due to ongoing finan cial challenges.

The School Breakfast Program will reimburse school meal programs with $1.97 for free lunch, $1.67 for reduced price lunch and 33 cents for a full price meal. An additional 41 cents will be given for each free or reduced price breakfast served at “severe need” schools, where a minimum of 40 percent of lunches served during the school year two years prior were either free or reduced price.

For the current school year, CISD – in compliance with the NSLP – now requires families to complete meal applications for free and reduced lunches to deter mine their eligibility for the programs offered.

In addition, as a result of federal regu lations and the overall increase in costs of food, the prices for elementary level breakfast and lunch will increase to $1.75 for breakfast and $3 for lunch for the cur rent school year.

Applications for free and/or reduced lunch can be accessed online.

THE MAIN TAKEAWAYS:

Sri Achanta Executive News Editor @sriachanta_

The Side-ticker is a series in which executive news editor Sri Achanta updates readers on local news that has happened between the issues.

Homecoming highlights

Coppell High School students mingle at the CHS Homecoming dance on Satur day in CHS Arena on Sept. 24. The theme for 2022-23 CHS Homecoming was “Where Dreams Come True,” with a fo cus on fantasy characters. Namir Awan

Coppell High Schools students dance at the CHS Homecoming dance in CHS Arena on Sept. 24. The theme for 202223 CHS Homecoming was “Where Dreams Come True”, with a focus on fantasy characters. Aliza Abidi

Coppell High School senior Emma Thur man and juniors Audrey Broussard and Cooper Shultz dance at the CHS Home coming dance in CHS Arena on Sept. 24. The theme for 2022-23 CHS Homecom ing was “Where Dreams Come True,” with a focus on fantasy characters. Aliza Abidi

Coppell High School juniors and se niors pose at the Stranger Things photo booth at the CHS Homecoming dance in the CHS arena on Sept. 24. The theme for 2022-23 CHS Homecoming was “Where Dreams Come True,” with a fo cus on fantasy characters. Namir Awan

Coppell High School Principal Laura Springer and Assistant Principal Sorelle Kimball dance to “Cha-Cha Slide” at the CHS Homecoming dance in CHS Arena on Sept. 24. The theme for 2022-23 CHS Homecoming was “Where Dreams Come True,” with a focus on fantasy characters. Namir Awan

Coppell High School senior Home coming king and queen Lauren Beach and Siddharth Sivakumar dance at the CHS Homecoming dance at CHS Are na on Sept. 24. The theme for 2022-23 CHS Homecoming was “Where Dreams Come True,” with a focus on fantasy characters. Namir Awan

Coppell ISD is facing a $9.67 million deficit in the district’s fiscal spending budget for the 2022-23 school year.

Coppell City Council approved the city’s lowest ad valorem tax rate of $0.518731.

CISD updates district safety by continuing to implement exterior door audits and intruder assessments, as now required by the Texas Education Agency.

STAY IN THE KNOW

Sruthi Lingam

GLIMPSE OF CHS9

TEACHER OF THE MONTH

Campus clubs adjust to new meeting times

Sruthi Lingam CHS9 Visual Media Editor @sruthi_lingam

This year’s schedule at CHS9 replaced the previous A/B hour block lunches with 35-minute A/B/C lunch blocks.

Meetings have been removed from lunch blocks. Returning clubs that previously hosted meetings during hour block lunch have made modifications to their meeting schedules.

“We’re now having our meet ings before or after school, which can cause frustrations,” CHS9 English I teacher and Leo Club sponsor Christopher Arney said. “Freshmen often have tightly packed schedules with extracurriculars, such as athletics practices, fine arts classes or homework that make it difficult for them to engage in clubs at school.”

According to teachers, this change could lead to an in crease in off-campus club participation, as there isn’t enough availability within school hours to schedule vol unteer projects.

“There are a lot of students that might want to be involved in clubs but might not be able to because they have anoth er extracurricular happening

right after school,” Arney said. “We still find ways to include them and make sure they’re up to date on all of the events.”

The three largest clubs at CHS9 this year, in terms of number of students, are Stu dent Council, Leo Club and Drama Club.

Leo Club will incorporate three existing service clubs into one. The Eco Club and Gar dening Club have been merged under the Leo Club to special ize in their respective opera tions.

The community service com mittee is the main section of the club, which focuses on serving the community through vol unteering projects and food drives.

The Eco Club committee helps the community through ecological projects, such as vol unteering at nature preserves and conducting trash clean-ups.

Lastly, the Gardening Club is responsible for maintaining the gardens on the CHS9 campus.

The most noticeable change in the schedule for CHS9 is the 20-minute extension of third and seventh periods.

New changes for clubs are currently underway, as teacher sponsors plan the remainder of the year’s club activities.

From student to teacher: Scruggs continuing journey in CISD

Aliza Abidi Staff Writer @aliza_abidi

CHS9 AP Human Geography teacher Brittany Scruggs truly bleeds Coppell red and black.

Graduating from Coppell High School in 2006 and Mid western State University in 2009, Scruggs returned to Coppell as a teacher in 2011 for her first teaching job, fol lowing in the footsteps of her mother, CHS special education teacher Linda Jurca.

Working alongside teach ers who used to teach her as a student, Scruggs has creat ed connections to the staff at a unique level as she worked with her previous seventh grade teacher Cathy Douglas for three years.

Scruggs has created an ever lasting bond with CISD and the values it holds and watched CHS9 grow with new personal ities each year.

“I am a proud alumni,” Scruggs said, “To go from a student perspective to being a teacher has given me an in sight on what students experi ence daily. I have a connection to the school spirit. Sharing the unique Coppell experience with my students is a bond I am glad to have.”

This school year, Scruggs starts her first year as an AP Hu man Geography teacher after being a special education teach er for five and a social studies teacher for four years at CHS.

To aid nervous freshmen taking their first AP class, Scruggs creates a friendly and welcoming environment through ice-breakers and oneon-one interactions.

“There are many things thrown at students, and some times learning shouldn’t be the priority,” Scruggs said. “I want to help students understand that there is a reason why what we do is important, why the things we learn are valuable and see them flourish by being the best version of themselves.”

By conducting visual and interactive teaching, Scruggs brings forward new perspec tives and focuses on individual growth. Using games requir ing students to move around the room, interact with each other and use the maps and graphs around her classroom, these activities deepen their understanding of geography.

“She makes the class envi ronment seem homely and cozy with her decoration and teaching style,” freshman Var uni Saran said. “She makes me feel welcome and at ease every day. I never leave her classroom with a question.”

To teach students from dif ferent backgrounds in a way that best suits them, Scruggs implements various ways to support her classes. Her pas sion for traveling and learning about cultures and countries accounts for everyone’s differ ent ways of learning and com prehension with media and discussions making up day-today lessons.

“She does a great job ex plaining things and making sure we understand,” fresh man Johan Padayatti said.

“Every day we have summary presentations at the beginning of class so we can review and talk about anything we didn’t understand, as well as a recap at the end. She is always open to questions and lenient and patient when we need help.”

As a former AP student, Scruggs has worked to inspire and influence her students to assist them in making a dif ference in their academic per spective and success.

This year, Scruggs hopes to bring a difference in not only academics but also in teach ing students how to use geog raphy so they can better un derstand the people around them. With personal connec tions to each of her students, she brings a communicative learning experience that will aid her students in the future.

“This year the obvious goal is [to prepare] my students for the AP exam; but even beyond that, as one of the biggest aspects of geography as a class, I hope that I can broaden my student’s hori zons about where they fit in the world that we live in,” Scruggs said.

Coppell Student Media

CHS9 Student Council elections happened on Sept. 16 and replaced the traditional leader ship positions with an executive board comprised of seven students: Joel Abraham, Aaron Montes, Lindsay Yoo, Evan Meekins, Kushaan Chaud huri, Johan Padayatti and Medha Kanamarlapudi.

Yaamini Jois CHS9 Editor

CHS9 AP Human Geography teacher Brittany Scruggs plays cards with CHS9 student Luke Bastow in C109 on Sept. 15. Scruggs has been teaching at CISD for 10 years following her mother’s footsteps, who also taught at CISD. Sannidhi Arimanda

CHS9.

of Sandhya Karthick, a Webtoons creator and Art 2 Honors student.

CHS9 student Midhuna Prakash works on an accordion book in CHS9 art educator Elsa Reyn olds’ Art 1 class. Reynolds’ Art 1 class worked on a book about the elements of art and princi ples of design using an icon of their choice to illustrate each concept. Yaamini Jois

CHS9 students Marli Field, Sneha Patil, David Chae and Swarali Taware complete the last puzzle of their first day of school Escape Room ac tivity. The district’s first day of school was Aug. 17. Photo courtesy Laronna Doggett

CHS9 biology teacher Jonathan Drori speaks to a parent during CHS9 Open House on Sept. 6. CHS9 had its first in-person Open House in two years. Yaamini Jois

Part-time jobs shouldn’t have full-time consequences

well-rounded sleep schedule.

Working long hours as a high school student can lead to aca demic and behavioral issues.

Teenagers can feel trapped in their job, but a gentle reminder that a student’s priority should be school, regardless if it is con sidered valuable career experi ence.

THE SIDEKICK

The bell trills at 4:15 p.m, sig naling the end of the school day.

Barely having enough time to say goodbye to friends, you rush out of class to your car. You need to be at work at 4:30 p.m. sharp. Your boss was already annoyed that you were late the last time.

Pushing your way through the crowded main hallway of Coppell High School, a feeling of dread sets in.

Right before leaving the build ing, you glance up at the digital clock in big, red numbers and start to worry.

What if there’s a lot of traffic in the parking lot?

How will I make it to my shift on time?

What time will I be home to day?

You reach your job in the nick of time, and after a long, gruel ing shift you arrive home at 9 p.m. After taking some time to yourself to shower, eat dinner and browse social media, you finally start studying and com pleting homework. By then, it’s 10 p.m. Your eyes start droop ing, and you begin to lose focus. There’s simply too much to do.

“I can’t keep doing this,” you think to yourself.

Finally, you give in and head to bed. Tomorrow is another day of work, work and more work.

Getting a job is one matter, but working it into your rou tine is another, especially while balancing it with other respon sibilities in their life such as homework, studying and extra curriculars.

According to CHS students who work part-time jobs, young er employees hired for part-time jobs are more easily pressured into working late. They feel they are risking their job if they don’t comply with everything manag ers ask of them or because there is a lingering presumption that they are more naive and easier to influence.

According to CHS students who work part-time jobs, stu dents who work fewer days and hours than full-time employees are likely to feel more obligat ed to agree when managers ask them to take on more hours.

While full-time employees can offer more time, students can not provide the same amount of time. So, if a student is asked to work an hour or two longer, they feel that the least they can do is agree since they aren’t able to do more anyways.

Quitting due to high stress is not an easy option, either – be ing hired for jobs that have satis factory pay and have convenient work hours is hard for students with less experience and more time commitments than fulltime employees.

New hires are also expected to go through a lengthy train ing process which students aim to avoid by changing jobs. A training process includes weeks of shadowing and instruction. Quitting a job to find a better one might prove to be a nuisance to go through the “new hire” pro cess all over again.

Additionally, students work ing jobs to gain resume and re al-world experience feel pres sured to stay at a job for a certain amount of time in order for the experience to count. The add ed pressure of a college resume encourages students to want to have a job that illustrates their dedication.

Students should not endure grueling hours that seep past midnight just to pad their re sume or score a little extra pock et money.

Even if most students don’t work into the later hours of the night, the time they must ded icate to other responsibilities such as homework and oth er activities after they return home impacts their ability to do high-quality work and balance a

2022-23 STAFF

Writers

Ainsley Dwyer Aliza Abidi Anvita Bondada Araceli Reynoso Bhavna Balaji Deepali Kanchanavally Divya Sivalenka Ishana Sharma

The difference lies in the rea sons a student is working an extra job. For students who are working in order to earn more money and are in a financially constricting situation, it is un derstandable that they feel pres sure to remain in a workplace environment. However, do not allow yourself to be taken ad vantage of by managers.

For students who are finan cially stable at home and choose to work a job for extra reasons, there are three options.

For students afraid to discuss problems with their supervisors alone, doing so with a group of like minded employees can not only bring courage, but garner more understanding from su pervisors.

Outline what you want to change in your situation, such as better hours.

If your supervisors reject your requests, take it to the higher ups at your workplace. Your su pervisors likely are not the only ones in charge. Higher author ities, such as store owners or managers, may be more recep tive to your concerns.

If no changes are made after escalation, it’s time to consider quitting your job. You need to ask yourself a few questions and recognize your worth.

Are your needs being respect ed at your workplace? Are you finding it difficult to balance your job with all your other re sponsibilities, whether academ ic or extracurricular?

Truthfully, would quitting your job allow you to move on to bigger and better things?

If you answer yes to any, the answer is clear. Quitting your job does not mean you have to quit working or make it your pri ority. Quitting a job that is hold ing you back can only help you find a better work environment.

Taking any proactive steps in your workplace as a student is not easy.

But, if that is what must be done to honor your boundaries between work and the rest of your life, we encourage you to do so.

On average, teens (16-19 years old) work 24.1 hours a week.

Source: Zippia Students who work 20+ hours a week experience reduced academic performance.

Source: Walden University

“I work in a very stressful workenvironment and everyday I work, Iget home late which makes it difficultto get my school work complete. It isalso frustrating when coworkers puta lot of stress on me.”

“Working and having a busy schedule can be hard and it impacts your mental statenegatively. It also gets difficult when youhave coworkers who patronize you and take out their stress on you. It’s really hard tostand up for yourself because you don’t want to start conflict with people you have to see all the time.”

“Working in the service industryis something that has the potentialto be gratifying, but as a student employee, I found that I was met with alack of routine from scheduling to thetasks I would complete, solely becauseit’s presumed that we are flexible.”

Minori Kunte

Nashad Mohamed Nimat Randhawa Nyah Rama Sahith Mocharla Shrayes Gunna Sreehitha Moravaneni Sukirtha Muthiah

The Sidekick is the official student newspaper for Coppell High School. Its purpose is to inform, entertain and provide an educational resource for its readers. This newspaper is a public forum for student expression with staff members (with assistance from their adviser) making con tent decisions. The editorials and columns in this paper reflect the view of their writers.

The Sidekick is a member of Interscholastic League Press Conference (ILPC), National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), Columbia Scholas tic Press Association (CSPA) and Southern Interscholastic Press Associ ation (SIPA).

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The Sidekick welcomes all letters to the editor, but letters must be signed before consideration for publication. Send letters to cwofford@coppellisd.com or bring them by D115.

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CELEBRITIES NEED TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE

Maya Palavali Staff Cartoonist @mvpalovalley

After an hour of working, you decide to take a break. Flopping onto your bed, you begin to scroll through your Instagram feed onto a story of Kylie Jenner’s private jet along side Travis Scott’s.

“You wanna take yours or mine?”

Laughing, you get back to your desk.

Technology is better than ever, making social media the main source of information for all. However, the exponen tial rise of its usage has caused problems with the public’s view on celebrities.

Though celebrities have been routinely tone-deaf, sit uations are more reported on all platforms. When given new information about recent ce lebrity “gossip,” people tend to react in three ways: joking in an inappropriate manner, triv ializing the situation or partici pating in cancel culture.

In October 2021, former SNL actor Pete Davidson and Amer ican socialite Kim Kardashian were rumored to be roman tically involved, just eight months after her divorce with controversial rapper Kanye “Ye” West. An otherwise sim ple situation turned sour when West began publicly posting his opinions about the couple.

West posted regularly on his accounts, specifically Insta gram, about his open dislike of the relationship and Davidson

as a person. West went as far as to create a video picturing Davidson getting kidnapped and physically harmed, raising concerns for Davidson’s safety.

West has threatened the cou ple verbally, too. In his posts, West’s derogatory name “Skete Davidson” gained popularity among his fan base. West’s fans flooded Davidson’s posts with hate to a point where he delet ed his accounts.

Though West was banned and the couple eventual ly broke up, his fans still kept the same mentality regarding the relationship. Even worse, people have treated West’s actions as jokes. Memes, such as Twitter user Tervis Scoot’s, have been created and the term “Skete” is now a sta ple on the TikTok for you page.

West has faced no consequences for his actions with people dismissing his behav ior as “a next level of petty” and praising his creative insults.

Depp and rallied to her sup port. Then, days later, Depp came out with similar allega tions towards Heard.

As the court began to favor Depp, fans flipped to his side. Heard was villainized and re ceived continuous hate with people sending death threats to her home. Online users voiced extreme viewpoints on the problem.

In the rush to put blame onto Heard, fans overlooked Depp’s

ing in this culture has negative effects on everyone.

According to the National Li brary of Medicine, social rejec tion that stems from canceling an individual lights up the same part of the brain as physical pain. Everyone needs to be held accountable, but not to the ex tent of legitimate suffering.

For teenagers, cancel cul ture is able to have lasting ef fects on their cognitive abili ties. According to the Newport Academy, in dividuals that engage in so cial cancella tion lose their empathetic and forgive ness skills.

The world is not black and white; people cannot be categorized as ‘good’ or ‘bad.’

Though it has only been a month, the celebrity gossip cycle has moved on to the next scandal.

In contrast, people have cat egorized certain celebrities as “canceled.” An example is the highly televised Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial. When Heard wrote an op-ed detailing her experiences of abuse, fans predicted the offender was

behavior in the relationship.

Depp also engaged in problem atic actions, including sending text messages to his lawyer detailing the hypothetical mur der of Heard.

The reaction from fans falls onto a spectrum; rather than handling an issue appropri ately, people either dismiss or cancel celebrities. Participat

The regu lation of re sponses to celebrity’s lives is crucial to changing how they are seen. Instead of creating tasteless jokes or shunning them, people need to eval uate how they express their opinions. Every situation will have different circumstances and require dif ferent reactions. Doing more research into the topic keeps all participants in the discus sion informed and unbiased.

Holding celebrities account able yields positive results. In her recent song “Heated,” Beyoncé Knowles included de

rogatory terms about the dis abled community. In response to strong fan disapproval, Knowles retracted the word without affecting the song. Ap propriate accountability was able to fix the problem easily.

Just as celebrities are not your friends, they are also human. Activities such as im pulsivity and making careless mistakes are a part of what everyone does; celebrities are not excluded from what other people face. They do not de serve constant harassment or caricatures for entertainment.

The world is not black and white; people cannot be catego rized as “good” or “bad.” Being informed and exercising empa thy towards celebrities will help our society become better.

OPINIONS THE SIDEKICK

With the recent rise of social media usage, the line between celebrity account ability and cancel culture has begun to blur. Staff Cartoonist Maya Palavali ex plains the appropriate way to address serious situations. Noor Fatima

Anushree De Advertising/Circulation Manager @anushree_night

Sweat beads condense on my forehead as I stare at the paper in front of me in utter confusion. The pencil in my hand trembles, perhaps as preposterously per plexed as I. And on the grand horizon of the white paper lies four letters: A, B, C and D. Just four possible choices: a 25% probability.

The answer should be easy enough, right? I would think so too.

Multiple choice tests are nothing new. Since third grade, Texas students have become familiarized with the classic A-BC-D questions in state standardized test ing, such as the STAAR. This exact format seeps into our future lives, dictating our comprehensibility of the classes we take, becoming an integral part of the college admissions process and eventually deter mining our eligibility for graduate education.

Standardized testing is exactly that: standardized. It has been made to test the most people in the most efficient manner. But, they fail to consider the hu manity within humans. For example, the SAT reading test. Let me set the scene, you’ve crossed out two answer choices, you have two more left, but you must “choose the best answer.” So, you choose what you think is the best answer, with sufficient reasoning and rationale. How ever, two months later upon receiving your score, that answer turns out to be wrong.

Does that mean you are not proficient in reading? Is it so impossible for you to have a different answer that is just as jus tifiable? Might you simply be thinking in a different way than the test expects?

The point is, multiple choice tests like the MCAT, LSAT, the bar exam and the GRE shape our very lives, which can be come a problem. Everyone is different; it is that difference that propels us forward as each individual embraces their unique quirks. But multiple choice tests seem to take away that right when we are catego rized into a score from which we are di vorced in every way except one.

But even more fundamentally, multiple

choice tests ironically seep the joy from the very standard of education they seek to uphold. Often operating in a vacuum, multiple choice tests offer no real world context as to why they are necessary to learn. The approach to pedagogy be comes a duty rather than the investiga tive venture it was meant to be.

There are other ways to measure profi ciency in learning rather than summative tests, like communicative formats of test ing. That is why the International Bacca laureate Programme centers around a conversation-based approach to learning rather than rigorous memorization for the sake of checkmarking a couple of re strictive educational requirements.

“Rather than sitting down and listening to a lecture, the entire class is structured so that all the students stand up,” Coppell High School junior IB student Hana Sawaf said. “We get a problem and solve it, and once you figure out how to solve a prob lem it’s like a lightbulb, because you’re able to solve any other problem [math teacher Ian VanderSchee] gives you.”

IB’s teaching approach stimulates students. Through a series of interac tive approaches to learning, students are driven to become intellectually cu rious rather than stifled by a series of repressive requirements.

It would be wrong to say that multiple choice tests are absolutely distasteful. In fact, they can often be a metric to deter mine what schools may need to reform. However, irrespective of that benefit, the disproportionate effect that socioeco nomic status has on multiple choice tests cannot be ignored.

For decades, high income students have had substantially higher scores than their low income counterparts. It makes sense. The SAT ($55), ACT ($88) and AP exams ($96 per exam) are expensive. For lower income households, retesting for a better score is often foregone for food or other necessities due to financial constraints. Studying for multiple choice tests also takes away valuable time that could be used to work a job.

Even if tests offer waivers, it is diffi cult to ignore the million dollar industry surrounding test taking: SAT/ACT prep classes. Even though free resources can

be posted online, prep classes offer strat egies that are guarded by the golden tick et of money.

The wealthy receive better results sim ply because of the opportunities their privilege affords them.

Despite the doomsday feel, we are ac tually making progress. More than 1,835 colleges and universities have test op tional policies. College admissions are shifting to a more holistic process, so while multiple choice tests are a section of college applications, they are not the be-all-end-all they used to be.

Internationally, the value afforded to multiple choice tests is a different story. Several Asian countries (including China, Japan, Vietnam and India) evaluate students based on a single university entrance exam.

One. Singular. Score.

It is no surprise then, that children as young as 8 are sent to cram school to master the exams when they can barely use their times tables.

So, studying for all these multiple choice tests makes me a smarter person right? No.

“Multiple choice exams often close us off from understanding the concept,”

CHS senior Umang Vinayaka said. “You’re forced to pick one option even if you know the concept. You might not see the option you know the best.”

A choice to end all choices 100%

Multiple choice exams bring on a cer tain different skill by examining which students are good at “test taking.” At its core, multiple choice tests focus neither on the joy of education nor the thrill of learning, but on a mundane number as signed on a report card. Multiple choice tests don’t care for genuine knowledge, but for jotting learning onto papers for a momentary second only to be lost in the abyss of forgotten thoughts.

So, what do you think we should do about the multiple choice exam?

A. Keep B. Reform C. Discard

D. Find an alternative

Early decision is not just another box to check

Shrayes Gunna Staff Writer @ShrayesGunna

The college application process is an amalgamation of decisions: difficult de cision after difficult decision, each just as pressing as the last. Whether the choice be what admission deadline to apply or the outright admissions’ decision, nav igating the various choices—no matter who makes it—is troublesome.

And when so much is out of your con trol in the unpredictable game that is col lege admissions, it’s only sensible that we

put immense pressure on even the small est of choices: whether to apply early decision (ED), regular decision (RD), ear ly action (EA) or restrictive early action (REA). However, early decision is often the most nervewracking of application deadlines, for it is a binding agreement between students and the college, stat ing that they will attend the school and withdraw all other applications (unless awaiting a financial aid package).

While the early decision round to many universities boasts higher acceptance rates, the system is relatively skewed

against lower income applicants, who ne cessitate exploring all the available finan cial aid options. For instance, during the 2021-22 admissions cycle, Columbia Uni versity saw an increase in its acceptance rate from 3.7% overall to just over 10% in the early round. The trend continues amongst every school that offers an ear ly deadline, rendering it a fruitful choice for those willing to forgo the possibility of a better financial aid package, having a variety of options and, of course, more time to craft the perfect application.

The early decision round reinforces inequities in every sense of the word. While wealthier students afford stan dardized-testing tutors and college coun selors, lower-income students are left to navigate the convoluted steps by them selves, and early applications are yet another pathway for the former to get ahead. Many students of color and stu dents in underfunded communities need a chance to look into each and every school’s financial aid policy in order to fund higher education in the first place.

What this means is that the early decision round is disproportionately dominated by wealthier students, why wouldn’t they apply? If given the oppor tunity, everyone would jump to be a part of the higher admissions yield, but the intrinsic nature of the process makes finances a harsh reality and con when deciding what admissions deadline to apply.

On top of the financial burden ear ly decision implicates, it is also a bar rier from students being able to explore all their options. One’s perception of a school can starkly vary from the actu

thoughts only being elicited when they visit. By binding oneself to attending a school, without having visited the other options or even meticulously researching them, they could very easily limit them self. That is not to say that a student may not have the time of their life in attend ing their early decision school, but the prospect could very easily lead to tunnel vision.

However, as application numbers reach record highs and standards rise, the unparalleled acceptance rates in many of these early decision rounds is a captivating, gratifying concept. And while I wish I could make the decision for you, alleviating just one of many difficult choices, deciding to apply early decision is one that requires great research, plan ning and exploration.

Standardized multiple choice testing has become a staple for high school edu cation, but that does not mean it yields positive results. The Sidekick staff writer Anushree De examines the faults in this form of testing and advocates for reform. Maya Palavali

Colleges around the nation offer several deadlines to choose from: some are binding, offer earlier admission into a school or grant a student access to special programs or scholarships. The Sidekick staff writer Shrayes Gunna explores one of these various deadlines, early decision, and highlights the pros and cons of this route. Nandini Muresh

Don’t ruin Halloween with offensive costumes

Rowley Jefferson embodies all of us

Angelina Liu Executive Editor-in-Chief @angelinaliiu

When people think of Row ley Jefferson from Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the first image that comes to mind is a short, pudgy ginger with freckles and a bowl cut. He’s good na tured, often helping his best friend, Greg Heffley, with his endeavors to become popular in middle school.

Although quirky at times, his genuine personality makes him an ideal friend and per son.

Jefferson often dismisses his own desires to be a better friend towards Heffley, which often gets him in trouble with his parents. In many ways, Jefferson embodies the song “Mirrorball” by Taylor Swift.

In the first book of the Diary

copious amounts of energy and time to Heffley, with no return.

In the song, Swift speaks about how the more shattered a mirrorball is, the greater the beauty of the rays of shimmer ing light. However, the more the ball cracks, in order to appease the people that sur round it, the harder it is to come back from twisting your self for other people.

In many ways, Jefferson is much like all of us. We waste valuable energy and periods of our lives reflecting light back onto people, shattering and breaking in a million different ways to appeal to friends, fam ily and significant others.

Jefferson eventually finds the courage to demand respect for himself after an unforgiv able situation, where Heffley forces him to take the blame

THE SIDEKICK

Manasa Mohan Executive Editorial Page Editor @Manasa_Mohan_7

The leaves changing colors from a vibrant green to burnt orange and red indicates one thing: the coming of fall and Halloween.

This time of year is character ized by people living out their wildest dreams and dressing up as whoever or whatever they want, going around their neigh borhood and getting free candy.

Halloween is all fun and games until you realize the holiday is a cover for people dressing up in blatantly offensive costumes,

able and educate their children on which costumes are appro priate and which are not. Parents should take it upon themselves to explain the disrespect that oc curs when their child imitates a culture that is not their own in an offensive way. There are some costumes, however, that appre ciate certain cultures, ultimate ly creating a fine line between what is acceptable and what is

that. It can end up perpet uating stereotypes in society and implant an idea in one’s head that may not necessar ily be true. Dressing up in an offensive costume teaches others that sim ilar behavior is acceptable in society and that it is okay to mock certain aspects of people’s culture or history. Once one person sees it and deems it to be appropriate, the endless cycle of cultural ap propriation and offensive cos tumes continues, with a minus cule chance of putting an end to it once and for all.

If you have made this mis take in the past without realiz ing it, you still have the chance to rectify your mistake. The first step is simply acknowledging the problem and your role in it and trying to be better, whether that consists of learning more about cultures or how to pre vent yourself and others from making the same mistake.

of a Wimpy Kid series, Heffley convinces Jefferson to play a game where he must ride a Big Wheel down a steep hill, while Heffley attempts to use a football to knock him off the bike. The football causes Jef ferson to be launched into the air, subsequently breaking his left arm. Heffley laughs while Jefferson withers in pain.

the most common of which in clude indigenous costumes or those that engage in cultural appropriation. Dressing up in such costumes is not appro priate regardless of the oc casion or the candy you get at the end of the night.

Children are often subject to wearing these costumes without know ing how it comes across to others. Young kids have yet to learn about cultural appropri ation and the controversy that could surround their costume and therefore wear whatever their parents dress them up in. It is their parents’ job to ensure that their costume is accept

not. Take, for instance, the pop ular Disney princess: Jasmine. It is fair and acceptable to dress up as your favorite princess; however, it is not accept able to wear makeup to make your skin tone darker in hopes to ap pear more like Jas mine. Appreciating cultural differ ences is far different from mocking and mak ing fun of them.

Some may argue that it is just a Halloween costume and peo ple should not have to worry about being “canceled” over a tradition. But dressing up in appropriately goes beyond just

I understand the joy and ex citement that Halloween brings to people of all ages. You can dress up as anything you have ever dreamed of being. You can eat tons of candy without feel ing judged. But there is a line that you should not be crossing. This season, let’s celebrate the spirit of Halloween and work to ensure that our costumes do not cross the line.

In “Mirrorball,” Swift de scribes the feeling of having to succumb to others’ wishes in order to satisfy other people’s desires, despite having no per sonal gain. She feels as if she must be a reflector of light, al ways bouncing the beauty and enamour onto those who sur round her, keeping none of the joy, beauty and color for her self. It is mentally and emo tionally draining and yet she continues to contort to match what others want.

“I’ve never been a natural/ All I do is try, try, try/I’m still on that trapeze/I’m still trying everything/To keep you look ing at me”

Throughout the book, Jef ferson is mistreated and pushed around by the one per son he idolizes. He even buys a journal to be more like Hef fley, disposing of it when they eventually fall out. He does Heffley’s homework, gives him piggyback rides and exerts

for terrorizing kindergartners with worms.

He comes to terms with the disrespect he endured while being a friend to Heffley. Even though Jefferson still pos sessed copious amounts of love for his best friend, he realized that he could not be a subject of unfairness and selfishness anymore. He tells Heffley the following haunting words:

“Don’t call me.”

“Don’t come by my house.”

“We’re done.”

We must find the Heffley within our own lives and re consider friendship with them. Friendships should nev er be forced, and a friend who makes you feel like you aren’t enough unless you do every thing to appease them isn’t a friend worth keeping.

YouTube: Coppell Student Media www.coppellstudentmedia.com

Halloween is most recognizable for the fun costumes people wear to celebrate it; however, it is important to recognize that some outfits are not costumes and should not be worn as such.

The Sidekick executive editorial page editor Manasa Mohan believes people should consider the negative effects their Halloween costumes might have on specific groups of people. Avani Munji

Appreciating cultural differences is far different from mocking and making fun of those same differences.”

In the hit series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rowley Jefferson is often depicted as the naive best friend of Greg Heffley. The Sidekick executive editor-in-chief Angelina Liu believes that Jefferson reflects a common trait embodied by humans. Noor Fatima

STUDENT

THE SIDEKICK

Writing to the stars

Porandla navigating political reality in self-published fantasy novel

Saniya Koppikar Entertainment Editor @SaniyaKoppikar

Tthan ordinary at first glance, but when I focus on just one, it’s ev ident that a mystic glee radiates from them.

Settled in a seat at George Cof fee & Provisions, Coppell High School junior Rishika Porandla types away at her computer, a story about political deceit and the corruption of power taking shape beneath her fingertips.

A labor of love since Porandla’s freshman year, the story would eventually evolve into a full length novel published on Aug. 15 for the world to see. But here, in this moment, Letalis is only for herself

only written short stories. Inspi ration was everywhere, insistent ly pulling her towards something of a longer length. There was one short story in particular:

“I was extremely intrigued by the concept,” Porandla said. “It just wanted to be explored further.”

The concept eventually evolved current political atmosphere in mind to something and makes it

on the novel.

“I got some really valuable advice from people around me [this summer],” Porandla said. “They told me that there would never really be a ‘right time’ to do this. If I didn’t publish this book now, I would never pub lish it. I’m really proud of Le , and I wasn’t going to take

ey and vanilla latte. The drink is ing. Words flow from her like a torrential downpour, crafting a

The children seem to carry an energy of their own, clutching vivid flags and tapestries in their small arms and devoting their bodily

On Aug. 15, Coppell High School junior Rishika Porandla inde pendently published fantasy novel Letalis which was influenced by author Donna Tartt and books like Dance of Thieves by Mary E Pearson. Porandla drew inspiration from power struggles in the current political atmosphere to connect readers from reality to her fantasy world. Angelina Liu

Crosby continues to call Coppell home

Filled with a passion for chem istry, it took Coppell High School chemistry teacher Courtney Crosby longer to find her passion for teaching. A 2007 CHS gradu ate, Crosby graduated from Tex as A&M with a master’s degree in educational psychology, with a specialization in creative think ing and curriculum design, or as she likes to refer to it as, “a mas

Originally planning on becom ing a forensic lab technician, she discovered her love for teaching while tutoring students while in college for extra cash.

“I liked seeing the ‘aha’ mo ments with my students or with the people I was helping,” Crosby said. “I loved being there. I didn’t have to be the one to turn the light bulb on for them, but I loved being there watching when their light bulb went off. That changed my path in where I wanted to put my energy as a career. It’s help ing people, loving people where they are not where they should be, and helping them grow to wards whatever goal they have

Crosby has been teaching for 11 years, and while all of those years may not have been a chem istry class, there was at least one chemistry unit. She has also spent most of her teaching career in Coppell ISD.

“I remember as a student, feeling a sense of home, a con nection to this campus and to the people of this community,” Crosby said. “My mom [Tonnie Crosby] still lives in the commu nity so I’ve never really left Cop pell as a citizen. It’s just a feeling of home and wholesomeness and collective progress like we want to move forward, but we want to move forward together as a community. That was what really drew me.”

CHS Principal Laura Spring er had known Crosby since she was a student at CHS through the Coppell Choir. While Crosby was working in Plano ISD, Springer was the one who asked Crosby to come work at Coppell Middle School East, and later CHS.

“She’s grown into the most beautiful woman, she’s just so sure of herself,” Springer said. “She is a strong leader. She is a person that kids go to because they feel so loved and cared for if they’re in her class. She is so smart and so good with her chemistry classes. She is what I want teachers to be.”

One of Crosby’s favorite parts about teaching is seeing students getting involved in clubs and ex tracurriculars they are passion ate about. Last year, she was co-sponsor of Science Olympiad and this year she is sponsoring Red Jackets.

“She’s definitely helped Science Olympiad flourish to the best that it can be and she was always re ally open,” said CHS senior My tri Nair, Science Olympiad alpha team captain. “Her schedule was busy, but she still made time for us and was a great sponsor.”

Biology teacher Dr. Bianca Benitez co-sponsored Science Olympiad with Crosby, and now co-sponsors Red Jackets with her. The two have known each other for nine years, their con nection starting with the fact that they both went to Coppell and continuing with their love of

music and the shared closeness that comes from working togeth er. They both moved from Plano ISD to CMS East to CHS at roughly the same time.

“It’s working with someone who finishes your sentences,” Benitez said. “They just know you so well. We collaborate real ly well, we know what the other person has in mind, we compli ment each other really nicely. We can laugh together, we can stress out together, we can plan togeth er, it’s appreciated. I look forward to it all the time.”

One of Benitez’s favorite mem ories with Crosby is singing the Coppell alma mater on a field trip at SMU. Crosby has been part of choir since she went to Lakeside Elementary, and was in Madrigals while at CHS. One of her favorite choir memories was winning at the American Classics Madri gal and Chamber Choir Festival during her senior year.

“It’s a very competitive event. We had never placed or won and my senior year, we won,” Cros by said. “The next year, the year after you win you’re the honor choir [and] they do an honor choir concert afterwards. I didn’t get to be in the honor choir but I got to travel with friends and we got to meet up afterwards, a year later and experience that togeth er. I’ve gotten to sing in some in credible spaces all over the world [and have] treasured memories and friendships through choir.”

Another choir memory Crosby puts importance on was the first time she traveled without family to Greece with the Texas A&M Century Singers choir. Currently she is part of the Dallas Sympho ny chorus and practices multiple times a week.

“You’re creating art in a space you can never replicate,” Crosby said. “There’s something really special about a collection of voic es trying to make one sound and send out one message through a collection of voices. I think that’s really powerful.”

Performing her art in a new country and discovering her passion for teaching were not the only life altering experiences Crosby had during college. She was also diagnosed with Hod gkin’s lymphoma, a type of can cer. She found out the day before her 23rd birthday in 2013, her first year of teaching.

“It was a very gentle way of finding out just because I was in a beautiful place surrounded by scenes from my faith,” Crosby said. “Being in Israel and seeing

the Sea of Galilee and seeing the Dead Sea. It was a very kind way to find out because I would have time to process before I came back and all the medical crazi ness started. I’m very grateful for that. There’s always a question of why. But sometimes we’re not allowed to see the answer of why things happen to us. We have an opportunity to decide what we do with our life. When things are out of our control, we can control what we can give the rest to God and just know that everything happens for a reason, and there’s some reason that I was meant to go through this.”

Last December, Crosby found out her cancer had returned.

“In the beginning it was a sur prise, just because all the re search, all the data and all the tests for the past eight and a half years were showing that this isn’t coming back, you’re done,” Cros by said. “For there to be some thing that is drastically different from what I had heard was defi nitely a tough concept to accept.”

Crosby is currently going through treatments for can cer. She is also thankful for the amount of support from the CHS staff while taking care of her health. Crosby also has gotten closer to her family with their support and maintains a positive outlook for the future.

“I was in the hospital for about a month this summer for a blood stem cell transplant, which es sentially reset my immune sys tem. I have the immune system of an infant right now. I have to get all my shots like a baby,” Crosby said. “That was a very special time because my mom was in the hospital with me the whole time. So it was a window of time that we got to spend a lot of quality time together. We’ll never get that back. So I’m very grateful. The most import ant time is any time I’m able to spend uninterrupted time with my immediate family.”

Crosby’s positive attitude about the surprises life has brought her is highlighted by how her passion for teaching is sustained by the new experience each day brings.

“You wake up and you don’t know what that day is going to hold,” Crosby said. “It could be re ally crazy. It could be really quiet. You get to celebrate student suc cesses. You get to see them take pride in what they’re passionate about. I love that. I love seeing people pursue their dreams at such a young age when all dreams feel and seem reachable.”

BY DON HAHN

BY ABBY JIMENEZ

Coppell High School AP and Honors chemistry teacher Court ney Crosby assists sophomores Yashitha Chunduru and Nayan Gandra and in completing their one-on-one honors chemistry quiz in seventh period. Crosby was selected as The Sidekick’s Volume 34 Issue 1 Teacher of the Issue. Sreehitha Moravaneni

Teacher retention falling amidst stagnant wagesTeacher retention falling amidst stagnant wages

Story by: Angelina LiuStory by: Angelina Liu

The early morning light creeps through large glass windows, illuminating the red and gray paneling of Coppell Middle School West. It is Satur day, but the halls are buzzing with activity.

In response to the highly ad vertised job fair, potential Cop pell ISD staff enter the building in search of new positions be ginning in the fall of the 202223 school year. Coppell High School Principal Laura Springer breathes a sigh of relief.

Shouldering a new set of re sponsibilities such as bridging the learning deficit amidst stag nant wages, many Texas teach ers have left the profession to pursue jobs in other districts and fields.

“It really scares me that we have such a struggle with find ing teachers,” Springer said. “They’re not in massive supply like they used to be. We used to have so many people that would apply for our jobs. This year, had to go to every highway and byway and wherever I could to try to get our classes all covered for the year.

“It’s scary. The whole thing scares me.”

According to CHS associate principal Zane Porter, about 25% of new teachers this year were hired at the job fair. Cur rently, six new teachers are in alternative certification pro grams, one of them being foren sics teacher Joshua Henderson. These programs offer a flexible

pathway to becoming a teacher by allowing one year in the class room with a degree as they com plete their teaching certification.

While pursuing a career in nursing, Henderson waited ta bles at a local restaurant where Springer and him would occa sionally cross paths. Every Sat urday at 4 p.m., Springer and family would visit the restau rant and Henderson eventually established a relationship with her. After a few months, Spring er began asking what Henderson wanted to pursue as a career.

“I had decided that I wasn’t thinking about nursing anymore as a long-term career, or even as a prospect at that point,” Hender son said. “I was kind of lost. I had remembered a friend was telling me about the Texas teachers alter native certification program, just to at least start doing something.”

Springer invited Henderson to the job fair and after verify ing his qualifications, he was of fered a job.

“[Teaching] is considered something that people don’t want to do,” Henderson said. “There aren’t enough of us, which means that some of us might have to work a little bit harder than we might have planned for.”

According to CISD chief fi nancial officer Diana Sircar, recruitment and retention of instructional and other profes sional personnel has become in creasingly difficult. Competition in other jobs such as custodial, transportation and school nutri tion has driven up wages.

“We ask more and more of teachers and yet we’re not pay ing them more and more,” said Executive Director of the Texas School Coalition, which rep resents Recapture districts, Christy Rome. “What we see is that there are other private in dustry jobs that may not be as rewarding but pay as much or more than they’re making as teachers. Unfortunately, that factors into the decision of whether or not someone contin ues a career as a teacher. If we had additional funding for schools, the beneficiaries of that would primarily be our teachers.”

CISD recently finalized the 2022-23 budget, which saw a $9.67 million deficit. Accord ing to Sircar, about 82% of the district’s costs are payroll. For the past two school years, the district provided a 2% increase in wages to staff. This year, the Coppell Board of Trustees felt strongly that it needed to provide a higher increase. The board approved a 4% increase for teachers in 2022-23.

AP Macroeconomics and Mi croeconomics teacher Miran da Portteus has been teaching CHS for 11 years. She continues to stay in education because of her love for the subject that she teaches. In the last two years, she never seriously considered leaving, but the thought has crossed her mind.

“Real wages have significant ly decreased with only a 2% raise,” Portteus said. “I’m not making as much as I made last year, if we talk about the change in inflation. We’ve added five minutes to the school day. And in the grand scheme of things,

that doesn’t seem like a lot. But that’s an extra five minutes. ac cept the wages, but I do think we should be paid more.”

In a survey conducted by the Charles Butt Foundation of a random sample of Texas public school teachers, it was found that 77 percent have seriously considered leaving the profes sion, which is up 19 percent in two years. Seventy-two percent have taken concrete steps to do so. One of the major factors is pay. Eighty-one percent of Texas teachers say their pay is unfair, up 12 points in a year.

“In that industry, it doesn’t matter how hard you work,” former CHS soccer coach James Balcom said. “You could just show up, do your job and leave, or you could be somebody who pours into the kids and spends an hour or two in the morning and at the end of the day. You’re going to make the same amount as somebody who just kind of shows up. Over time, you just see how your hard work and your energy almost doesn’t mat ter. And that’s, it’s tough to say, the kind of [mentality] where got to as an educator.”

Balcom left the teaching and high school coaching profession at the end of the 2021-22 school year and now works as a vice president of a roofing company.

He continues to coach with Solar Soccer Club. Balcom does not see himself returning to education.

“Coaching stipends in Coppell and many places in Texas ha ven’t increased at all,” Balcom said. “The last few years have been really upsetting. Being a head soccer coach and making

less money than a baseball or basketball coach didn’t make much sense to me. I tried to work as hard as I possibly could for the kids and at the end of the day, I don’t think it was ever re ally valued. I think people need to be paid for the work that they do. If teachers felt financially valued for the job they do, you wouldn’t see the shortages, you’d see people come back to the industry and want to keep doing it.”

Teacher compensation has long been a topic of discus sion. In the Coppell, Texas Facebook Group, concerned parents question what CISD is doing with its tax dollars and why it cannot be translated to increasing teacher salaries.

The answer is the state’s Re capture program, or Robin Hood.

The Texas Legislature imple mented Chapter 41 of the Texas Education Code in 1993 after a series of court rulings that said our school finance system was unconstitutional, which is now known as the Recapture or Rob in Hood program. The system sought to create equity across school districts by having wealthy districts send property tax reve nue to the state who then distrib utes the money to lower wealth districts and charter schools.

According to Rome, when Recapture first began in 1993, a couple of districts could tax property at a really low rate and get a big return, versus districts that were taxing extraordinarily high rates and not getting much to show for it. Recapture sought to equalize the funding, so that the districts had to make similar tax efforts, and get similar reve

nue in return.

It started with just a handful of districts to equalize. Most of those were rural, small West Texas districts because of oil and gas wealth, or small bedroom communities like Highland Park and Alamo Heights ISD.

At one point, Recapture dis tricts grew to be about 40% of the districts in the state. It is now back down to about 20% of districts, however it affects very large districts that serve a high number of students who are in poverty.

Rome explains the system of Recapture as a glass of water. The size of the glass is deter mined by the state’s school fi nance formulas. It begins with the main building block, which is basic allotment. This is the amount that every school dis trict is guaranteed to receive in state and local funds for each student in average daily atten dance. Factors, such as student characteristics, transportation, teacher incentives and district tax rates, come together to form the district’s funding entitlement.

What fills the glass is local property tax collection. If the district cannot fill its own glass, the state fills the glass the rest of the way. In districts such as CISD, the local property taxes cause a spillover which is then sent back to the state.

“In places like Coppell, Dal las, Houston or Austin, it costs more to live,” Rome said. “The housing prices are higher - the price of goods are higher in those areas than if you were to go to more rural communities.

There’s nothing in our school finance formula that adjusts for

that. There is now a new kind of inequity in our system, be cause there’s no adjustment for the higher cost of living in some areas of our state compared to others. The buying power of the dollar, it just doesn’t go as far in our urban areas as it does in the more rural communities.”

Recapture removes $3 billion per year from Texas school dis tricts. Compared to the state lottery which brings in $1.6 bil lion a year, replacing Recapture is very difficult because of the amount of money that the taxa tion brings to the state.

“Right now, as property val ues push tax payments higher, the state is reducing the amount of money that it invests in pub lic education,” said Theresa Wil liams, Superintendent of Plano ISD in a press release by the Tex as School Coalition. “Addition al state investments in public education would help slow the growth of Recapture and benefit all schools.”

Currently, Recapture makes up 26.09% of CISD budget ex penditures, which equates to more than $46 million to be re turned to the state according to a press release on the 2022-2023 Budget and Tax Rate.

On July 14, the state comp troller announced an increase in the state general fund surplus of $26.9 billion, which is where the recaptured funds are going.

“How do we know that the dollars that CISD is sending back for Recapture are being distrib uted to other school districts?”

Sircar said. “We don’t know that information. We need that kind of transparency from our state legislature to be able to show

where those funds are going and how they’re supporting other districts.”

Recapture does not take into consideration the demograph ic of the students attending the school districts. For example, Austin ISD, where 51.9% of stu dents are considered econom ically disadvantaged, pays the highest amount in Recapture in the entire state because of sky rocketing property values. Ac cording to Rome, it is not about whether or not the people who are attending the school are rich or poor. The people who live in the area do not benefit at all.

“The wealth level of the stu dents and families in the district doesn’t factor into whether or not the district is paying Re capture,” Rome said. “It’s about what the taxes in that commu nity bring in or don’t. There are also communities in the state where the students and fami lies in that community may be very well off as a whole. Yet, they don’t pay Recapture at allthat’s the difference in personal wealth and property wealth.”

Despite beliefs, the tax rate cannot be lowered in order to pay less in Recapture, because if lowered past a certain thresh old, the entitlement funding giv en to CISD would be reduced.

“Revenue per student [basic allotment] is fixed by state fund ing formulas,” said Sircar at the Aug. 22 CISD Board of Trustees meeting. “It does not change when our property values in crease. Even though the district may be bringing in addition al tax revenue, if it is in excess of the calculated entitlement, it goes back to the state in the

form of recapture.”

According to the Texas Ed ucation Agency, in the 2020-21 school year, the state saw a decrease of 122,350 in public school enrollment.

“The entire state lost student enrollment during COVID,” Sir car said. “The state anticipated providing funding for a certain level of students, and when that came down lower, the state saved that money. Since our property values are going up and our tax revenue is going up, the state is recapturing more of those dollars, and perhaps doesn’t have as much to spend it on. The state foundation school program, which is the term that the state uses as far as funding school districts, has saved mon ey over the last couple of years.”

House Bill 3 was passed in 2019 and provided more money for Texas classrooms, increas ing teacher compensation and reducing Recapture. However, high inflation has outpaced the funding granted and Recapture has increased by 25% since.

According to Seminole ISD Superinten dent and President of the Texas School Coalition Kyle Lynch, the bill made Recapture dip for one year, but it quickly rose again due to inflation.z

Seminole ISD is a 1,000-square mile school district which has boundaries run to New Mexico.

“We run buses all over the county every day,” Lynch said.

“We have kids living out in the country on farms. We budgeted

for diesel a year ago, and we thought we’d be fine. And then all of a sudden, diesel [prices] go out of this world, but [school districts] still have to pick our kids up. Our costs are going up, but the funding we’re getting from the state has not gone up.”

According to a press release by the Texas School Coalition on Aug. 15, an increase in ba sic allotment would address all issues presented. House Bill 3 ensures that at least 30% of any increase goes toward in creased teacher salaries and reducing Recapture.

If basic allotment was in creased to match the rate of inflation since 2019, it would be increased by $700 up to $6,860. Every $100 increase to the basic allotment would mean roughly a $100 million annual reduction in recapture statewide.

“Recapture districts com plain about recapture because that’s where a lot of money is going,” Rome said. “If you’re a district that is not a recapture district, then you complain about not having enough mon ey from the state. It’s the same problem that is causing both of those things, it just mani fests in a different way. So if the state were to provide additional funding to schools, Coppell ISD would not have to send as much away through Recapture and they’d be able to use more of it to pay their teachers, help their students and do things at the lo cal school district level.”

Building a STEM oriented community

Yakubovsky lays foundation for TSA as Regional President

Maya Palavali Staff Cartoonist @mvpalovalley

From its start during the pan demic, the Coppell Technology Student Association chapter has grown to over 250 members and is now an example of what TSA should look like. And the person to thank? Regional TSA presi dent Michael Yakubovsky.

Coppell engineering teacher Yakubovsky was picked as advi sor of the year for both middle and high school in the state of Texas. Yakubovsky credits his achievement to his role as the TSA president of the region, a role in which he was elected to lead.

His experience in teaching multiple subjects has given Yakubovsky the tools to be the advisor for the Coppell TSA

chapter. The courses he teaches include Engineering Design and Problem Solving, STEM Practi cum and Computer Science Practicum.

“We wanted to get into TSA, which was convenient because the district wanted us to bring a TSA chapter here,” Yakubovsky said. “[It] fit well with our engi neering and computer science classes.”

In seeing the creation of the Coppell chapter, Yakubovsky has created the perfect environ ment for innovation and cama raderie.

“He makes TSA an inclusive organization for anyone inter ested in engineering and com puter science careers,” Coppell junior and TSA secretary Naisha Jain said.

In his elected role, Yakubovsky has responsibilities that involve

the North Central Texas region.

“We put on the contests for TSA which decides who from this region is going to go to state; only a certain number of people can go,” Yakubovsky said.

Yakubovsky has taken initia tive with creating new opportu nities for chapters in the region to enjoy. He has made it his goal to help schools with new chap ters get set up, helping them from paperwork to answering questions about the program.

“This year, we’ll be hosting the regional contest here [at Coppell High School],” Yakubovsky said. “I figured if I’m running it, we’re going to do it at our house.”

Yakubovsky has left a last ing impression on his students, helping over 35 members reach the national level in their cate gories.

“He helped me with my com petition submissions,”Jain said. “He went out of his way in the mornings and afternoons to host small groups of informational sessions.”

In the national competition, four of the students competing reached the top ten in both the webmaster and robotics compe titions. The team also won first place in the webmaster section.

“We don’t have a web master class [and] we just now got a ro botics class,” Yakubovsky said. “That’s the kind of kids we have.”

Yakubovsky makes his TSA chapter his priority, assisting the student leaders with their abilities and giving them the re sources to create their own ideas to implement in the chapter.

“We’ve been able to start ro botics, drone competitions, the team’s competition [along side the] TSA contests as well,” Yakubovsky said. “The kids have

INTRODUCING THE NEW COUNSELOR

gotten more into leadership and are now bringing in guest speak ers.”

Yakubovsky believes in self paced learning with guidance when wanted. His role as a men tor has been effective with com munication between students and building a good relationship with the STEM community.

“He sets his classes up to be self-paced which enables his stu dents to genuinely learn more from the activities,” Jain said.

His personality and skills help students ease into the chap ter, whether they are returning members or brand new.

“I met Mr. Yak at the first TSA

meeting last year after in-per son learning began,” Jain said.

“The way he presented himself during our first interactions in stantly made me trust him.”

Yakubovsky has many plans for the future of TSA chapters in his region, including opportu nities such as Special Olympics robotics teams, women in STEM opportunities, regional informa tional conferences and cyberse curity competitions.

“Our program keeps expand ing,” Yakubovsky said. “We’re working with officers on other opportunities for the students and seeing what they want to get into as a chapter.”

Crumpton guiding students as self-advocates in first year at CHS

After graduating from the University of Arkansas with a degree in architecture, Coppell High School counselor Heather Crumpton shifted career paths by teaching AP U.S. History at Plano West High School. Crumpton then moved on to be a guidance counselor at Terrell High School. Crumpton’s ca reer changes are why she en courages students to embrace the shifts in their own lives.

After spending almost a de cade as a teacher, what pushed you to become a counselor?

I love guiding students to be come self-advocates. We have students for such a short time before they become emerging adults, so I like to see them overcome challenges and guide them to become individ uals who will one day change the world.

What experiences as a teach er made you pursue counsel ing?

With AP U.S. History, I found that there were students who wanted to take AP courses but were nervous about it. I cre

ated bridge programs where I would start tutoring before school, after school and during lunch for those who had never taken an AP course to show them study skills and tips they might never have learned be fore.

In doing so, I learned their struggles and how they need ed to grow in their academic and social abilities. Over time, I spent more time with them and realized that this was what I was enjoying. Seeing students grow and showing them how to study and deal with academic stresses was something that I couldn’t replace. Everyday felt like a success that way.

How do you counsel students when they feel stressed?

In whatever major or path way you’ve set for yourself, things can shift. It’s OK to constantly reflect and switch your choices around. When you’re taking many AP cours es and you feel overwhelmed, it’s OK to sit back and think about what you’re taking each class for. Is it something that you’re taking for your major in college, or is it just some thing you’re not as passionate about? It’s OK to take a look at alternative courses, like dual

credit or honors courses. Use your AP courses to focus more on what your pathway is as you start thinking about college.

What should sophomores and juniors at CHS keep in mind?

There are two big things I want our younger grades to know.

1. We all hit obstacles and roadblocks, even as adults, in places where we struggle. You can say, “This has hap pened, this is my part in it, here is how I’m going to grow from it.” You need to be able to look back and say what your mistakes were and what you learned from it. When you get into college, the expectation is that it’s all on just you now. If you’ve never faced an obsta cle like that, you won’t know what to do. I always say to my sophomores and juniors, con gratulations for hitting that roadblock. Now that you have, you know how to pick yourself up, and you know where to seek answers. You have a set of tools to help you move forward when you hit that wall.

2. We never stop learning. When you learned to tie your shoes, you were learning. When you figured out that

your friend likes certain jokes you make but not others, you were learning. We’re always learning. Find a way to enjoy it and constantly engage in it, because you’ll be doing it all

your life. I don’t want students to think learning ends in the classroom or school. It’s every moment of their lives. That’s one of my goals as a counselor, as well.

Yaamini Jois

Coppell High School counselor Heather Crumpton guides stu dents at the College Fair on Sept. 15. Crumpton is a new coun selor at CHS this year. Yaamini Jois

Coppell High School engineering teacher Michael Yakubovsky has been a STEM teacher and CTE department chair since 2003. Yakubovsky was selected as the Regional President for Technology Student Association (TSA) for the 2022-23 school year. Shreya Ravi

Coppell High School engineering teacher Michael Yakubovsky lectures his Engineering, Design, and Problem Solving class on Sept. 22. Yakubovsky was selected as the Regional President for Technology Student Association (TSA) for the 2022-23 school year. Shreya Ravi

Thinking of kids outside our borders

Local branch of nonprofit organization helps children in India travel to school

Iniya Nathan Student Life Editor

There are many places in In dia that do not have electricity. There are many children that do not have proper clothing or shoes. Unfortunately, there are also those that do not have ac cess to education.

Think Peace, a registered nonprofit charitable trust un der the Indian government, was founded by Kiran Chukkapalli to create an equitable and pros perous India for all of its citi zens. Currently, Chukkapalli is traveling across India to create solutions to the problems he sees. According to Coppell High School junior Nandini Petluri, Chukkapalli has traveled 11,000 kilometers around the borders of India, went to 12 states, 80 camps and visited 36,000 fam ilies to collect some statistics and facts about refugees.

Think Kids, the youth chapter of Think Peace, was founded by Petluri in 2015 and revamped in 2020. Think Kids is currently focusing on the Cycle to School Project, which is a part of the nonprofit organization’s most recent project is the Refugee Aid Project (RAP), a project intend ed to help the refugees that are seeking or have sought asylum in India live better lives.

The Cycle to School Project’s goal is to provide bicycles for children that live too far from school to walk, which limits their access to education.

“Unfortunately, there’s not enough students in [refugee] camps that [Think Peace] can build schools like we did [be fore],” Petluri said. “It’s just not possible with the resources and

even the space. So what we’re trying to do, as a temporary solution for them, is to provide them with bicycles so that they can bike the multiple kilome ters and come back faster, easi er and safer.”

Petluri has been involved with Think Peace since she was in third grade, joining after hear ing about it from involved family members. She moved to India in fifth grade, which opened her eyes to the severity of condi tions. After moving back to Cop pell in ninth grade, Petluri decid ed she wanted to have a chapter established here.

Petluri has worked to help get light, books and better school facilities in India. Think Kids has raised enough money to give bi cycles to children in a village of North Delhi.

Since its conception, many of Petluri’s friends and peers have joined Think Kids, which has helped the organization grow larger.

“I joined because there is not enough awareness and there’s not enough people helping refu gees in India [to] solve all these problems,” CHS junior event director Pranathi Kommaraju said. “My favorite part [of Think Kids] is knowing that I’m doing something to help people be cause [refugees are] not getting the help they deserve. Knowing that I’m in some way helping them makes me feel a lot better about what we’re doing. What we’re doing actually has an im pact on people’s lives.”

Kommaraju has helped coor dinate clothing drives and bake sales as means for fundraising, and many Think Kids members also fundraise door to door.

There are plans for a future fundraising event during Hal

are yet to be confirmed.

Most of the people who joined Think Kids were in volved with Think Peace be forehand and wanted to ded icate more of their time and effort to the cause.

“The project that especially got me interested was [the] light project [where] they were trying to bring light to Araku Valley in India,” CHS ju nior Akshadha Challa said. “It was about getting [people’s] basic needs met, like elec tricity. We did fundraisers [in] Dallas and it directly impacted the village in India.”

“We started with the door to door approach,” Challa said. “We tried to get people involved and that worked in our favor really well. We had some sponsors and donors who donated upwards of $500 because they were so inter ested in what we were talking about. We had a clothing drive [where] we collected as much clothing as possible to turn whatever we received for the clothing monetarily into proceeds for the Cycling to School Project.”

Think Kids has been ex panding rapidly, with chap ters starting in Valley Ranch, Flower Mound, Frisco and ar eas in India where help can be more direct and hands-on.

“Coppell, even though it is the first branch, [is] the weakest branch. All of our other teams are extremely ambitious as well. We’re re ally excited to watch those,” Petluri said.

Despite how far Think Kids has come since its conception, they are still looking for more hands to help their cause.

“We’re always looking for

Coppell High School juniors (top row) Mehak Gandotra, Sana Shine, Pranathi Kommaraju, Sahasra Bajjuri, (bottom row) Swati Kulshrestha, Nandini Petluti, Mahek Khandelwal and Akshadha Challa lead Think Kids, the youth chapter of international nonprofit organization: Think Peace. Currently, Think Kids is focused on a Cycle to School project with a goal of providing bicycles for children in India who live too far from school to walk, limiting their access to education. Aliya Zakir

Graphic by Jayden Chui

Coppell High School junior participates in the Tata Mumbai Marathon to represent Think Peace and Think Kids as a child ambassador. Currently, Think Kids is focused on a Cycle to School project with a goal of providing bicycles for children in India who live too far from school to walk, limiting their access to education. Photo courtesy Nandini Petluri

Coppell High School junior participates in the Tata Mumbai Marathon to represent Think Peace and Think Kids as a child ambassador. Currently, Think Kids is focused on a Cycle to School project with a goal of providing bicycles for children in India who live too far from school to walk, limiting their access to education. Photo courtesy Nandini Petluri

Direct your acclaim to animation

Catch” and “Naked and Afraid” are his strong suits. These shows are relatively cheap to film, but reel in large profit margins.

JOSH’S RECS

From Snow White to Steam boat Willie, animation has been around since the turn of the

Saturday morning cartoons and Disney movies have made up so many generations’ child hoods, yet animation is often pi geonholed as a genre solely for children. Animation goes beyond one’s youth. It is not just a format for Disney and Pixar movies, but rather a medium not defined by any genre, essential to express in a visual manner that which goes beyond the limitations of live ac

But it seems the concept of animation as a medium for the general public simply isn’t recog nized. Even at the highest regards of filmmaking, at the pinnacle of the silver screen, the Oscars fail to see where animation shines. When announcing the award for Best Animated feature, actresses Lily James, Halle Baileyand Nao mi Scott poked fun at the movies supposedly made for children to watch “over and over and over” again. Included in the nominees was Flee, which tells the story of Amin Nawabi as he deals with the trauma and secrets of his life as an Afghan refugee.

That’s not all. Host Amy Schumer quipped, “The only one I’ve seen is Encanto because of my kid.” When really, the film delves into estrangement, bro ken bonds, and the complica tions of family, masked behind the cheery songs and Disney

Animation is a medium – an art form – not a genre.

Animation can be for kids, ani mation can be for adults, it can be about space, it can be about cow boys, it can even be about both. It can tell real, heart-wrenching stories just as Flee does, and it can tell heartwarming stories just as Encanto does. Animation is such a broad format that it de serves to have its spotlight shine further than children’s movies, which, though they are great in their own right, are not the en tirety of the medium.

Unfortunately, these are not all of the shortcomings

Zaslav fails to see that creativ ity and business work hand in hand, and when one acts solely in the interest of budget, truly great films will never see the light of day.

His first strike was axing the production of Batgirl. By drop ping the film for a tax write-off, he cemented the film as profit less.

Continuing his streak of can cellations, Zaslav took aim at HBO Max’s animated show collec tion. These shows were removed from the streaming service with no prior warning to its creators: Notably on the list is J.G. Quintel’s “Close Enough,” an HBO origi nal from the creator of “Regular Show,” one of Cartoon Network’s most popular shows to date. As well as the highly praised “In finity Train,” and several great shows such as “OK K.O! – Let’s Be Heroes,” and “Summer Camp Island.”

All of these are esteemed shows and constitute a true loss to HBO Max’s selection of ani mation. These relentless can cellations come from Zaslav’s dedication to cut $3 billion from the merger. By canceling these shows, royalties are no longer paid to the hard-working anima tors of these shows. While anima tors are still supplied with a base salary, these royalties often go towards their healthcare funds. In addition to distress upon being put out of work, animators have to worry if they will even be pro vided healthcare.

So what can you do? Watch.

Stream your favorite shows, explore the animation section, go see screenings at the theater. Whether western animation or anime, there are thousands of shows waiting for you. Don’t know where to start? I’ve got So get to binging, most of these titles are available on a variety of streaming services. Thousands of hidden gems waiting to be watched, millions of episodes ready to play. It is a shame that in a time in which we have more content than ever available before, so much of it is

Graphics by Avani Munji

Josh Campbell

Chihiro Ogino is a fictional character in Studio Ghibli’s Sprited Away. The Sidekick page design editor Josh Campbell wants to show the disrespect going on behind the scenes, and bring praise for animation into the spotlight. Jayden Chui

Marching band playing to a new tune

Pregame show, ‘Power of Ten’ fundraiser separating fall season from the rest

Shrayes Gunna Staff Writer @ShrayesGunna

Friday night lights at Buddy Echols Field won’t look the same during the 2022 football season. It is not only in spite of new fac es on the team, but also because the Coppell High School Band has made fundamental changes this marching season.

In past years, the varsity band has played a significant role on game day by playing tunes from the stands, providing music for the Lariettes’ halftime show and performing its own marching show at the end of the fourth quarter. That role is only ex panding.

Announced Aug. 16 at the band’s community preview night, it will now be performing a new pregame show at home games. The show intertwines both the varsity and junior varsity bands, a concept unfamiliar to the pro gram. Historically, both bands have operated independently, whether it be in separate march ing shows or rehearsals.

“After summer band camp, JV has morning rehearsals while varsity has after school rehears als,” senior band president Esther Han said. “Through the pregame show, JV can learn a lot from var sity such as step-sizes and march ing technique, and the upper classmen can build relationships with the underclassmen.”

However, the pregame per formance is not just an advan

tageous opportunity for the performers themselves; it also offers friends, fam ily members and the students that cheer the Cowboys on a chance to get involved. They can sing along to “Deep in the Heart of Texas” and the fight song, or watch history un ravel right in front of them through mil itary-style marching.

Military-style march ing is a block-style march, in which per formers maintain “cov er downs”—lines—and diagonals to maintain a cohesive and clean form. It is reminiscent of what students may have seen at college football games, made famous in part by Texas A&M’s Aggie Band.

In fact, Coppell Band Direc tor Kim Shuttlesworth, despite her University of Texas history, reached out to the Texas A&M Director of Bands and Music Ac tivities Dr. Tim Rhea to write the drill now being brought to life at Coppell’s very own home games.

“We’ve sat around as a commu nity, just talking about how we can enhance Friday night foot ball,” Shuttlesworth said. “Hav ing come from a military back ground, it has been a while [since I’ve marched military style], so I called a dear friend and mentor,

Tim Rhea, and asked him to re mind me how to do this. He took 10 minutes and sent a scan of the drill. It really is just a great way to teach a new fundamental skill, in clude everyone, and enhance the game day experience.”

Rehearsing the show, howev er, has come with challenges: the wave of rain and thunder, unfa miliar marching style and less time to rehearse.

“Rehearsing the show has definitely been different,” senior drum major Trey Bass said. “The usual marching show has what we call an ‘8 to 5’ (eight steps in five yards) while the pregame has a ‘6 to 5,’ which almost feels like a walk.”

By introducing history and culture to its performances, the Coppell Band disseminates knowledge and magnifies its reach in the community. As the largest student organiza tion on campus, it serves as the soundtrack to essential pieces—parades, pep rallies, games—of every Coppellians’ life. The pregame is just anoth er step towards creating a cul ture of unity.

“When I walk in the band hall every day, I know it as a fami ly,” Bass said. “What keeps us coming back is really the com munity and the relationships we build. Through our performance, marching, production, it gives

everyone an opportunity to show who they are, while being a col lective whole.”

In order to keep the band playing every Friday night, massive amounts of funding are necessary to supply meals, bus rides and competition fees. The ramifications of the pandemic have only made costs surge. In fact, the fundraising goal for the upcoming year is $25,000 more than what was made last year in order to cope with supply chain issues and inflation.

To reach said goal, the band has created a new fundraiser that rests on the power of individuals, entitled “Power of Ten.” The phi losophy is that if each member can get 10 donations of $10 from peers or parents, the band can reach the goal by empowering smaller actors to give a little.

“The $100,000 goal can be met,” Bass said. “It’s not just to allocate funds for transportation and food, but also for building a show that is going to change people’s lives. It allows the marchers to channel who they are and put everything into the show, and the money is aimed at creating a program that can do that consistently.”

This year’s marching show, en titled “Archetype,” consists of four movements, each representing a separate trope: artist, explorer, lover and hero. The uniforms, props, instruments and equip ment are requisites to cultivating a production that will make audi ences feel—laugh, cry and smile— beyond winning awards.

Coppell Student Media

COMICS

Coppell High School varsity band rehearses the Coppell Band 2022 marching show “Archetype” after school on Sept. 8. Among other changes to form a culture reset, the band will feature a new pre-game show per formed by both JV and varsity members. Sannidhi Arimanda

Ch ce AWARDS

Culinary competition launching State Fair season in North Texas

Saniya Koppikar Entertainment Editor @SaniyaKoppikar

DALLAS –– Nestled among red and white baskets and boats of delectable fair foods, a panel of six celebrity judges raises three concessionaire teams to a new height of fame with the scratch of a pencil.

Their chances at an incredibly proftable State Fair of Texas season skyrocket as raucous cheers and claps abound, and they take the stage at the Briscoe Carpenter Livestock Center with wide grins and pumping fsts.

The Big Tex Choice Awards, named after the iconic stature marking the Fair Park fairgrounds, began early this past summer. 51 culinary entries were whittled down to 36 semi-fnalists on July 6 and 10 fnalists on Aug. 10, with judges evaluating based on uniqueness, creativity, presentation and taste. On Aug. 28, a winner emerged in each of the three categories: Best Taste - Savory, Best Taste - Sweet and Most Creative.

The six judges: Marisa Trejo, co-owner of La Casita Bakeshop in Richardson; Hiawatha Williams, founder of Williams Chicken; Brad Batson, co-founder of Karbach Brewing; Lance Barrow, formerly of CBS Sports; Rob “Big Rob”

Maiden, captain of the Mavs ManiAACs; and Bruce Siford, the State Fair Chairman of the Board.

The three victorious concessionaire teams were mother-daughter duo Tami Nevins-Mayes and Josey Mayes, newcomer couple Chris Easter and Nicole Sternes and the two-time Big Tex Choice Award winner Garza Family.

In its 18th year, the competition emphasized ingenuity, creativity and state pride as entries ranged the span of the culinary spectrum. In fact, the 2022

fair theme, “Treats of Texas,” highlights a fact most fairgoers have accepted by now: the outrageous food is undeniably essential.

Outrageous, indeed. This year’s winners consisted of a fried charcuterie board, the Cha-Cha Chata (a horchata milkshake with deep-fried arroz con leche and a churro straw) and the Peanut Butter Paradise (a deep-fried peanut buttertopped honey bun).

“Heavy,” Sternes, who coowns Southside Steaks & Cakes with Easter, joked about her

Invitati declined

Promising movie predictable and ridden with cli ches

Angelina Liu Executive Editor-in-Chief @angelinaliiu

I sit excitedly in the slightly sticky Lewisville Cinemark Luxury Lounger, equipped with a fruit punch Hi-C and buttery popcorn. I’m not sure what to expect in The Invitation, but as the flm begins I am immediately pulled into the fctional life of lively, curly-haired Evelyn “Evie” Jackson (Nathalie Emmanuel).

Jackson is introduced as a waitress working for high-end catering companies. After the recent death of her mother, she decides to take a DNA test out of loneliness. The test reveals that she has family in England. Jackson is then messaged by her eager and kind cousin, Oliver Alexander (Hugh Skinner).

Alexander informs Jackson of Emmaline Alexander, who was her great-grandmother. While engaged, Emmaline had an afair

England so she can meet the rest of the family.

Alexander’s overtly positive and over-endearing personality immediately sets of alarms in my head. Upon meeting Jackson, he grabs her hand across the table several times and seems too eager to speak to a long-lost cousin he has only just met.

The flm spells out stranger danger in the modern day, complete with technology and an overly involved best friend. She warns Jackson of all that could possibly go wrong, even imploring that Jackson does not trust anyone with a goatee.

Jackson is greeted at the airport by servants and arrives at the sprawling estate in the English countryside. Suddenly, a deep and handsome voice booms in the theater. Walt DeVille (Thomas Doherty) is introduced.

As soon as the camera pans to DeVille’s face, his purpose in

mysteriously, leaving more to be desired. Jackson is introduced to other members of the estate, such as the tall and beautiful Viktoria and the childlike Lucy.

Mrs. Swift, the long-term maid of the estate, brings Jackson to her room and warns of shrikes, carnivorous birds that impale their prey. The windows are barred of, creating a sense of uneasiness. The castle itself has a gothic tone, with blue lighting, creepy artworks and statues. The aesthetics of the grand estate are enviable, with Jackson’s room consisting of silken mauve bed sheets and a four-poster queen size bed.

As the flm progresses, maids are assigned to diferent tasks and each begins to disappear by anonymous shadowy fgures. Jackson has horrifc nightmares of shadowy fgures and visions of Emmaline Alexander. Although close with her overly

creation, the Peanut Butter Paradise. “Once you take just one bite, it’s mouthwatering, and all you can think about is paradise and heaven. Just think about eating dreams and aspirations.”

Sternes and Easter were frsttime concessionaires at last year’s fair. Even so, the couple managed a win on their frst attempt at the competition this year, cinching the title of Best Taste - Sweet.

The State Fair of Texas dates back to 1886. Despite a tumultuous history since, the State Fair has been a constant fxture in North Texas. The fair foods similarly foster an

enduring sense of community and history.

Inspiration for the fantastical creations of this competition comes from everywhere, as many concessionaires spend all year brainstorming and perfecting their recipes. From honoring past ancestors to lifelong friends and bizarre ideas, the Big Tex Choice Awards present the perfect opportunity for the meshing of culture, entertainment and culinary arts.

and more than 70 other concessionaires at the State Fair of Texas from Sept. 23 to Oct. 30 at Fair Park.

her less and less due to her relationship with Walt DeVille growing stronger.

DeVille seems like the dream man for Jackson.

He pulls her from a crowd of girls to share a dance. He’s rich, charismatic and thoughtful, often surprising Jackson with grand gestures and romantic cliches, such as freworks as they share their frst kiss.

He even pulls of the misunderstood trope.

Jackson begins to fall head over heels with DeVille as he comforts her when she is terrorized by the shadowy fgures. But after she grows weary of the danger and decides to investigate in the library, where she previously was forbidden to go, she fnds deeply personal information about herself and decides it’s no longer safe for her at the estate.

DeVille convinces her to stay, however, and Jackson is content. At the wedding, she wears a beautiful red gown to the masquerade dinner, excited to meet the bride and groom.

In a surprising turn of events, DeVille announces that he and Jackson will be the ones getting married. Jackson spots men with goatees at the table.

Suddenly, a maid is grabbed and her throat is slit.

Surprise! DeVille and all of the other guests are vampires.

Although slightly jarring, the flm fails to perform in the horror category as cheap jumpscares were interwoven with a subpar romance plot.

DeVille’s objectively good looks were over-emphasized and used as a way to barter with a disinterested audience.

In the last 20 minutes of the flm, the plot resembles more of a comedy than horror/ romance. Jackson attempts to fee from DeVille, but is brought back to the castle after failing to fght of an elderly couple. During the wedding, Jackson drinks DeVille’s blood as part of the ritual to turn half-vampire, then proceeds to burn down a church. In several unimpressive and anti-climatic fght sequences, Jackson defeats Viktoria, Lucy and eventually DeVille. As DeVille burns in the church fre, Jackson’s vampire features dissipate.

In the fnal scenes of the flm, Jackson returns to seek revenge on cousin Alexander, with a new short haircut and her best friend. The flm is abruptly cut short, leaving more closure to be desired.

A balloon installation decorates the Briscoe Carpenter Live stock Center after the Big Tex Choice Awards winners an nouncement ceremony. The Big Tex Choice Awards selected three winners for on Aug. 28 at the Briscoe Carpenter Livestock Center, after judges tasted and rated each of the ten fnalists decided upon earlier this summer. Saniya Koppikar

The fried charcuterie board, winner of the Best Taste –Savory title at the Big Tex Choice Awards, is displayed after the announcement of the 10 fnalists on Aug. 10. The Big Tex Choice Awards selected a winner for the Most Creative, Best Taste – Sweet and Best Taste – Savory titles on Aug. 28 at the Briscoe Carpenter Livestock Center. Saniya Koppikar

Track review: New Gold

Tame Impala shines on Gorillaz’s latest single

Gorillaz, a virtual band curated by Da mon Albarn, have released the second sin gle off its forthcoming eighth studio album, Cracker Island, releasing Feb. 24.

The first single of the same name released on July 28 fea turing bassist Thundercat. The second single, “New Gold,” features Kevin Park er, better known as Tame Impala, as well as Bootie Brown, a founding member of The Pharcyde. Bootie Brown previously featured on the hit “Dirty Harry” off of Gorillaz’ Demon Days al bum.

Gorillaz fans have been de manding a collab oration with Tame Impala since the first singles of its collaboration heavy album Song Machine, Vol. 1 released. Fans became even more riled up when the fictional character from the band Noo dle, @watashiwan oodle on Instagram, posted fan art com bining Tame Impa la’s and Gorillaz’s album artwork together in January 2020.

Immersing listen ers in wavering synths, “New Gold” be gins with the chorus from Tame

Impala. Parker’s chorus is catchy and argu ably the best part of the song, but with little variation , the song begins to feel re petitive.

“But in the magic gold, there’s a pretty one / I ask her where it goes ’cause I really wanna / I wonder if she knows that we’re underwater / That’s the way it goes in the city wonder”

Following a heavy bassline is Bootie Brown’s verse, with commentary on escap ing our world’s corruption: drugs, social media and living only to trend on Twitter. While the lyrics are thoughtful, the flow feels awkward, especially compared to Bootie Brown’s work on “Dirty Harry.” The song begins to lose momentum, neither pairing well to keep the groove alive.

Yet the song bounces back to another high with 2-D’s (Albarn) verse, singing in his typical melancholy manner alongside Parker’s dreamlike melodies.

“New gold, fool’s gold / Everything will disappear (new gold) / Someone’s out here / Who traveled far too many years (new gold) / To nowhere, nowhere (new gold, new gold) / Nothing here is ever real (new

gold) / New gold, fool’s gold (new gold) / Ev erything will disappear, disappear…”

While “New Gold” is nowhere near bad, it is admittedly held back by Bootie Brown’s verses : an unfortunate outcome, consid ering Bootie Brown’s impressive track record. In the aftermath of years of hype and the potential of such a fantastic lineup, “New Gold” leaves much to be desired.

Even so, Cracker Island releases in a few months’ time, and the tracklist of the album contains features from Adeleye Omotayo, Bad Bunny, returning collabora tor Beck and even Stevie Nicks. I’m hoping for another great record from Gorillaz.

Coppell

Krispy Korean corn dogs to crunch on

in less than 30 minutes

Sannidhi Arimanda Communications Manager @ArimandaSanni

Korean corn dogs are a common street food originating from South Korea. Recently, they have become popular in other Asian countries, along with Korean communities living abroad. The versatile snack can be served with varying fillings and toppings, including mozzarella, hot dogs, potatoes and sugar.

Hot dogs Mozzarella cheese

roll dough

Eggs Panko Sugar

1.

2.

Skewer hot dogs and cheese about ¾ through.

Tip: make a half-and-half corn dog by using half of a hot dog and half of a cheese stick.

Pour Panko and whisk eggs into two separate plates. Set aside for now.

Wrap hot dog and cheese with Crescent roll dough. Be sure to cover all sides.

Retrieve the Panko and eggs plate. Roll corn dogs in whisked eggs, then cover them with Panko. Make sure to cover all sides evenly.

Deep fry corn dogs in oil for 30-60 seconds on each side, or until golden brown.

Use a napkin to absorb any extra oil.

To your liking, coat corn dogs with sugar.

Optional: add ketchup, honey mustard, kewpie mayo or Ssamjang.

Josh Campbell

Korean corn dogs are a perfect balance between sweet and savory, with flexibility in its toppings and fillings. The Sidekick communications manager Sannidhi Arimanda demonstrates how to make Korean corn dogs at home with only six ingredients. Sannidhi Arimanda

Graphic by Josh Campbell and Olivia Short

Wiley pushes Cowboys to wade through deep water

Working to better every aspect of his athletes’ lives

Olivia Short Sports Visual Media Editor

Intense, passionate and driven are traits that players, coaches and col leagues use to describe Coppell football coach Antonio Wiley.

Wiley came to Coppell with a plan, but didn’t put it into action right away, reserving himself in a powerful silence that spoke for his character.

“He came in and for the first month or so, he just observed,” running back coach Eric Hill said. “He got to know the coaches and the kids, then start ed implementing things we wanted to change.”

Change isn’t always easy, but Wiley understood the task in front of him. With winning titles, leading Wichita Falls Hirschi to a record of 12-1 and going to the state semi finals in 2021, he came in with a reputation but didn’t flaunt it, opting for observation and a slow tran sition.

“He wasn’t a guy who just came in here

and changed things; He came in and let it play out,” Hill said. “The coaches and kids really appreciated that, he really gained their trust.”

With this newfound trust, players such as senior quarterback Jack Fish paw, bought into Wiley’s mindset, which focuses on educating athletes about the idea of “deep water.” The principle behind this “deep water” ideology is to train and put oneself in uncomfort able situations. To push yourself even in uncomfortable situations so you’ll be accustomed to playing in “deep wa ter,” then when Coppell brings their op ponents out to that same spot, they’ll “drown.”

“Everybody wants to work harder, everyone wants to be better,” Fishpaw said.

It seemed that as soon as he walked in, Wiley earned immediate respect from the players that caused them to not only want to be better in football, but also be the best version of themselves.

“He’s improved the way I look at things,” Fishpaw said. “He wants me to be better in every aspect of my life,

the feeling of Friday night lights only lasts until your final game as a senior.

“As long as we can look ourselves in the mirror and say you gave it all you had, you left it there for your team and for your brothers, that’s what I want for them,” Wiley said. “And whatever their dreams and aspirations are, that’s what I want for my kids.”

With a competitive foundation built

from his youth, Wiley’s spirit to achieve perfection in himself was infectious to his peers and continued to inspire oth ers down the line in his football career. For Wiley, it is all about cherishing every single second on the field, and leaving Coppell football as someone who holds no regrets. Leaving as someone who lives life like they play the game, putting their all into everything they do.

Coppell Football Coach

Coppell coach Antonio Wiley talks to the defense during the Coppell football game against Sachse at Homer B. John son Stadium on Aug. 25. Wiley leads the team by building a foundation of trust and respect. Olivia Short

Coppell coach Antonio Wiley talks to Coppell senior Ikenna Odimenwu defensive end at Buddy Echols Field on Sept. 23. Coppell defeats Grand Prairie, 30-26. Kayla Nguyen

Coppell coach Antonio Wiley talks to his team after the game on Sept. 2 at Buddy Echols Field. Coppell defeats Grand Prairie, 30-26. Nandini Paidesetty

Coppell coach Antonio Wiley supports his team during the game on Sept. 23. at Buddy Echols field. Coppell defeated Plano West, 46-35, during its District 6-6A opener. Nandini Paidesetty

Smith brings relationship skills from middle school

At age 18, right after graduating from Trinity High School, Coppell High School tennis coach Anthony Smith busied himself by getting his Professional Tennis Registry certification. Shortly after, he worked as a tennis center attendant at the City of Bedford and taught at private lessons and summer camps.

“I was born to be a coach. It’s really the greatest gift I have,” Smith said.

“It’s just being able to partner with an athlete and watch them grow mature and watch them develop skills that they felt they might not have been able to do. I feel that coaching allows us to provide a way for athletes to blaze their

Smith took advantage of his minor in history from the University of Texas at Arlington to take on a position as a history teacher at Coppell Middle School North when he first came to the CISD in 2010.

He later moved on to teach at Coppell Middle School East, and what followed was an ability to pursue his interests of coaching tennis alongside teaching

“I always knew I wanted to teach and coach and I’ve been coaching for about six years prior to that,” Smith said. “Then, I went to get my alternative certification. I knew that was my calling, so I worked with Stephanie Ryan, who used to teach at North.

She was my boss at the City of Bedford. I kind of followed her and did my student teaching and watching her class my first couple of years. That’s what really brought me to

Throughout his time at CISD, Smith made occasional visits to CHS for tournaments, practices and private

lessons for his players, providing former coach Rich Foster, who coached Coppell Tennis for 29 years before retiring in May, reassurance for having Smith take the position of head coach later on. Smith advanced to assistant coach midway through the 2021-22 school year.

“He is outstanding at that from a tennis standpoint,” Foster said. “From a personal standpoint, the kids love him because he loves the kids. He loves the sport, and I think he’s going to be phenomenal for the program.”

Smith holds his relationships with previous students close to his heart.

University of Texas at Dallas senior tennis player and CHS 2019 alumna Suzuka Nishino started her tennis career with Smith’s guidance and credits him for the passion she has built for the sport. Nishino had Smith as her U.S.

History teacher alongside his coaching.

“He is really hard working. He would host practices as early as 6:30 a.m. until 6 p.m.,” Nishino said. “Although I didn’t realize it at the time, the fact that he makes the time to plan out and come to all of those practices and games is really insane to me, and I know that he’s doing the same thing for the high schoolers right now.”

Smith’s adherence to staying involved in his players’ lives even after their time in Coppell has made him stand out as not only a coach, but also as a dedicated role model.

“He really tries to get to know his students better,” Nishino said. “Even if it was an hour out, he would come and watch the tournaments I would play in. I don’t know of a lot of school coaches who would do that for their players.”

Smith’s Specials

Visits the U.S. Open with hisfamily every

How ‘bout them Cowboys?

SPORTS THE SIDEKICK

YouTube: Coppell Student Media

Loves to dress up costumes.in

Coppell tennis coach Anthony Smith advises CHS9 students Lexie Patton and Gabby Rice during a break in between their doubles match against Prosper at the CHS Tennis Center. After former coach Richard Foster retired, Smith took on the position of head coach for the 2022-23 school year. Shreya Ravi

Sreehitha Moravaneni

Staff Photographer

Coppell senior defensive end Ike Odimegwu celebrates a fumble recovery as the game ends at Keller ISD Athletic Complex on Sept. 9. Coppell defeated Keller Timber Creek, 44-38. Nashad Mohamed

Coppell senior quarterback Jack Fishpaw rushes against Sachse at Homer B. Johnson Stadium on Aug. 25. Coppell defeated Sachse, 56-27. Olivia Short

Coppell senior Plunger Boy Jett Swearingen asks Coppell cheerleaders to kiss the plunger for good luck at Homer B. Johnson Stadium on Aug. 25. Coppell defeated Sachse, 56-27. Olivia Short

Coppell senior running back Malkam Wallace and senior offensive lineman Trevor Timmerman celebrate a touchdown at Homer B. Johnson Stadium on Aug. 25. Coppell defeated Sachse, 56-27. Olivia Short

Coppell senior wide reciever Zach Darkoch catches a pass at Homer B. Johnson Stadium on Aug. 25. Coppell defeated Sachse, 56-27. Olivia Short

The Cowboys celebrate its win against Timber Creek at Keller ISD Athletic Complex on Sept. 9. Coppell defeated Keller Timber Creek, 44-38. Olivia Short.

Coppell senior running back Malkam Wallace rushes against Timber Creek at Keller ISD Athletic Complex on . Coppell defeated Keller Timber Creek, 44-38. Olivia Short.

Coppell senior wide receiver Carter Kincaid jumps to catch a pass in the end zone at Homer B. Johnson Stadium on Aug. 25. Coppell defeated Sachse, 56-27. Olivia Short

Avid poker player;his favorite card is the ace of spades.

The Coppell football team opened the 2022 season under new coach Antonio Wiley with wins against Sachse, South Grand Prairie, Keller Timber Creek and Plano West. The Cowboys are looking to return to the playoffs this season after missing out on postseason play a year ago. Coppell’s final regular season game is Nov. 4 against Plano at Buddy Echols Field.

OCTOBER 2022 Photo courtesy of Anthony Smith

FOLLOWING IN MOTHER’S FOOTSTEPS

LaMendola finding balance between academics, volleyball

Maya Palavali Staff Cartoonist @mvpalovalley

For Coppell senior outside hit ter Skye Lamendola, volleyball is not just a sport; it has been her way of bonding with the people closest to her.

LaMendola keeps her passions her priority while balancing a heavy workload. LaMendo la particularly likes the genres historical fiction, fantasy and romance.

“It’s basically volleyball, read ing and sleeping for me,” LaMen dola said.

LaMendola’s love for the game came early on, influenced by her familial surroundings. Jan ice LaMendola, Skye’s mom, was a volleyball coach at Greenhill High School in Addison. She no longer teaches.

“My mom played and coached volleyball,” LaMendola said. “I’ve been around it my whole life.”

Born in Las Colinas, LaMen dola moved to Coppell ISD at the start of her eighth grade year from Greenhill School in Farm ers Branch. The change from public to private school allowed her to gain a new perspective .

“There’s so many people at this school compared to a pri vate school,” LaMendola said. “I like that you meet people from every walk of life.”

Having played volleyball rec reationally since elementary school, LaMendola joined the Excel volleyball club in Carroll ton when she was 14.

LaMendola earned a spot on the Coppell varsity volleyball team her freshman year and

now holds the position of a team captain. She values communi cation and works hard to stay on the same page as her team mates.

“I lead the whole program and talk to them during practice if something needs to change,” LaMendola said.

On top of her volleyball sched ule, LaMendola balances her ac ademic responsibilities, too. She uses a few tricks she has picked up to achieve all of her tasks suc cessfully.

“It’s getting in the right head space to make sure you dis cipline your self,” LaMen dola said. “

I set alarms to make sure I have some time to relax and do my work.”

The ability to learn from her experi ences has led to LaMendola becoming a role model for the girls on her team.

because I’m quiet,” LaMendola said. “But, once you talk to me, I open up.”

As well as it being a sport, vol leyball has given LaMendola the opportunity to bond with the people on her team.

“We were in our last tourna ment to qualify to go to Open Nationals and we swept every body,” LaMendola said. “It was so fun with the whole team be cause we manifested and wrote [it] down.”

As well as having fun times, LaMendola and her team have been able to grow side by side all throughout high school, both in and off season.

“It’s been us maturing with each oth er,” Coppell senior setter Taylor Young said. “Getting a better court connection and evolving together”

and is planning to major in prelaw while playing volleyball. She has not committed to a col lege at this point.

After college, Lamendola will shift her plans regarding volley ball and her professional career.

“It’s not something I’m go ing to pursue professionally,” Lamendola said “I’ll probably join an adult [league] or play on the weekends; I don’t think I could just let it go.”

Looking back on her previous seasons, Lamendola has gained insight of what is most import ant; the present.

“Put everything you can at that moment because you’ll never have another chance to,” LaMendola said.

SKYE LAMENDOLA COPPELL SENIOR

“She has, over the years, developed a good leader ship style with the girls,” Coppell coach Robyn Ross said. “They look to her for guidance and sta bility.”

With her killer volleyball in stincts and quiet demeanor, LaMendola’s personality is not visible to an outsider looking in.

“I get that I’m intimidating

Her volley ball commu nity has been a beneficial support system, but LaMendo la’s biggest fans share her last name, notably her parents Jan ice and Daniel LaMendola.

“My mom and dad come to ev ery game they can, as well as my sister [senior Jules LaMendola],” LaMendola said. “They always buy my courtside cutie shirts.” LaMendola graduates in May

Coppell senior outside hitter Skye LaMendola serves against Denton Guyer on Aug. 31. at the Coppell High School Arena. Lamendola plays varsity volleyball while balancing a bounty of schoolwork, enriching her leadership skills in the past four years. Shrayes Gunna

Put everything you can at that moment because you’ll never have an other chance to.”

Coppell Homecoming game guides victory back home

DefenseLariettes Spirit Line

Offense

Student Section

SPORTS THE SIDEKICK OCTOBER 2022 YouTube: Homecoming Nominees

Coppell

The Coppell football team played its District 6-6A opener, as well as its homecoming game at Buddy Echols Field on Sept. 23. The Cowboys defeated Plano West, 45-36.

Coppell High School seniors Breena Hira and Sidd Sivakumar are introduced as members of the homecoming court. Kayla Nguyen

Coppell senior wide reciever Zack Darkoch runs the ball past the Plano West defense. Nandini Paidesetty

Coppell seniors Juliana Stock and Macy Baume pose for pictures with senior Lariette Lauren Beach after she wins homecoming queen. Nandini Paidesetty

Coppell junior wide receiver Baron Tipton celebrates a touchdown with junior offensive lineman Alex Jackson. Nandini Paidesetty

Coppell junior Aaron Colby does push ups on a whiteboard in the student section to celebrate a Cowboys touchdown. Kayla Nguyen

Coppell Lariette senior captain Danna Medel and her father do the annual Lariettes performance, the “Larry” dance, with important people in their lives. Kayla Nguyen

Coppell junior defensive tackle Varun Ravilla and senior linebacker Gabe Warren tackle Plano West. Kayla Nguyen

Coppell Lariettes stand in its spirit line for the Cowboys. Nandini Paidesetty