Volume 34 Issue 5

The biggest failure of my life CISD exploring an abridged school week for 2024-25 academic year

Angelina Liu Executive Editor-in-Chief @angelinaliiu

Sitting at the kitchen table with tears streaming down my face, my father attempts to explain the concept of long division to me. Despite it being relatively cool in the Virginian suburban kitchen, I’m sweating profusely. My arm props up my exhausted fourth-grader head, the numbers beginning to squiggle across the clean white sheet.

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There is a long silence, my father awaiting my response. This doesn’t make any sense.

I stared at the sheet, willing the numbers to perhaps unravel themselves and point me in any sort of direction, anything but the emptiness that existed in the white blank where the answer was intended to be placed.

I shake my head as my father lets out a long, frustrated sigh. Like most first or second generation immigrant children, this is one of the earliest recollections of trying to learn math.

Fast forward to middle school. In Mrs. Apple’s first period class, I paid attention and tried my best to keep my average up. I ended up doing fine; however, I was not given the green light to participate in accelerated math in seventh grade. Thus began my long-winded, never ending catch up journey in math that has plagued me for the past seven years.

After completing Algebra I in freshman year, I registered to take geometry online over the summer with UT High School. I spent the summer studying and completing the self-guided course, which ended up being the most tedious summer of my lifetime.

After Honors Algebra II in sophomore year, I was finally on track to take precalculus my junior year. Unfortunately, I failed to factor in the rigour of the course in combination with the rest of my schedule, forcing me to drop the class.

Now, in my senior year, I sit in Mr. Harrington’s second period on-level precalculus class for 90 minutes. After countless hours of attempting to skip a math level, I had not succeeded.

I consider this to be my personal biggest failure. After all, thousands of students have been able to accelerate one math level, some even two or three, and easily pass precalculus. So why couldn’t I? This anxiety plagued me as I wondered what colleges would think.

Now, I sit here and think about why I even desperately wanted to advance. What benefit would I truly reap?

I wanted to be like everyone else, forcing myself onto an academic pathway that simply didn’t align with my own goals. I saw being in an advanced math class as a symbol of capability, finally proving wrong the people who doubted me.

However, this desire to be right, to prove that I wasn’t what my family and teachers thought of me eventually led to my downfall.

They were right all along.

Now, I’m not throwing my hands in the air and giving up. I accept the fact that I am horrible at math. Instead of refusing to listen, I understand where their criticisms come from. While you shouldn’t listen to all criticism, understand that the people who love you often know what’s best for you, even if you refuse to believe it at the moment.

Sri Achanta Executive News Editor @sriachanta_

In its February employee newsletter, Coppell ISD floated the idea of a four-day school week, testing the waters to see if CISD educators were willing to take the first step in reimagining the traditional school week.

In just the past few months, neighboring districts have considered converting to a four-day school week, with, according to The Dallas Morning News, Mesquite ISD looking at cutting back in an “effort to ‘tackle an extreme teacher shortage.’”

According to Waco’s KWTX, in Texas, there are at least 43 districts already operating on a four-day school week, though most are located in sparsely populated areas. Of the 43, 15 are located in North Texas and 17 are located in East Texas.

Spring Creek ISD, located in the Texas panhandle, converted to an abridged school week with Fridays off for students and staff in the 2018-19 school year.

“You know, our school is very rural, where we have no town,” SCISD Board of Trustees President Bob Kasch said. “Our school is all that’s left of the booming oil patch of Borger, Texas of the 1920s.”

A study done by RAND Corporation found that shifts to the four-day school week tend to “increase during financial downturns and a primary motive for making the shift is to save money on school-related costs such as hourly staff salaries and student transportation.”

As teacher retention remains a national challenge, smaller districts across Texas are struggling to keep up with the competitive advantages of larger districts. The teacher shortage crisis is exacerbated by teachers leaving for better-paying jobs at better-developed schools or even outside of the education industry.

To mitigate such issues, some rural districts have turned to four-day school weeks. Kasch credits the four-day school week for aiding in teacher retention.

“Teacher retention, that was the big [thing],” Kasch said. “I think it helped because we just didn’t have everything a larger district had. We went to four days when we went back to having 12 grades because the local junior college was a four-day school. If you started saying OK, ladies and gents, we’re going to work every Friday this spring to get ready for TELPAS tests,’ [teachers] are going to be like ‘Well, hell if they said that’s this, there is no reason to go here. I’ll go to bigger and better ISDs.’”

While most of the practicing schools remove Friday from the school week, Apple Springs ISD removed Mondays from the district calendar.

Texas House Bill 2610, however, requires districts to operate a minimum of 75,600 minutes per year including intermissions and recess. To accommodate for lost hours in a four-day school week, districts are required to either extend the school day or extend school weeks into what would have been summer break.

Palo Pinto ISD, for example, has extended school days by 40 minutes to accommodate for the loss of school hours on Friday.

The cut-back school week can allow for extra enrichment time for students already excelling at school. According to RAND Corporation, “students in grades K–6 and 7–12, respectively, reported having four hours and 3.5 hours more free time per week than five days per week students. In each age group, four-day school week students spent

approximately 30 to 60 minutes more than five-day school week students on non-school sports and hobbies and spent one hour to 1.5 hours more on chores every week.”

Other schools have taken on a different approach, opting to use one day of the week as an optional day, available for students who need the time to work one on one with their teachers. Olfen ISD, the first district in Texas to implement a fourday school week, has a schedule where students can choose to attend school on Friday. Dime Box ISD has implemented “flex days” on Mondays where attendance is optional based on academic need or if a parent has no other childcare options.

This new system may also be beneficial to teachers in allowing them to commute less often to school and allowing Fridays to open up to personal appointments and projects.

“I think it’s definitely conducive to people who like to have a longer weekend and like to accomplish some things,” Coppell High School Business Management and Business Law teacher Bruce Stewart said. “In addition, it cuts back on the travel time because you have one less day. It’s a competitive advantage that some school districts are already offering [and it helps] with teacher retention and attraction. I think the longer

ing to Community Impact, the bill would increase teacher salaries by $15,000 and increase pay for school support staff by 25 percent. Furthermore, the bill would make the average teacher salary increase to $73,887. No decision has been made since.

The four-day school week also raises concerns with child care on the extra day off. With parents working 9-5s, five days a week, the abridged school week schedule would mean making some sort of accommodation to take care of children on that fifth day. As inflation rises, prices for child-care also rise, forcing parents to pay even more for such services.

“Childcare on Fridays is nearly impossible in the sense that you cannot sign up just for Fridays,” Chamberlain said. “So the concept of just having a kid go to a daycare center on Friday is not an applicable option. Even before the four-day week, you have to have a minimum number of days to [send your child to daycare] and they don’t have the staff to be able to handle just Fridays. That is extremely expensive for parents as well. They’re already paying high property taxes to have, for lack of a better term, a place for their child to go where they are safe Monday through Friday while they are working. This would take away from that.”

Even for parents who work at home, looking out for younger children can still remain a challenge.

“It’s insulting to parents who work from home, under the premise that they can just watch their kids while they work,” Chamberlain said. “There’s this concept that some people have, including teachers, that people who work from home can watch a child. That is borderline offensive to imply that people who work from home have this ability to watch multiple children, children of multiple ages, and give them proper supervision during the day when they have required meetings and items they have to go to.“

Another problem can arise concerning scheduling conflicts with extracurricular activities. For SCISD, the only athletics team for the entire district is seventh and eighth grade basketball. Larger problems would be posed for CISD in relation to all sports teams and even after-school commitments with band, color guard and theater.

days [to account for lost hours] would definitely be a struggle for students as well as teachers, but I think that’s a struggle that we’ve seen even going to block schedules.”

But according to CHS DECA adviser and business teacher Richard Chamberlain, this discussion is being used to overshadow the root issue of low teacher salaries.

“This is a smokescreen,” Chamberlain said. “In the month or two before this became the talking point of everything, there was talk of flat raises for teachers at the federal, state and local levels. Everybody was talking about it: percentage raises, raising the minimum, etc. Now it seems like the way to retain teachers in their mind is this four-day workweek when it is a total bait and switch. Instead of paying us more money, they want to entice us with this four-day workweek, which again, does not change the amount of minutes we’re working.”

Back in January, State representative James Talarico filed House Bill 1548 in an attempt to raise teacher salaries. Accord-

“There’s still a lot of challenges,” Stewart said. “What are you going to do, because we have so many activities and athletics that occur on one of the nights? Does that mean they get condensed into a four-day school week? What happens when our events don’t coincide from a competition perspective with those of other districts? Whether it’s athletics, whether it’s band, whatever it is, there’s competition and things that will occur on days that school doesn’t occur.”

CISD is in the preliminary stages of putting together a committee to research the viability of a four-day week. Community input will be garnered and more planning will take place before a decision is made.

“We’re really interested to watch and see how that’s going to play out,” CISD Board of Trustees president David Caviness said. “I don’t know yet the prospects for Coppell yet to go to a four-day school week. [Superintendent Dr. Brad Hunt ] just announced we were in the early stage of starting a committee to explore the option and evaluate the pros and cons. It’ll be a pretty long process before we even get to a point of having a real discussion about it. Right now they’re in the information-gathering phase and just trying to understand the ins and outs of how it would work. We’ll see from

there.”

Instead of paying us more money, they want to entice us with this four-day workweek, which again, does not change the amount of minutes we’re working.”

RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN CHS BUSINESS TEACHER

The Sidekick executive editor-in-chief Angelina Liu attempts to solve a math problem in Coppell High School on-level pre-calculus teacher William Harrington’s classroom on March 22. Liu explains why she thinks trying to advance one level of math is the biggest failure of her life. Kayla Nguyen

Photo by Nandini Muresh

STEM drives Jain to become Region 11 TSA president

Rhea Chowdhary Staff Photographer @rhea_chowdhary

Countless hours pass by as Coppell High School junior and Technology Student Association secretary Naisha Jain perfects her autoclave device, ready to compete at the TSA regional conference. She competes in six competitions at regionals, pouring endless effort into research involving the recent Texas snowstorms and ways NASA can better preserve food in space.

Finally, she gives her speech, presenting the question: “Why should I be Region 11 TSA president?”

On Feb. 11, excitement filled the room of the CHS cafeteria as Jain was announced Region 11 TSA president, a first in Coppell.

“I was shocked, and I still am,”Jain said.

“It’s a big thing for me because I’ve been involved in TSA for three years and have always tried to grow the members, so being TSA region president gives me the opportunity to grow the program even more.”

Months prior, Jain put in work by spending time in and out of school and TSA meetings while also working with CHS engineering teacher, TSA advisor and Region 11 board president Michael Yakubovsky to get the chapter integrated into the regional officer program.

“This was our first year ever having regional officers, so I worked very closely with Mr. Yakubovsky to create this program,” Jain said. “It was pretty basic and involved creating a google form and giving speeches at the [region competition’s] opening ceremony.”

While working with her team for competition, Jain’s key trait is her hard-working nature and efficiency. When working on the competition for geospatial data, her job was to focus on creating a portfolio for competition.

“She helped a lot with the organization and data collection side of the [geospatial] project,” junior TSA member Ustav Jain said. “It’s great to work with her because she’s always looking for new ideas, looking at every single aspect of the project and she’s very interactive and fun to talk to.”

Jain’s passion for STEM is evident through her large participation in TSA activities and in her engineering class. Jain mentions that her motives were actually influenced by young inventor Gintanjaly Rao. Her device combating the Flint water crisis, a public health crisis in Flint, Mich., caught Jain’s attention and prompted her to focus on improving the effects of water contamination in the future.

cy with daily assignments and projects. As a student, she constantly strives to help others and do her best work and never fails to embody the ideals TSA supports.

“Over the last couple of years, I’ve really gotten to see Naisha grow as a leader in her class and in TSA because she’s very approachable and reliable,” Yakubovsky said.

Jain has been in TSA since her freshman year. Although she’s constantly involving herself and organizing club activities as secretary of the CHS club chapter, her favorite part about TSA is the long lasting friendships she has made.

“I love TSA because I get to meet so many new people and I’ve made a large number of best friends here,” Jain said. “It can be really stressful right before competitions, but knowing that you’re with your friends and you’re bonding [through competitions] is a really nice experience.”

Coppell High School junior Naisha Jain has put her passions and knowledge of STEM into the Technology Student Association for the past two years. On Feb. 11, Jain was announced Region 11 TSA president, the first in Coppell. Shreya Ravi

“She was the winner of a discovery education competition in 2017 and she’s so young,” Jain said. “Her device helped many facing the water crisis, which brought the issue of water contamination and quality to my attention and inspired me to strive to make a difference.”

In her engineering class, Jain displays the same amount of diligence and efficien-

Jain continues to advance her passions and knowledge in STEM as she recently got accepted to the Texas High School Aerospace Scholars, hosted and mentored by NASA scientists. The program will assist students in finding what they enjoy in space and earth exploration while remotely assisting with data analysis and collection.

Jain’s evident contributions to TSA have been very beneficial to the program and what it has become today. She hopes that from her journey, new TSA members will be motivated to never back away from trying new things.

“Just go for it,” Jain said. “You never know what you could get.”

Kulkarni, Muvva pursuing excellence in elite science fair

Wendy Le Staff Writer @CHSCampusNews

In the midst of a casual hangout, Coppell High School juniors Ameya Kulkarni and Praneeth Muvva approach the idea of joining the science fair, unsure where their journey will lead them. Little did they know that it would ultimately take them to The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).

On Feb. 18, Kulkarni and Muvva were chosen to compete at ISEF among eight other top participants after placing first in Computational Biology – Bioinformatics at the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair (DRSEF).

Muvva and Kulkarni first ignited interest in science during AP Biology with CHS science teacher Bianca Benitez at the beginning of this year. They embarked on a mission to create a unique project that would apply their learnings to real-life scenarios along with their collective interest in STEM.

“We knew we wanted to do biology because that’s what we were both learning about in school,” Muvva said. “So we said ‘let’s try to incorporate that into our project too.’”

In their quest for innovative ideas, they dove deep into their research, combing through numerous published science databases, navigating through dense scientific jargon and complex formulas to find a topic that had yet to be explored. Finally, they came across a shimmering gem.

“We noticed there’s been a lot of machine learning in different fields like medicines, self-driving cars or chatbots like ChatGPT,” Muvva said. “One of the things we looked at was ‘what’s a new way to use it?’ and we stumbled upon this field called venomics.”

According to Science Direct, venomics is the study of the complex mixture of proteins and peptides that seeks to analyze the biochemical and genetic composition of venom, as well as its various functions and potential applications in medicine and biotechnology in venomous creatures such as snakes, scorpions and spiders.

“One of the issues researchers have is whenever they find a new animal venom, they can sequence the amino acids and they have this structural data, but they don’t know its function or what it does,” Muvva said. “We were thinking, ‘OK, let’s use machine learning to be able to predict these functions.’”

From September to February, according to Muva and Kulkarni, the pair invested 120 hours, respectively, into completing their project in time for the DRSEF.

Coppell High School juniors Ameya Kulkarni and Praneeth Muvva placed first in Computational Biology at the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair (DRSEF) on Feb. 18. Kulkarni and Muvva received direct qualification for the International Science and Engineering Fair as the top scorers. Wendy Le

“During winter break, [Kulkarni] would be cleaning some of the data on Excel while on a plane to Egypt,” Muvva said. “We met for an hour each week and worked on our own outside, dividing up the tasks, doing our solo parts of it.”

Driven by their passion to create a tool that would benefit both the public and researchers, they worked diligently to ensure their project was accessible, convenient and accurate.

“The whole idea of the project is to create a humanistic ‘if I give you this sequence of letters (structural sequence data), what do you think the function will be?’” Kulkarni said. “It’s a good predictive tool rather than spending a lot of time and money conducting your own research to see which protein matters.”

Despite being high school students with limited access to scientific resources and labs, Kulkarni and Muvva were not deterred in their pursuit of developing a functional learning algorithm to predict the function of venoms. They realized that the power of modern technology and information was within reach. By utilizing Google and neural networks such as Uniprot, they were able to create a functional learning algorithm that could predict the function of a given venom.

Due to the originality of their project, the pair faced difficulties in researching and forming the model.

“It’s pretty much starting from scratch and there’s really not been any projects like

this before so a lot of the stuff we had to figure out on our own,” Muvva said. “Sometimes there wasn’t that much data for a certain type of function so working around that was difficult at times.”

As Muvva and Kulkarni presented their project, they left their audience captivated. Despite facing challenges along the way, the pair leveraged their combined expertise to overcome obstacles and complete their project to a high standard.

“They’re amazing; they’re both true leaders in their own class,” Benitez said. “When they were presenting, I was in awe of what these students are doing at an age where most people aren’t doing any science related things like that.”

The pair’s potential is evident in their project. Its outcome is a testament to their ability to apply their knowledge and develop innovative solutions to complex problems.

“I think ISEF is a really significant achievement, only 1,800 high schoolers across the world get in, which is a really small amount if you consider [that there are] more than 15 million of them.” said CHS junior Trishay Naman, who placed second in Biomedical Engineering at DRSEF and a qualifier for the Texas Science and Engineering Fair (TXSEF). “The fact that they’re demonstrating interest in Bioinformatics this early means they have a bright future ahead.”

The project’s success has surpassed the pair’s initial expectations, immersing them

in a rich pool of knowledge and fueling their interest in the field. This experience has opened up new avenues of exploration and discovery, leading them to explore areas beyond their original focus.

“Earlier, I knew nothing about Computational biology, I just knew ‘oh people use computers to detect diseases’ but actually going into the field, there’s a lot of different complexities and lots of different fields; it increased my interest in Biology,” Kulkarni said. “It isn’t just studying the parts of the cell or mitochondria. There’s hundreds of thousands of different projects you can do. It’s super deep and really interesting. In some way, every project that someone does has a contribution to the world. No matter how small your project is, knowing that you still made a contribution towards the future and in our case the medical field and STEM.”

The pair believes in the potential impact of their project, given its ability to provide users with greater convenience, particularly in light of the rapid technological advancements taking place globally.

“STEM is where the world is heading. Everything is becoming more technologically advanced, people are looking for ways to use technology to make their lives easier, prevent diseases, keep people from aging,” Kulkarni said. “While our project is about venoms and snakes, it’s an important contribution to the medical field and knowing what we’ve done has helped that field in some way, hopefully.”

Corners of Coppell Samae Copa carving unique place within community

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.

Youth and Government victorious at Austin, bringing home five individual awards

Sannidhi Arimanda Communications Manager @ArimandaSanni

Walking into the Irving Graphics Pro Expo trade show in 2022, Sean Houston arrived with the initial intent of beginning a wood carving business. Although Houston did not have much prior experience with wood carving, he was open to the different processes being presented at the show. As Houston ventured through all the different startups coming from across the country, one caught his eye: sandcarving.

“It kind of hit me,” Houston said. “ I can do sandcarving.”

A few months later, Houston founded and launched Samae Copa, engraved glassware startup, in April 2022 and coowns the business alongside his wife Amy Hill Houston. They operate the business from their Coppell home.

Why did you choose to open a glassware business over other retail stores?

Sean Houston: Because it was unique. We have enough restaurants in Coppell and that is not something I am strong at. Nobody is going to be asking me to cook for them. Sandcarving was just something that I like and I like what you can do with it. At one point, I thought about doing wood carving and I got a friend that has a woodworking business. So I knew I

was going to compete with him. However, between the two interests, I stuck with glass because I certainly like wood, but he is a whole lot better than I am. There is no reason for us to be doing the same businesses, but we do joint projects.

What was the process of turning your idea into an actual business?

Sean Houston: First, when I was initially going to open a business, I was actually going to join my parent’s [Monica and John Hilton] business. Their business is called VistaPan, they import steel pans and Caribbean drums. I decided I did not want to follow in their footsteps; I decided I wanted to make my own path. Their business was not a good fit for me and my family. Then I thought, well, since I already opened an LLC, I might as well execute on the ideas I really have on my mind instead of just drifting into something I was not all that interested in. I still respect what my family built, but it really was not my interest.

Why did you open in Coppell and how does glass carving work?

Sean Houston: There are not many people who use the process of sand carving. It is where you basically use a sandblaster to put various designs onto a glass and it is slightly labor intensive to do. There are other processes of engraving glassware that are faster and cheaper but I prioritize

Debate team awarded top honors from prestigious Berkeley, Calif. tournament

quality over speed. This method is open in ways that others are not. I liked that this is unique. Oftentimes you will see glass engraved with a laser. The artwork is still difficult to do but once you have set up your machine, you pretty much can go. Every time you use sand carving, you are on the hook and you can not mess up or you must throw the glass away. There is only one shot, right? But that’s why I chose this method. There is less competition this way. Within DFW there are around four others who use this engraving process, I only know one of them.

How do you select your glassware?

Sean Houston: To select my glassware I like to go to areas where I can get them wholesale. There are a couple of different places; there’s the actual glass company themselves, like retail glassware. That is the higher end glassware. It is a level above most of our glasses.

Do you have any exciting plans for the future of your business?

Sean Houston: In the future, although the deal has not closed yet, there is a wine festival that we are working out the details of. It will be around 500 glasses for their community. That will be pretty much the biggest deal we will have. That is pretty exciting. Then we have another deal that is coming up for 5,200 glasses for a band that does weddings.

CHS DECA sending 25 members to ICDC in Orlando, Fla.

CHS doubles up on second placements at state science fair

Samae Copa co-owner Sean Houston carves a design into glassware on March 13. Samae Copa specializes in customized engraved glassware which Houston owns with his wife, Amy Houston. Aliya Zakir

Freshmen in different courses are currently working on...

An AP Human Geography student completes a sustainability development worksheet during third period on March 27.

Freshmen artists advance to state in first in-person VASE competition

Principles of Business student

Ella Baek completes a case study during third period on March 27.

World Geography students complete an agriculture vocab pyramid activity during third period on March 27.

Art 2 Honors students sketch their clay monster mugs during third period on March 27.

Morel embracing languages beyond textbooks

Wendy Le Staff Writer @CHSCampusNews

Freshmen are immediately captivated by an enchanting display of gnomes adorning room C118 as they step in for their class. Each tiny figure reflects a unique holiday, from the whimsical and romantic designs of Valentine’s Day to the spooky motifs of Halloween.

As their eyes wander, they are transported on a global journey through the display of souvenirs that hail from all corners of the globe. And at the heart of it all stands a figure who radiates a magnetic energy that fills the room, CHS9 Spanish I and French I teacher Fabienne Morel.

Born in Paris and raised in Normandy, Morel was introduced to English at a young age, laying a solid foundation for her linguistic endeavors. With high school at St. Chantal in Normandy on the horizon, Morel added Spanish to her repertoire, sparking a passion for mastering new tongues.

“Part of the reason why I love languages so much is because it’s very genuine and brings a different dimension when you can talk to someone in their language,” Morel said.

After relocating to Texas in 1992, Morel was faced with the challenge of securing employment with her marketing and management degree from Universiité de Caen in Normandy.

She found herself at a crossroads and made the decision to pursue a new bachelor’s degree in 2000 at University of Texas at Arlington in Spanish and French.

During her study, she participated in a study abroad program where she had the opportunity to immerse herself in the language and culture of Mexico. The experience allowed her to improve her language skills and delve deeper into the culture.

“[My host mother] Señorita taught me how to cook and took me grocery shopping, while I took care of the babies,” Morel said. “It took a different dimension [of learning], it went from paper to real life. You learn so much faster because you don’t have any other choice but to speak the language.”

Morel’s plans to teach Spanish were put on hold upon the arrival of her first and second child. She eventually returned to the field of education but wanted to reconnect with her native tongue and opted to teach French instead. After teaching at Lewisville ISD, Morel moved to Coppell ISD in 2019.

“People are appreciative to hear you make an effort and try to communicate to them in their own language,” Morel said. “You get so much more of the culture and tradition from all these social aspects and I wanted to be able to give that experience to the kiddos.”

CHS9 French I and Spanish I teacher Fabienne Morel poses with her Monchhichi toy, a stuffed monkey beloved in all her classes for its regular appearance in lesson plans. Morel has been teaching at CHS9 since 2019 and is loved by her students for her engaging personality.

Despite juggling the added responsibilities of teaching both French and Spanish due to the teacher shortage in Coppell ISD, Morel remains to bring a ray of sunshine to every class. Her infectious optimism serves as a beacon of hope, illuminating the path to language mastery for her students.

“It never seemed like she was having a bad day and even if she was, she’d make sure it didn’t affect us,” said Coppell High School sophomore Hridya Ann, a former student of Morel. “I had her for my first period and it always brightened up my day.”

Morel uses her own language learning journey to inspire her teaching methods. Her unique approach to teaching language involves incorporating her signature fun personality into designing class activities that are also relevant and practical for the real world while also making sure her students are engaged.

“You never know her next move,” CHS Spanish and French teacher Michael Egan said. “She was talking about lightning and thunder and kids couldn’t understand the [French] word ‘tonnerre’ so she literally got up on the desk and started stomping and said ‘what does this make you think of.”

Morel’s dedication to teaching goes beyond the textbook, as she imparts not only the linguistic intricacies but also the cultural richness that the language carries. With her unwavering commitment to her students’ success, she often goes the extra mile, even paying for resources out of her own pocket, such as Quizlet Premium, so that her students can reinforce their skills outside the classroom with her recorded pronunciation for their vocabulary practice.

Additionally, she enriches her lessons with culinary delights such as crepes, galettes, baguettes and more that help her students better comprehend the festivities of the culture.

“I love learning French with Morel because I feel like I’m truly learning the language, not just memorizing

words and phrases,” freshman Marli Field said. “Her teaching approach has taught me that teachers don’t have to be serious all the time, and in my opinion, that’s truly the best kind of teacher.”

Aliya Zakir

Aliya Zakir

Aliya Zakir

Aliya Zakir

Yaamini Jois

Srithi Sinha Division 1

Aarush Gotur Division 2

Lattika Adloor Division 2

Zeel Patel Division 1

Shruti Pritmani Division 2

Sandhya Karthick Division 2

Safiya Azam Division 2

Spyridoula Angeli Divison 2

Hasini Gade Division 1

AP African American Studies curriculum should not be “cherry picked” by states

AP African American Studies curriculum should not be cherry-picked by states

The AP U.S. History course framework mentions the word “African(s)” 21 times, the phrase “African American” four times and the word “Black” once on a 291-page document.

AP World History: Modern features “African(s)” only four times and the words “African American” or “Black” are never featured in the 249-page document.

“American” however, appears 151 times on the APUSH document and three times on the WHAP framework.

But College Board has a way to broaden students’ perspectives and introduce them to a different part of AP history: the new AP African American Studies course.

College Board began developing the course during 2020 amid social justice uprisings. It sought to create a class where students would deeply engage with African American history, culture, movements and debates.

In January, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis blocked the new AP course from being taught in his state’s high schools. This was due to the inclusion of so-called “controversial” beliefs in texts from modern Black thought

leaders and history teachers, whose writings, the DeSantis administration believes, violates state laws and imposes a political agenda upon students.

Completely banning the course from all high schools in Florida is not the appropriate solution. Students deserve to learn new perspectives and marginalized histories that are not as commonly taught in typical high school instruction. This new course is a way to learn that facet of history.

College Board is continuing to advocate for the new pilot course to high schools. It deserves a chance to implement the class.

The logic is on their side.

After Florida’s response to the new course, College Board released a lengthy statement where it condemned Florida’s ban of the course while also acknowledging its own mistakes with regards to the lack of clarity of the optional course material including contemporary topics like the Black Lives Matter movements.

It specifically targeted the Florida Department of Education and the DeSantis adminis-

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tration’s subsequent comments that African American Studies “lacks educational value” accepting that their “failure to raise [their] voice betrayed Black scholars everywhere and those who have long toiled to build this remarkable field.”

College Board went further on to criticize Florida’s effort to “engineer a political win” by “[claiming] credit for the specific changes [College Board] made to the official framework.” In fact, in a letter sent from Florida to the College Board, Florida expressed gratitude for the removal of 19 topics which they never asked the College Board to remove. Despite what the letter says, most of those topics remained in the framework.

Texas is acting similarly by filing a bill to ban any AP course that does not comply with the state’s anti-Critical Race Theory law. If the bill passes, Texas would be the only state to specifically target AP courses and test their compliance with state laws.

AP courses such as the AP Government and Politics course have been known to historically exclude ethnic studies. Coppell

Minori Kunte*

Nashad Mohamed

Nimat Randhawa

Nyah Rama*

Sahith Mocharla

Sreehitha Moravaneni

Sukirtha Muthiah

Rhea Chowdhary

Sahasra Chakilam

Sameeha Syed

Shreya Ravi

Trey Boudreaux

TJ Jindal

Vibha Viswanath

Jayden Chui*

Meghan Chiang

Noor Fatima

Nrithya Mahesh Wendy Le

High School already offers an Honors African American studies course and based on current levels of participation, it appears that there is already a level of demand for a course that delves into Black history, culture and heritage.

Unless the bill is passed, CHS will offer the AP African American Studies course to its students sometime in the future. If the bill is passed, CHS would not be able to offer the course. History courses, including AP courses, tend to gloss over other parts of history, such as African American History, by explaining it through a Eurocentric lens, often ignoring the history of people of other cultures in the United States.

Offering this course would introduce students to a new viewpoint which would help them gain perspective on the world, and an appreciation and understanding for diversity. If the government does not allow for different viewpoints to be present in a school, it sets a bad precedent for future generations and governments.

But the problem is not a simple one and requires a more complex

solution from the overarching organization. College Board needs to show its dedication and level of commitment to truly teaching students about Black history and culture by not changing the “controversial” curriculum for states across the board.

Allowing for feedback and constructive criticism is one thing. However, removing or allowing contemporary topics that are likely to be highly interesting and relevant for students to be made optional in the pilot course is a separate issue.

By bending to the pressure from the government, it sets the precedent that people have the ability to bend the rules and curriculum. Considering the problems that would arise with AP testing if the curriculum was to be changed on a per state basis, College Board should pursue an “all or nothing” policy. Either states adopt the new course and implement it in schools, or they don’t implement the course at all.

State governing officials should not be allowed to pick and choose the content they want to teach students.

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 content decisions. The editorials and columns in this paper reflect the view of their writers.

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Unveiling the dark side of pervasive pretty privilege

One can argue that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however it can be commonly agreed upon that there are certain traits that are deemed as attractive. Long eyelashes, good facial structure and clear skin appeal to the typical beauty standard.

Protagonists in films and TV shows are often portrayed as beautiful, both in appearance and morals. The young, pale rosy-cheeked and raven-haired Snow White is pitted against the greedy, self-serving wicked Queen.

Villains are easily categorized and are manipulative and violent. Notable individuals that immediately come to mind are Ursula from The Little Mermaid, the Joker from Batman and Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street.

From Ursula’s evil smirk to the Joker’s unnerving smile and Krueger’s scarred appearance, it can be agreed that one aspect that aligns with all of these aforementioned individuals is that the ugliness that exists within them are represented in their physical appearance as well. This mixture of inner and outer undesirability finds one constantly rooting for the protagonists in the story.

However, what happens to the public’s opinion when the villain is conventionally attractive?

Take Tate Langdon from “American Horror Story” for example. Played by Evan Peters, Langdon is initially portrayed as a deeply troubled teenage boy. As the season

progresses, his true intentions and evil actions are unraveled. From murdering his own father by setting him ablaze, shooting and killing five of his classmates in a school shooting, to raping his girlfriend’s mother, his list of wrongdoings is anything but short.

However, instead of lifting up the protagonists of the story, many viewers of the show empathize with Langdon and attempt to defend his actions by citing outer influences. Scrolling through TikTok or YouTube, edits glorifying his character can be found with thousands of likes and comments.

Many viewers saw similarities between the Brianna sweater sold by Brandy Melville and one that Langdon wears in scenes from the show. The sweater was sold out, with many fans dubbing it the Tate Langdon sweater.

In the popular Netflix TV show, “Outer Banks,” one of the main antagonists is the erratic and unstable Rafe Cameron (Drew Starkey). His actions are violent and demeaning, never considering others’ emotions. He is willing to do anything to get his way, even killing an innocent police officer.

However, viewers find Starkey’s portrayal physically attractive. Scenes of Cameron’s are taken and spliced into TikTok edits. Many viewers defend his merciless actions, citing them as a result of his upbringing and family life.

Beauty Positive states, “The public likes him despite repulsive traits because he seems to be sincere, emotional and charming,”

Throughout the show, Cameron is anything but sincere. He lies, cheats and assaults his own family members and yet his actions are continuously defended. In both these examples, viewers are more likely to excuse the villain’s actions depending on how attractive they appear. Their nefarious acts and harm they cause to others is chalked up to their surroundings, whether that be within their upbringing or due to bullies in school or work. The blame is never quite placed on the character themselves.

According to a study published by Nature Briefing,“physical attractiveness facilitates empathic responses, observing a greater empathic response to

pain in more attractive people, as compared to pain in less attractive people,” However, pretty privilege is not just an issue that exists within the fictional universes of films and television.

According to Brittanica, the Halo Effect is the tendency for physical attractiveness such as a symmetrical face to be associated with positive personality traits, although it may not be completely true. This in turn gives an advantage to those who are biologically blessed, due to the assumption of their ingenuity. When one is deemed physically unattractive, the same actions compared to an attractive person are reacted to differently.

Instead of being described as weird, crazy or cringeworthy, a physically attractive person is eccentric, quirky or funny.

Instead of excusing villains’ actions because of their physical attractiveness, see them for who they genuinely are. Although it is difficult and subconscious, seeing past physicalities and genuinely judging individuals based upon their personality is how to overcome the societal determinants of privilege.

Quality content is worth the small investment

Subscribing to paywalls will fund the industry in order to keep journalism alive

content, people would go to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram,” Moroney said.

In order to view this member exclusive content, subscribe to The Sidekick official website for $1.99 a month.

On April 29, 1996, The Wall Street Journal launched its official online presence. By August, the publication implemented the first “paywall” for subscribers with a free trial period.

Nearly seven years later, the paywall had increased in popularity for news publications worldwide. But, it is not because of the need to restrict news to the public. The fact that the paywall has publications’ begrudging acceptance shows the reason stems from the need for money.

On Feb. 15, 2011, The Dallas Morning News added the paywall to their online works. Jim Moroney, the CEO of the newspaper at the time, confided in his staff his wariness about the decision made. He warned his staff of the potential dangers that come with implementing a subscription service.

“I don’t think we can wait,” Moroney said. “The business has enough uncertainty around it.”

During the Future of Journalism hearing before the Subcommittee of Communications, Technology, and the Internet on May 26, 2009, Moroney predicted the potential negative effects associated with paywalls.

“If The Dallas Morning News today put up a paywall over its

There is no set way to create and implement a paywall. The hard paywall is what is usually visualized when talking about online restrictions. It only provides the article’s headline and a couple of sentences to entice the readers.

access is shut down. The freemium option also has the leeway of the metered access but rather than counting the number of site visits, freemium provides free access by type of content. Publications know incorporating the latter options will lose financial revenue in some way. Though it is beneficial by getting more consumers to the news

topics to appease their audiences. The meaning of journalism is to present all opinions rather than a select few; it cannot be done if the journalists can’t get the information they need.

California State University Long Beach associate professor Reo Song and his co-authors, Doug Chung at Harvard University and Ho Kim at University of

experienced losses when they established paywalls.”

People believe the content behind the paywall needs to be worth it; but it always is. Despite what you may think, the journalists put their full effort into their work. Only allowing articles you feel are “good” is a faulty way to look at content consumption. Journalism is a worthy news source and needs to be valued as such. The revenue for the industry is rapidly declining and one of the ways to help keep journalism alive is through paywalls.

Buying a subscription does not mean the people sway what the journalists write about. There is no bias either way and paying journalists does not mean the people who give the money have the upper advantage with news.

Rather than just the stereotypical blocking of content immediately with harsh wording, sites have developed user-friendly ways to provide a balance of information and restrict access. The most common one currently is metered access.

Metered access is self explanatory: the publication allows users to view a set number of articles per month before the free

source, it is also a way for people to side step getting a subscription. It goes to show that news sources are not trying to restrict access purely for capital gain. They want you to have access as much as they need to get money.

Quality journalism can only come when it is funded. Without the paywall source of revenue, journalists will have to rely more on clickbait or less hard hitting

Missouri-St. Louis found from their research that renowned companies such as The New York Times had a relatively positive result.

“Good reputation and exclusivity of content are the main factors that drive the success of [the] digital paywall,” the study concludes.

“Newspapers with less exclusive content, however, have

Adding a paywall is not a slight on the public. It is not meant to deny access to information or exclude certain demographics from receiving articles. It simply is a way to keep journalism alive, providing what is needed to produce content. We need to keep the industry alive because it serves our communities. It represents us.

The job of giving us information is on journalists’ shoulders. We have the job to support the industry that serves us.

In film and television, many people ignore red flags or villainy in characters because of their looks. The Sidekick executive editor-in-chief Angelina Liu thinks that pretty privilege tends to cause lines to blur when viewing villains. Olivia Short

Graphic by Maya Palavali

Angelina Liu Executive Editor-in-Chief @angelinaliiu

Maya Palavali Staff Cartoonist @mvpalovalley

Shrayes Gunna Student Life Editor @shrayesgunna

There it is - that funny feeling.

The months dwindled into weeks that became days In anticipation of Gracie Abram’s latest project “Good Riddance.” It is all but hours away from being the next fixation my mind escapes to.

With worksheets and books strewn across my bedroom floor, I drop my backpackheavy with the stress of the day. Thud.

Furled in my beige comforter in the corner of my room, I plug my headphones in.

My back slumps over as I take in the cut-and-dry lyricism, seemingly losing all structure. Despite the rain clouds making room for my eyes, I text to urge my friends to listen.

Yes, I cried. In retrospect, it is dramatic. But… I was excited. Excitement is not a novelty.

It does not have to fade away with time, as though the feeling - so cherished as a child - is nothing but a faint memory.

In trying to diagnose the cause behind ever changing perceptions of excitement, I found myself stumped. Perhaps it is in our obsession with minimalism, that more than sleek countertops and greyscale walls, our emotions must also look bleak in order to fit into societal standards.

Minimalism, the antithesis of the commonly asserted phrase “doing too much,” is a largely growing trend born out of the world of interior design. Through its dissemination among a vast majority of Generation Z and Millenials, it has influenced the ways in which people not only decorate their bedrooms and kitchens,

but also the ways in which they interact with others and express themselves. The mental health tracking

happiness and fulfillment… because they do not concern themselves with the minutiae of everyday life.”

It is in that notion that I find contention: “minutiae.” Of course, not every moment is worth getting wound up in. A bad grade on an assignment or sleeping through an alarm is not worth ruining your day, but it does not have to mean the opposite. A good grade or a productive morning should be something you celebrate, something you are excited about.

Debunking sibling stereotypes

Sreehitha Moravaneni Staff Writer

@sreehitha_morav

“You’re more spoiled aren’t you? You know, you’re younger.”

When looking at my sister Anoohya and I, people often assume that we are different, both physically and mentally. They assume specific character differences between us, which are often stereotypes based on our ages and do not depict the true nature of our personalities.

For example, people will claim that the younger sibling will make mistakes and not learn from them, or that they are spoiled and have it easier while the older sibling is more likely to know better.

This isn’t the case for everyone, as siblings are not one sizefits-all. Most siblings are a product of how they were raised, not so much of how they innately are expected to act and behave.

A common misconception about siblings is that the younger sibling is more likely to get away with making mistakes over their older sibling. This statement is far from the truth.

My experience as a younger sibling is vastly different from what stereotypes make me out to be. I certainly do not make any less mistakes than my older sister, if anything, I’ve probably made more.

For example, when I started driving. My sister, who is three

app “Life Intelligence” highlights the trends’ positive influence on our choices, writing “...minimalists experience less stress and anxiety and more

At the point that we as humans - with a heart and emotions - sideline all the good as yet another “minutiae” is harmful. You are not lousy, but your one seemingly circumstantial success is outstanding nonetheless. It boils down to one simple thought: if you do not celebrate or get excited for yourself, no one else will. Excitement, despite popular culture painting

it out to be dramatized, is infectious and natural. Whether excited for a film or a college acceptance, it is always OK to laugh, smile or cry.

Instead of being shy or shielding yourself from the T short-exchanges that resemble the far too common phrase—“doing too much”—ask yourself what “too much” is. Because if it means putting a colorful quilt on your bed instead of a white comforter or going out to dinner to celebrate the award you spent months on, then you are not dramatic. You are not excessive. You are not “doing too much.”

I choose to block out that noise with the sound of an album that I am not ashamed to say I cried to during my first listen (and continue to do so).

and a half years older, was allowed to drive much earlier in her life than I was. It took me two more years, until I was nearly 18 and my parents believed I had reached a maturity level where I was competent enough to drive. I was conditioned to prove myself in order to accomplish things that were handed to my older sister. I had to prove myself to earn any of my accolades. I was constantly tested on my abilities, and had to reach a certain point where my parents felt comfortable sending me on my own way. In this way, I retaliate against the stereotype of the spoiled younger sibling. Proving myself to earn something is different from getting it handed to myself.

In the media, we see siblings portrayed in different lights in terms of their intelligence. Many characters from major television streamers growing up, such as Disney Channel, have a tendency of portraying older siblings as unintelligent, middle children as the “normal” ones, and the youngest siblings as the geeky, odd ones.

The Disney sitcom, “Good Luck Charlie”, for example, is about a family and their navigation of the arrival of a new baby. Son, PJ, is the oldest sibling, who is known for having the most childish personality of the three.

Teddy is the middle child, who is shown as a rational and mature thinker. Gabriel, is the youngest

of the three, before the arrival of their younger sister, who is an outcast troublemaker but tries hard to fit into groups at school.

This representation of siblings on broadcast television only provides implications for future generations.

Stereotypes set future generations up to form a preconceived idea of what a sibling dynamic should look like and how they should act. A way to get around this problem is to prevent people from publicizing stereotypes on television media which tends to have a broad and potentially very impressionable audience, and instead represent different situations and unique relationships.

We need to stop normalizing generalized scenarios and attributing them to a stereotype. Instead, we should embrace the uniqueness of every dynamic and break out of the mindset of how a person’s behavior “fits” based on their role as an older , middle or younger sibling.

The severity of those stereotypes also differs from relationship to relationship; not everyone hates their siblings or loves their siblings. Some only have a surface level relationship with their siblings and that is fine.

If you do not celebrate or get excited for yourself, no one else will.

Birth order notions inhibit uniqueness, causes conformity

“Spoiled”

“Know-it-all”

“Independent”

The women who made us

Two sisters bound by unbreakable similarities

Manasa Mohan Executive Editorial Page Editor @Manasa_Mohan_7

Twirling around in our backyard while an electric blue whale shaped sprinkler softly rains on our heads, my sister and I’s laughter rings out like the chimes of a dozen bells. The memory is etched into my mind like a vivid painting. The verdant, pillowy grass beneath our feet, the sun a golden halo around us and the world a blur of color as we spun faster, lost in the magic of childhood.

As we stumbled onto our muted-green rickety porch swing, our laughter gradually turned to sighs of contentment as our bodies sunk into the soft green pinstripe cushions. The gentle swaying of the swing soothed our energy as the sun shined on us and a cool breeze caressed our faces, carrying with it the scent of blooming roses and lilies planted in the garden. In that moment, nothing else mattered but the gentle creaking

of the swing and the warmth of each other’s company.

When I look back on that childhood nostalgia, my mind immediately goes to my green porch swing. No matter how I remember it or what things are different each day that I look back on, one thing is always the same: my partner in crime is always on the cushion to the right of me.

Even though the swing is long gone, the connection between my older sister, Namratha - or Nemo, as we call her, and I never faltered. In our youth, we were just siblings, two people sharing a bloodline but little else. Little did she know, I always wanted to be like her. Thanks to this desire, I unintentionally became exactly like her.

As much as we look like each other, the resemblance is uncanny in other facets of our lives.

It’s become a running joke and quite plausible theory that we were meant to be twins, despite the four-year age gap.

My parents and family friends often call us mirror images of each other. Even if I do not like to admit it at times, they’re not wrong. We look nearly identical. But even more so, we talk the same, laugh at the same jokes, have the same work ethic and habits and arguably have “twin telepathy.”

So as we grew older, something began to shift. We laughed more, fought less and a bond began to form that was beyond a blood relationship, a friendship that was everlasting.

Now, more than 10 years after our green porch swing days, 327 miles and five hours and 21 minutes separate us. But, no matter how far we are from each other, I know that nothing has ever changed between us and nothing ever will. In my eyes, she is the constant in my life. She’s been by my side for as long as I can remember and she is always just a call away. Whatever problem we encounter in life, we face together as a team. We’ve always been a

package deal. In our childhood days, it was because I was stubborn and wanted to spend time with my sister. Now it’s because our personalities have become so inseparable that talking to one sister is like talking to the other.

So, even though I am at least one and a half inches taller than she is, certainly have a different face shape and have, in my eyes, completely different features, it does not take much for others and myself to see how similar we both are both inside and out.

March being Women’s History month is a time to celebrate the women in our lives. The Sidekick executive editorial page editor Manasa Mohan expresses her gratitude to her sister, Namratha Mohan. Photo courtesy Manasa Mohan

Simon transforming minds to make people who matter

defeat the rebels in Star Wars.

Sahith Mocharla Staff Writer @SahithMocharla

You know when you’re around 5 or 6 years old? Just tall enough to see over the kitchen counter and the dinner your parents are preparing. The helterskelter shuffle of mail scattered around, your toys making each and every step a minefield for your parents as they work to bring your house to order. You see little moments, the world above you, old enough to observe, but not yet interact, just like looking from a countertop.

The world always seemed a step away yet SunHee Simon, my debate coach, wasn’t a ladder that helped me overcome that gap, but the blueprint I built off of and the person who shaped the way I view the countertop of our society.

so overqualified my second question to her (after “how are you”) was – in completely boorish sophomore-speak – “why are you here?” So shocked was I that someone as accomplished, talented and honestly brilliant as she was going to be my teacher, and continues to this day.

I might have learned critical thinking because I learned how a Universal Basic income influences America’s trade networks, but in doing so Ms. Simon taught me how to observe the bases of volunteering in my neighborhood and how local decision making affects those beyond the region we live in.

perspectives and shifting the lenses we had on the world so much that if we went back we would be colorblind, so rich and vivid did she make our vision.

since sophomore year. Photo courtesy Umang Vinayaka

I first “met” Ms. Simon over the horror show that is a Zoom classroom, our brand new debate coach, top of her class, just out of Stanford,

She challenged me to think deeply and differently about every issue, especially the ones that mattered to me and to consider different perspectives. She encouraged me to expand my voice and engage with people whose experiences were different from my own. We did become better debaters, but it was a byproduct of becoming better people; more well rounded, greater at assimilating

I still wonder sometimes what she saw in us, because whatever she saw didn’t bear fruit for a few years. The inevitable refrain of “we’ll get ‚em next time” was seared into all of our brains, yet eventually what she believed became reality. We became University of Texas at Austin Champions, University of California, Berkeley Champions, and finally Texas Forensic Association (TFA) state champions. Yet, in the end, that isn’t what I will remember. It‘s the bonds and memories she forged for us all, connections stronger than any argument I’ve made and any counter I’ll face.

She taught me not to treasure victories, but to cherish the hysterics we underwent after a round conflating the United States’s continual desperate grab at foreign relations to the empire’s futile attempts to

Tethering the raven braids of culture together

Anushree De Advertising/Circulation Manager

@anushree_night

Black raven strands gleam at the touch of the brush. She threads the fine fibers into three, interlacing the hair with ease. I look in the mirror. She hums with each skim, her eyes closed as if she knows the routine. She probably does.

She catches me in the mirror and smiles. I smile back.

There is not much I remember from my childhood. Memories have eroded to nothing more than momentary glimpses that flash by every now and then.

But, my mom and her daily hair routine? That I remember quite vividly. I don’t know what it is about Bengali cul -

ture, but we are absolutely obsessed with our hair. When my paternal grandmother met my mom, the first words out of her mouth were not about my mom’s eyes or her outfit; they were about her hair.

“You have the most beautiful hair I’ve seen.”

I have spent years admiring my mother’s hair. I have spent years adorning my own hair with clips to keep it intact as I have taken the stage to dance to classical Indian songs. I have spent years having my hair braided into pigtails with a rubber band corresponding to my outfits. I have spent years looking at my hair as an accumulation of the women before me, as a sign of my ancestry.

Hair is important to me, but

it has a larger significance than my own life. It is a remnant of the unceasing strength of the matriarchy in the family. For a fraction of tradition that continues to be threaded down generations, I am thankful.

My own mother and I do not have the type of relationship where we wrap each other in hugs and yell “I love you!”

Love between my mother and I is more subtle.

Love is the time my mother takes every night to put oil in my hair, preserving my hair and preserving our tradition. Love is the mornings where my mother combs my hair into a braid even though I braid my own hair. Love is the tucking of bangs behind my ear.

I am proud to be a fiber of

the braids of tradition.

Black raven strands gleam at the touch of the brush. I thread the fibers into three, interlacing the hair with ease. I tether the braids, my culture, together.

I remember the late-night car rides as we sang (screeched) Bruno Mars and remember the steady hand she always provided as we alternately shattered and shone at our tournaments.

Albert Einstein told us matter is not created or destroyed, merely transformed. My years in debate had been about taking what I had been given in and transforming it for the future. What I was taught and given by Ms. Simon transferred to the upcoming debaters. She didn’t just build a program, she built people. She didn’t just make a winner, she made me.

The Sidekick advertising/ circulation manager Anushree De and their mother Ananya Kundu value the ability of hair to show aspects of their culture. This Women’s History Month, De is thankful to her mother.

Photo courtesy Anushree De

Coppell seniors Suchit Ineni, Sahith Mocharla and Umang Vinayaka pose with debate coach SunHee Simon to celebrate the Texas Forensics Association State debate tournament in March 2022. Simon has coached Mocharla

Venegas’ hardworking nature scoring goals

Sukirtha Muthiah Staff Writer @CHSCampusNews

With early morning practices and late-night game days, Sports Medicine is not what most would consider an easy course. For Coppell High School senior Mel Venegas, however, the idea of working with broken bones on a daily basis seemed like the perfect environment.

After moving to Coppell in eighth grade from New Jersey, Venegas, like many other students, was overwhelmed with the process of selecting courses for the upcoming school year.

“Sports Medicine really gave me a sense of direction and purpose,” Venegas said.

After coming into high school with no idea of what they wanted to do, Venegas was struggling to find their niche. While Venegas enjoyed conversation surrounding people and their passions, they never saw themself in any of those positions.

“I remember seeing the Sports Medicine students when they came to Coppell Middle School North to talk to us and thinking, ‘wow, these people are cool’,” Venegas said.

Venegas decided to give Sports Medicine a try and attended the annual summer training camp, which is implemented to introduce new members to the program and connect them with members both new and returning.

“From that first day, I really got the idea that this is how I want to help the community,” Venegas said. “The people in this program put in a lot of time and effort, but it pays off.”

It was this same desire to help their community which prompted Venegas to join the CHS Eco Club after being in CHS9 GT Biology teacher Cathy Douglas’s class, who was very passionate about the environment and everything related to life. From taking mini class field trips to the nature center to learning about biology’s intricacies, Ven egas developed a love for the en vironment and preserving and nurturing it.

“Eco club gave me the chance to do things related to the environ ment and outside, which I love to do,” Venegas said, “It gives people the chance to sort of turn off their brains and apply themselves.”

CHS Eco Club sponsor and Anatomy and Physiology teach er Jodie Deinhammer explains how Venegas, as Eco Club pres ident, has had a huge impact on the club and its members.

“I have just never met any body that has that kind of work ethic,” Deinhammer said. “I want other members to see that and recognize that the expecta tion is to have that kind of hard working mindset.”

Apart from having leadership positions in both Eco Club and Sports Medicine, Venegas was also recognized as an academic all-state student for sports med icine. This recognition requires athletes to maintain a gradepoint average of a 90 or above in all classes to qualify.

This requires exemplary time management and organization skills because being involved in the Sports Medicine pathway is the equivalent of participating in a varsity sport throughout the year.

“Mel puts so much work and dedication towards everything they do,” CHS senior Brenna McKinzie said.

McKinzie and Venegas met through sports medicine their freshman year. McKinzie explains how as a friend, watching Venegas achieve their

Khambete cultivating roots of intellectual vigor

Anushree De Advertising/Circulation Manager @anushree_night

Anata no tsuitachi wa dōdeshita?

I watch as the Japanese club immerses into a conversation in the corners of a hallway. Each word, none I can make out, transcends audible barriers, and for a moment I feel pure joy. Each member, so integrated in

the conversation, embraces the beauty of Japanese culture, and for a moment I think of how alluring it would be to be a part of this club.

As the members part ways, the magic created mere seconds before dissipates into the dense halls of Coppell High School.

Senior Japanese Club president Amav Khambete emerges from the close knit circle, and I still sense the faint aura of communi-

ty, culture and cordiality radiating from him. That is the effect of Khambete: wrapping individuals into a place where they can wholly be themselves.

It is not just energy that comes inexhaustible to Khambete: his grounded passion, intellectual curiosity and ever-present smile teems from an endless beam of light.

“In eighth grade, I went to Japan, and I fell in love with

the culture,” Khambete said. “I started self-studying [through Duolingo] in Japanese.”

I cannot help but admire how a simple love for Japanese culture propelled Khambete’s self-learning of the language.

“When I self-studied, there wasn’t a lot of practice with using the language,” Khambete said. “I formed a club at school to change how I understand Japanese, so now I focus on implementing what I already know. It went from Duolingo to more communication-offered studying like talking with people on the phone or through the club in Japanese.”

As Khambete explains his favorite Japanese proverb, “Ishin Den Shin,” which translates to heart-to-heart communication, he laughs at the irony of his favorite proverb in Japanese being about communication.

“If you really understand someone and how they understand the world, you don’t need language,” Khambete said. “Heart-to-heart communication is a [silent] understanding you have. The point of language is to connect you with other people but you do not even need language when you know them well enough.”

Khambete’s inherent curiosity for all things is showcased in more than just his propensity to pursue Japanese, whether that be in maintaining a garden or conducting research.

“He doesn’t shy away from those things that he’s curious about,” CHS physics teacher Stephanie Sloane said. “He mentioned during remote learning that he had a garden.”

On an intangible level, the roots of Khambete’s curiosity grow deep and wide, bearing fruits of pedagogy wherever he plants his seeds. This summer, Khambete’s intellectual vigor drove him to apply to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center STARS program.

Khambete found research as an outlet to cultivate the knowledge he learned in an educational setting, satiating his intense curiosity for science.

“As scientists, we always want to pursue the why,” CHS biology teacher Dr. Bianca Benitez said. “Why are things happening? [Khambete] very much takes that to heart. It’s not something that he merely talks about, and it’s something that he wants to do.”

Khambete’s work in the laboratory on the effect of novel drugs on ephrin protein interactions for pain inhibition on mice, though commencing as a summer project, has grown to become much more.

In January, Khambete was announced as one among 300 students as a Regeneron Talent Search Scholar. Every question I ask about the project takes him to a new lecture, imparting me with knowledge on chronic pain I would never have known.

Khambete is the intersection of multiple facets, each carefully crafted to complement his character. I know that the sapling of curiosity he has planted in his high school is only the beginning. With Khambete, there is always more to to grow from.

Coppell High School senior Mel Venegas won the Academic All-State award, an award that recognizes student athletes who excel in class rank, GPA and SAT/ACT scores. Venegas is the president of CHS’s Eco Club and participates in sports medicine. Vibha Viswanath

Coppell High School senior Amav Khambete was named Regeneron Science Talent Search Scholar out of 300 competitors. Khambete’s research recorded the effects of drugs on ephrin proteins in mice brains. Nandini Muresh

Holmes’s love for Spanish remains steady throughout her teaching journey

Iniya Nathan Features Editor @iniya_v

Coppell High School

Spanish

teacher Emily Holmes started her first year at Abilene Christian University with no idea what her future career path would look like. Starting as a psychology major without a clear plan of what she would do once she had her degree, she soon discovered her passion for Spanish.

“I first started taking Spanish in high school,” Holmes said. “It was something that I really liked, enjoyed and was good at. My sophomore year of college I studied abroad in South America and that’s where that passion came from. When I came back from that I changed my major to pursue Spanish.”

Holmes earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish with a minor in education - so she could teach - and a minor in psychology since she had the credits. She later got her master’s degree in bilingual education at Southern Methodist University. Holmes has been teaching Spanish for 18 years, and 13 of those years have been at CHS. Having taught Spanish for so many years, she’s learned a lot throughout her career.

“My approach and my philosophy about teaching now is completely different than it was when I started,” Holmes said. “When I started it was ‘I love Spanish. Everyone should love Spanish,’ and all I cared about was pushing Spanish, where I’ve learned that it’s not all about Spanish.”

She now takes a different approach in teaching Spanish, especially the earlier classes such as Spanish I and Spanish II since most students take those classes because of graduation requirements opposed to actual curiosity.

“A lot of the beginning levels like Spanish I and Spanish II, especially the on-level classes that aren’t honors, are just about exposure,” Holmes said. “And introducing kids to the language and what it is versus trying to push them towards fluency or demand that they master every single thing. I’d rather take it slow and not cover as many concepts. Especially since it’s something I’m passionate about, I’d rather do that and not completely turn them off.”

Her experience and other qualities have led to her colleagues finding Holmes easy and fun to work with.

“She’s very welcoming, and it was something I really appreciated because everything was new,” CHS Spanish teacher Jade de Rios said. “She’s very sweet, very friendly and her door is open all the time if I have any kind of question because everything was new for me this year. She’s a great colleague to have in the team and we are sharing. We’re on the same page, and we have the same dynamic, so I appreciate having her as a friend as a colleague.”

Holmes teaches IB Spanish classes and therefore works with her classroom next-door neighbor CHS French teacher Michael Egan to improve learning in both of their classrooms.

“It’s very easy [to work with her],” Egan said. “She has ma-

terials that I like to use and modify. Same thing, I’ll give her activities. There’s a subtle nod, like, I respect the quality of work you have and I definitely want to use it in my classroom. I can always count on her to help me out. She’s a very calm, organized and very structured person. I’ve seen her take the time to plan out nine to 12 weeks in advance. You can see that in just the efficiency of her teaching in the classroom.”

Her colleagues are not the only people with a high opinion of Holmes and her teaching skills. Her students feel comfortable and ready to learn when in her class.

“She’s a fun teacher, and she’s very open,” CHS senior IB Spanish student Shraavya Pydisetti said. “It’s easier to talk about things with her than another teacher since she’s more open to our opinions and our ideas. She has discussions with us, not just about Spanish, but just life in general. She’s a little bit strict as a teacher, but in a way that’s good because it prepares you. She’s very understanding.”

Holmes works hard to make that connection with her students. In her years teaching, she has found balance between challenging her students to learn more and not pushing them away from getting the help they need.

“I have high standards for my kids and their work, but I’m also willing to work with them and give them extra chances to fix things or make things better to reach that standard that I set for them,” Holmes said. “I try to be easy for them to relate to and talk to and kind of have fun with the stuff we do in class, but I think at the same time they know that I have high expectations for them. I’ve also learned over the years that speaking 100% Spanish sometimes does more harm than good because it makes it really hard to be able to connect with the kids and have a relationship with them because then they’re afraid to talk to me.”

After a day of teaching her students, Holmes goes home to her wife, three daughters and four dogs. Between teaching and spending time with her children and pets, Holmes does not have much time for herself but enjoys doing jigsaw puzzles as a de-stressor. As her daughters have grown older, they have become what inspires her to become a better teacher.

“My kids at home [inspire me] more than anything because we’ve come into teenage years with them, and one of them will be [at CHS] next year,” Holmes said. “When I look at the kids in my classroom, I see my kids and [think], ‘what kind of teacher would I want them to have?’ That’s what I strive for.”

At the end of the day, Holmes does not simply want her students to learn Spanish in her classes but to learn and grow as people.

“We all come from different places, we may look different but at the end of the day, we’re all human,” Holmes said. “We all make mistakes. The important thing is that we kind of learn from that and then work to be better than we were the day before.”

Coppell High School Spanish teacher Emily Holmes discusses project guidelines with her students during sixth period on March 21. Holmes was selected as The Sidekick’s Volume 34 Issue 5 Teacher of the Issue. Nandini Muresh

Coppell High School Spanish teacher Emily Holmes has a wall covered in postcards from various places she has traveled. Holmes was selected as The Sidekick’s Volume 34 Issue 5 Teacher of the Issue. Nandini Muresh

Coppell High School Spanish teacher Emily Holmes points to her favorite postcard from her large collection. Holmes was selected as The Sidekick’s Volume 34 Issue 5 Teacher of the Issue. Nandini Muresh

Building

for tomorrow: Coppell voting on $321 million bond package

Story by Manasa mohan and Sri achanta

Walking into the Coppell High School Tennis Center, Coppell senior Isabelle Beach breathes a sigh of frustration. Her eyes scanning the disarray of the room, she attempts to find a space to sling her heavy tennis bag. Pale wooden benches are cluttered with miscellaneous backpacks, water bottles and shoes as the mess creeps onto the cracked gray pavement.

The Coppell Independent School District bond committee has heard community concerns such as Beach’s and is putting forward four propositions totaling $321.511 million in its bid to move the district’s education infrastructure to the next level.

CISD voters will decide on May 6 to support or vote down the bond.

In 2019-20, the Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee was tasked with creating a comprehensive long-range facilities plan for all CISD buildings and facilities. The committee includes parents, students, community members and staff and would impact all CISD buildings, including those not in use, for the next three to 10 years.

In 2021-22, the Visioning Committee provided its input for the bond committee and in the fall of 2022, the Bond Steering Committee began prioritizing capital improvements projects for the district.

At the Jan. 23 Board Meeting, the Bond Steering Committee submitted a bond package proposal that was set to be incorporated into a future board election. On Feb. 6, the Board of Trustees held a bond workshop to discuss the committee’s bond package and on Feb. 13, the Trustees voted to approve the bond package to be a referendum on the ballot on May 6.

The district requires funding from a new bond package as opposed to the money coming out of the operations and maintenance budget to implement these changes. Especially considering 43 percent of CISD schools are more than 30 years old and two of the elementary schools (Richard J. Lee Elementary and Canyon Ranch Elementary) are less than 10 years old. But the average age of the nine other elementary schools is 35 years.

As CISD buildings age, the cost for operations and maintenance increases, meaning the five-year

bond package is the most feasible to fund the changes.

“All campuses are in the bond and all elementary schools, aside from Canyon Ranch that opened in 2019 and Lee Elementary that opened in 2014, will receive an interior refresh, classroom and office furnishing, HVAC and roof replacements and site improvements,” CISD Director of Communications Amanda Simpson said in an email. “All elementary schools will receive new playground equipment, except for Canyon Ranch Elementary. The bond impacts all students and all campuses.”

But to fund these expenses, CISD will have a bond election where funding of the district’s projects will come through property taxes. As of the 2022-23 school year, CISD has had the lowest property tax rates in 30 years at $1.2173 for every $100 of the property value.

The maintenance and operations tax rate currently sits at $0.9867 and the interest and sinking tax rate is $0.2306. If the bond proposal were to pass, tax rates are projected to increase $0.0744 for every $100 of the property value, making the new tax rate around $1.2917 per $100 of property value, which is still lower than the 202122 tax rate.

According to the district’s bond flier, the maximum impact on an average CISD home valued $450,000 (including Irving and beyond Coppell city limits) would expect to pay an increase of $28 per month, totaling to $335 per year. The bond flier states “if taxable property property growth exceeds projections or if interest rates are less than projected, the tax impact could be lower.”

Zillow evaluates the average Coppell home value at $589,127 which is up 4.9 percent from the previous year. CISD’s tax impact calculator estimates that for the aforementioned average valued home, the estimated monthly impact would be $36.53 and $438.81 annually. But for residents 65 and older who file for exemption with the local appraisal district, there will be no increase in school taxes on their homestead.

Proposition A totals

$269,584,000. Included in its plan are priority condition improve-

TOTAL PROPOSED BOND:

ments at all CISD campuses, entailing new playground facilities for all CISD elementary schools except Canyon Ranch, new flooring and painting at CISD elementary schools and facilities except for Canyon Ranch Elementary and Richard J. Lee Elementary, classroom and office furnishings at schools and buildings, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems replacements based on current conditions, site improvements and roofing replacement and repairs based on roofing conditions.

Also included in Proposition A are elementary renovations and pre-K classroom additions at three elementary schools: Austin, Lakeside and Valley Ranch. Safety and security features will be added to all schools. Features will include door hardware and locks for all classrooms and exterior doors, security cameras, security camera data storage servers, electronic door access controls, cellular boosters within campuses, outdoor wireless access and a security control center.

Multipurpose labs will be created for STEM-related activities at all middle schools. Career and Technical Education and STEM labs will also be built at Coppell High School.

“We have a lot of students who are interested in STEM and doing bigger projects and the lab we have [now] was converted from a computer lab,” CHS engineering teacher Michael Yakubovsky said.

“We don’t really have a lot of room to do bigger projects and some of those things fit a lot of students in and this would potentially give us the ability to do some of those other projects and areas with robotics, drones and some of the other building projects and not have everything in one small spot and everyone on top of another.”

CHS senior Tanai Prathapam, who is also the school’s Technology Student Association vice president, thinks the added space will encourage students to participate in the engineering department and further their knowledge in the devices that CHS already has available.

“If we possibly get two or three rooms, then we can utilize the amount of equipment we have and

spread them out and have more ease of access,” Prathapam said.

“It’ll make people want to learn how to use [the machines], and then therefore, they’ll be fixed and used right more often.”

In addition, a new fine arts rehearsal building will be introduced at CHS. Coppell Middle School North will also gain a new rehearsal space and CHS9 will have internal renovations of the auditorium. The proposition also allocates money for the purchase of capital equipment including fine arts instruments, uniforms, art room kilns, choir risers, acoustic shells and portable sound equipment.

The purchases of school buses and vehicles also fall under Proposition A. In addition, money will be placed for funding for further network security and telecommunications infrastructure.

“[The bond committee is] thinking about building [a rehearsal building] because we are at capacity here and we also have to travel,” CHS head band director Kim Shuttlesworth said. “It’s life changing to the program for sure because as we grow and evolve and we’re dealing with how to get our kids from A to B in the most efficient and safe way, I think it really does solve a lot of our problems. It would allow us to start rehearsals earlier and get home earlier. It also allows us to be able to be in one place together, we just can’t do that right now.”

Proposition B totals $39,472,000 and focuses on district technology, mainly involving upgrades and lifecycle replacements of staff and student devices, wireless access and audiovisual equipment.

Proposition C is the least expensive of the propositions at $2,931,000 and covers renovations to Buddy Echols Field with replacing the artificial turf field, track surface and seat backs.

The final proposition, Proposition D is $9,254,000 and encompasses lifecycle turf replacement in the CHS Field House and improvements to the CHS Tennis Center, with the main facet of this proposition includintg the addition of locker rooms to the tennis center. The locker room is currently at one-third capacity of the current participation and growth of the tennis program. Spectator re-

$321,511,000

strooms will be added along with new court lighting.

“It’s been talked about for a long time on our side just because the team has grown a lot since the building was first put there,” Coppell senior tennis player Isabelle Beach said. “The locker rooms are not the size they should be. There are a lot of things that I feel like could be better about the tennis center and would love it if the money went to us.”

In CISD’s most recent bond package, a $249 million package in 2016, all projects were completed on budget and on time. The package focused on construction of CHS9, CMS West and Canyon Ranch Elementary as well as expansion and improvements at CMS East, CMS North and CHS. Security kiosks were implemented into all 18 schools, more than 200 cameras were installed across the district, new bathrooms and repairs were made to the nine footprint elementary schools (Austin Elementary, Cottonwood Creek Elementary, Denton Creek Elementary, Lakeside Elementary, Mockingbird Elementary, Pinkerton Elementary, Town Center Elementary, Valley Ranch Elementary and Wilson Elementary) and all students were equipped with new technology devices.

CISD residents in Coppell, Dallas (Cypress Waters), North Irving, Lewisville and Valley Ranch will be able to cast a vote “for” or “against” the four separate propositions: one general purpose proposition and three special purpose propositions. Early voting starts April 24 and ends May 2. Election day is May 6.

“It is very important as a Coppell community to go out and vote,” CoChair Bond PAC Committed to Our Schools Trudy Baade said. “Please register and vote if you’re not registered, that deadline is April 6. It is imperative if you are qualified and you can vote, please register and please come out. Honestly, as a Coppell community, myself and my co-chair [Gaby Anene], we’re the biggest cheerleaders in regards to this community and I know there’s so many of us out there that this bond is really important to pass for the future of our district.”

$269,584,000

Proposition

the bond package includes renovations to all CISD campuses, safety and security features at all schools and buildings, labs and STEM spaces at middle schools, a new fine arts rehearsal space at Coppell Middle School North and Coppell High School and CTE and STEM labs at CHS. The proposition also plans for renovations of the auditorium at CHS9, purchase of school buses and capital equipment as well as funding for network security and telecommunications infrastructure.

Proposition A: Proposition B:

$39,472,000

ProposItion C: Proposition D:

$2,931,000

$9,254,000

A of

Proposition B centers around technology and allots funds for technology upgrades and replacements of student and staff devices, improvements in wireless access and the purchase of more audiovisual equipment.

Proposition C, the least expensive of the four propositions, allocates funds towards renovations at Buddy Echols Field with track and turf replacements and improvements of seat backs

The final proposition, proposition D, plans to devote funds towards turf replacement at the CHS field house, improvements at the CHS tennis center and renovations to tennis locker rooms.

SIDEKICK

FRUGÉ FINDING Family in field of ARt

3-D graphic artist embracing irresistible call to education at Coppell

Rhea Choudhary Staff Writer @rhea_choud

Coppell High School digital art teacher Brennan Frugé has been an artist his entire life, yet never truly considered teaching until he turned 30 years old.

Having a multitude of professions and gaining years of experience in the visualization field, Frugé began his career in 2000 as a 3D graphic artist for BOKA Powell in the DFW area. After transferring to UT Southwestern Medical Center from 2009 to 2012, Frugé became a senior administrative assistant, functioning as a department liaison to IT and marketing departments.

In 2011, Frugé discovered a new passion: art education. While working full-time and starting a family, he began attending the University of North Texas to acquire his degree in Art Education. Taking his passions to Perkins & Will as a visualization artist, Frugé produced engaging 3-D visualization for a multitude of architectural projects until the end of 2017.

“I left the computer graphics industry to become an art teacher because I believe wholeheartedly in the transformative power of art education and that instruction in the visual arts is essential to prepare our children to thrive in modern society,” Frugé said. “When I got laid off in 2009, prior to working at UT Southwestern, I decided to do some soul searching and prayed, which eventually led me to realize that I should spend my life following my passion, teaching something art-related.”

Frugé finished his training as an art teacher in 2018, leading him to teaching in Lovejoy ISD. To obtain more practical experience with students and to stay close to his family in Coppell, Frugé began engraving a path at Coppell ISD by completing two rotations as a clinical student teacher. At Coppell Middle School East, he worked under Jillian Richards for seven weeks and with Lakeside Elementary School’s Cacey Narez for another seven weeks.

“[Frugé] has been a great addition to our art education team as he has a lot of knowledge from previously teaching middle school and now is doing great with transitioning into high school,” CHS Art I and II teacher Sarah Williams said.

“We all have a solid relationship with him and definitely have expanded our students’ knowledge when it comes to digital art.”

Frugé loves to learn, even those not correlated to art, and enjoys keeping his brain’s creative gears occupied.

With his wife and two young kids living in Coppell since 2014, Frugé enjoys working on home-remodeling projects, such as building a rock-climbing wall for his kids and designing a fixer-upper house. When he’s not teaching, Frugé loves to camp with his family, make soap, home brew, and especially believes ceramics is his favorite 3D art endeavor.

“[Frugé] is great at pushing students outside of their comfort zone which is very significant for the students to maximize their full potential through their artwork,” CHS

Art I and II teacher Michelle Hauske said. “The best part about his teaching style is that he doesn’t just lecture the stu dents, but makes sure he does his best to engage with them, while also challenging them.”

Since it had never occurred to him to become a teacher in high school, Frugé mainly fo cused on computer graphics, pushing him to have a com pletely different career for 14 years prior coming to CHS, in cluding work with digital pho tography, video production, graphic design and more.

“I strive to have the way I teach reflect my experienc es from high school, in a way where my students feel com fortable enough with me for them to display their best work through their art on a daily basis,” Frugé said. “Teaching at CHS immensely helps me feel called to instruct art to other young students in ways they respond to best.”

JADE DE RIOS fostering comforting ambiance with STUDENTS IN SPANish

Anvita Bondada Staff Writer @anvita_

After leaving her hometown in France and spending three years in Mexico City as a French teacher in 2005, Valerie Jade de Rios arrived in the United States to become a Spanish teacher. Jade de Rios has been teaching for the past 18 years, after teaching at a multitude of schools in Mexico City, this is Jade de Rios’ first year at CHS. With a passion for language and teaching, Jade

What was your personal journey in learning Spanish and teaching?

I grew up in France, and I learned Spanish there. When I was learning, I took many trips to Spain. Being in that atmosphere helped me learn quicker. I had a true passion for languages and I got my master’s in Spanish when I was in France. Then, I lived in Mexico City where I taught French for many years, and then I started teaching Spanish in the United States. I have been teaching

How would you describe your teaching style?

I am very passionate about language, specifically French because I am from France, but I teach Spanish. It’s very important for me to transmit my language, and in order to do that, it’s important for me to make my students feel comfortable and interested in learning. I feel like your teaching style comes from your personality, and there are many different types. My personality is to be dynamic and to share my knowledge.

How do you encourage students to participate in class?

I think the best way to encourage students in class is to have a trusting ambiance, so they feel comfortable to participate. Sometimes there’s a language barrier which makes them nervous, and they are scared to make mistakes. I al ways want to remind them that they can learn from their mis takes, and that it’s not a prob lem. It’s important to always be in a good mood and to smile.

Have you always wanted to be a teacher?

When you want to study a language, you can do a few ca reers, such as an interpreter or translator; but at of the day, you’re not exactly sure what to do. I grew up surrounded by teachers, so being a teacher was a nat ural choice for me.

I like to teach lan guage, to be with students and I really like the dynamics of being a teacher.

What have you learned from teaching your students?

You can always just be an instructor that gives orders and manages their class, but at the

end of the day, I realized each student has a different story to share. I discovered that you can really see the human side of each student and that you can share and make connections.

Coppell High School juniors Anushree De and Alan Suarez listen to Spanish teacher Valerie Jade de Rios in her AP Spanish Literature and Culture class during third period. Sahasra Chakilam

Coppell High School art teacher Brennan Frugé discusses the question of the day with his AP art class on Wednesday. Sahasra Chakilam

Coppell High School art teacher Brennan Frugé sketches “Prehistory”, “Modernity” and “Portrait” in charcoal. Photo courtesy Brennan Frugé

Coppell High School Spanish teacher Valerie Jade de Rios walks around the classroom during third period. Sahasra Chakilam

SAWAf Pursuing UNited nations ASPIRATIONs , fuelled BY RELATIons

Yaamini Jois CHS9 Editor @yjois12

Coppell High School junior, debate student and student journalist Hana Sawaf can pinpoint one main thing that “makes her heart race” about digital journalism: the byline.

“Everytime I see the title of my article, and ‘by Hana Sawaf’, I get so excited,” Sawaf said. “It makes my whole day: I really like having the opportunity and the platform to talk about the things that I’m passionate about, which goes back to why I’m in [speech and debate]. To put it simply: I want to talk about what I want to talk about, and I want people to listen to me.”

Sawaf has been competing in oratory speech since the start of the year and soon carved a path in journalism after joining political nonprofit news organization, Pas quines, as a federal affairs intern.

To further involve herself in her interests, Sawaf opted to take International Baccalau reate courses over Advanced Placement courses. In addition to studying international rela tions, Sawaf also harbors a pas sion for languages and cultures, taking both AP and IB Spanish in her junior year.

“She’s one of the most interested students I’ve seen in my career,” IB Spanish teacher Emily Holmes said. “She cares a lot about the differences between languages and is always doing everything she can to be a better student in class.”

Yet all her interests can be traced back to her heritage as a Syrian-American in a family of Syrian immigrants. Sawaf learned about the Syrian Civil War at a young age, sparking an interest in diplomacy and negotiations between countries.

ry competitions, which requires her to pick a topic to write about and present a speech to judges. She attributes her willingness to join as a result of wanting to grow away from the “shy” child she was and “branch out.”

“I’m there to talk about what’s important to me, whether it be immigrants’ rights, refugees’ rights or the struggles of assimilation to immigrants,” Sawaf said. “I found my voice by writing about what I knew I was passionate about. Once I get bored, I know the judges will get

Sawaf focuses on issues in the Middle East to amplify lesser-known issues within a Western community.

As a result of her experience, Sawaf’s current passion project is creating and leading Project Sahafiya, a digital female-led newspaper dedicated to current events that take place in the Middle East.

“By giving female citizen journalists an opportunity to talk about the Middle East, we could bridge the gap,” Sawaf said.

Outside of school, Sawaf is also a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) officer for the Red Cross. After her active work and enthusiasm for previous Red Cross projects, Sawaf was chosen to be the DEI officer for her inclusive perspectives, articulate manner of speaking and initiative during student-led projects.

Sawaf also helps the Sickle Cell Initiative to host blood drives in African-American communities to raise awareness about sickle cell disease in spaces where the

disease is most prominent. Sawaf’s next project for the Red Cross is Buddies for Red Cross, in which the Red Cross will partner with students with learning disabilities from regional Independent School Districts to mentor the students.

“She’s always forming new connections with different communities, and she makes an effort to reach out and understand them,” Red Cross Youth Services Executive Board President Rohan Jupelly said. “It carries over well into international relations and law. [Her background] makes her aware of people’s motivations. She’s focused on inclusivity and accessibility, which are apparent in her projects.”

If each activity Sawaf dedicates time to is one more rung on the ladder, Sawaf aims to climb all the way to the United Nations.

“It might be an unlikely dream or a long shot, but that’s what I’ve been working towards and will continue to do so,” Sawaf said.

Caballero seeks sustainability , through Spring-themed drive

they do their part, despite having to pay a $26 fee: the hefty cost of climate action.

From time to time, New Tech High @ Coppell senior Arwen Caballero spots upholstered couches, reams of copy paper and flared-leg jeans dotting the landscape outside of her apartment in Townlake of Coppell.

Recycling, what Caballero recognizes as a relatively simple and effective process, is one largely ignored by her immediate community. In fact, Townlake of Coppell put a halt to its recycling program due to its lack of utilization by the several hundred residents that call the complex home.

Shock is an understatement.

“You see big pieces of furniture, jeans or perfectly recyclable items being thrown out all the time,” Caballero said.

“In my process of [contacting] people, I found out that in my apartment complex, they don’t have recycling at all. I thought ‘wow’, but [I learned] my apartment complex had to take it out because people didn’t use it at all. It’s disappointing.”

While Caballero cannot control others’ choices, she continues to seek out an active role in remediating and revitalizing the environment.

Plastic water bottles and old letters pile up in a corner of her kitchen, awaiting the fated day that they are dropped off at a local recycling center. Caballero and her mother Ginette Caballero have been making these routine trips in order to ensure

“It’s really frustrating because there should be more effort going into our recycling programs,” Caballero said. “I feel like that should be our number one [priority]. I can understand why other people find it inconvenient because the system itself is not going the extra step.”

In a multitude of efforts aiming to serve the planet—due diligence as she sees it—Caballero has diagnosed the root of the problem: access. Access in her eyes looks like the very fact that for many, recycling is simply inconvenient, especially when community organizers do not offer programs in the first place.

“It makes me sad to think that they wouldn’t be continually looking for ways to reduce their impact and clean up their mess,” Coppell High School Eco Club sponsor Jodie Deinhammer said.

Deinhammer contends with Caballero’s perspective that the lack of individual efforts to galvanize change are rooted in a lack of education and access.

“Everybody should reach out and look for opportunities to participate in because there are so many of them out there,” Deinhammer said. “When people know where it needs to go, they are more likely to participate.”

Caballero, noting the issue at hand, focused her NTH@C senior capstone project to fa-

cilitate convenience, promoting a sustainability drive that accepted old electronics and clothing to be upcycled by local organizations including Soles4Soles and the Dallas Zoo.

Weeks researching local upcyclers, months advertising and promoting the event, and days-long email back-andforths culminated in Caballero’s “Spring Cleaning: Sustainability Drive” hosted in NTH@C’s student parking lot on Feb. 18.

“Arwen has been one of the hardest working and persistent learners I’ve had in my capstone class this year,” NTH@C Mathematics Facilitator and Capstone Advisor Anthony Hufford said. “I serve merely as a mentor to these seniors, providing motivation and offering advice when they run into roadblocks. Arwyn needed almost none of this advice, though, be cause she worked so hard at checking every angle and avenue she need ed to make her event a success. She would check in with me vol untarily almost every single class day to up date me on her progress and seek my advice, but I had very little to give her since she was tak ing care of a lot of the work on her own.”

As the dim skies faded into a pitch black and Caballe ro bagged all of the donated goods from clothes to electronics,

she smiled easily. The trash bags stack up in her mother’s trunk—30 of them—each sequestering an estimated 60 to 70 items of clothing.

As for electronics, while the smaller items are blurred in retrospect, Caballero distinctly recalls three tablets, three iPhones and an Apple Watch that were quickly dropped off, sandwiched between a bounty of t-shirts and shoes.

Despite the environmental remediation Caballero propagated, her favorite moments were those in which she shot a passing smile or glance to other members of the Coppell community.

“It was nice, because [I] connected with the community,” Caballero said. “With the advertisement process in gener-

al, I found myself connecting a lot. As I walked around with the flyers, I was like, ‘I didn’t know this existed. I gotta tell my friends about this.’”

It is evident that Caballero is eager, and it translates into her environmental efforts. Within 24 hours of the drive, each sack of clothing and tub of electronics were dropped off at Soles4Soles and the Dallas Zoo respectively.

While saving the planet is a daunting task for a singular high school student, Caballero proves that there are universal steps in making your mark from researching organizations to recycle and repurpose a variety of items to reaching out to friends and family to take the extra step.

New Tech High @ Coppell senior Arwen Caballero’s passion for revitalizing the environment led her to creating a sustainability drive that accepted old electronics and clothing to be upcycled by local organizations including Soles4Soles and the Dallas Zoo. Shreya Ravi

Coppell High School junior Hana Sawaf’s background inspired her to join debate and journalism, propelling her towards a career in international relations. Yaamini Jois

Shrayes Gunna Student Life Editor @shrayesgunna

At 3 a.m. on an arbitrary night during freshman year, Coppell High School senior art student Jiya Shah awoke to an intense “craving.” Shah immediately gathered her art supplies and began sketching away her anxiety, after previously vowing to give up on her passion.

“I scribbled on a page and said ‘I’m never leaving this again,” Shah said. “If I stop [making art], I don’t know if I will ever be happy again.”

Shah’s introduction to art was through art classes that her mother, Shweta Shah, encouraged her to attend when she was 4. Since, her personal style has been heavily influenced by her inspirations: teachers, family and peers.

mastering broad range of artistic techniques

largest pieces among my AP students last year, but then she also created some of the smallest pieces. She was on both ends of the spectrum, which I thought was really special.”

Shah carries a personal sketchbook with her almost everywhere she goes, often drawing during lunch, class and after school. Each page is filled with a burst of spontaneity with incredibly detailed, tiny drawings, representing the authenticity of her creativity.

Although Shah constantly strives to hone her skills, she occasionally faces creative blocks or dull periods lacking inspiration.

restrict her creative flow and judge her ability as an artist. However, her mother encouraged her to experience criticism from judges, pushing her to consistently improve.

“This year, I’ve really gotten back into art competitions and truly enjoy them,” Shah said.

Throughout her high school career, Shah has been awarded numerous accolades including four bronze and two silver medals at the Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) and 2nd place at the Texas State Fair in the youth division. Shah qualified for State VASE this year for her self-portrait “Flow State”.

Drawing inspiration from Colombian-based artist Nicolás Uribe, Shah took on Uribe’s tendency to center his works around a moment in his life.

“He does a lot of works that are desaturated, or gray in color, because he doesn’t want to attract attention to himself or his work, but I think that gray and moodiness has really attracted me to his art,” Shah said.

The majority of Shah’s artworks capture a significant memory or experience from her life. In “Future Reflections,” Shah depicts a scene of her mother braiding her hair, as haircare is an integral part of the motherdaughter relationship from her family’s heritage.

“I want to capture moments in my life and turn them into artwork,” Shah said.

With countless hours spent in the art room after school,

sometimes staying after school, Shah has become deeply connected with the art community at CHS.

“A lot of my friends are artists, and they inspire me a lot because they help me understand more about myself,” Shah said.

Her work mainly incorporates realism and ranges from small, detailoriented work to almost lifesized pieces. Although she tends to lean towards realism, Shah wishes to experiment with different styles and venture into more nonrepresentational pieces.

In her junior year AP Drawing class, Shah created a life-sized self portrait, venturing outside of her typical smaller-scale projects.

“Jiya is tiny, but mighty,” CHS art teacher Michelle Hauske said. “She created one of the

“I think there’s a moment every single day where I’m like ‘Why do I draw? Why do I paint?” Shah said. “The biggest inspiration to any artist are the moments they experience in their life, so little moments where I’m like ‘I want to paint this moment right now,’ get me out of creative blocks.”

At the start of high school, Shah decided to avoid competing at art competitions

Beyond the classroom, Shah hopes to pursue a future in graphic design and transition into a career in UX design.

VASE medalists advancing to state

After nearly a year of blending, painting and defining their artwork, 15 artists from Coppell High School were named state advancers for their pieces entered into the Texas Art Education Association’s Visual Arts Scholastic Event.

Division 4 brought 400 pieces from across the region to compete at McKinney High School on Feb. 25 for regional medals and state advancing medals. The top 10% of pieces that won a regional medal were also selected to advance to state VASE, which will be held at San Marcos High School from April 28-29.

CHS seniors Jeffrey Wang and Shraavya Pydisetti both won medals for their entries to regional VASE.

Wang was awarded two medals for his pieces, “Bath Eyes” and “Fill in the Blank.” Both pieces were built with acrylic and “Fill in the Blank” is a 3-D piece with layers of cardboard in the painting.

The first is an expression of Wang’s love for art and the escape it gives him, the title a play on the word baptized. The second is a statement about how a student’s experience with a class is dependent on the teacher on their course schedule.

Pydisetti was awarded two medals for her pieces, “Touched” and “Suffocated.” Both pieces use oil paints and follow themes of restriction and self-expression, with finer details in the hands and eyes of each portrait.

“I chose oil as my medium because there’s no medium that gives the effect oil can,” Pydisetti said. “It’s a little more time-consuming but it captures the right colors in the right way.”

Leading up to this accomplishment, students were guided by CHS art teachers and worked closely with them to produce and submit new, original pieces. VASE-entering students worked from the beginning of the year to submit up to two pieces that met the requirements and detailed each step in the process of making the art.

One of these art teachers is CHS AP and Visual Arts teacher Michelle Hauske.

“They want students to actually think and reflect on the artwork they make, and build upon their technical skills,” Hauske said. “It takes a lot to do what [these students] did in the course of a few months, including the interviews and judging their art went through. Art isn’t thought of often as a performative style, but to students who are often vulnerable with the pieces they make, it can be hard to see it go

through that much judging.”

Despite more requirements in VASE entries, students were given full control of the mediums, styles and color palettes they chose.

Students went through a process of interviews and answering judges’ questions at regionals which contributed to the decisions.

Entries at state have a chance to win a state medal or Gold seal, these entries were and will be judged by the VASE Jurors, a group of local art teachers.

This year was the first that students could compete with the whole VASE experience since with COVID-19 last year, inperson interviews were waved

regionally and only kept for state. This hindered students from entering their submissions in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 competition seasons; however, many advancers from this year also advanced to state in previous years.

“I figured, ‘what was the point if I couldn’t even experience the full process with my art?’” Pydisetti said. “I’m glad I got to experience it during my senior year, one more time before I leave.”

At San Marcos, these artists’ pieces will be judged more selectively to be awarded a state medal or Gold seal. A Gold seal is given to the top contenders who also received a

state medal and will be kept for display.

For students vying for a coveted Gold seal, competition at San Marcos is the next step into the awards their pieces can receive.

“Of course, I want my work to receive as many medals as it can and do well, but it’s also the process of going to state and seeing people like me, too,” Pydisetti said.

Sruthi Lingam CHS9 Visual Media Editor @sruthi_lingam

Yaamini Jois CHS9 Editor @yjois12

Coppell High School senior art student Jiya Shah adds finishing touches to her Drawing 2 project “Free” on March 20. Shah has been experimenting with different artistic styles and mediums since she was 4 years old. Sruthi Lingam

“Flow State”

“Strokes of Wisdom”

“Future Reflections”

From CHS, 15 students qualified to advance to state VASE competitions. VASE is a yearly competition judged in the spring and brings out hundreds of artists in each region to compete for a chance at advancing. Yaamini Jois

SZA takesCtrl of American Airlines Center

Angelina Liu Executive Editor-in-Chief @angelinaliiu

DALLAS - A lighthouse beams brightly and makes circles around the arena, casting light on concertgoers. A golden, warm light illuminates Solana Imani Rowe (SZA) in white robes, dark blue lasers creating the illusions of frothy, dangerous seawater.

She sits suspended on a black and red inflatable lifeboat, swaying near the high vaulted ceilings of American Airlines Center, serenading with the relatable lyrics of “Supermodel” to the sold out arena below.

Opening with the unreleased “PSA,” the audience’s first experience with the S.O.S tour is visually similar to the album cover: SZA’s legs dangling from a plank, sitting above a vast expanse of deep water. SZA then jumps off the plank and into the water, with dramatic movie-style credits introducing her and the show.

Launching into songs from her 2017 album CTRL, the nostalgia of “Broken Clocks”, “Love Galore”, “Prom” and “Garden” gripped the arena as echoes of the audience singing along reverberated.

After a costume change, a screen was lifted onstage to reveal a ship. Neatly choreographed, the show aimed to detail the story of a shipwreck. which was the idea behind the concept album S.O.S released on Dec. 9.

Utilizing the ship as a metaphor for troubles in her own life, SZA symbolizes danger and uncertainty by casting violent flashes of red, white and eventually eerie green onto the arena. The ocean thrashes the ship as she sings the lyrics of “Low,” everyone in my section knowing every single word.

As a result of the intensity of the performance, the ship cracks in half and sinks into the water. SZA is then lifted onto a lifeboat, performing “Special” and “Nobody Gets Me” while floating through the arena and tossing white petals to concertgoers underneath.

After being brought back to the stage, she continues the breathtaking performance in front of dazzling underwater scenes complete with floating jellyfish and underwater caves.

Nearly two hours later, SZA ended the performance on a high, hopeful note with the five-minute track “Good Days” paired with a pink and yellow sunset backdrop.

Prior to the SZA’s set, Omar Apollo opened and performed some of his hits such as “Evergreen” and “Go Away.” Although on the shorter side, I enjoyed the positive and soulful set.

From the theatrical beginning of the show to the fairytale ending, I was continuously engaged. Although I would have loved to stay for more, the ending was perfect and I wasn’t let wanting more.

INHALER LEAVES “[DALLAS] IN ECSTASY”

SZA and Omar Apollo performed at the American Airlines Center on March 10 in a stop on the S.O.S world tour. Performing songs from her two albums, SZA kept her audience engaged. Photo courtesy Prateek Malkoti

Inhaler performed at The Echo Lounge & Music Hall in Dallas on March 8.

Inhaler performed in Dallas for its last show in Texas on its world tour for new album Cuts and Bruises. Olivia Short

Loss of longevity in television threatens lon g form stor y tellin g

Saniya Koppikar

Entertainment Editor @SaniyaKoppikar

In the entertainment industry, attention is historically fickle.

Actors grow old and gradually fade from the public eye, or say something deemed “cancellable” and are intentionally erased. Trends come and go. Franchises fizzle out. Reprises of characters bring the franchises roaring back. Its problems have been picked apart through the decades, but as the industry enters a new age with streaming, it is perhaps more mercurial than ever––especially in regards to television.

The unfortunate mark of modern television is that audience response is the end-all-beall. Netflix bases the livelihood of their content on user metrics, HBO stops production in the name of producing “the exact right things rather than simply pushing out as much content as possible.”

Show after show is canceled.

As streaming services roll out monthly previews of new shows, it is hard not to wonder how many of them will live to see a second season. Unfortunately, viewers are not the only ones wondering; the people in production are as well.

And so came along the lim ited series.

The model works especial ly well on streaming services rather than being on tradi tional broadcast television, as streaming services do not need numbers at specific times like traditional net works do. Limited series are also rewatchable, which is integral for streaming service content, even though they do not repeatedly draw back viewers for new content.

Untethered to the needs of a traditional long-run ning series, a limited series allows for an ultimate win/ win, where a hit show can be extended and a flop is easily forgotten.

Even with series of typical length, seasons have begun to shrink. The 26-episode season is rare, replaced with less episodes of a longer length even with largely successful series, like Netflix’s “Stranger Things” and “Wednesday,” where producers are able to plan ahead.

“It’s always looking at the future, and when we sit down to create a show, it’s looking at multiple seasons, ideally,” said “Wednesday” showrunner Miles Millar in an interview with Variety. “That’s never expected, but that’s the anticipation that hopefully the show is successful. So you always lay out at least three or four seasons’ worth of potential storylines for the characters.”

Shortly after “Wednesday’s” debut, Netflix announced that the series set a new platform record for most hours viewed for an English language series in its first week with more than 341 million hours. The series grew to the second biggest English language season of television on Netflix

with more than 1.2 billion hours viewed within its first 28 days.

Needless to say, “Wednesday” was renewed for a second season. The metrics divined it. But with other series, like Netflix’s “The Society,” producers are cut off at the knees.

“Anyone who’s on Netflix knows the chances of five seasons are diminishing, unless

er Things’ ratings, so I was not expecting that we would exist for that long.”

Still, Keyser said, he had planned for the series to be “longer than one season for certain,” and therefore developed a plan for the overarching story––a story that will likely not be shared with “The Society’s” disappointed audience due to Netflix still owning and producing the show.

After “The Society’s” cancellation, #savethesociety trended worldwide. But the decision held.

It is true, the beauty of television lies in the anticipation.

With the rise of streaming, though, the definition of anticipation changed: rather than waiting on an episode-by-episode basis, most shows dropped entire seasons at once.

Binge-watching rose. The time between seasons was empty and cavernous.

you have ratings of a certain type,” said “The Society” creator Christopher Keyser after the show’s cancellation. “And we certainly didn’t have ‘Strang-

Eventually, the industry doubled back. Many shows went back to releasing episodes on a

weekly-basis in order to drum up enthusiasm. But the central theme has always been anticipation. The nature of television demands it: movies are one-and-done deals to gauge an audience’s reaction, while television is constantly throwing concepts at the wall and seeing what sticks, overarching stories and building up characterization.

Knowing that the stories and characterization might be cut short has unequivocally changed the industry of television, and the increased length of episodes and rise of the limited-series model are just a few examples of how.

Though truncated content often aims to put quality above quantity, oftentimes, both end up suffering anyway. It is almost as if, though the producers themselves are the ones making the pacing changes, they do not know how to adapt to them. Of course, the blame cannot all fall upon the production side. Streaming has created a surge in competition, and in turn a constant need for new content from viewers. Most shows are forgotten within weeks of their initial buzz, and the ones that are not quickly become old from the constant attention. It is an impossible situation. How are viewers supposed to savor media when there is constantly new content to keep up with? How are producers supposed to keep beloved shows afloat when they are trying to fulfill the demand for new

What first was a win/win situation is now lose/lose, because the original mission has been lost: appreciating art and storytelling. So while profits are important, they cannot be everything. Treating them so puts television into a deadlock.

As streaming has become more popular, competition in the industry has exponentially increased, many streaming platforms have turned to canceling shows that are not profitable after the first or second seasons in order to maximize profits. The Sidekick entertainment editor Saniya Koppikar thinks as long as the appreciation of art and storytelling is forgotten in favor of profits, the cancellation storm will rumble on. Noor Fatima

Did you know?

Did you know?

Shows on Netflix tend to get canceled after two seasons because Netflix offers bonuses and pay bumps to producers the longer a series continues. Therefore, as premiums increase, shows get more expensive to produce each season. If a show is underperforming, Netflix will tend to commission a new show rather than renew it.

The first 28 days after a show’s release are the most critical to its renewal on both ends.

Source: Wired Source: Wired

Though truncated content often aims to put quality above quantity, oftentimes, both end up suffering anyway.”

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7 pinches too many: Romeo’s St. Patrick’s Day lesson

TRUSTING THE TUNE Judd sets school record at Coppell Relays

Before the sun rises, Coppell High School senior high jumper Megan Judd laces her Nike High Jump Spikes and sinks down into the tattered olive school bus seats as she awaits the Flower Mound Jaguar Invitational.

She plugs in her headphones, returning down-to-earth after hours of training to clear the bar. She tunes into the melodies, but it is not your standard hype music. While positive affirmations flutter in the chamber of her mind, she quietly listens to classical ensembles, the likes of Chopin or Beethoven.

“It’s so embarrassing,” she jokes.

Despite the unexpected nature of Judd’s pre-meet ritual, she finds comfort in the rhythmic blues and its simplicity. The music may not be electrifying like the rap or pop that resonates in various rows of the bus, but it takes her back to her roots.

Roots in the form of her sister, who spent years practicing piano, whose replications and rehearsals of canonical pieces have left an indelible mark in Judd’s mind. To that end, family has been an invisible string throughout her career, tying training, meets, celebrations and even college visits together.

“Megan is, without question, a big inspiration for our family,” Judd’s mother Jennifer Judd

sponsible, self-sufficient and self-motivated, so there’s never been a time where we had to push her to go to practice or stay on top of her studies, and supporting her is easy—just showing up to watch her shine has been a joy for us.”

Stepping off of the bus onto mist fallen turf, Megan is hit by a gust of chilly air, leaving her with goosebumps and the reassurance of her teammates.

“There was definitely a lot of complaining going on, but, for the most part, we were all just still excited to be there,” Megan said. “That’s what I love about track: everyone wants to compete despite the conditions. It was so cold, but it was so fun.”

A week later, Megan would compete at her final Coppell Relays, a home meet hosted by the school that has been her second home. In liminal moments outside of training, Judd picks up budding literature from victorian-era romances like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to science fiction.

That is to say that she appreciates track as an addition to her life, something to embrace and enhance it, and it was that very sentiment that led her to commit to Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.

“At Dartmouth, there’s more to life than just track,” Megan said. “Track is a great addition to life, but they really prioritize enjoying the experience instead of focusing on winning. Winning is amazing, and it enhances everything, but it’s not everything.”

In contrast to the Jaguar Invitational’s overcast skies and chilly weather, Coppell Relays looked as optimistic as Megan’s performance. With the sun beaming against her skin and a light breeze picking up with each stride she made, she seemed to float on the high jump.

ting jump slowed down as she twisted her body in the air, arching over the bar.

Her feet kicked up above her chest, and, for a moment or two, the shock turned into celebration.

Megan had set a new school record, one previously co-held by herself and fellow senior teammate Sky Schuller.

“I just wanted to have a great experience at my last Coppell Relays,” Megan said. “I was never going to get an opportunity like this again, to set a record at my high school, so I was really pursuing it.”

For her family, the moment was unlike any other.

“We were beyond proud and excited when she jumped at the Coppell Relays meet,” Mrs. Judd said. “We have never cheered so loudly, and being there in that moment to see her years of hard work and dedication pay off was, in a word, breathtaking.”

From the outside looking in, the scene is picture perfect. But Megan knows it was a deserved culmination of years of training.

ates the foundation for track and field meets in the first place, Megan is a staunch proponent for positivity and trusting her training.

“When you get on the track, you become a number, and that number may be better than someone else’s, but most of the time, it felt like I was worse,” Megan said. “It was too much energy to constantly compare myself to other people, and, for a while, I felt a lot of pressure, even when I wasn’t as good as I am now. Having that negative mindset pushed me to decide that it would be better to be enthusiastic about everything. At the end of the day, it’s just a sport, it’s something you’re supposed to love, it’s a thing you’re supposed to cherish.”

Through fervent friendships on the track and off the track, Megan has fostered connections that support and embolden her positive perspective.

The bar, at 5 feet, 9 inches, was no obstacle for her, but rather a benchmark, an opportunity.

At her home field, enveloped by the love of her family and teammates, Megan picks up her Nike high jump spikes and presses into the brick-toned track. Fast seconds leading up to the record-set-

“Every single time at practice, [coach Zachary Gonzalez] is very meticulous, and he points out things I do wrong in a supportive way,” Megan said. “I can feel myself getting better with every jump, and the general atmosphere of practice, both in high jump and in the sprints is just so positive, that it just felt like everything kind of culminated to that one moment.”

From the pressures of previously being ranked No. 1 in the United States to the comparison that cre-

Judd signed to the Dartmouth College admissions process on Nov. 9, 2022.

“Megan and I have a great relationship in track because we push each other to do better and we are also each other’s biggest supporters,” Schuller said. “Cheering each other on between jumps and being able to joke around at practice with a friend has been critical to make sure practice and meets don’t get too stressful and that we still love the sport.”

And as one journey begins to come to a halt before another journey takes off in the Northeast, it is clear that Megan will put on her headphones and focus on the tune, taking one jump at a time, propelled by her unending love for the sport.

Coppell High School senior high jumper Megan Judd trains at Buddy Echols Field on March 21. Judd set a school record of 5 feet, 9 inches on the high jump at Coppell Relays on March 4. Angelina Liu

Shrayes Gunna Student Life Editor @shrayesgunna

“I just can't wait to get down there after this season. I love how [the coaching staff] bonds with everybody. I really like how they bring people together, they support everything they do.”

Nike Pegasus for training

New Balance Spikes for sprinting

Nike High Jump Spikes for high jump

Judd’s Kicks

Kunte

Nyah Rama deepa

Dance is not just artistry, it’s athleticism

Shreya Ravi Staff Photographer @shreya3220

dedication that dancers put into their craft.

The stage is lit with the spotlight on me. Standing in my red dance outfit with necklaces around my neck and heavy jewelry in my hair, I move to the beats of the live music.

The bells on my legs jingle as the red ink on my hands and feet start smudging with my sweat. I keep the smile on my face as sweat drips down my forehead and I contemplate the next move in my choreography. At that moment, all that mattered was my connection to the stage.

For the past 18 years, dance has made an impact on my life. From bobbing up and down to music when I could barely stand up to taking up dance seriously as a Bharatanatyam dancer, it has left its mark.

Dance is a full-body workout, using almost every muscle in your body, from your toes to your fingertips. Dancers must also maintain their balance and control while performing complex choreography. This requires not only physical strength but mental focus and discipline. All of this needs to be juggled with keeping up a healthy lifestyle while balancing the energy exerted and continuing to give all of their bodies to the craft.

letes. It takes an incredible amount of strength, flexibility and endurance to perform at the highest levels. As a competitive skater and dancer myself, I can vouch for the amount of effort that goes into perfecting choreography or looking effortless while performing.

Sunitha Muthiah SahithMochenla seedibamounaneni

kaylianaguyen Yanasnachakilam VilhaViswanath

A dancer must constantly be aware of their body, their position in space, their timing and their technique. This mental discipline is comparable to that required of athletes in other sports, such as figure skating.

Furthermore, the lack of a clear competitive structure does not negate the physical demands of dance. Dancers do not always compete against each other, but against their own limitations. This drive for self-improvement and dedication to the craft is a hallmark of any athlete.

faneehefyed Intianary

Dance is often considered an art form, but it should be recognized as a sport. The athleticism required for dance is comparable to that of sports like basketball or football. Despite this, many fail to recognize the physical demands of dance, and the hard work and

Dance does not fit into the traditional mold of a sport. As noted in an article published by Sports Manist, the fact that there are no rules in dance makes it impossible to declare any dance competition a true sport contest.

However, this does not mean that dance should not be considered a sport. Dancers are not just artists, they’re ath -

Pen to paper

The physical demands and risks of dance are comparable to those of other high-impact sports, and the mental discipline required is unmatched in other physical activities. Dance is a physical language that requires strength, endurance, and skill. It is time for dance to be recognized as the sport that it truly is.

Ghaffari

On Feb. 8 in CHS Arena, nine Coppell High School athletes signed letters of intent to various colleges across the country. Here are their reasons why they selected their respective colleges.

“They thought that I was a good fit and they really wanted me. It's close to home and I just wanted a

“I really just enjoyed the culture there. I felt like everybody there was treated as a family, the coaches and all that, everyone is like kind of one.”

“I am interested in pursuing law and biology, and Bowdoin has the number one government and legal program in the world for small schools, and has a private island o the coast of Maine for biology students, so that really helped narrow down my choices to Bowdoin. Their volleyball team has a winning history too, so I thought Bowdoin was probably the best option for everything I wanted.”

Skye LaMendola signs to Bowdoin College for volleyball

(via text message)

“It's just a family-like environment there. And it's great academics all around and just the basketball team - I

“Oklahoma just has a very fun and spirited community. They're very welcoming and they have a great program, which has won the national title plenty of times. They have a good football team also and an amazing education that I will be able to receive from the school.”

“I love the amazing opportunity it’s giving me to play soccer and follow my career as well. And I love seeing new places and new experiences as well. I’m most excited about the people and the bonds created.”

Jennifer Murcia signs to University of Central Lancashire for soccer

“It has a really strong biochemistry program, and the girls, especially the soccer girls, are very sweet and competitive, which is something I admire in a team. I’m excited to start studying biochemistry, to study something I’m passionate about, and I’m excited to meet new people.”

Bella McGill signs to Oklahoma Wesleyan University for soccer

“Other than the coach and the program, I really love the campus and the people are so nice. I just loved everything about the school, it’s the perfect size.”

Amanda Pisciotta signs to Upper Iowa University for soccer

“I chose Grayson mainly because the coaches, and they know how to get me to the next level. Playing baseball has just been my dream as a kid."

Andrew Schultz signs to Grayson College for baseball

Coppell High School senior Shreya Ravi performs for her Arangetram on April 2, 2022. Ravi has been dancing for over a decade and believes that dance should be viewed as an equal to other conventional sports. Photo courtesy Shreya Ravi

Chimdia Nwaiwu signs to Stephen F. Austin State University for football

Coppell adapting to its diverse culture

Cricket field built at Wagon Wheel park, reflecting Indian community

Ainsley Dwyer Staff Writer @ainsleydwyer

On June 6, the Coppell Parks and Recreation Board met and announced that the design of a new cricket field for Wagon Wheel Park was complete and the construction would begin at the end of summer. The field will be located on Field No. 6, off of Northpoint Drive and Royal Lane.

“[The City of Coppell] has had citizen requests to build a cricket field in Coppell for many years,” Director of Coppell community experiences Jessica Carpenter said. “Cricket is one of the most popular sports played all across the world, and it is also gaining popularity in our region. We are happy to finally add a cricket field to the many amenities that our community can enjoy.”

As of January, the cricket field is nearly complete and is set to open in late March once the sod has greened up. The field will be open for open play and programmed by the YMCA for youth cricket. The YMCA spring season is set to take place from March 4 to April 29.

“[The YMCA] decided to add youth cricket to expand our offerings to the Coppell youth,” YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas Rodney Black associate branch executive said. “Cricket is one of the most played games in the world and attracts participants from all different backgrounds.”

The YMCA’s addition of youth cricket gives residents the opportunity to branch

out to new communities and activities. Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world, and bringing a world-wide sport to Coppell caters to the diversity of the community.

“The building of a cricket pitch in Coppell signifies that the City of Coppell and the YMCA is interested in serving all communities,” Black said.

The Coppell YMCA youth cricket coach will be International Cricket Council accredited Cricket Coach Jaafar Shahabuddin. Shahabuddin served as a professional player and coach in North America and abroad. He grew up in Coppell and played various levels of competitive cricket across North America.

Summer registration for the YMCA youth cricket team is available for $80 for members and $120 for non-members of the YMCA starting March 1 through April 29.

“Coppell benefits from the new cricket field and many people who have moved here from other countries get to play their favorite sport in a professional manner,” sophomore Coppell High School Cricket Club member Sai Cherukuri said. “Since it is a public field many casual players can play in a professional manner whereas, before, professional cricket fields were only available for players playing with professional teams in the area. It will also be very beneficial to the CHS Cricket Club as now we can have access to a professional field that is purpose built for cricket.”

Let’s talk cricket:

Cricket is played between two teams each made up of 11 players. The game consists of at least one inning where each team takes turns in batting and fielding/bowling.

The batsmen defends the wicket using a cricket bat to hit the ball away and runs between the wickets to score runs before getting out.

The fielding team tries to get the batsmen out by hitting the wickets with the ball when bowling, catching a batsman’s shot on the full, hitting the batsman’s leg in front of the wicket, or hitting them before they can run to the other end of the pitch.

The aim of the game is to score as many runs as possible before the fielding team takes 10 wickets. The team with the most runs wins.

On Tuesday, Wagon Wheel Park Coppell residents can view the new addition of a cricket pitch. Last summer, the City of Coppell approved the construction of a cricket field after years of citizens’ requests. Minori Kunte

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“you have to push through the pain”

Becoming involved with weight lifting culture and the benefits that come with it

A powerful feeling pulses through your body as the barbell is lifted off the ground. Feet and hands are in place, form is good. The barbell is now fully off the ground, and you are standing all the way up to complete the full motion of the deadlift.

It takes everything in you to keep going, to get another rep in.

Form is one of the most important aspects of weight lifting. It ensures that someone is working the muscle they want, and at the best of their ability. It is also important to actively engage different muscles. Focusing on different aspects and muscles while constantly staying focused can make it challenging. Lifting isn’t something that is supposed to be easy.

“It’s more of the mentality and knowing that you’re only cheating yourself out of it if you don’t test your limits,” senior wrestler Jessica Mendez-Gil said.

Ava Payne said. “To be able to know that you can lift heavy and you’ve worked hard enough to improve yourself, it really helps your confidence.”

Weight training is on the rise and has become more popular, especially since gyms reopened from being closed due to COVID back in 2020. More and more people are coming to the gym to lift. Gym culture can be what you surround yourself with at the gym. The best people, equipment, and supplements. Some aspects of this culture include discipline, motivation, determination and being intense and consistent.

“You have to push through the pain. You push through it and even though it sucks, in the end you really see the results,” Payne said.

Many gym goers opt into new nutrition regulations in order to show more results and properly develop. Results do show, but only with patience and to make sure you are eating right. For many sports, lifting helps a lot. This can be especially applied towards wrestling, since strength is a key factor.

Weightlifting increases strength and gives lifters the results that they want to see. Growing stronger and continuing with weight training can lead people to compete in powerlifting competitions.

Arguably one of the hardest parts about weight lifting is to stay committed to the process.

“It’s made me more confident as a person,” junior wrestler

“Weight lifting and gaining those muscles are really important to success,” Payne said. “You can’t really succeed in wrestling without them.”

Meghna Kulkarni femontromanda tuacelikeynoss

Coppell freshman attacker Kylee Brandenburg holds possession as the Lovejoy defense checks at Coppell Middle School North Field on Feb. 28. Lovejoy defeated Coppell, 18-13.

Coppell freshman attacker Kylee Brandenburg holds possession as the Lovejoy defense checks at Coppell Middle School North Field on Feb. 28. Lovejoy defeated Coppell, 18-13.

Coppell junior wrestler Ava Payne does landmines during wrestling practice on March 4. Weight lifting bolsters athletes in countless ways by improving assets like strength as well as motivation and discipline. Olivia Short

Araceli Reynoso Staff Writer @aracelireynoso_

Coppell freshman attacker Kylee Brandenburg holds possession as the Lovejoy defense checks at Coppell Middle School North Field on Feb. 28. Lovejoy defeated Coppell, 18-13.

Coppell freshman attacker Kylee Brandenburg holds possession as the Lovejoy defense checks at Coppell Middle School North Field on Feb. 28. Lovejoy defeated Coppell, 18-13.

Coppell freshman attacker Kylee Brandenburg holds possession as the Lovejoy defense checks at Coppell Middle School North Field on Feb. 28. Lovejoy defeated Coppell, 18-13.

Coppell senior attack Spencer Kutchins checks against Flower Mound at Lesley Field on Feb. 6. Coppell defeated Flower Mound, 10-5. Olivia Short

Coppell sophomore attack Cale Stricklin faces off against Flower Mound at Lesley Field on Feb. 6. Coppell defeated Flower Mound, 10-5. Olivia Short

Coppell senior midfielder Sean Simpson rushes against Flower Mound at Lesley Field on Feb. 6. Coppell defeated Flower Mound, 10-5. Olivia Short

Coppell junior goalie Olivia Garcia defends the net against Lovejoy’s Samantha Du Bois at Coppell Middle School North Field on Feb. 28. Lovejoy defeated Coppell, 18-13. Kayla Nguyen

Coppell freshman attacker Kylee Brandenburg holds possession at Coppell Middle School North Field on Feb. 28. Lovejoy defeated Coppell, 18-13. Kayla Nguyen

Coppell sophomore attack Sydney Frieder rushes past Lovejoy’s McKenzie Metzger at Coppell Middle School North Field on Feb. 28. Lovejoy defeated Coppell, 18-13. Kayla Nguyen