Anderson High School 8403 Mesa Dr, Austin, TX 78759 May 10, 2023 Volume The Highlights of the School Trip to Spain

By Chloe Rizk |StaffWriter

Over spring break, a group of sixteen Anderson students took a trip to Spain! This trip was an exchange program organized by the Spanish teachers at Anderson and two English teachers from Spain. The Spanish students came toTexasinSeptemberandstayedwiththefamilies of the Anderson students. The Anderson students then visited Spain in March and stayed with their exchange students’ families. They got to experience everyday life in Spain and see the logistics of school in Spain while also going on sightseeingexcursions.Thistrip'sgoalwastogain adeeperknowledgeofSpanishcultureandfurther their Spanish-speaking skills. This trip was an amazing experience for all the students, including me!

Ilearnedsomuchonthistrip.WhileIam still not the best Spanish speaker, my comprehension improved greatly, and I learned about Spanish culture. Going to school, while somewhat boring, was very interesting. School in Spainismuchlesscompetitivethanhighschoolin America. They did not get much homework, and their teachers acted almost like the students' friends. Another difference was that the students stayed in the same classroom all day while the teachers switched classes. The hardest thing to becomeaccustomedtowasthetimetheyatetheir

Battle of the Books

By Allie Meachum |StaffWriter

On March 30, Anderson participated in and won the Austin ISD Battle of the Books. Held at Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Battle of the Books was hosted by Ann Richards’ own retired ‘Magical Ninja Librarian,’ Ms.Mauser.ThecompetitionsawtheTrojansface ten strong schools from Austin ISD and Pflugerville ISD, including LASA, Austin High, and Bowie. As each team is only allowed five playersperround,theAndersonteamconsistedof seven different competitors and a predetermined rotation. Elizabeth, Margo, Saaya, Nick, Isabelle, Sophie, and (yours truly) Allie had to read ten books from different genres and be ready to answer varying trivia questions about each. While the entire team doesn’t need to read all ten, at least one member needs substantial knowledge of eachbook.

Asforthecompetitionitself,thetriviawas essentially three different rounds. Round one was a Kahoot, and each team received different point amounts determined by their performance. At the conclusion of round one, Anderson was second to only LASA, and only by a couple of points. After that, the next round consisted of the host reading out a statement pertaining to one of the books, with the teams holding up the title of the meals.Athome,Iamsousedtoeatingsnacksand early lunch and dinner, but in Spain, they barely snack and they do not eat lunch until they get home from school at 2:30. They also don’t eat dinneruntilaround10:30or11.WhilelifeinSpain is generally similar to life in America, it's the little thingsthataresodifferent.

For most of the trip, we stayed in Valladolid –a city in northwest Spain– with our exchange families. But we were able to go on excursionstodifferentplacesinSpain.Wewentto Segovia,asmallcitynorthofMadrid,andsawthe beautiful aqueducts. Segovia was a gorgeous city with stunning architecture. While in Segovia, we gottotakeatourofaformerroyalpalace.Wealso gottogotoSalamanca,acitywithahistorydating back to the Celtic era. Salamanca was a bit larger than Segovia. Salamanca is known for the UniversidaddeSalamanca–foundedinthe1100s. We got to tour another palace in Salamanca. During this tour, we climbed to the top of the tower,whichhadabeautifulviewofthecityatthe top, but the stairs were so steep, which was terrifying for many of us. Our final excursion in Valladolid was to a winery. While many of the students thought this was going to be boring, we were all pleasantly surprised as the tour of the winery was characterized by a story of Greek mythology.Notonlydidwelearnaboutthehistory of the winery, but also about how the grapes are grownandthewineismade.

‘matching’ book. This round was a breeze for the Trojans, scoring perfectly, but they still trailed LASA at its conclusion as every other team receivedfullpointsaswell.

While not as important as the main rounds,therewerealsotwodifferent‘minirounds’ to give teams an extra boost. These ‘mini rounds’ tookplaceafterroundsoneandtwo,andconsisted of a short Gimkit where players had to match a book and its corresponding author. While not as consequentialastheotherrounds,theystillplayed animportantpartintheTrojans'victory,although after each the Trojans still remained stagnant in second.

Finally, the last round functioned as a parodyof“Jeopardy!”withslightmodificationsso that no team could monopolize the round. With thegreatestamountofpointstobewon,theround was essential for the Trojans if they wished to overtake the Raptors. Fortunately, with outstanding performances on the bonus questions throughout the round, the Trojans won the round andtheentirecompetition,endingthemorningas Battle of the Books champions. Meanwhile, the Bowie Bulldogs also scored phenomenally in the last round, overtaking LASA and placing second overall.

At the conclusion of the competition, every player walked away with a free book and a fullstomach,aslunch(anddessert)wasprovided.

While our day trips were extraordinary, my favorite trip was to Madrid. We stayed in Madrid for the last two nights of the trip and had two full days to explore the large city. The day we got to Madrid, we went on a long tour of the city and the Palace of Madrid. This Palace was incredible. The architecture and decor were unbelievable.Eachroomwasdifferentandfancier thanthenext.Afterourtour,wehadtherestofthe day to ourselves. We were able to explore the city on our own. The next day we went to The Prado and the Reina Sofia, two famous art museums in Spain. In Reina Sofia, we got to see Guernica by Pablo Picasso. These museums were fascinating and had so many art pieces. We had our final dinner in Spain with everyone on the trip, including the teachers! The food was delicious, and it was lovely to be with everyone for our last meal.

Going to Spain was a life-changing experience.Igainedsomuchknowledgeaboutthe world, and the trip allowed me to reflect on our cultural differences. This trip was so fun and eye-opening.IamsogratefulthatIgottogo!

As for the Trojans, the team walked away with a trophy. A parody of a regular library book, the trophy is “checked out” by the winning team to be returned the following year when the next competitiontakesplace.

With Anderson ending this year victorious, they are now tied with the LASA Raptors, both teams having won the competition twice.TheTrojanshavesettheirsightsonmaking sure that they check out that trophy once again, althoughtheyhaveatoughroadaheadwithstellar seniors Margo, Sophie, and Elizabeth graduating. With the Raptors out for revenge, the Trojans definitely have their work cut out for them. Only timewilltellwhethertheTrojanscomeoutontop, yet they are confident in their ability, with one of the members even having said, “Losing is not an option.”

Big Win for Students at the Student-Staff Basketball Game

By Maren Weinstein |StaffWriter

On Friday, April 14, Key Club held its annual student-staff basketball tournament to raise money for charity. Each ticket cost $5, and there were upwards of $3,000 in total sales. This year, there was a change in the rules to make the game fairer: both the students and staff had a squadoffiveguysandfivegirls,andthegamewas played girls versus girls and guys versus guys. Eachquarterlastedforeightminutes,andhalfway through each quarter, the teams would switch fromguystogirlsorviceversa.Thiswasachange fromlastyearwhentheplayersonthecourtatthe same time were co-ed. However, the girls did not get as much time with the ball previously, so this adjustment to single-gender teams allowed them to have more playing time. For the guys’, only seniors were allowed to play, however, for the women’s squads, anyone was allowed to participate. The game concluded with a student victoryoverthestaff40-39.

On the coaches’ side, Coach Oliphant recorded the first two buckets, leading the students 4-0. By the time the teams switched mid-quarter,thestudentshadtieditup6-6before wideningtheirleadto16-10bytheendofthefirst. The students maintained that lead until halftime, wheretheywereupby10points,28-18.

Halftime featured a game of knockout, where students jumped at the opportunity to participate.SophomoreEdSmallwasthefirstone outearlyintheround,butthegamewentonfora while afterward. Karsten Fidler and Brandon Gonzalezwerethefinaltwoleft,battlingitoutfor several minutes before Gonzalez was declared the winner.

After an eventful halftime, the game resumed with the girls' teams taking the court first. Throughout the third quarter, the students’ leadshranktojustone.Goingintothefourth,the score was 35-34, and in the final two minutes of the game, the staff was up by three (37-34) with their first lead since the first quarter. With a minute nineteen to go, the students knotted it up at 37, but a quick two from the staff established their lead once again. The final minute was exciting, although the staff could not block the game-winning three-pointer from the students, nor could they hit any shots in the final fifteen seconds. After a back-and-forth second half, the studentstookthevictoryinthe2023student-staff basketballgame,40-39.

Impact players for the students included GabiFloresforthegirlsandCooperBayneforthe guys.Floresrecordedeightpointsforthestudents while Bayne added another eleven, including a swish from half-court. Coaches Oliphant and Jones were critical for the staff, but their efforts did not prove to be enough. Football and basketball coach, Coach Oliphant, tallied the first four points for the staff, finishing with eight in total. However, he was topped by girls' basketball coach Coach Jones, who managed two twos and two three for a total of ten points. Overall it was an exciting game this year with a good turnout and lots of support. The matchup also raised thousandsofdollarsforcharityandgaveKeyClub some well-deserved recognition. This April tradition is fun for students, staff, and spectators alikeandwillhopefullycontinueformanyyearsto come.

Anderson Students’ Spring Break Experience

By Abby Marloh |SchoolFunctionsChair

A Success at State

By Kelsey Lind |Secretary

The Anderson Speech and Debate team went and competed at the Texas Forensic Association yearly tournament for competitors in speechanddebateeventsthispastMarch.Around twenty-two students went, and after a quick stop at Buc-ee’s, they got ready to compete with some ofthebestspeakersanddebatersinthestate.Star Public Forum debate team Coleman and Benavi made it to the PF finals and placed second in the state overall. LD debater Nate Watkins made it to double octo-finals of Lincoln-Douglas debate and Baden Russell made it to the semi-finals of Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking. Furthermore, the talented duo of Cantu and Steinhauser made it to the Duet Acting quarter-finals and Henry Dieringer and Logan Marcum made it to the quarter-finals of ImpromptuSpeaking.Allinall,itwasasuccessful state tournament for the L.C. Anderson Speech and Debate team and they can’t wait to do it again!

Anderson Takes on

Every year, some Anderson students in a handful of specific classes, like choir or some of the language classes, have the opportunity to participateinschooltrips.Dependingontheclass, students may stay at a hotel or stay with a host family and go to school in a new region. Students reportthattravelingopenstheireyestohowother people live and makes them more open-minded, especially when traveling outside of the United States.

Sophia Lifshitz, a junior, went to Spain overspringbreakthroughtheSpanishprogramat Anderson. Her highlights were “going to Segovia orSalamancabecauseofallofthehistoryinthese places, and all the beautiful architecture.” Lily Hunter, a junior as well, went on the same trip and loved “getting to experience a different culture by living like them.” Violet Greenall Nettleton, a sophomore, liked the “castles, cathedrals, and monuments we saw.” Simone Frey,afreshman,wenttoNewYorkCitywithher choir group. She loved meeting the actors from Little Shop of Horrors, which is a show her group attended. Hunter thought that it was “really incredible to experience an entirely new way of life.” Lifshitz would “definitely recommend this trip to other students who want to elevate their SpanishproficiencyandbeimmersedinSpanish culturefortwoweeks.”GreenallNettletonsays,“it was really interesting to learn about their culture andgotoschoolthere.”Freysaysthat she would “definitely recommend going on a schooltripbecauseit'sagreatbondingexperience and just a lot of fun!” Rosa Bowen, one of the Spanish teachers who went with the students to Spain,says, “Travel changes you. You experience different cultures.Youseehowotherpeopleliveand experience their lives.” Bowen also says, “It gets kidsoutoftheircomfortzone.Forthistrip, students had to host a student from Spain. They openedtheirhomestokidstheydidn’tknow.”

The Anderson website says that for the Spaintrip,thehighlightoftheexchangeis“the homestay, which not only makes the trip very affordablebutalsogivesstudentstheopportunity togettoknowaSpanishfamilyonaverypersonal level.”Studentscanlearnhowotherfamilies interact with each other or how school is portrayed and thought of, and how that differs fromus, inAmerica.

For more information about potential school trips, you can check with your teacher or theschooladministration.

On April 15th the Anderson MUN team attended the Central Texas Model United Nations Spring Conference hosted by the University of Texas. This day-long conference centered around Crisis committees which test how well delegates can adapt to new problems. In Crisis committees, each delegate takes the position of a political figure within a country rather than the entirety of acountry’sgovernment.Atdifferentpointswithin a committee ‘crisis’ will occur to diverge the storyline and create chaotic situations for the delegates to address. These committees covered a diverserangeoftopicsincludingtheWarsawPact, thePigWar,andtheSuezCrisis.

Two Anderson students, Ava Rener and Baden Russell, were honored at the conference. Ava Rener was awarded Outstanding Delegate, the equivalent of second place, and Baden Russell was awarded Honorable Mention, the equivalent of third place. Reflecting on her experience Junior, Ava Rener, said that “The spring CTMUN conference was just as wild and funasIhopeditwouldbe.Comingtogetherwitha bunch of creative, well-researched, and well-spoken individuals always gives me a chance tolearnaboutthehighlystrategicandunitingside of politics and government. Besides the imminent threat of nuclear warfare hanging over the Russia committee, the experience was invigorating and intellectual.Ididgetexecutedattheend…”

It is important to acknowledge Model UN officersNatalieHolmsten,ZoeNagro,MaiaOlsen, and Byrne Santos for making it possible for the team to attend the conference. Overall, Anderson Model United Nations is making a name for itself withitsthirdyearasaclubcomingtoasuccessful conclusion.

Finland Joins NATO - But What Does This Really Mean?

By Julia Hirschman |StaffWriter

a tool to encourage political integration in Europe andagainstSovietExpansion.

military action or preparations taken against RussiaorthewarinUkraine.

On July 5, 2022, Finland signed the accession protocol in order to join the supranationalorganization,NATO.Thismonth,on April 4, 2023, Finland officially became NATO’s 31st and newest member. This addition to NATO’s growing membership achieves an important feat, especially regarding the nature of Russian PresidentVladimirPutin’sinvasionofUkrainethat beganlastspring.

But firstly, what is NATO? NATO standsfortheNorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization-founded in 1949, it is a multi-national alliance organization meant to provide mutual aid and military security to all 31 of its members. The organizationupholdsastrictidealthatifyouattack one member, you attack all other members. NATO wasoriginallyfoundedtodeterthethreatposedby theSovietUnionfollowingWorldWarIIduringthe ColdWar.TheUnitedStates,oneofthe12original founding nations, saw the organization as an important asset to prevent nationalistic governmentuprisingsinarecoveringEurope,and

Initially, Russia’s decision to invade Ukrainewasamongstmanydifferentreasons,buta veryprominentreasonwasUkraine’sappealtojoin NATO. Because of Russia’s powerful influence duringandfollowingtheSovietUnion’scollapsein 1991 over numerous satellite states, like Ukraine and Belarus for example, Ukraine joining NATO would mean a loss of one of the original “buffer” states -- the nations that, although were aligned with Russia for the most part, served as a border between East and West Europe, preventing any potential hostilities. Therefore, if Russia were to invade Ukraine after its appeal to join NATO was accepted, NATO would have an incentive to completely involve itself in a conflict with Russia directly.

Because of NATO’s original mission and purpose as an organization, even today, Russia feels a certain threat surrounding NATO’s presence in Europe. President Vladimir Putin of Russia has reportedly, according to Al Jazeera, condemned NATO’s “imperial ambitions” inordertoassert“supremacy”utilizingtheUkraine conflictasasteppingstoolofsorts.

Following Finland’s acceptance into the alliance,PutinstatedthatFinlandandNATO“must understand there was no threat before, while now, if military contingents and infrastructure are deployed there, we will have to respond in kind,”, according to Al-Jazeera. This statement clearly showsPutin’sviewsonboththedetrimentaleffects that this alliance will have on Moscow-Helsinki relations,aswellashisclearcontemptforany

Additionally, the Kremlin itself has reportedly said that Russia will begin to take countermeasures because of this new addition to NATO, both tactically and strategically, the BBC reports. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that Russia had begun to move short-range ballistic missile systems into neighboring nation Belarus, capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons. This presents a clear growth of militarytensionbetweenNATOandRussia.

Finland shares an almost 1,340 kilometer (832 mile) eastern border with Russia, meaning that NATO’s border with Russia has basically “doubled”, according to the BBC. “President Putin had a declared goal of the invasion of Ukraine to get less NATO along its borders, and no more membership in Europe--” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg states, “-- [but] he’s getting the exact opposite.” Although, according to the BBC, Finland’s large border presents a challenge for NATO in terms of keeping it secure from potential Russian invasion, there have already been safety and defense plans taken in order to keep this bordersecureandFinland’sallianceclose.

Although the increase in Russian military mobilization in response to Finland joining NATO poses concerning possibilities, this new addition to thesupranationaldefenseorganizationallowsfora more clear incentive for involvement in case of further conflict. With Finland’s new allegiance and Sweden’s potential acceptance in the upcoming months, NATO’s strength in national alliances growslargerstill.