Hendrickson High School Volume 7, Issue 4 December 13

Animation Station 13 iTunes: teen bands 14-15 Local Eats 16 “Hawk”ey 19In This Issue:

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Hendrickson High School Volume 7, Issue 4 December 13, 2013

theHawk

meet the military pg 10-11

News2Volume 7, Issue 4

News 3December 13, 2013

Look Ahead: UIL Eligibility Gain-Only Dec. 18 Midterms Dec. 18- 20 Winter Break Ends Jan. 7 Report Cards Out Jan. 9 UIL Eligibility Gain/Lose Jan. 15 MLK Day: Student/Staff Holiday Jan. 20

& AwardsAccolades

Staffof the month

Students &Hawk Pride

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Teacher of the Month Gina Brown was nominated for her super orga-nized effective lessons that keep her freshmen engaged, as well as her leadership of the Freshman Academy.

{Junior Blake Browning was se-lected as Student of the Month for his constant hard work, complete respect of his peers and dedication to what it means to be a Hawk.

{Multiple nominators praised senior Agustina Romero for her positive attitude, willingness to help others and kindness to all she encoun-ters. She is “always pleasant, smiling, and helpful.”

Students and staff are nominated each month by the faculty and chosen by the Hawk Pride committee.

of the month

Members of the Hawk Speech & Debate team competed at the Connally TFA tour-nament on Nov. 15-16 and the Round Rock TFA tournament on November 8-9. Hawks soared away with 1st Place Sweepstakes out of 33 schools at Connally and with only a limited squad, the HHS team took 3rd Place Sweepstakes out of 22 schools at Round Rock.

Connally Speech & Debate ResultsPolicy Debate1st Place Top Speaker – Anshu Gupta 3rd Place Top Speaker – Josh VillarrealCongressional Debate3rd – Rebecca TrevinoHumorous Interpretation2nd – Candace KostedDuo Interpretation1st – Kalea Moch & Keylynn BoyceNovice Policy Debate 1st – Ayu Sofyan & Kevin Le

The following students placed in the VFW Post 8787 Voice of Democracy contest: Zach Falkenbury – 1st Elan Wilson – 2nd

David Huber – 3rd

Belton UIL Academic ResultsComputer Science: Alyssa Eppard- 1stNews Writing: Taylor Bodeen- 1st, Bella Hernandez- 3rd, Madi Mcvan- 4thFeature Writing: Bella Hernandez- 1st, Ga-brielle Wilkosz- 3rd, Madi McVan- 4thEditorial Writing: Kylie Ruffino- 2nd, Kay-la Meadows- 6thHeadline Writing: Bella Hernandez- 1st, Madi McVan- 2nd, Gabrielle Wilkosz- 3rd

The Hawk Speech and Debate Team competed in the UT Longhorn Classic Tournament of Champions on Dec. 6-7., earning 5th place Debate Sweepstakes as a team against 121 other schools.

Longhorn Classic Debate ResultsNovice Policy Debate1st -Ayu Sofyan & Blake Steadham3rd place Top Speaker- Korina Houghtaling

In addition to the annual Adopt-a-Child program, many clubs and organizations have other holiday service projects. One of these is that the Silver Dancers are collecting coats for Coats for Kids. They chose this charity after looking into several other service projects that they could possibly do and they thought coats for kids was a more feasible project and has more of an impact. The Athletic Training Program will be hav-ing a book drive for Dell Children’s Hospital. Mark Salter started the book drive, and they continue the project every year. The student trainers bring in new and gently used books and give them to the children’s hospital. The Ninth Grade Student Council is going to be wrapping gifts for Blue Santa. Blue Santa is a nonprofit organization that is run by the Pflugerville Police Department, the police department collects gifts, wrap the gifts and then deliver them. They will also be helping with Breakfast with Santa and they worked on the canned food drive. Peers Making Peace is a school organiza-tion that is volunteering for the Celebration of Love event. The Celebration of Love is a non-profit organization that helps thousands of families each year by providing them with

food and resources. Many other organiza-tions such as Toys for Tots and Snappy Snacks are also helping with the Celebration of Love event by donating items for Christmas. Peers Making Peace are going to wrap gifts, help the families get the items they need and take them out to the family’s’ car. In spring, Peers Making Peace is going to have a teen dating violence awareness week. During the first week of December, AVID had their annual cards for soldiers’ drive, to end on Dec. 10. AVID will also be participat-ing in Brown Santa with Kelly Lane, and as well as provide services for the Falcon Point snow day. In the Ag building, Future Farmers of America is the organization that put together Trick-or-Canning, which is collecting cans instead of candy for Halloween. They did trick or canning because it has been going on for several years and it always works out well. In the spring, FFA is going to work on several other service projects, such as, donating plants to the city garden. FFA is going to grow the plants and then take them to the city garden and donate them. FFA is also going to clean up Gille Land Creek, when it flooded in late October, early November.

staff reporterBrianna alfaro

Organizations provide servicesthrough charitable giving

Drills whirr and hammers sound down the theater hallway as preparations for the musical, ‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’ are underway. The play will run from Jan. 23-26 at 7:00, with a 2:00 matinee on Jan 26. “There’s a British comedy troop called Monty Python and they did a lot of satirical skits and parodies of various things in Britain,” theatre director Mi-chael Fisher said. “This is kind of a parody of the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.” There will be about 35 students acting in this production. The musical revolves around King Arthur, Sir Galahad, Sir Lan-cealot, Sir Robin, Sir Bedivere, and the Lady of the Lake. “All of these characters are very

comedic or satirical,” technical director Nicole Malone said. “So Sir Robin is a coward and is afraid of everything. Sir Galahad is very vain and very beautiful with like long flowing hair like Fabio.” The decision to do this play was jointly made by Malone and Fisher. However Malone was the one to discover that the rights to this musical had recently become available. “Hendrickson High School is go-ing to be the second high school in the state of Texas to do the musical Spamalot,” Malone said. “We’re very excited to have that opportunity.” Deciding what the musical will be and casting the characters is only part of the process. Build-ing sets, learning choreography,

learning lines and having nu-merous rehearsals make up the rest of it. “We have to do the show with our tech theater classes for a budget of like $3,000 for the set so a lot of creativity goes into making it happen,” Fisher said. Although they are on such a small set budget, they sometimes get help too. “One of our local businesses gen-erously donated $2,500 worth of foam,” Fisher said. Putting all of these small compo-nents together is a long process. It takes not only skill, but large amounts of time as well. “We’re going to work intensely on this for about 8 weeks,” Fisher said. “[The directors and techni-cians] start thinking about it about 4 weeks before we actu-

ally start building, we read the show and look at images from other productions to begin to gather the production ideas.” This production has about 80 people involved: 15 kids in the orchestra (courtesy of the Hawk Band), 22 crew members, 35 ac-tors, and about eight kids who are ushers. All of these people working to-gether provides an opportunity to learn real life skills as well. “The value of the musical is that you’re working on a very big complicated puzzle with a large group of people to solve it. Here, that puzzle is telling the story of the musical,” Fisher said. “But in life the big complicated puzzles you work on are a job, a family or whatever that might be. You learn a lot about yourself.”

Theater Department prepares for upcoming musicalstaff reporterKaty SammonS

Junior Miranda Melendez goes through the coats collected by the Silver Dancers in conjunction with Coats for Kids. Photo by Ameer Joseph

It’s that time of the year again. The weather outside gets colder, the Christmas lights illuminate the sky and the holidays are awaited with eagerness. However, in the midst of cheerfulness and busy gift shopping, others who don’t have much to anticipate for in this season are oftehn forgotten. Although no one can ensure a snowy winter wonderland or a white Christmas the Pflugerville program, Adopt a Child, does its best to bring the less fortunate chil-dren of the community a simply wonderful Christmas time. The program has been taking place in the community for about 32 years. It was originally picked up at Pflugerville High School from a student council workshop and later became a tradition that spread to the rest of the high schools. Today, U.S. History teacher and coordina-tor of the program in the school Hellen Barzci, keeps alive the tra-dition her parents helped initiate. “It’s important for the children that may not be as fortunate as oth-ers to be able to have a good Christ-mas and know that people care about them,” Barzci said. “What’s more interesting is that there are

high school students who were ad-opted when they were young and it made a big impact on their lives.” This year the school adopted a total of 86 children from surround-ing elementary schools. The children who benefit from the program are selected by the elementary school counselors and are then adopted by participating first period classes. However, the program isn’t only pertinent to a classroom and any one can help in the cause. ”The front office adopted two children as well even though they don’t have a class,” Barzci said. “If a class or somebody is not doing one and they want to partake they can donate or get involved with another group.” In this manner the program gives students and participants a fun opportunity to give back to the community by giving them the responsibility to get involved to organize, raise money , decorate and shop for presents for the ad-opted child. Then on a selected day the students receive their adopted child with a party in honor of him or her. “My students decided to adopt two children and they had lots of fun getting everything together,

we even had a wrapping party.” English teacher Haley Honey said. Furthermore, the program can give students an eye opening expe-rience as they get to see the smiles on the child’s face when they arrive, play and open presents. However the most touching mo-ment can come from the gratitude of the child. “One year my students and I recived a letter from the child and I read it to them,” Honey said. “By the end of the letter we were all in shock but awe by his gratitude. In the we were all happy to have participated in making the child so happy.”

staff reportermaria mendez

Adopt a Child brings joy to recipients, givers

Photo by Ameer Joseph

According to nominators, Staff Member of the Month Deanna Es-sler keeps the Special Ed office running, doing more than one person can handle.

Opinions4Volume 7, Issue 4

Opinions 5December 13, 2013

Hit rMissStaff rates the ups and downs of life at HHS

Nathan Way

reportersBrianna AlfaroAsha AugillardJulian ColwellJonas GarzaEcho HickrodMadi McVanMaria MendezDeonte Orange

Jacob Overheim MarQuise Prince-SaloneKylie RuffinoKaty SammonsTasia SerratoHolly SillNaihla TempleTravis Tiffany

The Hawk, official student newspaper of Hendrickson High School, is an open forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions. Opinions expressed reflect the beliefs of the student author, and do not necessarily re-flect the opinion of the entire Hawk Staff, the Hawk Adviser, the Hendrickson Faculty and Staff, or the Principal. Letters to the editor are welcomed, and may be dropped off in E102.

Hendrickson High School2905 FM 685Pflugerville, Texas 78660http://cms.pflugervilleisd.net/HHS512.594.1100Adviser : Kari O. RiemerPrincipal : Devin Padavil

the Hawk

Cover Design By Nyssa KrusePhoto featuring Adrian Verla by Conner Gray

Animation Station 13 iTunes: teen bands 14-15 Local Eats 16 “Hawk”ey 19In This Issue:

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Hendrickson High School Volume 7, Issue 4 December 13, 2013

theHawk

meet the military pg 10-11

editorial staff

Nyssa Kruse Gabrielle Wilkoszco-editors

copy editorGus Louis

news editorTaylor Bodeenopinions editorKayla Meadows

life, style & arts editorLucibella Hernandez

sports editor

{ InsightInsideout

Gus LouIsCopy EditorGus LouIsCopy Editor

Louis vs. Life III: This time it’s personal

I don’t want to be a drop in the bucket of life that makes no ripple whatsoever, or that forgettable face in the crowd. I want to go down in legend. I want to be the guy from high school that everyone tells stories about for years. What I don’t want, is for high school to be the high point of my life. I want it to be the set up for the massive forest fire of legendary exploits and simple pleasures that will hopefully be the rest of my life. That’s all I really want from life, it might want a bit much but I think it’s finally time to start dreaming big again. I only took time off from dreaming big because life got tired of the headlock I had on it and de-cided to hit back harder than I expected. Life knocked me down so hard, with some stuff that’s way too personal to divulge to the paper, that I started to think that all the “shoot for the stars” stuff I was brought up on was lies, be-cause not everyone can make it to the stars. Some people have to stay on Earth to make sure there’s an Earth to come back to when the star-shooters need a break. I believed that I was one of those people meant to make sure the Earth doesn’t die when everyone else is gone. And then I remembered my favor-ite president, Theodore “Teddy” Roos-evelt, and his famous challenge to life, “The Teddy madness is running wild! Ooooooh yeah!” And how afterwards, he put life in an anaconda-esque vice until it spit up whatever it is he wanted. I think it’s about time for life to get taken down a couple of pegs. It’ll take some time though; I’ve got to catch life when it least expects me to make a move. And once life is taken care of, the only thing stopping me from starting the metaphorical forest fire of misadventure and simple living that I want my life to be, is my own belief in myself and whoever taught life to hit that hard.

Couples publicly displaying their affection for one another fill every corner, back stairwell and cross-hall of the building. While this has always existed, recently, the level of intimacy displayed has escalated to an almost vomit-inducing level. Most people can deal with hand-holding, a peck on the cheek or even a liplock, but what is being seen (and heard) in the hallways now are far beyond what is acceptable in public. We find these disgusting displays incredibly unbecoming and way off target.

There are certain requirements teachers must follow for notifying students of their lesson plans, including writing objectives and a daily schedule on the board. While these mandates are with good intent and are somewhat helpful, they’re not nearly as useful as the calendars some teachers distribute with all plans, assignments and due dates for the coming weeks written down for easy reference. We find the current methods for notification somewhat off target and suggest teachers be required to distribute master calendars instead.

Deadline notification unsatisfactoryPDA disgusts, shows lack of respect

With a such a large school in such a hot place, keeping the building cool is a priority. However, as winter takes hold, the air conditioning is still going strong. Classes are filled with freezing students who are uncomfortable and unable to focus. For those reasons, we find the overpowering air conditioning in cold weather to be way off target.

Starting at 8:15 a.m., morning hall monitors patrol the school. These monitors are meant to keep students out of trouble, however they prevent students from attending morning tutorials. Students often seek help after receiving grade alerts through txConnect or for home-work help, resulting in a last minute decision to go in early before school. But without a pass, hall monitors refuse to let students enter a teacher’s classroom. We find the morning hall monitors preventing students from attending tutorials way off target.

Morning hall monitors block students from tutorialsAC causes discomfort

Tales from a Filthy Latrine

As night fell upon Pflugerville, I readied myself for Halloween. Tucking my hair into a bonnet, I put on a calico dress that showed off the provocative tender white slip of my ankles. After pinning a large scarlet “A” to my chest I was good to go. Yet, I must admit that while I handed out pre-packaged Twiz-zlers to the tune of the Monster Mash, I did feel a striking sense of embarrassment when a two and a half-year-old Cinderella showed up at my door and asked me what I was. As she did, the

sloppily-cut-out, construction paper “A” weighed heavy on my bodice. I was Hester Prynne, adulteress from Puritan, Boston in the book, The Scarlet Letter. I tossed a scarlet—I mean red— lic-orice into her pumpkin bucket. “Oh! I’m a character from a book” and then I closed the door only to maniacally laugh from the other side moments later. So is the life of a temptress. While Hester Prynne may have been dealt a bad hand, the society in which I live hardly differs in several key ways. Al-though many in modern society in America may claim to support women’s liberation, a lot of our liberalism is only skin-deep and doesn’t translate to real life. Back to the Scarlet Letter, in one of the opening scenes, we meet Hester Prynne standing on a scaffold with an illegiti-mate baby in her harms with the red letter in plain sight. But do you know what the fellow townswomen gossip about in

the crowd below? The intricacy of the red badge and how well it is sewn! Far too often women in particular are judged for their outward appearances in a way that is disproportionate to men. We see this in tabloids when People magazine poses the petty question who wore it better: uh, both ladies look fine to me!? Or in the hall at school when a dress-code enforcer flips their lid because a bra strap is showing: actually, yes, I do have to wear a bra. In fact, 50% of this school population wear them, the great-est British invasion rock band of all time says Let It B. (The B stands for bra.) Skip a few chapters into the middle of the book when Hester and the father of her illegitimate child have a chat about whose fault this adultery business is. The father basically says, “I’ve been so sad since we messed up and disobeyed the church. This is yo fault girl.” In sum Hester replies, “Yea. I’m sorry though.

Forgivsies?” From the sidelines unhappy feminists in football gear are shouting, “Blast! It wasn’t all Hester’s fault, it was half hers and half his!” And yet in modern day many of us still maintain the idea that negative side effects of premarital sexual activity, such as STDs or conception, are a re-sult of the female not taking the necessary precautions. This is a logical fallacy seeing as it takes two to tango. In the end of the book, the author somberly describes how both Hester and the man with whom she commits adultery were buried in graves adjacent. While the tragedy of the deaths themselves weighed heavy, should harlot-shaming be laid to rest, society would mourn it no more than a 2-year-old Cin-derella trick-or-treater would mourn putting on her costume, trotting about the neighborhood collecting candy and asking questions.

GabrIeLLe WILkoszCo-editor

Scarlet HarlotOut-of-date adage used to tackle out-of-date issue that remains partially unsolved

Boys’ restroom etiquette falls short of basic standards

5… 6… 7… 8… I inhale a large breath of air as I strike my finishing pose and clear off of the gym floor. I line back up on the side line. Smil-ing through the exhaustion, I express my excitement and satisfaction with our hip-hop routine. The pep rally finishes; we are dismissed and I begin to walk out of the gym as a group of girls stand in front of me. One

girl decides to tell her friend how she believes the dance went. “Honestly, I’ve seen better,” she says. “I don’t see why people clap so loudly when they finish.” Ouch, that hurt. No one knows the amount of effort that must be put into a single dance to make it per-formance ready. They only see us in our sparkles or pep rally costume. They see us smiling, never the b ehind the scenes work that is required. That work requires a lot of time and effort. The final product of what we have spent weeks working on is the only thing people tend to see. People don’t know we have dance double-blocked for our first and fifth period and that we come in before school starts

to dance through those two periods. The vigorous cleaning process seems like it would tear the team apart, but for us, it only brings us closer. Joining the team was almost as if I earned a new family. They welcomed me with open arms and made me feel special and that I belong. Not to mention the awesome directors that put in

so many e x t r a h o u r s to make us fe el like the d a n c e

room is our second home. We have helped each other improve ourselves inside and out. Recently, I suffered a concus-sion and I couldn’t a afford to miss any school; so I went to practice everyday and tried my

hardest to learn a new dance. One girl needed assistance with a part in the dance, so I offered to help. As I begin to assist, one of the directors exited her office and looked for someone else to help her with the part because she didn’t want me to further injure myself and hinder my recovery time. The whole team supported me and when I re-covered from my concussion, they had no problem preparing me for the pep rally dance. They didn’t have to help me, yet they did anyway. We are a team, and we will work as one. Through sweat and tears, pointed toes and pirou-ettes, high kicks and jump splits, we push ourselves to be the best dancers and people we can be and I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to be constantly standing beside me.

Staffer discusses hard work Silver Dancers dedicate to performancesthe ScenesBehind

TayLor bodeenNews Editor

Upon entry of the men’s room, a foul stench will penetrate the barrier of seemingly clean air and leave any student gasping for breath. Bile will build in their stomachs, but they manage to hide it, and sally forth. They pass the pus-splattered mirrors and cross the urine soaked tiles on their way to the bathroom stalls. The toilets are rarely, if ever flushed, leav-ing the place reeking of feces. As one sits

down, they may notice profanity and other unpleasant sights lining the bathroom stalls. Perhaps they may even notice an open toilet paper dispenser open and dripping with urine, forcing them to journey to another stall. The simple act of washing one’s hands is made a chore as trash and chewed up gum is thrown into the sinks as if they were rubbish bins. If this weren’t bad enough, the student’s

worst fear is realized as he stares, mouth hanging ajar, that the paper towels are gone. No men’s room at Hendrickson is free from this kind of assault, which is hard to believe, as most students should know not to urinate on the floor or write racial slurs on the walls. Nor should they leave an easily avoidable mess for the custodians to clean. We are in high school now, and should know how to use the toilet. Grow up guys.

{“No one knows the amount of effort that must be put into a simple dance to make it performance-ready.” }

Staff editorial

In the previous years, there has been a very strict no cell phones policy. This year the rules have loosened up and electronic devices are now allowed during lunch. Students hooked on social media, are able to access it during lunch, this reduces the urge to pull their electronics out during class. Students can call parents and ask for lunch money, or find out how they are getting home. We find this change in rules on target.

Electronics during lunch please many

Now that the new roads opened up, traffic has considerably changed. In the morning and after school people can now use three more roads to get in and out of Hendrickson, which has made traffic move faster. We find these new roads on target.

New roads speed up traffic

Life, Style & Arts6Volume 7, Issue 4

Life, Style & Arts 7December 13, 2013

Sophomore MaryBecca Wilson looks at twitter wondering what her Silver Dancer directors might say about what she is about to post. She quickly hits delete and puts her phone down. With the influx of so-cial media, and the seeming privacy of posting without repercussion, many teens may regret what they post online without seeing potential consequences. “Online weighs a great deal,” Prin-ciple Devin Padavil said. “I google the person when debating a new hire to see what they are up to online.” Social media has a major affect on possible opportunities such as get-ting into college. Universities and employers want someone who will positively represent their school or

workplace. Likewise, an establish-ment could choose other people who act accordingly on the internet. “I’ve actually not hired someone because of something they’ve said online,” Padavil said. When online, one should act as they would in a professional envi-ronment, otherwise online activity could affect potential jobs or even getting into college. “If any school district employee would mention negative things about work online, it could affect them,” Padavil said. Once receiving a job or even get-ting into college it still is necessary to maintain professionalism online. If not, it is very likely that conse-quences could occur. Similar, clubs and organizations inside of school expect nothing but

professionalism even off of campus, including online. “I am conscious of what I post because it could affect me in Silver Dancers, and I like to keep a good image of myself,” Wilson said. When joining organizations in school, it helps to keep a good image on the internet. “I expect all students of my organi-zation to be role models at all times,” PALS teacher Carol Peterson said. Social media does have an affect on getting hired for a job and get-ting into college. It is important to be conscious of what you say on-line and make the decision of to be professional online so not to miss a huge opportunity such as getting into college. “Just be smart,” Sophomore Ayu Sofyan said.

Negative social media posts affect opportunitiesstaff reporterNaihla Temple

Is she going to make it? It’s her second day on the job at Chick-fil-a, and the line of cars head-ing out of the school parking lot is more of a slow-moving barricade than anything else. Junior Jocelyn Yarbrough looks ahead. Suddenly, the traffic comes to a complete halt. She has an idea. Pressing her foot firmly on the brake, she does some-thing a little insane. Strip. “I literally had to strip my clothes off, and change in the car to put my uniform on,” Yarbrough said. “It was really weird because this guy next to me was staring at me. It was all awk, but I was going to be late if I didn’t, and I couldn’t show up without my uniform on.” Luckily, Yarbrough rolled into the parking lot at 4:59, ran in—uniform untucked—and punched in exactly at 5:00. While her second day on the job was a close call, for Yarbrough, it has become symbolic of the new chapter that has been opened in her life since she started part time at Chick-fil-a. “It gives you a feel of the adult life,” Yarbrough said. “Because whenever you go to school or come home and

you didn’t do your chores or some-thing, you just have to deal with your parents saying something to you, or your teacher giving you a bad grade that you can make up. It’s never like completely on you. There is this safety net. If you mess up on the job and get fired, it’s on you. Your parents aren’t going to come on down and talk to your manager and get you rehired.” Since the one-month mark has passed, she now understands the adage “time is money.”

“When you have a job, you defi-nitely don’t have as much free time, but you also are able to do more because you have the economic means,” Yarbrough said. “Some kids get allowance, but I don’t have that. I do babysitting, or as of recently, I work. Now, I have more of an acces-sible cash flow.” Aside from the economic benefits, Yarbrough views her gig at Chick-fil-a as a valuable learning experience. Although it is a fast-food restaurant,

the aspiring lawyer notes that there are skills learned at her job that will translate over in the workplace. “My work is all about communica-tion,” Yarbrough said. “At Chick-fil-a, if someone says thank you, we have to say ‘my pleasure’. Or instead of ‘can I help you?’, it’s ‘how may I serve you?’ It’s all about how quick your service is, how polite you are and how well you help people. You could connect that with lawyers because [they have to] communicate with a client, depending on what kind of

lawyer you are.” Overall, despite the fact it has altered her lifestyle, Yarbrough doesn’t regret join-ing the workforce. In fact, she urges others to also take up part-time jobs.

“I definitely feel that every teenager should have a job,” Yarbrough said. “Not necessarily because you need the money, but because it teaches so much. I’ve learned about punctuality, adapting quickly to a new place and keeping track of [my] uniform. Basi-cally, if you want to get promoted, that’s on you. They don’t teach that in the school system, and that’s not really taught by parents either. For me, a job definitely has filled that gap.”

Part time job reaps in life lessons and economic benefitsChick On The Job

co-editorGabrielle WilkoSZstaff reporterbriaNNa alfaro

Junior Alicia Taylor waits at A+ Federal Credit Union for students and faculty to walk through the door ready to interact with others. “Working at the bank is a great opportunity,” CTE department head Dayne Otto said. By working for the bank students earn social skills, speech skills, com-puter skills not taught in school, and interaction skills by working with other students. “If I didn’t work at the bank I would work, but it wouldn’t be as beneficial to me for my career,” Taylor said. For students wanting to work at a bank in the future, this job provides

various opportunities. If students are apart of the career preparation class, they will earn a total of three credits over of the school year, otherwise students only gain skills learned at A+FCU. “I like getting to know students and faculty at the bank,” Taylor said. “It builds relationships.” Students at the bank work both by themselves and with other students at a time. Staff is limited to juniors and seniors. “On some days I work with two other students and I like that,” Tay-lor said. “It helps a lot because they worked there last year.”

With having the bank on campus, it is convenient for students to go to rather than going to a job off campus. Also this job saves gas money and would be a perfect fit for anyone without a car to leave campus and go to another job.“It is convenient working at my school because it works a lot with my hours and schedule,” Taylor said. Being a student employee at the bank has many benefits and would be an opportunity to get a feel of how a real job works. “Students learn real world skills working at the bank,” Otto said.

Working at Credit Union in buildingoffers convenience for teen employees

staff reporterNaihla Temple

It’s 8 a.m., one hour until the dreadful sound of the school bell ringing, signify-ing the start of the eight-hour school day. Students roll out of bed, rush through breakfast and catch up on some last minute homework. After a long, stressful day, most students find themselves slouched on the couch finishing homework and even study-ing for their next exam. Although the continuous process, that occurs 5 times a week, seems time consum-ing and extensive, some students manage to squeeze in time for a job, taking away their free time, but earning some extra money on the side. Sophomore Anthony Ekpe got his work

permit at fifteen and decided to get a job at Chick-fil-a over the summer, despite rigor-ous football practices and preparation for the school year. “What made me decide to take the job was that I just wanted to find a way to bring more money into the house,” Ekpe said. “I wanted to help my family out a well as myself.” Finding time for a job meant having lenient coaches who understood when it comes to leaving practice early or showing up late. “My coaches were really understanding,” Ekpe said. “Although my job hardly ever interfered.” Along with Ekpe, senior Taylor Padgett also works at Chick-fil-a and has been working

there for four months every Thursday and Saturday while playing varsity volleyball. “I got the job during the summer because I didn’t have much to do,” Padgett said. “I thought I would get some experience while I can.” With the responsibilities of a job also come the responsibilities of making sure all schoolwork is done even if it means giving up some free time. Even through free time is reduced; having a job gives it’s benefits. “It actually does give me an advantage,” Ekpe said. “ It gives me the chance to make more money compared to [those] who get a job later [in their life].” The money these students earn from their job gives them the ability to save

up for something meaningful and impor-tant. “[Aside from helping out my family] I have decided to save up my earnings and put it into my college fund and use the money for college,” Ekpe said. Having a job is not only a choice made by some students, but is a life lesson that teaches students real world situations and how to interact with other people, all while earning a little cash on the side. “I have learned that you have to take re-sponsibility for your actions and you just have to make sure you do the right thing at the right time,” Ekpe said. “I think everybody should take their job seriously.”

Teens juggle job and school life, learn lessonsopinions editorkayla meadoWS

Posting Problems

{“When you have a job, you definitely don’t have as much free time, but you also are able to do more because you have the economic means,” } -Jocelyn Yarbrough, 11

All in a Day’s Work Although job hunting is a difficult task, there are steps that any-one can take to make their search more productive and ultimately help to get them the job they were hoping for.

Junior Alicia Taylor works in the bank serving a customer. Photo by Ameer Joseph

Networking: Begin to think about getting a job, and start networking. Networking is asking friends, family members and acquaintances if they know anyone who’s hiring at the time.

There is no need to have job experience to create a resume. On a resume, put extracurricular activities, leadership roles or anything that shows responsibil-ity. After the resume is complete, have someone proof read it to make sure there aren’t any errors. It is okay to ask for help when creating a resume; sometimes it isn’t easy to think of things to put on it.

Brush up on some interview skills: When it is time to interview, know what to talk about. The company may ask questions about itself and about the interest with the company. Companies don’t want to know personal information; they want to know what goals are. Be confident.

Follow up with the manager: After turning in an application, call the manager a few days later and ask if they got the application and resume. Calling the manager is like a first interview, so be professional and make a good impression.

Job hunting tips ease the search for employment

Create and update resume:




US domestic and foreign concepts clearedco-editorGabrielle WilkoSZ THE WAR ON WOMEN

At St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, senior Sam Smith helps nurses hold down a seventeen year old pack-a-day-smoker to prevent her from hurting the other nurses. Meanwhile in another ward of the hospital, an elderly patient says, “I love you, Miranda.” as senior Miranda Cruz leaves her room. Both seniors are enrolled in the Practicum of Health Science class, an elevated health class where seniors shadow nurses at St. David’s NAMC. “We go on hospital rotations, which is where we follow the nurses and we learn about their lives and what they do at the hospital,” senior Rosemary Agwuncha said. The only two prerequisites of the course

are being a senior and Health Science Tech-nology, an alternate health class focused on those who want to go into the medical field. However, most seniors currently enrolled in the course suggest taking every health course offered and getting involved with the Health Occupation Students of America, or HOSA. “I’ve taken three years of Latin, HST, Medical Terminology, and Anatomy & Physiology,” Smith said. “The only health-related class I haven’t taken is Health.” Because the class is only for those who are seriously considering careers in the medical field, juniors who want to take the class their senior year must fill out an application, which includes a short essay and a copy of their

transcript. After juniors make it past the ap-plication process they must undergo a back-ground check and drug test. Once they’re en-rolled in the class, the students must be pass-ing their other classes to visit the hospital. “As I was applying, I was hopeful that I would make the cut, because I had heard only good things about the program, and how they selected a few people for the class,” senior Neo Gitahi said. Lindsay Saylor-Carroll, who is teaching Practicum for her first year, is a Clinical Ex-ercise Physiologist, where she works with patients after they’ve had heart surgery during the summer. “I wanted to do something new that was still related to Health Care,” Saylor-Carroll

said. “My wife taught Health CTE at Atkins High School and I thought that teaching would be a good way to stay involved.” The two Practicum classes are at the hospi-tal, shadowing nurses, on Mondays through Wednesdays, while Thursdays and Fridays are spent in the classroom talking about their time at the hospital. Next semester, however, the class will shift into a more traditional classroom setting. “Right now we’re doing hospital rotations, but next semester we’re going to be training and practicing for them to be able to get their pharmacist’s license once they graduate,” Saylor-Carroll said. “A pharmacy technician is an amazing, high-paying job to be able to go into right out of high school.”

copy editorGuS louiSPracticum of Health Science provides opportunity to see life of nurses

Sophomore Stefan Robertson is having trouble focusing. His thoughts are rushing through his mind so fast he starts feeling light headed. He gets up feeling weak. None of this surprised him though, it just meant he had to take yet another trip to the nurse. He feels the needle; it’s not as painful as it used to be. The test confirmed what he al-ready expected. Robertson’s blood sugar was low. Robertson has type 1 diabetes. This level of diabetes is a chronic disease in which the body does not produce enough insulin to convert sugars into energy. Type 1 diabetes

is a very manageable chronic disease, but if someone who has it fails to regulate blood sugar, it can be very dangerous. “Honestly, when I found out I had diabetes I thought I was going to die,” Robertson said. “I cried because I seriously thought I wasn’t going to survive.” His family was also devastated, but tried to hide it. They didn’t want to worry him even more. The doctors told them about some classes and after going, everyone real-ized that Robertson would still live a pretty normal life. “Sometimes I don’t get as much time to

eat or I miss something important in class like notes or a test,” Robertson said. “It gets a little tough sometimes, but I manage.” Robertson has to make arrangements with his teachers, so they know his situation and that he will have to miss class. Every time he eats he needs to take a shot and any time his blood sugar gets low he needs to eat something sweet, making it is necessary for him to have to miss class. “When I go to the nurse to check my blood sugar every time I eat,” said Robert-son. “I used to hate needles, but I’m used to it now.”

To check his blood sugar Robertson uses a machine called a glucose meter. He has to place a test strip into the machine. He washes his hands to get off all the extra glu-cose and then pricks his finger. Robertson pinches his finger to squeeze out the blood, while the glucose meter extracts it. The re-sults then flash on the screen telling Rob-ertson if he needs to eat something or take an insulin shot. “The needles felt painful at first with a lin-gering sting feeling,” Robertson said. “After a while I developed scabs and thick skin, so it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

THE DEBT CEILING

NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY

If we’re for women, who could be against them?

Despite easy online access to last night’s news, staying connected with the what is happening in the political sphere remains an initiative that still many choose to not take, leaving individuals uneducated, or under-educated. One may know Syria is in a crisis, but what is the crisis over? Political affiliations may bring one to believe they don’t agree with the Obamacare, but what specifically about it makes the blood boil? To further figure out these questions and more, here is the skinny on a few leading political concerns and issues.

SYRIA CONFLICT

Every move you make, every breath you take, I’ll be watchin’ you.

Check YES or NObamacare: the controversy that is the American healthcare system

Originally enacted as a mechanism to limit the amount of national debt that can be is-sued by the Treasury, the Debt Ceiling has an important factor in managing the public debt, as well as a lead role in the macroeco-nomics of the United States. Unfortunately, in 1995, 2011 and 2013, debt ceiling crisis have occurred, signaling that the Congress must raise the amount of authorized specific loans that can be taken out. All three crisis resulted in shut downs of the government, followed by high-pressure scrambles on behalf of legislators to save the unhappy nation.

When the western media released graphic pictures and footage of the human rights vio-lations in Syria, westerners were affronted by the atrocities. But for Syrians themselves, and those closely tied with the nation in civil war itself, the shock had worn off long ago. As it stands, the nation is currently divided between Bashar al-Assad’s iron rule and the several groups of unorganized opposi-tion fighters. Since the Syrian uprising, the United Nations reports 100,000 people hav-ing lost their lives, meaning that this civil war is no small issue.

The term originated to describe specifi-cally the Republican Party’s conservative views that openly restrict women’s rights and liberation. Points of contention include anti-contraception legislation, canceling state funding for abortion clinics, raising the question of the legality of abortion and how violence against women is prosecuted. Despite this, both the politicians from the Democratic Party and a number of Republi-can politicians have openly pointed out the misogyny of their fellow U.S. politicians who have waged this “War on Women.”

Also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), “Obamacare” was a law passed in March of 2010, becom-ing the most profound overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system. The basic tenant of the reform is to give healthcare to all, lower the number of uninsured Americans and reduce the cost of healthcare as it pertains to individuals within the nation, regardless of socio-economic capability. However, the opposition, chiefly, congressional and state Republicans and the Tea Party, say Obam-acare is socialist and does not reflect the needs and preferences of the nation.

Raise the roof… what is the debt ceiling anyway?

Syria in context: what has gone/is going down in the Arab Republic.

Setting the Record Straight

Recent controversy has been sparked over the constitutionality of the United State’s government surveillance. Perhaps the dispute over the boundaries of the NSA wouldn’t have been as great had the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper not denied the allegations of taking information without warrants, that were later found out to be true. In short, the U.S. government has enough access to citizens’ and other countries’ information to make a conspiracy theorist giddy.

staff reporterkylie ruffino

Robertson comes to terms with diabetes

Photo by Ameer Joseph Photo by Ameer Joseph Photo by Ameer Joseph

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT



Militaryco-editorNYSSA KRUSE

Junior Erin Ferrari can be seen four days a week walking the halls in clothes that fit the trends, from creamy cardigans and pointy-toed flats to chiffon blouses and skinny jeans. However, one day each week she wears the exact same outfit. And she doesn’t mind it—in fact, she cherishes it. This outfit, despite its neutral, monochro-matic color palette and simplistic cut, makes her feel confident, happy and, above all, proud. For her, there’s nothing like wearing her uniform, exactly like the ones the Marines wear. “You feel like you’re a part of something big,” Ferrari said. “Being a part of something like that is amazing.” This is Ferrari’s third year in the Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps. Dedicating this much time to

the program has definitely had an effect on her. “Three years ago I was a shy kid. I could not speak up. I’d rather have died before I went up and spoke in front of anyone, including the company,” Ferrari said. “The instructors here have taught me about leadership, and being confident.” Now Ferrari takes on a leadership role of her own as a Gunnery Sergeant, a position that requires her to handle logistics, organize her company and assist the instructors. She seeks relationships with the other cadets, guided by her philosophy that “rank doesn’t define” members. “We strive to connect with our cadets, get to know them on a personal level because it makes the program overall better,” Ferrari said. “If you need something you can ask any of the cadets and we’ll be willing to help you because we know you’re one of our own.” Although he runs the program with ex-

pected seriousness and discipline, MCJROTC instructor First Sergeant Ed Amadis helps facilitate the sense of closeness among members. “He truly wants each of us to succeed in our lives, and he’s not doing it so that you join the military, because there’s no obligation whatsoever to join the military, he’s doing so you can better yourself for your future,” Ferrari said. “He’s kind of like a guide to us, and if you ever need someone to talk to, you can talk to him.” For Ferrari though MCJROTC is more than just a close-knit high school organization with a caring instructor, many friends and years of personal growth. It’s a way to get a jump start on a dream she has had since she was a child: enlistment. “My mom was originally going to join the navy, but then she had me, so I feel compelled to do it,” Ferrari said. “I feel like it’s a calling. That’s why I joined ROTC.”

MCJROTC provides strong bonds, career prep

Meet the

its families and its future

: When senior Marchele Stewart tells people she has

a few family members in the army, people assume her dad and maybe an older brother, but few initially guess that her mother, aunt and sister all have or are serving in the military. Stewart’s family breaks gen-der stereotypes related to the military with three female family members who have served, an accomplishment Stewart couldn’t be more proud of. Though she doesn’t plan on joining the military herself, Stewart doesn’t take lightly the strength and rigor re-quired by the military, as well as just how difficult it can be for anyone, especially a wom- an, in the army.

“I have a lot of respect for my mom, “ Stewart said. “The military is definitely a male dominated place.” Stewart’s mother Chay, though always strong, found adapting to the military lifestyle more difficult than an-ticipated. Though Chay grew up with a family full of boys, being the only one of three women on an army base full of men would be different than she thought. “It was kind of a wake up call for my mom in the sense that she had to toughen up,” Stewart said. “I mean, she was always tough, but it’s different when you’re not around family. Because she’s a girl, she always had to prove herself to everyone.” As if always having to prove herself wasn’t hard enough, Chay had to give up much of her time, that she would have spent raising her two daughters Marchele and Darche. “She wanted to raise little girls, so I know that had to be really hard for her,” Stewart said. Aside from consuming much of her mother’s time, the army required for Stewart and her family to move around. Though she was young, Stewart recalls the times she had in places such as Florida and Germany. “I was little, so I thought it was really fun,” Stewart said. “People would always come to play with my sister and

I in my mom’s office. I was too young to feel uprooted when we’d move.” Despite her young age, Stewart felt the impact, good and bad, of living with a military family, seeing the im-pact it’s had on her sister and herself. “When you’re little, that’s when things are instilled in you, that’s when you learn the most,” Stewart said. Stewart feels her experience has lead to a different outlook that those whose parents aren’t in the military wouldn’t understand. “I definitely have a different ap-preciation for things,” Stewart said. “If something ever hap-pened, my mom would be the one to fight it.” Stewart is proud of all of her family members who have served in the military, but most of all, her mother, whose strength and resil-ience has inspired her. “I think the military has become a lot more accepting of women, but there’s still a long way to go,” Stewart said.

life, style & artsLUcibELLA HERNANdEz

Female lineage in army brings pride to Stewart

He is miss-ing the unpre-dictable Texas weather, and the presents I’ve opened on my birthday. He’s missed the scares of H a l l o w e e n ,

and the start of the school year. He is missing the cheers of Christmas, and he’s missing the New Year. He isn’t missing the heat though, or the gun-

shots, or the bad food, or the freezing nights. He isn’t missing the full gear, the special camouflage, the patchy Internet-connection, or the govern-ment provided furniture. He’s not missing his job, but he is missing us. Courtesy of the US army, my dad is deployed. It is one of several times he’s left for the country, and it is also his last. Knowing me, one would be able to see the ef-fects on my personality. I am mostly independent, self-sufficient when I can be, and I don’t often ac-cept certain hierarchies that most people I know here are alright with. It really is because of my dad. He’s been going away since I was born. Not just deployments, plenty of other times. When we were in Germa-ny, my dad had to leave to train with the soldiers,

too. Then there is his actual work, which is over an hour away from where we live right now, and so he leaves around four in the morning and gets back at eight, at least when he’s here. Without him here, I’ve had to do a lot on my own. I’ve had a lot to do without the help most people get from their families. Right now, he is in Afghanistan, the most dan-gerous of the current bunch of American invaded nations. In the past, he was in Iraq, and even ear-lier he served in Kuwait. That’s years of my life gone. I’ve been through over 70 holidays without him, through eight birthdays. I’ve been through so much without him. I learned to ride my bike alone, and fought my abu-sive baseball coach without him. I worked against

my school’s wishes to get ahead in math, and I’ve fought for achievements with him somewhere else in the world. There will always be a bit of an emotional tear in the thread of my life though, like points of weak-ness in a rubber band that I’d be scared to stretch too far, in case it broke. There are a lot of generic father-son moments that ordinary families take for granted. I’ve missed a few, and I will never get them back. I think most families take a lot for granted. I’m glad they can though because I wouldn’t wish the life I have had to live on anyone. It isn’t the worst fate in the world, but I truly wish I could have had more time in the past with my dad. At least I have the chance to make up that time though. When the tour is over, he’ll never have to leave again.

Army brat realizes personal effects of parental deployment

NAtHAN WAYSports Editor


Photos courtesy of Stewart family

Photo by Conner Gray

Senior Marchele Stewart and older sister, Darche.



The smell of ink and the feel of warm pa-per have never felt so satisfying. Finally seeing all of that hard work as a finished product, it doesn’t get better than that. Junior Brier Bustamante has forever been a fan of manga, but never thought that she’d ever publish her own work. “I was fifteen when I pub-lished my first book,” Busta-mante said. “I was at an anime convention, and I showed my work to this guy, and he said he’d publish a hundred copies of it.” 90% of the copies sold, a task that could be difficult for professionals, let alone someone first starting out. Bustamante’s manga skyrocketed from there, having published two other books in the series since then. Bustamante and her three co-authors spend practically ev-ery minute of their free time working on illustrations, plot and character design and

development. “I will put my health and my studies aside to work on my art,” Bustamante said. “I’ve always got a sketchpad with me to work on it.” Because Bustamante publishes her work through a small self-made publisher who doesn’t make any profit from her work, she

has to come up with the means to pay for it, earning it all herself. “Having published my work makes me value my money way more,” Busta-

mante said. “I never knew it cost so much to print. I don’t make any profit, all of the money I make goes right back into publishing. I just do it because

a fun way to get my work out.” All of Bustamante’s friends and

family encourage her artistic pur-suits. She’s gained fans of her art both at school and at home.“My mom will call me by my pen name sometimes,” Bustamante said. “I’ll get a text from her, and she’ll be teasingly calling me Maki Nekonome.”

Though she can only sell her work at con-ventions, Bustamante has gained plenty of recognition in the manga and anime com-munity with her self-described “dangerous romantic comedy.” “One time at a convention, I was dressed as the main character from my book that I was selling,” Bustamante said. “A girl came up to me and hugged me and asked to take a picture with me; I was pretty embarrassed.” From having fans to nearly selling out copies of her work, Bustamante has ac-complished more than she ever thought she would. Though she plans to pursue a career in culinary arts, dojinshe (self pub-lished work, mainly being manga or anime) is something she always sees herself doing. “I’ll definitely still do this when I grow up,”

Bustamante said. “I’ll be in my for-ties still writing books. It’s

just something I re-ally love.”

life, style & artsLucibeLLa Hernandez

Comic KidComic Kid

“It’s just

some-thing I really love.” Brier

Busta-mante

Doujinshi DreamYoung artist becomes self-published

Freshman Robert Medina always has a pen or pencil and sketchpad with him, either in his hands or in his backpack. He makes anywhere he goes his personal workshop. Drawing since he was three years old, it’s become a sixth sense to Medina. His earliest remembrance of inspiration was when he was a child. “I used to watch a lot of cartoons when I was little, I didn’t have much else to do,” Medina said. Then, he discovered a whole new realm of art that combined what he loved: comics. “That’s when it all started because it’s pictures telling a

story,” Medina said. Ever since then, Medina’s been drawing nonstop, and he has the work to prove it. “I doodle on anything I can,” Medina said. “I have two comic books right now. One is 60 pages and the other I plan on making 60 to 90 pages.” Despite having such a large body of work, Medina doesn’t quite think any of his creations are ready to be shared.“I don’t think I have much publishing material yet be-cause a lot of it roughly done,” Medina said. Today’s popular cartoons and videogames, similarly to how the cartoons in his childhood first intrigued him, heavily inspire Medina. “I watch a lot of Adventure

Time and Regular Show,” Me-dina said. “I’m also inspired by the artwork done by the Behemoth in Castle Crashers (a videogame) and by Jim Da-vis (cartoonist of the comic strip Garfield).” With life full of art, Medina doesn’t plan on throwing his experience and talent away; he plans on attending the Institute of Art in Austin once he graduates from high school. He also has a large team of support behind him as well. “My friends and teachers are very supportive of my drawings,” Medina said. Medina’s art isn’t just a topic or lifeless piece of paper pinned onto the wall; it’s his way of life. “My art is pretty much my pride and joy,” Medina said.

Freshman creates original cartoonsFreshman creates original cartoons

“Art is pretty much my pride and joy.”-Robert Medina

staff reporterdeonte orange

Locked between the dimensional realms of reality and fantasy is a place like no other. Reports of glowing clouds dropping animal carcasses, ominous hooded-figures, floating bathroom cats, and town citizens fighting off their evil doppelgangers are all natural occurrences. Read aloud with calming, non-chalet tones, Welcome to Night Vale is the weirdest local radio show one will ever experience with outrageous conspiracy theories which seem to be true and become more complex as the show trends a fine line

between hilarious absurdity and genuine creepiness. What makes Welcome to Night Vale unique is its special brand of oddity and suspense, mixed with creative storytelling. The town experiences abnormal occurrences that, oddly enough, seem to faze no one, least of the all smooth-voiced radio show host Cecil. Recommended for virtually everyone, Welcome to Night Vale will bring back to childhood days of being read bedtime stories through podcasts found at podbay.fm with new episodes bi-monthly on the first and fifteenth.

Rise of Night Vale

Pow!

Boom!

Podcast breeds ominous fandomstaff reporterMarQuise Prince-saLone

????

?

Cecil Palmer (voiced by Cecil Baldwin)Narrator and radio host of Night Vale Community Radio, Cecil is a native who often finds peace within the chaos of what goes on around town and an active representative of what Night Vale is all about. Cecil is what most people would consider “ adorkable.” Cecil is often charmingly earnest, almost naïve, and a heart-on-his-sleeve romantic making him surprising vulnerable and seemingly innocent.

Carlos the Scientist (voiced by Jeffrey Cranor)Carlos is the newest addition to Night Vale’s populace. He came to town to study its particular brand of weird science, and spends much of his time being baffled by little things like how clocks are filled with grey matter. Not being one of Night Vale’s long time residents, Carlos isn’t accustomed to the strange and horrible events that occur in the small town and is often mentioned investigating the phenomenon at a risk of his own life.

Station ManagementAn unknown entity that runs Night Vale Community Radio. Very little is known about Station Management since nobody in Night Vale has ever seen what lies behind its office door. In fact, it is com-pletely unclear as to what residential status Station Management is. It communicates to NVCR staff and interns through memos slipped under the door that often need to be translated by the station oracle.

The AngelsAngels may or may not exist. If they do exist, they’ll be harmless, ten-foot tall, humanoid abominations all with the name Erika with a “k.”

Night Vale Community RadioRun by Station Management, Night Vale Community Radio is Night Vale’s main radio provider. The current host of NVCR, Cecil Palmer, provides daily community updates along with other programs such as traffic reports, the popular advice program, Doctor Brandon, friendly reminders to not look at the hooded figures, and the weather. Cecil describes the station as “a messy home” full of hallways wind-ing away into a labyrinth of audio equipment and with windows that look out onto empty recording studios that haven’t been used in decades. They have a station pet named Khoshekh the cat who hovers by the sink in the men’s bathroom.

The Dog ParkThe first place mentioned in Night Vale, and possibly the most mys-terious. All that’s know is that neither dogs nor people are permitted in the dog park and no one should acknowledge its existence. It’s suspected that the dog park is a portal to another dimension.

Night Vale Harbor and Waterfront Recreation AreaThe Seaside Heights of Night Vale. Complete with sturdy docking areas made from eco-friendly post-consumer material, a boardwalk overlooking sagebrush and rocks and stands for food vendors and merchants. Cecil describes them as “top of the line and beautiful.” Even though Night Vale is located in the middle of a desert and there is no feasible water to be found, its creators, the Business Association, insisted the harbor would be a success. However, the Business Association soon realized that somehow, no money was to be gained from it and they announced to the public that the whole facility was a mere mass hallucination caused by the entire popula-tion of Night Vale.

Night Vale Public LibraryA run-down mock of a learning facility with outdated and slow computers, a lending period of only fourteen days, and a biography section that contains nothings but 33 copies of the official biography of Helen Hunt. The library is infested with a group of maleficent librarians who are the apparent cause of many of the establishment’s fatalities. Visitors are warned that should a librarian approach them, they should remain still and try to make themselves look bigger than the librarian.

Abandoned Mine ShaftThe Abandoned Mine Shaft has been used for years as a place of captivity for many kidnappings, illegal detentions, and interroga-tional torture, however, special features include: king-sized beds, free Wi-Fi, and HBO on demand.

Characters

Places

At only the age of 17, junior Mathew Ortiz is living every teenage artist’s fantasy, perform-

ing at places like the Orange County Convention Center in Florida, and East Central As-sembly of God in San Antonio. Ortiz is the lead singer and

guitarist of his band, Feed the Faith, he started his band with his little brother Andrew and his friend Roy. “The reason we started the band is we want to reach out to people to show them that they’re loved by someone,” Ortiz said “To show them there is a better life ahead if you choose the right path.” They were not always in the same band together, but they all went to t h e s a m e c h u r c h , K i n g o f Glory. “We de-cided to use our talent in a better way, to show what God gave us,” Ortiz said. “So we started are own band.” Ortiz’s band performs Contem-porary Christian Music, Feed the Faith is in a contract with the Salvador Foundation under

opening band. “When I got the offer I was excited, I was happy.” Ortiz said. “I have a lot of energy and I try and get the crowd involved as much as I can.” Juggling school, work, and try-ing to manage his band is much to handle at one time but Ortiz manages his time well. “Any little spare time I get I work on my music in some way,” Ortiz said. “Whether it be the

smallest sec-ond to min-ute I write l y r i c s f o r new songs.” After grad-uation Ortiz

wants to focus on getting his band noticed so he can make more of a difference in peoples’ lives. “ I hope to see us playing in different locations, different churches.” Ortiz said, “Reaching out to different people.”


Arcade Fire’s Reflektormirrors old work with new influences

Track Talk

NYSSA KRUSECo-editor


Raising Hope proves funny, sincere

Telly Time

HollY Sillstaff reporter

Offbeat sitcom Raising Hope follows 24-year-old Jimmy Chance, who, after a one-night stand with a serial killer, finds himself a single dad of newborn Hope. This Fox original series highlights Jimmy and his quirky family as they willingly attempt to teach, guide and love Hope, the newest member of their wacky clan. Along with the emmy-nominated main cast members, Raising Hope frequently introduces well-known guest stars, adding a spice of variety. Among the long list of guest stars, the most noteworthy include Katy Perry, Hillary Duff, Ashley Tisdale, Greyson Chance, and several cast mem-bers from My Name is Earl. These stars more than enhance the show; they bring additional humor to the table through their roles and interactions with the main characters, often providing flashbacks or foreshadowing. Raising Hope’s comedic elements incor-porate lower-class and elderly stereotypes, mild sexual humor, unplanned pregnan-cies, the challenges of living in a multi-generation house, and the dysfunctional Chance family’s everyday conflicts all in a lighthearted fashion. With the addition of several mispronunciations and malaprop-isms in the script, the humor throughout Raising Hope provides not only a good chuckle, but also a chance for the audience to relate to the characters through their common human mistakes as well as the struggles that the family faces. The best part of Raising Hope is that the themes are presented with the intention of all of the characters learning heartfelt life lessons. Throughout the course of each season, Jimmy learns what it really means to be a parent and Hope continues to unite the endearing family through the common love that they share for her and each other, despite their many differences.

Asking me to choose a favorite Arcade Fire album is like asking me to choose a favorite child: I can’t technically pick one, but I have always known which is my favorite. However, my conviction was shaken on Oct. 29, when Arcade Fire’s latest album, Reflektor, dropped, and although I can’t say this with certainty, I think I may have a new favorite child. This album marked a sharp divergence from Arcade Fire’s traditional style, and the change is evident from the first track. They have introduced strong electronic sounds, which invite listeners to get up and shake it in the first half and create a discordant, outer-space vibe in the latter half. Though some are opposed to the new sound, I find it perfectly blends the most out-of-tune-yet-perfectly-suited beats and allows for a masterfully created album. This is best exemplified by the contrast of Oh Eurydice (my top track), which sounds like an extraterrestrial tragedy, and the next track, Hey Orpheus, which brilliantly juxtaposes Eurydice by bringing the tempo back up, but contin-ues the Greek inspiration. What is perhaps more clever though is that this album still sounds like classic Arcade Fire. The lyrics seek to contem-plate existence and the modern world, two favorite themes of the band. How-ever, that is not exactly why it feels so familiar: it’s because Arcade Fire has no definite sound. Each record they put out is a unique masterpiece full of individual innovation, and Reflektor is no different, making it just as good as their other work, if not better.

A symphony of instrumental electronic music beats. The bass and drums vibrate to a fast syncopate rhythm. This is senior Alex Fry’s world. He maneuvers it all with the click of the mouse and the creativity from the mind of a musician. Fry was inspired to pursue music in el-ementary school when recruiters for band came to his fourth grade class and advocated band, taking them to the local middle school to see the band perform. That was when he started to play the flute, but soon after other instruments followed. “Ever since I have just been trying to make music, learning to play any instrument I can get my hands on,” Fry said. Today he is in the school band but that’s not the only music he creates. Using special software such as FL Studio, Fry found a new artistry in music production by creating and

mixing sounds to c l a s h

into different genres of music such as dub-step, metal and rave. “I found out that I was good at playing oth-ers’ music, so I thought ‘why not try to make my own?’” Fry said. “Since then it has just been a hit or miss process with some stuff being great and others not so good.” With a YouTube account and a username of “Kraken X” Fry uploads his creations under names following the theme and in-spiration of the songs, such as Power and Midnight Party. However, pushed by his subscribers, family and friends, Fry has his aspirations above YouTube. He plans to release an iTunes album this upcoming summer. “I’m still not sure on how many songs it will have or all the details, [but] to me it will be a milestone and a chance to prove myself and my personal success and progress,” Fry said. The album was originally scheduled for this past summer but progress

suspended b e -

cause of Fry’s busy schedule consisting of band, and multiple AP classes. “Band is like having a job only without pay, but once band season ends I’ll be able to create more music,” Fry said, “The experi-ences of performing music with your friends and going on band trips slash competitions is worth WAY more than any amount of money.” After high school and joining the Na-tional Guard, Fry plans to go to a university and achieve a master’s degree in audio en-gineering and sound recording so he can pursue a job in music production or sound engineering. Either way, music seems to fill Fry’s current life with great significance and meaning, and it doesn’t seem like it will be leaving any time soon. “Music is important to me because it is a way to express yourself,” Fry said. “You can basically put all your emotions in a collab-orative force of expression. All that anger happiness, love you can put in a song.”

staff reporterMARiA MENdEz

guest reporterMiRAgE MARtiNEz

The sun beats down on neat brick houses and reflects off the cars parked in their driveways. Trees line the street and trash cans line the curb. In a picture perfect neigh-borhood such as this, one might expect to hear the sounds of birds chirping or children playing, but those sounds are drowned out by the metal music emanating from one of the garages. Here, the band Beyond Fallen Shadows practices, working towards their goal of making it big time in the demanding music industry. Members include drummer freshman Emilio Pla, guitarist senior Tony Lerma, bassist junior Josh Valdez and graduated members Josh Huber, Johnathan Sotomayor

and Mikah Shipman. “Me, Tony, and a few other guys got a group together for the talent show last year,” Valdez said. “Afterwards we wanted to continue it, because it was fun and something to do outside of school.” The original group that played the talent show dispersed, leaving only Valdez and Lerma to organize a new band from the ground up. “One of our biggest challenges was definitely finding members that were a permanent stick,” Lerma said. “Not everyone can fit in with us.” The group recently decided to replace their former vocalist with graduated member Johnathan Sotomayor after attitude issues caused friction in the group.

“It’s just difficult to get our ideas to come together,” Pla said. “Everyone has different ways they want things to go.” Despite their conflicting intentions, the crew managed to come together and record their first track, which is currently being refined and finished. “Our biggest achievement so far is definitely recording a single,” Pla said. “We did it in an actual recording studio. It was fun.” The fun soon turned into something more: a possible career. The group aims to play shows, record albums, and ultimately be taken on by a label. “It’s kind of cheesy, but it’s the normal goal. Money, fame… just to get somewhere,” Lerma said. “And to influence people. I want to be able to help people.”

iTunes:

Six-man teenage metal band aims high with hopes of famestaff reporterMAdi McvAN

{“We decided to use our tal-ent in a better way, to show what God gave us.” }-Matthew Ortiz, 11

Feeding the Faith by singing for Jesus

Musician expands from playing to producing

Music made by teens


Sports 17December 13, 2013

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Students explore possibilities of what could be done with free time

“If I didn’t have to study, I would go online and watch some T.V. Currently, I have been watching this show called Awkward.”-Nicole Onyango, 11

“I’d be at band practice with my band, Until Atlantis Falls. We’d be just writing songs, jamming out. I’m one of the vocalists. We play our own post-hardcore stuff.”-Justin Moreland, 12

“I’d go to South Korea and look around the cities, eat the food. I like travel. I’d go there with a few friends since I haven’t been there for a decade.”-Truman Long, 12

Study

If outside of the school day didn’t consist of studying, unwinding from the long, hard day, and preparing for the next, what potentially amazing things could fill all that free time?

Breakco-editorGabrielle WilkoSZ

watching T.V.

the band

world travel

That momentwhen...

You Order your Yearbookwww.smart-pay.com

As Pflugerville becomes more urbanized, fast food chain restaurants are popping up more around town. Although it may be easy to succumb to the fast food menu, there are several local restaurants and snack-stops that prove to be just as tasty.

Local restaurants provide wide variety of good eatsstaff reporterHolly Sill

Taste of the Town

Das Café

La Patisserie

Alfredo’s

JT’s Shaved IceBari’s Pizza & Pasta

Key: $ food costs 5-10 dollars $$ food costs 15-20 dollars$-$$

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1501 Pecan St W. Suite 100, Pflugerville, TX 78660 Baris provides a sweet taste of Italy without the hassle of crossing the Atlan-tic. Besides a delicious menu, they carry a welcoming staff and a wide space for seating, perfect for a family dinner or lunch out. Menu: Baris offers a wide variety of salads, as well as Italian pastas, subs and several pizza options with an authentic Italian taste. As for desserts, there is a small but satisfying selection of pastries and cakes. Recommendation: In the mood for pasta but unsure what to get? Try the cheese ravioli with a cannoli for dessert.

2604 W. Pecan St. Suite C, Pfluger-ville, TX 78660 (next to Starbucks & Cash Advance) In a town of German origin, a little piece of France is knocking at Pflugerville’s doorstep. Perfect for a brunch date for two, this quiet bakery makes for easy conversa-tion and a relaxed meal. Menu: Serving an assortment of homemade French foods, La Patisserie offers an assortment of pastries, breakfast items, soups, and a variety of hot or cold sand-wiches for lunch. Recommendation: For a break-fast meal or early lunch treat, try a macaroon served with a sweet plain croissant or the crème brulee tart.

104 N Railroad Ave. Pflugerville, TX 78660 Staying true to Pflugerville’s roots, this quaint café serves a variety of German dishes that are made with time and care. Because the café is within a tight cozy space, it’s ideal for a small group or pair. Menu: Das Café offers several German dishes that range from sandwiches to po-tato pancakes and a selection of homemade German pastries. Recommendation: If one’s new to Ger-man food, try the schnitzel sandwich or the sundried tomato and cheese sandwich with apple streusel for desert.

200 E Pecan St. Suite 1, Pflugerville, TX 78660 In the Texas heat, it’s nice to cool off with a snow cone from this affordable and humble snow cone shack. With tables to sit at, a TV to watch and board games to play, anyone would feel right at home.Menu: Think of any snow cone flavor and JT’s has it. Top off your snow cone with ice cream, fruit, candy, or even pickles. They also serve an assortment of soft drinks, with the option of candy, chips, and ice cream.Recommendation: Feeling daring? Try the Pickadilly which combines one’s favorite snow cone flavor topped with Kool-Aid powder and pickle chunks for a sweet and sour taste.

800 W. Pecan Street, Pflugerville, TX 78660 With an affordable menu, friendly service, and a television to watch, it’s very easy to just enjoy one another’s company over chips and a nice meal. Menu: They serve breakfast all day, along with classic Mexican dishes like enchiladas, burritos, ta-cos and fajitas, as well as Mexican pastries and sodas. Recommendation: Make sure not to fill up on chips and salsa so there’s room to try beef fajitas or cheese quesadillas with chicken.

$

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Sports18Volume 7, Issue 4

Sports 19December 13, 2013

Boys B-ball vs Stony Point Dec. 31 vs Westwood Jan. 3 vs Pflugerville Jan. 7 vs McNeil Jan. 14 vs Converse Dec. 17 vs Cedar Ridge Dec. 20 vs Westwood Jan. 4 vs Round Rock Jan. 10

& StatsScores

Girls B-ball

Varsity Football11/1 vs. McNeil Mavericks 21 - 711/15 vs. Westlake Chaparrals 10 - 17

The season ended 10 - 0, the second undefeated season in a row for the foot-ball team. They were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by Westlake, also the second year in a row.

Varsity Volleyball11/4 vs. Lake Travis Cavaliers 3 - 211/7 vs. The Woodlands Highlanders 0 - 3

The season ended 25 - 9, with a third place finish in the district. They were knocked out of the playoffs in the second round by The Woodlands, who finished as State Champions.

Varsity Boy’s Basketball11/1 vs. Copperas Cove Bulldawgs 56 - 8611/19 vs. A&M Consolidated Tigers 68 - 5511/22 vs. Midway Panthers 54 - 8211/25 vs. Shoemaker Wolves 61 - 7311/26 vs. Lanier Vikings 67 - 5212/2 vs. Temple Wildcats 67 - 5112/5 vs. Bowie Bulldogs 41 - 7012/6 vs. Reagan Raiders 85 - 7212/6 vs. Cedar Ridge Raiders 79 - 7212/7 vs. LBJ Austin Jaguars 46 - 6412/7 vs. Bowie Bulldogs 65 - 74

Varsity Girl’s Basketball11/5 vs. Harker Heights Knights 48 - 6311/12 vs. San Marcos Rattlers 61 - 3911/15 vs. Vista Ridge Rangers 67 - 7311/19 vs. Leander Lions 54 - 5711/21 vs. O’Connor Panthers 65 - 6412/3 vs. McNeil Mavericks 65 - 7512/7 vs. Hays Rebels 35 - 2611/21 vs. O’Connor Panthers 65 - 64

SwimmingSenior David Thai and freshman Jacob Overheim each finished 8th at the Southzone TISCA meet in the 100yd back-stroke and the 200 individual medley respectively.

When he finally arrives at the swim center, it is time. Not to mess around with his friends, but to dive into a freezing cold pool and swim his heart out until the race is finished. The important thing isn’t to just finish; it’s to be able to swim the race again, even faster. “It feels really good to work hard and see it pay off at the meets,” senior swimmer David Thai, said Thai placed 7th at the Aggieland invitational on November 16th along with 2 other of the Hawk Swim Team. “I really like the other people on the team, it’s fun to hang out between events, and we all are supportive of each other,” Thai said.

This is Thai’s fourth year on the swim team, and plans to maintain his record breaking 100 backstroke. “My backstroke felt pretty good and I placed in the top 8 at finals, which feels great.” Thai said. Thai also made qualified times for the 2013 Southzone TISCA Championship on December 6th. “I really excited for the TISCA meet, it should be fun to swim and hang out with the coach and my teammates,” Thai said. Thai finished 8th at the meet, with a time of 57 seconds and 76 miliseconds in the 100 yard backstroke that he competes in regularly.

Thai advances to qualifying meet

Just like the NBA’s Doc Rivers and his son, Austin Rivers sharing an interest in basket-ball, Coach Earl Cooper and his daughter, Ashleigh Cooper, share love for and have a father-daughter relationship on and off the court. “I started playing basketball in 5th grade,” junior Ashleigh Cooper said. Starting at a young age Cooper progressed to be better and accurate in everything she does because of the drive, dedication and support from her peers, teammates, coaches and family. “My brother, my father and my mother are my biggest supporters,” Ashleigh said. “They motivate me, sending me supportive texts, they are there for me when everyone isn’t.” Having a parent as a coach is difficult and has flaws and perks, but Ashleigh and Coach Cooper manage to make it work. “I can brag a little bit. She’s the most won-derful daughter in the world as far as all the things I’ve asked her to do, but being a coach’s daughter isn’t easy,” Coach Cooper said. “There are certain things you don’t want to hear, I think you need to be kind of above that as far as rumors go.” With all that comes with being a coach’s

daughter or the father of a player, love and support and fatherly duties don’t intervene. Whatever happens at home stays at home and whatever happens on the court stays on the court. “In my freshman year I got second in the district and then sophomore year I got hon-orable mention,” Cooper said. “I hope to get first in the whole district and I hope to get signed in my junior year if not my senior year.” Expectations and maintaining a good rep takes a lot, but with help, goals, a good atti-tude and faith, anything is possible. “My expectations are for her to do her very best in what ever she does whether its bas-ketball, academics, being a good person, and just presenting herself in a mature way that everybody can respect,” Coach Cooper said. “I’m very proud of her, she can take Pre AP classes and AP classes and still balance her work with athletics.” Making decisions for herself and accom-plishing everything she strives for reveals the inner student of an athlete. “Without basketball I’d probably focus on academics more because with basketball you don’t have a lot of time,” Cooper said. “Practice never stops.”

staff reporterJacob overheim

Double DribbleAthlete maintains dual relationship with coaching father

staff reporterasha augillard

Junior Ashleigh Taylor looks for a pass in the paint as the defense crowds around her. Photo by Logan Taylor.

Senior David Thai competes at the Aggieland Invitational Swim meet on Nov. 16. Photo by Rebeca Morales.

Crowds line the stands, yell-ing and screaming out toward the football team as they rush through their second undefeat-ed season in a row. The bleach-ers fill when the baseball team prepares to bat. Soccer games are dominated by the support of the school. The gym echoes with screams for basketball and volleyball. Nobody cheers for hockey. None of the stands are out of space, or the sidelines. There are no screams of support from the school for one of the more suc-cessful sports connected to it. The players don’t mind though, they scream at each other, and the quiet gives a concentra-tion much needed when rival schools compete together. Three Hendrickson athletes are teammates in a sport no one at their school believe they play

– Hockey. They’ve been playing since last year, and have their lettermen jackets to boast it. They enjoy the looks on their friends’ faces when they talk about it. “It’d be nice if more people knew about us,” sophomore Cameron Cunningham said. “Not too big of an issue though, we think it’s hilarious when they don’t.” The hockey team is built up with players from Pflugerville, Hendrickson, and Georgetown high schools, with full UIL sup-port and scholarship opportu-nities for each of them. Sopho-mores Trey Mundt, Cameron Cunningham, and Mark Clay-comb each play together on the joint-school team as starters. They have each earned their letters by this time with the team. Their season goes from

October to the playoffs in Feb-ruary. “I’d say we represent the school alright,” Mundt said. “We got second at district last year, and we don’t fight each other much.” The team is primarily connect-ed to Georgetown, where the team gets most of its support, but it is considered a team of all three schools. It plays against Leander, Round Rock, and Aus-tin for district competition. “We’re lucky we get a place to play at all,” Cunningham said. “Chaparral Ice doesn’t give us many benefits, but it does give us a rink. That is all you need to play hockey in our books.” The head coach, Ryan Mc-Mahon, played hockey in Indi-ana before coming to Texas. He works as an independent coach for the team, but he reports to the manager, who is connected

to UIL on a high school level. “We have to show our coach our grades, and we get our let-ters if we play,” Cunningham said. “It is just like any high school sport, just that the school doesn’t necessarily provide our resources.” The team gets its supplies from an outside company, Warrior Hockey, and plays at a pub-lic rink. However, this doesn’t change the fact that it is also a Hendrickson team. “We are some of the best repre-sentatives for the school,” Clay-comb said. “We play a lot, have our jackets, and we win. We’re just like the other teams, and we play for our school as much as ourselves. We might have players from other schools, but the competition for spots is a lot like the rivalries anywhere else.”

Lost in the Ice‘Hawk-ey’ team plays entire career unnoticed

Penalty BoxThe Rules of the Rink

Teams made up of six players, with one goalie and five skaters

Body-checking is allowed, but only against those with the puck

Points are in goals, which are scored like in soccer

Substitutions limitless through three 20 minute quarters

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Excessively dangerous actions result in penalties or suspension

Players other than the goalie are free to move through the rink

Athlete successfully competes in uncommon Texas sport He isn’t interested in the quick plays of football, or the extended strategy of base-ball. He cares little for the massively accu-mulating points of basketball, nor the mas-sive size of soccer. No, this boy likes hockey, he likes the bru-tality and the speed and the goals and the ice. He likes the skating and the fighting and the scoring. He likes the rink. There is no concern about the heat, only the game for him and his team. They might need ice to play, but they are willing to make it burn for the win. Sophomore Cameron Cunningham has played hockey since he was three years old, everywhere he has lived. While the sport is played in the cold, he has only ever done it in a warm place. “The only hard thing to do is keeping the ice the right temperature,” Cunningham said. “The climate has never really affected me as a player. I’ve been in it my entire life.” Cunningham starting playing while liv-ing in Arizona, considered to be one of the hottest states in the country. Eventually he

was on a team that went all over the south-west for competitions, and the teams were generally successful. “We won a lot of tournaments and cham-pionships on our tours,” Cunningham said. “Sometimes we would be humbled by the competition, and others we were just the team to beat.” Before moving to Texas, he was nearly promoted to a AA team, the level that many athletes start at in other sports after gradu-ation. However, he ended up playing for the Austin Roadrunners. “I don’t mind too that I missed that chance, there are always more,” Cunningham said. “I play on a high school level now, which I think is much better.” Hockey, even as an uncommon sport for the heat, has the same effect on its players as any other sport. “It definitely made me a better person in the end,” Cunningham said. “Sports build character and work ethic, and I will always have a smile on my face when someone doesn’t believe I play an ice sport in Texas.”

Sophomore Cameron Cunningham listens to a pregame strategy for a match from an importan match alongside the Austin Roadrunners during a tournament in Arlington. Photo by Liam Wallace.

sports editorNathaN WaY

sports editorNathaN WaY

Perfect Gifts to Get Loved

Last Look20Volume 7, Issue 4

Shopping in search of the perfect gift for that important someone during the holidays is like trying to find a needle in a haystack: nearly impossible. Often times, people don’t

know what gifts to get. Below is a list of unique, thoughtful items that would be the perfect gift for the holidays that most people would tend to like.

Favorite movie or TV show from Best Buy $12-$20

staff reporterHolly Sill

Ones for the Holidays

Holiday Hits

West Coast Christmas Song by An-arbor on the album Hopeless for the Holidays EP

FriendsFriendship necklace from Claire’s $5-$12

Picture of your best friend and you in a frame Hobby Lobby $5-$10

For

For HimA Customized Hat from Lids $20-$40

A Scrapbook of Pictures of you and him $5-$15

Homemade Desserts prices varyHis Favorite Cologne from Macy’s $20-$25

For HerConcert tickets to her favor-ite concert from ticketmas-ter.com $50-$100Build-a-Bear from Build-a-Bear Workshop $20-$40Mix Tape of Your Favorite songs from iTunes $0.69-$1.29 per song

opinions editorKayla MeadowS

For ParentsGift card to favorite restaurant for a night out from Target $20

Family photo blown up on a canvas from Walgreens or Wal-Mart prices vary on size

Personalized Coupon Book from your heart $5-$15

ForTeachers Pencil holder made out of pencils $5-$10

Paperclip shapes from office depot $3-$8Customized mug $5-$15

Homemade Cookies prices vary

For SiblingsSibling quote on a plaque from Khol’s $12-$15

Gag Gifts from Target or Dollar Tree $1-$15Customized phone case from Skinit.com $15-$35

Ten Christmas jams to listen to this holiday SeasonPresents sit untouched under the decorated tree and multiply as extended family arrives, adding more gifts to the pile. Adding to the list of seasonal

festivities however, there’s nothing like a holiday playlist of original Christmas songs to warm up the family from the bitter winter air.

We’ve Got Diggin’ Out To do by You, Me, And Everyone We Know on the album We’ve Got Diggin’ Out To Do (single)

Song by Anarbor on the album Hopeless for the Holidays EP

X-mas in Texas by Driver Friend-ly on the album Hopeless for the Holidays EP

Believe in Me by Fun. Believe in Me (single)

Me r r y Chr is t mas Bab y by Brighten on the album Merry Christmas Baby (single)

Mistletoe is for Quitters by For-ever the Sickest Kids Mistletoe is for Quitters (single)

Decemberism by Man Over-board on the album The Human Highlight Reel

I Hate Christmas Parties by Re-lient K on the album Let it Snow Baby . . . Let it Reindeer

Santa Stole My Girlfriend by The Maine on the Album And a Happy New Year

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Documents

Hendrickson High School Volume 7, Issue 4 December 13