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3things to know

Å�Library tablets … pg. 5

Å�Pierce Prewitt … pg. 9

Å�Thrift stores … pg. 7

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Kenny Jennings

Eagle's EyeSavannah Garza

W. Charles Akins High School “Everything That Concerns You” Vol. 13 No. 2 November 18, 2013Austin, Texas

Seniors make a turnaround

Robotics team competes at international competition Students design, build miniature racecars for Formula 1 contest

T-STEM Engineering

1DWDOLH�&KDSPDQStaff Reporter

The Akins T-STEM robotics students have made it to the World Final international stage of F1 in Schools racing.

Juniors Erwin Neira, Hannah Holder, and sophomore James Garcia were selected to represent the Akins robotic team in the F1 In Schools international contest at Circuit of the Americas.

The team has taken part in the competi-tion throughout the year racing in district, region, and national competitions. The team has made a huge accomplishment for them-selves, working hard on their car and pre-sentation skills, winning awards such as the Texas Wild Card, Best Pit Display, and Fast-est Car.

“I felt pride on my team making it past QDWLRQDOV��)RU�RXW�¿UVW�\HDU�,�WKRXJKW�ZH�GLG�pretty good,” Neira said.

The original Akins Talon Racing team merged with the Grandbury, Texas based team Axium, to form Lone Star Racing.

The merger happened after the Akins team placed third at the national competition last school year.

“The team has done very well working with counterparts of Grandury ISD, collabo-rating to have the best display they can and

fastest car they can come up with,” assistant principal of T-STEM Juan Gonzalez said.

The team has spent $35,000 on prepara-tion for this competition, along with long nights behind saws and hammers in the workshop.

“We had to put in a lot of work in this competition spending long nights in the workshop not going home until 2 a.m.,” Neira said.

The competition took place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel from Nov. 8-13. It consisted of 38 teams, in a highly competitive compe-tition, working to present their best work in front of a judging panel. The team made a miniature Formula 1 car made out of balsa wood with a carbon dioxide cartridge used to propel them forward. Each team is judged on the race as well as a verbal presentation, and a pit display of the car with the engineering used to build it.

“I believe we have a good shot at winning best pit display and creativity,” Chloe Scrog-gins from Grandbury said.

F1 in Schools provides a fun experience for students to develop an informed view about careers in engineering, mathematics, science, marketing and technology.

“I believe it is going to help me in the long run with recommendations, skills, and experience to go to college and get to where I want to be in the future,” Neira said.

Marissa Sosa

Á7KH�UDFH�WR�ZLQTeam members present their F1 plan and student-built saloon to future sponsors. The Lone Star Racing team was the only student group from Texas who competed at the latest race.

-DFTXHOLQH�5RGULJXH]News Editor

Instead of ghosts and goblins frightening Akins students, a very real threat invaded Austin neighborhoods on Halloween in the IRUP� RI� UXVKLQJ� ÀRRGZDWHUV� LQYDGLQJ� WKHLU�homes.

On Oct. 31, the day after heavy rainfall hit Austin, the neighborhoods of Onion Creek, Bluff Springs, as well as many other neighborhoods were torn apart as the heavy UDLQIDOO�FDXVHG�ÀRRGLQJ��

Flooding that caused students and their families to lose their belongings, cars, and even their homes. This natural disaster af-fected many students on campus.

“We heard the roaring of water and we looked outside and saw water rushing to-wards our house,” senior Christian Martinez said. “We just grabbed what we could in the short amount of time that we had.”

Martinez was just one of the 74 students RQ�FDPSXV� WKDW�ZHUH�DIIHFWHG�E\� WKH�ÀRRG-LQJ��7KH�ÀRRGV�DIIHFWHG�DERXW�����VWXGHQWV�in the Austin school district.

Throughout the night before Halloween, nonstop rain dumped about 15 inches of water, causing schools to shutdown and left many families calling for aid as the mon-strous downpour created a wave of disaster.

“I never thought something like this would happen to me,” Martinez said. “I didn’t even know it was going to rain the

night before.”The devastating event left many students

in need of school supplies, clothes, and even places to stay.

“Me and my family had to evacuate in DERXW�¿YH�PLQXWHV�VR�,�ZDVQ¶W�DEOH� WR�VDYH�anything except for a few electronics and my dog,” senior Karen Tello said. “The water entered our house so quickly we barely made it out with our vehicle unlike most people,” Tello said.

Although Tello has experienced some-thing like this event in the previous years, VKH� DGPLWV� WKH� +DOORZHHQ� ÀRRGLQJ� ZDV� D�nerve-wracking experience.

“This has happened to us in 2001 but it

Mark Vallejo

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XSee “FLOOD” pg. 4

Disaster takes its toll

Citizens seek refuge, le! homeless a!er heavy rainfall

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After a slow start in the college ap-plication process, more than 100 seniors have applied to four-year universities this semester and at least 300 have applied to two-year universities.

“The momentum is shifting. Kids are realizing they need to get things done as soon as possible,” college adviser Sarah Simmons said. “I just hope everybody UHPHPEHUV� WKH�'HFHPEHU�¿UVW�GHDGOLQH��It does make me feel better though that things are getting done.”

Some students were ahead of the curve and applied to colleges early on in the year.

Senior Savanah Baliff has already re-ceived acceptance letters from the Uni-versity of Texas and Texas A&M.

“It took me a month or less to apply,” Baliff said. “There is so much more that goes into it than I thought. Not having P\�HVVD\V�¿QLVKHG�DIIHFWHG�PH�D�ORW�´

%DOLII�VWUHVVHV�WKDW�¿QLVKLQJ�HVVD\V�LV�key to applying in a timely manner.

“Your essays really need to be perfect because it gives you a better chance of getting in but the essays are the hardest part of the application,” Baliff said. “The UHVW� LV� MXVW� ¿OOLQJ� RXW� LQIRUPDWLRQ� DQG�sending stuff in.”

Baliff plans to major in public rela-tions at either UT or A&M.

³6RPH� VFKRROV� LW¶V� ¿UVW� FRPH� ¿UVW�serve so students might not get the major they want,” she said. “I don’t really have to stress about coming close to the dead-lines now.”

Senior Fred Blackman has been ac-cepted to Texas Lutheran University and the University of Alabama in the begin-ning of the school year.

³,W�GLGQ¶W�WDNH�PH�WRR�ORQJ��,�¿QLVKHG�my Alabama application in one day,” Blackman said. “The longest part was waiting for my transcripts.”

Blackman also applied to Texas Christian University, University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, and Baylor Uni-versity. He plans to major in business and administration.

“Seniors should be applying as soon as they can,” Blackman said. “Order your transcripts now. You don’t want to be am-bushed with a bunch of applications at the last minute.”

Opinions...pg 2-3 News...pg 4-5 Student Life...pg 6-7 Entertainment...pg 8-9 Sports...pg 10-11 Photo Essay...pg 12

Editor-in-Chief

Savannah Garza

News Editor

Jacqueline Rodriguez

Managing Editor

Caitlin Starks

Opinions Editor

Hannah Kerns

Student Life Editor

Stephanie Zuniga

Entertainment Editor

Marissa Sosa

Sports Editor

Kenneth Jennings

Photo Editor

Marisol Gomez

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Matthew Lopez

Christian Hernandez

Graphics Editor

Jacob Sanchez

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David Doerr

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Caitilin StarksManaging Editor

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The Eagle’s Eye Monday, 11.18.13 page 2

Opinions

Flood damage makes opportunitiesEdiTOriAL

Academics Test prices

Prices on Advanced Placement testing stirs up chaos

-RKDQQD�'DND\�DQG�+DQQDK�.HUQV

-RKDQQD�'DND\

Monday, 11.18.13 Opinions The Eagle’s Eye page 3

Vickie Warr

AHA Coordinator

“My heart goes out to everyone affected by WKH�ÀRRGV��I hope students and their families will take advantage of the help offered by the Akins IDPLO\�´

Females pressured by standardsPersonal Views Makeup

Amanda LivingstonStaff Reporter

“You know, if you just used a little bit more ______ you would look VR�PXFK�EHWWHU�´�

“Girl, lay off on the blush, you wear way too PXFK�´

“Why don’t you wear PDNHXS"´�

These are all things I have been told before, in my early years as a teen-DJHU��

On one hand, I’ve been told I should wear PRUH� PDNHXS�� 2Q� WKH�other hand, I have also been told I wear too PXFK��:KHQ� UHDOO\�� SHR-ple shouldn’t be telling me what to do with my-VHOI�DW�DOO��

I’ve never been one to ZHDU�D�ORW�RI�PDNHXS��2Q�a regular day, the most

I wear is eyeliner, and PD\EH� VRPH�PDVFDUD�� ,I�it’s a special occasion I’ll be fancy and put on some lipstick or eye shadow, but I don’t wear con-cealer, foundation, blush, bronzer, or any of the RWKHU� SURGXFWV� RXW� WKHUH��It feels too thick on my VNLQ��DQG�,�FDQ¶W�VWDQG�LW��

However, some peo-ple see it as a way to be DQ� DUWLVW�� 7KHLU� IDFH� LV� D�canvas and they want to PDNH�DUW�� ,� WKLQN� WKDW¶V�D�ZRQGHUIXO�ZD\�WR�VHH�LW��

Makeup is an acces-VRU\�� QRW� D� QHFHVVLW\�� ,W¶V�like bracelets, earrings, DQG� QHFNODFHV�� ,W� VLPSO\�DGGV�� ,W� LVQ¶W� VRPHWKLQJ�every girl needs, or some-thing every girl should feel like they can’t live ZLWKRXW��

The media puts so much pressure on hav-ing a perfect complexion and appearance; luring girls into thinking they’re anything but perfect MXVW� WKH� ZD\� WKH\� DUH��

,I� WKH\� GRQ¶W� ORRN� ÀDZ-less, they’re judged for LW�� +DYLQJ� SHRSOH� MXGJH�you for what to decide to do with yourself is unfair, DQG�FUXHO�

According to statistics, around 91% of women are unhappy with their ERGLHV�DQG�RU�DSSHDUDQFH��

Body image being so closely related to low self-esteem, these nega-tive views can cause eat-ing disorders, substance abuse, and even suicidal WKRXJKWV�

The biggest victims of these judgments are girls between the ages of 12 DQG�����,W¶V�HYHQ�VDLG�WKDW�45% of teenagers have considered plastic sur-gery when they’re older because they feel that they need to change for RWKHUV��

The fact that girls think they need to change to make someone else hap-S\� LV� GLVKHDUWHQLQJ�� <RX�hear it a lot, and it may be becoming a bit cliché, but

it’s true when they say everyone is beautiful just WKH�ZD\� WKH\�DUH�� ,I�DQ\-one tries to tell you differ-HQW��WKH\¶UH�ZURQJ��

We all have in-VHFXULWLHV�� 7KH�amount of makeup you wear, and

what you do with your body is no-ERG\¶V�EXVLQHVV��

Nobody has the right to tell you what you should, and shouldn’t do ZLWK� \RXUVHOI�� ,W¶V�your body, you make the decision of what to do with LW���

Jacob SanchezGraphics Editor

At one time or another, almost everyone has tried going to a web-site and an Austin ISD page loads up instead telling you that the web-VLWH�LV�EORFNHG�

1RZ� WKDW�ZRXOG� EH�¿QH� LI� \RX�were trying to go to an inappro-priate website but not if you were trying to do some research for a FODVV� SURMHFW��:LWK� VR� PDQ\� VLWHV�blocked I wouldn’t doubt if Aus-tin ISD had a whitelist instead of a EODFNOLVW��<RX�FDQ�OLWHUDOO\�WDNH����random websites, type them into your web browser and more than KDOI�RI�WKHP�ZLOO�EH�EORFNHG�

I understand that the Internet has many distractions so they block sites so students can focus on what WKH\�QHHG�WR�GR��7HDFKHUV�VSHQG�D�lot of time creating new innovative ways to teach their students using resources on the internet but it’s disappointing when they take ev-HU\RQH�WR�D�FRPSXWHU� ODE�DQG�¿QG�

out the website they had been plan-QLQJ�WR�XVH�LV�EORFNHG��7KH�WHDFKHU�then has not only wasted time mak-ing the assignment but also wasted FODVV�WLPH�

A website like Twitter isn’t completely necessary to have un-blocked because almost everyone KDV�LW�RQ�WKHLU�FHOO�SKRQH��$OWKRXJK�I would appreciate if they did un-block it due to students getting important updates through school related Twitter accounts such as WKH� MRXUQDOLVP� DFFRXQW�� +RZHYHU��a website like Dropbox is very useful for students who work on

something at home such as a Pow-HU3RLQW�� $XVWLQ� ,6'� VKRXOG� FDUH-fully see what each website has to RIIHU�DQG�WKHQ�DFW��

Adelina SithammavongStaff Reporter

Honestly, everyone needs to stop complaining about the school block-LQJ�ZHEVLWHV�� 7KH� VFKRRO� KDV� HYHU\�UHDVRQ�DQG�ULJKW�WR�SXW�WKH�EORFNV�XS�

This is a place of learning, not a place where we can browse the web

DQG�PHVV�DURXQG�The school has

blocks implemented to make certain that stu-

dents have a proper learn-LQJ� HQYLURQPHQW�� +RQHVWO\��

there is no reason to be on Facebook, Twitter,

or any other social media site dur-

LQJ� VFKRRO� KRXUV��Also websites with relations to drugs

and pornography are blocked for obvious

UHDVRQV�Those sites will only distract stu-

dents; also there’s so many vulgar and inappropriate material on those sites that it’s best to just keep them VHSDUDWH��

Of course not all students are go-ing to be distracted by what is going on in the Internet, but it only takes a couple bad apples to ruin the whole EXQFK��7KHUH� LV� DOZD\V� JRLQJ� WR� EH�that one student that ruins it for ev-erybody because he/she can’t stop VFUROOLQJ�RQ�WKHLU�QHZV�IHHGV�

Some say social media sites can be used for educational purposes; to be able to see assignments the teach-HUV�SRVW��+RZHYHU�ZKDW�\RX¶UH�GRLQJ�FDQQRW�EH�PRQLWRUHG�

If it’s that much of an issue to you, talk to your teacher about setting up an Edmodo account for the class to VWD\� FRQQHFWHG� RXWVLGH� VFKRRO�� ,W¶V�school friendly and you can keep up with assignments when you are not LQ�VFKRRO�

:H�DUH�LQ�D�SXEOLF�VFKRRO��$OO�RXU�funds come from taxpayers, and I’m sure they don’t want their money be-LQJ�ZDVWHG�RQ�)DFHERRN�

Uncle Sam takes a nice chunk out RI� P\� SD\FKHFN� HYHU\� ZHHN�� 7KH�public schools sure better do what they can so that students are learning ULJKW��1RW�JHWWLQJ�GLVWUDFWHG�

If you are so adamant on getting on anything that is blocked in school and you don’t have Internet access at home, just go to your public library GRZQ�WKH�URDG��

At school though, sorry just deal ZLWK�WKH�EORFNV��

Debate Banned websites

Programs Recognition

Students debate school Web !ltering rules

“Several of my friends have lost WKHLU�KRPHV��I don’t think people fully understand how bad it ZDV�´

Ryan Aguilera

Senior

Laruen Kappel

Junior

“It’s so GHYDVWDWLQJ��Seeing all the mess just broke P\�KHDUW��More people should really help out, and even raise PRQH\�´

“Everybody in the school VKRXOG�KHOS��I’ve had a familly mem-ber affected and I’ve helped them out and tried to clean the devastating GHVWUXFWLRQ�´

Jajuon Price

Sophomore

³7KH�ÀRRG-ing was right by P\�KRXVH��People should real-ly just give anything they can to try and help RXW�´

Jas’Monique Williams

Freshman

What should students do in

response to WKH�ÀRRGV"

"e reality of JROTC students

Isiah StrangeStaff Reporter

Akins High School is a VFKRRO�¿OOHG�ZLWK�GR]HQV�RI�known programs that stu-dents can join, from football WR�1+6��

One that never truly gets the recognition that it de-serves is the Junior Reserve 2I¿FHUV¶� 7UDLQLQJ� &RUSV�� D�program sponsored by the United States Armed Forc-HV��

Many people have seen the military portrayed in movies, with extreme physi-cal punishment, and tough training, but that’s not the whole picture of what -527&�LV�DERXW�

In reality, members do so much on campus that goes XQQRWLFHG�� :LWK� D� ������hour community service goal, members participate in Adopt-A-Highway, along ZLWK�.HHS�$XVWLQ�%HDXWLIXO��

However yet no one really notices their efforts, even though they also clean the FDPSXV��

7KH�PHPEHUV� RI� -527&�love to give, which is why they participate in Operation Shoebox, which helps give gifts and other necessities to WKRVH�RYHUVHDV��7KH\�KDYH�D�plan to send out 2 boxes per VHPHVWHU�WR�WURRSV�

$IWHU� VFKRRO�� \RX¶OO� ¿QG�members in the hallways, or the courtyard, practicing for the next football game, taking the time out of their day to be perfect, not only for themselves, but also for WKRVH�DWWHQGLQJ�WKH�JDPH��

Out of all student groups RQ� FDPSXV�� -527&�KDV� WKH�most consistent involvement in attending pep-rallies, holding signs and cheering on their school with such SULGH��$QG� RI� FRXUVH� PHP-bers are the ones kicking it off with the showing of the FRORUV�� 7KHLU� GHGLFDWLRQ� LV�WUXO\�DVWRQLVKLQJ�

I’m not saying they’re never noticed or recog-nized here on campus, but I believe some people don’t

understand what exactly -527&� GRHV� RQ� FDPSXV��and how members contrib-XWH��-527&�LV�D�ELJ�IRUFH�RQ�campus, in terms of school spirit and hours of com-PXQLW\�VHUYLFH��

Because mem-bers operate under the “No Pass, No 3OD\´� UXOH�� WKH\�have to keep their grades up WR� VWD\� LQYROYHG��This encourages members to do well academically, add-ing to the school’s effort to H[FHO���

-527&� GHVHUYHV� PRUH�recognition from the student ERG\�DW�$NLQV�+LJK�6FKRRO��They’re an amazing group, and they contribute widely to the school, but their ef-forts go unnoticed too PDQ\���

The members of -527&�DUH� DPD]LQJ�� DQG�they deserve a little shine LQ�HYHU\�RQFH�DQG�DZKLOH��For a group never put in the spotlight, they deserve to have their moment as PXFK�DV�DQ\RQH�HOVH�GRHV��

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THE EAGLE’S

VIEW

The Eagle’s Eye Monday, 11.18.13 page 4

News

Heavy rainfall in Austin causes wave of destructionwasn’t as bad because ev-

erything was so sudden this time,” Tello said.

“If my mom hadn’t wo-ken up so early we would have been stuck in our house ¿OOHG�ZLWK� WKUHH� IHHW�RI�ZD-ter.”

+RXVHV�EHLQJ�¿OOHG�WR�WKH�URRI�� FDUV� RYHUÀRZLQJ� ZLWK�water, and endless sirens of SROLFH� FDUV� DQG� ¿UHWUXFNV�¿OOHG�WKH�QHLJKERUKRRGV�HDU-ly in the morning, were just some of the chaotic events taking place during the dev-astating event.

“Lots of people were so unfortunate and had to stand on their roofs and wait for help,” Tello said. “I feel so lucky we weren’t one of them.”

Despite the effects of the tragic event, local organiza-tions, groups, and even stu-dents are doing their part to aid those in need.

Student Support Services has aided students with vari-ous things like food, cloth-ing, and shelter resources.

“We’re meeting up fami-lies and working with our parent support specialist in contacting the students who ZHUH�DIIHFWHG�E\�WKH�ÀRRGV�´�social worker Colleen Ar-nold said.

“We are offering things like school supplies, back-packs, and clothing assis-tance.”

Parent support specialist Celina Lopez works along-side Student Support Ser-vices making sure all stu-dents who were affected are getting back on track despite GLI¿FXOWLHV�

“I make sure all the stu-dents who were affected have shelter and I’ve been referring them to organiza-tions like the Red Cross and keep up to date with them making sure they’re always taken care of,” Lopez said.

Many students who have EHHQ� DIIHFWHG� E\� WKH� ÀRRGV��KDYH� EHHQ� EHQH¿WLQJ� IURP�the support and help the student support services has been offering.

“I’m very grateful for the help the SSS room has been giving me,” Tello said. “They’ve given me a back-pack with the school sup-plies I need and recently I got a letter saying I was able to shop at Target for $100 worth of clothes.”

Through the devastating events, many students who were affected admit this tragedy has changed them.

“Ever since this has hap-pened I feel really lucky that I’m alive and I’m a much stroner person now.” Marti-nez said.

Martinez was not only able to save his family from WKH�ÀRRGLQJ�EXW�DOVR�FDPH�WR�the rescue of those in need during the chaos of trying to escape.

“My dad, brother, and I were able to save about 30 to 40 people who weren’t able to get out in time,” Martinez VDLG�³:H�SXW�WKHP�RQ�D�¿VK-ing boat we had and went back and forth taking people to dry land.”

Foreign exchange stu-dent Paula Vuorela was also changed by the catastrophic events.

“I proved to myself how strong I am and how I didn’t panic or freak out when this traumatizing experience happened,” Vuorela said. “I wish no one should ever have to experience that, but it’s life and it can happen to anyone.”

1RZ�WKDW�WKH�ÀRRGZDWHUV�have receded, many stu-dents are thankful for what they have and have began to move on.

“Material things can be replaced but you cant re-place a life,” Martinez said.

“At the end of the day I’m just grateful my family and I are safe and that we were able to survive.”

In a time of devastation, help will continue to be brought by those who need it most.

“As long as there is a need we will be helping and supporting the students and their families who were af-fected,” Arnold said. “We are also offering emotional support and counseling to help students through this GLI¿FXOW�WLPH�´��

Natalie Chapman

ÁAftermath

&ORWKHV�DQG�IXUQLWXUH�DUH�OHIW�EHKLQG�RQ�QHLJKERUKRRG�VLGHZDONV�DV�D�UHVXOW�RI�WKH�ÀRRG��&OXEV��JURXSV��DQG�RUJDQL]DWLRQV�KDYH�EHHQ�DLGLQJ�WKRVH�DIIHFWHG�E\�WKH�ÀRRGV�E\�FOHDQLQJ�XS��GRQDWLQJ�IRRG�DQG�FORWKHV��DQG�RIIHULQJ�VKHOWHU�DVVLVWDQFH�

XXCont. “FLOOD” pg. 1

Social media moves to classrooms Online Edmodo

Abraham Alvarado

6WDII�5HSRUWHU

The use of Edmodo in and out of the school classrooms is being met with mixed re-actions among students and teachers.

More and more teachers are making students sign up so they can continue classroom discussions on-line, give reminders about completing work, and even assign homework assign-ments.

Some students are re-quired to get an account for their classes.Others are us-ing it for clubs, and to make sure they keep up with the posts teachers and or coach-es make.

Edmodo is also available on the app store, which al-lows students to access it on their phones.

Cheerleading coach, Su-sie Gielow, uses it to keep the cheerleaders organized.

“One good thing about it is that it gives me an op-portunity to relay messages to my group without having to use personal cell phone

numbers,” she said. Not all students are ex-

cited about using Edmodo. Some think it is not helpful.

“I often forget to check Edmodo, so if I miss some-thing like a reminder or as-signment, the next day in class I feel lost,”junior Kim-berly SanJuan said.

However, Gielow said that Edmodo works with the online usage habits of stu-dents.

“It’s a very rare student that doesn’t get online ev-eryday and check some-thing. With everyone being on Instagram, SnapChat or Facebook,” Gielow said.

Students and teachers are starting to trust on technol-ogy and online resources across the education genera-tion.

“I like that teachers post on Edmodo,it helps me stay on track with all my assign-ments,” junior Esmie Cas-tillo said.

“I know when stuff is due, and I like that there is interactive things teach-ers post on Edmodo, such as watching videos and an-

swering questions, instead of teachers giving us papers that I have a chance of los-ing,” Castillo said.

Edmodo offers teacher accounts, student accounts and even parent accounts.

Starting Edmodo is easy and having more teachers sign up could make more classes and orginazations much more organized.

Algebra 1 and 2 teacher, Kenyatta Williams, supports Edmodo and encorages stu-dents to get it.

“It helps me communi-cate with students and assign ÀLSSHG� ZRUN� DVVLJQPHQWV�before or even after school hours,” Williams said.

There are a few students without Internet access at home, and never know what’s happening on Ed-modo.

Williams said those stu-dents aren’t left out.

“Log in on a computer to Edmodo and go to Settings and activate your phone so every time a teacher or club sponsor makes a post, you’ll be sure to get a text message notifying you.”

Savannah Garza

ÁHelpful reminders

6RFLDO�VWXGLHV�WHDFKHU�7HUHVD�*UXPEOHV�XSGDWHV�(GPRGR�WR�UHPLQG�VWXGHQWV�RI�DQ�XSFRP-LQJ�DVVLJQPHQW��*UXPEOHV�KDV�XVHG�(GPRGR�IRU�WHVW�UHPLQGHUV�DQG�KRPHZRUN�UHPLQGHUV�

!e Eagle’s Eye places; students receive awards

Mark Vallejo

6WDII�5HSRUWHU

Advanced journalism students took the road in October to San Antonio to attend the annual TAJE State Conference to com-pete in contests with other schools from all around the state.

“I expected the students to do well in the competi-tions because we have done this in the past,” newspaper adviser David Doerr said. “I was very proud to see the kids bring home so many individual awards.”

The students won nine individual awards in total and 7KH� (DJOH¶V� (\H� re-cieved second place in Best

,Q�6KRZ�IRU�WKHLU�¿UVW�LVVXH�this year.

³7KLV�ZDV�P\�¿UVW� WLPH�so I didn’t know how our work would compare to other school’s but I knew that our program had a tra-dition of excellence so I expected it do well,” Doerr said.

A yearbook student won two superior awards and one excellence award for his On-Site Photography in the Architecture, Open, and Sports categories.

“I had a majestic feeling being my senior year and winning three awards mak-LQJ� P\� ¿QDO� \HDU� KHUH� DW�Akins a one to remember,” senior Christian Martinez said.

Senior Savannah Garza

achieved an individual award for front-page design and layout.

“I felt proud because it was my last year and I feel like I achieved a lot, it feels good to get awards that recognize my page design and layout,” Garza said. “I’m also really proud of the staff because we earned second place.” 7KH�(DJOH¶V�(\H and Ae-

rie staff plan on winning many more awards in the future.

“I”m hoping we earn sil-ver at ILPC because we’ve come a long way,” Garza said. “For us to come from a 5A school it’s pretty im-pressive how many award we have earned throughout the years.”

Stats class surveys students

Illustration by Jacob Sanchez

Á Social media survey

7KH�UHVXOWV�DERYH�VKRZ�WKH�ZRUN�RI�WKH�$3�6WDWLVWLFV�FODVV��ZKLFK�VXUYH\HG�����VWXGHQWV�LQ�HDUO\�1RYHPEHU�RQ�WKHLU�IDYRULWH�VRFLDO�PHGLD�:HE�VLWHV��0RUH�UHVXOWV�DYDLODEOH�RQOLQH�

Ways to help with ! ood recoveryDonations

Volunteering

Jacob Sanchez

briefs

Akins receives free DJ booth and photobooth for 2014 prom

The 2014 class president Tue Quach helped Akins receive a free DJ and p h o t o b o o t h for this year’s prom. Along with students, family, and friends, Quach made a Face-book status on College Ready Austin’s Face-book page that received over

400 likes. Akins received the most likes than any other high school in

Austin, which gave us the grand prize of a free DJ and photo-booth. Quach also won free VIP passes to Austin City Limits Music Festival last month.

Austin Independent School District !lm to be debuted soon

7KLV� ZLQWHU�� D� ¿OP� ZLOO� EH�featured on TV and on Austin In-dependent School District’s website. The AISD State of the District Movie will feature AISD’s superindendent Me-ria Carstarphen. The movie will highlight the school districts goals, achievements, and challenges. High-

lighting these aspects in the movie will be none other than Carstarphen along with staff mem-bers of the district and students from AISD de-partments, campus pro-grams, and initiatives. 7KH� ¿OP� LV� H[SHFWHG�to come out on Dec. 3 and will be avail-able online all day on austinisd.org and on

AISD’s channel, AISD TV on channel 22.

Marisol Gomez

Monday, 11.18.13 News The Eagle’s Eye page 5

Late bus now available for students After school A way home

A!er school transportation returns, bene"ting those receiving tutoringIsiah StrangeStaff Reporter

+HDULQJ�WKDW�¿QDO�UHOHDVH�bell at the end of the school day means two things for students — go home or stay after school.

)RU� WKH� ¿UVW� VL[� ZHHNV�of school, some students were left without reliable transportation home after tutoring and other such after school activities.

The “late bus,” which many students relied on to get them home if they stayed for tutoring or activities, resumed in mid October. However, it was not consis-WHQWO\� DYDLODEOH� IRU� WKH�¿UVW�weeks of the school year.

Late bus services were halted at the beginning of the year due to students who were riding the bus that weren’t meant to ride it, es-sentially abusing the bus privilege. There was also a problem with the routes the bus took, which caused problems for the bus driv-ers.

“I understand many situ-ations and some may not want to go home, but we can’t allow you to stay here at school and socialize,” As-sistant Principal Joe Ruiz

said. “This is a learning en-vironment and the bus sys-tem is being abused.”

This meant that students that were just staying to so-cialize were riding the bus, which is a problem as it takes away from kids who actually stay for a reason such as tutoring. This re-sulted in complications that made late bus riders, not have a late bus.

³,W¶V� GLI¿FXOW�� EHFDXVH� ,�have to ask my parents ev-eryday for a ride,” junior Anna Becerra, an Akins wrestler said. “My parents have to work, and it’s made it harder on them to go home after and start things like cooking.”

All sports players know practice is something you just have to be there for, so if they are forced to go home they are passing up a chance to gain some much needed improvements.

“It’s affecting me with-out a late bus because I can’t stay for practice and im-prove, which is something that really hurts me in the long run,” Becerra said.

Operating without a late bus made it hard for students that needed after school tu-toring from teachers. Some

students are passing up an opportunity to stay after and make up work during teach-ers after school tutoring be-cause most have a hard time staying.

³,� ¿QG� WKH� ODWH� EXV� YHU\�EHQH¿FLDO� IRU� VWXGHQWV�� VR�they can stay after school and catch up on anything they’ve missed. It’s a good idea overall and should be here to stay,” social studies teacher Melissa Contreras said.

The late bus allows stu-dents to get more involved with their grades and is more useful than we realize. It relieves stress from hav-LQJ�WR�¿QG�D�ULGH�KRPH�IURP�some students, and it gets students more involved.

“I haven’t really been able to stay after school for meetings in JROTC,” junior Emilio Munoz said. “Having to take the city bus home cost a lot per week if I do stay.”

Ruiz has said that rules regarding the late bus have changed. All students who want to ride the late bus are required to have a late bus pass. This rule was not previously enforced as it should have, but this year it will be he said.

Facebook eases rules for teenagers Online Social media

E-readers available for check-out

Robert SotoStaff Reporter

The Akins library jumped into the 21st century this year when it added tablet style e-readers to the list of items students can check out and take home to read.

These Nook brand tablets, which can access the Barnes & Nobles FDWDORJ�RI�ERRNV��FDQ�EH�YHU\�EHQH¿FLDO�WR�VWXGHQWV��VDLG�VFKRRO�OLEUDU-ian Bonnie Hauser. They present students an alternative, more modern way to read books.

Austin ISD provided these tablets to Akins High School, as well as many other schools.

“Akins only had to pay for the tablet cases, which were purchased with the library funds, and the many e-books that I have bought and am planning to buy in the future,” Hauser said.

There are currently 96 Nooks available for students to check out this year in the library. All students need to do is sign a parent permis-sion form to inform parents of the risks included in checking out a tab-let and the possible punishments for damaging or losing this device,” Hauser said.

Senior Christian Santos has taken advantage of these new resources by checking out one of these Nooks. These Nooks are helpful “be-cause you don’t have to worry about carrying a heavy book in your backpack and you can have more than one book available on there at a time,” Santos said.

These Nooks were brought to Akins to help and encourage students WR�UHDG�PRUH�DQG�H[SHULPHQW�ZLWK�WKH�QHZ�DJH�WHFKQRORJ\��

“I recommend these Nooks to every student at Akins because it saves you space by not having to carry books and because they can help you with research since they can access the internet but if you lose it, you will have to pay $180 to the library,” Santos said.

Because of the new introduction to advanced technology like the Nook, there is always the question of whether technology will replace print-out copies of books.

“Students are currently waiting for new series of books to come out and when I suggested for them to use the Nooks, they said that they prefer the hard copies over the new method so no, I am not worried about the Nooks reducing the use of books in the library,” Hauser said in response to this statement.

Kasamira MartinezStaff Reporter

The new changes to Facebook’s policies have caused some students to be concerned about their pri-vacy.

Facebook has decided to UHOD[� LWV� SULYDF\� UXOHV� IRU�teenager’s 13 to 17 years old. The new settings now provide the op-tions for teenagers to share photos, updates and comments with the general public on Facebook.This means strangers, and companies collecting data for advertisers or marketing companies will be able to see teenager’s posts.

³,� KDYH� PL[HG�feelings about the subject.” New Tech teacher Lora Alaniz said, “I think teenagers should have the option of making their own choices, but sometimes they don’t stop and think who’s going to see that lat-er?”

A big concern is that teen-agers often don’t think of the repercussions of posting whatever they want on so-cial media site. Later when teenagers are considered for a future job their personal information on social media sites would be open to scru-tiny by collages, employers and the general public.

In some cases if a teenag-er posts something inappro-priate and an employer sees it, it may lead to termination EHFDXVH�WKH\�DUH�D�UHÀHFWLRQ�of that company.

“If teenagers want to be safe, they can make their SUR¿OH�SULYDWH�EXW�RWKHUZLVH�it’s their own decision.” Se-nior Bryanna Longoria said. “Let them make their own mistakes. They can learn from them.”

Another concern was if Facebook was making these changes known to the pub-

lic. In Alaniz’s opinion they did not.

“I don’t think they edu-cate the public enough. They rely on people educating themselves,” she said.

Facebook makes so many privacy changes they fail to inform the general public of such changes that could potently make such a young age group vulnerable to on-line dangers.

New Tech senior Alyssa Gonzales believes it is a par-ent’s responsibility to edu-cate their children about the dangers of social media use.

“It really comes down to the parents and whether they taught their kids about on-line dangers and how to act

responsibly on the Internet,” she said.

6RPH�WHHQV�IHHO�FRQ¿GHQW�in their ability to handle so-cial media themselves.

“Part of parenting is en-couraging children to live XS� WR� KLJK� H[SHFWDWLRQV� RI�trust and responsible be-havior especially on the In-ternet,” Gonzalez said. “It’s

also their responsibil-ity to teach children how to have good judgment on whether something online is safe or unsafe.”

The new set-ting might help

Facebook compete against other social networks, and hav-ing public data on teens will also help the company ap-peal to advertisers. Facebook assumes

that with teenager’s quick adoption of social networks such as Instagram and Twit-ter that they want to share everything and with as many people as possible.

“You all have moved onto a whole other level of communication... You don’t QHHG�DOO�WKDW�H[WUD�VWXII´�6R-cial Studies teacher Justin Sloane said.

Some students said Face-book making such a young age group so vulnerable just to compete with other social media networks might actu-DOO\�MXVW�EDFN¿UH�RQ�WKHP�

³7KDW¶V� VR� VHO¿VK� RI�WKHP�� EDVLFDOO\� VDFUL¿F-ing us. I don’t think its go-ing to help anyways. We’re still not going back to Face-book.” Longoria said.

Savannah Garza

Marisol Gomez

ÁBus is backStudents step on board the late bus after school. Earlier this year the late bus stopped run-ning because of a lack of funding and abuse by students of the late bus.

Jacob Sanchez

Tutorial Bus Schedule and Stop InformationTutorial Bus (#803) – East of Interstate 35Bus departs from Akins at 6 p.m.

1 – 6:12 p.m. – Bluff Springs Rd. and Sunny Hills Dr.2 – 6:15 p.m. – Langford Elementary at Stonleigh Place & Blue Meadow Dr.3 – 6:18 p.m. – Quicksilver Blvd. and Meadow Lake Blvd.4 – 6:25 p.m. – Salt Springs Dr. and Tara Dr.5 – 6:28 p.m. – Wiley Way and Derby Downs Dr.6 – 6:38 p.m. – Nesting Way and Dove Springs Dr.7 – 6:40 p.m. – Palo Blanco Lane and Wassail St.8 – 6:42 p.m. – Birch Creek Rd. and Meadow Crest9 – 6:50 p.m. – E. William Cannon Dr. and Bluff

Tutorial Bus (#909) – West of Interstate 35Bus departs from Akins at 6 p.m.

1 – 6:09 p.m. – Great Britain Blvd. & Palace Pkwy.2 – 6:11 p.m. – Palace Pkwy. and W. Slaughter Ln.3 – 6:16 p.m. – Kocurek Elementary at Curlew Dr.4 – 6:17 p.m. – Kentish Dr. and Curlew Dr.5 – 6:19 p.m. – Davis Lane and Escabosa Dr.6 – 6:21 p.m. – W. Dittmar Road and Davis Oaks Trail7 – 6:22 p.m. – Casey Elementary at Texas Oaks Dr.8 – 6:27 p.m. – Lynnbrook Dr. and Finsbury Dr.

Jacob Sanchez

Jacqueline Rodriguez

Amanda Livingston

Staff Reporter

The Whole Life Learn-ing Center, which neighbors Akins on Old San Antonio Road, is a place for families to get their children’s educa-tion in a different way.

The kids choose what they want to study and focus RQ� WKDW� VXEMHFW� WKDW� VSHFL¿F�day, in the process of pro-moting a healthy and stimu-lating learning experience.

The Whole Life Learning Center started off as a one-day program with around 15 kids, the private school has now turned into a thriving school of around 40 students in the timeline of three years.

6WDUWLQJ�RII�ZLWK� WKH�¿UVW�class available, “Freedom Fridays.” Here kids learn about setting goals, achiev-ing those goals, and devel-oping the social and emo-tional sides of themselves.

Once “Freedom Fridays” became a success, “Mother Earth Mondays” were added to the list of programs. In this new program, the men-tors and students focus on connections with the wilder-ness and the natures of the Earth.

The group plants seeds,

and learns about growth in nature as well as going on walks in the Barton Creek Greenbelt minutes behind Akins.

Eventually, a three-day program that teaches the core classes such as math, science, history, and nglish were added in addition to a program for homeschooled teenagers on Fridays called the Teen Program.

“The kids actually ask for homework and quizzes be-cause they’re not pressured by us force feeding them in-formation to teach towards a test,” founder, director, and mentor, Michael Carberry said.

At the WLLC, children DUH�HQFRXUDJHG�WR�¿QG�LQVSL-ration in the world around them, work as a team, and to respect themselves.

“We do a lot of project and inspiration based learn-ing. We focus on the de-velopment and growth of the person, not just what’s above the shoulders,” Car-berry said.

Instead of teachers, the school has mentors. These mentors lead the kids to their goals and help them achieve them will not pushing them.

“We let the children

choose what the day is go-ing to consist of. We’re sim-ply here to put challenges in front of them, guide them to achieve goals, and lead them to what’s next,” Carberry said.

Harmony and kindness play an important role to how things are run at the WLLC. The mentors guide the chil-dren to use nice words, to expand their vocabulary and work through incidents in a peaceful manner.

“Teasing and putting people down is not accept-

able here,” Carberry said. “We don’t have a method of detention, or punishment. When something happens, we take the time to sit down and talk about happened.”

With this mindset the children at the Whole Life Learning Center not only learn what they need to know in the real world, but also learn about the process-es of nature, kindness, and love. The children develop themselves as people, and build a connection with the world around them.

Á�In the neighborhood

A scarecrow of the WLLC stands in the farm behind Akins. The WLLC is across the street by the bus loading areas.

Amanda Liviningston

The Eagle’s Eye Monday, 11.18.13 page 6

Student LifeOff-Campus Across the street

Learning center sprouting near school

Student reveals artistic passion in henna body tattoosHobbies Body art

Hannah Kerns

Opinions Editor

With a love of Henna and Panama culture, senior Thalia Lucia designs her way through the school on the palms and hands of stu-dents within.

Lucia moved to Austin in December of 2012 from Panama a country between North and South America. A place that she adored and lived in for all her life.

“I started my love for Henna in my hometown,“ Lucia said. “It’s so relaxing and it’s one of my greatest passions.”

Lucia turned her passion for Henna into something

VKH� FRXOG� PDNH� D� SUR¿W�from. She started charging for her body art at no more than $8 per piece.

“I’ve known Thalia since VKH� ¿UVW� PRYHG� KHUH�´� VH-nior Jocelyn Martinez said. “She’s really good at what she does, just like a profes-sional.”

Henna, also known as Mehndi, is a type of body art originated in India. The Henna paste usually comes in plastic cones or metal-tipped bottles.

“It’s a good alternative for people that don’t want permanent tattoos,” junior Alyssa Rodriguez said.

Many people create their own Henna paste as a tradi-tion. Some love it so much

that they cover their bodies in the art work.

“The style that is por-trayed through the Henna is very unique,” Rodriguez said.

Mehndi is used in Wed-dings, Parties and coming of age traditions. Henna is as-sociated with happiness and imagination.

“When I miss my home-town I just cover myself in Henna,” Lucia said.

Lucia designs her own Henna and the people she paints on absolutely loves it.

“I got a sun on the top of my hand and it was so beau-tiful,” Martinez said. “You can tell she doesn’t only do it for the money, it really is a passion for her.”

The love of her Henna helped her adapt to the new country she was unfamiliar with. It helped her create QHZ� IULHQGV� DQG�¿QG� D� VSRW�here at Akins.

“I used to just do it for myself, but then one day someone asked me if I could design one for them and it just went on from there,” Lucia said.

From a new country to a hobby that developed into a passion, Lucia’s love for Henna helped her in more ways then she could have imagined.

“I’m just glad that I adapted in the way I have,” she said. “It’s all thanks to my interest in the art of Henna.”

Clubs Brony club

A!er school club attracts attention Nicolas Sokolowski

Staff Reporter

In AVID, eager stu-dents collaborate in their FODVV��¿QGLQJ�QHZ�ZD\V�WR�solve problems.

The program, AVID, stands for Advancement Via Individual Determi-nation, and helps students prepare for college.

Sophomore Vanessa Juarez is an active student in AVID and enjoys its uniqueness.

“AVID is bet-ter than other classes because it allows you to build a family type of relationship.” Juarez said.

It began with 32 stu-dents in one high school and now impacts more than 700,000 students in more than 4,900 schools, according to www.avid.org.

Each student is re-

quired to have an AVID binder where they keep their work.

There are also other requirements, such as two Pre-AP/AP classes, main-taining at least a 2.5 to 3.0 GPA, and community ser-vice hours.

The c l a s s

also has Tutori-als, where several

students are grouped based off of each sub-ject they need help on.

All of the stu-dents have to ar-rive with their Tutorial Request

Form ¿OOHG� RXW� SDUWLDO-ly; the other sections will EH�¿OOHG� LQ� DV� WKH� WXWRULDO�session progresses.

“Tutorials are apart of the Inquiry process of WI-COR (the support struc-ture of AVID), and the purpose is to get students thinking at the highest lev-el.” AVID Teacher, Teresa Grumbles said.

Jonathan Rivera

Christian Tienda

Staff Reporters

The idea that teen-age boys gather to-gether after school to watch episodes of My Little Pony in a so-called “Brony Club” strikes many students as odd.

The Brony club is a club for people who are fans of the kids TV show My Little Pony. The majority of these fans are not little girls; instead they are men which ages range from teens to adults. They call themselves “Bronies”.

“Most non and anti Bronies have never seen the show or giv-en it a chance. So they don’t understand,” junior Tyler Stephens said.

For some people, they think it’s strange that boys would watch

a show that is de-signed to appeal to pre-school girls. And that’s where the mis-conceptions start.

“People think we just watch pony vid-eos and be weird, but were not,” freshman Mon-ica Alberto said. “There’s more to it than watching pony videos.”

But in reality the club has noth-ing to do with ponies or the girl-friendly characters. The prob-lem originates in the fact that the show has changed substan-tially from the show that most high school students are familiar with from their youth.

“Club members make pony themed t-shirts, make their own versions of the show and hang out while playing games like

Halo and Minecraft,” Joe Broome, club spon-sor and digital media teacher, said.

The new version of the show, called My Little Pony: Friend-ship is Magic, has a different focus and look, having been re-vamped by a new cre-ative team. The show is now less about

marketing toys to young girls and more

about exploring in-depth charac-

ter and story de-velopment.

This new fo-cus has attracted fans that reach beyond the youth

girl demographic that once dominated the My Little Pony cartoon franchise.

Fans of the show say that the most im-portant aspect is the lesson it teaches about friendship, which may DW� ¿UVW� VHHP� EDVLF��However, it is a uni-versal message that is relevant to young

kids, teens and even adults.

“Well, being a bro-ny to me is just fun,” Taylor Stephens said. “I mean if you like the show then you like the show. It’s just kind of like that.”

While many stu-dents may think that the idea of teenage boys watching My Little Pony is strange, the dedicated “bro-nies” say that people shouldn’t criticize the club without watching the show themselves. Viewers can learn im-portant life lessons if they do, they say.

“Say if you’re a loner and don’t re-ally have friends, then this show and club is perfect for you and anyone,” freshman Dwight Hawley said. “It teaches good mor-als like being being fair and the real mean-ing of friendship.”

Amanda Livingston

Á A different kind of education

A student of the Whole Life Learning Center studies. The WWLLC is tranquil educational place for families and children.

Students in AVID prepare for college

Johannah Dakay

Hannah Kerns

Unorthodox Henna

Lucia show her Henna done on her own arm for practice. Henna dries at short rates of time depending on the paste.

Sonny Zuniga

Monday, 11.18.13 Student Life The Eagle’s Eye page 7

Programs Careers photo shoot

Sarah LunaStaff Reporter

It is often said that a pho-

to can convey a thousand

words. A photo can be even

more powerful if it conveys

something familiar.

Knowing this, Akins ad-

ministrators tried something

new this year to motivate

incoming Akins students.

Instead of hanging generic

motivational posters in the

hallways, they decided to

feature Akins and vertical

team elementary students to

show off all the career path

majors available at Akins.

“We really wanted to

build that connection from

what elementary school

you attend, to what middle

school you attend so that

everyone sees that we’re

all going to end up at Akins

High School,” STEM teach-

er Jeanie McGough said.

“I thought that they

should start building that

school spirit and building

that connection to where

we’re all going to end up at

Akins.”

The idea was to inform

and inspire elementary stu-

dents about all of the career

path programs available at

Akins. To make it happen,

administrators turned to the

new commercial photog-

raphy program at Akins.

Advanced commercial pho-

tography students helped

coordinate the photo shoot,

which featured Akins stu-

dents dressed in career wear

paired with elementary stu-

dents.

The photos have been

sent to the district print shop

to be made into posters that

will be hung in area elemen-

tary schools that feed into

Akins.

“The purpose of the cam-

paign was to inform younger

students about the career

programs and all the op-

portunities that Akins has to

offer,” commercial photog-

raphy teacher David Doerr

said.

With over forty Akins

students participating in the

project, the campaign had a

great turn out.

“I thought it was a really

unique thing to do because

we’ve never done anything

like it before,” junior Miran-

da LeBlanc said, one of the

student photographers.

“I think they got to see

how many things they

could be when they grow up

and how many opportuni-

ties they will have in high

school.”

“What we really wanted

to build was that connec-

tion,” McGough said, “So

that the school spirit from

what elementary school you

go to, towards what middle

school you go to, so that

everyone sees that we’re

all going to end up at Akins

High School.”

With graduation require-

ments changing, students are

now expected to come out of

school, career ready. Conve-

niently, Akins has programs

such as Ready, Set, Teach

in the Social Services acad-

emy and the opportunity to

work with real animals in

the ACES academy that help

students get ahead and meet

the required expectations.

“I think that’s where the

excitement from everyone

came from,” McGough said.

“Students at Akins have an

idea of what they want to do

or what they want to study in

college and that’s something

that everybody can be excit-

ed about.”

Teachers Coming back home

Mark VallejoStaff Reporter

Among all of the new

faces on campus this year,

one new teacher wasn’t

new to Akins at all-Algebra

teacher Nikolas De Winne, a

2009 alumnus.

De Winnie said it feels

good to be back on campus,

but it can be weird at times

now that he is on the other

end of the classroom.

“It’s a good feeling,” De

:LQQH�VDLG��³7KH�¿UVW�PRQWK�has been good. It’s was hec-

tic at the beginning of the

year, but it’s good now.”

De Winne said he has al-

ways wanted to be a teacher

since he was in high school.

“I’ve always enjoyed

helping other people, espe-

cially kids,” De Winne said.

“Teaching is something I’ve

always enjoyed doing. I’ve

always felt that education

is important, so I wanted to

make kids value it.”

Some of De Winne’s old

teachers are currently still

teaching here and are now

his colleagues. Several said

they are happy to have him

back at Akins, contributing

back to the school he gradu-

ated from.

“It’s nice to see a gradu-

ate come give to the com-

munity,” teacher Regina

McGough said. “I had him

P\�¿UVW� \HDU� RI� WHDFKLQJ� LQ�pre-AP physics so it’s nice

to know your students are

working hard, and it’s nice to

respect them as colleagues.”

Teacher Rebecca Red-

land also enjoyed having

him as a student.

“I had him in AP English.

He had a sense of humor, and

I was very proud to see him

(come to work) here,” Red-

land said. “He was a good

student here and I know he

has a lot to give back here to

the school.”

Freshman Cornell Johns

thinks that De Winne will be

a great teacher.

“I think his teaching is

good because right now he’s

been great because he has

good teaching skills,” Cor-

nell said.

De Winnie returns to Akins a!er graduating in 2009

Caitlin Starks

Á Looking into the futureStudents from the Bio-medical program pose with children from various elementary VFKRROV��7KH�FDPSDLJQ�EHQH¿WV�QHZ�VWXGHQWV�WR�OHDUQ�DERXW�WKH�RSSRUWXQLWLHV�$NLQV�RIIHUV�

Sarah LunaStaff Reporter

Something that may have

once been looked down upon

or considered unimpressive

has become a badge of honor

for some students.

The scrape of metal hang-

ers upon metal racks, the

XQLTXH� PXVLF� ÀRZLQJ� IURP�the overhead speakers, and

the mellow atmosphere sur-

rounding the

store is com-

forting to most

thrifters.

“There’s all

kinds of things

that people get

rid of, like old

band t-shirts, or

things that just

aren’t considered

cool anymore,”

junior Matthew

Ramos said.

“Thrift stores are

actually more like

an old book that

you can pick your

favorite parts from

and give it a new

story.”

Thrifters tend to

dress in ways that may cause

others to turn heads. Follow-

ing trends but in their own

unique way is common but

so is the aim to differentiate

from others.

“I’d consider my style

different,” junior Alek Pe-

schansky said. “I strive to

stand out in a crowd, if ev-

eryone’s wearing a black

shirt I’ll be wearing white.”

Buying big name brand

clothing for a fraction of the

original price may require

lots of digging but thrifters

don’t mind.

“I’m saving money so it

makes me feel pretty good

about myself,” Peschansky

said.

Finding old movies, re-

cords, books, and interesting

trinkets is also common in

the thrifting environment.

“The coolest thing I’ve

ever gotten at a thrift store

was a black Polaroid camera

for about $20,” junior Brit-

ney Evans said. “Not only

was it a great buy, it’s some-

thing I use often.”

Among thrift stores stu-

dents are Goodwill,

Thriftown, Buffalo Ex-

change and Plato’s Clos-

et.

You can donate

clothes to Goodwill and

Thrifttown, or you have

the option of selling

or trading their gently

used, up to date cloth-

ing items at Buffalo

Exchange or Plato’s

Closet. Thrifters also

have the opportunity

of swapping at an

event called “The

Really Really Free

Market” hosted the

last Sunday every

month by Treasure

City Thrift.

“My favorite store to

go to is Family Thrift Center.

They have a huge selection

and I’ve found so many cool

and interesting things there,”

Ramos said. “What I like

about thrift stores is the fact

that, you can pick up a piece

of clothing that could’ve

once been somebody’s fa-

vorite shirt and ended up in

a hand-me-down store and

now it’s yours.”

"ri! shops make their way back to students

Mark Vallejo

ÁDéjà vu$OXPQL�WHDFKHU�1LNRODV�'H�:LQQLH�OHQGV�KLV�KHOS�WR�KLV�IUHVKPDQ�$OJHEUD�RQH�FODVV��'H�:LQQLH�DOVR�WHDFKHV�QLQWK�JUDGH�67$$5�UHPHGLDO�FODVV�

Akins majors highlighted in campaign

Johannah Dakay

Illu

str

ati

ons b

y

Johannah D

akay

Commercial photography class shows o! school career programs in poster photos

Susana Rocha

Staff Reporter

Moon Over Buffalo, the latest play staged by the Akins Journey Theatre, answers a common question seen in the media today: What are people willing to do to become fa-mous?

The answer it turns out is almost anything. And when fame eludes the characters in the play, the re-

sult if often hilarity. And that is one of the reasons theater teacher Maureen Siegel selected the 1995 play written by Ken Ludwig to open this year’s theater season.

“I picked Moon Over Buffalo because I was looking for a really funny show, I laughed a lot while reading it,” she said. “I fell in love with it instantly.”

The play takes place in the 1950s focusing on the sad lives of washed up actors who want to regain the spotlight in +ROO\ZRRG�¿OPV��0XFK�RI�WKH�SOD\�IRFXVHV�RQ�WKH�DQWLFV�RI�cheating spouses, secret plots and the dreams of people who want out of the lives they are currently living.

The work and effort theatre students contributed to this play are shown through their dedication. Students stayed af-ter school regularly until 9 p.m. and attended weekend prac-tice to get the play perfected.

There were two different casts that performed for two days each. The alternating casts made each performance dis-tinct, said students in the play.

“Each cast had a different way that they play it, you can see the different choices they make for their characters,” se-nior Jose Cantu said. “All the choices they made turned out really well.”

The cast overcame some obstacles throughout the perfor-mances.

“It has gotten a lot better over time. Before we were doing the show it was really iffy, because we weren’t quite sure of

how well we were going to do,” Cantu said. “During the past few shows everyone has gotten it together.”

The Akins journey theater is now working on You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, the musical, involving mostly

freshmen and sophomores.“It’s a building year for the department,” Siegel said. “We

have a really strong incoming class and I’m really excited about that.”

The Eagle’s Eye Monday, 11.18.13 page 8

Arts & EntertainmentTheater Moon Over Buffalo

Journey theatre presents comic production

Jacqueline Rodriguez

ÁHide in the closet

Junior Janice Franco’s character confronts Senior Manuel Cantu’s character on stage as he makes a fool out of himself

and orders him to hide. Franco played Charlotte and Cantu played George, the leads, in Moon Over Buffalo.

�

�����of SouthPark Meadows

Invites you to get a FREE

Original or Spicy Chicken Sandwich, or 8 Count Nuggets

with the purchase of a Large Waffle Fry and Large Drink.

Offer good only at Chick-fil-A I-35 & Slaughter in SouthPark Meadows. Expires 05/31/14.

New crew brings hip hop back

Review New generation game

Deandra Tristan

Staff Reporter

The rhythm of the Hip-Hop team members’ feet pounded on the ground, leaving the crowd roaring at a recent pep rally. The audience gains excitement as they see a new type of dance performed.

Junior Nathan Tavarez held auditions and formed an after school hip-hop team that consists of 14 people.

“We spend our Tuesdays and Thursdays after school working hard and choreographing our dances together,” junior Abigail Tovar said.

The team put much

effort and teamwork into their dances. Majority of the dancers only started to take dance recently, but they see it as something they would like to do in the future.

The team is currently planning on going to competi-tion next semester.

Senior Reynaldo Tamayo just started taking dance se-riously last year but sees dance and choreography in his upcoming career and in his future.

Tamayo’s position on the Hip Hop team is just a danc-er but he also contributes to to the choreography of the dances.

“I feel like the team is making progress and people are getting a lot better,” sophomore Joseph Atkinson

said. “If there is a hip hop class next year, I would want to join so I can improve.”

Senior Paula Vuorela, an exchange student from Fin-land, is excited to be a part of the Hip Hop Team. Vuo-rela has danced ballet for 11 years in her home country, DQG�LV�FXUUHQWO\�LQ�KHU�¿IWK�\HDU�RI�GDQFLQJ�KLS�KRS�VW\OH�

“I like being in a group because it’s a good experience to try new stuff and I’ll be able to do something no one else can do when I go back to my country,” Vuorela said.

This after school program has been a learning experi-ence and opportunity for some students to learn some-thing new, and commit to something they love to do. The team hopes it will turn into a class next year.

Savannah Garza

ÏShoe stomp

Junior Nathan

Tavarez per-

forms with the

hip-hop team.

They danced

at the pep

rally before

the playoffs

last Thursday.

First time Åperforming

The 2013-2014

new hip-hop

team strikes

a pose after

a pep rally.

They danced to

“Just Blaze” by

Jay-Z.

Student raves Pokémon X and YMaria Moreno

Staff Reporter

Many of us have grown up with Pokémon, whether it was playing the trading card game or playing it on the Gameboy, some of us have been playing it for as long as we can remember.

Typically, a new Poké-mon game has been released every year and most of them were basically the same. This time around Junichi Masuda, the creator of the Pokémon games, knew it was time for a change, lead-ing to the creation of Poké-mon X and Y.

These games aren’t your typical Pokémon games with two dimensional graphics and repetitive plot.

The game takes place in Kalos, a French inspired re-gion, with beautiful scenery and superb settings.

This time, trainers can battle with their Pokémon in three dimensions and customize their character by buying clothes, chang-

ing their hairstyle and skin color.

Mega evolutions of some of the old Pokémon were added. This basically boosts up their stats, making them a lot stronger and faster. This is a really cool addition to the game, and makes bat-tles a lot more interesting.

You can also catch one of the two new legendaries Xerneas, the fairy type or <YHWDO��WKH�GDUN�À\LQJ�W\SH��depending on the game ver-sion you bought. Along with these two you can also catch one of the three Legendary Birds and Mewtwo, who also have a mega evolution.

Super Training is one of the new features added to train your Pokémon’s effort values, also known as EV training. This makes it eas-ier to get certain stats better than the rest, which is really convenient for people who play competitively and don’t KDYH� WKH� WLPH� WR� ¿OO� RXW� DOO�540 EV slots manually.

There’s also Pokémon-Aime, a feature based on the

Nintendo DS game, Nintendogs. You can pet your Pokémon using this and make them friendli-er, making it easier to evolve certain Pokémon.

The game was one of the easiest Pokémon games to beat due to the Experience Share item you get at the be-ginning. It makes it easier to level up all of your Pokémon in your party at the same time.

Overall, I think Pokemon X and Y are one of the best Pokemon games out yet and highly recommend you buy it. The game successfully blends old and new genera-tions together, while incor-porating a new design.

Johanna Dakay

1950’s play highlights stage life of washed up celebrities

Deandra Tristan

Monday, 11.18.13 Arts & Entertainment The Eagle’s Eye page 9

E a g l e V o g u eJacqueline Rodriguez

News Editor

As the temperatures drop, the coats come on. The win-ter season is arriving and so are the new fashion trends.

Pants, leggings, tights, and sweaters are frequently be-ing worn throughout the school hallways and students are showing off their unique styles.

Senior Alison Garcia is one of these students.“My favorite styles for winter would be layering,

wearing cardigans, and tights,” Garcia said. Around campus girls are sporting cable knit sweaters

with solid colored tights paired with knee high boots.This look, although comfortable, seems to be repetitive

throughout the hallways.A different way to be stylish, yet comfortable, for the

freezing temperatures up ahead could be pairing skirts with warm knee-high socks. This can be achieved by adding a simple sweater on top. Adding knee high socks adds a cute twist on simple everyday wear. Another way to keep warm in the winter yet still stay

fashionable is pairing colored footed tights with dresses. Win-ter colors like black, maroon, and navy blue are in season and can make a simple dress really stand out. Add a warm neutral colored cardigan or sweater on top, and you have yet another comfortable look.

Winter is a time to really show off your style and with these fashionable yet comfortable looks, girls can be fashionable and warm.

Adelaida VillegasStaff Reporter

The bang of the drums. The hum of the bass. The chime of the guitar. These are just a few reasons why Senior William Pierce Prewitt loves to be in a band.

3UHZLWW�KDV�SOD\HG�LQ�DV�PDQ\�DV�¿YH�EDQGV�DQG�XQWLO�WKLV�day is still playing and doing what he loves to do. He is very passionate and plays to express himself and get any feelings he has out.

“I get my emotions out through my music and writing lyrics,” Prewitt said.

Prewitt, who plays guitar and vocals in is current band Burn Ban, has also played for Truth for the Truthless, Where the Eagles Dare, Sinsored, and Capture Theory.

Prewitt said he started playing in a band when one day he got bored and was called in to sub for another player.

He enjoyed it so much that he started playing as a full WLPH�EDQG�PHPEHU�LQ�KLV�¿UVW�EDQG�FDOOHG�6LQVRUHG�

“When I went in as a sub it was good. It led to me being in the band. It was a short notice and stressful but it was fun,” Prewitt said.

His favorite instrument to play in the bands is the bass.“Simply for versatility my favorite would be the bass, it’s

WKH� ¿UVW� LQVWUXPHQW� ,� OHDUQHG� WR� SOD\��7KH� EDVV� SURYLGHV� D�little more room for creativity than the guitar,” Prewitt said.

Prewitt played in so many bands because he likes the experience that comes with it. Ever since he was little he’s wanted to become a musician.

“It all boils down to the pleasure you get from playing. The more bands the more opportunities you can get to play,” Prewitt said.

It’s not about the money for Prewitt.“I’ve made a total of $100 out of the two years I’ve been

playing,” Prewitt said “I play not for money but because I enjoy it. I’ve become very passionate about playing.”

Being in a band takes a lot of dedication and focus. Pre-witt said he practices for at least two hours everyday, his EDQG�DQG�KLP�SUDFWLFH�¿YH�WLPHV�EHIRUH�HYHU\�VKRZ�WKH\�JHW��

All the practicing pays off for the band when they get shows and it becomes successful.

“We’ve played with Greg Ginn From Black Flag. We

have also played at SXSW and to a sold out crowd at club 606 with One Eyed Doll,” Prewitt said.

Senior Santana Gutierrez has played with Prewitt in Sin-sored. The two played together for a little more than a year.

“He’s pretty much the reason why we ever got shows,” Gutierrez said “He was a quick learner so practice was a breeze. He also provided us with a ton of gear that we didn’t

have. He was a really big help to us.” Prewitt plans on continuing his musical career playing in

bands after he graduates from high school.³,�SODQ�RQ�MXVW�GRLQJ�ZKDW�,�GR�QRZ��,¶P�UDWKHU�VDWLV¿HG�

with my musical life. Of course I plan on going on a self funded tour, as the absence of high school greatly eases that possibility,” Prewitt said.

Feature Passion to play

Music driven student pursues career

Photo courtesy of Pierce Prewitt

Á Face of the bassSenior Pierce Prewitt plays at Heart of Texas Rock Fest with his former bandmates, Sinsored. He played the bass guitar.

Fun fun fun fest recapSavannah GarzaEditor-in-Chief

Snoop Dogg, M.I.A., and Slayer were some of the many renowned artists that performed at Austin music festival, Fun Fun Fun Fest.

FLAG and Snoop Dogg were the highlights of Friday’s chilly night, both at opposite ends of the festival grounds, the black stage and the orange stage.

Saturday ended with various renowned artists such as M.I.A., Descendants, and Ice-T to close the second night.

Metal band, Slayer, played the last night of Fun Fun Fun )HVW�DV�WKH�¿QDO�SHUIRUPDQFH��

Other highlights of the festival included MGMT, Sub-humans, Cut Copy, Lupe Fiasco, XXYYXX, and Sarah Silverman.

Indie rock legends Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and Johnny Marr of The Smiths both played sets with their new bands.

Fun Fun Fun Fest attracts fans of various music tastes and even incorporates comedy in to the festival with dif-ferent stages including the orange, blue, black, and yellow stage. The festival even included a skate park.

“My favorite sets had to have been Code Orange Kids, Title Fight, FLAG, Descendants and Judge,” Senior San-tana Gutierrez said. “A lot of good bands were playing this year.”

Nick Vega

Allison Garcia

Jacq

uelin

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odri

guez

Jacqueline Rodriguez

Jacob SanchezGraphics Editor

The temperature is getting lower so everyone’s jack-ets and sweatshirts are coming out and into their rotation. There are many different types of jackets you can wear such as bombers, parkas and sport jackets.

Senior Nick Vega plans on purchasing 10 Deep, Rocksmith jackets, pull over hoodies, and sweats this fall.

“I’ve been wearing my Nike SB Shoe Goos a lot,” Vega said.

Jeans can go with almost anything but it depends on what color wash you pair the jeans with. Black jeans go with almost any colored hoodie or jacket, light wash jeans go well with bold colors like red or blue, and dark blue jeans go well with a light colored shirt. There are many price ranges when it comes to jeans so it is good to do your research.

You can get affordable jeans at retailers like H&M and Zara but if you’re looking to drop some cash on a higher quality pair of jeans than look for some Nudie Jeans, Naked And Fa-mous, or Ksubi Denim. Prices for these brands can range from DERXW������WR������DQG�\RX�FDQ�¿QG�WKHP�RQOLQH�DW�.DUPDORRS�or at the respective company website.

Adding layers to what you’re wearing adds to the overall VLOKRXHWWH�RI�\RXU�¿W��<RX�FDQ�OD\HU�D�VLPSOH�W�VKLUW�WKDW�VWLFNV�out from under a lightweight hoodie and you can top it off with a bulky jacket. If you are unsure about the colors, you can’t go wrong with some black and white.

Savannah Garza

ÁM.I.A. Rapper and electronic artist M.I.A. closes Saturday night

of Fun Fun Fun Fest. Ice-T and Descendants also played.

Snoop DoggMIA

SlayerFLAG

DescendantsIce-T

MGMTSubhumansCut Copy

Lupe Fiasco XXYYXX

Sarah SilvermanCode Orange Kids

Title FightJudge

Thurston MooreJohnny Marr

Lineup

Dedicated musician has high hopes for future projects

Christian Martinez

ÁClashing at the line of scrimmageEagles defensive players burst off the line into Austin High Schools’ linemen for a chance to sack the quarterback. The Eagles prevented the Maroons from scoring points in the redzone.

The Eagle’s Eye Monday, 11.18.13 page 10

SportsFootball Raising the bar

Eagles reach playoffs, making history

Kenny JenningsSports Editor

History has been made at Akins High School. For the first time ever, the Varsity football team has made the playoffs. In the twelve pre-vious years of Akins exis-tence, the football team has never made it to playoffs.

The Eagles finished the regular season 3-7, includ-ing two district wins against Del Valle and Austin High, which was enough to reach the playoffs.

“It means a lot to the whole senior class because this is something that has never been done before,” se-nior linebacker/cornerback Nick Vega said, who led the team with 21 solo tackles. “It feels good to make his-tory and be the first class to make playoffs.”

Making the playoffs ex-tends the season for the Eagles.

“It feels good to know we get to play another week,” senior defensive back Ced-

ric Williams said. “It means a lot to be the first team to make playoffs.”

The team found positive outcomes on both sides of the ball, leading to their re-cent success. The quick of-fense allowed more oppor-tunities for touchdowns and big plays.

“The coaches really made sure we were fit and ready to run our fast paced offense,” senior wide receiver Robert Walker said. “Our goal go-ing into the game is to move the ball as fast as we possi-bly can.”

“Coach Frierson took it back down to basics and re-built our skills on the line,” senior left tackle Donovan Martinez said.

On the other side of the ball, the defense also found success with more intense workouts and practices.

“Our offseason work-outs were really intense, we worked out a lot harder,” se-nior linebacker Fred Black-man said.

“We drilled everyday, the coaches taught us how

to read offenses and fill the gaps,” junior middle line-backer Malik Smith, who led the team with 58 total tackles said.

“Coach griffin and coach Randolph showed us the basics like footwork, and it means a lot to winning,” Vega said.

“We’ve watched a lot of film and did a lot of drills, that made us better,” senior

defensive back Cedric Wil-liams said.

With triumph also come challenges, the players felt they could’ve been a closer team.

“We could’ve been closer as a team, because some of us can’t call other teammates friends,” Martinez said.

“I wish we worked to-gether more in bad situa-

tions,” Williams said.“We could have stayed

together through losses, there was too many argu-ments, but we made it to playoffs,” Smith said.

“We needed to keep our composure during losses,” Vega said.

Although the Eagles had some minor issues, their head coach Humberto Garza thinks differently.

“We learned how to work as a team, they trusted each other, they believed in one another, they’re the best ex-ample of teamwork,” Garza said.

The Eagles have shown their improvement by win-ning games and achieving their ultimate goal of mak-ing the playoffs.

“It shows how much work

we put in, it shows how hard we worked, we can compete with everyone,” Smith said.

“It’s amazing because we showed some improvement by winning games and mak-ing playoffs,” Martinez said.

School spirit has flour-ished throughout Akins due to the positive outcomes of the games. More fami-lies, fans, and students have been going to the stadiums to support the Eagles. The game gets heavily discussed through social networks such as Twitter and Insta-gram.

“When we played Aus-tin High, our stands weren’t quiet and they were cheering us on all night,” Martinez said. “Win or lose, support our team.”

Unfortunately, the Eagles lost to Round Rock in the first round of the playoffs 67-21. They fought hard but couldn’t keep up with the fast-paced Round Rock Dragons.

“We played our hard-est and gave it everything,” Walker said.

He said he was sad that season came to an end ear-lier than they hoped.

“I’ve met some great peo-ple and formed some amaz-ing relationships with my teammates,” Walker said.

Even with the playoff loss, the Eagles succeeded at what they set out to do

“We earned it,” defen-sive back Alec Kappel said. “As a team we deserve to have made it to playoffs be-cause we’ve gone through so much.”

Eagles rally in second half of the season to make first post-season appearance

Tyler DerricksonStaff Reporter

This year the boys and girls’ varsity basketball teams are set to begin anoth-er season of basketball with high expectations.

New faces will see varsity action for the first time while seasoned players will come back more experienced than last time they stepped on the court.

This year’s boys varsity team will be left without the fire-power of players like Cortland Ross and Fredd Richardson as they now play for their respected colleges.

Many player and role changes have led to a search for the up and coming lead-ers for this team.

“Leadership has been a day by day situation up to this point, but we are hoping to give leadership qualities to these kids and create great leaders out of them,” David Peavy, boys varsity basket-ball coach, said.

The girls look to improve their play from the last sea-son.

“It is early in the season, but we need to improve on

just about everything from screens to boxing out to get rebounds,” Helen Mar-tin girls varsity basketball coach said.

The main goal for any competitive sports team is to win a championship, but it’s the work off the court that can determine who takes their talents to the next lev-el and separate themselves from the rest of the playing field.

“When I wasn’t playing for select teams in the sum-mer leagues I was coming up to Akins almost everyday to practice and get better,” senior guard Jared Mendez said.

Everyone on the team has a role that will help con-tribute to the success of the team.

“I want to go onto the team and do my job so I can help this team win and go far into playoffs,” junior for-ward Teddy Lowery said.

This year’s girl’s team is poised for a comeback sea-son after a season in which they fell short of making the playoffs.

“Our confidence, work ethic and our desire to win

are going to be some of the key factors for a successful season this year,” junior for-ward Macy Whiting said.

On the boys side they are looking to replicate a suc-cessful season from a year ago, but with new players and different playing styles.

“Through tradition we play hard, and we are going to try to keep the momen-tum we had last year,” Peavy said. “We have a completely different team and roles have changed, but that wont stop us from playing our best bas-ketball.”

The boys have built a good chemistry on the court and have started to play as a team. This chemistry has led to a higher level of play and it has shown through prac-tices and games played thus far.

“We need to stay on the same page and play off of each other to build a great team,“ senior guard Bryan Sassenhagen said. “We need to keep our heads up to win games and advance through-out the playoffs.”

The girls are prepared for this year and all of the challenges that come with a

new season and new players learning the system.

“If we stay playing as a team, do what our coaches say and stay focused on the main goal of winning it all, this team will be able to do it,” senior guard Megan Martinez said.

Team relationships, hard

work and solid coaching are going to be some of the most important factors for these teams’ success this year.

As the season starts, play-ers said they have high ex-pectations for both teams.

Lowery said he thinks this is the year Akins play-ers will show what they are

made of. “We are really excited

to see these kids play this year,” Martin said. “Day in and day out they put forth all their effort during practices and their hard work will be displayed on the court this year.”

Lala Villegas

ÁDefensive pressureSopohmore guard Brooklyn Childers defends a Lehman offensive guard. The Lady Eagles

lost to Lehman.

It means a lot to

be the first team to

make playoffs.‘‘”

Basketball Getting started

Boys, girls teams gear up as basketball season begins

ÁFootball videoScan the QR code to view

the Akins Football 2013

video directed, edited, and

produced by Matthew Lopez

Monday, 11.18.13 Sports The Eagle’s Eye page 11

JV Eagles improve to a winning recordTyler Derrickson

Staff Reporter

Junior varsity football finished off a successful sea-son with its first winning re-cord in recent memory with a 5-4 overall record.

Wins against Crockett and Del Valle helped build momentum for the Eagles and propelled them to a great start.

The team built a relation-ship with one another and played hard every down throughout the season.

“We pushed everyone to their limit when it came to playing their best football and we stayed focused on winning these games,” ju-nior wide reciever Donald Akers said. We just wanted to play hard for the guy standing next to us,”

Play calling was a big reason for Akins’ success this year as new schemes were added this year to give them a better chance to win.

“Hind sight is 20/20 when you coach the game of foot-ball, but we put ourselves in good positions to win

games,” defensive coordi-nator Christopher Randolph said. “I’d like to take some calls back but when the kids executed the plays accord-ingly it made the staff very proud,”

At seasons end, the Ea-gles sat tied atop the district leaders in wins.

“Everyone contributed to the team whether it was a big play or a huge energy boost from the sidelines,” sopho-more wide receiver Francis-co Ambriz said.

The team won and lost many close games this year that were decided by mis-takes or successful plays.

“We executed many plays leading to wins, but when we did lose it was because of mental mistakes and pen-alties at crucial moments in games,” Head Coach Hum-berto Garza said.

The team built up con-fidence through wins and stayed together through losses.

“Through the wins and losses we picked each other up and didn’t look back,” Akers said.

The junior varsity team really worked on playing mechanics during the off-season and throughout the years also learning offensive and defensive schemes along the way.

“During the off-season we participated in position drills, hit the weight room and learned off of the play-book,” sophomore quarter-back Michael Gonzales said.

The success of this team will only bring more excite-ment for the upcoming sea-son when they will be par-ticipating in varsity football. Many of the junior varsity players will be heading to the varsity squad this up-coming 2014-2015 season.

“That only sets up suc-cess for the future varsity team consisting of these kids,” Garza said.

The team shared many moral and substantial vic-tories throughout the season that led to their 5-4 record.

The team looks to work on making fewer mistakes next season to make them and elite team.

“You can always look

to do better, overall I think our future looks very bright though,” Randolph said.

As the season comes to a close, the future of this

team is looking up and the program is doing everything right in terms of gaining rec-ognition.

“The staff is proud of the

strides and stretches these boys took this year and we are very happy with the out-come of this season,” Ran-dolph said.

Isaiah Carrol

ÁSideline coachingSophomore outside linebacker Xavier Mendez gets coached up on the sideline by junior varsity defensive coordinator Christopher Randolph. Akins lost to Anderson.

Wrestling Athlete feature

Sonny ZunigaStudent-Life Editor

Training in quick steady steps at the break of dawn, while pacing herself to the beat of Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven,” sweat drips from her face while the wind cools her off.

“Keep running, two more pounds,” she said. “Just two more.”

Bruised knees, a busted lip and the occasional black eye. Each bruise reminding her of every opponent she’s come in contact with.

These are just a few of the cosmetic concerns that junior Anna Becerra has to deal with on a regular basis.

Injuries like these are not unusual in the life of a wres-tler.

“It’s an addiction. You just want to see progress in your wrestling, and it makes me feel like I want to do the impossible,” Becerra said.

Getting ready for the wrestling season, Becerra prepares herself for her weight class by beginning to lose those impossible two pounds to qualify for her first match of the season.

“The team as a whole is working out to make weight and constantly drilling to perfect our moves,” Becer-ra said. “Losing weight is tough because I can’t really eat my favorite foods be-cause of my healthy eating.”

Working on her weight

class of 102, Becerra works to only eat her nutrients her body needs and avoids food with fiber to keep her body ready and healthy for her matches.

“I try my best to give my body what it needs by eat-ing what’s good for my body

and working out.” Becerra said.

Still reveling in her mem-ories from winning regionals and going to state all in the past year, Becerra says she hopes to reach the top again this year and go even farther with her moves now be-

ing much more precise and sharper which allows her to progress and be better than she was before.

“It was a dream come true, I broke down in tears because I worked so hard and you finally see it pay off,” Becerra said. “I’m not doing it just to do it, I work my (butt) off and then I see why.”

Many wrestlers believe the sport is unrecognized and is not given the credit it deserves. Becerra agrees that wrestling isn’t credited enough and is ridiculed to be “people just rolling around on a mat.”

“I think wrestling is not taken seriously and see it as people just taking each other down and don’t get the rec-ognition that football or bas-ketball games get, ” Becerra said.

Wrestling keeps going strong no matter what is said about them and work to-gether as a team to support each other. Becerra is driven to have success in wrestling and to show people that what they think is impossible is possible in her world.

“I love warm-ups. You’re

in that state of mind where I’m going to go in there and do the best that you can,” Becerra said.

Becerra says she began wrestling all because of a bet that was made over money.

“My sister’s boyfriend used to wrestle for Akins for most of his high school career and he bet me money if I would try wrestling for a year,” Bacerra said. “He never did pay me but the love I ended having for the sport was more than worth it.”

Becerra is in her third year of wrestling. She has to balance it with managing her job, homework and friends. She said she cherishes ev-erything she receives in life and drives herself to be bet-ter and do better by keeping her priorities straight and her mind on the prize while overall keeping her grades in check.

With the first match of the season already done and Becerra with her first win, the team as a whole trains hard together for their next match on Nov. 20 at Lanier High School and Dec. 4 at Akins.

Wrestler’s dedication shows through dynamic results

Sonny Zuniga

ÁTraining in progressAnna Bacerra trains for her first wrestling match of the season at the track of a neighbor-ing school. Bacerra won her match against her Lanier opponent in the second round.

JV Football Development

Jacob Sanchez

The Eagle’s Eye Monday, 11.18.13 page 12

Photo Essay

Make these cap-tions longer

People come together in aftermath of !oodMarisol Gomez

Photo Editor

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ÁNeighborhood underwaterWater took over neighborhoods on the early morning

RI�2FW������³,Q�VRPH�SODFHV�WKH�ZDWHU�URVH�XS�WR�¿YH�feet (over street level),” senior Christian Martinez said.

Many Akins students living in these neighborhoods lost

almost everything forcing them to start over, leaving

some students without a home.

ÅNew walls new nailsAkins Cares adviser Erika San Miguel pulls nails from

the rotten boards that hold up the walls with her ham-

mer. “We as teachers shouldn’t ingnore our duty as role

models for our students,” San Miguel said. The Akins

Cares club worked all morning long to try and quickly

do everything they could to help clean out water dam-

aged and destroyed houses.

ÏBeloved dog returned by surpriseAkins Cares president Alyssa Garcia reunites with her excited dog Beautiful. Beautiful

ZDV�ORVW�LQ�WKH�ÀRRGV�WZR�GD\V�SULRU�WR�WKH�FOHDQ�XS��7KH�KXPDQH�VRFLHW\�IRXQG�KHU�DQG�UH-turned her to the Garcia family who were relieved to see her again. “I was so happy when

they called to let us know they had her and when I saw she was OK,” Garcia said.

ËThrowing away walls$NLQV�&DUHV�PHPEHU�&KULVWLDQ�%HWDQFRXUW�KHOSV�RXW�ZLWK�WKH�ÀRRG�FOHDQ�XS�E\�SLFNLQJ�XS�what was left of the knocked out walls so that the house can be cleared out to rebuild. So

much water got into most houses that the walls were rotted up to four and a half feet from

the ground causing major damage, Betancourt said. The club didn’t stop or slow their pace

all morning long, despite the numerous requests and demands they were asked to do.

� � � ������ � � � �ÁStreets turned to rivers7KH�VWUHHWV�ZHUH�¿OOHG�ZLWK�ZDWHU�RQ�WKH�PRUQLQJ�RI�WKH�ÀRRGLQJ��DQG�WKH\�VWD\HG�WKLV�ZD\�for a few hours stranding people in their homes and closing down bridges and streets. Most

students were not able to come to school because they either had no transportation or they

were stranded. Some people were even forced to evacuate to the roof and wait for the wa-

ters to receed. In some cases, sudents waited for hours to be rescued by the helicopters that

ZHUH�À\LQJ�DURXQG�WR�SLFN�WKHP�XS��³:KHQ�ZH�UHDOL]HG�ZH�KDG�WR�OHDYH�WKH�KRXVH�HYHU\RQH�started to panic and cry, but I remained calm. My dad opened the front door and, of course,

WKH�ZDWHU�ÀXVKHG�LQ�DQG�DOO�WKH�IXUQLWXUH�VWDUWHG�ÀRDWLQJ�DQG�LW�EORFNHG�XV�LQ�RXU�URRP�´�senior Paula Vuorela said. “I even broke out the window so we could get out.”

Ë5XVKLQJ�ÀRRG�ZDWHU2QLRQ�&UHHN�RYHUÀRZ�ZDWHU�UXVKHV�WKURXJK�QHLJKERU-hoods early on Oct. 31 causing destruction and devista-

tion amoung residents hoping for a fresh start. The water

destroyed many lots, knocking over trees, and tearing

down walls, leaving a lot of people with ruined senitmen-

tal items and no place to call home. Many donations and

clean up assistance was needed to help people get back

on their feet and rebuild their homes.

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