Battle of the Ballot
Upcoming Elections for Texas Officials, School Board insight
Pages 6-8
Hawk
Hendrickson High School 19201 Colorado Sand Drive Pflugerville. Texas 78660 Volume 20, Issue 1 September 25, 2026
In this Issue... Clubs and Community
Page 4
School Board Page 8
Senior Traditions Page 12
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News Volume 20, Issue 1
Deficit Effects
School board continues to weigh closures, schedule changes, re-districting to balance budget
Hutton Weirich | Editor Last year, the school board and district started coming up with optimization plans and concepts to reduce costs in an effort to improve some of the debt that is facing schools in PFISD. Since then, the board has decided on the closure of four elementary schools, and are currently discussing and getting input on other courses of action that could possibly help relieve some of the district’s debt. “As an individual trustee, the thing that I'm heavily focused on is taking our school district through the transition of optimization,” School Board President Chevonne LorigoJohst said. “Monitoring our general fund balance for our budget, trying to find a way that we can rebuild that fund, hopefully with the least amount of impact on our classrooms. That's one of my big goals.” Johst goes further into depth about why these plans for further compensation could be beneficial for the district to implement. “When funding does not match even 2019 levels, when you adjust for inflation, we are running on barebones of support from our state, and that is where I think we could address the most, the fastest. If we were able to significantly jump the general allotment, if we found ways to fund our unfunded mandates and increase compensation and stronger benefits for our teachers and staff, then I think that serves everybody. And so I think that's the highest priority simply because of the financial times that we're in” Along with this goal, Johst says that one of her other big goals is to focus and work on compensation for teachers. “Our staff and educators have not gotten general increases aside from what's been mandated from the state, and a lot of that has to do with the budget that we've experienced and the deficit,” Johst said. “So, for me personally, I am heavily focused on increasing compensation for educators and staff alike, but
also including benefits as that total compensation package. And so, I want to make sure that they have proper healthcare options, proper investment in their retirement, because the total compensation is critical.” One of the optimization courses of action that is already in place is the upcoming closure of four elementary schools: Dessau, Windermere, Parmer Lane, and Pflugerville. Since the announcement of the closures, the school board has been focused on how to go about that process. “Looking at revenue generating opportunities so we can look at the campuses that we are
closing at the end of this year,” Johst said. “What are we doing with those buildings or properties? Are they potential to sell? There's the potential to lease or rent it out to other organizations, maybe public facilities or early childcare or different things like that.” Another question that the school board is discussing and trying to figure out is what they are going to do with the teachers and students who are currently occupied in the schools that are facing future closure. “While we are closing those
campuses, when those students move to other campuses, then there are staffing needs there,” Johst said. “The hope and the goal is to utilize natural attrition to when one campus starts to receive 100 children, that there's enough staffing from these campuses, even if they're not going directly to that new campus or the other campus that's receiving them, there might be space for them somewhere else. The goal i s t o
have a position f o r everyone that wants to stay in ISD.” Another one of the main ideas for optimization is reorganizing high school schedules from having A and B days to a schedule that leans a bit more traditional. “Way back in the day, I started high school with a traditional day where I had all classes in one day,” Johst said. “Then in my second year of high school, they switched and they moved to a hybrid model where three days a week was a traditional day, but two days a week it was hybrid and it was a block schedule. Some people thought it was the best of both worlds. Now, to what degree does that provide savings to the district? That's something that they have to evaluate.” Johst also addresses some other ideas and concerns about
the proposed schedule changes that have been offered up from the community. “Many staff members have not gotten a raise and they have a lot more tacked on to them, responsibility wise and checklist wise, every year,” Johst said. “I genuinely hope that a lot of feedback and ideas are considered, and that we have creative suggestions that we explore. I've had somebody talk about potentially starting the day a little bit earlier so high school students could get out earlier where they could participate in sports and be done long before six or eight at night. Also talking about rearranging the schedules for other elementary and middle
schools and seeing if that helps and looking at traffic patterns.” These ideas end up discusse d in a big, official meeting discussion in May that is supposed to help make some of the main final decisions towards what ideas for earning money will go forward. “The board publicly discussed where they were at as individual trustees about the different scenarios, and that is where some of the things were taken off of the plate of even being a potential consideration,” Johst said. “Certain schools were removed from a possible consideration of closure. Some things, like the high school and
schedule, were redirected back to staff to have a task force, because the board felt that it was important to gather more collaborative feedback before making a decision that impacted so many people.” The task forces mentioned are meetings that can have educators, parents, and students alike come and express their ideas and opinions. As of late, these meetings focus particularly on the adjustment of high school schedules. “Community members can provide input and talk about what are the pros of a traditional day,” Johst said. “What are the pros of keeping block? What are the challenges? Are we talking about increasing and taking away a planning period from educators? How does it impact special programs like CTE classes, AP athletics, different things like that. Getting the information from the people that are the experts, the people that are experiencing the schedule every day, and the community members and taking that information and having that task force create a recommendation.” The school board encourages people to come and use their voice to express their ideas and opinions on how the district can save money and still provide the standards of education that are beneficial to students, teachers, and staff. “I just want to say thank you for staying involved with the school board,” Johst said. “I know that students have a lot on their plates and all of the decisions that we make as trustees and as a district, they all work their way down to impact our students. We want to hear from all community members always, but there is a special place in my heart for students that get involved and give suggestions, because I strongly support being engaged in everything that impacts you because your voices make a difference.” Illustration by | Ella Hiserote
News September 24, 2026
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Second ‘A’ accountability rating achieved Angela Ngo | Asst. Editor Last year, the school earned an “A” Accountability rating for the first time since 2019, and the rating has only stayed as the school earns another A rating with a score of 93/100. The TEA (Texas Education Agency) Accountability Rating measures multiple metrics such as attendance, gradation rates, testing, and student growth to determine the strength of a school’s resources for students. “It [a high rating] shows that our teachers work hard, that our students take every test seriously, and it helps the community,” Principal Michael Grebb said. “It shows that this is a place people want to move to. That they want to raise their kids here because they know we're doing the best we can every single day here.” When rated, the TEA staff will give a group of 40 similar schools and so far, staff have been looking at the data from these schools to set new targets and goals. Currently, they are focusing on raising STAAR test scores to increase the rating. “In our group of 40, we're ranked number seven out of
that 40. We want to be number one,” Grebb said. "But it gets really difficult when all your kids are doing this good because the margin of error is really small now. I want to have it to where kids really blow the [STAAR] test out of the water, since that's what some of the schools that are right in front of us in our group of 40 are doing”. S-Z Counselor Cristiana Allgood makes sure to look past the numbers and see what students need. Fostering a healthy educational environment can help students thrive and build a good school reputation. “A lot of students that counselors are going to work with are mostly students that come to us because they're struggling,” Allgood said. “We are consistently getting information out to those students to help them find their goals and direction, which helps them to see what they need to get out of their high school years”. Allgood also emphasizes the need for faculty members to communicate with each other, as it can help staff make plans to effectively address what students require.
“We do have PLC [Professional Learning Communities] planning time set up, which we use to get together and see what our students need as a whole,” Allgood said. “For example, math. It's good to have time for the math teachers to see what are our areas of concern, what can we try to do differently, not only for the next few years, but for the current groups. Communicating these 0000concerns with our administration and counselors so that we can also assist in communicating that out to the students and what they can do to help themselves is crucial.” Overall, staff and teachers encourage students to show up, challenge themselves, and communicate with their teachers. “Kids that have perfect attendance do really well on all their tests because they never miss class,” Grebb said. “I want more kids to take AP tests or advanced classes because that helps with our accountability rating. The more we participate on AP tests, the more we get threes or higher, which also plays into the metrics.
Hutton Weirich | Editor Last year, the state implemented a Texas-wide phone ban in an effort to decrease the use of phones, and all the baggage that came with them, during the school day. However, there are some conflicting opinions on whether the phone ban has been helpful and effective as we enter into the second year of its implementation. “Honestly, my first thoughts when I heard about the phone ban were like, ‘there's no way they're actually gonna implement this,’” junior Sukanya Pal said. “And I honestly didn't think it was going to go as successful as it has been. I think students definitely got more accustomed to it by now, but I can tell people were not really rocking with it when they first came out.” When first told about the phone ban, most teachers likely had positive and optimistic reactions to it. “I thought it was going to be better for their learning,” English teacher Emily Overton said. “It's
going to make students learn boundaries that they're going to need later in life. Make them unplug and disconnect, so to speak, and interact with their fellow classmates in a way that they maybe haven't before.” Many students said things about how the phone ban was a difficult adjustment due to the school's lax phone policies in the past. “The first year of the phone ban was pretty different because for the past two years of high school, you know, we were kind of allowed to have them sometimes, like during the school day,” senior Zaniah Anzaldua said. “But then, you know, we got the phone banned and everything was just kind of completely shut off. No one could have it, so it was kind of hard to get used to that.” Some underclassmen had different reactions to the phone ban because of their previous experience with strict phone policies. “It was my freshman year, so it wasn't really any different from middle school because we were
never allowed to have phones,” sophomore Shiloh Benton said. “But, I mean, it was kind of frustrating because I thought we would be able to have them out.” With the phone ban came certain rules and punishments for the students who violated those rules, such as getting their phones taken away by your teacher or the office. If this is a regular occurrence, students may have to get a parent to pick up their phone from the front office for them. Some students and teacher opinions differ on whether or not the punishments fit the crime. “I don’t think that they’re necessarily fair, because a lot of times people have a lot of issues, maybe at home or something like that, and they do need to contact parents,” Anzaldua said. “You know, I guess we can email them, but it’s never the same. Like people are human, they make mistakes. So I think it’s just good to have a source of communication, and when people don’t have that, it can get very stressful.”
Monitoring software implemented to watch dog student use Landon Green | Reporter During summer before school started, the district added a new student monitoring device called Gaggle to every school issued chromebook in Pflugerville. “Gaggle is a safety tool to keep kids safe, using district technology to flag any concerning searches or messages about self-harm, drugs, alcohol, and violent threats towards the school”. principal Michael Grebb said. “So it just flags something, and then we would follow up with the parent and the student about it.” It’s not just Chromebooks that can get flagged, personal electronics like phones, laptops, PC’s, etc. Just by logging into your school email account Gaggle can review your internet searches and send it to your counselors.
“Gaggle can check Gmail, Google Docs, and anything that your school owns like folders and files, that’s it. It’s not going to go into your phone and find anything else,” Grebb said “It’s just monitoring the district assigned apps like Canvas and Canva. You know, whatever apps you are using that comes from the district.” Even though many students may not agree with Gaggle’s mission, it could help keep the schools safe and help keep students in line with what they may look up. “It was just a way to add more safety. Especially with kids using the district’s networks, and everybody signs an acceptable use policy,” Grebb Said. “It’s a good lesson to teach kids how to use things properly.”
Year two of phone ban still causes student distress
Junior Declan Smith checks his phone before school. Photo by Kaidence Hardy
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News Volume 20, Issue 1
Pfueling Pfutures
Coffee program brings life lessons, delicious drinks to staff, students
Lucas Chan | Asst. Editor What started as a simple coffee program has become a valuable opportunity for students and teachers to collaborate while providing students with hands-on vocational experience. According to vocational teacher Ms. Reynolds, teachers and students work together to keep the coffee shop—part of the district’s Pfueling Futures program— running throughout the school day. Teachers train students to prepare coffee, dirty sodas, sweet tea, lemonade, and other beverages. “We work together,” Reynolds said. “They come in after the first period, and they support us.” Students take charge of preparing drinks, cleaning the shop, and ensuring everything is ready for teachers and fellow students. “The students are responsible for cleaning up and making their drinks so they can
have the waters ready for the teachers and the students,” Reynolds said. The shop utilizes coffee cards that students and teachers can purchase inside Room E111. Students pay $25 per card, while teachers pay $20. Working at the coffee shop has also taught Reynolds something unexpected about the school community. “I learned that a lot of teachers and students love coffee,” Reynolds said. “I did not know that. Watching our students make the drinks is hilarious. Some of them get it wrong, but they learn from their mistakes—so yeah, they make good drinks, and the teachers enjoy it.” Although running the shop during the school day comes with challenges, as students and teachers sometimes want their orders at specific times, Reynolds believes those challenges become vital learning moments. “Plus, some teachers don’t want the
students to have their drinks during a certain time,” Reynolds said. “Last year our goal was $500, and we made $1,000. So yes, it’s exciting. This year, the goal is to make $5,000 [by expanding catering and event services].”
With students gaining real-world experience and the program continuing to grow, Pfueling Futures looks to build on last year’s success and reach its new goal.
In the morning, junior Kenny Morgan and Mrs. Reynolds work together to make a coffee order. “My favorite drink to make is a caramel macchiato because it tastes good and it’s easy to make,” Morgan said. The Pfueling Pfutures coffee shop is operated mainly by the students and is open from 8:30 A.M. to 2:40 P.M. Photos by Makenna Price
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This sentiment is further supported by the thoughts and opinions of other students. “First of all I don’t even like the fact that if people see us with a phone, like it’s not illegal to own a phone, it’s illegal to be on it,” Pal said. “Why must I get my phone taken up if it’s seen in my pocket or in my bag?” However, most teachers believe that the punishments are necessary to make sure the phone ban stays effective and helpful. “I think that unfortunately, the reality is that for some students, there has to be that accountability,” Overton said. “It would be great if we could just say, hey, put your phones away and everyone did it. But as humans, we have to have rules and we have to have punishments or repercussions for those rules if they’re broken. And again, it’s a state policy that we’re upholding, and so I think that there
has to be some sort of ramifications to that.” “I would say this sounds like a very not real answer, but I do The students express some of their genuine concerns about student life at school without their phones. “I would say this sounds like a very not real answer, but I do have friends who genuinely are so antisocial and anxious that they do look at their phone for comfort and support,” Pal said. “Which I understand is kind of one of the reasons the phone ban exists is to like for teenagers to get out of that. But I do think there should be more leniency with it. I think like, for example, they should definitely just allow us to have it during lunch.” Some of the student concerns are pertaining with worries for their safety. “I think that some of the issues about the phone ban is that school is not always the
safest place,” Anzaldua said. “In America, it can be a little scary sometimes. Not being able to contact home or, you know, talk to your parents if something really bad happens. “ On the contrary, teachers argue that the phone ban has grown student-to-student social interactions and focus in classes. “I think I see students talking to each other more and engaging with one of them and one another in a way that they kind of stopped doing,” Overton said. “Like students playing hangman during Talon if they didn’t have homework to do. Having little debates, playing card games, and interacting on a more human level. And then content wise, I do think students do better with it. I think that they’re forced to pay more attention.” Finally, students and teachers debate on whether the phone ban is worth it in the end.
“I think that the phone ban has a lot more drawbacks than it does benefits, because one of our main concerns is having higher test scores,” Anzaldua said. “I don’t think that that phone ban has changed much of that. I think our test scores are pretty consistent. If they’ve gone a little higher, it’s not enough for it to be worth it to me, because having a phone is a safety issue and it’s also just like our personal property.” The teachers offer an optimistic point of view on the overall impact of the phone ban on the school environment. “I think from a teacher point of view and a student kind of view, it’s worth it,” Overton said. “I understand the drawbacks and the concerns. No system is going to be perfect, but I think if we have the goal in mind of learning, then it’s going to be more of a positive than a negative.”
News September 25, 2026
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Communities For All Student-run clubs aim to bring new experiences to everyone Table Top Games
Candice Palmer | Reporter One minute you’re in a classroom, and the next, you get sucked into a fantasy world filled with dragons, elves, and anything else you could possibly think of. Dungeons and Dragons is a role-playing game where people can create fantasy characters, roll the dice, and describe the world they’re playing in. Sophomore Parin Bhat is the founder of the club. “My dad has some colleagues that played D&D, so they introduced him to it, and so he introduced me to it. I unpacked it and got a couple of my Indian friends to play with me, and we liked the game,” Bhat said. “After that, I started running campaigns in the school club.” The club is open to everyone on campus in room D207 with 9th grade ELA teacher Allison Cruser. The club had its first meeting on August 19 and they meet every Wednesday. “We’ve only had one meeting so far, so I don’t speak with too much experience, but everything is running smoothly so far,” Cruser said. “We have really solid student leadership, and I know I can count on them to lead effectively.“
Alternative Culture Club
Landon Green | Reporter The new school year has started, which means the clubs at school are in play. This year brings many different clubs, but there’s only one music club. The Alternative Culture Club (formerly known as the Metal Club) debuted last year. “I like going to the Alternative Culture Club,” junior Colt Walls said. “Its a fun little gathering where we just hang out, talk about music, and listen to other people’s music. It’s a safe place for us, we support
The club even hosts special events, usually at the end of the year. These events mainly serve as final goodbyes and a way to finish campaigns. “I think it was in the second to last week of school. We went to this D&D game store down around Austin, and we just had an after school daily session there,” Bhat said. “It was a four hour session, and it was a grand old time. I would like to do those events this time, too.” There’s a little something for everyone in the club. Whether a beginner wants to learn about the game, a more experienced player looking for a challenge, or someone who simply loves socializing and meeting new people. “Tabletop role-playing games are for everyone, but especially for anyone who really likes movies, TV, and stories. Now you can make your own with your friends, using dice rolls to see how long your characters can survive,” Cruser said. “It’s also a very good way to make deep, lasting friendships. You really get to know what a person is like on the inside when you play a TTRPG with them.”
each other’s music opinions, and we only have problems when you say something wrong about someone else.” The Alternative Culture Club meets in room E207 with Mr Hopkins; they meet before school at 8:15 on Tuesdays. The Alternative Culture Club has also announced that they will start performing live. “Man, I love the club so much, and the students are great too.” U.S. History teacher Ryan Hopkins said. “I feel like a music club is inevitable in a high schoolers life. I had one when I was a child, and I wanted to give these students the same experience I had.”
At the Alternative Culture Club’s first meeting, sophomore Leona Gladney carefully lays out her customized black jacket. “I feel like the club opens up new windows to explore the alternative culture, since in school we feel very repressed that we can’t express ourselves in that manner,” Gladney said. The club’s structure is less rigid, which allows the members to freely hang out and have fun. Photo by Makenna Price
Attentively listening to their teammates, junior Cole Sayers and sophomore Parin Bhut’s team collaborate over game strategies. “My favorite experience in this club was when we went the Dragon’s Layer, which is a tabletop games store, and it was just great.” Bhut said. The Tabletop Games club runs multiple games each meeting, such as Warhammer 40K, Delta Green, and three separate D&D sessions. Photo by Matthew Stokes
Psychology Club Izzy Medina | Reporter The Psychology Club is an opportunity for students to get involved at school based on their current or potential interest in the field of psychology. Students who join and are already psychology students could be assisted with studying, the AP Psychology exam, and even finding a psychology related career path. “The benefits of being in Psych club would be like, learning more about, like different types of psychology, like clinical psychology or like behavioral psychology,” Senior, Isabella Abrahamsen said. “It’s a good opportunity to learn about different psychological processes.” Advantages of membership are learning different types of psychology, and receiving extra assistance on psychology courses. Clinical psychology
being a specialty that provides mental and behavioral health for individuals and groups. Behavioral psychology is the study of observable behavior. The Psychology Club also teaches about how psychology correlates with the medical field in terms of systems and different divisions. In addition to learning about psychology, the club creates an opportunity to meet new people and make friends with similar interests. Joining this club is an opportunity to learn about different aspects of psychology, study for the AP Psychology exam and course, make friends, and get more involved at school. For students who are Interested and want to learn more, The Psychology Club meets at 4:30, on Wednesdays, in C101.
Robotics Club
Asher Parks | Reporter Robotics Club is one of the few clubs that require you to be enrolled in an engineering or computer science class to attend. However, it has many opportunities for those interested in creating and building robots. “I really needed something to do after school,” junior Vincent Garcia said. “Sometimes Being able to work on the mechanical stuff, especially when designing the bot and being able to go into competitions.”
Robotics Club is located in B109 and goes to competitions to battle with other robots that others in the same Club have built. Students enrolled in a engineering or computer science class and are interested in joining, find information on the flyers in B hall. “I get to interact with others and I get to compete with other bots so I can see how I’m doing, Garcia said. “And also, most importantly, I get to hang out with friends.”
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Feature Volume 20, Issue 1
Battle of The Ballot
Voting season for electing Texas offici Gubernatorial election highlights competing priorities Marcelo Molina | Reporter The Governor of the State of Texas is responsible for running the executive branch of Texas’ government. Their role is important for the structure of the state’s government, as they manage state agencies and regulate the legislation process and the way laws are enforced. The Governor’s role is similar to that of the President, rather for the state than for the entire country. Every four years in Texas, midterm elections are held. Part of the midterms is the gubernatorial election, which determines who will be the next Governor. The current Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has won every gubernatorial election since 2014, making this next election the determinant to whether or not he serves a fourth term. The two primary candidates for the gubernatorial election are incumbent Republican candidate Greg Abbott and Democratic candidate Regina Hinojosa. Greg Abbott has been a prominent politician in Texas politics for around thirty years. He served as a Texas Supreme Court Justice from 1996-2001 and was voted in as the Texas Attorney General from 20022015. During his time as an Attorney General, Abbott pushed for strong anti-gun
control policies, recognition of Christian moral teachings, and state opposition to same-sex marriage, which are all values he still holds today. As a Governor, Abbott believes in strong border control and protection amidst an immigration surge to combat drug trafficking and immigration crimes. He also declares that any city that chooses to defund their local law enforcement agencies will be financially penalized by
the state. Economically, Abbott boasts of his accomplishments during time as Governor, with his campaign website declaring that he has contributed to the creation of millions of jobs, the employment of millions of Texans, and a trillion-dollar economy. Abbott has created multiple tax relief programs, which pair with his ban on state income tax and capital gains tax. Some of his tax relief programs are the property tax relief programs to counter raising property taxes and large tax cuts to give property tax money back to Texas taxpayers. Abbott opposes labor unions, as in the case of his public opposition to the United Auto Workers union. He also strongly opposes abortions and recreational Marijuana usage, as per his traditionalist conservative beliefs rooted in his Christian faith. During his time as g o v e r n o r, he has passed many regulations surrounding how Texans can get abortions or purchase cannabis. Education wise, A b b o t t ’s campaign website claims h e ’ s raised state funding roughly 70% over his time as governor. He also created a billion-dollar voucher program that gives money to help families of children attending private schools pay for their kid’s tuition. Gina Hinojosa, before running for governor, was a lawyer representing labor unions and suing corrupt politicians. In 2005, she helped take down House Majority Leader Tom DeLay for laundering political funds and
abusing his political power. She also has an extensive history in education, being a long-standing Austin Independent School District School Board Trustee and President since 2015. Hinojosa also used her platform as School Board President to engage in political activism. Some initiatives Hinojosa has been involved in are helping push state investments towards reducing standardized testing in public schools and giving teachers pay raises. She has also pushed for corporate reform and the creation of a more philanthropic type of corporation that prioritizes using corporate power for public good. According to her
achieve true homeownership without big companies stopping them. Since Texas relies almost exclusively on their own energy grid, Hinojosa plans to hold high-load bearing users and companies accountable for the increase in energy bills Texans have faced due to increased energy utilization from data centers. She wants to freeze energy bills until customers that primarily cause the increase essentially pay their share. Neither of the Governor candidates currently trade or own any stocks. Abbott is the only one of the two to have ever publicly traded stocks. However, he stopped trading after he became governor in 2015. Abbott h a s
website, Hinojosa believes in pushing for affordable healthcare for all Texans through reallocation of state funds. She also states very strong stances and plans to better educational practices and undo policies that Abbott has put in place. As part of her initiatives to reduce standardized state testing, Hinojosa believes that STAAR tests should be ended as they only offer high-stakes environments that don’t accurately reflect academic skill. Hinojosa also plans to end the voucher program established by Abbott and intends to audit statecontracted vendors to reallocate that money to teacher pay. Hinojosa also recognizes increasing grocery and house prices, stating that she plans to ensure major retail grocery stores cannot price gouge to get the most they can out of Texas families. For house price increases, Hinojosa intends to entirely prevent private equity firms from buying up houses and entire neighborhoods just to rent them out, allowing Texans to
received many donations from Political Action Committees (PACs) and organizations all across the state, with notable donors being oil and energy executives, his political appointees, and wealthy Texas families alongside individual donors. Hinojosa receives donations primarily from teacher and labor associations and individual donors, with PACs also making up a portion of her campaign funds. Both have raised millions of dollars for their campaigns to compete with the other for their place during the 2026 gubernatorial election. Educated voting is important in the modern age where politicians are connotatively associated with deceptive tactics and scandalous behavior. With midterm elections around the corner, it is, like always, ultimately up to the voter population to decide who will take charge and lead the state government for the next four years.
Feature September 25, 2026
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ials begins Talarico, Paxton face against each other for Texan senate seat
Angela Ngo | Asst. Editor The Senate is one of the three pillars of the government. They approve laws, President-appointed staff, treaties, impeachments, and more. It’s made up of 100 people, with each state having two representatives serving for six-year terms. Each states' senate elections are staggered, with the last Texan senate election being in 2018. This year, the Senate election candidates for Texas are James Talarico and Ken Paxton. James Talarico's campaign mainly focuses on his Christian beliefs and how he ties them into p r o g r e s s i ve ideas, like L G B T Q + and abortion r i g h t s . He also empha sizes on how billionaires have taken over the government for themselves and how he plans to win back power for
working-class citizens. Ken Paxton's campaign focus is returning to American values, such as traditional household structures and conservative beliefs. He's also currently the Texas Attorney General, meaning he represents Texas and its agencies throughout various courts and cases. Paxton is infamous for facing multiple scandals throughout his political career, including being impeached from his office in 2023 due to corruption, bribery, and abuse of office, but was ultimately saved by the Senate at the time. Students that favor Talarico, like junior Avalyn Gallardo, resonate with his core belief in equality for all. "I feel not everybody knows this, but I have a lot of Spanish descent, and a lot of my family members are from Mexico," Gallardo said. “I feel that he's for everybody and not just for one little bubble, which is what Texas needs." Students also support Talarico to be against Paxton because of Paxton’s long political partnership w i t h
Trump and his fierce support of current Republican policies against transgender people and increasing gas prices. “From what I've heard, I would lean more towards Talarico and his view points instead of Paxton," freshman Henry Patterson said. “Paxton has similar views to our current president, Donald Trump. And I don't agree with President Trump's current decisions, so naturally, I lean more towards Talarico.” Texas has historically always been a consistently Republican state. However, the recent polls for Talarico and Paxton have been neckto-neck, with Talarico beating out Pa xton in the U S A To d ay’s m o s t recent voter poll by five percent. Throughout past Senate elections, Republican power has waned as the Democratic Party lost the 2018 election by only 2.6 percent. "It's surprising to see Talarico, someone with a different viewpoint than what Texas is historically known for [get a lot of votes]," Patterson said. "I'm hoping Talarico comes out on top here just
because I don't really support Paxton, but I don't know if that's what's going to happen here. Just because of how much of Texas has already planted, ‘We want this. We've always been this.’ “ Overall, students encourage people to simply vote, as it's the most effective way to change our lives and possibly the world for the better. Junior Chloe Wortham believes that people should vote for Talarico because he truly represents the people of Austin. "I think Austin and Pflugerville are very inclusive areas, especially with all of the
protests last year against ICE," Wortham said. "And I think Talarico stands for something that aligns with most people's beliefs compared to a felon." A large majority of the student body supports Talarico and after numerous attempts, we have failed to find any student Paxton supporters who are willing to go on record.
Voters decide on new, local ACC opportunities Landon Green | Reporter On November 3, 2026 Pflugerville residents will be voting to decide if Pflugerville ISD should start an Austin Community College Campus. “I think that having an Austin Community College is an advantage for students in the Pflugerville district,” Principal Michael Grebb said. Having one of these colleges would make going to school and getting
an education so much easier, I don’t see many cons.” A con that many people might have is the rise in taxes to help support the building of the Austin Community College. If the vote does pass in November, the property taxes for Pflugerville homes will go up by $416 a year or $34.67 per month. “I saw that the property taxes will go up because of the College, by like 300 to
400 dollars for a working class family,” U.S. history teacher Ryan Hopkins said. “I appreciate working class families, and I appreciate the burdens. But this will be a good thing. It’s going to make going to college a lot easier and cheaper for us in the long run.” Pflugerville wouldn’t be the only city with an ACC, Round Rock is home to one. Pflugerville getting an ACC would mean
more opportunities for students inside the district, and out. “Its going to take time and money, but what doesn’t?” Hopkins said.”But it’s something good that can make a huge difference for students. My daughters favorite schools were colleges like ACC. They had so much fun and I think other people would think the same.” Illustrations by | Ella Hiserote
8 School Board election underway during Texas Primaries Sports Volume 20, Issue 1
Marcelo Molina | Reporter On November 3rd, in the uniform election, registered voters in PfISD will decide between incumbent Jean Mayer and Nicole Toran for Place 6’s open seat in the PfISD Board of Trustees. Meanwhile, school board president Chevonne Lorigo-Johst is unopposed for reelection. The Board of Trustees is an elected group of community members who ensure the decisions made by the district are reflective of community values and are enacted in the best interest of the students. The individual trustees are responsible for, in addition to representing the public in the district’s administrative decisions, setting policy, budget, tax rate, hiring the superintendent, and being involved in multiple committees that are part of the school board. Additionally, the board president is the public spokesperson on behalf of the board, a liaison between the board and the superintendent, and a voice for the committees that are part of the school board. Background Chevonne Lorigo-Johst has been on the board since 2023, being elected in place 7, and has been the school board’s
president since 2025. “I am heavily focused on increasing compensation for educators and staff alike,” Johst said. “I want to make sure that they have proper healthcare options and proper investment in their retirement.” Jean Mayer has been on the board since 2020, being elected in place 6 as a trustee. She has an extensive background in the hospitality industry and with advocacy for inclusivity of children, especially those with disabilities. “I am a mom of two children in our district, one that has pretty profound needs,” Mayer said. “So I entered this space as a pretty fervent disability advocate” Nicole Toran is the opposing candidate to Mayer in place 6. All of her children have gone to Hendrickson, with Toran herself formerly serving as the Parent-Teacher Association President. According to her personal website, Toran
feels very strongly about giving back to the community that helped her and her family. “My family and I have lived in Pflugerville now for 24 years,” Toran said. “I think longevity is also something that I understand; I don’t want one group to feel as if they’re being left out because all of us have the same voice.” Education Pflugerville is home to many different options of schools for parents to choose to enroll their children at. This choice allows for parents to weigh which option would better suit the educational needs of their children. “At the end of the day, a lot of the struggles we are facing are funding and a general possible distrust in public education,” Johst said. “I think that our ISD has done a phenomenal job at combating some of those perspectives by increasing our district rating, individual campuses rating, and we have zero failing campuses.” In order to achieve academic excellence, in light of district funding, Mayer emphasizes that a successful classroom must recognize how comfortable students feel in their environments. “I deeply believe that when students feel safe, that they belong, and that they are connected, it enhances and enriches your ability to learn,” Mayer said. “That’s where I, nondiscriminately, want to see student outcomes go, to where you have the ability to aspire and reach your goals.” Navigating student academic outcomes and personal goals also might include recent conflicts, namely COVID. The pandemic caused the district to move to online schooling, forcing students to adapt to a new type of learning at early developmental stages. For Toran, achieving student success also requires additional focus on that academic recovery. “The number one priority is, of course, student success and student achievement,” Toran said. “And that’s one of the focuses that we need to bring back after COVID; it threw a wrench in everyone’s life and schools have had to pivot in ways that they teach students” School closure To address the ever changing dynamics of the public school system and the district’s financial deficit, the school district enacted a district optimization plan. One of the points of their plan was to close down specific elementary schools, determined by a financial consulting firm that collected numerous categories of data on every school, and redistribute the students to other schools. “It’s an incredibly painful experience and not one that I think anyone receives training on how to do,” Johst said. “I don’t
like that we’ve reached that point.” Historically, school closures in Texas have been extremely rare relative to the amount of schools open. However, due to shifting student populations, public schools are now being financially urged towards those actions. “When I had originally joined the board, we were a fast growth district and were receiving a n allotment for that fast growth” Mayer said. “When COVID happened, we lost that fast growth. What happened during that time is that more charter schools got approved.” School closures do not exactly mean that the physical building is rendered useless. As part of district optimization, plans to potentially lease the closed elementary school buildings out or refurbish them into alternative learning centers have been discussed. “Now that we do have these schools that have been closed, we could look at partnering with other community entities, such as the Boys and Girls club,” Toran said. “Instead of just leaving these buildings empty, let’s use them as a resource and maybe even make them community centers.” Scheduling Another part of the district’s optimization plan is changing schedules from block scheduling to traditional scheduling, whereas instead of having designated A days and B days, all classes will occur on the same day in shorter periods. “The board took the position of taking it to the people by creating a task force where community members can provide their input,” Johst said. “My biggest priority with that is hoping that the task force exhausts all avenues to think about what best serves our kids and our teachers.” The schedule change discussion is held by the PfISD High School Schedule Task Force, where in numerous meetings spanned across the first semester of this school year, they ask people to come and voluntarily share their beliefs and opinions on the schedule change. “We also have to consider teacher
planning time, class sizes and workload, as well as the additional coordination required to appropriately support students receiving special education and other services” Mayer said. “I think we may ultimately land on some type of hybrid approach because the landscape of high school curriculum in Texas is much more complex than that.” The community approach that the board decided to take allows for direct student, parent, and teacher opinions on the schedule change and how it will affect them. “There are a lot of pros and cons to all of the different strategies,” Toran said. “I think the best course of action will be that, instead of making a unilateral budget decision, it’s going to be a community involvement-driven choice.” Individual perspective Toran’s perspective stems from her roots in being active in the community that shapes her visions for our future. “I’ve been involved in the school district as a PTA member and even as a girl scout troop leader,” Toran said. “I think that we need to bring the community back to the school board, and we seem to have lost that with a lot of things that are happening now within the community.” For Mayer, ensuring that every student feels included requires long term funding and attention, namely for programs related to special education students. “Starting with this past school year, we were finally able to start receiving some reimbursements for our special education evaluations,” Mayer said. “The initiative moving forward is to get the legislature to approve a larger amount of that reimbursement.” Every two years, the Texas government goes into legislative session, where lawmakers across the state meet to discuss everything relating to laws. It is also an optimal time for community members to voice their concerns and opinions about the laws being passed. “I am heavily focused on advocating at the legislature,” Johst said. “We have the 2027 legislative session coming up and for me personally it’s super important that we heavily focus on funding for our schools.”
Sports September 24, 2026
Start of Something New
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New head football coach offers insights into season
Marcelo Molina | Reporter Towards the end of last school year, the school named Adam Naron as the new Head Coach of the football team. With him, Naron brings 20 years of coaching experience at the high school level, with the most recent 5 years being spent as a Head Coach for Hereford High School’s football team. Hereford, TX is a small town in the panhandle with a population roughly around 15,000. During his time at Hereford, Naron had winning records for 3 out of his 5 seasons, taking his team to playoffs in each of those winning seasons. “It was like Friday Night Lights where the whole town shuts down on game night, all the restaurants close, and every kid in town is there,” Naron said. “I feel like Hendrickson kind of has that feeling too; even though Hendrickson is within the Pflugerville community, I think we have that same community feel.” For Naron, the move from Hereford to here was riddled with constant back and forth 7-hour drives and plane flights. Naron was fortunate to have his parents living in the area that he could rely on for temporary housing. “Luckily for me my parents lived here, so I was able to stay with my parents for a while,” Naron said. “I got hired in April and I was able to move my family down in June, where we were able to get a house and settle down right before school started.” Comparatively speaking, Pflugerville, TX is around 4 times the size, in population, of Hereford. Hendrickson High School is
Photo by Miles Lehmann
also a 5A-1 school, while Hereford is a 4A-1 school. However, to Naron, coaching here versus his previous school isn’t that much different. “I’ve coached in 4A, 5A, and 6A,” Naron said. “The only real difference is the number of kids that your program usually has.” Coaching wise, Naron brings multiple qualities to the football team, with him highlighting how he believes the interpersonal relationship between the coaches and the players is one of the most important qualities as a coach. “I think it’s important as a coach to be invested in players more than just X’s and O's,” Naron said. “I think my leadership style is one where I want to build relationships with people and still be able to give them tough love.” As is the case with a coach in a new environment, it takes time for the coaches and players to develop with each other. However, due to the circumstances around Naron’s arrival, that adjustment period proved to be a challenge before the season even started. “We weren’t able to do it in the spring time because those coaches were all coming from different places mostly,” Naron said. “You’re going to see a slower growth curve because of that, but as the season goes on our growth will accelerate.” With the new head coach comes the process of finding assistant coaches that will be a good fit for the athletic development of the players and a good fit
for playcalling in games. It’s also important to find coaches who can blend with the culture that’s already established on the football team. “The biggest characteristic that I was looking for when hiring coaches are coaches that are going to treat kids right and be good people,” Naron said. “We’ve got a good bond and we got kids that respect their coaches and coaches that care about their kids.” While the new coaching staff work to build bonds with the players, the players are the ones that bring the strive and fervor. “I like our kid’s enthusiasm and energy and passion for wanting to be good,“ Naron said. “They want the football program to be strong and they want to be relevant.” That eagerness that the athletes displayed translated quickly into adaptability. According to Naron, their ability to change and form around him and his new coaches caught him off guard. “I was really surprised at how well the kids have picked up on offense, defense, and special teams in the first few weeks of practice,” Naron said. “Naturally you’re going to be behind when you get new coaches, and our kids have done a really good job of accepting that challenge.” The adaptations that the athletes had to adjust to were, in part, aided by their familiarity with one another through a tight-knit locker room dynamic. “A lot of these guys have grown up together and played a lot of sports together,” Naron said. “It’s a good environment where the kids all know they can be hard on each other.” While it’s important to recognize what the football players do on the field, it's also important to recognize their accomplishments off the field. Some football players are only involved in football or other seasonal sports, while others are involved in many other extracurriculars or advanced classes. “We’ve got some kids that are really strong academically and have really strong aspirations for what they want to
do,” Naron said. “Our job as coaches is to get to know them and help them reach their goals beyond just athletics.” With positives come negatives, and criticism is essential for improvement. Adversity in football atmospheres is really important to doing better every practice, play, and game.
Photo by Thomas Sullivan “We have to become mentally tougher and develop the ability to withstand when something negative happens in a game,” Naron said. “Just because the game isn’t going our way or a call didn’t go our way, we can’t just inflict self penalties and self wounds on ourselves.” There is a lot of organizational planning and preparation that goes into varsity football games. With that being said, it’s no secret all of the organizations that take part in football games are vital for the true high school football experience. “Whether it’s students in the student section, parents, cheerleaders, band, silver dancers,” Naron said. “You have so many people involved on a game night and we want to see as many people there as possible to enjoy that full experience.”
10 Hit or Miss Our Turn Staffer contemplates first time voting Gaggle raises concerns over privacy Opinions Volume 20, Issue 1
Sam Speichinger | Reporter I always remembered having to go in with my mom to vote during election season, sometimes under the promise of a bribe from McDonalds. Usually we packed into the car and went to some high school gym or community center. I remember thinking they were always so formal there, like you could hear a pin drop. When I was young I never was able to sit still long enough to wait in a line so my mom would let me and my brother play while she voted, I always got the sticker though. When I got a bit older and still had to go I would always complain about it, I mean what middle schooler would rather go vote with his mom on the weekend than play video games. In my head it all seemed so pointless, one vote would hardly ever make a difference. But I would go and I would wait and I would roll my eyes at the whole idea of it all. One day I finally asked my mom why she bothered, in that slightly sarcastic way pre teens ask questions that they don’t particularly care about the answer to. She responded in a way that affected me deeply. She told me that I had privilege coming from my background and honestly for me it didn’t matter much who won. But despite that, she said, we still need to go out and make our voices heard for the people we care about and that it does affect. When you’re in a position of power it’s your duty to use that power to defend the voiceless. This was interesting for a few reasons, namely I like the fact it opposes the very nihilistic view that nothing you do really matters and that one voice isn’t enough to change anything. I think that viewpoint can sometimes come from a place of privilege, it’s a lot easier to do nothing when you don’t have to do anything on a day to day basis. In the coming years following that, I found myself being more politically active, moving on from simply following the same ideas as my parents. I’d go to protests on things I find important and like staying up to date on current events. Despite all that though I never really had
to make voting an important part of my life; I was always in the back seat, never the one really at the wheel. In a certain way maybe it’s comforting to be able to have that distance from it all, caring but never doing. Now that I’m 18 though, I’m finally old enough to go to the middle school gym and wait in the long boring line myself. To take the wheel so to speak and finally make some change, or at least trying to put myself out there more than I had before.. But honestly despite my excitement about the idea of getting to vote, I’m also kinda nervous. I had a lot of questions about where, when, and how. Voting is a pretty intimidating thing, after all we’re deciding the people who are gonna represent us for the coming years, and I couldn’t help but feel like I would make the wrong decision or do it wrong somehow. There’s a fear that maybe you’re being presented with two bad options and I think that stops a lot of people from wanting to vote. Plus between scheduling d o c t o r s appointments, renewing my license, and filling out the paperwork I need to fill out once I’m 18, I really thought I was just too busy to learn how to vote. And so that went on for a month, much to the annoyance of my mother. However, it turns out voting wasn’t nearly as complex as I made it out to be, all I had to do to register online with the Texas government. Below the glaring eyes of my mother who was really tired of my procrastination, I took an hour one weekend to fill out the forms and confirm my eligibility and then it was done. It was honestly almost funny how easy it was considering how long I made myself put it off. I still have a long way to go before I feel like I’m confident enough in my choice to vote this November. But after taking the first step I feel excited to take that plunge, and, with the October 5th deadline fast approaching, hope you’ll take the time to do it too. Illustration by | Lin Ho
During the summer, the district added a new device called Gaggle. Gaggle is a monitoring program to view concerning searches and chats on sites like Google docs and slides. on a school issued chromebook. Over the past few weeks, Gaggle has been flagging students for alarming searches, but one of the worries that teacher and students alike have is how sensitive is the AI running Gaggle, for classes like Psychology, Forensics, and English classes where you might have to write and research could get flagged, even with the violent intent? Students this year are concerned about privacy because of Gaggle. Gaggle may make students feel like they are being watched over. Students may also fear getting Gaggled for researching sensitive topics for assignments. Gaggle’s main focus for schools is to monitor alarming student activity and send it back to the school to have a conversation with the student. Rather than being a website blocker, it’s trying to save students and schools. We want to protect the school, the teachers, and the students inside it, but there are still many questions about Gaggle. How well does it actually work? Will we see a rate of violent intention go down? Does it even work? How sensitive is the AI Gaggle uses to alert schools? Students can’t look up concerning messages on their school laptop, but what’s stopping them from looking it up on their phone? Will Gaggle be like the digitized passes? Will it just be here for a year, get all hyped up, just for it to go away, or will Gaggle be the next safety device that can help the school? For these reasons, we find Gaggle to be a… miss miss
Art fee improves curriculum For the new school year, the school has decided to introduce a new $35 fee for all art classes to help chip in for resources, materials, etc. This new fee comes at a time when the district has been facing prolonged financial deficits since last year. However, the fee also raises concerns on the accessibility of art programs to economically disadvantaged students. Since 2019, Texan schools haven’t gotten proper funding and inflation has only soared. Additionally, all extracurricular activities have just had their budgets cut by 20 percent on top of the district’s existing economic difficulties, which are set to close four elementary schools. All these setbacks make operating any afterschool program incredibly hard. For example, obtaining the rights to perform a musical alone can cost anywhere from two to four thousand, depending on popularity. Furthermore, the art program fees for other schools in the Austin area can reach $100-250 for entry alone. Art teachers and directors have assured students that if they are unable to pay the fee, they are willing to work through and make plans on how to pay it off for every student’s unique situation. Regardless, staff has confirmed that students will not be kicked out of their art programs because of this fee. If the school wants to keep running high-quality art programs, then this new fee is a hit.
Opinions September 25, 2026
Staff Editorial
Your Turn What do you know about the upcoming election?
Upcoming Midterm elections offer chance for change
I know that it's going to be seen as really important, because whoever wins the Senate or the House of Representatives is going to have Every four years, two after each presidential election, an unprecedented job of stalling the United States of America has midterm elections to Congress, because this president has vote for who will be representing us in the Senate and taken it upon himself to really, really House of Representatives for the coming political cycle. use his authority and congruency But despite the importance, only around forty five percent of eligible voters show up to midterm elections with Congress.” compared to roughly sixty -Elijah Duvvri, 12 percent in presidential elections. This is troubling as midterm elections are just “I think this is one of the most as, if not more, important important ones. We've had midterm than any other election elections because it's going to swing facing voters. Therefore, it between House Democrat and is imperative to recognize House Republican. Especially this one the importance of midterm elections and take to the because it's on a national scale.” ballot boxes this November. - Benjamin Wang, 12 The importance of midterm elections can be broken down into a few key issues. “Lowkey, I'm excited. I'm trying to see First of all control of the who wins. Like, I'm trying to see who's Senate for the political party people support directly better for our future.“ results in the kinds of laws -Allen Villalobos, 12 those people want being passed. Congress, being made up of representatives “All I know is that there's a lot of from the senate and House pressure between both sides. of Representatives, are the Especially in Texas between body in the government Republicans, Democrats, you know.”- that propose new laws that Americans want to see for the country. That’s why Esha Teegireddy, 9 voting for candidates that are campaigning for laws and policies people want to see is important as it gives personal representation in D.C. Although the Senate does not directly nominate new “The midterms? Is that Talarico versus Paxton in Texas. I don't really supreme court justices, they do vote on new candidates know much about any other states, that are nominated by the president. Supreme Court justices are some of the most important people in the but yeah, that's all I know.” government and have the job of settling disputes that can -Lucy Choi, 10 have a wide reaching impact on the nation as a whole. For example, in the 2022 Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme “I know that it's Talarico versus Court overturned federal protection for abortions Paxton. I'm pretty sure. And I'm pretty leading and allowed states to regulate abortions sure Talarico’s winning, but that's independently. Cases like this show the importance of having a supreme court that makes decisions that voters about all I know.”-Zoey Edgar, 9 support. In addition, as Supreme Court justices serve for life there is a possibility that this midterm election could The Hawk, the official student newspaper of Hendrickson High School, is an open forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions. Hendrickson High School 19201 Colorado Sand Drive Pflugerville, TX 78660 http://www.pfisd.net/HHS (512) 594-1100 Student Population: 2,134 Staff: 180 Principal: Michael Grebb Adviser: Kari Riemer www.facebook.com/HawkNewspaper
Upcoming Elections for Texas Officials, School Board insight
Hawk
Hendrickson High School 19201 Colorado Sand Drive Pflugerville. Texas 78660 Volume 20, Issue 1 September 25, 2026
off in E211. Corrections will be printed when brought to the attention of the staff.
The Hawk is printed monthly at Community Impact in Opinions expressed reflect the Pflugerville, Texas. 1,000 beliefs of the student author copies are printed each run, and do not necessarily reflect and are distributed to the the opinion of the entire Hawk student body for free before Staff, the Hawk Adviser, the school on publication day and Hendrickson Faculty and Staff, on newsstands throughout the or the Principal. building.
Battle of the Ballot
Pages 6-8
In this Issue... Clubs and Community
Cover art by Karina Bon Page 4
11
School Board Page 8
Senior Traditions Page 12
Letters to the editor are welcomed, and may be dropped
have wide reaching implications for decades of politics to come. Moreover, a congress can make or break the policies of the current president. They have important checks and balances to the executive branch of the president and are liable to do things such as surveying the national budget, which directly impact the president’s ability to express executive power. This could mean less funding going towards things society needs such as public schooling, research, or the police and military. On the other hand the U.S constitution also gives direct power to congress to levy taxes and tariffs for the nation. Therefore, whoever the people vote for this fall may lead to economic change on a national level. Some people feel that despite the importance of congress, voting itself is not important. After all, it’s just one vote out of thousands. The fact of the matter however is that midterm elections especially have razor thin margins and individual votes, like their own, could drastically change the results of these elections. And with how close the house and senate are right now this election could drastically shift power between the political parties even if only a few seats change. Even if a group is the minority in a state and likely won’t win this year, it’s still important to have its voice heard; a loud and proud minority shows the people in charge we are here and we matter, and that effect can compound year after year until real change is made. Voting isn’t always easy and convenient, but if people want their voices heard in the nation it’s important they show up to vote every time. Taking an hour out of the day to register and researching what policies are important, going in for early voting to beat the lines, even sending in mail in ballots for those who can’t go in person. All of these little actions can come together to make the America society really wants. Illustration by | Lin Ho Associations
Editorial Staff Editors
Reporters
Artists
Hutton Weirich, Editor
Landon Green
Karina Bon
Lucas Chan, Asst. Editor
Izzy Medina
Kayla Nguyen
Marcelo Molina, Asst. Editor
Candice Palmer
Brittany Truong
Angela Ngo, Asst. Editor
Asher Parks Audrey Soape Sam Speichinger
Interscholastic Press League Texas Association of Journalism Educators Journalism Educators Association National Scholastic Press Association Columbia Scholastic Press League
Honors
ILPC Bronze Star 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2024 ILPC Silver Star 2021 Columbia Scholastic Press League, Gold Medalist 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 Silver Crown, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026 Gold Crown 2025 Pacemaker Finalist, 2018
12
Entertainment Volume 20, Issue 1
Making the Final Year Count
Seniors rank their favorite traditions throughout year First Place: Senior Assassin 33.5%
Second Place: Prom 27.6%
Third Place: Senior Parking Spots 18.1%
Photo byMarcelo Molina
Fourth Place: Kiddie Backpacks 18.1%
Photo provided by: Elodie King *Note: The percentages do not add up to 100%. The ranking was made by having seniors pick their favorite tradition, then second favorite, and so on. Therefore each traditions had its own individual percentages as opposed to an overall ranking of all the traditions at once.
Fifth Place: Senior Sunrise 22.4%
Photo provided by: Alexie Studios
Last Place: Hand-painted/Stitched Senior Clothing 20.4%
Photo provided by: Elodie King
Illustration by | Karina Bon