The Cougar Times (Arlington Seguin High School)

Cougar Times

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Juan Seguin High School

May 2019

www.thecougartimes.com

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@jshsmedia @Juan Seguin Cougar Times

Volume 15, Issue 2

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

nside the Times

News Sports Opinion Editorial Features Entertainment

@jshsmedia

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Who was the “Juan?”

See all the highlights from this year’s Mr. SHS Page 2

Catch up on this years wrestling team and their accomplishments Page 3

Junior Finds Way Back To Field Following Severe Injuries Reese Hunter

Social Media Editor

Out of breath, junior Andrea Paredes receives the soccer ball from her teammate. Sprinting toward the goal, she passes the other team’s defense and faces the goalkeeper. She has waited for this moment for two years, the worst years of her life, tearing her ACL twice. Under pressure, Paredes knew she had to shoot this goal.

Using all her strength, she kicks the ball into the goal and scores. Her teammates surround her and cheer.

Tears filling her eyes, she realized how far she had come. All the hard work and physical therapy was worth it.

Celebrating scoring a goal, junior Andrea Paredes embraces teammate Taylor Grace.

After two years of recovering from two separate ACL tears, Paredes scored her first goal in a

high school game on the girl’s varsity soccer team in Burleson on Jan. 3.

“I learned to take everything one day at a time,” Paredes said. “I had to be patient with myself.”

In August 2016, Paredes tore her ACL, a Photographed by Jehan Abubakar ligament in her knee, Rejoycing in their victory, players Jackie Cantu and Andrea Parades enbrace one another. The lady cougars soccer team played this after a player ran into her during the first club winter sports season. another player during a for the girl’s soccer team soccer game of the season. tournament in July 2017. in October 2018 and made This caused her to go to Paredes went to physical varsity. The experience of the ER and get surgery. She therapy for one year. tearing an ACL before has went to physical therapy During that time, she allowed girl’s head soccer two times a week for nine worked on strengthening coach Tanya Johnson months. Paredes said she her quad muscle. She also to help Paredes be less felt devastated because she had to learn how to run and anxious and timid on the felt like she was letting her jump on that leg again. field. Johnson said she can team down.

“There were good and understand Paredes’ side “When I heard Andrea bad days,” Paredes said. of it and the emotions she’s tore her ACL I was sad and “Some days I was really going through. disappointed,” teammate motivated and then there “From my experience, Jackie Cantu said. “I know were some days where I felt it was tough to sit on the this is her dream.” like quitting because of my sidelines and watch my Eleven months later, knee.” team play and knowing doctors cleared Paredes Instead of giving up that has been hard on her to play another season and being afraid to play the last two years,” Johnson with Texas Lightning. again when her knee said. “She now has the However, she tore the same healed, Paredes tried out opportunity to come out ACL when colliding with

Before The Bell

Faith Havard Editor-In-Chief After teaching science for 16 years, Donna Knowles has learned many lessons and seen plenty Read all about the cultural of stories in the quiet significance of Marvel’s comfort of the lab in room newest female member A256. While grooming her students to be the world’s Page 4 next engineers, zoologists and lab technicians, she also offers a safe place in her class to students in need. However, before the fame and fortune of high school science, Knowles’ worked a different career in management for McDonald’s Corp.

Check out what students “Go back to elementary think about senior prom school I thought I wanted expectations to be a hairdresser,” Knowles said. “I was Page 6 probably better at science than anything else so I

Teacher Shares How She Made Her Way To Teaching

Photograph by Ivan Cruz

Science teacher Donna Knowles escorts her students around the wastewater treatment plant. The wasteeater treatment field trip took place during the spring semester.

ended up getting married and then I went to work for a McDonald’s supplier.

I worked for them for five

years then I went to work for McDonald’s Corp.”

Knowles traveled to nine different restaurants

in test kitchen, product development and home office. During her career she was even able to work alongside the developers of Chicken McNuggets.

“I was the only person in the world who did what I did,” Knowles said. “We looked at pizza and edible packaging. It was a really cool time.”

Knowles lived in Illinois while employed with McDonald’s, however later ended up moving to Texas after her father became ill.

She was able to retire from the company at the age of 36 and decided to spend the next portion of her life as a stay-at-home mom with her two daughters.

See “Knowles” On Page 7

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News

May 2019

Theatre UIL Students Receive Honorable Mention Awards

Victoria Segovia

Photo By Christopher Munoz

Seniors compete in the annual Mr. SHS competition on April 30 in the auditorium.

Senior Awarded Mr. SHS Title Faith Havard Editor in Chief Kailond Lewis was crowned the school’s “Mr. SHS” on April 30 at the annual pageant held in the auditorium.

“It felt really good to win,” Lewis said. “I’ve been behind the camera all four years of high school and finally I was in the limelight.”

Along with Lewis, several other students were crowned titles such as most spirited awarded to Jerremy Baines, crowd favorite awarded to Thomas Do, and best dressed awarded to Eric Huitron.

The pageant consisted of several categories including a questioning portion where the boys got a

chance to talk about their strengths.

As opposed to other years, the event took place after school rather than as a pep rally at the end of the day. This is because of a new initiative from administrators and student council to raise spirit outside of school hours.

“Ultimately if we want to start having school spirit we have to start moving things after school,” student council sponsor Mark Alcorn said.

Before the competition, the boys first had to sign up to participate. From there the contestants were voted on by their peers to be in the pageant. After narrowing it down to the final few

Ashley Perez Staff Writer The smell of smoked meats on the barbecue grill hits the nose first. This is it. The tips of their fingers try to remember every step from the last time they touched a smoker. Nothing but the clock against them.

The Barbecougs started March 13 after principal Ray Borden introduced culinary arts teacher Sean Fanning to the competition.

The team competed for the first time on March 22 after only a week of practice and having one experience with the smoker.

Consisting of a mix of different cooking styles, the Barbecougs is the first of its kind at the school.

“It seemed like an awesome opportunity to do something different with

culinary so we formed a team over spring break,” Fanning said.

On their third meeting, members chose who would represent their club. They chose president Emma Ford, vice president Bailey Philips, and treasurer Julio Rivas.

“I want to be a chef and I like cooking a lot so being around food all day is very fun,” Ford said.

After having only touched the smoker once during their practice on March 15, the Barbecougs selected five members to head to its first competition.

“For them to compete and turn in their five dishes in a timed event with all the prep and all the professional plating they had to do was pretty cool,” Fan-

the boys began practices after school to prepare.

During practices, the boys had to learn a minute-long dance routine that they performed in front of their peers.

“The hardest part of preparing for the pageant was trying to get the dance down,” Do said. “Especially the backflip part where we all helped each other out.”

The pageant is one of the many fundraisers for the senior class. The profits benefit senior events such as prom and senior breakfast.

“I participated because I wanted to have fun and have some good senior memories before we all leave for college,” Do said.

Staff Writer Although theatre students weren’t able to move on to the next round of their UIL competition, seniors Hannah Kammlah and Savanna Brown received honorable mention awards for their performances.

“I was thrilled and honored that out of everyone, we were recognized and praised for our skills,” Brown said.

After hearing their names at UIL as honorable mention, Brown and Kammlah were speechless. Kammlah said she was shocked when she heard her name, she didn’t think it would happen.

“Out of the eight shows with 10 to 15 actors, it’s about 80 to almost 100 actors, and just to be recognized in top 20 is good,” Lemieux said.

Theatre arts went to Legacy High School on March 20 where students competed against eight schools and had an hour to set up for their performance of Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility.”

“Even though we didn’t move on, it was pretty fun and found it interesting that

we had to leave the entire day to perform at another school for UIL,” sophomore Emma McWhorter said.

Junior Audrey Rosen said that they were timed from setting everything up to getting everything off the stage.

“I got nervous but once the play started, I’m like I gotta focus and I have to make sure the actors have what they need and when they are cued for it,” Rosen said.

Lemieux said that his goal was to have teamwork and chose a show that played to the strengths of the actors. As they finally found their play, they rehearsed for two months to prepare.

“Even though we didn’t advance, we felt like it was a good step in the right direction for our program,” theatre arts director Justin Lemieux said.

Meat And Defeat Culinary Teacher Creates BBQ Club two separate sauces that I then combine to get the right flavor mixture,” Fanning said.

The team placed 12th in its brisket category.

Photo by Sean Fanning

Cooking at the competition, sophomore Julio Rivas prepares the brisket.

ning said.

The Barbecougs had a secret weapon: A new mixture of barbecue sauce created by Fanning for this event. It was set to be used on the beans while the meats are dry rubbed.

“Coming to Texas I started experimenting with different sauces and flavor profiles, so I look up the raw ingredients and I create

May 2019

3

Sports

Lady Cougars Place Fourth At UIL State Tournament Reese Hunter Social Media Editor

Juniors Armani Barnes and Malachi Kyser placed fourth at the UIL 5A state tournament on Feb. 19.

“This season has been rough,” Barnes said. “We had a lot of setbacks.

A lot happened that could’ve prevented me from going to state but we pushed through it.”

After taking last season off, Barnes said no one expected her to go to state.

But with practice and hard work, she placed second in her weight class of 138 pounds at regionals and advanced Photo by Jehan Abubakar to state.

“Armani came back strong and she Against one of Lamar’s wrestlers, junior Malachi Kyser puts herself in a position knew what she wanted,” girl’s wrestling to get her to victory. She dominates and ends up at overall fourth in her weight want to wrestle her, which is a testadecide ‘I’m going to do this.’” coach Amy Brannon said. “She was ment to what can be done when you Placing eighth at state last year, a beast this season, so people did not Kyser said she

wanted to prove to people that she became better this year. Kyser also placed fourth in her weight class of 198 pounds.

“I love my team so much because they’ve always called me state champion even before I was going to go,” Kyser said.

In her first year to compete in wrestling, Johana Ramirez placed fourth in regionals, which advanced her to state.

Senior Romello Watson also qualified and competed at state but didn’t place.

“I think mentally they’ve really gotten stronger,” Brannon said.

“They’re really intrinsically motivated and they’re extremely hard workers.

They’re really the ones who want the success and that’s what makes them a great team.”

On The Court Varisity Level Tennis Goes To Regionals Reese Hunter Social Media Editor After a successful season, the varsity tennis team competed in regionals but were defeated and did not advance to state.

However, individuals did receive recognition at district when freshman Huy Nguyen placed second in boys singles and senior Cathy Tran and junior Theresa Nguyen placed first in girls doubles.

“Of course I was nervous for regionals but if anything, I still had a sense of pride and I was proud of both Huy and Theresa for being there too,” Tran said.

Tran has played tennis for six years and has played on varsity tennis since freshman year. While she focused on Academic Decathlon, she didn’t play on the team the first semester.

Although she didn’t have much time at the beginning of the year to practice with her partner, Theresa Nguyen, Tran said they practiced hard for district.

“Cathy is one of the most influential people on the tennis team,” Theresa Nguyen said. “I’ve cried with her, I’ve laughed with her, and I’ve gotten medals with her.”

Theresa Nguyen has also been on varsity tennis since

freshman year and went to regionals last year. She said she had a nostalgic feeling going to regionals but instead this year they were district champions and not second place. During their last game at regionals, Theresa Nguyen started crying because it was her final game with Tran because she will graduate this year.

“All of them are very hard working,” assistant coach John Miller said.

“Huy has just been playing three years and it’s amazing how far he has come.

He has a tremendous work ethic.”

According to Huy

Ashley Perez

team consisted of Bardere and senior Destiny Delaney, sophomores Jailyn Jasmin and Yahria Bass.

The team placed well in area, which allowed them to smoothly move forward to regionals.

“When we made it to regionals it was the best feeling,” Delaney said, “At the beginning of the season I didn’t even know if I would make it past district, this was the furthest i’ve ever gone in my track career.”

Delaney competed in the 4x4 which the team placed third overall in area and fifth in regionals.

“It takes four people to run a relay, one per-

son cant do all the work,” Bardere said. “It takes each one of us to give it all we got to make it on to the next round.”

Photo by Jehan Abubakar

Holding his tennis racket, freshman Huy Nguyen runs toward the ball. Nguyen placed second in boys singles.

Nguyen, being a freshman on varsity is hard at times because the expectations are high and sometimes he doesn’t live up to them. He said he was excited to compete in regionals because it was a first-time experience and he learned how to improve.

“I learned that there’s

Lady Cougar Track On The Run Staff Writer

The sound of the gun echos through her ears and sets off a switch in her body, the adrenaline has reached its full potential.

Senior runner Cayla Bardere finds the perfect balance between her momentum and self motivation, pushing herself to stay in the lead pack of the race.

“As soon as I’m on the line before the race starts it’s all nervousness throughout my body,” Bardere said. “Being nervous is normal, but I do think our nerves got the best of us.”

The Lady Cougar track

Running to victory, sophomore Yahria Bass and junior Jade Boykins run in a meet for a spot in regionals. Bass and Boykins both advance to regionals soon after this meet.

Photo by Adam Alfaisal

going to be people that beat you no matter how hard you practice,” Tran said. “I learned that it’s OK to fail sometimes and it just helps you become stronger.”

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Opinion

May 2019

Why ‘Captain Marvel’ Is Groundbreaking For Women’s Empowerment

Wearing My Colors Proudly

Editor-In-Chief “Captain Marvel” is the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the precursor to “Avengers: End Game.”

The film highlights feminist issues and gives a great role model for young female superhero fans. Aside from the technical achievements of the film, such as its earnings, special effects, and its storyline, Captain Marvel has a cultural impact that women can marvel at.

The movie is not the first to show a woman in a role of power or as a superhero, however, it does give a new take to what female superheroes can be. Unlike others, such as Wonder Woman and Black Widow, the Captain Marvel shown in the film is not sexualized. Many times Marvel will use a women’s appearance to give them the upper-hand against their male opponents, for example using their beauty as a distraction. Even in normal scenes, directors of these movies make it a point to highlight the women’s bodies or looks whereas Veers, aka Carol Danvers, is rarely, if ever, pointed out for beauty.

Captain Marvel is able to simply use her own strength along with the power of her friendships to achieve victory. This is a great

Staff Writer I’ve always loved how the LGBTQ community would express themselves and be confident. I’ve always been myself and did whatever I want, yet I knew part of me was different.

I identify as bisexual and pansexual. That means I like guys and girls but also have emotional attraction toward people regardless of their gender identity.

When I was about 4 or 5, I always knew that I liked both genders before even knowing the terms. And as I got older, I always liked how people were as realistic as they can be absent not caring what people thought of them. Then my feelings grew toward people that didn’t have a filter and showed who they were on the inside.

When I first told my childhood friend, she was cool about it and accepted me. And when I told one of my guy friends he was surprised but then was OK with it. When another friend was happy for me I was relieved that she accepted me.

I’m still working on telling my parents about it but I know they’ll accept me because I’m still the same person who just happens to like people than just guys. Does it change my mind about guys? Sort

Faith Havard

Courtesy Photo

Marvel comes out with new movie with a female lead charcater hero featuring Brie Larson.

achievement for female superhero fans and young women everywhere and a step in the right direction for how Marvel Studios portrays their female heroines.

Despite the movie’s groundbreaking portrayal of women, there is so much more that needs to be done for women of color and other ethnicities, religions and cultures.

To come closer to being a society of acceptance, huge movie houses need to highlight these groups and bring them into movies. Nothing is stopping Marvel from including these cultures in films specifically for them.

“Captain Marvel” is a great step for Marvel Studios and has made me a fan. Hopefully, Marvel will continue this trend and come out with more content like this in the future.

Victoria Segovia

Courtesy Photo

After going through many challenges that life gave, junior expresses her feelings about her sexuality.

of, but it also doesn’t. Even though I happen to also like girls, I’m still the same person. I’m still the same person who loves Dr Pepper and wants to get out of high school to live my life.

Although most people will be happy for me and accept me, they might say stuff that isn’t true. There are myths and stereotypes about the LGBTQ community that people think are true yet they are not.

After my second friend told me that she was happy for me, she was worried that people will say things or lie about me.

If people don’t accept me for who I am, I don’t care because I know who I am and my identity shouldn’t define me as a person. My choices should, from the good to the clumsy decisions. My sexuality and feelings may have changed but not my determination to live life and my attitude to get through the challenges that will cross my path.

Let Me Be A Teen A Junior’s Perspective On Life Marion Perkins

Staff Writer Let me be a teen. How many times do I have to say it?

I’m 16 years old. That has to mean something, right?

The other day my dad told me to “sit.” In the back of my head I thought “What else does he want me to do, roll over?” I’m not a dog … so I spoke up for myself, “ss-sit? What do you think, I am a dog?” I yelled.

I’m not going to say what happened next, but just know that I did what I wanted, he couldn’t tell me what to do. I just sat on the bed and didn’t move an inch not I wanted to do it, but because that’s what he told me to do.

Life is hard enough as a teen, especially when you’re the oldest in your family and have to take care of your siblings, but I’ll tell you about that in just a second.

I was upset. I started ripping up pieces of paper like, yeah this will show him. When he walked back into my room he looked into my eyes and could see how angry I was, yet all he said was, “Hey

your room’s dirty, clean that up.” I thought, “Are you serious? That’s it? HELLO is that all your going to say? Are you kidding me?”

For some reason I have this feeling that parents don’t remember what it’s like to be a teenager. These are the years where we feel like we are on top of the world. You know, until we’re potentially rotting, sitting at our office desks working a boring 9 to 5 job.

Have you ever thought about how hard it is to be the oldest child?

If you have an older sibling, you should thank them because you don’t understand how many horrors they went through for you to live the wonderful life that you live today. Don’t ever say that he or she didn’t do anything for you because that’s a lie. If you’re not the oldest then you may not understand these questions. Have you ever had a super large punishment like being grounded for six weeks for not cleaning your room? Have you ever been ready to cry and your parents didn’t ask you what was wrong but instead they laughed at your pain?

Have your parents ever made you

Drawing by Victoria Segovia While going through high school and having to grow up earlier than most teenagers, junior talks about his life of high school and what he does after school.

go to the grocery store every time they go? If you answered yes to any of these, then chances are you are the oldest child.

Have you ever noticed that your parents did something different with your younger siblings then they did with you? It absolutely hurts. When I was about 10 years old I wouldn’t dare ask my dad to go hang out with friends unless they lived within my neighbor-

hood, and now my 10-year-old brother gets to go out out to the movies and the mall and all types of other things. Every so often I like to remind him what I went through for him.

Now, I can go on and on forever about what I did for him and all the stuff that parents do that I don’t like, but the moral of the story is: Let me be a teen!

5

Editorial

May 2019

What We Can Do To Be An Eco-Friendly Campus

Many students graduating from our own high school will go on to become doctors, scientists, politicians, and much more. However, the future of these students and generations to come all depends on the environment and how we choose to care for it.

In order to be more environmentally conscious, our campus can ban single-use disposable products, increase our use of online content as opposed to paper copies, and plant species that will encourage pollinators to visit our campus.

In our cafeteria each student is given a styrofoam tray, a disposable milk jug, and is offered the option to purchase water bottles or other individually wrapped snacks.

Styrofoam takes 500 years or more to biodegrade according to sciencelearn.org. With hundreds of students passing through our cafeteria every day our campus is creating a mess that will take hundreds of

years to clean. By using actual trays rather than disposable ones, not only will we take a huge chunk out of the pollution, we can even open up new entry level jobs for our community to clean and manufacture these items.

The last decade has brought on a shift from pencil and paper to computers, Ipads, and cellphones.

This has been a great transition that we can continue on and improve.

By educating students online there is less of a demand for paper which will slow or potentially end companies that destroy forests and habitats for this good. Handwriting is an important tool for students and the more traditional way to teach, so rather than taking handwriting out of the curriculum, educators can use whiteboards to help their students because they can be reused for many years and many students whereas a paper is useless after one use.

Another easy option is simply to plant more on campus.

Lavender, sage, and sunflowers are three common species that Drawing by Ashley Perez attract pollinators. This not only helps to bring back wildlife that we’ve covered with our school but it also helps buitify our campus. This does take money to buy the supplies and labor however it is something that’s important Of course there are many other ways Seguin Nation can continue to help the environment and become a campus fit for the challenges of tomorrow. We already have state qualifiers for both athletics and academics, award-winning fine arts

programs, and a passionate staff and student body. Being an evironmentally concious campus only adds to our impressive resume.

Doing our part to save our earth builds the foundation for future life as we know it. We can continue to do the things we love every day with a little more work and a slightly different methods for the greatest payoff: our future.

How We Can Prevent School Shootings There have been 26 incidents in the U.S. involving an active gun on a school campus in 2019, according to a Scripps National investigation. During those shootings, six people died and 28 were injured.

To buy a gun in store, you have to pass a background check. However, at gun shows, which are held every weekend nationwide, there is no required background checks. Improvement needs to happen there. According to Psychology Today, there is a correlation between stricter gun laws and lower homicide rates. The more gun laws put in place, the safer communities will be. Stricter gun laws means the government should employ a criminal and mental health background check, a required safety course, and a regular renewal requirement.

However, guns aren’t the only thing to blame for school shootings. The root of the problem starts in homes and in schools. If only one issue is focused on, nothing will be accomplished. The public needs to make progress on multiple issues at the same time.

Some students are neglected at home and emo-

Drawing by Faith Havard

tionally ignored. No one went out of their way to talk to them or take an interest in their life. No one encouraged them to do better in their classes, yet lectured them on how bad they are failing. No one cared enough to look into mental health services for them, they just ignored them. They thought they didn’t belong in school or at home.

Therefore, they never learned social skills, coping skills, how to get along with peers or how to be a friend. Instead they gained more frustration and ha-

tred. They felt unwanted and invisible. 87% students agreed the motive for school shooters is to get back at those who hurt them.

There isn’t one solution to stop school shootings but schools should work to improve what needs to be fixed.

Teachers and students need to create a welcoming environment for all. No matter what someone looks like, what they believe in, what their sexuality is, what their grades are, or where they came from.

Kids need to support one another and care about one another. They have to stand against bullying, hatred, racism, emotional abuse, loneliness, class distinction and cliques.

The Cougar Times Staff Reese Hunter Social Media Editor Marion Perkins Staff Writer Jacob Goocher Photographer

Faith Havard Editor-In-Chief Jon Nielsen Adviser

Ashley Perez Staff Writer Victoria Segovia Staff Writer Ivan Cruz Photographer

Juan Seguin High School 7001 Silo Road Arlington, Texas 76002 Principal: Ray Borden

Jon Nielsen, The Cougar Times publications adviser, can be reached by calling 682-867-6810 or email jnielsen@aisd.net Send in your story ideas or submissions to jshsmedia@gmail.com

The Cougar Times is the student produced newspaper for Seguin High School.

The purpose of the paper is educational, but it also serves to inform and entertain readers. This newspaper is a forum for student expression and the place for meaningful discussion on issues concerning the Seguin community.

Newspaper content is determined by and written by the staff. Editorials reflect the opinion of the newspaper. Columns and commentaries reflect the writers’ views and do not represent the opinions of the newspaper staff or school administration.

The Cougar Times values reader submissions. The staff reserves the right to reject or edit for length, style, punctuation and readability. All submissions must be signed to be considered for publication.

Please notify us if you find any errors. We will gladly correct anything that we have wrongly reported.

May 2019

Features

The Imperfect Night

6

The Digital Life

Teens Discuss Prom Expectations How Brands Like Apple, Android Ashley Perez their boyfriend to find a way to ask Compete For The Best Quality Staff Writer Victoria Segovia Even if they are less popular, Junior Natalie Uribe wakes up after for permission from their parent,

spending the night in the perfect prom dream. She remembers the morning of her dream, a beautiful day of being pampered from the styling of the hair to the makeup. Walking out to see her boyfriend’s radiant smile at her ferrari red dress, he steps to the side to show the horse-drawn carriage and then her alarm clock rings. Uribe has expectations for this night, just as any other high school girl does.

Courtesy Photo

“Prom is supposed to be elegant and the best night of your high school experience,” Uribe said. “It was my first time dreaming about it and I loved it, that’s how all girls want it to happen.”

With all the movies and shows that end in a fairytale prom night, teen girls have built up unrealistic expectations for this school-funded event. In their mind, the night is supposed to be filled with fanciful romance straight out of a Cinderella scene, but for students who have already experienced prom, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, they say.

“All the girls I know who went last year have told me not to get my hopes up,” Uribe said. “They tell me it was fun but not what they envisioned.”

For girls with dates, it’s all the more an expectation for the guy to up their promposal game. They expect

then cover the school hallway with extravagant string lights all while his bestfriends hold a gigantic poster reading “Prom?”

“Girls with boyfriends expect so much, they want the perfect love story,” junior Allyssa Lawsha said.

“One of my good friends went last year and because of her expectations her and her boyfriend were arguing right until prom night.”

On the other hand, having no prom date ruins the romantic feel of the night, those who go solo said. As girls are being asked to prom left and right, some watch waiting for their Prince Charming to arrive, forgetting this event is about making memories not romance.

“It’s really not hard, you don’t have to go with a boy you’re involved with,” senior Elizabeth Tovar said. “You can always take your BFF or another friend who doesn’t have a date.”

After spending hundreds of dollars on the perfect dress and spending weeks finding the perfect hair and makeup combination, it takes a good time and friendship to alleviate students of what they thought would be a romance-filled night.

“When I went last year I thought it was an amazing experience, definitely not what I envisioned but still fun,” senior Miranda Ontiveros said. “I think girls need to remember it’s not all about romance or they’re going to be in for a surprise.”

there are things that Androids don’t Staff Writer Phones have been improving have. One of them is that Apple has for years and brands like Apple AirPods, FaceTime and Apple Watch and Android are head-to-head in while Androids have Google duo and competition. As technology improves, gear watch. Before owning an iPhone, it impacts our community and Ortega would draw zentangle patterns becomes a common factor in our lives. with a pen on the scratch pad that “There are big differences about Samsung had. them and because of that, it brings up “If I try to draw with my finger which one can do more,” junior Angie on the iPhone, it doesn’t come out as Torres said. good as I wanted it to be,” Ortega said.

Apple’s IOS is their platform and As new technology develops, non-Apple devices don’t have it. Junior brands will improve on what they can Iriana Ortega said she likes how the camera makes the pictures clearer when using it.

“It doesn’t look as pixelated as a Samsung would when using the camera,” Ortega said.

According to Statista, more than 80 percent of people are Android users and are predicted to account for about 85 percent in 2020. While their OS is a development from Google, they have other brands like Sony and LG. Sophomore Tracie Nguyen likes how Courtesy Photo the camera quality is on Samsung and how it edits and looks on photos. do to make it better. As technology “The life on this phone is usually changes, there are updates that show longer than iPhone so I don’t have a how good the phone is, which makes problem with it,” Nguyen said. the brand look good. And as time One of the issues with the iPhone goes, it has been easier to use phones is when a new phone comes out, the now than before when not a lot could model before begins to slow down be finished on a touch screen. and that causes problems. It becomes “It’s easier to use and there are an issue from storage to battery life more functions that you can use on even if there’s not much in it. As much phones than before,” Nguyen said. as they improve, updates become a problem from the camera qualities to app qualities.

“I think that Androids have stuff that their game is not camera quality in their other phones,” Torres said.

Are AP Tests Beneficial For Students?

Teens Share Their Feelings About the Program’s Pros and Cons

Faith Havard

Editor in Chief

From freshman to senior year Cristian Martinez has participated in the AP program. Now entering his last year in high school, he can use the skills AP has taught him along with the college credit he’s already earned to jump into his college career.

AP testing took place from May 6 to May 17.

“Regulars classes never challenged or taught me very much,” Martinez said. “The faster pace and increased difficulty helps keep me focused and not bored out of my mind.”

AP, or advanced placement, classes are more rigorous versions of the courses students take already. At the end of the year, students are tested on their understanding of the topics covered through an exam that could potentially earn them college credit.

“AP is not a class that you can sit and get,” AP European History teacher Amanda Crowder said. “It’s not like a

regular class where we’re just gonna give you the information.”

According to the Seguin AP testing data, students took about 930 tests last year. One third of the school’s population took an AP exam. If the students receive a score of 3 or higher they can receive college credit for the course.

“They can get some college credit

and composition, the environmental science and the physics exam, all courses offered at Seguin.

“I think there’s several reasons students struggle,” Heath said. “Every single one of these exams is a build

up for a year. Every concept builds on every concept. Students have a tendency to learn what they need

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and they can go off to college and they’ve already got a jump start,” AP testing coordinator Michelle Health said. “Some students like the rigor, they like being challenged, some students like being able to say, ‘well I took AP,’ I did something that not every student can do.”

According to the College Board’s release of the 2018 scores, Over half of students failed the English literature

to and then forget it after the test.

It’s comprehensive, they need to be taking the course seriously the whole year.”

Crowder has taught AP courses for 12 years and has guided many students to earning free college credit. She believes that the hardest part of her course’s exam is the writing portion, however with hard

work students can pass it, she said “Do the reading and take your notes,” Crowder, a social studies teacher, said. “If you’re not doing the reading and if you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing on the outside you can’t write.”

Despite his long resume of AP classes, Martinez has always put his mental health first when deciding whether to enroll.

“I would recommend AP classes only for people who are genuinely motivated to further their education,” Martinez said. “Those who don’t actually care to learn typically end up burning out and hating school because AP is a lot of work and it’s not a good fit for everybody.

The extra GPA boost is not worth the sacrifice of your mental health.”

7

Features

May 2019

A Creation Out Of The Darkness

Inspired By His Past, Senior Publishes Novel ‘Queen Of The Night’ Reese Hunter Social Media Editor After going to a writing camp in Iowa that taught him how to improve his writing skills, senior Trey Jackson wrote and published a novel, “Queen of the Night,” about a teenager who goes through extreme measures to help cure his mom’s crack addiction.

“I might sound a little lame but writing and descriptively expressing myself gives me butterflies,” Jackson said.

When Jackson was 10 years old, he lived with his stepfather, mother and older brother. After resolving to stress eating when his parents would fight, he decided it was unhealthy. He started watching movies and reading books instead and then wrote short stories based

Photo By Ivan Cruz

Trey Jackson’s self-published book “Queen of the Night” is available for purchase on Amazon.com. Jackson’s novel was released on Aug. 9.

on them.

“I was young and intimidated so I would turn on movies and writes stories on how I wish my life was,” Jackson said. “I would have a temporary escape.”

Jackson’s first novel was inspired

by the movie, “Moonlight,” a film about an African-American man’s life in the crime-filled streets.

Jackson started writing “Queen of the Night” in July 2018 and finished in August. With the help of his family, he has sold 30 copies online and 35 physical copies. He has made $700 off of the novel.

“I was excited because this was his first published book,” Jackson’s friend, senior Zakayah Booker, said. “It’s good and suspenseful.

You don’t know what’s going to happen next but it’s also relatable.”

The title “Queen of the Night” is a double entendre between the character of the mother and a flower, Jackson said. The flower only sprouts at night and the mother has her drug-addictive episodes at night, he added.

“The book is dark and touches

on some serious topics,” Jackson’s friend, senior Hannah Kammlah, said. “Trey does a fantastic job with details, it makes the story come off the page. You can feel the progression in the plot and you don’t want to stop flipping the pages.”

Jackson is also writing a coming-of-age novel, “To Burn a Lotus: The Beautiful Awakening of Jabir Bradford’s Virtue,” about a boy dealing with mental health issues during the summer before he goes off to college. Jackson said the inspiration comes from his own struggles with mental health.

“I know that writing is a platform for freedom and putting your darkest thoughts on paper,” Jackson said. “So, I thought it would be good to express myself and those thoughts through my writing.”

R-E-S-P-E-CT Knowles Knows Best Continued From Page 1

Students Show Others How They Want To Be Treated

Faith Havard Editor In Chief

After 10 years of being at home with her kids, Knowles decided she wanted to pursue something that would keep her close to her family, which eventually led her to education.

“I thought, ‘Where would be the best place for me to be,’” Knowles said. “So I thought high school, so that’s where I came.”

Knowles teaches environmental science and has been certified and taught several science classes, including biology and chemistry. Upon arriving at Seguin 16 years ago, environmental science was not a course option, however when

Photo by Ashley Perez

her students expressed an interest in the subject she was able to make it a reality.

“She involves the aspect of science in everyday life,” senior Jacob Goocher said. “She’s influenced me to become a better person.”

In addition to science, Knowles also discusses real-life situations with her students that help them better grasp topics.

“I had a great high school experience and so I think every kid deserves a great high school experience along with learning life and all that stuff,” Knowles said.

Controlling her classroom, science teacher Donna Knowles demonstrates the lesson.

Faith Havard Editor In Chief

Respect is a term that is thrown out without an understanding of what it means. Google refers to respect as, “a feeling of deep admiration for someone or Photo by Jacob Goocher something elicited by their Showing signs of respect to one anabilities, qualities, or achievements,” other, sophomore Madison Sanchez or “due regard for the feelings, and junior Angie Torres shake hands. wishes, rights, or traditions of “Respect means something that others.” is given mutually between you and Many students and adults admit another person in a way in which they do not follow these definitions you would want to be treated,” of how they give or earn respect, senior Jason Gonzales said. but they do not label themselves When students act out of the disrespectful. ordinary, adults often make the “To me, respect means treating assumption that their behavior someone nicely or considering comes from their parents and is a them and their feelings,” freshman result of at-home life.

Madison Allen said.

“Some families don’t model Many adults often think that good respect,” Bryan said. “It could respect has fallen through the happen at home if the parents are generations. Yet, according to too authoritative and they don’t math teacher William Bryan, the show them respect, but they can’t definition and showing respect has be wet noodles and let kids do not changed in students since he whatever they want. Respect could was in high school. come from peer pressure, if they’ve “Respect is: treat someone like got the wrong circle of friends, it you would want to be treated, could even happen with teachers.” assuming that you have selfSeguin hangs a banner with the respect,” Bryan said. “If you do word “respect” in the main hallway. not respect yourself then treating “I do think that Seguin does a them like you treat yourself is not good job at showing respect to their respectful to them.” students,” Allen said. “They try to Showing a lack of respect is help every student individually no what can many times find students matter if the student previously has facing consequences in their acted up.” principal’s office. Students show teachers the respect they show for themselves or for their peers, which is not what they feel they deserve, Bryan said.

May 2019

Senior Keizhon Yedica says he takes a long time to decide which tattoos he wants to get. Before getting his ink he talked to his parents to pick

Entertainment 8 Billie Ellish New Album Leaves Fans In Tears May 2019

Ashley Perez

Staff Writer

Billie Eilish has created quite the name for herself.

With her first viral song “Ocean Eyes” releasing at age 13, Eilish has a loyal following behind her.

On March 29, she released her debut album, “When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go” giving fans the signature sound and soft-spoken voice they idolize.

Over a span of four years, Eilish has become one of the biggest artists in the world.

Currently holding Spotify’s No. 1 song on the Top 200.

Eilish managed to keep the soft-spoken, gothic voice as in her EP but met it with an exploration of other sounds.

Tracks like “All Good Girls

Go to Hell” have an electronic pop sound and hard lyrics opposed to her previous songs, which were serene and melancholy.

She was able to integrate modern sounds in a way her fans weren’t overwhelmed. Eilish took her music wherever she wanted with this album, proving that she is in control of her own music. This was a large step for her career showing that Ellish can take control of her own sound.

A majority of the songs on the album have a groundshaking bass, and sad, yet “in your face” lyrics. “Bad Guy” is a good example of starting off with a hard beat that later transforms into a trap, goth, and pop track that works well together. A major plot twist hits the track toward the end

where fans are left wondering if the song has come to an abrupt stop and the next track has already started or if it’s the same song.

With songs like “Bury a Friend,” which have a completely different tone, the lyrics to this song are deeper than they seem, touching on the subject of the meaning of life. “When we all fall asleep where do we go?” is a lyric questioning the afterlife.

Eilish showcases vulnerability and heartache with the last couple of songs on the album. “I Love You” is a gentle track that exposes the hold toxic relationships have but also shows adoration for the way people create a bond that is inseparable. These last tracks are meant to be read together “Listen Before I Go,”

Jmblya Music Festival Review

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“I Love You,” and “Goodbye.”

Ending the album with “Goodbye,” Billie finds a way to combine certain lyrics from her entire album, rewording them and singing them in reverse order. Only 12 out of the 14 songs were included in “Goodbye” excluding songs like “!!!!!,” which don’t mix well with the overall sound of

this track.

The album overall exceeds expectations. No matter what Billie does, fans seem to think she pulls it off. It receives a 5 out of 5 stars, standing out from other artists and sounds.

It combines scary with sweet in a chilling way. The album is sure to bring tears to fans’ eyes.

The Newest Battle Royale Rises

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Several artists performed on the JMBLYA stage.

Faith Havard, Ashley Perez

Staff Writers The annual JMBLYA music festival made its way to fair park and gave Dallas residents an enjoyable day full of fun, food and music.

The festival included artists such as Travis Scott, Gunna, Lil Naz X, Lil Wayne, Kevin Gates, City Girls, NBA Youngboy, Bhad Baby and other local artists.

The festival has been around since 2013 and is a large-scale hip hop event for all ages. Guests had the opportunity to purchase food at trucks and stands located across the venue and those of age can help themselves to adult beverages as well.

This year the concert included water bottle refilling stations for no charge and a multitude of restrooms so that guests weren’t at risk of dehydration, or not being able to relieve themselves during the long day.

JMBLYA’s awkward setup at Fair Park placed an unexpected workout on fans, with two stages far apart from one another so that each performer was provided enough time to set up. The movement of large crowds going in different directions was an annoyance.

The positioning of the stages took

another toll on the acoustics fans were looking for, with high basses coming from all areas, loud microphones made listening to just one artist at a time hard. Aside from the long treks, festival goers were stuck waiting in packed crowds for their favorite artists to arrive.

Before the end of JMBLYA attendees were obviously tired, already heading for the exits. Many people left before Travis Scott arrived on stage. Once he arrived the crowd died down and the performance wasn’t an entertaining one. A large amount of fans were tired of being bunched up and stepped on while trying to enjoy an artist.

JMBLYA provided a fun experience, for the right people. For those wanting to see their artists from far away not hearing them as clear as they wished, JMBLYA was the place.

Overall this festival receives a three out of five stars

Apex Legends includes characters you can play as and customize.

Victoria Segovia

Staff Writer

Three days after the launch, “Apex Legends” gained 10 million players, which beat Fortnite’s record after two weeks of releasing. The free-to-play battle royale game recently passed 25 million players in one week after its release.

The game, from the creators of “Titanfall,” released on Feb. 4 and like Fortnite and “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,” it is available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Origin for PC. The game starts with a tutorial where players learn how to move and which buttons to use. After finishing the tutorial, players have the option to play the game or go back to the tutorial until they know how to ping a location on a weapon or how to revive others.

After going through the tutorial, they are sent off to the battlefield and trying to survive in the world of new age technology.

Like the battle royale from Fortnite, it taakes you to a playground area to search for weapons and supplies in order to survive.

The game takes place in an alternate universe of Titanfall where technology became the biggest resource with a cast of eight legend characters with unique abilities for matches. Char-

acters like Lifeline, the battlefield medic who can shield teammates from harm as well as revive them, or the tracker Bloodhound, who can see recent enemy movement.

Players can invite friends to play along or they can play with other random players. Each character card has an individual number on how many they’ve killed based on how much they’ve used that character.

Before releasing season one of the game, it has been the main attraction other than Fortnite. From the battle passs to bringing out new characters like Octane “The Adrenaline Junkie” who is affected less by attacks while gaining up to 50 million players at the beginning of March.

The game makes the excitement and competitive side in you come out and show what you got. It brings out the fire inside you and a side that no one sees.

This game gets a four out of five for graphic designs, characters and the abilities they have, but would like an update on expanding on having more than three people in a group.