The Hawk Eye, Volume 16, Issue 1

THEHAWKEYE

December 18, 2017 Volume 16 Issue 1

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OPINION: A WORD FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

YUSRA WARIS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Print is back: Return of hard copy aims to bring meaningful stories to students

Four years ago, The Hawk Eye newspaper, following the digital trend of most professional publications, went online to make our stories more accessible. Unfortunately, that accessibility and ability to provide more in-depth and interactive content came at the cost of a portion of our audience. Wait... Our school has a newspaper?

Since when? Who does that?

Yes. Since 2001. And as of now, The Hawk Eye consists of 13 students with the passion and skills to find the stories that highlight the qualities that make Hebron truly and proudly diverse.

We aim to make Hebron more than just a school that prepares us for the future and more than just four class periods a day. We hope to create a community, tied closely together like the words on this page, with a variety of stories to share and appreciate.

Since 2014, newspaper students have been promoting our online presence through polls, giveaways, social media and by making sure it only took one click for our readers to be exposed to our work. While all our stories will still be a click away, we decided through print, we will be able to physically bring some of our stories to you.

Our website and staff have won multiple awards and recognitions throughout the last couple of years, but no award can beat the gratifying moment whena teacher or a student approaches us about a story we have spent late nights perfecting. While we spent years being online and modifying the layout of our website for our readers, we thought it would be a good idea to take an extra step and put our product in your hands as another means for you to peruse through some of the work we put on our website.

Ever since I joined The Hawk Eye, the people I’ve met, the events I’ve attended and the stories I have written and edited through this organization have pulled me in directions I could not have imagined before I came to the school. Whatever the story, from academic advice from national merit semifinalists to a life motto from a student who was able to overcome overwhelming obstacles, there is something that everybody can take from our content.

As Editor-in-Chief, I aim for our staff to find and report important stories and issues to the best of our abilities, to accurately represent our student body and, most importantly, to use our voices to create a stronger Hebron community. From our screens to your hands, I hope that after you take your time reading through Hebron’s accomplishments, goals and obstacles, you might be inspired to take a little piece of each story with you.

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School board approves planto change class rank policy

YASMIN HAQ, SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Sophomores and freshmen do not have ranks on their transcripts. The proposal to make class ranks optional on transcripts was decided on Dec. 11.

Photo by Yasmin Haq

The LISD Board of Trustees decided on Dec. 11 to implement a change to make class ranks optional on transcripts on during the 7 p.m. school board meeting.

“[Optional class ranks] give students and parents the flexibility to make the choice that best serves their individual needs,” chief communications officer Amanda Brim said.

The proposal is that although all students will still be ranked, having ranks on their transcript will not be mandatory unless they are in the top 10 percent. The Texas 10 Percent Plan allows automatic admission to public colleges in Texas for students in the top 10 percent of their class, making it required for their transcripts to have ranks. Making class ranks optional on transcripts will apply to the class of 2019 and on.

“What the district is looking at is if you’re not in the top 10 percent, do you want that information [on your transcript] or do you not,” principal Scot Finch said. “So families could opt out of having the rank being put on their child’s transcript or they could say, ‘no go ahead and put the rank on the transcript.’”

Brim said optional class ranks gives students the flexibility to serve their needs and will allow colleges to look at students as a whole.

“Each student will have the opportunity to determine for themselves whether their college application will be more appealing to colleges if rank is included or excluded on their transcript,” Brim said. Finch said high school principals would prefer students to receive class ranks at the end of freshman year rather than giving it within the first nine weeks of high school or withholding it.

Several other districts have changed the practice of class rank. For example, Highland Park ISD only ranks the top 10 percent and no other students receive rank.

“It’s really all over the board in the state of Texas as far as what districts do as far as grade point average (GPA), weighted averages and class rank,” Finch said.

Finch said Spring Branch ISD is being used as a model regarding the class rank policy. Spring Branch ISD has all of the students meet with a counselor to decide whether to have class rank on their transcript.

“So [the conferences] force the counselors to meet with every [student for class ranks],” Finch said. “If you had the need to talk to all the juniors and seniors you’re looking at about 1,700 kids. If you spend 15 minutes [with each student], just do the math. It’s going to take a long time.”

Sophomore Lauren Santaella said the class rank change will be beneficial to students.

“Our school is such a big school [and] it is very competitive,” Santaella said. “So if [students] have a lower rank, I think [the choice of not having rank on transcripts] is better for them and it probably looks better for colleges when they’re applying.”

Other students, such as sophomore Aisha Aslam, said the change is a good idea, but do not like class ranks are being withheld this long for sophomores.

“I think that giving students the option to opt in or out for class ranks is fine andis actually a good idea as it allows colleges to assess students without just looking at rank,” Aslam said. “Even though at my grade we don’t have to worry for college as much, sophomore year is still really important to know ranks and to see how overall a student does compared with others. I just hope that whatever they do with ranks, they do it quickly so that we will know before it’s too late to fix our ranks.”

Prior to the vote, Finch said class ranks for freshmen and sophomores were being withheld until the board implements the decision.

“I have students asking me when they’ll know their rank, and it’s going to be dependent on what the

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Orchestra selected as TMEA finalist

YUSRA WARIS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Orchestra director Matthew Cautivar conducts his orchestra students during rehearsal. Cautivar did not participate in the TMEA competition last year since it was his first year at Hebron.

Photo by Yusra Waris

Chamber orchestra has been selected as a Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Honor Orchestra finalist for the first time in school history; the orchestra placed ninth state-wide. Along with Marcus High School, the orchestra is one of the first to place as a finalist in LISD since 2013.

“I was shocked when we got the letter,” orchestra director Matthew Cautivar said. “I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. I just saw a list of schools with our name on it and I was like, ‘Oh this must be a list of all the competitors in the competition,’ and then I looked closer and I realized it was the list of finalists, so it was amazing to see our school on the list.”

For the competition, the orchestra had to produce a recording up to 30 minutes which would be judged by a set of five judges on technical difficulty, musicianship and music difficulty. The orchestra produced a three-piece concert consisting of Serenade for Strings Movement I: Preludium, Romance, and Concerto Grosso Movement III: Allegro con brio.

“I think the reason why we scored well was because of the musicianship that we exhibited,” Cautivar said. “The second piece was our slow piece, which I told the students would be the one that hopefully [would] have an impact on the judges. And just by listening to the recording, it was our slow piece that we were able to express our high level.”

The orchestra had been practicing for this competition with bootcamps over the summer and during the first six weeks of school.

“Coming in and competing at the beginning of my senior year was incredible,” orchestra president Travis Harris said. “We participated in this competition during our sophomore year and chamber wasn’t able to place, and so this being the first time that Hebron has placed in the finals in school history has just left me in awe. We have a lot of seniors in chamber and we all wanted to have something memorable from senior year, and I think that [also] had something to do with it.”

With the competition over, the orchestra is preparing for future concerts and aims to be ranked as the honor orchestra at the TMEA competition in the future.

“I put this challenge in front of them, and I didn’t want to put a limit on what they [could] accomplish,” Cautivar said. “We are not done yet; we have so much of the year left to do and we are excited to move forward with our winter concert, UIL concert and spring concert. There’s a lot of music that we will make before the year is up.”

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Class multipliers to change

SYDNEY GRAY SPORTS EDITOR

Beginning with the class of 2021, the multipliers for courses will be lowered. For freshmen, on-level classes will continue to have a multiplier weight of 1.1, while Pre-AP classes will be moved down from a 1.2 multiplier to a 1.15 multiplier and AP classes will move from a 1.3 multiplier to a 1.2 multiplier. This change in multiplier will only affect current freshmen and beyond. Beginning with the class of 2024, foreign language classes will be moved from a 1.1 multiplier to a 1.15 multiplier in order to appropriately reflect the difficulty of the courses being taken. Ninth grade campus counselor Gretchen Pace said while the multiplier will be lowered, she hopes students will continue to challenge themselves and take courses that are best suited for their academic ability, regardless of the effect it will have on their GPA.

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Photo by Alyssa Abraham

Volleyball wins state championship

YUSRA WARIS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Lady Hawks defeated Katy Seven Lakes 3-0 in the state championship on Nov. 18 at the Curtis Culwell Center. The win was their third straight state championship and fifth total.

“Three in a row is unbelievable,” head coach Karin Keeney said. “It is really, really hard and there was a lot of pressure on this team this year, but they handled it very well. Since we came up with two state titles, everybody [wanted] to beat Hebron and we were the bad guy everywhere we [went]. So it was amazing that my kids were able to handle it.”

The first set started with a serve from Spartans outside hitter Danielle Batenhorst. Sophomore setter Nicole Drewnick won the first point of the game for Hebron. The Hawks won the first set with a score 25-16.

“Anytime you get a point for your team, you are just so pumped up and just jump up and your team is there just

cheering you on and patting you on the back,” Drewnick said. “I was here freshman year on the court and we won and again, being here playing is just amazing.”

Senior libero Annie Benbow started off the second set with a serve. Junior middle hitter Emma Clothier scored the first point of the set. Finally, senior middle hitter Lauren Merrill won the last point of the set, giving Hebron the second set win, 25-14.

“I feel like it was really nice that we [went] out with a bang,” senior middle hitter Gabrielle Pliskal said. “Honestly, the biggest part for me was knowing that this was going to be my last game and knowing that regardless of whatever we did, we were going to end on a good note.”

Senior outside hitter Adanna Rollins contributed multiple spikes in the third set, and the Lady Hawks won the set 25-15. Rollins was named Most Valuable Player from the match.

“When I hit the ball and it went down, I just felt so much,” Rollins said. “I felt so much power and I just felt like all the hard work that we had done these past few years and all of the blood, sweat and tears paid off.”

Although the Lady Hawks started the season off slow with seven early losses, they were able to build up and win the last 24-straight matches. The Hawks volleyball team, alongside Amarillo’s, is now the second team to have won three consecutive state championships in Texas history.

“It was hard at first,” Keeney said. “They started to crumble and it took us a couple of weeks to get back up and figure out who we were this year, and not worry about last year’s team or the year before. We were living in ghosts and we had to get rid of those ghosts, so we lost enough in the beginning of the year, so people would stop paying attention to us and that was when we started really building up this team and they did it beautifully.”

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Wrestling looking to form first-ever girls team

APARNNA MANOJ, NEWS EDITOR

Two girls have taken the opportunity to join the school’s first female wrestling team, practicing during first period, which is in need of more members before becoming an official team.

“This is the beginning forms of the team,” wrestling coach David Rozanski said. “When we get more members, it’ll be an official team. It’s the start-up of what could be a team.”

In past years, the wrestling team has only consisted of males. The two teams are not going to practice with each other, but will be going to competitions and meets together once more girls join.

“[The guys are] excited to a limited extent,” Rozanski said. “Just to have females as a counterpart, although they aren’t going to be wrestling against each other.”

Other LISD schools, like Flower Mound, Lewisville and Marcus, have a girls wrestling team available. Rozanski said the reason why there was not a team before was because of the lack of interest and numbers, and many girls did not know of the opportunity to join the team.

“[I formed this team in order to] give girls an opportunity to wrestle, and be a part of that experience,” Rozanski said. “Right now, [the other schools are] prospering and doing well. And I want Hebron to experience the same thing.”

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Breaking Barriers ----

Cheerleader seeks out future career in football coaching

TATIANA CALZADO OPINION EDITOR

Junior Isabel Diaz posed with a football. Diaz hopes to become a football coach and set an example for girls and women who want to go into the sports industry.

Photo by Harper Lee

Junior Isabel Diaz is a girl going into a man’s world.

Diaz is a cheerleader who wants to be a football coach. She grew up with the sport, watching it with her family every Sunday. From there, she grew a passion for it, and that passion turned her toward a career choice.

Diaz has been working with football coaches Brian Brazil, Jeff Hill and Robert Vaughn, hoping to gain more knowledge that will help her in the future.

“As a freshman, I knew I wanted to coach,” Diaz said. “Going into high school, I knew this was a time for me to get it together and actually make moves. Coach Hill also invited me to go in Saturday and Sunday mornings and sit there during the players’ meetings. Coach Vaughn is taking me under his wing right now; he’ll go over the plays with me and start writing things out. I’m starting to see progress. I’m doing basic concepts right now and [I] can see the progress of me from starting at my first game to now.”

Diaz hopes to major in sports management and minor in journalism, as a backup plan. Diaz is currently interested in the University of Alabama, Oklahoma State and the University of Michigan.

“When I’m looking at colleges, I look at the football programs,” Diaz said. “Alabama has one of the best programs in the nation. Oklahoma [State] has a coaching program, and Michigan has a coach from the NFL, so he knows what he’s doing. I want to be a manager for the team or be a graduate assistant and just be involved in football and be surrounded by that scene.”

Diaz is aware that not many women go into the profession. However, according to Diaz, going into football coaching is helping her break a barrier not many get to.

“It’s a little scary at times,” Diaz said. “I learned, by being a girl going into a man’s world, that it’s OK to be different. It’s OK to go out there and do something different, make an impact. I’m hoping I can use this as a platform [to show] that girls can do anything guys can do. That’s something I really strive for, to be someone who can be a trailblazer in this industry and hope that I can impact younger girls and help them think that they can follow their dreams.”

Through her journey of becoming a trailblazer, Diaz feels the coaches at Hebron have impacted and supported her the entire way.

“Coach Brazil has impacted me by just giving me the opportunity of getting me into the football program,” Diaz said. “Coach Hill and Coach Vaughn have impacted me tremendously by just giving me a chance. This is something different; it’s something you don’t come across. And for them to accept it, be there, and help me out, it has been so helpful and has made a huge impact on me.”

During her time pursuing her interest by learning and training to become a football coach, Diaz has grown confident in herself and is happy to take a different step and becoming a role model towards others.

“[I like the idea of] having a voice for the girls who want to do something different with their lives, or even the boys who want to do something different than other people and [are] taking another pathway,” Diaz said. “The NFL is already transitioning into having more women: there’s a female owner and a referee. I’m hoping that as I get older that [there will be] more women in the NFL. I would love to impact other people’s lives. I would want to be able to go out there and give speeches and tell others that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.”

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----- The seizure that saved his life -----------

Student finds motivation to turn life around, graduate

YUSRA WARIS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

He wakes up to the blinding light of his hospital room; the room was mostly silent, apart from the whirring of the machines regulating his heart rate and his tense breathing.

What happened?

The last thing he remembered was walking out of class at the Learning Center and talking to another student, the rest was hazy from there.

He was in a bed, a real bed. It had been months since he last slept in the comfort of his room at home. It had been months since he last saw his mom. It had been months since he resorted to spending the night in friends’ cars or by the train tracks near the school.

Doctors told him he had a seizure: that he blacked out and had no control over himself. At that point, he did not know what he was feeling. There was some anger: toward his situation, his actions, his life the couple of months leading up to this day. As he gradually regained full consciousness, he did know one thing for certain: he had hit rock bottom. He realized he needed to get back on track, go back home and set his priorities straight.

Now, former student Daniel Elizardo has overcome homelessness, drugs, and other obstacles and recently obtained his diploma in September - something he thought he would not be able to accomplish.

“[When I got my diploma], I didn’t even know what to feel,” Elizardo said. “I was just looking at it and thought that hard work really does pay off. I’m really happy I got it now because if I didn’t, I would’ve been dealing with a whole bunch of stuff regarding bills. Sometimes it’s still hard for me to get to work, but I find my ways. I was happy when I got it. Now that I got it, it givesme more of an opportunity to do something.”

Elizardo said ever since elemetary school, he has been getting into trouble and drawing was one of the ways for him to relieve his stress in and out of school.

Provided by Glenda Garcia

In the months leading up to his seizure, Elizardo was arrested due to an altercation with his father; he was bonded out a couple of days later. After his release, he decided to leave his home and ended up missing about two months of school, mainly trying to find a place to live.

“I was pretty much living in the streets,” Elizardo said. “I was sleeping in friends’ cars; sometimes I would have to sleep by the train tracks. I didn’t even want to come to school [because] to me, around that time, money was the only thing that I had on my mind. [I didn’t want to be around the] people here [because they] don’t understand that. They are quick to take everything for granted and I’ve been down and out not having anything.”

Through the money he earned by hustling and with help from his friends regarding bills, Elizardo was able to save up enough money to live at a hotel for three weeks.

“I was barely making any money and I needed to support myself,” Elizardo said. “I just [had] to do what I needed to and I just kind of hustled: get stuff and sell it. I’ve always known how to do that; the people I’ve been around taught me how to do [that] because that’s the only chance that they [had] from where they are from.”

Since Elizardo’s sophomore year, assistant principal Sandra Lee monitored his progress and attendance to make sure he came to school and stayed out of trouble.

“Daniel was a hard case,” Lee said. “He had so many obstacles and some of them were self-created and sometimes Daniel couldn’t see what was possible because he was so wrapped up in surviving. When you are homeless and trying to find out what you are going to eat, that becomes your focus; school is not top priority. And Daniel was a hustler; his reputation preceded him, but he was always very respectful and listened.”

Elizardo poses with Lee as he holds his diploma. Lee had been motivating Elizardo to work harder in school since his sophomore year.

Provided by Glenda Garcia

Elizardo felt Lee was one of the only people able to motivate him to come to school and find a way to graduate. During the summer of his senior year, Elizardo had to take a summer elective course to make up for some of his credits in order for him to receive his diploma.

“No one saw me graduating,” Elizardo said. “I didn’t even see myself graduating because if no one believed in me then why should I believe in myself? So Ms. Lee really was the only one [who] told me that I can go out and be whatever I want to be if I work for it. People have parents that tell them ‘hey you can go out and be anything,’ but I didn’t have anyone who told me that. Ms. Lee was probably the first.”

Elizardo’s mother, Glendy Garcia, said getting the call from the school about the seizure was one of the scariest moments of her life.

“As a mother, you never want [anything] to happen to your children,” Garcia said. “The minute I got the call from the school, which I always did, I knew something was wrong. [When] the assistant principal said, ‘we’re taking [Daniel] to the hospital; he had a seizure,’ my heart stopped. I didn’t cry. I just grabbed my purse and told my boss I have to go. When I got to the hospital and saw him on the bed, it freaked me out, but I still went up to him and told him I was there and for him not to be scared, he would be OK, and that I loved him. And [when] they took him for X-ray, the minute they took him, I lost it [and cried].”

Now looking back at his seizure, Elizardo and Lee believeit was the turning point in his life that helped motivate him to go home and focus on doing better in school.

“He had to get to the point where he wanted it,” Lee said. “When [he] woke up in the hospital and realized it could’ve been worse, that was [his] rock bottom. A lot of people don’t start building until they hit rock bottom, and I think down deep he really wanted it, but he was just confused on how to get there.”

Elizardo plans to pursue tattooing and opening up a barber shop. He also hopes to talk to students who are struggling with the same problems that he was going through and aims to inspire them through his story to work harder in school.

“I know there are a lot of kids like me,” Elizardo said. “I feel like maybe I can motivate them not to do [what I did] and better themselves. But at the end of the day, I can tell them one thing and they’ll just do what they want to do. All I can do is try to persuade them, but it depends on how they take it.”

From his experience of living in the streets and trying to find a place, Elizardo has learned an important life lesson that he hopes to share with others.

“Nobody cares, the way I see it,” Elizardo said. “I’ve been down and out and people did help me, but at the end of the day, I was on my own. You’ll get a little bit of help, but you can’t depend on them to help you out because you aren’t going to get any free tickets out here. You got to get it out on your own.”

Elizardo stands outside the school in his cap, gown and diploma. He said he has been working since September to save enough money for further education.

Provided by Glenda Garcia

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