The Lone Star Dispatch, Vol. 28, Issue #6, 5.16.2016

James Bowie High School

the

Lone Star Dispatch Vol. 31

Issue 6

4103 W. Slaughter Lane Austin TX 78749

Monday, May 16, 2016

www.thelonestaronline.com

An aroma of mold fills theatre

Heavy rain left theatre damaged and unhealthy for student and public use Victoria Newell Entertainment Editor On Monday April 16 to Friday April 20, Austin Texas saw heavy rains and monstrous storms, and one unlucky soul stepped into Bowie’s theater, bombarded with disgusting smells and a slushy carpet, it didn’t take too long to realize that the theater had flooded.

“During the musical Tarzan, the pipes were breaking, the theater was flooding, the outlets- flaccid and useless, and that’s when I heard about the flooding; quite the recuss,” senior theater student Nick Genin said.

The theater’s wet status was officially announced on April 20, when Silver Star director Courtney Allison had to break the news to her team that the theater was no longer safe to perform in because of possible mold spores made evident by the stench and the mold that had already creeped onto the UIL sets. The district quickly got to work in fixing the theater.

“I was actually in the theater, working with one of the middle schools that performed in spring show, and I was stepping in soggy carpet, and it wasn’t just the smell; I was just like, ‘this isn’t safe, It isn’t safe

for kids to be rehearsing in’, especially if there gonna be breathing heavy and really having to take deep breaths,” Allison said.

The Silver Stars still had the issue of putting their show up in a different venue. They eventually decided to perform in the gym, and with help from RealLife Church, AISD Fine Arts Director Greg Goodman, The Silver Star parents, Principal Stephen Kane, and the athletics department, put on the show.

“It was so incredibly refreshing to see everybody say ‘okay, let’s build a stage,’ everybody has really come to together, and it has been the biggest blessing to be a part of that.

The show did go one, and it was a really spectacular show,” Allison said.

With the Silver Star’s show done, the theater’s flooding issue needs to be addressed. The problems have been identified and the Construction Department at AISD is aware and is putting together a project in early June to fix some outdated infrastructure in the theater.

“The district has been working on where we get the problems and I think we’ve narrowed it down to several different problems,” Kane said. “One of them is the back door, and we think, but we

won’t know until we tear the wall up; but the drain pipes are in the wall and we think that the pipes are rotted out now and old and when there’s so much water it can’t take it out fast enough.”

Bowie has a very unique system of drainage, instead of drain pipes being outside the building, like on most houses, the drain pipes are in the wall.

The drain pipes are rotted and outdated, and water is leaking through the walls.

“I feel like it should be rebuilt because we don’t have enought space backstage and we don’t have enough space for storage but I think that’s highly unlikely,” senior Andy Moe said.

One of the places where it’s the worst, is in the theater. The other problem is the back garage door that can be seen from the front parking lot, the seal no longer keeps water out.

“It’s been an ongoing problem for quite a while now, I’ve been here for almost four years and this year has definitely been the worst when it comes to flooding, mold, and animals and creatures that have been in there,” senior technical theater President Kamryn Bryce said.

Despite the numerous work orders put in by the theater department, many

involving things such as a large centipede and two cases of bats in the theater, it wasn’t until more than one department began addressing the issue of the falling-apart-theater when real evidence of repair began.

“There are a lot of times where I’ll run through the theater trying to get something and trying not to gag because smells so bad, but I feel like it’s just something that we’ve been fixing, we’ve been dealing with it,” Bryce said. “So now that Silver Stars have come in and deemed it unacceptable, something is happening. But we have gone in and put in countless work orders, so it’s just interesting now that something is happening now. I think that the right people talked at the right time.”

This issue has caused a lot of raised eyebrows; with a theater this outdated that can no longer house even one-fourth of the school, should the theater be renovated or rebuilt?

“I think it would be awesome for the theater to be rebuilt, my concern would be that it would take a really long time and that we wouldn’t get to perform in the theater for over a year,” senior theater officer Paige Bradbury said. “I think that maybe it should just have extensive

Suit up: Sophomore Tanner Howell and Luke Fisher help move a moldy set piece out of the theatre. Due to heavy rainfall and flooding the theatre started to grow mold in certain areas. Photo by Kamryn Bryce

remodeling but there’s so many problems that it just might as well be rebuilt. I do think that we definitely don’t have enough but what we do with what we have is just a testament to how good we are.”

Compared to some of the newer schools in the district, the theater is in poor state. The front curtains are not even opened and closed for fear of them falling, storage problems are prominent- as costume and prop closets are

bursting at the seams, and backstage space is limited.

Even the light board still uses floppy disks.

“Every year since as long as I can remember, when we have a problem, we fix it, we put some duct tape on it, we clean it, we reorganize, we do everything we can to fix the problem as best we can,” Bryce said.

Read more: “Flood water causes moldy chaos for theatre department” on Page 2

Finals week changes up the usual schedule Day 1:

Day 2:

-Thursday, May 26

-Tuesday, May 31

5th & 6th period

3rd & 4th period

Day 4:

Day 3:

-Thursday, June 2

-Wednesday, June 1

Photo Essay

The PALS help raise awareness with the color blue Blue out Bowie helped raise awareness and collected donations for children and teens from abusive homes and situations.

See page 8 for more details

INSIDE

Entertainment 2 News 3

Student Life 4-5

art by Fuaad Ajaz

1st & 2nd period

7th & 8th period

Entertainment

Silver Stars performed a show about communication Mold in the theatre caused the Silver Stars to move their performance to the gymnasium where they had to build a stage and continue their dance routine.

See page 3 for more details

Athletics

Tennis players raise their endurance by competing Junior Jolie Francis and senior Mariya Shkolnayaco travel to Waco for regionals and College Station to compete in the state tournament See page 6 for more details

Commentary 6

Athletics 7

Photo Essay 8

E entertainment

The Lone Star Dispatch Monday, May 16, 2016 Page 2

Silver Stars spring into shows Gavin Farner Staff Writer The lights once again put the spotlight on the shining Silver Stars when they performed their annual Spring Shows. But this show was in a much different predicament than previous years, with the space that they normally occupy being flooded by rain.

Each show is a masterpiece of its own, inspiration taken from the directors and brought to life by professionals hired for the occasion.

“We actually hire a professional to choreograph the show,” Silver Star assistant director Jennifer Bennett said. “Each dance is different but this one was about the technology of communication and how to communicate.”

The spring show was not without its complications, but even with all the bumps in their program the Silver Star family pulled through.

“This time was completely different because it was in the gym,” Bennett said.

“Our fathers came together to build us a new stage in the gym. It was much, much, different.”

Everyone seemed pleased, and at the end of a crazy weekend it was officially a success.

“It went really well, people were

pleased and said it was more of a production.” Bennett said.

For junior Caroline Texeira having the spotlight on her is nothing out of the ordinary, but even the best get a little uneasy in the face of a big show.

“It’s not hard to perform in front of others because I have been performing all my life,” Teixeira said. “Friday was hard because the whole school was there” The Silver Stars keep busy, and with the Spring Show marking the end of the season, The Silver Stars take time to train the new recruits in their show style and technique.

“Theres usually a week in between not a lot of time off between seasons” Teixeira said “We also have New Team Practice for the newbies, the sophomores practice with us for two weeks” To make the show come alive they must spend ample time practicing and keeping in shape, sophomore Morgan Andrews does exactly that. “[I practice] every morning and sometimes after school as well,” Andrews said.

Expression, showing the audience grandiose, and making the show come to life, are what the Silver Stars strive for in every show.

“We believe in the performance being the best it can be and sharing the moment with the audience,” Andrews said.

Seniors Take a Bow: Officer juniors Hannah Parsons and Sydney Zahorik say goodbye to seniors Mehan Hauck, Katherine Jones, and Hannah Rodriguez. Many more seniors said their goodbyes during the Senior Slideshow. Photo by Ashley Ramirez

Renew: Senior Katherine Jones sprinkles flour on herself during the officer piece, “Renew.” The piece is about looking back on who the dancers were and who they have become. Photo by Ashley Ramirez

Seniors direct the final plays of their high school career Victoria Newell Entertainment Editor

Bowie’s stage has seen a staggering twenty-three shows this school year, and It’s about to bear witness to eleven more. One week after Spring Show’s draw to a close, eleven seniors put down their character shows, pick up a pen and paper, cut a script, and sit down to cast their very own shows.

“Senior Directing has definitely been a super awesome opportunity, I’m so glad that I get to do it.

I’ve learned a lot more about myself as an actress and I think that that’s so valuable.” senior director Paige Bradbury said.

The Senior One Acts are one act plays directed by students. The Senior Directors have already directed Children Shows in the fall, and are challenged

Just Dance With Me: Sophomores Avery Helder and Blake Moyer rehearse for their show The Cover of Life, directed by Jamie Godwin. Through the words of a Life Magazine journalist, the show portrayes the lives of four women as they wait for their boys to come home from World War II. Photo by Shelby Kelly

to direct a dramatic realism piece in the Spring.

“Children shows are big and energetic to entertain a younger audience, Se-

nior One Acts are shows that are heavily based on reality, and it’s better for them to focus on realism, and better for our actors

to focus on realistic characters,” theater head Betsy Cornwell said.

The seniors begin with selecting a show, and cut-

WINTER CLO & L T HE FAL S

For Less

ting it down to be under an hour long. The director’s process for selecting their shows vary, some of them knew what show they wanted to do since Freshmen Year, others only had a vague idea.

“I kept having this dream that my Senior One Act had flowers in it,” senior director Julianna Davis said. “And two or three days before the deadline I picked up this script out of the library and I started liking it and about halfway through this guy started talking about flowers and I was like ‘this is it, this is my show’.”

Senior One Acts and Children Shows are unique, in that they give underclassmen more of a chance to shine. Since most of the upperclassmen are busy with behind-thescenes roles, the underclassmen make up a large

majority of the cast.

“I love giving people opportunities they might not of had and this would be a really cool opportunity for them to grow and for me to grow and get them places if they’re not there yet, so I’m super duper excited- my cast is huge!”

Davis said.

The Seniors also get a window into the wide range of up and coming talent in Starlight Theater Company.

“It was really cool to see how much talent is in the STC, because sometimes people often get overlooked but getting to sit through all of those auditions I just realized that we are so lucky to have an incredible amount of talent,” Bradbury said.

The last shows of the year begin on 12, and the theater season draws to a close on May 15.

$5 OFF

any $25 purchase*

*Not valid with other offers. Expires 001/16/16.

8 / 3 1 / 1 6 CPNHS0116

  3005 Lamar Blvd in Austin

News

The Lone Star Dispatch Monday, May 16, 2016 Page 3

World color guard takes nationals Caitlin Devlin Managing Editor

A lone white figure sits at a white piano, on a white floor. A voice over begins, and the guard enters the floor clothed in white, and then silence.

For their first year of being in the world class, the James Bowie color guard’s theme is Anarchy of Silence, inspired by John Cage’s composition ‘4;33’, a piece consisting of only silence. They perform with little sound and color, making this known as the theme everyone was too scared to try.

The world guard won first in their class in every Texas competition they participated in, this year, making it their second undefeated season. On top of this, they also won in their class in Southwestern Color Guard Championship in Denton, making this their fourth year winning first.

“All of the hard work and blood and sweat was most definitely worth it,” junior Jessica Stachew said. “We achieved what no other Texas team has before, and we had the most amazing experience along the way.”

The guard practiced together almost everyday after school and during weekends. They also participated in WGI competitions almost every weekend to prepare for World Championships.

“At the beginning, I really just wanted to make world class finals,” junior Mariana Medina said.-“But as the season progressed, and the director’s expectations got higher, mine followed and by the end of it I just wanted to be in top five.”

The guard took about a day and a half to travel from Austin to Dayton, Ohio, by bus to get to World Championships.

“Traveling to Dayton is always a great experience for the team,” Stachew said.

“It allows us to have that last moment to bond with each other before we have our last runs together.

The preliminary round was the Thursday after they arrived in Dayton. The guard knew that they had an amazing run, but never imagined that they would place the way they did. The guard ended up winning fifth in prelims with a score of 89.7003 “Winning fifth made everyone want to fight harder for semi-finals,” Stachew said.

“We were amazed that we were ranked in the top five and it gave us a fire for semis and for finals.”

In semi finals, the guard exceeded their expectations by far, and made it out with a score of 93.700 in third place. They also

Standing Strong: Junior student Tori Lewis stands tall gripping strongly on to the flag which she is waving in a fan motion. The color guard is a regular group that performs at the football games in the fall. Photo by Violet Glenewinkel

received a 99 in the General Effect category, tying with the renowned world guard Tarpon Springs.

“I don’t think any of us thought semis was better than our prelims run, but when Powell pulled us outside in the freezing weather and into an alley way, we all knew something was weird,” sophomore Shannon Ross said. “Then they told us the placement and I’m pretty sure all of us peed a little.”

This is not only the highest the guard has ever placed in WGI Internationals, but it is also the highest a Texan world guard had ever placed in the competition.

“When we got third in semi finals I was shocked,” Stachew said. “At the point in time we were the third best color guard in the world, and it was amazing. Knowing that there are only two teams in this whole nation that we haven’t beat before is crazy.”

The group also had the chance to meet many other guards from around the world, such as the Pride of the Netherlands from Huizan, The Netherlands. The two guards were able to preview their shows for each other.

“Talking to independent and interna-

tional guards made me realize that it’s amazing to think that color guard brought so many different people together that might not normally get to interact with one another and it makes the opportunity and the sport that much more special and memorable,” Medina said.

On Saturday, April, 9, the guard had one last chance at finals to make history, and one last chance to impress both the judges and the WGI community with their show.

“I can remember times where I didn’t have energy or I was so bruised that it hurt to do anything but I kept pushing,” Ross said. “After running off the floor in Dayton, crying, those are the kind of moment that we work so hard for.”

After they performed there was a long period of dead time while waiting for retreat, when placement would be announced. In this time, the guard was able to watch and talk to independent world guards, guards that are mostly made up of more experienced adult members.

“My favorite show from WGI this year was Black Gold’s show ‘Bullero’,” Stachew said. “It was about bulls and a matador and it was simply amazing. Their

group is from Texas as well and we support each other at local competitions all the time. When we watched them I just felt a small connection and it made the show all the more enjoyable.”

After waiting, guard was finally able to hear what they had been waiting for all season. In their first year of being a world guard, James Bowie had beat all odds and came out with a score of 92.650, putting them in fifth place out of the 15 other guards that had advanced to finals.

“Hearing them announce ‘In fifth place, James Bowie from Austin, Texas’ is something that I’ll never forget,” Ross said.

Bowie is the first world guard from Texas to ever make the top-five in the World Championships.

“I exceeded my expectations by far,” Ross said. “The first goal was to make finals. Not only did we make finals or top ten, we made it all the way to the top five in the nation. All of the hard work and blood and sweat was most definitely worth it. We were amazed that we were ranked in the top five. The first goal was to make finals. Not only did we make finals or top ten, we made it all the way to the top-three in the nation.”

Class of 2017 prepares for designing their own parking spot

Carissa Duran News Editor

art by Amaya Marquez

The attendance incentives were announced earlier this year in January giving an opportunity for the incoming seniors to choose their own parking spot and to design it. The class of 2017 has been planning how to make their mark on Bowie.

“Although the parking spot incentive isn’t a free one hundred on a final, this incentive is cool in another way,” history teacher Ruth Ann Widner said. “This incentive is allowing students to use their creativity.”

Not only are the students planning on how to design their parking spot, but focusing more on which parking spot to choose.

“Morning traffic at Bowie is pretty bad, but nothing is worse than the traffic after school when everyone wants to speed home,” junior Brooke Cheverly said. “I know exactly what parking spot I would choose to design because it is the perfect way to avoid all of the misery that Bowie traffic creates for me.”

As a surprise to the staff, since late Jan-

uary attendance rates went rising.

“It is a fact that the attendance rates have been better ever since the incentives were announced,” assistant principle Stephanie McGraw said. “For over a couple months the best attendance rates was the junior class, which was odd because I doubted a little bit that we would be able to persuade the juniors to care about their attendance.”

The parking spot incentive is only offered to the seniors.

“When I heard about the parking incentive I thought that was really cool because I always have to park in the church,” sophomore student Matthew Lopez said. But at the same time I total understand why seniors deserve their own parking spot, it’s their fourth and final year at this school, they have earned their own parking spot.

Widner was aware that there would be some confrontation about how only the seniors are given the opportunity to choose their own parking spot.

“We can’t make everyone happy all of the time. I understand upperclassmen are the students that usually have the most absents. The incoming seniors actually really do care about the incentives and want to

design their own parking spot. Also, seniority did play a large roll while discussing the attendance incentives.

The incoming seniors are ready to have their own personal parking spot that they will be able to have for the whole entire year.

“There has been multiple times when I have left for lunch or an off period and I

come back and someone has taken my parking spot and I will be at least 15 minutes late to class because I couldn’t find another one and had to go park in the church,” junior Katie Lopez said. “Next year when I have my own parking spot, it will prevent so much time wasting and stress for me.”

Flood water causes moldy chaos for theatre department Continued from pg. 1 “The theater should be rebuilt because we don’t have enough space backstage and we don’t have enough space for storage but I think that’s highly unlikely,” senior theater officer Andy Moe said.

The theater department is doing everything it can to help patch up the theater. Including hosting numerous fund-raisers, like one this year to help buy a new light-board, and often students get in and get their hands dirty trying to fix problems.

“When we have a problemwe fix it, we put some duct tape on it, we clean it, we reorganize, we do everything we can to fix the problem as best we can. But this problem has grown so big that it’s not something that we

can really fix anymore,” Bryce said.

However, AISD is not ignoring the problems, and Greg Goodman and the Fine Arts Department at AISD are very aware of the Fine Arts need at Bowie.

“In our last bond election the fine arts department recommended forty million dollars for renovations at Bowie High School.

In that bond of recommendations there was expanding the theater, building a new band hall, taking the current band hall and turning into an orchestra space, expanding the choral space, and building two visual arts space,” Goodman said.

However, bond containing improvements for Bowie’s Fine Arts Program in almost every aspect, was denied.

“It was defeated by a very

small vote, but we’re hoping that at the next bond election, it will get passed, we recognize that Bowie has the greatest need right now,” Goodman said.

Despite the disgusting current state of the theater, Bowie High School will continue to work around it and produce award-winning productions and programs- even with an ancient facility.

“If it’s renovated, it’s renovated, if it’s not we’ll keep working and we’ll keep doing’ what we’re doing because we’re Bowie and we do what we do. We look forward and we put our shoulders down and we keep working and strive to be the best,” Allison said.

Although mold growing in the theatre has caused much stress and worry, in the end with all of

the belong hands that were offered the Silver Stars were still able to put on their annual spring show.

“You know it actually has been one of the most positive experiences,” Allison said. “I mean the amount of stress has been kind of ridiculous trying to make sure that the Silver Stars and the parents get what they need.”

The theatre department has always ignored the underlining issues that have occurred. The Silver Stars would not stand for it “There has been a lot of times where I’ll run through the theater trying to get something and trying not to gag it smells so bad, but I feel like it’s just something that we’ve been fixing, Bryce said.

“We’ve been dealing with it. So now that Silver Stars mom’s have come in and deemed it unaccept-

able, somethings happening.

But we have gone in and put in countless work orders, so it’s just interesting now that somethings happening. I think that the right people talked at the right time.”

It is a long overdue that the theatre department receives the construction that they deserve.

“Theres a lot of students that will complain about it, I do feel that our facilities to be kept up.,” Bryce said. “I mean we have almost a thousand people in the tech and theater programs and I feel like that should amount to something,” .

There were many volunteers doing anything they could top help minimize the workload as much as possible.

“With this kind of support, the theatre will be up and running in no time,” Alison said.

S tudent Life

The Lone Star Dispatch Monday, May 16, 2016

Page 4

Courtney Allison: Teacher of Promise Stellar teaching earns Silver Star director the Teacher of Promise award Nate Miller Staff Writer

When a teacher is recently hired to a school or ne to teaching in general, their hope is to connect with the students and make the school a better place.

This year, dance teacher Courtney Allison made that hope into a reality by bringing new techniques and methods to the dance program, as well as connecting with the students as more than a teacher.

Each year at Bowie, an award has been given to a ‘Teacher of Promise.’

This award is given to newer teachers that show promise and capability to make a change at Bowie High School. This year, on March 5th, the award was given to Courtney Allison, the head dance teacher.

Allison has not only enjoyed working in one of the most well known programs in the country, she has also gotten to know a lot of the students and other teachers.

Before coming to Bowie, Allison did choreography in many different states and countries, learning and experiencing different things in each of them. She has decided to come to Bowie and teach the dancers here that knowledge.

“Being invited here to learn from the amazing faculty is a no-brainer,” Al-

lison said. “I’m so grateful to be here every day, working with amazing students and passionate educators.”

Allison hasn’t just made an impact on the school as a whole, she has made an impact on individual students’ lives as well.

“She taught me how to think outside the box and that thinking for myself is better than always listening to others,” sophomore dancer Maddy Sparkes said. “She has incorporated her own style into the dance company.”

She has also changed the school’s dance program by bringing in new methods that she learned choreographing all around the country and the world.

The students have noticed differences between last year’s overall attitude and this year’s.

“She put a lot more fun into dancing and pushed us all to be better dancers,” sophomore Camryn Christenson said.

The Silver Stars look up to Allison as both a mentor and a teacher. Many share the sentiment that she deserves the award for everything she does at Bowie.

Not only has she changed the way that shows are choreographed, she has changed the way that Silver Stars look at their teacher.

“I would almost describe her as a mentor,”

Promises of dance: Silver Star director, Courtney Allison, helps rookie Silver Stars with their spring shows. The rookie Silver Stars were dancing to “Walk Like An Egyptian” by The Bangles. Photo by Caitlin Devlin.

Christenson said.

Each year only a select few of teachers are nominated and the chances of being picked to win are slim.

“She deserved the Teacher of Promise award because she has a lot of potential to make the Sil-

ver Stars a better organization,” Christenson said.

The award itself is a physical representation of the passion and enthusiasm that it takes to be a great teacher. To many teachers, even being considered for the award is an honor. It shows that a teacher is ded-

icated in what they do and that they have something to bring to the school and its students.

“I think ‘vision’ has something to do with it,” Allison said.

Having an impartial outlook towards the dance department comes in

handy when starting fresh at a new school.

“Coming into a department so widely recognized for its success requires being open to every opportunity. I am so grateful to even be considered for this award,” Allison said.

Cinematographer takes a journey FCA brings athletes and faith together

Killeen’s dreams are brought to life through films Gavin Farner Staff Writer

Hands to God: Sophomore Amarissa Reyes, Juniors Avery James and Reilly Smith, Freshman Aylen Vivar raise their hands during a game. These are played at the beginning of every meeting. Photo by Mia Barbosa. art by Amaya Marquez

In the life of freshman Joseph Killeen it’s all about lights, camera, and action. Joseph is a cinematographer, or someone that makes moving pictures. He chose this path because his family has been involved in this career for many years.

“My grandpa and my brother both went to college for cinematography so I was influenced by them,” Killeen said.

Killeen started out at a young age and has only grew more and more involved with his projects as he’s grown older.

“I’ve been working on movies since I was probably four,” Killeen said.

“I used to mess with my brother’s editing software and ever since then, I’ve been doing it. I really took it up as a hobby when I was like twelve or thirteen.”

It may sound like it would take a whole heap of knowledge and equipment to start out in cinematography, but it’s a lot more simple than the word entails. The only thing a cinematographer would need in abundance, is time.

“First there’s the filming, and that takes however long it would take you to actually get the footage, then after that it takes anywhere from three to four weeks to put together, so in total it could take up almost six months,” Killeen said. “It doesn’t take much, since everyone has a camera in their pocket, but you also need basic knowledge of what you want to see.”

Everyone starts somewhere so Killeen is getting his name out to people in the best way to communicate with anyone in this day and age- through social media.

“I mainly use through social media and sharing from people, but to do this you have to be invested,” Killeen said. “I use Instagram, Twitter and occasionally Snapchat.

Supporters of my film use

things like Facebook to also help spread the news of a new film that has been released.”

Killeen gets support from his community to help him become better at what he does, as well as advertise his work to others to further his career and make his dream a reality.

“My church advertises me through faith and that’s like 300 people, as well as my family,” Killen said.

Some freshman haven’t even thought about what they will do after they graduate high school but Killeen knows exactly what he wants to do.

“I plan to go to college and pursue this as a career,” Killeen said.

There are many colleges to choose from and knowing which ones are best can be what makes your career more than a dream.

“I want to study in cinematography where my brother went to as it seems like it would be a good school for me,” Killeen said.

Being able to show creations is one of the joys of making anything at all; in Killeen’s graphic design

class he has had many projects that have made heads turn.

“When Joseph shows his projects in class a lot of his friends are very excited to see it and he does do very good work,” Graphic Design teacher Gina Cottone said.

Although many people may not realize it, cinematography takes a lot of pre-planning and careful selection of what will be filmed to get the best product. You may want to look at examples of other products to help your end product look better.

“In class we review commercials, I have a website that we use quite a lot that has all the information on it,” Animation teacher Andrew Nourse said. ”I also have these worksheets that the students fill out to get an idea of what they are going to make. They get into groups to brainstorm and then take the best ideas to make them appear on the big screen.”

When people hear cinematography or film producing, making a living sounds too good to be true.

According to work.

chron.com, the average pay that cinematographers make is between the lowest salary of $19,770 and the highest of $87,850.

When shooting a film it’s important to focus on one thing, but so much goes into a film it may be hard to choose just one aspect of a project to focus on.

“The most important aspect to focus on in a film project would be the premise or concept,” Nourse said. “The next important for me is creativity and the story, you want to intrigue your audience.”

Filmmaking is for people who want to show others a story through their eyes and getting the viewer to walk in the maker’s shoes, taking a part of the story into their own life.

“The most important thing about cinematography and filmmaking is the story,” Killeen said.

“When all the shots have been filmed and all the editing is finished it’s the story that is told that matters.

The story is what compels and inspires the viewer to apply the message to their own life.”

Members bond through their beliefs Nya Martin Staff Writer

FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, is a club that primarily focuses on Christian athletes coming together in shared faith and discussion. Junior Avery James started FCA club this school year and it’s slowly but surely growing in size.

In middle school, James was a part of an FCA club that she enjoyed so much it encouraged her to start one in her own high school. At first the struggle to find a coach able to help get the club up and running was difficult, but then, James was put in Coach Perry’s psychology class.

“I noticed he had a FCA bible sitting in the back of his room one day so I just talked to him about getting it started and we just worked from there,” James said.

Since the club is geared towards athletes, activities are a big part of the meetings.

“We start by having a game of some sort to get everyone involved and that’s where the fellowship comes in,” James said. “And then we head up to coach Perry’s room and we do a devotional of some sort and we just relate biblical lessons to our lives as everyday students and athletes and just have that place where we can all

bond over our same values.”

FCA has provided James with a safe place where she can express her feelings through her faith with students who share the same understanding.

“I love the atmosphere of the group, I generally feel comfortable and happy in FCA,” James said.

The type of atmosphere James worked to build in FCA is what she wants other students to be able to experience.

“I want students at Bowie to know they’re never alone. There’s always a place for them in FCA, no one is excluded,” James said.

FCA is a great way for athletes to meet new people and converse with other athletes within the same christian faith as themselves.

“I try to tell anyone I can about FCA. Even though I just started going, I already love it and encourage people to join us,” sophomore Seyi Odufuye said.

FCA continues to grow as members invite their friends and classmates. In time they hope to see the club multiply in the number of students attending.

“We just want more people to know about us on campus so they can find a place to help grow their faith and worship together if that’s what they want to do,” coach Perry said.

S student

The Lone Star Dispatch Monday, May 16, 2016 Page 5

A day in the life of a custodian Custodians stay late nights to clean trash students and teachers leave behind

Eliana Lynch Staff Writer A custodian comes to school, does their cleaning and then leaves without students and faculty members even knowing that they were there but, more goes on behind the scenes in the custodial world that no one is even aware of. Custodial work might seem like an easy job but, it takes more scheduling and organization to do the job.

“Every custodian has a specific job and area of the school they are assigned to, I come in the mornings and work from 6:00 to 2:30 and my second in command comes in at 1:00 and leaves at 9:30,” custodian Theresa Bachmann said.

Teamwork is a huge part when it comes to cleaning.

It’s important that all custodians are present and able to work.

“The hardest part of this job is when we’re missing people,” Bachmann said.

“If a custodian doesn’t show up for work that means that another custodian is going to have to do the missing custodian’s work and their own job.”

There are 19 custodians at Bowie.

“I have worked here for nine years,” custodian Maria Luisa Ramirez said. “I originally worked in hotels, cleaning different rooms, but then I transferred here.

This school was so large to me and I was scared at first and didn’t think that I could do it. It wasn’t my dream job, but I need to care for my family.”

Some custodians didn’t get a high education for different reasons, some are from different countries and custodial work is the

Cleaning up: Custodian Valerie Jaime’s moves chairs out of the way to clean the yearbook room after school. Jaimes cleans F Hall before and after school this year every morning and afternoon. Photo by Ashley Ramirez

only work that they can do, while some had successful jobs and ended up doing custodial work.

“I owned and managed my own restaurant before working here,” Bachmann said. “Students think that we are uneducated just because we’re custodians.

Some of my workers don’t have a high education,

but that’s not the case for all of them. My second in command, Rodolfo, was a computer tech when he lived in Nicaragua. I also have some custodians who have teaching degrees, or accounting degrees, they lived in different countries and their diplomas didn’t transfer.”

It takes tedious work

and long hours to keep up with cleaning a school.

Sometimes, the custodians have more than one job, which adds pressure and strain.

“I work until 9:30 at this school,” said Ramirez.

“I wake up early and I have to cook for my family and take them to school before coming to start my

actual job. On weekends I sometimes clean houses. I work all the time. My son opened my eyes and told me that he never sees me anymore, but what can I say, I need to do my job.”

Parts of the job aren’t pleasant to the custodians.

Most are actually unpleasant.

“Students have a problem with throwing away their trash,” said Bachmann. “It’s almost like they’re trying to show off to their friends or show their “dominance” towards us when they do so. They want to prove that it’s “our job” to throw away their things for them.”

This issue with students being irresponsible is a constant issue in the life of a custodian.

“The blue recycling bins are one of the larger problems,” Ramirez said.

“It’s for paper or plastic, not for trash and another issue is all the graffiti in the bathrooms. We use different cleaners but the pens or markers the students use stay. It’s very irritating having to clean that up.”

Custodians aren’t the only members of the high school community who think that students make the lives of custodians harder.

“I think everyone treats the janitors horrible and I feel so bad for them,” junior Dakota Valdes said.

“Students should pick up their trash instead of thinking that someone else is going to pick it up for them.”

Custodians appreciate when students acknowledge that their jobs aren’t as simple as they are conveyed to be.

“Mr. Maney’s kids will help me out occasionally, picking up trash or little

things like that,” Ramirez said. “It’s nice to be noticed and helped out by the students.”

Everyone has an image of what a custodian is.

“Students will say things about us and think that we don’t understand them or can’t hear what they’re saying,” Bachmann said. “They’ll talk rudely about us and we’re doing them a favor by cleaning.

Students should understand that we need to be through respected. They also need to realize that if they don’t get a good education and go to college, they’ll be right back here, as a custodians.”

However, there are some students that understand the great deal of work that custodians do, and appreciate it.

“I think the custodians are so awesome.” Valdes said. “They work so hard for little recognition. They deserve to be treated like kings. I think that people really don’t give them enough credit.”

Working as a custodian isn’t the end for some of them, some have fresh ideas and plans for their future.

“I tried to take ACC classes, but I was too busy to do something like that,” Ramirez said.

Each building has several people working in it.

Without them, not only would the school be covered in filth, but no one would help take out the bleachers for games, no one would set up tables for the social events.

“We are here to help,” Bachmann said. “But sometimes I believe students don’t look at us, but through us.”

Alyssa Gomez gets a head start before college begins

Gomez enrolls in Nursing Academy to prepare for her future medical career Samantha Knapp Student Life Editor Becoming a nurse is very difficult and expensive due to years of medical school and hours of job training.

Senior Alyssa Gomez is getting an early start in her nursing career this summer through the nursing academy.

“The Nursing Academy was established by the Healthcare Workforce Alliance of Central Texas,” Program manager Ashley King said. ”The annual event started over 10 years ago and continues to be a successful collaboration between high school, local nursing programs, and the hospitals”.

The program has many activities and workshops that help students interested in nursing learn how to be a nurse and what it will be like when they get into the medical

art by Nate Miller

field.

“The one day event is always held at a local hospital or nursing program and this year the event will be held at Austin Community College Eastview Campus,” King said. “During the academy students learn about the opportunities in nursing, different degree programs, interact with local nursing students, and participate in a hands-on simulation lab”.

The program doesn’t take any time away from students and their school work since it happens over the summer.

“Luckily I didn’t have to miss school for the program because it mostly begins in the summer. I only missed one day of school because of it due to the intro,” Gomez said.

Other schools in the Austin area are also offering a similar program for their students, including LBJ, Del Valle, and Dripping Springs high schools.

“We have sequences of Health Science Technology (HST) classes that students may take if they are interested in the health care or medical field and It consists of eight classes at this point,” head of the health department at Dripping Springs Katie Henry said.

Gomez’s family has had a lot of jobs in the medical field and that has partially influenced her decision to become a nurse.

“At first I always wanted to be a teacher but when I had family members go in and out of the hospital, I knew that nursing would be for me,” Gomez said.

Gomez’s mom Carmen is also a medical assistant and works in sports medicine and urgent care and wants Alyssa to get something out of this program.

“I hope this will teach Alyssa that she can achieve her goals with hard work and become financially independent,” Carmen said.

Alyssa had to write an essay about why she wanted to be a nurse when she applied to get into the program.

“The application process like any, requires an essay on why you want to become a nurse and what it would mean to you to become one,” Alyssa said.

Other schools in the area like Del Valle and Dripping Springs high school, have an open enrollment program, meaning anyone who is interested can take the courses they offer without having to apply to the program.

“The medical (health science) program at Del Valle High School is an open enrollment program, any student who has an interest in the medical field may take the courses,” Del Valle health science teacher Amanda Norris said.

Students are chosen for the Nursing Academy at ACC based on their application form, essay, and their desire to pursue a career in healthcare. “ Alyssa was accepted for the academy because of her interest in the career of nursing and her excellent essay as well as her high grade point average and leadership,” King said.

Alyssa has also participated in a nursing program in February and has had some experience in the field already from the program.

“The program in February was an introduction to nursing as a whole, we learned about different types of nursing opportunities, scholarships, and then did some skill labs,” Alyssa said.

The program that will happen this summer will be more in depth and help students figure out if nursing is the right career for them and what kind of nursing they are the most interested in.

“I would absolutely encourage any student interested in nursing to apply for future Nursing Academies because It is a great opportunity to discover if Nursing is the career for you with hands-on opportunities to give students a real life experience of what nurses do,” King said.

Remember to buy your 2015-16 yearbook!

$80

*

For 396 pages of JBHS memories Order forms available in F206 or order online @ jostensyearbooks.com Expires: 08/31/16

*Until books are sold out. Don’t wait or you risk not getting a book.

C ommentary

The Lone Star Dispatch Monday, May 16, 2016 Page 6

Kesha’s contract freedom creates controversy Editorial

art by Amaya Marquez

Kesha’s freedom from an unfair contract has been an issue for a few years now but just recently did the world notice and speak out against the unfairness of it. The inherent sexism in the society we live and the flaws of the music industry have become more evident.

She wanted to break free from her contract with Kemosabe Records because she accused Dr. Luke, the producer and founder of the company, of sexual misconduct and abuse. However, they refused to let her go because she still owes them six albums. This left her in a tough situation because she must choose between being safe and earning justice or continuing her career.

She then told her fans that she was offered her freedom if she were to lie and publicly say that she was not raped.

This situation perfectly exemplifies the unfairness for many women in the music industry. Very often, this prejudice does not have anything to do with the music itself.

Rather than emphasizing their talents, the media often focuses on physical appearances of female artists. This reduces their careers to a matter of secondary importance.

The intense scrutiny of their appearance and the hypersexualization of female pop artists fuels and emphasizes a hostile environment where abuse and exploitation are not only overlooked but accepted in pop culture.

For many young women, it’s hard to talk openly and report violation through rape and sexual abuse. A declaration of rape or any form of abuse is difficult to address.

So when Kesha was accused of lying to get attention, this proved and emphasized that a woman may feel like she won’t have any support when coming out with the

information. Many of these cases are not brought up due to insecurities or they are disregarded and not viewed as important.

When they see someone like Kesha being accused of lying and attention seeking, they try to avoid the same thing happening to them by staying unnoticed with their situation. Because of this, the issue will only continue and causes people to not see it as a serious issue that negatively affects many.

Many people do not think this situation is unfair to her because there is no proof of abuse and only her words are there to support her accusations.

Also, many people do not support her because of how they viewed her. Many saw her as the same girl from the 2000’s when she was not taken seriously and sang about inappropriate content.

Despite their outlook, she is much more than that. People have started to recognize that Kesha is in fact a good person. She has greatly impacted many with her hard work to bring positive change. She has used her fame to bring awareness to world issues such as animal cruelty, bullying and equality for LGBT community.

This unfortunate situation for her has helped her grow as person and musician. Kesha’s music style has dramatically changed from inappropriate themes about drinking and partying to meaningful messages to her listeners and supporters.

Although Kesha may be enduring many issues and obstacles currently, it is apparent that many people have taken her side because #FreeKesha was trending on Twitter for a long period of time in February.

Other positive female artists and have feminist icons have spread her outlook and hopes of the situation such as

Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift.

With support from many, there is hope for Kesha and the equality she deserves. This evident sexism for female artists has slowly gained notice from many influenced by pop culture and more is slowly being done to stop it from increasing in negativity.

AP classes could have a negative impact on students Kathleen Nguyen Student Life Editor

such as clubs, sports, fine arts organizations, spending time with friends and family, and sleep.

However, if students are able to juggle between these AP classes and extracurricular activities, they compromise sleep and any social interaction with friends and family.

AP classes can restrict a student from appreciating and experiencing the joys of high school that are beneficial to their growth.

History is that you can’t drop down to academic if you’re failing. The curriculum is behind academic and goes into further detail, so if one did drop down they would miss about fifty years worth of history.

Also, many students choose to take the AP class at the end of the year to help them receive college credit in high school.

However, due to the difficulty of the test, some do not obtain the credit they hoped for.

Because AP classes are challenging, the tests are stressful and a lot of work to gain the credit. Gaining the credit is not guaranteed when signing up so if a student does not pass, the challenges endured throughout the year were not entirely worth it because not all of the benefits were gained.

art by Fuaad Ajaz

The phrase “junior year is the most important year” comes into effect when the majority of incoming juniors prepare to take all AP classes.

The added pressure of knowing that colleges check on grades and SAT/ ACT scores can be daunting. While constantly being told that this one year is critical to the future has lead to more students taking the initiative and attempting to do all AP classes.

As the number of AP classes taken increases, stress level for students also increase. Each AP class requires at least two hours of homework each night and with four AP classes, there is no added time for extracurricular and personal activities

Between the lack of sleep and missing social events, grades start to slip leading to unnecessary stress which can fall into a cyclic phase. A few students have commented that they stay up until four a.m working on homework then proceed to crash on the weekends. This will become detrimental to their health over time.

Students may also suffer due to absences from a class. Missing multiple AP classes means struggling to get caught up which can result in grades slipping. The stress can develop causing students to become overwhelmed with responsibility compelling them to drop down to academic.

The possibility of failing an AP class is highly likely when dealing with all of them at once. A big commitment when taking an AP class such as US

An added factor of why students are being pressured in taking AP classes is the stress of college. An opposing opinion is that colleges actually look for students that have an equal amount of academics offsetting their after school activities. Being overwhelmed with academics can actually end up having the opposite effect, and lead to undesirable consequences, such as denied letters from colleges.

To help with the dilemma of colleges breathing down your back, one option could be cutting down the amount of AP classes taken and to devote time to extracurriculars as well.

The key to having a successful high school experience is to find balance between enjoyment outside of school and academics.

High school students are too future oriented that they often forget to live in the present.

Bulldawg Speak Out What do you think about the new finals schedule this spring?

9th

10th

11th

12th

Teacher

Nichole Abrego

Diego Tovar

Jenna Gottlieb

Jeremy Marquette

Kelly Flickinger

“I like it because we only have to study for one day then we have a long break to study more for the next week.”

“I like the new schedule because it gives me more time to study the later tests.”

“I think it is weird to have a four day weekend and then the rest of the finals after that.”

“It sounds pretty good to me because we get a lot more time to study in between tests.”

“I think there was supposed to be a makeup weather day that Friday but it never happened so the final schedule was altered.”

DISPATCH STAFF Editorial Board Issue #6 Editorial Staff

Entertainment Editor Victoria Newell - 10

Editor-in-Chief Violet Glenewinkel - 10

Athletics Editor Mia Barbosa - 10

Managing Editor Caitlin Devlin - 11

Photo Editor Ashley Ramirez - 10

News Editors Fuaad Ajaz - 11 Carissa Duran - 10

Dispatch Staff:

Commentary Editor Avy Friedman - 10 Student Life Editors Kathleen Nguyen - 10 Samantha Knapp - 11

Eliana Lynch - 11 Gavin Farner - 10 Priscilla Diaz - 11 Alicia Molina - 11 Greyson Hughes - 10 Shelby Kelly - 10 Amaya Marquez - 10 Nya Martin - 10 Nate Miller -10 Evan Owen - 10 Kelsie Stella – 10

Graduating Seniors Kamryn Bryce Lauren Blevins Granger Coats Michelle McDonagh Isabel Rosales Adviser Michael Reeves

EDITORIAL POLICY The Lone Star Dispatch is the official student newspaper of James Bowie High School. It is published six times a year, generally once per six weeks for the school’s students, staff and community.

The Lone Star Dispatch is an open forum for student expression. The Lone Star Dispatch is not reviewed by school administration prior to distribution, and the advisor will not act as a censor. Content represents the views of the student staff and not school officials.

The Lone Star Dispatch will work to avoid bias and/or favoritism. We will strive to make our coverage and content meaningful, timely and interesting to our readers. Our articles will reflect our genuine objective of reporting news and will be held to a high standard of quality.

We will make every effort to avoid printing libel, obscenities, innuendo and material that threatens to disrupt the learning process or is an invasion of privacy. We will avoid electronic manipulation that alters the truth of a photograph without indicating that the photographer is an illustration.

Staff editorials represent the opinion of the editorial board arrived at by discussion and will not be bylined. Bylined articles are the opinion of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Lone Star Dispatch staff or administration as a whole.

The Lone Star Dispatch welcomes reader input. Please send any letters, articles, comments or corrections to bowie.journalism@gmail.com or mail them to 4103 W. Slaughter Lane, Austin, TX 78749 or drop them off in room F-203 with adviser Michael Reeves or any editor. Letters must be signed, and emailed letters will require verification before publication. We will not necessarily publish all letters received and reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.

The Lone Star Dispatch does not necessarily endorse the products or services of advertising.

The Lone Star Dispatch

A thletics

Monday, May 16, 2016

Page 7

Dynamic duo advance to state Lauren Blevins Editor-in-Chief

Senior Mariya Shkolnaya and junior Jolie Francis competed in regionals on April 18 and 19 in Waco and have qualified to play for state. The state tournament will be held on May 15 in College Station.

The doubles partners have been practicing during 4th period to prepare for the challenge that they’re about to face.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Shkolnaya said.

“The competition at state is so intense and great and I really like the challenge.”

During the regionals tournament, there were a lot of emotions going through the players’ heads.

“Off the court was very fun because I got to hang out with my teammates who came to support, but also the waiting to go and play was so nerve-racking,” Francis said. “Actually playing the matches was exhilarating because of the tough competition and playing with my good friend and partner, Mariya, is always a blast.”

Tennis coach James Dammann is very supportive of the competitors and thinks that they will go far in the tournament.

“Mariya and Jolie have been the top doubles team in our district for three years now,” Dammann said. “They have defeated Westlake and Lake Travis’s best teams, advanced to re-

Swing, hit, repeat: Jolie Francis returns the ball during her and Mariya Shkolnaya’s doubles team practice. The two have been training hard this season so that their dreams of going to state could happen. Photo by Violet Glenewinkel.

gional semi finals, and now this year pushed through to state. They are warriors on the court and role model students off the court. I

am very proud of both of them.”

Along with the two players that were competing, Junior Jamie Dam-

mann and Freshman Gigi Francis got to tag along to support their fellow teammates.

“I enjoyed the fact that

I got to watch my sister play and I had the chance to watch them to advance to state,” Gigi said.

Through all of the in-

tense matches, the players relied on each other for confidence, support, and help.

“We were losing at first in a few of our matches, but my partner and I would simply talk everything out and continue to play the best we could,” Jolie said.

“And we would remain calm; being nervous never helps to win.”

In addition, they also needed a strong mentality to pull through.

“There were moments in the matches where I would get nervous, but most of the time I managed to maintain a ‘I have nothing to lose’ kind of mentality and just gave it all I got,” Shkolnaya said.

All of the dedication the players have put will allow them to move forward in the tournament and hopefully succeed in an overall win.

“Now that we are off to state validates for me all the hard work I’ve put in has finally payed off, and that’s an amazing feeling,” Jolie said.

The players are very excited to see what the competition has in store for them and it finally feels real that they are going to state.

“Beforehand, I didn’t want to get my hopes up about the possibility of going to state, so I just focused on playing my best,” Shkolnaya said. “It was only when we placed that I really got excited about it.”

Dunn’s dive into success Biking is in her blood Caitlin Devlin Managing Editor

Slicing through water: Sophomore Dianna Dunn swims in a backstroke race during her district competeition. After a lot of hardwork and dedication Dunn has made second in state and has quilified for the Olympic trials. Photo provided by Chanel Henry

Sophomore trains for Olympic trials Kathleen Nguyen Student Life Editor

Thick tension floats through the air combined with the feeling of dampness that lies underneath the anxious feet of sophomore Diana Dunn, knowing that the early morning and late night practices have all contributed to this moment. Seconds pass as the decision is revealed; Dunn has earned second place at state.

Dunn’s passion for swimming began long before she started earning achievements for it.

“I have always loved the water and so swimming came naturally to me,” Dunn said. “I started out just swimming in the summers and that was so fun because you just get to go out there and have a great time.”

Dunn has had a lot of support for her hard work over the past few years.

“I’ve put in a lot of hard work and even though swimming may seem like an individual sport I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and coaches, especially my high school ones,” Dunn said.

Swimming coach, Chanel Henry, has commented on Dunn’s persistent work ethic and

drive towards the sport.

“Diana is the most dedicated teenager I have ever had the pleasure of working with, she works harder than most adults I know,” Henry said. “Swimming is hard and takes a lot of time management, especially an athlete of her caliber and she manages to make exceptional grades, train with two teams and still has a social life with her family and friends.”

Anderson freshman Ella Collins, Dunn’s teammate from Austin Swim Club, describes the open environment that Dunn provides with her enthusiastic outlook.

“She’s very passionate about swimming and always tries to keep a positive attitude, she keeps the mood of the group up and always wants to get better,” Collins said.

The hard work and dedication never ceases to end with an athlete.

Despite the amount of time Dunn spends training it never renders her from supporting her teammates and staying energetic.

“Diana always has a positive attitude, even if she practiced late the night before and is sore, she still manages to arrive on time to our 6:45am practice with a smile on her face,” Henry said. “When Diana is competing, she tends to

seclude herself right before an event to get in the zone, warm up and like most other athletes, she likes to listen to music to get her pumped up. When she is not swimming, she is cheering on her teammates.”

Henry commended Dunn on her ability to organize and lead the team to success.

“Diana not only contributes to the team by winning her events, she is also a leader on the team,” Henry said. “Her peers look up to her and all that she has accomplished at such a young age; it motivates them to continue to do their best and work hard.”

With the adrenaline of the state competition still running high, Dunn redirects her focus to Olympic trials and consistently improving to become better.

“It’s one thing to qualify for trials and a whole other to do well there,” Dunn said.

Dunn’s teammates and friends are excited for Dunn going to the Olympic trials and can’t wait to see the people she will be racing with.

“Now that I have my cut and am able to go, my motivation leading into it is to do my best and also to gain an invaluable experience that I can use later on.”

Everyone has something they love to do, whether it be a sport or a hobby.

However, freshman Grace Mansen’s hobby that she does with her whole family is unique, and is something that not many kids her age do. Mansen rides motorcycles and trains for Motocross cross-country racing, and has been for most of her life.

Mansen has been riding motorcycles since she was very young, as has the rest of her family.

“I was 13 when I started Motocross,” Grace’s father Craig Mansen said. “When I was about 36 my son was about six and we decided to get dirt bikes and started to ride as a family. Then when our daughter, Grace, turned five, she joined in the family hobby of Motocross and has been riding ever since.”

Grace and her brother, Chad Mansen, were taught how to ride motorcycles by their father to keep up the family tradition.

“We started with the smallest motorcycle and moved up in size as her skill level improved, lots of instruction first, always use the best safety gear, no safety gear no ride,” We started riding around safety cones in a circle then in a figure eight, and practiced using brakes to judge stopping times. Then it was off to the trails, practice and more practice,” Motocross takes a lot to get accustomed to, but eventually the siblings got the hang of it.

“In my dad’s words, it was ‘mandatory fun’ but I think I learned to like it,” Chad said.

Grace does race with her brother from time to time.

“We’re really competitive it’s sort of like we’re having a battle on the track,” Chad said.

After lots of practice, Grace decided to stick with Motocross.

Flying with freedom: Freshman Grace Mansen does a trick jump when competing in a Austin Area Motocross race. Mansen took up motocross after her family taught her how to ride a motorcycle. Photo provided by Chad Mansen

“I just thought like, I’m not really doing anything at school, I’m not really doing a lot of sports,” Grace said. “It’s a lot of fun for me just because I get to play around.”

However, learning how to ride will not be the end for Grace’s Motocross career.

“We’re actually selling some of our older, smaller bikes so we can get her a bigger faster bike so she’s more comfortable and can progress more and become even better,” Chad said.

Grace also wants to compete in competitions when she is older.

“My brother and I race together, because my mom won’t let me fully race on a team yet,” Grace said.

Grace does not need a license to ride dirt bikes, but she does want to be able to ride motorcycles on the streets legally, which she will need a license for.

“I’m going to get my license for a street bike when I’m sixteen,” Grace said.

“You can get your license at fifteen, but the bike has to be under 255 cm’s, and when you’re sixteen you can get any size bike as long as it’s street legal,” Chad has been racing competitively for many years now, and he was Grace’s inspiration to start to race too.

“I think when she would see her brother ride, that she thought it was cool and she wanted to start,” Craig said. “Grace would always sort of copy what Chad would do because she just looked up to him a lot.”

Grace plans to keep up Motocross through high school and even longer, and hopes to do well in competitions.

“If I have a family I’d like to get them to do it too,” Grace said.

P hoto Essay

The Lone Star Dispatch

Monday, May 16, 2016

Page 8

School goes blue for child abuse awareness PALS collect donations for abused children during the month of April Fuaad Ajaz News Editor

Hugs: Seniors Hadley Kopser and Kaylen Combs hug in celebration of Blue Out Bowie. For Kopser and Combs this will be their last year participating in the event. Combs has been a PAL for two years. Photo by Ashley Ramirez

Sign a Bulldog: Writing on a blue bulldog to support the cause behind Blue Out Bowie is freshman Cecilia Ortiz. The bulldogs were sent to The Austin Center for Child Protection, where the dogs were hung up around the center. Photo by Ashley Ramirez

In the month of April the PALS raise awareness for children and teens that have been abused or are being abused. The color blue is the color for child abuse which helped the PALS create the fundraiser and event Blue Out Bowie.

Originally Blue Out Bowie was just a day where the school wore blue and know has grown into a massive school wide fundraiser that students participate i.

“Blue Out Bowie started in 2013 as just a general way for the whole school to come together and wear blue to raise awareness for child abuse,” PALS sponsor Alejandro Garcia said.

“In 2014, 2015, and 2016 we have also made it a fundraiser to collect goods and toiletries supplies for the Austin center for child protection.”

Senior Kaylen Combs has been a PAL for two years and has a special spot in her heart for children since she is always surrounded by them.

“Being a PAL you get

a PAL from an elementary school and I am a gymnastics instructor at The Little Gym and teach classes there. Children influence my life because they make me see things through their eyes and it makes me appreciate all of the little things in life and see things differently,” Combs said.

A major part of Blue Out Bowie was preparation for everything ranging from making posters to the big cookie day.

“We prepared by making signs that were in front of all the halls, we put up flyers all over the school, we also talked to a couple of teachers who we asked to help us raise donations for the fundraiser,” Senior Nick Anagnos said. “Also, we were spreading the word through social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter.”

Last year the fundraiser raised enough donations to fill up two trucks and a whole storage unit at the children’s center.

“This year we’ve gotten, deodorant, body wash, shampoo, socks, diapers, every school supply you can imagine from paper to colored pencils to crayons,

the communities really came together strong this year,” Garcia said. “Last year we had to take two trucks to deliver the supplies and we might even have to get three trucks this year. The donation collection have been so good this year and they get better over the years.”

For an event like this people need to be supportive and come together as a community to raise awareness for something, and for Garcia, Bowie is a perfect example of this type of community.

“This school is very fortunate to be where we are, we have the community that surrounds us and the people from that community are able to give back whether it’s through donations or even general participation in an event where you wear blue,” Garcia said. “This might even be something that affects someone at the school I mean there probably are people at this school who have gone through abuse or neglect at this school and it really just hits home and allows people to get back.”

Cookie Train: Seniors Julianna Davis, Eliana Rodriguez, and Angela Kang excitedly pass out cookies to student. The cookies were donated by the PALS and PALS sponsor Alejandro Garcia’s students. Photo by Ashley Ramirez

Party in the USA: PAL students enthusiastically sing and dance to the song “Party in The USA” by Miley Cyrus.

Students later dance the Cha Cha Slide with other student who joined in. Photo by Ashley Ramirez

The Ultimate Choice: Deciding what cookie to get is sophomore Megan Russell. Russell and her friend, Sophomore Jamie Muras both showed support by wearing blue and signing a bulldog. Photo by Ashley Ramirez

All Smiles: Laughing and smiling is senior Grace Battle, Angela Kang, junior Emma Hascheke, and sophomores Linnea O’Donald and Oliver Gorrie as they see teacher Erin Kowalik. Photo by Ashley Ramirez

Sweet Treats: Seniors Nick Anaghos, Julianna Davis, and Kerry McGillicuddy smile while passing out sweets to students wearing blue. PAL students pass out food every year during the celebration. Photo by Ashley Ramirez

Oh, the

s ce

a l p

we’ll go...

by: Dispatch Seniors 2016 ~30~

Lauren Blevins I can’t believe that my four years of high school are over. On my first day at Bowie, I can still remember trying to find G hall and wondering why all the seniors had on aprons. When I was a freshman, the days seemed to take forever and it felt like I would never make it to senior year. However, when they say time flies, they really mean it.

All of the lessons I have learned at Bowie will be with me throughout my college years and beyond.

I learned that it is not a matter of if procrastination happens, it’s a matter of when it will happen, so you have to be ready for it and do what you have to do to get everything done. I also learned that coming out of your shell and speaking up when you need to be heard is essential in the real world.

Going into high school, I didn’t exactly know what my goals were going to be. When I first got on the newspaper staff in 9th grade, I knew I wanted to be an editor. I worked hard on every story I wrote and expanded my horizons by getting into newspaper design and ended up becoming an editor-in-chief my senior year. I think that has been my biggest accomplishment in my high school career and I want

to thank Mr. Reeves for pushing me. I learned a lot about being a leader, having people depend on you, and the fact that you can’t do everything. I would always try to take on anything I could and I learned that it’s not the quantity of things you can accomplish, but the quality of each individual thing you do.

My time on the tennis team has also influenced my time in high school. I have met a lot of great friends that I will keep forever. While on the team, I

“You’re off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so... get on your way!”

-Dr. Seuess

also learned how to be more competitive, wanting to win and not giving up when I was down. This perseverance I have gained has followed me beyond the tennis court.

This fall I will be attending the University of California at Davis, my dream school since I was about eight years old. I worked hard all through high school in order to achieve this dream. When I got the acceptance email, I literally screamed and ran to hug my mom.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without the love and support of my parents and the rest of my family back home in California. My parents taught me that I can do anything I set my mind to and I truly believe that now. This chapter in my life is closing and I can’t wait to see what else life has in store for me.

Through all my ups and downs, I know I have the strength and courage to take on anything.

Kamryn Bryce As my 12 years of secondary school draws to a close I can honestly say I have filled my time with as much excitement and achievement as I could’ve ever wished for.

From NHS to Who’s Who, I have achieved my goals.

I participated in some 60 odd theatre productions for the STC and the AISD Performing Arts Center.

I have even worked two after school jobs. However, the most influential group I had the honor of being a part of was newspaper.

I have thoroughly treasured my time as a member of the Lone Star Dispatch, and I’m sad to see it come to a close. Over the years I have had a hand in producing 36 issues of the paper. That’s countless stories, graphic art, and hours spent in the name of servicing a community I have grown so fond of.

The organizations that Bowie offers are unlike any other and from the experience I have gained in being a part of just a few of them I have decided my future. I will be pursuing a career in communications at Saint Edward’s University starting in the fall and I would have never realized this dream without the newspaper program.

Becoming an editor-in-chief my junior year was simultaneously the proudest and most terrifying moment in my high school career. I was incredibly eager to take on the challenge, yet with everything else I had going on I was so afraid of not being able to do the job to the best of my ability.

However, the most important thing I’ve learned in my time at Bowie is that you can’t be perfect at everything, you can’t please everyone, and that’s ok.

I wanted to be the perfect head technician for theatre, another role I took on junior year, I wanted to be the perfect student, the perfect daughter for my parents, the perfect friend, etc. It’s impossible to be perfect in every position and every role you take on, but giving 100 percent in each moment that you’re involved in those things is simply a challenge, not an impossibility.

I believe that this school has shaped me like no other school could have and while I am admittedly nervous I feel completely ready for my life beyond Bowie’s red gates. I am immensely thankful for the friends I have made, the lessons I have learned, and the opportunities I was given.

I’d like to thank my advisor, Mr. Reeves for challenging me, my theatre directors for inspiring me, my many wonderfully talented and dedicated teachers who have nurtured my love of learning, and of course every single person who ever smiled at me in the hallway or asked me how I was doing.

There is a lot to learn from the simple interactions with those around you and I like to believe that I took my time to enjoy the small, common moments as well as the exciting, life changing ones. I will look back on my time as a part of the Dispatch staff, and my time at Bowie high school as a whole, with a bittersweet smile. While I know there are many wonderful and life changing events to experience, these quiet nights spent crafting stories and finding inspiration for new graphic art will always be highlight in my drifting childhood.

Granger Coats My stomach churned and twisted the minute the morning sun bled through my window, opening my tired eyes. The anxiety and fear growing greater with each breath as I got out of bed and prepared for my first day at James Bowie High School.

After attending a small private school my entire life, I decided to enroll in Bowie starting my freshman year of high school. I wanted a change and I was going to make it. Coming from an entire school of about 500 to a high school of 3,000 was terrifying. The first couple weeks I wandered the large open halls alone and afraid. Wondering if I would ever be apart of it all.

It was at this time that I first discovered the amazing teachers Bowie is made up of. Teachers like Ms. Holloway and Ms. Heigny who went out of their way

Here There

Near Far Later

Soon

New Old

to make sure I knew where I was going and that I had all I needed. Teachers that made me feel like I had somebody in a time that I felt so alone. These teachers guided me in one of the most scary parts of my life and I am forever grateful for them.

By sophomore year, I had finally gotten to the swing of things. I made friends, had more incredible teachers, and spent my days having fun and enjoying life.

By the time junior year came around, I felt inspired and involved in my school’s community. I went to football games, joined the newspaper, and made countless memories.

Bowie also gave me passions and drove my creativity through classes like photography and newspaper. Photography sharpened my eye and made me look for beauty in everyday life. It also aided my drive and passion for filmmaking. Starting sophomore year in photojournalism, continuing on with commercial photography class, and my photography

work for the newspaper, I learned countless lessons.

Newspaper taught me real world situations and sent me to places I never thought I would see, opening me up to my community and showing me the that everybody has a story. While commercial photography inspired my creativity and laid the foundation for my photography skills and knowledge.

Another crucial part of my experience at Bowie has been the friends and caring individuals I’ve met.

Looking back on my freshman self I could never imagine all the amazing people that would come into my life, filling it with so much happiness. Thank you.

Thank you for bringing happiness, guidance, and in doing so, impacting my life forever.

Isabel Rosales After four years at Bowie High School I’ve learned so much and could honestly say I have made memories I won’t forget.

My first day of freshman year I remember walking through the doors being handed my schedule scrambling to find all my class, lost in a sea of people and just trying to find a familiar face. No doubt it’s been a bumpy road, some days I just wanted to graduate and get out and others I just enjoyed being a kid but here in a few weeks I will be graduating and joining the real world.

Time really has flown by, it feels like just yesterday I was a freshman walking in the hallway being handed fish necklaces and it’s hard to believe a few months ago I was the one handing out fish necklaces to the freshman. Sophomore year I got my license which I’d say is a big stepping stone. Junior year was a blur and now I’m a senior just trying to

figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life.

Freshman year I probably made one of the best decisions in my life by joining the cross country and track team.

The friends I made in cross country and track were some of my first friends here at Bowie and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people. Not only were my teammates great but I had the best coaches in the world. I definitely want to thank coach Gonzales, coach Cuthbertson, and coach Flick for not only being the best coaches but for believing in me and being the best mentors, helping me through the tough times.

Four years later and I still see new faces in the hall whether it be a teacher or a student, in a school filled with more than 3,000 people I don’t even think I’ve met half of them but within these four years I’ve been able to meet some pretty amaz-

ing teachers such as Mr. Russell, Mrs. Hebert, and Mrs. Mixon who have all changed my high school experience and I would like to thank each one of them.

As the school year winds down I have made the decision to continue my education this fall at Texas State. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the endless support of my family: My mom the strongest woman I know and someone I aspire to be like when I grow up.

“Why fit in when you were born to STANDOUT?” -Dr. Seuss

Michelle McDonaugh I remember walking onto this campus thinking of all the possibilities this school could give me. I can happily tell you that I succeeded at every goal I set for myself and more in my short four years here, two of those years with this publication.

I am so honored to be here with such an amazing and fun staff not only last year but this year as well. They here have taken me under their wing and taught me everything I needed to know to succeed and thrive here. While I feel as if I haven’t done too much with the power I have had here, the little I have done for this paper has allowed me to feel important and make an impact in this community.

First of all, I need to thank my family for sticking through and allowing me to do what I love and be who I am with all my flaws. Without you guys I have no idea where I would be.

Thank you for all you have done for me and all the risks you have taken to allow me to be where I am. I will never be able to repay you for all of your selfless actions.

Second of all, I need to thank my friends, both on campus and those who have graduated. If I were to name all of you I would easily be at 8,000 words, but you know who you are.

You all in some way have impacted me and made me who I am

in your feet. Yo u c a n st oes Sh . ad

ee

o any direction y

s e.

”

ha

ve

bra ins

in yo ur he

Dr .

usse S

lf in rse u o ry

oo u ch

today and I couldn’t be more thankful.

Thank you so much for all your kindness and support these past four years. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Third, I need to thank all of the teachers I have had over the past four years. You all have taught me so many lessons not only in the classes I have had you in, but lessons I will carry with me for the rest of my life, lessons that only can be taught in the moment. I don’t always express it, but I do appreciate everything you all have done for me. Thank you so much!

I have one person I would like to thank personally, though, and that person is my advisor Mr. Reeves. You have allowed me to thrive and feel accepted when I was in a place in my life where I felt so alone and depressed. I want to thank you for all that you have allowed me to do and the way you have pushed me to do my best every day. Without you, I don’t know where I would be or what I would be doing here on campus. I will never be able to repay you for all you have done for me, but I hope a “thank you” will possibly suffice. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you Mr. Reeves for everything.

ou “Y

“Bowie is a community that allows for students to take a stand and have a voice. We thank our readers for taking time out of their day to stay interested and involved.

We thank the staff of incredible teachers and administrators who allow for their students to practice their right to speak freely.”

-Dispatch Seniors 2016