THE NATION DECEMBER 2021 • HAYS HS MEDIA
FALL ISSUE INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Staff Intros • Fire Drills • Cloe Munoz • Sports highlights• Homecoming • Mental Health • Dress Code
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GO GREEN FOR CLOE Students support Cloe Munoz in her health battle.
6 STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH How Hays is helping students stay balanced.
8 THIS IS JUST A DRILL Diving deeper into the loud and frequent fire drills at Hays High this year.
10 SPORT HIGHLIGHTS Celebrating teams and their milestones.
11 THE SOUND OF MUSIC Choir, band, theatre
13 TAYLOR SWIFT Taylor Swift re-recorded her music... find out why.
14 MEET THE STAFF Putting faces to the names.
On the cover: cover: Senior staffers Jayda Ruiz, Caitlin Van Kampen, Ruby Holloway, and Marlee Claes. photo Emma-Leigh Thurman
HOMECOMING GAME By: Crystal Uribe
Hawk varsity players get into position to tackle on San Marcos High School. Hawks lost 62-49, finishing their season 7th in the District. photo Courtney Reeves
Katy Herzog, 10, shows off her stunning homecoming mum on spirit day. photo Mary Williams
Homecoming is an event that brings joy to students and graduates of Hays. Spirits are up and excitement is everywhere in the school. Leading up to the game, students get to participate in spirit week, where we get to dress up as fun and creative personalities. The homecoming game is an exciting time for all, but an even more impactful day for seniors. This will be the last homecoming game of their high school careers. The same can be said for highsteppers, cheerleaders, band and attendees. Many will remember this day and game for a long time, saved as a good memory.
Hays student section shows excitement for the home team. photo Praiya Smith
Highsteppers introduce players for the big homecoming game. photo Mary Williams
photo Praiya Smith
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Words by
‘some things never change’ is true. Thank you,
MARLEE CLAES & ABI MUNOZ
Cloe, for showing me what true strength looks
cloe
like. Your fight is my fight. Cloe Strong!” A few of Cloe’s friends and fellow classmates were asked how they would label Cloe and all noted her strength and kindness.
Cloe Munoz was diagnosed w ith anaplastic
“Cloe is an achiever who never gives up and is
large cell lymphoma earlier this year. She
always smiling,” said Emya Walker, 11.
started her treatment on September 4th.
“Cloe is a very selfless and open-hearted person.
Currently, the plan is for her to have treatment
She brings laughter and joy wherever she goes,”
over the course of the next six months. One of
said Akaysha Rodriguez, 11.
Cloe’s closest friends was asked to describe her
The Hays High School student body has put on
and how she has felt about her situation. Bella
multiple events in support of Cloe.
Gomez, 11, said, "Cloe is the strongest person I
The student section's theme on the night of the
know. As her best friend I’ve seen her go
September 23rd football game was “green out,”
through it all, and she leaves me speechless
dedicated to her and her battle.
because of how strongly she has handled this
That night Cloe came out and took pictures with
situation. Throughout her fight, she has shown
the crowd and her friends who were there to
true resilience. Most people that go through a
support her.
challenging experience at such a young age
A lot of people were excited to see since it would
break down and lose hope, but not Cloe. She is
be the first time a lot of her friends had seen her
still the same energetic, funny and loud Cloe. I
since her diagnosis.
guess you can say
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photos by Courney Reeves
In October all the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) of Hays CISD came together for Fields of Faith to pray for her and send her their support. Most recently Hays held their blacklight pep rally at the end of October, where all the funds from the tickets went to Cloe and her family. If you want to help Cloe beat Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma and learn more about her journey, please visit her gofundme by scanning the QR code.
photo Courtney Reeves
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Photos by MARLEE CLAES Words by CAITLIN VANKAMPEN
Students' Mental Health
Students also have big worries about not only themselves, but others as well. Ella Davis, 12 said, "My personal worry is overworking myself and worsening my mental health. In the past, I'd throw myself into work
As students came back for in-person learning at the start of
to avoid external stresses of my personal life. As for others, I worry
the new school year there were many questions and
about all of the students and how they're handling the workload.
concerns about student mental health.
Coming back to school could cause major anxiety for kids. I just hope
According to the CDC, between 2019 and 2020, the average depression and stress levels among young adults jumped from 11% to 41.1%. Depression is a serious condition that has spread to an epidemic among many people, especially teens. According to CDC statistics, 3.2% of children aged 3-17 years old (approximately 1.9 million) have diagnosed depression. Forty of those teens report school having a giant impact on
people can remember to be kind and welcoming to everyone." This is a valid point as 7.1% of children aged 3-17 years old (approximately 4.4 million) have diagnosed anxiety, according to the CDC. On the menu of options available to Hays students is the Zen-Den in room A101. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during all lunches counselors allow students to come into this room and relax. You can chill out, listen to music, and paint rocks. Also every Tuesday at 4:15 there are also teen talk groups where
those feelings.
you can do more than relax -- you have the chance to express your
Kathryn Cude, 12, said, "The quality of my mental health
feelings.
coming back to school went down. I no longer can see my
The counselors also have advice on how to promote wellness. To
friends everyday because of homework, and I have to change
promote wellness it is “a conscious, deliberate process that requires
my lifestyle and schedule to fit into my school schedule.¨
being aware of and making choices for a more satisfying lifestyle”
Friendships can weigh heavily on student mental health.
that “includes a self defined balance of health habits”.
They can tend to feel down or upset because of bullying,
Hopefully, this school year will bring back people's happiness. It's a
inter-friend-group issues, or simply just because they cannot
positive message to all students to look out for themselves and seek
see their friends as often as they wish.
help -- everyone's story matters.
“Data and Statistics on Children’s Mental Health | CDC.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 June 2020, www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html.
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The hazards of homework
Although not everyone will agree, I say although ‘no homework’ may not be possible, not having so much would improve a student’s chance at self-care, hobbies, family time and might even reduce stress. Having more time after school is so soothing to the mind … and by being able to eat dinner, and have time for daily hobbies, and sleep- high school students would feel less stressed. While having homework can help students deal with school work outside of school, the stress on our mental health puts too much pressure on us, causing us to lose sleep from staying up to do homework. Teachers should consider student schedules, including eating and sleeping, occasionally because being stacked up with homework can be unhealthy.
- art by Jair Guzman
- written by Aailyah Longoria, 9 7
FALSE ALARMS... WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE FIRE DRILLS? By: Nikki Davern
For those at Hays High, fire alarms going off has become a regular occurrence. It’s been hard to keep track of how many times the fire alarm has gone off because of the sheer amount and how it sometimes only goes off in certain buildings, but it’s estimated that there have been approximately 7 fire alarms so far. In the beginning, some may have been excited to get out of class, but now, the fire alarms have become unwelcome interruptions, with two alarms even going off during lunch. “Guess you could say this school has a heart of fire," Cody Medrano, 11, said. Even so, there hasn’t been an actual fire, or even a proper fire drill yet. It became such a problem that administrators had to address it by adding to the expectations and making announcements about it.
After several fire alarms, they added a warning discouraging people from vaping in bathroom stalls, but when that didn’t help they had to add a slide to the expectations presentation detailing the punishments for those caught vaping in the bathroom. The warning seems to have fixed the problem for now. Senior AP Tim Jacobson spoke about the reoccurring alamrs. “I think we will have less human cause of fire drills," Jacobson said. "I think the message is getting sent. I mean, how can it not be?” Hopefully, he is right, and there will be no more evacuations because of students vaping during school, but only time will tell.
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Fashion & Passion Editorial By: Abi Munoz Photos by: Jayda Ruiz
Ever since a young age girls are taught to cover-up for their safety and to help with not distracting those in class. Recently there has been an uprising amount of people speaking out about these sexist dress codes. Even at Hays High School there have been students who have had a problem with this. It is culture! While Hays’s district dress code not only targets young women but also targets black students. On the Hays website, it states that “hats or other head coverings are not allowed to be worn or displayed by students… this includes dorags”. Do-rags are known to help sustain the natural oils in the hair to keep a curl pattern and prevent breakage of the hair. As well as bonnets that are used to help protect hair from being ruined and keep sustainable. Black students have also been told their hair is “unprofessional” or “distracting” when kept in protective styles, like braids. We are here for education. School is for education, not for those who are here to dictate what students can and cannot wear. To say that a shirt is too short, or a girl’s shoulders are distracting is to simply disturb her from a learning experience. Many students have come to the collective agreement that the dress code is sexist. When going through the district dress code for 2021-2022 you can see how much the rules target women: no midriff, no exposed back, tight-fitting pants must be worn with a shirt that covers below the waist, no oversized clothing, shorts and skirts worn at a modest length. As well as to reference the beginning of the year slideshow to show off our dress code, most of the pictures shown were of women. Perhaps it's time to change the approach and target more equitably, or drop the outdated requirements.
Madison Cantu Grade 12 Abi Munoz, Grade 11
HAWK MAGAZINE |
Ava Garcia, Grade 10 Audre Knepp, Grade 11
Mary Williams, Grade 11
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1
SPORT
Highlights 1. Varsity football Varsity Football winning their first district game at House Park against Austin High School on 10/22 with the final
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score being 52-3
2.Varsity Volleyball Varsity volleyball taking the win against Akins winning all three sets.
3. Boys Varsity Golf The boys varsity golf team at their first tournament placed first overall, with Justin Carmichael placing first, E.J. Major placing second and
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Cayden Wimberley placing 3rd.
4.Swim
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Junior Anderson Brown placed in the top five in the butterfly in individual medley at the first state level meet.
5. Varsity Girls Cross Country Varsity girls runner Abby Parra was the only runner our cross country team took to regionals in Corpus Christi.
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THE SOUND
Of Music 1. Men’ s choir The men’s choir performing at the first ever Hawk Highlights.
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2. Singing at hoco The Chorale choir singing the National Anthem along with the middle schools, at the homecoming game
3. We love drumline The band performing in front of the student section, hyping everyone up.
3 4. & 5. Preparing for the musical
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The Hays Legacy Players during rehearsals for the musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, preparing for opening night Friday December 3rd.
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Enchanted written by Jessika Jackson Once as the song started, I looked to her. The streak in her hair, The soft smile on her face.
I knew it would be a moment to remember. As we swayed together, Listening to my favorite artist, My heart keeping with the beat.
As I looked up to her I knew what she was gonna say, We were both thinking it. I pulled her closer And she hugged me tighter.
I will always remember that moment, The moment we knew This was one of our lasts. It was Enchanted.
photo Emma-Leigh Thurman
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photo Twitter
Time for Taylor Swift to Begin Again written by
MARLEE CLAES
Due to Swift playing an integral part in the writing of all her songs and accompaniment, she was able to obtain something called “sync rights.” With this she was able to block Shamrock Holdings from using any of her music or content. Other artists have been sued for their songs sounding too similar, most popularly Vanilla Ice's “Ice Ice Baby” sounding much like Queen/David Bowies “Under
Recently singer-songwriter Taylor Swift re-released her Pressure.” Taylor Swift managed to avoid this due to her infamous “Red” album. Though people are excited to listen sync rights. This allowed her to re-record two of her albums and celebrate some of their favorite T-Swift songs, many so far, and she is rumored to re-record more! She has remay not know why she is re-recording songs that are about recorded her album “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” and most 10 years old.
recently “Red (Taylor’s Version).” Both of her re-recorded
The unfortunate reality is that Swift does not own the albums
have
the
“(Taylor’s
Version)”
in
the
title,
rights to any of her albums prior to 2019. When Swift was symbolizing that this is her version and she is incharge. just 15 years old she signed on to a six-album record deal Though this is a seemingly “happy ending” for Taylor, her with Big Machine Records. In this deal she gave complete struggle highlights a common issue in the music industry. control of the official recordings of each of her songs, as Similar to what happened to Swift, many record labels try well as her music videos, and any art made with her albums to find budding artists and entice them with deals they to Big Machine Records. This arrangement was working out can't resist. Labels offer them things like money and a all right until 2019 when Scooter Braun bought Big platform which are both rare and essential to a young artist Machine Records. This meant he owned all of Swift’s trying to make their way. Thanks to her voice and openness previous 6 albums. He later sold her masters to an equity with their situation, now people are aware of what they are firm called Shamrock Holdings. Naturally, Swift didn't like getting into and can help protect themselves and their different people practically “owning” her, her music, and music more. her image.
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MEET THE
STAFF JAYDA RUIZ, 12 Jayda ruiz is a writer, podcast manager, and multimedia manager. She loves shopping and fashion analyzing. She also loves to sing and play piano.
ABI MUNOZ, 11 Abi Munoz is the photo editor and writer for the magazine. She really likes traveling and spending time in the outdoors.
NIKKI DAVERN, 11 Nikki Davern is a Nation writer who likes to play video games, draw, and listen to music in their free time.
MARLEE CLAES, 12
Marlee Claes is a co-editor for the yearbook as well a writer and photographer for The Nation. In her free time she hanging out with her friends and being outside.
CRYSTAL URIBE, 12 Crystal Uribe is a Nation writer and all her time is typically spent at school or at work.
CAITLIN VANKAMPEN, 11 Caitlin Vankampen is a 11th grade social media manager and writer for The Nation. She loves to read, hang out with friends, and watch movies.
RUBY HOLLOWAY,12 Ruby Holloway is an honorary Nation staff member. She likes hanging out with her friends, driving around, and playing piano.
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EDITOR'S NOTE Hi, my name is Emma-Leigh Thurman and I am the editor of the Nation Magazine. This is my first time ever making a magazine for the school and when Ms. Fleming suggested that I should be editor, I was excited to tackle this new challenge. This year now that we have a smaller staff, we had a difficult start to the magazine, but eventually everything came into place giving you the fall 2021 magazine. Being back after a year online and only a number of the students being in person we wanted to highlight everything that has happened in the months of coming back to school.
Nation staff policy The Nation magazine is the paper edition of the online student newspaper of Hays High School. It is published each semester for the school’s students, staff and community. The Nation is an open forum for student expression. The Nation is not reviewed by school administration prior to publication, and the adviser will not act as a censor. Content represents the views of the student staff and not school officials. The Nation 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 publishing 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. 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 Nation staff or administration as a whole. The Nation welcomes reader input. Please send any letters, articles, comments or corrections to hhsjournalism@g.hayscisd.net. Emails will require verification before publication. We will not necessarily publish all letters received and reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. The Nation does not necessarily endorse any products or services advertised.
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photo Emma-Leigh Thurman