Opinions

The Eagles Eye

Monday, 12.16.13

New Tech heads in a different direction

eDitoRial
There are going to be big changes in the year 20142015. The New Tech High director is proposing to add career majors focusing on digital media and computer technology to her academy. We as a staff believe that this change will bring on a lot of positivity and improvement in the school. New Tech has no career majors as of right now. This has excluded the academy from others in the school. This change will have the biggest effect on incoming freshmen next year. Upper classmen majoring in another academy will just simply move to that academy. After every year New Tech will add another grade. We think that this is good for students wanting to major in something that is in a different academy. New Tech is asking for $75,000 for classroom renovations and equipment for a proposed audio/video production program Majors that New Tech wants to bring in require upto-date computers and audio equipment for a new video and audio production class. Hosacks proposal will

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Susana Rocha and Jacob Sanchez

also improve the academic offerings in New Tech. Like the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics academy, New Tech is also planning on making all core classes Pre-AP and AP. We believe that this could be a flaw in this plan to revamp New Tech. Not all students want to be in AP and Pre-AP classes, which becomes a problem when someone wants to major in a specific class. Classes like Yearbook or Newspaper depend on the student body to carry the class, and some students might not want to take it if it means they have to take AP or Pre-AP classes. The electives that are transitioning into New Tech are being replaced with classes like costume design, an academic decathlon class and a UIL class for AHA. We think these new electives will help further develop the career skills needed to help students find a job in the area they want. New Tech will strengthen and develop with the students futures in mind. With these new changes we believe students will fully benefit.

New Tech Guest Editorial

Academy director explains new plans for New Tech High

Brandi Hosack New Tech High Director
It is with great excitement that I announce the upcoming redesign for the Akins New Tech Academy, beginning School Year 2014-15. Since the development of smaller learning communities (SLCs), or academies as we refer to them here at Akins, New Tech has only consisted of core subjects. Unlike the other academies, students in New Tech had to seek CTE courses in other academies. Because of this, it has proved challenging to build a sense identity, ownership, and academy culture in New Tech all of which run strong in the other academies. Our goal is to be as united and unique as each of the other five academies with our own majors/career tracks and demanding internships. Some of the digital technology majors we will be offering are currently a part of another academy and are already very successful. Those majors will be moving to New Tech to continue that success. The goal is to align all digital technology majors within one academy, which will also more closely align to the states new requirement for graduation endorsements. Students (upperclassmen) that are currently majoring in Computer Programming/Networking, Digital Media, or Print Journalism will be able to complete that major with no change in academy. A student in any of those majors will not notice a difference. Current New Tech students will join the academy of which they have already chosen a major, with the exception of 9th and 10th grade students that wish to take part in one of the New Tech majors. Because we are restructuring and rebuilding, New Tech will only have 9th and 10th grade for SY 14-15, 9th -11th in 15-16, and 9th -12th by 16-17. One more exciting piece of news - in addition to the majors that will be moving over, we have submitted a proposal for a new audio/ video production major. This major does not have the districts final approval yet, but we should know very soon. We are extremely excited about this possibility, and the partnerships that could be formed from such a program!

Editor-in-Chief Savannah Garza

The Eagles Eye

Editorial Policy
The Eagles Eye is the official student newspaper of Akins High School. It is published six times a year, generally once per six weeks for the schools students, staff and community. The Eagles Eye is an open forum for student expression. The Eagles Eye 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 Eagles Eye 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. 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 Eagles Eye staff or administration as a whole. The Eagles Eye welcomes reader input. Please send any letters, articles, comments or corrections to akins.journalism@gmail.com or mail them to 10701 South First Street Austin, Texas 78748 or drop them off in room 223 with adviser David Doerr or an 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 Eagles Eye does not necessarily endorse the products or services found in advertisements from local businesses.

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Abraham Alvarado Staff Reporter

People can be so closed-minded when it comes to their expectations for what a cheerleader is supposed to look like. Theyre so afraid to accept different, when there isnt one thing wrong with it. Its rare to see a male cheerleader now. Mistakenly, male cheerleaders have been stereotypically categorized as being feminine. Stereotyping is a bad habit in general. Cheerleading is something I love to do, and something I strive to get better at. When I told people I was a cheerleader I would always hear, Thats not right, Youre stupid, Abraham. Just stay the way you are, youre dumb. These words came from the people that I thought would stick by my side. It hurt more when it came from my family, close friends and especially my parents. Why Cheerleading? It took a while for my parents to accept that their son wasnt a basketball player, a quarterback, or the pitcher of the baseball

Eagles Eye Staff

Daniel Briseno Natalie Chapman Tyler Derickson Kalaya Lane Amanda Livingston Sarah Luna Kasamira Martinez Maria Moreno-Gonzales Arielle Phillips Jonathan Rivera Susana Rocha Jose Salazar Adelina Sithammavong Nicolas Sokolowski Robert Soto-Soria Isiah Strange Deandra Tristan Mark Vallejo Abraham Vargas-Alvarado Adelaida Villegas

Organizations
CSPA ILPC/UIL TAJE NSPA

2011 - Silver Medal 2012 - Gold Medal

Bronze Star Award 2006 2007 2011 2012 2013

Superior Coverage 2005 2008

All-American 2013 Best in Show 7th place - 2012

2007 - H.M. Sweepstakes 2010 - 2nd Sweepstakes 2011 - H.M. Sweepstakes

team, which I grew up playing that position in little league. There are always different reactions I get from being the only male cheerleader this year, sometimes theyre positive, or they turn out to be negative. A lot of the parents and some of the students think its great. They come up to me and say to keep up the good work. A lot of them even ask about college, and if Im going to continue cheering. Its great that I have people that want to see me continue and succeed. Getting a scholarship to cheer in college is my dream. Some students support me, and then there are the students that label me as the gay, boy cheerleader. It doesnt affect me and I hardly complain about it like people think or expect me to. But it gets aggravating and old. I dont understand the pleasure you get from calling someone a faggot. People actually kill themselves over stuff like that. Like Drake Mallory, a cheerleader from TECC (The Elite Cheer Company), bullied for being a gay cheerleader and committed suicide. People need to learn to be more considerate of others and their choices. Nobody should be bullied for something that they love to do.