Design Editor Taylor Alton:
Women changing the world
The rise of Wordle
News Section Editor: Emma Szabo
Stove. Lowly. Snout. Trope. Fewer. Shawl. Natal. Though seemingly random, this list of words has one thing in common – they are all recent answers to the daily Wordle. Since February, the game has exploded in popularity. Even if you don’t play it, you’re sure to recognize the setup of little gray, yellow, and green squares people post every day. So, what caused the puzzle’s popularity in the first place, and what keeps people playing – even with some new complaints?
The premise of the game is simple – you get six tries to guess a five-letter word every day. It was created by Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle as a gift to his wife who loved word games, and after his family enjoyed the game he made it available for public play. The game, which was shared publicly in October 2021, has been free to play online since launch and picked up in popularity in December 2021. With thousands of daily players, Wordle’s explosion in popularity caught the attention of The New York Times, and was bought for an undisclosed amount at the end of January. For many people, playing Wordle has become a part of their daily routine, and has given them something to talk about.
“I have a streak going, and it also makes me feel smart because I’ve always been able to get the word by the end of the day,” Senior Shelby Crowley said.
Streaks and game statistics have been one of the biggest reasons Wordle has spread. With the built in option to share how many tries it took to solve the daily puzzle, Wordle trends almost daily on Twitter and other social media sites. The quick and easy way to share your results (which include a link to the game) makes it simple to increase interest in Wordle and also provides players with a spoiler free way to converse.
“I love being able to share my results with my family. Every day, we send each other our results in a group chat and it gives us something to talk about that night,” Sophomore Cathleen Vasquez said.
Despite the game’s beloved status, fans of Wordle have recently been discontent with the word choices; many believing that it’s the fault of The Times. Words with two of the same letter and unusual letters such as ‘u’ or ‘y’ were uncommon before the purchase, and some of the hardest words had previously been things like ‘tapir’ and ‘knoll’. In contrast, the first two words after The New York Times both started with U, something that players had not seen before. Since then, the words will have double letters more often than not, which has left fans disappointed with the apparent change. Despite the feeling that the game has gotten harder, the New York Times claims that they have not changed the difficulty of the game. In an interview with People Magazine, a representative from the Times said that they are continuing to use the predetermined word list created by Wardle before they acquired the game.
“I feel like it did get harder, but I’m not sure. Maybe it just feels harder because the company changed and not because the words actually changed,” Crowley said.
So, why do people still play Wordle? Despite what seems to be dissatisfaction from fans, difficulty doesn’t deter the die-hard players from their newfound day-to-day routine. Instead, player count has shown no significant change and if anything, the idea that Wordle has gotten harder only adds to the conversation surrounding it. The social and sharing aspects are arguably the most important parts in Wordle’s rise to fame, and it ensures that the game isn’t going anywhere for a while. The simplicity and the one-a-day format the puzzle subscribes to is also another reason players come back each day, which is exactly as Wardle intended the game to be played. So while there are many different reasons people choose to start Wordle, most reasons to stay are the same. Wordle’s charm has managed to capture not only the heart of Wardle’s wife, but of the whole world as well.
Undeniable pull of senioritis
Editor-In-Chief: Diego Hernandez
Four months, wait it’s three now. As the school year comes to an end and spring break has concluded, students are pushing their inner engines to finish the year. Amongst our campus near 3,000 students, 748 of them are pushing, or not trying to the best of their abilities. These 748 students are seniors and are now experiencing senioritis. Senior Jurni Gregorcyk shares her views on what this disease is.
“I think senioritis is a time where people are just giving up on school as they feel there is no point to it anymore. These individuals are ready to begin the next part of their lives and it’s reflected in their drive,” Gregorcyk said.
As many seniors are within the same realm of being excited for college and their highschool chapter ending, there is no shortage to the many victims of senioritis. Senior Zoe O’Donnell shares the appeals and capabilities as to why this feeling is so prominent amongst this class.
“Knowing that your GPA is now locked allows you to not feel as dedicated to your work. Personally, my wavering grades do not take a toll on me as next year is set for me without added pressures,” O’Donnell stated.
With looming worries relieved, students are different in how long till they fall under senioritis’ spell. Senior Nico Ojeda explains how he in truth has not yet been able to become affiliated, even though most traditional numbers have been accomplished.
“I will most likely feel senioritis after spring break or really the last nine week grading period of the school year. Right now I have a responsibility as an in-season athlete for baseball to maintain good grades,” Ojeda said.
Seniors are not the only ones who seem to be able to become one with senioritis. This incorporation can be experienced among staff and administration alike.
“I think teachers can feel it too. They are completely ready for their own personal break away because even when we have three-day weekends or some student holidays they’re still here working,” Gregorcyk stated.
Senioritis also has the potential to branch out away from what areas in which its temptations begin to take hold. As we go through the end of the year there are various tasks depending on the individual we must go through.
“For theater at least, Mr. A has to keep us on our A game especially for officers. Throughout the years we’ve witnessed them slipping on their responsibilities and it can become pretty chaotic,” O’Donnell said.
As our time comes to an end and as we recognize our new paths, school may seem a potential scare. Although it may not be wanted by some, senioritis may be able to set you free.
“I think I’ll be able to get through a good amount of time without needing it, but ultimately I know I’m going to need it or these last few months and or weeks will be rough,” Ojeda stated.
Senioritis, an emotion and state of mind, may be students and even faculties answers. Do not fear it as it may set you free.
Principal Martinez makes his mark
By Diego Hernandez Editor in Chief
The new school year brings about a new era on campus along with a new Principal Mr. Robert Martinez. Mr. Martinez hopes to improve and lead our campus through this year of transition and shared that he started things off right thanks to our students and staff.
“From day one, the students have been very welcoming, and pretty open about their concerns for the school. The faculty is also amazing. In particular our Associate Principal Mr. Christian and Academic Dean Mrs. Bishop. They have made this transition pretty smooth,” Martinez said.
Before being named principal, Martinez researched our school and was familiar with some of the challenges here for students and staff. Martinez is working with students and faculty to make a few adjustments in the near future. These ideas involve possible changes to the campus layout and some dress code changes that have already taken effect like shorts. For some of the bigger long-term changes, Martinez is hopeful that we get help from the district and community.
“I know every four or five years we do a bond proposal in hopes of getting much-needed improvements to our schools from bond money,” Martinez said.
Martinez’s main proposals include an expansion project for the cafeteria and library. He says an additional academic building would also be nice. Martinez shared there is an area where a building could fit for another two-story building. One major change happening very soon is the expansion of the Nurse’s office.
“Our Nurse’s Office just isn’t big enough to support the needs of a campus as big as O’Connor,” Martinez said.
Martinez decided to move the Nurse’s office to where the Career Center is; more than doubling the size.
“I feel like this is a move that we couldn’t wait on,” Martinez said.
The new Nurse’s Office is scheduled to open in early November. As part of the move, the Career Center will move into room B103 in the library which will likely increase traffic as students seek out more scholarships and college information while in the library.
Prior to his time with us, Martinez worked at multiple schools acting both as a teacher and an administrator. These all include sister Northside ISD high schools starting off at John Jay.
“I taught for six years at John Jay as a social studies teacher and then I got promoted to Assistant Principal at Clark, was at Clark for four and a half years and then got promoted to Vice Principal at Brennan,” Martinez said.
Martinez enjoyed his time at all three schools and shared he’s thrilled to be here at O’Connor. He reflected that this campus has successful students, with many institutions such as agriculture. Martinez shared he is excited to work with Ag Principal, Mr. Bohlken for the Agriculture Academy’s first year.
“I love visiting the barnes and seeing all the animals. These things don’t normally take place at school and that’s pretty phenomenal. Overall, I’m very excited about the possibilities,” Martinez said.
Martinez has always strived for his chances to become a leader in the development of young people. His path to O’Connor became available with Mrs. Horras’s departure.
“I knew the position would become available when Mrs. Horras was promoted last spring. There were actually four principal openings this past summer, and I lucked out and got the best one,” Martinez said.
Mr. Martinez has been preparing for this time with us consistently and through his performance under other advisers
who sat where he is now.
“What has really prepared me is that I have had mentors to work under. Being able to establish my beliefs and values for the students was great for me, seeing different levels of students and their successes and challenges has given me the perspective to help students at all levels for the better,” Martinez said.
“In teaching, you affect a lot of lives, you can work with students, coach them, and motivate them to become the best that they can be,” Martinez said.
As the school year continues, still amidst Covid regulations, Principal Martinez shared he aims to improve this campus for both teachers and students, “Go Panthers!”
Panthers celebrate Homecoming 2021
It’s Friday of homecoming week and the hallways are alive with the sweet sound of homecoming bells on mums as students sashay down the halls, heavy laden with several decorative mums sometimes from friends or family. This week the dress up days were: Monday Meme Day, Tuesday Twin Day, Wednesday Movie Character day, Thursday Tacky Tourist day, and Friday Love Navy, Live Gold spirit day.
Students and especially seniors were creative in their dress this week.
Photo by Hannah Veiser
Helotes Mayoral Election Reflects Importance of Local Government
Written By Staff Writer Cristian Velazquez
All across Texas, local elections will be held on May 1st for citizens to choose who will be on their city councils, school boards, and other regional governing bodies. The city of Helotes is no different. In this election cycle, Rich Whitehead will challenge 14-year incumbent Tom Schoolcraft for mayor. We talked with Whitehead about the importance of local government, his campaign, and how students can get involved in their community.
Whitehead started working in local politics 14 years ago when he ran for city council with the current mayor and got elected in 2006. He was a councilman for 4 years before deciding not to run for reelection due to fixing most of the problems that he wanted to solve in the community.
“Public service is one of those things you do because it’s the right thing to do. You don’t make any money at [city council]. Zero dollars, zero cents an hour, as it were, but you get to see the effects of policy decisions you make that make people’s lives a little bit easier,” Whitehead said.
The Helotes government is responsible for many things in the community such as regulating businesses, buildings, and even plants in the city. The local government is also responsible for our public safety organizations.
“If you ever need an ambulance, or, God forbid, there’s a fire, or if you need the police, [those are] points of contact with the local government,” Whitehead said.
When running a local campaign, a candidate usually doesn’t have the national stage, catchy political policies, or party affiliations to have people pay attention to their campaign.
“Most people have very little idea of what goes on in the local government. They keep an eye on the national government or maybe the state government, but rarely judicial or local, and local government is really where the rubber meets the road,” Whitehead said.
Candidates instead keep platforms and issues close to home. Whitehead is keen on knocking on doors and attending events to speak with his potential constituents. He also has a Facebook page where he lays out his issues extensively and information on events. One component of Whitehead’s platform is to bring back events in Helotes to reinvigorate our sense of community in the city and to local tourism.
“We used to have a lot more things such as Jazz Fest, [and] Chuck Wagon Chili Cook-Off. Those things, unfortunately, have been canceled. […] I am definitely going to bring those things back and hopefully some others. People have good ideas all the time. Someone floated the idea of having kind of like a little ‘Helotes’s Got Talent’. […] Its community and family likes watching family. And so by having these things on a regular basis it just draws people from the surrounding areas. […] I don’t campaign to people outside of the area, but I listen to people outside of the area. […] I care about what [they] think because [they’re] a part of our community,” Whitehead said.
Another major theme of the campaign is fiscal conservation.
“I feel that the current mayor, in his policy directions, has led us to some bad financial decisions: a frivolous lawsuit that cost us 1.3 million dollars, [the] dispatch center [that’s] losings about a half-million dollars a year. As a result, we’re losing police and fire officers to low salaries,” Whitehead said.
Mayor Schoolcraft has been hitting back against these claims on his campaign page with paragraphs, bullet points, vertical selfie videos, and pictures of Whitehead’s Facebook posts printed out with critical annotations in red ink. He has attacked and refuted multiple points of Whitehead’s campaign and platform in a series of edits to his website he calls “The rest of the story”, creating it so, in his words, “you will truly be able to understand the what, when, where, and why of each issue. It will then be up to you to reach your own conclusions”. In a video called “Whack-A-Mole”. Mayor Schoolcraft criticizes the coalition between Whitehead and city council candidates Matthew Merchant and Matthew McCrossen.
“They say ‘we need change’. What is that change? […] Have you ever asked them any serious questions when they’re talking about frivolous lawsuits and salaries being unfair and being mean to business and all that? Have you asked them any questions? (‘Hey, show me some examples of what you’re talking about because it doesn’t make sense’), that’s what I would do. Once they get off their talking points they’ll be lost because they do not know, really, what any issues are, because we have no issues. […] Hopefully you’ll stick with me, Burt Buys, and Paul Friedrichs if you haven’t voted yet,” Whitehead said.
On how students get involved in the local government, Whitehead encouraged finding a candidate that one likes, and volunteering with their campaign. He also proposed creating an internship at Helotes City Hall for seniors interested in government or political science, should he get elected.
“This is going to be your Helotes. […] you’re either going to take ownership […] at some point at an early age, or you’re going to sit by and it’s going to become something that you don’t like. And you just eventually […] get rolled over by the system or just move away to find someplace else, so get involved and make sure that the future is what you want it to be,” Whitehead said.
Information on the election can be found here on the Helotes website- City of Helotes | 2021 Election
Covid Grammy fashion, winners
By Micaella Rodriguez Staff writer
On Sunday, March 14, the 63rd annual Grammy awards took place. Artists dressed in designers from Harry Lambert and Oscar de La Renta to Versace and Nike ensembles. Now a 28-time Grammy winning singer, Beyonce has made history by setting the record for most Grammys by any female artist. Many celebrities experimented with pandemic-friendly, mask matching looks. Including Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, and Chika. With a limited audience, masks and social distancing, here’s the rundown of the event.
Dua Lipa presented a glittery disco look through the night. Wearing Atelier Versace for both the red carpet, and her performance. Taylor Swift brought warm, garden vibes with her on-brand floral dress. Adding on light pink Louboutin heels. Then, at her performance, wore a floor-length blue floral gown.
Then there’s Harry Styles, donning his usual Gucci. In particular, sporting a Grammys-themed manicure with gold, brown, gray and black polish. He wore a 70s inspired set as well. With a yellow houndstooth blazer, brown velvet pants, and pink shirt with a v-shaped neckline. And of course, his purple colored, feather boa. Styles opened the show with a performance of his hit song, Watermelon Sugar. He wore a custom leather suit, without a shirt underneath, black shoes, rings, and accessorizing with the same boa, in green.
However, many artists and fans were upset about the Grammys this year. Artists including Zayn, The Weeknd and Halsey spoke out about the award show. While Zayn wasn’t angry about not getting nominated, he expressed this with a grim tweet that he felt the Grammys do not showcase all artists. Saying the Grammys is in need of “inclusion” and had a “lack of transparency”. He mentioned the Grammys allows “favoritism, racism, and networking politics to influence the voting process” Overall, the Grammys had positive feedback. Fans and artists are just hoping for better inclusivity, diversity and less favoritism in the coming years.
New 2021 Exam Rules
Diego Hernandez Co-Editor In Chief
As Covid-19 has turned our high school experience and that of our daily lives into a new reality, numerous events and regulations have been established. One such regulation is a new rule regarding end of year exams. This new rule states that beginning on March 1, students who attain no more than 3 or more absences throughout the year until June 3rd, will be exempt from having to take semester exams. Junior Rodrigo Valenzuela shares his views on how this rule changed the end of year period.
“I think these new changes to this year’s exam are great, it has lifted a good amount of stress from my shoulders for what’s left in the year,” Valenzuela said.
In years prior, exam lifting was only in effect for seniors who were nearing the end of their time in high school and did not need to meet more course requirements. However, this year it is applied to all grades from freshman to the graduating class. APUSH teacher Jennifer Cain tells of how she thinks these new protocols will affect students motives.
“I believe all eligible students will benefit from not having the semester exams this year – this will be one less stressor in an environment that was incredibly stressful for students and teachers this year,” Cain said.
Since its enactment, which has taken effect in all Northside schools, students have been able to breathe a bit more deeply than before. Schoology has provided both students and teachers with alternative electronic assignments, test taking strategies and skills have also largely changed for students, the exam lift aids to relieve this struggle.
“I think it relieves stress because test taking isn’t as easy as it was one year ago. Things have changed and so has our learning style,” Valenzuela said.
As this year has progressed, many students have slipped up on attendance rates. Class zooms have diminished in number, and failures have also met rising rates. This new alternative agreement could just be the push students need to go back to class.
“I think the attendance rate will be great and I am already seeing positive trends in attendance. I am also hoping that this will also cause students to finish strong in all of their courses,” Cain said.
Once heard, no matter the location, students were in awe of this major change to the course curriculum and requirements for their grade levels. Since this year’s start, Northisde has taken major liberties and precautions for the welfare of the students and this was no different.
“I first heard about the new stance on exams about a week and a half ago. My friends and family were actually able to hear it before me,” Valenzuela said
However, the new regulations are to be held in the highest confidence. If students extend over their absences, they would need to fulfill the exam requirement and put a burden on teachers. But if all is complete then they can enjoy the summer to come.
“For teachers, we sadly do not have any extra days off and will still have students that need to take the exams. But I am excited for my students that get to enjoy summer a little early,” Cain said.
On February 23rd, the school board of Northside ISD met to discuss this new plan. From this meeting introduced a new way to coax students to re-enter the virtual classroom and try their best to maintain better grades as these rules also require students to have passed both current and the most recent grading period. Although this year has been challenging, this new order can be the key needed to turn students lifes for the better.
UIL Academics wins first place at District
By Micaella Rodriguez Staff Writer
The UIL Academic Panthers swept the District competition on March 26 and 27, 2021 at Holmes High School to capture first place. Several teams placed first including Speech and Debate, Computer Science, and Current Events. A few teams placed second overall and the Panthers went home with a total of 324 points. Second place school was Jay with 278 points and third place sweepstakes was newcomer Harlan with 227 points. Students placing in the top three and members of first place teams advance to compete on April 16 and 17, 2021.
In Speech and Debate events, for Cross-Examination debate the team of Shasha Ogork and Beverly Quintana earned first place and advanced to State. In Lincoln Douglas debate, Charis Key earned second place. In Informative Speaking Ogork earned first place. In Poetry, Adison Garza won third place. In Prose, Jasmine Evenstad earned second place and Yash Patel earned third place. In Persuasive Speaking, William Walker earned first place.
“I prepared for the different categories all year, I conducted research, practiced, and debated this topic for many months prior to the UIL Competitions,” Walker said.
To those who wish to participate in UIL Walker said, “You will learn a huge amount of fascinating things that will make you a more informed, rounded, and thoughtful person. All of this while being surrounded by fun and energetic people that creates an amazing atmosphere of learning that you can’t get anywhere else.”
In Math events, sophomore Jayvin Pena placed first in Calculator Applications, Francesco Payan placed sixth, Isabella Ireland placed eleventh. In Mathematics Jayvin Pena placed third, Adriana Delagarza placed fifth, Payan placed sixth. In Number Sense, Pena placed third and Payan placed seventh. The team won second place overall.
“The reason I am driven to keep competing in UIL is that I get to compete in subjects I love. Instead of keeping Math or Computer Science confined to busy work and stressing over grades, I can just go out there and have fun with my team and learn quite a lot while doing it,” Pena said.
In Computer Science, junior Keayen Jeppson earned first place and the team with Jayvin Pena and Cyrus Bushong won first place overall. Pena placed fourth and Bushong placed fifth.
“I completed practice exams which were copies of previous UIL exams so that I could prepare for that section of the Computer Science event. For the hands-on coding portion of the UIL contest, I also coded some programs from previous UIL contests and timed myself to the two hour time limit and tried to code as many of them as possible As the exam portion of the Computer Science UIL was timed to 45 minutes (with 40 questions), I had to make sure I did the easy questions first, and skip the ones I was unsure of, as you lose points for every wrong answer. Doing so was crucial to keep my score as high as possible, which definitely contributed to helping me get first place,” Jeppson said.
For English events, in Literary Criticism, Brooke Burriola earned first place. In Spelling Isabella Ireland earned second place. In Ready Writing, Belen Cocke earned third place, Adriana Delagarza placed eighth and Alysandra Avila placed ninth.
In Current Issues, Ireland earned third place. Jasen Drileck earned sixth place and Mya Sachey earned seventh place. Together Drileck, Sachey, and Ireland advance to Region as first place team.
“I have been competing in UIL Academics since my sophomore year, and since then I have competed in a total of 5 areas. I absolutely love being able to test my knowledge and work with a team to achieve greatness! I also plan to continue to compete through my senior year,” Ireland said.
The students will continue to study and prepare for the Region UIL Academic competition.
In UIL Theatre events, Theatrical Design State Qualifiers are senior Conner Ballenger for Set Design, senior Elisa Pedraza Sanchez for Hair & Makeup Design and junior Lillian Land for Costume Design. They will compete at State on May 7 and 8, 2021.
Webtoon entertains students: True Beauty
By Madison Menchaca
With 131 chapters and over five million readers, True beauty is an ongoing Webtoon and the story was made into a Korean Drama released December 2020. The story focuses on a high school student Im Joo-kyung who gets bullied at her old school because of her appearance until one day she is on the rooftop of a building crying about her experience at school and she meets a boy Lee Su-Ho who saves her from jumping, when she gets home her mom tells her that she’s going to be transferring schools. Determined Joo-Kyung learns how to do make-up so she won’t be treated the way she was at her old school. After many failed attempts she finally made herself look unrecognizable. When she enters her new school people are amazed by how beautiful she is,
“I thought that it was good that she was getting the attention she wanted because it made her happy, but it was sad because she had to make herself look like a different person to get that attention,” sophomore Haley Lopez said.
Soon we find out that Lee Su-Ho goes to the same school as her now but she has no recollection of who he is because she wasn’t wearing her glasses. As she continues to go to school Lee Su-Ho becomes suspicious of who she really is. After a couple of weeks of going to her new school a new character is introduced and that is Han Seo-Joon. Both Lee Su-ho and Han Seo-Joon begin to fall in love with Joo-Kyung leaving them in a frustrating love triangle.
The fandom of the show and Webtoon took a liking to both of the main lead male characters. The first main lead male character is Lee Su-ho and the second lead male character is Han Seo-Joon. Originally in the Webtoon Han Seo-Joon was the one to first get with Joo-Kyung but, in the Korean drama Han Seo-Joon doesn’t get to be with Joo-Kyung and doesn’t get his happy ending which upset a lot of fans.
“I was obviously upset because he deserved way better than what he got but at the same time I was happy because Joo-Kyung didn’t deserve him because even after all he did she didn’t ever really give him a chance because she was still hung up oh Su-Ho,” sophomore Amy Guerra said.
During both stories make-up is a huge part of how Juoo-Kyung makes herself unrecognisable. With many fans taking an interest to her make-up the Korean brand made a bundle of all the products she uses so that fans of the show can try to do some of her looks.