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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
By Staff writer Taylor Alton
With movie theaters closed and limitations on stadiums for sports and concerts, many of us have turned to T.V. for entertainment. Streaming services like HBO, Disney Plus, and Netflix have gotten a lot of attention during these quarantined times. Everything from mysterious superhero shows, to angsty teen dramas, we’ve all got our favorite quarantine shows.
Disney Plus, being a product of one of the most influential companies in the world, has numerous shows and movies that will take teens on a trip down memory lane. Hannah Montana and Finding Nemo aside, WandaVison is the center of attention as it is a brand new show about two iconic superheroes. The show shines light on the not-so-suburban, suburban lives of Wanda Maximoff also known as Scarlet Witch and Vision. Full of mind boggling mysteries and unique references to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, WandaVision is perfect for any Marvel fan.
On HBO we have Euphoria. The show follows Rue, a drug addicted teen not interested in staying clean after leaving rehab. While at a party, she meets Jules, a transgender girl full of personilty looking for her place in life. The two embark on the treacherous journey of being a teenager in Other characters include an array of sporadic jocks and flashy popular girls who all deal with their own issues as well. The show touches deeply on drug abuse, sexuality, mental illnesses, and the stress of finding your identity as a teenager.
Similar to Disney Plus, Amazon Prime is owned by an extremely large and well-known company. So, the options are limitless. But, some of the shows are actually made by Amazon, not just streamed by their services. For example, a new show called The Wilds started streaming on Amazon Prime back in early December. Like Euphroia, The Wilds covers the drastic lives of teenagers dealing with mental illnessness, sexuality, sexual abuse, eating disorders, tragic romances, and the loss of loved ones. But this time, it’s on a deserted island. After being told they’re going on a feminist retreat in Hawaii, nine teenage girls from all over America are left to fend for themselves on a deserted island after their plane crashes in the ocean. It’s the strength they find within and the friendships they build that keep the girls alive in hopes of getting rescued. However, their limits are tested once suspicion arises and they realize there’s a lot more to the island than they thought.
Just like all these amazing shows mentioned, The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix is another new series featuring a strong female lead and her life as a young adult. Based on the novel written by, The Queen’s Gambit is set in the Cold War era and tells the story of Beth Harmon, an orphaned chess prodigy on the quest to become the best chess player in the world. Fueled by her determination, Beth soon finds out it takes more than just skill to be at the top of the food chain. The show follows the genius from her time in an orphanage as a child all the way to her life as a young adult. Every episode brings a new challenge to Beth whether it be her struggle with drug abuse or the ups and downs of her love life. The Queen’s Gambit is a unique story and will catch the attention of anyone looking for an addicting new show to watch.
By Diego Hernandez Co-Editor-in-Chief
The 48th Annual Walter Gerlach Livestock Show and Sale raised over 1.1 million dollars in scholarships for Agriculture students announced on February 8, 2021 for the fourth year in a row. The show occurred from January 23-30th and the live auction took place via Livestream and in-person limited on January 28, 2021. Several students won recognition for raising livestock and building Agricultural Machinery products.
The winners of Gerlach’s awards include senior Matthew Escobedo for Ag Mechanics Grand Champion for restoring a tractor and FFA member Emily Felty for the Reserve Grand Champion. Freshman Krista Sifuentes received Grand Champion for Goats while sophomore Reagan Crick gained Reserve. Member Kiley Murry earned Grand Champion title along with reserve for rabbits awarded to FFA. Ian Diaz gained Grand Champion title for Swine while Reserve GC went to senior Aiden Charo. The title of Grand Champion for Steer went to senior Erica Perales along with Reserve Steer winner junior Courtney Burrell. Senior Victoria Weynand received the Grand Champion title for Lamb and senior Reague Chavez the Reserve. Senior Avery Felton acquired the Grand Champion title for Turkey as freshman Jace Burkholder for Reserve. Grand Champion title for Broilers went to seventh grade FFA member Gianna Hivnor of Atonement Academy and Reserve winner senior Gavin Spears.
Agriculture students involved in raising animals were awarded in other ways as well.
“It’s all worth it when you see the friends you’ve made and the fun you’ve had with your animals. And never be afraid to ask the teachers questions, they are there to help you and when it comes to raising your own animal, it is important you know everything that needs to be known about your animal so you can be more successful with raising and in other parts of ag,” FFA member senior Samantha Wright said.
Other Ag students shared similar experiences.
“Ag has been an important part of my life because it has taught me so many valuable lessons over the years. I have learned responsibility, hard work, leadership, and more. It has also allowed me to make many important friendships and connections that will help me out in my adult life and career,” senior Madison Crick said.
Students overcame several challenges this year, pandemic and communication-related issues and more.
“It was also harder to keep prepared for the uncertainties of my animals as well as in my Ag teams as I am unable to go everywhere I needed to go to get supplies, feed and many other things,” Wright said.
Other students faced some of the same challenges.
“My year raising was a mix of very fun and very stressful. I did not have any extracurricular activities besides ag this year due to Covid, so I was able to put a lot more focus into my goat projects. I was worried that the livestock shows would be canceled, but I was very grateful because most of them still happened, and my hard work paid off in the end,” senior Madison Crick said.
They also were able to experience rewards, such as seeing the results of their four years of hard work involved in the Ag program and prepare them for their future.
“When I got the letter saying I had gotten the Gerlach Scholarship, I was ecstatic. I had worked very hard and was very involved with FFA these past four years, so I had felt all that hard work had paid off and I was very thankful for Gerlach for their consideration of me for this scholarship. After high school, I will attend Texas A&M University and major in Animal Science in hopes of becoming a veterinarian,” Wright said.
Other scholarship winners were overjoyed as well.
“I was so excited to find out that I earned my scholarship! It meant so much to me because of how much time and effort I had put into the application, as well as my FFA and 4H career over the years, to be able to get this scholarship. Next year, I will be attending Texas A&M University, and majoring in Agricultural Communications,” Crick said.
Second-year FFA member junior Lillian Stagner shared her experience this year raising goats was a fun and challenging experience.
“I had the honor to receive Division Champion of Light Weight Goats. I felt so proud, as all of my hard work paid off,” Stagner said.
Stagner is also looking forward to participating again next year, her senior year she plans to raise a pig, and Heffer.
“I’m jumping head first into this as I have never raised these animals before, but I am just so excited to learn from them,” Stagner said.
Scholarships were awarded to several Agricultural students including seniors Elizabeth Barnett, Abigail Flores, Samantha Wright, Caitlin Castro, Victoria Weynand, Mason Pouncy, Erica Perales, Emaleen Cain, Madison Crick, Riley McGovern, Shelly Padalecki, and Jordan McCullough.
by Staff writer Cristian Velazquez
When most people think about internet privacy, they think that the tools for utilizing it are reserved for either criminals, whistleblowers, or crazed conspiracy theorists. That could not be farther than the truth. Developers have been crafting software and tools for a long time to make privacy as easy as possible for everyday people. As concern over Big Tech grows as time goes on, people with a passion for protecting your privacy have been developing the competition to companies that take users data to make money off of you through targeted ads that don’t seem to go away. Here are some simple steps to take back your data and take back control over your digital life.
Surfing the Web
With your browsing habits being able to reveal numerous aspects of your personal life, this is one of the most important areas of your digital life to modify. A great start is to use the DuckDuckGo search engine, as opposed to Google Search. What makes DuckDuckGo so great is that it doesn’t store any data that could personally identify users, such as your search history, IP address or device information. This way, user search queries don’t fuel the “creepy ads” that follow you around based on what users lookup. However, targeted ads still can haunt you through the trackers that most of the websites users visit have. To remedy this, you need a good browser.
A picture of DuckDuckGo’s homepage. For a cleaner look, try start.duckduckgo.com
One of the best web browsers for keeping yourself private and secure is Firefox. Firefox is widely recommended by privacy enthusiasts not because of what it can do out-of-the-box, but because of its ability to be modified to better protect you against tracking, or “hardened”.
Firefox is also open source, meaning that the source code of the software is freely available to view and modify. Open-source software isn’t good for privacy in and of itself. But since the code of the software is open to scrutiny, open-source software is trusted to do what it says it does.
Take some time in the preferences menu (gear icon) to harden Firefox. Set DuckDuckGo as your default browser, set Enhanced Tracking Protection to Strict, set cookies and history to clear after Firefox closes, disable any data collection from Firefox, and go into HTTPS-Only Mode. Be aware that some of these modifications can and will break some websites or website features (such as staying logged in to websites). If you want to see how these changes affect users’ browsing habits, make these tweaks incrementally.
For mobile browsing, Try the DuckDuckGo app, the Firefox app, and the Firefox Focus app. All of these apps are free, open-source and have privacy in mind.
Chatting with friends
Users texts and calls with people they know are also a treasure trove of personal information that people and companies are interested in. One of the easiest and most popular way to make your communication more secure against threats to your privacy is to install and use Signal. Signal uses end-to-end encryption when sending messages, which essentially means that no one but the user and whoever you’re chatting with can digitally access your texts, calls, etc. Furthermore, Signal goes above and beyond other encrypted messengers by being open source and never collecting personal data (except for your phone number, which is required to use the service). Although Signal only works with people already using it, inviting your friends to use the app is easy and built into the app with a setting that sends a message to one or more contacts inviting them. With features that other apps for communication have, such as video calls, audio messages, group chats, the transition for you and others should be very smooth. Signal also comes with some fun privacy-centric features, such as disappearing messages and a tool to blur identifying information in photos (such as faces and license plates).
These are some very good first steps to take in the internet privacy journey. However, this merely scratches the surface and much more knowledge is available from enthusiasts in online communities who will help you with similar novice advice and also guide you through more advanced steps to strengthen your privacy, like switching to a Linux OS, using Firefox extensions, and utilizing more open-source software. Here are some of those communities. Make sure to cross-reference sources and check dates when services and methods are recommended so users have the most up-to-date and helpful advice to maintain privacy.
Staff writer Micaella Rodriguez
Varsity volleyball topped off their season with an undefeated district record and ranked 57th best volleyball team in Texas. They advanced to the playoffs and defeated Nixon in a 3-0 shutout to become Bi-district champions. The team advanced and defeated both Edinburg in Area and United in Regional quarterfinals again with 3-0 shutouts. They ended their playoff streak with a loss vs. Reagan 3-1 in the Regional semi-final match-up.
Several athletes are prepared to continue their volleyball careers in college. Senior Terez Chavez signed to be a part of the Southwestern Oklahoma State University volleyball team in November. Senior Bryshanna Brown signed to the University of Houston volleyball team in December. Several teammates were also honored and named to All-District including senior Lexi Davila, named Offensive player of the year, Brown named MVP, Chavez named setter of the year, junior Mackenzie Mahr, seniors Elizabeth Purcell and Mia Robles named to first team. Juniors Lina Herrera and Ava Himstreet named to second team All District.
These team members have been playing volleyball for years and have gone through extensive training. Mahr, outside hitter has been on the Varsity volleyball team since her freshman year. Currently, Mahr has a record of over 60 digs as well as over 250 serves. Mahr has been playing volleyball since 6th grade. Mahr mentioned that she first started playing because she had previously been playing tennis. However, she had gotten tired of it and from the advice of a friend, tried out for the volleyball team.
“People were really happy for me, there’s gonna be people who don’t like what I’m doing or who aren’t okay with my success but the vast majority of people are happy for me for finally being able to play and being able to showcase what I can do,” Mahr said.
As for COVID-19, it has also had an impact on these players due to health protocols most volleyball gyms have had to close. Most players have been unable to practice which has affected their skills.
“I wasn’t able to go to practice, I wasn’t able to go with my team, this was one of the first years that I haven’t been able to go to nationals and so that has also affected my recruiting,” Mahr said.
Freshman JV member, moved up to Varsity mid-season, Carly Chavez is an Outside Hitter, Defense Specialist on the varsity team. Chavez has been playing club volleyball since she was 10 years old, and she soon “fell in love” with the sport. “Volleyball has shaped me physically and mentally. It has kept me in shape of course, but has made me a more mentally tough person. I have learned to handle pressure, and not crack under it on and off the court,” Chavez said.
She shared she is a very positive person towards others on and off the court.
“I feel like volleyball has made me into the leader who doesn’t get on you for your mistakes, but one that drives you to make yourself better,” Chavez said.
Chavez and other successful players attribute their success to their team and their families.
“I have a very supportive family that always congratulates me for my volleyball successes. My family are the ones that drive me to continue my volleyball career into college,” Chavez said.
Like everything, the season was impacted by COVID-19. Chavez said that her club season was cut off and wasn’t able to compete at Nationals.
“It was not great being at home instead of the court because that was my happiness, once we all started getting back on the court our happiness came back,” Chavez said.
