In 2010, we took the test again and not only did we achieve acceptability we are now a “Recognized” district;  the best score the Texas Education Agency can give a school district based on several different factors.

            In 2009, AISD suffered under the weight of low completion rates. The State of Texas requires a school district to have a 75% completion rate, as well as acceptable scores. Unfortunately, our scores on the TAKS then were not enough to make up for issues with non completion.

            The story was completely different in 2010.

            AHS, along with the entire district met the challenges of becoming recognized. After all the celebrations were over, the faculty and staff began to wonder, “Where did we go right, and how do we maintain this status?”

            “I think the TAKS Blitz was really awesome.” said Mrs. Thomas, the chair of the English department which saw a significant rise in scores. “We also had the credit recovery and alternative school. It came down to being diligent.”

            “We learned a lot about getting students back in school.” Mr. Howell said. “The Alternative campus helped a bunch because it gave kids an option. We’re still doing tutorials, and we’re definitely doing the rotating review, or TAKS Blitz.”

            Our 2010 TAKS scores are proof of the quality and diligence of the AHS staff and students. “Being unacceptable really winded us,” Mrs. Thomas said. “But with these new scores we got our pride back. It reinstated our confidence.”

            Mr. Howell is now looking firmly in the future of where our school can go, now that we see what we have the capability to do.

“Our goal is to continue to improve and change the culture even more to one of academic pride and achievement. We want to be good in everything.”

            Not only do we get a blast from the past tomorrow but it is also an early release day!!!!!!!! Because of early release, tomorrow’s pep rally will be in the dome at 9:25am. Make sure you go out and support our Mustangs as we dominate in Plainview tomorrow night!

it was all about the roar of the Seniors and the cries of the freshmen saying, “Where’s that again?” Excited chit chats and loud laughter. Being late for all eight of my classe, but of course, not caring. The week drew on and my classes became easier to get to.  I threw out my schedule and remembered which books to grab and when.

School is stil school wherever you are. There are still the voices of the boys trying to make a noticeable first impression. The constant change of the clock as the minutes drag on and I beg for the day to come to an end.

Thursday I run a mile.

Friday I have a science test.

One week down.

Ho much more must I take?!

 Oh yeah.

I forgot.

Four more years.

“I think that this will prove to be beneficial to the students.”

School years always bring new changes. This year brought one really big change involving our school schedules.Not only do we not have “A” and “B” days we also have a longer day. The 7:50 to 3:55 day includes eight classes along with the helpful F.E.E.D class. F.E.E.D stands for Foundation for Educational Excellence and Diligence. This particular class period allows students extra time to finish their homework and prevents students from falling behind in any of their classes. Students are able to get to class and get right down on to what needs to be done. For the most part the classes are to be proven benificial.

No more worrying about how to get homework done after coming home from after school activities. Students can just take their work to F.E.E.D class the next day and finish it. The stressing goes to a minimum and lessens the crazy days when students don’t do their homework. Though the day seems longer, more can be done and acheived in one day as compared to the old schedule when students had to wait till the next day because they didnt have those classes all at once. This class is designed ease out the school days tension and give students time to be aware of what needs to be done.

Teachers also think that this will improve achademic standars for students. Students can be more cautious of needs to be done and just go for it. Students don’t realize it but for teachers having every class every day can be extremly tiring. However, they are happy to help because they are able to help students in that extra time that they are with them.

“I love having all my classes every day, but since I am not used to this new schedule I get tired. I think that this will prove to be good for the students. It will show them continuity and teach them time managment.” says English teacher, Ms. Snow.

Alot of students are happy that they can get all their work done in school. As the year will progress the few who do not appreciate the ne schedule now will soon come to like it. They will see that the schedule is helping them not only accelerate in school but also in life as it teaches students to have a specific time and place to do what needs to be done. Soon it will become a regular routine and the day wont seem to drag anymore. All in all students will just have to get used to the new schedule and step it up to have an awesome new school year.

“During lunch it’s pretty crazy because everyone is driving fast and trying to look cool and they don’t pay attention because they are too busy texting and driving. They don’t stop at the stop signs because they are in a hurry,” Senior Kellie Pilcher said.

   As a town we have felt the consequences of careless driving not just by adults but especially by our very own peers. Teenagers are four times more likely to be in car wreck according to Car-Accidents.com. As teens we aren’t really known for making the best decision but when we drive we aren’t just a danger to ourselves but to our passengers and other cars around us. 

“The parking lot gets crazy, hectic, and kind of scary,” Junior Katrina Martino said.

The really tragic thing about teen car crashes is that many of them are preventable. Here are a few driving “strategies” that can help you avoid being another statistic.

1. Speeding doesn’t make you look cool. It KILLS you. Driving too fast is one of the leading causes of wrecks according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

2. Buckle up. It can save your life and your parents will be happy that they don’t have to pay for another ticket.

3. Leave the driver alone! They are distracted enough as it is without you trying to    highjack control of the music choices.

4. The last (and maybe the most obvious) is Don’t Drink and Drive!!!!

As teenagers looking cool at all times is critical (of course!). Is it worth paying the price of a ticket or even a life though? Next time you’re cruising around trying to act like Evel Knievel stop and think about the consequences of trying to impress people. Is it really worth it?

            In order to do so efficiently, I’ve decided to spend my lunch breaks finding the cheapest and tastiest eats around town. This week’s restaurant critique pertains to a small fluorescent painted shack on the left side of Broadway. Heading towards the James Robert’s Center from AHS down Broadway, in a poorly constructed parking lot lined with a dilapidating fence, is a place called Tortas & More.

            Here students can find a delicious menu with great prices. Each burrito made by Tortas is bursting with the flavor of homemade Mexican food. Yet unlike most local diners they have unique cuisine that can rarely be found outside of Mexico. Tortas are known as the sandwich of Mexico and the array of drinks, such as Horchata, Aguas de Melon, and Aguas de Sandia make American sodas taste like dirt.

            However, the absolute best Tortas & More meal is, in my opinion, a Mexican-Hamburger with a large Horchata. For the price, taste, and setting… almost no one can compare to this feast.

There I am at Chili’s clutching a brand new copy of New Moon. I have been taking this book everywhere with me for the past few days reading and reading. Innocent passers by would look at me and see a Twi-hard, another soldier in Stephenie Meyer’s army of “Team Edwards” and “Team Jacobs.” But I was on a mission. I would not rest until I found what it was in that book, the one before, and the two after that could cause a 21^st century obsession.

What I found was a naïve girl, an impossibly suave one hundred year old male, an army of evil blood suckers and a Native American quite literally suffering from the worst case of “puppy love” I have ever seen. The book appealed to me. But it appealed to me on several very basic levels.

Bella Swan is not a complicated woman. She is the epitome of needy, weak, and illogical. Edward appeals to her in the first Twilight book  because he is impolite, good looking, drives a Volvo, and has an obvious undercurrent of bad boy intrigue. He is tall, maybe not so dark, and handsome. Swoon, right? No. Because he also happens to be a hungry blood sucker.

Bella has strange needs. The need to be watched at all hours of the night for “protection.” The need to prove to herself that she can be in love with a self proclaimed masochist. Are nightly stare sessions needed for a guy to get a girl’s attention in this post Twilight world? The answer is once again a resounding no. There are good things about Edward (his old world charm, his taste in music), but he also presents impossibly high standards for the mortal man.

Bella also captures the fantasies of women in that she is loved unconditionally by not just one incredibly strong immortal man, but two. Yes two. This average girl from a small town has the local vampire and the local werewolf on a string. For reasons no one can explain, at least until Breaking Dawn, the Native American/Werewolf Jacob is hopelessly infatuated with Bella. Even though it is explained later on to be an extremely strange and borderline illegal problem he has we as the reader still feel that two hot guys is more than enough for one Plain Jane. Share a little Bella. Sheesh.

While it’s perfectly fine and encouraged to hold out for the best it is unfair to base a man’s worthiness off a fictional superhuman that a middle aged woman created. However, everything I have mentioned is what makes us love Edward and Bella. She is beautiful and has a knack for danger. He is also beautiful as well as a great protector. It’s a romantic medieval fairy tale. I admit it, I was sucked in.

You finally get the courage to ask out the girl that you’ve been crushing on since first grade and to your surprise she says yes. Saturday night is the big night. You are extremely nervous, this is your chance and you don’t want to ruin it. Here are a few things you may want to consider before you show up at her doorstep to meet daddy.

1. BRUSH.The last thing a girl wants to do is look at a guy, much less kiss him if his teeth are yellow with food stuck in them. So start brushing if you want a girl to take a second look at you.

2. Take a shower.If you’re like most guys you are going to workout before the date so your muscles look BIG and BUFF. There is nothing wrong with wanting to look good for your girl, but do her a favor and take a shower and put some deoderant and a little cologne on. No girl wants to go to dinner with someone who smells like a weight room.

3. Give her room to breath. Obviously you like this girl or you wouldn’t have wasted your time asking her on a date. But there is a difference between liking a girl and not giving her room to breathe. Yes, you are on a date but that doesn’t mean you have to be glued to her hip. Give her some space. If she wants to be closer to you, let her come to you so she is reassured that you asked her out because you like her, not for any other reason.

4. DON’T RUSH THE RELATIONSHIP. Get to know her first before you try anything. 9 times out of 10 a girl thinks you just want her for that one thing and that one thing only. Girls don’t like that, they like to know that you are there for them. Not for what you can get out of them.

5.You are her DATE.. not her Daddy. Don’t try to control her and tell her what to do. Ask her where she wants to go for once,give her the option to choose instead of you always picking.

6. DON’T BE RUDE. It is a huge turn off when a guy is rude, playing around and being sarcastic is a different story. But let her know that you are just playing around. Girls like the sweet guy, not the rude guy.

7. Be truthful.It was nice of her to agree to go on a date with you, so the least you could do is tell her the truth. Trust is the most important thing in a relationship. If she can’t trust you just going out on a date with you, what makes you think she’ll trust you enough to let her friends meet you or her parents? If you are afraid that your girl is going to find something out that you did that she may not like, tell her yourself. She may not be happy about it but she will have much more respect for you if you tell her yourself. The worst thing you could lie to a girl about is telling her you like her just so you can get whatt you want out of her and then dump her. Girls talk and word will get around and no one will want to date you, so tell a girl that you like her because you really mean it not for your own benefits.

8. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. that’s all i have to say on that. Be respectful to your date, especially her friends and family. Those are the closest people to her and if you don’t respect them she is gonna say “SEE YA!”

9. Impress Mommy and Daddy. These are the people that brought your beautiful date into the world and they can take YOU out of this world if you don’t respect them or their daughter. If you are gonna be hanging out with their daughter there is a good chance that there will be a few times that you will hang out with her family, respect her parents and don’t get on their bad side so you don’t make it any worse than it already is having to hang out with them. And it is more likely that if her parents like you they will let her go out with you again.

10. No players allowed on this field. You finally got her to go out with you, stick to her and her only. Don’t go off hitting on her best friend 3 days later right in front of her. If you can’t handle one woman at a time… then you have a SERIOUS problem and you need to get some help.

Most guys don’t think about these things before a date,  but I can almost guarantee you that if you take these tips into consideration you may have a little more luck. Next time you’re getting ready for your date think about these things and see if it lands you another date with that girl you’re crushing on. Good luck!

 Head coach, Jeff Cordell  said “I am very pleased with the boys intensity and work ethic throughout the week and throughout two-a-days.  They are ready to clash helmets against some chiefs!”

 The Mustangs have a roster of 36 players, 30 out of those 36 players are seniors and they have a lot of leadership from all those seniors that push each other to get better everyday.

 “I am not thinking about the seniors leaving as of right now because I am too busy thinking about this up coming season, but if I would have to say anything about it, I think that next season they will have to have some people step up and become leaders.  I will be excited to see who will be those leaders,” Coach said.