Assistant director Dillon Junkin, along with other members of the band community, stand on top of the directors podium in the band parking lot. Using a microphone, Junkin instructed the band from above and explained many of the different aspects of the show to the crowd of spectators. During Bandapalooza on Aug. 23, the band and attendees experienced a one-hour weather delay due to lightning in the area that led to a shorter-than-anticipated performance; however, the crowd held out and ultimately saw the band’s first public performance of its 2024 marching show. Bandapalooza is a yearly event held at the start of the marching band season that allows spectators to get a preview of the performances the band will put on during marching season. Along with performing parts of its show, the band also took time to display many of the drills and processes that it goes through during practice and warm-ups to give the crowd a sense of the work that band members have been putting in for the past few weeks. Caption by Lillian Gray. Photo by Lillian Gray.
ALL ABOUT ALTOS: In the midst of the prelims performance of “Fury Road,” movement captain and alto section leader junior Liliana Escamilla, makes her way through the music and choreography with other members of the alto section by her side. This being her third year as a member of the band, Escamilla has played in the Bands of America Regional competition before and knew what to expect. “It went pretty well and most people were pretty proud of how they performed,” she said. “The competition has always been an extremely hard one as most of the bands are 6A, so we do it as more of an experience to improve, but I feel like it definitely benefited us to see what we can do better for the next competition next Saturday.” Photo by Lillian Gray.
Among the attendees at the PTA rally on Monday there were lots of proud parents, advocating for their students’ schools and giving their children a voice. Two parents and PTA members, Jenny Rasco and Ashley Baker, were fighting for Timbercreek Elementary in Lewisville ISD. “We wanted to advocate for our kids because they deserve better,” Rasco said. “We’re pushing for raising the basic allotment for students, and to make sure that Gov. Abbott knows that we don’t want the vouchers.” Lots of parents view the vouchers to be harmful, not just within their inner circles but across the state. “For me personally I don’t think my kids will be affected directly; however, vouchers don’t work for all the kids in Texas,” Rasco said. “Not every parent can come out here and advocate for that, and someone should, which is why we’re here. This shouldn’t be a political issue, it should be about the kids. It shouldn’t be a right side or left side issue, just wanting the best for the future of our Texas kids.” Baker and Rasco were both proud of how many people showed up to spread the word, just like them, and seeing government officials alongside them. “The speakers were great, especially here in front of the Capitol,” Rasco said. “I’m happily relieved that all of the government isn’t supporting these vouchers we’re fighting against. It’s very comforting to know that there are people fighting with us. There’s a lot of people here, and it was a great turnout.” Photo by Lillian Gray.
BEARS 62, KNIGHTS 43: Appropriately on Senior Knight, the varsity’s Class of 2025 all-star backcourt led the team in scoring. Point guard Emy Chen, shown here elevating over a Bastrop Bear to secure a rebound, scored 17 points and shooting guard Miranda DiGiovanni added 13 with five rebounds and a pair of steals. The artificial intelligence bot that writes less than mediocre game stories for MaxPreps observed that Giovanni has had multiple steals in the last five games for the Knights dating back to the Crockett game on Jan. 22. The Knights lost the game to Bastrop, 62-43. With the win, the Bears swept the season series between the two teams. In truth, the outcome did not affect the course of the season that much as both the Bears (12-2) and Knights (8-6) had already locked in their playoff plans before the opening tip. Under the convoluted new playoff system, two teams from each district head to the two 5A playoff brackets based on the relative size of their student body. Bastrop finished second in the standing and secured a No. 1 seed in the Division 2 playoffs because Bastrop is smaller than district champ Anderson and McCallum. LASA, which finished third in the district, earned the No. 2 seed from the district in the Division 2 tournament bracket, and the Knights, who finished fourth, earned the No. 2 seed from the district in the Division 1 bracket. Under the previous system or the current system, the Knights’ playoff opponent would have been the same—District 23-5A champion Georgetown. The Eagles went undefeated in district play and have won 14 of their last 15 games. They are favorites to be sure, but if favorites won all the time, we would not play the games, and this one is going down at 7 p.m. this evening at Westwood High School. Photo by Lillian Gray.
Anti-voucher protesters gather in the Texas State Capitols rotunda. They chanted slogans like “Fund our schools,” “no to vouchers,” and “let the people vote.” The Texas House of Representatives is debating public education bills today. One of them is Senate Bill 2, the voucher bill, which would create a $1 billion private school voucher program, which would give participants $10,000 a year to attend private schools. Discussion is anticipated to go all day and if the House approves the bill, it will make its way back to the Senate which approved a different version of the bill in February. House Bill 2, a $8 billion proposal which would increase public school funding, will also be considered by the House today. It will increase the student basic allotment by $1,300 which will bring funding back to the levels it should have been in 2019. With a busy day in the House chamber, people flooded into the Capitol to support and reject proposals, particularly the voucher bill. The Texas Freedom Network organized hundreds of activists to gather in the Capitol’s rotunda to protest vouchers. Emily Witt who has been a part of the Texas Freedom Network for more than three years said that it has been a priority of theirs to organize events like these in hopes of preventing proposals like vouchers which she believes will negatively affect public schools. “We’ve been fighting back against vouchers for about 30 years,” Witt said. “From our perspective, vouchers drain public funds from our public schools and give them to private and religious schools that can discriminate against Texas kids.” Photo by Lillian Gray.
