News – Howler News

Code Orange, part I

Hiba Safie — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 18:45:20 +0000

Harris County has surpassed its 7% COVID-19 positivity rate, exceeding the HISD’s COVID gauge for permitting in-person school. As of Monday, November 16, 2020, the local positivity rates are moving in the wrong direction for schools to maintain face to face status. Statistics published on www.CovidActnow.org :

indicate Harris County has a current positivity rate of 8.4%, with numbers climbing, with a risk level of Red Zone 1. With the data indicating community spread, why is HISD maintaining a COVID-19 Orange Level for the district? Students, staff and parents can find the current threat level published on the Westside High School website. The information bar indicating Westside is under a Code: Orange level of COVID-19. How exactly is this determined? With Harris County indicating a Red Level, Maximum Threat, why is HISD maintaining a lower level. As Westside moves into the third grading cycle, its estimated that an additional 100 students have opted to return to face to face instruction. Putting somewhere between 400 – 500 students on campus at any given time.

How is the Code Orange Level determined and what does it mean?

HISD’s COVID GAUGE is based on the Harris County and CDC guidelines for maintaining school buildings in a open to students status. As stated “COVID GAUGE Level 2: Orange – Significant risk. Minimize contacts, rolling school closures with required physical distancing. Orange signifies uncontrolled level of COVID-19 in the community.” Avoiding large gatherings outside of “household pod” is recommended.

Westside, and HISD have been under Level 2: Orange since October 19, 2020 when campuses opened for student and staff return. As soon as October 20th, HISD had closed for deep cleaning a total of 17 school buildings due to either positive or presumptive positive cases on campus. Seeing this would be unsustainable, HISD quickly adjusted the requirements of closing schools to students. After one day of students on campus, the guidelines were changed. But is it possible. “Unfortunately, I think member of our community that now done there part to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. Until we all understand and conform to social distancing, wearing masks, and washing our hands regularly, we will continue to experience positivity rates that merit HISD’s Code Orange risk category.” a popular sentiment expressed by Dean Cabral.

The Code Orange Level indicates the precautions Westside needs to incorporate in the day to day function. Promoting safety by minimizing contact. While all field trips are cancelled, athletes remain active with heavy restrictions.

While Harris County has remained in Level 1: Red, HISD has maintained one tick lower. The levels are set by positivity rates, local active cases, hospital occupancy, and ability to contact trace. When asked for this story why HISD maintains a different risk level than Harris County, no source would reply.

What happens daily at Westside?

Every morning before entering campus, all Westside staff must answer a health check through an app on their phone. This is HISD standard procedure. The process requires staff to answer three questions, and take a tempurature reading. If cleared with a GREEN sticker, teachers are permitted to come to campus. A RED sticker pauses that process. Westside has had teachers who were unable to attend school due to a RED indicator.

Westside senior is checked for elevated temperature before entering school to take the SAT on October 27, 2020 (Sharon Roberts)

Students are given temperature checks upon entrance every morning. They are required to wear masks (except during the 30 minute lunch), and maintain distancing when possible. With less that 400 students on campus, distancing has been accomplished. Everyone has done a good job of following guidelines. Rooms are stanitized once every hour, with deep cleaning occuring every night. A notable change to a Westside day is the restroom policy. Student restrooms are closed the first 30 minutes and the last 15 minutes of each class period. No students are permitted to leave the 30 minute instructional time, and during the final 15 restrooms are throughly cleaned and stanitized.

Lunch tables in the commons have been replaced by rows of well spaced desks and chairs. A senior who didn’t wish to be identified described it as “Just plain weird.”

Student’s wait in the Commons prior to taking the SAT on October 27, 2020 (Sharon Roberts)

Code orange, part II takes a look at what comes next as HISD and Westside continue to navigate a school year during a world wide pandemic.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

The 3rd Six Weeks Are Coming! – Virtual or In-Person?

Andrew Doan, Writer — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 18:49:34 +0000

The selection for students to pick the choice of virtual learning or in-person learning has returned for the 6 weeks. Students have been informed by their deans on what to do to make their decision. Make sure to make your selections before the deadline, or you will have to wait another 6 weeks before changing.

Students have been instructed on what to do to make their decision.

If you wish to change your method of learning please do the following:

Have your parent/guardian log into their Parent Connect account (you cannot do this from the student account) and complete the selection form
Have your parent/guardian email me, including your WHS ID#, and I will forward it to the appropriate personnel
Have your parent/guardian call the school and speak with the front office.

If you do not wish to change your method of learning, then no action is required.

This time, it will be a better decision by all students because now everyone should have some type of idea of what in-person school is like. Now, those students who wished to go to school last 6 weeks or wished to be back online can do so.

I spoke to students that attend Westside, and they gave me their opinion on the best choice.

What do you think students will choose between the choice of going back to school or going to virtual after experiencing the second six weeks?
“I think more people will switch to in-person learning because of how the experience is as of right now. If they have friends who have told them about what it’s like, I think there’s a better chance that people will either stay in-person or switch to it. Maybe with the spike of cases, families will keep their children at home.” (Ryan Sacks, Virtual Senior at Westside Highschool).

This is your time to decide whether or not your next 6 weeks will be online or in-person. The 6 weeks are ending soon since progress reports just came out. Make sure to meet the deadline, so you won’t be stuck with the wrong choice.

How is Thanksgiving going to look this year?

Oliver van Saase, Writer — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 19:36:27 +0000

The year 2020 has obviously been much different than in the past. There has been a lot that has been going on. A question on everybody’s minds is how is all the craziness going to affect your holidays? Being stuck at home all day a lot of people have completely forgotten the holidays, or how to celebrate. Due to the no-gathering mandate issued by the government in efforts to slow the spread, and prevent uncontrolled outbreaks. Most people just assume that the holiday season is canceled. There are no holidays. Considering what’s going on it’s understandable as there is a lot to deal with. To help families prepare for the next couple of months, the C.D.C. has released guidelines to better illustrate what to do in case you do intend to have a get-together with your family.

First and foremost, wear a mask, always wear a mask when in the vicinity of others to help prevent the spread of Covid-19, it may seem annoying but it is better than risking your family’s health. Second, always try to keep surfaces clean of germs through the use of cleaning products, and assuming this is a family gathering social distancing is highly recommended. Third, when having family over make sure to have open spaces for others to walk around in, furthermore it is recommended that when having family over to keep them out of the vicinity of those making the food. Lastly, if instead, you do not wish to have family over there is a safe and easy alternative to still being able to see their faces, have a video call when preparing Thanksgiving dinner, and make sure to only have family members within your vicinity.

“The safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving this year is to celebrate with people in your household. If you do plan to spend Thanksgiving with people outside your household, take steps to make your celebration safer”

“Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays/thanksgiving.html. Accessed 16 Nov. 2020.

The process of the 2020 Election Day

Aidan Vu, Editor, Writer — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 02:32:52 +0000

November 3rd can be seen as the most important day of the entire year of 2020 as it was Election Day, the last day of voting for candidates of public offices at local, state, and national levels. Election Day seemed to become “Election Week” as the rise of mail-in absentee ballots had been casted during the COVID-19 circumstances, creating days of delays for the valid results. The Electoral College has a vital role in the entire election process for presidency, in which many voters are unaware of what their ballot is used for. The 2020 American presidential election was truly a long roller coaster of feelings as it was seen as the most important election of our lifetime.

The importance of this election was widespread and well-known as at least 161 million Americans voted in the 2020 election, the largest number of voters in the history of U.S. presidential elections. It took four days of counting ballots after Election Day to announce the president-elect, Joe Biden, on November 7th, 2020. These ballots were the main reason for the extensive time it took to obtain the results, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic that caused many to cast their vote through mail-in ballots for safety concerns. A major issue was that many states were not allowed to even begin counting these ballots before Election Day, lengthening the entire process and burdening the Election Day workers. This has also created conspiracies of fraud and cheating in electing the president as many mail-in ballots were predominantly Democratic votes as shown in data of election officials.

Jeffrey D’Onofrio, HISD’s leading teacher for AP U.S. Government and Politics, wanted to add that, “Most states expanded voting options this year, including Texas, which added an extra week of in-person early voting. Some states sent ballots or applications for ballots to all eligible voters. President Trump objectified to these changes and he discouraged his supporters from voting by mail, even though he voted with an absentee ballot by mail as do many Republicans. Voting by mail was not a partisan issue prior to 2020.” D’Onofrio further explains how mail-in ballots do have a form of greater support from one party compared to the other.

Additionally, understanding what your ballot means is critical in effecting the process of the Electoral College. When any American voter goes to the polls in a presidential election, they are essentially selecting a group of electors that will vote for the party’s candidate in the Electoral College. The number of electors varies from state to state as it correlates to the size of that state, such as California with the largest population of roughly 40 million people in the U.S. has a greater number of electors . There are a total of 538 electors, in which 270 exact or more are needed in winning the presidency. Electors almost always vote for the candidate who wins the most votes in their state. However, the Electoral College has made the possibility of a candidate winning the presidential election while having lost the popular or public vote, causing many to point out the hypocrisy of the entire process of selecting the most favored candidate.

The 2020 electoral college map between the democratic and republican presidential candidates, Joe Biden and Donald Trump as of November 16th 1:43 PM CST. (Credited: The Associated Press)

D’Onofrio explains the significance and process of the Electoral College, “Polls regularly show a majority of Americans would like to abolish this indirect system for selecting our president. Twice in the last twenty years, the president elected by this system received the second most votes nationwide — George W. Bush in 2000 and Donald Trump in 2016. The Electoral College is a relic in time when most people couldn’t vote and even those voters’ opinions didn’t matter, those already elected in state government were selecting other people to cast votes for the president. Today, candidates focus all their attention on competitive states like Florida and Wisconsin to secure victory.”

After the seemingly never-ending election of the president, the American people have elected former Vice President, Joe Biden, as the president-elect, who will be in office as of January 2021. The result of the presidential election has received completely different responses, from a time of celebration and relief to one of horror and grief. The idea of change is both a term that strikes fear and happiness, something this president-elect will bring to the United States of America. As citizens of this country, we must respect and concede to the election process as well as honor the president-elect’s effort and work he must commit to in restoring peace amongst the current “mess” that is the U.S.A..

Back to school round two

Ashley Rivas, Writer — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 17:24:08 +0000

HISD will be opening the school year for face to face instruction, for students on October 19th, and the big change for many students and parents is the transportation system. There will be no buses, and the ones that will be available will be only for some students.

If and when buses are an option again it won’t be the same. There will only be one person per window seat, mask will remain on, and kids will have to practice distancing while waiting to get picked up. Carla Pablo is a Sophomore at Westside and when asked how she felt about HISD’s recent decisions regarding transportation she said, “ I feel affected by it because it will most likely take longer for the buses to get here because of the amount of people the bus can hold since we have to stay 6 feet apart therefore making it more difficult & inconvenient”.

HISD has yet to confirm plans for the third six weeks but students and parents are hoping that things go well, and that more students will be able to go back to school safely. As we go to publish, there is no new information or updates regarding school bus availibility in the third six weeks. HISD knows this is a big question for parents and students, and it is expected to remain so for the remainder of the semester. Parents hoping to be able to send their children back for face to face, who also rely on a school bus will be anxious to know the plans going forward.

How could HISD’s Covid guidelines improve after the second six weeks face to face learning

Ifraah Shegow, Writer — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 21:30:29 +0000

Right now, All of HISD is currently virtual for the first six weeks because of COVID-19 to ensure the safety of all parents, students and staff. HISD also issued out to all parents about the option for face to face or to stay virtual. Students who chose face to face will have to go back to campus following the Covid-19 guidelines HISD has put out for them. The guidelines were created with the help of staff, parents and teachers all around HISD. So how could they possibly change the guidelines to fit after experiencing the first round of face to face learning?

So I have asked some of my family members and neighbors who attended HISD and have children who go to HISD as well. My brother Omar who goes to Heights Highschool in HISD has given some feedback about the transportation hence HISD will only be serving to only Special ED and homeless students. “HISD should give all students bus transportation when there are lower levels of Covid-19, it would not be a smart idea to give them out disregarding the Covid-19 cases.“, Omar said. I’ve also asked a question regarding what could they take into consideration after this first round of face to face learning to my neighbor Sam, (a father of a child who goes to HISD). “I would like for HISD to have better ways of letting children learning. I wouldn’t want my child to stay in one classroom for eight hours straight, the learning wouldn’t be efficient at all. Instead find a better alternative for students to pass to classes with social distancing rules!“, Sam stated.

As of right now for Westside Highschool students, 76% percent of students are virtual and 16% are returning, mostly freshman! So how could Westside improve on fixing that percentage? What changes can they make? I have asked current junior of Westside Highschool Dharma Lopez about it! “It is going to be really hard to bring up the percentage because students are always touching everything, but they could have better ways to house students in classes and limit students to going into hotspots like the commons!”, Dharma stated.

So as of right now, The virus still predictable because the virus is capable of rising or falling at anytime. HISD still have a window of opportunities of improvements, but lets see how the guidelines fit for now!

Westside’s evolution of virtual learning to its reintroduction of in-person learning

Aidan Vu, Editor, Writer — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 21:18:42 +0000

COVID-19 has completely transformed the education system and can only expand to better its students and educators as long as the coronavirus persists in the public with no vaccine or cure. Westside High School has fully remodeled its virtual learning structure compared to its last school year (2019-2020). The differences are significant from schedules to the importance of grades; however, you may be wondering: are these modifications negative or positive?

2019-2020 Westside Schedule Credited: WHS E-News

The 2019-2020 school year begins the transition to virtual learning at Westside in late March after being closed for two weeks. Class started at 9:30 AM, almost two hours later than in-school learning and ended at 3:00 PM. Students would go to their 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th period on Monday and Tuesday, and their 2nd, 4th, and 6th periods on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday was used as a student support day. The grading and attendance policies were very lenient, and the cancellation of finals and STAAR testing made school become very effortless.

2020-2021 Westside Schedule Credited: WHS E-News

Nevertheless, the planned 2020-2021 school year at Westside completely alters the structure of virtual learning. Class starts at 8:30 AM and officially ends at 4:10 PM. Students are alternating between days with their 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th periods and their 2^nd, 4^th, Advocacy, and 6^th periods. Lunch times have also been cut to 30 minutes whereas previous years have always been an hour long. Westside has become stricter in their grading policies with having two minor grades added every week and three major grades every six weeks for each class. Attendance is vital in participation and accounted for in every class as well. Karley McCommas (10th), a student at Westside, claims, “School has become a hustle of turning in assignments, instead of actually learning.”

Westside students will be following the set bell schedule, with a few minor tweeks. While on campus students will go to either their 4th or 5th period class for Office Hours. (Credit: WHS Administration)

In addition, students returning back to in-person school will have to adjust to the new developed schedule. Similarly as this year’s virtual learning schedule, students will alternate between their 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th periods with their 2nd, 4th, Advocacy, and 6th periods. Class will start at 8:30 AM and end officially at 4:10 PM. However, there is the new inclusion of office hours in either students’ 4th or 5th period each day after lunch.

Change and evolution is inevitable, including the development of virtual learning. It will only continue to adapt, not based on what is the “easiest” for students and teachers, but what works to adhere the education system.

Course selection takes a turn

Rachel Wright, Writer — Wed, 13 May 2020 17:33:10 +0000

As Westside prepares to end the 2019-2020 school year, The deans have been meeting with students virtually to decide what courses students will be taking for the 2020-2021 academic school year. This year, however, has been very different as school is not in session physically, students cannot meet with their deans in their offices. The virtual meetings have definitely been a struggle for many students as well as for the deans.

“

It has taken a lot longer. Usually, I print out a transcript for each kid and check off what they have done, and look at what they need to take and I take five to ten minutes to discuss the courses with each student. Now, I have to schedule a meeting, type everything up, wait for them to show up, and it just takes a lot longer.”

— Dean Matlock

The struggle of course selection has been seen through both sides of the computer. For deans, making sure they have time out of their regularly scheduled meetings to have student meetings has been a great challenge for some. For students, making sure they have time whether it between classes, school work, or even work. There have been many technical challenges as well, but the biggest issue may be finding the time to get it done.

“

The biggest struggle in this virtual course selection has been finding the time to get it done. I have to schedule over 200 individual meetings”

— Dean Matlock

Social Media’s take on 2020

Sonaiya Grant, Writer — Wed, 13 May 2020 04:01:31 +0000

“Community transmission of COVID-19 was first detected in the United States in February 2020. By mid-March, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, New York City, and four U.S. territories had reported cases of COVID-19.” credits to https://www.cdc.gov

It is currently May 15th,2020, and we have been in quarantine for a little over 2 months now and during that time a lot has changed; one major thing is how social media operates as a whole. From commercials, to post’ to uber eats’ and just even the way of life itself.

Corona Commercials

Everyone in America can tell that marking and ads have become very different: they now often starring celebrities or essential workers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwCSGjcKBo0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebw27_q4NFw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OZqe0fX2dc

These are some of the following current commercials that deal with just telling people to stay home which is what the media uses to kind of calm people down and to cheer us up. But, there are also different type of ways celebrities and the media tries to make us feel better.

Appealing to the class of 2020

“Virtual Graduation 2020: Selena Gomez, Cardi B, Dozens More Join Oprah for Facebook’s Livestream” – https://variety.com

On May 15th, 2020 starting at 11 a.m. PT. many celebrities will hop on Facebook live in order to try to host a celebratory night for the class of 2020.

Stars go live and try to bring a small bit of cheer to our 2020 class.

credit to https://variety.com

May 11
- Graduation Countdown Sticker: @instagram will feature a graduation sticker via stories to celebrate the global graduation ceremony on May 15. Anyone can reshare from the @instagram story and set a reminder.
- Graduation #Challenges: @instagram will feature graduation challenges including the throwback #GradPhotoChallenge and the #GradMessagesChallenge, with seniors sharing #MySeniorQuote messages.
- Student Spotlights: Series honoring outstanding graduates on the Facebook app page and invite the Facebook community to pay tribute to noteworthy grads in their lives.
May 12
- Senior Night for Athletes: @instagram will host a virtual senior night dedicated to star athletes including Sabrina Ionescu, Myles Powell, Shay Knighten, and Andrew Pryts.
May 13
- Senior Comedy Day: An Instagram virtual standup show featuring comedians Quinta Brunson, Cameron J. Henderson, and Christine Snaps. Instagram creator Daquan will share an exclusive graduation meme on @instagram and @daquan.
- Part of Us: Facebook app’s social pages will feature a film directed by Jenn Nkiru of Iconoclast, which gives voice to this year’s graduates as they share excerpts of Marina Keegan’s, “The Opposite of Loneliness” essay with imagery from their school years.
- #GradWalk2020: Special grad walks from the class of 2020 will be featured on Facebook app Page’s Stories, with others encouraged to share with hashtag #GradWalk2020.
May 14
- Superlative Day: Best and brightest students will be honored with featured creators superlatives on @instagram.
- #Your2020Portrait Art Show: @brooklynmuseum and @design launched a nationwide call-out for portraiture from college students. Five winners will be announced, awarded $5,000 in grants, and appear in a virtual “art show” on @design, @brooklynmuseum, and @creators.
- @creators Graduation Celebration: @creators will feature creators including Bryce Xavier, Nia Sioux, and Livvy Dunne and “yearbooks on Instagram.”
- Gifts for Grads on @shop: Instagram’s @shop will feature a graduation gift guide with products from a handful of shoppable small businesses

Early release of 2020 movies while theaters are closed

Aidan Vu, Editor, Writer — Tue, 12 May 2020 22:45:58 +0000

More and more studios, including Warner Bros., SONY, Disney, and Universal Studios, are releasing new films digitally to consumers at home with on-demand providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. These films are available on Apple TV, iTunes, Prime video, and many other streaming companies. Many major movie theater chains, such as AMC and Cinemark, have been closed for aiding in the spread of COVID-19. This resulted in the postponing of the release of many movies and caused the entire film industry to reassess their thoughts on reaching to their consumers.

Universal is the first studio to give access to new movies on the demand during the pandemic. Jeff Shell, NBCUniversal CEO stated, “Universal Pictures has a broad and diverse range of movies with 2020 being no exception. Rather than delaying these films or releasing them into a challenged distribution landscape, we wanted to provide an option for people to view these titles in the home that is both accessible and affordable.” He also states, “Given the rapidly evolving and unprecedented changes to consumers’ daily lives during this difficult time, the company felt that now was the right time to provide this option in the home as well as in theaters.”

The following is a list to movies that are being released or available on-demand:

“Birds of Prey”
“Birds of Prey”
credited to: AMC Theatres
“Like a Boss”
“Trolls World Tour”
“Sea Fever”
“We Summon the Darkness”
“The Gentlemen”
“Underwater”
“Fantasy Island”
“The Rhythm Section”
“The Photograph”
“Emma”
“The Invisible Man”
“Scoob!”
“The Hunt”
“The Lodge”

This innovative idea from the film industry allows consumers to watch newly released movies in the comfort of their homes with the same quality as any movie theatre. It prevents the spread of COVID-19, while giving access to a form of entertainment to enjoy with your family, friends, or yourself during these tough times.