The Wester pride

The Most Delectable and Elite Edition

Spring 2024

INSIDE

THE

PRIDE

Wester Orchestra UIL Competition Success!
UIL For Band and Orcheastra
UIL Theatre
National Food Month!
Global Warming In Antarctica
Upcoming Solar Eclipse
School Dress Codes
Why Do You Celebrate Easter?
PodKATZ Are Out!

UIL News 🐾

Wester Orchestra uil competition success!

By Aneesh Karavadi

The Wester Orchestra has done absolutely phenomenal at UIL this year. They went to UIL for a competition right on leap day February 29th. Under all their nerves they prevailed with all 1s, or sweepstakes, the highest score possible. They performed at Heritage High School, right here in Frisco Texas.

This achievement is quite understated however. The Wester Orchestra played extremely difficult and technical pieces rated as a “Level 3” or “Level 4.” This sets our orchestra apart from other orchestras who are playing challenging pieces, but not to this extent. Thanks to Mr. Estes our conductor, the orchestra was able to play extremely well and managed to impress all the judges, receiving extremely positive feedback from all of them.

Overall, it wasn’t just a single-handed job for this high score. We should congratulate all the students who practiced thoroughly for this achievement. It was a team effort, everyone played a huge role in this outstanding achievement.

So, make sure to congratulate the Wester Orchestra!

Wester Orchestra T-Shirt Design.

Source: Aneesh Karavadi

UIL for band and Orchestra

By Zaid Essayed

This year our Wester Band and Orchestra have been filled with achievements from hardworking students who dedicate time everyday to succeed at their instrument. But UIL has been likely the biggest challenge, and achievement of them all.

The music these talented young musicians get to play very complex pieces that require tons of skill and practice to play. Orchestra’s hard work was put to the test on February 29, where they excelled and scored all 1’s, the highest ranking for UIL! Great job to all of our orchestra students for adding on yet another praiseworthy achievement.

It’s truly wonderful that these students are willing to go the extra mile to accomplish great things on their instruments. Our band is no different. They went to UIL on March 26 at Wakeland High School and showcased their difficult music that they’ve been working on for roughly three months. They did an awesome job in their performances scoring all 1’s!

We can all learn from these people and aspire to create great work ethics to take us far in our lives like it has for these kids. Once again, awesome job to orchestra and band on UIL!

Symphonic Sweepstakes 1s for UIL!

Source: westerorchestra.org

Participants for OAP design.

Source: Wester Weekly

UIL Theatre

By Nathan Mampilli

The Theatre UIL competition was a success with three people winning awards. Vibha Bhat won the all star cast, Maren M, won the honorable mention of the all star cast, and Zoie W won best technician. The competition had two sections with an acting part and a technical theater part. Students who competed in the acting competition, had to competitively act against each other while students who competed in the technical theater part had to submit drawings based off of what category they were competing for. For example people doing set design had to create a drawing making a set design for the play, Narnia.

World news 🐾

National Food Month

By Madhurya Pedireddy

April showers bring May flowers, but you know what they also bring? Food! Peas, celery, potatoes, strawberries, blackberries, wheat, mint…and not just these! You can make even more with these ingredients! April is National Food Month, a time to celebrate all things (as the name suggests) food!

April is filled with all sorts of food-filled fun. It’s not just National Food Month, but also:

National SOY Foods Month
National SOFT PRETZEL Month
National GARDEN Month

Aside from a month-long food fest, every day has a little something to celebrate! Here’s a few:

April 1 - National Sourdough Bread Day
April 2 - National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
April 3 - National Chocolate Mousse Day
April 3 - National Fish Fingers and Custard Day
April 4 - National Burrito Day
April 4 - National Ramen Day
April 4 - International Carrot Day
April 5 - National Caramel Day
April 5 - National Deep Dish Pizza Day
April 6 - Hostess Twinkie Day
April 6 - National Carbonara Day
April 6 - National Acai Bowl Day
April 6 - National Caramel Popcorn Day
April 7 - National Coffee Cake Day
April 10 - National Cinnamon Crescent Day
April 11 - National Cheese Fondue Day
April 12 - National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day
April 12 - National Licorice Day
April 13 - Peach Cobbler Day
April 13 - Make Lunch Count Day
April 14 - National Gardening Day
April 15 - National Glazed Spiral Ham
April 16 - National Eggs Benedict Day
April 17 - National Banana Day
April 17 - National Cheeseball Day
April 18 - National Animal Crackers Day
April 19 - National Garlic Day
April 19 - National Rice Ball Day
April 20 - Pizza Delivery Driver Appreciation Day
April 20 - Cheddar Fries Day
April 20 - National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day
April 21 - National Chocolate Covered Cashew Day
April 22 - National Jellybean Day
April 23 - National English Muffin Day
April 23 - National Picnic Day
April 23 - National Cherry Cheesecake Day
April 23 - National Asparagus Day
April 24 - Pig in a Blanket Day
April 24 - Stop Food Waste Day
April 25 - National Anzac Day
April 25 - National Zucchini Bread Day
April 26 - National Pretzel Day
April 27 - National Gummy Bear Day
April 27 - Prime Rib Day
April 28 - National Blueberry Pie Day
April 28 - National Shrimp Scampi
April 30 - National Mr. Potato Head Day
April 30 - National Raisin Day
April 30 - National Oatmeal Cookie Day

These are from April alone, but if you’d like to find more, then you can go to the Days of the Year website. Happy National Food Month!

“Happy National Food Month!”

Source: Google

“April is also National Garden Month!”

Source: Google

“April 12th is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich!”

Source: Google

"A mix of delicious foods for National Food Month!"

Source: Google

TOTAL Solar Eclipse

By Sanika Kotekar

On Monday, April 8th, 2024, there was a total solar eclipse in Texas. A total solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the Earth and the Sun perfectly, blotting out the sunlight. It will began at 12:41 PM and lasted for almost 3 minutes. The solar eclipse fell during school hours, so the District approved solar viewing glasses being purchased for all students and staff. Total solar eclipses are rare, the last one being in 2017 and not being as perfectly aligned as the upcoming one. Total solar eclipses are a very beautiful event that occurs once in a few years and will be something to look forward to seeing.

Global Warming In Antarctica

By Lindsey Marble-Baker

Global Warming is a big issue that happens on our planet normally towards Antarctica and the other cold climates. Global Warming is the heating of the earth that melts the ice away, resulting in less and less habitat space for animals whose homes are on the ice. Global Warming is in the icy climates but it can happen other places too any day. Gasses from factories get into the air, making it hard to breathe and harming other life and cutting down forest are not helping our environment at all. Every day 41 million trees are cut down, reducing the level of oxygen and life we have on our planet. Ways to stop global warming is saving electricity and heat, use more charge operated cars ( an example- teslas), eat more vegetables and fruits as it results in less factory gasses and it requires less water, land and energy. And stop wasting water! Don’t take super long showers and definitely don't waste it.

Mixed Articles 🐾

School dress codes: are they really necessary?

By Olivia Lumberg

Are restrictive school dress codes really necessary for a successful education? The main argument for restrictive school dress codes is that clothes deemed “revealing'' distract students from their studies. However, there is no sufficient evidence to back up this claim. In fact, in a survey of over 300 students, less than 1% found clothing items restricted by dress code distracting. Unless the clothes were “completely obscene and showed private areas” (Angus/Barnes), they were not remotely distracting. Moreover, students also reported that they found the enforcement of school dress code more distracting than the outfit itself. After all, removing a child from a classroom, and/or humiliating them in front of their classmates is much more noticeable. In addition, the student misses classtime to change into “appropriate” clothes, which could lead to them falling behind in their studies. Most teachers and schools regard class time very highly, else, for example, why would there be a reason to limit the amount of times a student can go to the bathroom in a semester? The argument for school dress codes could trigger trypophobia for the amount of holes it has.

Meanwhile, school dress codes continue to prove themselves detrimental to students’ mental health and growth. Many students who have faced dress code enforcement report feelings of “body shame, self-objectification, and powerlessness”(Jordan). More often than not, these emotions trigger feelings of low self-esteem and self-loathing, which can lead to many different mental health issues. Finally, dress codes limit self-expression, which is a very important part of childrens’ development. Students all over are experiencing a major decline in creativity and individuality. By taking away their autonomy, dress codes can limit and restrict students from achieving their full potential.

There is little to no need for restrictive school dress codes, and the cons far outweigh the pros. Instead of deciding for students, we must allow them to find their independence and autonomy, so that they can grow and develop to the best they can be. And so, we must say farewell to school dress codes, and hello to our best future.

Students protesting restrictive school dress codes.

Source: St. George’s Independent School.

The chocolate bunny that is gifted to friends and loved ones.

Source: Google

Why Do we celebrate easter?

By Sadie Oneal

Easter is a colorful and bright time where people paint eggs, gift giving and do egg hunts. Some People celebrate this holiday for fun, others celebrate it because it's a Christian festival. Easter is on March 31 when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But why does it have eggs and bunnies? Because it has been considered an ancient symbol of rebirth and new life residing when Jesus Christ came back to life. But you can still celebrate even if you are not religious, and if you do, you're not the only one.

I celebrate Easter because I can meet with my family and get free candy. I always remember having to stay upstairs in my granda house as they hid eggs from me to find, I was ready with my cute flower dress and my basket waiting for them to call me down. Usually when you do Easter hutting you do it with people like your siblings but not for me. I didn't have to frantically look for the eggs before the other did. Even though I had an advantage to find the eggs, they made it really hard to get it, like placing the eggs to the highest spot or somewhere that is really hard to get. The biggest surprise is finding the eggs years later. You can celebrate Easter in so many ways for fun or for religious reasons. It's a great time where people come together and have fun.

PODKATZ Are out!

By Logan Grace

The first round of podKatz are out and can be found on our website, Home of KATZ Live. We have topics over the Advanced tennis team and how they won the championship hosted by Logan, Aneesh, and Mithelesh! One on dreams and our KATZ Live casts craziest dreams with Olivia, Sadie, and Apphia. We have a podcast on the crew's experiences in KATZ Live with Mithelesh, Lagan, and Zaid. We have a spooky one over the mysteries of Skinwalker ranch hosted by Inesh, Aneesh, Madhurya, and Nathan. And finally we have a podcast on product reviews hosted by Audrey and Lindsey. I highly recommend you listen to them all.

Product reviews Hosted by Audrey and Lindsey with guests, Lucia Aldaz, And Corey Law.

Source: KATZ Live Google Drive

Editor in Chief: Zaid Essayed

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