A bright green sign yells at me from the sidewalk as I drive home. They've been popping up in my neighborhood recently. Bright white text, shouting that my local elementary school must be saved. This little school, Bryker Woods Elementary, is surrounded by quaint, short houses with idyllic front yards and white picket fences. Nearby, a ludicrously overpriced bakery sells delicious cookies and mediocre coffee. The school itself has turquoise tiles lining the roof, rain gutters of the same shade hung above. The school is sat on a hill, leaving one of the walls almost twice the height of the others. Colorful murals of children climb up this giant wall, waving to the cars that drive by. Shoal Creek runs nearby, so a fun field trip is a short walk away. On the other side of the overgrown lot behind Bryker Woods, St. Andrew’s 31st street campus sits behind Seton Ascension Hospital. Many families move to this area specifically for the easy commute to their kid’s school and the proximity to a well funded hospital. Every morning, the front doors of Bryker Woods are surrounded by parents walking their kids in, biking with their child to school, enjoying the comfort of the location. But those same families are now worried and frustrated. They have relied on the proximity of Bryker Woods to their homes but more importantly, on the community they are surrounded by. But if the AISD school board wants to avoid being taken over by the Texas Education Administration (TEA), then changes have to be made. AISD’s proposals to fix their schools include sweeping school closures, consolidation of students, and changes to zoning boundaries. So when the 2026-2027 school year starts, Bryker Woods’s doors may be closed for good.

In 2023, seven independent school districts (ISD) in Texas sued the TEA over the scores of several schools. The districts were upset about changes made to the evaluation and scoring process, arguing that the changes would treat schools still recovering from the pandemic unfairly. But this case was dismissed in April, allowing the TEA to publish both the 2024 and 2025 school and district A-F ratings on August 16th. But here's the thing; if a school receives an F rating for 5 years in a row, the TEA can take over that district’s board of trustees. But because of the court case, parents weren’t able to see their district or their child’s school’s rating for 2 years. So when the 2025 ratings were released, many campuses and their communities felt blindsided. The AISD board regularly updated the AISD website and hosted several large meetings, both in-person and on zoom. But a problem lies within the disconnect between families and administrators. Those meetings had to be arranged, website updates had to be written and edited, it all took time. And in that time, many families felt lost on the whats, hows, and whys of this drastic change to their child’s life. Parent Angelica Rocha expressed her frustration in a September interview with KUVE, “If the consolidations are really going to happen, when will they happen? How will it happen? It seems that questions are not being answered. So nobody really knows exactly what’s going on.” 

The 2025 A-F school and district ratings from the TEA and the resulting proposals from AISD are to consolidate students by closing down 13 campuses: Barrington ES, Becker ES, Bedichek MS, Bryker Woods ES, Dawson ES, Maplewood ES, Martin MS, Oak Springs ES, Palm ES, Ridgetop ES, Sunset Valley ES, Widén ES, and Winn Montessori. Five of these campuses will be repurposed, four as centers for Spanish dual language programs and one as a district-wide Montessori school, but it’s not yet known which ones. Currently, Austin ISD (AISD) has ended “Phase 2: Analysis and Refinement” and has entered “Phase 3: Finalization and Approval” of their school consolidation/boundary changes plan. Phase 2 was defined by various meetings, in-person and on zoom, trying to balance the practical reasons of the closures with the needs and worries of their communities.

Of course, all of this information boils down to one main question: why the bad ratings? Which leads to another question: what even decides those ratings? The TEA evaluates a school based on the school’s utility, cost per student, assessment of faculty, and educational sustainability; this is just a lot of fancy words to say that schools are graded on how much money they spend, how that money is spent(on students and faculty), how efficiently the school spends money, the quality of the faculty and the education they provide, and if the money the school needs is an amount the TEA wants to keep providing. It all comes down to money, money, money. And this is something of the TEA’s constant problem, year after year. The educational funding given by the Texan government stays the same every year, even as costs keep rising. Currently, there are about 25,000 empty seats across AISD. This problem will likely become even worse next year, which is when Senate Bill 2 will go into effect, allowing families to use tax dollars to fund private school tuition for their children. Shortly before a news conference following the signing of the bill, James Talarico, state representative and opponent of the bill, told the Texas Tribune that the current state of Texas public education and economy is why he disagrees with the bill: “Remember this day [May 3, 2025] next time a school closes in your neighborhood. Remember this day next time a beloved teacher quits because they can’t support their family on their salary. Remember this day next time your local property taxes rise because the state government is not doing its fair share of school funding. And if recession comes and we are forced to make even deeper cuts to public education, remember this day.”

AISD’s problem is that too many of their campuses have too few kids to justify the money they spend. So their best solutions are: more kids, fewer schools, or more money. More money isn't coming and kids aren't going to just appear out of thin air. So fewer schools it is. Parents’ problem is that their family will lose the community and place they love, so they protest AISD’s solution. The Austin school board will vote on the proposed plan on November 20th, one day before their deadline to give the TEA a plan to improve the schools that received poor ratings. 

“There’s two things about you and I that exist the moment that we were conceived. One is that we desire to be fully and wholly loved. And the other thing is you and I desire to be fully and wholly known,” said Alan Graham, founder of Community First! Village, with a warm smile. He is a Texan groundbreaker and visionary who is passionate about loving and knowing people in particular need of it: the chronically homeless population. 

When you picture a village for formerly homeless people, you might expect it to look like the underside of a highway bridge. But at Community First! Village, you’ll find it to be quite the opposite. The neighborhood of 500 tiny homes is tidy and yet far from cookie-cutter. Each house is full of character, complete with a front porch where each neighbor has added their personal touch. Beautiful flowers line the sidewalks, and each neighbor that passes will never fail to give you a bright smile and a friendly hello. It’s more than a shelter. It’s a home. 

The mastermind behind this 107 acres on Hog Eye Road in northeast Travis County is Alan Graham. His journey began when he founded Mobile Loaves and Fishes in 1998. “It was really just meant for people at my church, St. John Newman, to go out on the street and feed homeless people.” The non-profit quickly grew, with 10-12 trucks going out 2-3 times a day. The organization has now served around 7 million people. 

But Mr. Graham didn’t stop there. “I got really enamored with hanging out with the homeless,” he said. He wanted to not only feed the homeless, but to find a greater solution for people that shared a loss of family and community. He started to house them in RV parks, but found they didn’t thrive there, lacking connection and community with their neighbors. In 2006 he petitioned for a land grant to build a community for homeless people, but the biggest issue he ran into was civilians. “I was looking for them to donate land to us and between 2006-2010 we kept running into ‘not my backyard’-obstacles. That became the biggest impediment,” said Mr. Graham. In 2010 he gave up on the city limits and decided to purchase some land just outside of Austin, where his vision came to be. 

The main qualification to be a resident is to be chronically homeless. This means having lived a year or more on the streets and having some kind of medical diagnosis or disability. However, most residents have lived on the streets for 9-10 years. There are many different types of tiny homes in the village, as builders competed and experimented with different models such as park model RVS, tiny homes, and even several 3D printed homes. The park model homes include a larger kitchen and private bathroom, and smaller homes have kitchenettes with shared restrooms and showers they can access with a key card. Each home has electricity, a bedroom and living area, as well as a fully stocked linen closet. What stands out about Community First is that it is not a stepping stone, it’s permanent housing. As long as residents pay rent and abide by the law and community rules, the house is theirs forever. Before moving in, staff at the village ask questions about what they like and dislike, such as their favorite colors and sports teams. They personalize each home and fully furnish it with nice new furniture. Residents are welcomed to a fully stocked fridge and pantry upon arrival. 

The Austin City Bus Stop can take residents all over Austin and back to the village. Residents at Community First automatically get a jumpstart on job searching because they have an address. If residents need ways to pay their rent within the community, they can do so through a program called Dignified Income. They can give golf cart rides around the neighborhood, take care of the animals at the community farm, cook for events, work at the Community Inn on sight, tend to the gardens, or work janitorial jobs. 

The village has many outdoor spaces such as kitchens for grilling, a dog park, farms and gardens for weekly free Saturday farmer’s markets, an outdoor amphitheater, a village pond they stock for residents to fish at, and Remembrance gardens where people are honored and buried. They really have thought of everything with a community space that’s been everything from a church to a pickleball court, a community market, a health clinic, a Living Room with spaces for private events and community activities, and even Amazon lockers. 

Residents can also get creative at the Entrepreneur Hub, where they can learn how to make jewelry and pottery and cut hair and make things. When I interviewed Mr. Graham, his office was filled with beautiful art made by his very own neighbors. When I asked him about them, he said, “I think we need to look at our brothers and sisters on the streets and go, why did God create that human being? What was that God given purpose? The art hanging above your head was painted by a mentally ill drug addict. These are gifted people. We are here to mine their giftings. We should give people an opportunity rather than stereotyping and abandoning them, that’s how I feel.”

Living at Community First means you also have access to many resources the village partners with. Alan Graham said the reason behind this is “the men and women that are on the streets have come from a profoundly and catastrophically broken family environment… They desire to be connected human to human heart to heart. We can’t recreate that nuclear family but we can create a forged family. This is a forged family: we take care of each other, we look out for each other.” Community First doesn’t just provide a shelter, they provide family and care. They partnered with Life Anew for past trauma and abuse, Integral Care for behavioral health, Community For Recovery for addiction support, and several more. 

One thing you will notice if you take a tour through the neighborhood is that every single house has a front porch. Curious about the reason behind this, I asked Alan Graham if this was intentional. Turns out he read a book called Outlier by Malcolm Gladwell, and was struck by a chapter about the lack of congestive heart failure in the small town Rosetta, Pennsylvania. Mr. Graham explained that, “The answer fundamentally came that almost every house in Rosetta, Pennsylvania had a front porch. And people came outside, and they connected. You and I became friends… Whether I’m an old guy and you’re a young person, I would get to know you. As a result of getting to know you, I cared about you.” Mr. Graham sees an absence of this human connection in today’s world. “For the most part you don’t know who lives down the street anymore. You drive into your house. You've got an electric garage door opener. Your car goes inside and you go with it. You’ve got refrigeration, you've got air conditioning .You’ve got a phenomenal kitchen, food everywhere. You’ve got the internet into your bedroom, a mini fridge. You can communicate with all your friends. You’ve got everything. Nobody comes out anymore... And there are no front porches anymore.” He said with a sigh. He wanted his community to be different. “I surmised if I was the Tsar of housing in the United States, I would not allow another house to be built without a front porch. So that’s why we have front porches here… when you walk by, there’s a wave. If I drive you around right now, everybody’s waving…We’ve built a culture of caring.” said Mr. Graham.

Inspired by this interview, I sat down to read Alan Graham’s book, Welcome Homeless. The major take away is that making a difference is simple. In his book, he unveils a new perspective that a homeless person standing on the street corner is telling you their story on a cardboard sign, welcoming you to their home, and asking you to see them. More often than not we just walk right by. The hardest part about being homeless is not the sleep deprivation or the starvation. It’s loneliness. The lack of love. The lack of being known. 

Maybe the wise words of Alan Graham will inspire you to check out this place for yourself: “I think it’s time now that you and I change the way people view how we are to serve people… it starts with you and I participating- not with our checkbooks, but with our lives. Allowing our threads to be so intertwined that their suffering is our suffering. It’s with our relationships and our willingness to befriend another human being. It’s with love. Remember that communion without sacrificial love is just bread and wine. Don’t just give the homeless a handout- give them your hand.”

On September 5, 2025, three legislative camp safety bills were passed by the Texas legislature in response to the catastrophic flooding that occurred on July 4th. Though passed as a response to the flooding that devastated Kerr County camps, the bills covered possible concerns affiliated with other natural disasters, as well as man-made disasters: fires, active shooters, bus wrecks, car wrecks, tornadoes, and hurricanes. There are two policy bills, Youth CAMPER Act and Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act, and one funding bill, Senate Bill 3. Combined, these bills require camps to have emergency plans updated annually, provide staff with proper training, and prohibit camps from being built in 100 year floodplains (the prior rule being 1000 year floodplains). Other details outline information about enforcement, funding, and parental acknowledgement of risks. It is not just the legislators, however, who made the passing of this legislation possible; there was a large number of outside influences.

In early August, the families who lost loved ones at Camp Mystic came together with a common goal: they didn’t want another family going through what they or their child did. Honoring the “Heaven’s 27” families’ legislative requests proved to be a top priority during the drafting stages of the three bills, but negotiating to make sure camps could stay open also proved a challenge. “It sounds a lot simpler than it is, but we worked around the clock to pull that off, and that was hugely significant,” said Andrew Park, the Director of the Texas Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs who worked on the three pieces of Camp Safety Legislation. “I think we got really everything the parents asked for, everything the Heaven’s 27 parents specifically requested got done, at least in one of the two bills, if not both of them.” 

Balancing safety with tradition proved to be a challenge for legislators. There was significant opposition to these three bills, the most controversial clause being a rule that there would be no camps operated in a 100 year floodplain, because this would cause a lot of camps to have to relocate, costing a significant amount of money. According to Park, camps or institutions affected by this legislation did not receive any state funding, but legislators worked to make sure they were making reasonable claims, and Park said that he’d  “suspect some of the camps will have to raise their tuition rates, but I'd be hard-pressed to find a camp that I think will legitimately just have no other option other than to close.” However, there was still a lot of criticism regarding Senate Bill 1; Lago Vista, Waldemar, and Camp Stewart all sent out statements opposing the legislation. Additionally, Camp Mystic counselors sent Governor Abbott a statement of concern regarding the “rushed” nature of the bill. During the drafting of these bills, legislators sought to balance safety with fairness: “We did understand that, you know, this tragedy aside, these camps, a lot of them have multiple generations of the same families that have gone to these camps. 
They're important to them. They're proud of them. They've done a lot of good work over the years,” Park noted. “We wanted to be fair and we wanted to make sure that the campers were protected. That was the primary goal. But we also didn't want to be unfair or overly burdensome, and we didn't want to force any unnecessary closures. And I think we did achieve that balance in the end.” 

Regarding the emotions in the room while the ‘Heaven’s 27’ families were giving their testimonies, Park reflected, “Well, I have been around the legislative process in some capacity just about my entire life. I've been working in it professionally for almost nine years now. 
And that was one of the hardest days in my entire career. It was a very, very difficult day. The subject of the testimony, the emotional weight, the gravity of the testimony was also significant. 
I think you'd be hard pressed to find a dry eye anywhere in the room that day.”

The testimonies these families gave did not just compel those in the room; community members who witnessed these testimonies online and have felt a personal connection to the tragedy have been wondering how they can help. Park suggests that anyone seeking to provide assistance to ‘Heaven’s 27’ cause to talk to Elizabeth Phillips, who has overseen the Campaign for Camp Safety long before the flood this summer. Campaign for Camp Safety has also highlighted foundations that families of the girls who died at Mystic created in their honor, which Park suggests to support or donate to in order to keep these young girls’ legacy alive. 

Ultimately, there have been similar floods in magnitude in Kerr County, taking place in the years 1932, 1951, 1978, and 1987, but a camp has never sustained a loss of life as large as what happened at Mystic. 

“Floods like this will happen again,” said Park. “But I think we did achieve the ultimate goal: making sure that there will not be this much loss of life at a youth camp as a result of a flood like this again. 
And so I think there's something to be proud of in that. Yes, there definitely is.”

After noticing rising anxiety levels, plummeting attention spans, and dwindling hallway conversations, St. Andrew’s became one of the first schools in the area to ban smartphones during the school day. Only a year later, Texas House Bill 1481, more commonly known as the Texas phone ban, raises bigger concerns about how cellphones are reshaping childhood and teen experiences. 

Similarly to all mammals, humans have always lived through a play based childhood. This allows children to experience things in the outside world and take risks, and it is critical for the development of the young brain. According to a study done by NYU, as of 2015, many children’s childhood experiences have changed and transformed into a cellphone based experience. . Meaning that instead of kids going out to play or finding things to do when they’re bored, their phones/ipads became their main source of entertainment. This is not to say that every kid was experiencing this dependence on smartphones, but even if they weren’t, they still experienced an altered childhood based on the easy access to technology around them.

The main concerns deriving from this was the rise in teen and kids mental health issues.  No trends had really appeared before 2010, but soon after teen anxiety and depression rates skyrocketed. According to a study done by NYU professor Jonathan Haidt, by 2019 1 in 4 American teens and collegiate undergraduates had anxiety disorders or depression. He also stated that because of the rising use of social media in teens causing anxiety and depression, especially among teen girls “being depressed is now a normal part of being a girl in America.” While many researchers recognize correlation doesn’t equal causation, many have found a link between excessive social media usage and anxiety and depression symptoms. 

The issue really boils down to how much time a teen is actually spending on social media and whether or not they are starting to push back against previous activities. According to an AAP pediatrician, a true phone addiction comes down to compulsive behavior. Questions begin to be asked: is the teen getting enough sleep and exercise? Are they still interacting with friends and family?Are they still participating in school and homework? So if the answer is yes, it is hard to make a case for a true addiction, and is widely considered a bad habit instead. When less real life interactions are taking place between kids and teens, and they have a more unfocused state of mind, and kids withdraw from normal play based childhood, that is when it gets concerning. In an attempt to change this, at least for schools, Texas House Bill 1481 was passed and stated that schools must have a policy that does not allow the use of cellphones or communication devices, and must go into effect no later than September 18, 2025. The purpose of the bill was supposedly to eliminate distractions in the classroom, avoid mental health issues caused by social media, and for students to go back to physical interactions. All with the goal for Texas to  be “number one in education” according to the official website of the bill.

Here at SAS, where we started this ban a year earlier, many have felt lasting impacts. Senior Sophia Kleberg described the atmosphere at school before the ban (3 years ago) as a “bad environment” and completely different from what we see today. She said that “everyone would just be in the Learning Commons on their phones playing games” and also described the interactions between students and grades during lunch as, “ The seniors were in the back…where the history offices are, and all of the other grades would just have their own spot to be on their phones.” Multiple juniors and seniors have also commented that school just felt quiet and unsocial, even during passing periods, students would walk while looking at their phone constantly, and skip interacting with one another. Ms. Brooks described lunch as “very quiet…people just would not talk to each other.”  In this atmosphere both students and teachers have felt that it isn’t only lack of interaction that phones allow for, but also lack of engagement in coursework and class. Dr. Hsiao, the US Mandarin teacher, shared  that her main concern was “that students could say they need to go to the restroom and take their phone to the restroom” during tests or quizzes. Summing up the opinion of many teachers and students alike, years without the SAS phone ban might have seemed appealing at first, but with time it was clear the toll it took on student engagement in class, and student relationships. 

So, has school changed for the better? With the implementation of the SAS phone ban it does seem that interactions between students, performance in class, and general community has improved. Ms. Brooks shared that she noticed that “more students are aware of what they are doing and learning and why they are doing an activity.” Junior Evey Flynn said that the phone ban helped her “find new passions” and “discover some things she wouldn’t have otherwise”. Although most students that were asked said that they appreciated and benefited from the ban, there were a few that were not happy with it, mostly claiming that it is a safety issue. Nonetheless, even walking around campus it is easy to see how connected people are: working together in classes,  on the lawn playing games, being curious in the classrooms, and being able to hear loud hallways during lunch.  Not only connected, but also engaged, and for the better. 

In Austin, the mornings are warm and the news feels local, campus traffic, music festivals, football scores. But zoom out just a little, and the world hums with stories that stretch far beyond our skyline. Here’s what’s happening across borders: the serious, the strange, and the quietly human.

NEPAL: The Generation That Refused to Wait

In Kathmandu, protest doesn’t look like it used to. There are no long speeches, no party banners. It’s young people, thousands of them chanting under monsoon skies, smartphones raised, demanding a future that feels like theirs.

After months of frustration over corruption and unemployment, Nepal’s “Gen Z Protests” erupted this fall. Students led demonstrations that turned into a nationwide call for reform. When clashes broke out and the prime minister resigned, the country turned a page in real time.

Now, for the first time in its history, Nepal is led by a woman, interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki  who promises new elections in 2026 and greater youth representation. Yet challenges remain. Recent floods and landslides this month have killed dozens, displacing entire mountain communities. Roads are gone. Power lines dangle over swollen rivers.

It’s a country literally reshaping itself politically and geographically. But in the tea shops along Kathmandu’s narrow alleys, you still hear the same phrase: “We can build again.”

RUSSIA: Shadows Behind the Throne

In Moscow, the city looks unchanged: wide avenues, lights on the Kremlin walls, street vendors selling roasted chestnuts. But behind the normalcy, there’s a tightening grip.

This week, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) charged exiled businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky and others with plotting a coup, the latest in a widening campaign against those abroad who dare to speak out. Inside Russia, independent journalists face new restrictions, and dissidents who fled now find themselves targeted from afar.

At the same time, the war in Ukraine drags on. Russian strikes have intensified against Ukrainian rail and power infrastructure ahead of winter, while Kyiv’s drone attacks are hitting oil depots inside Russia, a new stage of economic warfare.

Yet everyday Russians seem less interested in geopolitics than in getting through another winter. The sanctions bite hardest in small towns, where factory layoffs and food prices are reshaping quiet lives. In the words of one Muscovite interviewed by Reuters, “Politics feels like the weather-you can’t stop it, you just endure it.”

POLAND:  The Drone Wall

Europe’s new front line isn’t made of tanks, it's digital.

Poland reported multiple Russian drones crossing its border this month, prompting airport closures and air raid alerts in nearby towns. Officials called the incursions “hybrid warfare,” meant to test NATO defenses and sow unease.

In response, Warsaw has proposed a joint “drone wall” with Lithuania, Latvia, and Finland, a network of sensors, interceptors, and radar towers along the eastern frontier. It sounds like science fiction, but it’s already being funded.

Still, life in Poland carries on. In Kraków’s cafés, university students sip espresso and scroll through memes about “drone tourism.” It’s dark humor but also resilience. The war next door feels close, yet Poles have learned to laugh where they can.

UNITED KINGDOM: Sixteen and Seen

Across the Atlantic, another revolution, this one at the ballot box.

The UK government considers lowering the voting age to 16 for all elections, following Scotland and Wales’ earlier examples. Supporters say it gives young people a say in the future they’ll inherit from climate policy to education reform. Critics call it premature, worrying about “TikTok politics.”

For 17-year-old Britons, though, it’s simple. As one student told the BBC, “If we can work, pay taxes, and be tried as adults, why can’t we vote?”

The reform could reshape British democracy for a generation and might even inspire debates in other countries about who gets to decide tomorrow.

CEASEFIRE WHISPERS: Ukraine and Russia Test the Air

European diplomats confirmed quiet talks this week about a temporary ceasefire along certain Ukrainian front lines. Not peace, not yet, but a possible “humanitarian pause” before winter. Analysts are cautious: both sides want breathing space, but neither wants to look weak.

For civilians in frontline towns, though, the word ceasefire means something smaller, maybe a night without sirens, a chance to fix a roof before the next strike, or to light a stove without fear.

EUROPE’S STRANGEST TREND: Pudding with a Fork

Meanwhile, across Germany and the Netherlands, people are gathering in public parks to… eat pudding. With forks.

It started as an internet joke about a flyer in Karlsruhe inviting people to meet up and eat pudding “wrong.” But it caught on. Dozens, sometimes hundreds, show up with pudding cups, chat, laugh, and post photos of their forkfuls.

No politics. No sponsors. Just absurd joy. Maybe that’s the point: a shared silliness that crosses borders. As one participant told Deutsche Welle, “It’s the opposite of hate, it's dessert.”

POSTSCRIPT: WHY IT MATTERS

We read about these places like they’re far away, but they’re not. Nepal’s young protesters want what students in Austin want, a government that listens. Russian citizens face disinformation not unlike what we debate online here. Polish engineers designing drone defenses are thinking about the same security dilemmas our future diplomats will study.

And maybe the pudding people have it right sometimes, the best form of international connection starts with something small, ridiculous, and shared.