With semester exams taking place next week, students are turning their attention to studying for exams.  The schedule (last link) is organized by class periods – not subjects.

There is no school on Monday the 16th, so, as a result, exams will begin later than some previous years.  Nevertheless, students should start preparing now.

With the first semester of the 2011 school year coming to an end, the Coppell High School Academies began the process of trying to recruit fellow students for the upcoming school year.

Though scheduling for the 2011-2012 school year does not begin until the spring, Academy students hope to recruit freshmen, sophomores and juniors. EMAC Academy sophomore Emma Eells was one of the students that visited history classes to promote the learning experience that the Academies have to offer.

“We are basically trying to inform students that are already at CHS about the benefits of joining EMAC,” Eells said. “We just spent about five minutes in each class giving out handouts and showing the students a video of the Academy.”

The Academies are a great learning experience for students interested pursuing a career in media, health or engineering. For more information about the Academies, click here.

Staff Writer

Until the final second of the final game, last year’s Coppell Cowboys football season was a glorious one. Characterized by colossal victories and a District 7-5A title, last season cemented Coppell’s place as one of the elite football programs in the state.

Defensive Lineman William Udeh pushes through two Arlington Colts players. Photo by Rowan Khazendar.

Saying that there is pressure for this year’s team to succeed would be a massive understatement.

“The expectations are really high since the guys from last year really put us on the map,” sophomore defensive back Troy Parker said. “So everyone’s really looking up to that for us to keep our record up.”

But this year’s team is not the same as its predecessors. The Cowboys lost many starters and key players on both sides of the ball. As a result, this season’s team will by and large be a young and inexperienced one.

One could even go as far as to say that it is a rebuilding year for Coppell.

However, the Cowboys and their coaches are confident they have what it takes to achieve great things, and maybe even win a coveted state title, despite the relative inexperience.

“We do recognize that we lost seven starters on defense to graduation, so we’re pretty young on defense,” defensive coordinator Mike DeWitt said. “But we still have high expectations for the kids that have filled in and obviously we still want to win and get better every week.”

Although familiar faces such as Cam McDaniel [Notre Dame] and Bennett Okotcha [Oklahoma] have gone on to bigger and better things, the Cowboys are still loaded with playmakers, and new leaders have stepped up to the mantle.

The Coppell Cowboys have been training through long and rigorous practices in preparation for this years football season. Photo by Rachel Bush.

The team captains are Sam Rice, David Busby, Austin Buss, Jake Williams and Jake Larson. These seniors will play a pivotal role in guiding this young Cowboys team to the postseason.

Perhaps the most significant new playmaker is starting quarterback Jake Larson. With impressive running capabilities and height of 6-4, Larson is an intimidating figure at quarterback.

“[Larson] is a kid that’s been very eager for it to be his time,” head coach Joe McBride said. “He’s very committed to being a good quarterback and I know he interacts with the kids well. He just needs the experience, and should get better game to game.”

While certain players will carry the torch, the coaches have stressed that the key to success will be their ability to play as a team and have each player carry their own weight.

“We try to emphasize that it’s a team effort,” DeWitt said.  “You have to have 11 guys on the field playing together, not just 10. We try to sell that to the kids that it takes all 11, not one guy that’s more or less important.”

One thing is for sure: the Cowboys’ ability to play as a team will be tested this season. Coppell has returned to District 7-5A, which is considered by many to be the most difficult district in the state.

Every team in the district has the potential to make a great run, but the Cowboys are confident they can handle any opposition they face, even Coppell’s infamous rivals – Southlake Carroll being the most prominent.

“Southlake and Denton Guyer are tough but besides that, we feel like we can just dominate anybody we play,” senior Linebacker Patrick Hemphill said. “The mentality is to be savage, we play with no remorse.”

After securing victories over Mesquite Horn, Arlington and Jesuit in their first three games, the Cowboys appear every bit as dedicated to winning as they did last season. However, it takes more to win that sheer passion for winning. Fortunately for Coppell, the Cowboys have much more going for them than that.

They are ripe with weapons on the offensive side of the ball. Larson aside, seniors Jacob Logan and Luke Jenner have raised eyebrows with impressive performances early in the season, as has the promising young receiver corp.

But according to players and coaches I have spoken to, the Cowboys’ biggest advantages are with the big men on the line. As the old saying goes, the game is won in the trenches.

“The thing we have going for us is that we have a solid defensive line and a solid offensive line,” DeWitt said. “If you can be really great up front on both sides, then I think you’ve got a good chance.”

Despite all the promising aspects of this blossoming Cowboys squad, there are areas that need significant improvement – and McBride readily acknowledged it when asked whether Coppell is good enough to win a state title.

“Not [good enough] right now, but we’re an unfinished product,” McBride said. “I want to improve consistency all over from every position. I hope that weeks from now we’ll be a lot better and play at a very high level. And hopefully, by then we will be [good enough].”

In the meantime, the Cowboys are working diligently to ensure that this improvement takes place. Every day the team practices together in the grueling Texas heat to achieve the height of their potential. And for an outstanding program of tradition like Coppell, the skies are the limit.

“What makes this team special is the heart that we show,” Hemphill said. “We have a lot of young players, but we’ve all stepped up and shown that we’re ready to go.”

Like it or not, CHS, semester exams are almost upon us (get to studying!) In the meantime, if you’re exempt from any exams, be sure to check out the revised bell schedules for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (January 12-14).

Remember, exemptions for the first semester only apply to seniors who have an 85 or above average in a class and have no more than three absences in that class. Best of luck, exam takers!

Staff Writer

Summer vacation: what’s not to like? Two glorious months of total freedom; no school work, no teachers, no annoying kids blocking your way in the halls. Just you and whatever you want to do…that is until those two glorious months end and you’re hurled back into the school system.

When students return to school having forgotten everything they were previously taught and fallen into a lax routine of laziness, is it really wise to postpone returning to school for two months? Wouldn’t a shorter summer be better?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m anticipating for summer just as much as the next guy. But what leads to this wrecked condition of students? The last minute barrages of AP tests and final exams? The constant grind of returning to school every day of every week? The late night cramming sessions? The early morning test preps?

While the first semester of school allows for the unrelenting schedule of school due to its less intensive lesson plans, the same cannot be said of a second semester filled with not just students testing on new material, but being required to test on old material as well.

Think about it: our school schedules involve two extensive semesters of schooling, one after the other with decent breaks in between. These weeks off between the semesters are not fit for the kind of rest and recuperation that students need. While they do provide immediate relief to students at the end of one semester, they do nothing for the accumulating stress and fatigue throughout the next semester.

Summer as well could be called ineffective; while the two months provided to students could certainly help students recover from the previous school year, it is perhaps too effective. Students end up returning the following year with their minds dulled and their work ethics diminished. Time that could be spend learning and covering new concepts at the beginning of a new school year is ultimately used to cover basic concepts students have already learned; the end result is that the rest provided to worn out students ultimately carries them two steps backwards.

A far more efficient and healthy measure would be one that which has been suggested before and fundamentally turned down is replacing our outdated methods for a schedule involving constant schooling broken up by multiple, smaller breaks. Instead of a winter break, a spring break and summer break, students would see small (about a week) breaks at the end of a six weeks. As weekends provide less and less refuge to students thanks to weekend projects and student’s own procrastination, these week long breaks become more and more necessary.

As I’ve said before, the idea of a more student friendly schedule has been looked over and turned down by the school district before. You may remember the blocked schedule that was tested piloted for two weeks in the 2008-09 school year. The block schedule (another modern, student friendly model) was turned down for similar reasons that the alternative break schedule is usually frowned upon; such a schedule increases the number of school days which simply costs too much money (more school days means more teachers on the payroll).

Until schools decide they care more for their student’s academic success than their wallets, students will continue to face the unyielding grind of our current two semester model.

Staff Writer

I had looked forward to Thursday all week; not Friday. But when I learned that I actually had a band concert that night, all my plans got skewed. Instead of going home at four and catching up on sleep like I’d planned, I got to watch TV for a couple hours and kiss my home goodbye till later that night. What took me so long at the concert? Let me walk you through it:

6:00 p.m. – Arrive at band hall

6:10 p.m. – Check out concert uniform

6:15 p.m. – Find out kid threw up in warm up room; warm-up postponed.

6:30 p.m. – 4th band (my band) begins to warm up in main room (which had to be cleared for us since there was puke everywhere in our normal room).

7:00 p.m. – Go on stage; begin concert.

7:20 p.m. – Wrap up final song. We played three different pieces and also set aside a few minutes to honor the seniors in our band.

7:30 p.m. – Take seats in the audience to watch the other bands perform.

7:40 p.m. – 3rd band performs three different pieces and also honors seniors. Most notable piece was an Aaron Copland melody (if you think you haven’t heard of him, you have).

8:00 p.m. – 3rd band wraps up and takes up seats in the audience as well. Sadly, they sit on the other side of the auditorium so I miss out on sitting next to any of my friends in that band.

8:10 p.m. – 2nd band enters the stage. The performance of 2nd band heralds a next step in the level of skill of the band. 5th, 4th, and 3rd bands are all skilled groups, but 2nd and 1st band take it too the next level. Most notable piece included a rendition of Phantom of the Opera featuring the trombone section wearing Phantom masks to settle the mood. I’d easily say it was the best piece all night.

8:30 p.m. – 2nd band takes seats in front of my part of the auditorium. Using this opportunity I was able to get a better spot next to some friends in 2nd band.

8:40 p.m. – 1st band comes on stage. Their performance was unique since they had only learned their music roughly an hour before the show (and they still sounded phenomenal). Previously they had been recording a different set of pieces (including one that was at least 20 minutes long) for the state concert band competition, but then switched to the shorter set for this show. Their most notable piece was one which was actually composed by a member of the audience and a former band parent.

9:00 p.m. – 1st band finishes, Mr. Mason bids adieu, and we are all allowed to leave.

9:20 p.m. – Check in uniform (takes a little longer when the band hall is packed).

9:30 p.m. – Get a ride from long time friend Connor Wilkinson.

10:00 p.m. – Finally leave band hall. Any sane person would’ve left the band hall by now to go home, but not only is my friend one of the twelve people who are always the last to leave (very sociable guy, Connor) but one of our drum majors from the previous year, William McKee, came by and catching up with him took time.

10:10 p.m. – Arrive at home; begin studying for spanish.

So there you go; the band so far had been lucky to “avoid” having to stay for all the performances but our luck ran out with that concert. Overall however it was a good concert to end the year on.

TAKS is quickly approaching. For seniors, this means a week of sleeping in and ten minute passing periods, but for freshman, sophomores and juniors, April 27-30 is not so enjoyable.

The science, social studies, math and reading TAKS tests will take place next week. The bell schedules are different each day, and this is important for students arriving late.

Here is the schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Good luck testing, CHS!

Students must make up their Feb. 12 snow day later in the year. (Photo by Tyler Morris)

By Rebecca Neumann
Staff Writer

After the fabulous snow day everyone enjoyed last Friday, many people must be wondering when we will make up that lost day of learning.

In an email from Tracey Wallace, Executive Director of Human Resources for CISD, the fears of many were confirmed: the state will not let the district count the day as ‘instructional’, so a makeup day is obligatory.

CISD has chosen to make up the missing day on Friday, June 3, the day after the school year was originally scheduled to end. However, April 2, the day when many normally celebrate Good Friday, will still be a day off for everyone if weather permits.

Coppell boys soccer was scheduled to have their last game before district tonight, Friday Jan. 29, against Highland Park at Highlander Stadium at 8pm. However, due to weather conditions, the game has been moved.

As of this moment, the game is scheduled to be on Saturday Jan. 30 at Highlander Stadium at 2 pm. The game will occur unless weather conditions worsen and continue onto tomorrow.

Go support the Cowboys on their last game before district starts on Friday Feb. 5 against Southlake Carroll.

Course planning for the 2010-2011 school year began this week when on Wednesday Jan. 6 fourth period teachers passed out the course planning guide, the schedule form and graduation plan sheet.

The schedule form must be returned to your fourth period teacher by Tuesday Dec. 12 completed and signed by a parent/guardian. 

Beginning in late January and February students will have the chance to visit with their counselors to discuss and refine class choices. Freshmen and junior appointments will be held Jan.25 through Feb. 12. Juniors will have a specific appointment time and are encouraged to bring their parents along to the meeting if possible. Sophomore student-counselor meetings will be held from Feb. 22 through March 11.

Parents should have received an e-mail notification with all information regarding course planning.

Students are encouraged to take advantage of course planning resources (the planning guide and the CHS website) before visiting with counselors later this month (or in February).

For further information, refer to the course planning guide for 2010-11 or the CHS website.