![With the AISD rank and GPA discrepancies, some students had significant changes to their stats. College and career counselor Camille Nix worked with students to appeal their college decisions if they got rejected from schools depending on their previous stats before getting updated. Students worked with Nix to update schools on their new stats in order to fully get their appropriate decisions. “Those who already were accepted [won’t be affected], but it could factor in if a student appeals their initial decision,” Principal Andy Baxa said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/53674616658_18d367e00f_o-1200x676.jpg)
![Junior Mia Milicevic practices her forehand at tennis practice with the WJ girls tennis team. “Sometimes I don’t like [tennis] because you’re alone but most of the time, I do like it for that reason because it really is just you out there. I do experience being part of a team at WJ but in tournaments and when I’m playing outside of school, I like that rush when I win a point because I did it all by myself, Milicevic said. (Courtesy Mia Milicevic)](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/c54807e1-6ab6-4b0b-9c65-bfa256bc7587.jpg)
![The Jaguar student section sits down while the girls basketball team plays in the Great Eight game at the Denver Coliseum against Valor Christian High School Feb. 29. Many students who participated in the boys basketball student section prior to the girls basketball game left before half-time. I think it [the student section] plays a huge role because we actually had a decent crowd at a ranch game. I think that was the only time we had like a student section. And the energy was just awesome, varsity pointing and shooting guard Brooke Harding ‘25 said. I dont expect much from them [the Golden Boys] at all. But the fact that they left at the Elite Eight game when they were already there is honestly mind blowing to me.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_7517-e1716250578550-900x1200.jpeg)
![BACKGROUND IN THE BUSINESS: Dressed by junior designer Kaitlyn Gerrie, senior Chamila Muñoz took to the “Dreamland” runway this past weekend. While it was her first time participating in the McCallum fashion show, Muñoz isn’t new to the modeling world.
I modeled here and there when I was a lot younger, maybe five or six [years old] for some jewelry brands and small businesses, but not much in recent years,” Muñoz said.
Muñoz had hoped to participate in last year’s show but couldn’t due to scheduling conflicts. For her senior year, though, she couldn’t let the opportunity pass her by.
“It’s [modeling] something I haven’t done in a while so I was excited to step out of my comfort zone in a way,” Muñoz said. “I always love trying new things and being able to show off designs of my schoolmates is such an honor.”
The preparation process for the show was hectic, leaving the final reveal of Gerrie’s design until days before the show, but the moment Muñoz tried on the outfit, all the stress for both designer and model melted away.
“I didn’t get to try on my outfit until the day before, but the look on Kaitlyn’s face when she saw what she had worked so hard to make actually on a model was just so special,” Muñoz said. “I know it meant so much to her. But then she handed me a blindfold and told me I’d be walking with it on, so that was pretty wild.”
Caption by Francie Wilhelm.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/53535098892_130167352f_o-1200x800.jpg)
The NASH cafeteria is home to many different sounds: the excited call of hungry students, the scraping of plastic utensils on styrofoam trays, and the echo of locker doors slamming nearby. But recently a new sound has filled the air: the chirping of baby chickens.
Next to the cafeteria’s left entrance, a cart of odd supplies sits tucked away near the art gallery. Here lie two baby chickens, just a few days old. Curious, but fearful, they spend most of their day huddled under an incubator gathering warmth. As adorable as they are, most NASH students don’t seem to know why the chicks currently reside in the cafeteria. The answer is a collaboration of efforts from multiple teachers in different departments to create a cross curricular education experience.
The project was started and spearheaded by Family and Consumer Science Department Chair Elizabeth Gallagher.
“I learned about the company Rent the Chicken/Hatch the Chick at the PAFCS Conference in April of 2023,” Gallagher said. “They were one of our presenters on sustainability. I thought it was so neat, and I signed up to rent two chickens over the summer and met with Dr. Dirda about the possibility of bringing the Hatch the Chick program to NASH.”
This novel idea made itsdebut at the Senior High School this year, but it has held prevalence at the elementary schools for quite some time.
Another major contributor to the Hatch the Chick program is Science Department Chair Chris Omasits.
“Through many of our higher level classes in both the family & consumer science and science departments, NASH students are able to discuss the details of development of the chicks and be a part of the process throughout the 21 days,” Omasits said. “We have had the chance to go much more in depth and teach them even more about a project that they might remember doing in elementary school.”
Both Gallagher and Omasits appreciate that the project has served as educational for the students as well as entertaining for the staff and faculty to watch.
“It has been great to see students, faculty and staff engaged in the project, from candling the eggs, to watching a hatch, or holding and observing a baby chick,” Gallagher said.
As for the project’s future, its success this year indicates continuation. But Gallagher is interested in even more varied educational opportunities regarding the Hatch a Chick program.
“Hatching birds has been a component of many educational programs to teach about the life cycle,” she explained. “Classrooms have hatched not only chickens but also ducks and quail. Eventually I would love to hatch quails, too.”
For now, the chicks will continue to grow into full-fledged chickens right before the student body’s eyes. The birds may mainly serve as an educational venture, but their entertaining behavior and adorable appeal have clearly captured the hearts of NASH students.
“When the eggs started to crack and hatch, it was amazing to watch the chikens come out,” junior Ekua Kwakwa said. “I think we should get more chickens in the future.”
This story was originally published on The Uproar on November 16, 2023.
