VHS Student Media

VHS Student Media Vandegrift High School's student newspaper: The Vandegrift Voice. Updated online at www.vandegriftvoice.com.

Juniors Travel During Winter BreakCheck out where students went and their experience at large.đź–‹
01/07/2026

Juniors Travel During Winter Break

Check out where students went and their experience at large.
đź–‹

The Perpetual Struggle: Demanding School Pressures vs. Maintaining SanityStudents face a variety of mental issues in hig...
01/05/2026

The Perpetual Struggle: Demanding School Pressures vs. Maintaining Sanity

Students face a variety of mental issues in high schools today, including stress, anxiety, depression, social isolation, and low self-esteem. With schools’ single-minded focus on academic readiness and task completion, sometimes teachers and staff can lack the proper empathy and accommodation for these damaging problems that highly diminish teenagers’ mental health. The school should prioritize the stability of their students over academic success by having therapeutic counselors available for students to see during class. These counselors can help youths manage stress among other things, and even under circumstances allow them some time to recoup in the library.

Mental health issues continue to rise in adolescents, meaning students require more assistance now than ever. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 40% of teenagers report feeling persistently sad or hopeless, about 20% heavily consider su***de, and 10% attempted to commit su***de. Rising trends in these concerning cases indicate that students need a lot of help and time to process their emotions and feel okay about themselves existentially. Yet, the amount of time that school takes and the prolific stress it piles onto studying minds only contribute to the mental stress youths experience. Therefore, staff should indulge teenagers’ needs for brain breaks and resets.

As discussed above, teenagers spend an overwhelming portion of their time in school. They spend approximately 35 hours a week in school, excluding time used for homework, studying, or extracurricular activities, which vary according to the individual student. Even with the minimum amount of time spent on school or coursework, school plays an extremely demanding role in a student’s life. This adds a great amount of stress to a teenager’s life, which can potentially lead to a decline in mental health and larger issues like irritability, anxiety, burnout, and even contribute to fatigue or weakened physical systems.

Read Celia's full editorial at VandegriftVoice.com

The holiday movie advent calendar says it's close to Christmas, so here are the last movie suggestions. Visit Vandegrift...
12/22/2025

The holiday movie advent calendar says it's close to Christmas, so here are the last movie suggestions. Visit VandegriftVoice.com for the previous days. đź–Š.gallery

OPINION: Time to Cancel MidtermsDuring the coronavirus pandemic, midterms were cancelled for a few years, and were recen...
12/22/2025

OPINION: Time to Cancel Midterms

During the coronavirus pandemic, midterms were cancelled for a few years, and were recently brought back for the first time last year. Midterms should not have been brought back as they cause extra stress on students, are unstandardized, and take away from class learning time.

They cause unnecessary stress on students. On top of end-of-cycle assignments and extracurriculars, midterms cause students to have eight classes they need to study for. Many activities have lots going on at this time, such as winter concerts for band and choir, tryouts for dance, and Distributive Education Clubs of America competitions.

Midterms aren’t standardized. Some classes have a unit test, some have a cumulative test, and others have projects. The difference in midterms between classes makes it difficult to easily study for each midterm. Along with this, some teachers put the midterm grade on the third cycle, while other teachers put it on the fourth cycle. This puts some students at a disadvantage depending on what teacher they have.

Midterms are very hard to make up. This causes an increase of students coming to school sick for fear of missing their midterm and not being able to make it up. According to the CDC, the flu is most common in the months from December to February. The cold weather and high humidity promote sickness, so more students coming in sick heightens those numbers even more.

While some people say midterms offer a good measure for students to see how they’re doing in each class and whether they should drop, because not all classes offer a cumulative exam, they aren’t all good measures.

Instead of mandatory final exams, teachers should be able to choose whether their class needs to have a final test, and do it whenever they want during the last week. This will give students more time to study for each test, and take away the retake issues of missing a midterm. If a student is thinking about dropping, they can have a one-on-one talk with their teacher and not drop based off of midterm results.

Read the rest of Magnolia's editorial at VandegriftVoice.com.
đź“·Adriana Guerrero

Legacies to Perform in LondonThe will perform at the 40th London New Years Day Parade on Thursday, Jan. 1. Their trip i...
12/17/2025

Legacies to Perform in London

The will perform at the 40th London New Years Day Parade on Thursday, Jan. 1. Their trip in England will last from Dec. 27–Jan. 3.

“My initial reaction that we were going to London was pure shock,” junior Aspen Dzubinski said. “I couldn’t believe that we had this amazing opportunity. My friends and I immediately started planning activities and outfits.”

Spirit of America, a U.S. based production company, works heavily with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and extended an invitation to the Legacies last fall. The district had to approve the trip before the team could accept the offer.

“We are thankful to LISD, Mr. Little, and our fine arts director for approving the international trip, as well as trusting our leaders and organization as a whole,” Legacies director Holly Lyons said.

Extracurricular groups like the Legacies are permitted to take an out-of-state trip every other year.

“We are very excited and honored to be the first to represent LISD overseas after 30 years,” Lyons said.

Since the school opened, the Legacies have marched and performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The LNYD parade includes marching bands, dance and cheer teams, and different ensembles, both from overseas and England.

“I feel so lucky that I get to go on this trip my senior year with my best friends and this amazing team,” senior Ellie Hodges said. “I’m most excited about performing in the parade and exploring all the wonderful places in London.”

In London, the team will visit Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the London Eye, and Windsor Castle, among other sites.

“The most exciting thing about this trip is being able to travel internationally with my teammates while representing our community,” Dzubinski said. “I am excited for all the sightseeing and getting to immerse ourselves in the London culture. I think that going on a trip with your best friends is a great way to see a new country.”

đź–ŠAudryn Lee

It's district time, and knocked off Vista Ridge. đź“·Aashka Kancharla
12/16/2025

It's district time, and knocked off Vista Ridge. đź“·Aashka Kancharla

Buy the Veteran yearbook at Jostens.com before the price increases at the end of December.
12/12/2025

Buy the Veteran yearbook at Jostens.com before the price increases at the end of December.

Senior Leads Girls Lacrosse“When you’re positive on the field, it impacts everyone so much more, and that’s the kind of ...
12/10/2025

Senior Leads Girls Lacrosse

“When you’re positive on the field, it impacts everyone so much more, and that’s the kind of leader I try to be,” senior Sara Ruiz said.

As the only senior on the girls lacrosse team, Ruiz enters her final year with more than a decade of experience in the sport. The team has completed its Fall Ball schedule and is now preparing for the official season beginning in January.

“I’ve been playing lacrosse since I was five years old, and I’ve stuck with it because it’s a really good competitive sport,” Ruiz said. “It’s really fun, and it’s a really good way to make friends and get to know people.”

Ruiz serves as one of the team’s captains, and according to her, her approach to leadership focuses on supporting teammates during practices and games.

“My position on the team is being captain, and for me, being a leader is about helping people get better in a positive way,” Ruiz said. “It’s really important to me to be encouraging on the field because I know how it feels when things get negative.”

Throughout the fall, the team maintained a consistent schedule, practicing every day during the Fall Ball. Spring practices will also occur daily once the official season begins.

“Our practices are usually twice a week during the year, and during Fall Ball, we have a practice every day,” Ruiz said.

This year’s roster includes returning players and several new additions.

“The team has really grown from last year because we’ve all gotten better and obtained new skills, and a lot of really good people have joined our team this year,” Ruiz said.

Read the rest of 's story at VandegriftVoice.com. đź“·Bree Bosland

REGIONAL CHAMPS
12/06/2025

REGIONAL CHAMPS

The 2026 Veteran yearbook goes up in price at the end of the month. Personalization also expires soon. Make sure and ord...
12/05/2025

The 2026 Veteran yearbook goes up in price at the end of the month. Personalization also expires soon. Make sure and order at Jostens.com.

Collect Community: Brothers Begin Student-Led CongregationsTwo brothers.One community.One Collective.Alumnus Jax Lombard...
12/03/2025

Collect Community: Brothers Begin Student-Led Congregations

Two brothers.

One community.

One Collective.

Alumnus Jax Lombard and his brother Lawson, a senior, co-founded the Vandegrift Collective. The Lombards began it after helping lead a similar club at Lake Travis.

“We loved serving at LT, but Vandegrift is our home and our people, and they needed Jesus,” Lawson said. “Our goal was to simply give every person an opportunity to know Jesus.”

The monthly student-led Collectives occur in the school cafeteria, usually on Sunday evenings.

“Lots of people come already as believers, and our goal with a group like that is to just bring in more people,” senior Nyla Smith, a member of the lead team, said. “We want there to be a community of Christ followers in our school, to help others find freedom in Jesus, and believe it makes a difference having a church-like gathering in our school.”

Each Collective is structured to begin with 10 minutes of games, followed by a group game, which then leads to a time for worship and students to give sermons.

“The first Collective, I had been really stressing and worried about how many people were going to come because we had put a lot of work into it,” Lawson said. “That night, we had 200 people show up, and it was a moment of reflection and me realizing that this is God’s thing, not mine. I just get to be along for the ride.”

Smith is one of 12 people on the Collective lead team, with her main role as audio setup. Other leads and the Dream Team, a larger group of people that also help maintain Collective, are sorted into smaller groups focused on a certain goal or project.

“Having these designated teams really helps as we have the best people working on each thing,” Smith said. “Me and Lawson are in charge of setting up mics, guitar, and keys that connect into speakers for worship.”

Read the rest of Audryn's story at VandegriftVoice.com.

đź“·Sedona Mills

Football Gears Up for Rematch Against Dripping SpringsAfter a playoff win against San Marcos in the regional semifinals,...
12/02/2025

Football Gears Up for Rematch Against Dripping Springs

After a playoff win against San Marcos in the regional semifinals, varsity football will face off against Dripping Springs in the round four quarterfinals at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Saturday, Dec. 6. The Tigers are a familiar opponent, beating the Vipers 41-14 in the season opener back in August.

This game will likely come down to the defensive side of the ball for the Vipers. If they give up 41 points like they did in week one, it may be a challenge for the team to come away with a win. Dripping Springs has been an offensive force in the playoffs up to this point, scoring an average of 45 points per game. However, the Viper defense looks to be much improved since their early season matchup, only giving up about nine points per game in the playoffs. This will be strength versus strength, and whichever group wins this matchup may play a key role in deciding the game.

Part of the reason for the Vipers’ defeat in their early season matchup with Dripping Springs was their inability to run the football, with no player rushing for more than 32 yards. This was not something that the team was used to doing, as they averaged 164 yards per game on the ground during their run to a state title last year. Since that game, the team found a way to get back on track running the ball, averaging 170 yards per game in the playoffs. Part of the reason for this has been the emergence of sophomore running back Evan Williamson, who has run for 200 yards and three touchdowns combined in recent wins over Brandeis and San Marcos.

The game is predicted to be closer than the week one matchup, as the teams are only four spots apart in the TXFB Varsity Insider rankings. If the team is able to continue running the ball and playing defense like they’ve been doing in the playoffs, combined with playoff experience from a season ago, can potentially lead the Vipers to a big-time playoff win on Saturday. However, if the same factors that led to the week one loss appear again, a similar outcome from that game could be in the cards.

đź–Š.walker5
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