The Breakup of the Year, LASA and LBJ UIL Split
Trevor Anderson, Copy Editor
January 15, 2020
In an effort to allow LASA and LBJ to form identities and expand their respective athletic programs before LASA’s move to the Eastside Memorial Early College High School campus in 2021, LBJ, administrators and district officials decided in November that LBJ and LASA’s athletic programs will completely...
Jags Diving Plunges Into Season
Skylar Sidensol-Denero, Staffer
January 15, 2020
The LBJ dive team, although only comprised of 3 athletes, is racking up points for the Pool Jags Swim and Dive team. LBJ’s divers earned twenty points for the team at the Burnet Small School Invite on Saturday, Nov. 2. Athletes are working hard this season to improve their skills and rack up even more...
Mischief? We’ve Got It Managed
Ava De Leon, Staffer
January 15, 2020
This year’s fall play had a mix of drama, comedy and magic. The latest performance by the Alley Cat Players, LBJ’s theater group, gave audiences a taste of the Harry Potter World with their adaptation of the Off-Broadway musical “Puffs”. The world of Harry Potter has remained popular and commercially...
Campus Sad To Say Goodbye To Mr. Ephraim
Sophia Blaha, News Editor
January 15, 2020
Ray Ephraim has been working at LASA for more than three decades, but starting February, LASA will have a new security officer keeping the halls safe. Ephraim will retire on Jan. 31st, 2020. When he retires, Ephraim hopes to take full advantage of his free time and pursue his family business, which deals...
UIL Sports Split Hits Orchestra and Band Hard
Jordan Jewell, Managing Editor
January 15, 2020
Next year will see LASA and LBJ splitting their UIL sports teams in preparation for LASA’s eventual move to their own campus. Both the fine arts-based UIL teams and the sports-based UIL teams have their own cultures and communities which will be disrupted by the split in different ways. Depending...
One Campus, Two Schools
Gabrielle Jabour and Sarah Mines
January 15, 2020
Despite the fact that LASA and LBJ will continue to share a campus in the 2020-2021 school year, Austin Independent School District (AISD) and the University Interscholastic League (UIL) officials have decided that LASA and LBJ will split for UIL purposes and will no longer participate in UIL athletic...
They Are The Jaguars, We Are Not The Jaguars
Luci Garza, Staffer
January 15, 2020
As LASA prepares to move to a campus in fall 2021 and leave the LBJ jaguar mascot behind, students and teachers alike are in search of a new mascot to represent the spirit of the school. In November, school members helped brainstorm the new mascot and school colors. After sharing a campus, mascot...
AISD School Closures Disrupt District Equality
January 9, 2020
In the next 10 years, seven thousand students from the Austin Independent School District (AISD) are expected to leave the district in favor of a charter school, an alternative school or an alternative district. AISD has claimed that under-enrollment has essentially forced the Board of Trustees to close...
Spotlighting Race at LASA
Nia Orakwue and Malena Heineman
December 15, 2019
The experiences and perspectives of black and Latino students at a predominantly white and Asian high school like LASA often stay private and are not shared and spotlighted in a way that affects social change in our high school community. At the Liberator, we believe giving a voice to stude...
LASA Roadshow Takes Off
Ahnsa Campbell, Staffer
November 4, 2019
In recent years, LASA administration has made a commitment to improve diversity in the student body. Administrators, student ambassadors and teachers travel to middle schools around Austin for roadshows in an effort to recruit applicants from a wide variety of zip codes and spread information about a...
Study Buddies
Sophie Chau, Staffer
November 4, 2019
A flurry of activity signals the end of another day as students rush out the doors to get home and get on with their lives at home. Some students, however, go to study halls to get extra assistance in classes or get work done quietly. In order to provide more resources for students, LASA has recently...
Expanding Horizons
Eve Nguyen, Staffer
November 4, 2019
This summer, 28 LASA juniors and seniors entering the German four and five classes stayed in Berlin, Germany with German host families. During this time, students experienced German culture and were able to practice their German skills. This October, their exchange partners, from the Johann-Gottfried-Herder-Gymnasium...