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The student news site of Liberty High School in Frisco, Texas

WINGSPAN
The student news site of Liberty High School in Frisco, Texas

WINGSPAN
The student news site of Liberty High School in Frisco, Texas

WINGSPAN
Erika Pernis

Erika Pernis, Editor-in-Chief

Erika Pernis is a senior entering her third year of Wingspan. During her spare time, you can find her reading, drinking boba, or hanging out with friends. In the future, she is hoping to pursue a career in journalism. She loves taking naps, obsessively buying stationery, and making her notes look pretty. Erika is so excited to be one of the Wingspan Editor-in-Chiefs this year!

Contact Erika: erikachryselle.pernis.174@k12.friscoisd.org

All content by Erika Pernis
The door policy on campus has been updated, with the front doors being the only ones open during the school day. The new policy has been implemented to promote safety. Previously doors such as the ones leading to the student parking lot would be open during passing periods for students that had late arrival or CTE classes.

New door policy set to improve campus safety

November 18, 2022
Vishnu looks through the microscope and observes algae. Vishnus interest and curiosity in science has led him to discover other passions.

[Photo] Senior finds magic in mixing and performing at-home experiments

November 18, 2022
HOSA is holding a blood drive in partnership with Carter Blood Care Monday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Students who donate will receive two service hours, a t-shirt, and a graduation cord if you donate twice in one year.

HOSA holds blood drive Monday

November 11, 2022
Physics and astronomy teacher Kenric Davies was named 2022-23 Teacher of the Year on campus. According to principal Stacey Whaling, Davies knowledge and engaging teaching style set him apart.

Davies named Teacher of the Year on campus

October 26, 2022
Carter Blood Care is holding blood drives at the CTE Center Training Room on Wednesday and Monday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Students 16 and up are eligible to donate with a signed permission form from a parent or guardian.

CTE Center holds blood drives Wednesday and Monday

October 25, 2022
Members of the editing staff sit down with members of the staff to discuss what its like being in Wingspan.

The Scoop: Rachel Kim

October 25, 2022

[Video] 24 Redhawks qualify as National Merit Semifinalists

September 29, 2022
Members of the editing staff sit down with members of the staff to discuss what its like being in Wingspan.

The Scoop: how we met

September 27, 2022
Debate is heading to their first competition Saturday at Princeton High School. One of the teams main goals at the competition is to give new team members experience.

Debate prepares for first competition of the year

September 23, 2022

Redhawks buzzing with excitement as H-E-B makes North Texas debut

September 21, 2022
Members of the editing staff sit down with members of the staff to discuss what its like being in Wingspan.

The Scoop: reporting for H-E-B

September 20, 2022
The Frisco ISD Board of Trustees will hold their monthly meeting Monday at 6:30. On the agenda are the upcoming state legislative session and district rezoning for the 2023-2024 school year.

Bathrooms, books, and bills discussed at monthly board meeting

September 13, 2022
Members of the editing staff sit down with members of the staff to discuss what its like being in Wingspan.

The Scoop: our origin stories

August 30, 2022
Orchestra hosted their annual back-to-school bash on Friday. The social serves as a way to welcome in new members and foster connections between students.

Orchestra throws annual back-to-school bash

August 29, 2022
Members of the editing staff sit down with members of the staff to discuss what its like being in Wingspan.

The Scoop: an introduction

August 16, 2022
The first nine weeks of the school year is coming to an end Friday. For students in sports, this is also an eligibility checkpoint.

New grading system implemented campus-wide

August 15, 2022
Erika Pernis provies us some information of this years rules and policies, with the main change being with grading.

Rules and policies

August 11, 2022
The campus sees new staff members every year. However, this year, there were more than usual.

Campus welcomes new teachers

August 11, 2022
Coach Allen Harris sets a to-do list for cleaning out his classroom. All teachers are required to have their classrooms completely cleaned out by the end of the year for the campus refresh.

[Photo]

Math teacher Jennifer Harrison cleans off her whiteboards in preparation for the campus refresh.

[Photo]

The end of the year looks a little different this year with Thursday and Friday being half days.

School ends year with half days

May 18, 2022
Sophomore Aaron Xu and junior Athena Tseng work on painting their ceiling tile. The tiles are tradition and apart of pre-calculuss conics unit.

[Photo] Pre-calculus students paint the school

May 18, 2022
Senior ads provide an opportunity for parents to leave a note for their graduating student. The deadline for senior ads is Friday, and payments can be made in installments.

Yearbooks distribution starts this Monday

May 16, 2022
Starting next week, students will have to remain in their second period classes during advisory. For some students, this prevents a little bit of extra AP exam prep.

No advisory period starting next week

May 6, 2022
In this weekly podcast, managing editors Jordan Battey and Athena Tseng talk about a variety of topics, focusing in on things they think are dumb.

Dumb and Dumber: AP testing

May 6, 2022
Junior Erika Pernis begins her Final Presentation. Final Presentation Night is an opportunity for ISM students to showcase their year’s worth of research

ISM students host Final Presentation Night

April 28, 2022
NHS has elected their new set of officers, with historian Henry Nguyen, secretary Rachel Kim, vice-president Riya Khosla, and president Athena Tseng.

NHS elects new round of officers

April 26, 2022
Wingspans Ally Lastovica takes a slight detour from her blog Vegan View and shares her journey to becoming a vegan, followed by her struggles with an eating disorder.

[Photo] My journey being a vegan with an eating disorder

April 13, 2022
After preparing for most of the school year, FFA competed in competed in various contests this week.

FFA competes in various contests

April 13, 2022
Wingspans Featured Athlete for 3/24 is soccer player, senior Jack Abare.

Featured Athlete: Jack Abare

March 24, 2022
The CTE Mock Trial Team came in second place at last years state competition, and they are currently recruiting new members. In order to try out for the team, students must attend the informational meeting at the CTE Center on Aug. 29.

Mock trial finishes second at state competition

March 14, 2022
Business Professionals of America will be heading to the state competition this Thursday at Fort Worth. “I’m going in with an open mind, especially because this is my first year competing,” junior Sherry Hu said.

BPA heads to state

March 1, 2022

Conflict in Ukraine is a family matter for some Redhawks

February 22, 2022
AcDec recently competed in their last competition of the school year and placed tenth overall in the state and with several individual awards.

AcDec advances to state

January 31, 2022
Physics has been utilizing coding in order to help visualize orbital motion. Students have mixed opinions on this new coding aspect.

Physics adds complexity with coding

January 25, 2022
The Carter brothers exhibited their Agriculture Mechanics project at the Collin County Jr. Livestock Show. For this, they built an 11 foot, 5 door barbecue pit .

Three Redhawks showcase projects in Collin County Jr. Livestock Show

January 14, 2022
Pearson Middle School teachers have started to dress up while cross guarding. The goal is to attract enough from drivers, that nobody goes above the speed limit in the school zone, making for a safe walk to and from school for students.

Traffic cone crossing guards seek to slow school zone speeding

December 1, 2021
HOSA is hosting its annual Blood Drive sponsored by Carter BloodCare this Wednesday near the auditorium doors from 8:30-3:30 PM.

HOSA hosts annual blood drive

November 17, 2021
The Texas Education Agency has released a new set of guidelines that suggests new protocols involving parent and trustee involvement in the evaluation of what books are appropriate for public school libraries.

Regular board meeting scheduled for Monday

November 8, 2021
Senior executive producers Alyssa Murphy, Kirthi Gummadi, and Cooper Ragle film the WTV Daily Update. On Thursday, the show was recognized as a National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker finalist, one of the highest honors for high school journalism.

WTV Daily Update receives national recognition

October 22, 2021
The Redhawks headed to Panther Creek on Friday, and soared with a 3-0 win. They head to Reedy on Tuesday, hoping to bring home another win.

Volleyball takes on Centennial

October 22, 2021
After a semester of working and researching in the career field of their choosing, Independent Study and Mentorship students will be presenting their work at the annual ISM Showcase at the FISD Athletic Facility Wednesday at 6:30 pm. “It’s a really good time for our students to showcase their work this year and introduce their mentor to their community,” ISM teacher Kelli Secord said.

Business symposium aims to prepare students for professional world

October 12, 2021
Mental health issues have spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to many years, mental health is no longer something kept behind close doors.

Reducing the stigma of mental health issues through awareness

September 13, 2021
Students searching for college credit opportunities without AP exams, several students take classes in coordination with Collin College. Kicking off class one week later than most students, Monday is the first day of the semester for dual credit courses.

A second first day of school for dual credit students

August 23, 2021
Texas Parks & Wildlife north Texas hunter education specialist, Monica Bickerstaff, presents outdoor education coach, Justin Koons, with the educator of the year of 2020 award. Koons has been teaching this class for seven years and strives to provide a fun and interesting physical education experience for his students.

Outdoor ed coach recognized as professional educator

August 20, 2021
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[Photo] New grade policy aims to demonstrate mastery in content

August 19, 2021
Plans for a public-private partnership with the City of Frisco and developer Craig Hall with FISD are in motion. The goal is to build a fine arts facility in Hall Park that would be an opportunity for many students and staff.

Frisco ISD explores public-private partnership for fine arts facility

August 13, 2021
Hate crimes against Asians have increased as much as 1900% according to data from the New York Police Department. “Honestly, I’m extremely disappointed and disgusted that people are committing these hate crimes against the Asian-American and Pacific-Islander community, and especially because they are attacking our elders, who are the least likely to fight back,” sophomore Sherry Hu said. “I think it’s despicable people act on their feeling of hate to assault and murder people, especially when it’s based on race.”

Hate crimes against Asians impacts Redhawks

May 12, 2021
Students interested in applying for a summer school course are now able to access the application form via the Student Portal. Starting with the class of 2023, some of these courses will begin to affect GPA.

FISD Summer School registration now open

April 28, 2021
Rather than going to a school to perform, the UIL orchestra competition was held entirely virtually this year where all orchestras received sweepstakes.

Orchestra sweeps stage receiving sweepstakes at UIL

April 15, 2021
Due to a holiday on Monday and two STAAR testing days next week, classes will look different for all grades, with some students staying home for asynchronous learning.

STAAR testing leads to abnormal schedule next week

April 1, 2021
In order to help students apply course content to their experiences, AP Environmental Science decided to embark on their annual field trip, with the addition of new precautions due to COVID.

APES students embark on annual field trip

March 24, 2021
With last weeks sudden days off due to snow, Frisco ISD is going to make up the days through the planned bad weather make up days.

Support from teachers follows winter storm

March 5, 2021
Leadership opportunities are available for juniors through the counseling office. To be considered, students must fill out a form by Oct. 14.

HOSA competitors advance to state

February 11, 2021
Effective Monday, all four grade levels will be released from class at the same time, whether that be in between passing periods or during dismissal.

Starting Monday, no more staggered release for F2F students

February 3, 2021

[Video] Grub Girls: taco taste test

January 29, 2021
Theatre members perform on stage in February 2020. For the program, the state-wide UIL One-Act Play coming up in March, so students have already started preparing, with director Heather Willingham saying the rehearsal process has been going smoothly so far.

Theatre preps for UIL One-Act Play with rehearsals

January 26, 2021
A new club has set foot on campus that encourages members to express themselves through art in an effort to aid those that struggle with mental health.

Club seeks to raise mental health awareness through art

January 5, 2021
When the new semester starts after winter break, students’ decisions on their learning environment, if they chose to make changes, will come into effect.

Students are left with mixed opinions about changes to the learning environment

December 18, 2020
With the girls basketball teams state championship win being apart of last years season, the celebration hasnt stopped yet. The girls finally received their personal rings presented to them by head coach Ross Reedy and their teammates.

Girls’ basketball finally receives their hardware

December 10, 2020
Two orchestra students on campus, both of whom were selected to advance from the preliminary round of the Coleman Chamber Music Competition, will have a chance to win the People’s Choice Award. 

Seven orchestra students to perform in Texas All-State ensemble

November 20, 2020
More than a dozen years after the final book was published, Harry Potter is still big on campus, from students to teachers. So members of the staff Harry Potter Club decided to bring the spirit to the library by building a mini version of Hogwarts.

Piece by piece, a mini world of wizardry comes to life in library

November 11, 2020
Holding the UIL 5A state championship trophy, MVP of the tournament Jazzy Owens-Barnett and Kayla Pernis (left) stand outside the Alamodome after the Redhawks claimed the first basketball state title in Frisco ISD history. But the team didnt get to celebrate the win when they got back to school as the COVID-19 pandemic forced all students to virtual learning just days after the state championship.

8 months later and the championship memory lives on

November 6, 2020

Grub Girls: nuggets

October 30, 2020

[Video] Celebrating history, teachers become suffragettes for the day

October 29, 2020
Inaugurating the 2020-2021 school year, the theatre Improvisational Troupe performs on Thursday at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Though the show may be different, some actors hold the same mindset as they have with previous shows. “My main goal with the show is the same that has been done with every other improv show and it’s to have fun, senior Johnny Anderson said. Improv isn’t anything complicated, its not meant to be stressful.

Improv Troupe takes the stage from home

October 8, 2020
AP Environmental students have been going on the social platform iNaturalist to learn about the nature in their local communities. They have been heading outdoors to explore the range of organisms by their own campus.

AP environmental science explores biodiversity

October 6, 2020

Grub Girls: coffee

September 26, 2020
Due to COVID-19 social distancing protocals, the annual club fair has been moved to be virtual. Students can now access the virtual club fair at any time.

Applications open to create new clubs this year

September 23, 2020
Occupying a huge wall in the 9//11 Memorial & Museum, this mural created by Spencer Finch is titled Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning. Comprised of 2,983 watercolor squares, it features a quote from Roman poet Virgil that reads No day shall erase you from the memory of time.

Nearly two decades later, 9/11 still elicits vivid memories for teachers

September 11, 2020
Students returning to in person classes will be asked to self screen for COVID-19 Symptoms. “I think it’s important for students to screen for COVID-19 symptoms because sometimes you may not know whether or not you have it and it’s a pretty big risk to take,” freshman Isabelle Engles said. “It’s very contagious so it’s best to check ahead of time so you don’t get other kids sick.”

Parents screening students for symptoms

September 8, 2020
There are still rules in online learning! Learn about what students should and shouldnt do while learning from home.

[Photo] Zoomed out

August 25, 2020
Using real life issues such as asthma, biology students had to tackle a issue as part of a final project.

Students try to find solutions to society’s health issues

May 26, 2020
Tips for AP exam preparation

Tips for AP exam preparation

May 12, 2020
Using their 8-character AP ID or by entering the word PRACTICE, students can see how their AP exams will be formatted and conducted. The exam demo can be found at ap2020examdemo.collegeboard.org

Checklist and demo help prepare students for AP exams

May 8, 2020
After returning from San Antonio as 5A state champs, the girls basketball team has the opportunity to design their state champion rings. For the athletes, this serve as unique keepsake from their time together as a team.

Girls basketball designs state champ rings

May 6, 2020
With stay-at-home orders across the country, many people are spending their birthdays at home. Celebrations have shifted from group gatherings with friends and family to quick meetings through social media.

Stay-at-home birthdays

April 24, 2020
With students and teachers learning to adapt to their new social- distancing environment, Spanish classes have shifted their content to address issues concerning students personal lives at home. Teachers like Patricia Flores look to help students embrace the situation positively, while learning about Spanish words and phrases relevant to real world issues.

Spanish teachers look to personalize curriculum

April 24, 2020
While in school, Pre-AP biology students began their unit on viruses. Coincidentally, teachers are using COVID-19 in their lessons so that students can connect their classwork with reality.

Biology uses COVID-19 as part of their curriculum

April 6, 2020
During a typical spring semester, biology students study viruses, vaccines, and the spread of disease. This year, teachers have taken advantage of current events, and are using COVID-19 as part of the curriculum.

Real world virus enters biology curriculum

March 25, 2020
Students that checked out Chromebooks must return them to the library on Wednesday. Freshmen who are part of the districts 1:1 laptop Initiative do not have to return their device.

eLearning receives mixed responses from students and staff

March 23, 2020
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