Okay, hey chat. So I was on a hiatus and didn’t want to write this low-key. However, my newspaper advisor, David Doerr decided to harass me and here I am. 🙁 I thought I was free and my shackles gone but noooo he had other plans. So alas, I have to remove myself from games and senioritis to talk about our senior class? Bruh what did we even do? Oh, okay, I see hmmm, some interesting things for sure.

Well, for starters, the graduating class of 2025 has been through hell and back. Our class came out of COVID with a sense of dread, not being able to finish middle school, let alone a “normal” 3 years of it, and straight into high school. However, we are the first class to graduate since 2019, having all 4 years in high school, even with masks and all. Our class has had such a rough start with the gun threat, a stabbing, the trashcan fire, and teacher shortages just in freshman year. Isn’t it quite funny that we also had a lot of issues our last year too, such as the gas leak and the flooding of our school. However, we still persevered despite it all. This class truly has been through the ringer, but somehow came out stronger.

Now, our senior class did have a few overachievers when it comes to accomplishments. Let’s go ahead and start with our sporty seniors and the colleges they signed to play for. Ava Linnell will be headed to Davidson College in North Carolina to run for track and cross country. Zoe Gregg signed to run track and cross country at Texas Lutheran University. Jamarion Carter signed to play football at Hardin-Simmons University. And Julianna Martinez signed to play softball for Vernon College.
Linnell also made school history by delivering an outstanding performance in the mile race at the UIL Region IV 4 track meet, finishing in 3rd place with a massive personal best — and new school record — time of 5:01. Although she narrowly missed advancing to the state meet, she solidified her legacy as the fastest female distance runner in Akins history along with her existing school records in the 2 mile and 5k.

Another big accomplishment was achieved by the 22 seniors who earned their bilteracy certification through Austin ISD’s bilingual program. Students earned an AISD Seal of Biliteracy certification for taking dual-language courses since they were in elementary school. In April, Akins seniors won various awards at the Latino Academic Achievement Awards and received a special stole to wear at graduation.

Seniors also participated in various civic-minded activities, including internships with the City of Austin as well as competing in the Speak Up, Speak Out competition and the YMCA Youth and Government State Competition.

Senior members of the Akins FFA chapter took home various awards in livestock shows as well as presentation competitions.
During the Travis County Youth Show in January, the Akins FFA sheep and goat raisers won various awards, including Andrea Riojas, who won Division Grand Champion goat, and 2nd in class – goats and medium wool. Lily Gonzalez Espinal and Zoe Gregg also picked up awards there, as well. FFA seniors also attended the Star District FFA Banquet and took home the Star District 2025 SDE & CDE Sweepstakes award and various individual speaking awards.

We also cant forget about our fine arts programs and the seniors that made those programs flourish. This past year is unforgettable considering how every department won sweepstakes this year such as Band,Choir, and Orchestra. A special congratulations to Katherine Hernandez, Lelan Nguyen and Nyshai Wilkerson, who not only participated in VASE but received State Medals and a top rating of 4.

So with that I say goodbye class of 2025. There is so much that happend these past few years! A big congradulations to all of you seniors and now I can go back to bed please for the love of all that is holy DO NOT wake me up me don’t wanna be adult.