If you are a member of the Austin High School student body or faculty, it is more than likely that you have observed a K-AHS crew at work. You, as an active member of the AHS community, know that it is not uncommon to be stopped in the hallway during your lunch period to be asked questions about the recent blizzard, or to find yourself the object of a candid camera spoof. You may have witnessed Spence and Brew racing golf carts around the circle drive or David drenching himself in hot sauce. Or, if a member of that elite few, you may even have been asked to wait in line for your “Bowie shot”.
David had to go home sick after this. All for the K-AHS.
Get your Bowie shots here!
Here at K-AHS we believe that, in true Austin High fashion, it doesn’t matter who you are—“Everybody is somebody [to laugh at on camera] at Austin High.”
The introduction of the “K-AHS badge” by K-AHS sponsor, Gil Garcia, has revolutionized the way that Austin High Media Arts students bring mockery to motion picture. Children who once had to sneak out of class to film intros, or run in tardy to fifth period, panting and out of breath after a hard day on set, were finally granted the get-out-of-jail-free pass that they so justly deserve. The K-AHS badge not only features the brilliant smile and twinkling eyes of any one of your favorite K-AHS faces, but it also screams to teachers and administrators, “I HAVE A CAMERA AND TRIPOD, AND I’M NOT AFRAID TO USE THEM! Oh, and I have to go film something for K-AHS now—peace out.”
While the K-AHS badge clearly has its legitimate uses, there has been some speculation among the faculty that one or more K-AHS students may or may not be attempting to abuse the badge’s power. An anonymous tip revealed that our very own Reece was spotted flashing his badge at a school lunch lady in an attempt to make up the missing difference of his hot lunch fee, and rumor has it that several K-AHS kids have even used their badges to get on the field at AISD sporting events. These absolutely heinous crimes really make you stop and wonder, what is it about these kids that causes them to think they are so dang special?
As a K-AHS kid myself, I love to answer this question, because it allows me to address the liberation that I find in my passion as a member of the Austin High Media Arts team. A local reporter once told me that there is “a certain sense of empowerment that comes with delivering the news to people—deciding what the public knows or doesn’t know,” and with this statement I can, from my own experience, vehemently agree. People may think that being in K-AHS is all fun and games—filming stuff all day, getting away with pranking school authorities, being on TV—but it really takes more work than our audience gets to see. What most viewers probably don’t know is that working on K-AHS involves deadlines, long nights, technical difficulties, and a lot of responsibility. It is our duty as members of this program, to bring Austin High the latest news and announcements (with, of course, a certain degree of farcical comedy) no matter what. Regardless of any extenuating circumstances that may throw themselves in our paths, at precisely 9:56 am every Tuesday through Friday, there must be a show ready to air. There is no grace-period for mistakes in our business—the show must go on, so you make it work.
Brew and Spence and their tom-foolery
So do the K-AHS kids give themselves a little too much credit? Do they think they’re cooler and more important than they really are? Cooler, definitely. But as far as importance goes, I think the team might be spot on. True, there is no reason that any K-AHS kid should ever think himself better than anyone else; no, never better. The significant role of this program on campus, however, cannot be denied. Austin High needs K-AHS like a living organism needs food; sure the organism could survive for a little while without it, weeks even, but soon enough the organism would begin to lose strength and power until finally it keels over and dies. Although the absence of K-AHS would hopefully never cause death—although the logistics of this statistic have not yet been clinically proven—the analogy means to say that news is essential, and thus, so is K-AHS. How else would the student body of Austin High know that the Star Trek Club meeting is this Thursday after school? Or that Math Club t-shirt money is LONG overdue? It certainly wouldn’t be fair to ask Dr. Calzada to produce his world-renowned radio show every day, but what choice would we have? Somehow the news and announcements would have to reach the students, even if that meant reverting to the use of a (dare I say it) bulletin board. But thankfully as long as K-AHS is in the world, there will never be a reason to resort to such desperate measures. As long as there is K-AHS, there will be laughter, sunshine, apple pie, and the possibility of making it to your club meeting on time.
-Trinity Stennfeld, Senior - Advanced Studio Production
