Loud shrieks and bright smiles filled the sidewalks as students and staff participated in the annual Homecoming parade and pep rally on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Various organizations showed off their ornate floats to the eager students, staff, and families crowded in the neighborhoods, throwing candy to the excited onlookers. 

The Homecoming parade encouraged students to showcase and represent the various organizations present in school. Themed club floats complete with eye-catching decorations, streamers, and banners rolled down the streets, each a testament to student creativity and life. 

“I think my favorite part of making the float was getting everybody together,” International Baccalaureate Student Organization (IBSO) Officer Sofia Granados ‘27. “A lot of different people helped make it and the whole process in general was super fun, especially being on the float and being able to just yell your heart.”

Immediately after school, students began preparing for the festivities in the parking lot, adding last minute tweaks to their floats, dressing up, and stationing themselves in different zones. Student Council (StuCo) members, who plan the parade, pep rally, Homecoming court and nobility, focused on making sure the event went smoothly, holding signs to identify zones where students and floats should be stationed. 

“There’s a lot of parts and pieces,” StuCo Senior Vice President Iris Chen said. “It’s obviously really fun to work with a team of people on the committee to make things happen, but it’s a lot of emailing people, making sure everyone’s on board with everything and making sure that they can be where they need to be.”

In accordance with the Homecoming theme “Press Play,” students carefully chose songs and artists representative of their club to base their floats on. Many groups worked in the mornings, after school, and on the weekends leading up to the parade to design lavishly decorated floats, contributing to the parade’s wide success and turnout. Themed floats referenced a wide range of artists, albums, songs, and musicals, from rock ‘n’ roll singer Elvis Presley to the classic film High School Musical.

“[Decorating floats] was really fun,” Emily Carr ‘29 said. “Especially to be working with all the different grade levels when we were working on it. Today, we were in the choir room and practicing, which was really exciting.”

By 6 p.m., students flocked to their floats to begin the neighborhood festivities. Standing on and running alongside the floats, organizations waved at parade attendees while fostering school pride. Students tossed out candy to spectators holding open bags — a delicious annual tradition. Alongside the club floats were floats from feeder elementary and middle schools, including Spicewood Elementary School and Grisham Middle School, packed with younger students eager to participate in the annual show of campus community pride. 

“It’s really cool to see how [my] last year of high school [plays out],” Chen said. “I really like it when a lot of clubs try and participate in the floats. It’s really representative of Westwood as a whole since there’s so much club stuff that goes on.”

Parade floats drove past judges, competing for the best float. After the parade came the pep rally, where students and families alike flocked to the Warrior Bowl. The top three floats were announced after the performances. Girls basketball’s High School Musical-themed float came in third place, the International Baccalaureate (IB) program came in second place with their The Duck Song-themed float, and softball were crowned champions with their Elvis Presley-themed float, taking the coveted first prize. 

“We did not expect to place [in the] top three at all,” Granados said. “We were really, really hoping for it, but for our first year, our initial reaction was [being] super shocked. A lot of us just wanted to beat basketball and some of the other sports, so an in-school organization [beating] a sport was just really crazy.”

During the pep rally, attendees filled the stands to watch performances and presentations by clubs and teams. Following football’s entrance, the choir began the pep rally by singing The Star-Spangled Banner. Kicking off the festivities, sports captains delivered presentations highlighting athletic achievements, with performances from Warrior Pride and the SunDancers between the exhibitions. 

“I really liked the crowd at the parade,” SunDancer Liana Jones ‘28 said. “It was very loud and it was very encouraging. It feels like [there’s] always so much energy, and everybody always has so much fun, so that’s a very supportive environment [and] I feel like I can always do my best.”

Continuing the Homecoming celebration, students prepared and executed their parts of the pep rally exhibition. After sports captain presentations, the school spirit continued with the Diablo Club’s (formerly the Chinese Yo-yo Club) exhibition of three songs from the recently released movie KPop Demon Hunters, eliciting a round of applause and enthusiastic hollers from students. 

Continuing the classic experience of school spirit and friendly competition, the pep rally culminated by exciting students for the upcoming Homecoming football game on Friday, Sept. 19, and the Homecoming dance on Saturday, Sept. 27. 

“It was a really a positive experience, because a lot of the seniors had never been on a float before, so they were able to just experience that,” Granados said. “We just felt like we were so energetic, [and] how the float was built did not matter because we were screaming our hearts out.”

In a series of intense matches, the Westwood varsity tennis team defeated the Coronado Cougars from Las Vegas with a dominant score of 15-4 on Friday, Sept. 5. The courts were filled with energy and excitement as teammates and families cheered on the players during their sixth home game of the season. From the first serve to the last point the Warriors showed consistency and focus on singles and doubles, adding another victorious home game win for the Warriors this season. 

Going into this tournament, the Warriors were undefeated in the boys, girls, and mixed doubles division. Jiya Guleria ‘28 and Lenny Xu ‘29 won their mixed doubles matches in a blow out, taking the victory 6-0, and 6-1. A win by Janya Tellabati ‘25 and Isabella Sthormes ‘27 soon followed, with a little more competition, however the Warriors were able to connect on the win in the third set winning their match 6-4, 2-6 and a 10-8.

“I mean, it’s an honor to play someone from all the way from Las Vegas,” said Tellabati. “I really enjoyed it. It was really hard, actually, but we tried and I think we did good.”

Towards the end of Sthormes and Tellabati’s match, a call by Westwood caused conflict between the two opposing duos. The penalty shook up the players and caused the third set to be the closest one played between the two duos.

“I think we respected all of their calls and they should have respected all of ours,” said Tellabati. “I trust my partner. I’m too far to tell, but I believe her and I do think that was out.”

Guleria continued her winning streak in the women’s line five singles for girls, sweeping her opponent with a score of 8-2. While the women’s team was having great success, so were the men’s. Kishan Anasuri ‘28 secured a quick win of 8-2 for the Warriors in men’s singles. 

“I played alright but definitely could have done better and played smarter,” said Anasuri. “I will use this match as a reminder to not be too overconfident and stay humble because this match should have been 8-0 but I tried to hit too big and ended up giving him some games. I want to work on hitting bigger more consistently.”

Both varsity tennis teams will play against Round Rock High School in an exciting match on Sept. 10 on the Warrior Home Court. 

HB 1481 was created amidst growing concerns about the effects of screens on students’ mental health and the consequences of digital devices on classroom management and learning distractions. As a result, schools are required to ban all electronic devices, including phones, watches, bluetooth devices, personal computers, and any electronic devices capable of digital communication. However, students are navigating mixed feelings about what is really gained, and what is lost, with the new student technology update for the 2025-2026 school year. 

“I’m not a huge fan of the ban,” Nishka Gupta ‘28 said. “But I also don’t think it will affect us too much because we’re already used to not having our phones since we had to put them in the caddies all of last year.”

In the previous school year, teachers began requiring students to store their phone in caddies during class, giving Westwood students a head start on reduced phone access. However, this district-issued policy was only enforced by teachers during instructional periods, whereas the state bill deems it illegal to use electronic devices not just during classroom instruction: phones are now required to be stowed away for the entirety of the school day, including Flex, lunch time, and passing periods. Amidst the new policy, some students believe the state legislature is going too far. 

“Of course you need students to concentrate during class,” Shrika Prakash ‘26 said. “But at the same time, it should be okay for kids to have their phones during their free time when they get the chance to relax, such as lunch or Flex. The lack of access to their devices could essentially cause more burnout for students.”

Although the ban was introduced with the intention of increasing student well-being and reducing burnout, students speculate it could be detrimental to student lifestyle and mental health, consequentially having the opposite of the intended effect. 

“The fact that they are not allowing any Apple watches or headphones in any way can be a little disruptive to the students,” Satchi Patki ‘26 said. “These devices can be something students use for their own personal well-being, like tracking blood flow or heartbeats, but they may not have a serious [enough] medical condition to keep those watches on per the guidelines.”

In addition to lifestyle, students have also grown accustomed to utilizing their devices for studying, an essential activity in Westwood’s highly competitive environment. During her freshman year, Aanya Pathak ‘28 reviewed for tests by reading through test reviews on her phone while waiting in the lunch line. Other students use their wireless bluetooth devices to listen to music while studying. Music has been proven to reduce stress and improve concentration by blocking out external distractions, therefore improving student performance and reducing the possibility of burnout. 

“There is also the issue that I cannot concentrate unless I have some sort of background noise, such as music going on,” Prakash said. “It will be hard to work without that study technique.”

Outside of academic and social settings, the lack of devices could create safety concerns for students as communication issues between families arise. 

“I think it will be hard to access families, especially in need of family, medical or school emergencies that may occur,” Lasya Medikonduru ‘28 said. “I think it’s good to let my family know if I’m in need of them, but without my device it will be hard to communicate, especially when necessary.”

These concerns about access go further than convenience and learning. For many students, their electronic devices are critical to link to family support during emergencies. America has experienced a rise in school shootings since the pandemic, spiking fear around firearm violence in schools. Debate continues over the lack of cell phone access in such emergency situations, as the cell phone ban limits parent communication with their children during school hours. 

“The whole reason I got a phone in the first place was for contacting people in need for emergencies,” Medikonduru said. “[This] year, it will be harder to contact my parents if something happens.”

In the wake of this new bill, students will feel the effects of the lack of personal devices during the school day. Although only an addition to last year’s district phone policy, HB 1481 spreads schoolwide distaste about the restrictions on electronic devices during breaks and outside of classroom instruction. While the bill has the potential to increase mental health and classroom productivity, the speculation around whether the pros outweigh the cons continue to be debated amongst students and staff.

“In a lot of situations, I feel like the benefits of having technology in classrooms heavily outweighs the negative effects,” Darryl Tang ‘27 said. “Additionally, our school already bans using phones during class, so it shouldn’t be so thoroughly enforced by the government.”