THE SIDEKICK
GREETING WITH JOY P. 4
Deinhammer featured by Apple
for CMS East gardening class
Seniors celebrating Cowboy spirit
Tr a c y Tr a n
PHOTO ASSIGNMENT EDITOR
@AnhImtracy
With the cancellation of anticipat-
ed events for the 2020-21 school year
such as senior prom and spring sport-
ing events due to COVID-19, the class
of 2020 ended its four years at high
school in an unexpected way.
This year, with the world still in a
pandemic, the question arises from the
class of 2021: will high school end the
same way as last year with the absence
of memorable events and traditions?
However, at Coppell High School,
the Cowboys are finding ways to not let
that happen.
CHS seniors make overalls and jorts
(jean shorts) to wear to football home
games annually. Many seniors spend
a significant amount of time choosing
fabrics and designing their overalls.
2012 CHS graduate and algebra II
and honors pre-calculus teacher Lucy
Grimmett experienced the same tradi-
tions as today’s seniors, including mak-
ing overalls, attending football games
and decorating parking spots.
“Things I can remember that were
super fun were overalls,” Grimmett said.
“I remember taking pictures with all of
my friends in the big hallway, under the
senior bridge and on the senior bridge
with my favorite teachers.”
With 27% of students attending
in-person school at CHS campus, the
Twitter: @CHSCampusNews
SEWING UP A STORM P. 4
Anjali Vishwanath
STAFF WRITER
@viola_swan
T
he Coppell Middle School
East course guide has expand-
ed to include one new elective
course: seventh grade science
teacher Jodie Deinhammer’s gardening
class. Deinhammer also leads the CMS
East Sustainability Club, which provides
students with the opportunity to partici-
pate in fundraising activities and events
to benefit the environment.
The inspiration for the club is a ru-
bric that scored schools based on their
sustainability. When Deinhammer came
across this rubric, she noticed that CMSE
fell short of many of its standards. This
led her to consult with former CMSE
Principal and current Coppell High
School Principal Laura Springer to form
the Sustainability Club in 2018.
“We had like 150 signups,” Dein-
hammer said. “It was amazing. We still
have close to that many enrolled in the
club, and we probably have about 60 or
70 that are very active.”
Students in the club pushed to open the
school garden. When it was built two years
later, the idea of a gardening class emerged.
“The district wanted to use the pro-
duce from the garden to give to other
organizations and serve in our cafe-
teria,” CMSE Principal Steve Glover
said. “We also have had several stu-
dents that really enjoy gardening, and
tradition of seniors making and wearing
overalls and jorts is still being celebrated.
“Overalls represent people’s person-
alities,” CHS senior Maggie Castranova
said. “It gives them a chance to express
what they’ve been involved in through-
out high school, who they are, the vi-
brant colors each person chooses and
what patches they choose. It’s really re-
flective of who they are.”
The spirit of senior year can still be
seen around campus despite the differ-
ences from previous years.
“It’s just a little more humbling this
year and kind of sad because it’s the
last year but you’re not getting to fully
enjoy [games] like we used to,” Grim-
mett said. “It’s very exciting to be a
senior in general, but it’s different in
the way that [they] are able to celebrate
being seniors this year.”
TRACY ‘22 can be reached at
alt0592@g.coppellisd.com
Instagram: thesidekickcoppell
3
CROSSING COUNTRIES AND CULTURES P. 5
this would give them a creative
outlet to learn and help others.”
Due to the split between vir-
tual and face-to-face instruction,
Deinhammer created a new class
format. In-person students take
care of physical work in the gar-
den, while virtual students work
on ideas for the growth and ex-
pansion of the garden.
Deinhammer implemented
the district-issued iPads and Apple
apps, such as Keynote for presen-
tations and Numbers for spread-
sheets, to further the experience
of virtual students. She has tasked
her classes with creating several
educational iBooks over the years
and now has her gardening stu-
dents using Keynote to track the
growth of the garden. This use of
Apple technology brought her rec-
ognition in an Apple Newsroom
feature story.
The food grown in the garden
is partially used in the school
kitchen to make healthy school
lunches, but is also donated to
Metrocrest, a local charity.
“Over time, I hope to grow [the
Coppell Middle School East eighth
garden] quite a bit.” Deinhammer
grader Rylan Hoeing trims branches
said. “I would love to have like a lit-
in the Coppell East garden on Oct. 9.
tle native Texas plant garden with
Coppell Middle School East science
cacti and things like that out there.”
teacher Jodie Deinhammer created this
garden to help foster students’ learning.
ANJALI ‘22 can be reached at Photos by Blanche Harris
axv0529@g.coppellisd.com
Coppell High School seniors Tallulah Rushton, Maura Valentine and
Maggie Castranova wear their senior overalls for the 2020-2021
school year. Despite COVID-19, seniors are still making their senior
overalls to keep the Coppell tradition going. Photos by Lilly Gorman
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