College Fair – Pueblo High School

Dr. Avila: Preparing Students For The ‘Real World’

By Ariana Garcia & Leia Ortega

For the past year, Dr. Manuel Avila, Pueblo’s College and Career Readiness Coordinator, helps to ensure that students have the necessary tools to succeed after high school, no matter how grand or how modest their goals.

Coming to the U.S. from Mexico about 20 years ago, Avila decided to become a classroom teacher. After 18 years in the classroom, Avila pursued and completed a degree in law at the James E. Rogers College of Law, graduating in May 2022.

He decided to return to education and to use his training in law to make a difference in students’ lives.

“I always thought that education is the foundation of any society in all aspects,” Avila said.

One of his primary objectives is to help students properly complete their college applications and their financial aid information. He is also instrumental in helping students attend workshops and college and career fairs.

“I encourage and invite all students to visit me if they don’t have plans for their post-high school lives,” Avila said. “I would be glad to help them explore their future careers together.”

He added that students can schedule an appointment to see him on the Pueblo website—on the same page as students would schedule an appointment with their counselors. They can also view scholarships and dates/locations for college and career fairs.

Avila said, “I want to build trust first with students and to let them know that there is, indeed, a College and Career Center at Pueblo—to advocate for themselves in order to help them with successful futures.”

Warriors Get Hint Of Future At College Night

by Paula Fierros & Celestina Marinez

On Oct. 24, several thousand high school seniors (and even some juniors!) attended College Night, once again held at the Tucson Convention Center—a golden opportunity for our Southern Arizona near-high school graduates to be offered hundreds of collegiate choices and opportunities.

Nearly 50 of our Pueblo Warriors attended this two-hour evening event, giving students enough time to tour the booths for each college. There were nearly 200 colleges and universities represented at this event.

Class of 2018 Senior Carlos Chavez at Tucson College Night

Senior Ashely Andrade said she enjoyed looking at the U of A booth—which offered her education for her career interest in nursing.

Senior Robert Marinez also enjoyed the U of A booth since it offered engineering.

Senior Iram Arce said, “I spent a lot of time talking to representatives from the University of New Mexico not necessarily about that school’s academic classes but because of the great personality of the representative. He didn’t treat us condescendingly, and I picked up a couple of tips about college while I was talking to him.”

Seniors who have an idea of their future career have simplified their options based on what universities had to offer.

Senior Adela Garados said that she enjoyed speaking with multiple college and university booths.

“I really want to study foreign languages such as Italian and French,” Garados said. “It’s difficult to find universities and colleges that offer languages as a career.”

Plenty of high school juniors who attended College Night, as they are already becoming curious about their futures.

“Attending College Night was refreshing and definitely eye-opening,” junior Laura Conde said. “Even though I won’t be graduating for another year and a half, I am taking my time deciding where to attend college when I graduate in 2019. It’ll be here sooner than later.”

College Fair, Cohorts Give Students ‘Wake-Up Call’

by Analicia Bake & Brianna Metzler

The first College Fair of the school year took place during second period on Sept. 13, a treat for this year’s Class of 2018 seniors.

Alisa Verdugo, a senior, said, “We want to break the negative stigmas of how to apply to college, so if you [students] need any help applying, please come see us.”

Practically all of this year’s 300+ seniors had an opportunity to speak with various college representatives and military branches—a golden chance for them to explore their options for their future.

Many colleges were available to Pueblo seniors, including Arizona Christian University, Central Arizona College, New Mexico State College, Pima Community College, Universal Technical Institute and Prescott College along with the several military branches present.

Mr. Alejandro Menchaca, Pueblo’s new College and Career coordinator, said, “There are opportunities that students don’t know exist—until they come to events like this.”

“Seniors need to know all their options to find what their life purpose is in order to find their passion,” said senior counselor Ms. Teresa Toro. “This is the perfect time when seniors truly need to start applying for colleges and for scholarships. This Career Fair hopefully has given our seniors a wake-up call.”

An even earlier wake-up call occurred during the second week of this quarter, on Friday, Aug. 11. Principal Dr. Augustine Romero, counselor Ms. Rachel Bopp and College and Career Center Coordinator Mr. Alejandro Menchaca hosted a cohort meeting/assembly for all four grades, definitely giving our Warriors the reveille that many of them truly needed.

Senior Ernesto Estropellan said, “Sometimes these meetings are inspiration to me—they motivate me to take my school life very seriously. With a slight case of ‘senioritis’ already, I definitely need these meetings and career fairs.”

Pueblo’s Mariachi Atzlán performed for each class prior to each cohort meeting.

“The music was great,” said sophomore Ariella Andrews. “Overall, the cohort was interesting and very educational—a lot better than I thought. I also learned a lot of things about the school year.”

Bopp delivered students valuable information about appointments to counselors’ offices, credit recovery, and necessities for students—especially seniors—to graduate.

“These kinds of [cohorts] meetings really awaken our students,” Bopp said. “Seniors need to be reminded that time goes by quickly. It’s all about meeting deadlines and preparing for their futures.”

Menchaca gave mentioned information about the PSAT for underclassmen coming up this fall.

During the cohorts, a short video played for each class in hopes of informing students to be the best they possibly can in school and in life.

After the video, Dr. Romero said to students, “[Students,] believe in who you are, have a dream, and believe in it.”

He added, at the end of the cohorts, “I’m really excited about the 2017-18 school year. I’m also very happy with our new staff, and I hope that our students take advantage of all of the great opportunities that are available to them at Pueblo.”

Arizona Universities Visit Pueblo 2016

By Lauren Ahern

tri-universities-presentation-pueblo-high-school — Tri Universities Presentation makes a stop at Pueblo

During sixth period on Tuesday, September 20, 2016, seniors were treated to presentations from Arizona’s three public universities: the University of Arizona (here in Tucson), Northern Arizona University (located in Flagstaff) and Arizona State University (located in Tempe). Of the nearly 385 seniors at Pueblo, more than 300 were able to attend.

Representatives from each of the three universities spoke for approximately 25 minutes each, promoting the positive qualities about each of their campuses as well as discussing financial aid information. Near the end of these presentations, seniors were encouraged to pick up brochures and other informational literature about one, two or all three of the universities.

College and Career counselor Ms. Mandy McTavish organized this event, which was deemed a success by the high number of seniors in attendance and by the comments of those seniors following the event.

One senior, Alejandro Carrazco, said, “This event couldn’t have come at a better time for us seniors because a lot of us were getting too comfortable about just being seniors. For me, hearing from these universities inspired me to start thinking about my future. I want to pursue a career that has something to do with math, and I’m thinking about attending N.A.U.”

pueblo-students-attendtri-universities-presentation — Class of 2017 Seniors taking advantage of presentation

Another senior, Griselda Miranda, said, “These presentations reminded me that I am really a senior and that I need to start preparing for college this semester and not waiting until the last minute. I thought the whole event was extremely well-organized and eye-opening to every senior in attendance.”

Senior Adnan Taleb said, “I’m not decided yet where I’m attending college next fall, but I’m starting to get information from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University regarding engineering and science-related degrees. Today’s visit from all three state universities is definitely a wake-up call for all of us seniors.”

Counselor McTavish said, “I was pleased by the number of seniors who showed up for the presentation today. But, seniors need to do more than just attend these events. They actually have to apply for colleges—and soon. They need to study for ACT tests as well as prepare to apply for FAFSA.”

McTavish added that she and the other counselors will be delighted to assist all seniors throughout the school year but adds that NOW is better than next April or May.

Class of 2017 Seniors Get Serious At College Fair

By Lauren Ahern

On Wednesday, September 14, 2016, Pueblo class of 2017 seniors attended this year’s first college fair during second period. Because of the block schedule, the senior class was divided into two sections so that students would have enough time to visit with various colleges and programs.

Senior Mikaela Sesma-Nuñez said, “This college fair was very helpful to me, and as I get ready to graduate from high school in about nine months, it helps me transition to the next step.” She paused and added, “I want to study cosmetology at Pima [Community College], and I was able to get a lot of useful information from the PCC reps today.”

Another senior, Griselda Miranda, said, “This [college] fair made me realize that I need to start preparing for my future, and college is definitely a part of that future. What an eye-opening experience, but it’s reality. I’m seriously considering attending either N.A.U., the U of A or even New Mexico State [located in Las Cruces] because their admissions office doesn’t require Tucson residents to pay out of state tuition.”

Ms. Mandy McTavish, Pueblo’s new College and Career readiness coordinator, organized this event.

She said, “This college fair required a lot of organization—including a lot of phone calls! I was very pleased with that the seniors conducted themselves professionally. This won’t be the last college fair seniors will experience this school year.”

McTavish added that she would like all seniors to attend Tucson College Night at the Tucson Convention Center on Tuesday, October 25, 2016, an event that hosts more than a hundred different colleges and universities from around the state and entire nation.

Warriors Explore Future At Tucson College Night 2015

By América Cárdenas

Once again, Tucson College Night rocks the worlds of our seniors and juniors at Pueblo Magnet High School. An estimated 50 Pueblo students braved the lines and crowds at the Tucson Convention Center on Tuesday, September 29 from 6:30-8:30 p.m., although some seniors noted that they were speaking to college representatives way after 9:00 p.m.

More than 3,000 were in attendance—students and their families from all over Southern Arizona. All of the hard work paid off—work that is done Ms. Holly Colonna and Ms. Beth Counts who work for TUSD’s Guidance and Counseling Departments.

Pueblo Warriors At Tucson College Night 2015 — Class of 2016 Seniors Precious Wall, Sky Blue Estrella, Guadalupe Chacon, Manny Buelena & America Cardenas at Tucson College Night 2015

Sky Blue Estrella, a senior who attended College Night, said, “The event was overwhelmingly filled with high school students and a lot of college recruiters. I really enjoyed talking to some of the out of state colleges, including San Marcos College in California.” He paused and said, “If I have to, I’ll go to Pima, but I think that attending College Night really opened up my eyes and offered me many collegiate options.”

Mr. Ruben Romero, Pueblo’s College and Career coordinator, encouraged all of this year’s seniors to attend the event, and apparently he and senior teachers at Pueblo, made an impact on our students because the TCC parking lot was completely full in a reported 17 minutes!

Another senior who attended, Guadalupe Chacon, a senior, also took full advantage of the numerous colleges.

“It was fun to talk to some of the colleges from far away, including Alabama,” Chacon said. “Realistically, however, we spoke to the recruiters and reps from Arizona State University and the University of New Mexico.”

She paused and added, “This experience was a wake-up call for me and many seniors—especially since we have less than eight months [until graduation].”