Student Council – Pueblo High School

Class Presidents/Reps Speak Up, Commit To Student Council

By Alyvette Moreno & Jenna Twaje

Pueblo High School Student Council teacher/advisor Mr. Gregory Obregon is confident that he can motivate his newly elected officers and lead them to successful and original student activities for the 2023-24 school year.

Obregon also wants his students to develop connections with one another and to focus more on the quality of Pueblo High School events.

“I want to make sure whatever student council does is done well and that their activities make a difference,” Obregon said.

He added that he is excited to bring into Student Council “new blood” this school year.

One of this year’s freshman representatives, Yamilett Lopez, said that she decided to be a part of Student Council this year because she wanted to get help Pueblo become even better and to boost school spirit.

Lopez plans to commit to being part of Pueblo’s Student Council all four years.

“One of the biggest challenges for the freshman class is being confident and sharing ideas,” Lopez said. “They [the Class of 2027] have already expressed a lot of great ideas, and they have open minds that want to be original and to be the best class ever. I love their spirit!”

Amy Aldana is the new sophomore president for her class this school year. She was vice-president as a freshman, and a two-year veteran in Student Council, Aldana plans to continue to be part of this organization during her junior and senior years.

“I decided to become a committed member of Student Council to get more involved with Pueblo and to leave with a legacy of lasting positive changes,” Aldana said.

She added that she will be challenged to inspire sophomores to communicate better with one another and to keep the dialogue open to all Class of 2026 students.

“One of my primary responsibilities is to have every sophomore’s opinion count and to be respected,” Aldana said.

This year’s junior class president is Paula Vega, who has been in Student Council since her freshman year; her plans are to commit to Student Council as a senior next year.

Vega said she felt like the right person for the job when she decided to run for the junior class president but added that she has her share of “challenges” ahead of her and the Class of 2025.

Pueblo Hosts Spirit Council Conference

by Katherin Rivera Ochoa & Neveah Sandoval

On Monday, Nov. 1, Pueblo High School at last had the opportunity to show hundreds of other Student Council students from Tucson and several Southern Arizona towns that we could successfully organize and host a well-orchestrated event.

Student Council members from nearly two dozen Tucson high schools and even small towns participated in the Southern Arizona Spirit Conference, an event that Pueblo has been wanting to host for several years but denied the opportunity because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[Health] precautions were still in place,” said Pueblo’s Student Council president, senior Antonio Vega, “but everything went smoothly.”

Still, Vega said that the event was a lot of work; Student Council advisor, Mr. Gregory Obregon, agrees.

“I helped to delegate and support Student Council throughout the process,” Obregon said. “There was a lot of organizational responsibilities to take care of—contacting a lot of schools in the region and ensuring that we were prepared for as many as 900 students.”

In the end, more than 600 students from more than a dozen schools attended, a number that still impressed Obregon. A few schools canceled their trip to Pueblo for various reasons—mostly because of transportation and COVID-19 issues.

“We completely started from scratch,” said President Vega, “but we pulled it off, and every school got to boast their school spirit and to collaborate with other Student Councils and share success stories. If I had to evaluate the event, I would give it thumbs up—definitely a huge success.”

Senior class president Anitza Ramirez was also very instrumental in making this event a reality.

“We students were all a little nervous about hosting such a huge event,” Ramirez said, “but judging by the turnout from other schools and by the cheers of each school, this was definitely a success that we all can be proud of hosting. There was some real bonding going on, and that was definitely one of our objectives.”

Ramirez added, “I am so proud of all of our Pueblo students and Mr. Obregon for making this conference so memorable and successful—especially in the short amount of time that we had to organize everything.”

A group of classic car enthusiasts also showcased their automobiles—including vintage Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs and trucks.

Snacks, candy and water were available to all students—much of which was paid for by the Arizona Association of Student Councils.

“I’m continuously impressed with the dedication of our Student Body president, Antonio Vega,” Obregon said. “He is one of the hardest workers I have ever had the honor of having in Student Council. He was super dependable and took charge of everyone working.”

He added, “The senior class president, Anitza [Ramirez] also has such amazing ideas! She is definitely gifted in the creativity department. She has a demeanor that was perfect for emceeing duties at this spirit conference.”

Student Council Stays Strong During Pandemic

By Hector Guzman

During this 2020-2021 school year, Pueblo’s Student Council has faced many challenges and jumped over many obstacles due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has prevented this club from performing normally.

Mr. Gregory Obregon, who teaches Algebra 1 and 2, is once again this year’s Student Council advisor/teacher. Like many at Pueblo, he has expressed his frustrations of online instruction and trying to ensure that Student Council continues to be functional.

“We [students and teachers/sponsors] may not be able to be with our students in person, but the work we still need to do really does matter,” Obregon said.

However, he does have hope that this situation will not last forever but wishes he had had more time to prepare for a remote learning environment.

“It [Covid-19] will pass,” he said.

Franchesca Fernandez, a senior and this year’s Student Council president, has also encountered her share of challenges this school year. She said that insufficient student participation has affected her job, and she has had difficulty contacting people. She said that she conducts meetings by planning schedules and having business meetings on Thursdays, and afterwards allows members to be in their committees.

Fernandez said that this year Student Council is looking at online alternatives to raise money, including Percentage Night Fundraisers. She hopes to continue raising money for the club throughout the entire school year.

“Student Council is there for them [students],” Fernandez said. “We are trying our hardest amidst the pandemic to keep pushing, and we will eventually get through it.”

Obregon said that he misses an in-person Student Council a lot—as well as all the activities, group work and just hanging out with his club members.

“Showing school spirit is quite hard during the pandemic,” Obregon said, “because we are unable to decorate the hallways and put up posters.”

He expressed sadness on not being able to give students a real Student Council environment.

“Despite the hardships, we’re all together in this,” he said.

Every Drop Counts: Warriors Donate 43 Pints Of Blood!

by Brianna Ozuna

On Tuesday Oct. 3, Student Council promoted yet another very successful blood drive—again, in the South Gym, from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Sponsored by the American Red Cross, Pueblo students 16 and older were given the opportunity to participate by donating blood.

Senior Yamaika Romano said, “I wanted to help those in need. Our community is always in desperate need of blood.”

This particular blood drive is the first of four for this school year. The next drive is taking place in December, said Student Council advisor Ms. Kari Warner. She wants to remind students that they need to have parental permission (signature) if they are 16 or 17; 18+ year old students do not need parental permission but must still meet other requirements (height/weight ratio, no tattoos in the recent past, and other criterion—check out the Red Cross website for more information).

Red Cross Chair, Ms. Allissa Barone, said, “They [students] help our community in immeasurable ways. Their generosity is always deeply appreciated. Our donors at Pueblo are definitely heros.”

Pueblo students are not the only ones who rolled up their sleeves; teachers, staff and administrators did as well.

Ms. Hannah Yoder, a math and psychology teacher, said, “I donate blood as often as I can because I have type O-positive. It’s the most common blood type, so it’s always in demand.”

Pueblo’s Student Council Advisor was very pleased with the first blood drive of the school year.

Warner said, “We collected 43 pints today! Our goal was 35, so we are very excited with how well we did.”

She added that she will announce the next blood drive, schedule for some time in December, Warner said.

Blood Donors Give In Honor

by Yamilex Garcia and Omar Quintana

On Tuesday, October 4, 2016, Pueblo’s student council held the first blood drive of the year with over 60 students participating in the donation.

Student council teacher and advisor Ms. Kari Warner said that the American Red Cross is always in need of blood for those who are in desperate need of this precious commodity in theTucson community.

“It’s cool seeing students willing to donate and help others,” said Warner.

Juniors Joseph Palomarez and Viviana Cruz shared their enthusiasm for helping others by donating blood and said they plan to continue donating.

“I was blessed with the blood to donate to everybody and might as well use this privilege to donate to others,” said Palomarez.

Warner said that there will be other blood drives throughout the school year if students missed this opportunity—in December, February, and May. Students who are 18 do not need parental permission; however, for 16- and 17-year-olds, a parent’s signature is required as well as a completed packet to allow their child to donate blood.

‘Legend’ Themes Dominate Spirit Week

By Kenya Acosta and América Cárdenas

Folklorico Los Guerreros De Pueblo Perform At Spirit Assembly

Spirit week, Nov. 30 through Dec. 4, featured the following themes: Monday was Legends of Myths and Tales; Tuesday was Legends of the Screen, Wednesday was Legends of Arcade, and Thursday was Legends of Music. Friday’s theme, Lost in Time, definitely was an original way to end this spirit week.

Last Friday, freshmen were sporting their disco gear inspired by the 1970’s music genre. Sophomores wore their hippy clothes, inspired by the 1960’s. Juniors showed off their neon to represent the 1980’s. Lastly, but not least, our seniors boasted the famous greaser-inspired look from the 1950’s.

The assembly was initiated with a rocked-out version of The Star Spangled Banner performed by three members of the guitar club.

Winter sports teams were spotlighted during the assembly, as well as several academic clubs, including Anatomy and the Anime Club.

The Mr. Pueblo Warrior Pageant contestants revealed their escorts for the upcoming pageant early next semester.

Senior Sal Varela, who is a participant in the Mr. Pueblo Warrior Pageant, revealed that his escort will be senior Pamela Soto.

“I’m ecstatic about being part of this event,” Varela said., “even though I know that I’m going to win because I’m beautiful.”

Folklorico dancers also graced the assembly, dressed in their complete costumes.

Another highlight of the assembly was announcing our Warrior seniors who have been accepted to the University of Arizona.

Class or 2016 Seniors Accepted To The University Of Arizona

One of those students was Jovanna Jiminez. She said, “I’ve known for a while that I was accepted to the U of A, but the recognition that I received at the assembly was really exciting and at last made it official.”

During the first and last 20 minutes, many students saw a drone hovering around Lever Gym—all courtesy of Mr. Ernesto Somoza and his Communication Media Technology class. Two students in the class, Andrew Romero, freshman, and Luis Castanada, sophomore, trained after school to fly the drone from 3:30 to 6 p.m. for an entire week, leading up to the assembly.

“The drone is now used to take videos and pictures,” Somoza said. “Currently, students are creating a video that will be used in an effort as a recruiting tool for future Pueblo students.”

The assembly ended with our Pueblo band performing “Chop Suey”, and Color Guard danced, successfully ending another highly-spirited assembly.