Pueblo Class of 2024 Takes Group Photo!

By Kassandra Espinoza

On Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 2:30 p.m., the yearbook class organized and took a group picture for the Class of 2024, captured on the “Curly” Santa Cruz football field bleachers.

A senior in yearbook, Tatei Lopez, organized this event, posting an Instagram on the yearbook and student council pages to inform seniors where and what time the class picture would occur.

“I organized with our principal, Mr. Rosthenhausler, to set up the date and the time when everyone was mostly free for the class picture,” said yearbook editor-in-chief Sergio Lopez.

Unfortunately, many seniors did not show up for the photo shoot, which was not mandatory. Some seniors have reduced schedules and left school early, and some were not interested in participating.

Tatei Lopez said, “I think the picture should be made mandatory and be taken during school hours so we can have a bigger turn out of seniors.”

“Honestly, I don’t see why we should take another picture,” said Sergio Lopez. “In my opinion, the picture turned out great, and we can’t keep scheduling photo shoots for seniors who do not want to participate.”

He added that the senior group picture has been a Pueblo High School tradition for many years for yearbook classes because the photo allows students to unite and capture one of their last memories of high school.

Yearbook teacher/advisor Ms. Lacey Pratt said, “We took the senior picture to include in the 2024 yearbook, and we wanted to capture the spirit of this year’s seniors. It’s unfortunate that not every senior participated.”

A retake has not been discussed, Pratt said.

Yearbook Asks For Warriors’ Participation

  

By Brianna Ozuna and Kyra Ycedo

This year’s El Dorado (yearbook) staff has put together a series of questions for students to complete to be included in the 2018 yearbook.

The surveys are currently online at http://goo.gl/tKem7w and will remain until at least the end of February. The sooner these surveys are completed, the better.

“There are teacher surveys, sports surveys and celebrity surveys-among others,” said Ms. Marie Little, Pueblo’s yearbook teacher and advisor. “We are gathering information for our theme, which is ‘Inspiration’.”

Yearbook editor senior Cerena Castro said, “We really want Pueblo students to take these surveys because the more we have, the more accurate our polls will be in the yearbook. These polls will definitely make our yearbook truly Warrior-oriented.”

Another senior Summer Romero, said, “Ms. Little truly has made this class a lot of fun, yet it’s still a professional environment. The class is really trying to make the theme of the yearbook, ‘Inspiration’, a reality and to convey that thee throughout the entire annual.”

Students must pay a deposit of $60 by Friday, Feb. 2, Little said, if they want to reserve a 2018 yearbook.

After Feb. 2, if students have not reserved their yearbook, there will be no guarantee that students will be able to acquire a yearbook this year.

Four Warriors To Travel To Denver, Witness Retired Lever Jersey

By Iram Arce

From Left to Right: Efrain Estrella, Marissa Orr, Laura Conde & Andrew T. Romero

On December 1, 2017, four Warrior students will travel to Denver to witness former Pueblo student Lafayette “Fat” Lever’s “Retiring of a Jersey” (No. 12) ceremony, accompanied by exceptional education teacher and yearbook advisor Ms. Marie Little and Assistant Principal Frank Rosthenhausler.

Fat Lever

Students may know that Pueblo has a “Lever” Gym, but sadly, many of our current Warriors do not even know Lever about his legendary status—how remarkable this Warrior was back in his high school days and how nationally acclaimed he would become well into the 1990s.

Lever began playing for the Denver Nuggets from 1984-1990, and during those seven seasons, he averaged 17 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.5 assists. A two-time “All Star”, Lever ranks first all-time in franchise history in steals (1,167), second in assists (3,566), seventh in points (8,081) and eighth in rebounds (3,621).

And to think that this former all-star basketball player got his first taste of fame here at Pueblo during two very definitive basketball seasons: 1976-77 and 1977-78; Pueblo’s varsity basketball teams were State Champions for two consecutive years. Today, Lever Gym boasts these victorious seasons with banners that will definitely stand the test of time.

Math teacher Ms. Martha Avila-Miranda was a senior when our varsity Warrior basketball team won their first State championship.

“I have proud and fond memories of my high school years at Pueblo,” Avila-Miranda said, “and it was an exciting time to be a Warrior—especially as a member of the pom/cheer team traveling to all the basketball games. School and community spirit was sky high during the mid and late 1970s.  I definitely remember the basketball team under the direction of coach [Roland] Lavetter and the leadership of Fat Lever, who was very disciplined—and that model of working and playing hard transferred to all who knew them.”

Fat Lever pictured to the right of Coach Lavetter.

She added, “After all of these years, I am so touched to know that our former leaders and heroes have not forgotten their roots and are giving back to our Warrior community. I see many of the team members at different events here at PHS. I just want to say congratulations to Fat and all of his accomplishments. He is another reason that he has made us all proud to be Warriors.”

Lever, a 6’3” point guard, did not begin his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets, however. Two years earlier, Lever was the 11th overall pick in the 1981 draft—selected by the Portland Trailblazers after a successful run playing for the Arizona State University basketball team. (Lever would eventually return to ASU and complete his degree in education in 1996.)

By the time Lever arrived in Denver in 1984, the Nuggets were in desperate need of a miracle. That came in the 1985 season—when Lever helped the team advance to the Western Conference finals. Although the team would lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games, this season would prove to be the Nuggets’ most successful.

Although Lever played for the Dallas Mavericks from 1990-1994, Lever affirmed in several interviews that his heart was always with the Denver Nuggets. Due to several knee injuries and other circumstances, Lever retired from the NBA in 1994.

Lever later become a broadcaster for the Sacramento [California] Kings from 2007-2014, and eventually he returned to Arizona—Chandler, specifically—where he is currently a consultant in sports and international business. He also works with the Junior NBA program.

Our four Pueblo students—one from each of the media programs (radio, television, journalism and yearbook)—will have the privilege of witness Lever’s jersey being officially “retired” during a halftime Nuggets game on Saturday, Dec. 2.

After two weeks of raising enough money for airfare through many generous donors—and through a lot of tenacity and perseverance!—our Warriors depart from Tucson International Airport at 6 a.m. and will return to Tucson Sunday morning.

Yearbook student Andrew T. Romero, a junior, is the representative from his class and was very instrumental in initiating this trip. Back in October, Romero’s yearbook teacher, Ms. Marie Little, announced to her class that Lafayette (“Fat”) Lever’s jersey was going to be retired at a Denver Nuggets on Dec. 2 and that it would be a great opportunity for several of our Pueblo media students to travel to Denver and interview Lever and be a part of this historical sports moment.

From there, Romero had a conversation with former assistant principal Eduardo Nuñez (who was also a 1960 Pueblo High School graduate), who contacted Lever regarding Lever’s retirement celebration and getting Pueblo students there for this event. From there, Lever contacted Little—and Lever was able to get six media passes to the Dec. 2 Nuggets game. Lever is also taking care of our Warriors’ hotel costs for two nights.

Romero said, “I knew early on that this trip was going to be a possibility, and although I didn’t think I would be selected to participate. However, the universe likes me—I happen to be at the right place at the right time. My grades were low, but I was able to bring them up to passing, and therefore I now became eligible to represent yearbook.”

Romero approached Pueblo Principal Dr. Augustine Romero about this proposition and got his “thumbs up”.

“This trip [to Denver] is a great opportunity for our students!” Principal Romero said. “Lafayette [Lever] was, indeed, very generous!”

Junior Laura Conde, advanced journalism student, learned that she was going after editor-in-chief Iram Arce turned down the opportunity because he had “absolutely no interest in basketball.” Therefore, journalism teacher Mr. Rana Medhi selected Laura because of her excellent journalism skills.

“I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high,” Conde said, “because the whole thing seemed kind of far-fetched. But, now that we have our Southwest Airlines tickets, it’s definitely real. I’m looking forward to the interviewing process—obviously the most important story I’ll be writing.”

Radio student Marissa Orr, a senior, “When Ms. Wilson told me to go outside with Ms. Little, I thought I was framed or something. But, then I found out that I was selected to be the representative of radio to travel to Denver. This is an awesome opportunity for me—and I feel honored and privileged to have been selected by Ms. Wilson to represent radio.

Television student Efrain Estrella, another senior, said, “I feel very blessed and very lucky to be selected to go on this trip because it is a really big opportunity to not only for myself but my peers who will be coming along with me. This trip means a great deal to Pueblo High School as a whole, too.”

Ms. Marie Little, who will be co-escorting the students to Denver, said, “After the initial phone call, Lever was making contacts to ensure that all costs could be covered. Unfortunately, he was unable to secure airfare costs, so we had eight days to raise money to fly us six to Denver.”

Little said that in just eight days, she and the four students were able to raise $2,385—much of which came from current and former Pueblo faculty and staff members.

“We are beyond overwhelmed by the generosity of the Pueblo community,” Little said.

Mr. Frank Rosthenhausler, the other co-escort, said, “The entire Pueblo community is very excited about this trip. It’s awesome that our students are learning part of Pueblo’s history and also participating in the Denver Nuggets’ history. Very few students will ever get this kind of opportunity.”

Rosthenhausler added that he was a bit skeptical at first regarding the prospect of Ms. Little and students raising money for the air fare.

“The airline tickets were a hefty price, but they pulled it off,” he said. “I love how they were able to achieve this goal in such a short time.”

The entire Pueblo community anxiously awaits the students’ return to Pueblo to hear the highlights of this historical moment in sports history. The fact that Lever began his rise to athletic stardom and legendary sports acclaim right here at Pueblo makes this story even that much more powerful.

2016 Yearbooks Arrive At Pueblo!

 

By Salvador Varela

Pete Pederson Happy Pueblo 2016 Yearbook ArrivalDuring first period on May 5, 2016, this year’s El Dorado (yearbook) arrived via a giant truck, and Mr. Pete Pederson, sponsor/teacher of the yearbook, was beyond ecstatic.

“I am excited and pleased this yearbook is here three weeks early,” Pederson said.

During the school year, the yearbook class sold 310 yearbooks. To avoid having residuals, there are just 53 yearbooks to be sold before the end of the school year. When they are sold, there will not be any additional yearbooks.

Editor-in-chief Vanessa Molina encourages those who bought a yearbook (and for those who buy on Wednesday) to attend the “yearbook signing” party after school on Wednesday, May 18, 2016.

“This will be a fun event—and everybody will know how hard we 10 yearbook students worked during the school year to get this yearbook completed,” Molina said.

The yearbooks will cost $60, and students will need to put down a minimum of a $20 deposit.

“I hope this yearbook reflects the spirit of the school’s 60th anniversary,” Pederson said.

Molina said, “This is the best yearbook that Pueblo has had in years, and we’re really excited to see students’ reactions when they crack open the front cover.”

The front cover of this year’s El Dorado is especially creative, Pederson said, although he isn’t going to give any clues as to its look. Sophomore Iram Arce designed the cover, and he’s been sworn not to give away any secrets either.

“I am definitely beyond honored by contributing to this 60th anniversary yearbook,” Arce said. “This will be one of my proudest legacies at Pueblo.”

Pederson added that this year’s staff was more professional than previous years, and he anticipates an even better staff next year with nine students. The yearbook class will switch to fourth period instead of 2nd period this year.