Academics – Page 16 – Pueblo High School

2016 Yearbooks Arrive At Pueblo!

By Salvador Varela

During 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 60^th 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 60^th 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 2^nd period this year.

Jennifer Bliss: Feeling Right ‘At Home’

By Felicity Aguilar

Last semester, on Oct. 27, Pueblo welcomed a new inclusion teacher, Ms. Jennifer Bliss, who is an inclusion teacher to help other language arts teachers—helping students to improve their reading comprehension skills.

Bliss recently moved to Tucson from New York, where she was also a language arts teacher. Before becoming an educator, Bliss had eclectic careers, including being an auto mechanic; she said that she was even in the culinary field for a while.

“My first impression of Pueblo was how friendly this school is,” Bliss said. “It’s truly a reflection of the school when you see the teachers smiling and coming into work with positive attitude. The staff cares about their students, and I enjoy working with them. I also enjoy seeing how the students want to be successful and try their hardest.”

Bliss attended high school in Brooklyn and graduated in 1999, and she made her way to college in Fredonia, New York. A friend recommended that she move to Tucson, and she has been with TUSD for 14 years.

“As an inclusion teacher, I work with students who need extra support,” Bliss said. “My students are always very respectful and polite.”

She added that she wants to help her co-teachers anyway she can and help students become successful.

Bliss said, “Hopefully this is my last school—as it really feels like home here.”

Mariachi Aztlán Travels, Performs In Palm Springs With Pink Martini

By América Cárdenas

On January 31, 2016, eighteen students from Pueblo’s Mariachi Aztlán mariachi group, including several chaperones and teacher Mr. John Contreras, ventured to Palm Springs, CA, as an opening act for the group, Pink Martini, a pop jazz and Latin/lounge musical group from Portland, OR, that is traveling around the country.

mariachi-aztlan-pueblo-with-pink-martini — Mariachi Aztlan De Pueblo with Pink Martini

The three-day trip began on Sunday, January 31, at 6:00 a.m., driving straight through to Palm Springs, a five-hour trip from Tucson. Most students slept on the bus, but perked up once they arrived at the hotel.

One member of the Mariachi Aztlán, senior Daniel Motley, said, “Once we got to the motel, we all woke up quickly. My favorite part of the trip was being able to share the stage with Pink Martini and learning a few of their songs.”

Mariachi Aztlán performed four times during this trip, and each performance was slightly different because the group played in different areas.

Rafael Miranda, another senior, said “In order to prepare for the Pink Martini Performances, I practiced throughout the entire year. I also listen to their recordings over and over.”

Senior Jaret Young said, “A member of Pink Martini who really influenced me was Miguel Bernal. He was very open and humble. He told me about his life in Cuba and how he told his family about me and the mariachi. He also offered me free Conga lessons. Another influential member of the group was Phil Baker. He wrote down music for me and offered me free bass lessons in Oregon.”

Mariachi teacher Mr. John Contreras said he was contacted by Pink Martini’s management over the winter break. They said that Pueblo’s mariachi group had been recommended as one of the student groups that excelled in Tucson by the manager of the Rialto Theatre, Curtis McCrary, who had dealt with Pueblo’s mariachi group in various capacities over the part of the 10-15 years.

“One of the members of Pink Martini found some YouTube footage of Mariachi Aztlán, and they liked what they saw,” Contreras said. “They invited us to perform a couple of their songs with them and possibly open the show for them, and that was the way we were put in contact with them.”

Several members of Mariachi Aztlán were interviewed by local news reporters in Palm Springs, who happened to attend the performances.

Senior Yajaira Othon said, “All of the experiences this weekend truly were magnificent! Pink Martini’s band members and their audience were extremely supportive and very nice. This three-day weekend ranks in one of my favorite moments in my high school years.”

Eighth Graders Get An Early Start On Math At Pueblo

By Felicity Aguilar and Yisela Molina

8th Graders Taking Math At Pueblo High School 2016

For the second consecutive year, Pueblo Magnet High School has offered a program to teach Honors Algebra to over a dozen eighth graders from Hollinger K-8 and McCorkle Middle School.

These students attend this class four days each week and are taught by Pueblo math teacher Mr. Billy Campbell during first period.

Campbell said, “This class [algebra] will help these middle school students get a head start, so when they come back to Pueblo as freshmen, they will be one step ahead and will be able to take geometry a year earlier than most students.”

In order to get to Pueblo, these students walk, take the bus or get dropped off by family members. When class is over, Mrs. Laura Gallego (Pueblo’s Magnet Recuiter), Mr. Adalberto Rodriguez (Pueblo’s Media Specialist), Albert Ochoa (Pueblo’s Custodian) & others escort them back to school in time for their next class.

8th Graders Taking Math At Pueblo High School With Billy Campbell — 8th Graders in Math Teacher Mr. Billy Campbell’s class

“Mr. Campbell is a very creative teacher,” said Joseph Vega, an eighth grade McCorkle student. “He’s full of energy and enthusiasm, and he uses many methods to teach us. His class is really fun.”

Diana Quiroz, a student from Hollinger, said, “Mr. Campbell keeps us motivated to want to learn, he tells us stories to keep us interested!”

The idea of this program was a joint effort between Pueblo and Hollinger. In the future, Pueblo hopes to expand this program to include other middle schools.

Pueblo’s principal Dr. Augustine Romero said, “I wholeheartedly support the idea that Pueblo should have more collaboration with middle schools across the city—and perhaps expand to other subjects other than math.”

Warriors Solve Crime Scene

By Yamilex Garcia and Omar Quintana

Crime Scene Staged For Pueblo High School Forensics Class — Crime Scene Staged for Pueblo High School Forensics Class

On Wednesday and Thursday, February 10 and 11, Pueblo’s forensic class, taught by Ms. Elaine Straub, experienced their third live crime scene; students were required to examine a car accident and apply the skills they have learned in class throughout this school year.

Straub said that this particular crime scene will test her students’ critical thinking skills.

“This is a higher caliber crime scene than the previous scenarios this school year,” Straub said. “There will be a few more this school year that will further challenge students’ critical thinking skills.”

Students were required to collect evidence and examine their discoveries, including taking photographs, taking measurements and fingerprinting.

Senior Rocio Rodriguez said, “Taking part in a simulated crime scene is so much better than reading out of a textbook. We students are able to actually see what happened and use critical thinking skills and making inferences from the clues. It makes so much more sense and practical to let us figure things out for ourselves.”

Straub added that Ms. Marie Little, who teaches auto, and her students helped stage this simulated crime scene. Several other teachers used this location for their own curriculum, including Ms. Emma Tarazon, whose students took various pictures in a variety of light settings, and Mr. Rana Medhi, who took his creative writing students to the scene so that they could write about a story about their observations.

“On a gorgeous day like today, students really like being out of the classroom and writing stories,” said senior Mia Contreras. “More teachers should get their students outdoors and take advantage of all that our school offers.”

Mr. Ernie Somoza’s CMT (Communications Media Technology) freshmen students used the drone to shoot an aerial of simulated crime scene. (Video below) Sophomore Hector Valenzuela and freshman Andrew Romero controlled the drone, and sophomore Victor Llanos edited the video.

Welcome, Mr. Montaño!

By Lauren Ahern and Nayeli Sanchez

This semester, Pueblo has gained a new assistant principal, Mr. David Montaño, after Mr. Joel Bacalia accepted a position at University High School. Although the school year is half over, Montaño said that he is very excited to be a “whole part” of Pueblo in 2016.

Although Montaño was born in California, he has lived in Tucson for nearly 45 years and attended the University of Arizona, earning his degree in social studies. His professional career has been very eclectic; he has taught at Maxwell Middle School as well as Naylor (K-8) as a social studies teacher. His focus shifted to administration, which led him to Cholla High School, Palo Verde High School, Rincon High School, Secrist Middle School… and now Pueblo.

New Assistant Principal David Montaño Talking To Pueblo Students At Lunch — New Assistant Principal David Montaño talking to Pueblo students at lunch

“Oh, it’s [Pueblo] beautiful!” said Montaño. “Pueblo is such a wonderful family. Once I got here, I felt accepted, and I wasn’t nervous at all.”

Montaño’s responsibilities and duties as an assistant principal include freshman discipline (with last names beginning with “M” through “Z”), developing and improving curriculum, summer school, testing and data.

He added that his professional responsibility is to support students and especially our teachers. Above all, Montaño wholeheartedly wants to help students to believe that they can change to make the school a better place.

“We are all unique, and we should all have self-confidence. We make a difference in someone’s life,” he said.

Montaño believes that he will be at Pueblo for “a long time”, and he hopes that his legacy will be to have known in his heart that he helped students to believe that they truly can achieve their dreams.