Around Campus – Page 9 – Pueblo High School

Ready, Set… Cook!

By Iram Arce and Brianna Metzler

On Friday, Dec. 8, approximately 70 faculty members, staff and students turned a cook-off into a raffle contest where the chili, soup and stew were evaluated.

Ms. Sarah Barnes, a Multi-Tier System of Support Facilitator, coordinated the event during first and second lunches.

“This event is part of a plan to build a sense of community,” Barnes said. “It’s always fun to pull an event that is focused on food as a way to bring people together in a playful way.”

Tickets were one dollar—allowing one to be a “taster”.

“Diverting from a professional setting helps people get to know one another along with showing off the staff’s hidden talents,” senior Carlos Chavez said. “I think that all of us students like to see our staff getting along and having fun. It definitely humanizes our teachers a bit more.”

“This event was an excellent break from the grueling grind of teachers’ schedules and encourages the staff to enjoy one another,” Barnes said.

Ms. Kathryn Gunnels, assistant principal, earned the blue ribbon—a first place for her chicken and gnocchi soup.

Marketing teacher Dr. Maria Bicknell won second place for her three-bean vegetarian chili.

Mr. Patrick Peatrowsky, economics teacher, won for his “green chili de gringo” creation.

Pictured left to right: Maria Bicknell, Kathryn Gunnels & Patrick Peatrowsky

All three winners received a beautiful apron—from the crafty hands of Exceptional Education Department Chair Ms. Trevia Heath.

She added, “There will be more competitions in the future.” Barnes said that she is considering having a salsa contest and a dessert competition.

Barnes said that $70 was raised, and the money will go into a general fund for future staff celebrations.

“For an event that I sold just six tickets in the beginning, I was very pleased with the end results,” Barnes said.

Warriors Wig-Out On Halloween

by Iram Arce and Laura Conde

On October 31st, students brought the Halloween spirit to Pueblo as they dressed up as deadly clowns, fictional couple costumes and a saxophone-playing gorilla.

Despite the spirit many felt on Halloween, some students said that as they get older, they believe that Hal

Halloween does not have the same spunk when they were younger.

Students shared their beliefs regarding Halloween and their experiences.

Senior Thai Kromrei said, “I came to school dressed up as Stich because my girlfriend wanted to be Lilo. Afterwards, we went trick-or-treating with my nephews.”

“I came to Pueblo with my face painted as a skeleton and decided afterwards to go around scaring children around my grandma’s neighborhood,” senior Abigail Sotelo said. “I think that everyone should be allowed to trick-or-treat forever, or at least until you can’t walk.”

Senior Yamaika Romero said, “I was dressed up as a clown and went to go watch movies with my friends and little cousins.”

“I came to Pueblo as a zombie and later in the day went trick-or-treating with my nephews, sadly we didn’t get enough candy,” senior Kanani Salazar said. “It’s also upsetting that less kids dressed up this year. People think they are getting too old for it.”

Sam Quiroz, a senior, said, “Everyone should honestly live life to the fullest no matter how old you get. This year I did it dressed as a genie.”

Freshman Ayonna Perez said, “We’re not too old to celebrate Halloween, and I actually saw a handful of costumes I liked—specifically the gorilla playing the saxophone.”

“I dressed up as a cat, and later I went trick-or-treating with my family and a friend,” freshman Joanis Del Valle said. “I’m excited for next Halloween—as I plan to dress up as Alice from Alice in Wonderland.”

Freshman Sabrina Suazo said, “I chose to dress up as a nerd. I went trick-or-treating with my family and my friend Ayonna. My plans for next Halloween are to throw a party and invite my friends to throw the best party of the year.”

Sophomore Samantha Polo said, “I noticed that more students were taking care of their younger siblings instead of enjoying Halloween.”

Truly, our Warriors know Halloween spirit, and many underclassmen anticipate next year’s ghoulish event.

Pueblo Warriors & Cholla Chargers Unite For Change

by Laura Conde

Presentations during Pueblo’s Many Faces of Action Conference

On Oct. 3, 2017, Pueblo and Cholla High Schools collaborated for the “Many Faces of Action Conference: A Student Action Forum”, a chance for participating students to learn about their rights, speak up about issues they cared about and overall, feel empowered.

Primarily hosted and meticulously organized by teachers who teach culturally relevant courses at Pueblo (Dr. Raúl Gonzalez, Ms. Victoria Bodanyi, Ms. Tifanny Mendibles-Muñoz and Ms. Jessica Mejia), Pueblo and Cholla students made the most out of this educational experience. According to organizers, this event was “a collaboration of many fascinating and intelligent individuals.”

Social studies teacher Ms. Victoria Bodanyi said, “The conference went really smoothly. Besides our own nearly100 Pueblo students, we hosted more than 50 Cholla students. We were also able to have presenters from TUSD, local organizations, professors from the University of Arizona and our very own Pueblo teachers.”

Additionally, two science teachers (Dr. Andrew Lettes and Ms. Elizabeth Raizk) held workshops to educate students about Valley Fever and environmental racism, respectively.

The conference lasted for an entire standard school day—8 a.m. until 3:15 p.m. Early on, participating students were welcomed accordingly and later divided into three groups (pink, yellow and green) that would direct them to different workshops around campus.

Many Pueblo students left the conference with a deeper comprehension of political and social issues that affect them in their lives.

“I learned that there are many ways for the community to come together for a problem everyone has but doesn’t see,” said Liam Membrila, a senior.

“I feel more confident in ways I could get involved because I’ve wanted to help with the issues going on but I was confused and now I feel a lot more prepared,” said Jacquelyne Acuña, a junior.

“A lot of ‘DACA’ students are struggling, and we need more support and people to be aware. I see how I am more fortunate, and I’d like to give more people that opportunity,” said Gerardo Arzabe, a senior.

On behalf of Pueblo High School, a special thanks to the following people and organizations: Mr. Frank Armenta, Ms. Dominique Calza, Mr. Salo Escamilla, Ms. Maria Federico-Bummer, Mr. Richard Gastelum, Mr. Maurice H. Goldan, Ms. Sarita Gonzales, Mr. Enrique Garcia, Dr. Andrew Lettes Ms. Elizabeth Raizk, Dra. Andrea Romero, Dr. Augustine Romero, Mr. Bryant Valenica, Calpulli Teoxicalli, Cholla High School, LUCHA, LUPE, Tierra y Libertad Organization.

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.

Science Wing Reopened For ‘Business’

by Iram Arce

Last school year, chemistry teacher Ms. Melissa Espindola was one of the unfortunate dozen or so teachers to be adversely affected by one of the most devastating vandalism cases in TUSD history; however, she now thrives in a bigger classroom with more materials at her disposal.

Espindola can now be found happily teaching honors chemistry students in Room 166 instead of the library conference room.

“I’m so glad that I got this room full of lab stations and plenty of space for my students to move around,” she said. “It is so much better than that little crammed room where I was not allowed to do any experiments.”

Espindola, along with other science teachers, would not have made it without the support from fellow colleagues and peers.

Ms. Elaine Straub, Pueblo’s forensic science teacher, said, “I cannot describe how delighted I am to be back in my room after it was utterly trashed.”

Last December and January, more than a dozen classrooms were severely vandalized—either through fire or water damage. Most science teachers were relocated for the remainder of the school year—an entire semester.

“Even though there is still some odd ends [that need to be addressed] such as not having my equipment replaced, other science teachers are still affected by the vandalism,” she said.

Teachers such as Espindola and new addition to the Pueblo family, Dr. Brian Engel, do not have water installed in their classrooms, although they remain hopeful that this situation is very temporary.

Despite being ecstatic to be back in her classroom, Espindola is dumbfounded by the thought that the window security barriers have not been installed yet, a project that she said should have been completed by now.

“It will be an embarrassment if my class were to be vandalized again because of this [lack of security barriers],” she said. “It’s like they are waiting for a vandalism to happen again; I don’t know why this issue is not a priority.”

Despite the inconveniences of teachers and students—as well as the sacrifices both groups had to endure—the Pueblo spirit remains fervid and fortified.

Mr. Santa Cruz Immortalized On T-Shirts

by Ashley Cordova

You’ve seen them around campus: pictures of Mr. Cristobál Santa Cruz adorned on the black t-shirts. About 30 seniors were inspired to create them after being in Santa Cruz’ AP U.S. history class last year.

Some of these class of 2018 seniors are very particular about when they wear these “Santa Cruz” T-shirts.

Senior Lydia Angulo said, “Many of us try to wear the shirts on Santa Cruz’ test days, and others choose to wear them on Fridays.”

At first, the idea for the T-shirts was just a joke that the senior trio Lydia Angulo, Iram Arce and Brianna Metzler had made.

“It was just a joke and we even made a fake advertisement and emailed everybody about it,” said Arce.

However, the shirts were such a big hit with many of the students and teachers that shirt requests were starting to come in quicker than expected.

“We had about 30 people order a shirt including Dr. Gonzalez and Santa Cruz’ wife,” said Arce.

“We began to see this as a means of marking a ‘historic’ event that will leave a legacy for future generations,” said Metzler.

The man in question, Mr. Cristobal Santa Cruz, said, “At first, I was shocked and a little weirded-out, but now I am appreciative.”