Winter Sports Assembly Blows In The Wind

By Victoria Cazares

Class of 2023 Seniors

Pueblo High School’s second assembly of this school year, hosted on Feb. 17 on the football field, focused primarily on the successes of winter sports and generating school spirit for the triumphant programs this season.

Due to bad weather conditions—strong winds and very cool temperatures—some students did not enjoy the experience. Construction projects in the gym prevented the assembly from being inside.

Student Council President Marina Martinez said, “The wind made it hard to decorate, and having the assembly indoors would have been better. Usually the weather is beautiful in February. Unfortunately, we can’t predict the future when planning assemblies.”

The assembly was initiated by senior Gabriel Aguayo playing the National Anthem on his trumpet.

“I was very excited to play [at the assembly], although I was a bit nervous,” Aguayo said. “However, the hype from everybody inspired me to be my best and ended up sounding amazing.”

Throughout the assembly, winter sports were highlighted, and two games of “musical chairs” were played between each class, which helped students focus on school spirit instead of the windy, cold weather.

STUCO President Martinez said, “Everything ended up turning out great, and we hope we can generate even more school spirit at the next assembly.”

The Student Council representatives kept their class enthused, and in the end, the senior class of 2023 retained the “spirit stick”.

“My seniors really showed a lot of energy, excitement and pride for their class,” said senior Mia Rodriguez. “We were all serious about keeping the spirit stick.”

The assembly was curtailed about 15 minutes, and this disappointed a lot of students.

“We didn’t want to go into ‘overtime’ again,” said Martinez, “so the assembly ended long before it should have. Next time, we’ll need to come up with a ‘Plan B’ to fill the entire assembly time.”

Despite the bad weather and challenges with the assembly, students were still elated that they had a chance to show their Warrior spirit.

“The energy and excitement at the assembly was one of a kind,” said senior Mason Weisbrook. “I’ll never forget the chalk and baby powder and all of the seniors’ chants. We made the most of a rough situation [the weather] by having the assembly outside.”

Pueblo students look forward to the next assembly to commemorate the springs sports programs, which will be held sometime in April, according to Martinez. This final assembly will also celebrate the seniors, who will be just weeks away from graduating.

Arizona Universities Visit Pueblo 2016

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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.”

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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.

Last Spirit Assembly Spotlights Class of 2016 Seniors

Sandra Iniguez El Guerrero Pueblo 2015

By Sandra Iniguez

Pueblo Warriors Class of 2016 Seniors Goodbye Spirit Assembly
Class of 2016 Seniors ready for their Goodbye Spirit Assembly

The week of March 7-March 11, our Warriors brought their school spirit and dressed up for the entire week based on the days assigned by student council.

Monday was “Double Trouble”; Tuesday was “Messy vs. Dressy”; Wednesday was “Gender Bender”; Thursday was “Pixar Day”; and Friday was “Jungle Day”. Friday was finalized with a boisterous assembly that took the Class of 2016 seniors on an emotional rollercoaster.

Here’s video of their traditional grand entrance:

The assembly consisted of performances by the KWXL Radio staff and Pueblo’s Warrior Cheer squad, competitive games, and acknowledgement of multiple sports and clubs. The cheer performance seemed to captivate the audience the most—a preview of their awesome talents that they will showcase on Saturday, March 19, when they compete on a national level in Anaheim, California.

Pueblo Warriors Cheert At Class Of 2016 Goodbye Spirit Assembly
Warrior Cheer ready for nationals

At the very end of the assembly, after the traditional seat change, seniors were presented with a slide show that commemorated their past four years at Pueblo. Not surprisingly, judges Mr. Rana Medhi, Ms. Kelly Crane, and Ms. Angela Gonzalez unanimously chose the seniors as the most spirited group.

“It’s hard to believe that my senior year is almost over, I remember my freshman year as if it were yesterday,” said senior Eneida Flores. “The assembly was a great tribute to the seniors, and it was heartbreaking to see a lot of my peers cry during the slide show.”

Homecoming 2015: You Should Have Been There (If You Weren’t)

America Cardenas Pueblo El Guerrero Sandra Iniguez El Guerrero Pueblo 2015

 

 

By América Cárdenas and Sandra Iniguez

Anticipation, excitement and school pride filled the halls of Pueblo during Spirit Week, which began on Monday, September 21—and progressed to Pueblo’s homecoming night on Friday, September 25.

Our mighty Warriors showed their Pueblo Pride in the wide-spread participation of spirit week festivities. These included Slumber Party Day, Dynamic Duo Day, Disney Day, Tropical Day, and Straight Outta Pueblo Day. Throughout this week, there were many games during lunch in which each class was given the opportunity to gain spirit points.

Our school’s pride continued in the Lever Gym for the first spirit assembly of the year.

“The assembly was great, all four of the classes really brought their school spirit,” said senior Kevin Valdez.

After extensive recognition of clubs and academic success around campus, the winners of the spirit assembly were determined. The seniors seized the victory.

“The assembly was different from the others because everyone actually participated,” said senior Candelaria Guerrero. “Even the freshmen were trying to win.”

Pueblo High School Homecoming Night 2015 Cheer
Warrior Cheer getting the crowd going.

The day came to a beautiful end as the homecoming game approached. Clubs lined up with different items to sell in order to raise money at our annual Homecoming Tailgate Party. The bleachers filled up with anxious spectators who waited for the football game to begin.

Pueblo Magnet High School hosted its jubilant 60th Anniversary of its homecoming football game on Friday, September  25, 2015. The Warrior football team’s homecoming victory over the Douglas Bulldogs, with a final score of 48-0, was perhaps the team’s most dramatic win on homecoming night in many years.

Pueblo High School Homecoming Night 2015 Football
Warrior Football dominated the entire game.

The Warriors dominated the football game throughout the evening and refused to let the Bulldogs score even once! Pueblo’s very own senior Justin Pledger received Jack in the Box Player of the Week for KVOA Channel 4.

“We played more as a team against Douglas, and we are coming together as a family,” Pledger said. “I feel like I’m contributing to the team and doing my best to take us to the playoffs.”

There were plenty of homecoming tailgate activities that Pueblo clubs offered. There was a variety of food choices and games throughout the night from which students and alumni could choose.

Pueblo High School Homecoming Night 2015 Band
Warrior Marching Band entertained throughout the night.

“Homecoming was a major success!” exclaimed senior Bernadette Romero, “It was super fun to raise money for our clubs, and it was great to see our football team experience such a victorious win!”

During halftime of the football game, our fall 2015 homecoming king and queen of Pueblo Magnet High School were crowned: Emmanuel Buelna and Daniella Contreras.

Pueblo High School Homecoming Night 2015 Royalty
2015 King & Queen

Homecoming King Emmanuel Buelna said, “I’m humbled by the votes that I received from my fellow peers in my senior class. I was genuinely surprised that I was crowned king!”

Homecoming Queen Daniella Contreras said, “I was shocked that I won! This was the first time that I did something out of character. I’m shy, and I broke out of my shell during campaign week.” She added, “I usually stay away from big crowds, but this experience allowed me to gain a lot of new friends.”

We can’t wait for Homecoming Night 2016!

Warriors Inspired, Challenged By Trans-Atlantic Row-Boat Queen

By Cynthia Rojas

Katie Spotz visits Pueblo High School

Nearly 450 Pueblo students and faculty members packed the school’s auditorium on Friday, Feb. 13, to attend a presentation from Katie Spotz, a self-motivated young woman who has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in a variety of stellar physical achievements—raising money to provide clean drinking water to an estimated one billion people on this planet that don’t have access to it.

Nearly 5,000 people (mostly children) each day die from drinking bad water, she said. Most of the countries that she has helped raised money for to provide safe water include Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Kenya.

“I couldn’t just stand around and let this happen anymore, so I started to challenge myself to help as much as one person can,” the Ohio-born Spotz said.

On March 14, 2013, the then 22-year-old Spotz became the younger person (and only the second woman) to row across the Atlantic Ocean, unattended and without aid—approximately 3,000 miles, from Africa to South America! During the 70-day challenge, Spotz said she had very little diversion except for a day interacting with dolphins and the several occasions of avoiding enormous freight ships.

“I would listen to a lot of music and comedians on my headphones,” Spotz said. “Once I hit the midway point, halfway across the Atlantic Ocean, I really had to focus on rowing just one mile at a time. One mile…one mile…instead of the 1,500 that I still had to row to reach the South American coast.”

In the end, her “Row for Water” event raised more than $150,000 to provide safe drinking water. But, she didn’t stop there. In a valiant effort to raise even more awareness of providing safe drinking water to one billion people, Spotz has a resumé of unbelievable, impressive, physical feats, including swimming the entire length of the Allegheny River as well as cycling across the United States in seven days—even with a broken pelvis! Spotz eventually traveled to Kenya, and there she helped 10,000 students, first-hand, in that African nation gain access to safe drinking water.

“It was an amazing opportunity to actually be in the middle of this crisis,” Spotz said, “and also to be a part of the solution.” She added that she was appalled at how many people in Kenya are without clean drinking water—maybe only one person in 1,000 have access to healthy water each day.

Spotz spends most of her time traveling around the United States helping and inspiring schools to raise money for a project called “Schools for Water”.

Students in attendance were definitely inspired by Spotz’ achievements. Senior Narda Garcia said, “I was totally captivated by the presentation—especially because a woman defied all of the odds and stayed tenacious, never giving up. We students can definitely learn from her determination and perseverance.”

Pueblo is now challenged to raise money for “Schools for Water”. According to Ms. Mary Wallace, government teacher and the organizer of this presentation, Pueblo has committed to raising $1,500 and challenging Cholla, whose goal is to raise $1,000.

Wallace said that she is communicating with our administrators about ways to raise money in support of “Schools for Water”, including a “hat day” in which students will be allowed to wear hats for a day in exchange for one dollar. More activities will be announced throughout the semester, she added.

“Students are needed to help with raising money [for “Schools for Water”] because I want this fund-raising event to be student-based,” Wallace said. “This is a great opportunity for students to show leadership and responsibility.”

Junior Michael Montijo, who attended the presentation, said, “Spotz really brought the global water crisis into the spotlight. In today’s world, there is no excuse for unsanitary water or food.”

Armando Corral, a sophomore, said, “I was really motivated by the presentation. I want to help this situation by not wasting water in the future. We can all do a little something to make a huge difference.”

Senior Ariel Garrison was inspired by the presentation. “I think she is admirable for raising awareness to a topic that I was not fully aware of until now. Ms. Spotz is a awesome role model for all of us, and we should all find our own individual ways to help those who are not as fortunate.”

Another senior Narda Garcia, “I can’t believe that she continued the race with a broken pelvis! Talk about tenacity! I think that she truly inspired a lot of us to persevere under difficult situations. After the presentation, my friends and I were talking about what we can do to make the world a place where we give more than we take.”