Students, Faculty Encouraged To Join ‘March For Our Lives’ (Wear Orange)

by Elizabeth Noriega

To honor the 17 slain students and faculty members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, Pueblo’s “March For Our Lives” encourages all students and faculty members to participate on Wednesday, March 14—exactly a month after the tragedy. Hundreds of schools across the nation will be participating in their own marches on this date.

Senior Jorge Becerril was one of the architects of this movement.

“This country desperately needs common sense gun control,” Becerril said. “We students—and the teachers, too—shouldn’t have to worry about our safety at school. We are here to learn.”

Students and teachers—as well as everybody in the Pueblo community—are encouraged to participate in the solidarity movement after the radio broadcast in 6th period.

Participants are encouraged to wear orange, the color that has come to represent the anti-gun violence movement.

There will be an announcement over the intercom instructing Pueblo to begin their 17-minute march (one minute for every lost life in Florida) to the football field—much like a fire drill procedure. Once on the football field, students will continue walking around the track until the 17 minutes has lapsed. Then, everybody will sit in the bleachers and observe a minute of silence.

The two masters of ceremony, seniors Kanani Salazar (student council president) and Cynthia Amarillas (student council representative) will introduce student speakers. These speeches will last from one to three minutes. TUSD School Board member Ms. Adelita Grijalva is expected to be a speaker.

Becerril added, “There have been plenty of school shootings since I was a freshman, but for some reason, this shooting really affected me—maybe because there was so much press of this event in the aftermath of the tragedy. I’ve been inspired by many of the survivors of the Florida shooting who are adamant about getting their legislators to pass laws to make high school campuses safer.”

Becerril explained that this event is not about eradicating the Second Amendment (the right to bear arms), but rather making our society and our schools safer with common sense legislation that may ensure a safer country.
“This march is not an excuse for students to ditch or to skip their sixth period classes,” Becerril said. “We want our school to portray a mature message about this topic. This is also a great opportunity for students to voice their opinions. This topic is also a great opportunity for teachers to have meaningful dialogues and discussions in their classrooms.”

Seniors Urged To Sign Up For Class Trip

by Gabriela Varela

Time is quickly evaporating for seniors to sign up for the upcoming senior Class of 2018 trip to southern California on May 30 through June 2. Senior class sponsor Mr. Greg Obregon wants seniors to know that there is still time for seniors to commit to this “memorable” experience.

Obregon said that seniors need to make a minimum of $140 deposit “as soon as possible”; seniors can pay as much as they can until they have given the total amount of $499—even as late as the day of the trip, although they need to have approval with Obregon near the end deadline.

Seniors will be going to Knots Berry Farm, Universal Studios, Disneyland and Magic Mountain (Six Flags, California). One day will be designated for seniors to dip their feet into the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles.

“I really think that seniors will have a great time in California before they venture out in the ‘real world,’ Mr. Obregon said, “and to have a relaxing time before they start their futures.”

One senior, Lydia Angulo, said, “It’s going to be an exciting moment for us, and I really look forward to not being under T.U.S.D. restrictions.”

Obregon said that he will chaperone the senior trip—and will have additional supervision of students from the security company.

At this point, Obregon said he is hoping for a minimum of 50 seniors to attend, although he expects more than 50. If more than 50 students participate, then an additional bus will be used.

Another senior, Carlos Chavez, “I’m looking forward to sharing memories with a lot of great friends in the Class of 2018 and capturing wonderful and memorable moments that will last a lifetime.”

Roman Estrella, who is also planning on attending this trip, said, “I plan to have a really good time on this trip—going to some theme parks with friends and just having a blast!”

College Fair, Cohorts Give Students ‘Wake-Up Call’

   

by Analicia Bake & Brianna Metzler

The first College Fair of the school year took place during second period on Sept. 13, a treat for this year’s Class of 2018 seniors.

Alisa Verdugo, a senior, said, “We want to break the negative stigmas of how to apply to college, so if you [students] need any help applying, please come see us.”

Practically all of this year’s 300+ seniors had an opportunity to speak with various college representatives and military branches—a golden chance for them to explore their options for their future.

Many colleges were available to Pueblo seniors, including Arizona Christian University, Central Arizona College, New Mexico State College, Pima Community College, Universal Technical Institute and Prescott College along with the several military branches present.

Mr. Alejandro Menchaca, Pueblo’s new College and Career coordinator, said, “There are opportunities that students don’t know exist—until they come to events like this.”

“Seniors need to know all their options to find what their life purpose is in order to find their passion,” said senior counselor Ms. Teresa Toro. “This is the perfect time when seniors truly need to start applying for colleges and for scholarships. This Career Fair hopefully has given our seniors a wake-up call.”

An even earlier wake-up call occurred during the second week of this quarter, on Friday, Aug. 11. Principal Dr. Augustine Romero, counselor Ms. Rachel Bopp and College and Career Center Coordinator Mr. Alejandro Menchaca hosted a cohort meeting/assembly for all four grades, definitely giving our Warriors the reveille that many of them truly needed.

Senior Ernesto Estropellan said, “Sometimes these meetings are inspiration to me—they motivate me to take my school life very seriously. With a slight case of ‘senioritis’ already, I definitely need these meetings and career fairs.”

Pueblo’s Mariachi Atzlán performed for each class prior to each cohort meeting.

“The music was great,” said sophomore Ariella Andrews. “Overall, the cohort was interesting and very educational—a lot better than I thought. I also learned a lot of things about the school year.”

Bopp delivered students valuable information about appointments to counselors’ offices, credit recovery, and necessities for students—especially seniors—to graduate.

“These kinds of [cohorts] meetings really awaken our students,” Bopp said. “Seniors need to be reminded that time goes by quickly. It’s all about meeting deadlines and preparing for their futures.”

Menchaca gave mentioned information about the PSAT for underclassmen coming up this fall.

During the cohorts, a short video played for each class in hopes of informing students to be the best they possibly can in school and in life.

After the video, Dr. Romero said to students, “[Students,] believe in who you are, have a dream, and believe in it.”

He added, at the end of the cohorts, “I’m really excited about the 2017-18 school year. I’m also very happy with our new staff, and I hope that our students take advantage of all of the great opportunities that are available to them at Pueblo.”

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.”

‘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.

Pueblo Guitar Plays National Anthem

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.

Class of 2018 Sophomores Showing Spirit

“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.