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.”

Warriors Dig For Evidence

By Alina Cuen

On Monday, Jan. 26, science teacher Ms. Elaine Straub set her forensics science students “free”—so to speak—letting them venture to Pueblo’s garden to dig up some bones.

Indeed, Straub’s forensics science students were excavating bones in order to solve mock “crime scenes”.

“What I’m trying to teach my students is how to cooperate with each other while they are excavating bones in order to solve crime scenes,” Straub said. “It’s just another way for them to work as a team.”

Sophomore Marcela Herrera, a student in the class, said, “Of all of my classes at Pueblo, I like coming to forensics the most because Ms. Straub lets us go out and learn—instead of reading out of a boring textbook. We learn so much more when we are hands-on. I don’t know why any other science teacher would want to teach any other way.”

Elena Elmer, a junior in the class, said, “Everybody in forensics class learns all of the interesting things that have to do with crime scenes, like blood splatters and bones—stuff that you might see on Crime Scene Investigation.”

For three years now, Straub wholeheartedly believes that kinesthetic learning works best in her forensics classes.

“Forensics is definitely one of those classes that you can’t teach solely out of a textbook,” Straub said. “Students love the freedom to explore outside of the classroom, and learning increases so much more by having them discover for themselves the answers and to solve the mysteries hidden in the ground.”

Straub added that she plans to continue this activity for as long as she teaches forensics science.

Sophomore Jacquelyn Gutierrez describes herself as an enthusiastic member of the forensics class. “I really like participating in the crime scenes that Ms. Straub creates for us because it gives us a taste of the real world,” she said.

Gutierrez said, “I’m really looking forward to the next crime scene that Ms. Straub makes up for us.”

Campus Monitor Nellie, Ms. Bonillas ‘Hot’ Winners In Salsa Contest

 

By Emiliano Rodriguez and Juan Romero-Ruiz

Ms. Sarah Barnes, our learning support coordinator, has done it again—inspiring Pueblo’s staff members and faculty to compete against palatable entries. This time, she sponsored and organized a “Best Salsa” contest among our school’s faculty.

On Wednesday, Feb. 21—in early celebration of Rodeo Vacation—Barnes displayed all of the salsas from faculty and staff members.

This year, the 44 judges—consisting of several dozen staff members and even a few seniors—overwhelmingly chose the salsa concocted by campus security monitor Ms. Nellie Rivera for the “gold”; Folklorico and ELD teacher Ms. Carmen Bonillas received a “second place” award.

“I love cooking,” Rivera said. “It’s always fun for me. This contest was more than just a competition—it was a way for our faculty and staff to unite more often.”

She paused and said, “I don’t think I won—I think everyone won.”

Second-placer Ms. Carmen Bonillas said, “It’s not the ingredients that makes for a winning salsa—it’s all about the proportions.”

Bonillas added, “These kinds of contests are fun because we teachers sometimes need to just have fun.”

The good news is that every participant received at least a few votes, Barnes said.

“The non-winners all received certificates—as runners-ups in the contest,” Barnes said.

Both Rivera and Bonillas received gift cards.

On March 15, the day after the official “PI” Day (3.14), Barnes will host another contest among faculty and staff members: of course, pies! Normally, the pie contest would be on National Pi day, but because of the scheduled “March for Our Lives” event, Barnes said that the contest will be on Thursday.

She anticipates that she will have no shortage of judges for this one. Barnes herself said that she plans to enter this contest—although she’s keeping her entry a secret.

Class Of 2000 Grad Returns To Pueblo As Attendance Clerk

By Getsemani Cazares and Arlie Kontic

The last time Ms. Angelica Aros was at Pueblo, as a high school senior in the 1999-2000 school year, PHS still had pay phones around campus; 18 years ago, students—and much of the world—did not know what cell phones were. People were still “paging” on their “beepers”, she recalled.

Aros is Pueblo’s newest attendance clerk—filling in for Ms. Rosalie Sinteral, who retired in December. But, she is not new to working in T.U.S.D.

“I know this [attendance office] work extremely well,” Aros said. “I could do this job in my sleep.”

Prior to returning to Pueblo, Aros worked at Pistor Middle School for seven years; then, she moved to Hohokam Middle School until the facility closed, at which time she transitioned to Tucson High Magnet School, where she remained for nearly four years.

Following graduation from Pueblo High School in the spring of 2000, Aros (whose maiden name was Miranda) attended Pima Community College with a soccer scholarship.

“Sports were always my passion in high school,” Aros said. “In fact, they still are.”

She added that although she loves her job, sometimes she chuckles at some of the excuses parents give for their children being absent or tardy.

“I could probably write a book about all of the stories I’ve heard [from parents],” Aros said. “As silly as some of the excuses are, we [the attendance office] have to accept them as legitimate.”

Except for the pay phones being removed from campus, Aros said that Pueblo “pretty much looks the same” as it did back in 2000.

“It’s good to be back,” she said.

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!”

Welcome, Ms. Imelda Cortez: ‘Returning The Favor’

by Celestina Marinez

Imelda Cortez (Black Shirt) helping Aurora Montoya.

Former Pueblo student Ms. Imelda G. Cortez has returned to Pueblo to teach junior and senior English. As a 2009 high school graduate, Cortez began her collegiate career at the University of Arizona where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Mexican-American studies; later, she earned a Master’s degree in higher education.

Cortez explained that she decided to become a teacher while attending middle school. After attending Pueblo and graduating eight years ago in 2009, she definitely knew that she wanted to become a Warrior alumni.

“It’s [returning to Pueblo is] really like coming home,” Cortez said. “I feel like I’m returning the favor.”

She added that she hopes that all of her students will pass her class and earn their language arts credits in order to graduate from high school.

“I have to admit that I truly like all of my students this school year, and I can honestly say that I don’t have one bad class,” Cortez said.

This doesn’t mean that Cortez doesn’t have her fair share of teacher challenges.

“Finding content that is appealing to all students can be challenging,” she said. “Most of my students—not all—don’t seem to be interested in anything [at this time of the school year]. This makes teaching harder.”

She added that she has also learned that that treating students with dignity and respect is key to having a good relationship with them.

“Students reciprocate those actions [dignity and respect] with their teachers,” Cortez said. “I have also learned that it’s best to be as transparent as you can with students as opposed to making things up. One of my classroom agreements is: no one knows everything, but together we know a lot.”

Cortez also helps out with the “IAMME” Club—providing support and resources for what the students want to do for the club and school.

One of Cortez’ current students, senior Riana Lara, said, “I love being in Ms. Cortez’ English class because I’m able to speak my opinion and how she motivates and engages her students to complete all of the great activities that she assigns.”