Pueblo High School

Varsity Football Sails to 4-2; Remains Hopeful For 4 Last Games

By Esperanza Landeros

Pueblo vs. Rincon ready to kick off season

As of week six of the varsity football season, our Warriors have cruised into a 4-2 record, one of the more successful seasons in recent years—and celebrating some very triumphant moments along the way.

The season began on Friday, Aug. 18—at Rincon. Pueblo was a heavy favorite to win—and that is exactly what our Warriors did. The final score was 58-0! This game definitely set the tone for a winning season.

A week later, on Friday, Aug. 25, Pueblo was victorious again. After 28 years, the Warriors edged out the Sunnyside Blue Devils, with a final score of 7-6. Junior Omar Ibañez was known as “Sunnyside’s Nightmare” that evening for completing countless sacks. In fact, he earned “Player of the Week” and was interviewed on Channel 4 (KVOA).

The winning streak continued—as we hosted the Cholla Chargers for the first time in recent years. This evening coincided with Pueblo’s Homecoming on Friday, Sept. 8. Omar Ibañez had six touchdowns during the game, and our Warriors slaughtered the Chargers with a final score of 66-46. Coach Sanders said, “We prepared ourselves and worked hard. Also, we knew what we were doing—offensively and defensively.”

Unfortunately, the undefeated Warriors were devastated after their first loss of the season when they played the next week, on Friday, Sept. 15, as the Walden Grove Red Wolves devoured Pueblo, with a final score of 40-8. “Despite the loss, players stayed positive and continued to fight like the Warriors we are,” said senior Ernesto Estopellan.

Game Five of the season also proved to be heartbreaking—as Pueblo traveled to Salpointe Catholic High School. Although the Warriors lost this game by a score of 42-0, the loss allowed them to become even more motivated to be triumphant during their next game. Many defensive players needed to improve their tackling skills.

The Warriors did, indeed, come back fiercer than before—playing Rio Rico on Thursday, Sept. 28. Senior Raúl German completed three sacks, and defense put up a great fight and didn’t let any of the Hawks come through our Warriors. In the end, our Warriors had the Hawks flying back to their nest. Junior Ruben Rivera scored three touchdowns alone in this game, and the offense also did great, but senior quarterback Dominic Carrillo had difficulty completing the passes to add more to the scoreboard. The final score was 35-0.

The Warriors still have four games left this season, including Friday, Oct. 6. The team wishes that we continue to have our Warriors support us at each of these games.

Mr. Martin Revs-Up Hope At Pueblo

By Frankie Valenzuela

Mr. Martin going over an assignment with one of his students

Former Pueblo teacher, Mr. Valentino Martin, is rejoining the Pueblo staff. After three years of teaching at Rincon High School, Mr. Martin is back here at Pueblo to teach auto.

He graduated from Chinle High School in 1989, then enrolling in the American Technical Center in Phoenix in 1990; he graduated the following year.

“My first day back at Pueblo was like a homecoming,” said Martin.

He said that he has many goals this year; his primary goal, however, is to ensure that his students who are taking his class can walk into any shop and know what to do. Martin said he hopes to improve the vision of hope here at Pueblo,

Martin said, “I want to instill in my students the message that there is hope after high school. That is the best thing to have when students graduate from high school.”

Junior Andrew Romero said, “Mr. Martin makes auto more interesting and has the key to open the doors of endless knowledge about the world of automobiles. I am really looking forward to learning a lot from him this year.”

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.

Pueblo Homecoming King & Queen 2017

by Kyra Ycedo

The Pueblo varsity football team (against the Cholla Chargers) weren’t the only winners at homecoming on Friday, Sept. 8. It was no surprise that Seniors Roman Estrella and Samantha Moreno were announced as homecoming royalty.

During halftime, Roman and Samantha were crowned king and queen, proudly representing Pueblo and affirming a long-lasting school tradition.

“I asked all of my friends to help us out and nominate us,” said Roman. “Honestly, I just wanted to make sure that Sam was crowned our queen, as cheesy as that sounds.”

Queen Samantha said, “I’m glad that I’m able to say that I won something during my high school years. Honestly, I didn’t really think that people knew me or liked me enough for me to be their queen.”

Many seniors expressed their thumbs-up for this year’s homecoming royalty.

Senior, Aldo Reyes said, “I think Roman and Samantha deserved to win. Even though they were the only candidates, I was really happy for them!”

Senior Lizbeth Oquita said, “I’m so happy for them [Roman and Samantha]! They really deserved to win.”

Mr. Nicolas Pitts: ‘Pueblo Is the Place To Be’

by Bryan Bueno

Mr. Nicolas Pitts is one of the many new staff hired here at Pueblo High School this year, and he said that he is definitely ready to teach!

As a new biology teacher, Pitts feels as if he can make a huge impact on the Pueblo freshmen in his classroom.

“I think biology is the foundation of biotech, which is the future of technology,” he said. “I really want them to make that connection.”

After graduating from Tucson High Magnet School in 2009 and then from the University of Arizona, Pitt traveled to Columbia (South America); he lived there from the ages of 23 through 25.

Pitts said he applied for teaching position at Pueblo because “it’s close to home and his culture” and because he wanted to help build Pueblo’s rich community.

“I feel good very comfortable at Pueblo so far,” Pitts said.

Besides his love of many sports (including riding his bike), Pitts said that he loves to practice speaking Spanish. Pitts said that he also likes “reggaeton” music and claims that Farruko is his favorite artist in this music genre.

At 26 years old, Pitts said that he has a lot planned for his first year at Pueblo, despite not knowing for sure how much longer he wants to remain in Tucson.

“If I stay in Tucson, Pueblo is the place where I want to be,” he said.

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.”