Pueblo High School

Pueblo Hiking Club

From the beginning of the year, Mr. Ernesto Somoza, who is a CTE teacher, has started a new hiking club that meets monthly for Pueblo students who want to explore the Arizona mountain ranges.

This club consists of 15 Pueblo students, Somoza said. Their first meeting was on Sept. 2, when they discussed their first hike to Tumomac Hill. The club meets on the first Thursday of each month to discuss their next hike, and on the third Saturday of each month, the actual hike takes place, normally at 8 a.m. Transportation is provided, and each hike takes about 1-2 hours.

Pueblo Hiking Club Flier 2015 — Join the Hiking Club

President Luis Molina, a senior, encourages students to join because “it’s a lot of fun, and the more the merrier.”

“The purpose of this club is to gain appreciation for nature and to interact with one another,” said Somoza.

As the year goes on, Somoza explained that the hikes will eventually become more complex. Some of the hikes include Sabino Canyon and Picacho Peak.

Everyone is encouraged to join this club, and if you want monthly reminders, text: @hikepueblo to 81010; also listen for reminders on Warrior Radio.

Mr. Burney Starks Honored In Game

By Avae Velasquez

On Oct. 10, Pueblo’s boys and girls basketball hosted the first annual Burney Starks Alumni Game. Along with Assistant Principal Frank Rosthenhausler, former coaches and athletes participated against current athletes.

Starks passed shortly after the end of the last school year, and as a Warrior who graduated in 1968, he always strived to make things better, and it was always a dream of Starks for alumni to play against current players.

1st Annual Burney Starks Alumni Game (Photo courtesy of Kuuleme Stephens)

“We thought we’d pay homage to Starks,” Rosthenhausler said, “and we organized this game to bridge the gap between the alumni and current students.”

There were about 20 alumni players at the game, and they played our current boys’ basketball team during the first half and played against our current girls’ basketball team during the second half.

Senior Danielle Orozco said, “The game was fun because it was something that I’ve never really done before. Plus, it was a really touching thing to do for Burney.”

Rosthenhausler said this was a great event, and he’s happy to see future, current, and alumni faces all enjoying the same activity.

Pueblo Pride Day ~ October 27, 2015

By Iram Arce

October 27 was Pueblo Pride Day, a time when our Warriors and other volunteers met after school in the cafeteria at 3:30 p.m., and for an hour, they cleaned and better our Pueblo community.

Pueblo Pride Day Warrior Volunteers — Volunteers participating in Pueblo Pride Clean-Up Day

This event, which was started by the Science Club (sponsored by Dr. Lolita Levine) was bigger and better this year. CCLC provided snacks and water for participants who worked hard to beautify our campus.

Students and volunteers performed duties such as weeding the garden, picking up trash and painting the red drive way curve.

“Everybody is smiling, and that’s the best part,” Levine said. “It’s nice to see teachers and students working side by side.”

Students were separated into different groups in the cafeteria, which will each be led by their own leaders for different sections at school.

Pueblo Pride Day Elizabeth Raizk — Ms. Elizabeth Raizk hauling off some brush.

One of the group leaders is Ms. Elizabeth Raizk, one of Pueblo’s science teachers, and she was in charge of the garden group.

“This is how we show our Pueblo community that we are doing more things [community service] to make Pueblo a better place,” Raizk said. “Pueblo gets cleaner, and it shows our community how great we are. This event is a win-win scenario.”

“I really want to emphasize our school and nourish our soul,” Levine said. “This is not just a school—it is our home.”

Kenya’s Questions ~ What Would You Fix About Pueblo?

By Kenya Acosta

The title is self-explanatory. Every two weeks or so, I will ask students to respond to a particular question. Their answers will vary from simple to complex responses. Here is this edition’s question:

What would you fix about Pueblo?

“Students mistreat the school, and they really shouldn’t.” (Leslie Robles, senior)

“They [teachers] don’t care about their students’ feelings, they only care about their job.” (Daniella Contreras, senior)

“The air conditioning isn’t right. They want us to work in a proper environment, yet they don’t provide proper temperatures for class. A lot of teachers have to use their own money when the school should be providing the supplies. School trips aren’t handled efficiently. The athletics department and our academic programs don’t get the same amount of treatment or funding, and there really should be a balance.” (Jose C. Martinez, senior)

“The lunch lines are horrible in first lunch. By the time you get your lunch, it’s time to go.” (Frankie Verdugo, senior)

“The food has no flavor and I have no morale to keep going. Our staff here at Pueblo wants us to do our best, but we can’t do that by eating this quality of food. We also need more supplies for teachers; they shouldn’t have to pay for classroom supplies with money out of their own pockets.” (Hector Jimenez, senior)

“The food is nasty.” (Emilio Grijalva, senior)

“The sausage was literally hanging out of my corn dog during lunch because it was so soggy and wet. What type of corn dog is wet? I can’t stand the cheese here, too, it’s disgusting.” (Mina Van Garder, senior)

“We don’t get enough food.” (Payton Rios-Sanders, senior)

“The ratio between students and teachers should be way different. There should be fewer students in our classes; a class of 35 or more is ridiculous.” (Kimberly Lerma, junior)

“I think that we don’t have enough time in our classes.” (Eneida Flores, senior)

“I took credit recovery ‘Edgenuity’ during the summer. The site crashed the last few days, and once I finally got back on the site, all of my work was gone. I feel like our school should spend our money more wisely. I remember during my sophomore or junior year; we spent over $4,000 dollars on our Cyber Café that nobody uses. They’re planning on doing tutoring there, but we have a library for that.” (Roman Romero, senior)

“There’s almost never soap in the restroom, and that’s absolutely disgusting.” (Shaira Perez, senior)

“Sanitation is a super huge problem. There’s no toilet-paper, no paper towels. This is illegal, isn’t it?” (Aaron Andrade, senior)

Seniors, Good Luck On The ACT!

By Felicity Aguilar

This is that time of the year that many seniors start to realize that graduation is only seven months away, and with a new quarter underway, it’s time to start swallowing that reality pill. Many seniors are preparing and planning for a collegiate future, but to do this, they will first have to take the ACT.

Students must achieve a score of 22-36 on the ACT to receive a scholarship in and/or out of state.

TUSD pays for all juniors to take the ACT in April, and there are opportunities to take the ACT retakes throughout the school year. A student has numerous opportunities to obtain their desired score.

“You’re ignorant for not being serious about the test, because even I wasn’t, now I know how important that test was and how it could’ve helped me,” said senior Alejandro Arguellez.

Arguellez came to Pueblo to follow his dream: to play basketball. He has dreams of playing for UCLA and joining the NBA. However, he will first need to take the ACT, which he plans to do tomorrow, Oct. 24.

“I knew that I needed to prepare for the test because I learned a long time ago that not preparing is preparing for failure,” Arguellez said.

Another senior, Kia Guedes, has been studying for the ACT, which she will also take this Saturday, October 24. She plans to score high because she has prepared for this test. For the remainder of this school year, she will maintain her high GPA and continue to work diligently to earn a scholarship to the University of Arizona.

Pueblo Sal Varela Kia Guedes ACT Testing Preparation — Sal Varela and Kia Guedes prepare for ACT Test

“I’m not nervous,” Guedes said. “I’ve taken the pre-ACT, and I’ve been preparing for the real test since the first day of this school year.” She paused and added, “I think that three months of preparing for the ACT is more than enough time. I just need to go in tomorrow and take this test seriously opposed to junior year when I first took it.”

Salvador Varela, a senior who will be graduating with the Class of 2016, is also planning to take the ACT this Saturday. Varela has been preparing since the beginning of the summer and admits that he is a little nervous. His plans are to attend Pima Community College; he then plans to transfer to the U of A.

“I feel pretty confident about this test, because a lot is expected,” said Varela. “It’s nice to know that I can retake this test if I bomb it tomorrow, but I’m feeling fairly confident about this test.”

For more information on taking the ACT, students can see Mr. Ruben Romero in the College and Career Center; you can email him ruben.romero@tusd1.org or contact him at (520) 225-4542.