JAGUAR TIMES STUDENTS SERVING THE SOUTH EAST HIGH SCHOOL COMMUNITY SINCE 2006 V olume 6 Issue 5 June, 2011 INSIDE THE TIMES Jaguar Calendar June June 21, 2011- Graduation Rehersal June 23, 2011- Graduation June 24, 2011- School Ends IN NEWS: The National Scholas- tic Press Association and the Journalism Education Association host a national high school journalism convention. IN OPINION: Many late students are causing long lines at the PRC window. But who is at fault? Why are the lines so long? IN FEATURES: It went from Aca- demic Prep (AP) academy to the Cali- fornia academy, and is now changing into the Health and En- vironmental Science academy. IN SPORTS: For many teams it is not easy to have a perfect season without losing any games. The varsity boy’s baseball team, coached by Mr. Coria, put a lot of ef- fort into having that perfect season. IN ARTS AND ENTER- TAINMENT: As the seniors per formed their last show, the Senior Spectacular, they gave it their all. Solar Panels to be built during School Time By Manuel Meja Special Assignment Writer According to Ms. Sotomayor, the school principal, and Diana Corral, an assistant principal South East High School will be under going a construction project to build solar panels on parking lots A and C. Park- ing lot A, which is located on the left side of the school’s parking lot and parking lot C, which is located on the right side of the school’s lunch covered eating area. “Based on the meetings, it seems it’s a pretty much a done deal-99.9% [going to] happen,” said Sotomayor. The two parking lot areas will be the areas mostly affected by the solar panel’s construction. The construction projects date is still uncertain due to the solar panel company, SolarCity, not having a concrete date. According to the information given by Sotomayor and Corral, the construction will begin sometime during the fall. “SolarCity is the nation’s leading SolarCity generates more than electricity- Logo of the company that was contracted by LAUSD full-service solar provider for homeowners, businesses and government organizations— the first company to provide solar power system design, financing, installation and monitoring services from a single source.” According to their website: http://www.so- larcity.com/default.aspx , it is this company who will be in charge of the entire sola panel project. The personnel in charge of the proj- ect are Matthew Tellers, who is the school’s Complex Project Manager, Peter Alvarado, who is the school’s Plant Manager, and Corral. Corral’s role, is to ensure that all the teachers in the school campus have the needed materials at all time. Alvarado, who knows the school campus inside and out, is in charge of making the calls to clear up any air conditioner problems, tagging, and overall maintaining the campus. Finally, Tellers is responsible for the many schools within the city of South Gate. “He becomes the liaison between us and his boss,” said Sotomayor.Many may be wondering where the funds for this project are coming from. All the funds for the proj- ect come from bond money. Bond money is money set aside by the city, county or state to assist buyers that qualify for the program to get down payment assistance. Also, some bond moneys as in this case are also set aside by city, county or state and are used for beautification projects, which are projects that aim to improve the school. The overall goal of this project by the Local District who contacted SEHS to pilot these new projects on the solar panels aims to experiment how much money and energy is conserved by going green on solar energy. Check out Manuel Meja’s blog http://manuelmejablog.blogspor.com/ By Daniel Rdoriguez Editor-in-Chief(Design) Ifath Casillas, a senior from the California Academy, received praise from Principal Sotomayor at the Se nior Awards night for obtain- ing the prestigious title of “Valedictorian.” In short, a “Valedic- torian” is a student who re- ceives the highest academic achievements of the graduat- ing class. “It’s an honor to be Vale- dictorian. All my hard work has payed off,” said Casillas. The road to Valedicto- rian was not easy for her, but “it’s been a dream to be num- ber one,” said Casillas. At the Senior awards night ceremony, Casillas also received academic excellence in the areas of social science and English. “Ever since kinder- garten, I worked so hard, so that my teachers would not get mad,” said Casillas. “I was surprised...I didn’t take AP English litera- ture my senior year, so I figured that it would have went to a student who took both AP English Lan guage and AP English Literature, but t hen I realized that this award was from the Department of English and not from my academy,” said Casillas. Hard work pays off. Out of the eight AP courses offered, Casillas took six. Casillas will be attending Stan- ford University in the fall, but many other schools wanted Casillas because of her academic excellence. “Harvard, Yale, USC, UCLA, Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, and University of San Diego, [but] I chose Stanford,” said Casillas. But she was not only accepted because of her impressive GPA--4.275, Casillas also volunteered her time at marathons and at food banks. As the President of the National Honor Society, she was able to find nu- merous opportunities to volunteer. Out of all the colleges that she got accepted to, Stanford was her first choice because it has been a childhood dream to attend this prestigious school. “Ever since kindergarten, I worked so hard, so that my teachers would not get mad,” said Casillas. At Stanford, Casillas intends to pursue a political science major. “ I was going to be doctor, but there is too much liability,” said Casillas. Casillas encourages all students “to work hard and don’t slack off, to stay true to who are, to never give up on things when they get hard, and to never let others get to you.” Check out Daniel Rodriguez’s blog at http://lechatnoir93.blogspot.com/ Casillas named Valedictorian Hard work pays off- Casillas, with an impressive 4.275 GPA, anxiously awaits college life at Stanford University. Photo by Daniel Rodriguez Check out the senior page! From all the staff at The Jaguar Times, We say “good-bye” to the class of 2011
Transcript
JAGUAR TIMESSTUDENTS SERVING THE SOUTH EAST HIGH SCHOOL COMMUNITY SINCE 2006
Volume 6 Issue 5 June, 2011
INSIDE
THE
TIMES
Jaguar
Calendar
June
June 21, 2011-
Graduation Rehersal
June 23, 2011-
Graduation
June 24, 2011-
School Ends
IN NEWS:
The National Scholas-tic Press Association and the Journalism Education Association host a national high school journalism convention.
IN OPINION:
Many late students are causing long lines at the PRC window. But who is at fault? Why are the lines so long?
IN FEATURES:
It went from Aca-demic Prep (AP) academy to the Cali-fornia academy, and is now changing into the Health and En-vironmental Science academy.
IN SPORTS:
For many teams it is not easy to have a perfect season without losing any games. The varsity boy’s baseball team, coached by Mr. Coria, put a lot of ef-fort into having that perfect season.
IN ARTS
AND ENTER-
TAINMENT:
As the seniors performed their last show, the Senior Spectacular, theygave it their all.
Solar Panels to be built during School Time
By Manuel MejaSpecial Assignment Writer
According to Ms. Sotomayor, the school principal, and Diana Corral, an assistant principal South East High School will be under going a construction project to build solar panels on parking lots A and C. Park-ing lot A, which is located on the left side of the school’s parking lot and parking lot C, which is located on the right side of the school’s lunch covered eating area. “Based on the meetings, it seems it’s a pretty much a done deal-99.9% [going to] happen,” said Sotomayor. The two parking lot areas will be the areas mostly affected by the solar panel’s construction. The construction projects date is still uncertain due to the solar panel company, SolarCity, not having a concrete date. According to the information given by Sotomayor and Corral, the construction will begin sometime during the fall. “SolarCity is the nation’s leading
SolarCity generates more than electricity- Logo of the company that was contracted by LAUSD
full-service solar provider for homeowners, businesses and government organizations—the fi rst company to provide solar power
system design, fi nancing, installation and
monitoring services from a single source.” According to their website: http://www.so-larcity.com/default.aspx , it is this company who will be in charge of the entire sola panel project. The personnel in charge of the proj-ect are Matthew Tellers, who is the school’s Complex Project Manager, Peter Alvarado, who is the school’s Plant Manager, and Corral. Corral’s role, is to ensure that all the teachers in the school campus have the needed materials at all time. Alvarado, who knows the school campus inside and out, is in charge of making the calls to clear up any air conditioner problems, tagging, and overall maintaining the campus. Finally,
Tellers is responsible for the many schools within the city of South Gate. “He becomes the liaison between us and his boss,” said Sotomayor.Many may be wondering where the funds for this project are coming from. All the funds for the proj-ect come from bond money. Bond money is money set aside by the city, county or state to assist buyers that qualify for the program to get down payment assistance. Also, some bond moneys as in this case are also set aside by city, county or state and are used for beautifi cation projects,
which are projects that aim to improve the school. The overall goal of this project by the Local District who contacted SEHS to pilot these new projects on the solar panels aims to experiment how much money and energy is conserved by going green on solar energy.
Check out Manuel Meja’s bloghttp://manuelmejablog.blogspor.com/
By Daniel RdoriguezEditor-in-Chief(Design)
Ifath Casillas, a senior from the California Academy, received praise from Principal Sotomayor at the Se
nior Awards night for obtain-ing the prestigious title of “Valedictorian.” In short, a “Valedic-torian” is a student who re-ceives the highest academic achievements of the graduat-ing class. “It’s an honor to be Vale-dictorian. All my hard work has payed off,” said Casillas. The road to Valedicto-rian was not easy for her, but “it’s been a dream to be num-ber one,” said Casillas. At the Senior awards night ceremony, Casillas also received academic excellence in the areas of social science and English.
“Ever since kinder-garten, I worked so hard, so that my teachers would not get mad,” said Casillas.
“I was surprised...I didn’t take AP English litera-
ture my senior year, so I fi gured that it
would have went to a student who took both AP English Lan
guage and AP English Literature, but then I realized that this award was from the Department of English and not from my academy,” said Casillas. Hard work pays off. Out of the eight AP courses offered, Casillas took six. Casillas will be attending Stan-ford University in the fall, but many other schools wanted Casillas because of her academic excellence. “Harvard, Yale, USC, UCLA, Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, and University of San Diego, [but] I chose Stanford,” said Casillas. But she was not only accepted because of her impressive GPA--4.275, Casillas also volunteered her time at marathons and at food banks. As the President of the National Honor Society, she was able to fi nd nu-
merous opportunities to volunteer. Out of all the colleges that she got accepted to, Stanford was her fi rst
choice because it has been a childhood dream to attend this prestigious school. “Ever since kindergarten, I worked so hard, so that my teachers would not get mad,” said Casillas. At Stanford, Casillas intends to pursue a political science major. “ I was going to be doctor, but there is too much liability,” said Casillas. Casillas encourages all students “to work hard and don’t slack off, to stay true to who are, to never give up on things when they get hard, and to never let others get to you.”Check out Daniel Rodriguez’s blog at http://lechatnoir93.blogspot.com/
Casillas named Valedictorian
Hard work pays off- Casillas, with an impressive 4.275 GPA, anxiously awaits college life at Stanford University. Photo by Daniel Rodriguez
Fernando GarciaKarla RodriguezGregory SotoJosue Benavides
The Jaguar Times generally an eight-page publication produced by the South East High School
Journalism department. The entire student body, the primary audience, receives the paper free of charge to encourge readership and to ensure the showcasing of student journalistc work. The secondary audience for the paper is the faculty, staff, and administration of the school district. Other audi-ences include members of the local community, other school journalism programs throughout the country, and organizations that promote the develop-ment of scholastic journal-ism. Without their support, the department cannot maintain a high-quality program. The newspaper at-tempts to inform and enter-tain it’s audience in a fair, and accurate manner on all
subjects that affect read-ers. The publication seeks also to provide a forum for the opinion students, the staff of the paper, and the faculty, thus encourag-ing an exchange of ideas and opinions on issues of importance to the readers. Although the staff will allow constructive criticism of any part of the paper before publication, fi nal authority for content of the paper rests solely in the hands of journalism students. In accordance with State of California Education Code 48907, despite the court ruling in Hazelwood v.. Kuhlmeier; administrators rely on the adviser and staff to make all content decisions.
Follow us on Twitter
http://twitter.com/jaguartimes
South East journalism students attendconventionBy Gabriela GomezEditor-in-chief
Every year the National Scholastic Press Association and the Journalism Education Associa-tion host a national high school jour-nalism convention.The fi rst convention of the year was held at the Mariott Hotel in Anaheim in April. More than 4,000 peo-ple attended this event, and the South East High School newspaper staff and their adviser, Mr. Cottom, were able to attend as well. Students from Mr. Ayala’s Journalism 1 class also attendeded. Erika Alcala, a se-nior and news editor for the Jaguar Times was one of the SEHS students to attend the event. “It was a good experience and I learned a lot mainly on news
reporting,” said Alcala about the convention. At the convention there were many professional learning opportu-nities for stu-dents from all media types such as newspaper, online, broadcast, and yearbook. Aside from that, there were many hands-on workshops, discussion groups, and high profi le key-
note speakers such as Lisa and Laura Ling. Lisa Ling is best known for being the Co-executive producer and host of “Our America” on the Oprah Winfrey Network, and Laura Ling is known for being jailed in North Ko-reaafter crossing from the Peoples Re-public of China for entering North Korea illegally.
SEHS joins member schools participating in the California Schalastic Journalism initiative attend JEA National Convention for the fi rst time.
The event happens twice a year during the spring and fall. The fall of 2011 it will be held in Min-neapolis, Minnesota and will return to the west spring of 2012 in Seattle, Washington.
check out out gabriela gomez’s blog at
gabrielagomez’sblog.blogspot.com
Page 2
Make use of a Work Permit for the SummerBy Manuel MejiaRepoter Work permits. The biggest issue for some students who want to start working over the summer. Many of today’s students don’t have a lot of information about what is need-ed to get a job, the required age to be able to work, or how long they are allowed to work. Mr. Wolf, who works in the college center and is located in P105, is in charge of issuing the application for the work permits. “Basically the students have to fi ll out the ap-plication and that’s all,” said Wolf. The state of California labor law for children states that when a student, is attending school but wants to work then, a work permit issued by the school is required. The work permit also provides a gen-eral summary of minors’ work regulations. It touches on the hours of work when school is in session, when school is not on session, and spread of hours. According to the permit,
Example of work permit
students are able to work from the ages of 12-17 under an issued work permit. Twelve and thirteen year old students can work two hours per day and four hours max per week. Fourteen and fi fteen year old students can work three hours per school day or eight hour per non-school day, therefore; working no more than 18 hours max per week. Sixteen and seventeen year old students can work four hours per school day or eight hours per non-school day a total of 48 hours max per week. A student can be denied or have their issued work permit revoked if the student re-ceives a grade check and is failing or doing bad in most of their classes. A letter is then sent to the employer of the employee to notify them that the students work permit has been revoked for academic purposes. Students interested in working over the summer can stop by the college center in P105 to talk to Wolf.
Check out Manuel Meja’s at manuelmejablog.blogspot.com
Meet The Press
“My experience in the Jaguar Times was an enjoyable one. I’ve met some horrible people and It’s been a complete waste of time. That’s not true. It’s been a great class to end the year with. Participat-ing in the newspaper gives you a chance to voice your opinion and write for the sections you like. I would take this class again.“ -Adriel Estrada
“My experience in the Jaguar Times has been the best experience that I’ve ever had. The Jaguar Times helped me progress in my writing and photography. I got to meet a lot of new people along the way and It’s very exciting. I don’t regret anything. I hope that next year I will continue this long exciting and hard working experience.”-Denise Robledo
“I was a Junior when I was first intro-duced to Journalism and honestly I never expected it to be a fun learning expere-ince. Now I’m a Senior about to leave behind all I learned. Yes it was a bumpy ride, but in the end I appreciate it all.” -Karla Contreras
“When I am able to resist the tempta-tion to judge others, I can see then as teach-ers of forgiveness in my life, reminding me that I can only have peace of mind when I forgive rather than judge.”-Manuel Mejia
“Journal-ism isn’t what I expected, it ended up being really interest-ing, I learned a lot while being in Journalism.”-David Ramirez
“As I entered the classroom I wasn’t sure what to expect. Even though I’ve only been here a semester, I’ve met amazing people who helped me a lot.”
-Katherine Diaz
“Even though it was sometimes tough, I don’t regret being a part of this. I met amazing people and experienced different things that I will never forget. ” -Gabriela Gomez
“At times it was dif-ficult, but honestly it was a good experience. I had fun and It was interesting. I’m glad I stayed in the class. I made friends with everyone here. I’m not that experi-enced, but everyone helped me out.” -Jazmin Alonzo
“Journalism was a great oppurtunity for me, it showed me that there are still many things left to experi-ence.”-Erika Davalos
“I’ve had a great time in the Jaguar Times. I made a lot of new friends and I will never forget all the rough times we went through with making dead-line. It’s been really fun and I will miss everyone.” -Erika Alcala
“Even though this class is stressful and difficult at times overall it has been a wonderfull experience. I have met a lot of new wonderful people, and I don’t regret being part of the Jaguar Times.-Crystal Garibaldo
“When I joined this class, I really thought that this class was going to be easy, but halfway through the year, it became really challenging. I have no regrets taking this class. It was really interest-ing to meet new people and actully get to know them. I am going to miss all my staff members. It was an honor to work with them.” -Daniel Rodriguez
Page 3
OPINION Page 4 Long Line to
Clear
AttendanceBy Karla ContrerasOpinion Editor Many late students are causing long lines ate the PRC window. When students arrive and see the long lines, right away some assume that they can come back later during the day. But with fewer personnel working at the attendance office ,it is quite difficult for them to keep up with so much. “Students should be here as early as 7:00 a.m. because it always happens that students ar-rive later, its 7:40 and we still have a long line,” said Deborah Hernan-dez, a member in the attendance office. With a smaller staff the attendance office should have a better way of distributing PRC’s in order for the process to become easier and faster for them and the students. Instead of having extra teachers volunteer at the referral room, more teachers and those students with service or parents should help out Hernandez and Martha Navia with PRC’s. Having to deal with many parents during the day plus stu-dents is a hassle, especially with just two staff members and a few service workers for each block. “We want to be able to attend to. Some parents, faculty,
some teachers come in and want to submit their attendance, and at times we get grumpy parents that complain [about the long wait],” said Hernandez. Students must become aware of the extra work that the staff is putting in for them when they decide to come to the PRC during class time. And stu-dents should take notice that that they are receiving detention everytime they do so. Now some stu-
dents are sending their parents to the attendance office and are hav-ing them clear their absences rather than waiting in line. Other parents come in angrily about that call notice they received about their son or daugh-ter being tardy or absent.To most teachers on campus it has become a No PRC-No Entrance policy, or work is not accepted without a val-id PRC excuse. But for several
students a PRCmeans nothing, to them it’s just a useless piece of pa-per.However, PRC’s are important. “They clear students attendance so they won’t have unexcused ab-sences and prevent getting those automatic machine calls home,” said Henandez.
A student writing information needed to re-cieve a PRC.
Students wait at the window for permission to re-enter class slips. Photos by Crystal Garibaldo
By Karla Contreras Opinion Editor
A few years back, it took many maufacturing jobs and it’s many employees learning and understanding in order to com-plete its responsibilities on a daily basis. Today, as the years have passed, new technology is being introduced and is making it easier for jobs but harder on people ap-plying to those specific jobs. In the past years, there has been an arrival in both the workplace and everyday activi-ties. It seems like today no job can be done without the use of technology. Some advatages such as, e-mail, the internet, fax and other forms
of technology, have modernized office tasks and made it possible to accomplish more work more quickly. Such as for those who know about technology and re-pairing because they have a higher chance at keeping a stabled job. But for others, on the other hand, it’s not the same luck. Computers, Pads, and other newly introduced gadgets are replacing employees, meaning fewer em-ployees, thus are needed or some are being let go. Education is the key to a better job, for example high school graduates continue off to college in order to succeed and find a well paid job.
All these new technol-ogy gadgets are being launched to many businesses and organiza-tions which is making success an even harder challenge. Adapting to all the newly used technology won’t be easy but it is a new era which means things change.
New Technologies take over
What do administrators think about the new 6
block schedule?
“Its [going] to be
hard for people who are behind in credits.”
“With regards to schedual-ing it will be eaisier to
have the semester,” said Ms.Góngora
“There are advanteges
and disadvanteges in tra-sition from four blocks to six
blocks.”“It will help out our struggling
students,” said Mr. Du-arte.
OPINION As the year is coming to an end and final senior activities ap-proach, students are hastily trying to clear detentions and book fees. Some are even afraid that deten-tions and book fees are what may stop them from walking the stage on the day of graduation. For others Prom was not even considered due to the many detentions and book fees they were unable to get cleared on time. During May students have been staying in during lunch, after school and some have been running back and forth across campus find-ing opportunities to get cleared off. Some senior students are just waiting with no stress knowing that they have taken care of their detentions and book fees on time, but are still forced to pay more for senior events because they are waiting for those who have not been cleared. “I had to wait longer to buy my prom ticket because not all of my friends were not cleared off… and now that I know what it feels like I do not want to take as long to buy my Gradnite ticket,” said Hernandez, from the Tech and Media academy.
For those student that have been cleared, they should take advantage of teachers and staff that are willing to help. With the help of several teachers on campus that have been generous enough to clear a number of detentions in exchange of hav-ing students stay after school, many students have been able to clear their detentions. For example, Mr. Duran
and Mr. Leiken in room B208 from the Business and Finance academy allow students to come in after school for Study Hall Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. There he offers extra credit for his stu-dents and clears two detentions for one hour. As for those students that are busy in line outside the textbook oom in order to pay their book fees or have to wait longer because the textbook guy is never there. And
when he is he is only available for a limited amount of time, which makes the process even longer for students that are in a hurry to get it over with. Therefore, senior students need to take in consideration that in order to walk om stage for gradu-ation they have to be completely cleared. And have to recognize that waiting until last minute is not only affecting themselves, but their fam-ily members.
EDITORIAL
By Jazmin Alonzo
What’s the magic num-ber? 350! Well, for the CST that is. That’s what the school’s goal is, for every student to score a 350 on all subjects. Why is this you ask? Well if the school scores are low on this test then that means it may get taken over or the teachers and prin-ciple might get fired. What can help you pre-pare for this? Some students have a routine for taking tests. One student for example, Alma Aviles, a junior in the VAPA academy says she eats a good lunch and early dinner the day before testing. She will study
until about 9:00 a.m. and go to bed so she can be well rested and get up early enough to eat breakfast. When asked if she cared about this test she said,
“I care more about it now than I did before, because I didn’t know it affected our teachers this bad. I’m trying my best to get the best score I can.”
Another student, freshman Daisy Soto in the VAPA academy,
said, “I’m trying my hardest on this test because I know if I slack off it can end so many jobs. I really hope that everyone is trying to get a 350 on their test so our school won’t look bad. Plus it looks good on our college applications.” Students like these two are ones to follow. They are good examples of what everyone should be aiming for and how everyone should be preparing themselves for their tests.
Illustration by Josue Benavides
Page 5
Why 350 matters
“That its good because you wont for-
get what you learned [when CST come up],” said Nancy
Davalos a freshman
“It’s not good especial-ly if we come in the same time,” said Teresa Novelo a freashman.
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The Biggest WinnerBy Adriel EstradaSports Editor
California and A&E Academies unite
Cal Emp
California Employers Corp
By Denise RobeldoFeatures Editor It went from Academic Prep (AP) academy to the California academy, and is now changing yothe Health and Environmental Science academy. This new academy will be the result of the merging of A&E and California. Mr. Ramirez, a history teacher who is the lead teacher of the California academy, said “[because] California academy is a small academy we wanted to change the theme [of the how California] academy works.” By combining these two academies, it will join the teachers from the A&E and Califor-nia. Teachers will still be teaching the same subject as before. These two academies are “dissolv-ing into two natural merges,” said Ramirez California and A&E both didn’t have enough electives. “For this particular academy [it] didn’t have a lot of electives, [but we are] still trying too see what students feel [about] this new academy,” said Ms. An-dres, the lead teacher of the A&E academy. Because some students lost inter-est in architecture and engineering, “I don’t think it’s fair because there are students that are highly interested in architecture and en-gineering,” said Fadul Terrones a sophomore
from the A&E academy. “It’s not fair or un-fair, [it is] more of an opportunity [for stu-dents] to emphasize anything in science and environment”, said Mr. Ramirez. There are some down sides when working with this new project; especially with the teachers, because “the theme doesn’t make a clear [interest] to the students,” said Ms. Andres. This doesn’t mean that it will be easy it is going to take some time to, “convey the some the students [there is going to be] a lot of work to build [but I know it will work],” said Andres Though California and A&E didn’t have many electives to choose from; this
new academy will provide more ben-eficial electives. “I believe [this will benefit a lot of students], we want to make sure we have pleasing electives,” said Ramirez. To go greener this new academy, “will provide a wider range for the students to get more in-volve with the community [to] connect with the community and health,” said, Andres.Maritza Rocha a sophomore from the California academy said, “Although I thought that it was a misfortune that the California academy was going
Mr. Ramirez on (left) helps students with their SLP, Andres on (right) finalizing pow-erpoint for A&E Academy.
to be taken away this new academy will help me pursue into what I want to study in the future.” “It doesn’t make a difference, “[it] is for the best, change is tough and stress-ful [but] once next year starts [it won’t be].” said Andres.
Check out Denise Rpbeldo’s blog atdeniserobeldo102.blogspot.com
Oscar Erik Portillo, a senior in the Technology and Media Academy demonstrates how hard work and dedication can pay off. Oscar has lost 50 pounds since his sophomore year. “You look at yourself, and it’s depressing.” Oscar walked into his sophomore year weigh-ing 230
pounds and with a promise to himself. He wanted to know the feeling of not be-ing labeled overweight, not having every visit to the doc-tor dominated by his urgency to lose weight. It only made the task harder that he lives in a society where the em-phasis is on being thin and attractive; the two usu
ally associated with each other. “Hearing from a doc-tor for the first time that you’re not overweight, you feel accomplished, specially doing it legit.” Oscar admits to purging, but he felt it wasn’t the right way to do it. In the long run it would cause health issues and it wouldn’t
be worth it. He began a strict regime,going vegetarian and weight lifting five days a week. He then changed his routine to doing cardio for about an hour a day. “I took this same approach until I started seeing results, it took a while, people expect results right away, it doesn’t happen like that.” Oscar took the challenge not knowing how much weight he wanted to lose. “I just kept going and
going until I realized I had lost 25 pounds, then 50.” “Erik you look so different. What’d you do man!” said a surprised cous-in Allen Portillo after a two year wait. It took a while for Oscar to finally see results, but better late than never. It’s not that he wasn’t getting any; he just wasn’t obsessed with checking his weight after every meal or after ev-
ery workout. “People who check their weight often let that affect their performance, they work super hard one day and nothing happens, so they ease up the next.” Most people would be happy losing a couple pounds, but when you lose 50 it truly is something remarkable.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
ByKatherine Diaz A & E Editor As the seniors performed their last show, the Senior Spec-tacular, they gave it their all. In the Senior Spectacular, seniors in the theater department performed pieces from through-out the year such as 100 years of Broadway, What’s this feeling?, Candy Man, Burlesque, Officer
Crumpky, Once on this Island, and many more. As the seats filled with the
audience, Kimberly Pena waited anxiously backstage. “As a senior I’ve always loved performing on stage and doing the three things I love which [are] modeling, dancing, and acting. I remember I used to be very nervous right before getting on stage, but as I performed more often I’ve im-proved more,” said Kimberly Pena, a performer who is in the California academy. Ms. Chavez inspired her students by teaching them all they have learned. “She’s been an amazing in-spiration not only with my career of choice (acting), but also in life. She’s inspired met o always try my hardest, never let people get the best of me and to love what I do,” said Jessica Lopez, an actress from the theater department. Jessica Lopez created a slide show demonstrating her appre-ciation she has towards Ms. Chavez. This has been the particular group, class of 2011, who were the
ones who started the Carnival show, which is the Halloween show. That was in freshman year, so they established many of the tradi-tions. They were also the ones who started the benefits for the special
needs students. They did that last year as well. The class of 2011was always involved in giving back. Students demonstrated their appreciation with a plaque honor-ing Ms. Chavez for greatest teacher of the year of 2011 and a slide show created by Jessica Lopez. After all the years spent to-gether, Ms. Chavez would just like to say “Always look forwards and never look backwards and try to achieve your vest best. Always do your best when you’re on stage”.
Senior Spectacular!
By Katherine Diaz A & E Editor
As the curtains opened, senior choir students successfully sang in their last concert. And their appreciation for Ms. Gragera was shown on-stage and off-stage. The chorale singers joined together with the chamber singers and sang Down by
the River which is a song composed by Neil Young, and O’magnum Mysterium a chant from the Martins of Christmas. Many students have dedicated their lives to music. They have been involved with choir since they entered high school. “Ms. Gragera has inspired me in many ways; the first way was with her voice. She
has a wonderful voice. She treats us, her class, as mature people and expects a lot from us to ensure we can do our best,” said Horacio Mar-tinez, a graduating senior. As a senior who has been in choir all his high school years, Martinez has made many suc-cessful decisions. He participates in as many shows and con-certs as possible. Many can say Martinez has dedicated his
Seniors give a memoriable performace in the SEHS Auditorium Photo byKatherine Diaz
time to helping others improve their talents. “I’ve been in choir since the second se-mester of 9th grade. In the time I’ve been in choir I learned a lot about singing and working with others.
I can say that I definitely im-proved my social skills consid-ering you meet many new faces in choir,” said Jesse Lopez, a senior and the assistant director in the choir. After being a part of most of the musicals sang during the concert, gave it his all to make his last concert the best. Many alumni students returned to perform We will always be right there to the seniors. The seniors will miss Ms. Gragera. She has made a great impact in the lives of many students, which they will never forget. As the night came to an end, the chorale students as well as the chamber students sang
Disney Dazzle.
Check out Katherine Diaz’s blog at KatheirneMauricio.blogspot.com
Theater students perform for the last time on stage. Photo by Katherine Diaz
Seniors step foot for the last time
Otis offers Summer of Art pro-gram to SEHS StudentsBy Erika Alcala
During the summer the Otis school of Arts and design will have class for any student who is 15 and older. Otis is one of the top art and design schools in the country. They are asking for any serious art student that want to enhance their art skills to participate in the pro-gram. There will be in-depth learning and rigorous courses with hands-on studio classes. The instructors are award -winning artists and they are participating to give students a chance to take a glimpse into the working lives of professional artists and to choose a students career in choice.
We need Cartoonists for the Jaguar Times for the 2011-2012 staff
Intrested? Stop by a212 for More information
Page 7
Seniors give last performance along side other theater students. Photo by Katherine Diaz
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Class of 2011A Poem by Carlos Alvarez,Senior from A&E academy
Wow, how this year seemed to passAs I look at you all I see the best classI know that seems simple to sayBut as I look back on the years I see it play-by-playI may not have started my journey with most of youOnce I came though I learned to fit in, it’s true In this school I see the differenceOur senior class can actually go the distanceSure our spirit as a class may not be the bestBut our skills and abilities have the chance to surpass the restPeople make mistakesFrom the highest mountains to the great lakesBut we can be betterI know we can, we could be the bar settersOur lights may shine brighter than any others aroundIt is up to us if we make the loudest soundThe sound which allows us to leave here great peopleWithout having been part of such surrounding evilThis all may have been a long and difficult roadAnd during that time we may have all carried a large loadBut we’re still hereHopefully with minds clearAwaiting our next adventureFor many of us going on to hear a new lectureBut before you leave, remember the great timesIf you only see the negatives, look between the linesI know we all had some good times hereI’m sure we can all show some happiness and cheerOur time at South East may be coming to a closeBut I hope I can say for all of us, that it was equivalent to the symbolic nature of a rose.
Jerezano excels in digital imaging class
Artist Spotlight : Christian Alvarado
By Daniel RodriguezEditor-in-Chief (Design) Voted “most artis-tic” of his 2011 senior class, Christian Alvarado, also as known as “Skeme,” express-es himself through graphic design. Graphic design, in short, is an art form in which you create art through soft-ware programs--think of it as a digital canvas. Alvarado has been pursuing graphic design for
about four years. His mood is source of inspiration. When I begin to a piece, I usually tend to base it on...something that affects my mood,” said Al-varado. His moods weigh heavily on his art makings, so when he is creating art, his art forms are depicted using very strong hues. For the lack of color, Alvar-do’s image, “Nothing like that Good Ol‘ City Air,” has deep, romantic hues of or-
ange and red and these colors are exaggerated through the billowing black smoke com-ing from the factories. The distinct contrast indefinitely sets the mood. “ Sometimes [an art piece] can be a very jubilant piece but then there will be a more melancholic piece...[that is the] complete opposite,” said Alvarado. The piece, as a whole, is inspired by Shepard Fairey, one of Alvarado’s most inspira-tional influences. “He made
a piece that puts a sarcastic twist to the polluted sunsets of an industrious city,” said Alvarado. He also looks up to the street artists, Banksy. “[Banksy] doesn’t use the excuse that graffiti is art. Al-though it is ‘vandalism,’ he expresses powerful messages through his artwork. As he leaves SEHS, he is going to venture into the art field. “I am going to pursue a career in art. I plan to
become a graphic designer. I will open a print company and I will also create my own clothing brand,” said Alvarado.He is attending the Fash-ion Institute of Design & Merchandising(FIDM), a prominent art institution in California.
“Nothing like that Good Ol’ City Air” Courtesy of Christian Alvarado
By Daniel RodriguezEditor-in-Chief (Design)
In the digital im-aging class at South East High School, Mr. Jordan gets to see a completely different perspective of a student’s artistic expres-sion because students are expected to use digital cameras, make movies, and use image manipula-tion software’s like Pho-toshop. According to Mr. Jordan, one student stands out from the rest of his students this year. Karen Jerezano, a junior from of the A&E academy, is able to
harness Mr. Jordan’s teachings and apply them to her art. “I took intro to art, [but] my skills have improved...from just sketches,” said Jereza-no. Although she does not want to pur-sue art--“I’m more into medicine; I [would] rather be a pediatrician,” expressed Jerezano--she loves making art as a hobby. “It makes me stress-free,” said Jereza-no.In her art piece, she is able to Photoshop herself in the solemn setting,
some backwoods loca-tion, and it gives off a serene feeling to the work as a whole. Whenever she feels inspired, she has the urge to make art. “I just draw what comes to mind,” said Jerezano Her friends en-courage her art making. “They admire [my art],” said Jerezano. Because she took digital imaging, she feels that she has become more artistic and has dis-covered a way to express herself more freely.
Check out Daniel Rodriguez’s blog atlechatnoir93.blogspot.com
“Untitled“ Courtsey by Karen Jerezano
Page 8
SPORTS Page 9
Curveball season for baseball
By Gabriela GomezEditor- in- Chief
For many teams it is not easy to have a perfect season with-out losing any games. The varsi-ty boy’s baseball team, coached
by Mr. Coria, put a lot of effort into having that perfect season. “We prepared by getting our practice in a practice league
that we entered. We played teams that we usually don’t play so we could be ready for the season,” said Bryan Martin, a senior on the baseball team. Even though the base-ball team wasn’t able to get that perfect season, they finishedwith a very respectable record of five wins and seven losses. Senior Eddie Rodriguez who is a utility player on the team,meaning he can play mul-tiple positions on the field said that the team had high expectations for this season. “Our season record last year was ten wins and two lost games, getting us second place
in the Eastern League, and this year we had high expectations to take the league this year. “Too bad that we couldn’t play to the level that we are capableof playing,” said Rodriguez. “This season was way different from last season. We justcouldn’t seem to find our rhythm,” said Martin on their expectations. For many this 2010-2011 baseball season was their last. “My experience on the baseball team is one to remember. The baseball field is practically where I lived,” said Rodriguez.“I am glad to say that joining the team made me who I am today and I will never regret playing.”
“It’s been tough but through every-thing, I know that it was worth itbecause my passion is just playing baseball,” said Martin on his expe-rience from being part of the team. Even if the baseball team did not take first placein the league this season, they were able to beat some of the best teams in the league. With triumphs at home and away over the Hunting-ton Park Spartans, the Jordan Bulldogs, and one win over the Garfield Bulldogs, the varsity baseball team finished the sea-son with five successful wins.
Joshua Villa (Senior) up at bat for the SEHS team during a game against Jordan
Hector Ramos (Sophomore) bats for the SEHS team
A&E takes academy basketball game championshipBy Gabriela GomezSports Editor&Erika DavalosStaff Writer
Every year Ms. Che and the leadership students organize an academy basketball game for the senior class. Seniors from the Cali-fornia, Justice and Law, Architec-ture and Engineering, Business and Finance, Tech and Media, and the Visual and Performing Arts make teams to play against the other academies to prove who is best. The Business and Finance Academy were the undefeated champions for the past six years until the 2011 senior class from the Architecture and Engineering Academy took the win this year. Mr. Duran, who was the coach for the A&E team, really wanted his team to come out as the champions this year. “Last year we lost to the Business and Finance academy by two points. ” All six teams did every-thing that they could to win, but only the A&E academy was able to do that. “We felt that we had a great shot at winning. We had a lot of players that wanted to win more than anything. Coach Duran did a great job of emphasizing the im-
portance of the game,” said Daniel Sandoval, who played for the A&E team. One of the academies that put up a fight even though they didn’t have many players was the California Academy. Jennifer Ro-driguez, who played for the Cali-fornia Academy says that it would have helped if they had more play-ers. “We didn’t have many substi-tutes for our starting players be-cause we have one of the smallest academies and not many people participated.”
This year and the 2010 se-niors from the Tech & Media Acad-emy came in second place. They beat the Justice & Law team in the first round, and were automatically put to the finals for having the most points against an opponent. “Tech & Media put up a good fight. We could have won, but things didn’t
turn out as expected,” said Fer-nando Garcia who was cheering on Tech & Media. The A&E Academy took Business & Finance out of the com-petition during the first round. “We won because we wanted it more,” said Sandoval. Mr. Duran didn’t think he had to say anything to motivate his team.
“I didn’t have to moti-vate them because I knew from the very beginning that they wanted it. It’s our last year as an acad-emy so we really wanted to win,” said Mr. Duran.
After taking out Business & Finance in the first round, they defeated the VAPA Academy. In the final against Tech & Media they did not hold back and gave it their all to win. Finally Sandoval said, “We had the best players, the best defense, and the best coach. The re-sult was all that matters to us and we’re happy with the win.”
Mr. Duran talks to his team before a game. Photo by Daniel Rodriguez
Photo by Gabriela Gomez
Photo by Gabriela Gomez
By Erika DavalosStaff Writer
Girls volleyball season is just around the corner and tryouts get tough for the many girls who want to join the team next year. Many of them who wanted to join were freshman and sophomores with a few juniors trying out as well. Tryouts were held in the gym. With many girls wanting to make the team and wanting to be seen individually, the coaches had two tryouts that were planned, but with such a great turnout they decided for another tryout. The previous players of the volleyball team had to coach the girls in order to get ready. “We were able to get to know the girls and help them in anyway possible and to be honest I think that helped them become comfortable which was what Morales intended. It re-ally helped the girls to give it their all and refrain from being scared,” said Amanda Tapia a junior and re-turner from the volleyball team. In order for the girls trying out for volleyball to understand the sport and know what the coaches
are looking for the returners of the volleyball team taught them how the sport is played. They had an opportunity to learn the basics of playing volleyball so they could be prepared for the first tryout which was held that following day.
“Well, they looked for a lot of characteristics that would benefit the program such as dedica-tion. They wanted girls that were coachable and took their advice and our lessons to heart and re-ally applied themselves,” said Tapia.
Many girls wanted to make the team, but only the best got it. The season is coming soon in September and to have a successful season they have to work hard.
Girls tryout for new volleyball season
Illustration by Fernando Garcia
Andres Sojo pitches for the SEHS team during a game against Jordan
Photo by Gabriela Gomez
Check out more from Gabriela Gomez:http://gabrielagomezsblog.blogspot.com
Check out more from Gabriela Gomez:http://gabrielagomezsblog.blogspot.com
Check out more from Erika Davalos:www.erikadavalos.blogspot.com
SPORTS Highlights of the 2010-2011 season
By Gabriela GomezEditor-in- Chief
The 2010-2011 season for all sports was either one to remember for the epic tri-umphs or for the tough losses. Many of the SEHS teams made it to either the Los An-geles City Playoffs, state playoffs, or they became Eastern League Champions. One of the teams that never fails to make the school proud was our varsity foot-ball team. Not only did they beat the South Gate Rams for the Azalea Bowl title for the sixth time, but also they were able to make it to the Los Angeles City Playoffs. Another team that was able to make history was the boys varsity soccer team. The boys were able to place first in the Eastern
League, defeat the Banning Pilots in the CIF Los Angeles City Section to become champi-ons, and they were also able to make it to the Regional Soccer Championships. Both the girls and boys swim team was able to make it to the CIF Los Angeles City Playoffs. The boys were not able to advance, but the girls made it to the second round where they were eliminated. The 2010-2011 seasons for the boy’s basketball team was not one to remember, but both the girl’s varsity team and junior varsity team were able to become champions. The girls varsity team was able to tie for second place with the Roosevelt Rough Riders in the Eastern League, they also placed second in the CIF Los Angeles City Playoffs, and were able to advance to the first round of the state
playoffs. As for the girls junior varsity team, they became the first girls JV basketball team
to place first in the Eastern League with a re-cord of 11 wins and one loss, and they also placed first in the JV Post-Season Tourna-ment where they beat the Marshall Barristers with a 52-32 point win to take that champi-onship title. The softball season might have not been as successful as the team wanted it to be, but the girls were able to make it to the Invitational Playoffs where they lost to the Fremont Pathfinders.
For our track and field team, there
were many accomplishments that will be re-membered at South East. The varsity boys track was able to place first with a team
score of 110 in the Eastern League Finals while the girls were able to place third with a team score of 85. The boys were able to move onto the CIF Los Angeles City Section Championship. Joseph Scott was able to take
a third place medal in the CIF Championship for his performance in the 800 meters event. Because he placed in that competition, Scott was able to move onto the state meet where he took last place in the 800 meters event. Even though the 2010-2011 year wasn’t successful for all of the sports at South East, they all represented the school in a positive way and they all continue to achieve goals to show the Jaguar Pride.
Runners: New and experienced
Miguel Barba holds the Azalea Bowl trophy after the SEHS win against Souh Gate High.
Photo Boys soccer team lined up before one of their CIF games. Courtesy of Mr. Martinez
The girls varsity basketball team after taking second place in the CIF Championship game.
The SEHS swim team takes a dive in one of their final swim competitions. Photo by Crystal Garibaldo
Page10
By Jazmin Alonzo
Staff Writer Ms. Morales and Ms. Gar-cia, both Physical Education teach-ers, organized SEHS’s 1st annual 5k run. The run was held after school on June 1 at the track with over 600
participants. Students, parents, teach-ers, even young children had to fin-ish the First Annual Spring 5k run of SEHS, which is 3.2 miles, in an hour and a half. Not her first 5k,
Ms. Garcia participated in the event to better herself and to feel good. In this particular run Gar-cia helped prepare for it. She set up the stands for where the regis-trations were and the water for the runners.
“This run was somewhat important to me, because I had to train myself for two weeks knowing I had to finish this run. At the end I felt good about myself. I felt like I ac-complished my mission,” said Garcia.
For Erick Flores, this was his first 5k run ever. “Well I didn’t
really prepare on my own, since I’m in the football team we all trained together,” said Flores a Junior in
TMUA Flores finished his run in
less than half an hour,
He was surprised when he actually seen how many people participated. “Honestly I didn’t expect that many
people there. I thought about like-less than 100, but when I [saw] people with numbers 600 and over
I felt like if there was a little bit of competition. But the good kind of
competition, the kind that motivates you to do better in the running, to make you want to be the first few that finish,”
said Flores. He said if he has the chance to participate in something like this again we would. He said, “At first I didn’t really want to do
it, I thought it would be boring. But at the end I felt good that I did it, it made me feellike I accomplished another thing in my life.” Flores was proud of being in the top 100 who finished
and how many people participated. “Honestly I didn’t expect that many
people
there. I thought about like less than 100, but when I [saw] people with numbers 600 and over I felt like if
there was a little bit of competition. But the good kind of competition, the kind that motivates
SENIOR
By Gabriela Gomez
Editor- in- Chief
School spirit is when
there is emotional support towards
their school. School spirit can be
shown in many different ways.
Some people might do it by wear-
ing clothes with their school colors,
going to athletic events, or when
students and teachers have a posi-
tive attitude towards their school.
Not many people are able to do all
of those things, but Javier Gutier-
rez, a senior in the Tech & Media
academy has demonstrated that he
has a lot of school spirit in all ways
possible.
Many people don’t realize
how lucky they are to be able to go
to a brand new school, and that is
part of the reason why Gutierrez has
a lot of love, support, and school
spirit for South East. “I’m always
at events showing my school spirit
because well I’m grateful that I got
the chance to come to a still new
school,” said Gutierrez.
Ever since Gutierrez
started his high school journey in
ninth grade, he knew he wanted
to be spirited like others who also
displayed school spirit. “Growing
up from freshmen to senior, I saw
a lot of spirit go around and I new I
wanted to be one of those top spir-
ited people.”
Mr. South East is a nick-
name that Gutierrez has humbly
earned from everything he has done
spirit wise for the school. He is
never asked to be at events to show
support, but he does it anyways be-
cause of his school pride. Being as
spirited as Gutierrez is something
that takes a lot of courage as well.
Not many people are able to walk
around the school wearing blue,
white, and silver paint on their face
and a cape.
“I got the courage I have today from me just doing what I do best, and that is expressing myself the way I want to. I have a lot of pride in many things I do,” said Gutierrez.
