Anti-Bullying Week Students protest UC tuition hike

donors pumped up for bl d drive

RobeRt GutieRRez

Senior Rene Wrigley prepares to get his blood drawn. Donations are an essential part of treatment for patients with life-threatening medical conditions.

By AlissA NArdo

Editor-in-Chief

The student body came together to promote the 5th annual Anti-

bullying Week this week. This year’s event was planned by the Positive Behavior Support Team (PBST).

Anti-bullying Week is aimed towards informing students of the dangers of various types of bullying, from well-known forms of bullying like physical and verbal abuse to lesser known offenses such as social and cyberbullying.

Pupil services and attendance counselor Tanya Mercado pressed cyberbullying prevention especially this year.

“We hope to raise awareness of federal laws that prosecute those that are found guilty of cyberbullying,” Mercado said. “We need to educate students that what you post today can haunt you in your college and professional careers in the future. What goes on the Internet stays on the Internet.”

The PBST consists of various faculty, peer mediators and leadership students.

“Everyone did their part to support, making posters and volunteering during lunchtime [activities],” Mercado said.

“Students approached me every day of this week, asking what they can do to spread the message.”

In preparation of the week, the team brought in Speak Out Against Bullying, Inc. to present for underclassmen during assemblies on Nov. 12. The company is a bullying awareness and prevention program dedicated to raising awareness, to help provide a safe school environment. The speaker focused on bullying prevention, cyber bullying and the use of responsible

social media.“Students are talking about

how they learned of the federal laws that protect different forms of bullying,” Mercado said. “And how the wrong decision regarding social media can have long term effects on their lives.”

The highlight event of the week was the building of a “unity chain” in the Grove all week during lunch.

“We had students make the pledge to say no to bullying by adding to our unity chain,” Mercado said. “[This] involved

having students write messages of encouragement or apologies which were linked to make an ever-growing chain.”

Today, students will wear yellow to promote friend-ship and honor the power of forgiveness.

“Your actions today don’t only impact you, but also your peers, school culture, your family and your future,” Mer-cado said. “Your actions today can have a greater impact than you think. It’s up to you to decide if that will be a positive or negative one.”

By BrANdoN Berookhim & mAtthew GoriAchkovsky

Sports Editor & Online Manager

The University of Califor-nia Regents Board ap-

proved a plan that includes a tuition increase of 5 percent a year for the next five years on Wednesday, Nov. 19. By the time current Uni seniors graduate from college, in-state tuition will rise from $12,000 to almost $16,000, not includ-ing room, board, and other ex-penses.

According to the Long Term Stability Plan, issued by the Press Room of the UC Office of the President, the plan is a response to the minimal educational support the state government supplies the UC system.

“[The plan will] enable the enrollment of at least 5,000 more California students over five years, maintain the university’s robust financial aid program, reduce the student-faculty ratio, increase course selection and lessen the time to graduation,” the Press Room stated. This rise follows a three-year freeze on tuition.

Gov. Jerry Brown and thousands of students are opposing the tuition hikes. Many Uni alumni participated in protests on their respective campuses. One such person is Shauna Satnick, Class of 2014 graduate who now attends UC Berkeley.

“I joined in the rally along side other Berkeley students to let my voice and opinion be heard in opposition to the proposal,” Satnick said. “Students shouldn’t have to sacrifice a quality, public school education based on the price tag.”

The tuition rises will affect Uni students, many of whom go on to attend these universities.

“I think that education far surpasses inflation,” college counselor Paula Van Norden said. “Unless the UC’s start giving out more Cal Grants, I don’t see the point [of the tuition increase]. It’s unfair. Students can just apply to Cal States, which are cheaper, and still get a degree.”

For any student who plans to apply, a reminder that UC applications are due on November 30.

By emmA NicolettA

Opinion Editor

About 70 Wildcats saved lives at UCLA’s an-

nual Blood Drive on Friday, Nov. 14.

The Blood Drive took place in the cafeteria and lasted from first period to fifth period.

The UCLA Blood and Platelet Center requires donors to be at least 17 years of age, weighing over 110 pounds and have a healthy iron level.

People were restricted from donating if they took certain medications, had piercings in specific areas or traveled to at-risk countries.

This year’s Blood Drive yielded significantly less signups than last year’s 160 signups. The low turnout was a result of more students being sick.

Upon arrival, donors were asked to complete a confidential

questionnaire regarding their health.

“The questions on the forms were reassuring,” senior Carlos Hernandez said. “It shows the extensiveness of care they put into the process to make sure that your blood helps others.”

Prior to actually donating blood, donors gave a small blood sample to be screened for viruses. Once their blood was approved, students and teachers sat in reclining chairs while UCLA volunteers performed blood collection.

“It’s such a good experience dealing with the medical staff,” senior Robert Gutierrez said. “They were not only very detailed in their work, but they were comforting and inviting as well.”

All participants were given snacks, drinks, stickers and even a free AMC movie ticket subsequent to the blood transfusion.

Some donors nearly fainted due to lack of hydration, however the staff was quick to handle each crisis with efficient care and confidence.

“I was able to conquer my fear and help out people in need at the same time,” senior Chloe Ney said.

The UCLA Blood Drive not only gives volunteers a

chance to train, but it saves the lives of people in fatal conditions.

“We see so many severe accidents that entail major blood loss everyday,” Ney said. “We definitely need people to donate in order to help maintain the lives of these unfortunate accident victims.”

WILDCATU N I V E R S I T Y H I G H S C H O O L

Volume LXXXIX Issue 9Friday, November 21, 2014

wildcatpaper.com@uniwildcatnews

ARiAnA Kidd

Students write positive messages on strips of paper that were later combined into a chain. This was part of an effort to educate students on the effects of bullying.

raises Awareness

Uni kicks bullying to the curb

Capitalism gobbles up Thanksgiving Cool down, Christmas!

“The only way to stop this trend of degradation is to make it

unprofitable.”

This week marks Uni’s 5th annual Anti-bullying Week. While Anti-bullying

Week came across as ineffective in previous years, the Positive Behavior Support Team (PBST) did an effective job in making the event an educational opportunity for many students across campus this year.

Last year, many students complained that Anti-bullying Week was just a parade of supposedly meaningful colored shirts with little action behind them. The week seemed lacking in anything aside from that.

Although the shirts are still here, the PBST hosted events to match the meanings of the tees.

For seemingly the first time, Anti-Bullying Week was jam-packed with informative events, from bullying prevention assemblies for the underclassmen to an anti-cyberbullying video viewing in the cafeteria.

The events put emphasis on preventing cyberbullying, as it is the most prevalent form of bullying in today’s society.

According to Nobullying.com’s 2014 study, more than half of all young people report that they have been cyberbullied at some point in their lives.

Faculty recognized the dangers in these statistics and successfully

arranged multiple ways to create open dialogues and address these widespread topics on campus.

Students learned about what types of online interactions are considered cyberbullying and what the legal and social consequences are

of deciding to bully people over the Internet.

Educating students on the consequences of cyberbullying revived Anti-bullying Week. While Uni has a low amount of reported physical and verbal bullying on campus, it is hard to tell what happens off campus and online.

With the increasing amount of dependency people have on the Internet, it is important that students are fully versed in the appropriate ways to interact with others online.

It is possible students who have cyberbullied were not aware of how their actions harmed others, and through these assemblies they learned how to fix the errors in their ways. On the other hand, this newfound knowledge allows students who are abused online to take action and put an end to it once and for all.

In the past, Uni made students only aware of bullying. This year, Anti-bullying Week finally took a proactive stand against it.

By Samantha ElmS

Creative Director

‘Tis the season for holiday joy and capitalism. Christmas music smothers radio stations

while holiday advertisements flood every outlet of the media. A once warm-hearted holiday has now grown cold due to the over commercialization of Thanksgiving and the holiday season.

Thanksgiving is a holiday that transcends religious boundaries and should be celebrated by all. It has brought people together throughout American history from the historic potluck at Plymouth that celebrated cooperation between two nations to President Lincoln’s inauguration of the holiday that brought momentary peace to a war-torn America.

Recently, Thanksgiving has cheapened into Gray Thursday. Wal-mart started down this dark path with its first Thanksgiving holiday sale in 2011. This Thanksgiving, Wal-mart has led this dehumanization by keeping its doors open for 24 hours. This means that nearly one million Wal-mart employees will have to abandon their families this national holiday. These workers might be paid at an increased rate, but the holiday hours are often involuntary as refusing to work may result in getting fired.

Retailers claim that there is a need to extend holiday sales since Black Friday is infamous for mobs of overly zealous consumers which have resulted in violence and deaths.

An overwhelming amount of people have fallen into this disgraceful tradition as 45 percent of people plan to shop on Thanksgiving this year instead of spending time with their families, according to the Accenture Holiday Shopping Survey.

This tragedy has been met with outcry. A group of Wal-mart employees plan to protest at 1,600 Wal-mart stores nationwide this Black Friday,

according to Reuters. Daughter of a Kmart employee Jillian Fisher made an online petition against Kmart Thanksgiving working conditions which has garnered over 4,500 signatures. Many franchises thank and respect their workers and families by refusing to open their doors including Costco, GameStop, Marshalls and Nordstrom. These individuals and businesses stand for what is great

about Thanksgiving: gratitude, reflection and family.

Of course some people need to work on Thanksgiving including the police, fire department and hospital staff. Even so, we should minimize working on holidays with shorter, more flexible shifts to maximize time with loved ones.

The only way to stop this trend of degradation is to make it unprofitable. Families should remain home this Thanksgiving and embrace the principles of which the holiday was founded upon. If people find the itch for discounts insatiable, then they should participate in one of the numerous online Cyber Week sales.

Let’s keep this national holiday at home where it belongs.

By RoBin Kopf

Staff Writer

As soon as the spider webs and skeleton decorations

of Halloween come down, Christmas lights and inflatable Santas start to invade people’s houses. Christmas deserves respect as a religious holiday, but it should not be forced upon those that do not celebrate it. There should be a reduced amount of hype surrounding solely Christmas.

Every year when the holidays roll around, the one holiday that seems to be on everyone’s mind is Christmas. Nowadays, the Christmas spirit does not even start in December. Christmas movies dominate TV channels and decorations are stalked onto store shelves as early as possible.

The problem with this is that Christmas is not an all-American holiday and not everyone celebrates it. The reason that many call December the “holiday season” is because different holidays are celebrated. Those that do not celebrate Christmas are surrounded with the over-excitement of it all for two months before it actually begins and may feel left out by the exclusivity of the holiday.

The U.S. is a vast melting pot of cultures and faiths, but

still, other holidays that fall in December are mostly ignored. Many schools even call the break in-between semesters “Christmas break” instead of “winter break.”It is time for people to start realizing that December does not always mean finding presents under the Christmas tree.

If Christmas was promoted starting in early to mid-December, it would give more meaning to the holiday because it might emphasize the brevity of the holiday season. Christmas is a beautiful time for many people, but too much of a good thing starts to get monotonous, especially for those that are not observant.

Christmas is meant to be a joyful time of year that promotes peace among people and spending time with loved ones. Nevertheless, the Christmas spirit does not need to start so quickly.

Instead, people could use the extra time to learn about other holiday traditions, like eating fried foods on Hanukkah and lighting candles during Kwanzaa. This will help people be more accepting of those seasonal holidays. People observing other holidays wait patiently and those that celebrate Christmas should do the same.

Page 2 November 21, 2014

OPINIONUNIVERSITY HIGH WILDCAT

University High School11800 Texas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90025

The Wildcat student newspaper is published by the Journalism 2 class at University High School. Letters should be directed to room C-261, Wildcatpaper@gmail.com or the Journalism mailbox in the main office. Please include full name and grade. Letters are subject to editorial discretion. Call (310) 914-3551, ext. 504 or email Wildcatpaper@gmail.com to place an advertisement.

Wildcat Editor-in-Chief ...............................................................Alissa Nardo Managing Editor...........................................Eduardo Cuellar-Aguilar News Editor........................................................................Sania Syed Opinion Editor............................................................Emma Nicoletta Feature Editor................................................................Shirin Enayati Sports Editor........................................................Brandon Berookhim Creative Director.........................................................Samantha ElmsOnline Manager............................................Matthew Goriachkovsky Business Manager........................................................Samantha ElmsCopy Editor......................................................................Alissa NardoPhoto Editor.................................................................Stephanie ZeckWriting Coach...................................................................James Ward Journalism Adviser......................................................Alexandria Lau

Wildcat Staff: Zoe Adams, Ashley Drew, Destiny Frazier, Jesse Herrera, Ariana Kidd, Erica Kopf, Robin Kopf, Julissa Lopez, Sha’terra Myles, Alexandria Parker, Matthew Song and Zoha Syed

***************************************** The Wildcat is a student-run, student-operated

student-produced newspaper, which does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the administration or the school at large. Staff editorials represent the collectively agreed upon opinions of the Wildcat editors. All writers published in the Wildcat are protected under Calfiornia Education Code 48907.

Samantha ElmS

November 21, 2014 Page 3

FEATUREUNIVERSITY HIGH WILDCAT

LAUSD dishes out new menu

Lopez and Blank: friends for 20 years

Shakespeareans shakes it up

“The sweet yet spicy barbeque

and salty feta cheese...keep a student’s attention.”

Brandon Berookhim

The ensemble cast of The Complete Work of William Shakespeare (Abridged) performs a comical rendition of Julius Ceasar on opening night.

By Erica Kopf & Zoha SyEdStaff Writers

Q: How did you guys meet?B: We met when we were both working at Palms Middle School.L: I was a new teacher and he was the Science Department Chairperson.B: The more we worked together, the closer we got.

Q: What brought you two together as friends rather than co-workers?B: We became closer as friends because most of the adults at Palms were in there 20’s at the time. It was just a bunch of young people that hung out together.L: Over the years we realized that we had many things in common. We both want to help students become productive individuals and really make differences in their lives… But I think we be-came closer when his father passed away and he asked for my assistance. I dropped what I was do-ing with my family and I assisted him with what he needed that night.

Q: When you get together, what do you guys like to do?L: Play golf, enjoy our friendship and eat food.B: ...And spend time with our families together when we get the chance.

Q: What’s your favorite memory of/with each other?B: We have known each other long enough for both of us to get married, to have our children together. But when my dad passed away he was there no matter what but the crazy thing about it is that his daughter was just born the week before and he ba-sically looked at his wife and said, “Hey Dan needs me. Can you take care of the baby for a little bit and I’m going to take care of him for a little bit.”

L: Going over to his parents house to eat lunch, I must say that I miss Ma’s cooking!

Q: What was your first thought when you found out you’d be working with each other again?L: I thought it was going to be fun to work with him again after 10 years or so. But I was also thrilled to work and learn a variety of skills from

Mr. Davidson.B: It’s been a while but I’m happy for him because he’s bounced from place to place, no fault of his own, just simply because of budget cuts

and things. I also know that he is re-ally good at what he does and so it’s

going to be a benefit to the school to have him here. That’s on a professional level, on a per-sonal level, it’s good to work alongside my best friend.

By Shirin Enayati

Feature Editor

The Theater Arts program’s The Complete Work of William Shakespeare (Abridged) successfully parodied all 37 of William

Shakespeare’s plays into a playful 90 minute show.

The first act of the play begins as the cast individually introduces themselves. They quickly lead into a rendition of Romeo and Juliet where plenty of plays on words were made. The introduction of the play allows the actors to completely break down the fourth wall that is present in most plays.

A portrayal of Titus Andronicus depicted as a cooking show is followed by Othello, which is summarized through a witty and upbeat rap. Their use of comedy through pop culture references and communication with the audience allows the complexity behind Shakespeare to be more relatable for the high school audience.

The second act mainly focuses on Hamlet which is performed multiple times, each time faster than the one before. They finish by reciting the play backwards. While the first run-through of Hamlet was merely amusing, the faster they performed, the more impressive it became.

The ensemble cast consists of Lizbeth Arellano, Cassandra Bridges, Kevin Flores, Katherine Flores, Sade Gabb, Claire Hafteck,

Elise Jackson, Ivana Lehocka, Ryan McNeil, Mya Pesqueria, Dorthy Schmidt and Margarita Ylo. This play, originally performed by a three-man ensemble, is seamlessly converted to fit a 12 person cast.

The unisex costumes reflects the clothing of the Elizabethan era and consistently allows the actors to easily switch between genders.

The simple yet versatile set design reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater allows the audience to envision each play in their respective settings and place their full attention to the laugh out loud jokes.

Although the play is a parody of Shakespeare’s plays, one does not need to be a Shakespeare fanatic to understand and enjoy the play. The cast makes sure to incorporate the audience into the show which brings more life to the stage.

While many of the jokes were humorous and amusing, some of the dialogue was muffled by the speakers. The lighting and sound effects also seemed a little delayed in certain scenes which took away from the show.

Overall the actors flawlessly recite many of Shakespeare’s plays and make them more relatable to high school students.

Make sure to catch the last performances on Friday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 presale at the student store and $10 at the door.

By Eduardo cuEllar-aguilar

Managing Editor

A couple years ago the students of Uni would look

forward to sloppy joes, hot wings and other genuinely tasty food, but since Michelle Obama’s new healthy school food initiative, LAUSD has struggled to keep a healthy, yet appetizing school menu.

However, LAUSD has finally dished out a new, improved and enjoyable breakfast and lunch menu with added variety.The cafeteria workers who arrive at 6 a.m. to prepare approximately 500 meals. The new menu includes: daily salads, cinnamon pancakes and barbeque chicken pizzas.

“We [cafeteria workers] are glad to see that the students are happier with our new food, we work very hard to make the food,” Cafeteria Manager Mohammed Ruhl said.

Although the food is still not exactly home cooking, the food prep team’s hard work has not gone unnoticed by students and staff.

“Before, the food looked very gross and inedible to a certain point, but now the food looks vibrant and appealing,” senior Cristina Velasquez said.

The personal pizzas are a mix of sweet barbecue chicken, vegetables and feta cheese. The sweet yet spicy barbeque and salty feta cheese combine to make an edible school lunch that keeps a student’s attention. This receives a solid 6 out of 10 on a cafeteria school lunch scale.

The traditional chicken salads do a great job of mixing tasty craisins and slightly salty chicken salad inside a slice of fluffy pita bread with fresh lettuce. This

sandwich remakes a traditional and plain dish into a flavorful sandwich that packs a punch—8 out of 10.

The wonton chicken salads contain fresh lettuce, crunchy wontons and tangy salad dressing.

This salad is an even healthier alternative to those who don’t want another burger or grilled cheese. This dish is offered most days, if not offered a ceasar salad offered in its place—9 out of 10.

Overall, the new and improved school lunch menu has raised the bar for all school lunches and have made students look forward to more improvements in the school lunches. This year, more than others students have rushed to the cafeteria to feast upon these new, tasty and well balanced meals.

Photo Provided By: oscar LoPez

Assistant principals Dan Blank and Oscar Lopez em-

brace at Blank’s wedding.

Page 4 November 21, 2014

SPORTSUNIVERSITY HIGH WILDCAT

By Brandon Berookhim

Sports Editor

TThe Wildcats raced to win at the Los Angeles City Section Divi-sion I prelims on Thursday, Nov.

13. The cross country team competed in three heats of 10 teams with the top seven runners in each level representing the school.

Unfortunately, none of the boys’ teams made it to the finals, though the male athletes finished with great times. The varsity girls landed themselves a spot in city finals alongside the girls’ frosh/soph and girls’ JV teams. They finished third in the second heat with a score of 69, only 17 points behind the second place team, Santee EC High School.

The score is determined by the final position of the top few runners from each school. The top three teams from each heat move on to City Finals. For frosh/soph and JV, the teams with the fastest times from the regular season races move on.

For the first time this season, the runners raced at Pierce College in Woodland Hills. In previ-ous years, all races, except invitationals, took place at Pierce. This year, some of the teams did not have access to run on their courses during the regular season.

“It was nice to come back to Pierce, where I began running three years ago,” team captain Monte Ho said. “For seniors

on the varsity teams, it was our chance to get to compete there in one last race.”

Pierce can be an easier course in some ways in comparison to Kenneth Hahn Park, where they ran in the regular season. Although Pierce does not have the infamous Suicide Hill, it has smaller hills, switchbacks and Puke Hill at the end of the race.

The weather at Pierce was not too hot or dry ei-ther, translating into great times by the Wildcats. Almost every runner ran their fastest races at Pierce that day.

“Support from my team and my school has always been the biggest factor

for me and how I race,” junior Matthew Freeman said. “I always feel good when I know they are rooting for me.”

Freeman finished first for Uni and 23rd overall out of 56 runners with a time of 17:17.96. Senior Nathan Lopez also set a personal record with a time of 18:37.48, finishing second for Uni. Ho

also finished second for girls’ varsity, with a time of 20:52.

The girls’ varsity team is running an impressive season. They only lost one race this season, and that was against the Palisades Dolphins, many of whom had been running competitively since sixth grade. Surprisingly, four of Uni’s varsity runners are freshmen, and more than half of their runners on Thursday were under-classmen.

“Our girls’ squad has been amazingly consistent the last few years,” coach Kel-ly Aguda said. “We’re a young team, so we’re expecting greatness in the future.”

Uni’s first girls’ varsity finisher was freshman Stephanie Cruz, new to both the school and the sport. She came in 6th overall, with a time of 19:43.49. She had never run at Pierce before, so she had no idea what she was getting herself into. She is now getting ready for city finals.

Join the boys as they support the girls at city finals on Saturday, Nov. 22 at Pierce College. The varsity girls run at 9:00 a.m., JV at 11:30 a.m. and frosh/soph at 11:00 a.m.

RobeRt Gonzalez

Senior cross country athlete Nathan Lopez finshed prelims on Nov. 13 in second place for Uni, setting a new personal record. The girls’ varsity team will be moving on to city finals on Saturday, Nov. 22 along with the girls’ JV and girls’ frosh/soph teams.

Get to know your athlete

Interview by Zoha Syed

Name: Gia FriedbergAge: 15

Height: 5’3”Weight: 120 lbs.

Grade: 10Sport: Soccer

Positions: Forward and Midfield

Q: Why did you join the soccer team and what is the most important thing you got out of the experience?

A: I have been playing soccer ever since I was 4 years old and I joined my local AYSO soccer team. I want to keep playing for as long as I can. I learned that if you work hard for the sport, things will pay off.

Q: What is your favorite part of the sport?

A: My favorite part of the sport is when you get a break away towards the opponent’s goal and your whole team is running with you.

Q: What advice would you give to anyone joining a sports team?

A: Put in a lot of work and keep working, it will be worth it in the long run. Never stop working hard on or off the field. There is an entire team to support you.

Q: What has been your greatest motivation?

A: I went to a UCLA soccer game in elementary school and I saw the girls’ soccer team play really well. From then on I decided that I wanted make soccer my profession.

Q: What is the most important game or experience you have had?

A: My greatest experience happened last year when we played Palisades High School. We weren’t expected to win, but just one play lead to many goals leading to a win.

Soccer squad awaits coach Jorge Pineda’s returnBy Saki WatanaBe

Guest Writer

Soccer coach Jorge Pineda is a Wildcat, but he fights as though he were a

Warrior.“Look at this arm,” Pineda said to his

teams while pointing to his left arm. “I couldn’t move it at all. And now I can raise it high and I’m working hard for you guys.

“You guys work hard too. It makes me happy to hear that you guys are improving. Keep your grades up. Don’t make stupid mistakes. Thank you for your calls and visits.”

In early October, Pineda suffered his second heart stroke. He was bedridden and paralyzed for weeks in the hospital. The boys’ and girls’ soccer teams felt an emptiness without him.

“It’s very depressing,” senior Alan Garcia said. “He’s a father figure and it’s deep. We really miss him.”

On Oct. 28, Mr. P, as he is known around campus, surprised the soccer players with a visit to Uni. There, he arose from his wheelchair, and he described to

the athletes what happened. He told them that he was fighting for them.

As Pineda spoke, the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams filled the room with their bittersweet tears. The players all stood up and hugged him. The teams told Pineda that they would be fighting this season for him, awaiting his return next year.

It was a particularly emotional moment for the seniors, who will no longer be on the team next year.

“The teams came together over him,” senior Diego Vinolas said. “We have one goal—to make Mr. P happy this year. It is the seniors’ last chance to make him proud.”

Pineda has been coaching the soccer teams for several years now. Over this time, he built a reputation of being lighthearted and hilarious off the field, yet completely serious on it.

Senior Saki Watanabe, three-time varsity team captain, feels especially impacted by Pineda’s leave. She originally planned to attend Venice High School but, after attending one of her older

brother’s soccer practices, Pineda convinced her to come to Uni and play for him.

“If it wasn’t for [Mr. P], I wouldn’t be at Uni,” Watanabe said. “I wouldn’t have met the most important people in my life today. Mr. P made Uni a special place. The team wouldn’t be here without him.”

Pineda coached the soccer players all year long. His absence makes the team even more independent and driven. Without his guidance and wisdom, the athletes have stepped up their game.

“He has made us work harder,” said senior Briseida

Gonzalez. “We were really sad, but we’ve used him as motivation to strive to make playoffs and win.”

The girls’ soccer team kicks off their preseason on Monday, Dec. 1 at Van Nuys High School at 2:30 p.m. The boys’ team also kicks theirs off on Monday, Dec. 1 at 2:30 p.m. against the Van Nuys Wolves at home.

“I always feel good when I know [my

team] is rooting for me”

Cross country heads to finalsMany cross country runners set personal records in the LA City Section Division I prelims on Thursday, Nov. 13 at Pierce College in Woodland Hills

“We have one goal—to make Mr. P

happy”