Rachel`s Challenge leaves impact on school

El Paso High
In This Issue
Movie Reviews..............2
Flappy Bird.......................3
Sports............................4-5
Paz........................................6
Silent Moment?.............7
Senior Spotlight...........7
AcaDec & UIL................8
Fr i d ay, News
Briefs
Limited
Quantity
Yearbooks remain on
sale in the Business for
$50 while supplies last.
Only 300 books have
been ordered. Last year
books sold out and some
students did not get to
buy one.
Soloists
to State
Seven members of the
Choir qualified as solo
competitors for the state
meet.
Ashtyn Owen, Caroline
Owen, Arieana Dominguez, McKayla Caruthers,
Jorge Diaz, Alex Koplos,
and Helson Pacheco will
travel to Austin May 24
for the competition.
Take a Break
Spring Break starts a
week from Friday. The
school will be closed
March 10-14 and reopen
March 17, St. Patrick’s Day.
Wear green to honor this
great Irish saint.
Mattress Sale
The band boosters will be
selling name brand mattresses in the gym foyer
tomorrow from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
Credit cards will be accepted and delivery is also
available. Prices are 30 to
60 percent off retail.
Free Snacks
Coached by teachers Gerard Neumann and Russel
Lang, the High-Q team
continues to perform well.
At a tournament in early
February, the team placed
third behind Coronado
and Franklin.
Team members are Cristian Pleters, Alix Espino,
Owen Michals, Scott Spivey, Diego De Santos, Dianna Herrera-Goudeau,
Cristina De La Torre,
Taylor Malooly, and Geraldine Cisneros.
Practices are during
lunch Tuesdays and all
interested are welcome.
Snacks are provided.
Fe b r u a r y
28,
2014 • Vo l u m e 87, Issue #4
Chain
reaction
ofimpact
kindness
Rachel’s Challenge
leaves
on school
By Emery Henschel
Editor
Look for the best in others,
dream big, choose positive
influences, speak with kindness, and start your own chain
reaction were the five Rachel’s
Challenges that were presented
to students on February 10.
The purpose of Rachel’s Challenge is not to talk about the Columbine High School shooting,
but to inform students about
the positive lifestyle Columbine
student Rachel Scott lived. Her
messages are meant to “equip
students and adults to combat
bullying and allay feelings of
isolation and despair by creating a culture of kindness and
compassion” according to the
Rachel’s Challenge website.
“I can already see a change being made in the school,” senior
Liliana Gomez said.
Rachel’s Challenge encourages other to start a chain reaction of kindness, which Gomez
said she already notices.
“Even though the presentation
was kind of eerie, it did have a
good message,” junior Danielle
Gonzalez said. “It encourages
people to bring out the best in
themselves and to see the best
in others.”
Rachel Scott believed that “if
one person goes out of their
way to show compassion, then
it will start a chain reaction of
the same”, according to her
words on the Rachel’s challenge
website.
Weeks before the presentation,
posters and signs were going up
around the school with positive
sayings on them that related
to Rachel’s Challenge, already
spreading kindness.
“The presentation was actually
very inspiring,” Gomez said.
After the presentation was
over, a Friends of Rachel Club
was started, also known as the
FOR Club. Meetings are every
Tuesday and members of the
club have already been spreading positive messages around
the school. A FOR Club twitter
page has been started, and oc-
Taylor Malooly/Tatler
The Rachel’s Challenge banner hangs in the main hallway with
hundreds of signatures from students pledging kindness.
casional inspirational quotes chel’s Challenge, students were
are posted on it and messages encouraged to sign a banner that
back to students to encourage says “I Accept Rachel’s Chalthem to stay positive and to lenge”, that now hangs above
the doors to the theater where the
spread kindness.
Anonymously placed post- presentation was held.
Hodges said students should focus
it notes have also been seen
around school, especially on on positive influences.
“Students need to choose positive
teachers doors and in the girls
bathroom with encouraging influences, because they are surand positive messages on them. rounded mainly by their friends and
“As people, it is easy to find the their friends have a huge influence
flaws in others,” Rachel’s Chal- on them,” Hodges said.
According to the Rachel’s Challenge presenter Cody Hodges said.
“I think you have got to look for lenge website, over 21,035,984
the good in others. It is easy to find people have been reached in live
the negative in people, or the wrong events, now including the students
in people or to focus on what they at El Paso High.
did wrong.”
As a constant reminder of Ra-
PTSA beautifies campus for 100th
By Sarah Bookout
Staff Reporter
Renovations to the schools’
historic beauty are being made
to prepare for a monumental
100th birthday.
Established in 1916 and constructed by architectural firm
Trost and Trost, El Paso High
is the oldest operating school in
the city and will be recognized
in 2016. Organized by the PTSA,
the contributing efforts of Jennifer Barr Ardovino and Dessert
Elements Landscaping Design,
LLC, along with generous donors, have made it possible for
the school to redo the entrance
along Virginia and Schuster.
The small uneven steps outside the Virginia entrance have
been redone not only for their
appearance but also for safety,
along with the addition of oak
trees, replanting the grass, and
evening out the land along the
Virginia side of the school.
Donations or purchases of
trees, benches, or tables have
a deadline of March 1. All information can be found on the
PTSA webpage. All tables and
benches will have a plaque with
the name along with honor/
memory for each donation.
“I am excited for the landscaping to be finished. The new
tables will be great to have at
lunch since most of us have to
sit on the ground,” freshman
Esme Topp said. “Having some
trees will be nice too, there really
is no shade except at the top of
the marble steps.”
Because of donations from
been planted throughout the
schools property noticeably in
the front of the school and along
the Virginia/Schuster side.
With the aid of Master Gardener Ileana Lazo-Kim and faculty
member Dawn Zumar students
will lead a national program
of preserving the environment
and transforming spaces while
helping the schools appearance
Stephen Polando/Tatler
Landscapers designed this area west of the building on Schuster
and Virginia.
Pearson’s Tree Farm and live
Christmas tree purchases from
last December, oak trees have
through the organization El
Paso High 100.
“I am excited to help with the
school’s new landscape and
learn more about preserving
the environment,” freshman
Victoria Garcia said. “I think
having the students help will
really motivate everyone to
keep up the schools appearance
once it is finished.”
The students’ interest in renovations to this historic landmark
fuel the PTSA’s motivation to
help out as much as they can.
“The new renovations will be
a great asset to El Paso High. Its
historic beauty is a reminder of
what our city used to be like and
the potential it has to develop
and grow in the future,” Kim
said. “The new landscaping
could not happen without the
help of our generous friends and
local community members.”
Items for purchase and donation include: Pearson oak tree
$200, 4’ bench $375, 6’ bench
$700, classic picnic table $800,
round table $900, and trash cans
$500. Plans to finish landscaping are estimated late spring of
2014 along with the installation
of donated items.
Page 2
El Paso High School Tatler
Friday, February 28, 2014
“Ride
Along”
humorous,
well liked
By Ronald Loving-Davis
Staff Reporter
The new and popular
PG-13 comedy, “Ride
Along”, was released January 17 with a 100-minute
run time.
The movie has a rating
of 6.4/10 on IMDb, a
41% rating on metacritic,
and a 17% rating on the
popular movie-rating site
“Rotten Tomatoes”. “Ride
Along” stars Kevin Hart,
Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, and Tika Sumpter.
“Ride Along” is about
a high-school security
guard Ben Barber (Hart)
who has been trying
to work for the Atlanta
Police Department and
“rides along” with James
Payton (Ice Cube), an
experienced police detective, to prove his blessing
to the officer’s sister.
The journey ends up being more than the trainee
expected.
The director of the movie
is Tim Story who also
directed the “Fantastic
Four” movies, “Think
Like a Man”, and “Taxi”.
This movie seems to
be well liked because
some people agree with
the humor. Freshman
Sam Westbrook saw the
movie and said he found
it funny.
“I liked the end when
Kevin Hart pretends to
be the drug person,”
Westbrook said. “It was
pretty funny.”
Westbrook liked the
movie for the humor and
the acting and freshman
Esme Topp said she liked
the way Kevin Hart acted
in the movie.
“I liked the middle of the
movie where Kevin was
in that supermarket and
the guy poured honey all
over himself,” Topp said.
Ride Along has famous
and hilarious actors
which could be the reason the movie is getting
good reviews.
Kevin Hart’s latest movies are also “Grudge
Match”, “Real Husbands
of Hollywood”, “Kevin
Hart: Let Me Explain”,
and “About Last Night”.
F e a t u r e s
“Dallas Buyers Club” deserving of Oscar nomination
By Taylor Malooly
Staff Reporter
When one thinks Mathew
McConaughey its usually in
correspondence to his energetic
personality, flirty charm, and interesting good looks. However,
that’s not what one gets in his
most recent film.
In the movie “Dallas Buyers
Club”, McConaughey takes
on a more emotional role most
hard core fans would not be
used to. Although his role may
be out of his comfort zone, no
one has ever been able to adapt
so quickly.
The movie loosely based on the
true story of Ronald Woodroof
(McConaughey), a drug addict,
homophobic bachelor, begins
in 1985, a time when HIV/
AIDS was still very new and
which people knew little about.
Woodroof is diagnosed with the
unexpected disease and given
30 days to live.
Woodroof is then hospitalized and given AZT, the only
legally approved drug at the
time, which rather than helping brings him closer to death.
He then decides to leave the
country in hopes of getting help
from a doctor in Mexico. The
mix of two non-toxic, yet still
U.S, illegal drugs, helps him
to survive long past the given
thirty days. With the help from
another patient he met in the
hospital, Rayon (Jared Leto),
and the mixed-feelings doctor,
Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner), he
eventually creates the “Dallas Buyers Club”, providing
more helpful treatment to its
members.
Although the story itself was
fantastic, showing the social,
physical, and emotional challenges the patients and the
people in their lives have to go
through, what really made this
movie was the acting.
McConaughey, losing forty
pounds simply to look the part,
makes these struggles more
real than ever. Portraying his
characters personal growth and
refusing to hold back from any
sides of himself, McConaughey
makes the problems seem as
if you’re going through them
yourself. He was also again
paired together with Garner,
allowing them to have their
typical “opposites attract” onscreen chemistry.
Leto does the same in the sense
that he gets completely comfortable with himself, along with his
more feminine side. The lead
singer of 30 Seconds to Mars
brings his artistic enthusiasm
to his character Rayon, a young
drug addict, transvestite also diagnosed with the disease. While
most heterosexual men would
be unable to let themselves wear
dresses, heels, and pounds of
makeup, Leto doesn’t let that
get in the way of an impeccable
performance.
This movie is truly one that will
send all sorts of emotionas running through your body. Leaving no room for spared truths,
this movie bears it all, leaving
you thinking long after it is over.
For a low budget, independent
film, its success was remarkable
and well deserved, along with
its Oscar nominations.
The movie is available for
online streaming and is still
showing in select theatres. It is
not yet on DVD but its release
should be well anticipated.
continue until February of 2015.
The construction and the traffic
that have arisen as a result have
become a nuisance to residents
of the upper valley, as well as
anyone wishing to enter the
surrounding area.
“I live in Canutillo, so getting
to school already takes a long
time. Closing Country Club
had just made it harder to get
where I need to go,” junior
Bailey Dickerson said.
Detours to Artcraft, Sunset,
and McNutt have cause massive
traffic jams on Doniphan, which
inconvenience anyone headed
to the east side or central El Paso
from the west.
Residents of the upper valley
are frustrated and angered especially at the amount of time
the construction will take to be
completed.
“I understand that Country
Club needs to be fixed, but
two years is way too long for
the road to be closed,” junior
Fowler Freund said.
The construction has city engineers scrambling to meet the
fast approaching deadline, but
so far there has not been much
progress, according to residents
of the surrounding area.
So far half of Country Club has
been dug up to allow new piping and gas lines to be placed.
The plans include extending the
road from 3 lanes to 4, allowing
for more turn lanes, and less
traffic once the construction is
completed.
Although Country Club construction is not the only site
causing traffic detours in El
Paso, it is certainly the largest
and causing frustration for drivers. For residents of the upper
valley and surrounding area, it
is highly recommended to leave
early to avoid delays caused by
traffic on Country Club Road or
to look for new routes to and
from daily commutes.
nancy out of order and sinful.
Afraid of falling victim of an
arranged marriage that her
father threatened her with for
breaking the laws of chastity,
she leaves her sheltered community with Mr. Will in search
of the real father of Rachel’s
child. Rachel faces an inevitable clash of cultures and is
overwhelmed by the new world
she discovers alongside her new
friends whom are not the best
of influences. Amongst these
drug-addicts and runaway
reckless teenagers, she continues her journey.
At one point, Rachel ends up
discovering something else she
was not looking for that would
change her life forever.
I definitely recommend this
film to fans of the TLC series,
“Breaking Amish”. It follows
a similar pattern as the series,
sheltered kids who lose themselves in the euphoric taste of
the modern world.
“Electrick Children” has become one of my favorite films
mainly because it has some reality to it. There really are people
who are so unaware of the world
around them and can’t handle
being placed in it.
“Electrick Children” has a
little bit of comedy, romance,
and drama. I gave this film a
chance when I could not find
anything to watch on Netflix
and I recommend others do
the same.
Country Club construction causes traffic delays
By Claire Leslie
Staff Reporter
For many years, Country
Club Road in West El Paso has
connected the upper valley to
other key areas of the city while
also giving Santa Teresa and
Canutillo residents quick and
easy access to the I-10 interstate.
Due to aging gas lines, inadequate sewage piping, and
an increase in traffic congestion, Country Club is closed
to eastbound traffic, with only
one lane temporarily open to
allow entrance into Santa Teresa. Repairs began in August
of 2013, and are expected to
Independent film for fans of “Amish Mafia”
By Perla Espinoza
Staff Reporter
“Electrick Children” is an
independent film by Rebecca
Thomas that was released in
2012 as part of the Southwest
Film Festival.
It is the story of a 15-year-old
girl named Rachel from a present-day Mormon community
in Connecticut. Rachel is completely detached from modern
society and technology, she has
never watched TV, used a cell
phone, or even listened to any
other music besides the worship
songs played by the church.
She believes in virgin birth and
feels she has become impregnated by something I would
rather not disclose, for sake of
spoiling the film. Rachel and her
mother drive into town and she
takes a pregnancy test, which
comes back positive.
At this point the real story begins because her parents accuse
her brother, Mr. Will of having
raped her. As religious as they
were, her parents find the preg-
1600 N. Virginia
El Paso, Texas 79902
The El Paso ISD does not discriminate in its educational
programs or employment practices on the basis of race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, military status,
or on any other basis prohibited by law. Inquiries concerning the application of Title VI, VII, IX and Section 504 be
referred to the district compliance officer, Vincent Sheffield,
at 779-4015; Section 504 inquiries regarding students may
be referred to Cecilia Whiteman at 775-2109.
The Tatler is published every six weeks by the students of the advanced newspaper publishing class. The
Tatler is a member of ILPC. It was named after an English periodical (later to become the Spectator) published from 1709 to 1711.
Staff.............................................................................................................................................Steven Aguirre,
Victoria Aldana, Andrea Aldaz, Zained Al-Ssaimri, Daniel Arellano, Eduardo Baz, Sarah Bookout, Kaitlyn
Casper, Diego Ceballos, Xochitl Diaz, Bailey Dickerson, Isabella Dillman, Amber Drosos, Ambar Garcia,
Emery Henschel, Isabella Hernandez, Alissa Kim, Claire Leslie, Ronald Loving-Davis, Taylor Malooly,
Cynthia Medina Balderas, Johnny Mendoza, Elizabeth Mitchell, Danya Muro, James Robinson, Jalen Villalva
Photo Editor............................................................................................................................Bailey Dickerson
Copy-Editor...........................................................................................................................................Naomi James
Editor......................................... .....................................................................................................Emery Henschel
Adviser....................................... .....................................................................................................Gerard Neumann
F e a t u r e s
El Paso High School Tatler
Friday, February 28, 2014
Highly addictive game taken off App Store
By Xochitl Diaz
Staff Reporter
Flappy Bird soared to the top of
the iTunes app store charts, before being shockingly removed
by its maker.
Flappy Bird is a strongly addictive game that has captured
the attention of many people.
But it is confusing why Flappy
Bird is so addictive. It is a very
frustrating game that will leave
players so angry that they want
to throw their phone at a wall,
or at least feel like they will
want to. Players of Flappy Bird
will end up playing for hours
and getting more and more
frustrated as they continue on
playing.
The point of the game is to get
the “Flappy Bird” across pipes.
If you touch a pipe, you die.
The more pipes you pass, the
more points you get. It sounds
pretty easy, but as you continue
on, it becomes a game of mental
stability. It is nerves that cause
you to mess up, getting you
more and more upset.
The screen you see each time
you die indicates that your score
and any medals you have won
if your score is high enough,
which are scores over 10. You
can also share your score with
friends, and view worldwide
rankings, but in all honesty, you
probably shouldn’t. Chances
are, you will not get a high
score playing this game, but
you can try.
The game is easier to play on
an iPad or tablet rather than an
iPhone or Android, but you will
still get very frustrated trying
to play it.
There are adds at the top of the
screen that might distract you,
and can make your phone glitch
while you are trying to play it.
Unfortunately, there is no addfree version of the game. Ads are
something you are just going to
have to deal with if you want to
play this very frustrating game.
Ultimately, Flappy Bird is a
very addicting game. It is very
fun to play if you are good at
it. It is fun to be able to brag to
your friends about your high
score, but I do not recommend
playing it unless you want to
become addicted to a game
that only makes you upset all
the time.
Flappy Bird is overall a pretty
fun game. I think everyone
should try Flappy Bird, but
unfortunately, its maker took
it off the market. The only way
to get Flappy Bird is to buy an
iPhone or Android pre-installed
with the game. Flappy Bird,
nor any game for that matter,
is worth buying an iPhone or
Android for. However, if Flappy
Bird comes back on the market,
it is definitely worth downloading and trying out. Everyone
should be able to try out Flappy
Bird, and experience the addictive agony that comes with it.
Swift’s album ‘Red’ cookie-cutter as others
By Alyssa Holt
Staff Reporter
Fans of Taylor Swift and her
2013 album “Red” were outraged during this year’s Grammys when Swift was beaten
out for album of the year by
electronic duo Daft Punk with
“Random Access Memories”.
“If thinking Taylor Swift wrote
an album that reflects my own
tragic legacy better than Japandroids is wrong, I don’t want to
be right,” Vice columnist Luke
Winkie wrote in his column Friday Thinks… With Luke Winkie.
“’Red’ makes me wish it came
out when I was 16 so I would
have known everything was
going to be okay.”
Certainly, Swift was shocked.
Cameras at the event panned to
her face just as the winner was
announced, and the countrypop singer reacted unfavorably
when a name other than her
own was called. Her face was
worth a few laughs; first, the
practiced surprise, followed by
realization and inevitable dis-
appointment. Not even a congratulatory clap for the winners.
It’s at least a little presumptuous
and a lot conceited for Swift
to have expected a victory, especially in a category with so
many other talented nominees.
But perhaps the biggest crime
of all was her nomination in the
first place.
“Red” picks up where every
other cookie-cutter Swift album
leaves off. Her songs are predominantly based on her failed
relationships, and a few are
more than conspicuous about
their subjects. That’s about
all this album has to offer. At
least in her 2012 album, “Speak
Now”, Swift explores subject
matter beyond relationships,
such as in her song “Mean”,
which held some semblance
of a moral, and gave young
listeners advice about ignoring the bad things said about
them. “Red” has not a single
redeeming song. The album is
entirely relationship-based, and
perpetuates the cultural expectation that relationships are the
most important things in life.
Perhaps the most notable
song on the album is the charttopping, “I Knew You Were
Trouble”. In the song, swift
croons, “I knew you were
trouble when you walked in,
so shame on me now.”
With the importance Swift
lends to her relationships in
her music, and the experience
she gives the impression of possessing, one has to wonder why
the 24-year-old would ever entertain a relationship
that she knew would
lead to unhappiness.
Perhaps she figured
it could serve as
fodder for another
chart-topping song,
or perhaps she really
is that irresponsible
with her own feelings. Regardless of
intent, the song listens as one of those
you hear once and
instantly despise;
it’s catchy, simple,
and irritatingly shallow. It’s the type of
song that dominates parodies
of Swift’s whiny voice, and
is, inevitably, lip-synced by
prepubescent teenage girls
everywhere. A song that glorifies these sort of relationships,
with lines like, “You flew me to
places I’d never been.” And all
without a single word of advice
that perhaps these relationships
aren’t the healthiest, and ought
to be avoided by her young,
impressionable listeners.
Shame on you, indeed, Swift.
I ordered a garden salad and
clam chowder to start off as
my appetizer. The salad was
crunchy and fresh with a delicious red vinaigrette dressing.
That is what I look for in salads
when I go out to eat, that they
are fresh and crunchy, no one
wants a chewy salad. My clam
chowder was perfect temperature and had an even amount
of clam and potatoes.
For my main dish I ordered
the tilapia in a bag. This comes
with fresh roasted vegetables
and steamed rice. As my server
opened the steamed bag of tilapia I could smell the steamed
vegetables and feel the warmness of the plate.
While eating my meal I noticed
the environment around me.
Everyone was dressed up, not
too formal, but nicely dressed.
There was laughter and joy in
the restaurant, as people sat
together with their friends and
loved ones.
My server came from time to
time to refill my drink and to
bring me fresh biscuits. When
I would lift the napkin covering
the bread, the delicious fresh
smell of garlic and butter would
fill my nose.
The last part of my meal was of
course, dessert, which is always
so hard to decide on what to
order. I had so many choices
from warm chocolate lava cake
to cheesecake covered in fresh
strawberries. The chocolate lava
cake was a eight-layer cake with
moist chocolate frosting and a
scoop of ice cream drizzled in
more chocolate. The cheesecake
was topped with fresh strawberries and strawberry syrup.
Not being able to make up
my mind I asked my server for
her opinion, she recommended
the chocolate lava cake because
of its moist frosting and rich
chocolate. When she had returned with my chocolate lava
cake my eyes enlarged by the
size of the cake. My first bite of
the cake made my mouth water
and right then I knew that my
server had recommended the
right dessert for me.
My experience at Red Lobster
was excellent and I plan and going again for their great service
and food.
Red Lobster has good service and great food
By Cassandra Nieto
Staff Reporter
Walking into Red Lobster the
first thing that guests notice is
the smell of the fresh seafood
and the beautiful set up of the
restaurant.
After I noticed those two
things, the hostess at the door
greeted me and walked me to
my table. This to me felt very
professional and made me feel
important.
After being seated, a server
then approached me with an
introduction of herself and offered me something to drink
with the restaurants famous
cheddar cheese biscuits. When
she returned with my peach
tea and biscuits, I was ready
to order.
Page 3
Cooper’s
album
mellow,
music for
the soul
By Joseph Hernandez
Staff Reporter
Ben Cooper, the lone
artist of Radical Face,
released a continuation of
“The Family Tree” with
his new album “The Family Tree: The Branches”.
Like most of his albums,
better described as artworks, each song has a
grim but hopeful tune.
“The Branches” opens
up with an intro best
described as a storm passing. From this point on the
album only seems to get
better as all 11 songs have
a story to tell, all very real
in tragedy but somehow,
comforting.
Each song; however,
only has a small relation
to Cooper himself. In fact
“The Mute” was the only
song he had a connection
with, which is about his
autistic nephew who was
unable to speak. Ideas
such as a solider on his
deathbed writing to his
family telling them what
he misses and how he
came to peace with it all
have no true relation to
Cooper’s life.
Even without having
any connection to some of
his music, each song still
has a powerful impact on
people. Each song, from
the intro to the last song,
created a trance like state,
one of deep thought and a
mellow mood. Using the
slow beat found throughout most of the album
gives it such a mood.
When accompanied with
a thoughtful piano and
an acoustic guitar that is
beautifully thought-out,
and not just used for
noise, this album calms
your nerves.
Some will call it music
for the soul, but regardless Cooper has created
artwork through his story
telling and use of an unconventional media, making his album unique. But,
like anything, this will not
be for everyone, its melancholy sound may not
fit well with some people.
On the other hand, those
who appreciate Cooper’s
music will see the artist
side of this and listen to
the stories Cooper has to
tell. Overall, this album is
great for sitting back and
just relaxing taking in the
word and breathing in life
at its purest from.
Page 4
El Paso High School Tatler
Friday, February 28, 2014
S
p
o
r
t
s
Alyssa Coleman clears the bar at the high jump during a track meet
February 8 at EPHS. The boys and girls track teams run at the
Burges meet today and tomorrow.
Ashley Baquera delivers the pitch. The varsity team plays at Burges
tomorrow at 9 a.m. while the JV is in action at the Gadsden Tournament.
Alberto Aguilar/Ta
Alberto Aguilar/Tatler
Bailey Dickerson/Tatler
Oscar Castaneda defends the ball against a Bowie player. The varsity basketball team made it to the
playoffs for the first time in decades.
atler
S
p
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El Paso High School Tatler
Friday, February 28, 2014
Page 5
Alejandrina Rivas controls the ball during a soccer game. The girls
play at Chapin today starting with JV at 5:30 p.m. The boys teams
play Chapin at home Saturday starting at 9 a.m.
Alejandrina Rivas and Edgar Rubio pose with their medals and the
wrestling coaches at the District meet. Rivas advanced to the state
meet and was injured in the first round.
Steven Aguilar/Tatler
Andrew Harmon swims at the
District Meet in January.
Ashley Mictchell/Tatler
Below - Paulo Romo hands off the baton at a meet at El Paso High.
Arraby Gallagher/Tatler
Results from boys meet at Bowie February 21:
Freshmen
300 Meter Hundles - Rodrigo Gutierrez 1st
4x400 relay - Adrian Moreno, Moses Avila, Martin Ramirez,
Rodrigo Gutierrez 3rd
High Jump - Martin Ramirez 2nd
Long Jump Moses Avila 1st
Triple Jump - Adrian Moreno 2nd Moses Avila was third in the
Discus Throw - Moses Avila 3rd
400 meter relay - Jose Hernandez, Mario Gomez 1st
JV
110 meter hurdles - Robert Nieto 3rd
100 meter dash - Eugene Figueroa 1stJ
4 X 200 meter relay - Jose Hernandez, Matthew Teran 1st
1600 meter run - Ruben Friesenhahn 2nd
Team finished third
Varsity
Long Jump - Eugene Figueroa 1st
Triple Jump - Matthew Teran 3rd
Long Jump - Bryant Wolf 2nd
Triple Jump - Bryant Wolf 1st
Melissa Robles/Tatler
Members of the girls swim team celebrate their district win at the
end of January. The team advanced to the regional meet where
many members advanced to state. At the state meet, Victoria Garcia
won the gold in the 100 Butterfly. Garcia is the first Tiger to be a
swimming state champion.
Scott Spivey/Tatler
Page 6
El Paso High School Tatler
Friday, February 28, 2014
Counseling
center,
library
get new
furniture
By Steven Aguirre
Staff Reporter
After being discussed
for the past year, the
counselors got brand new
furniture this year.
During the early months
of the school year, the
school went under a little
remodeling. Unlike the
stairs or lockers that were
put in this year, this new
addition is furniture.
“They have been talking
about the furniture since
last year,” Counselor
Aurora Rivera said. “The
furniture was put in but
there really wasn’t a big
push to get the furniture.”
Why the furniture was
put in depends on the
person being asked. Some
may say it was because it
was needed, but others
are fine with or without.
So the furniture was just a
nice addition to make the
areas look more modern
and professional.
Some other furniture has
been replaced along with
the counseling center.
The library chairs the Go
center also received new
furniture.
“We wanted to enhance
the school,” Principal
Kristine Ferret said. “We
just replaced the desks in
the counseling center and
the chairs in the library.”
Even though the counselors got all of the new
furniture, teachers did
not. Teacher David Quinn
said there is a budget for
these types of upgrades
done to the school.
The changes were made
to look more welcoming
and for the student’s parents to feel comfortable
walking in. The changes
are to enhance and build
up the surroundings in
school.
“We set a goal for the
year in March of 2013,”
Ferret said. “Only about
one percent of our schools
budget goes to furniture.”
Even with all of this new
furniture, it is in no way
is the school’s top priority
Ferret said.
Reserve your
copy of the
yearbook.
$50
In the Business
Office
N
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Paz transferred to Austin High School
By Bella Dillman
Staff Reporter
Assistant principal for two
years, Mark Paz, was moved
to Austin High directly after
Christmas break because Austin
has been having disciplinary
issues.
Paz said it was an honor for
him to be at the school for two
years, but he has a contract with
the district.
“I really enjoyed my time and
I really was excited for graduation but when you have to go,
you have to go,” Paz said. “It
was just really hard because a
lot of the students here at Austin
were my former students. There
is a lot of work to be done here,
but I am excited to help them
graduate.
Paz was a part of helping seniors in planning their pursuit
of college education. He met
with various seniors almost every morning to help them with
college essays and applications.
“He really helped my transition as a transfer student from
Franklin,” senior Lizeth Amaya
said. “He also really helped me
to know what to do when applying to college, I do not think
I could have done it without his
guidance.”
Amaya was not the only one
Mark Paz
who was helped by Paz’s college expertise.
“Mr. Paz offered me so much
help on my application,” senior
Alyssa Holt said. “He wrote a
letter of recommendation for
me, and I feel like his words
are going to really boost my
application.”
Aside from college involvement, Paz was very active in
the athletic and academic departments. He was the head of
the athletic department and the
English department. He helped
both of the departments make
decisions on trips and other
activities. Coach of the tennis
team and English teacher Alex
Macias said he was upset over
Paz leaving.
“I am saddened that he left,”
Macias said. “He brought energy to the school and he was very
supportive of the students.”
Sophomore Taylor Malooly
said she was very disappointed
to see Mr. Paz leave. She stressed
the fact that he was one of the
best administrators. He helped
her with sports and school.
“He was always really helpful
and a good person to talk to,”
Malooly said. “He was a big
supporter of the tennis team
and we enjoyed having him
around.”
Paz was also a regular spectator at cross country meets.
Junior cross country runner
Alejandro Gamboa said that
Paz’s presence and encouragement pushed him to run harder
at his races.
“It was really nice to see an
administrator at our meets,”
Gamboa said. “We do not get
many people coming out to see
us, and it was really cool to see
that he cared.”
While Paz may be missed, he
seems to be well liked already
at Austin. A teacher that works
at Austin who wishes to remain
anonymous said she really likes
what Paz has been doing at
Austin for the students.
“We have been having a bunch
of openings in administration
lately,” the anonymous Austin
teacher said, “But he has been
doing a very good job especially
for being new.”
School pride promoted with STUCO bracelets
By Emery Henschel
Editor
Student Council is promoting
a sense of community, school
pride, and belonging through
the use of this year’s theme “We
Are El Paso” bracelets.
Student Activities director
Susan Macias came up with the
idea after going on a leadership
retreat and hearing a speaker
talk about students who are
more involved in their schools,
are less likely to bully. The
“We Are El Paso” slogan is the
theme of this 2013-2014 Student
Council year.
“I got this years theme idea
from Mr. Fields,” Macias said.
Teacher Charles Fields has
the slogan “We Are El Paso”,
facing outward on a part of
his windows in his classroom.
Fields got the original idea of
the slogan just from the name
of the school and from the pride
it carries.
“It is awesome that ‘We Are El
Paso’ is the theme for student
council this year,” Fields said.
“An idea belongs not to an individual, but to the community.”
The bracelets were passed out
at the beginning of the year
enough bracelets handed out
at the beginning of the year
to be given to all the students,
administrators, custodians, and
teachers.
“We are now just saving the left
Steven Aguirre/Tatler
StuCo bracelet with the phrase “We Are El Paso”.
and Student Council paid for
them all with its own money.
There is only a small reserve of
bracelets left, which are saved
for new students. There were
over bracelets for new incoming
students,” Macias said.
Students are encouraged to
wear their bracelets and on
randomly selected days, prizes
will be given out to students
wearing them. The only prize
given out so far has been an El
Paso High sticker.
“I am working on restaurant
coupons, like Chick-fil-A and
Whataburger,” Macias said. “I
am also trying to get discounts
on student versus faculty games
to incentivize students to wear
their bracelets.”
Giving out prizes randomly is
a way to encourage students to
wear their bracelets.
“It is so cool how we get free
stuff for just wearing the bracelets,” junior Danielle Gonzalez
said.
Macias said these bracelets
and the Student Council theme
of this school year help to unite
students into a strong school
community.
“It is just amazing that we are
the only school in El Paso that
has the pride to bear this city’s
name,” Macias said.
Seniors caught up in college preparation
By Natalie Moss
Staff Reporter
The school year still has a
few more months to go before
ending, but seniors are already
finding themselves caught up
in the college buzz as the time
until graduation day closes in.
Applications, essays, tests,
and college visits pile on even
before the school year starts.
Senior Aitana Dueñas-Valles
was already on the ball before
the fall semester began.
“During the summer, I was
already preparing myself for
college by applying where I
could,” Dueñas-Valles said. “I tests at the last minute in order
did a lot of waiting for applica- to satisfy college demands.
While churning out test scores,
tions to even open, but it was
worth it to apply early to avoid essays, and applications is
the major part of preparing
the stress of the school year.”
for college, seJuniors who
niors are findalready want
“It was worth it
ing that their
to alleviate
some of their
to apply early to transition will
take more than
upcoming senior stress can avoid the stress of that dependtake the SAT
the school year,” ing on what
and the ACT
their college
Dueñas-Valles
this year. With
experience
said.
a lot of studywill call for.
ing to lead to
Senior Domia good score,
nic Valdespino
students will not have to worry said he finds himself preparing
about taking these important for college in quite a creative
way.
“I am planning on going to
an art’s college to prepare for
my future as an illustrator,”
Valdespino said. “I have been
drawing up a storm to fill my
resume and to improve before
the school year is up.”
Despite the importance of applying to many universities in
order to gain admittance to at
least one, the college transition
is not only about applying just
to schools. For any hope of receiving a scholarship, students
must be willing to apply for
scholarships themselves. The
money is already out there; it
is up to the student to gain it.
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El Paso High School Tatler
Friday, February 28, 2014
Senior Spotlights
Top seniors balance school, extracurriculars
By Stephen Polando &
Joseph Hernandez
Staff Reporters
Hannah Hollandbyrd is considered, by her teachers, as
being one of the most mature,
polite, and focused seniors at
the school.
“Hannah is one of the most
thoughtful and intelligent
young adults I have ever encountered,” English teacher
Vanessa Cotchery said. “She is
able to synchronize academic
scholarship and extracurricular
activities seamlessly.”
Hannah Hollandbyrd
Hollandbyrd is currently taking six Advanced Placement
courses, including Statistics,
English, Calculus, and Environmental Science. She is also
an accomplished cello player in
the orchestra and participates
in mock trial as well. Outside
of school she volunteers for
political campaigns.
Hollandbyrd, according to
Susan Macias, is organized,
focused, and goal oriented.
“Hannah is quiet, yet intelligent and caring,” Macias said. “I
suspect she will do great things
in the future.”
When asked for advice to offer
towards students Hollandbyrd
said to work hard, do not be
afraid of the impossible, and
be respectful.
Recently Hollandbyrd was
accepted to the prestigious
Columbia University in New
York City. Along with being
accepted she was given $54,000
to go towards her education at
the university if she attends.
After college she would like
to pursue a career in politics,
or human rights. She also said
that she would enjoy working
for the United Nations or the International Rescue Committee,
an organization that provides
humanitarian aid around the
world.
Eita Yamaguchi is one of the
top ranked seniors in his class.
Yamaguchi challenges himself
with not only advanced placement courses, but also taking
a part in many extracurricular
activities.
He is in orchestra, Academic
Decathlon, the El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestra, math
Eita Yamaguchi
club, and UIL Competition.
Yamaguchi said he enjoys testing his brain and learning new
things.
Yamaguchi has also been
recognized for his vast knowledge and productivity in the
classroom.
“Eita is an outstanding young
man,” Yamaguchi’s English AP
teacher Vanessa Cotchery said.
“He displays a unique determination that tends to be instilled
very early in life.”
In addition to AP English,
Yamaguchi has a majority of
advanced placement courses,
including Calculus BC, and
Anatomy & Physiology. Yama-
guchi said his favorite subjects
are math and science.
With little surprise, math and
science are what he plans to
major in during college.
“I am not sure what I want to
do yet, but both Applied Mathematics, and Biochemistry are
good options for the field I want
to work in,” Yamaguchi said.
Yamaguchi is still unsure about
what career path he would like
to take but he said he is thinking
about becoming a pathologist or
doing chemistry research for a
company. But regardless of his
career, Yamaguchi said he wants
to stick to science and math.
“I’d like to work in a field having some regard to math if at
all possible,” Yamaguchi said.
With college coming up, Yamaguchi said he is excited.
“I’ve only been accepted to
University of Texas at Austin
and University of Texas at El
Paso, but hopefully as I send
out more applications, I will
have a wide variety of schools to
choose from,” Yamaguchi said.
Yamaguchi has a tip for students to succeed in high school.
“To do better in class, you
have to set your priorities,”
Yamaguchi said. “Understand
that not everything can be fun.
There is time you have to make
a personal sacrifice to succeed.”
School. district fudge daily on state law
By Taylor Malooly &
Pedro Attaguile
Staff Reporters
What should be a Minute of
Silence has simply become a
Moment of Personal Reflection
regardless of Texas State Law.
Each day during second or
sixth period classes the announcements come on and
the recitation of the pledge
of allegiance and the Texas
pledge begins. Following the
recitations of the pledges, it is
supposed to be required that
the administrators allow a full
minute of silence.
In a letter from Commissioner
of Education Michael Williams
dated September 2013 “Following the recitation of the
pledges, the statute requires
that all districts and charters
provide the observance of one
minute of silence at each school.
During the one-minute period,
each student may, as the student
chooses, reflect, pray, meditate
or engage in any other silent
activity that is not likely to interfere with or distract another
student.”
What is supposed to be a full
sixty seconds, the school has
cut down to less. It is not clear
if this is intentional or unintentional, either way, it is going
against Texas State Law, which
all public schools are required
to follow.
This current “Moment of Per-
sonal Reflection” is supposed to
While some students support time frame.”
be a time given to the students Blaugrund’s opinion, others do
It seems this is not only a school
to use in whichever silent action not really mind if they do not problem but a district problem
they choose. Students are to be receive the full minute.
as well. According to Lauren
given this time to pray, reflect,
“I think its fine that we are not Pope, a Franklin sophomore,
meditate, or take part in any given the full minute,” sopho- and Sebastian Peters, a Coroother silent action of their choice more Katy Rivera said. “It takes nado sophomore, their Moment
as long as it doesn’t interfere away valuable class time.”
of Personal Reflection also falls
with another student.
Susan Macias, who is in charge extremely short of a full minute.
This procedure is not only in of the announcements, underPrincipal Kristine Ferret’s said
the students hands, teachers stands that she is to allow a full she was not aware that the full
and staff are able to take part minute however due to com- minute was not being observed.
in it as well, or are at least plaints and regulations created
“This has probably been an
required to respect it. Teachers by CIT, she said gives less time. unintentional oversight,” Ferare in charge of ensuring that
“I am only given seven min- ret said. “We will ensure the
the students are respectful to utes for the announcements and announcement contain the full
the act and the other students the procedures that go along minute in the future.”
taking part in it.
Although the time for the
with it,” Macias said. “Students
What many students and and teachers become impatient minute of silence is longer since
teachers see as a valuable and that is when the complaints brought to Ferret’s attention, it
one-minute period is being come in. I would be happy to still falls short of the full minneglected by others, showing give the full minute if I was ute and students are still being
little care to the action and the not pressured by the other ad- instructed to personally reflect.
people who appreciate it.
ministrators with such a short
Sophomore
Brynne Blaugrund said she
was unaware
that it was supposed to be a full
minute.
“I think that
we should be
given the full
minute,” Blaugrund said. “It
shows respect
to the procedure
and the people
Taylor Malooly/Tatler
who choose to Students in Tim Thompson’s guitar class stand for the pledge. State law requires a
participate in minute of silence after the pledge. However, this requirement is substituted with a
it.”
“moment of personal reflection” which usually is far less than a minute.
Page 7
Winter
Guard
works hard
to compete
well
By Isabella Hernandez
Staff Reporter
Winter guard is coming around the corner
and members like senior
Sandra Sanchez couldn’t
be more excited.
“Being in scholastic A
this year, I believe it will
make us more competitive and encourage us to
work even harder,” junior
Javier Lopez said. “Our
instructors have higher
expectations for us. They
want us to stay focused
and be willing to work
with them.”
The winter guard had
their first performance
January 18 and the second
was February 7.
“This year is my first
year in winter guard, I
love it so far, it is fun and
a challenge,” freshman
Chasai Ortiz said. “I am
very excited for this year
and glad I joined.”
“Our
instructors
have higher
expectations
for us,” Lopez
said. “They
want us to stay
focused and be
willing to work
with them.”
This year’s show will be
different from last years
winter guard. It will have
a depressing look, rather
than last year ’s sweet
look.
“This year’s show will
be dramatic, dark, and
sad. It will be featuring
the song ‘Say Something’
by A Little Big World and
Christina Aguilera,” CoInstructor Mariana Luna
said.
The winter guard team
is currently working hard.
They have practice constantly and help push
each other to become a
better team. Team members like sophomore Emily Tinoco are sure they
will be coming back successful from competition.
“I can definitely see
a change in the winter
guard from last year. They
are motivated and hope to
achieve greatly. We wish
them luck,” Band Director
Roman Lechuga said.
Page 8
El Paso High School Tatler
Friday, February 28, 2014
Juniors plan
for junior/
senior prom
By Claire Leslie
Staff Reporter
For many students, the
start of the spring semester holds many opportunities for improving
grades, participating in
spring sports, and getting
involved in the schools
network of extracurricular activities.
While the spring semester is only beginning, the
Junior class has been hard
at work making plans and
reservations for the 2014
prom which is set to take
place in May of this year.
“Prom is one of the largest events that the school
has to coordinate. We
have to book the venue,
make a down payment,
and fund raise the rest
of the money to pay for
decorations and supplies,
which add up very quickly,” junior class sponsor
Charles Fields said.
The junior class is responsible for raising to
money to pay for prom
and have met several
times throughout the
year to make fund raising
plans. The junior class
also has their annual
Lock-in tonight which
is their main fund raiser.
“So far we’ve sold popcorn to help cover the cost
of prom and even though
it’s not much, it’s made a
dent in our overall goal.
We’re hoping that the rest
of the money will come
from our bigger events
that will happen in the
spring, and from parent
donations,” junior class
president Cristina De La
Torre said.
Several seniors are excited for the upcoming
event - their last school
dance.
“This is my last prom,
so I’m definitely going to
make the most of it. My
friends and I are all going in a group, and we’ll
probably get a limo and
go eat somewhere nice
before the dance,” senior
Michael Licon said.
Others are excited to find
out the prom theme when
it is announced.
The junior class has not
decided on a theme yet
and although prom is
months away, the preparations are hastily being
made and fund raisers
planned so that prom can
be memorable for everyone who attends.
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Seven year winning streak ends
Team first in SuperQuiz, second overall
By Alyssa Holt
Staff Reporter
The Academic Decathlon team
performed as expected at this
year’s regional competition,
with a first place finish in SuperQuiz Relay and high scores
all around, and a second place
finish overall – barely missing
state qualification.
After seven years of first place
wins and state-qualifying performances, the Tigers missed
an eighth win by 800 points to
Ysleta.
“I was shocked when I heard
they got second,” Principal
Kristin Ferret said after the
meet. “I was handing out medals, and I hope no one saw my
face. I could not believe it. The
team always does so well.”
The team faced challenges
with members this year, losing
and replacing students of all
three groups. Finding varsity, or
“C” students is always a challenge, and this year was no different; a “C” team that consisted
of seniors Cristo Chavez and
Christian Juarez, and sophomore Ruben Friesenhahn was
finally assembled, and without
them, Coach Gerard Neumann
said the team wouldn’t have
been as successful.
“Without them, we would
have placed tenth,” he said.
“Even though they did not score
extremely high, their scores
allowed the team to win SuperQuiz. If they were not there,
that would have been zeroes.”
Academic Decathlon is based
on a system of points, where
each team member has the potential of earning 10,000 points.
The totals are then tallied at
the end, with the two highest
scores from each group (Varsity,
Scholastic, and Honors) contributing to the total. Typically, each
group consists of three students,
but this year the Scholastic, or
“B” team competed with only
two members, after losing third
member Augustin Tenoir.
“Even though we are all on
the same team, we have to
compete against each other to
make sure that we have the
Gerard Neumann/Tatler
The Academic Decathlon team moves out for competition on Saturday morning.
score that counts,” junior Perla
Espinoza said.
Putting a team together was
not the only issue that AcaDec
team faced this season. During
the math portion of the competition, Senior Alix Espino said she
spotted Ysleta students using
Texas Instruments CX calculators – the ones thought to be
banned from AcaDec competitions due to their wide range
of capabilities that may give
students an unfair advantage.
“With those calculators, each
of us could have scored at least
an extra 200 points,” Espino
said. “They can perform functions that would have saved us
time and earned extra points for
other questions.”
Espino’s claims were dismissed
by a proctor, who said that Ysleta
would be able to use them because
they were “school property”. While
this is questionable reasoning,
when the issue was later raised
to officials, the calculators were
deemed legal. The United States
Academic Decathlon calculator
policy states, “models with CAS
(computer algebra systems)… are
NOT allowed in the Academic Decathlon® competitions.” Because
the Ysleta team used Texas Instruments CX calculators without the
CAS function, their math scores
counted.
“I think we still did really well,
even though we didn’t have the best
calculators,” senior Joan Golding
said. “A lot of us got medals in
other subjects.”
Junior Perla Espinoza placed
1st in speech, 2nd in essay, and
4th in science and music, and
was 3rd overall honors; Junior
Cristian Pleters placed 1st in
music, 2nd in speech and art,
3rd in Language & Literature
and economics, and was 2nd
overall scholastic; Senior Cristo
Chavez placed 2nd in music
and 4th in science; Senior Joan
Gerard Neumann/Tatler
Acadec students head out for
competition.
Golding placed 2nd in science,
3rd in speech and music, and
5th in lang & lit and economics,
and was 4th overall scholastic;
Senior Alix Espino placed 1st
in speech, 2nd in essay, 3rd in
science, art, and math, and 4th
in music, and was 3rd overall
scholastic; Senior Alyssa Holt
placed 1st in economics, lang &
lit, essay, speech, and music, 3rd
in interview, and 5th in math,
and was 1st overall honors; and
Senior Christian Juarez placed
4th in interview and 5th in math.
The AcaDec team has begun
recruiting members for next
year ’s team. Coach Russell
Lang said one of the years he
competed, the team got second, and so the next year, they
studied even harder. He said
he hopes next year’s team will
do the same. Coach Neumann
said he is especially interested
in students that don’t have high
grades to compose a “C” team.
If students are interested, they
can speak to Coach Neumann,
Coach Danny Favela, or Coach
Lang during their free time.
UIL academic contests at end of March
By Melissa Robles &
Cassandra Nieto
Staff Reporters
Participating in the University
Interscholastic League, also
known as UIL, gives students
a great opportunity to compete
and hopefully advance to further rounds.
Basic high school core classes
are expanded into separate
categories. Math, Science, Social
Studies, English, Computers,
and Speech each contain their
own categories, which students
can compete in. For example
English is divided into an essay
portion and a spelling portion.
When a coordinator is assigned
to a subject they are in charge
of the different events that come
with it.
Dawn Zumar, one of the head
coordinators, is involved with
organizing the different events. this years season.
“Academics in school are very
Junior Cristian Pleters was
important, so being a coordina- 6th in the state of Texas for the
tor of UIL academics puts me Current Events competition in
really in touch with what the 2013. Pleters also competes in
kids are going to learn on a col- Debate and Social Studies.
“I like to watch the news
lege level,” Zumar said.
and stay
T h e
informed
school
“Working with my
with what
has had
is going
a great
students from my
on. I think
reputation re- original classes makes it that’s an
garding
easier and gives me an a s s e t I
the outadvantage prior to the have that
helped
comes
season,” Fierro said. “I me with
of UIL
seasons.
expect great things this the competition,”
Last year
year.”
Pleters
the team
said.
was very
Te a c h e r
successful and got sweepstakes. Stu- Jon Bardouche is in charge of
dents are very dedicated to the Social Studies events. Their
pursuing their goals regarding topic this year is A Common-
wealth of Thieves, a book based
on Australia. As of now, only
three students are involved in
the competition, but Bardouche
expects more students to join as
the competition starts.
Teacher Jose Fierro, the head
coordinator of Math, has a good
number of students, 12-13. He
is in charge of three topics, Calculator Applications, Number
Sense, and Mathematics.
“Working with my students
from my original classes makes
it easier and gives me an advantage prior to the season,” Fierro
said. “I expect great things this
year.”
Students are very devoted to
this years competition, they
work very hard and spend most
of their hours here at school
preparing for their topics.
The district meet takes place
March 28 and 29 at Chapin.