nighthawk news - Maywood Academy High School

MARCH ISSUE
MAYWOOD ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL
NIGHTHAWK NEWS
Nighthawk News
March Features
News
David’s Farewell p.1
ArtWalk 09 p.2
Editor:
Humberto Lopez
Editorials
Diet Craze p.3
Editor: Juan Torres
Entertainment
Milk Review p.4
Editor: Jesus Peña
C’est la Vie
Teacher Feature p.5
Editor: Dannara Cruz
Sports
Water polo p.6
Bell Rivalry p.7
Editor: Andres Ayala
What Happened in
Vegas Stays at MAHS
By Cynthia Ramirez
It had been a cold rainy
Friday the 13th. Students
went home in pouring rain
afterschool, 100 of which
were going to come back
glamorized later that night
to take part in the second
annual homecoming dance.
The event took about a
month and a half to oranize
because Leadership had to
get the event approved by
administrations and they had
to order things two weeks in
advanced.
The dance took place in
the schools cafeteria the
theme being “What happens
in Vegas”. All around were
decorations of playing cards
reminding everyone of casinos with the names of soccer and basketball players.
They had a table full of
delicious snacks like cupcakes and cookies. Women
wore cute dresses or a nice
blouse with jeans and heels
while men wore their nice
ties with a shirt and slacks.
Class of 09 Celebrating Their Last Homecoming Dance
Photo by Cynthia Ramirez
The DJ played music ranging from merengue, punta, duranguese to techno,
reggeaton, and rock n roll.
“It was fun! They played
good music and a great setting. I think everyone else
enjoyed it too because everyone was dancing!” said
Martha Contreras.
Couples were allowed to
get married as wifey and
hubby for the night. “Promise to love and cherish each
other the whole night” (Until the clock strikes
11:00 pm and the dance is
Academic Decathlon
Season Ends
by Juan Torres
On February the 7th the
Academic Decathlon team
at Maywood Academy took
LAUSD by surprise, competing in its very first time
in UCLA against more than
30 schools.
13 MAHS students took
the challenge, 4 were the
researchers, researching the
topics and writing questions, test and quizzes for
the other 9 competitors.
The topic was Latin
America with an emphasis
on Mexico in Math, Art,
Music, Social Science and
its main focus being Evolutionary Biology, as well
as an interview and speech
competition.
Maywood’s Academy
College Counselor Mr.
Viveros was asked if he
would teach the class and
he agreed to it.
He told his students that
he promised them he would
try his best at teaching
the class since he and his
students had no academic
decathlon experience.
Jessica Espinoza got the
highest score overall for the
decathlon team at MAHS,
feeling proud to represent
over).
An hour and a half into the
dance came the time everyone was waiting for the announcement of the home
coming queen and king.
Surprisingly Marlene Almanza & Gustavo Castellanos were homecoming
queen and king. Junior Moises Gonzalez said “Well I
think the dance went well. A
lot of people showed up and
they had a good time. The
music was good and it kept
people dancing. Over all, it
was a good night for me.”
David’s Farewell
Academic Decathlon with the Bronze Bruin at UCLA
Academic Decathlon Team Gathers Before the Competition
Maywood Academy for the
first time. She added, “At
first the class was complicated and later on I got the
hang of it. It turned out to
be a fun, great experience
and if I had the opportunity
to join it again I would
definitely. I was capable of
doing a lot of things.”
In the end Maywood
Academy did not come in
last and aren’t sure what
place they came in, but that
was the goal of the Academic Decathlon team: to
not finish last.
Mr. Viveros was proud
of what the students did.
They grew as individuals
and they represented Maywood Academy well.
by Cynthia Ramirez and
Dannara Cruz
February 26th, was the
last day the Champion’s coordinator David would be
with our school.
The students from the
Champions council organized David a little gathering where students had the
opportunity to say goodbye.
A lot of students said that
David was the one to bring
life to our school. The event
took place at our schools
auditorium at 3:00 pm.
Many students went and
took place in David’s farewell, where they had the
chance to write in a large
poster “We’ll Miss You David.”
David was surprised to
see how students were very
thankful for everything he
had done.
The farewell started with a
slideshow full with pictures
of all the places the Champions club went to.
All those great memories
brought tears to David’s
eyes. Next the cheerleaders
performed David’s favorite
cheer “Pump it up.”
He then went on stage
and made a speech that
came from the bottom of
Photo by Dannara Cruz
his heart. David said, “Im’a
miss this school very much
and im going to miss you
guys.”
Students would randomly
scream out nice compliments to David showing
how much they appreciated
his work. David’s personality brought many students
in our school together.
Many students learned
from him as well as he
learned from the students.
Even though David’s moving to San Diego he mentioned coming back to visit
the students here in Maywood Academy.
MARCH ISSUE
MAYWOOD ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL
NIGHTHAWK NEWS
Been to the Art-Walk
By Celia Sanchez
Champions and six students took a fieldtrip to the
Art-walk on February 12,
2009. The six students and
the Champions staff met in
front of the school and left
around 5 pm.
Champions provided transportation.
The Art-walk is a public
display of artwork, music,
poetry, and film in Downtown Los Angeles. This
fieldtrip was for students
who would appreciate the
arts and actually get something out of the experience.
There was color in the
most unexpected places.
Anything or anyplace could
be a gallery or a stage. If
someone felt the need to
express him or herself, an
audience would form and
be willing to observe.
The art varied from
still life and portraits, to
abstract paintings and
amazing graffiti. The films
and poetry were eccentric
and sometimes provoking.
club.” She also welcomed
Maywood Academy
Welcomes a New Club those who are interested
MAHS students meet with Art-Walk musician
“Viva Obama” by Lalo
The Middle Class Performs
Spanish Scremo, mellow
reggae, and quirky bluegrass bands were all jamming on the street.
Witnessing such diversity was amazing. There
were people dressed from
extravagant to low key and
everything in between.
Everyone was there for
a common purpose: no
drama, no judgment, just
art appreciation.
The Art-walk happens
every second Thursday of
every month. The next Artwalk will be on March 12,
2009. It would be a shame
to miss out on such a mindblowing experience like
this one, especially since
looking around is free.
MAHS Competes In
Speech Contest
By Julio Chavez
On February 18, 2009,
during Blocks 3 and 4,
three students from Mr.
Diaz’ Block 4 Speech class
participated in a speech
contest at Maywood City
Hall, hosted by the Lions
Club.
Senior Julio Chavez, and
Juniors Carlo Quintana and
Jocelyn Lopez spoke for
MAHS and four students
spoke for Bell High School.
The seven speakers
wrote and gave speeches
based on the topic question:
“Will California Be Left
High and Dry?” (Will California run out of water?).
There were 4 judges,
judging the speeches, and
an audience of local people
from Maywood’s city council, as well as Mr. Diaz’
class was watching.
After all seven spoke,
the judges had a difficult
time deciding a winner, but
in the end one of the Bell
speakers won.
Mr. Diaz’ class had
many opinions on the
speech contest afterwards.
One important comment made was that the
Bell students had an unfair
Joceyln Lopez, Carlo Quintana, Julio Chavez, and Mr. Diaz
Photo by Erica Avila
advantage because they had
much more time to prepare
their speeches. They were
informed months prior to
the contest, while we only
heard of it the prior week
Mr. Diaz said “I think
they were all very good
speeches, they presented
themselves well and professionally. It was a very good
learning experience, but
the judging of the competition was subjective. It was
difficult to choose a winner, however I’m sure that
with different judges there
would have given different
results.”
Carlo Quintana said
“They were well organized,
planned out, they made
their point, it was a good
experience overall, but we
should have gotten more
time to prepare and be better informed.”
We had very good
speeches, everyone spoke
very well. It was a very
beneficial, fulfilling, and
satisfying experience.
The only thing that was
disappointing was the fact
that the Bell speakers - including the winner - did not
meet an important standard
of the speech (which was
on the rubric for the judging of the speeches).
They did not stick to
the topic question. Julio
Chavez had the second
highest score of 330 vs. the
winner’s 336.
By: Humberto Lopez
Last November a new
club was formed at Maywood Academy. This club
was inspired by Ms. Kortcamp’s love for history.
The club has great ideas
and goals for the future.
Ms. Kortcamp -one of our
history teachers at Maywood Academy - decided to
start this new history club.
She wants history to live.
As mentioned above Ms.
Kortcamp is the sponsor
and the president is Jonathan Arroyo.
The history club meets
every Friday afterschool in
room 321A. The purposes
of their meetings are to
show students that history
can be fun and exiting.
They want to encourage students to know and
participate in history.
Ms. Kortcamp says,
“Anybody is welcomed to
our club; just come check
it out.” She also mentions,
“We are a pretty layed back
in learning about different
time periods and those who
are interested in drama.
She mentions that they
are looking for people that
know how to sew (to make
costumes for different time
periods).
The history club contributes to our school
because it helps students
get involved in afterschool
activities. Ms. Kortcamp
said, “I think that in the
history club we get students
who would not normally
be involved in afterschool
activities. This helps to
build a sense of community
in the school.”
The history club has
many great plans for the
future like fieldtrips and
events.
On April seventh, they
will go to Medieval Times.
On May sixth, they will
participate in a Renaissance
Fair. Each year they are
planning on focusing on a
different time period.
Stand Up For Your
School: Show Up
for teachers to manage a
large class.
This issue is also increasingly harsh as a result
of more Californian’s losing their jobs, their homes,
and their health care and of
course educational opportunities for their children.
Many people constantly
have rallies as in they protest with so much hope for
a change.
Investigate on your own
and research: Pink Friday.
Pink Friday is a day where
students and educators have
the opportunity to show
support by wearing pink.
Taking place on March
13th, it is also the dead line
for school’s districts to issue preliminary pink slips
to California’s teachers.
www.pinkfriday09.org
by Dannara Cruz
It is impossible to remain
unaware of the budget cuts
in California. California’s
public schools, colleges,
and universities are facing
more than 11 billion dollars
in state budget cuts. These
cuts harm teachers and
students in many ways.
For example there is
less pay, less spent on employee benefits, delays for
new text books, less electives, and the worst: larger
classes.
It may sound fun for
some students to be in a
class with all their friends
and a great amount of
students but it should not
be because your education
comes first and it is difficult
Students at work while enjoying the benifits of a small class.
Editorials
Have You Visited our
school spirit at the
hospital?
I heard it was in a
coma.
By: Celia Sanchez
The Truth Behind The Freedom of Choice Act
(FOCA)
By: Humberto Lopez
Many have heard about the new law that is being supported by our new President Barack Obama. Others have
barely heard of it or do not know anything about it. It is
important for one to be up to date on the decisions taken
by politicians; especially those that can affect our families and communities.
Our president promised Planned Parenthood (one of
the leading abortion providers in the U.S.) to help them
promote abortion by signing the FOCA act. He would
promote it in foreign countries such as Africa claiming
that in these countries illegal abortions are provided and
that this issue is threatening women’s lives.
This makes no sense. Can one save a life by taking one away? You protect the mother but who protects
the fetus growing and living inside of the mother? The
FOCA document states, “In countries in which abortion
remains illegal, the risk of maternal mortality is high.”
By arguing this the FOCA act plans to extend abortion to
other countries.
He said, “The first thing I’d do as president is sign
the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing I’d do.”
President Obama promised this in a conference with
Planned Parenthood.
What is more is that, if the bill were to pass it would
be a threat to religious institutions and families. Hospitals
that have religious morals would be obliged to allow and
inform patients about abortions.
On the website www.focafacts.com it states, “Religiously affiliated hospitals that do not currently allow
abortions in their facilities would be forced to either
perform abortions or stop providing health care.” Also
pro-life activists will be banned from interfering with
what they call a mothers right.
Moreover, some states of the U.S. require a minor to
notify an adult before the minor is taken to get an abortion. Many parents are not informed of the acts that their
daughters commit. As a parent would you like to know if
your daughter commits an abortion? FOCA would terminate your right to know.
The worst law that FOCA wants to protect and promotes greatly is the partial birth abortion. It is a method
that is used to end the life of a fetus during the ninth
month of gestation.
In this gruesome act the fetus is turned to be born feet
first. The physician delivers the baby up to the shoulders,
and then he inserts a pair of scissors into the baby’s skull.
Finally, with an aspiration device twenty times more
powerful than a house vacuum cleaner he sucks the
baby’s brain out. The baby collapses and dies. The baby
is alive and feels pain through out the whole process!
The people that are pro-life are not against the women’s choice. Pro-life activists want women to have a
choice, an informed choice.
If FOCA were to become law hospital personal will
be intimidated to speak to their patients about the risks of
performing an abortion. They could be blamed of interfering with the women’s right for choice.
One can do something by informing others. All the
facts presented here are taken from www.fightfoca.com.
There one can see a video in which President Obama
makes the promise to Plan Parenthood.
As I was on the
bleachers (during the
Pep Rally) watching a
cheerleader plunge to her
death, the severity of our
lack of school spirit hit me.
While the cheerleader is
okay and alive, our school
spirit, however, is not.
It is disappointing to
see how much our school
has toned down since it
first opened. It seemed
to have more life in it’s
first year, when everyone
was wide eyed, new, and
it felt as if even parting
your hair differently would
completely change the way
people saw you.
People would act more
laid back and still managed
to pave the intelligence
part MAHS’ reputation.
Now the aatmosphere is
rigid, tense, undecided on
what to do next.
MAHS went from
having diverse, fashion
forward, individuals that
would still do their thing
despite the uniform and
lack of school activities,
to overall conformed
blandness. The excitement
died with the formalities,
it became clear that
establishing an identity is
harder than it seems.
Although it is true that it
is a relatively new school,
and there were not as many
activities as there are now,
enthusiasm does not come
from a paper stating that
there is a club meeting or
from the building itself.
It comes from the people,
the students, the staff, and
a spark of life that comes
from simply representing
your school. Students often
forget this: that MAHS is
their school, and a boring
school is a result of boring
people, it is not the other
way around.
It is better to know that
you had a part in making
something great, rather than
waiting on the sidelines
for an uncertain amount
of time, for something,
Diet Craze
By: Esmeralda Raygoza & Annabel Simental
Nowadays, there are a lot of young girls that think
about losing weight and starting a diet. A diet for a young
girl can be really stressful and it could also sometimes be
dangerous for many different reasons, such as anorexic
problems and eating disorders. I believe that girls should
not worry about their weight.
Being in a diet could cause the girls to fall in a depression or could cause them to be anorexic, a common eating
disorder among young girls. Anorexia is a dangerous sickness and in the worst cases a young girl could even loose
her life.
They are some more important things that have to be
taken care of. Girls should not be thinking about losing
weight without consulting a doctor. Instead of focusing
on non-important issues like trying to lose weight they
should focused on some realistic issues like having good
grades on school, having a part-time job, or joining a
sport.
Furthermore, There is other ways that a young girl can
lose weight without having to be in a diet, go to the gym
at least twice a week, take walks in the after noon, or eat
healthy and there bodies would much more healthy. But
most importantly if girls want to lose weight they should
not eat junk food or drink liquids with a lot of sugar.
anything to happen.
It seems like the
majority of people in
this school get excited
at the idea of being part
of something, yet when
push comes to shove, not
everyone is willing to put
in the work.
Actually being a new
school is an opportunity,
rather than an excuse to
why things do not go as
expected. Wear whatever
you want, say whatever
you need to say, your
new school will be better
off for it. Make it so that
the next generations of
Nighthawks can come into
a school where it is okay
to be who you want to be
without cliques, to this
uncommonly open minded
environment that we have
now.
MAHS has come a long
way; we have developed
some sort of identity but
now it is time to define
it. No more excuses. As
things stand right now, the
only thing smaller than our
mascot is our school spirit:
our identity.
Student Satisfaction is
What MAHS is lacking
By: Barbara Nickson
Some students claim
that Maywood Academy
High School lacks an
identity and is known by no
one outside of the city of
Huntington Park and Bell
Gardens. But as you know,
an identity for a school
does not appear out of thin
air nor is a reputation built
in a few months or even
a year by itself. It is up to
the students to create the
reputation and identity they
so much claim they don’t
have.
However, if you do look
at the big picture, or even
look it up, you’ll see that
MAHS has been known
to be a positive, very
well handled and tolerant
school full of students who
provide high scores in an
eco-friendly environment.
Although, I do agree
and have a theory that due
to MAHS strict policies
it causes dullness to the
school and boredom to fall
upon the students, which
as a result lowers school
spirit. But with every
problem there is a solution.
Like the old saying goes
“Where there is a will
there is a way”.
Entertainment
Getting around the
Maywood dress code
Pictures by Jesus Pena and
Lizbeth Gutierrez
Jose De Anda
Jokes and Cool Links
by Jesus Pena and
http://explosm.net/
http://www.cracked.com/
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/
http://g4tv.com/
http://tvtropes.org
http://www.toptenz.net/
Erik Gutierrez
Eduardo Castro
A bicycle can’t stand on
its own because it is twotired.
Yesenia Gomez
Constipated People Don’t
Give A crap.
What color does a Smurf
turn when you choke it?
If the #2 pencil is so
popular why is it number 2
Celia Sanchez
Concert Calender
By Jesus Pena
Schwayze & Lmfao
House of Blues Sunset
Strip Hollywood
Wed, 03/11/09
08:00 PM
De LA Soul
Key Club Los Angeles Thu, 03/12/09 8:30 PM
Quik’s Groove: DJ Quik
with Orchestra and Special
Guests
Grove of Anaheim Anaheim
Fri, 03/13/09
08:30 PM
The Woodies
By Jesus Pena
Metallica- Death Magnetic
Best Rock Album
Cold Play- Viva la Vida and
Death to All of his Friends
Best Alternative
Luis Marquez
Common featuring Biz
Markie
Hard Rock Cafe - Hollywood Universal City
Mon, 03/16/09
08:00 PM
Paul Wall
Knitting FactoryHollywood, CA Fri, 03/20/09
07:30 PM
March Madness Concert
featuring Pitbull with Baby
Bash and E-40
Citizens Business Bank
ArenaOntario, CA
Fri, 03/20/09 8:00P.M
T.I. - Paper Trail
Best Rap Album
A man walks into a bar...
Black Sheep
Normandie Casino Gardena, CA Sat, 03/21/09
08:00 PM
Paid Dues Festival with
Atmosphere, Tech N9ne,
and Living Legends
National Orange ShowSan
Bernardino, CA
Sat, 03/28/09
03:00 PM
Lil Wayne
Gibson Amphitheatre at
Universal CityWalkUniversal City, CA Sun, 03/29/09
07:15 PM
Milk Review
By: Berenis Anaya
There is a new beverage
on the Maywood Academy
lunch menu: Strawberry
Milk! The new pink strawberry milk has created a
craze among the students.
Everyday in lunch
the tables are filled with
pink milk cartons. Some
students love the milk so
much, they even take it
home with them to enjoy it
there.
Senior Yesenia Gomez
really enjoys the pink milk.
She says “The pink milk
tastes good and its better
than regular milk.” She
usually takes one or two
milks home. Overall she
has taken about ten pink
milks home and drinks
them with a peanut butter
sandwich.
Although many students
adore the new milk, several
students don’t quite feel
the same for the pink milk.
Junior Carlos Fregoso says
“At first I liked it but then
I got sick of it.” Another
student, eleventh grader
Ivan Gonzalez says “It’s
too sweet.”
Personally I agree with
these two students and
many more. The new milk
doesn’t call my attention;
I’d rather stick to regular
white milk.
The new milk has
created all kinds of buzz
whether good or bad. Although not everyone likes
the milk, its nice to have a
new sugary alternative to
accompany the horrendous
school food.
It is still not clear for
how long the school might
keep up the new milk flavor. All that is sure is that
pink might take over the
chocolate and potentially
become the new best flavor.
Michael Bay did a good job
on producing this film.”
The movie is about a guy
named Clay Miller who
goes to the woods of Camp
Crystal Lake to look for
his missing sister, Whitney.
While Miller is there, he
comes across the creaky
remains of rotting old cabins behind moss-covered
Friday The 13th
trees and that’s not the only
thing lying in wait under
By: Irving Cruz
the bush.
On Friday, February
The infamous hockey13th, 2009, the new Friday
mask killer Jason Voorhees
The 13th movie came out.
It has been 6 years since the who haunts Crystal Lake
last Friday The 13th movie armed with a razor-sharp
machete lays there as well
came out; April 26,2002.
as he waits to be awaken
In August 15, 2003 Jason
and ready to kill.
Voorhees was featured in
This movie is just a
the movie Freddy vs. Jason.
Notorious
remake
of the 1st Friday
It was a hit at the box office
Best Soundtrack
The 13th movie, which
with $82,622,655 in the
came out in 1980. The
United States.
Now after 6 years Jason movie made $39,754,601
in the United States and
Voorhees returns to Camp
this year’s movie made
Crystal Lake alive and
hungry to kill in the remake $63,407,787 in the U.S.
Rumors already started
movie of Friday The 13th.
that they are already workSenior Irving Cruz
ing on the next Friday The
went to see the movie and
13th movie and is schedcomments on the movie
uled to be released in the
“I think that it was a good
Beyonce- I am Sasha Fierce
movie. It had a lot of action year 2012.
Best R&B Album
Jason Voorhees is for
in it and blood and sudden
sure to stay in Camp
scary moments that make
Taylor Swift – Fearless
Crystal Lake and this is not
you want to jump out of
Best Country Album
your seat. Rob Zombie and going to be the last time.
C’est La Vie
MAHS Alumnus
Daniel Zuniga, Marine
Daniel Zuniga is an 08
MAHS Alumnus who is
currently serving in the
Marines with his friend and
fellow graduate George
Saccairos. We would like
to honor these two brave
young men by detailing a
little about their lives as
boys.
As a boy Daniel enjoyed
his life. He lived and continues to live for the moment. Like all of us he had
his good sides and he also
had his bad sides. Yet, one
thing that always stands
Spotlight Spotlight:
Mohamad Zein
By Berenis Anaya
For our student feature
we chose Mohamad Zein.
Mohamad is a senior here
in Maywood Academy. After attending Maywood for
two years, he has adapted
very well to a whole new
school and a whole new
environment.
Mohamad was born in
the Arab country of Lebanon. He moved to the United States a couple of years
ago when an unfortunate
bombing destroyed part of
the building he was living in. Although his home
wasn’t entirely destroyed,
the car his family owned
was completely shattered.
After that incident Mohamad traveled to Cypress
Island in Lebanon. He then
came to the United States
where he stayed in Phila-
out about him is that he is
a caring person. Whenever
something happened to
someone he would try to
make the situation better.
He would invite his friends
to go out to random adventures.
Like many of us he
enjoys a romantic relationship that found its start on
campus. I remember that
whenever he would talk
about Liz Morales, his eyes
get wide and his expression
changed instantly.
When he came back
from military training, he
was slightly different. He is
more mature.
He still has his funny
side but now he knows his
limits. He tells us about his
time in the Marines. Daniel
is different. He went in a
boy and came back a man.
Saccarious will be featured
in our next issue
* MAHS ALUMNUS will
be a continuing feature
that highlights our alumni
as they move beyond our
campus and onto the many
successes, surprises, and
challenges of life.
delphia, Washington, New
York and then California.
Mohamad has enjoyed
Maywood Academy but
wishes it had more AP
classes such as AP chemistry and AP biology. He
plans to either attend UC
Irvine and major in Biology or go to Orange Coast
College. After getting his
bachelors degree he would
like to pursue a career as a
pediatrician.
In ten years, Mohamad
sees himself as a very successful and educated man.
He sees himself with
a stable job, married and
living a lavish life. He also
says that he would like
to come back and donate
money to the academic
programs in Maywood
Academy.
During his free time,
Mohammad likes to play
basketball and watch the
Lakers on tv or go to their
games. He goes out with
his friends and family.
Every Friday he attends the
Islamic Educational Center
of OC.
He also volunteers as a
tutor and substitute teacher
in the AL-Hadi school in
Bell.
A Wonderful Teacher
by Felicia Bustamante
A teacher is not only
somebody who teaches you
but inspires. Teachers are
great and many peopleespecially students don’t
appreciate how hard they
work for them.
One of the many great
teachers being appreciated
today Mr. Nolasco, he has
done so much. Personally
he has made a difference
in my life. Mr. Nolasco is a
great substitute teacher, and
many students can agree
that he is more than just a
teacher, he is a friend to us.
A friend that enjoys
giving advice because he
would like to make a difference in his student’s lives.
Mr. Nolasco is a great role
model that many students
can look up to.
What inspired Mr. Nolasco to teach is he wanted
to change student’s ideas
of education as he realized when he went back to
school to get his degree,
he was twenty-three at the
time, he’s teaching more
than one subject, he teaches
Ms. Kortkamp
By: Jose De Anda
Have you ever met
Ms. Kortkamp? Ms. Kortkamp is a social studies
and a 12th grade Government/Economics teacher at
Maywood Academy High
School.
After graduating from
Dominguez Hills, she started teaching at Maywood
Academy High School. Ms.
Kortkamp did not always
want to become a teacher.
She wanted to be a
veterinarian, ironically she
is allergic to animals. Then
she wanted to be a Marine
Biologist, but she cannot
go diving because she has a
History, Government and
World History, he elected
those particular subjects
because History to him is
important, it’s relevant to
everyone’s life. He likes
teaching at Maywood
Academy High School!
Mr. Nolasco enjoy it
very much. He would he
like to be a full time faculty member? He likes the
students, and they are very
respectful and willing to
learn and since he grew
up around this neighborhood he would like to give
back to his community. He
say’s about his wife English Teacher Mrs. Nolasco,
it’s a honor to work with
somebody who I admire
as a teacher, “it’s a great
privilege to have the same
passion, and I am glad I
found somebody to share
this with.”
Hopefully, one day Mr.
Nolasco will become a full
time teacher so that many
student can expiernce the
great teacher he is.
Thank you Mr. Nalasco
you’re a great teacher and
friend.
heart problem.
Even though Ms. Kortkamp never originally
wanted to be a teacher, she
now loves her job “I would
not trade my job for any
other.” Says Ms. Kortkamp.
The only thing that she
doesn’t like is waking up
at 5AM every morning just
so she can get here on time,
because she lives far away.
Asides from being a
teacher she is also in charge
of the History Club. The
reason why she started the
History Club was to show
students that history is fun.
An experience that Ms.
Kortkamp has had here
at MAHS is that she gets
students that other teachers say don’t do any work,
but they really do work and
that’s what Ms. Kortkamp
likes getting students in her
class who do like to learn
about history.
Ms. Kortkamp expects
all of her students to learn
about history and leave her
class with more knowledge
than when they came in.
She tries to make her
class a fun one so that her
students have fun learning
about history as much as
she loves teaching.
Sports
Baseball Story
By: Andres Ayala
Basketball Finals
By Marilyn Fuentes
Perhaps the greatest
rivalry in the NBA is the
one between the Boston
Celtics and the Los Angeles
Lakers, but will this match
up repeat the drama of last
years finals.
Both Boston and the
Lakers have impeccable
records and they equipped
with talented players. Kobe
and Pau are a good duo, on
the other hand the Celtics Paul Pierce, Allen, and
Garnett are just as good.
Surely this match up
would be a sweet revenge
but one can not underesti-
Bias in Sports
By: Erick Echeverria
In Maywood Academy
the male sporting events
seem to attract a larger
crown than the female
sporting events. The guy’s
sports events are more intense than the girl’s is.
Males are stronger
and more vicious to win.
Basketball player Irving
Cruz says,” Guys sports
are more exciting than the
girl’s sports because guys
play with more intensity
and take it like if it was the
championship game.”
After attending both
guys and girls sport events
I have noticed that guys
play rough and do not give
up easily. Girls are more
scared of the ball and scare
to get hurt.
For example, on
Wednesday February 18,
2009 the Varsity Basketball
girls faced off rival school
Bell Eagles and lost 69-44.
The girls did not play as
well as they could have and
in result lost round one of
the playoffs.
Guys on the other hand,
do not care if they get
injured. It does not matter
if they bruised up as long
mate the rest of the teams.
The Cavaliers and LeBron have shown that they
are championship contenders, and the LeBron, Kobe
match up has become quite
an interesting competition.
The Orlando Magic and
Spurs have also put up a
fight at staying at the top of
the standings. The Lakers
have played both teams
beating the Spurs but falling short against Orlando.
If the standings stay as
they are the likely match
up would be Boston and
the Lakers. Whatever two
teams face off it is sure to
be an exciting end to the
season.
as they get the win over the
team. But both guys and
girls still put in the effort
and tried their best at what
they do.
Personally I believe that
people are more attracted to
the guy sports. Compared
to the girls, Guys play with
fury and take the game to
the next level.
They are not afraid to
get dirty and guys make it
more interesting when facing one another. Girls are
not bad at what they do, but
it’s just not as appealing as
what the guys do.
Sport
Boys Volleyball
3/9 @
Northridge Academy
Baseball
3/16
@
Belmont
Baseball
3/17
@
Laces
Softball
3/23
vs.
West Adams
Baseball
3/24
vs.
Elizabeth
Boys Volleyball
3/25
@
Los Angeles
Baseball
3/26
@
Robert Miranda
Armando Castelo
Bell Rivalry
By: Carlos Fregoso
One of the Maywood’s
many rivals is Bell High
School. Our soccer team
faced them twice and unfortuanly Bell was superior and beat Maywood.
Maywood’s soccer team’s
record for this year and last
year is 8 wins, 9 losses and
1 tie.
The varsity basketball
girls are going to face Bell
for round one of the play
off’s. The game took place
on February 18, 2009 in
Maywood Academy. The
girls record for last year
and this year is 14 wins 9
losses and 0 ties. But lights
turn off for Maywood girls.
Maywood lost 69 to 44.
What a crush!
Last year’s baseball
team managed to acquire
a championship, but this
year’s season seems much
tougher. Due to the championship win the team
moved up a division, to
make matters worse they
“lost 3 all leaguers and the
MVP (Omar Trejo),” said
Benavidez.
Still the possibilities of
players getting grade-cut
are at a high risk “It doesn’t
matter how it starts but how
it ends,” said Robert Miranda a senior. Due to the fact
that two players got cut the
coach had to re-arrange the
whole line-up, now some
of the players have to play
different positions.
Even though the team
lost players they also
gained many more. The
new additions are not as experienced but with practice
they will get better. Coach
Benavidez commented, that
“they have a lot of talent
but not a lot of experience.”
For example Armando
Castelo could really help
out the team because of his
ability to get hits.
Even with these changes
one can not underestimate
the baseball team’s potential.
Robert Miranda and Andrew Vega
Photo By: Andres Ayala
The next time Maywood faces Bell will be
February 27, 2009. The
boy’s volleyball team
would be going to Bell and
try to get a win.
As for now Bell is the
better school. But Maywood has to try harder and
get those victories!
The rivalry from Bell
and Maywood pretty much
looks like their intense for
their school. The games are
most likely get crowded
when they see Maywood
vs. Bell. Outside of school
there isn’t much rivalry.
Everybody seems to get
along.
The Bell rivalry only
comes in place when Maywood faces of against Bell
in sports.
Boys Volleyball
By: Jose De Anda
The boy’s volleyball
season started of February
17, 2009. Their first official
game will be on March 2,
2009 against Bell High.
These boys have been
practicing and trying very
hard to do better than last
season. Cesar Pena said,
“We are the best there is”.
Clearly team members still
have faith in their team.
It is clear that this year
will be harder. “Probably
Bell or Bravo will be the
hardest team”, said team
member Jay Duran. Contradicting his own teammate
Cesar who said, “Bravo lost
5 of their starters so they
will not be hard to beat”.
Aside from the harsh
competition of volleyball
these fine athletes joined
the sport for more than one
reason. “I joined because it
is fun”, said Junior Cesar
Pena. “I joined so I could
get girls”, said Senior Jay
Duran.
The Maywood Boys
Volleyball team has a great
chance of going all the way
to the championship. Watch
their games to show their
Maywood Pride
Sports
Finals?
By:Alejandra Ramirez
Soccer Finals
By: Ivan Gonzalez
Friday, February 13,
2009 was our last soccer
game. We played against
Bell High School, they beat
us. The score was 2-0. The
Maywood Boys Soccer
Team had a good season
but unfortunately, didn’t
make it to playoffs.
Our first three games
went well. We first encountered last year’s rival: Elizabeth Learning Center. Last
time we faced them we tied
1-1, but this time we played
them at our house and we
dominated them with a 5-0
victory.
Sadly this season we
won 3 out of 10 games. We
had a good squad but some
What about water polo?
By Julio Chavez
Water polo…. What ever
happened to that sport?
Does anyone remember it?
Maywood Academy High
School had its first water
polo team during the 07-08
school year, but it had little
success and recognition and
was short lived.
However, there are plans
to try and have a water polo
team in the fall. Ms. Xitco
explains that it is undecided
whether or not there will
be a water polo team in the
fall, mainly because there
is currently no available
coach for the nteam.
Ms. Xitco explained
the issues with water polo
last year. She said that not
enough students tried out
for water polo, and that
they were left with only
seven people (which was
the exact number of players
on the team), despite having been open as a co-ed
sports team. She described
last year’s water polo team
as being inconsistent during
practice as well. She also
said that she hoped that
some of the basketball or
baseball players could have
tried out for the water polo
team.
games were lost because of
the lack of heart and some
errors coming from the lack
of communication.
Players that never gave
up and gave it their all were
Aaron Portillo (defender),
Geovanny Sanchez (midfielder), Hector Rincon
(forward), Luis Urena (forward and top goal scorer,
he scored 14 goals in the
season). These players
would always come out of
the field drenched in sweat
even when we would lose.
Something the team
learned about this season
was that we need to play
with more intensity. We
also need to work on the
errors that cost us games.
Next season we hope to
come home with the championship trophy.
As for the future of water polo, Ms. Xitco stated
that water polo has the potential to last for years. She
stated that it is becoming a
very popular sport, and that
many schools have added
a water polo team to their
programs.
Mr. Xitco quoted “if
the students ask for it,
water polo will definitely
be back.” She feels that
water polo is significant
when compared to the other
sports, that it is a high-skill
game.
Sophomore Alberto
Barajas, a member of last
year’s water polo team,
describes the sport: “Yeah
the sport is very hard, you
really need to work on your
legs, keep your head overwater. You need to work on
your arms for passing, yeah
basically you need to work
on both upper and lower
body strength.”
He also described
his responsibilities on
the team: “It was hard.
We were counted on all
the time since we only
had seven players, so we
always had to play. I think
there was only one substitute in the whole season.”
Mr. Villanueva the
softball coach has been
coaching here at M.A.H.S
for 3 years. But before he
coached softball he also
coached youth baseball
for 8 years. He said “my
daughter was a very good
softball player in high
school.
My son played baseball.
I played fast pitch softball
until I was 28 years old.” It
inspired him coach softball
instead of another sport. I
asked him what his biggest
challenge was he said “the
paper work is a big headache.”
We are all asking ourselves if the girls will make
He also described how he
felt after each game: “I was
very exhausted, but I was
very proud.”
As for his thoughts on
the future of the game he
quoted, “it would be great
if the sport came back and
more people came. It’s
a very interesting sport,
I think it’s much harder
than baseball or basketball
‘cause they only need to
work on their legs or on
their arms, but for water
polo you need to work on
both. Everyone thinks it’s
an easy sport, but it’s much
more than that.”
Nonetheless, water polo
was a much more significant sport than anyone
thinks. If it does return, it
definitely has the potential
to stay and become one of
our biggest sports. But for
now we will have to wait
and see.
it to finals again well coach
Villanueva said “I have
hopes but we are in a more
competitive league this
year.” We are hoping they
do make it to the finals this
season.
He also said “the season
began last week. We have
practice game next week
against H.P.’ when asked
what was his MVP he joked
around saying “Jazmin
Erenas-she was the 14th
best hitter in the state.”
We would think this
season would be tougher on
the players but coach Villanueva said, “No, it will be
even more fun. Softball is
not “tough.” Well we hope
they have a great season
this year.
Swimming Team
By: Lizbeth Gutierrez
The first year of swimming was on 2007. When
Maywood Academy High
School was open. Xitco is
the coach for swimming.
Coach Garcia is also the
coach for swimming this
year too. Xitco has been
coaching swimming for 5
years. Xitco has not only
coached swimming, she
has coached various other
sports for more that 20
years.
Coach Xitco was approached by Principal
English because of her
magnificent swimming
background. One of her
reasons to coach swimming
here at Maywood Academy
High School was that she
“wanted to give others a
positive experience, like I
had”. Xitco is a graduate of
Bell High School. One of
the many schools that Maywood swimmers compete
against.
When questioned, what
is the most important thing
for the team coach, her response was “Unity…when
a team has unity they have
bonded, and this will create
positive experience.” The
biggest challenge for Xitco
is “getting students to join
the team and consistently
show up to practice. Swimming is a rigorous and
technical sport and it takes
dedication and perseverance.
Swimming, to coach
Xitco means “enjoyment.”
“Enjoyment of being
outdoors and being able to
develop student’s ability l
evel” said coach Xitco.
The swimmers of
Maywood Academy High
School, first meet is on
3/11/09. The swimmers
will be preparing to challenge and defeat Huntington Park.
Coach Xitco is looking
for swimmers that are willing to learn. She also added
“experience is required, but
dedication is require, “ and
of course swimmers that
are very positive individuals.
This season, Coach
Xitco’s expectations “are to
encourage as many students
as possible to join the swim
team, and to teach them
how to swim.” “I also plan
to progress the varsity team
to their highest potential,”
said Coach Xitco.