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The Cougar Press Friday, September 22, 2017
“There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.” -Alexander Hamilton
Volume 70 Edition 03
DREAMers search for hope amid chaos Micah Wilcox “When I came here, I was seven years old,” the VHS student said, “and I found out that I had to be careful.” Illegal immigration is not usually viewed at VHS as something that affects students. But for some students, the consequences are enormous. “My mom told me [that I was undocumented],” the student, who preferred to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, continued. “She said that she brought me here to have a better future.” Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals made headlines September 5 when President Trump announced an end to the program, created by former President
Barack Obama in 2012. DACA allows undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, known as DREAMers, before June 15, 2012 to work and live in the country for two year periods without fear of deportation. Among other benefits, this system allows recipients to apply for driver’s licenses, a traditional coming of age rite for high schoolers. “When [Obama] announced it [DACA], my mom thought that it would be a good idea to apply so that I could get a job and have more opportunities,” said the student. “I was allowed to work… I wasn’t afraid of being next to a police station.” 12,000 people in
Photo by: Micah Wilcox Ventura County has 12,000 reidents eligable for DACA. Some of them are students at VHS.
Ventura County alone are eligible for DACA, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Of those, 7,000 are immediately eligible. To qualify for DACA, applicants have to meet certain criteria, according to the United States Customs and Immigration Services: they must be in school,
have graduated, or have received an honorable military discharge; have not committed a felony, more than three misdemeanors or a significant misdemeanor; must prove they have been living continuously in the United States since June 15, 2007; were under age 31 on June 15, 2012; had arrived in
the country before turning 16 and had no lawful status on June 15, 2012. Despite these provisions, DACA is not amnesty for DREAMers– recipients must reapply at the end of the two year period to remain in the program, and they cannot apply for citizenship or travel outside the United States. And, as noncitizens, they cannot vote; another coming of age tradition for high schoolers. President Trump ordered that DACA, an executive order created by President Obama, be phased out in six months, in order to allow Congress to craft a legislative solution to deal with DREAMers. continued on... Page 3
Follow the money, see where it goes: VHS edition Tobin Berger-Cahn Clayton Currie VHS is funded from a broad spectrum of sources, including locally and from the state government. However, according to the California Department of Education, the largest sum the school receives is through the Local Control Funding Formula, or LCFF. This formula determines how much money each school district gets from the state government based on a variety of factors, with the largest of those being Average Daily Attendance, or ADA. The money given to the district can then be further separated into two different categories: restricted, and unrestricted. Restricted funding is money that the district must allocate for specific purposes. For
Infographic by: Clayton Currie
example, Title One funds are required to go towards projects intended to better the academic performance of students on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum. The other type of funding --unrestricted funding-- are funds which the district may allocate based on need or desire. These are funds without a predetermined purpose. The money given to
the district through the LCFF originates from two sources: property taxes and the state government. This formula determines a minimum amount which the district shall receive. If the district does not receive enough funding through property taxes to meet the minimum, then the state government will provide the remainder. However, if the district receives more than enough funding through
property taxes then they are not required to give the excess to the state government. Ventura Unified School District does not meet the state minimum for funding without state assistance. Betsy George, the Director of Budget and Finance at VUSD, said, “… in [the year] 16/17 we got about $140 million for our Local Control Funding Formula, about $60 million of that was property taxes and so then the other $80 million … would have been from the state.” Once the funding is placed in the budget of the district, it must be further divided amongst every school under its jurisdiction. But even before this, salaries must be accounted for: “8085% of our costs are salary related,” said George. Once salaries and restricted funds are
accounted for, the remaining unrestricted funds may then be allocated towards funding the wants and needs of the schools and district -- be it maintenance or a new curriculum. An example of this allocation of funds would be the decision to move towards a digital curriculum in English courses, which requires Chromebooks. When an issue is encountered at a school site that requires funding to remedy, the school must voice their needs to the district. The district will then investigate whether the need is actually a necessity, and not just a desire. An example of one of these needs would be a school forced to operate without air conditioning for a period of time. continued on... Page 3
Table of Contents
The Cougar Press Page Two
News................................................3 Sports...........................................4-5 Features.......................................6-7 VHS On...........................................8 Uncover these Cougar clubs Uncover these cougar clubs!
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Down 1. This brand new club helps provide clean water for places way outside of VHS 2. Where people of all races and sexualities come together and support one another 4. This name is part of a flower as well as a VHS club Across 3. Try and trap the king in this VHS club 5. This club was founded by Tobin Berger-Cahn to help people with cancer 6. A team of students have this club to raise awareness on environmental and global issues 7. Arguing is what these club members do best 8. A club where students gather to paint, draw and express their creativity
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The Cougar Press The Cougar Press is a student-run public forum of the VHS community. We strive to present all sides of the issue fairly and without bias. From time to time, we make an error. When this happens, we try to correct it as soon as possible. Students and community members are encouraged to write letters to The Cougar Press. We welcome all letters, but may edit them for clarity and brevity. This public forum is only as good as the community support it receives. Any letter submitted also may be published on our website www.thecougar press. org. Send letters to: Editor, The Cougar Press, 2 N. CatalinaVentura, CA 93001. The Cougar Press supports student free speech.
The Cougar Press Staff
Down
trap the king in this VHS club
b was founded by Tobin Berger-Cahn to help h cancer
of students have this club to raise awareness mental and global issues
1. This brand new club helps provide clean water for places way outside of VHS 2. Where people of all races and sexualities come together and support
Editor-in-Chiefs
4. This name is part of a flower as well as a VHS club
Brooke Newman & Avenlea Russian
is what these club members do best
here students gather to paint, draw and eir creativity
100 word rants
Managing Editor Micah Wilcox
Raised in a barn?
Dropping a class
Club week
Summer Yovanno
Hailey Cox
Diego Roberto
Billy Maxwell
Don’t you just love not understanding what the teacher says and turning to your seat partner to ask for help, but instead of a mouth full of information, you get a mouth full of stank? I don’t understand what is so hard about brushing your teeth at least once a day. If you don’t own a toothbrush, at least pop a mint so my nose, doesn’t suffer through its worst nightmare. Just think about the harvesting plack growing on your teeth, ready to ruin someone’s day. Dear seat partner, your Halitosis filled response doesn’t help my education in any way.
So I’m eating my lunch in the parking lot, surrounded by a crowd of kids with no manners. Are you doing that on purpose? Did your parents not teach you manners when you were two? Tell me why you think it’s okay to chew with your mouth wide open. Nobody wants to hear you smacking your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It’s the worst when you’re in the middle of a conversation with someone and they’re stuffing their mouth with food, yet they still won’t stop talking. Does nobody care that the people around them are disgusted?
At VHS, students have been tr ying to switch out of their sixth period because they realize they either want to move it to first period, or just straight drop the class. This year why are counselors not letting them? I know several people that have tried to switch out, and it is a long and slow process. All they want to do is switch a class that they don’t want to miss due to their spor t, or drop a class that they don’t need to take. So why is this such a hard process?
I find it appropriate to notify the people as well as the owners’ of clubs of my honest opinion; save everyone’s time, and just don’t try. How many of these clubs actually follow through? Possibly, if clubs had better leaders, there would be a point to them. I have been a student at VHS for three years, and I’ve seen an ultimate frisbee club twice, and signed up for it both times. Want to know how many times it has been followed up on? Zero. I have never been contacted after signing up. Club week is a waste of time.
Brush your chops
Layout Editor
Clayton Currie Staffers Lola Bobrow Ryan Brocklehurst Tobin Berger-Cahn Paris Carmody Christian Caudillo Sarah Clench Hailey Cox Emily Distefano Alicja Fowler Samantha Franks Harley Gagnon Gage Gregorchuk Acacia Harrell Sailor Hawes Hector Heredia Ralphie Hernandez Ryan King Liliana Lara Hannah Lee Keanu Marquez Billy Maxwell Ian McWeeney Bailey Peck Diego Roberto Kai Torres Andrew Welsh Summer Yovanno
News
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DREAMers search for hope amid chaos Micah Wilcox continued from... Page 1 However, there is concern that Congress will not act in time, stripping DACA recipients of their protections with nothing to replace them. “[Without DACA], I won’t have as many opportunities as I would have,” the student said. “I just feel like they [Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the agency responsible for deportation] could find out ‘okay, she doesn’t have DACA anymore [so] we can deport her back to where she came from.’” And, because DREAMers came to the United States at young ages, they have spent in most cases the majority of their lives in the U.S. Deportation for them
means deportation to a country that despite being born there, is foreign to them. “I get that we, [DREAMers,] are not allowed to be here, but we’re trying to get something that will let us be here,” the student said. D R E A M e r s, whether or not they are DACA recipients, are safe in VUSD --a sanctuary district as of last year according to Dr. Soledad Molinar-VUSD’s director of Multilingual education. “We’re obviously here to be a support for all students,” said Molinar. “Sanctuary” refers to VUSD’s policy of not cooperating with immigration authorities and working to ensure students regardless of their immigration status “have a place in the
classroom.” VUSD does not check students’ immigration status when registering, and allows undocumented students to apply for financial aid for college by using their student IDs. Neither VUSD, or the Ventura County Office of Education maintains statistics on DACA students. “Right now... the superintendent is meeting with various groups and also with the school sites to hear about how students are affected, maybe even how our employees affected because this is a wide range of people [affected by this decision,]” Molinar added VUSD will be hosting a free legal forum about immigration issues in Camarillo on September 28. L. Carlos
Villegas, of the law firm Fagen, Friedman and Fulfrost will be presenting. As DACA’s future is determined on the
national stage, the student has a message for the country: “just let us have it [DACA],” the student said. “We just came here for [a better life].”
Presented by Stanley C. Mantooth Ventura County Superintendent of Schools
Coordinated by Claudia Frandsen Director of Leadership Support Services
Legal Forum The Impact of National Immigration Issues, Including DACA, on Your Local School District This presentation addresses the growing impact of national immigration issues on local school districts and public agencies. Undocumented students between the ages of 6-18 are entitled and obligated to attend school. However, families that include undocumented students, parents, family members, etc., are growing increasingly concerned regarding sending students to school and interacting with local school districts. This presentation provides an overview of current immigration issues with an emphasis on students rights, staff obligations and potential changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
L. Carlos Villegas Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost
September 28, 2017 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Board Room (8:00 a.m. check-in & breakfast) Ventura County Office of Education Conference & Educational Services Center 5100 Adolfo Road, Camarillo, CA 93012 Register online for this FREE Legal Forum
https://vcoe.k12oms.org/139925
Infographic from: Dave Schermer “Commitment to Quality Education for All”
They may be dreamers, but they’re not the only ones as “an illegal alien,” Hannah Lee Photo by: Hannah Lee
Senior, Angela Martinez (pictured above) stated, “My first thought towards this was obviously “why?” How can someone be so cr uel? We’re people, and we deser ve basic human rights. It’s not fair to be thought of
when [us] dreamers have lived in this country for almost [our] entire life. Dreamers embody the American Dream, even though the U.S. has denied [us] rights and has made us feel like we’re less than, we still know in our hearts that this country can make our dreams come tr ue. My life has been hard enough, certain privileged people will never understand the things we dreamers have gone through.. And honestly, I would never
wish this upon anyone. DACA protects us and lets us work legally, this way we contribute to this country and help ourselves make a living the right way. DACA does not provide free help, it’s not a way for us to cheat into getting into a university or steal jobs. We still need to work just as hard or even harder to achieve our goals. We’re just as American as the people born here… stop dehumanizing us… stop taking away our hope.
Photo by: Hannah Lee
Senior, Ingrid Navarro (pictured above) said, “I personally feel like Trump’s decision was a step back. The people affected, and myself, did not have a say when our parents brought us to this country. Those who relied on DACA finally got the opportunity to work here legally and making
a living for [ourselves] as well as contribute to the economy. His decision has brought great uncertainty amongst those affected, including myself. These past four years I’ve worked hard to be successful despite my situation. I am no longer sure if college is an option because I won’t receive aid, but I and many others, won’t let his decision define the success of our future. I know, more than ever, that I will work toward doing what is needed to pursue my dreams.
Follow the money, see where it goes: VHS edition Tobin Berger-Cahn Clayton Currie
continued from... Page 1 Infographic by: Lola Bobrow
This vetting process may include the superintendent, or their deputy. Or it may not involve the superintendent’s office at all, for example, if it were a maintenance issue. However, when multiple schools have valid needs this methodology is complicated. George said, “If it is a true need it gets put into the priority list and then it is just determined, the things with the highest priority based on the
amount of funding, and sometimes things that may seem really important, if there isn’t enough funding … we aren’t able to move forward with them.” While the district does control how much money is allocated to it’s schools, they do not completely control what the school does with the money: “From the base funding we do an allocation to all schools, so they have kind of an autonomous
budget that they are in control of so for instance, Cohen … depending on how much he had in his budget and there was certain needs that he felt that he could make those decisions on his own ‘I want to use these funds for this, rather than that.’” In the end, all funds not already earmarked for a purpose specified by either the state, district, or a private donor, are under the influence of Cohen.
Sports
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Cross country competes in their first meet Lola Bobrow VHS secured victories at the first meet of the year at Dos Pueblos, competing against Buena High School, Dos Pueblos High School, Santa Barbara High School, and San Marcos High School on Wednesday, September 13. VHS’s cross country team will have their next meet on Friday, September 22 at College Park in Oxnard. Girls varsity placed first overall with 25 points, and girls junior varsity placed first overall
varsity race with a time of 18 minutes 16 seconds, while sophomore Madeline Locher took second place with a time of 18 minutes and 32 seconds. Senior Cody Beeson placed second for boys varsity with 15 minutes 59 seconds, and senior Charlie Hammel placed third with 16 minutes seven seconds. Photo by: Lola Bobrow VHS junior varsity boys in the top five included “Freshman Haley Sabo started her first year in cross country running for junior varsity.” Open the app Aurasma, and scan the photo for an exclusive video. Junior Kyle Mesh, first for with 26 points. Boys varsity placed overall first with 19 boys JV with 17 minutes placed second overall with points. and 18 seconds; junior 52 points (to San Marcos’s Senior Sofia Ramos Brock Donaldson in third 40,) and boys junior varsity took first place in the girls place with 17 minutes 28
seconds; David Cruz in fourth with 17 minutes 31 seconds, and Clayton Matthews in fourth with 17 minutes and 36 seconds. VHS junior varsity girls in the top five included sophomore Julianna Garcia with 20 minutes 49 seconds in second place; sophomore Samantha Prehn with 20 minutes 55 seconds in third place, and junior River Winn with 21 minutes exactly in fifth place. continued on... thecougarpress.org
Girls volleyball comes back with a smack Hannah Lee Summer Yovanno Girls volleyball competed in San Luis Obispo on September 8-10, where they played at the gold level and won five games, losing two. Out of the 32 teams that competed, they received fifth in the tournament. The team started practicing again midsummer on July 25 for their games. Senior Rapha Rosales said, “I think we did really well and discovered new talents in ourselves. We are a completely new team
this year and I think this tournament brought us together as friends and [as] a stronger team.” Senior Joli Ruby, an outside hitter and defensive specialist, was excited to start off the season with victories. When asked what she was looking forward to most about this season she said, “I’m looking forward to surprising people with what my team has to offer, considering we lost most of our starters from last year.” After their games in San Luis Obispo, the team won their games against Rio Mesa on September 12
25-22, 25-15 and 25-20. Junior Mary Sinclair had 16 kills, 13 digs and five blocks. Nevada Knowles had 15 digs and Kambria Dowling had 14 digs. Sinclair said, “Our team really gets after every point and works so hard. I think we surprise ourselves when we see what we are truly capable of ”. “We all have been working really hard and it’s shown in our record so far and we hope to continue improving and getting better throughout this season,” added senior Kambria Dowling.
Photo by: Ryan King Junior Mary Sinclair jumping up for a spike on Rio Mesa. Open the app Aurasma, and scan the photo for an exclusive video.
Girls golf puttin’ in the effort Pedersen also shared “If we beat DP and Buena that the girls have important then yes, we will win matches coming up versus League,” said Pedersen. Buena High School and Dos Pueblos High School that they need to prepare for.
Ian McWeeney VHS girls golf played against San Marcos High School at Sandpiper golf course on Thursday, September 14. The team won with a score of 258, beating San Marcos, who shot a score of 262. Team captain Olivia Block led the team with a score of 42. For the past few years, girls golf has not beaten San Marcos. In fact, this was the first time in seven years that the Cougars have prevailed over them. The girls golf team also came close to beating
Photo by: Paul Pritchard
From the left to right: Carlee Steven, Sammy Pedersen, Olivia Block, and Delaney Young practicing their form before their match.
the all-time school record of 220 this year when they shot a 227 against Santa Barbara High School. So far this year, VHS has an overall record of 6-2 and a record of 3-1 in league. Junior Sammy Pedersen, in her third year of Varsity golf, shot a 57 during
the game against San Marcos. When asked about her hopes for the season, Pedersen replied, “I really hope that we can break the school record of 220. If each of the girls on the team just takes off one or two shots on their game we can do it.”
. . . this was the first time in seven years that the Cougars have prevailed over [San Marcos]. Asked how she feels about the girls shot at winning Channel League, she replied that she’s very confident in their chances:
Photo by: Sammy Pederson Senior, Delaney Young, taking swings before their game against San Marcos. Open the app Aurasma, and scan the photo for an exclusive video.
Sports
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Cougar football bounces back Diego Roberto
After their loss last week against Rio Mesa, VHS’s football team has regained its winning streak, beating the Saugus High School Centurions 51-27 on September 16. After beating Saugus, VHS’s record is 3-1, and Saugus High School’s record is now 2-2. In the first few seconds of the game, senior Chuck Wick (#3) returned a 95 yard touchdown off of the opening kickoff, beginning VHS’s early lead. To follow this move, Wick scored another rushing
touchdown in the last two minutes of the first quarter, extending their lead to 14-0. By the end of the second quarter, the Cougars had the lead 27-0. However, the Cougars’ lead over the Centurions wasn’t enough to keep Saugus from fighting, as they scored 21 points in the start of the second half. Still, it wasn’t enough to catch up to VHS, who scored another four touchdowns in the second half of the game. Senior Kyle Gerardi (#1) completed two touchdown passes to junior Gavin Blanks (#9) and to senior Joey Thompson
Photo by: Ryan King Kyle Gerardi(#1), Chaz Hunter(#13), and Camden Gardner(#21) lead the pack of Cougars out on to the field for the start of the second half, leading Saugus 27-0. Open the app Aurasma, and scan the photo for an exclusive video.
(#16). Sophomore Rouke Rieman (#18) completed a field goal, and to top it off, senior Camden Gardner (#21) completed a three yard run. VHS had a total of 446 total offensive yards, 312 passing and 134 rushing. Gerardi was 19 for 33 on pass attempts, and had a touchdown-tointerception ratio of 4-1. Wick and Gardner had a combined 27 touches, 100 yards rushing, and 2 touchdowns. “We made sure we prepared better for them than we did for Rio Mesa. We stuck to the game plan and came out with the win,” added Conboy. VHS’s next away game is on Friday September 22 against Camarillo High School, whose record is 2-2. Their first league game is Friday, October 6 at Dos Pueblos High, followed by their next home game versus Buena High School on Friday, October 13.
Continued on... thecougarpress.org
These girls run the world
Photo by: Ryan King Sophomores Talia Walsh, Megan Campbell, Gwendolyn Warnock, and Chloe Escalante performing “Run the World, Girls” by Beyonce. Open the app Aurasma, and scan the photo for an exclusive video.
Christian Caudillo Gage Gregorchuk VHS’s dance team opens this year with lots of new faces. The dance team has 16 new members and a total of 25 dancers on the team. Dance team is led by coach Samantha Hazan and three returning senior captains: Brooke Newman, Terra Bransfield and Natali Vazquez. When it first began, it was only a club that would meet after school rather than its own class. Hazan took over as the full time coach eight years ago. It was only five years ago that dance team received its own class.
Asked about being named the dance team coach, Hazan said, “[I felt] honored, dancing is my passion, I love dancing at Ventura High School and working with all the students here.” Responding to how long it takes to choreograph a dance, she said, “I’ve been dancing and choreographing for a long time so it takes me about a half hour.” To be able to watch and support the dance team, one can attend the VHS home football and basketball games. The dance team also performs at all rallies at the high school. Continued on... thecougarpress.org
Cougar water polo: on a streak so hot, they need a pool to keep cool Samantha Franks Sailor Hawes VHS’s varsity boys water polo team has competed in a series of games over the last two weeks. The team has competed against Thousand Oaks High School, Royal High School, Moorpark High School, San Marcos High School, and a tournament in Orange County against multiple schools. On Tuesday, September 5, varsity water polo played a home game against Thousand Oaks High School. VHS won by 11 points, with the final score being 15-4. Asked about how he felt going into the Thousand Oaks game, junior Drew Worthy, a left flat on the varsity team said, “Our team knew that if we stuck to our game plan and played how we always play that we wouldn’t have a problem with this preseason game.” On Wednesday,
they played against Colony and tournament: “The highlight Notre Dame. The Cougars of our tournament this remained undefeated, starting weekend was rallying off the tournament 15-0 together and playing as a unit against Colony and 8-7 against in the championship, bringing Notre Dame. home a 13-5 win and going On September 16, the undefeated.” Cougars faced Los Alamitos Senior Finn and won by 2 points, leaving Anderson, a center defender the final score 11-9. They on the varsity team, added, then played against Servite “We have been very cohesive High School, where they won as a team. We are in great Photo by: Clayton Currie Junior Alex Hecox (#7) shoots to bring the score up to 9-7 during the game against Moorpark High with a score of 13-5. shape and on the right path School. Junior Omar Al- to Channel League champs.” September 6, Ventura played On September 13, Bawab, a center defender against Royal High School in the team played against San on the varsity team, shared Continued on... an away game in Simi Valley. Marcos in an away game. his favorite part of the thecougarpress.org Once again, Ventura won by The Cougars finished out the 10 points, leaving the final game with a one point lead, score to be 13-3. leaving the score to be 12-11. On September 12, the Junior Tyler Sehon shared, Cougars competed against “[I felt] pretty confident. We Moorpark High School in a won yesterday’s game against home game. The score was Moorpark with a larger 14-9, leaving the Cougars margin than expected, and we with another victory. Senior presumed San Marcos would Peyton Collins, an attacker be a more feasible feat.” on the varsity team, shared, On September 15 “I felt confident going into and 16, boys varsity water the game because we had a polo played in a tournament solid week of workouts and in Orange County against Photo by: Clayton Currie preparation to make sure we multiple schools. Senior Andy McCombs (#3) “shot blocking” Moorpark #14. Open the app Aurasma, and scan the were ready.” On September 15, photo for an exclusive video.
Features
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You got to vote, now they get to gloat Liliana Lara With Homecoming right around the corner, it’s time to let the dress and tux shopping adventures begin. Along with Homecoming season comes many questions for high school students– what to wear, who to ask, who to vote for, etc. As for this year, the Homecoming dance will be scheduled differently than previous years. In the past, the Homecoming game would take place on a Friday, where the winners of the Homecoming court would be announced, and the dance would be that Saturday. This year, however, a few changes are being made to that format. Because the game
October 14– a week before the Homecoming game. According Because of this to a Twitter change, the Homecoming poll from The court will be slightly Cougar Press, different as well. The Court 70% of students will be brought up during do not take the Dance, but the winners will not be announced until Homecoming the following week at the voting seriously. Homecoming Game. Junior Delaney occurs on October 20, Valdez shared her opinion Homecoming would have to on the changes this year take place on the Saturday in regards to Homecoming before Fall Break officially saying that: “I like that it’s begins. different, [and] I think that’s Because of the kinda cool because you proximity to Fall Break, know how at the dance[s] the school administration in movies when they do is concerned that students that, it’s like super fun and could be leaving on everyone’s all excited ‘cause vacation, and therefore it’s during the dance, [which would be unable to attend makes it] even more exciting the dance. To avoid this if you’re nominated!” scenario, the Homecoming As Valdez points dance will take place on out, movies focus a lot
Photo by: Liliana Lara
In the article, Valdez explains why she believes that Homecoming votes aren’t as serious as they seem.
on voting and winning Homecoming courts, which have existed since the nineteenth century. However, the importance of these courts to students has changed over the years. According to a Twitter poll, 70% of students do not take Homecoming voting seriously. When questioned about the manner, Valdez replied, “The girls, yes, the
boys, no.” Valdez also added that “You already know who’s gonna get picked to be voted for, so it doesn’t really matter who I pick because it’s always the same people every year.” When asked what characteristics she looks for in Homecoming nominees, she replied “nice, genuine, people” who she believes deserve to win.
Cougar cubs join cougar clubs Avenlea Russian We d n e s d ay, September 13 marked the first day of a three day “Club week” that continued Thursday the 14 and Friday the 15. During these three days, club members of VHS gathered on the senior lawn to advertise their
clubs, in hopes that new and returning students would join. Freshman Keala Starr stated, “I really like Club week, it seems really cool because there are a lot of different booths, and you can see what you are interested in. I’m really excited to sign up.” A few clubs at VHS are Field Hockey club,
Lana Tarsha and Hannah Flores keeping the cougar pride alive!
Nancy Aguilar and Emmy Gonzales promoting K-Pop club!
Photos by: Hailey Cox
GSA club, K-Pop club, GWAT club, Superfan club, Interact club, Guitar and Ukulele club, and many more. Junior Carlos Aviles, member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes club said: “The Fellowship of Christian Athletes club is really friendly and lots of good people [are] there.
Shira Zaid and Isabelle Mercado promoting Model United Nations!
Mia Bialobreski playing her guitar and getting students to sign up for her Guitar & Ukelele club on club week!
[Clubs] are a way to come together as a school. I’m really excited about this club week because I feel like this year we can get a lot of people to join the club.” Senior and President of Key club, Sarah Florez, states what Key club is all about: “We are a community service club. We do different
service projects, like helping out at elderly homes or collecting items to take to less fortunate families in Belize.” Although the week of September 11 was club week, if you are interested in any club at VHS, you can still join any time throughout the year if you missed the sign ups.
Hammock club hangin’ around on the senior lawn.
Athletes Brock Peterson, Brian Ferrin, Carlos Aviles, Kai Eigenhuis and Cory Whitcomb hoping to get former athletes to sign up for their Fellowship of Christian Athletes club!
Features
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Spellman moves from the courts to the classroom books (only one is about math!)” While no stranger Evan Spellman has to the atmosphere at VHS, worked at VHS for three one thing he said that has years teaching math, but changed since he walked his favorite aspect of VHS on campus as a student is is the kids: “The students the fashion, commenting: are all fun to work with, “Now I wear skinny jeans they’re all interesting, but back then I wore funny, [and] exciting.” “three x” tall baggie white When he is not jeans.” engaging students in He attended UCLA math criteria, you can hoping to become a find Spellman, “spending dentist, but his passions time with [my] wife and changed when he realized two daughters. [It] keeps he wasn’t very interested [me] really busy! [I] also in the field: “I had a buddy enjoy reading, this year my who was volunteering at reading list consists of 22 a middle school in south Hannah Lee
Photo by: Hannah Lee Spellman’s overall hope is to be able to make a positive impact in students’ lives and to be someone who kids feel comfortable with to go and talk to about their struggles.
LA as a math tutor and he dragged me out there with him one day and I fell in love with working with kids, so that’s when I realized I wanted to be a teacher.”
When asked to pick one of his favorite moments teaching at VHS, he said, “during my first year teaching here I had a really challenging 6th period Math 1 class
that was fairly difficult to manage. One day, I wasn’t feeling well and I was pretty burnt out. I decided to try to teach the lesson without talking. It was extremely amusing and by not saying an entire word for the whole class period, I had captured their attention and every single student was engaged in the lesson trying to decipher all my hand gestures and facial expressions... good times!” continued on.. thecougarpress.org
Can Serena sing her way from SoundCloud to Spotify? on my other career interests, like being a veterinarian.” As for now, Serena Ropersmith Ropersmith’s singing career is 16 years old, and a junior has already taken off, with at VHS. Science and drama the release of her own are her two favorite subjects album on August 26, 2017, at school, but writing songs, produced by Armand John playing the piano, and Anthony. singing are things she really The name of the loves to do. album is “Relive,” and When asked if she it includes three songs: wanted to turn singing into a “Mine,” “Little One” and full time professional career, “Last Mistake.” Ropersmith she said: “I definitely want said, “My favorite song is to continue singing and ‘Mine’ because it flows really performing as much as I well and it has unique piano can, but I also want to focus chords.” Ryan King
Photo by: Ryan King When asked if she had any goals for herself that she hoped to accomplish in the near future, she replied: “I have a few more songs to add to my album, which I hope to record as soon as I have time. I would [also] like to get my songs on Spotify and the iTunes Store.” Open th Aurasma app and scan the photo for an exclusive video.
Ropersmith’s album is available to listen to on Bandcamp and SoundCloud. Alicia Keys and Ariana Grande are two of Ropersmith’s role models,
and she hopes to become as talented as they are while remaining true to herself and still having her own style. On Sunday, September 17 Ropersmith
performed her three songs from the album “Relive,” plus a few of her new songs at Bombay Bar & Grill in Ventura, CA. Ropersmith hopes to continue writing, recording, and performing her own music while attending college and is considering attending UCSB and Cal Poly because “they’re not too far from Ventura and they both have impressive science programs.” continued on.. thecougarpress.org
Reynosa: a catalyst for a new AP class Sarah Clench AP chemistry -taught by Karen Reynosa- is a new class offered at VHS this year, which many of the students already seem to enjoy, despite the difficulty of the course. Students have called Reynosa the “perfect teacher” for the course, such as senior Nancy Aguilar who said: “She provides such a good environment for the students and has a nurturing way of surrounding us.” After looking into the course, Reynosa said that she was super excited because she’s taught Chemistry for twenty years, and has “never taught anything so difficult.”
She added that, “[It’s] kind of exciting to be able to exercise my brain after teaching the same thing for many, many years.” Reynosa went to a workshop, and commented, “I realized that it was amazing, like it’s a mass of knowledge that most kids don’t have the confidence to even try. This year, there are 65 kids signed up for AP Chemistry and I think that’s amazing. ” Senior Desiree Estrada said, “The class has been pretty tough so far, we’ve hit the ground running since the beginning of the school year but now things are kinda slowing down and it’s kinda easier.” Senior Peyton
Photo by: Ryan King Seniors Peyton Reynolds, Dylan Wilde, and Valentina Pfeifer are hoping to do fun experiments and “hopefully light stuff on fire.”
Reynolds said that they can get college credit for the labs they do by writing them in a special notebook given to the students by Reynosa, “We have these really cool notebooks that we can write down our labs in. If you do it well, you can actually turn
Hyning commented, “The subject itself is challenging yet it’s not overly complex and it allows people to dive into the world of science without being frightened off by a lot of good things.” Reynosa added, “I’m working really hard. The kids are working really hard[too], it’s a hard class, but I think in the end we’ll really come together as a family, and we will kind of think of this as our little charge-you know like, our little Wonder Women charge- and trying to conquer this really tall mountain and we are just going to try to bring it down and help eachother out, and see where we go.”
it into your college and they can give you credit for an entire lab course.” Lots of students in the class have voiced confidence in Reynosa’s ability to prepare them for the AP test. Junior Jonathan Van continued on.. thecougarpress.org
VHS On... Homecoming
The Cougar Press Page Eight Photos by: Paris Carmody & Hannah Lee
Sophomore Spencer Moore said, "I'm most excited about the pictures and food before.”
Freshman Abby Gaddie stated, “I’m most excited about finding a dress.” Junior Starla Giannatti said, “I’m hopeful to have a fun night out with my friends and dance.”
Senior Nick Esquivel said he is “very excited about the slow dance.”
Senior Christina Hornbaker said, “I’m stoked to spend my last homecoming dance with my best friends.”
“I’m looking forward to making this dance the best for our last year,” said senior Gracie Coulter.
Junior Harry Beherns said, “I’m most excited about the music and hanging out with my friends.”
Freshman Noah Rivere said, “I’m looking forward to the feel I guess, the atmosphere.”